American rapper Rakim, is one half of golden age hip hop duo, Eric B. & Rakim. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled rappers of all time. In his book "Sweat the Technique", Rakim said when he wrote a lyric he wanted not just the applause, but to educate.
How often are people on socials, even on Linked In, posting for applause? Rarely do we find people sharing to educate or add value to the reader. Most post, the few write. Rakim sets the bar... do we post for applause or do we really believe what we share can educate? It's a useful audit. Wait till people start to rationalise this one!
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On entering the gym, the first thing to see was a table of lollipops and chocolates. The owner said "Oh, it's Valentine's Day." Walking into the boardroom for a group that's there to enhance the life of leaders, they are serving choc muffins, cakes and sporadically down the table of the boardroom are lollies. The organiser said "Ah well that's what we always do, it's what the young staff member got from the shop." We can rationalise these things anyway we like, but rationalisation is a trap. You can justify it all you like. But downstream the future you is saying why would you do that? Downstream is where rationalisation really hurts. Rarely do we consider our future you. It's easy to rationalise why we take calls at our kids soccer match. Why we accept calls or check emails on holidays. It's easy to rationalise why we miss our morning workout. It's easy to rationalise eating rubbish at the Qantas Club. It's easy to rationalise sitting on a train scrolling mindlessly through socials. It's easy to rationalise poor behaviour or things you know aren't going to empower your future you, make you better or take you towards your goals. Short term gratification rationalised at the expense of long term damage. To understand how this rationalisation works, read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, a book about the Resistance. It's why in so many areas of our life we find ourselves struggling ... where we give in to the resistance, and one of it's key soldiers is rationalisation. Soon those chocs at the gym will be Easter Eggs, then Halloween... it's a gym! Great snap, thanks Nick Fewings.
This guy would often reply "It's the best I can do, I've given it my best". It made me reflect on a conversation for The Mojo Sessions with Dr Jeff Spencer a high-performance coach who works with the likes of Tiger Woods, U2, Nike, a host of Tour de France champions and even Richard Branson. Jeff said when we think we have given our best we are actually creating a perceived limit by saying we think we know what our best is. Quite often it's not your best, it's what you're willing to do, not what you are capable of. Our language matters. Many high-performance coaches will say that we don't really know our own potential and fall short often by giving what we believe is our best, but in actual fact we are probably sitting at 40%, or at the most 50%, of our true capacity. Language sets limits. Don't set limits on yourself by seeing or believing in what is your best. This is particularly important with our children, which is why we should praise and commend the process with kids not the outcome. Hear the full conversation with Dr Jeff Spencer Ep 210 at https://shorturl.at/mzHW6
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