Why are editors out of shape? Health Episode Part 1 : Cmd+Edit 048

This week we are talking taking care of our bodies and minds so that we can edit until we're the ripe old age of 95!

You have career goals but do you have health goals? You'll need to take care of your body because it's the vehicle you'll use to get you to the finish line.

We editors have a reputation for neglecting our health whether it be not exercising, sitting with incorrect posture, going without sleep or some other way that will kill you slowly.

This episode addresses that reputation: Why are editors out of shape? (not all of us, but let's face it, the majority seem to be).

This is also Part 1 of a 2-parter that will address overall health awareness. The next episode will deal with mental health, how to keep your brain stimulated, healthy and creative. So stay tuned for Part 2!

Like to run? Or have you been telling yourself you need to get back into it?

Josh and Nick are issuing a running challenge to you for the month of June. We both use the Nike Running+ app (download it for free here) to track our running stats. So we invite our listeners who are looking for a group to run with to join us. Get the app, add us (still trying to find out our usernames, but you can add is if you have us on Facebook) and set your running goal. Then try and keep up!

Join the Command+Edit Facebook Group and post your running progress there while cheering others on. Grab those sneakers and hit the pavement with us for June! You deserve it.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Fitness in Post Podcast - Optimize the Most Powerful Operating System You Have...Yourself.
• Ben Greenfield Podcast - How To Achieve Superhuman Feats Of PhysicalPerformance Without Destroying Your Body
• Nerd Fitness - Nerd Fitness helps desk jockeys, nerds, and average Joes level up their lives.

Perform Better By Getting Into Your Zone

So I was at the gym the other day and had a revelation. 

Whenever I go there I always stock my phone with podcasts and audiobooks to listen to. It's a great way to digest some new info while running on the treadmill or cooling down (Hint: play them at 2x speed to rip through them faster…as long as you can follow along at that speed). 

One of the books in my queue recently was The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance written by Stephen Kotler (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Rise-Superman-Decoding-Performance/dp/1480570834).

Highly recommend this book to hear some inspiring stories of humans becoming temporarily "superhuman" in the heat of the moment. 

In it Stephen explains what he defines as a "flow" state of mind and recounts several stories of mostly athletes who achieved it and thus pushed the boundaries of human limits.  Skateboarders who jumped the Great Wall of China, rock climbers who traversed unscalable mountain passes, surfers who used a crazy new technique to surf impossibly large (and deadly) waves. Each was a story where a person succeeded at something that was before thought impossible. And in all cases the subjects recounted what was going through their minds at the crucial moment when success-or-failure (or life-or-death) decisions had to be made in a split second. They all described this "flow" state of mind they were in where all distractions were eliminated and their minds were completely focused on the task before them.

Take a second to consider that state. Do you even recall a time when you had  100% uninterrupted, unwavering focus on the task before you?

At the time I was listening to this, one of the TVs in the gym was showing a movie, Wanted (also one of my favourite recent movies!).

"Shoot the wings off the fly." 

In it, the main character Wesley (James McAvoy) is a schmuch of a man working a mind-numbing desk job when he gets told he is actually a member of an elite group of assassins. These people have the ability to achieve mind-bending moves like curving the trajectory of their fired bullets, all by their super-heightened focus.

This movie would have definitely been a lot different if Angelina turned out to be wrong about Wesley's abilities in this scene.

Now to bring this all back to reality for a moment, I know we aren't here to become Superman and we're not aiming to perform feats that defy physics, but here's the takeaway. Both of these stories, Rise of Superman and Wanted, illustrate the importance of achieving that state of mind where your focus is as sharp as it could possibly be. 

Both showed that when you are in your "flow" state of mind you will see you perform your best, make instinctual decisions that are on point and push your boundaries of what you thought you were capable of.

Two things happened for me as Stephen Kotler's speech about "flow" poured into my ears and Wesley curved his first bullet on the TV screen before me:

1) I turned off the audiobook and ignored the TV

2) I hit the weight rack and achieved a personal best for my deadlift (140lb) 

3) After finishing I went home, sat down at my computer and quickly cut together 4 new scenes for the comedy series I was working on.

That deadlift personal best is still remarkable to me because a shoulder injury often prevents me from putting too much weight on. That day, no pain. And the scenes I cut together? The director loved them and they changed very little for the final cut of those episodes. The pacing was right on for each of them.

After turning off the audiobook and quieting my mind I was able to focus wholeheartedly on my gym goal that day. And when I got home, I blocked distracting tabs on my browser like email, Facebook and Twitter and put my phone on silent. 

In those moments, I achieved a bit of this flow state of mind I had heard so much about. 

What's distracting you while you work? Right now, you might actually say it's this blog (ummm…touché) . But there are other things that may be distracting you externally (social media notifications, text messages, other colleagues dropping into your office or that cat sitting on your keyboard) or internally (What to make for dinner tonight? When should I call that person back? Gotta remember to pay that bill!).

Nowadays "flow" also goes by a different name: mindfulness.

Whatever you call it, you can achieve it by recognizing what is distracting you and taking steps to block it from your mind.

You may not always be able to achieve it (unless you truly are superhuman…) but for those times that you do, you may surprise yourself with what you're able to accomplish. 

We want to hear from you! 

What steps do you take regularly to achieve your "flow"? 

E-mail us or tweet us with your tips on focusing your mind.

Share this post by clicking the link below to distract your fellow colleagues. 

Have you tried turning it off and on? : Cmd+Edit 029

In this episode we follow up our previous topic from Episode 28 about goal setting for success.

As Homer Simpson once said...

"TRYING IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD FAILURE."

And in a way...he's absolutely right!

You are bound to fail. Everybody does! Nobody succeeds on the first try. And if you do, you are a superhuman and we should be worshipping you accordingly. But it's more likely that you are only human like the rest of us.

When we fail, we tend to let it affect our motivation and sometimes throw in the towel right then and there. But you've set your goals for a reason: they are things you truly WANT to achieve. So don't let a little thing like FAILURE stand in your way.

We discuss 4 steps (or 5, depending on whether you listen to Josh or Nick the most) you can immediately take upon failure that will get you back on the proverbial horse. A sort of...resetting if you will. Pressing "continue" on that Game Over screen.

The steps are summed up as:

1. Determine what led to your "Game Over"

2. Come up with a strategy and hit "Continue"

3. Track your progress often to recognize when you go off course

4. forgive yourself: Remember that failures Are an essential part of reaching your goal. learn from them!

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Star Wars Featurette: The Birth of the Lightsaber
• The similarly titled article from Adam Shaftoe, Have You Tried Turning It Off And On Again?
• Join the Command+Edit Facebook group to get updates on the podcast, resourceful links and the occasional funny gif to make you chuckle.