Wow, where did 2022 go to? Gone in the blink of an eye would be an understatement, but what a year it has been. Whilst there have of course been new challenges, if we think back to what 2020 and 2021 had in store for us, I think we can also be incredibly grateful for where we are today. We can share Christmas with our loved ones, travel to far flung parts of the world and attend the events that make us who we are. Long may that continue.
TRIBEathlon Podcast
Season 4, Episode 7: Julian Dean is a former professional road racing cyclist from New Zealand who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. He last rode for UCI World Tour team Orica–GreenEDGE, where he now works as sporting director. Some of his achievements include racing in and completing 7 Tour de France, 4 times Olympian and winning the 2007 and 2008 New Zealand National Road Race Championships.
At the peak of Julian’s career, he was considered the best lead out rider in the world, so Claire and I wanted to chat to him about the mental discipline of repeatedly setting up others for the win, racing in the Olympics vs the Grand Tours, being shot whilst in the Tour de France and the future marginal gains in cycling.
What I’ve Been Reading
For years we’ve been hearing that we need to specialise to succeed to the point where we sometimes need to check that an ear specialist will deal with both the left ear and the right!
In his book Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, David Epstein shows you that the way to succeed is by sampling widely, gaining a breadth of experiences, taking detours, experimenting relentlessly and juggling many interests – in other words, by developing range. Studying the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors and scientists, Epstein demonstrates why in most fields – especially those that are complex and unpredictable – generalists, not specialists are primed to excel. Certainly an interesting read that steps away from the current belief system especially if you, or someone you know, are thinking about a career change.
What I’ve Been Watching
The Swimmers tells the remarkable true tale of sisters Yusra and Sara Mardini, who fled their native country of Syria at the height of the Civil War in 2015 to fulfil their dream of going to Germany and thereafter participate as swimmers in the Rio Olympics in 2016. On their journey they encountered human traffickers, a near fatal ride across the Mediterranean, slept on the roads of Hungary, survived rape attempts, withstood indignation and months of red tape in Germany while waiting for asylum.
This film is an inspiring true story of epic adventure, guts, determination, and sheer will, told entirely from the perspective of refugees. Whilst it isn’t a Christmas film as such, it’s certainly one to add to the Radio Times highlighter list!
TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting
Apparently ‘Goblin Mode’ is the “word(s) of the year”, but for me the statement of the year has been ‘human being, not human doing’. I seem to have stumbled across it in books, conversations with friends and my coaching and when I saw Alex Gibb’s TED talk called Finding happiness is a human being, not a human doing, I thought I better give it a go.
Alex will introduce you to a process of finding the way to happiness not because of what you do, but with whom you are as a unique human being.
Quote of the Week
“Losers have goals and winners have systems”
- Scott Adams
Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering
As we get to the end of one year and the dawn of another, it is a great time to reflect on whether you have hit the goals you set out at the start of 2022 and to set goals that you want to achieve in 2023.
There is a power in writing these goals down and revisiting them at least every quarter as research shows that the simple act of committing pen to paper and then reassessing every 90 days massively increases the likelihood of you hitting them. So, if you were sat here 1 year from now looking back, what must you have achieved for you to be happy with your progress? Specifically, what have you got to achieve in the most important areas of your life (namely your finances, career, health, wellbeing, relationships and fitness) for you to have had an amazing 2023?
If you’d like a structured way to set and reassess your goals, why not download The Limitless Life Planner. As the quote above tells you, winners have systems, so give yourself the best chance of achieving what’s important to you in 2023!
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous 2023.