Joe, Author at Joe Jacobi

After a long-time focus on elements of "preparation,"

Let's return to the surfing technique that yields our ultimate benefit - Free Energy -

Which lives in Step Four of the Wave Surfing Progression: Surf the Wave.

Here, I turn to my amazing coach, Boyan, for a visual reflection of Free Energy's accessibility -

Four Minutes of surfing waves

Without a single push of forward propulsion from his paddle -

Not only is this an incredible accomplishment within the surfski world but a beautiful demonstration of Free Energy that yields speed, grace, and fun.

Two important points about Boyan’s display of effortlessness:

This is not four minutes of "the perfect wave." In fact, these are just scores of masterful adjustments and links within the continuous Rise-Collapse-Rise Again nature of many waves.
Everything Boyan is doing to capture the maximum capacity of Free Energy follows and adheres to the entire spectrum of the Wave Surfing Progression that we discuss and double-click upon here in Thinking In Waves.

So, in transferring Boyan's magic at sea to the Waves we surf in Life,

Could our rides of

Learning

Change

Connection

Creativity

Adventure

Enjoyment

Be this Effortless?

A counterintuitive idea opens the possibility:

Resistance.

Riders in states intentional growth are

NOT missing the wave...

They are just mismanaging the wave.

The Free Energy acquired within the surf

Left unchecked

Sends the rider - very quickly - to the wave's trough

Where energy and momentum are compromised...

And ultimately lost.

Common culprits include rushing, impatience, distraction, and trying to keep up with the comparative standard.

However, wisely-applied Resistance:

Checks our speed

Holds a better position

Creates optionality.

Boyan may not take a single forward stroke for four minutes...

But his implementation of Resistance is

Clear

Strategic

and

Consistent, which

Anchors

Effortlessness.

This is

Equilibrium,

The opimitzation of positioning between two opposing forces.

The search for Equilibrium on the Wave is our work...

When we find it,

Effortlessness appears.

With gratitude, Joe

Joe Jacobi

Olympic Gold Medalist, Performance Coach & Author

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions?

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves, my short weekly essay about the lessons and experiences that I learn surfing offshore waves on a surfski kayak transferred to an innovative model for clear thinking and better choices <— Short, fun, and memorable - new riders are always welcome!

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Let’s zoom in on the nuance of surfing waves and get a little more technical…

We are moving along on our waves

Working with the current conditions

Things are going ok...

Could be better but doing the best we can with what we have.

Then, we notice a nice set of waves beside us.

Maybe not right next to us but within our peripheral view.

To better align with our goals for surfing and chosen destination,

We think,

"Let's surf those waves over THERE

Rather than the ones HERE where we are."

So just jump, right?

Not so fast.

The sea is full of “Jumpers,”

People who abruptly abandoned where they were

Believing they discovered the magic shortcut

To get to the new destination

More quickly.

These mistaken Jumpers not only fail

In transitioning more quickly

But expend - and waste - more energy

When they choose to jump.

Expend and waste more than whom?

The Linkers.

Linkers of Waves

Patiently and thoughtfully

Transition from one wave to the next

With more strategy, efficiency, and success

Than Jumpers.

Why?

Because Linkers lean into Boyan’s Golden Rule of Surfing:

Regardless of where you want to go, surf the wave you are on to the best of your ability.

Here, we counterintuitively capture valuable Free Energy from our current wave

That propels us onto adjoining waves

With more acceleration, momentum, and opportunity

That Jumpers give away

When they jump from a similar wave.

In the process of change,

Less Jumping

And

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

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(Updated March 19, 2025, from my home in the Spanish state of Catalunya)

Coaching

Our growth and development continues at Elevating Leadership Institute (ELI.) The response to our first round of facilitated 1-1 member calls was fantastic. This week, our High-Performance Leadership Coaching Community is set to welcome our first guest presenter and ELI friend, Matt Cucarro, an outstanding sports psychologist and leadership coach. Another major guest presenter announcement coming soon!

All of our events, coaching, collaborations are anchored in the principles of high performance sport and cutting edge leadership strategy that help our community members create impact across multiple dimensions of life. Come see what we are doing --> HERE.

Movements In Nature

One of my most important advocacies is getting outside and moving in nature. Some recent snow in the Catalan Pyrenees brought some joyful movements via the nordic skis and snowshoes. Check out some fun reels HERE and HERE.

Creatively

If you are here, you know that I love Thinking In Waves. So, I am always experimenting with new ways to engage people to think different about their Life Waves, such as this LinkedIn post shared this week. Join the conversation over there.

Of course, continuing the re-launch of this website out into the world. So grateful to work with the amazing team at Volcanic <-- an outstanding Catalan digital company!

Collaborations

Two collaborations in which I'm investing more time, energy, and resources are:

The Outlier Project: This networking group based in the United States and founded by my friend, Scott MacGregor, is growing by leaps and bounds. So much so that Scott assembled a team of regional ambassadors to simplify and localize the member experience. I agreed to serve as the international ambassador to support our members living outside the US and Canada (like me.)
Rios Lodge: This remote riverside retreat on Costa Rica's Pacuare River makes me smile every day... because of the smiles and reviews I see from our guests. I joined the ownership group of Rios Lodge a few years ago and since then, I've watched our leadership make improvements that are as good for the land as they are for our guests. The majority of our clients are retreat leaders who want to immerse their groups in Costa Rica's lush rain forest and enjoy a space that fosters disconnection and transformation. I look forward to hosting my own retreats here soon!

Joe Jacobi

Olympic Gold Medalist, Performance Coach & Author

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions?

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves

What follows below is the framework I use for my personal journaling. Its origins stem from the framework I used when I was 12 years-old and started to keep a training log for my development as a canoeing athlete… and continued to use through our success at the 1992 Olympic Games.

In 2013, I transitioned it into a more practical use for adult life. It’s gone through some iterations since then but the basic practice that you see below is what I use now even though it is still evolving!

There is no obligation to use these exact questions but my hope is that this will help you to get started and ultimately find a rhythm and format that best serves you.

In this practice, I am mostly guided by a few questions in which I write for a few minutes in the morning and then a few minutes in the evening. But as there are no set rules to this, you can choose to write one time per day, mix the questions up, or do something more free-flowing like, "Today I feel..."

Here are the basic questions and framework that I use to guide my own writing:

Morning Journaling

Daily Practice

The first section of the practice is guided by two areas - purpose and guideposts.

I write my purpose (the same purpose each day) first thing at the top of the page. Finding and identifying purpose is a deeper topic, but journaling is a great place to experiment and see what feels good to you.

Just below purpose, I choose a few key elements of my day and pursuits that support my purpose - I call these guideposts as when practiced, they help establish my daily path. Beside each guidepost, I write out a short series of five-six values that are like a word map for each guidepost. Then, I move into the Morning Questions.

The Daily Practice part of my journal writes like this:

Purpose

Enjoy this experience through the full engagement of connection, creativity, health, and wealth.

Guideposts

Outlook: awake, love, curious, simple, equilibrium

Energy: set, move, nature, flow, replenish, whole

Coaching: listen, ask, connect, trust, collaborate, evolve

Create: reflect, develop, align, sharpen, patience, share

Morning Questions

Unlike the Daily Practice section above which remains the same each day, the following questions tap more into where I am and how I am feeling at this moment in time.

What is my outlook for the day?

This is not a task list but more like overarching themes and high level aspirations. Think about what kind of attributes this day is asking you to bring forward?

I tend to stick pretty close to the same values each day that correspond with the most elements of my day (actions and/or roles) - sort of like a daily reinforcement.

T.O.M? (short of "Top Of Mind")

This can be one of the more challenging spaces in my journaling practice but one of the important additions to the practice. Simply said, this is the space to move my current feelings, thoughts (and thought loops,) or mood on to paper and reflectively expand on them via a few sentences (or more if desired.) No judging or changing - just noticing and accepting.

Naturally, this space varies a lot every day. But, over time, being able to see that gap between aspirational values and current state every day has been immensely helpful in making daily decisions.

Relationship Focus?

This is placing a little bit of intention and attention towards the people of most importance and people with whom you might interact that day.

For what I am grateful?

Just a simple gratitude prompt.

Typically, my morning journaling practice takes about 5-10 minutes.

Evening Questions

What went well today?

What could have gone better?

What's a reinforcing choice I made today? (an action that reinforces the bigger picture and the right direction)

Who did I serve today?

The evening practice usually takes no more than 5 minutes. One interesting note about the evening journaling - back in September of 2021, I started to do this in a notebook that allows me to journal about the calendar day in the same space for a few years. So now, in mid 2023, my evening journaling takes place directly under the same entry I wrote on the same day a year earlier - something I'm enjoying a lot!

– – –

You can use all or some but ultimately, if you try journaling like this, evolve the practice into making it your own. I believe that using a framework like this one can be a nice start though.

I also find that writing with a pencil (or pen) on real paper feels good for me. The act of moving the pencil across paper has a nice flow to it and something different than tapping characters on a phone or keyboard.If you begin, I'd encourage you to start small but do a little every day. No judging what you write - just observe and notice. Please give the exercise a few weeks to develop some feel.

Of course, please feel free to ask any questions and please feel free to share any progress or feedback too - joe@joejacobi.com

Thank you for reading!

With gratitude, Joe

Joe Jacobi

Olympic Gold Medalist, Performance Coach & Author

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions?

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves

Latest Blog Posts

(Orginally published April, 2022)

Bunched together shoulder-to-shoulder in a cobblestone alley, the race director shouts the final instructions about what's going to happen next. My Catalan has improved over the five years I've been living here but I am still far from understanding everything.

However, I do have some idea about what is going to happen next...

About 130 runners, myself included, are going to dash out of this alley and make a quick left turn on to the main road that runs through the Catalan village of Organyà. After 50 yards of running slightly downhill, we will make a 90-degree turn to the right, and then... no more downhill or flat ground for the rest of the race.

The course is short in distance... just 2.6 miles.

But its challenge is that it goes up. Way up.More specifically, two thousand and two hundred feet up.

###

A major part of my adaptation to life in Catalunya has happened through running. Monday through Friday, the people I see, the routes I run, and the time of day I choose to exercise all contribute to how I experience Catalan culture, nature, and values.

Once in a while, I'll sign up for a race. Racing is an exercise that exchanges elements of running that I normally control for the opportunity to gauge my response to different elements of running outside of my control.

Today is one of these race days - the Arruix Santa Fe, which begins in Organyà. Although the finish line is not far from the start, the first clear view of the mountain-top finish does not come into sight until that hard right turn that takes us out of the village.

Good rhythm and flow has me feeling strong through several hundred meters of mildly uphill terrain. Then, the dirt road narrows to a single-track path and turns steeply upward. Here, the group's pace will slow and passing will be more difficult.

The paths in this part of the Pyrenees are defined by loose rocks, exposed roots, and tight switchbacks. As we move up the mountain, I vividly recall past ascents here - the awkwardness and discomfort of my feet stumbling over these trails as if I was fighting with the ground. My then default? Turn up the grit mode and soldier on.

But on this particular afternoon, I notice precision - each foot lands in small but stable spaces between the obstacles that naturally propel the next step.

For the first time, this ground feels like home.

The moment is not comfortable... yet, I am savoring it.

###

The coolest part of the Arruix Santa Fe is its finish.

After passing the final 200 meters over slanted, slick limestone, a tiny chapel sits just before you. Don't stop before the first door... run through this doorway, through the chapel, and the organizers will stop your running time just as you pass through the second doorway...

Which leads you down a few stone steps and onto an outcropping overlooking the beautiful valley below.

It takes a few minutes to catch my breath. I drink some water and start to congratulate the people in my immediate group with whom I just shared this ascension.

I feel good about my performance. But, I am curious... besides how I feel, how well did I perform? For one clear reason, I can not answer this question.

###

At home later that evening, I open my computer to look at the results from the race that just happened. I placed 34th overall and covered the course in 39 minutes and 7 seconds, exactly 10 minutes behind the race winner.

I still feel good about the race but this tells me very little about how I performed.

My inability to connect the performance dots here can be attributed to an experiment that I never expected to last this long:

Do not take nor wear any technology on a run.

Not a watch. Not a heart-rate monitor. No phone, airpods, podcasts, nor music.

For more than three years and counting now, while running on average five days per week and sometimes with lofty goals, I have not taken in a single metric from technology that could reveal something about or influence my running performance.

Running without technology may come across as a little bit extreme for someone who is serious about running. But in earlier chapters of life, my intake of data was extreme. It was embedded into many parts of my Olympic canoeing journey. Perhaps this shift from "A Lot" to "None" is a form of recalibration. Of rebalancing. Of a different way to compete in a new chapter of life.

Which gets me thinking about the last time I did wear technology during my training runs... three years earlier right around the time of this same race.

I remember this time well because I had just completed the 2019 Boston Marathon a few weeks earlier and had been taking in a lot of data points such as pace, distance, and elevation to name a few.

I remember this time well because I was going through several important changes that amounted to a major life transition.

I remember associating metrics as the reliable indicator of improvement... or lack thereof.

So, I go back into Arruix Santa Fe website, look up the 2019 results, and locate my time:

39 minutes and 1 second.

Three years later, my time up the mountain in 2022 is 6 seconds slower.

###

Now, you could be thinking, "Aren't you disappointed you went SLOWER?"

Or maybe, "What's the plan now? How are you going to go faster?"

If I did entertain these thoughts, they fade quickly.

Three years after having started this experiment, I have learned about different ways that progress can be realized... and ways that progress is hidden from us.

###

Not long after the 2019 race, I challenged the deep intake of such metrics. I evaluated the grip of data. I started to wonder what freedom might be realized if I just let go? What would I notice if I am not noticing technology?

The technology forces at large vigorously compete for your attention. Look at how ridiculously easy, convenient, and cheap it is to download their apps that place your attention on their dashboard.

Conversely, how many forces at large - of any kind - encourage you to "Let Go" and tune into your own dashboard? To disconnect and disengage? To subtract rather add?

Maybe there's a compelling reason for tracking more information about performing better - in sport, in business, in relationships, or in life. If you know the outcome you want, information distilled from technology can be helpful at times.

However, metrics are also weights. They don't make the journey up the mountain on their own. Someone carries them. And that someone is you. Specifically, your attention bears this load... at the expense of not engaging with other unique parts of your journey. Attention is a poor multi-tasker.

Before you measure everything - or anything - it is worthwhile to consider this weight and ask, "What is the cost of tracking data and carrying metrics?"

Because...

If you had told me three years ago that the price of increased presence in my life, relationships, work, and health aligned with a better disposition for enjoyment would amount to an additional 2 seconds per year for three years, I would simply ask this question:

Where can I buy an additional 6 seconds?

With gratitude,

-Joe

Joe Jacobi

Olympic Gold Medalist, Performance Coach & Author

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions?

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves

(Published September, 2021)

Upon completing my 52nd lap around the sun, I thought to share some reflections that feel relevant at this moment in time.

These reflections may sometimes appear to contradict each other. But, as I have considered and embraced each one along my journey down the river, I hope that one of them, perhaps more, offers you an interesting perspective here at the start of autumn… as they have for me.

Resets

What if we reset our year in the autumn instead of January?
What if Fridays mark the beginning of our week with two restful days instead of the weekend marking the end of our week?
What if we reframe a finish line as the next start line?
What do we notice when we stop noticing what we are measuring?
Instead of pushing away negative or challenging feelings, what if we acknowledge them where they are?
How could we focus on moments instead of months? Or weeks? Or even days?
Which parts of our default belief system have been left unchecked for a long time?
Instead of a destination, what if we focus on incremental movement every day?
How would our resets change if we consistently take small steps as opposed to trying big leaps?
How would our resets change if we are guided by what we want?
What is good about right now?

Life As A River…

12. How would we change if we consider that a “timeout” does not really stop time?

13. A) What if we focus on how to collaborate with the rocks in our river instead of trying to eliminate them?

14. B) Are we confusing rocks with river current? And river current for rocks?

15. What if we sustain minimum speed without stopping as opposed to pursuing top speed with frequent stops?

16. What if successful navigation is less about making moves and more about better anticipation and correction of mistakes?

17. How often do we practice for making mistakes?

18. Can we find humility in the mildest stretches of the river ?

Health, Capacity, & Energy

19. What if we replaced “How can I find more time?” with “How can I better replenish and expend energy?”

20. How can we position ourselves to better leverage transfers of energy between us and unexpected and uncontrollable forces of power?

21. What if we spend the first five minutes of our day tuning out the voices of others and tuning into our own voice?

22. What if we choose rest?

23. What if we choose solitude?

24. A) When we are feeling bad, what if we serve someone else?

25. B) When we are feeling bad, what if we serve something bigger than ourselves?

26. Could the improved health of any collective community or society to which we belong or about which we care begin with improving with our own health?

27. A) If we keep moving up and up and up the mountain, where will we find the open space and oxygen to reset and grow?

28. B) Is there an an option to descend a few steps down the mountain before ascending again?

29. When we want to feel more present, what is the most accessible and free first step?

30. What if patience becomes one of our superpowers?

Relationships

31. What can we change about our environment that would facilitate better relationships?

32. Could the impact of deeper relationships with fewer people exceed the impact of shallow relationships with many?

33. Is there a collaboration of goodness to be cultivated with others who seem to operate at the opposite end of the spectrum as we do?

34. A) What are the circumstances that make it more challenging for them?

35. B) How can we better convey to them that we see their circumstances?

36. How can we get outside of our own bubble?

37. What if we send more messages to people who make (or made) a difference in our lives?

38. Is our relationship with nature held to a similar standard to that of a good friend?

39. Is our relationship with ourselves held to a similar standard to that of a good friend?

Perspective

40. Can we more frequently ask ourselves, “Could the opposite be true?”

41. What if we hold our “rules for living” with a loose grip instead of a tight one?

42. If we could only improve by subtraction, what would we subtract?

43. What if it is not a marathon but instead a series of short sprints?

44. If it is possible that nobody will remember, what would we be free to do?

45. How could life be different if we pair grit, resilience, and determination with catching our breath, the beauty of imperfection, and self-kindness?

46. Instead of trying to outrun our current situation to gain new perspective, what if we slow down to gain a new perspective?

47. How can we be more gentle with ourselves right now?

48. A) For what are we grateful?

49. B) What if we ask this “gratitude question” every day?

50. What if we let go?

51. What if we embrace all that we have and who we are while focusing less on what we want and who we hope to be?

52. How can we reframe our outlook about life as a series of questions?

With gratitude,

-Joe

Joe Jacobi

Olympic Gold Medalist, Performance Coach & Author

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions?

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves

What's at the core of

Exploring better rides on Life's Waves?

For me, it's staying curious about

The conditions that create

Enjoyable experiences

On Life's Waves

That simplify the acquisition of

Free Energy.

To want more

Or any

Free Energy

Does not imply

Nor satisfy

Laziness.

Quite the opposite…

Free Energy intensifies the desire for leverage

In the pursuit of something

Meaningful

Game-changing

And

Otherwise complicated.

This prompts a question for me:

How can we prepare ourselves to be more receptive to a wave's Free Energy?

Asked a little differently,

What are we doing that might be repelling Free Energy from our rides?

Free Energy exists on the same side of the coin as the State of Flow.

Like Flow, Free Energy

Does NOT care about:

Personal bests

Scoreboards

The next salary increase or promotion

Status

Recognition

Nor

Influence.

Free Energy steers clear of

Rigidity

Expectations and

Despair.

Instead,

Free Energy

Flows freely towards

Mindsets and behavior shifts that foster

Learning and Improvement

Underpinned by Patience.

Here,

Free Energy becomes

Leverage for

Skill

Joy

Letting Go.

Put more succinctly,

Connecting with Free Energy is

To be Aware.

What is the best way to open ourselves to Free Energy?

No matter how challenging Life’s Waves are breaking?

Subtract noise and clutter

That block

Awareness.

With gratitude, Joe

Joe Jacobi

Olympic Gold Medalist, Performance Coach & Author

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions?

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves

If I could one podcast for value, insight, and direction, this conversation with Michael O'Brien would be it.

Watch HERE:

Listen To Our Conversation:

Apple Podcast

Host's Website w/ Show Notes

Joe Jacobi

Olympic Gold Medalist, Performance Coach & Author

Unlock Your Why, Achieve Impacting Wins, & Ride Spectacular Life Waves

Ready to position the art of surfing waves as a process for deep reflection and meaningful life transitions?

Subscribe to Thinking In Waves