A New Reason I Pick Up Trash Every Day

I've held back on sharing this because it felt too presumptuous. To remind you the context, I've found that to lead on sustainability, you need experience in three areas: LeadingScienceLiving the values you promote I know of almost no one with experience in all three. Not Gore, DiCaprio, Thunberg, or any of the big names people associate with sustainability. Previous guest Alexandra Paul fits the bill. For a while, I've contended that picking up litter gives me experience both leading and living the values I promote. Of course, it reduces the garbage immediately reaching the oceans too. Several other minor…

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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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Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Who Are Your Peers, and What Are Your Sidchas?

Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Who Are Your Peers, and What Are Your Sidchas? Want success? Compare yourself to historical greats and make them your peers, not the average. 18 years ago today, January 4, 2000, the New York Times reported: Today is the first day, after nearly half a century, that the daily comic strip ''Peanuts'' will not appear. Just why it would be funny to see a young boy lean his head against a tree and say ''I weep for our generation'' is hard to explain, but Charlie Brown and his creator, Charles M. Schulz, made it so. Mr. Schulz, who…

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Do Your Sidchas! (Inc.)

Start a Sidcha! Resolutions and short-term thinking create short-term results and long-term failure. Start a Sidcha to last a lifetime. I just read yet another thread of people pledging resolutions, suspiciously many being ones they failed last year. This year they really meant it, though. Right. I had to comment on what works and doesn't. Habits that work The day Nelson Mandela walked free for the first time in 27 years--a day of global importance and incredibly busy--he got up early and do you know what he did? His daily exercises. The calisthenics he'd done almost every day of those 27 years. A day Gandhi…

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I’m no longer “not flying”

A friend wrote Your perseverance in not flying around is beyond impressive. :) Are you still not consuming normal packaging? The longer you live outside a system, the less its goals and values control you. As with fitness, my skills living by my pollution-related values becomes easier all the time. I responded I'm no longer "not flying" or avoiding food packaging. I'm living by my values, which means creating adventure, cultural exchange, and what flying and eating brings without polluting the fuck out of the environment and lying to myself that I'm not, or that I'm powerless to do anything…

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The massive power of habitually doing what you don’t have to do: The Ziglar Show interview

An early memory is of my mother, when she moved into sales and more entrepreneurship, having Zig Ziglar books. This was the late 70s. I was in grade school and knew nothing of business or this guy, except his memorable name. I'm pleased to announce that the Ziglar show, featuring Zig Ziglar's son Tom and Kevin Miller posted an interview of me, "The massive power of habitually doing what you don’t have to do." Tom and Kevin make a positive and inquisitive team that led to a wonderful conversation. Kevin, in particular, recognized the value of sidchas, so we talked…

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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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A Millennial Making America Clean Again

My Independence Day post on Inc. today, "A Millennial Making America Clean Again," begins A Millennial Making America Clean Again He's doing a simple, small, short term act that makes a difference and is leading to more. Will you follow? I love Independence Day. I don't eat hot dogs, nor do I care that much for fireworks. I celebrate July 4th by reading and writing about influential Americans and American history. I'll put this one in context with some memories of living abroad. National pride and garbage One of my most vivid memories of China was of a Chinese man…

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Tathra Street of the Tall Poppy Podcast interviewed me, and it’s a great conversation

Tathra Street hosts the Tall Poppy podcast. Today she posted our wonderful conversation, which covered leadership, burpees, competition, and important things we all wish we talked about more. The top of her page says: Change – Leadership – Wisdom The top of mine used to say: Meaning – Value – Purpose You can tell we'd complement in interests. Anyway, she listened and sounded like she took what I shared to heart, when made me feel comfortable sharing more. I hope you also appreciate what she shared in her review after the conversation after listening to the conversation. At least from…

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Absurdly Useful Leadership Tactics That You Can Use Today: the second interview with Jim Harshaw

I don't know if the interviewers are getting better, if I'm developing in conversation, or if I'm just enjoying podcast conversations more, but it feels like the interviews are getting better all the time. Yesterday, Jim Harshaw (scroll down to learn more about him) of the Success Through Failure podcast posted our second conversation. Second conversations lead to greater comfort, depth, trust, and intimacy, so I recommend listening. We cover a couple exercises from the book, connecting leadership to everyday living, sports, and more. Jim was a division 1 athlete and coach, among many other achievements so he knows leadership…

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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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Reflections on writing

One of my online communities had a thread on writing a book this year. It led me to reflect on writing in a way that might help someone where I was before starting to write. I consider what I wrote relevant to practicing any craft or developing one's passion. Here's what I wrote: Last year was my big year for writing and finishing my book, Leadership Step by Step. It launches on Amazon a month from tomorrow. I got my first hardcovers from the printer a couple weeks ago. Last week I learned that Booklist is giving it a starred…

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Stealing Happiness Back from Comfort

I guest posted today with the Lead Change Group, whose vision and mission are: Our Vision The Lead Change Group is a global, virtual community dedicated to encouraging and showcasing great ideas and helping leaders in their own professional growth. Mission We will encourage, energize and equip one another to leading change – in ourselves, in others, and in our communities. We want to be a resourceful, supportive community sharing and multiplying powerful leadership content. They have monthly themes, and this month's was “five thieves of happiness” (control, conceit, consumption, coveting, and comfort), after one of its member's book's title.…

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Jim Harshaw podcast follow-up

Following up the podcast I loved with Jim Harshaw that I posted two days ago, Jim prepares an action sheet for each conversation. Click here for the pdf of it. I also copied the text here so you can see some of what the conversation was about. I'll include podcast below the text so you can listen to it from this page. I'm confident you'll like it. Wrestling with Success Podcast Action Plan Episode #58 Josh Spodek Today I bring you Josh Spodek. A Professor at NYU and columnist for Inc., he holds five Ivy-League degrees, including a PhD in…

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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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Listen to Outlier Magazine’s podcast of Joshua Spodek, published today!

Outlier Magazine's Ever Gonzalez interviewed me recently and posted the podcast today, "Ep 331: Joshua Spodek Interview – Finding Your Hudson River" We talk about Learning entrepreneurship Learning leadership Swimming across the Hudson River Failure and learning from it My last book, ReModel (and hinting at the next one) Increasing your self-awareness through mental models Sidchas Check out the podcast here. If you prefer using Stitcher, here's that link. If you prefer using iTunes, here's that link. Thank you Ever, Paige, and the Outlier Magazine team! Or listen here:

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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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My bold next stages

Emails to great, long-time friends you don't see that often give you the chance to reflect on longer stages than normal and to put together thoughts more complex than you think daily. I wrote the following to one such friend, capturing the change my change in focus and direction following my increased confidence in my courses as I've seen hundreds of people succeed in them. Some of it feels over the top, but I believe having bold goals helps you achieve them. The email: At long last, I'm switching from developing my material to promoting and selling it. I held…

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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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Video: Three Leadership Secrets You’ll Never Learn Reading A Book

I just finished my first webinar, "Three Leadership Secrets You'll Never Learn Reading A Book". Here is the recording of it for those interested but who couldn't make it. If you like what I write about and want more, contact me about what you want and I can tailor webinars to what people are looking for. I prefer to stick with topics I cover here but I'm flexible too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21a9_ih2Z4c From my first announcement the other day: Three Leadership Secrets You’ll Never Learn Reading A Book

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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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Two thousand posts!

You are reading my two-thousandth blog post. Here's the list of all of them. I've posted daily since January 2011, plus twice daily around my North Korea trips since that content seemed different. Why? I write for two main reasons, one related to content, the other to process. The content reason is that writing helps me develop thoughts and ideas. When I started I thought I'd run out of ideas. Soon after, I found myself coming up with new ideas faster than I could write them. Many readers tell me they find things here they don't find anywhere else. I…

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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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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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