communication. community. cognition.
Your Miracle May Vary. The inexplicable always seems grander and taller when you’re standing so close to the base. But the seeming recovery of my almost-but-not-quite-late cousin has now been quantified by his doctor:
In 27 years of medical work I’ve never seen someone turn around in a 24 hour period like Bill just did.
He’s now responding, and not only smirking at jokes but now cracking them. Not bad for a guy who was nearly written off last weekend.
Tiger Woods made big news a few days ago… for losing a tournament. He’d won several in a row (something he’s done multiple times in his career), and fell a little short one week. And the fact that he lost was the news.
I want you to think about golf for a moment. Think about the physics involved, the ratio of target-size to distance, the impact of unforeseen variables. The wind blows a little differently 60 feet up than it does on the ground. A small patch of grass in the rough is slightly more springy than the patch next to it. The speed of the club, the shape, the spin imparted to the ball…
…well, I’m not going to bore you with the math. But suffice it to say, that when Tiger Woods steps into several consecutive tournaments and beats the entire planet in golf — that’s a level of mastery we may never see again. How does one attain that degree of dominance and precision? You question everything.
A few years ago (after Tiger had already left the amateur ranks and won every Major available) he fired his golf coach. Sitting on top of the golf world, and with record endorsement dollars, Tiger fired his coach. Said he wanted to work on his swing, and find one that was more sustainable. He’d already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest golfers ever, and that wasn’t enough. He knew there was something greater — another plateau. And maybe he was the only one who could see it.
Neil Peart is considered one of the greatest drummers of all time. (If you have a friend who is a musician, just ask.) For decades, he’s been in just about every short-list published, if his name isn’t listed first. As the drummer (and lyricist) for Rush, he has nothing left to prove from a musical front.
A few years ago, he ditched his drum kit and started over. He got himself a drumming coach, and re-worked his technique from the ground up. Starting from the grip and working from there, he remade himself as a drummer. (Much to the consternation of millions of air-drummers worldwide, who had copied his technique as faithfully as they could.) He now can seamlessly move from Matched Grip to Traditional Grip as the occasion calls.
Most of us aren’t in the same enviable position. We’re not the best in the world at what we do. But too often, we wrap our identities in the accomplishments and achievements where we do excel, and don’t push ourselves to see something better. It’s easy to be the big fish in the small pond, and for some it’s even easier to be among the larger fish in the larger lake. We like to bask in that we do well. But are we willing to question everything in an attempt to do it better?
The world tells us “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Just because something isn’t broken doesn’t mean it can’t be better.
