Category Archives: motivation

First Day Back Working Out – AGAIN!

October 10, 2011   Leon Durupt   No comments


If you read my earlier post on the muscle behind the magic, you will know that I have a deep appreciation for those that can commit and stay with something over the long haul. Working out has not been that way for me. The first couple weeks are great, I feel great, motivated and on my game.

Eventually, though, excuses and justifications set in. This could go for many things in my life, however I’m proud to say that in several key areas, that has not been the case. In studying music, for instance, I seem to be dedicated to a fault, to the exclusion of all other activities and relationships. And there also seems to be a factor of motivation, or more precisely a dedication to something that holds supreme interest for me. See, the longer I immerse myself in the work of perfecting something musical, the more interested I become in getting it right. And I can ignore food, sleep, and any other “distraction” for great periods of time and barely even notice what I’m doing to myself. That’s the sacrifice of oblivion.

On the other hand when I’m on a workout schedule, the limitations that my body puts on me are more immediate and therefore seem to discourage me very quickly. It’s a lot easier to focus on things like rest, proper nutrition and balance when your body is giving you very clear messages to stop. It’s almost the exact opposite message from when I’m immersed in music, and that is “STOP! Stop what you’re doing! Take it easy, rest for a while, in fact why don’t you just call it a day, you don’t want to over-exert yourself”. Or the day AFTER the workout, “Why not take an extra day off from this, you can’t just push yourself non-stop, your body has to recover from such strenuous activity.”

So the motivational messages I need to send myself are much different for those 2 activities, and yet both messages cannot ignore the over-riding need for balance.

Writing for this website is a little like that too. I need to remind myself to write, that it’s good to put some of this stuff out there, if for no other reason that to have an outlet for thoughts, creativity and general BS that goes through my head on a daily basis. Something creative may or may not come out of this, but just the act of writing out what’s going on in my brain sorts me out, gets me out of my own head, massages my thought process, gets my brain moving and provides some valuable self-feedback, in the same way that listening back to a recording of myself lets me know how I sound and where to improve.

So, off I go, looking to gain muscle mass, increase my lung capacity and eat better. Hope I’ll still be writing about my progress in 2 months’ time.

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Demanding The Stage

October 09, 2011   Leon Durupt   No comments

Every company has at least one. Or should have at least one. Hopefully for the sake of their long-term success, every company has several. They do not take a back seat, or at least don’t want to. And they can be identified across sectors and across cultures as people who will not accept not being noticed for their achievements. They are not afraid to sell either their product or their own performance. They are not afraid of others’ opinion of them. They may be humble, not braggarts, or cocky and brash, but through their performance they are speaking to you subliminally or even dramatically and the message is “I’m here and you WILL pay attention to what I’ve got to offer”. They have more or less of a lasting effect or impression on their peers, their customers or their fans. But they are not deterred.

In short, they demand the stage.

Steve Jobs was the quintessential model of just such an individual. More so than most. He was not going to die before challenging himself and everyone around him, including the entire world, to “think different” and “change the world”. His legacy was solidified years ago, and after the Apple II he would not have had to add the long list of other achievements to his list just to have a dignified place in history. But he just kept going, relentless, driven, impervious to his detractors and sure of what the public wanted, no, needed.

He was also the epitome of bull-headed persistence, Steve Jobs never gave up on the many occasions when giving up may have seemed the more practical course. Booted unceremoniously from the company HE founded. Just over a decade later, returning to his company only to find it on it’s death bed, then rescuing it from the ashes. In early 2000, the formidable shadow of Microsoft loomed large and a plethora of computer and tech companies were well ahead of Apple in market share, customer awareness and capital. Giants like Sony, Nokia, Google and many others were breathing down his, and Apple’s neck. Yet Apple now has dominant market share in every category in which it participates. And on a personal level, Steve himself had been a victim of cancer and yet still had enough left in him to continue to contribute iconic products to the world.

Recently I listened to his speech to the Standford graduation class. It was a very heartfelt and passionate speech about his pitfalls and successes, without any ego or bravado. In one part of the speech he talked specifically about death and how he’d consistently used it as motivation, especially in moments of doubt and confusion. But he also pointed out that despite it’s inevitability, death is “very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new”.

It’s hard to imagine someone coming along to take the place of a man like Steve Jobs, but his legacy may just be enough of an inspiration to the “new”. It’s my belief that he was exactly what the world needed, and it is my hope that when I die I leave even a scintilla of the legacy that he has.

RIP, Mr. Jobs.

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The Muscle Behind The Magic

October 06, 2011   Leon Durupt   No comments

I recently stopped going to the gym. Magically, my back, shoulder and arm muscles have all reduced in size. Someone who hadn’t been paying attention wouldn’t even notice that I’m skinny, again. Some have noticed, however.

When I was working out and getting bigger, the progress was remarkable, and some took notice. For them it seemed as though some magical thing had happened to me and transformed me from my previously skinny self to somewhat less skinny and slightly muscular. C’est incroyable! I will tell you, however, that it isn’t that incredible. 3 days a week for only about 45 minutes each time I would grunt and groan at the gym and then I would eat enough carbs and protein and fat to sustain and even gain a bit. It boils down to dedication to a goal and then…PRACTICE.

I don’t like to practice. I like to plan. I plan to write a novel. However, in order to do that, I need to practice writing and conceptualizing and criticizing myself and re-writing and all the battles that one has to endure in order to complete a novel of any significant length, coherence and readability. The admiration and, yes, even envy, that I feel when reading another’s finished work and reveling in their mastery of the language cannot overcome the inclination I have to give up at the earliest stages. Just like my muscle building.

I had worked out for about a month and half, showing great progress and able to lift more and more as well as having less back pain during the day and more endurance in all my activities. But for several reasons, all of which work in a sinister kind of conspiracy, I have now been inactive for the better part of 2 weeks, sedentary, eating less, sleeping more and finding the inspiration to maintain or even improve my health slowly slipping away. Thank God I’m still free of alcohol and cigarettes or I’d be mired in an even deeper morass of guilt, inertia and spiraling downward in all areas once again.

It’s that way for me sometimes. Sometimes it’s not.

I am a musician. I think I’m quite a good musician and vocalist. It took hours and days and weeks and months and years of practice to get to the level I’m currently at. In fairness I haven’t performed as much on keys in the last few years as before, so I’m sure that’s affected my abilities in that regard in no small measure. But vocally and musically I’m still able to perform at a high level even on a nightly basis. It certainly didn’t become possible for me to perform at this level after a week or two of practice. I’d dare to say that it took the better part of several, many, grinding, frustrating, tedious years of practice and reiteration and devotion to detail and sore throats and late nights before I was able to consistently produce the level of music that I could be proud of.

For many of those watching and listening to a musician, it may seem incredible, impossible even, or perhaps magical. In some respects they may be right. Because the magic of art is that it conceals those blessed inner workings and suspends the appreciator in a world of wonder. The vigor with which an artist pursues their craft can only be appreciated by those who have tried and failed at something, or those who have achieved “magical” results in their own pursuits. Only they can know the delirium of 18 hour sessions, the consistent pursuit of excellence and have known the utter frustration of the inability to reach that ever elusive pinnacle, where ever it is sought.

Similar to the way in which I can appreciate just how many hours the well-cut bodybuilder has spent honing his muscles, the countless miles covered by the long-distance runner, or the oddball beauty of a Picasso.

When I see a master performance by a musician or performer, I sometimes get odd looks from those around me when I’m enthusiastically showing my appreciation for what I’ve just witnessed. My feeling is that, knowing what I do, and knowing how hard they’ve worked to get to that level, I can work just an infinitesimal fraction of that in order to acknowledge their hard work, artistry, persistence and courage.

Because for me, that’s the muscle behind the magic.

 

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