February 2014

February went really quick.  I was away in Jakarta the first few days of the month, then went to work for 8 days, then went to japan for 8 days, then worked for 9 days, and finished out the last two days of the month in Perth getting back to basics.  So I did not accomplish much except Travelling. 

Japan is a world class travel destination.  I feel like I would recommend it over anywhere I have been.  Anywhere.  I have been to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and most of Australia since moving here in 2.5 years ago.  I have been to Europe and Alaska and Mexico.  Culturally, japan surpasses them all.  The people are so kind and humble.  It is tourist friendly with excellent train infrastructure, a variety of accommodation (traditional inns, capsule hotels, hostels, homestays), and there is something for everyone- mountains, cities, food, nuclear fallout. 

Books.  I read many books this month mostly on the way to Japan and back.  I kept the learning theme going with The Talent Code, the first 20 hours and started Mastery.  I read racing weight by Matt Fitzgerald because I am up a few kilos due to injury and sedentary lifestyle.  And I am currently listening to the audio version of Quiet.  I really enjoy all of these, especially Quiet because it is explaining a lot about my introverted self and how its not so bad to be an introvert and embrace it. 

Since I have read several books this year on skill acquisition and learning and being the best, I am starting to see how they all start saying the same thing.  The concept of deliberate practice or deep work is in all of them: Talent Code, First 20 hours, Mastery, Quiet, and So Good They Can’t Ignore You.  They all reference various brain and psychology studies (10000 hour rule) which leads me to believe that the ever growing field of neuroscience is going to have a lot of attention on it in coming years.  So if you want to learn what it takes be talented or learned or be the best, I would read So Good They Can’t Ignore You.  I like the logical, step by step layout of the book and the ability to tie all the concepts in as the book progresses.  The only thing lacking is the description of what happens to the brain when you do deep work (myelin) which Daniel Coyle does so well in the Talent Code.   

Future reading.  I want to finish off my theme on learning with The Art of Learning to move onto biographies and outdoor literature.  I re-read my notes on Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand because I just saw the movie trailer.  That book is epic and a must read for anyone before the movie comes out.  I haven’t read a great deal of biographies but Where Men Win Glory is my favourite with Unbroken a close second.  I want to get back into the bios.     

Future Travels.  I am going to shut it down for a while.  My knee hurts still so I am going to take of it and see if I can get back on the ball training.  It would be fun to do the Mount Fuji run in July and Kinabalu in October and Kepler in December but I am doubtful I will get back on track anytime soon.  I might do a trip to Bali or Lombok at some point because its close and cheap.  Who knows though?  I just need to live the moment.   

And Going to stop consuming so much internet stuff and start playing more and using my hands.  Being injured doesn’t help but maybe I am injured because I am not moving enough?