optimized attention

At the center of your being you have the answer.
— Lao Tzu
 

A lot of folks these days use some form of "external electronical" to gauge how they feel.  Oura rings, Garmins and Apple watches, FitBits and WHOOPs are all there to help us monitor sleep efficiency, HRV, VO₂ max, heart-rate recovery, and more.  But in the end, loaded with all those biometrics, what do we really gain if we don't have tools to be proactive?  If our Oura ring reports a seriously sub-par sleep — despite waking up feeing fantastic — what then?  Spend the day pooped because a tiny computer said we were?

My son in IronMan training realized the push-me pull-you of all the stats, and decided to alter his course.  All that "optimizing" wasn't so optimal for him.  Numbers were everywhere on his "optimization dashboard:" sleep scores, recovery scores, training loads...and if he did 37 things "right" that day, but blew a good sleep score, he felt deflated.  So, he made a change.  As he explained, "I went from optimizing to finding my rhythm."

Those words lit up my Happy Dance (internally, of course, because I try not to be too, too conspicuous about my biases...though...)!  I mean, hearing "finding my rhythm" felt like I'd witnessed a huge conversion from a previous dashboard devotee.

He made the hugely empowering switch from Am I doing this right? to What is true for me right now?  From depending on external measurements to going within for insight...ahhhh.

I'm delighted about his discovery, which will surely extend far beyond competitive sports.  In our current culture, we've invented uncountable ways to measure ourselves, which causes us to risk being increasingly disconnected to the very best thing to measure: our Inner Knowing.  If we can connect to that, we're golden.
 
Here's to regaining our inner wisdom!