Michael Phelps – 5 Secrets of Success

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Rashid Faridi

As I’m sure you already know, on Sunday August 17th 2008, Michael Phelps achieved one of the greatest sporting records of all time by winning an incredible 8 gold medals in a single Olympic games.

Michael’s performance was seen by millions of people around the world and we can all learn a great deal about achieving our own goals by analyzing his accomplishment. Here then, are five secrets of success that helped Michael Phelps to transform his dreams into reality.

Secret #1: Think BIG

The first step in Michael Phelps journey was to make the decision to pursue a dream that many people considered impossible. Instead of thinking negative thoughts and limiting his potential, Michael allowed himself to think big.

“If you dream as big as you can dream,
anything is possible.”
– Michael Phelps

Your Turn:

In order to discover your real goals, let your imagination run free to dream as big as you can dream. Resist the temptation to limit yourself with negative thoughts. It is only by freeing your imagination that you can discover what it is that you really want from life.

Secret #2: Break it Down

Having identified his ultimate goal, Michael and his coach created a series of short term goals that would eventually lead him to his ultimate objective. In between the Olympics came the National championships, the Pan Pacific championships and the World championships. Each race of each event was a carefully planned stepping stone that would eventually lead Michael to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming the most successful Olympian of all time.

Your Turn:

After identifying your long term goal, take some time to break it down into a series of achievable short term goals. As you move forward, focus on achieving your short term goals one step at a time.

Secret #3: Use the Power of Visualization

One of the most powerful techniques used by elite athletes to achieve their goals is to visualize themselves succeeding each and every day. In his book ‘Beneath the Surface’, Michael Phelps writes, “When I’m about to fall asleep, I visualize to the point that I know exactly what I want to do: dive, glide, stroke, flip, reach the wall, hit the split time to the hundredth, then swim back again for as many times as I need to finish the race”.

Your Turn:

Visualizing your goals before you sleep is a great way to program your subconscious mind. The more you visualize your dreams as a reality, the more motivated and determined you will become.

Secret #4: Put in the Hard Work

No matter how naturally talented Michael Phelps may be, the main reason he achieved his goals was because he was prepared to put in the thousands of hours of grueling hard work necessary to compete at the highest level. According to Michael, “In the four years between the Athens and Sydney Olympics I probably took four or five days off and none of those were holidays”

Your Turn:

Be prepared to put in the hard work required to transform your dreams into reality. There really is no such thing as getting something for nothing. In order to make your dreams a reality you will have to work hard.

Secret #5: Monitor Your Performance Metrics

Every elite athlete understands the importance of using metrics to monitor their performance and progress. Michael’s coach Bob Bowman constantly monitors and reviews Michael’s split times down to the hundredth of a second. This provides them both with tangible evidence of how Michael is progressing towards achieving his goals.

Your Turn:

As you work towards your goals, figure out your own key metrics. For example, if you are studying, record how many hours of productive work you do each day. Or if you are building a business, record how many potential customers you contact each week. Whatever your goal may be, you will get there faster by recording and constantly improving your performance metrics.

While you may not be pursuing an Olympic gold medal, always remember that your life goals are just as important. I’d like to encourage you today to use some of the same techniques Michael Phelps used to achieve his goals. If you can

(1) Think BIG
(2) Break it down
(3) Utilize the power of visualization
(4) Work hard and
(5) Monitor your performance metrics

you too can conquer the challenges that stand in your way and make your dreams a reality.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Reference Datum of Earth

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Rashid Faridi

A reference datum is a known and constant surface which can be used to describe the location of unknown points. On Earth, the normal reference datum is sea level. On other planets, such as the Moon or Mars, the datum is the average radius of the planet.

The term “reference datum” was used rather than ‘above (or below) the earth’s surface’ or ‘above (or below) sea level’. The reason for this is simple once you think about it…If you use the term ‘above the earth’s surface’, what exactly does that mean? In other words, the earth’s surface where? Similarly, although we tend to think of sea level as a constant, it is not the same everywhere on the globe, so sea level where? and sea level when? (high tide or low) become pertinent questions. So, to avoid these problems, a reference datum is needed that represents the same surface or elevation at all points on the earth and that remains constant over time. An example of a datum that could be used for the earth is a sphere with a radius equal to the average radius of the earth.

Such a sphere would provide a constant surface to which elevations on the earth’s actual surface could be referenced. However, the earth is not a perfect sphere; the radius of the earth is greater at the equator and less at the poles. The resulting shape is what is known as an ‘oblate ellipsoid’. By using an oblate ellipsoid as a datum for the earth we have a shape that approximates the shape of the earth fairly well and provides a datum to which points all over the earth’s surface can be referenced (hence the term ‘reference datum’).

Most 7.5 minute topographic maps still in circulation use the NAD-27 (North American Datum, 1927) referencing system based on the Clarke ellipsoid of 1866. Technological advances that allowed more precise measurements of the earth resulted in modifications of the Clarke ellipsoid, producing the GRS-80 (Geographic Referencing System, 1980).

More recent maps commonly use the NAD-83 referencing system which is based on the GRS-80 ellipsoid. The datum used for a map is printed on the front of a map. Although the reference ellipsoids used in the NAD-27 and NAD-83 are different, the changes are slight on large-scale maps .

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Posted in earth, map making, Remote Sensing 101, Solar System | 3 Comments

Geoid

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Rashid Faridi
Map of the undulations of the geoid, in meters (based on the EGM96 gravity model and the WGS84 reference ellipsoid

Map of the undulations of the geoid, in meters (based on the EGM96 gravity model and the WGS84 reference ellipsoid

The geoid is that equipotential surface which would coincide exactly with the mean ocean surface of the Earth, if the oceans were in equilibrium, at rest, and extended through the continents (such as with very narrow canals). According to C.F. Gauss, who first described it, it is the “mathematical figure of the Earth,” a smooth but highly irregular surface that corresponds not to the actual surface of the Earth’s crust, but to a surface which can only be known through extensive gravitational measurements and calculations. Despite being an important concept for almost two hundred years in the history of geodesy and geophysics, it has only been defined to high precision in recent decades, for instance by works of P. Vaníček and others. It is often described as the true physical figure of the Earth, in contrast to the idealized geometrical figure of a reference ellipsoid.

1. Ocean 2. Ellipsoid 3. Local plumb 4. Continent 5. Geoid

Description

1. Ocean
2. Ellipsoid
3. Local plumb
4. Continent
5. Geoid

The geoid surface is irregular, unlike the reference ellipsoids often used to approximate the shape of the physical Earth, but considerably smoother than Earth’s physical surface. While the latter has excursions of +8,000 m (Mount Everest) and −11,000 m (Mariana Trench), the total variation in the geoid is less than 200 m (-106 to +85 m)compared to a perfect mathematical ellipsoid.

Sea level, if undisturbed by currents and weather, would assume a surface equal to the geoid. If the continental land masses were criss-crossed by a series of tunnels or narrow canals, the sea level in these canals would also coincide with the geoid. In reality the geoid does not have a physical meaning under the continents, but geodesists are able to derive the heights of continental points above this imaginary, yet physically defined, surface by a technique called spirit leveling.

Being an equipotential surface, the geoid is by definition a surface to which the force of gravity is everywhere perpendicular. This means that when travelling by ship, one does not notice the undulations of the geoid; the local vertical is always perpendicular to the geoid and the local horizon tangential component to it. Likewise, spirit levels will always be parallel to the geoid.

Note that a GPS receiver on a ship may, during the course of a long voyage, indicate height variations, even though the ship will always be at sea level. This is because GPS satellites, orbiting about the center of gravity of the Earth, can only measure heights relative to a geocentric reference ellipsoid. To obtain one’s geoidal height, a raw GPS reading must be corrected. Conversely, height determined by spirit leveling from a tidal measurement station, as in traditional land surveying, will always be geoidal  height.

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Three-dimensional visualization of geoid undulations, using units of gravity.

Three-dimensional visualization of geoid undulations, using units of gravity.

Posted in earth, GPS, Solar System | Leave a comment

Is Hydrogen the Fuel of the Future?

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Rashid Faridi

The jury is still out on whether hydrogen will ultimately be our environmental savior, replacing the fossil fuels responsible for global warming and various nagging forms of pollution. Two main hurdles stand in the way of mass production and widespread consumer adoption of hydrogen “fuel-cell”� vehicles: the still high cost of producing fuel cells; and the lack of a hydrogen refueling network.

The High Cost of Building Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles

Reining in manufacturing costs of fuel-cell vehicles is the first major issue the automakers are addressing. While several have fuel-cell prototype vehicles on the road—Toyota and Honda are even leasing them to the public in Japan and California—they are spending upwards of $1 million to produce each one due to the advanced technology involved and low production runs. Toyota hopes to reduce its costs per fuel-cell vehicle to around $50,000 by 2015, which would make such cars economically viable in the marketplace. On this side of the Pacific, General Motors plans to sell hydrogen-powered vehicles in the United States by 2010.

Still Too Few Places to Refuel Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles
Another problem is the lack of hydrogen refueling stations. Major oil companies have been loathe to set up hydrogen tanks at existing gas stations for many reasons, ranging from safety to cost to lack of demand. But obviously the oil companies are also trying to keep customers interested in their highly profitable bread-and-butter product: gasoline. A more likely scenario is what is emerging in California, where some 38 independent hydrogen fuel stations are located around the state as part of a network created by the nonprofit California Fuel Cell Partnership, a consortium of automakers, state and federal agencies, and other parties interested in furthering hydrogen fuel-cell technologies.

The Benefits of Hydrogen Over Fossil Fuels
The benefits of ditching fossil fuels for hydrogen are many, of course. Burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil to heat and cool our buildings and run our vehicles takes a heavy toll on the environment, contributing significantly to both local problems such as elevated particulate levels and global ones such as a warming climate. The only by-product of running a hydrogen-powered fuel cell is oxygen and a trickle of water, neither of which will cause any harm to human health or the environment.

Hydrogen Still Closely Tied to Fossil Fuels

But right now, 95 percent of the hydrogen available in the United States is either extracted from fossil fuels or made using electrolytic processes powered by fossil fuels, thus negating any real emissions savings or reduction in fossil-fuel usage. Only if renewable energy sources—solar, wind and others—can be harnessed to provide the energy to process hydrogen fuel can the dream of a truly clean hydrogen fuel be realized.

Renewable Energy the Key to Clean Hydrogen Fuel
Stanford University researchers in 2005 assessed the environmental effects of three different hydrogen sources: coal, natural gas, and water electrolysis powered by wind. They concluded that we’d lower greenhouse gas emissions more by driving gasoline/electric hybrid cars than by driving fuel-cell cars run on hydrogen from coal. Hydrogen made using natural gas would fare a little bit better in terms of pollution output, while making it from wind power would be a slam-dunk for the environment.
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Posted in Alternative Energy, climate change, Environment | 1 Comment