Nerves

With the Olympic Games going on in Beijing at the moment I started to think a little bit about how each of those athletes would be dealing with their nerves. You would think that the entire Olympic Village would be a bundle of nervous energy for the first week.

Sure, I know that most of the athletes involved are professionals and deal with the prospect of major competition all the time, but the Olympics is still the biggest show on earth so the nerves would have to be tingling for everyone. Spare a thought for those who come from smaller nations or for the young athletes who have found themselves in the rarefied air for the first time and are asking themselves the big question – Am I good enough?

A few nights ago one of the young Columbian weightlifters by the name of Oscar Figueroa found himself in exactly that situation. I suspect he was in his first Olympics and the doubts must have been crowding in on him. It was still the snatch section of competition, his first lift and he set himself, tensed his shoulders and went to lift the weight, only to have his right hand fly off the bar as his thumb failed to lock his fingers in place. The weight hadn’t come off the floor, so he was able to try again, only for the same thing to happen.

Seven times, he attempted to lift the weight and seven times his hands refused to co-operate, slipping off the bar until he was eventually timed out of all 3 attempts. He was left to weep uncontrollably after he left the stage, out of the Olympic competition without even getting the bar off the floor.

Migraine Research

The mysteries surrounding how migraines start and what happens to the brain before the onset of a migraine has been somewhat unlocked. Migraines are obviously a widespread problem around the world and have been throughout the ages. It’s still one of the longest maladies that has stumped doctors for a definitive cure.

It's important to point out that migraines should always be assessed by a GP or specialist before any psychologoical management is undertaken.

A migraine is a sharp, painful spasmodic disorder characterized by recurrent attacks of headache with or without associated visual disturbance. Medical research shows that there are trigger factors causing migraines. These can be linked to foods or even sleep.

Now researchers have revealed that migraines are a neurological disorder rather than a vascular disorder as it was always considered to be.

Interpreting Dreams

We all have dreams, some of us remember them, other do not, but it's generally agreed that it's the work of our subconscious as it deals with problems and events on a much deeper level.

When trying to interpret our dreams it's necessary to understand that there are many pieces of symbolism that must be put together to form the true meaning. It's not as simple as dreaming that you're falling which foretells that you're going to actually suffer a fall.

Questions such as "what causes dreams?" should be dealt with sorting through the psychological impulses has been the life's work of many a renowned psychiatrist. Tkae the thoughts of Sigmund Freud as one such theorist in his Interpretation of Dreams and the idea of wish fulfillment.

It all comes down to whether there is some sort of psychological function of dreams. I'm sure they must play some important part in deepening and broadening our lives. At the very least we should all try to remember out dreams. Perhaps we'll learn more about ourselves as a result.

Doing It Tough

I must have picked up a bug of some sort last week, suffering from diarrhoea on Monday afternoon which worsened that night. I had to take Tuesday off work and pretty much spent the day sitting on the toilet. I figured it would work its way out of my body in a day or two and I’d be picking up again by Thursday or Friday, but not to be.

As we’ve run into the weekend I seem to have suffered some sort of relapse. Great, as if I wasn’t dehydrated enough already. I’m trying to train for a couple of races over the next few weeks and the stomach upset is definitely not helping.

However, I have been enjoying the Tour de France. It’s Stage 8 today and they’re heading into Toulouse as I speak. Gotta love the tactics and the toughness of the professional cyclists who take part in this big race.

Lightning Awareness Week

Highlighting the dangers of hanging around outside when a thunderstorm has hit the area is one of the focuses of this year's national Lightning Awareness Week which is in progress from June 22-28, 2008. The campaign was first launched in 2000 to increase awareness of the dangers of lightning. This year the campaign stresses the importance of getting to safety before the lightning strikes.

There are a couple of websites to visit to find out more about this initiative and ways in which you can stay safe during a thunderstorm. Cruise over to the Lightning Protection Institute's site and then find out more about National Lightning Safety Awareness Week.

SEO Tools To Remember

Found a site that contains some very handy tools to check whether the SEO optimization that you're doing is proving to be of value. Things such as PR Checkers, Link Checkers, Keyword Suggestions and the like.

It's all at Smart Page Rank

Staying Focused - Achieving Goals

Staying Focussed

I picked up another valuable piece of advice today that came at exactly the right moment because I was beginning to feel a certain level of despair over my perception that I wasn’t making any progress towards achieving my goals. I’m a believer that goal-setting is the single most significant tool in being successful. I just have a problem with putting the theory into practice.

The advice I read was really a reminder of what I already knew to be true, but it re-emphasised the fact once again. The advice was to break everything down into small, easily achievable goals and work like blazes to achieve those small goals. Every time one of the small goals is crossed off the list you can be pleased that you have moved a step closer towards achieving your larger long-term goal.

I keep falling into a trap of my own devising where I keep expecting immediate results. I give myself a timeframe of, say, 6 months to achieve my goal and then start to get frustrated after only 5 days because I’m not seeing results. My focus keeps getting drawn to my long-term goal which is distracting me from my short-term goals. The distraction prevents me from working on my short-term goal which has the knock-on effect of stopping me from moving closer to the long-term goal.

The road to success starts off as a path that is difficult to navigate, but with every small step I gain in experience and confidence and the bumps are gradually smoothed out. What was initially infinitesimal progress eventually becomes noticeable forward movement until finally the gains are more like giant leaps and bounds.

And how is this build up in momentum going to happen? No way around it: hard work; good habits; daily dedication to reaching the goals.