Tag Archives: Goals

Barefoot (Running) In The Park

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Have you ever started doing something new and many people around you think it’s a bit on the ‘strange’ side?

Maybe you’re excited because it feels exhilarating and freeing.

But at the same time you’re embarrassed when others stare or titter knowingly about the ‘odd one out’.

The best way I’ve found so far of dealing with this is just to take things one step at a time. Whether it’s changing careers, countries or life styles, some (perhaps a lot of) resistance is to be expected.

But by focusing on just taking baby steps as best you can, the odds of making progress start to improve.

I was reminded of this today when I went into my local park for a run. Haven’t been out for nearly three weeks due to minor injuries and a chest cold.

Plus it was cold and windy (though sunny) – so I was feeling a little nervous about the outcome. Truth be told I was also planning to take my first “barefoot run” of 2010.

A barefooted foreigner in just shorts and tee-shirt (but with gloves and a headband), I must’ve stood out like the proverbial nail asking to be hammered down.

Once I got underway there was the wind and the cold to contend with. I was enjoying the run so much and the strangeness of soles-on-mud that I mostly forgot about what others were doing.

And you know what, they probably felt the same.

“Hey, it’s a crazy gaijin running with no shoes on. Whatever…”

Life is full of metaphor and meaning when the time is ‘right’ and the senses attuned.

Today was one of those occasions.

- Mark McClure

PS – Although there’s somewhat of a minor boom – at least via the blogosphere – in the various joys of barefoot running, take care. Fads come and fads go. Whether this is one remains to be seen.

For now, I only run barefoot on softer grass and cover less than 50% of my ‘shoe-shod’ distance. We’ve also been going barefoot indoors since moving to Japan over 15 years ago. I believe this is in keeping with the ‘small steps’ theme of the post. Build up slowly and have fun…

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Success – Can You Taste It?

Aside

Well, 2009′s slipped into some present better known as the past.

Time to grab 2010 by the tail and start making stuff happen right here, right now.

But first, let’s ease into the year ahead with a celebration of life, love and joviality.

Are you ready?

Here’s yours truly filling in as a secret agent at the local temple.
Your Ring Of Opportunity...

Dig that ear piece ;-)

On Jan 1st the whole area is packed as people queue to walk a ‘lucky’ figure of 8 around this humongous rope circle before lining up for a prayer or a blessing at the temple (which is about 20m in front of me. See next shot.)

I like to imagine this as the ‘ring of opportunity’.

Behind me are last year’s triumphs and tribulations, while up ahead are the experiences to come.

Past and present are connected via my lifeline – ably watched over by a strong and loving power betwixt and between.

But hey, wouldn’t you know. Our gods are off duty! There’s no rope and bell to wake up their divine majesties on 2nd Jan – they must’ve worked a double shift the day before?

Still, not to worry. The power of meaningful intention works wonders (says he) as we each throw 100 Yen into the collecting box and I make my wish…

gods asleep - do not disturb!

And with the spiritual taken care of we arrive at the house of corporeal nourishment where my In-laws (Mother, Father & Sister) have been doing the culinary work of the just since yesterday afternoon…

I take up residence at a corner pew (gaijin safe) and begin the feast. That Asahi Kuroi (Black) Beer is pretty good and washes down the various dishes like no other. (The wine came later.)

My wee corner of food paradise

Interleaved with all this taste bud happiness runs a slice of sadness. In the fifteen or so years I’ve been in Japan they’ve gone to great trouble to prepare some amazing New Year feasts.

But they’re getting older and the effort and time required to also cook and serve for our hungry (but appreciative) mouths is very tiring. So I suspect this may be the last New Year’s meal of its kind with folks I’ve gotten to know well.

And that thought made the “special hot pot” main dish even more enjoyable as I watched the freshly made ingredients brought in and the gas burner ignited.

This minced meat dumpling mixture contains a host of ingredients (sorry, I forgot the exact list) and about 500 g of meat. Took my Mother-In-Law almost 2 hours to get it ready the night before.

Translation: If you want a thing done well sometimes you gotta do it yourself.

Making Minced Meat of Desire

And here’s the dish coming together just fine in its own special ‘stock’.

Chinese cabbage, mushrooms and tofu are also playing a delicious supporting role.

Simmering Success

While this was going on I found myself sampling some Chinese ‘sake’ from Shanghai. Served warm, it slipped into a stomach already seduced by sampled tastes and ‘sensing’ the treat to come.

And what a joy that was!

Yum Yum Nabe

Having sometimes wondered what I’d choose “if life is a banquet…”, today’s sensory experiences are right up there with the best of them.

Success – can you taste it?

- Mark McClure

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2010 – Year of The Tiger

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New Year’s Eve is upon us in Japan and in our house that means a quiet evening, a bottle of wine and occasional glances at NHK’s annual ‘Red/White’ singing contest on TV. (Susan Boyle is scheduled to sing live during one of the breaks.)

But I won’t be spending hours glued to the screen watching Enka and J-Pop artistes do their thing. Some time’ll be spent kneading the visionary dough for my 2010 goals and beyond.

Speaking of bread, we popped into a very crowded Isetan department store food hall this morning and picked up some delicious bread for this evening’s meal from Andersen’s Danish Bakery.

andersen-bread

The in-store leaflet has a mouthwatering summary of their Christmas bread ideas.

But what really caught my attention was discovering that they’re not Danish at all – this is a Japanese business begun by Mr. Shunsuke Takaki after WW2.

The company’s story is succinctly told on its web site (see the English language section in the link above), where the reader can get a sense of the owner’s vision for Danish bread and lifestyle as time went on.

What I find really visionary about Andersen’s business model is a sentence from the company’s ‘Quality Bakery’ statement:

“No matter how much the world changes, I believe every person strives for improvement and progress in their lives.”

The entire article is worth reading for anyone looking to develop and take action on a vision statement for their own business or life.

“Improvement and progress” can take many forms but I particularly liked how Andersen took their Danish bread business into overseas markets…

… especially into that of Denmark, itself!

Read this link from the Danish government’s “Invest in Denmark” web site (Oct 2011 update: broken link), describing how the “Andersen Bakery (is) exporting the concept back to its ‘spiritual homeland’.”

Food, indeed, for thought.

A Happy New Year to You and Yours.

- Mark McClure

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Lost Generation?

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Much of my time’s spent teaching young people these days.

So when I come across inspirational messages like this one, I believe there’s a chance things are going to get better…

… but probably not before they get a lot ‘worse’.

Anyhow, constructive change is more likely to come about if we assume the future’s malleable and nothing’s set in stone.

Enjoy the next 104 seconds!

- Mark McClure

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Mid-Career Change Update 1

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Note: Please read my post from Dec 2008 (This Mid-Career Change I Can Believe In) to help put the following into context.

Well, it’s rapidly approaching that time of the year again. No, not Christmas! While the season to be jolly can be a lot of fun, I’m talking about something much more important:

Goal Setting For 2010

In this short post I want to mention briefly my plans for 2010 and how they’ve evolved from the experience of the last 12 months.

Two things I’m fairly sure of:

1) Goals > Action > Feedback > Evaluate > Updated Goals…

2) Goals are most attractive when seen as ‘plastic and malleable’ because the mallet of experience can both shape and shatter…

I haven’t firmed up my 2010 Career Goals but the general theme is looking as in this diagram (made using FreeMind):

midcareer-change-20091122

1- Personal Growth:
I’m continuing my conscious journey along the highways of personal growth – learning as I go. And this blog remains the public vehicle for those travels and adventures. Expect detours from time to time.

2- Freelance Writing:
This creative aspect continues to express itself and I feel good about continuing the apprenticeship. There’s much to learn (and earn!).

3- Teaching:
The opportunity to teach has been an enjoyable trip ‘down’ memory lane. Back once again to the 27 year old who left education for more money and excitement and found a little of both. Indeed, I reckon we’ve gained much worth sharing from the time spent apart ;-)

And as for the tech career coaching and IT consulting roles?

These are going to take a well-earned retirement because life (personal and professional) will be productively busy enough in 2010.

I will continue to incorporate coaching skills into pretty much everything I do but will not be offering 1-1 coaching any longer.

The domain names for ‘techcareerzigzag.com’ and ‘itcareerengineer.com’ will therefore be allowed to expire and the sites will no longer be live. (The sidebar links from this blog to those sites will be removed shortly.)

In a future post (hopefully before 2009 is over), I’ll share something of the process (‘goal creation maps’) I use to review and set meaningful goals for 2010 and beyond.

- Mark McClure

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