Yesterday I rode a stationary bike in the downstairs level of the gym here in Canberra. There were an assortment of other riders scattered about on the various cardio machines, all enclosed and focused in their own world. It was quiet for the most part, the mechanical humming of the artificial tires and spinning of the row machines dominated the acoustics of the room. On the wall were three televisions, each tuned to a different network show, the volume low, barely audible. So I mustered up some intensity, cranked the resistance, and tried for the life of me to push myself to create a effective, beneficial workout from these doldrums of an arena. I pushed and peddled, incorporated sprints, climbs, and tracks yet every minute seemed harder to maintain, my attention waned, my focused mindset strayed and ultimately after fifteen minutes I ended the experiment, consoling myself with the reasoning that I would attend a Spin class the following evening to make up for this lackluster performance.
The Spin room is dark, looming fans paste the walls and forefront, speakers tucked into the corners, air conditioning crisp and flowing, and bikes organized uniformly four abreast, six rows deep. The instructor sits on his/her bike at the front, on a raised platform facing the class, armed with a stereo control panel and their chosen selection of inspirational music for the session. Today's instructor was a woman, in her early thirties, and despite her small stature she quickly and clearly took control of the class with a series of sharp orders and demands. Fifty five minutes later, drenched, exhausted, and athletically satisfied, everyone slowly regained their wits and equilibrium's and departed. Yet, despite the challenge, and the workload far exceeding the previous days solo attempt, the Spin class seemed to fly by, the workout kept you enthralled and consistently piqued each ones interests through music, changes of pace and direction. It was the atmosphere that exonerated such superior results, the atmosphere created a forum for increased performance, it willed the effort from the riders, and each and every one of its aforementioned attributes combined to create an effect, absolutely engineered to make Spin enjoyable, challenging, and achievable. This is what I speak of when I tout the effects and impact the atmosphere of a particular event or action can have on the outcomes.
Some people read with music. I prefer silence. When possible, we all take advantage of creating the most beneficial atmospheres to suit our preferences and current needs. We never really realize it though. From pre-game athletic rituals, to meals, to the air conditioning levels in our apartments or homes, we seek comfort almost unconsciously. Where as cats continuously groom themselves, we do the same with our appearances, surroundings, and controllable inputs on ourselves. We know what it takes to give us our desired outcomes and effects and we will always, when allowable, take concordant action to put ourselves in elevated levels of comfort. For when we are most comfortable, we are most effective. Whether in absorbing text from a novel, drafting a paper, running calculations, lifting weights, and on and on, we perform best when the atmospheres attributes put us in our most comfortable states.
Comfort in this context is not to say relaxed, or idle. Comfort is more of a inner balance that spawns the foundation that enables us to act in a most effective and benefiting manner. Take the spin story for instance. Alone, in the cardio room, I was not comfortable. I was distracted, I was void of intensity, the overall vibe and feel of the room was not conducive for me in obtaining my desired goals within my cyclical workout. But the next day, surrounded by others with the same mindset, the same goals, accompanied by loud, motivational music, led by a energetic leader and in cool, dark lighting, we achieved our desired result, we got our butts kicked and walked out pleased and satisfied with our efforts. As dramatic as the atmosphere change was between the days, our performance and effort differences were equally as opposite.
Let's take sporting events. Massive crowds, loud music, lights, pressure, all are hurled into the proverbial melting pot that creates the events atmosphere. For the athletes involved, it is those who can adapt, who can program themselves to accept and embrace this elevated setting that stand the greatest chance of success and consistency. The athlete who can make his or herself comfortable in these settings are the ones who are last left standing. Many can not handle the spotlight, the rigors and stresses being thrust in front of so many with so much riding on the result, many can not find comfort and many fail to succeed. Perhaps this is why such a minute fraction of the global population ever make it to the upper echelons of professional athletics. Perhaps this is equally the cause why so many remove themselves from contention as their careers lurch on?
Success is a direct result of two variables. One being the atmosphere the desired actions and results take place in, and the second being the ability to adapt, change, and effect the given forum in which you act or perform. When we have the privilege to create and modify our settings to our exact likings, there are no excuses, there are no faults or sources of blame. Give me a book and a quiet room and I will be never the happier, but turn the music on, inject distractions, rattle my cage, and make me uncomfortable and watch my performance, my enjoyment and my emotion change and falter, and my consequent reasoning and or excuse counts surge.
I believe the people who are best at what they do, and this can be anything, are as equally impressive in their abilities to either put themselves in their desired atmosphere or mentally challenge themselves to accept and embrace the scenarios they have been delegated. From the athlete who painstakingly organizes his game day suits, to the student who crafts play lists in their Itunes to study to, to the executive who surrounds his walls with select arts and to the chef who demands his kitchen be consistently kept at sixty five degrees, the ability to mold and align the factors that compose each ones atmosphere is a trait not to be looked lightly upon.
We each know precisely, to the letter, what we need to make ourselves comfortable. We know exactly what the ideal world looks like that will enable us to display our finest qualities. In every situation, from sleep, to exercise, to careers, or hobbies, our ability to organize and concoct atmospheres bred for our benefit is a skill in itself, the same as any other admirable quality of a person. Equally as stated previously, when ones preferred atmosphere is not available, it is those who can adapt, who can create the same comfort and duplicate performance achieved in a preferred setting whose actions and performances will reign supreme. Atmosphere follows us, it molds us and fosters our behaviors and actions more than we may ever realize. Citing the tired cliche "Put yourself in position to succeed." I take from that the meaning that position is not one thing, or place, or emotion, but rather the sum of all atmospheric conditions we encounter, some malleable & some beyond our influence, and if one can master his or her atmosphere(s), can find success despite changes and correlations, can create comfort when none is thought to exist, then he or she will ultimately flourish and succeed where so many others will fall.
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