Donnerstag, 11. August 2016

Morning Routines: Start Your Day Right

As a short intro, I'd like to apologize for not posting anything in roughly three months. During that time, I've been working on my Bachelor's thesis getting the "official" part of my life straight. Since that involves a lot of writing, I lacked motivation to write even more in my time off. You might also notice that this post contains slightly scientific phrases - that's what writing a thesis does to you. I am almost finished with the thesis now and figured that waiting for the doctor in Vancouver and riding on public transport for roughly 3 hours to pick up my beloved leather jacket that I have forgotten would be a good opportunity to blog again. Without further ado - read on:


not every morning starts like this .. but it could be just as magical!


"7 am, waking up in the morning;
gotta get fresh, gotta go downstairs;
gotta get cereal;
seeing everything, the time is running;
everybody's rushing to the bus stop."

Sorry. I may just have given you a song that's now stuck in your head. For those who aren't aware - this is Rebecca Black with "Friday". Yeah, that 13-year old girl. Why would I do that to you? Certainly not because of her musical prowess. No, because the first passage of the lyrics is about something that we all have - routines. 

What do you do every morning? I assume it is somewhat similar to the lines above. And I assume it is the same every day. This is what this post is about - morning routines, or the way we start every single day of our lives. We all have one. Rebecca Black has one. Successful people have one. I also have a very particular one. But in order to understand exactly how and why morning routines are so effective, let us first take a look at two things: routines in general and the prerequisites we need to be the most effective person that we can be.

Routines

Routine: "a habitual or mechanical performance of an established procedure."

A routine can last for 30 seconds or two hours. It is anything that you do on a regular basis in a very particular way. Brushing our teeth is a good example - it is something that we (hopefully) do at least twice a day and is so deeply anchored in ourselves that we sometimes catch ourselves wondering if we've actually brushed our teeth five minutes after doing so. We are so used to it that we stop thinking. That, dear readers, is the power of routines - switching off the mind. 

Two of the most important finite tangible resources that we have are time and decision energy. I've already covered the topic of time allocation in a different post, so I will focus on the second of the two: decision energy. 

We all make decisions every day. While a few decisions are indeed important (as in, which job should I take), most of them are mundane. What should I wear? Should I get a Latte or a plain coffee? What should I eat for dinner? Should I skip class? 

To be honest: does any of that really matter? Yet we spend lots of time thinking about those questions, and I am no exception. I've stood in front of my wardrobe several times for 20 minutes, pondering if that grey shirt goes well with the light blue jeans or if I should rather go for the black one. Oh, and which shoes? The orange ones? The white ones? What an exhausting process. 

I've always thought that Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg simply are eccentric oddballs, who wear the same clothes every day. But after going through aforementioned struggle a few times, I understood that it actually makes sense to always wear the same items (not exactly the SAME - that'd be smelly, but you get the point). After all, it is a decision that you do not have to make every day - and those guys are professionals at it: making decisions is their job. Quite counter-intuitive, isn't it? 

That's where "decision energy" comes into play. We only have a certain amount of decision energy every day. Every decision that we make reduces this amount by a bit. For illustration purposes, say we have 100 units of decision energy daily that we can spend arbitrarily. Moreover, the more decision energy that we allocate to a decision, the "better" it will be.

Note: This, of course, is a very simplifying model. Decision making is a science that hundreds of books have been written on. If you are new to the field and would like an easy read, I would recommend to you the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell, in which he talks about snap decisions and how they can actually improve our lives.

Now say you make 25 decisions a day. This allows you to allocate on average four units of decision energy to each decision, causing most of your decisions to be mediocre rather than great. You might not notice it, as most of those decisions are mundane anyway, but every now and then a decision will pop up that will require more energy. In another case, you spend a lot more decision energy on the first decisions of the day - which then leads to decision fatigue later.

Supermarkets capitalize on this human flaw. After a long shopping trip comparing prices, deciding between products and figuring if we really need this, we yearn for checking out, having depleted our energy. This is why candy is sold at checkout - we are already worn out, thus less able to resist the urge to buy yet another set of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!

mmmmm - delicious!

Imagine you'd only make 10 decisions every day. Now you have 10 units of energy for every decision, which is a lot more. It allows you to really focus on the pros and cons of what's truly important. As a result, better decisions will most likely be made. 

Therefore, we want to minimize the number of decisions that we have to make every day. 

This is what routines are for. Every decision within a routine is already predetermined. You don't ask: with what part of my teeth should I start brushing? You also shouldn't ask: what should I have for breakfast? Eliminating those questions allows us to focus on the most important objective of our lives - doing the right things. This is also known as being effective. 

Effectiveness

"Success does not lead to happiness. Happiness leads to success." - Ryan Holiday

What is the right thing? This question one can only answer one self. For me, the right thing is to be happy (which I've also written a post on). I've noticed in my life that if I'm happy with the things that I'm doing, I also tend to be very good - or successful - at them. However, in order to be happy, a few very basic needs have to be fulfilled that I have broken down into three aspects:
- A healthy body
- A focused mind
- Inspiration

Health comes first - physically and mentally. Countless surveys have determined this, and I've also done some qualitative research with both my grandmas. They both agree that the thing they're happiest about is their health - and that's also what's most important to them. Sadly, I have not embraced this lesson fully yet, as I constantly try to push my body to its limits, whether if it is athletics, sleep, or alcohol consumption. However, I try to minimize the damage by employing habits that are good for me - more on this later. 

A focused mind is also essential. When a million of thoughts are swirling through your head, chances are that you won't be able to think clearly. There is a reason why nearly all people that I would consider successful meditate. Until one or two years ago, I thought meditation was this esoteric thing that only "enlightened" people do - the guys who don't have a job and purely live in their spirits. Then a friend (who I consider to be very driven and rational) came up to me and told me to give it a shot. I did, and the results were amazing - so good that I decided to integrate it into my very own morning routine, which is presented in a subsequent section.

Inspiration encompasses all things that give you new ideas, new approaches, new ways of thinking. Reading this post hopefully also falls into this category. To me it is essential to read and conversate with people that I enjoy being with every single day. Those two activities are what sparks my imagination, gives me motivation and in the end makes me happy. Always be on the move, always try new things. Even if you just learn one tiny thing every day, in the long run, it will accumulate to a quite significant amount of knowledge eventually.

The routine I am about to present was not just put into place one day - it slowly evolved from adding and removing certain elements, trying out variations and constantly tweaking every part of it. 

So what is it? Here we go!

My Morning Routine

TL;DR:

0) Alarm goes off between 6:30 am and 7 am. No snoozing allowed.
1) Make bed.
2) Pee.
3) Sit down and fill out morning portion of the 5-Minute-Journal. Write down any thoughts that are on my mind. 
4) Start listening to audiobook or podcast.
5) Chug glass of (ice) water.
6) Start cooking a omelette with tuna and spinach.
7) Wash dishes while omelette is cooking.
8) Prepare fruit and tea.
9) Eat breakfast (still listening to audiobook).
10) 5 minutes of evercise. 
11) Brush teeth.
12) Shower.
13) Put on clothes.
14) Meditate.
15) Start the day! 

Analysis

0) I'd much rather get up even earlier, but a healthy body needs its sleep and I'm not getting enough of it anyway. I don't have an explicit minute on which I wake up, as I'm using the app "Sleep for Android", which wakes you up once you are in a certain time window and in a phase of light sleep. This makes waking up a lot more comfortable. Also note the "no snoozing allowed": I've made the experience that snoozing implicitly suggests that you are not looking forward to the day, thus rendering it a bad day before it even started. Every day is a great day! Do you remember the excitement of waking up on your birthday? All those presents waiting for you? Man, was I excited and ready to get up - even before my parents most of the time! It is my goal to recreate this excitement every day. Of course, that does not always work properly - but listening to Eric Thomas' "T.G.I.M." (Thank God It's Monday) series usually gets me up to speed. 

Note: I can highly recommend listening to motivational songs, speeches, and videos. Eric Thomas does the trick for me, appealing to my athletic brain. To get started, check out his most famous video: how bad do you want it?



"A warrior makes his bed every day." - Jocko Willink, former Navy Seal and Chief of Navy Seal Training
1) I am no soldier, but making your bed every day has great implications. Essentially, making your bed is a project in itself. It only takes 27 seconds, but it is the first thing you've achieved that day. No matter how bad your day will be - by the end of it, you will walk into your room and be reminded that you at least achieved one thing that day! It also just feels great to lie down in a made bed - no one can argue with that.

2) Can be messy at times. I'll spare you the details.

3) The 5-Minute-Journal is a journal in which you write down three things that you are thankful for and three things that would make this day a great day every morning. Keep in mind that happiness leads to success - so if you remind yourself every day what you are grateful for, happiness is inevitable. It is also a great method to put the focus on things that you want to get done today. By knowing this before the day actually has started, I at least am a lot more focused. This is a habit that I am trying to adopt for said reasons, but have not fully integrated yet.

4) The probably most important part of my morning. As I am running on a routine, I do not need to focus on the things that I am doing. That happens automatically. Thus, I can get my "reading" for every day in. The great Chinese general Cao Cao made a habit of reading every day more than 2000 years ago, and so did successful people before and after him to this day. 
I usually listen to audiobooks from the genres self-improvement, philosophy, business, psychology and the likes or to podcasts about similar topics. To get started with audiobooks, check out "The Obstacle Is The Way" by Ryan Holiday or "Bold" by Peter H. Diamandis. For podcasts, definitely check out "The Tim Ferriss Show", where the host (and my favorite author) interviews successful people and breaks down why they are so successful. Many of the elements in this list are from those interviews. My favorite episodes so far were the ones with Jamie Foxx, General Stanley McChrystal and Scott Adams. If you're more into history, "Hardcore History" by Dan Carlin is the way to go - I especially encourage you to check out his episodes on the mongols of the 1200's: "Wrath of the Khans". 
I get most of my inspiration from this activity. It is perfect as you can do two things at the same time without really sacrificing any attention. Very efficient - and that makes the German inside of me happy. 

5) During sleep, the body dehydrates. In order to function properly, this water needs to be replenished. To add a little spice and to get the blood flow going, try ice water. That might be painful at first, but it definitely gets the job done!

6) Oh, the omelette. My favorite. As of today, I have been eating this omelette for 21 months straight and found the perfect version for me. While you don't have to eat it, here are a two reasons why it makes sense: in order to burn fat, it is advantageous to eat a healthy portion of protein within 30 minutes to 1 hour of waking up. Protein also helps with muscle growth, and is the perfect breakfast for someone who tries to avoid as many carbohydrates as possible. This is what eggs and tuna are for. Spinach is a powerful vegetable that provides a great deal of essential minerals and vitamins. The exact recipe can be found in a future post - stay tuned! If that's not your style, that's okay - but try adding some protein to your breakfast while eliminating some carbs! 

7) There are some things that just have to be done in a household. While washing dishes is not necessarily one of them, it is easier than repairing our dishwasher - something that nobody living in my shared apartment has achieved in four years. Keeps the kitchen tidy and the flatmates happy. Also perfect for listening to something else. 

8) To go with my omelette, I will always have some fruit (usually grapefruit with a bit of brown sugar or orange) and green tea with a dash of lemon juice. I don't handle coffee that well, so green tea provides a good alternative and apparently also is incredibly good for you. Same is true for fruit - besides the taste, it is a great source of vitamin C and antioxidants in an effort to keep my frail body healthy. 

9) Yes, I use a fork and a knife. Also a great activity for listening on the side. 

10) The majority of my training takes part during other times of the day (although I've started working out in the mornings more and more, which makes this part obsolete). As an active Lacrosse player, it is essential to keep my body in shape - but it does more than that. 5 minutes of working out can work wonders and get the bloodflow going - energizing you for the rest of the day. I usually do a selection of push-ups (10-50), planks (1-3 minutes) and air squats (25-100). If you find it hard to get started, simply get into the habit of doing one push-up right before you shower. They'll become more and more over time! 

11) I have no idea how I brush my teeth. Probably an activity where I should switch on my mind every once in a while.

12) Same is true for showering. I have plenty of good ideas in the shower though, because the audiobook is turned off after step 9. Gives me room to think. I usually shower warm, then turn to ice cold for the last 30 seconds. Highly refreshing and good for getting yourself back to reality. Takes some discipline to do though. According to Tim Ferriss and the "Iceman" Wim Hof, taking ice baths and ice showers are incredibly good for your body - but I cannot handle more than 30 seconds yet. 

13) Coming back to decision energy - I try to prepare my outfit before I go to bed. Thus, I do not have to face this excruciating challenge in the morning. And no, I do not only have one outfit. On the contrary, I do enjoy shopping for clothes - and that does not make the decision easier. 

14) As mentioned before, I picked up the habit of meditating not so long ago. It helps me clear my mind for the day ahead. I use the application Headspeace (link), which is perfect for beginners like me. They have a free 10-day program that takes around 10 minutes every day, and it's wonderful. I still only meditate for roughly 10 minutes, which seems to be enough for me. Meditation also supposedly has health advantages, although I have not noticed any yet. 

15) And go! Let's rock this day! 

And that's it. Just kidding - that's a ton of activities, built over the range of about two years. If you look closely, you see a pattern here - most of the activities relate to one of three prerequisites for effectiveness: 0, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 have the purpose of maintaining a healthy body; 13 and 14 keep my mind sane; 3 and 4 provide the much needed inspiration. This leaves 1, 2, 7 and 12 - but there are some things that simply have to be done. And it's a lot nicer to come home at night without having to worry about dishes. 

Your Morning Routine

I am sure you already have a morning routine in place that works for you. Very good! But maybe, just maybe, there is room for improvement, which is why I wrote this post. My routine is by no means perfect, but it works well for me - and what works well for me, might also work well for you! If there is one aspect that you particularly like, try integrating it. If you have something in your routine that is missing in mine - I am keen to know! 

Keep in mind that it takes 21 days to build a habit - more for some, less for others. If you manage to do the same thing for 21 days straight, it will become an integral part of your day. In the end, the goal is to make you effective and therefore happy! That's what matters - not torturing yourself in order to become an optimized self (like I do at times). Use routines to your advantage, but don't let them dictate your life. Break them every once in a while. 

I would like to close with a tribute to my father, the most routine-driven person that I know. I used to smile about the times when he'd get incredibly angry because there was no coffee with foamed milk in the morning. And I used to wonder how he manages to get up at 6am every day, focus on his work all day and still be balanced. Looking back, I should have adapted routines sooner - like he did. He's been my idol when it comes to routines, both in a good and bad way: I've also noticed that I get caught up in my routines very quickly, which causes me to be highly inflexible. This is what I want to work on - breaking the habit (sounds familiar? Linkin Park wrote a song about it.). 

I'd be very interested to hear about your routines, your thoughts and the aspects that you would like to integrate into your life. It doesn't matter if it's via Mail, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter or whatnot - just do me one favor: don't be like Rebecca Black and include it in a song. Thank you!















Mittwoch, 11. Mai 2016

A metric to measure your personal effectiveness

Estimated reading time: 5 Minutes, 30 Seconds

ONCE UPON A TIME ...

Let me tell you about a man that highly inspires me. He is a motivational speaker, who is doing his PhD at the University of Michigan right now. He is is also the owner of a huge motivational speaking business, performing at major colleges, for MLB teams, NFL teams and charges around $10,000 per session. Is he successful? For our western, middle & upper class standards, he certainly is. 

Now let me tell you a story of another person that equally inspires me: having grown up in a notoriously poor area of Detroit, he did what all his friends did - drop out of high school. His father was a high school dropout and so was his grandfather. His life was predetermined. At age 18, he was homeless. His only food supply were trashcans - food that other people wouldn't eat anymore. No job, no perspective, no opportunities. 

Until one day, a pastor took particular interest in him (and no, not the interest pastors are said to usually take in boys). He saw that this guy was special. He took him in, mentored him, showed him what life had to offer. 

You probably know where this is going. The first and the second person are actually the same. His name is Eric Thomas, and I love listening to his tracks. He is one of my few idols, because his tracks manage to motivate me every single time I listen to them. If I were able to inspire just one person with every post I write, I would be proud. He inspires thousands, if not millions. Eric Thomas taught me to work hard. "If you want to be successful as bad as you wanna breathe, then you'll be successful." (watch this video in order to understand what I mean) // link

INCONSISTENCY

Eric Thomas is the living example of the American Dream. His message is that it takes grit, hustle, principles and discipline to get from rags to riches. In a talk to college students, he talks about consistency between things you say and things you do. What particulary struck me was this sequence:

"If you do what you say you're gonna do 70% of the time, you're gonna be average."
"If you do what you say you're gonna do 80% of the time, you're gonna be good."
"If you do what you say you're gonna do 90% of the time, you're gonna be great."

My first thought was: would I ever not do something I said I was gonna do? No way in hell. When I started thinking about it, I and everybody around me do it all the time. Ever heard one of those lines?

"Let's hang out soon!"
"I'll take care of it tomorrow."
"I'm definitely going to call my mom on the weekend."
"Jesus, I'm so hungover, I will never drink again."
"This year, I'll go to the gym three times a week."
"I'm gonna write a new blog post every week."
"I'll have more time soon when I've finished all these things."
"..."

I am guilty of this. I have said every single one of those lines and never put any of them into practice. If you're even remotely similar to me, you are probably guilty of it too. Why do we keep lying to ourselves and others? Why are we jeopardizing our integrity? 



Reason (1): It feels good

Saying it totally makes you feel better. The idea of you having achieved such an ambitious task in the future is flattering. Oh, how proud I would be. How I'd brag to all you guys about it. Lovely, isn't it?

Yet, when it comes to actually getting shit done, the enthusiasm is diminished. Why does it feel good to think about things that you have achieved in the future? Ultimately, because you're proud of them. If you've read my previous post about pride, then you already know that in order to feel proud, you have to go through a struggle. You have to work hard, to fight through adversity. Fighting through adversity is exhausting and hurts. It simply isn't attractive in that very moment, especially with your bed and Netflix looming around the corner. Every time we decide in favor of Game of Thrones, we sacrifice long term happiness for short term gratification. 

Reason (2): We want to keep options open

In my Lacrosse team, we have one rule. If you aren't sure if you can make it, then pretend you cannot make it. Having an additional player is never an issue, but relying on one who then doesn't show up usually is. We installed this rule because we were tired of "maybe". Knowing that you'll maybe come to Wednesday's practice doesn't help anybody - be there or be square. The same thing is true for Facebook events that you'll maybe attend, parties that you possibly might go to (even though they start in less than 2 hours) and dates you maybe go on. At some point, we all have to make a decision - and while keeping options can facilitate spontaneity, at some point it will make us lethargic (more on that in B. Schwartz's paper called "The Paradox of Choice"). 

By telling somebody that you'd like to have lunch soon (despite the fact that you know it will never happen), you do not close a door - so if you're really desperate for a lunch date, you can always call up that person. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of burning bridges, but you might as well just not say it. Then, a call from your side will most likely come as a pleasant surprise. 

Reason (3): It allows us to borrow bragging rights from the future

People enjoy talking about themselves. People also enjoy talking about their future selves. It is very easy to speak about things we want to do - things that will raise our social status. Others will think of us as a highly ambitious person.  Don't get me wrong: it is absolutely essential to have ambitious goals. As I like to say, "no matter how hard you try - if there is no goal, you cannot score". However, if you are gonna talk the talk, you also have to walk the walk. And that is a lot harder. 

YOUR PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS SCORE (PES)

Recently, I have been pondering different metrics to measure personal effectiveness. Things that are measured can also be visibly improved. Visible success is a great motivator. Therefore, in order to become the most effective person that we can be, we need to measure it. Defining personal effectiveness is the next great challenge.

First, let us define "effectiveness". 99.8% of the Earth's population struggle with the difference between effectiveness and efficiency [totally made up number, but it definitely feels this way]. 

"Effectiveness" describes the extent to which you are doing the right things. "Efficiency" describes the extent to which you are doings things in the right way. Those two tie in nicely together: you can be incredibly efficient, but if you do the wrong things, your efficiency goes to way. It all starts with pursuing your goals, with making sure that you focus on the right things. 

Now, what are the right things? No one knows for sure, but I believe that everybody has an idea which things they'd enjoy doing. More accurately, chances are that the things that we would like to and should do are the things that we say we are going to do. The circle comes to a close here ...

The metric is defined as follows: things that you have actually done / all things you have said you were going to do = your personal effectiveness score

This score can be tweaked by the manipulation of two variables. The more obvious one: actually getting more shit done. This is definitely a goal most of us should pursue. The other one is: speak less about the things that you are going to do. It might not raise the number of things that you do, but it has other positive implications for you:
- you stop lying to yourself and others 
- your mind is decluttered, as it can stop worrying about stuff that you still feel obliged to do at some point
- you prioritize more clearly 

THE CHALLENGE

I challenge you. Wait what? That's right. I challenge you to track every single time you say "I am going to do ..." and write it down (I assume an Excel spreadsheet would make sense). Observe this over the course of a month and check everything that you actually did. Calculate your effectiveness score afterwards. If you have the impression that it works for you, keep going and become a better, more goal-driven person!

I also challenge myself here: goals and goal setting have been mentioned more than once here. It is something that I myself struggle with, but I am constantly on the hunt for new, better ways to set goals. AND I AM GOING TO WRITE ABOUT IT. Oh, and while we're at it, I'll give you a short list of topics that have been on my mind recently and could/should/must turn into a new post soon:
- Perserverance
- Instant Gratification
- Decluttering your life, physically and mentally
- Morning routines
- ... 

I will leave it at that. Those are my opportunities to increase my PES. Now go out and do the same - the world will thank you for it!

-----------------------------------

Please let me know if you enjoyed this piece, want to smack me for wasting your time or have any questions. Feedback is always appreciated!

Also, I would like to ask you for one thing: if you enjoyed reading this article, please forward it to one friend who might enjoy it as well. Do both them and me a favor - I would be incredibly thankful! 

Much love,
Dominik


Follow me on Twitter: @dominiknitsch and Instagram: @corebinian

Also check out Eric Thomas aka. ET the Hip Hop Preacher @ericthomasbtc and this video.


This post was written in the McDonalds of Düsseldorf HBF and on a Flixbus to Mannheim.



Donnerstag, 28. April 2016

The NFL Draft for Dummies (aka. Europeans)

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 45 seconds

Welcome to an experimental post! This article is going to be very different from what you usually get to see on this blog. It is about one of my more secret passions - American Football. I remember just having arrived in the USA for my exchange year in September 2009. It was high school football season, and football games were THE thing to do on a Friday night. I watched the first one and thought: "This is stupid. Huge people running into each other with lots of breaks and no visible rules". 6 and a half years later, I am convinced that American Football is one of the most interesting sports out there. During every play, an incredible amount of things happens simultaneously. The strategy behind plays is often baffling. The more you watch it, the more you see the underlying thoughts - it is basically chess with figures that defy the laws of physics. Also, the whole structure built around the game is very different from what we are used to - the biggest part being the draft. This is an introduction for people who are just getting into football.

-------------

It is a shame that American Football is only played from August to February. The rest of the year, I have to entertain myself differently on Sunday nights. However, there is one thing to fill the void - the preparation for the NFL draft. 

The day of the days is here: it is Draft Day, the most important day of the year for all NFL teams (aside of maybe the Super Bowl). Draft Day has an impact that often lasts decades. Today, you will learn why this day is so meaningful and why the NFL is such a balanced league. 

WHAT IS THE DRAFT?

In most major non-american sports, young athletes aspiring to become professionals usually get recruited at a fairly young age. Then they are groomed, switch teams and work their way up until they finally land a contract at a big club. Not in the NFL. As a young football player, becoming a professional means that you do not have a choice who you're playing for. You don't select your team - the team selects you. This could mean that having gone to college in Florida, you might have to move up to cold and snowy Minnesota, whether you like it or not. This is what happens in the draft. 

All players who elect to declare themselves for the draft (usually juniors or seniors in college, with a few exceptions) are available for the taking. The teams then select a player in a given order based upon their performance in the previous season. The team with the worst record gets to pick first, then the second-to-last team picks second and so on. The draft has 7 rounds, with roughly 32 players (one for each team) taken in each round. 

So far, so good. Doesn't sound too exciting, does it? Well, on draft day, things become a lot more spicy. 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Trades

It rarely is the case that teams pick in the exact order as originally determined. The reason for this are trades. You can switch spots with other teams by trading "up" or "down". For instance, if you are picking at No. 8 but desperately need a quarterback who you can plug and play, you have to move up in the draft - just like the Philadelphia Eagles did this year (link). The Cleveland Browns gave up their No. 2 selection, but received the No. 8 selection as well as more picks in this and next year's draft. Trading down and acquiring more picks can be an option for you if you do not have a desperate need at a certain position - or if your roster has so many holes to fill that one special player just won't cut it (which is the case for the Browns). 

Draft picks are the most valuable currency in the NFL, as they give you the flexibility to select the players that you need right now - and who might possibly the next [reigning MVP] Cam Newton. You can trade draft picks for other picks this and/or next year or players. There is no such thing as transfer fees like in soccer, the only way to acquire a player from another team is by offering them draft picks (I believe there is even the possibility of trading picks for coaches, but I don't think this has ever happened). 

Trades can happen anytime before and during the draft. The board changes constantly, so trades can suddenly make sense at any point. Nobody knows who the other teams will pick - you can make assumptions, but you only know it for sure once the card with the player's name is handed to the commissioner. That means that sometimes, players who are highly rated drop lower than they were expected to, giving teams a chance to trade up for them. Moving from No. 15 to No. 1 is expensive (as proven by the Los Angeles Rams this year), but moving to No. 10 is fairly doable. You still get the player that you would have targeted with the No. 1 selection. 

Compensatory picks

In addition to ordinary draft picks, there are compensatory selections. Those selections differ from the normal ones as they cannot be traded. They are awarded if you lose many players in free agency (players whose contracts expire) and can be as high as the end of the third round. They soften the blow of losing players that teams cannot afford to keep, as rookie contracts are a lot cheaper. 

Undrafted Free Agents

Not everybody gets drafted. Many college athletes wait all day to hear their name called, just to be disappointed in the end. Do not worry though, many teams need more than just 7 new players - and after the draft, every team can sign anybody they want to. This is usually a good time to fill up a roster and pick up talents that may have been overlooked somewhere else. 

Mr. Irrevelant

Mr. Irrevelant is the draft's last pick. He receives an award and is highly celebrated for the fact that he probably will never play anywhere. It is a very questionable honor, but I do enjoy the irony in it. 

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

Teams are built through the draft as it is the only opportunity to select players that will eventually become the face of your franchise. Teams will most likely not let go of their most important players, unless they have off-field or character issues (like Josh Norman of the Carolina Panthers (link)). Therefore, the draft has to be right. There are even teams like the Green Bay Packers who (until very recently) only consisted of players that they drafted or picked up after the draft - not a single player on the roster who previously played for another team (the only exception being Julius Peppers for the nerds among us). On top of that, drafted players are fairly "cheap". There are fixed salaries connected to the time at which you are picked, and those are a lot less than salaries on the open market. 

What I most appreciate about the phenomenon of the draft: it makes the NFL unbelievably fair. I enjoy watching American Football a lot more than soccer because every team has a chance to go to the Super Bowl every year. In soccer, there are a few big teams who reign due to their financial situation - they just throw lots of money all the good young players. Through the restriction of the draft, it is assured that the best available player goes to the worst team from last season, thus giving them somebody to rebuild their team around. Super Bowls are won on the field, but the way there is paved by smart General Managers who make great roster decisions. The reason why the Carolina Panthers went to the Super Bowl last year after selecting first in 2011 are back-to-back successful drafts. All playmakers have been drafted at some point in the past 4 years.

BONUS: THE SALARY CAP

There is one more reason why the NFL is so fair: the salary cap. Every team can only spend a certain amount of money on their players' salaries. This makes it impossible for the wealthiest team to "buy" all good players, because the amount of money they can spend is limited. This makes the league very fair and often urges successful players to play for not-so-successful teams because they can make a lot more money there (Malik Jackson going from Super Bowl winning Broncos to the low-performing Jaguars is a good example for that). In soccer, no player would go from Bayern Munich to Freiburg simply because they pay better. 

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I hope that all this talk about the NFL and what will be happening during the next three days are a little bit clearer for you, dear reader. Please let me know if you enjoyed this piece or have any questions. Feedback is always appreciated!

Also, I would like to ask you for one thing: if you enjoyed reading this article, please forward it to one friend who might enjoy it as well. Do both them and me a favor - I would be inredibly thankful! 

Take care!


Freitag, 15. April 2016

Priorities

"I don't have time."

Oh, I hate this phrase with a passion. Why? Because it's a lie. Every single person on this planet is the owner of exactly 24 hours per day. Every single person on the planet has the same amount of time. While time may pass slowly or quickly, depending on your state of flow, it is absolute in the spaces that we move in. What you are really saying is:


"I have other priorities that are more important."

We all have priorities. Priorities that are constantly changing. Let us assume, for instance, that your job is your #1 priority from 9-5 during the week. If I asked you to hang out at 11am on a Tuesday, the answer would probably be "no". Hanging out with me might be nice, but it isn't your top priority. Earning money, not pissing off your colleagues and climbing the career ladder are far higher on that list. Say you had the opportunity to go on an awesome trip. 4 weekdays. No vacation days left. Again, the priorities mentioned above win the battle inside. Now consider your spouse just got in an accident - everything stops. Your priorities shift, and you make sure you get to her or him as fast as possible. Nothing else matters at this point. 

Welcome to our lives. Everything we do is related to priorities. The reason I am writing this right now is that I enjoy doing it, hope that other people will enjoy this post and that it helps me sort my thoughts. Writing this has a higher priority than working on my paper that is due in two weeks (yeah, I'm gonna hate myself for that tomorrow. But that's okay). 

Sometimes, it isn't as easy to figure out why things actually are up high on your priority list. The underlying motives are a lot more relevant. Using your job as example again: do you really love it that much that you would not want to do anything else? Or is it so important because you cherish the money, the power and the fame you get from it? Like I said in my first post, electing to study management wasn't really my #1 priority. More importantly, I did not want to hear anything about how any of the studies that I would choose probably would not yield a great job. 

The most important piece information that I want to convey here is: 

GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT.

You have to understand why your priorities are the way they are. Do you do certain things because it is "expected" of you despite the fact that you do not really want to do them? Do you keep pushing off things that are not urgent, but important for the sake of urgent, but not as important things? Do you catch yourself saying "oh, I can always do this later" often? I do, and I hate myself for doing so.
Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principles (courtesy of mindtools.com)
In a time of instant messaging, notifications, 24/7 connectivity, social media and smartphones, most people spend their day running after urgent tasks that they have to complete. A rather typical day at the office for me looks like this: open Outlook, look at the 10 new mails that require "immediate" attention. Answer those. Attend a meeting. Help out a fellow employee who needs a certain piece of information only I can provide. Oh look, new mails - better answer them. Lunchtime. More meetings. More mail. You get the idea. 

At the end of the day, I barely got anything done because I spent all day running after things from quadrants 1 and 3. The tasks, that really get things going, usually cannot be found there. They hide in quadrant 2. My workday is a metaphor for the life that most of us live. A few examples include:
  • working out - you can always do that tomorrow, as right now you "don't have time"
  • cooking - takeout seems a lot easier, and you "don't have time" as you need to binge on Netflix
  • learning a new language - yeah, maybe on vacation, because right now I'm too tired
  • ...
  • ...
  • ...
If you keep living your life that way, things will probably not change or improve. Look: there is NEVER "the" right time to do things. Sometimes, you just gotta go ahead, focus on quadrant 2 and get shit done. In the end, you'll feel happy. 

Think about my words the next time you catch yourself saying "I don't have time" and evaluate. Do you really not have time? Or is it something else? 

Take your time when it comes to important things. After all, you might not have the opportunity to do them more often. When you look at the bigger picture, you will see that your seemingly endless life is actually rather short. Assuming I will live until 82, I will only read 1500 more books in my life at my current rate (1 book in 2 weeks). If you do the math for all of your activities, you will soon learn that you have to choose wisely. In order to understand this more clearly, I will hand over to Tim Urban, who wrote an incredible post on "the tail end."

*drops mic*



Pride

Why are we proud?


Recently, I had a very interesting conversation. It was about athleticism. Those who know me from back in the day are aware that I used to be a chubby kid who wasn't very good at any sport, really. I'd be picked close to last in gym class, just a substitute on the soccer team. I strongly disliked going to soccer and tennis practice (despite not realizing it then). Then Lacrosse came around, and things started changing. I put down the trading card and computer games, started working out and going to practice was fun all the sudden. I'm still far away from some of the guys on my current team skillwise, but people have started asking me for advice - on and off the field. And I'm proud of that. 

Story over. At least that's what I thought. Yet all the sudden my friend asks: "Why? I do not feel proud of anything, really." Wait ... what? This very friend of mine is an accomplished man. He has achieved more than many people his age, and is somebody I look up to. How can this guy not feel proud of anything? 

Let us first take a look at pride: "Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two meanings. With a negative connotation pride refers to a foolishly and irrationally inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments. With a positive connotation, pride refers to a satisfied sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and a fulfilled feeling of belonging." according to Wikipedia. What does that imply to us? 

National pride is a perfect example for the first meaning. Why are we proud to belong to a certain nation? It is, after all, not our accomplishment. It might not even be our parents' accomplishment. There are few things in our life that we cannot influence, and those are the things that we are born with. Lee Greenwood sings a beautiful song about being "proud to be an American". Yet, it is what it is: "an irrationally inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments".

Back to the conversation. Why am I proud to be fairly athletic? There are many out there who perform a lot better. I am nowhere close to being the best. That's definitely not the reason. No, the reason is that I battled through adversity. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't easy. It involved blood, sweat and tears. Hell, I even recall throwing up after the first day of Lacrosse conditioning. Yet, I kept going. I defeated myself. I grew from it. And that's what makes me proud.  

My friend, on the other hand, had never been in this situation. Everything somehow came to him. He stuck with the things he wanted to do, until he didn't feel like doing them anymore. He never pushed through. He quit. And that's totally okay, because the things that he has achieved so far are outstanding. Yet this also explains why he does not feel proud. 

I have discussed this topic with several of my close friends - one of them is a swimmer. Which is something that she is proud of. Getting up at 6am to swim for 2 hours, going to school, swim some more after school. Sounds fun? Absolutely fucking not. And it probably isn't fun for swimmers either. Nevertheless, they push through - for one fraction of a second in the next race. That's dedication. That's hard work. That's something you can be proud of. 

This translates to any part of your life. Be proud of the things that you work for. It is totally okay to have good grades and to be proud of it. You worked hard to get there. Somebody will always hate you for that - but in the end, who's better off? In the long run (i.e. after 9th grade), good grades (along with other smarts) will get you somewhere. 

What have I learned from this? Sometimes, it takes hard work to get to the next level. Sometimes, you have to be relentlessly focused on what you are ultimately trying to achieve. It may not be fun, it may not be easy, it might even hurt a bit. But once you get there, beautiful things are on the horizon. That's where you want to be. 


Donnerstag, 7. April 2016

Travel Report: DC & Los Angeles

Last time, we heard from each other in Oslo. The journey continues ...


THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

Having landed in Frankfurt, everything seemed to be rolling smoothly until the flight attendant announced that we would have to wait for another hour for people coming in from Brussels Airport, which was closed that day. Considering the flight was getting to DC fairly late already, I wasn't too happy. When we were about to take off eventually, I thought I was in a bad movie. "Do we have a licensed doctor on board?" is definitely not what you want to hear when you're late already. Luckily the lady who had a heart attack survived and we were eventually able to go to Washington. 

As usual, I picked the slowest moving line at immigration, so I only made it into the city by 2am. Shoutout to Justin here, who gave me a place to crash despite not knowing my personally. Would have loved to spend more time with him, but due to the flight delay that wasn't possible.

BACK IN AMERICA

After cold days and even colder nights in Riga, it felt great to go outside and to take off my scarf, my jacket and eventually my sweatshirt. It was nice and warm. My last trip to the states had been in 2013, so I was ready to get in all the great American food that I have missed so much during that time. #1: Krispy Kreme donuts and Iced Coffee for breakfast.

If you haven't had this .. just do it




DC is fairly familiar to me, so I figured I would just go to the White House, read a bit there and then move on to the second greatest museum of all time (in my book): the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space. If you haven't been, GO. It is totally worth it. (In case you are wondering: the greatest museum of all time is the "Deutsches Museum" in Munich). 








After picking up a sunburn due to a deep conversation on a bench with look to the White House, I was ready to fly out to Los Angeles. 



LOS ANGELES: CITY OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

With my arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, I checked an item that is on the bucket list of every Lacrosse player for obvious reasons: fly into LAX. My travel mate Kai picked me up, and we checked off another food that we had to get. #2: Double Cheeseburger with Fries and (Diet) Coke at In-n-Out! 

The next day, we started off with a quick surf session (the first one I had done in years, went pretty well though) followed by a nap - after all, it was already bedtime in Germany. We also drove to the Walk of Fame, which is highly unspectacular. Everybody knows the Hollywood sign from postcards, photos, posters and whatnot, but in reality, it is absolutely not impressive - just some letters on a hill. Same goes for the walk of fame, which is basically a sidewalk with stars on it.

.. and that's about as spectactular as it gets
At night, we met up with my friends Adam, Danny and Emily to hit the city. Los Angeles has lots to offer: a bar in a fish tank, a great rooftop bar and also an old factory that hosted an awesome party. 

It took us a while to get going on Saturday, but after a hearty breakfast of black beans, eggs and avocado (which we ate everyday) things started rolling. We met our friends at a place called "The Bungalow", which is by the Santa Monica seaside. I highly recommend going there: not because the location is awesome (although it isn't bad), not because the drinks are cheap, not because the music is mindblowing. No, go there because you will NEVER EVER see such a accumulation of attractive people in one place again. This goes for both guys and girls. I am by no means homosexual, but I did fall a little bit in love with the male bartender. I also fell in love with girls around 37 times just walking around the place. Maybe love at first sight is real?

Double Cheeseburger with Train
Wreck Fries (1000 Island
Dressing, Onions, Cheese)
This experience was followed by another magnificient one. We all got together at our AirBNB to have a few drinks before heading out and I have to say, that was probably the best two or three hours I have had in a long time. Adam had flown in from Chicago (we spent lots of time in Madrid), Danny & Emily plus a few of their friends already lived in LA and were there, John and his sister (who are friends of Adam's that I already knew from Madrid) just happened to be in town. It was a huge reunion and it was awesome! 

Sunday was the day of the lord - we drove around the city, had the best burgers I have had in a long time (grass fed beef from happy cows that ... you get the idea). Los Angeles also has a pretty cool flea market, and I was tempted more than once to buy outfits for Carnival there. From there, we drove to dinner with Adam's parents (it is always amazing to meet your friends' parents, because it makes you understand why they are the way they are). 





WHY I WOULD NOT BE THE PERFECT FRAT BRO CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF

Would have loved to attend
this party
We had yet to see where our friends went to school at UCLA, so we drove to the campus and took a small tour. UCLA has probably the liveliest campus I have ever seen, with a constant stream of people walking everywhere. It is a lot different from German campuses, where people actually just go to class and that's it. No college sports, no clubs, no on-campus living, no nothing. Just classes and research. 

The best thing that happened to us that day: being called "chill" by kids from California. If you have been around Californians, you know that this is the highest accolade that you could possibly receive. 

Of course, we also had to see at least one fraternity house. The guys were super chill and showed us around, and what I saw greatly diminished by excitement about fraternities. The parties and the people are incredible, but the living situation was awful. Three people on a bunk bed on a total of maybe 8 square meters with a huge landfill right behind the house? No thank you. My apartment may be messy (and those of you who have been there know), but it is a lot better than this. 

Afterwards, we dropped off Adam at the airport and rode off into the sunset. Sunset means in this case: San Diego. 

THE PEOPLE SHAPE THE EXPERIENCE, NOT THE PLACE

I absolutely loved Los Angeles. Or should I rather say: I absolutely loved my time in Los Angeles? We actually did not see a lot of the city, and I have no regrets. Spending time with close friends who I had not seen in a long time was amazing, and at the same time we got to know lots and lots of new people. Kai met my other friends, both of us met my friends' friends and so on. I have learned something throughout the past week and the past months that certainly also is true for you: if they are friends with your friends, you will most likely connect with them too. Great way to meet new, awesome people!


Chavales Digest, March Edition

This is quite a post. If you're still here, great! If not, I promise I will also write more pieces that are more content and less diary in the near future. :)