The anticipatory rise

“I discovered that when I believed my thoughts I suffered, but when I didn’t believe them I didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that.”

– Byron Katie, Author

I’m officially days out from my very first boxing match. It’s a masters event, interstate, against an opponent who is equally matched in age, experience and weight.

I’m one week out from my very first cyber security conference – and for this, the match makers are….generous.

I’m grateful for both opportunities, and they’re delivering different curiosities to scratch. What is it like to step into a boxing ring and compete? How does that feel? What is a cyber security conference like? What new insights can I glean? Who are the new people I can meet and connect with? Across both, what can I learn?

Last night, a friend asked me how I was feeling about my upcoming fight. I told her I was excited, and felt as ready as I can be for something I’ve never experienced before. Our conversation reminded me of anticipatory rise. It’s an exercise science term for the physiological changes in the sympathetic nervous system just before we undertake an activity. The adrenal glands release adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream. This action prompts our body to prepare itself for what it knows or thinks is about to happen. It does this by providing more oxygen to the muscles. It’s a rather phenomenal mechanism, and we can choose to be overwhelmed by it or harness the power it provides.

It has been an enormous month with training, work and study. I finished a Python course with Code Like A Girl – I’ve developed quite the crush on coding. I have some planned projects over summer to dive deeper into learning. These projects include Let’s Defend and working through Micah Lee’s ‘Hacks, Leaks and Revelations’ (to name a couple)

I’ve been travelling every weekend to spar with other boxers in gyms within a couple of hours of home. These last days before competition day, it’s about refining technical elements, getting easy road work in, mobility and maintaining my nutrition goals every day. The strength and conditioning gains window closed at roughly 14 days out. Now it’s about staying injury-free and on-weight, which is the timeless mix of consistency and discipline.

Consistency and discipline are through lines in boxing training, and cyber security too. As I told a friend this week, I like the grind. It feels good. It’s not just about romanticizing hard work. It’s about staying in a place of discomfort. Being okay with imposter syndrome inevitably showing up to say hey, and above all playing the long game.

The fatigue from both pursuits is real. It will continue to be. But for me, that is part of it. That’s the pocket I like to be in. Training phases eventually finish, whether mental or physical. New goals are placed on the calendar. New training phases are created to reach those goals. They inevitably overlap in some sense. We taper one goal as another begins and so it goes.

Being lead by curiosity has served me well on this journey and earlier journeys. It tends to create an anticipatory rise. I’ll be harnessing this momentum for the next week or so as I delve into two completely new experiences. I’m smiling and I have goose bumps as I write this. I know that regardless of the outcomes, it’s a stellar opportunity to learn and grow. That lights a crazy fire in me.