Mindconnection eNL, 2010-02-07

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Here's a minor example, for you. I run a computer backup about mid-day. To back up my Outlook files (which are several and huge), I must have Outlook closed. But that application is my nexus for much of my activity, because it includes my schedule, e-mail, and other important apps.

It takes only 10 minutes to back up several gigs of data via serial cable to the two external SATA 1TB drives. But the software that runs the backup takes several times longer than that to scan the backup drives and source drives. This means I can keep Outlook open until the last 10 to 15 minutes of a backup operation. What I often do is run the backup over lunch, but start it prior to lunchtime. I work in Outlook and then close it just before going to lunch. I come back from lunch, and the backup is done.

So today, I was making a backup and working in Outlook. I was thinking of several different things, and went to lunch with Outlook open. I came back, and had to do the backup all over again due to that absent-mindedness.

But I needed to be in Outlook for a little while, so I thought no problem--I would just keep an eye on the backup progress and close Outlook in plenty of time. Yeah, right. I missed the window again.

So as I type this, I am doing the scan source for the THIRD TIME. With Outlook closed, of course. Now, how could I be so stupid as to make the same mistake twice in a row?

One obvious reason is I wasn't paying attention to the backup.

Not paying attention to a task means you aren't applying your brainpower to it. The result is the same as if you had no brainpower.

Imagine the conversation with the police officer when a person with 20 to 30 years of experience driving an automobile has a fender bender. Would the first or second statement be more likely?

1. I don't know what happened, officer. I was totally focused on driving, paying complete attention to it.
2. I don't know what happened, officer. I was distracted for just a second.

About this time last year, CONgress passed a layoff stimulation bill. It worked, and millions of people were laid off as a consequence of the capital sucked out of the economy at a time when banks weren't lending and layoffs were already happening.  Why CONgress would choose to vastly accelerate the rate of layoffs is another subject, but let's address the brainpower factor for a person wanting to hold a job in such an environment (because that environment is where we are now).

Suppose you have an important project to do. It's complicated, and you need to be "in the zone" to do it right. Which of the two following scenarios is conducive to that end?

1. While working, you answer the phone just because it rings, you check e-mail just because you get an alert you have new e-mail, you answer a text message just because one arrives, and when a coworker stops by to chat you don't want to be rude so you work and chat at the same time.
    
2. You turn your phone ringer off, set e-mail notifications to off, and put away any gadgets that might distract you. You would close your door, but you work in a cubicle so you put up the "Do not disturb" sign you have just for this purpose. A coworker stops by to chat, and because you don't want to be rude by engaging in an half-conversation, you let your coworker know you're tied up but will e-mail as soon as you're free to have that conversation.

Much of what holds us back from remarkable achievement is our not focusing on the task at hand. If your attention is split between two things, you are actually alternating between those two things and carrying the overhead of managing the switching back and forth.

If your attention is equally divided, you might have 30% of your real brainpower available for each task. Imagine being more than 3 times as smart as the guy in the next cubicle. No, wait. Don't imagine it. Do it.

People keep talking about "health care" when they mean "medical care." These are not at all the same thing.

If you practice basic health care, and I'm not talking about anything that is difficult or expensive to do, you are unlikely to have much need, if any, for medical care.

Buying food that's contaminated with corn syrup or hydrogenated oil is like hiring burglars to rob your house. It just does not make sense.

What can you do to prevent your hard-earned grocery dollars being inadvertently used to raise your costs and lower your health? Two simple rules can save you big bucks:

1. Your first line of defense is to buy mostly foods that don't have labels. For example, fresh oranges don't have an ingredients panel on them but orange-flavored soft drinks (osteoporosis in a can) do. The value received for an orange is highly positive; for a soft drink it's actually negative.
    
2. Your second line of defense is to read the labels on anything that actually does have a label. Bread, for example, is something most people eat. But most supermarket bread is contaminated with corn syrup and with hydrogenated oil. If you eat bread, is yours uncontaminated? Are you sure?

You will find that your grocery bill is lower and your meals have far more variety in flavor when you shop per this two-rule method. Those many colors you see in the produce department are also many flavors.

Save money immediately, increase the pleasure in your life, and dramatically reduce medical bills over your lifetime.

As you can tell, there are several forms of skiing. And right now, the one that immediately comes to mind for most folks in the northern hemisphere is downhill snow skiing.

Unfortunately, there's a high level of injury in that sport. Probably, you know people who ski or you ski, yourself. What kinds of injuries do you hear about the most often? Knee pain, twisted ankles, and backs "going out" are fairly common. And, of course, our friend the shin splint just loves to visit us.

Most the injuries incurred in this sport happen because the skier isn't properly conditioned for the sport. Or, properly conditioned at all.

You may be thinking, "Sure, it makes sense that you can condition yourself against muscle and tendon problems, but that won't help if you're headed toward a tree." Actually, it will. You need strength, flexibility, and good kinesthetic development to control the skis. And conditioning is how you develop those things.

Here's an article that explains more about the topic:

http://www.supplecity.com/articles/skis.htm

As regular readers know, I was 48 years old in the picture (above, right), taken in December 02 2008. I don't diet down for summer. I don't have good genes for maintaining a lean body, either. I really have to be conscientious and disciplined about it. That doesn't mean I suffer, eat bland foods, or starve myself.

At www.supplecity.com, you'll find plenty of informative, authoritative articles on maintaining a lean, strong physique. It has nothing to do with long workouts or impossible to maintain diets. In fact:

• The best workouts are short and intense.
• A good diet contains far more flavors and satisfaction than the typical American diet.

Nor does it mean being hungry all the time (you are less hungry on six small meals a day than three large ones), being weak from hunger (on a proper dietary regimen, you will have much more energy than otherwise), or "giving up pleasures" (I have no idea where this concept comes from, unless a person considers being sick a "pleasure.")

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