TRIBEathlon Podcast
Season 5, Episode 3 – Having been a former Canadian International Alpine ski racer, Raya Usher understands the intensities, pressures and physiological demands that are placed on athletes no matter what level they are competing at. Will Usher, her husband, is a full-time coach and has been coaching Triathlon for 21 years now and has guided over 200 athletes to GB Age Group success with numerous Top 10, podiums and champions across the whole range of ITU World, European, IRONMAN and Challenge Family races along the way. Together they have built Precision Coaching to become one of the UK’s top triathlon coaching businesses, so I wanted to chat to them about how they are using AI to improve their coaching proposition, what Raya has brought from the world of international skiing into multisport, and how they are using a Pool School to improve swim times.
What I’ve Been Reading
Matthew McConaughey is known for his roles in movies like “Interstellar,” “The Gentlemen,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “The Dallas Buyers Club”; however, he isn’t known for motivational speaking or book writing. That said, his book, “Greenlights: Raucous stories and outlaw wisdom from the Academy Award-winning actor,” is both inspirational and educational. Allow me to quote the man himself: “So I took a one-way ticket to the desert and wrote this book: an album, a record, a story of my life so far. This is fifty years of my sights and scenes, felt and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting aways with, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops.”
I strongly recommend you listen to this rather than read it, as it will give you the feel of a man who means what he says and writes what he means. It’s an inspiring read.
What I’ve Been Watching
A while back, I recommended ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k’ to you. What I said at the time was that, while I had been turned off by the marketing, it was a book that, at its core, had a useful message amidst a lot of funny ranting. ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’ movie is based on the very same bestselling phenomenon and is a cinematic documentary designed to help us become less awful people.
The author himself, Mark Manson, cuts through the crap to offer his not-giving-a-f*ck philosophy: a dose of raw, refreshing honesty that shows us how to live more contented, grounded lives. It covers much of the same stuff as the book, but serves as a useful refresher on the same subject while taking its own unique route.
TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting
You use your brain’s executive function every day — it’s how you do things like pay attention, plan ahead and control impulses. Can you improve it to change for the better? With highlights from her research on child development, cognitive scientist, Sabine Doebel, explores the factors that affect executive function and how you can use it to break bad habits and achieve your goals in her TED talk ‘How your brain’s executive function works — and how to improve it’.
App I’ve Found Useful
Whilst exploring San Sebastian after racing Ironman Vitoria-Gastiez in the Basque Country, I found a walking guide in a new (to me) app GPSmyCity. Free to use, it gave me the top things to visit; in this case it was the Playa de la Concha and the promenade, the Palace, 2 Cathedrals, and a lot of other highlights. As a time saving traveller, I’ll definitely be using it again.
The Trusted Team
Some of us are naturally strategic and others are adept at simplification. Some excel in systematization, while adaptability is second nature to others. Some effortlessly innovate, whereas their colleagues are natural stabilizers. Amid these nuances, how can we construct a team where every member flourishes, excels, and cherishes their role?
This is where The Kolbe Concept comes into play and something that we have taught at The Trusted Team. This is a tool based around a system that can help you identify the best people for a role, and the best way to manage an individuals based on their own unique make up. Think of it as the top trumps for each member of your team. Once you know each person’s strengths, you can get them working far better together.