Sometimes when you're about to be schooled.. you learn a lesson
Usually I love watch international rugby. I have been watching England since I first stepped into a gym back in 1986 (no TV at home). But the England of recent years I've found boring plodding fridges that completely lacked any passion or drive.
So yesterday when the game was on I went to the gym to train. As I finished the first part of my workout I noticed England were 15-0 up. I did my abs and the score was now 15-14, oh well. I went for a swim and came out into the bar as the score was 38-21. So I went home and set my Sky+ to record the replay at 3am or something similar.
England were 12-1 underdogs. The All blacks came out of the gate ferociously fast and I couldn't see the plodding fridges competing. Then the fridges turned into tigers scrapping and ferociously attacking the men in black. Where England are usually ponderously slow in recycling the ball, they seemed to outpace the Kiwis.
Sometimes this happens I know when I played American football, I only really excelled against the toughest opposition, something seemed to happen and I could play at a level I don't really possess on a day to day basis.
Perhaps THAT'S the answer to how we can go from average to excellence, don't go the plodding route, go straight to the top of the world and be world class.
Is that what the true greats actually do?
Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Laura Trott are three names that just appeared. One second I'd never heard of them then they were Olympic champion, multiple Olympic champions.
I've always said this, don't go the standard route if you want to be exceptional, because you're now amongst the masses struggling to break through. You have to step off the path, look to the top of your mountain and go the Offroad route.
A month or so ago I met with an editor at the Black Library, I'd broken virtually every rule and as I came to realise over the weekend I'd tried unknowingly to be too clever. Then they talked in a seminar about writing for the Black Library (which is the 5th biggest Science Fiction and Fantasy Published in the world). Every so often they have open submissions, I'd met a guy who had been rejected over 30 times. Over 3000 people submit in these windows. 100 are considered good, 15 good enough to get an email reply, 1 might get chosen IF there is a space in the next anthology.
That gives you 0.03% of a chance of being considered good. A 0.005% of getting a reply, and 0.00033% chance that you might be the one that gets in.
Almost lottery ticket odds.
A month ago I stepped off that path. I've spent the last month climbing trees, wading through rivers, climbing mountains, I can still see my peak someway off, but as I look behind me I can see 3000 eager submitters with only the smallest chance of succeeding, snaking up a path to a large castle, on the other side a sheer drop. Some might survive and do the whole journey again, some might survive 30 times.
Oh well. My peak is over there. You'll soon be part of that.
So yesterday when the game was on I went to the gym to train. As I finished the first part of my workout I noticed England were 15-0 up. I did my abs and the score was now 15-14, oh well. I went for a swim and came out into the bar as the score was 38-21. So I went home and set my Sky+ to record the replay at 3am or something similar.
England were 12-1 underdogs. The All blacks came out of the gate ferociously fast and I couldn't see the plodding fridges competing. Then the fridges turned into tigers scrapping and ferociously attacking the men in black. Where England are usually ponderously slow in recycling the ball, they seemed to outpace the Kiwis.
Sometimes this happens I know when I played American football, I only really excelled against the toughest opposition, something seemed to happen and I could play at a level I don't really possess on a day to day basis.
Perhaps THAT'S the answer to how we can go from average to excellence, don't go the plodding route, go straight to the top of the world and be world class.
Is that what the true greats actually do?
Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Laura Trott are three names that just appeared. One second I'd never heard of them then they were Olympic champion, multiple Olympic champions.
I've always said this, don't go the standard route if you want to be exceptional, because you're now amongst the masses struggling to break through. You have to step off the path, look to the top of your mountain and go the Offroad route.
A month or so ago I met with an editor at the Black Library, I'd broken virtually every rule and as I came to realise over the weekend I'd tried unknowingly to be too clever. Then they talked in a seminar about writing for the Black Library (which is the 5th biggest Science Fiction and Fantasy Published in the world). Every so often they have open submissions, I'd met a guy who had been rejected over 30 times. Over 3000 people submit in these windows. 100 are considered good, 15 good enough to get an email reply, 1 might get chosen IF there is a space in the next anthology.
That gives you 0.03% of a chance of being considered good. A 0.005% of getting a reply, and 0.00033% chance that you might be the one that gets in.
Almost lottery ticket odds.
A month ago I stepped off that path. I've spent the last month climbing trees, wading through rivers, climbing mountains, I can still see my peak someway off, but as I look behind me I can see 3000 eager submitters with only the smallest chance of succeeding, snaking up a path to a large castle, on the other side a sheer drop. Some might survive and do the whole journey again, some might survive 30 times.
Oh well. My peak is over there. You'll soon be part of that.
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