🧪Why We Need to Find the Right Labs To Promote Our Growth 🧪
🔥Welcome to Volume #00116!🔥
I’m Christian Champ. This is ☯️The Middle Way Newsletter ☯️. It is a place where I write, explore, share, and invite you along for the journey.
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🧪Why We Need to Find the Right Labs To Promote Our Growth 🧪
Puddles of sweat covered the mats.
You can smell the hard work dripping off everyone in the building.
My family jokes that you’re not working hard if you’re not sweating. That day, the hard work was undeniable.
My kids were doing a three-day BJJ camp over the weekend, and it was all about finding a place to grow. Even watching, I felt sweat dripping down my back. The summer heat, with no air conditioning, meant the conditions were relentless.
Instead of causing them to stop, the coaches, kids, and atmosphere propelled them forward. Breaks came, and they reloaded with the sweet taste of watermelon, pineapple, and electrolytes.
Welcome to Pedigo Submission Fighting, a gym in tiny Mount Vernon, IL. We drove four and a half hours to get there. Letting our kids train with thirty of their peers.
The gym is no-frills—more garage than Equinox, but with a strong community atmosphere and HARD WORK PERMEATING EVERYTHING.
What the gym lacked in amenities, it made up for in producing world champions and high-caliber competitors. You weren’t there to bask in comfort but to improve. The walls were adorned with pictures of champions who train there. In a town of 15,000 people in Southern Illinois, this place brought out the best in you and your jiujitsu.
While my kids trained, the dad squad went upstairs to do the same. There was no time for distractions—just training, fueling, resting, and training.
Over the days, I rolled with Michael Pixley, an accomplished college wrestler with a couple of years of BJJ, being only a purple belt. He recently defeated a multiple-time world champion, ultimately finishing 4th at the prestigious ADCC championship in Las Vegas.
He took it easy on me, but we got our practice in.
By the end of the weekend, everyone leveled up. Everyone left better. Everyone left wanting more.
I ran into Pedigo through a YouTube series that made me want to visit as soon as possible.
The atmosphere reminded me of growing up in Pittsburgh, bouncing around Catholic school gymnasiums and playing hoops all over the city. Nothing was fancy; the excellence came from our performances and focus. The bare-bones environment forced us to focus on one thing—improving. There are no frills or distractions, just an all-out effort to improve.
Pedigo reminded me of the 3 Ps that make up a life worth living. That is people, places, and problems.
People.
We need people around us who show us what’s possible. We push them, and they push us. Together, we get uncomfortable, but it’s the kind of discomfort that drives growth. We agree to learn and grow together.
We need to be around people like Michael Pixley—even if we never reach their level, we learn from them how they improve, practice, and prepare.
Places.
The places we seek—our laboratories—whether gyms, workspaces, or communities are where we can run experiments and surround ourselves with experts, coaches, and people committed to improvement.
We must find them and show up to push ourselves to the next level. The right environment is crucial for growth. The right environment sets a tone, and we respond to it. The wrong environments are where we stagnate and lose interest.
We need to be on the lookout for places to study, grow and practice.
Problems.
Finally, we need problems to solve.
The problems direct us to the people and places.
Life is about finding the problems that we want to solve. We aren’t creating problems; we’re solving them. This is the most essential part of the process.
The right people in the right places help us find the laboratories to tackle increasingly difficult challenges.
What are our problems, people, and places?
What problems do we want to solve? Where are the laboratories, and what are the right people to help us solve those problems? Where do we need to go to level up?
🧠Things to Think About🧠
I can’t stop thinking and talking about the ideas in this piece. It fits for leadership or just being a better parent or friend.
He gives us the six C’s of trust: consistency, candor, clarity, care, capability, and credibility. We need to have all of them for trust.
“Trust is expectations being met.”
Those cues come in the form of Consistency, Clarity, Capability, Credibility, Candor, and Care—the six C’s of trust.
Consistency:
Consistent behavior over time fosters trust. People are more likely to trust someone who acts predictably and reliably than someone whose actions are erratic or inconsistent. (Lewicki, McAllister, & Bies, 1998)
Clarity:
Clear and transparent communication builds trust by reducing ambiguity and uncertainty. People appreciate being kept informed and understanding the reasoning behind decisions. (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995)
Capability:
Demonstrating competence and expertise fosters trust, as people are more likely to rely on those they believe are capable of delivering on their promises. (Colquitt, Scott, & LePine, 2007)
Credibility:
A reputation for honesty and integrity is crucial for building trust. People are more likely to trust someone they perceive as truthful and ethical. (Krackhardt & Bhattacharya, 1999)
Candor:
Being open and honest, even when admitting mistakes, can strengthen trust. People appreciate authenticity and vulnerability. (DeConinck & Schmidt, 2012)
Care:
Demonstrating concern and empathy for others builds trust by promoting a sense of shared values and mutual respect. (Mishra & Mishra, 1993)
How the Olympic Games Shaped My Leadership by Tejs Broberg
I’ve watched Tejs start two successful businesses and was a client of both companies before working with him at one of them.
It’s interesting to see how he views his experience at the Olympics from the lends of running a business.
Compete Against Better Every Day
To the untrained eye, ski racing seems like a lone wolf’s game. But at the Olympic level, it’s a symphony of shared ambition. We didn’t just train; we forged a collective will, each day a relentless hunt for improvement both individually and collectively. When I share this reality of our Olympic preparation—the intense, daily competition among teammates—two questions invariably arise:
Did this approach create conflict or disdain amongst teammates?
And did coaches put slower racers against the fastest racers to help boost the confidence of the faster racers?
My answer to both questions cuts to the heart of high-performance culture: It’s absolutely critical that each member of the team shelves their ego for the collective good and commits to being “better each and every day”—even if that means outperforming yesterday’s version of yourself.
🎧Things to Listen, See, and Watch 🎧
Dereck Thompson on Why Exercise is the BEST Medicine
Ashley: Yeah. Well, first thing is they’d have to pay a lot for the advert because it might go on for a long time if you were going to list all of the things. But I mean, you name the system in your body, and exercise improves it and makes your chance of disease in that system less: 60 percent less likely to have [atrial fibrillation], 50 percent less likely to have diabetes, 70 percent less likely to fracture your hip, 50 percent less likely to have colon cancer, 25 percent less likely to have breast cancer, I think 25 percent less likely to get depression; 70 percent of people who are active in their daily lives report better sleep. And over many years, you’re much less likely to die. So, I mean, you pick your system. Exercise, it really is the magic pill.
1. Sedentary occupations increase cardiovascular disease risk, as shown by studies comparing bus drivers and train conductors, highlighting the necessity of physical activity for better health outcomes.
2. Recent research indicates that regular physical activity brings widespread benefits, transforming various tissues and organs to improve overall bodily functions.
3. There is a historical emphasis on understanding diseases over health and prevention, which limits insights into maintaining well-being; researchers stress the need to focus on health-promoting mechanisms.
4. Classic studies, like those comparing London bus conductors and drivers, reveal significant differences in coronary heart disease risk linked to exercise levels, underscoring the value of an active lifestyle.
5. Exercising in the morning is more beneficial for metabolism and may disrupt sleep less than evening workouts; establishing a consistent exercise routine is crucial for health.
6. While weekend exercise may be appealing, concentrating physical activity in a short timeframe can be risky, making daily engagement in exercise is a safer choice for overall health.
💣Words of Wisdom💣
"This is the central illusion in life: that randomness is risky, that it is a bad thing—and that eliminating randomness is done by eliminating randomness." (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Incerto)
"So how do you motivate yourself? The short answer is by changing your circumstances." (Ayelet Fishbach, Get It Done)
As long as an idea stays in your head it is perfect. But perfect things are never real. Immediately put an idea down into words or in a sketch, or as a cardboard prototype. Now your idea is much closer to reality because it is imperfect." (Kevin Kelly)
"The Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert had this to say: "To reach the source, you have to swim against the current. Only trash swims downstream."" (Haruki Murakami, Novelist as a Vocation)
“The other essential ingredient of stepladders is reflection. Reflection is the act of looking back on a successfully completed behavior and having a small celebration." (Sean D. Young, Stick With It)
"At their core, manias are about storytelling. People become enchanted with a story, and they convince themselves—and each other—that it just has to be true no matter what." (Scott Fearon, Jesse Powell, Dead Companies Walking)
"For every rule followed, examine the possibility that the opposite might be similarly interesting. Not necessarily better, just different.” (Rick Rubin, The Creative Act)
"Beliefs are unconsciously defended by a bubble of self-sealing logic, which maintains them even when they are invalid, to protect personal identity and self-worth." (Dave Gray, Liminal Thinking)
"The Way is not a harmonious “ideal” we must struggle to follow. Rather, the Way is the path that we forge continually through our choices, actions, and relationships. We create the Way anew every moment of our lives." (Michael Puett, Christine Gross-Loh, The Path)
"Marriage is not a love affair, it’s an ordeal. It is a religious exercise, a sacrament, the grace of participating in another life." (Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion)
"Never discriminate as to whom you study and whom you trust. Never trust anyone completely and study everyone, including friends and loved ones." (Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power)
“The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds and makes of all political and social life a mass illness. Without this housecleaning, we cannot begin to see." (Austin Kleon, Keep Going)
“George Bernard Shaw got it right: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."" (David Brooks, How to Know a Person)
"The macronutrients of happiness are enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose." (Arthur C. Brooks, Build the Life You Want)
"People choose places; places shape people; people go on to shape other people. We should be thoughtful about the kind of transformation we opt into." (Ava, The Friendship Theory of Everything)
"A meaningful path is a path of action. The goal is achieved through practice. Without practices, a path is mere philosophy. Be careful of that. A philosophy is thought about and talked about, but a path is for walking." (Kenny Werner, Effortless Mastery)
🙏Thanks for Reading🙏
What are the problems we are trying to solve? How do we find the places and people to do solve them better?
Namaste,
Christian
We were back at Pedigo this weekend for a wrestling seminar for kids and adults. At the same time we took advantage of a break to get in some BJJ with the locals.