Let's Fight (our) Mediocrity, One Round at a Time!
noun, intransitive verb
Sparring is an essential part of any competitive martial art. It is the reality check, the pressure test, and often a humbling experience that exposes your limitations and the holes in your game.
"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," said Mike Tyson famously. Done right, sparring offers the opportunity to get punched in the mouth in a relatively safe environment.
Life-Sparring applies the concept of Sparring to the greater context of Life! Let’s spar to get better in all aspects of life. Let’s spar to fight (our) mediocrity, one round at a time!
Life-Sparring started in 2015 as a personal self-improvement blog of Fabian. Bored in this job, Fabian was looking to continue the personal growth experience he experienced during the part-time MBA program he just completed. Life-Sparring was and is Fabian’s way to fight his mediocrity, pushing him to become the best version of himself and hopefully inspiring some other people along the way.
Life-Sparring blog posts (rounds) cover a wide range of topics, loosely related to self-improvement. Recurring topics are Quantified Self, Preventive Health, career-related topics like job search, book, software, and gadget reviews.
The Life-Sparring Podcast was launched end of 2020, expanding Life-Sparring beyond the long-form content of the blog.
The Life-Sparring Podcast is mainly an interview format, covering similar topics as the Blog, but in the form of expert interviews. The goal of the show is, to gather actionable advice on mastering the different aspects of life, from true masters in their field.
Life-Sparring Podcast is hosted by Fabian Gruber and produced by Thomas Latter, it is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.
Life-Sparring [laif·spaa·ruhng]is a compound term expressing the idea of introducing “sparring” into our regular lives. Not necessarily in the sense of martial arts, but by being vulnerable, putting our ideas and concepts out for a real test, in a safe and supportive environment.
Life-Sparring.com is home of the Life-Sparring blog and podcast. Hopefully, it can grow into much more than that, if you join in and contribute by giving feedback, spreading the word, or even by writing a guest article or appearing on the podcast. Let’s Spar Together, to Fight (Our) Mediocrity, One Round at a Time!
The short answer: it doesn’t. While there is a Life-Sparring Limited, the blog and podcast are primarily passion projects by Fabian and are sparsely monetized. If you want to give back and show your appreciation, you can buy official Life-Spearing merch: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/life-sparring/ or click on the occasional affiliate link, promoting products and services that proved useful.
My name is Fabian. I am in my early 40s, originally from Germany but living in Hong Kong for over a decade.
I am a trained economist who started out my career as an entrepreneur and later turned manager, running different Hong Kong subsidiaries of European companies. Currently, I work for a German-headquartered e-commerce company, growing its international business.
I am ambitious and competitive, with an immense hunger to understand the world and what moves it. At the same time, I am painfully aware of my limits and shortcomings.
I take huge inspiration from the Quantified Self Movement and self-optimizers like Tim Ferriss. Truth to be told, though, many ideas look far easier in books and despite my best intentions, I constantly struggle to keep up with morning routines, diets, meditation practices, and all the other “essential habits of the most successful people.”
Life-Sparring.com is my attempt to improve my chances in the uphill battle against my own mediocrity. By “sparring” with people from different walks of life, cultures, and professions, I hope to sharpen my “life game” and hopefully yours too. Spar with me, to fight mediocrity, one round at a time!
