Jens Voigt: THIS Old Guy RULES

Jens Voigt, 42

Source: Veloimages/steephill.tv

He'll be 43 on 17 September.  On 18 September he'll be trying for the new record on the "Magic Hour".   What is that, you might ask?  I know I did.  It's one of the oldest records in professional cycling.

What Voigt will try to do is beat the hour record of 49.7 kilometers held by Ondrej Sosenka. The record attempt is scheduled to occur on September 18 in the Vélodrome Suisse in Grenchen.

Below is a piece I wrote a while back about Jens, under the title "Old Guys Rule".  Yes they do.

Go Jens GO!

-- Jens Voigt has been racing his bike a long time.  What started out as a means for his parents to help him expend some of his enormous reservoir of energy as a youth, right up today, he likes nothing more than to peddle his two-wheel stead to the front and ride faster than everyone else.

This season Voigt demonstrated once again that his basic philosophy encapsulated by the simple phrase he tells himself when racing, "Shut up, legs!" is still effective.

He took the 66th win of his career in May 2013 at the Tour of California.  He was 41 at the time.

Asked if his innate racing sense is something he can mentor a younger rider to do, Voigt replied, “I have a big engine; I can handle a big work load. I’m willing to work hard. I think this instinct is just part of who I am. It’s hard to teach because the decision-making is done in just a split second. It’s like a voice talking in your head, saying, ‘Go now! Go now! Go now!’ And then listening to the voice. I try to teach the boys to be brave, be courageous. On Sunday night if you have some energy left, it’s too late. There is no stage on Monday. Get it all out now. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be intimidated.”

Last year after the California time- trial which had Voigt on the podium in second place, he commented that he enjoyed every moment because he didn’t know how many more opportunities he would have to be there before his career was over. But last August he produced a stage win in Colorado and won a race in Germany two weeks ago, along with today’s win, making podiums look like a regular thing for 41-year old Voigt. 

“I like to call this the ‘Indian Summer’ of my career, not the twilight,” he laughed. “Think how beautiful it is in Indian Summer. That’s where I am, in the Indian Summer of my career. Yes, I hate to admit it, I am getting older, and my career will come to an end one day. For the second year in a row I am the oldest licensed holder in the world. The oldest bike rider! But age is just a number, apparently. 

"I think that you can’t only talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. If you can do that, there is no reason to stop or slow down or give it up.” Asked about earning himself another year’s contract with the win, he answered an emphatic, “I hope so! If someone asks me if I am ready to sign again for another year, I say ‘Hell yeah!’ ”

Great attitude, great life approach, great inspiration for us all.  Thanks, Jens!

Lean In: The Key to Personal Growth & Happiness

Turning 30 or 40 (or 50) and finding yourself evaluating your life journey?  Wondering how you might cope better with the inevitable challenges life presents? 

Here are some tidbits you can use to make things a little better...even GOOD.  
Fundamentally, it's a good idea to "lean-in" rather than run away from challenges, obstacles, disappointments.  You can learn much from those things that don't turn out the way we'd like, the way we hoped, the way we expected.   Rather than avoid, ignore, or deny reality, face it with open eyes and open mind. 

Similarly, don't shy away from things that are new, uncomfortable, have you uncertain, that seem scary.  These sorts of situations are the very situations that will help you battle complacency, step beyond your safety zone, and have you continuing to learn and live deeply.  Indeed, you're most alive when you are coping, a bit anxious, stretching to go further.

The trick is in the attitude with which you confront, face the adversity. Personal growth, knowledge, insight comes from being in these very spaces -- in the thick, suffering, lose, struggle, hardship -- that's where you show what you're made of, that's where you shine. 

At it's core, the proper attitude to have includes an acceptance that struggle is universal, suffering is universal. It's simply part of the human condition. And as more than one wise person has said, by accepting, you transcend and are not longer chained down by the difficulty.

Profound experiences result from that effort, that attitude of acceptance, openness, and commitment to adjust and grow.

I shared these "five plus one" ideas I've collected with a friend recently and now share here to summarize actionable items that can help:

1)  Use the usual life benchmarks as guides, not measurements for success in life, work or personal

2)  Strive for a resilient attitude in the face of adversity -- this will help create positive perspective, impressions, outcomes.

3)  Be ready to respond to new opportunities and have the courage to do so

4)  Be hopeful so that you're ready for those opportunities

5)  Keep learning

Bonus:  Be Happy (it's a choice!) 
--

So next time you're faced with adversity, pause for a moment, take a few deep breaths, allow any negative emotion to pass through you, and lean-in -- you, and everyone around you, will be better off.

A Fresh Look at PTO: A Purposeful Minimalist Goes On Vacation

On average, annual "paid time off" in the United States (PTO in business-speak vernacular) is about 10 days.  Some people don't even take THAT much time away from work during the year, aside from holidays.  

Link this fact with the ever-increasing pace of life and work, the increased awareness of the importance of having leisure time, unplugging, etc., and the rise of the minimalist movement in the face of it all and what might you conclude?  

It makes a lot of sense to approach time off from work very deliberately, very thoughtfully.  We need to be sure we vacation "on purpose".   

If it's true in everyday life, then the so-called "minimalist approach" makes even more sense for time away from work, in my view.  

We start with a shift in mind-set:  you're on VACATION now, LEAVE, TIME OFF...pick your term, the point is, it's time to forget about your work life for a while.  

The pending projects, the accounts receivable, the deliverables, the problems...but also the big wins, the successes, the long fought-for successes.  It's time to turn off that part of your life for a bit.  This process takes effort, it must be done on purpose, as noted above.

When you leave your office or close your work laptop for the last time before vacation, mentally, actively file away everything that's pending at work until you get back.  It'll be there, don't worry.  

It helps to make a list of everything you have pending BEFORE you go, a day or so before you leave, updated as necessary on that final day, so you can re-engage upon your return.

And then FORGET ABOUT IT.  That's Step One.

Step Two requires equal purpose:  make a special effort to focus on what matters during your time off.  It's best to think a little bit about it off and on in the weeks or days leading up to the beginning of the vacation.  

What do you want to accomplish? What's the main goal (or goals) during your time off?  

In this particular case study (my upcoming trip to the beach with the family), I've got a clear idea of what I want to accomplish.

A few words sum things up nicely.

Relax and Unplug (from the day to day work mindset, attitude, pace).

Rest (naps as appropriate).

Reconnect (and go deeper, with the little things that make parenting and married life worth while). 

Recharge (naps as appropriate once again, but also allowing my mind to slow down, and wander).

To accomplish these four basic, inter-related goals, I know it will help for me to whittle down to basic needs, wants, requirements for the days off.  

What will be left will be my three little kids, my lovely wife, extended family, and time in an awesome, peaceful place.  

Taking purposeful steps to simplify will create a frame for the rest to happen.  As life unfolds each day, I'm going to watch it do so in slow motion, participate deeply therein, and soak up the moments.   

The following list is one of my preparation steps, my humble "minimalist" packing list for the five day family vacation at the beach:

1 sun hat
1 ball cap
1 hooded sweatshirt
1 water-resistant shell jacket
1 long-sleeve shirt
1 pair of warm/fleece pants
2 pair of shorts
3 tee shirts (plan to hand wash once)
3 underwear (plan to hand wash once)
1 pair of socks (plan to hand wash as needed)
1 pair of shoes
1 pair of flip flops
reading glasses
sun glasses
toiletries
reader
iPhone* for journaling notes, morning/evening news, emergency calls; 
*Important: NOT for emails
--

And so with just two days to go until me and the family drives south, this little outline and "statement of purpose" is my personal effort to get every drop of delicious value from this vacation.   

I'm fixin' to do so.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

See you on the other side.


References:
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/no-vacation-update-2013-05.pdf
http://www.theminimalists.com/

Blue Collar, White Collar, No Collar: It's all about Adding Value

Like most people, I’ve got friends from many different walks of life.  Executives to professional volunteers, business owners to labor activists, high earners to hourly workers, and everything in between.    

I've been somewhere in between all that for about twenty years now.  In 1994 I had established a footing in full time, "career-path" type work as a entry level field sales guy. At the time I had friends who were on similar starting tracks in the corporate world, some who were starting their own businesses, some heading down other career paths.  We had our working life before us, we were hopeful, excited, ready to go.

Fast-forward to present, and we've all show different battle scars from our work life. Most people I know have changed companies at least a few times (maybe four is the average), and some have changed career paths (more than once).   I have peers who could quit working if they wanted to, and other friends who haven't saved a dime for retirement.   Lots of dough in the bank to no dough in the mattress.

Through all this, a couple of characteristics stand out for me as primary indicators of happiness in work life.  They're rather fluid (maybe even fleeting?), but if you can put them together, chances are you'll be a happier, healthier person.

The first thing is, determine what your "passion triggers" are, what you really love to do and are (ideally) at least reasonably good at.  After all, the better you are at something, the more fun it is.  The more you love it, the more committed you'll be to the practice.    
After you've got these activities/skills identified, determine how you can engaged in and exercise these traits to ADD VALUE in whatever your job is. This is the second, important key.   If you can't find a way to sync these two things up -- your passion and your job -- then it's time to look for a new job.  

This approach might sound simplistic or even unrealistic. I  maintain though that you might very well be able to find ways to nurture your passion right where you are.  Creativity and imagination are required of course, but these factors are up to YOU.  

Put these two things together -- nurturing your passion and adding value to whatever work you do -- and you'll be happier in your day-to-day, and also healthier.  After all, worry and angst in life at work no doubt spill negatively into the rest of our life (think lack of sleep, poor diet, less exercise, strained relationships).

If you're doing what you love you're attitude improves and that reflects positively on everyone around you.  Add value and your employer will be able to see the difference. Additional compensation is more likely when you're doing more to help those you work for make better products, deliver better service, improve profitability.  

As one of my good friends said a long while back, "it's less about the title you have than the work you do and the value you bring -- that's how you will be successful."  Hear Hear. 

Nine Qualities Optimists Share

Can't take credit for these, as they're via a post from "Life is Good", but they are most certainly worth a blog post, to further the message:  

Do these GOOD things, and your life will be GOOD.

1)  Be a cheerleader for others.

2)  Be grateful and count your blessings.

3)  Live in the moment.  Right here, right now.

4)  Let things go.  Don't hold on to negative experiences or feelings.  

5)  Embrace the ups and downs.  Life is roller coaster. Accept it, enjoy it.

6)  Put a positive spin on things.  Lemons you got?  Make lemonade.

7)  Be flexible.  Go with it.  

8)  See failures as learning opportunities.

9)  Don't get bummed out by the weather.  It's just weather.  

My own personal summary goes something like this:  attitude is the single thing you have the most control over, and with a good one, the single thing that will help you enjoy, persevere, and permeate GOOD to others.  

It doesn't cost a dime, and yet a good attitude is priceless.   Get yours today!

Mission = Passion: The Way Forward

Spurred by one of the central tenets of The Minimalists, "...finding and living your passion...", a little crystal of continuity and truth became clear to me today.  I'd like to share it.

The idea of passion -- not the steamy bedroom type, but rather, that which burns inside of each of us to live more fully, more completely, more earnestly -- has been central to my life journey since I was a young man.  It would be fair to say that I've searched to identify and nurture that passion all of my adult life.  

But it's been hit and miss, at best.  

However, when I connect the idea of "mission" to "passion", it becomes more evident:  how to find it, how to build it, grow it, LIVE it.  I've been close sometimes, have had times of great synchronicity, but have also had many more times of feeling I was sneaking around outside, but not IN, not doing what I felt I should be doing.

In business school I heard a lot about mission statement as a cornerstone of any start-up.  Define what you want your venture to be:  it will inform both within the organization and outside as well.   Good place to begin, for sure.  And not only for businesses is this a fine first step, but also for individuals, and couples too.

When my wife and I got married a few years back (and before our first child was born), we decided to draft a family mission statement, to define what was important to us, and to be used as a guide for our children, when they arrived.  We have the mission statement on our mantle, I have it on my lap top screen saver, and on my cubicle wall at work.  I read it daily, think about it, ponder what it really means.  

It goes like this:

"We are a family who lives simply, encourages each other to grow mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, and our priority is to maintain connection to ourselves, each other, God, and our community."

Today it hit me:  that mission statement is really born from my wife and my collective passion for what matters most in our lives.  It talks about our family, our faith, our friends, our desire to always be growing and trying to get better.   It DEFINES our passion.  And once defined, any goal is easier to work toward, to stay focused on, to LIVE.

So whatever your calling, whatever you feel stirs you inside, truly makes you happy, THAT is worth putting in words, in a couple of simple phrases, to define and make known to the world what you're about.   As an old Irish musician once said, "I believe in beginnings; the rest is inevitable."  So take the first step, the rest will follow.

Pros/Cons List for GOOD

Pros/Cons List for GOOD

Maintaining a good attitude is a daily, and often hourly endeavor.  

When you run up against something or someone that poses a threat to your positive thinking, jotting down (or thinking through) a quick pros/cons list can help you cope.

After all, the old adage, "people can say or act however they want, but how you respond to them is up to you" is a timeless truth.  

HOW YOU RESPOND TO OTHERS IS YOUR CHOICE.

Choose the high road, to the benefit of yourself and everyone around you.

Don’t let others derail you.

Make your list, scribbled on paper or in your head, decide how you feel about the situation, the other person, then let the situation pass and move on.

Everyone, first and foremost YOU, will be better off as a result.