Bravo Sierra Papa

This was a response I made to a comment on KUSports, but I thought I would share it here as well.  Basically, people were wondering why we were “wasting our time” trying to pick up Milton Doyle, an under the radar prospect out of Chicago.  I think it has to do with the system that Bill Self has established and recruits for.  

I also think the recruiting has something to do Self’s style and philosophy.  I know I have said this on here before, but he is more of a system coach.  He will gladly take a guy who has fewer “stars” on Rivals if it means gaining a player who fits what he wants to do with the program.  And what he wants to do has worked out pretty well so far so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.  

Sure you want to land the ***** and **** guys when you can and when they fit.  Take Ellis.  Perfect guy for Self’s system plus a local guy, hard worker, probably set to be a great ambassador for the school, AND a ***** recruit.  That is the perfect situation but they don’t come around like that all the time. 

Lesser coaches (I am thinking of the likes of Scott Drew), can’t rely on being able to craft a winning system or to develop players to fit in and success so what do they have to do? Go out and get as many raw talent ***** guys as they can convince to come to Baylor. 

Look at Calipari.  Now, he is a far better coach than Drew, but he is certainly no Bill Self when it comes to strategy and formulating a system for success.  What he is good at: getting a bunch of ***** talent to buy in for one season and take a shot at the title.  If you throw that much talent at the tournament every year, you are bound to take one home eventually. It’s just a totally different coaching philosophy.  

I personally prefer the system Self sets up.  Get guys that will stick around for 2-4 years, bring in under the radar guys and develop them to fit your style, have a small group of seniors that can lead the team every single year, and sprinkle in a few of the ultra-talented guys to push everything over the top.  

Like I said, it has worked out so far. 

8 Big 12 titles, 2 final fours, a nations championship and the most wins of any school in the last decade? Yeah, I would say it works just fine. 

This is the second post in the series entitled “Mind Your Verbs.”  We are exploring tasks that are common to all of us, yet they are not commonly considered beyond the superficial level required for their completion. In the last post we established the idea of giving our menial tasks more meaning by mindfully considering the way we perform them.

It is important to realize that there is no one right way to mindfully approach a task. It is not important exactly how you perform the task, just that you get more involved with the process. By considering the your actions in such a way, they will seem far less meaningless and wasteful, and you will achieve your goals more quickly.  The first common-place task we will explore is travel.

Business Trip

Businesses spend thousands of dollars every year sending their employees all over the country and world in the name of furthering the business.  While many individuals would agree that traveling an be a very enjoyable experience, most would also agree that business travel does not usually fall into this category. Sure, your first business trip as a newly hired employee might be exhilarating, but living in a sterile Marriott hotel room and eating out for every meal wears you down quickly.  Soon, the business traveler find him or herself coasting through these excursions like a zombie.

Early drive to the airport, wait in security lines, wait in security lines more, barely make it to the gate, sit in a cramped seat for a few hours, stare at the luggage carrousel, take a cab to the meeting, try not to sleep through the meeting, dinner in the hotel bar, sleep on hard white sheets, early drive to the airport.

Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, there is not much we can do about the smelly cab and the sterile hotel room, but we can attempt to augment the overarching travel experience.  By carefully considering the steps that make a trip like this into a productive (or not) endeavor, we can streamline the process, cut down on wait times, enjoy the destination more and stress less.

Whether it is a 2 day trip to Albuquerque for a business meeting or a two month Italian adventure, let’s perfect the process.  A process that has been given forethought and careful consideration, becomes less torturous because successfully implementing the plan and seeing the work pay of is an achievement. It will make you want to get better with time.  You will give the action meaning through your consideration.

Again, I am going to present one method for augmenting this process to give it meaning, but this is by no means the only way to mindfully approach your travel experience.  It just happens to be how I approach travel and it has made traveling one of my favorite activities because I am meeting personal goals and testing new ideas each time I hit the road or skys.

By all means, choose something that works for you.

One Bag

Many travelers have already discovered the freedom and joy that comes with one-bag travel.  I have been a dedicated one-bag traveler for over two years now and it has really changed the way I think about the whole affair.

As you might have already guessed, I travel with one bag and nothing else.  Think about that for a second.  If you are the person that brings along a small closet when your travel, this might seem ludicrous to you. Maybe you already travel with a wheeled carryon bag, but you also bring your briefcase along. Sorry, thats too much stuff.

The idea is to pick one carryon bag that meets international carryon limits (9″ x 21″ x 14″; 10 kilograms) and travel with nothing but what you can fit into that bag, regardless of how long you will be traveling, and regardless of what you will be doing at your destination.  Now, you might have to make an exception if you need to bring your golf clubs or something, but there are usually alternatives to any situation (like renting clubs rather than dragging yours through security).

The Principles of One-Bag Travel (Why Go Light?)

Since I obviously didn’t invent this concept, it is time to give credit where it is due.  The guru of light travel is none other than Doug Dyment. He is the one who really put this idea on the map and spawned somewhat of an industry and devout community of people looking to simplify the way they travel.

I am going to borrow from him in explaining the reasons you should consider traveling light in the following few paragraphs.

1. It’s More Secure

Since you brought just one carry-on sized bag and it is either on your back (yes no wheels unless you must – more on this later) or it is secured in your hotel room or locker somewhere, you have less to manage and less to keep safe. Since you don’t have to check your bag, you are less likely to have it misplaced along the way. Overall, this approach ensures that you are in more control of your personal belongings than if you were juggling multiple bags through bag check.

1. It’s Cheaper

One-bagging is the more economical way to travel.  Most airlines are struggling more than ever and they are find new and interesting way to make money off of their customers. A recent trend is a more expensive price tag for checking your bags.  Some airlines charge more than $100 per bag.  It is outrageous but you can avoid the whole problem because your bag will be traveling securely over your head.

Not only does it save you at the airport, but you will easily be able to take advantage of public transport because your bag will be hanging out on your back making you a mobile machine. In fact, if the hotel isn’t too far, why not walk?

3. It’s more flexible.

Having fewer things with you means you are free to seize opportunities as they present themselves along the way. You can arrive later to catch you flight and you will be one of the first on the plane to leave the airport rather than standing in line to retrieve you luggage (assuming it would have made it at all). Once free of the confines of the TSA you will have little trouble jumping onto and off of trains, subways, buses and whatever other transportation method best suits you needs.

What to Pack

Have I sold you yet? I hope you are at least interested in the prospect of traveling light.  I have to be honest, though. One-bag travel is not without its drawbacks. Namely, since you have space, you have to be selective regarding what you will bring, and in some cases, leave behind items you really wanted with you.  However, with the right mindset and the right gear, these negatives can be minimized and outweighed by all of the positives.  The secret is to carefully consider everything you “need” for the trip.  Analyze each item.  If you can’t justify carrying it around on you back or shoulder for the entirety of your trip, leave it.  Rick Steves (European travel guru) suggests that you pack everything up in your bag and then go downtown and window show for a couple of hours.  If by the end you are gasping for air an drenched with sweat, go home, lay everything out on the floor and start considering each item. Be ruthless.

Here are some good guidelines to follow when deciding what to bring.

1. Plan for the best case scenario and pick up things along the way when trouble presents itself. Sure, an umbrella seems like a good idea but save the space and if rain does present itself, pick up a $5 umbrella from Walgreens.

2. If you haven’t used an item on the last two trips where it was with you, leave it, even if you always take it along.

3. If an article of clothing isn’t versatile, meaning it can’t be worn with almost everything else you packed, trade it out for something that can or cut it all together.

4. Consolidate as many functions into single items as possible. Smart phones are a great example of how to consolidate many functions into one item that takes up hardly any space.  Another example is the kind of jacket you pack.  Find a jacket that will keep you warm, dry and presentable all at the same time.  I prefer the Alchemy jacket (aff. link) from Mountain Hardwear for this purpose.

Packing methodology

There are so many ways to get you materials into your bag it will make your head spin. Many One-baggers have their own way of organizing and securing their items that they will swear by.  I personally subscribe to the bundling method.  The principle is that you wrap your clothes around a core and in a specific order to minimize wrinkling. Here is a PDF that explains this further.

I usually take my bundles and put them in the proper sized packing squares. The packing cubes are more for organization and compartmentalization than anything else, especially if you have already bundled. Some leave these out entirely if they have already formed their bundles.

The Gear

For many, the part of converting to one-bag travel that is the most fun is the research and selection of the best gear to meet these new travel needs. This part can be relatively inexpensive or you can spend a small fortune depending on what brands and quality of travel wares you are in the market for.

I try to stay on the frugal side of things without sacrificing too much in the quality department. The main item you will purchase, and the one that will likely cost the most is your bag.  You may consider packing cubes, a day bag, and other travel accessories (clothes line, hanging toiletry kit) to facilitate this type of travel, but the bag is the key.

The first decision is whether you will get a wheeled bag or not. I would highly recommend that if you are still physically able to carry your bag that you do so. Rolling bags loose interior space due to the mechanical components.  These components also add weight and rigidity that can be a problem for checked bags. Also, wheeled bags are fine on the tiles floor at the airport, but get them on a cobblestone road in Europe and see how those wheels hold up. Even though it seems every businessperson who is power walking through the terminal pulls a wheelie bag with his or her briefcase on top, resist the temptation to mirror those folks and get a bag you can carry.

If you have settled on a carry bag (congratulations!), you need to decide if you will get a bag that converts to a backpack.  These are my personal favorite.  While I tend not to use the backpack function when I am making short jaunts with my stuff, if I am walking 5 miles from a train station to my hotel in some European town, the ability to quickly convert my shoulder bag into a backpack with support straps makes a world of difference.

I am not going to go too deep into the bag frontier here, although I would like to post some reviews of bags I have used for this purpose in the future. I will say that my personal bag is the eBags TLC Motherlode Weekender Convertible (with a Patagonia Lightweight Courier for a day bag).  Also RedOxx makes what seems to be the consensus “best bag” for this purpose, the Sky Train (but it is expensive).  Also, if you want another convertible option, Rick Steves convertible (aff. link) is a great option (I lived out of this bag for two months once) and usually cheaper than the eBags model.

Brandon’s Packing List

It’s hard to know just how much a bag like this can hold, or what 20 pounds of materials looks like.  Rather than trying to explain this, I figured the best way would be to just show you my packing list.  I have a base list that I always start with and then I modify it depending on what I will be doing while away.  It usually comes in sub 20 pounds, which is under that 10kg. (22 pound) restriction.

This list has been modified for a 3 week trip taking me to Chicago, Wichita, Sacramento and Cabo.  This is a diverse set of requirements, so this list took some thought. Also, there are plenty of things that I cut out that I would normally take along were I going to Europe as a tourist or some 3rd world country for medical outreach (such as materials for doing laundry, money-belt, etc.)  It’s all about finding the right balance for the anticipated circumstances and then picking things up along the way if needed.

Gear:

Tls motherlode bag

Patagonia Courier

Stuff sacks

Packing cubes

Inflatable pillow

LED Flashlight

TSA Locks

Tech:

iPhone

MacBook

iPad

Charger for MacBook

Charger for iPhone

Charger for iPad

Headphones

Mouse

Clothing:

2 Khaki Shorts

1 toe socks (black)

3 white socks

3 casual socks

5 underwear

2 undershirt light

3 tees

2 polo shirts

1 dress shirt

1 knit tie (casual)

1 swim trunks

1 athletic short

1 flip-flops (havianas white)

1 vibrams

1 sneakers

1 leather slip-on loafers

1 hat

1 501s jeans

1 chino pant

1 sport coat

1 mhw jacket

Wear on the plane (these items are included above): 

Dress shirt

Chino pants

Slip-on shoes

Socks

Underwear

Sport coat

Toiletries:

Leather Dopp kit

3-1-1 bag (with liquids, gels)

Toothbrush

Body powder in a baggie

Wet shaving kit

Deodorant

Miscellaneous:

Cash

Moleskine Notebook

Pen

Multipurpose soap

Chapstick

Vitamins

Sinus medication

Tylenol

Hand sanitizer

Sunglasses

Sewing kit

First aid

Stain remover stick

Ziplock bags

Mind Your Verbs

Remember that the whole point of traveling this way (aside from the short and long term benefits for your travel experience) was to offer up a way to be more mindful of a menial task in your life. Own the way you travel, and it becomes a skill rather than a boring and tiresome task.  Acquire different skills like these over time, and you will be living and acting more purposefully and mindfully. This is what separates you from the average Joe who hasn’t given an ounce of thought to something as fundamental as travel practice.

By going above and beyond in you everyday life you move one step closer to becoming a superhuman.

Well done is better than well said.  ~Benjamin Franklin

When we think of making improvements in our lives we tend to fall into a simple trap: we strive to improve our adjectives while we neglect our verbs.

AD·JEC·TIVE/ˈAJIKTIV/

Preface

I can’t begin this series without stating that I am a HUGE fan of digitization.  I have been working over the last few years to completely convert everything in my life to digital format.  It is only recently that I have started examining the results of this process and more fully exploring the possible downsides of the digital trend.  So, to be clear, I will not be suggesting in this series that we go back to the stone age and quit taking advantage of all amazing digital solutions in some misguided attempt at anti-consumerism. The problem is that many of us are stuck in this notion of “digital is better”.  Maybe it is time to re-examine that. Alright, Butt = covered, let’s move on.

Note taking 

Ever since there were ideas, people have been trying to capture them.  It is because of this process of capturing ideas that we, as a society, can progress and learn from our mistakes.  While this is true on that kind of grand scale, it also applies on an individual level.  We are always capturing our own idea in an attempt to remember them for later utilization.  When you were two, you captured your imagination with crayons or finger paint, when you were in grade school you started writing them down on wide-lined paper.  In college you probably captured you ideas electronically in the form of essays or research papers and after college you likely transitioned to recording meeting minutes on your computer and brainstorming sessions on a white board.

Needless to say, we have all been looking for the best way to get ideas from our brain to some other medium in an efficient, searchable, and reproducible fashion.  And over time we have also chosen from different mediums. I listed paper, computers and whiteboards, but there are many others that we and the note-takers before us had at our disposal.  The decision depends on which method makes the most sense for the type of information being gathered.

Let’s examine some different types of idea capture and whether digital or analog makes more sense in each situation.

Charting

Charting is the process of using graphs and symbols to express meaning.  This usually comes in the form of flow charts for documenting process and tables and graphs for evaluating data.  With the power of modern graphing and charting through data crunching applications like Excel, it seems that it makes much more sense to capture this kind of data electronically so that it is ready to be processed in a quick, organized and meaningful way.  When was the last time you hand-drew a large array of data?

Winner = Electronic 

Outlining

Some people like to write the notes in a more freeform fashion, yet others (like myself) prefer to take notes in a more structured and consistent format.  Outlining is a great way to approach the latter type of note taking and is very conducive to school notes about a single main topic that has multiple facets to explore.  A typical outline will look something like this

MAIN TOPIC

• Point A

1. sub-point 1
2. sub-point 2

• Point B

1. sub-point 1
2. sub-point 2

The main problem with this form of outlining is that it becomes very difficult to go back and insert more information at a later point in time.  Sometimes new information is provided out-of-order and you would like to add a new sub-point.  When working with paper, this task is cumbersome and requires erasing (we all HATE erasing) and usually breaks the organizational scheme.  These limitations were solved with the word processor’s inclusion of outline formatting.  Now you can quickly and easily insert bullets, roman numerals, and more importantly, you can add new lines od information without destroying the original architecture of the note. That architecture was the original point, remember?  This is probably why just about every college student today has a laptop and while not all of them use it as their primary note-taking device, the number is growing.  When I was in college, many still used spiral notebook or printed off the Powerpoint slides (which I never quite understood).

Winner = Electronic 

Mapping

Mapping (or Mind Mapping) is the process of creating idea trees by connecting related topics in a graphical manner. These are commonly drawn from a central point with branches of related topics radiating outwards from the center. Often colors and symbols are used to enhance and further categorize the information. This type of note taking is great for visual learners.

Mapping has been done digitally for many years now. I currently use Mind Node Pro on the Mac to create powerful and beautiful mind maps with ease.

Winner = digital 

Not so fast.  While there are many great digital solutions for creating mind maps, there is something to be said about the cognitive connection you get with the ideas you are capturing by putting pen to paper.  For one thing, it is usually much faster (depending on the program you use) to get the ideas down and connected when doing it in analog form.  Also, you physically make the connections between ideas with your hand and are more likely to remember those connections compared to if you just CTL + TAB  them into place.  If you need to reproduce your map for others or it is going to be VERY large, digital might be the way to go.  But, if you are just organizing some ideas for a paper, blog post or lecture, it is hard to beat the analog form.

Winner = Analog

Freeform (brainstorming)

What if you just need to have a brain dump?  You have all of these ideas floating around in your head and you need to capture them as quickly as possible lest they be lost to the tip of your tongue?  Some people don’t like form or order to their notes.  They capture their ideas best when they have a blank page and they can just let ideas flow onto it.  Sometimes you don’t know where you ideas will lead and just need to start capturing them.  For these situations, nothing beats a good old-fashioned notebook (aff link).  You can just start writing, and let the organization take care of itself. This is my preferred method for journaling and for brainstorming for this very blog. It is fast, easy, and I don’t have to wait for my aging computer to wake from sleep or launch a word processor in order to get my ideas down.

Winner = Analog

The Pros and Cons of Digital 

If we take a step back and look at the pros and cons of digital information in general, we will see some key trends that are likely to resurface throughout this series.  Digital can be very fast, but we have seen how analog can be faster in some situations.  Digital is permanent as long as you make backups the way you should where as analog information can be corrupted, lost or destroyed.  Digital information takes up no physical space and can easily be consolidated and organized.  However, digital capture creates this block between your mind and the content you create.  There is a new far less organic conduit through which your ideas must pass compared to holding a pen and marking on physical paper.

Digital capture also tends to be more rigid in its structure. Sure you can buy equipment that tries to simulate an analog experience, but that is expensive and not very practical for the average person. Digital is also reliant on its platform.  You need power or, increasingly, you need wi-fi. If you have a paper notebook in your pocket, all you need is some kind of marking device. You can almost always find something to write with, but are less likely to find someone with a laptop you can take borrow.

Today everything is going digital: movies, music, paper, books, photos, everything.  Maybe we should take a step back and ask ourselves if we are converting some of our analog practices to digital because it’s seems more modern or because it is actually better that way.

Is there something in your life that you used to enjoy more when it was analog, but have converted to digital because that’s where everything else is?  I am a sucker for consolidation (the topic of a future series) as much as the next guy, but I keep two paper notebooks on hand at all times. One is in my bag and is used for journaling and brainstorming ideas, the other is in my white coat which I use to record diseases I see throughout the day so that I can have a record of them for later study.  That ensures that I make it so simple to record them that I almost never forget to do it.

If you formerly took take notes by hand and moved to a computer, ask yourself if it was a good move. Some will find that their electronic notes have less meaning later on, caused fewer synaptic connections during their creation, and were generally less enjoyable to make. If so, then grab a notebook and start going analog.

If you worry about data loss like me, scan each page of the notebook when you are done with it, and then back that sucker up. Done.

The shortest answer is doing.  ~Lord Herbert

Yesterday I was discussing what it means to be a superhuman.  I hope many of you took that to heart, have decided what it is you want to focus on first and have set into motion a plan of action to realize your goals.  If not, what are you waiting for?

There was one line in that post that was particularly important, and I wanted to re-visit it again to make sure it hits home.

Pick one thing in your life that you want to see changed, one skill you want to acquire, or one goal you want to meet.  Now, break that thing down into its smallest first step possible, and then do it.

This is so crucial.  The problem most of us run into when the reality of our lofty goals sets in is that we start to look at them as one giant leap we must make.  This is a fundamental error that will lead to one thing: failure.  It is impossible to tackle even a single great goal all at once, not to mention many great goals.

We let our mind wander from positivity to negativity as our thoughts move from our greatness to our limitations.  Many times this depresses our ambition so much that we end up giving up before we even begin. “Well, it was a nice thought, but who am I kidding?”

There is a way to avoid failing in the face of gargantuan obstacles… do one thing.  You have to take this scary monster of a goal you have created and whittle the process of achievement down to as small and simple a first step as you can possible conceive. Do that, and it becomes almost impossible NOT to proceed. And make no mistake, the first step is everything.

The first step creates the first inkling of momentum, a simple quantum of inertia.  And that inertia is all you really need.  That inertia will ensure that the next small step is easier than the first, and so on.  Before you know it you have achieved what seemed impossible at the start, and you are ready to move on to the next goal.

Do you want to get into shape? Jog for three minutes today, and three minutes tomorrow.  Do five the next day if you are feeling adventurous. By the end of the month maybe you are running for a full ten minutes.  Averaging a slow jogging pace, for around 8 minutes a day, you will have covered the distance of a marathon before a full month has passed.

We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.  ~Calvin Coolidge

Do one thing!