Kings of sidchas

I knew my daily streaks of writing in my blog and doing burpees of nearly ten years were just starts. I like to find role models. I discovered sidcha streaks that dwarf mine, in fact that started before I was born. Two organizations---Streak Runners International and United States Running Streak Association---track people who have run at least a mile per day. Their slogan: "Through weather, injury, illness, and life events, we run everyday." I put their list below of runners with streaks longer than my longest sidcha---writing in this blog. The longest active running streak belongs to Jon Sutherland, at…

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Cold showers aren’t hard showers. They’re easy workouts.

Cold Showers Aren't Hard Showers. They're Easy Workouts. Confusion about their purpose scare people from realizing their value as one of the easiest, cheapest, and effective improvement practices. I've written here many times on the benefits of cold showers. I've blogged more about them. You wouldn't have clicked on the headline if you weren't curious about them or already doing them. Inc. is a community of achievers and has covered cold showers many times. Many talk about science behind their benefit, but since double-blind controlled experiments are hard--how do you create a plausible placebo?--I find credence in their effect I…

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Should New York City Sue Mayor de Blasio? (Inc.)

Should New York City Sue Mayor de Blasio? Will New York City's mayor stop personally doing what the city is suing tobacco companies for? Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio explained why the city was suing five fossil fuel companies: For decades, Big Oil ravaged our environment. They knew what they were peddling was lethal, but they didn't care. They used the classical Big Tobacco playbook of denial, denial, denial, and all the while they did everything to hook society on their lethal product. Have they been punished for it? No. In fact, they've made trillions. Think how cynical that is. Then…

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The U.S. president appealed to Americans to eat less meat and sugar.

100 years ago tomorrow, the United States President appealed to the nation to eat less meat and sugar. The reason then was to support allies in World War I. The stakes today seem less acute but comparably high. If the president could do it then, a president can do it now. The current president might not, based on how much sugar and meat he eats, but in principle a president could. He spoke of individual self-sacrifice, which American culture seems to eschew today. We eat so much sugar and meat, we could cut a lot and still consume more than…

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What If the CDC Normalized Activity Instead of Inactivity?

My post on LinkedIn today, "What If the CDC Normalized Activity Instead of Inactivity?," begins What If the CDC Normalized Activity Instead of Inactivity? This post is about my great passion, leadership—in particular, how beliefs, mental models, and words motivate and influence. I also care a lot about: fitness. America's normalization of sedentary lifestyles Inactivity and diseases of excess are so prevalent in the U.S. that even the Centers for Disease Control's Benefits of Physical Activity page treats inactivity as normal and activity as something to go out of your way for. I find that perspective discouraging so I edited the text to normalize activity instead. Click the CDC page for the original. Read…

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Nelson Mandela on sidchas

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's birth. I've waited to share something I discovered reading his autobiography a few months ago. First some context. It's the day of your release. You're a revolutionary, fighting Apartheid, imprisoned for 27 years, much of it in an 8 foot by 7 foot cell or, if outside, breaking rocks. Meanwhile, you've become a global celebrity. Over 200 million people watched your London birthday event in absentia. Meanwhile, you're a 72-year-old man, recently recovering from tuberculosis and have barely seen your family for decades. On the day of your release, what do you…

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The Inspirational Chronicles with Emilio Ron, parts 1 and 2: Building Discipline and Become an Exceptional Communicator

I met Emilio Ron at an event for public speakers. We started talking and he invited me to be a guest on his new podcast, Inspirational Chronicles. The following fits into the conversation we recorded: He invited me to record in the studio he set up. Somehow, despite living in Manhattan, I agreed to take the train---not even the subway, but the Long Island Railroad---all the way out to Long Island, where he had to drive me from the station to the studio. Manhattanites expect the world to come to us! Once I saw the studio I could tell he…

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Astrophysicist turned media wiz tells listeners what leadership is all about: The Tim Laskis interview

Tim Laskis is a psychologist, but unlike most of them, has done things in life, including starting and selling a company and coaching others. He specializes in business and sports. Read more about him below. He also interviewed me for his podcast, The Tim Laskis Show, a genuine, fun, rewarding, and, I believe, engaging and informative conversation. We talked about success, failure, what it takes to achieve, how to make it through, what works, what doesn't, and more. Click here to listen to the podcast! Here is more background on Tim from his about page: ABOUT TIM LASKIS No one…

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Listen to Jim Harshaw’s Wrestling With Success podcast interview with me

I had a fantastic conversation with Jim Harshaw for his podcast, Wrestling With Success. I am honored and humbled that he invited me into the ranks of his guests. I recommend listening to many other episodes besides mine, including his early ones where you get to learn about him. Among other guests, he's had people in space. I've only helped build satellites. Jim is a Division 1 champion wrestler and coach who brings what sports and athletics brings to business and life. In his words, his podcast uncovers the secrets of the most successful people on the planet who are…

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These two surprisingly touching Vince Lombardi quotes reveal the source of his winning leadership

For Vince Lombardi's birthday, I wrote in Inc.com, "These two surprisingly touching Vince Lombardi quotes reveal the source of his winning leadership." The piece begins These two surprisingly touching Vince Lombardi quotes reveal the source of his winning leadership For the great coach's birthday, how to create winning traditions in your teams. I'm writing this article exhausted and sore because two days ago I started researching for this article. Having hurt my leg running, I decided to skip a workout to recover. Then I read Vince Lombardi. His birthday is tomorrow. Most people think of him as a hard-core tough…

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RIP Ali

About few people in few fields can we say there is a before and after. Muhammad Ali is one of them, and beyond "just" boxing, but to sport in general, and free and open expression. Every athlete today lives in his shadow. Every war resister. Every public speaker. Every person who works for fairness. Nobody before him did anything like what he did. Compare athletes of today. Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan dominated their sports, but what social change did they create outside it? Who speaks with his honesty? Compare public speakers today. What public figure spoke with such openness?…

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How not to be afraid to be yourself, Italian style

The other day I was interviewed for a podcast (I'll link to it when they edit and post it). The interviewer asked me how I accomplished so much. I told him and his listeners to look up sidchas on my blog. Everyone who aspires to greatness knows the importance of building discipline, integrity, dedication, and other skills. I accomplish things by acting by my values. I practice with small challenges like daily exercise, daily writing, cold showers, and so on. Almost nobody does these things or their equivalent for them, yet they want the benefits. You have to do things…

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You’re lying if you say you don’t have time to exercise

"I don't have time to exercise." Everyone has said it at some point. It's a lie. At best, it's ignorant. If you want to lead others, you better know how to lead yourself. Effective exercise can take a few minutes a day. The hard part about effective exercise is that you don't feel motivation to do strenuous things. I'm not saying it's easy. The point is that if you talk about time when the challenge is motivating yourself to overcome demotivation, you're focusing on the wrong issue and you won't solve the problem.

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Webinar: Self-Imposed Daily Challenging Activities, Saturday 1pm EST

After teaching, coaching, studying, and practicing leadership for twenty years, I announced my online leadership course, “Introducing the most effective leadership course available anywhere.” I’m hosting a series of free webinars on the most actionable, useful, effective, and exciting parts of the course. My webinars will always deliver exclusive, valuable lessons you can use that day and how to build for the long term. Attend my third webinar, free, this Saturday, February 27, 1pm Eastern Standard Time! All you need is an internet connection. SIDCHAs: Self-Imposed Daily Challenging Healthy Activities If you read my blog you know about SIDCHAs. Learn…

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Sidchas when you’re tired and exhausted? Especially!

I can't tell you how exhausted I was when I got home yesterday. Traveling meant about five hours of sleep in the forty-eight leading to last evening's sleep. Telling a client about burpees and Sidchas recently, when I mentioned doing them when tired, drunk, or otherwise discouraged, he asked, "wait, you do them then too?", implying that for a long-term activity, you don't have to be a stickler for rules every time. After all, how much does one instance matter out of many? On the contrary, the value of the combination of the activity being self-imposed, challenging, and daily arises…

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Confidence and pride in your body feels better than chocolate tastes

Leading others begins with leading yourself. Part of my daily workouts is to stretch my hamstrings by sitting with my legs straight in front of me, like this: How do you feel about your abdomen when you crunch forward like this? Does it show fat that you prefer people not see? Do you look flabby? Do you avoid such positions for that reason? I noticed that my entire life I've felt ashamed of my abdomen, its lack of muscle tone, and the layer of fat that stood out when crunched forward, like in that position. Like many people, I hid…

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Old man still got it

My team won the first sports tournament I played in on Sunday that I remember since college (which I don't remember that well). I may have won some tournaments playing with the elite teams I played on in club and the co-ed team I went to Nationals with in 1998. There's nothing like the feeling of winning a hard competition. It was just summer league, more of a fun league than competitive, but it still counts. There are points in close games where, if you want to win, you have to put the players on the line who will win…

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SIDCHAs in the wild

After driving a smelly twenty-seven-year-old pick up truck with wobbly steering and a barely functional clutch all night from my cousin's wedding outside Pittsburgh to my friend's networking day-long workshop in Manhattan, one of the session leaders asked the attendees to describe ourselves. I was too tired for small talk. He gave us paper and crayons do illustrate our descriptions. I asked if I could demonstrate instead of illustrate. He liked the idea. So when my turn came to describe myself, I brought everyone into a circle, told them my burpee-starting and SIDCHA stories, and had everyone do a few…

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July 4, 1939: “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth”

Lou Gehrig was one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century. He died in his prime from the disease often named after him. On July 4, 1939, he gave his retirement speech, which I copied below. Some career highlights from Wikipedia: He was an All-Star seven consecutive times, a Triple Crown winner once, an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player twice, and a member of six World Series champion teams. He had a lifetime .340 batting average, .632 slugging average, and a .447 on base average. He hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in (RBI). He…

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Have you striven for excellence?

Have you put everything you had into something? Have you tried as hard as you possibly could? Have you run until you dropped? Skied as fast as you possibly could, risking injury? Decided to lift a weight you couldn't conceive of lifting and done it? Have you run sprints in the rain, alone? Have you put your name and reputation on the line for all time? Have you said no to things anyone would say yes to because the sacrifice was worth it? Have you doubted everything you thought was right because your experience taught you things school never could…

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Freedom, from speech

You have opinions about race, sex, homosexuality, class, politics, and other controversial topics. You probably only talk about them with people closest to you. Most of us won't touch them with a ten-foot pole, knowing how one public statement can destroy a life. We believe we don't have that freedom. If you don't believe you have it, you can't do it. How about talking about them to the media for twenty years and being loved for it. That's freedom. This article about Charles Barkley described him as Off the court, where he spun quotes and welcomed controversy, Barkley was arguably…

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To start a habit, focus on emotions

Different people suggest starting habits different ways. Some say to start with behavior, like setting a New Year's resolution or doing it every day for a month. Others suggest starting by changing your environment, like by putting a note on your computer monitor or daily schedule, wearing a device that measures your exercise, or joining a web page that tracks and reminds you. That's all low-level tactics. Tactics, no matter how effective, don't work if the high-level strategy doesn't work. Effective strategy comes from knowing how the new habit will affect your life. What is its meaning, value, importance, and…

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The rewards, pleasures, and life lessons of running fast

A friend and former teammate introduced me to running long distances about twenty years ago. A few years ago I commented about running a lap of Central Park in about forty-five minutes. He remarked how running that speed at that age was impressive. In the years since, I've meant to run a lap in forty-five minutes. Between China and just running long distances for past marathons, I haven't gotten around to it. I didn't prioritize it. I just kept it in mind. A week or two ago I noticed an opportunity. Last weekend I ran my last half-marathon. Next weekend---the…

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Why Are Americans So Fascinated With Extreme Fitness?

I decided to answer the question of this New York Times article "Why Are Americans So Fascinated With Extreme Fitness?". That article describes some fitness, but doesn't answer the question, which deals with motivation and overcoming big challenges, which connect it to leadership. To answer why people would push to get so fit, you have to explain the emotion and motivation behind it. Simply saying it's healthy or makes you strong only extends the question. Partly they do it because of the emotional reward from exhaustion, progressing overcoming challenges, feeling stronger or more capable, approaching an ideal appearance, comparing themselves…

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Hard work is never easy. You can love hard work.

Why do people not get this? If something takes hard work, only hard work will attain it. And hard work is hard. Sure, some work is easy, but some things take hard work. I talk about how much I enjoy doing burpees. More precisely, I like doing them in principle, I like the effects they have on my physical condition and motivation skills, and I like just having finished a set. Before I start every set, I don't want to do them. They're hard. Really hard. While I'm doing them, my body motivates me to stop. I have to work…

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