Big Dreams!

You're driving here!

Loren — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:26:16 +0000

Life is truly what you make of it, so dream big, steadfastly believe, labor with love, and create the life of your dreams; Dream, Believe, Love, Create. The Divine Elements.

Hockey Lessons from “Outliers”

Loren — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:30:58 +0000

The book, “Outliers; The Story of Success“ by Malcolm Gladwell, has inspired me for a number of years and, if you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to read it for the many success stories drawn from hockey and beyond.

In Outliers, Gladwell asserts that birth month has a huge impact on success in hockey and other sports. Yet, he also makes it clear that there is nothing pre-ordained in the DNA of kids born in favorable birth months; it’s just that early success accumulates or “snowballs.”

In hockey, kids with 6-9 months more ice time at the mite/squirt level – those born in January vs. November -- fair better at tryouts and make better teams. Better teams lead to even more ice time, better coaching, and higher expectations. Year after year, those best prepared from the previous year make better teams. Anyone else has to find a way to break the cycle.

In general, Gladwell asserts that success results when:

Good fortune leads to the opportunity to work hard (Gladwells examples: Bill Gates, Bill Joy, The Beatles, Hockey players with birthdays near the “cut off” date)

Expectations are high, high performance follows (Gladwells examples: Kipp school, The Beatles)

Community/Parental Intervention is the rule, not the exception (Gladwells examples: Bill Gates, Gladwell’s own Mother)

Inclusiveness breeds success

For more kids to “snowball” with hockey success, rinks need only provide all the “snow” they want by allowing and promoting practice cross over. For instance, teams may have mandatory skills practice where all team members are expected to attend, but where those practices are open to others, magic happens.

When A-level players attend the AA skills clinic, they directly benefit from the extra ice time (hard work) and higher skill levels (high expectations). Likewise, when AA-level players attend an A skills clinic they get additional practice and raise the skill level there.

The key is to promote cross-over so that doesn't take an act of courage for those kids with drive and commitment to venture out of their own age group; it’s invited and expected. Not all will take advantage of the additional practice, but those who do will chip away at the 10,000 hours Gladwell suggests it takes for success.

Yet, it’s not sufficient that our children just reach some magic number of hockey hours – they need to do it at the right level by the right age. If they are not ready to play AAA Midget by age 16, they fail to get that experience.... If they don’t make Juniors by an early age, they will hardly be scouted for college.... And if they fail to be recruited by a college team by age 21, they are barred from playing under NCAA rules. It is not a marathon, but a sprint to accumulate 10,000 hours of ice time (10k by 21).

Teams at the famed prep school, Shattuck St. Marys hold practice five to seven days a week and play 50-75 games a year. That's what it takes to produce championships and over 40 NHL draft picks, including LA Kings defenseman Jack Johnson and Penguins captain Sid Crosby.

Rinks need policies that promote and encourage rigorous play and practice – beyond the 2-3 hours of team practice per week -- to foster excellence in hockey at all levels. It’s not simply the “more the better.” It’s that more is better; sooner is better; and better (level) is better.

When all else fails... Intervene

Gladwell is with Bon Jovi on this one. The lyrics go "Luck ain't even lucky; gotta make your own breaks." When bad luck derails progress, parents and/or the community should feel compelled to intervene.

There's a great story in Outliers about a middle school computer lab that ran out of funds. It would have shut down, but the parents jumped into action and raised some cash. Not only did it remain open but, through a twist of fate, became one of the first labs ever to use real-time keyboard entry -- at a time (1960's) when university professors were still punching cards!

Maybe this intervention doesn't seem like a big deal, but we'll never know. It's just that this action, in this middle school, by these parents permitted the young Bill Gates to follow his passion for computers when, otherwise, his fire may have gone out.

Not every kid is going to make the best hockey team or play at Shattuck St. Marys, but the 10k-by-21 clock is still running. Intervention is a twist on Yogi Berra's line, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." When you find your player on the wrong path, don't just "take it;" take charge. There's alway a path to more ice time and higher level play, so keep the fires burning.

Make it a great day!

Loren — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 07:34:54 +0000

Why not just "have a nice day?"

It's lame.

If it were simply a matter of picking the day you want, of course, you would "have" the nice one. But, that's not an option. Rather, you either take command of your day or suffer the effects of whatever comes your way. My preference is always to "Make it a great day!"

It All Starts with a Dream

Loren — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:34:48 +0000

Consider this.

Some say you should do "what you're good at." Others say you should do "what you love." Most say you should do something that represents both. Yet, if that was the whole truth, we'd all have jobs.

Who would dream of something new and think, "why not?" Who would follow their intuition into the unknown? Who would push themselves out of their comfort zone and attempt something never done before?

I say follow your dreams-- even if you're not good at it, the road ahead is hard, or you're ill prepared at this point in time. There is always a place for someone with destiny on their side. You'll find a way. Live it!

The Blessing of “C” students

Loren — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:52:05 +0000

When “A” students get great ideas -- one of the 20 or so they get each day -- they think, “Hey. Cool!” Yet, before they’ve had time to react, another idea comes in tune; then another. Jaded by such treasures, they begin to think “Ah, these trains come along every 15 minutes. I can always catch the next one.”

With so many amazing possibilities, they might go into “option shock” and do nothing. Or, if inclined to action, they might exhaust themselves like a plate spinner putting one idea after another into motion without reaching sustainability on any one endeavor-- my personal favorite.

In contrast, when “C” students get a great idea, they run with it. That’s all they think about. They don’t want to miss this train, knowing another may never come along again. Scarcity creates high value; commitment; full-focus tenacity. In effect, being born with a natural blindness to idea flow brings the blessing of action.

The rest of us don’t have a scarcity problem; we have a sorting problem, which makes discovery of our destiny so critical. Only an internal compass can guide us. For us, it’s like being in the midst of a carnival. The possibilities are endless and reach out in every direction. Yet, our time here is short and we need to be working on ideas that matter most.

In “Victorious in Life,” Yogananda says, “Do something in this world-- do something wonderful!” In another passage, he says, “Unless you actually accomplish, you are not successful. It is not enough just to think success or think ideas; they must be demonstrated.” He didn’t say to merely dream, believe, or love something wonderful; he said, “do.”

So discover your destiny and blind your passions to anything other than the legacy you are here to create. Then, be like the “C” student. Catch that train!

New Years’ Resolutions are for amateurs.

Loren — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:54:23 +0000

The regulars at a local bar my dad frequented used to quip, "New Years is for amateurs." There’s a great truth in that. These guys were professional drunks, not just weekend warriors or drinkers on occasion. What made them good at drinking was that they did it everyday. While they could barely hold a job, they could really hold their liquor. Likewise, New Years’ Resolutions are for amateurs, not for those with big dreams."

"New Years’ Resolutions are for amateurs, not for those with big dreams."

Resolutions don’t work anyway. Anyone who frequents a gym will see the “resolved“ crowds each January. By the end of January, the parking lots are back to normal and there’s no more active members than before. This happens every year because this only happens once every year. Sure, New Years is a great time to begin anew, but it’s what you do everyday that drives results.

Everyday resolutions are what keeps the fires of your will power burning; forging thought into sustainable action. It’s not sufficient to simply resolve, “I will go to the gym everyday,” and then expect that you will consistently, relentlessly "drag your ass" to the gym for the next 365 days. It must become “second nature,” as it is for the active members who have made the gym a central routine in their life. The difference is they don’t think, “Darn. I have to drag my ass to the gym again today.” Rather, they spontaneously think, “Great. I get to go to the gym now.”

There’s a great wisdom in this term "second nature," which has been lost. Most believe this to be the natural consequence of practice. Not so. Going to the gym everyday becomes “second nature” only if you engrain supporting beliefs. If you do not hold supporting beliefs, then going a few dozen times -- practice alone -- will change nothing, and it will take a supreme act of will to make it to the end of the month.

If it’s not sufficient to simply practice, then what do we do? Those of us who want to hold our resolutions must install supporting beliefs. Install beliefs?... Yes. Install them. New beliefs must be installed into your cyber self -- the “i robot” or “i Bot” that holds the collection of learned habits we call, "second nature."

Right now, you may find it second nature to go home each night and take a nap, spontaneously thinking, "Oh, I'm tired. I'll just go to the gym tomorrow." If that’s you, then the “you” that is comforting your candy ass and justifying your lack of action needs to be replaced by a “you” that doesn’t think that way. Your "second nature" needs an upgrade to version 2.0.

It is essential to understand that you are not the “you” that is sabotaging your resolutions. Nor are you the body, the physical expression or “print out” of your mind set and cumulative actions in the kitchen and the gym.

You are the awareness, the essence behind the “iBot;” the being that has a body and a bot. Your “iBot” is merely a collection of your spontaneous programming; the little “i” that was built upon belief, one limiting experience at a time, throughout your lifetime. So, if you've been looking for the sa-"bot"-teur of your New Years plans all these years, it's been there, right before your eyes, all along!

"Until you reset the autopilot, you will never change your destination."

Your current “iBot” is the “you” that exactly matches the results you’ve achieved in the past. To get different results, you need a different "you," the unconscious, spontaneous thinker that has yet to buy-in to those New Years resolutions of yours. It's like autopilot on a boat. Time after time you can you can reset your destination, but the boat just snaps back on course. Until you reset the autopilot, you will never change your destination. It's as simple as that.

It’s your unconscious programming that holds the real power, like the submerged portion of an iceberg. Yet -- just as though they were ice -- beliefs are frozen in form, and can only be chipped or melted away as new beliefs are frozen in their place. With that understanding, let’s call this cyber self, this "i-bot" our “Ice Bot” to denote both its massively submerged and stubbornly frozen, yet mendable nature.

It is the Icebot that walks, talks, and expresses "you" automatically, just as it was trained to do. It imposes limits on everything outside its comfort zone by its reaction and performance.

You are the big “I” imposing dramatic change on the walking and talking planned for the new year, and the one who stands in horror as “you” react or perform badly. An Icebot always resists change. It doesn’t know or care about what big “I” says or accomplishes; it’s just the autopilot! And while big "I" has the brains, this little "i" asshole holds all the power. In effect, it's as though your puppet has come to life and you've lost control of the show!

"It's as though your puppet has come to life and you've lost control of the show!"

In the Power of Now, Echart Tolle recalls the moment of his profound breaktrough when he screamed, "I can’t live with myself any longer," but suddenly realized there were two here—“I” and the "self" he couldn't live with. This "self" is your second nature or icebot, a collection of operating habits forzen into form. Thankfully, habits are like software and can be re-formed.

The key to upgrading your "second nature" is the bombard yourself with everyday affirmations. Affirmations are replacement beliefs carefully designed to support your desired performance. Installing the right reasons to go the gym -- and anything else you set out to accomplish-- is the basis of a simple, sustainable system for continuous improvement.

I have to say that I found affirmations to be silly and had no idea why they kept showing up in all kinds of writings, especially in “self help” books. They seemed useless -- like ammo without a gun -- until I learned the power and promise of installing new beliefs. Was I supposed to stand in front of mirror a say this silly stuff?! Well, yes, but then it didn't seem so silly once I realized what was going on here.

You are not talking to yourself. Rather, you are talking to your cyber self, the Icebot, and by all available means -- visual, audio, imaginative -- deliberately and methodically “re-forming” ineffective beliefs with new programming that works. Think of as the re-education of a bad robot. Every day; every way.... Frequency builds awareness. Before long, new beliefs will be iced in place of the old.

Soon, supporting beliefs will bubble up when it’s time to go workout. Where "you" used to think of yourself as “lazy,” your new spontaneous thoughts are nothing of the sort, “I’ve got a body made of steel. It’s an amazing machine that I love to put through its routine. It’s time again? Fantastic. I can’t wait to get to the gym!" Believe. You can.

Your spontaneous thoughts will change to whatever you sincerely and relentlessly affirm. Try it. Icebot doesn't care. Like a parrot, it will just repeat whatever it's trained to say. This is how you master your game. Master yourself.

At the end of one of his audio books, Jim Collins talks about his own New Years resolutions. Each year he comes up with three things he's going to start doing, three things he's going to stop doing, and three systems he's going to put in place to support these efforts. The brilliance is in the systems. It's the support systems that empower these new resolutions, never the goals on their own. Simple, sustainable systems.

So why wait for New Years to do an upgrade? Go for continuous improvement and let the results determine when it's time to add a new resolutions.

Life is short. Your legacy is calling.

Perfection (Part 1): Putting Perfection in it's Place

Loren — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:10:42 +0000

“When Vince Lombardi walked into the meeting he looked us right in the eye. He said, ‘Gentlemen. We’re going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we won’t catch it, because nothing is perfect. But, we’re going to relentlessly -- and that’s how he blurted it -- chase it. Because in the process we will catch excellence.

And he said I’m not remotely interested in being just good.”

Holy macros. Man I was up just like this. I didn’t need a seat to set in. I was up like this ready to go.”

Bart Starr on Lombardi’s first day with the Green Bay Packers.

Success Defined!

Loren — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:37:43 +0000

I believe "success" is creating legacy from your destiny, in this lifetime.

Life has never been about material gain; nothing you own will go with you in the end. Rather, it's about the self-mastery achieved from this struggle, and the legacy you leave behind for others.

It once seemed to me that self-mastery was a goal in itself, but then it became obvious. Tiger Woods doesn't think about self-mastery; he thinks about perfecting his shots. Michael Jordon never thought about self-mastery; he thought about winning at basketball. A yogi doesn't think about self-mastery; he's thinks about knowing God. Without mastery, there can be no excellence. Yet, it is the attainment of excellence that breeds self-mastery. You must first discover your destiny. Then, design a compelling vision for your legacy. Think big! From there, bring big dreams to life!