I’m ranting today. Brace yourself. Ready?
Why is it so hard to see the forest for the trees? Why are we so skewed towards short-term thinking?
While short-term thinking makes sense in light of evolutionary demands, it’s pretty damn frustrating!
(Bear with me, this isn’t entirely about sports.) I spent last night watching the Philadelphia 76ers and the NBA Draft. The 76ers have a fairly new General Manager, Sam Hinkie, at the helm. His strengths: smart, savvy, calculating. His weakness: not media friendly what-so-ever.
It is impossible to be good in today’s NBA without compiling assets for the long-term. You need assets for one of three reasons. One – you build from within, grow those assets, and ascend over time (Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and Indiana Pacers). Two – you compile them to clear the deck and acquire multiple superstars at once (Miami Heat and Houston Rockets). Three – you use a hybrid of one and two, grow assets from within and use them to attract an additional superstar (Los Angeles Clippers).
Asset accumulation requires time. It requires patience. And it requires vision. Sam Hinkie has all of these things. He is executing a long-term plan to be good in the current NBA landscape.
He is making decisions based on the long-term. These types of decisions include: being willing to lose now in exchange for higher draft picks later, taking calculated risks on top talent with injuries, acquiring top talent stuck overseas for a few years, and accumulating bucket-loads of lower draft picks used to acquire more youth or to execute future trades.
I get it, and I love it. I’d rather have an opportunity to be great – truly great – in the long-term than make rash decisions and be mediocre forever. All of these assets, and all of these long-term oriented decisions of exchanging lesser value for greater value will pay off.
And yet I spent last night and this morning listening to what seemed like 90% of Philadelphia bash the team and Sam Hinkie. They hate – hate! – what he’s done. He doesn’t get it. They don’t get him.
Your Health – The Long Game
I promised I’d tie this back to health, didn’t I?
So much of the frustration I hear regarding the health of family, friends, clients, and acquaintances ties back to prioritizing the short-term too heavily. Seeing only the trees and not the forest. Having the ice cream now, the drinks now, skipping the workout now, doing this now, doing that now. Getting to the positive nutrition on Monday, the exercise plan next week, the extra sleep never, the stress management never. Wondering why the dream body and the energy are lacking.
Your action patterns create your end results.
Many of the things you do on behalf of your health will not show up tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that.
But they show up in the end. You wear the ultimate accumulation of your decisions. You look the accumulation of your decisions. You feel the accumulation of your decisions.
Who gives a shit about a few years of effort when you can have decades of thriving health? This is so, so, so hard to internalize. So difficult. Yet so worth it. The results will speak for themselves.
I’m angry today. I suppose in a way I’m like Sam Hinkie. Maybe 90% of people will hate – hate! – my outlook.
But you know what? If you’re part of the 10%, let’s go! Let’s do this! Let’s roll up our sleeves, execute our plans, and be better for it in the end. THAT is not a short-term diet fix and subsequent rebound. THAT is truly transformative.
Day 31 Recap
Time to get after it! Feeling stronger and stronger these days, and escalating performance is a great sign. The exercise protocol:
Repeat 3x, limited rest:
- Kettlebell Swings
- Plank / Stability Ball Transfers / Hollow Body Rocks
- Dumbbell Bench Press
Repeat 3x, limited rest:
- Trap Bar Deadlift (added 4th set of this)
- Standing Overhead Press
- TRX IYT Raises
Repeat 3x, limited rest:
- Strict Chin-ups
- Lat Activation Dynamax Ball Tosses
Steps and miles checked in at 20,050 and 10.76 (add 20%). Sneaky solid day of movement. Instead of accumulating steps via long hike like yesterday, this was largely due to constant bursts of motion throughout a busy day.
I sacrificed some sleep for the NBA Draft, and it checked in at 6 hours and 48 minutes (11 restless minutes).
The nutrition…
Breakfast: Grass-fed yogurt, (28g) whey protein isolate, (5g) creatine, raw cacao nibs, chia seeds, coconut flakes, organic blueberries, banana, cinnamon.
Black gold courtesy of One Village Coffee Artist Blend, my old favorite! Here’s to a successful reunion.
Pre-Workout: Raw Tea.
Post-Workout: Grass-fed whole milk.
Lunch: Grass-fed ground beef, wilted and raw baby kale mix, fresh avocado, purple sauerkraut, organic sweet potato, probiotic, fish oil. Colorful and filling – great after workout grub!
Afternoon Snack: Rise Bar.
Early Dinner: Knowing that I’d be attending an NBA Draft party, I put my pre-event strategy into motion. Do you remember it? Eat! I was running around, so I made a custom Sweetgreen salad. Kale, spinach, double chicken, hard boiled egg, avocado, cucumber, carrot, broccoli, pickles. Jalapeno lime cilantro dressing. Notice all of my filling inclusions – double meat, egg, avocado. It served its purpose.
Late Snack: Rise Bar and Capital Kombucha. This was my ace in the hole. My friends were enjoying pizza and beer, which I’ll admit (the beer, not so much the pizza) looked enticing in the context of sports and good company. Fortunately I only got a few minutes of ribbing and “I won’t tell anyone”s before they relented their efforts to crack me. The kombucha gave me something fizzy and different to enjoy, while the Rise Bar was simply to keep my hunger at bay. Success. And a successful NBA Draft for the Philadelphia 76ers as well. Onward!
Daily Fuel
Who are your models for success? Who around you embody the long-term view?
Today is a create your own Daily Fuel. Take a moment to acknowledge those around you who are kicking ass and taking names, who are embracing the long-term, as well as the short-term. Take a moment to be inspired by them.
I’ll take a moment and a paragraph to acknowledge some (I know I’m missing some too!) of my own past and current sources of action pattern inspiration. These individuals kill it on a daily basis, and they’ve pushed me to be better:
Relentless Riss, Dave Hansen, Ross MacKinnon, Michele G. Rogers, Ross Flemer, Mark Louie, David Grimmig, Ari Paul, Bernie Spain, Laura Frigeri, Laura Pappas, Keith Norris, Colin Champ, Tony Federico, Bob Diecidue, Jason McConomy, Tania Schade, and Chris Savage.
Thank you!
Image Credit: Sam Hinkie – http://sixerscave.com
Image Credit: Forest – http://businessoflosingweight.com
Image Credit: Baby Cake – http://babywallpapers2.blogspot.com
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