Breaking It Down...

When I went to school, they asked me to write down what I wanted to be when I grew up... I wrote down "happy"... they said I didn’t understand the assignment... I told them that they didn’t understand life...

                                          ~John Lennon
 
As many of the long-time readers of the OptiFuse blog are aware, I happen to be an avid cyclist.

What people may not know, however, is that I only ride about six months of the year - those months consisting of Daylight Savings - with a goal of riding about  5,000 miles from March through October.

As we all know, March is soon approaching and those 5,000 miles are now looming on my horizon.

When I look down at that number of miles on my list of 2016 goals, frankly, that number scares me. It represents a lot of time and energy... resources that I could be putting into other things...

I do really enjoy riding... and there are a lot of benefits in doing so...

Riding keeps me healthy... (as long as I don’t crash again)... my resting heart rate is reduced and my weight stays in check...

It often lets me be alone in my thoughts when riding solo or spending quality time with great friends when I ride with small groups...

I’ve also had the opportunity to visit some great places and see some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth all while traveling at an average speed of 16 MPH.

The cycling season culminates in October with an annual ride down the spectacular coast of California while I raise money and awareness for the Arthritis Foundation.

...but still... that goal of 5,000 miles seems awfully daunting at this point in time...

A long time ago, I learned the great secret of accomplishing giant goals (sometimes called BHAGs - Big Hairy Audacious Goals)...

Now some coaches will tell us that we need to write down our goals and review them every day... staying focused on the numbers.

While writing goals down is a good practice... I believe that reviewing them on a daily basis can actually be disastrous.

Seeing a large looming number in front of us can cause us to give up before we even start... there is a great deal of reluctance to even begin knowing that the mountain in front of us is humongous.

So what I do is on March 1st, I reset the odometer on my Garmin bike GPS to read zero... then I simply start riding... starting very small and increasing the mileage little by little...

My first ride of the season is only about 10 miles, generally on a flat course... just enough to break a sweat (maybe 45 minutes at the most).

Now almost anyone can ride their bike 45 minutes along a flat course... but the most important thing is that the first ride is in the books... it’s done!

The next day I may increase the mileage ever so slightly... and then it’s back and forth commuting to the office (when I’m not traveling).

I will ride like this for several months... and then finally... sometime in June... I’ll take a look at the overall odometer to see how many miles that I’ve actually ridden... whatever the number... it’ll be substantially greater than zero (the number I first started out with)...

At that point, I’ll feel a true sense of accomplishment... this will then motivate me to put in more time and effort as my goal is closer than ever.

Big goals are just a series of incremental gains...

If the goal is to lose 50 pounds (A big goal that can’t be accomplished in a week) - Weigh yourself once and record the result... then stop weighing yourself each day...

Forget about the number and just focus on making your very next meal a healthy choice... once you’ve done that, then it’s time to think about the next meal after that... and the meal after that... never fully depriving yourself... but just eating a bit better each time. 

Then perhaps think about walking around the block in the morning after arriving at the office before sitting down at your desk, then again at lunchtime, and at the end of the day before leaving work. 

Breaking down the goal into easy daily routines... but never getting too far ahead of ourselves.

It’s just one small step after another... putting in a small amount of work toward your goal each day.

After some time (maybe a month or so)... get back on the scale... I suspect that you will have lost more than a couple of pounds (if you did the work)...

That success will motivate you to keep going one meal at a time...

It doesn’t matter what the big goal is.

If your goal is to be debt-free... then start by skipping that morning cup of designer coffee and depositing the savings back into your checking account ...

If your goal is to have a better relationship with your significant other... start with a short text message to them telling them how you appreciate them...

If your goal is to double your sales this year... then start by making one extra client appointment each day...

All of the little contributions add up and compound into something really big over time... what truly matters is doing something regularly and consistently.

Back to biking for a second...

By the end of the summer... I’m regularly pushing myself to complete 100-mile weekend rides...

Again... I don’t focus on the entire 100 miles... I only think about the very next mile... nothing more... nothing less...

Now, I’m not a racer so I’m never trying to complete a course against competitors or a clock...

Therefore, if I need to stop and take a rest every so often, I simply will... taking a break every so often is good... but I also know that I will need to get back on my bike and continue the ride... finishing what I started out to do...

The same thing will inevitably happen to all of us when we are trying to complete a big-time goal... we will have a set-back... or two... or three...

We may feel the need to take a break... which is fine...

The essential thing is that we need to get back on our metaphoric bikes... after our little break... and continue moving down the road...

In the end, this is the only way that we will eventually get to the place that we really want to go.

Thank you very much for joining our ride and your continuous support of OptiFuse as we inch forward each day.

Are You Happy Yet?...

This week’s blog was written by Matt Salatino, an avid OptiFuse Blog reader who one day somehow found himself on our mailing list by sheer chance...

Since that time, Matt has written to me often offering critique and encouragement... becoming a dear friend (although we’ve never had the opportunity to meet in person as of yet).

I recently asked him if he’d be interested in penning a blog himself and he most graciously agreed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

A few years ago, my wife Cindy and I chose to retire and move aboard Mikhaya, our "Magic Carpet Ride"; a 28 year old, 42 foot, British-made cruising sailboat.

Over the past 4 years we’ve sailed the waters from Newport, RI to Trinidad, the most southern island in the Caribbean.

This cruising season we decided to take a risk and include Cuba in our itinerary.  Cindy and I wanted to go there before it became "spoiled" by the coming influx of American commercialism, as it will soon be opened freely to tourism and trade from the US. 

Currently, Americans, for the right reasons, are allowed to travel to Cuba on their own boats, and spend dollars in the country.
         
Americans are extremely fortunate to be born where we are, at this time in history.

We have modern conveniences such as cars, washing machines, microwaves, air conditioning, electronic computing and communication devices that fit neatly in our pockets. 

We enjoy an infrastructure that includes clean water, robust electrical power, decent roads on which to drive our vehicles, affordable healthcare, and world-class schools to teach our children.

Our grocery and hardware stores are teeming with more products than we can imagine.

Holding a US passport, many of us have the ability and freedom to travel to almost any place on the planet, on demand.

And if we happen to be a part of the less fortunate, there are a myriad of social programs to help house, educate, and feed us.

Fortunately for us, as Americans, our basic needs are more than met.

We should be happy beyond compare (I know Cindy and I are), yet there are so many people in our country who are depressed and / or unhappy.

The treatment of depression and sales of anti-depressants and "feel-good" drugs are billion-dollar industries.

Contrast what Americans have been given to those residing in Cuba.

The basic government salary for all Cuban citizens is between $20 and $25 per month, be they a waiter, pilot, doctor, or janitor.

One conundrum is that although expenses are low, basic needs are not met with this amount. Currently, it takes about $125 each month for a Cuban to make ends meet.

In many societies that have strictly controlled, highly regulated means of production and distribution, there is a thriving underground economy.  The "black market" exists because, as we’ve learned time and time again throughout history, few governments are expert at production and distribution.

If you know the right people, "grease" the right palms, you can buy eggs that aren’t to be found on the market shelves, procure beef, that is usually reserved for the elite and diplomatic community.

In Cuba, a lot of things "fall off the back of the truck", ending up in the black market.

Cindy and I recently took a trip into the capital city of Havana, about 12 miles from Marina Hemingway.

There are several transportation alternatives to get there with prices ranging from about US $3.00 to $30, depending on the gullibility of the tourist.

We found a middle-of-the-road solution for $10... a machina (ma-kee-na), a vintage 1950’s American automobile, typically used as a public taxi, picked us up at the Marina gate, later dropping us off in Old Havana (Habana Vieja).

For the driver of the taxi, our ride is a "windfall" fare, as his typical short fares earn him about 80 cents.

The young machina driver told us (all in Spanish) "I love Cuba."

Our driver is happy... well-fed... educated... and healthy.

He has a car and makes good money with it.

He has a beautiful wife and two healthy children, who are both in school.

Born well after the Cuban Revolution, he knows of no other way of life. He’s successful in his country and in his life.

The young man has a sense of worth and pride from his job, his efforts, and his rewards.

He is happy and grateful for all that he has.

While I’m certain that there must be those that are depressed in Cuba, just as anywhere else, but it doesn’t seem to be at any higher rate despite all that they lack in comparison with the rest of the Western world.

Two years ago Cindy and I sailed to Ile a Vache in Haiti. 

Baie a Feret is beautiful; one of our favorite pristine harbors, lined with the small homes (okay not homes... shacks really).

Many of the locals there make their living from the sea or performing odd jobs for the occasional cruiser.

Ile a Vache is an Island, about 3 by 6 miles, mostly a farming and fishing community. It has no infrastructure; no roads, cars, electricity, running water, or sewer.  The government there does very little to develop the economy or help its people to thrive.

There are no security blankets or assistance programs provided by the government should someone be in need.

The people are pretty much left to their own devices to get by.

The people of this small island find safety and security by being cut off from the mainland’s crime and corruption. The land and sea, through the hard work and efforts of the people who live there, provides them nourishment. No one goes hungry.

While there, we met Sam, an ambitious, mid-20’s shop keeper, selling small food and hardware items from the brightly painted front room of his small shack.

Sam started out as a boat boy, performing odd jobs for visiting cruisers. He worked hard to learn English, to better serve his clientele.

His shack has a car battery that is charged via a small solar panel by day, to charge his cell phone, Android tablet, and run a few 12 volt lights during the evening.

Sam otherwise has very little. He earns his way by being the local version of a retailer. He lives very close to friends and family, has a beautiful girlfriend. He is respected in his small community. He is happy.

Meanwhile back in Cuba, what will happen once the island nation is allowed to once again host American tourists and open it markets to American trade?

The byproduct of this new cooperation between governments will bring a higher standard of living, availability of products on the market shelves, rising prices, rising expectations, and rising demand for more creature comforts...

Will all this bring more happiness to the Cubans?

"Things" don’t bring happiness.

Achievement and accomplishment brings happiness.

Sense of community brings happiness.

Love, of family and friends, brings happiness.

Self-worth, respect, and pride in one’s work brings happiness...

So my question to you is... are you happy yet?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Matt Salatino and his beautiful bride, Cindy, retired to pursue their common dream: To cruise in warm climates on their sailboat, Mikhaya.

During hurricane season when they’re not sailing, Cindy and Matt make their home on their horse farm near Charlotte, North Carolina.

When the leaves start to turn, they head for warmer weather, either aboard Mikhaya, or to their quaint waterfront condo in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Prior to retiring, Cindy made her career as a Software Engineer, working over the years for Martin-Marietta, IBM, and Dassault Systemes (French).

Matt also worked in the Electronics industry for most of his career, and his most recent professional accomplishment is delivering the first prototype to Apple for the fingerprint reader that is now ubiquitous in the iPhone and iPad.

His name is on many of the patents for the reader.

Comments can be forwarded directly to Matt at salatino@myiridium.net.

Waging War Against Ourselves...

The more important an activity is to your soul’s the evolution, the more resistance you will feel to it - the more fear you will feel.

                               ~Steven Pressfield
                                   The War of Art

As I pulled into the parking lot at the gym last night, I couldn’t help but notice that there were a lot fewer cars than there were only 6 short weeks ago.

I didn’t know for sure exactly where the missing people were... perhaps they were back home... maybe  helping their kids with their homework... or reading a good book... possibly they were working late at the office... or even having a quiet romantic dinner with their loving spouse at a local restaurant...

What I was keenly aware of was the one place that they weren’t... that is at the gym.

For weeks leading up to the new year, they told themselves, as well as others, that they were on a mission... that as soon as 2016 arrived they would be a new person with a new lifestyle.

Some of these people had specific goals in mind...

Maybe it was to lose some weight, save some money, quit smoking, become a better spouse or go back to school to learn something new... all of those endeavors are indeed noble goals...

The greatest of intentions mean absolutely nothing if they are not deliberately acted upon...

We just can’t wish things and watch them come true. There is no magic pill or button to push. Achieving a goal takes hard work, discipline and resolve.

Unlike every other species of plant and animal on this earth, human beings are not driven strictly by instinct to survive. We have a free will to do as we please, even if it is against our own self-interest.

The route from my office to my home requires that I come to an intersection in the road. Go right to go home... go left to go to the gym.

If I turned right... I could go home to have my dinner, spend time with my family, and relax a bit before going off to bed.

On the surface, no one would have faulted me for taking a right turn... but I would have known. I would have gone to bed angry at myself for taking the easy road, knowing that I had succumbed to my weaker self.

In the moment, I would then vow to myself that tomorrow I would turn left instead of right... allowing myself to sleep comfortably knowing that I have told myself a reassuring rational lie.

However, if I turned left... I would spend the next 90 minutes on the Stairmaster, being short of breath and drenched with sweat. I would end up eating dinner by myself leaving little time to interact with my family before taking a shower and heading to bed exhausted.

And although I’ll awake the following morning with sore and achy muscles, I would have gone to bed with a great satisfaction that I had beaten resistance, if only just for a day.

Resistance and its friends, procrastination and rationalization, are mighty foes who are constantly fighting to take control of our will while offering us the solace of comfort and ease. Together these enemies of the mind allow us to settle for mediocracy rather than achieving some modicum of success.

Every day we wage a battle against our internal resistance... some days we beat resistance... while other days we yield to its powerful forces.

The good news is that each and every day is a new battle to be fought. From the moment we wake up in the morning, we start with a clean new slate.

Although our past has already been written, our future is unblemished. No matter what happened in our lives before today, we still have the opportunity to change the course of our future.

No matter what we want to do... we have the unlimited opportunity to actually do it.

My father was a smoker for nearly 45 years. His friends and family pleaded with him to quit... knowing that it was the right thing to do, he tried over and over to stop smoking... but never succeeded... until the weekend he spent in the hospital in an oxygen tent unable to breathe... at that point he made the conscious decision that he was never going to smoke another cigarette again... and after 20 years he has kept that promise to himself.

The fact that he had tried and failed to stop smoking several times before didn’t prevent him from ultimately achieving success.

From that day forward, he drew a line in the sand and told himself that this was no longer negotiable. He was done.

So today, what line in the sand will we draw?  What will become non-negotiable in our lives?

Now, I’m not suggesting that we go complete "cold-turkey" and do a complete make-over on our lives (unless of course you feel compelled to do so).

What most of us need are small corrections not entire do-overs.

Over the course of time we have acquired a bunch of small bad habits that we need to break ourselves of. Individually these small vices may not be life threatening, however taken as a sum, they can have a devastating effect on our total well-being.

The key to our success in life is to stop focusing on what we need to do and start focusing on the person we want to become.

We need to imagine ourselves as that person... what that person thinks and what that person does.

Starting from the end and working our way backwards will provide us with a road map to get to the place we are looking to go.

Old habits that keep us in a place of comfort must be eliminated by making them harder to do.

Conversely, those habits that contribute to our success need to be easier to do.

Then we need to make changes in our lives to transform us into that person. We then need to make commitments to ourselves to become that person we want to be.

We need to start learning to fight back at the resistance focusing on the result not the process...

I hate going to the gym... but I love the results of having gone to the gym.

On that night, my overwhelming desire to become that person I wanted to become successfully defeated the resistance against the process of going to the gym.

Today is a new day and a new battle.

There is nothing magical or mystical about New Year’s Day.

Today can be the day that we finally decide to make the commitment to ourselves to become that person we desire to be.

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where open and honest communication is one of our core values and helps to make the world a better place to live by allowing its population to thrive.

The Sworn Enemy of Tradition...

Welcome to the new world... God save your soul, if it is right that he should do so...

             ~ William (as played by Heath Leger)
                         in, "A Knight’s Tale"

So it’s back to the scene of the crime...

It was 19 years ago when a few friends and I went to New Orleans in early February to attend the world’s greatest party, Mardi Gras.

Some may debate me, as I describe the event as the "world’s greatest"... and they might be correct as I have never had the opportunity to attend Carnival in Rio, the running of the bulls in Pamplona, or the Melbourne Cup, celebrated in all corners of Australia. 

I do, however, have some experiences attending other spectacles such as the Super Bowl, World Series, the Kentucky Derby, Indy 500, Presidential conventions, and the Rose Parade and Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

Mardi Gras along Bourbon Street, is as wild and crazy as it comes. It is an event reserved for the young (and young at heart) who have the capacity and fortitude to drink and dance from sunset until sunrise. It’s a "party until you drop" environment where hordes of revelers fill the bars, saloons, and streets; throbbing music fills the air, and the exchange of beads for skin is found every few feet.

The Mardi Gras of the French Quarter is the decadence and debauchery of an ancient Roman orgy.

This week, I find myself back in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

However, on this adventure, I don’t imagine that I’ll be stepping foot in the French Quarter after dark.

My family and I have been graciously invited to experience the other side of Mardi Gras. 

Where Krews (local social organizations) decorate floats and parade through the streets of the city, throwing handfuls of beads to those lining the routes; where the pageantry of royal courts fill the ballroom of hotels, where the women wear floor-length formal gowns and the men wear white ties, white gloves and tails rather than tuxedos.

This is the Mardi Gras of rich heritage, that sows its seeds in the French occupation of New Orleans, and that has been carried forward for some 213 years.

This is the Mardi Gras that concerns itself with customs, traditions and a significance of pomp and circumstance, many of which have been carried forward by generation after generation.

This is the Mardi Gras of the social and financial elites. Many of the Krews are devoid of women members and people of color. These are private organizations so they are not under any obligation or directive to be inclusive. This is also tradition.

Innovation is the sworn enemy of tradition.

Traditionalists are afraid of change. They want to go back in time... when things were simpler and clearer to understand... when ideas and concepts were not so complicated...

Traditionalists harken for the days of less choices and options. Everything could be compartmentalized, categorized and easily described... they have no interest in fifty shades of gray... or purple... or brown...

They often speak of "getting back to the fundamentals or basics".

Living in the past also helps them to relive their glory days... when they were the alpha male of the herd... the top salesman... the captain of the football team. 

Back then, they were somebody... a person of power and of influence... they knew the right people... and they belonged to the right clubs.

Most of us were taught at a young age to respect authority and the laws. We were told to never question our parents... our teachers... our civic leaders... our bosses. 

Theirs was the final word which could not be debated.

They were morally and intellectually our superiors. To question their authority would be to advocate anarchy and chaos. 

A call for change would be considered heresy and dissenters would be punished for their actions.

...but then something happened...

Whereas the ideas and actions of a solitary person were easily rebuked and admonished by the establishment, those same ideas and actions brought forth by a large constituency could not be ignored.

Individually or divided, the group is weak... but united by principle, they are strong.

Using the ideas of civil disobedience, the rules began to change... slowly at first... and then as an avalanche.

The structures that were once laid on the solid foundations of society were being razed and replaced with these new set of rules and laws.

At first there were great rationalizations as to why the old ways were still better than the new.

The old ideas were tried, tested and true... why should we change when the traditional ways had worked perfectly fine since the beginning of time? 

If it’s not broke why try to fix it...

...but that’s just it... the system was broke and it needed to be fixed.

Which brings us to the current state of the world...

Today there are still a great many injustices being perpetrated against inhabitants of the earth by those who have the power or by those who desire power...

Many of these injustices are rationalized by fundamental religious or governmental doctrine, where the ruling class imposes its will by creating laws that ultimately strip the people of their inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The technology of today, including internet connected cameras, smart phones, and social media, has allowed those fighting against tyranny to better organize into a cohesive force by casting a light on the injustices and sharing them through a globally connected network.

These technological advances have allowed people to unify into a cohesive and united front when the cause is right and just.

No longer do we feel alone in our fights. We are all connected (or will be in the near future).

Traditionalists (along with fundamentalists) are under siege. No longer can they hide in the shadows as technology continues to a beacon of light casting truth in all directions.

The informed are beating down the doors of intolerance, ignorance, and others attempting to force their will unto others.

It’s only a matter of time until they succeed.

Welcome to the new world...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where open and honest communication is one of our core values and helps to make the world a better place to live by allowing its population to thrive.