The Yes! Rules for the Gym
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Last week, there were a lot of No’s in my rules for the gym….here’s to some Yes rules…
In order to generate content for this blog, and to simply be exposed to cool people and ideas, I try to be as open as possible and ask the universe to send me something—for my personal enrichment and to pass along to any readers.
This week, I clicked on a podcast by mistake.
It’s by Michael Lewis, the author, and it’s called “Against The Rules.”
He delves into experts and how people usually become experts without having the intention of being one.
They just can’t not keep doing the thing they are driven to do and which they do extremely well.
It’s usually not their job, and sometimes it’s not even what they’ve been trained to do.
Episode 3 of season 3 was about Bill James.
Bill James was the centerpiece around Lewis’ most well known book, Moneyball.
James could not stop compiling baseball statistics to find out what the true metrics were to define the value of a player or situation.
He wasn’t interested in opinions or gut feelings.
He believed that all the data was right there in front of him and that all he had to do was figure out the right equation.
After earning multiple degrees, he took a job as a night watchman in a pork-and-beans factory, just so he could work on his data night and day without being bothered.
Eventually, he wrote a yearly journal of the statistics of baseball and what was most valuable and least valuable according to the numbers.
75 people bought his first edition.
For 15 years, only the nerdiest of baseball nerds were his loyal followers.
Then, in the early 2000’s, the Oakland A’s started using his formula called Sabermetrics.
Both the book Moneyball and the movie are up there with my favorites of all time, and I won’t spoil the story for you if you somehow don’t know it yet.
During the podcast, Lewis re-interviewed James to find out how he had become the expert in this area.
It was a great conversation, but what struck me was the final thing James said.
“Young people always vastly underestimate how easy it is to change the world. They don’t realize how easy it is to change things.”
Lewis responded with “You underestimated the effect on the world you might have.”
With that being said, here’s what you can do.
You can suggest to a friend who is struggling that they should email me.
If you are in need, you can email me.
You can reach out to an old member whom you loved seeing at the gym, and invite them to come workout with you.
You can introduce yourself to someone at the gym you don’t know, for no reason other than to make them feel more comfortable or for you to feel more comfortable.
You can ask for or offer help to any person, with zero risk of judgement.
You can both challenge someone to do better or commend them for just showing up.
You can offer a suggestion or criticism directly to me. I promise.
You can always ask an appropriate question at the appropriate time.
You can come here in the shittiest mood ever.
It’s impossible to know how these things could possibly change the world, but it’s also impossible to argue that they won’t, and they aren’t that hard to do.
If you think you or someone you know could benefit from a conversation with me, I’m always available.
Who knows what might happen?
Have a great long weekend,
TJ