I have been watching the Olympics on the excerable Channel 7 in Australia. See some of the complaints here. So jingoistic is it, that if the heat does not include an Australian, the channel cuts to an Ad break (of which there are many) so you never find out who was in the heat as only the first three are registered on the screen as the event finishes.

But what are the lessons about learning?  I have noticed a few things:

• You might not get it right first time.  Even at Olympic standard, small errors are corrected in situ and minor improvements are made continuously.  Coaches take prodigious notes or shout instructions from the side-lines. And the athletes listen and act.
• Praise constantly.  Team sports are a mass of congratulation and little recrimination.
• Each outing is a new challenge and needs separate and unique preparation.  There is no such thing as a standard response.
• The best performers are focused totally on the job at hand.  Phelps comes out to a race with his iPod on, looking like he is in another world, staring intently at nothing in particular, and totally calm.
• They all readily acknowledge the hard work that has gone before, and the huge support they received. 
• Noone takes anything for granted.  It is all in the details.
• However good an individual is, he or she keeps and eye on the competition.  In the race itself they all appear acutely aware of the environment.
• They learn from each other.
  

I am slightly loathe to add to the volumes that have been written on the iPhone but I was reflecting today on why I like the beast so much, and that has a lot to do wiht how I use it.

I txt every day; use the internet a lot (83 mgbt download in the last month) and have Google Maps save my life on numerous occasions.  I use Google search on the run a lot, to find stuff, plus the phone is my calendar and my address book.  I check names and addresses as well as names and numbers.  Plus a bit of podcasting, a bit of calculating, coverting currencies, temperatures weights and more plus the time zones so i always know what time it is in San Francisco.  And then I use the 'Pocket Watch' function to have a big clock on my desk when I am working at home, and iSolitaire occasionally keeps me occupied on a train, tram or bus.  Did I mention that I use it as a phone as well.

So what makes it different?  For me, it is the fact that it is delivery agnostic.  The web works as well as the phone.  Using numbers to dial or click on a contact is as easy as making a favourite list or checking voicemail.  Therefore it works like i do.  It is not a phone that struggles with the internet or a computer that can make calls at a push.  And everything is one click off the home screen, using my clumsy, podgy fingers. A delight that has genuinely made my life easier and I have no intention of moving back to Blackberry or Nokia or even Palm.

My continuing saga about personal trainers for the brain got a little boost in the current edition of BOSS magazine.  An article supports the idea of keeping the brain mentally tuned and fit.  It cites Elkhonon Goldberg a professor of neurology at New York University who invites particpants to his Mind Gym for an hour three times a week for a customised programme of exercises. The article adds:

'Seeking out new challenges, particularly in areas very different from our everyday work activities, enhances creative thinking skills, taking us out of the established patterns that our brains slip into in daily work.'

The article adds that it is not just exercise but diet and calmness PLUS exercise gives your brain the best chance.  Could not agree more.  By the way it gives a web ref to mindtools for tests and exertcises.

'Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.'

Richard Hooker (1554-1600)

I subjected my poor body to another session of Personal Training today. Whilst in the most uncomfortable and contorted of positions I began to reflect on my idea of personal brain training. What is incredibly useful about Personal Training is not only having the undivided attention of an expert, but the fact that you are forced to do things you are not familiar with or feel comfortable doing alone. Let me elaborate; my Trainer makes me use muscle groups that I don't usually use or have actively neglected for years and years. It feels unnatural and difficult to get them moving but you can and it does work and you get more skilled. The result is a better balance and a bit of all round suppleness that wouldn't be there otherwise. Thank you Brigitte.

So will the analogy hold? We need my personal mind trainer to force me into using bits of the brain I do not usually use, and get me out of bad habits or out of just doing what I know I am quite good at and feel comfortable doing. The result should be increased mental suppleness and all round mental agility. What do you think? If it works for the body it ought to work for the brain.