Building a House

Last summer, one of my friends suggested that I blog on the following topic:

"You refuse to do things half-assed. Why? What's good and bad about this mentality?"

I've never been able to just do things for the sake of doing them. For example, I would never do an ironman triathlon without putting in a great deal of time and energy in trying to be excellent. Because I don't have enough time at this point, I haven't taken on that project.


I've finally figured out how to answer the question.  When I was in high school, I had a teacher who incorporated life lessons into our Latin class by telling stories. One of the stories stuck with me, and I've used it several times as an example of why pursuing excellence is important.  I'm copy/pasting it here:

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. 

He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. 

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

Life is a 'do it yourself' project. We are constantly building our lives and experiences, and therefore ourselves. Of course, no one ever does anything perfectly, and we can always improve -- but if you're not putting in your best effort with the tools, knowledge and time that you have then you'll start having regrets and wishing you had done things differently.  No one wants to be in that place.

Say What?

As ScriptEd continues to grow, and as I continue to get involved in helping to organize other passion projects, I have started to think a lot about communication and how very, very hard it is to do well.

There are lots of reasons people don't communicate well.  Some people don't have enough experience to understand why explicit communication is important.  Other people don't want to be responsible for hurting, offending or disappointing and then might withhold a full story.

When we're not clear and explicit in our communication, we usually run into trouble.  People can start working hard in a completely wrong direction, or inadvertently offend and annoy other people. When people misunderstand expectations and ground rules, small problems can turn into bigger ones pretty quickly.

Here are some communication strategies I try to implement to make sure that projects go smoothly when I'm working with teams of people.  (Teacher friends: these might sound a lot like classroom management techniques).  These are also good strategies for life in general, not just for the work place!

1. Establish ground rules.  Think about a time you've been chastised for doing something that you had no idea you were doing wrong. Did you feel defensive? Embarrassed? For example, several ScriptEd staff members have recently gotten scolded by WeWork staff members for not following certain etiquette rules on using our shared kitchen, but these new rules and norms were never communicated to us.  Being proactive and establishing the ground rules for how to operate in a group or relationship is a great way to make sure everyone is on the same page and can help avoid these awkward and annoying interactions. Never assume someone will know the ground rules without first communicating the rules to them.

2. Call something out directly and as quickly as possible.  If someone does something you don't like or is out of line with whatever your ground rules are, do not let it slide. Address it and enforce (or establish, if necessary) ground rules quickly and consistently. If an action isn't called out, the person might believe that the rule isn't really that important, or might not understand why the behavior is corrected sometimes and not others.

3. Talking is always better than emails or texting.  It's so easy to read tone into writing that does not actually represent what the writer means to communicate. If you are questioning the writer's instruction or intent, talk it out.

4.  Re-iterate instructions / to-do items / plans to ensure everyone is on the same page.  After a meeting, discussion or exchange, synthesize and summarize with everyone. This will help ensure everyone has a common understanding.

5. Try to not react negatively when someone gives you bad news.  This is a big one. If a one of my employees tells me something has gone wrong, the absolute worst thing I can do is overreact or get angry. If I do this, it's pretty likely that bad news will be kept from me in the future.  Be supportive and thank the person for bringing the issue to your attention, then work on solving the issue.  Doing this will help ensure that people are being open and honest.

Why You Need to Go to Strong Like Bull Training Camps

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I have wanted to go on a bike vacation for as long as I've been doing triathlons.  Finally, last week, I did it! It was incredible.

I spent the week training at Strong Like Bull Training Camps in and around Antequera, Spain.  I am tired, sore and on a huge high from the week. Before I get into all the reasons it was great and why all my triathlete/cyclist friends should go next year, I want to add a note about why this type of intense training is a great vacation for me: I check email compulsively and have a lot of trouble detaching from work. Extreme physical exertion makes it nearly impossible for me to focus on work. I can't (safely) check emails when I'm riding a bike, and I was so exhausted at the end of each day that I didn't have the mental bandwidth to really focus on anything too heavy.  This type of training is one of the only ways I can give myself a mental break.  If you're like me, I highly recommend doing an athletic vacation.

Now, all the reasons YOU should join me next year! (I'm aiming for to do both weeks of the camp next year!)

1. It's ridiculously beautiful. The South of Spain is unbelievably gorgeous. Just look at the pictures below. Now imagine yourself biking all over this. There really is nothing better than having your heart race while you're riding a bike in a beautiful place. It's basically euphoria.

2. You'll probably get into the best shape you've ever been in.  Between the bike rides, the runs and the swims, I exercised for around 30 hours last week. This is the most exercise I've ever done in one week (including as a swimmer in college). By the end of the week I was considerably faster on the bike. We also got to swim in a beautiful 25 meter pool and go on a few runs.  This is a great way to start a triathlon season.

3. It's very, very affordable.  The ticket price for seven nights is $1,285, but if you are coached by John Hirsch (or if you register early, I think..), the price is closer to $1,000. This is all inclusive -- the coached rides, the dinners (with lots and lots of wine), lunches, breakfasts, support van, a place to sleep, etc.  It also includes transportation to and from the airport (and if you're me, two additional round trips to Malaga to get bike parts because pieces went missing during my travel).  Compare this to Backroads Spain Andalucia -- they charge around $4,000 for only five nights. It's almost cheaper for me to be at the camp for a week than it is for me to live in Brooklyn for a week.

4. It's run well.  John and company have been running this camp for eleven years and they've got their logistics down. With fifteen different people at a camp, there are a lot of competing interests, and they were able to accommodate us all pretty well.

5. Make new friends who are as into cycling/triathlon as you are. The camp is run out of a villa in Antequera where all of the athletes live for the week. It's like being at summer camp for adults who love endurance events.  Nerding out about athletics is totally acceptable and encouraged.

6. Learn new things. Despite having been a triathlete for five years, there is still a ton I don't know about the sport. There were a handful of athletes and coaches at the camp who have done triathlons and cycling professionally, so I learned a ton from them. For example, I didn't fully understand the importance of hydration and nutrition for long workouts, and learned a lot about how and when I should eat if my body is moving for more than two hours.  I also learned about descending hills properly, drafting and riding in a group.  I even learned some new tricks for open water swimming.

Basically, if you are a cyclist or a triathlete looking for a great way to start your season, you would be silly not to go to this camp.

Here are the photos!

Sunset

A Room With a View!