My wife landed today after an overseas business trip. We took our daughters to an Annual Dance Show by Dancenter, where my first daughter takes dance classes. My second daughter is not yet two years old, so we were a little worried that she could sit through the whole thing. However, she enjoyed it and clapped after each performance.
The show ran from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The kids lost their attention in the last half hour and started picking on each other, but it was enough for me to be very proud of them. I am very grateful for these great family memories. My wife managed to have the energy to join us. My kids love music and dance. We were in such good spirits despite a long drive there and back.
The performers were students and teachers at Dancenter. They must have spent tens, if not hundreds, of hours polishing those dance numbers. I respect deliberate practice. It is also deep work when you focus on just dancing, not multitasking with other work or study tasks.
I reminisced my days in a dance troupe back in high school. Nothing brought a group of high schoolers together, like making them stay back in school practicing for hours and preparing for annual dance shows and regional dancing contests. I did not learn dancing at a young age, but after passing the audience in high school, I joined the ACJC Dance Society for a life-changing experience. I picked up the groove quickly with strength and good coordination. Flexibility was my weakness then and still is, but I could get away with fluid body movement as long as I didnât have to do splits.
We care about academic achievements and extracurricular success in school, especially in developed countries. When you apply to a top university, especially to the most competitive ones in the US, you need to demonstrate both breadth and depth. Itâs not enough to excel in specific academic subjects or be outstanding in sports or the arts. Exception does happen if you represent the country. Otherwise, itâs expected that we demonstrate holistic development.
It makes me think of us adults. Most of us no longer care about extracurriculars. What would they be anyway? Adults have hobbies, but few take them seriously, and the next employer tends to only ask about the relevant work experience in terms of skills and expertise. Employers still look at other attributes of a person, such as their attitude, potential participation in culture, and so on. However, itâs not easy to be precise.
As someone into endurance, I have seen the benefit of putting self-care first and pushing oneâs own limits. I would be happy to be biased toward potential hires who do sports or are really good at something outside work. In particular, I realized I should not prioritize those who donât care for themselves. How can you develop skills to manage work, stress, and other people if you cannot manage yourself?
So there it is; we should pick one outside work activity to be really good at. It could be dance, tennis, martial arts, or anything that requires putting in the hours to become excellent. Some people maintain a wonderful balance between many hobbies, work, and family. Those who donât have much to talk about besides work should consider putting something else as a priority. When we dedicate an hour a day to become good at something other than the tasks assigned to us at work, we practice the ability to do an hour of deep work. For me, itâs endurance training. I also put another put in writing. After I finish those two hours, I still have enough remaining hours to work, sleep, and spend time with family. My attitude to time is different: I donât like wasting time and want focused blocks of time. It took me a few months to finally feel the benefit of blocking out âdeep workâ slots on my calendar.
Today was such a great Sunday. I did my long run in the heat, completing 16km a little after noon at 38ÂșC. I was able to put down my thoughts on work processes. I took my wife to a nice meal after she landed and took the family to a lovely dance show. Iâm aware this one is a little all over the place, but I am too sleepy to separate different trains of thought, so Iâll publish it as is and review it later.
Next: Trust Wager