Feature Article: 8 hours plus 6 minutes 

During the past week, I've spent nearly 8 hours traveling, walking, and waiting. I imagine this information won't change your life. You may spend this kind of time doing these kind of things every week.

For me, however, this was a bit unique. When possible, I travel to meet with people during non rush hours. I jog (not walk) for exercise, and don't have much patience for waiting around. (On the other hand, I do idle, I'll admit.)

8 hours. 480 minutes. 28,880 seconds. One full day of living.
A bunch of time. A traditional working day.

I spent my 8 hours traveling, walking, and waiting to watch about 120 professional bicyclists from around the world pedal by me in a blur at about 25 mph/40 km per hour.

The event, the Tour de Georgia is the most difficult  professional stage race in the U.S. Think "mini-mini" Tour de France. The race covered 653 miles / 1051 kilometers in 6 days. Some of the worlds top cyclist participated including Five-time winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong.

Here is the interesting piece. Despite the fact that I spent 8 hours traveling and waiting for two separate stages of the event, I only viewed 6 minutes of actual cycling!

Just 6 minutes of racing. 8 hours of getting to and from the event. In business, we would call this a bad return on investment. (And no, I'm not interested in a time management system.)

That said, what was so compelling about those 6 minutes, that they were WORTH an entire day of my life? To me, it was this -

I find great joy and inspiration in being around people who do what they are passionate about AND at the same time who have reached excellence in doing it!

Passion and excellence. Wow, that is an awesome and powerful combination! In truth, few things in the world are more powerful.

And yes, I know the excellence took a while to achieve. I mean really, these guys didn't come out of the womb on a bicycle! I realize they've spent a lifetime perfecting the work they do.

I also believe achieving excellence is 1705% easier while pursuing a profession, career, interest that you are clearly passionate about!

Here is another lesson from this experience. Isn't it amazing how little time it actually takes for a person or event to have an impact?

That is, in our world, we may not think 6 minutes is "worth" much, because really, what can we get out of 6 minutes? Seems like we value time just for being time. I think not!!!

As I recalculate the amount of time I actually watched the bicyclist, I notice that my 6 minutes also included the parade of team cars and support vehicles. In reality, I probably caught 2-3 minutes of bicycling!

I'm fascinated by this entire experience. Many more lessons here, I know. I'm curious on your thoughts. What does this bring up for you? How might you be able to apply in your life?

Any ideas? 

:-)



p.s.  Drop me an email if you have any thoughts...
 

Creativity Quote

"Stillness alone is the potentiality for creativity; movement alone is creativity restricted to a certain aspect of its expression. But the combination of movement and stillness enables you to unleash your creativity in all directions  wherever the power of your attention takes you."

- Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

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