The Brain is a Wonderful Place

The mind is a curious and wonderful thing. It is made up of neural pathways and lots of other stuff that I’ve not spent the time understanding. All I know is give in energy, rest, and life and it can literally think for itself. At times it is our own private oasis of calm and wonder, at other times it can be a giant disruptive mass causing us much distress. It plays such a crucial part in our health, happiness, and daily well-being that I’m surprised so many of us take it for granted. Why aren’t we spending more of our time cultivating it like we would a hobby, a garden, or whatever else that is important in our lives?

I spend a large part of my time delving into the depths of my mind. This is despite the fact that I am an extreme extrovert. What I find never ceases to amaze me. I find a space willing to discover new secrets, a space able to exert sub-conscious control over my body, and conversely a space able to be affected by my body’s posture.

At times I find that it holds limitless capacity to hold new information for me. It can learn, adapt, and retain information in a way I cannot understand, but do appreciate. At other times I feel that it doesn’t even try to learn.

I’m thinking specifically about words. My brain really doesn’t like learning new words.

Sure, I can speak 3 languages, but I had to force my brain to learn each and every one of them – English included. 🙂 It just wasn’t interested. Give it a problem to solve, a pattern to find, or some diagnostics to do and it’ll jump at the task. But ask it to learn some new words and it simply puts up barriers. I have to make it realise that I really want to learn a new word before it does. Think if you will of the “Little Britain” comedy sketch “Computer says no”. Here a lady puts information into a computer, only for it to say no. This is kind of how I feel sometimes: “Brain says no”.

I’ve always visualised that my brain simply lets the new word pass straight through my head – in one ear and out of the other. It certainly doesn’t feel like the word registered anywhere during its journey within my head. I now have another image, however, as we’ve been watching Marvel Avengers. I now picture a Captain America type character sitting inside my brain, ready to deflect any incoming new words. Shielding my brain from the word.

My brain has battled me over the years to keep itself a “words free zone”. I think any dyslexic person would tell you the same. I rather like that about it. Other brains would have given up by now under the near constant onslaught of over a decade of foreign language. But no, not mine, it has stubbornly refused to surrender.

And I wouldn’t want it to.

My brain has an amazing capacity at pulling me forwards through life. It has this ability to make things happen when I don’t belief that they would. When I set my sights on something, my brain finds out a way to make it happen.

My brain has allowed me to live in 5 different countries, and work in seven.

My brain has found me most interesting and stimulating careers.

Once before, while I was growing up in England, I forced my brain to be something it wasn’t. The school system back then just was not geared up for different types of brains. The only way to progress through school was to conform. As the years went by and I got further through my school career so the more I forced my brain to work as required. I didn’t realise it at the time – I just wanted to succeed.

What I didn’t know, however, was that I was slowly limiting my brains overall capacity. It was like I was putting constraints in place so that it couldn’t run at full functionality. The further I went through school and university, the more successful I became at studying, the more constraints I applied to my brain. I graduated from university with a first-class masters of engineering degree – the highest level I could have attained. But I graduated with a severely constrained brain – I had barely no creativity left.

For me to be successful in the real world I had to remove these constraints. I had to learn more about my brain and understand how it worked. I had to get my creativity back.

Over the first five years of work I worked hard to reset my brain back to the way it works best. I had to let it run itself – and I’m glad I did.

Don’t Worry, You’ll Grow Out of Dyslexia

Being dyslexic as a child was a pain, to put it politely. Not only was there the difficultly with reading, writing, and spelling, but there was also difficultly with:

• remembering,
• concentrating,
• speaking,
• hearing,
• handwriting

Basically, all those little niceties in life that make growing up and attending school easier. But this post isn’t about those, it’s about other people’s attitudes and how this came out in what they said to me. One of the phrases that springs to mind right now is: “Don’t worry, you’ll grow out of it.”

Don’t worry, I’ll grow out of dyslexia? I’ll grow out of dyslexia? What?! Let’s think about this for a moment! As Dyslexia is a result of having a brain that functions differently from others, growing out of it either means that my brain function will change fundamentally as I age, or I’d get a new brain. Neither of those were likely to happen.

Nor did they.

So I haven’t grown out of it!

So does that mean my life is over as I haven’t grown out of it?

Thinking about it, why would I want to grow out of it? It is our brains that make us who we are. It is our experiences that make us who we are. It is our struggles, our successes, and our failures who make us who we are. Without my dyslexic brain I wouldn’t be me. I might not have built up the grit, determination, persevere that I have now. I wouldn’t have built my own unique combination of skills that I have now. I wouldn’t be where I am now.

“DON’T worry, you’ll grow out of it”

This phrase bothers me. Not because of any effect that it has had on me. But for the effect that it could have on any children currently going through similar struggles that I did as a child. It implies that there are only negatives consequences with being dyslexic. It implies that you can’t make it as a dyslexic. It implies that if you just wait long enough things will change. It implies that you are a victim. This could rob them of the most important lesson that I learnt: “If I want to see a change in myself, I have to work on it starting today”. I can make a difference to my own life.

That attitude is empowering
Waiting to grow out of something is not
“Don’t worry, you’ll grow out of it.” I’ve got many thoughts on this phrase, but I’ll never come up with a better response than one I heard yesterday. I was watching a video from the BBC and this was how one person answered that statement:

“Grow out of Dyslexia? I’ve grown into it.”

Instantly I understood what he meant. What dyslexics learn much earlier than some people is that we have to learn how we work. We have to learn how we excel. We have to learn what we are passionate about. We cannot compete with the world on its terms, so we have to change the rules of engagement to suit or own unique talents.

I certainly grew into my dyslexia, but I guess I was 26 before this happened. Up until then I was learning how to cope with it. The question on my mind now is how to talk to dyslexic children so that they aren’t put off like I was. To me the answer is simple: I have first hand experience so I can just tell the truth and speak from my heart.

Whoever you are, you have your own unique strengths and weaknesses. Embrace yourself, accept yourself for who you really are and start building on your strengths. Don’t tear yourself apart because of your weaknesses.

Below I’ve included the link to the clip I watched:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/01443782-3e2d-46d0-a429-2b58adb3056a

Remaining Active – It Takes Work

I am considered to be an active person with a positive outlook on life. What most people probably do not realise is that both of these take me a lot of effort to maintain. Maybe for some people these traits come easily, but for me they both involve work.

It is okay to admit that good personality traits take work. This is how we give yourself the permission to get it wrong sometimes. How we can let it slip occasionally without being hard on ourselves

A recent weekend was a good example of my struggle to remain active. Friday being Mountain Day, a public vacation in Japan, made for a 3 day weekend. Not having climbed any mountains this year I decided I’d climb one.

How did I get on?

Attempt 1 – Friday:

Failure to get out of bed prevented me from going. In my mind I used the excuse that I was meeting up with friends in the evening. But in all reality I could have done both had I got up early.

Attempt 2 – Saturday:

Late Friday night I discovered that the Asakusa Toro Nagashi festival was happening Saturday evening. This is a festival that I’d been wanting to go to for a while. So this was a legitimate reason for me not to go – I wouldn’t be back in time.

This highlighted the importance of taking opportunities when they arise. Had I walked on Friday then I wouldn’t have had the conflict on Saturday.

Attempt 3 – only Sunday left:

Sunday morning came and I started slowly. I got up late and my bag wasn’t packed. I began to think that the 2 hour journey wasn’t worth it if I’d only get 5 hours of walking time before bad light stopped play.

(You don’t want to get caught on a mountain in bad light.)

That familiar feeling began to settle over me again – why bother going? I was having to fight inertia.

Happily, however, I forced myself out and headed to catch my train.

It’s silly really, I know that I’ll enjoy myself once I’m out. I love walking – I’m really in my element. Plus, being on my own means I can push myself as hard as I want, take photos whenever I want, and return home as late as I want. So why do I do this? Why do I almost sabotage my own fun?

Ayahiro Waterfall – my children would love this!

As it was, I walked 20km, climbed 3 peaks, and explored 2 waterfalls all within 5 hours.

So how should I view this weekend

1. I climbed a mountain so all is good – I achieved my goal?(This is the all is positive response – no improvement needed)
2. I took three attempts to get it right, so I wasted so much opportunity?(This is the all is negative response – I’ll be hard on myself)
3. I did get out so I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, but I do need to work harder to be more active/better able to beat this inertia that I’ve developed?(The measured response: I got out in the end, so that is positive, but there are areas that I can improve – the honest/kind to myself response)

In the past I would have taken the second option and beaten myself up. This, I can tell you, is neither helpful nor healthy. I had a really great time, you can read about it in another blog post when it is written – so why should I turn that into a negative experience? Is that really how I’d like to remember a weekend when I hung out with friends, went to an amazing and touching festival, and climbed three peaks? I don’t think so.

By the same reasoning, if I see this as a completely positive weekend then I rob myself of the chance for self improvement.

So, for me, it is the middle ground all the way.

What is my conclusion?

It is important that we constantly try to be the best that we can be. And it is important that we constantly try and push this envelope, expand it. But it is also important not to act self-destructively if we fail sometimes. We are not constants, we are not one-dimensional people who always act the same way in every given situation. We are much more complex/complicated than that – and we should bear that in mind the next time we feel the need to be self-critical.

Interestingly, as I typed “critical” so the auto-suggest suggested “cruel” which I think is a very good suggestion. If you are constantly being self-critical then you are being cruel to yourself.

Go out, constantly look for self-improvement but enjoy life!

The path is out there somewhere

Writing for I Am a Triangle

Recently I was asked to write for a new website that supports expat and repatriate communities around the world. It has grown out from a Facebook group which, although only started a few years ago has expanded to over 15,000 members.

This is the first time that I’ve been asked to write for a website! So, as you can imagine, I felt greatly honoured.

The website launch was 8th August 2017 – which coincided with International Infinity Day (IID). Not knowing anything about IID I thought I write about it – so learning something new in the process.

Me being me however, it wasn’t long before I returned to myself. I used myself as an example for how other people could face their fears and do something they’ve want to. I pointed out that believing in ourselves can make things happen. If I can convince just one person to believe in themselves more then I will be happy.

Please read my article – I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it:

http://iamatriangle.com/blog/international-infinity-day/

Life Changing Moment for Dyslexic Child

My life was changed by a chance discussion in 1985 when I was 10. Up until this point I thought I was stupid. My teachers were telling my parents that I was stupid. I thought that I wasn’t very good at school and it was beginning to become a problem. In more honesty, I didn’t know what I was and it was very confusing. I appeared to be intelligent when we had discussions in class, but as soon as it came to writing anything down I failed at it. Horribly.

Story writing at school was terrible, in the time the other children took to write the required page I struggled to write a third of it. I was getting more and more frustrated at school and my school in Birmingham was not doing anything to help. This was back in the 1980s and teachers just didn’t have the time/ability/knowledge/resources to do anything to help children like me. I was beginning to slip through the net – to descend down into who knows what? In a little over a years time I was to move up to Secondary School. My brother already attended a Secondary School in our area and I’d heard the stories. To do well you had to push yourself against the general apathy of the other pupils. If you didn’t have the drive to learn you weren’t going to find it at the school.

I was going to be in trouble and my life was going to go nowhere
(remember I was only 10 years old at this point)

How I saw where my life was headed

Let me fast forward 30 years for a minute. How has my life turned out so far? After graduating from university having studied mechanical engineering I have worked with multi-national companies around the world. I am currently living in my fifth country and enjoying a fast paced and continually changing working environment.

This couldn’t be more different than the future I envisioned as that 10 year old boy.

What happened? What was that discussion that my parents had when I was 10? How did it change my life so dramatically? Let me tell you the story…

The Conversation That Changed my Life

My parents were worried about me. They could see my spark of curiosity, my interest in the world around me. But they could also see that I wasn’t able to do anything at school and they couldn’t understand why. During a discussion about my issues at school they’d been told that I was just stupid.

Luckily for me, they didn’t buy this explanation. Either through parental love or through something that they recognised in me they thought there must be something wrong. But they had no idea what. This was before the internet, before you could ask google or Siri what the problem might be.

So here it was that they found themselves talking to their friends about my situation. Suddenly a lady came over and started talking to them. She said that it sounded like I was dyslexic. She was a teacher who had retired early from the profession so that she could spend more time teaching dyslexic children. She gave them the coping skills they needed to succeed.

Through Margot’s teaching, and being tested by a British pioneer in the field: Dr Margaret Newton I was indeed identified to be Dyslexic. This had an incredible effect on me:

• Suddenly I knew why I was having trouble at school,
• Suddenly I knew that I wasn’t stupid,
• Suddenly my life began to have more purpose.
• Suddenly I had something to fight against!

So what did the headmistress say to my parents when they approached her about my dyslexia?

It’s a middle class disease – a way to appease parents with stupid children that there is something medically wrong with them. It doesn’t exist!
(Word’s of my Primary School Headmistress)

Hmm, so I wasn’t going to get any help from there!

Remember, this was my school that had a duty to help me learn

Luckily for me my parents persevered – they gave me learning opportunities and special tutoring after school out of their own pocket. Margot Lewis gave me private lessons every Wednesday until I went to Secondary School.

I can still remember sitting in the front seat of our family car beside my mother. At times cold until the car’s engine warmed up enough to blow warm air into the cabin. At other times having bright autumn or spring sunlight shining directly in my eyes – unable to block it out as I was too short for the car’s sun visor.

Now that I knew I had a problem I had the desire to do something about it.

Those trips made all the difference to my life. Within a few short months I took and passed an entrance exam to a Secondary School on the other side of the city. Here I found myself surrounded by children who wanted to learn. I developed a healthy rivalry with a number of children in my class – all of us striving to be the best.

I had all this potential and it was about to go to waste. It was about to be flushed down the toilet of an education system that was not geared up to help children like me. I was, however, one of the lucky ones. I was able to achieve despite the education system, not because of it. What about all those other children who had the same amount of potential as me but theirs has gone to waste? How did their lives turn out?

If anybody ever wonders why I see the best in every child. Why I will never write any child off. Why I want to give all children the opportunity to find their niche– this is why.

If every children now has the opportunity to reach their full potential then I would be happy. I’d be happy that we now have education systems that can look past the “default child” and see the individual. But we don’t have that system, and not all children reach their full potential.

Had I not had parents who believed in me, and the luck to meet a teacher who understood my condition, then who knows where I would be right now?

If you find yourself, or your child, in the same position – Never Ever Give Up – fight for a brighter future.

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I include some resources below that I hope you will find encouraging:

“Made By Dyslexia” Organisation

The British Dyslexia Association

 

Believe in Yourself

This week I commented on a blog post written by one of my heroes. Hero might be too strong a word, but I’ve certainly looked up to him since I was about 10 years old. He is a real adventurer, and to a 10 years old adventurers are heroes. What makes this adventurer even more interesting is that he is a successful entrepreneur. He and I are both Dyslexic and we are proud that we are.

The adventures that thrust him into my conscientiousness were:

• Attempted to set the record for crossing the Atlantic by boat (his first attempt ended with the boat sinking),
• Setting a record for crossing the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. This journey ended with both pilots jumping from the balloon and being scooped up out of the Atlantic by the Royal Navy

This was all high drama stuff – very exciting for a 10 year old!

I am talking about Sir Richard Branson – he is a man that I’ve always wanted to meet. His name has been on my dream dinner party guest list for as long as I can remember. As I said, he is Dyslexic and proud of it. I think it is fair to say that his dyslexia made him into the entrepreneur he is.

He writes extensively about many topics. Today I came across a post he wrote entitled: “How Much do you Know about Dyslexia”. I like what he writes and as I believe I know quite a lot about dyslexia I thought I’d set about reading it. Here is a short excerpt from his post:

How much do you know about dyslexia? If I told you that many of history’s most dynamic achievers were dyslexics would you believe me?

Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell – each of these game-changers were dyslexics. In fact, 40 per cent of the world’s self-made millionaires have dyslexia. Still think of it as a disadvantage? (Sir Richard Branson)

I’ve almost commented on a post by Sir Richard before – this time I did. It was a long comment, a novel almost – or at least blog length. I will include my comment in its entirety at the end of this post. Here, however, is a short excerpt from it:

I taught myself coping strategies that were essential for me to succeed.

I still use these coping strategies after almost 20 years in industry. These days, however, people value these as an incredible skill that I have. The ability to take complex information and present it to people in diagrammatic form – pictures. (David Veitch 😉 )

It doesn’t matter who you are or how you have been written off in the past. Everybody can achieve amazing things if they just know how. Find your strengths, find your passion, develop coping mechanisms – maybe one of these with become a strength.

Whatever you do, believe in yourself and never give up.

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I wrote a post about finding my strengths within my weakness – you will find it here

For articles about these daredevil exploits, use the links below:

• Boat Atlantic record attempt (BBC)
• Balloon Atlantic crossing (Belfast Telegraph)

Link to Sir Richard’s blog post: How much do you know about Dyslexia

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Here is my comment to the post in full:

I found out that I was dyslexic when I was 10. This was a light bulb moment for me: “so I’m not stupid!”

School was hard work, as was university. Everything took me longer but I was determined not to be held back. At least I knew there was a real reason why it was harder for me.

The further I moved through the British education system, the better I coped with my dyslexia, but the less creative I became (I didn’t realise this until afterwards).

I taught myself coping strategies that were essential for me to succeed.

I still use these coping strategies after almost 20 years in industry. These days, however, people value these as an incredible skill that I have. The ability to take complex information and present it to people in diagrammatic form – pictures.

These days my creativity has returned. I do photography, I draw, and I write a blog. Sometimes about my expat life, sometimes about personal development, and sometimes about creativity.

Due to my school experience I feel passionately that schooling systems can let children down.

I wish it could be easier for dyslexic children – they deserve the right to know that they can be successful. But then it is not only dyslexic children that are let down by schools.

Dyslexia doesn’t define me, but it is always a part of me. It made me who I am today – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Spartan Ninjas Teamwork

Last weekend I did my first Spartan Race and I loved it. I like running, training, and doing physical activities. I also like doing those fun activities that are normally only reserved for children. So with its climbing walls and mud this Spartan Race is right up right up my street.

This was the first Spartan Race to be held in Japan. Therefore the De Sena family was over here, helping to mobilise the masses. Living as I do in the expat community in Tokyo meant that I got the chance to join the De Sena’s team – The Spartan Ninja’s.

The Spartan Ninja’s – picture copy-write Henna Veitch

From what I have seen, Joe De Sena is on a mission. This is to invigorate as many people as possible and get them moving again. It is not difficult to see that huge demographics of the population are moving less than their parents or grandparents did. I’ve written before that I always feel older when I don’t train. About ten years ago I put this down to the simple act of aging. But four years later, at the age of 35 I decided that I was too young to feel old – I wanted my life back.

I have been a work in progress ever since, researching as much as I can on the subject. While I personally find Christopher McDougall’s writing style off putting, I loved the contents of his book “Natural Born Heroes”. His investigation into people training themselves to move. My personal favourite is Erwan Le Carre – I suggest you check out some of his videos. Once you’ve seen the videos it’s difficult not to be inspired? In fact, it was due to this book that I started Parkour lessons – eventually giving myself a black eye just in time for my 40^th birthday!

With George – picture copy-write Henna Veitch

At the Start – picture copy-write Henna Veitch

So, this weekend I got to be a Spartan – and what did I find? I found that deep inside I was still that small boy. The one who loved nothing better than crawling through mud and climbing trees. I loved every minute of it, having no hesitation in dropping down into the muddy water to crawl under the barbed wire!

Barbed-wire (that’s me in the middle) – picture copy-write Arun Veitch

I found that I am better able to tackle some obstacles than I’d thought. When I emptied my bucket full of stones back into the pit I couldn’t believe I’d finished the obstacle. It had been like a walk in the park. Don’t get me wrong, I am no Hercules. I couldn’t lift the atlas ball. I heaved… it stayed routed to the ground. It would have given me my first set of burpees had it not been for Francis, a fellow Ninja. He helped me carry it while George helped Missy carry hers.

Picture copy-write Arun Veitch

Picture copy-write Arun Veitch

Picture copy-write Arun Veitch

(Me in action – pictures copy-write Arun Veitch)

But physical strength was not the only thing I found out there on the field. I found a comradery amongst my fellow Spartans. I witnessed countless acts during the course of my race – it was us against the course. Team members helped each other, strangers helped each other – together we all got round the course.

Over half way round and still smiling – picture copy-write Arun Veitch

 

Thanks to the upbringing my parents had given me, I know that if I can start something then I can finish it. I once limped round 11 km of a half-marathon course having twisted my knee. At the end somebody congratulated me for not dropping out and it stopped me in my tracks. Why would I dropout when I could still walk? The thought had never occurred to me.

The obstacle that I was most proud of was one that I didn’t even complete. This was the rope climb.

There were some obstacles that we completely new for me. That for me is the whole point of a Spartan Race. To meet a new challenge and just deal with it. I have never climbed a rope before – not even when I was at school. My preparation for this obstacle was limited to watching the Spartan Race techniques video! That was it. So armed with this knowledge there I stood at the bottom of the rope. I can tell you that these aren’t short. I was going to have to climb 3 or 4 times my height to hit that bell. After a couple of false starts I got the technique “sorted” and managed to get half way up. I was ecstatic – half way up a rope is more rope than I’ve ever climbed in my live!

All things considered I was very pleased with myself, especially with my 7 year old daughter watching. I just had time to call out to her before slipping down the rope and giving myself a rope burn on my leg – so more technique training needed then.

UPDATE

Continuing my theme for constant improvement I have just found another Spartan Video showing three rope climbing techniques. I used the first technique during this Spartan Race – will now find a way to practice these techniques to find my favourite: https://youtu.be/53WgYmEwGh4

All that was left now was to cross the finish line and bask in the glory of it all! What a great event.

Job done – picture copy-write Arun Veitch

 

With George

With Missy

With the Ladies Winner

(Me in action – pictures copy-write Henna Veitch)

 

My next goal is The Beast in July. Here I will have to rely on strangers helping each other – I’ll be running alone!

Preparing for Spartan

Before a Half Marathon

After the Half Marathon

It has been a busy week for so many reasons:

• I’ve been busy at work,
• I’ve been busy at home,
• My blog has had its busiest week ever (most views),
• I’ve been going to bed too late,
• My son had a birthday celebration,
• My daughter had a sleepover,
• We had a school talent show on Saturday
• I’ve been preparing for my first Spartan Race – it’s now only 7 days away

I’m tired just thinking about it. Today is Sunday and we are all taking it easy – including my blog which has only had 1 view so far today (down from 154 on Friday!)

As for the preparation for Spartan, I am happy with how it has been going. All except my lack of sleep – I must resolve this this week. I restarted my strength training regime about six weeks ago. I have got past the feelings of soreness after each session. Over the years I’ve learnt that I only suffer from the soreness that a lot of people have after a training session if:

• I am restarting my strength training after a pause, or
• I do not strength train often enough each week

I know that some people are put off strength training because they don’t like this soreness that comes one or two days afterwards. I can understand this, it isn’t the greatest feeling in the world. If you only strength train once a week you are likely to feel this after every training session.

I strength train four days a week – twice on my upper body, once my core, and once on my legs. Most of these seasons leave me absolutely exhausted, often with muscles twitching and shaking. In fact in the past I’ve found it difficult to climb stairs after some of these sessions. I’m in no doubt that these sessions are building muscle – but they do not giving me soreness.

The same is true for running. I’ve run up to 30 km in a day, and I’ve always remained active the days afterwards. My first half marathon was run in excessive heat – but I listened to my body and ran a speed that it was happy with. I finished the race exhausted but in good spirits. Fast forward three years and this time I ran the same race with a certain finishing time in mind. I was not prepared enough, having missed too many running sessions during the preceding six months. The result was that I went out too fast for my body to hold for the whole race. I crossed the finish line – but I had not enjoyed the experience like I had the first time.

The secret seems to be to move your body constantly. Not once a week at the gym – but every day. After my first half marathon I went for a short and slow 3km run the next day – just to keep myself loose. It really felt good. After that last half marathon I couldn’t walk properly for a week afterwards.

This is in my mind while I prepare for this, my first Spartan race. It would be easy, much too easy, to get caught up in the adrenaline moment and set off at full speed – burning through precious energy too quickly. My aim is to remain composed and set off slowly. I want to enjoy this event – enjoy the experience – enjoy the teamwork. Life should be enjoyed – I’ll let the elite racers push themselves to their limits this time…

Spartan Life Experience

On the summit of Mount Fuji

I realised a long time ago that living in a foreign country gives me life opportunities that I wouldn’t have got had I stayed at home. Over the years I have ice skated on the sea, heard wolfs howling while boating on a lake at midnight, been north of the Arctic Circle, taken part in a fire walking festival, and climbed Mount Fuji.

Soon I will be able to chalk up another expat life experience. I will attend a Dinner with Joe Desena, the founder and CEO of Spartan. For those of you who do not know what Spartan is, I have included a link to their website at the bottom of this post.

Some of you will know that I am a keen runner, and have dabbled with body weight training. About 6 years ago I toyed with the idea of running an obstacle race in Malmo, Sweden. It was a short 8 km race but it was the obstacles that interested me. Being a runner is better than being inactive – but being able to do an obstacle course with all round body strength is so much better. Think Tarzan and you get the idea.

All of my childhood exercise had only built leg muscles, I had never developed real upper body strength. This, I believe, is one of the reasons that I started having back trouble when I was 18 – without strong muscles to support my back it was left more vulnerable. I did the worst thing possible once I hurt myself – I stopped exercising all together.

I learnt my lesson almost 20 years later and after a year of combined running and functional weight training I felt more than 10 years younger. I had boundless energy, no pain, and amazing flexibility. Anyway, back to this obstacle race in Sweden. A friend was entering and invited me to take part with her. If I remember correctly she did amazingly well, finishing within the top 10 female finishers. I was really tempted – but the weekend after I was signed up for my first half marathon and I didn’t want to do anything to risk that.

What I know about Joe Desena is that he wouldn’t have said no. He would have taken part – probably carrying his kettlebell with him and finding other ways to make the course harder for himself. Looking back on my life I see I have done and experienced a lot. But I also know that I could have done more. I cannot say how many experiences have I missed by playing it safe.

How will I respond if Joe suggests that I train with him after this event…?

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Further Information

The Body Weight training regime that I followed was developed by Mark Lauren. There is a book “You are Your Own Gym” and an app which I found very useful. You can check out his website here: https://www.marklauren.com/

Here is a link to Spartan Race: http://www.spartanrace.uk/en

I was inspired to write this article after reading the following post about Joe Desena: https://life.spartan.com/post/why-is-this-man-carrying-a-kettlebell

While I was reading the article above I was immediately transported back 30 years ago to my grandfather’s living room. My family was in the Horticulture business and my uncle was talking about how people would:

• go out and buy appliances or tools to make their daily lives less physically demanding.
• then go out to a gym to get the exercise they could already have had, had they not had these tools.

Striking the Match

These days I have an almost furious desire to create. I find that reading no longer does it for me. Something has changed, something inside of me. Now I have this quiet, persistent, part of my brain refusing to sit still and do nothing. It is urging me to stop living in somebody else’s creation and to start creating my own.

I have always been able to lose myself in a book – submerging myself under the waves with divers, feeling the exhilaration of climbing that mountain peak, tasting the banquet. The same has been true for personal development books and articles – I could devour these and soak up their knowledge.

Now I feel that reading has been preventing me from taking action. From making changes that I want to make. We all have a limited number of hours in the day, and we owe it to ourselves to make best use of those hours. Time spent reading about changes is time taken away from making those changes. But it is more than just that. Sometimes gaining knowledge through research can prevent us from doing the thing that we are researching – but more on that later.

A few weeks ago I experienced a sensation that I haven’t felt for a long time. It was a hunger, a desire for more. Over the last few weeks this feeling has been growing.

Where did this hunger come from? It is the culmination of a small number of events that took place over the last two months. One thing they all have in common is that I wouldn’t have experienced them had I not re-located to Japan. As I have written before (Smashing the Comfort Zone), stepping out of your comfort zone leads to unprecedented personal growth. It is impossible for us to know what direction this growth will take us.

The time to act is now

One way it lead to me was to start this blog – almost a year ago. My very first post (Mastering the art of non-Perfection) neatly describes that the time to act is now. Being concerned with perfection can delay the action from taking place. I realise that reading about a subject sometimes increases my desire to be perfect – and that is the killer of action.

A desire to be perfect is the killer of action

Another consequence of reading too much is that you can find out about too many things that might go wrong. Once again this can prevent people from trying something new … just in case.

You could describe the events that happened as my “perfect storm”, my call to action. Previously I would have described them as the wind in my sails, but this time is different. This time I am different. This time they have lit a match, they have caused a spark that has ignited this fire inside me.

What those events were will have to wait for another post. All that I will say is that I could have missed all of them. They were not huge life altering moments but taken together they have resulted in so much more. Each of them happened while I was present in the moment. I was really concentrating on what I was doing.

It just goes to show the importance of being observant and open to new ideas.