Erik Vermeulen's blog

Life's too short.

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:05:12 +0000

“The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do.” Dennis Waitley

Life is too short for one sport. It’s also too short for regrets. Young people I work with are always telling me about their dreams. The events they’re going to enter, the equipment they want to buy, the challenges they want to complete. Older people also often talk to me and they’re telling about the same things. They’re not dreaming anymore though. They’re saying “if only” they’d entered, if only they took the challenge, bought the gadget, took the trip! Not that they’re losers – they’re just procrastinators. Live in the now. Start doing by changing the words you use. Improve your vocabulary, and start using an active rather than a passive voice. You will read this, you can do well , You are a success. You did after all win your very first race! You beat a couple of million other sperm!

Believe in your strength and your truth.

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:56:13 +0000

“There are admirable potentialities in every human being. Believe in your strength and your truth. Learn to repeat endlessly to yourself. "It all depends on me." Andre Gide

Too many of us leave our results up to others. When they don’t deliver the best tactic and the easiest excuse is to blame them. “My coach didn’t...”

As we fail to take responsibility for what we do and blame others, we eventually lose faith in ourselves. We begin to believe that others do not have our best interests at heart. But why should they? They have, and rightly so, their interests at heart. You just happen to be part of their plan at the time. This is not a bad thing tough!!! Learn all you can.

The problem is that results when we put our faith in what others will do for us are that we lose faith in our own strength and abilities. We begin to believe that our success rests in the hands of others. You need to take that power back! Right now. All your success rests squarely on your shoulders.

Success is never permanent

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:52:43 +0000

“Success is never permanent, and failure is never final.” Mike Ditka

When you're in a tight place

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:41:18 +0000

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe

Ah, heck! If everything in life was easy, life would be very boring. If events and trials were easy there’d be no honour and accomplishment in achieving them. It’s only in pushing to the point of quitting, then not quitting and pushing through that we extend our boundaries, grow and leave a meaningful legacy. A life lived in complete comfort is wasted. A race completed in complete comfort is not a success. Look at the faces of Olympic medallists just before the medal. Just before they cross the finish line. Just before the joy and elation of knowing they have gold. Those are not expressions of joy, relaxation and fun. Those are faces of pain, anguish and complete resilience. Only after that do we see the excitement, jubilation and celebration. They have these faces because they held on for that extra minute, second or split second. Their tide turned!

The soul must see through your eyes

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:38:36 +0000

“Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.” Goethe

Ever noticed how your attention is drawn almost automatically to things you associate with – even subconsciously? When you first thought of buying that new bike, and you did because you liked it and not everyone rode one.

My wife recently bought a new car and one of the reasons she bought it was that she thought it was somewhat exclusive - a convertible that not everyone drives. A few days after she got it she complained to me that she now sees so many of them on the road! Well it’s not because there were suddenly more of that model on the road, she was just more focused on it.

Whatever sport you’re fanatical about will always seem to attract your attention in the media, on TV, and you definitely see more of your peers training than you do others. You get whatever your eyes and your soul focus on. If your focus is unclear and hazy, so are your results.

Your relationship to hard work.

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:35:14 +0000

“Hard work and togetherness. They go hand in hand. You need the hard work because it's such a tough atmosphere... to win week in and week out. You need togetherness because you don't always win, and you gotta hang though together.” Tony Dungy

There is Shakespearian wisdom in this. It is suffering that makes for strange bedfellows he said. And it’s true here also. You know the hard work it takes to be successful all the time. And once you get to a certain level you’ll certainly have a lot of “friends” as a result of your achievements. People want to hang out with you because of what they think they see in you. It’s usually shallow though – they’re just tapping your brain!! But your training buddies, coach and team mates are the ones you can lean on, and who may often lean on you too. Besides, we need more heroes and fewer celebrities. You become a hero through your hard work and the results (not necessarily the victories) you share with others. You leave a legacy by giving back to the people around you.

Some defeats are more triumphant than victories

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:32:30 +0000

“There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.” Michel de Montaigne

Not one super-successful person I know of has not experienced failure in the past. And we’re not talking small ones either. The world marvels at the success of Richard Branson but we tend to forget, or not even know about, the failures and setbacks he had to overcome to get where they are today. True learning and growth comes from figuring out what NOT to do, rather than only knowing what to do. Truth be told, there are many ways to get the same positive results – some are easier than others, some are more fun than others. Negative results are always the product of the same mistakes.

Bullet and ball

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:27:12 +0000

You're standing on the edge of an ocean with a high powered rifle and a ball. The ocean is smooth and there is no wind. Holding the rifle level with the ground six feet high, you fire a bullet out to sea. The very instant the bullet leaves the barrel you drop the ball from the same height as the rifle. Which will hit the water first, the bullet or the ball?

Answer: The ball will hit first. The curvature of the earth will cause the bullet to travel farther down, even though they both drop at the same rate of speed.

Polygons

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:24:49 +0000

A boy was told to identify a polygon. The teacher gave him 3 clues:

1. I have 4 equal sides.

2. All my angles add to 360 degrees

3. I'm not a square.

What am I?

Answer: A rhombus, because all the sides are the same length, all the angles add to 360 degrees and it isn't a square.

Coin and bottle trick

Erik Vermeulen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:22:58 +0000

Take an empty beer bottle and a small coin which is wider than the mouth of the bottle but no wider than the rim (a British penny is ideal). How do you move the coin without moving the bottle, touching or blowing the coin, or using another object to contact the coin and move it?

Solution:

Drip some liquid onto the coin so that a seal is made between the coin edge and the mouth of the bottle. Clasp your hands around the bottle and wait a few seconds. The air inside the bottle expands from the heat of your hands. As the pressure builds, air escapes bubble by bubble, by repeatedly dislodging the coin.