…You make the Iron!
This is what was flopping around in my head right before i went out for a 135 kg clean and jerk in the TX state championships this past weekend. As i was standing at the chalk bucket i asked the girl at was keeping the board if she had any advice. “The Iron doesn’t make you, You make the Iron.” For someone walking onto the platform this is a great bit of advice and really helped me focus for that lift.
I have found that for me, if i am thinking of something other than the task i am about to perform, i tend to perform better. I remember singing a certain song in my head during a specific game that i played really well in but can’t remember the details of the game. So for me if i am prepared for something and can displace my apprehension about something then i tend to perform better.
Let me caution you that this is certainly an individual preference. If you perform better when you are very emotionally present in the task you are trying to perform then don’t listen to what works for me.
Good post Dutch,
In Daoism there is a principle or idea called “Wu-Wei” which can be translated into different terms but the term I like most is “non-doing” or “action without action”. Which in western terms is kind of is contradiction, because how can you do something without doing it? The point of it is that a flower is a flower, it is not trying to be something other then the flower it is, so therefor it is in natural harmony with nature. This can be translated into your idea about thinking about something else then the task at hand. You create a “not-doing” state and yet your are still doing it. Hope it makes sense somehow
Peter,
That is a great way to explain it. Thanks for your input. I am always learning from the ancient ways. There were some insightful dudes hanging around then.
Dutch