I think you can get a sense of how strong the community is around a sport by how the fans refer to the players. For example at Old Trafford you're most likely to hear surnames being used (Fernandes, Rashford etc). Which makes sense, there appears to be a big gulf between the players and the … Continue reading Sense of community →

The cagey fan doesn't want to give the opposition anything. They want you to fight for every ball. They don't acknowledge that you're well clear points wise. They will be white knuckling it all the way to the final whistle. Which in some ways is good to be. You don't want to underestimate your opposition … Continue reading The cagey fan →

"Inputs only" Originally said to focus on the right things for a sporting tournament but it makes for a good philosophy for life. The economy, the job market, the weather, other people - they're all out of our control. Focusing on what we can do and how we show up in the world could be … Continue reading Inputs only →

Jim spent the majority of the episode hiding. He was trying to avoid this visitor to the office who he used to be friends with as a child. But parted ways after Jim's mum encouraged Jim to play with some kids in his reading group. To which Jim delivered the message like so: "I can't … Continue reading Tactful messaging →

If you only watched highlight reels you could be forgiven to believe that professional athletes only do spectacular things. Then you might be prone to beating yourself up when you yourself don't deliver only spectacular things. Better to watch the full games live, then you'll see them not only doing the boring things but also … Continue reading Perfect highlights →

Nostalgia can have you doing crazy things. Booking holidays to Magaluf, texting exes, going back to toxic workplaces. I think the cure is to trust your past self that they made the right decision. Leave the past in the past. Rose tinted glasses don't work in the present.

If you watch enough British and Irish Lions footage you will hear the word special mentioned a lot and I can see why. They've been touring since 1888! That's an age. Not many tournaments are as old as that. It's even got 100 years on the Rugby World Cup. But what I find interesting is … Continue reading Special lions →

I think one of the problems with AI is that it offers a workaround for understanding. If for some reason I was tasked with writing a blog post on neuroscience I could ask ChatGPT to do it for me. I hand it in for my fake biology course and the lecturer thinks I'm smart but … Continue reading Long live the imposter →

Watching motivational videos can be very inspiring but sometimes they fail to cure us. Sometimes I think we need a more personal approach. Ideally we would have a one to one appointment with one of those gurus whose videos we watch all the time but that's expensive and unlikely to happen. But I think we … Continue reading Personalized coaching →

The professional rugby player has to constantly recalibrate where to point his competitiveness. Club enemies become colleagues at the provincial level. Opponents are enemies at provincial level but then change to teammates at international level. Then your prejudices and patriotism has to be put aside if you're on the Lions squad. Even at an individual … Continue reading Competition changing →