On Competing - The Hope / Expectation Spectrum - Adam Van Koeverden (Wed 19 Feb 2014)

Pacific Dragons Premier Opens Crew - CNY / Darling Harbour (Sat 08 Feb 2014)
Adam Van Koeverden (*) writes On Competing (*):

As an athlete, I’ve sometimes struggled with where on that hope (*)-expectation (*) spectrum I should gauge my confidence (*).

Of course, I believe in myself (*), and I know I can win. Without getting too philosophical, I’ve wondered how close I can get to I should win, without crossing that threshold.

I have never believed in destiny (*). I don’t believe that anyone is “supposed” to win. That’s why we compete. That’s the beauty of sport, there is no supposition.

Athletes need to be comfortable with the reality that it is their actions that will determine the outcome.

Hope isn’t enough for me either. It implies that I should simply have faith in some predestined result.

via Hope, Pressure and Expectation: Finding a Winning Combination (*) by Adam Van Koverden (*).

Just brilliant writing. Have thought about hope (*), expectation (*) and destiny (*) a lot here. Adam has captured this better than one I have read before. One last extract from Adam's pivotal post (*) to follow ..

Expectation - Lao Tzu / Paulo Coelho (Thu 06 Apr 2017)

Wave - Melbourne (Thu 30 Mar 2017)

Lao Tzu on Expectation:

Act without expectation.

via Lao Tzu > Quotes by Lao Tzu [via How one of the most important books in the world came to be written by Paulo Coelho.]

On Trying - Adam Van Koeverden (Wed 19 Feb 2014)

Pacifc Dragons Premier Mixed Crew - CNY / Darling Harbour (Sat 08 Feb 2014)
Adam Van Koeverden (*) writes:

Trying to be the best in the world is innately audacious. That’s what makes these competitions so insanely exciting. Our athletes are willing to put themselves on the line, and do the most admirable thing. Try. They will sweat, bleed, gasp and cry, to try and get our maple flag up on the top spot and have them play our national anthem.

When our athletes win, it won’t be fate (*) or a fulfillment of any destiny (*). The Canadian Olympic team has what it takes and they give their everything, everyday. They’ll win because they tried, and were the best.

So, I’m making a pledge. I am dispensing with any predestined expectation (*) and prediction (*), but I’m going to do a heck of a lot more than hope (*). I’m putting my confidence (*) in them. And I hope that helps.

via Hope, Pressure and Expectation: Finding a Winning Combination (*) by Adam Van Koeverden (*).

A post (*) I will read again and again. It gives so much clarity to everything around trying to do something.

On Expectation and Hope - Baz Luhrmann - Good Weekend / SMH (Sat 11 May 2013))

Jenny - National Library of Australia / Canberra (Nov 2003)
Baz Luhrmann (*) on Expectation (*) and Hope (*):

I have no expectations (*).Only hopes (*).

It was a titanic effort from fearless Baz, says DiCaprio (*) by Gary Maddox (*).

Random recollection. Baz's Mother, Barbara and her Husband, Ross, were our dancing instructors around the time following Strictly Ballroom (*). We did it for a few years and we seemed to stop shortly after Jenny was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 1996.

Jenny and I decided that we should give the Bridal Waltz, at our Wedding (*), our best effort and we engaged Barbara and Ross to choreography our waltz, and to give us a few lessons to learn and master our steps. It all went marvelously well on the big day and we surprised ourselves, along with all our Family and Friends.

On Understanding and Expectation - Elvis Costello / Spectrum (Sat 31 Aug 2013)

A Door (*), A Window (*) - Red and Blue - Paddington / London (Sat 17 Aug 2013)
Elvis Costello (*) talks about musical creation (*):

We were somewhat free from expectations (*) because we didn't tell anybody we were doing it, because we didn't know (*) we were doing it ourselves at first.''

via Pump it up: How hip-hop seduced Elvis Costello (*) by Nick Miller (*).

Back home now. A fantastic trip (*) with many great moments and experiences. Not a natural traveller, but this trip I seemed to handle it all better than I ever have and was fully engaged in the moment, not feeling homesick and not wanting myself to be somewhere else.

Hardly gave my work, paddling or situation in life (my usual preoccupations) a thought. A usual thought was to try and understand a place, event or thing, not to judge or to wish it to be something I am familiar with. It is there for a reason, and if I could just understand it a little, then I might learn something about it, life, or even myself.

I also thought how lucky I was to able to do this, to have these experiences and this outlook on life.

Took over 10,000 photos and have much to look at and ponder over the next few months, in particular, and no doubt, for the rest of my life.

Some photos have been taken so I can remember a place, a moment, or a transientary thing - to give it a life beyond its time.

Some have been taken because something caught my eye - a colour, a combination of colours, lines, shadows or maybe just the quality of the light.

Others I think have been captured for reasons beyond my comprehension, just as Elvis explains above. Most of these photos will never be seen by another person and in some ways this relieves me of any expectation or what others might think, as the above quote so nicely demonstrates.

So if you think some of the photos that appear here are a little beyond comprehension, maybe you should be thankful that you don't see some of the others that will never seen by anyone other than me.

Thanks Elvis and Nick, a great interview which allowed me to learn something about myself, which is what great writing and its sharing is about.

Is first place the only way to get to where you're going? - Seth Godin (Fri 15 Aug 2014)

National Champions (photo taken by Jenny) - and sometimes when you least expect it, you do come first!! - Geoff (*) - 2006 AusDBF National Dragon Boat Champs - Nagambie (*) (Sun 16 April 2006)
From yesterdays post (*), Seth Godin (*) asks:

Is first place the only way to get to where you're going?

A very good question.

And I know of one response (*) through experience (*).

More specifically, from an earlier post (*)..

Julia Ryall (*) writes On Performance (*) and Expectation (*) amongst other things:

Performance (*) is not about crossing the line first, it is about having great plan, the right preparation (*), the ability to execute the plan (*) well on the day, realistic expectations (*) and an ability to celebrate (*) the performance rather than the placing.

via PDdb - DB Paddling Update: The ultimate performance is a greater reward than first place by Julia Ryall (*).

Written, what now seems so long ago, but still so right and relevant. Almost six years on, and so many amazing experiences (*) in between, these words makes much more sense now than they did back then.

And even more so now. Thanks Julia.

On Pressure and Belief - Adam Van Koeverden (Wed 19 Feb 2014)

()
Adam Van Koeverden (*) writes:

First of all, athletes love pressure (*). They need it to perform. The great Billie Jean King famously remarked that “pressure is a privilege” (*).

If someone expects something great from you, then somewhere along the line you must have given them some reason to believe (*) you can be great. That precedent of performance is crucial to an athlete’s ability (*) to self motivate (*).

via Hope, Pressure and Expectation: Finding a Winning Combination (*) by Adam Van Koeverden (*).

On Performance - Julia Ryall / PDdb (Tue 04 Nov 2008)

Pacific Dragons - 500m Premier Mixed Final - 2014 AusDBF Dragon Boat Nationals - Kawana (Sat 19 Apr 2014)
Julia Ryall (*) writes On Performance (*) and Expectation (*) amongst other things:

Performance (*) is not about crossing the line first, it is about having great plan, the right preparation (*), the ability to execute the plan (*) well on the day, realistic expectations (*) and an ability to celebrate (*) the performance rather than the placing.

via PDdb - DB Paddling Update: The ultimate performance is a greater reward than first place by Julia Ryall (*).

Written, what now seems so long ago, but still so right and relevant. Almost six years on, and so many amazing experiences (*) in between, these words makes much more sense now than they did back then.

On Branching - Divergence and Convergence - Bertrand Meyer (Tue 01 Oct 2013)

Untitled - Hvar / Croatia (Wed 31 Jul 2013)
Bertrand Meyer (*) writes on the difficulties associated with branching (software development specially, but it could be any human endeavour):

the emergence of separate lines of development with the expectation (*) that they will be merged back later on, is to guarantee disaster.

It is easy to diverge, but hard to converge; not only hard, but unpredictable.

via The laws of branching (part 1) (*) by Bertrand Meyer (*.