Cultivating Instincts

Yep...this is another post about Force of Nature. It really is a great book!

In the book, Laird Hamilton talks alot about cultivating instincts and about how to tune in to our instincts and use them to our advantage. I've been thinking about this and wondering how to go about doing this. Of course, he has some advice. He says, "Start by turning your senses on. The more you play with your senses, the more you're aware of them, the more you're in them. And the more you use them, the better you get." Apparently, I need to spend some time cultivating my instincts, but I'm not sure if I have any or if they ever get any use.

Because the Ironman World Championships were on tv last weekend (more on that later), I've been thinking about how attuned to their bodies professional athletes are. They know how and when to push themselves. They know how and when to make adjustments to their race plan if necessary. They are aware of their limitations and find ways to overcome them. They truly are aware of being in the moment and getting the most out of that moment. I'm guessing that's why they are so good.

As you can probably tell, I'm thinking about my goals and plans for 2009. I'm working on my playbook and I'm putting my plan on paper. I'm sure that I'll throw parts of my plan up on this blog and I'm thinking that maybe one of my goals will be to work on finding and cultivating my instincts. I think that's kind of a vague goal, so I'll have to spend some thought on how to approach it, especially where racing is concerned. I'm hoping that maybe I'll be able to figure out that whole tuning in completely during a moment and getting my very best out of that moment. I'm sure that you'll get to read more about that in the coming months.