on wearing rabbit ears

I was lucky to see two of my old professors talk last night about their childhoods, old jobs, families, and design. it was a true gift and i'm going to try and spend a little bit of time reflecting on sharing some of the pearls that were given to me last night. here's one:

John Malinoski spent a little time talking about the small town where he grew up. His father was a coach of all sports, and gave the following advice to his son: don't play the game with rabbit ears. If you think about it, rabbits are always picking up on the slightest vibrations and disturbances around them. While this hyper-attentiveness to one's suroundings has done wonders for the survival of the rabbit species, it does little for atheltes who need focus and resolve in order to play to the best of their abilities.It's amazing how much this advice also applies to people in any sort of creative field. (the parallels between the life of an athlete an the life of a designer are astonishing!) For a creative person looking to flourish and thrive, one has to be able to turn off all the peripheral noise that can surround the work ("What will my colleagues think?", "How will this be received?", or "How does this compare to what has come before?"). Focusing too much on external non-issues is detrimental to quality. Instead one must turn inward, and concentrate on the task at hand. 

Put another way: we need spend less time listening to the commentating and more time in the gym.