FitOldDog’s grandson, Tyler, is pretty excited about going to business school in Japan. Here we are at his going away dinner - Japanese food, of course. To follow Tyler’s adventures in Japan, click the image to link to his blog.
“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks” Winston Churchill quote, cited by Master Blogger, Jeff Bullas.
ap/
-
A self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose; an application, esp. as downloaded by a user to a mobile device.
“apparently there are these new apps that will actually read your emails to you”
Hi folks!
Good reading for the blogger!
I was surprised to find that the famous blogger and online marketing expert, Jeff Bullas, is now following me on Twitter. This may be a sign of success on my part, or just a symptom of my persistence, but I do like his ideas and attitude to life. Wish I could go to his short course in Sidney, Australia, but Ironman Lake Placid has me fully occupied through the summer. I woke up early this morning wondering about my business progress, whilst being grateful that my horrible head cold is receding - may run today, gently. Recently, Deb and I went out for a drink with a friend, who informed me in no uncertain terms that my business would fail without a solid business plan, and it would probably fail, anyway. Then I started reading a book by Jeff Bullas, where he clearly stated that focus is one key to business success.
Thinking about wandering all over the Universe, I love this photo of the Sombrero Galaxy taken by the Hubble Telescope.
Whenever I tackle a brand new problem, focus is not my strong point. My brain likes to wander all over the map, in fact all over the universe, until it locks onto some solution or other. I never know in advance what that solution or other is going to be. Once it was mathematics, at another time mucus and airflow dynamics, and now it’s about building a business around guiding aortic disease patients back to an active life, or as active a life as possible. Why do I want to do this? Because I received little or no guidance when my abdominal aortic aneurysm was diagnosed and treated with a stent graft. This was not the fault of my surgical team and the designers of my stent, Cook Medical, who saved my life, for which I am extremely grateful. The problem is that there isn’t much useful advice to be had when it comes to Ironman training with an AAA stent graft.
Everyone is guessing, to some degree!
Calorie Pilot app for intermittent fasting guidance, designed by FitOldDog’s eldest son, Nick, of Shirts That Go fame.
When I started out as a research pathologist in 1970, I heard the same kinds of things - you have to have a research plan, you have to focus, most people fail, it’s tough, maybe you need to go get an easier job. But we are all different! In retrospect I realize that my research successes, and I did a pretty good job if I say so myself, were the consequence two things, (1) making an interesting observation, and (2) using every resource at my disposal to determine the underlying cause of the event observed. Of course, you have to write research plans, but that is just to keep research oversight committees happy and the funds flowing. Real research is in your heart, it’s the way you live, it’s all-consuming and great fun. What have I observed and where have I observed it when it comes to the aortic patient returning to an active life? I’ve observed by reading the forums listed in my new website aorticpatient.com that one of the major symptoms of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and it’s scary relative the aortic dissection, is fear.
Click image for link.
I’ve also noticed from my own life, and from the many books that I’ve read, that you cannot have a real adventure without fear. This means that the aortic patient can have a great life if she/he can transcend the fear and turn their experience into an adventure.
Leverage the fear! There’s a novel idea!
The closest I’ve come so far to solving the problem for myself, and maybe others, is my benefit/risk equation - I think I should transform it into an app - another adventure, not without risk! I think that there is only one real answer to crippling fear, that being the use of meditation to develop the courage needed to get out there and have a life, combined with self-education in order to avoid taking unnecessary risks - such as using a rowing machine with an AAA stent graft.
Think about that fellow aortic disease sufferers, or should I say fellow adventurers!
Wishing you the full life you deserve.
Kevin aka FitOldDog
Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.
Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.
