Every year I go back to New Zealand a couple of times.
We have a little speed boat that we use for spearfishing. Inevitably, I get there excited, and usually have 10 days or so to immerse myself.
This yellow and white hand-made plywood and fibreglass boat is over 25 years old, and looks better than most of the little boats in the water there.
Anyway, so I land and I’m always keen to get in the water.
The problem though, is I’ve got this time constraint. And although I’d love to spend the whole time in the water, it turns out that the boat and equipment needs to be looked after – otherwise things will rust or freeze up, paint will chip etc… like a lot of the other boats there.
So how do we split this up?
How do we split up this balance of “inside” work and “outside” work for any pursuit? Our movement practice, our work?
How much time do we spend working in our business versus on our business? How much time do we spend on execution versus outreach and connection?
Well, one way is to use the boat continuously until it’s burned out, throw it away, then get another one.
Not really responsible, and certainly not viable with our body, or business…
Or the other way is to see that there’s an artfulness in maintaining the boat.
The spearfishing feels like it’s the main thing. But there’s a necessity in the “external” work – the working “on” the system. In our physical practice, it’s the recovery, the good food, the mobility work. In business, maybe it’s the connection work, in the outreach, in the content creation.
The working “on” the business, is working in the business. If the boat doesn’t exist, neither does the spearfishing.
