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He Was Out Of Sync

Published by Colin Nanka

He saved his energy and it cost him.

For those tennis fans out there, another thought from the US Open last weekend.
 
Juan Martin Del Potro – Argentina
 
His biggest achievement has been winning the 2009 US Open, defeating Rafael Nadal in the semifinal and 5-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final. He was the first to defeat both Federer and Nadal during the same major and was the only man outside the Big Four to win a major between the 2005 French Open and the 2013 US Open, a span of 35 tournaments. He is also the second Argentine and the fifth-youngest man to win the US Open in the Open Era.
 
That was 8 years ago, when he was new on the scene and played with no fear and uninjured. He played full out and road the momentum.
 
In the semi-final last weekend he had the chance to do it again vs. Rafael Nadal. This time Nadal (one of the greatest of all time) came prepared and played all out. He leveraged everything he learned in his past 15 major championship wins (at the time) and the momentum of the crowd.
 
The Point.
 
Nadal drew on the ability to tap into the reserve tank that Del Potro never did.
 
Tap dance on the edge of fear and your capabilities this week and have faith you can tide the momentum of your courage.
 
Colin

 

I took a wrong turn!

Published by Colin Nanka

This morning on a run their was construction on my run path. Ugh! They
recommended a detour and it took me down a lane I had never been before.

25 meters from a corner I turn every time, was a placard and
piece of the Berlin Wall!

What an amazing thing to see in the morning.

It’s a good reminder for each of us to raise our gaze each morning and see the world.

Have a great weekend.

Colin

 

Unsung Hero

Published by Colin Nanka

Picture from USA Today

If you only watched the US Open Tennis final on Sunday, you would have seen the coronation of Rafael Nadal winning his second of four major championships. That story in itself is incredible, keeping in mind over the last couple years Nadal had major injuries that kept him from competing at a high level.  

In a similar timeline, South African Kevin Anderson, an athlete Nadal played against his youth, was up against a major hip injury and looked to not compete again in 2017. He worked his way back from injury, being ranked #80 to having the best tournament of his life and making the US Open final.

Unfortunately, he ran into a mack truck in one of the greatest tennis players of all time.  However, as I went to the semi-final I can tell you he made many South African’s who attended very happy and gained many new local fans with his high octane offense.

Sometimes when it you don’t see the end of the tunnel in site, you just put in one day at a time and try and work your way back to get on the field. If you give yourself the chance, you may end up reconnecting with an old foe in the pinnacle of your game.

Here are 10 fun facts about South African’s Kevin Anderson.

Colin

What do you focus on when suffering the most?

Published by Colin Nanka

98 Percent of the way through a workout, exhausted, my trainers guidance came in. 

“Head up, lock in the core and focus on a point straight ahead of me.”

What you do in practice comes out when you compete. It was only 5 min of my training session but I know from experience I will leverage it come race day.

How can you apply 5 minutes of dedicated focus when exhausted in your work week?

Colin

Interest vs. Commitment

Published by Colin Nanka
 
 
I recently heard this said as “interest vs. commitment.”
 
 
Think about acquiring customers. You do it one at a time and reap the profit and stack them slowly over time. Its uncommon to garner them all at once.
 
 
Look ahead 12 months at the goal, way up and to the right on that graph. Work your way back month by month, until you get to the first four weeks of month one, and then to the first week. Break it down day by day.
 
 
Then put the long term plan away to review monthly…and simply have the courage to take the first step.
 
 
Success starts with making a choice.
 
 
Have a great weekend!
 
 
Colin

3 Reasons Why Multi-Tasking is Dead

Published by Colin Nanka
 
Time management is the biggest struggle I constantly hear across any professional, young or mature that I talk to.

 
Have you ever noticed when you are deep in thought making great progress on a project and someone comes over to ask you a question and snaps you out of the flow zone, how hard it is to get back refocused?
 
There is a cost for task switching.
 
  1. It takes up to 15 minutes to fully refocus your brain from one task to another.
  2. World Class performers in any discipline say a minimum of 90 minutes (up to 3 hours) is what you need into truly dig into any task at a professional level.
  3. You can only truly focus on three big tasks per day and make any meaningful progress.  Accept it and work with it!
 
Think back, when was the last time you were truly engaged in something where you made meaningful progress?  How long were focused on it?
 
You might say “but I have 10-15 things I need to get done everyday, that doesn’t work for me.”
 
I would say, what if you knew if you truly focused on your biggest three priorities and crushed them, spending more time on them, is it possible, the rest may take care of themselves?
 
In his book, The One Thing, Gary Keller shares how he grew his commercial real estate business exponentially through this method.
 
How do I know it works?
 
In addition to me, where it has made a huge impact on my time and energy management,  I have recommended it to many other people I mentor and it has had the same effect.
 
Are you up for the challenge? For those who do, I would love to hear how it impacts your life.
 
Colin

 

I lost 9 out of 10 games

Published by Colin Nanka
 
I started out my squash career winning 1 in 10 games. 
 
I had squash opponents younger, same age and older than me. Similar age and younger we played longer competitive points moving around the court. The older guys and gals would finish points faster and more efficiently, knowing that they could not run as long as I could.
 
My advantage = endurance.  However, I lost the first game every time! I was slow out of the gate and always behind before the match even got going.
 
Then one day, I decided to run to the squash court instead of driving. A nice easy 20-min run with my racket strapped to my back and away I went.  I showed up a sweating mess! It was pretty warm outside. I thought I burned myself out. Oh well, I had been on a losing streak anyway!
 
What happened?
 
I won 3-0 in games!  What??
 
I was in the game immediately and ran an opponent with not as much endurance as I had into the ground. As I recapped the game to a friend, he shared, “It sounds like you were warmed up properly, focused and jumped on your opponent right away.”
 
So I took what he said to heart and did a similar warm-up for the next 10-weeks. 
 
And what happened then?
 
I went 10-0!!
 
Why?
  • I was properly warmed-up ahead of time for the task at hand
  • The mind, instead of thinking about bouncing around on the subway or driving, was focused on relaxing and on my game strategy
  • The competitor, instead of me, was put off their game by my readiness
  • I was laser focused on the outcome
What gets focus, gets done.
 
I hope you all had a great August…and if you didn’t, maybe time to look at the way you show up for the game!
 
Colin

 

Checkers and Chess

Published by Colin Nanka

Forced anxiety helps you grow.

I was taking a break in Bryant Park next to Salesforce Tower NYC and sat down in an area designated for games (lots of kids!) and a mature crowd playing Chess.

There has been some great chess movies over the years, that highlight youth learning to play in speed chess.

As I watched these two veteran players, the speed (and corresponding time tracking device they hit after each move) they played at was amazing. They were putting one another under pressure, under forced anxiety as they pushed to win the match.

After playing the same game (Chess) every game, BUT never playing the same configuration, they recognize opponents moves and are able to react faster, think many more steps ahead and learn from mistakes with post opponents.

How can you put yourself into more forced anxiety situations with the safety net of camaraderie behind you?

Colin