Unleash the Monkey Army

It's about giving yourself permission to fail. Not wishing to fail, that would make you some sort of nonce. (Normally I would apologise if that offends you but I'm not going to - because you surrender the right to take offence when you sell your soul for a handful of praise, some empty words from hollow friends and a plastic medal) You're giving yourself permission so that you can dare yourself to succeed. Cheesy? Maybe, but then you've been dared to do more stupid sounding things than that...and done them! It's alright to come off second best if you've put your heart and soul into it. Actually, that's a half-truth. If you wanted it enough to put your heart and soul into it, coming off second best will hurt like gravel burn with a lemon juice poultice but you can learn and you can adapt to that. Besides, coming off second best even though you've safe-guarded your ego by only giving it a half-arsed effort will still hurt. But it will hurt in the deep ...

Yes, feel the fear, embrace the fear, have a one night stand with the fear and then dump it for the thrill of the game! And other moral lessons I shouldn't teach my sister or daughter! But I've always treated people with respect, it's just fear that you should treat like a cheap skank...acknowledge that it is there, recognise that it might have some appeal on the surface (and heck, it probably makes some people happy) but once you let it in, you'll find it deeply dissatisfying! Not to mention the long-term effects you may find that it has left behind! A little fear helps to keep us alive. But like anything, you can get too much of a good thing. You don't have to enjoy it, but mastering the whispering naysayer offers freedom and accomplishment.

I was asked recently about carbohydrate loading and my first reaction was "don't" but I reined that in and asked the sensible questions: what sport, what level of activity/duration, what standard of event/competition? The response was amateur rugby, so I reverted to my first answer! However, this answer seems a little trite and unhelpful. So I got to thinking (not unusual) and what started life as a short answer rapidly escalated into a lengthier one. I'll explain not only my reasoning but go some way to tightening up the definition of the term itself. That last act in itself may go some way to leading to your own conclusion as it the term is frequently abused which I feel leads to much of the misapplication. I have skipped some of the physiology in the interests of not extending the answer any more than I already have. I have tried to be faithful to the science but by skimping have probably done it a massive disservice. If more information/clarity would be useful fee...

Put your ego in harm's way. Be in a position where failure is possible but without accepting that as the final position. Be open to the suggestion that what you thought was your limit isn't - even though it does a more than passable impression of it! The growth, the actual development occurs at those outer limits of comfort. Well, in the rest periods afterwards in truth. You take yourself to your limits and stay there for a while, occasionally darting out and returning quickly - like a child at the edge of a pool of darkness, nudging into the gloom and jumping back, heart pumping fast enough to burst out of your chest. Having established that you can make it that far, you go a little further the next time. You take your body out into the dark, introducing it to what you require. Introductions over, you relax and your body, newly aware of expectations sets about readjusting itself, hypercompensating to accommodate new expectations. Until you get comfortable with not being comfor...

When you think about it, apart from alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, sugar and ego-onanism, quitting is easy!   Every day there are only 24 hours. Some are packed to the gunwales, some are padded out with fluff and filler. But every minute of every hour seems to compete for attention (or slip past under the radar, trying desperately not to be noticed!). Your best laid plans gang aglay with terrifying ease and the speed of a pyromaniac cheetah carrying a tank of nitrogen. There are a thousand and one reasons at any moment to not do something - whether it is deliver the difficult message or to avoid training or not order that pizza!   Every reason appears to have merit. Each has a weight and force of its own which will make it seem insurmountable or incontrovertible. In truth though, you only need one reason to do it. One good "why" to set you straight. That's all it need but too often we are blinded by the sandstorm of negativity to pick it out. Maybe...

I went to a gig last week and thoroughly enjoyed myself! I found myself, both before and since, being a little coy about who I went to see. It's almost like it's a dirty little secret but I'm not ashamed of the fact that I really enjoy Iron Maiden, it's more that I wear an ill-fitting mask of moderate behaviour and attitude that saying the name "Iron Maiden" seems to jar with! Anyway, over the last few days I have been boring people silly with the fact that I had a great time. One of my stock answers has been that whether you like their music or not, you must see them perform. Technical ability, energy, passion and intensity. Their age to one side, you have to admire the performance on it's own merits. It occurred to me during one of the latest iterations that actually, these are my main causes for excitement in any field- technical execution, energy, passions and intensity. It's been a relatively consistent theme for me. Interview question to a younge...

I started thinking that the journey home is the worst part of any trip. You have left behind the purpose for the journey and all that brought and you are not yet back in your comfort zone. Actually though, there are a worse things in life. Sure, it's not ideal. You're stuck with the morals of the vendors and how rapacious they are in their sale of refreshments but why should this bit be worse than any other? But it has some parallels with life for many of us. We're too close to look back with fondness on the recent memories, more fixed on the fact that they've come to an end than with the simple joy of having had the experience. And we are too far away from home to feel wholly relaxed, even if that's where we want to be right now. Where are those Star Trek transporters? I have the phone which is capable of more than I ever dreamed possible and lasers are pretty common, so where are the transporters? It is possible that I might feel entirely different if this was a ...