Marc Dussault’s Personal Mastery Blog Launched!

Yes it’s here – my Personal Mastery Blog!

I know quite a few of you were wondering when it would happen…

After all I have a Business Mastery Blog an Internet Mastery Blog and a Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort Blog…

Why not add the PERSONAL component to triangulate the Exponential Mindset™?

I wasn’t ready until now AND I wanted it to be launched commemorating my entry into the 2008 World Masters Squash Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Yes, if you don’t know, this is my first international competition after winning an Open Men’s B Championship in my very first squash competition in 2005 and my first Master’s State Divisional Championship that same year.

That’s when I decided I wanted to give the international ‘circuit’ a go…

So here I am in Christchurch… Playing in the 45 to 49 age category to see where I rank within the top 100 in the world…

It’s going to be fun. LITERALLY.

This year is all about surveying the terrain, determining where I am within the top 100 to determine where I want to be NEXT YEAR when the Championships are in my home town of Sydney, Australia!

In fact next year it’s the World Masters Games that include ALL the other sports! It’s an event even BIGGER than the Olympics due to the sheer number of competitors.

NEXT YEAR is when I want to ‘peak’. That’s what THIS YEAR is all about -> NEXT YEAR’S COMPETITION.

I hear it all the time in business – everyone wants to make a quick buck TODAY. They rarely think of the consequences, costs and risks of such a short term strategy.

In my case, this is an ‘open draw’ which means the luck of the draw will determine who I play. I can end up playing 5 players who are way, way better than me. I have no ‘say’ in that whatsoever. That’s just the way it happens.

NEXT year it’s ‘divisional’ which means the draw is set according to ability, so unless someone outright cheats, players of ‘equal’ ability compete to win their ‘division’.

That’s what I plan to do – determine where I am NOW in the top 100 and set my sights on X positions higher NEXT YEAR.

In business it’s no different. If you plan to try to win ‘NOW’ and don’t know the rules in play, how can you possibly EXPECT TO WIN? If you just took a little longer to analyse the situation and ask a DIFFERENT QUESTION, you’d get a different ANSWER.

In my case, my ultimate outcome is that I want to get to play my BEST squash before I turn 50.

Why? Because.

Once the DECISION has been made (WHAT), then and only then do I figure out HOW I am going to achieve that.

I need ‘match experience’ and I also need to know how good the top 100 really are. I need to get on the court and slug it out to see where my strengths and weaknesses are WITH players my age – back home, everyone I play is younger and fitter than I am, with one exception (more about him later).

There is NO SUBSTITUTE to being here.

But I am not here to WIN – I am here to PLAY MY ABSOLUTE BEST.

Yes there is a difference.

You know what I’m talking about consciously or subconsciously.

I want to PLAY MY BEST so that I know what to IMPROVE for next year.

If I came here just to win, I would have reinforced really bad habits that might have worked to improve my chances to win NOW, but would reduce my chances to ‘peak’ next year.

I’ll give you an example. I do what’s called ‘breaking my wrist’ on my backhand swing. It reduces the power I can get from the stroke. If I just wanted to ‘win now’, I would keep breaking it and would be playing ‘better’ right now. By not breaking my wrist, I am not as ‘good’ right now as I could be, but by NOT doing it I will have SOLVED the problem by the time next year’s competition comes around. If I kept breaking it NOW, it would take me MONTHS of practice to undo the accumulated ‘muscle memory’.

Does that make sense?

In business the same thing applies. Often, I really, really want to help someone, but their bad habits are so ingrained that after 10, 20, 30 or even 40 years that they are too hard to change and he/she doesn’t have the discipline to create a NEW, BETTER HABIT.

In reality it’s not as much about discipline as it is VISION – seeing beyond TODAY to lay the foundation of a BETTER tomorrow. I call it a decision-making horizon.

So there you have it – the FIRST POST of my Personal Mastery Blog. Two years in the planning, it’s finally here!

The final point I want to make for today – I mentioned it earlier, is that SUCCESS, any success is all about the OUTCOME…

Mine is to PEAK at playing squash before I am 50. There are several reasons for this.

1. I learnt to play squash in my mid to late thirties when I came to Australia in 2000. I had played some tennis and racquetball in my twenties, but neither competitively.
2. Squash is a very unforgiving sport. The second bounce of the ball happens VERY, VERY quickly REGARDLESS of age. In fact the older the players, the LESS they WANT to run and the MORE they place the ball where you’re not. Experience is actually rewarded by skill, patience and strategy.
3. Playing at the international level requires the penultimate level of dedication. I was not willing to make that investment for this year’s competition, but plan to make it NEXT year. As I often teach, there are only 168 hours in a week and EACH HOUR has a VALUE. Squash was NEAR the top, but NEXT YEAR it has to be at the very top, otherwise I won’t ‘peak’ and get to be my ‘best’. The opportunity cost factors into the equation – more on this in a future blog post.
4. I know that traditionally, 50 is a milestone that adversely affects squash skills: reduced peripheral vision, focus and other eye sight related symptoms, mobility and of course endurance and stamina. YES I KNOW that many/most of these can be counter-acted, but they are forces of nature that still need to be respected for what they are.
5. 50 is another milestone for me. It’s when I plan to become a ‘global citizen of the world’ living and traveling with Monica while working on multiple continents – my training regimen will be adversely affected, but the VARIETY of people I will play will compensate for it. So if I have peaked by then, as I plan to, I will be able to extend that ‘competence/capability’ for several years – It’s called getting past the Vortex of Mediocrity™, one of the many concepts that I will be exploring in this Personal Mastery Blog.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I will have fun writing it. It will truly be a labour of love for me as I know that there are a lot of people like me out there who want to ‘get into the mind of a champion’…

With your permission, I will invite you into this world as I continue to push…

Onward and upward!
Dr Marc Dussault

Australia’s #1 Exponential Growth Strategist

P.S.

If you want to wish me luck, please ‘Dussault’ by adding comments to this blog as the DAILY entries are posted. That will totally make my day and my experience that much more special!

Throughout the week, channel positive thoughts and energy to me – squash, like many other sports requires luck. All the shots that are up count even when they are hit off the frame… I need and want ALL THE LUCK you can send me!