THE SEED YOU WATER

This has been bugging me since I don't know when. Seems like a long time. About people whining, that someone who always complain about everything and anything. That one dude who hates everything that is happening or hates everything that he thinks is wrong. That guy who just sits down and act like he knows what should be done but does nothing about it. I personally believe we all have that one dude who's like that. Whether he's a close friend or not, co-worker or neighbor, we all have that.

He complains every single time. About anything.

The thing is, Constant Complainers are the personification of the looming black cloud of negativity.

We are all guilty of this at one point or another. I myself have done this in the past to be honest. We all have high expectations for what we are going to achieve, and when we hit a brick wall, we tend to blame everything else except ourselves.

Recently, I've been in meetings where everyone is complaining. Doesn't matter if he or she is the boss or not, but it was a point where everyone has an opinion about a matter but the opinion was all about complaining. "I can't do that....There is no time.....That idea is ridiculous...why not someone else....I have a family....I have to go shopping....there's no way that will work...", and so on. What bugs me the most is, they don't give any solutions. Not even one. If you want to complain about something, at least give a alternative or solution. Don’t just tell everybody why something sucks but give zero solutions. It'a very hard for someone to listen to you being negative.

If you don’t have a better solution, don’t complain.

Because when you complain without providing a better alternative… you’re not being a problem solver. You’re just being a whiny-ass, dragging people around you into your whirlpool of negativity.

So the next time you find yourself focusing on how much something sucks, ask yourself: “How can I solve this problem?”

Instead of bitching and moaning about all of the things that are wrong in your life; take a stand, take action and change those things for the better.

A negative thought is like a bad seed - if you water it, it will grow, and like weeds in a garden... it will consume your life.

But this is your life, you can choose which seeds you water - so make sure you water the good seeds, and not the bad ones.

Have a good day!

Dany Sitompul #07

Just be yourself? No!

I read something the other day and I see it often used in this modern day of age. People keep telling other people to "Just be yourself", because "yourself" is already perfect and that other stuff. And I guess it's been like this for a long time. Maybe been there for most of our childhood and being brainwashed till us being adults.

You often see or hear people with lack of confidence be like, "Man, I don't know how to talk to that girl", or "I wish I could speak more", or "I'm not as good as the other guy". Then there will be some guy saying, "It's okay, Just be yourself, and never thing will be fine."

I'm not saying that the "Just be yourself" thing is bad or anything, but here's the thing. I believe that it's not enough for someone to "Just be yourself" in order to succeed in this world. In other words, I believe that you have to be a BEST version of yourself. A Hardcore Motherfucker if may be.

Not someone who will be willing to accept the minimum results. But someone who grabs the opportunity by the neck and submits it to the ground by claiming it's theirs to conquer. The minimum result guy will be jealous and maybe be inspired by him. You know, the guy that will be willing to go an extra mile, extra minute, extra hour to accomplish what means most to him, while you go to bed each in every night at the same time hoping maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

All you will be doing is trying to figure out who the fuck is this guy doing it? "How does he have the time to do all of that shit?" What is he doing differently from what everybody else is doing?"

Here's how.

1. They get shit done....NOW.
    They never hit that "snooze button" in any occasion when they need to do it now. There is no "later" or "tomorrow" nor "someday". They just get shit done.

2. They rely on HABITS, not motivation.
    You see a lot of people posting motivational quotes and what not, but the truth of the matter is, motivation is not any different than any other emotion, sort of speak. Yes, it is something that can inspire you, but at the end of the day wholly undependable. Habits, on the other hand, is fucking reliable.

Want an example, sure.

What's the very first thing people do commonly when the new year arrives? They do a "New Year Resolution" shit. Which mostly won't even last a month and eventually die. It only motivates. It doesn't actually do anything else.

What if, you change all that. Make it a habit! That dream of having the shredded body or everything else will come true. Why? Because it becomes a fucking habit. Something we do all the time. That Hardcore Motherfucker we were talking about earlier will take action instantly without hesitation and without making excuses about having more time tomorrow or what not.

A hardcore motherfucker will work diligently to create good habits to rely on, while that "other guy" will do things when he feels like it and create excuses and blame others.

 I assure you, when you follow those two steps, it'll create your foundation for how your life is going to change for the better.

But you will need to separate yourself from the "Lazy" guys who will try to hold on to you and keep you grounded. When all your life you've been making excuses and not taking action, this means that you've been creating a bad habit. The first step is to fix that, by creating visual reminders, as a start, that will crucially fixate on you anytime, any day, anywhere. Start from what is your biggest struggle and change that. And do it NOW. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month.

One other thing.

After creating that foundation, that mindset, it won't be enough. I can assure you that. How can you make it a habit? By making it your lifestyle.

It's that trend in people now that a lifestyle is what people see now. So, it won't just be just a motivation or just in your mindset. But being it your lifestyle will take it to the next step. Don't get me wrong, we do begin from a mindset. But then we make it our habit which eventually be our lifestyle.

So..Don't be a lazy ass motherfucker. Don't be that guys who just makes new year resolutions.

Be that Hardcore Motherfucker who gets shit done by making his good habits become a lifestyle.


Your Truly,

Dany Sitompul #7


PS,

Got a lot of this from Jesse of SimplePickup and the Legendary Ray Lewis

REFUSE TO SETTLE

WOW!!

I must say, 2015 was a great year for me, as a person and as an athlete. I'd say it was a growth stage in my life, especially in PAINTBALL itself. Just like it would in a business at the growth stage, there were ups and downs. Let's review a bit.

So, at the end of 2014, after SOPL Magnum 2014, we finished runner up and overall champions. Some would say it's a great result. I wouldn't deny it but still I had a feeling that this could be better. How?

I also found out that there was an emerging paintball community in Indonesia. I see it growing but maybe not in a way it should. I've been playing paintball since 2008 and even though it hasn't been as long as any other athletes, I would say I have my fair share of knowledge and experience. I see some younger and newer players playing the game without the correct fundamentals and mindset. That was why I came up with a solution by making a Paintball Program. School of Paintball if I may. Really focusing on the development of the player to become an athlete, not just a player. So, me and a few of my friends in Magnum Paintball brainstormed and came up with Double Barrel Effect Paintball Program which was based in Medan. No, it was not a new team, it was purely a concept that we wanted to see players develop into athletes with the right fundamentals and mentality to play paintball.


I wanted to share what I've learned to anyone that wanted to learn more about paintball. And it was a continued effort. By that I mean, I kept on learning myself. Kept on seeking new ways to develop to be better. And so, the first members of DBE (what I like to say), Reza, Jafu, Tama, Nico and Ryan. These were the original members. And then followed by Satrya, Miftah, Josh, Godek, Chandra and so on. we've grown and merged. The fact of the matter is, DBE was opened for anybody.



First event of the year, SOPL Cadika leg 1 2015. I finished my knee rehab just in time for the first event but not at 100% like I would liked but no excuses. Nico and Godek decided to play with Medan Gorga while Miftah played with Smokers, leaving the following members of my program to fall in one group. Despite the challenges, we lost the semifinals and finished 2nd runner up with Nico and Godek finishing 1st place with Medan Gorga. Not too bad I think for the first event for DBE members, All got podium finishes.

My paintball journey didn't stop there for that month. The following week I participated at the Super 7's in Singapore with Hadi Gunawan (One of my paintball mentors). Brand new team, never practiced together but came up 2nd runner up losing by a close match at the semifinals. Made new friends along the way too!


Two weeks, two medals. Not bad. Next stop, Bandung. which was exactly the following week ( Fuih, all that travelling). Pemuda Pancasila Paintball tournament was next in line. This would be my first tournament on Java soil. So I pretty much wanted to make a statement. A positive one that is. In which, by representing DBE, I wanted to promote about the school, the program and the training. But by that to happen, I must perform at a high level and deliver. We ended up getting Runner up but the most happiest moment was when players acknowledge what we were presenting and how to join. That was a point where I knew DBE was heading the right direction.



Too round off a month of paintball was PALS Singapore 2015 where I was guesting with team Medan Gorga. A great event with my fellow DBE members, Tama, Nico and Godek. We went undefeated at the prelims but failed short by making a few mistakes at the quarterfinals that costed us the event. But the team was young so spirits were still high as we progress forward.


So, in one month I got 3 medals out of 4 tournaments representing DBE School of Paintball. After Ramadhan was the 2nd leg of SOPL in Pekanbaru where we also managed to place two teams at the podium, Medan Gorga and Magnum, both consisting with DBE members.



Representing my country at an international event was one of my goals through out my paintball career. And it was next on the list to do, the great thing was out of 10 players representing the Red and White of Indonesia, nine of them were DBE members, original and new members. Oh yes, we grew. It was quite an achievement for me at a personal level, where I could see members of the DBE program being in one team, representing our nation. An honor it was.

At Paintball World Cup 2015 in Langkawi, Indonesia managed to be at the top 16 just above Singapore, who we met at the prelims.



But I would say, team wise. Medan Smokers for the first time did not manage to get through the prelims for the first time in Division 2. It was heart breaking. The effort I put this past year seemed to be flushed down the toilet by a single event.



I got back, realized I had some thinking to do. What went wrong, what did I not do, was this falling apart? It came to a point where I even thought if this was this worth it anymore. Doubts, I guess along the way it'll come, whether or not you believe in the doubts is totally up to you.

REFUSE TO SETTLE!!!!!

I talked to my best friend about the situation and that was our conclusion. We are DBE, We are Grind Up. We never settle and We refuse to settle!

I mean, yeah, there gonna be rough points in our lives. Calls not going our way but you can't give in. Dust off your shoulders and keep grinding. Keep pushing. All off that is in your mind. So, that's what we did. We brushed off our shoulders and grind for the last event of the year, SOPL Magnum 2015 at our home field MAGNUM PAINTBALL Medan.

This event was staged to be the bounce back event. It wasn't about making a statement anymore, it was about proving that what DBE stands for and what we were all about. It was about why was DBE formed and built around. Not pride, not glory but Achievements.

The thing is, during that whole event. It felt like everything that I have'd learned was clicking at the same time. The faults and mistakes we made during the year was all adding up and making itself revealed again. This time, We were ready. It didn't matter we drew and lost the first two games. We kept calm, analyze and perfected our OWN game. Each game we came up with different game plans according to what we saw and what we scouted. Scouting ; this was one thing we never did, and when we did this it was a game changer for us.

FINAL GAME : KJ Team

Probably the best D4 team in Indonesia, was standing our way from victory.

First point : DRAW

Second Point : Lose

Third Point : WIN

It was a draw of a best of 3 finals. The ruling, like it was last year, was that we follow PALS rules. Where in deadlock, we look at the prelims. And so, we came out Runner Up.

This time, heads weren't down. We actually grew as individuals and athletes of the sport. I sense a change, and hopefully for the better.

Why?

REFUSE TO SETTLE.


Dany Sitompul #07



PS:

On another note, maybe here is something you guys might seem interesting ;)



Got it from PALS Rulebook, just found it interesting.

hihihi

Diamond or Rock

                                                  photo credit : Paintballphotography.com

Came through somebody saying, "What are you gonna be? The Diamond that doesn't crack under pressure or The rock that crushes under pressure?".

Interesting.

Been quite a ride this 2015 year. Not only in my career as a paintball athlete, but also my life in general. At the beginning of the year I had a commitment and goal to achieve more than the 2014 year. I put out a program and initiated it. Double Barrel Effect, was finally born. The program was for a full 2015 season, to make as many podiums and tournament wins. I mean, by the end of the day, it is the ultimate goal to WIN.

The program started great, I could say that every member always took podium and even a tournament win in any tournament they enter. As the season become more longer, there was a lack of focus or maybe motivation or maybe a complacent behavior growing. Maybe not in one person but maybe all of us. There were cockiness, doubts, miss practices, even no shows. And that showed in the first tournament we missed, as players, the podium. To me it was a step backwards and it hurt.

I was stressed. The thing is, I kept thinking maybe it was me that's the problem. Was I doing this wrong? Was there a lesson I missed? Were there no more motivation? All the problems being impacted in one cycle of motion. The pressure was felt deeply.

And that pressure doubled when I missed Sunday for the first time in many years at Paintball World Cup Asia 2015.

So, now the last tournament of the year that we have planned is just around the corner. SOPL last leg at my home field, Magnum Paintball on the 12th and 13th of December 2015. Yet, I sprained my MCL last weekend playing some games at the field. My movement is pretty limited, where I can't pretty much do any dynamic moves. The pressure is mounting up, and I'm feeling it.

The question remains, Will you be the diamond that doesn't crack from the pressure, or will you be the rock that cracks under pressure?

Ali bin Abi Thalib once said :"Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety, after all it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly."


Dany Sitompul #07
DOUBLE BARREL EFFECT

Family

I recently saw a friends post on Instagram. What caught my eye wasn't the photo itself, but what it actually represents. In the photo, the text was about my friend just had a "syukuran" (type of celebration ceremony because of his recent accomplishments). His family recognized the fact he had work so hard in achieving his goals on becoming a quality paintball player, and that has been proven this last year where he racked up medals after medals to the fact he is now a national Indonesia paintball player.

This to me brings me enjoyment. Why? Because we train together. He came up to me one day and asked me to train him. All the hard work and vomitting seems to payoff, but it won't stop there.

So, whats the point on me writing this? It's about FAMILY. Whatever you do, either it's paintball or any other sport or even anything in general, the fact if you got the support from your family makes it all better. It is extremely important in my opinion that anything you do must have a solid support from your family. I myself have felt it first hand, the moment my parents gave the greenlight to me to compete in tournament paintball is the moment I got my first medal. The moment my own family supported my paintball goals was the moment I got on the national team. And the moment I lost and didn't get anything was the moment when my own daughter was wise enough to say sometimes you lose but it doesn't mean you have to quit. 

The amount of support that is given to you will have a massive impact on accomplishing your goals.

Family can be more than just blood. It's a bond. And that is what D.B.E. is all about. Creating a bond with brothers in same purposes, same goals, same will. It's way more than just a team, way more than just a program. D.B.E. is Family. And like I stated before, when your family supports you no matter who you are with, no matter which team you are with, we are still one family that supports one another. Are goals will remain the same, being the best we can be but for that to happen, trust must be built.

So I've got your back, do you have mine?

Photo credits to : Zul Photography & XT-photo

Rule the world

From the start of mankind it would seem like the people who claim or rule are the people with power. What kind of power? Well, power changes shape every generation. I would think that the first form of power is the dog eat dog mentality. Only the strong survives, literally. You keep what you kill. But as time evolves so does the form of power. 

Why?

Because mankind become more and more civilized. As that progresses, they make laws to protect the people. Who made the so called laws? The people that have power. Is it really to protect the people or is it to protect the law makers themselves? Interesting I think.

Then, to work out the law, the people with power form a law enforcement. Who, by fact, is suppose to work by the law that has been created. By who? The people with power. 

So, what people know now as police and other form of them really don't have any sort of power. They are owned. Owned by a greater power.

By who you may ask?

Try to think and figure it out yourself. What is the most earliest occupation the world has ever known?

That would be a start.

2nd PLACE IS THE 1st LOSER

I can’t sleep. I don’t know whether it’s because of the pain caused by my knee injury or the fact that we lost at the SOPL finals. I guess second place really is the first loser. Bittersweet finish for the last tournament in the 2014 season for me.

The tournament itself I say was quite a success. More teams and more participants. A really good tournament. Maybe I am biased on saying this because I work at Magnum Paintball, but I must say this SOPL leg, we step up a notch regarding how tournament Paintball is suppose to be in Indonesia. This leg we had teams from Malaysia, Singapore and cities around Sumatera like Banda Aceh, Pekanbaru and Duri. Hopefully 2015 will shine a brighter light for the series.

Now, back to the reason I couldn’t sleep.

Following a bad tournament in World Cup Asia 2014, I had time to evaluate myself and how I did in the tournament. I looked at videos from the WCA 2014 webcast over and over again to see what actually went wrong. It wasn’t quite much of disappointment but it was clearly a step down from where we were in 2013. It was quite clear what I had to improve in my practices and that was what I improved during the training for SOPL 4^th leg.

The individual training was going great. Going back to fundamentals and sharpening my gun skills were my priorities. The downside of it was that we never had a full team practice. Coming to the event we never had even one full team practice. On how I see it is really a let down and a clearly was quite the reason why we didn’t won. I know there will be pro and cons on how I see it, but this is how I feel about it. If we had practice regularly maybe the outcome would be different. Maybe.

Day 1

We won our first three games before losing two games in a row and then closing the day with two more wins. 5-2 in day one. Wasn’t great but what was different from our last event was that I was on touch with Arab every single game (for anyone who doesn’t know, Arab and I started Double Barrel Effect Paintball Training Program). All Double Barrel Effect Trainees were in my team, so communication on the off the field was running well. Losing our games was clearly something we talked about after the games and was a good thing, so we wouldn’t be complacent. We were focused despite the training opportunity was really minimal. Because of the minimal training we had together, communication was key. We had to talk in and off the field. If we didn’t, we would for sure lose most of our games.

Day 2

We had 3 more games for the prelims. Won two and lost our last one, placing us at the 3^rd seed going to the quarterfinals. Our quarterfinal group consist of, Medan Smokers QQ (us), Medan Smokers 106, Medan Gorga and Team KJ. Team KJ was our first game, we switched things up a little because we knew we had to have an edge in our snake side. Placing 3 up the snake side and 2 dorito side, completely emptying our center. We won the game when Tama (Double Barrel Effect Trainee) won the 1 on 1 battle. Our 2^nd quarterfinal game was against Medan Gorga. This will be the game that I will never forget and want to forget at the same time. Not a lot of people knew what happened. 10 seconds! I was focused, gameplan was in effect. Game on! I did what I do every single game, Attack the snake hard. Upon reaching the snake for my dive, I heard a huge “Pop” sound, following an excruciating pain on my right knee. I still dove into the snake and made it alive. But, I knew I blew out my knee. The pain was really hitting me, I couldn’t bend my knee in the snake, the only thing that was pushing me to finish the game was that this tournament was supposed to be a statement for me. I still got my kills and finished the game. We won, but I knew the tournament was over for me. I got my knee checked, and it was for sure I couldn’t play the remainder of the tournament. So, the last game for us was against our brother team, Medan Smokers 106. For me, playing sports is playing sports. There is sportsmanship and other elements in the game, but you are going to be remembered by the things you do right, apparently also what you do wrong. We fought it out for a draw, putting us through to the semifinals and sent packing our brother team home.

Semifinal Game vs Hangtuah Warriors Pekanbaru

The semis and finals will be a best of 3 match up. We were going to go against Hangtuah Warriors from Pekanbaru. Leading up to the game they were doing very well, so I decided to give a little twitch on our gameplan. The first point was a long point finalizing the point was a 1 on 1 battle of Miftah (Double Barrel Effect Trainee) winning the point for us. 1-0. The second point, we push the snake hard, leading the charge was Arab getting a 4 pack kill, single handed giving us the ticket to the final match.

The Finals

Although I am happy enough my boys took it to another level and playing the finals, there was a deep disappointment that I couldn’t be there side by side them in the mix. The final match was against Hari Harimau Malaya, a very strong team with experienced players. First point, a draw and we were down 1 man. The second point was a lot better, Jafu holding it down and winning another 1 on 1 battle (He won 1 on 1 battles through out this tournament). A little fun fact, every 1 on 1 battle that we (Double Barrel Effect) faced in the tournament, we won all of them. So, we were 1-0 up knowing that if we lost this last point it could be the end. And that was the point where we, as we always do in clutch situations, and where it shows where we are lacking, is the ability to see and do something different. Our opponent already knew what we were going to do, and chewed us up. Done. 1-1, but the first point we drew we were down 1 body. We lost the finals game, not because the the ED, but because we didn’t train ourselves enough to be prepared for that kind of situation. Learning experience, yes. Disappointed, of course.

2^nd place is the 1^st loser.

                                                              We growing now. D.B.E.

                                                   This is for my kids, Amee and Ameer.

        Arab & I, Founder of Grind Up Designs and Double Barrel Effect Paintball Training Program

                                            2nd Place, but Overall 2014 SOPL Champions

Hopefully my injury is not as serious as it may be. For I plan to be better and stronger in 2015. Was my goal achieved in SOPL 4^th leg? I don’t know, probably not as much as I would like. But I know in my heart that we, Double Barrel Effect, made a standing statement.

We are and always will be, fully GRIND UP.

Dany Sitompul #07

Magnum Paintball, Double Barrel Effect Trainer

                                                         Double Barrel Effect Originals

                                   (Left to right ; Jafu, Ryan, Tama, Arab, Kelby, Miftah, Dany)

FAMILY, isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who gives a shit and accept you for who you are. The ones who would do ANYTHING to see each other succeed and to willingly push each other for GREATNESS.