Return from break and Stoic intro
Rowman, today I want to talk about something called the last time meditation. Let's cue that intro! The big question is this. How do we use cycling as a tool to improve our health, our happiness and our longevity? That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Anthony Walsh, and welcome to the Rowman Podcast. Roadman welcome back to another roadman cycling podcast. I am back after a little bit of a break. I had a nice little bit of a break after the 0. It has accepted the 0. At the time I speculated that maybe 0 won't take as much out of me as a podcaster as it will the Reuters. But I'll tell you what the Reuters were back on their bike a lot faster than I was back podcasting. The daily rigors are getting the podcast up, getting the edited. I just need a little bit of a break to reset and come back with some fresh enthusiasm. So a little bit of a mid-season break from the roadman podcast. I think we had just over a week off and that's the longest I've had after the roadman podcast probably since I started it. But today I want to come back with a bang and I've spent a lot of time since I finished the last podcast reading and a lot of my break in jirona, especially focused notes are stoic meditation, something I'm super interested in. And I definitely won't bore you guys with the ins and outs of stoic meditation. But what I want to try and do is pull some pieces over the next couple of months that I think are especially relevant to us as boy growers. And just as people seeking motivation on this journey, you know, seeking to overcome that resistance and that resistance could be, you know, resistance to sticking with a diet, resistance to sticking with a training plan, resistance to getting a work project over the line, or resistance to start a new positive habit. Resistance seems to show up anytime we're trying to make a better version of ourselves and we have all these tools for, you know, copying out without copying out like procrastination saying, oh, I'll get to that tomorrow. But that's just sneaky little tricks that resistance play on us. But this last time meditation is a great idea and it's I suppose it's a great little practice to incorporate into your day and that's what I want to jump into today but before I do let me remind you as always about Patreon because Patreon is how we fund the podcast. Patreon is how I'm able to bang these out. Patreon is how small independent creators are able to succeed amongst this you know sea of well-funded big brands and I feel there's a place in cycling media for an independent voice and I want to be that voice. So if you can spare it and you can you know if you're I know a lot of people are going through tough times at the moment so I'm unemployed and if that's you you know don't spare a thought don't don't contribute to the Patreon but if you can afford it please consider paying me for my work and you can do that over on patreon.com forward slash Anthony under score. Okay, so today I want to talk about something called the last time meditation and on the surface this sounds a little bit gloomy and depressing but I promise you this isn't a gloomy and depressing podcast but there will be a last time that we do everything. There will be this is just a fact of life and mess you're into you know reincarnation if you believe that we are creatures who will at some point come to an end. There will be last time we do everything. There's going to be last time we put bike shoes on. There's going to be last time you see family. And you know me just returning from your own. There's going to be a last time that I visit your own. And I suppose there's two types of awareness at this last time. There's like some of us are acutely aware that this is the last time we will ever do something. You know, it could be a friend on his deathbed and you know that's the last time you're ever going to say goodbye to him.
Scarcity as motivation
It could be a prisoner having his last meal and he knows that the last meal I'm ever going to have. But most of us just go through life massively unaware that this is the last time we will ever see a friend. This is the last time we'll ever perform a given act. This is the last time we'll ever write our book. We act like we're going to do this act hundreds if not thousands of times and maybe in some of our heads we think we're going to do this act forever. But there is an advantage to knowing that we only have X number of days left on this earth. It's scarcity and scarcity is a hugely powerful motivator and has a huge effect on the performance of an act and the enjoyment of that act. You can contrast the prisoner having his last meal to somebody just banging on the kettle pot noodle in an out watching TV flicking on their phone. There's not a mindful about but when you know it's your last meal, I can only speculate because I've never have a last meal, but I would imagine it becomes a very mindful experience where you're tasting every taste, every sensation, where you're maybe even thinking about how do this food get here to food, change the farmer who picked it, it becomes a very mindful experience. Similarly, if you think about a soldier going to war, like you kissing your boyfriend or girlfriend, going to work in the morning versus a soldier going to war and the passion of that embrace, known that maybe this is the last time I'm ever going to see my partner. So this is what I tried to do. I was reading about this stoic philosophy and stoic philosophy is just such an interesting area and I see so many parallels what we're trying to do and performance and trying to eke out extra edges in sport, in life, in business. I walked around the walls and your own and the old walls and your own and I've been over and back to your own. It's a place I love so much and I've been over and back there I've worked those walls countless times through these medieval walls that surround the city. But on this occasion it was just after I'd read about this idea of the last time meditation. So I walked these walls with knowledge that this may be the last time. I'm sorry, I'm not coming out with any terminal disease here. I'm just taking their philosophy. I walked those, you never know what life is going to show up. So I walked those walls with the knowledge that there's potential that this could be the last time I ever walked those walls. So I tried to take in all the sounds, I tried to take in the smells, I tried to, you know, I wasn't mindlessly flicking on my phone or listening to music. I've tried to be really present and honestly it completely transformed the experience. It was, I've walked those walls maybe 50 or 60 times and it was undoubtedly the best experience I've ever had walking those walls. So that's got me thinking and it's got me applying this because a lot of times I read stuff like this and it's wishy-washy and I read it and then I go and apply it and I go well that's nonsense that didn't work for me. But I love when I read something and I apply it and it's just such a transformative experience so I would encourage you to do this as well because you will end up appreciating the small things like imagine sitting around in your favorite coffee shop and just you know, downing flat white after flat white versus the mindful experience in known that this could be the last time in your coffee shop and you know, the call to action of the Patreon and it's start is very much motivated by the fact that I've seen so many small businesses go under, go bust and I do feel there's a place in the world for small independent cafes, book shops, artists, creators and that's what Patreon's all about. So there is an economic possibility at the moment given the difficult times we're in that your favorite coffee shop might not last That your last coffee that your coffee you have this morning in your favorite coffee shop might be the last time you get to have coffee in that coffee shop so Pause and think about that and I suppose the act that I want you to take out of this is Just before you're going to do anything like put on your boy shoes like put on You know, go for that coffee, meet that friend, just pause and remember that A, there will be a last time that you do this, and B, there's a chance that this is the last time.
Applying last time meditation
Because if this was the last bike ride you're ever gonna go on, would you procrastinate? That's a tongue twister, would you procrastinate putting your shoes on? Like, if it's the last bike ride, you wouldn't procrastinate, you wouldn't sit around the house going, oh, will I go, will I want? You would love every moment in that boygroide and it's the same as the last time you were going to meet a trusted friend or family member. Would you waste time flicking on your phone? Would you let your taut, oodle and stray and go to a place that you weren't present or would you be totally in that moment? That's the last time meditation rolled men and I just want you to try and incorporate that into your day. Even if you're skeptical about it, try it once or twice. Just before you start to practice whether it's meaning a friend, whether it's enjoying a coffee, going on a boy's groin, just pause and note that A, there will be a last time that you do this and B, there is potential that this could be the very last time. I have a teammate who I rolled with for years and a good, good friend of mine. A couple of years ago, he had a very bad training crash and I raced with him week in, week out for years and he had a very bad training crash and he never wrote his boy gigan and he never set out the door that day thinking this could be the very last boy crud that I have but that's the reality of it so I know that it's ending on a little bit of a doomy depressing note but that's not the intention the intention is to take this practice stick it into your day and it will enrich and live and fulfill everything you're doing in your daily practices so I'd encourage you to do that roadman and you know what the roadman podcast we're back after that short break so I'm back with a stellar guest again tomorrow so I'm super looking forward to this one and I know you guys are gonna enjoy it. It is Mr. Spain Tuft. Chatty then roadman. Okay stop what you're down it's Anthony again I want to talk to you for one second about the next step in the roadman journey. I'm laying down challenge for you. It's called the eight-week challenge. So for eight weeks I'm challenging you to be the very best version of yourself. Whatever that is. For eight weeks I want to take you under my wing and I want to personally build for you. Customize training plan on our analytics platform. This plan is going to be laser focused on your goal and I'm going to navigate around your life, your work, your social commitments. So don't worry about what your circumstances are right now. I remember after I took some time out of cycling I went off and taught I was a really big businessman. I came back and I realized I wanted to get into cycling, but I knew after a bit, to train it alone, it actually wasn't making me any thinner. I needed an entire system. It needed a 360 overhaul. So for the first time ever, I want to share with you this exact system I used to get back in shape. I'm talking stuff like I'm going to give you my morning routines, the cold therapy I used, the cookbooks and recipes I used, and even the motivational audios I listened to to get back on track. So right now what I want you to do is pause this audio, go to www.roadmancycling.com forward slash eight week or check out the link in the bio, click that. So one more time it's roadmancycling.com forward slash eight week. Chatty all soon.