FRI: Stop Yelling

Maintaining the 2018 goal of producing a blog post everyday has been challenging. Some days I can write four or five entries, and the keyboard strokes just flow. Some days, it’s as if I am trying to write a blog in a language I’ve just learned, with Cardi B blaring on full blast.

Among the many things I have learned about this process, good and bad, is that people tend to hold your work accountable to their first experience of it. For some, that was back in the day when I wrote on my own personal website and it was off the cuff, honest and effective at getting my point across, yet sophomoric and unsustainable. Throughout this process of writing daily this year, a few people have reached out to tell me that they like the daily post but miss the old blog. The old backhanded compliment special.

First, I understand that and I never take it as an insult. It was fun. There was a freedom to being accountable to very few and the repercussions very minimal.

However, that style was based largely on volume of voice and I found myself becoming something I couldn’t stand. The person who makes waves through ranting and communicating in sound bites. Everything constantly needing to be a hot take. I was assuming a caricature persona of myself every time I sat down to write, and it was absolutely exhausting.

I made a very conscious decision. If I could not get my message across in a low volume, content driven manner, then it was nothing worth sharing. If I had to scream the message, use fuck as my only tool of emphasis, and Lewis Black my way to persuasion, then it wasn’t a strong enough message and/or I was a shitty communicator.

What it really boiled down to, was that I simply told myself to stop yelling and to convey the message in conversational tone. Not starting debates that aren’t there. If you happen to miss the old articles, I really do appreciate the hell out of you for it. But that approach isn’t coming back (though there is always the looming possibility of a surprise Random Thoughts). I don’t get as many shares, likes, or comments as before, and not having to chase those has brought me greater peace when I simply offer up perspective and conversation to anyone who wishes to consume it.

Do I sometimes muzzle what I really want to say? Sure, on rare occasions, I do. But what I’ve learned to understand is that if I really need to say it, then it’s about serving myself, and not the education of others. It’s about feeding a form of catharsis to my ego, and that’s not the style of messaging I want to convey for myself, and for this gym.

The takeaway I’d like to offer you today is this: Consider how you make your points. Consider how you influence. Is it through effective information? Or are you just louder than everyone?

Speaking louder than the room is highly effective. Until of course, people get tired of being talked over and just find another room.

-Dave

Friday, 10.12.18

First. For Structure
10 Front Squats @ 60-70%
10 KB Goblet Curls
*Complete 1 set every 4′ for 16′
—
Then. For Conditioning.
10-8-6-4-2
Ring Dips
Lateral Bench/Plate Shuffles
Bent Over Rear Delt Raises
Cossack Squats
200m Run

PHASE 1: Squat Test