Zamboni 2010

Question:  What is the coolest job in the world?  
Answer:  Zamboni driver.
 

Seriously, is there any job cooler (pun intended) than sitting atop a 4 ton steel “ice resurfacing” machine?   It might as well be a throne!   (Except that it doesn’t, to my knowledge, also have a beer holder.  Certainly my friends from Wisconsin and Michigan will set me straight.)  

The best thing about a Zamboni is how it takes all that choppy ice and makes it smooth again.   And hence, the best metaphor for this final week of 2010.  Sure, 2010 had a few chuckles and laughs, but mostly it was cracked and choppy ice.   Let's consider these final days of 2010 as “in between periods” and spend some time running the mental Zamboni over our lives.  Let’s smooth it out.  Let’s start fresh in January.   Let’s get ready for a slick and fast start to 2011.

Inevitably, this weekend will be full of party conversation about new years “resolutions”.   And yes, I completely know that my goals need to be S.M.A.R.T.  (Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic.  Timebound).    But, as my Chicago friends would say, "fogehta about dat!"    I recently read a book that espoused the benefits of “themes” instead of specific “goals”.   Hey, I like it.   This is what your high-school or college coach might have pinned up on the bulletin board in the locker room.  This is an anthem, not a set of “performance expectations”.  This is what might appear tattooed on your bicep if you get it right.  This is a rallying cry. 

So, my theme for 2011 is... (drum roll…)     
Make It Happen!  

As cliche as it sounds I actually put some thought into this.   Let me break it down for you:

Make - This word means “action”.  Notice how the word “Hope” does not appear here.  Yes, I hope good things will happen in 2011, but (again) fogehta about dat!   It’s not about hope.  It’s not (necessarily) about thinking.   It’s about doing.   It’s about putting the changes, the adjustments, and the activity into motion.   

It - This word means “result”.   This is a list of “its” that I want to achieve (fitness, strength, career, family, experience, learning, etc).  These must be visualized and within reach but just outside my grasp.   They will not “happen” without intent, planning, and execution.

Happen - This word means “reality”.  When “it” happens it won’t be “happening” in my mind or over a beer at a bar.  “Happens” won’t be preceded or qualified by shoulda, woulda, or coulda.    It means real.   It’s real when I can see it, touch it, save it, spend it, savor it, or love it. 

The first thing the Zamboni does is to shave a thin layer from the current surface of the ice.   That’s what this week is all about.  It’s about cutting the chop from 2010 and laying down a smooth surface for 2011.    Get ready.  Get moving.    More importantly…   

Make it happen!

TomMc

Fire In The Belly

I sat there every night.  The ping-pong table had been converted into the largest desk any 17 year old kid ever had.  I poured over my books, calendar, and notes plotting and scheming.  It was 1985 and I was blasting Journey “Escape” (… dooohnnn’t stop belieeeving!”) on 8-track.  No, I wasn’t cool enough to actually have “cassette tapes”.   My sister’s hand-me-down Sears “stereo” was my personal jukebox.  But there, in the basement of my parent’s house, in my personal teen-cave, I was plotting my own breakout like Eastwood in “Escape From Alcatraz” except that I wouldn’t actually have to glue hair on a manikin to make my break.

My burning desire to bust out was fueled by the classic combination of teen angst and perceived parental tyranny.  In my mind I was surely the ONLY teen forced to wear Toughskins instead of Levi’s, Converse instead of Nike, and humiliated with a midnight curfew!    Sure, I was completely oblivious to the fact that my high-school popularity was severely limited by my 141 lb physique and propensity to invite friends over to play with my “home computer” (TI-99 4A).  But, that was not the point.   I was hellbound to escape the minimum security prison that was my parent’s house!    And that meant college.   And that meant focus, planning, and relentless hard work.   The fire in my belly was burning and it felt good.

Fast forward 25 years and let’s check on that fire.  Hmmm… some smoldering smoky embers but not really an open flame per se.  I’m fortunate to have achieved many of my goals over the years and carved out a relatively comfortable existence.   So now it’s “comfort” that is my curse.  It tends to leave the flame quietly sitting there like the little blue pilot light on the stove.   Sure, it’s a flame, but it’s not really cooking anything, is it?   But, now I know that it’s the fire that makes the change.    Like ancient North American people knew:  

At first there was a tree.

Then I wielded the ax and flame. 

And hence brought forth a canoe

Which took me to distant lands.

Thank goodness I’ve long since escaped the basement and 8-tracks but sometimes I do miss the ping-pong table.  It was a place where I could spread out all my books, plans, and ideas.   And think.   Like Sun Tzu once said, “The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought.”   It’s as much about the planning and thinking as it is about fighting the battle.

And so now I look ahead to 2011 with these things in mind:

To establish my temple and lay plans.

To reignite.  

To rekindle the fire in the belly.

To ward off “good enough” as the enemy of excellent.  

To make my mark.

Like that scene in Toy Story when Syd (the evil kid next door) takes the magnifying glass and focuses the sunlight so as to burn a small hole in Woody’s forehead.   Upon coming to life, Woody exclaims “Ouch!   I hope that doesn’t leave a mark!”    Bad for Woody, but that’s exactly what I’m striving for in 2011.   Refocused energy, time, and passion.   And, with some good luck, it will leave a mark.

Happy Holidays!

TomMc