Welcome to chakshu scribbles| Food for thought, Beyond the NOISE.

6 months ago when i signed up for the vasaloppet (a 90km cross country ski race in central Sweden) , my son asked:

Why do you want to do it?

I did not had a concrete answer to his question :).

Last week when I finally competed in the race (& completed it… Yay :)). While ski’ng through beautiful countryside and mountainous land scape. I pondered upon this question many times…to find an answer to his question.

In the last 10 km of the race, when the body was on the verge of giving up. Yet, the mind wanted to continue.

2 possible answers to his question popped in my mind:

It was the sudden demise of a very close friend and colleague of mine. We lost him to Cancer last year. There were so many plans and dreams he shared with me….

All of them suddenly came to full stop one day. :(

This once again reminded on the finitude and limited time we have on this planet. That we pop in for very minuscule amount of time and pop out before anyone could even notice. To quote few lines from book i recently read, 4000 weeks from Oliver Burkeman.

‘We spend our lives in a state of perpetual procrastination, waiting for the perfect time to start. But out time is finite – roughly 4000 weeks if we are lucky chosen ones.

& and the second answer was a quote I read many years ago. It was echoing somewhere in my subconscious mind.

It’s a shame for man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable of .

// Greek philosopher Socrates or Xenophon.

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The Curse of knowledge & 10k hours trap:

I was born and brought up in North India. Cross country skiing was one sport I was least aware of. For that matter, I even did not know if it existed.
Having lived in Sweden for quite long, this sport always intrigued me specially the hype around Vasaloppet specifically.

Since we live in a special era and there is information overload on everything one can googles upon. Heaps of knowledge on how to do things and how not to often keeps you from trying out the thing.

The myth of spending 10000 hours* on a skill or hobby to become master in that skill might be true, but all that begins with spending the first hour.

By trying it out, by signing up, by committing your 100% dedication to it.

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How did i prepped for the race?

Over the years i came across multitudes of frameworks, techniques etc. on how to learn something from scratch and ace it. Many of them were theoretical and/or have used in bits/pieces.
So for this one i wanted to move them from theory to practical use.

Here are the 3 techniques, is used proactively for the preparation of this race.
And perhaps you can do as well for anything you always wanted to learn or start/restart.
I find these rules to be so generic and can be applied basically to any sport, skill set et.al. (be it physical or knowledge based).

1/. Learn from the best.

Signing up and becoming the member of best ski clubs in my area was the first thing i did. It directly jolted me from my comfort zone and put me with the very best in the game.

With less than 3 months for the final race, I had a choice. I could learn the old and slow way. Or, I could surround myself with the very best in the sport.
The constant challenge to up my game was vital. A fast learning cycle, coupled with constant and constructive feedback, helped me a lot. I moved from very novice to proficient in a couple of months. Earlier the aim to just reach the end point and now it was to complete it under XX hours. :)

I always believed in the saying ‘You are the average of 5 people you surround yourself with’.

2/. Put your skin in the game.

Social commitment to a few friends and family members made me feel accountable. It really helped to put my skin in the game.

Specially, committing to my kids (9 and 10 years old) helped immensely as Failing(without trying) was the least thing i would like them learn from me.

On the contrary i learnt a lot from them. How to multitask and be glad all the time during multiple sports they do and also ace them.

‘You have to be in it to become it’.

By committing 100’s (if not thousands) of hours and by being in a constant uncomfortable environment did helped to shorten my learning loop.

3/. The paradox of effort.

Things often feel harder at front and by all means we try NOT to put that effort in first place. In hindsight we often value the things much more when we have put hard effort to achieve them.

During the course of the race, I happened to meet many awesome people. I talked with them during breaks and at refuel stations. They wore a special vest with the logo ‘Veterans‘.
Those were selected few who have done the Vasaloppet race for 20,30 and often 40 years.
The effort they dedicated over the years made the race look effortless. It seemed so easy from the side.

The trap of Perfection and paralysis is some thing I’ve always struggled with. Waiting for that perfect moment or be so good at X thing/skill before starting why. In fact there is term for this in technology world ‘ Paralysis by analysis :)’.

I am so glad that i did signed for that ski race without even knowing on how to stand on skis. In hindsight it was so much fun and worth the effort to get this done :).

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Finally, Here is a small video from the race :)

I really hope this write up equipped you with some tips and little motivation.
That you can sign up and start/sign up for thing you always wanted to do but have postponed to later:

• When you have more time.
• When you are more in control of things.

But later – Coffee gets cold, Kids grow up, Dreams go to die. You run out of time, and that later might never come.

“What is the one thing you’ve been postponing for a ‘later’ time that might never come? I’d love to hear about what ‘Vasaloppet’ in your own life you are going to sign up for? Do write in comments

Until next time.
Love & Peace.
//Chakshu Arora