A big leader at work recently wrote on phone distraction. He described the behavior of other executives at a meeting, but he described the behavior of many people in meetings and many other situations. People were distracted scrolling through their phones. The other day there was also an article in the NY Times Well section. The message was simple: pay attention and don’t let your phone control you.
This brings me to flappy feet. Somehow there is a logical connection there. Ah, yes. The digital life equates to the sedentary life. We sit. We type. Our feet get week. I mean, I could extol the virtues of strong feet and come up with some complex rationale, but really it should be self-evident that anything that has the potential to restrict you should be addressed. We don’t walk enough is a big part of this. But I think this weak feet thing has the potential to really screw you down the line. An MD out of North Carolina, Nortin Hadler, has a phrase that frequently comes to mind: exercise is to prevent decrepitude.
I saw decrepitude first hand when I spend several weeks in Mexico observing all the retirees spending their “golden years” – many of whom were fat, weak, and out of shape. To each his own, sure, but from a health insurance perspective self-control is far cheaper than indulgence.
It’s a little disconcerting to see the next generation. I’m sure it is this way for other generations, too. But I don’t know how we’re going to produce deep thinkers who can solve big problems with an attention span of less than 8 seconds. As I sit in class I see many people “hiding” (it’s obvious) their phone activity or scrolling through Facebook. It’s like overtraining–the brain is trying to absorb too much info.
Anyway, that’s it for today. A few things that are on my mind. And the simplicity bit is inspired by Reg Park, a big advocate of 5×5 training who argued for big exercises in your training program.