Hats, Dingoes & Echidnas

I quite like hats, especially vintage hats. In fact I like them too much and have run out of hat-racks . How many hats is enough? Not sure yet.

When you love something it is easy to become over-enthusiastic and so focused that you lose the big-picture understanding of what is really important and how to become more balanced and strategic in piecing together the elements of your life interests and enthusiasms to provide the outcome that best makes you happy, productive, wealthy, healthy and wise. Welcome to life in our time.

My career as a sports physiotherapist has been a series of imbalances as I acquired expertise, competed for Olympic selections on the Australian Medical Team, built clinical businesses, raised children, ran university programs, spoke at international conferences and was constantly distracted by new ideas, plans and projects. Highly productive but not very strategic.

I’m more Dingo than Echidna.

The Dingo (Australian wild dog) is always on the move trying to find the next best thing, the next nest of eggs or chicks to rob, a comfortable lair to move into or a rubbish bin to reorganize. Restless, lean and agile, expending a lot of energy. Whereas the Echidna (Australian spiky ant-eater) is very dedicated to one task – find some ants, eat them then have a nap. Repeat. Focused, energy efficient and, as best as we can tell, comfortable in his/her own spikes.

Eventually I came to terms with being a dingo and realised I will never be an Echidna. In fact I like to think I turned the Dingo approach into a successful strategy because it worked with my personality, curiosity and attention span rather than forcing myself into a plan that didn’t fit me well.

Success

Both the Echidna and the Dingo may find success but through different operating strategies. The first trick is to determine what exactly ‘success’ means. To fully understand the end-game of whatever strategy you prefer – where do you want to end up, and what staging points will need to be passed along the way? Simple? Not really. Most of us only have a vague idea of the end-point rather than a specific, measurable outcome goal. That’s OK, your progress may be like mine, a series of newly appearing goals that come into view only when I get closer to the horizon line of my current plan and realize there is more out there than I initially thought. Like most Dingos, we long for the solid focus of the Echidna and occasionally think we have found it, only to become restless again and look outwards. Being a Dingo or an Echidna is neither better nor worse than the other. It just is. Each brings tools and attitudes that can lead to success provided your skill set is matched to the work ethic.

My current Dingo lifestyle includes the following, some of which may be of assistance and value to helping you achieve your goals whether you be an Echidna or one of the perpetually curious dingoes.

Work
  • Men’s Health – writing, teaching, doing.
  • Business Education, Coaching & Mentoring – The Practitioner Business Academy.
  • Clinical Teaching – Redsok Seminars
  • Physical Training – supervised strength & agility programs for older men
Play
  • Family (one plus six plus nine)
  • Motorcycling – BMW, Buell, Vespa x 2, Triumph Street Twin
  • Saxophone (Alto) – concert band and jazz
  • Bee Keeping
  • Yard Work bordering on a full gym program