Summary:

In a super-quick follow up to episode 42, the boys sit in a 95 degree room and try to talk about focus. Also: rental cars, iPad games, career decisions, and rubber bands.

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Follow Up

• Saying goodbye to Neil, our loyal scapegoat

Fake Follow Up

• Rental cars: "Drive by wire" sucks when done poorly. The Chevy Cruze does it poorly.
• Non-performant audacity on mac. Ideas anyone?
• Matt’s Partner agonizing over a job decision. He tried to use Jody's advice to help her… it sort-of worked.
  • “crowbar of loyalty” came to mind as well. (That's a link to a great episode of Back to Work, the podcast that largely inspires ALYT)
• Matt got a free iPad mini at that conference, and put a couple games on it. He's really enjoyed:
  • Machinarium: robot RPG adventure
  • World of Goo: A physics sim building game

Topic: Focus

• Specifically, having the right mental attributes for certain sports.

  • Matt's not a golfer (obviously), but we’ve talked in the past about what a tough mental game that is, and how your biggest enemy can be yourself. Now, as a shot-gunner, he totally gets it. It’s exactly the same. The “trick,” if there is one seems to be to live exclusively in the present, thinking only about the pair/shot you’re about to take. You must forget every shot that came before, and pretend the future doesn’t exist. Then… PULL, and execute your plan.
    

  • Jody: you already understood this as an F1 fan and auto-x driver

• But… what about when you miss? How do you forget about it and stay focused. It’s so easy to get in a bad place mentally after a few missed shots, and then things get worse, and worse.
• Connection to mindfulness/buddhism.
• Utility in other things besides hobbies/sport
  • Letting go of “past ugliness” effortlessly would make anyone a better person.
• Jody's idea: The rubber band trick
  • It turns out there's a lot published on this:
    • Wikipedia calles it aversion therepy
    • Here's a Psycology Today piece about using it to get rid of unwanted thoughts.
• Matt Realizes that one place he is able to do this well is in the classroom, because the consequences of holding on to that negativity are too high. Jody may need similar consequences.

Contact us!

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