I've had a few blogs come to me in my thoughts but not written one down yet, so here goes.
My son has hurt himself playing Rugby - he's torn the biggest ligament in his lower right leg. We have taken him to the doctor's today as it's been almost a week since he took part in the 3-day introductory workshop run by Petersfield Youth Rugby at the Taro Centre. The injury occurred in the last five minutes of the first morning lasting 2 and a half hours.
What a shame! I had him down as a future England winger - and maybe he could have been. His speed was certainly noticed by adults and kids alike. But this injury has put him off, I fear, for life. Not only that, but it's taken him out of footy for a little while, and he'll probably not run the Butser Hill Challenge in late September.
That's possibly not of interest to you - but in thinking of this story, a moral occurred to me. "Don't run before you can walk". It's an old adage and proven through the ages. The problem with the Rugby workshop is that you have a 10 year old boy coming in for an introductory session, but who is pushed as hard as boys who've been playing a few years. In a way, the introductory session should be just that - a taster, rather than a hard push. The injury occurred because he was doing something different to normal.
My son is like me - he'll push himself beyond what others would. We're triers. Many of you reading this will be too. Do you always go the extra mile? Try hard? Get the adrenalin going, succeed in what you're aiming for? Get the headache afterwards? Need that beer? ... Well.
I believe that we have to treat work activities as you would sport. In PR, say writing press releases, I'm definitely a winning Olympic-level 100M sprint champion! Give me a story - I'll get the news angle, get the headline, get the details and GO! 10 seconds later (nearly) there's ya press release.
Now, in customer relations - the wonderful Net Promoter management tool - I'm probably nearer pre-warm up session. Certainly beginner level. Definitely practising. So, I'm allowed to take my time - learn the layout of the pitch - warm-up properly, learn, watch, listen, practise, practise, more practise. With time, I'll be brilliant, quick, masterful.
At the moment, let's face it - I'm in the shop buying new kit. Quite good fun, actually.
What are you excellent at, and what are you just learning?
