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2016
December
31: Cheetah extinction, the Earth’s carrying capacity, and how many kids you want
30: Listen to John Ramstead of Eternal Leadership’s podcast of me
29: Redefining possibility: This 85-year-old marathoner runs faster than you
28: This Start-Up Is Revolutionizing Museums: Museum Hack will change how you visit them forever.
27: Things it’s a mistake to separate
26: The success of leaders grading themselves
25: A leadership lesson Hillary Clinton supporters could learn from Nelson Mandela
24: Arianna Huffington, Thrive Global, and me
23: The Productivity Trap: A Holiday Lesson
22: Leaders Listen: Crossing the Political Divide
21: 2,192 Days of Burpees
20: Secret Entourage Academy interviews me on entrepreneurship and leadership
19: Questions before you lead or teach
18: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: What Should You Do When Customers Make Racist Remarks?
17: Quora Saturday: Enduring habits, breaking habits, and what books to read
16: Op/Ed Friday: Institutional power in academia and changing times
15: The leader as accompanist
14: Universal motivations and empathy
13: Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, and Trent Reznor’s Important but Flawed Statement
12: The Better Human Podcast: hear me speak on sidchas
11: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Do You Get Involved When a Parent Treats a Child Badly?
10: Quora Saturday: best gifts, explaining leadership, disliking leaders, productive and optimistic daily habits
9: Want Results? 29 Ways to Support Your Teams
8: It pays to blow your mind sometimes
7: I was wrong again
6: The bounty of more value from less crap
5: Mastery in writing, from Robert Caro
4: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should I Call My Friend Out for Her ‘Service Dog’ Scam?
3: Quora Saturday: Admirable leaders, Nelson Mandela, revolutionary leaders, and lessons learned the hard way
2: If You Voted for Trump, Let’s Meet.
1: The Truth Behind Trump’s ‘Hoax’
November
30: If You Don’t Live in the Past, You Never Get Old
29: Another physicist who transformed a field: W. Edwards Deming
28: Imagine a world with more empathy: Why I write and teach
27: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should Parents Be Expected to Donate to a Public School?
26: Quora Saturday: African leaders, study habits, judging girlfriends, good writers, and anime addiction
25: A mistake that made it into my book
24: Writing a book is work!
23: Another difference between management and leadership
22: Why I care about the environment, and it’s not because of the environment
21: Two big problems with how we work on global warming, and solutions
20: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Am I Obliged to Support My Elderly Mother?
19: Quora Saturday: Bravery, leadership lessons, habits of successful people, simple life, and embarrassing misconceptions
18: Want less tension? Create some tension.
17: If you voted for Hillary Clinton, face it, you lost.
16: This is equality?
15: How Donald Trump Can Make Himself One of the Greatest Presidents in History
14: New email provider means you might be getting my newsletter for the first time
13: “Winning the popular vote” means nothing
12: Fitness isn’t easy. It’s awesome.
11: This COO Shares His No. 1 Best Way to Advance
11: A student review: “I love this course… It is the wave of the future”
10: Fat, Manhattan real estate, profit, and where obesity comes from
9: Why She Lost
8: Science: Your Vote Matters
7: I’d rather be hungry for a few hours than eat crap. Is that unamerican?
6: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Is It O.K. to Double-Cross a Swindler?
5: Quora Saturday: Breaking habits, simplifying life, leading two countries at once, and cheating in relationships
4: Op/ed Friday: Global warming is like an unintended pregnancy
3: 365 days, flying, and the definition of impossibility
2: Watch and read Most Likely to Succeed
1: Free pumpkins!
October
31: My greatest anxiety and how it calmed me
30: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: My Ex Is Advertising for Sugar Daddies. Can I Tell Her Mother?
29: The core of my leadership technique
28: Less food packaging = more food variety
27: Economists contradiction between economic growth and job loss
26: 3 Obstacles Blocking Your Passion and How To Overcome Them
25: More great opening lines to books
24: Leadership Step by Step: first sightings of my book!
23: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should You Tell a Man’s Fiancée That He Faked His Degrees?
22: Quora Saturday: Space stations, the beginning of time, alexithymia, burpees in elevators, speed, and stamina
21: Spodek Academy on Facebook!
20: Announcing Spodek Academy!
19: I Wrote 70 Gratitude Emails. Here Are My Awesome Results
18: How to do the things you dream of
17: Sticklers are annoying!
16: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Can a Woman Pretend to Be a Lesbian to Get a Couples’ Discount?
15: Quora Saturday: Writing habits, dictators, leaders, managers, and generating ideas
14: You drink too much water, probably
13: Walking is faster
12: Elon Musk and Alan Mulally: Help Me Avoid Flying for a Year!
11: Find out if you care about about yourself more or others with this simple question
10: Do it first, then adjust based on experience
9: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Is It O.K. to Find Sexual Satisfaction Outside Your Marriage?
8: Quora Saturday: Exploring philosophy, weird side effects, emotion, mute leaders, and more emotions
7: The five times I got mugged growing up
6: How to free your mind, step 1: Systematize what you can
5: How This Bodybuilder With Cerebral Palsy Can Help You Reach Your Potential
4: Marshall Goldsmith: How to Become More Than Just No. 1
3: How to pivot like a pro
2: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Do I Have to Tell My Family I’m No Longer Religious?
1: Quora Saturday: Not great leaders, cutting out sugar, too much TV, and born leaders
September
30: Op/ed Fridays: 11 Reasons Why School Business Plan Competitions Should Die
29: A long boring video I’m proud of
28: Does eating meat make you ignorant?
27: A burpee conversation with a reader
26: See me on an entrepreneurial leadership panel, October 13 in Manhattan
25: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Vacations and Clickbait Headlines
24: Quora Saturday: How to be like Steve Jobs, leading versus following, unrequited love, burpees, and weight loss
23: Op/Ed Fridays: Why do the candidates want to be President?
22: What are vulnerability and intimacy?
21: A simple, effective student-made video showing the problems with mainstream education
20: Seek reward and joy, not deprivation
19: My aging body
18: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should I Tell My Friend I Had a Fling With Her Ex?
17: Quora Saturday: Best habits, successful projects, NYU, Columbia, awesome CEOs, and IBM versus Google
16: Creating more life: more tomatoes! … and the sweetness of vegetables
15: How leaders get followers
14: How Not to Save New York City, or Your Home
13: My favorite time of the day
12: How world leaders learn
11: Origins: of me and teaching leadership
10: Quora Saturday: Starting projects, morning habits, heartbreak, German writers, and leaders
9: Take my Leadership Course this fall at NYU, Wednesdays starting September 21
8: Teaching critical thinking: a high school example
7: Everybody cares about the environment until they want to see the Eiffel Tower
6: These First-Graders Will Teach You to Make Your Team More Productive
5: New York Times: “Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun”–Not a word on prevention
4: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should a Teacher at a Sketchy College Help Recruit Students?
3: Looking for a mastermind group?
2: Influence and persuasion: What academia since Aristotle missed
1: How off-the-mark gifts destroy relationships, what to do about it, and how it helps you as a leader
August
31: Start conversations and relationships with “passion”: vindicated by Fast Company
30: 80,000 burpees!
29: A Simple Way To Simplify Your Life
28: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: My Wife Wants to Adopt. When Do I Tell Her I Won’t?
27: Quora Saturday: What men love, thought leaders, no-strings-attached sex, entrepreneurship, and falling in love
26: Employers Reject Résumés. Why You Should Stop Sending Them.
25: Video: Chris’s testimonial about my Entrepreneurship course
24: Video: Joe’s testimonial about my Entrepreneurship course
23: Post-Games Lesson: You Have Two Options In Life
22: Video: Jonathan’s testimonial about my Entrepreneurship course
21: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: When a Friend Cheats Often on Her Husband, Should You Keep Quiet?
20: Quora Saturday: cheating, ‘Murica, more cheating, wisdom beyond books, and leadership
19: Creating life … my first tomato!
18: Want to connect with people that matter? Take Michael Roderick’s “The Connector’s Path”
17: If you care about education, watch Whitney Tilson’s free movie
16: Over the past few days, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined… I have met people I would have never met, made new friends, and learned valuable life lessons.
15: Why This Ivy-League Physics PhD Teaches Leadership, Not Science
14: The danger of letting your starting point become your goals
13: Quora Saturday: effective leadership, spontaneity, introversion, high performance, Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia
12: Surprises are for birthdays and competitors. Nothing else.
11: Why “Entrepreneurial Problem Solving” instead of “Entrepreneurship”
10: Company review: The Sweeten ruined my floor, went over budget and over schedule
9: More problems with business plan competitions
8: Was where you are once stunningly beautiful?
7: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Can I Put Down My Aging Pooch?
6: Quora Saturday: effective leadership, spontaneity, introversion, high performance leadership, rejection from Harvard/Stanford/Columbia, and cheating
5: Why leadership, sales, influence, and motivation is about them, not you
4: Leadership you can’t teach
3: Jim Harshaw podcast follow-up
2: Feedforward at Nevins Consulting
1: Listen to Jim Harshaw’s Wrestling With Success podcast interview with me
July
31: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Can I Stay Friends With an Abusive Husband?
30: Quora Saturday: big-time failure, anger, jealousy, insecurity, and leadership
29: A Leadership Lesson From Nelson Mandela (Happy Birthday)
28: There Are 2 Kinds of Inspiration. If You Want to Inspire, Better Know Both.
27: Listen to Laura Coe’s Art of Authenticity podcast interview of me
26: This touching birthday note shows why I teach
25: Habits Are Contagious. How to Make The Science Work for You.
24: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Can I Tell a Dying Friend’s Secret to His Children?
23: Quora Saturdays: Men leading, books, how to get to know people, and what jobs helps you become an entrepreneur
22: 20-minute vegetable stew
21: How to get a six-pack eating tons of delicious, cheap, convenient food: Cut out garbage and you get quality
20: 45 6-pack
19: Birthday role models
18: How society will develop
17: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should I Have Talked to My Father About His Cross-Dressing?
16: Quora Saturdays: Philosophy, imagination, leadership reading, time management, and powerful women
15: Feedspot rated my blog one of the best
14: The most helpful burpee video I’ve seen
13: Thoughts on a young friend’s death
12: How to eat a bag of chips every couple days and lose weight
11: 16 tips to start habits you want and stop ones you don’t
10: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should I Hire a P.I. to Investigate a Relative’s Boyfriend?
9: Quora Saturdays: Advice on sales and leadership
8: What I do
7: Charles Barkley’s painful lesson in being himself
6: I don’t think of diet, exercise, and behavior as preventing cancer, heart disease, and diabetes
5: “I don’t know which I like more: a juicy, ripe peach in season, or the rest of the universe”
4: Walden: Thoreau moved in to his cabin 171 years ago today
3: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: You’re Going to Sell Your Home. Should You Mention the Snakes?
2: Do you lead for yourself or for them?
1: The Declaration of Independence: The Best Entrepreneurial Document Ever?
June
30: Get to Know This Emotional Cycle: It Will Improve Your Life
29: Breakthrough Science on Leadership and Why You Shouldn’t Read This Article
28: Help critique my new site
27: Kids doing burpees!
26: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Can You Keep a Woman From Courting Your Elderly Dad?
25: Social battles won and lost
24: Op/Ed Fridays: New York Times: Please stopping walking us into an Orwellian dystopia
23: My number one criterion for quality of a complex solution or something creative you’re developing
22: I know not to but I still give unsolicited advice
21: Reading isn’t doing. You learn, grow, and improve by doing.
20: Despite What Harvard Says, You Don’t Need a Crucible
19: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should a Friend Be Told the Real Reason He Didn’t Get the Job?
18: Personal rowing record: 5,016 meters in 20 minutes
17: Farm fresh vegetables
16: Have you noticed this distinction in flavors?
15: Exercise thoughts
14: The myth you believe about yourself that causes you to fail
13: The Beijing Sky, Ancient Rome, Mel Brooks, and personal responsibility
12: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Is It O.K. to Take a Gender-Non-Conforming Child to North Carolina?
11: These two surprisingly touching Vince Lombardi quotes reveal the source of his winning leadership
10: At Princeton’s ELab: How to get job offers by acting entrepreneurially
9: The Unmistakable Creative podcast interviews me
8: At Princeton’s ELab: Contact valuable people!
7: Why I love springtime more than ever
6: Your choice of sidcha isn’t that important. Just do one.
5: The subtle value of sidchas
4: RIP Ali
3: The Sidcha App
2: These 2 Magic Phrases Make Persistence Pay Off
1: The tragic bureaucracy of academics teaching entrepreneurship
May
31: At Princeton’s ELab: How to turn cold connections into warm ones and building community
30: At Princeton’s ELab: How to inspire yourself
29: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: How Do I Explain to My Evangelical Relatives Why I Avoid Family Functions?
28: At Princeton’s ELab: How to become a “genius” entrepreneur that people want to help
27: At Princeton’s Elab to early stage entrepreneurs: financials and high school chemistry class
26: 12 Adrenaline-Rush Activities You Can Do Today That Beat Jumping Out Of A Plane
25: Myers-Briggs is baseless and stagnates your life. Here’s how to make money improving people’s lives while undermining it.
24: 4,994 meters in 20 minutes
23: A student interviewed me!
22: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Must I Tell My Long-Distance Boyfriend I Met Someone Else?
21: Get to know this emotional pattern: it will improve your life
20: Listen to Outlier Magazine’s podcast of Joshua Spodek, published today!
19: Why I like helping people discover their inhibited passions
18: One Way Science and Business Don’t Match
17: The problem with “Commencement”
16: What You Can Learn from the Best Leader in America’s Bold Job Interview Strategy
15: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Is It O.K. to Get a Dog From a Breeder, Not a Shelter?
14: My Princeton Tech Meetup talk
13: I still took a class after graduation
12: I once took two classes at the same time
11: Staples aren’t
10: Video: What an entrepreneurship course can deliver, part 3
9: Have a Great Plan? Without Answering These 2 Questions You Don’t.
8: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Must Suspicions About Personal Health Be Shared With an Insurer?
7: How not to be afraid to be yourself, Italian style
6: Op/Ed Fridays: How travel distorts your values
5: In honor of the author of one of the great books of science of the twenty-first century
4: Explore your passions to grow, develop, and to make your work art: My talk at Creative Tech Week
3: Video: What a leadership course can deliver, part 4
2: See me in Princeton, May 12: “How To Think and Act Entrepreneurially (even if you never have before)”
1: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should a Friend Have Been Told That His Date Was H.I.V. Positive?
April
30: Wasting less, could still waste yet less
29: Six Lessons I Learned at Lunch With the Best Leader in America
28: Video: What a leadership course can deliver, part 3
27: Like creativity? Like technology? In NYC? … Come to Creative Tech Week this weekend!
26: America’s Best Leader Doesn’t Waste Time in Airports. Why Are You?
25: Video: What an entrepreneurship course can deliver, part 2
24: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Can a Young Woman Vote at Her Swing-State College?
23: Video: What my entrepreneurship course, leadership course, and sidchas can deliver
23: Prince’s Quirky Anti-Celebrity Habit Showed His Class Beyond Mere Fame
22: Op/Ed Friday: Science and technology does not equal innovation
21: Video: What a leadership course can deliver, part 2
20: Hope Is For Losers. Here’s What Winners Have Instead.
19: Video: What an entrepreneurship course can deliver, part 1
18: Video: What a leadership course can deliver, part 1
17: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Must a Mental Illness Be Revealed on a First Date?
16: You’re lying if you say you don’t have time to exercise
15: Your impulses on healthy versus unhealthy activities
14: “How to Break Rules and Succeed Like Kobe Bryant”
13: “Eating healthy is expensive and takes too much time” is wrong
12: If you think business is about money, people will control you with it. If you offer value, they’ll want to hire you.
11: Cabbage
10: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should a Nephew Be Told Who His Real Father Is?
9: Hustling
8: How to teach, or how I teach
7: Use fewer words
6: Want to Succeed as an Entrepreneur? Learn This One Lesson From ‘The Martian’
5: People don’t want to argue, they want to feel understood
4: “Stuff,” challenging your values, and freedom
3: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: What Do You Owe the Friends You Unwittingly Scammed?
2: Six-pack abs for your mind and life
1: “Resilience: What The New York Times, New Yorker and Most of Academia Got Wrong” (My Inc. story)
March
31: Everybody cares about the environment until they want to fly somewhere
30: My courses will lead students to leave traditional, lecture-based universities — to greater success and reward
29: I’ve been catching up my whole life
28: A rising tide doesn’t lift all boats
27: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Must a Woman Confront a Bigoted In-Law?
26: How to use space travel to make mangoes taste better
25: Why Entrepreneurs Are Today’s Artists (My Inc. article today)
24: Overview of my experiential course in entrepreneurial thinking and behavior
23: The problem with business and personal development books, inadvertently described in the New Yorker
22: Look who’s doing a sidcha: Mark Zuckerberg, running a mile a day this year
21: Product review: Webinarninja embarrassed me in front of customers. One of the worst products I’ve used.
20: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should Parents Reveal That a Father at Their Child’s School Is a Sex Offender?
19: Don’t “Become an entrepreneur.” Solve people’s problems so well they pay you for it.
18: My Inc. post: Trump: Why Voters Love Him and What You Can Learn From Him (Even If You Hate Him)
17: Want to run leaner? Waste less. Literally: produce less waste.
16: Know the problem to solve it
15: I don’t swim much, but when I do, it’s a mile in open water
14: If you’re thinking, you’re not doing
13: Why people fear failure. It’s not what you think.
12: (Video) The beauty of astrophysics: How we are made of stars
11: Learn Feedforward with me in London, Monday March 14!
10: Video: I recorded my burpee sidchas
9: My Inc. piece today: How Beatles Producer George Martin Succeeded Where Every Label Failed
8: Video: How to Make Meaningful Connections
7: Video: The Worst Problem in the World
6: Committing makes things happen that waiting prevents
5: If you can’t say the word ‘passion,’ how do you expect to create it in your life?
4: Inc.com Today: This Insidious (and Subtle) Innovation Myth is Killing Your Creativity
3: Webinar: How to Make Meaningful Connections, Sunday 1pm EST
2: (Video) How to achieve long-term goals: The Samurai Walk
1: Question to readers: what is your number one question about leadership?
February
29: My Inc. post today: Like TED Talks? This 99-Second Video Covers Them All
28: Video: the first and last word on improving yourself
27: How can you find passion if you don’t try, even if you don’t know where to try?
26: Inc.com Today: How to Win an NBA Championship as a 66-Year-Old Grandmother of Five
25: Almost nothing inspires more than helping others so much that they pay you for it
24: My bold next stages
23: Why Disaster Was the Best Thing to Happen to Me as an Entrepreneur
22: Webinar: Self-Imposed Daily Challenging Activities, Saturday 1pm EST
21: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should I Speak Up for a Pet Pig?
20: 70,000 burpees!
19: Op/Ed Fridays: How higher education risks going the way of the dodo
18: Video: Integrity means considering the results of your actions on other people
17: Why 44 Percent of Top U.S. Executives Don’t Want To Hire You (My Inc.com piece today)
16: Discipline doesn’t enable you to do things. Doing things consistently makes you disciplined.
15: (Video) David Allen: “I am a freedom junkie”
14: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Is It Selfish for a Gay Couple to Have Kids via Surrogacy?
13: The obesity gut-punch
12: How to Decide Without Regret in business and life
11: Another problem with traditional education: Employers are disappointed by traditionally educated students
10: How to stay humble
9: Video: Avoid Taking a Job You Hate by Doing This in Your Interview
8: Video: Do what others fear, easy version
7: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should a Man Have Told His Mother-in-Law That She Was Dying?
6: Video: Three Leadership Secrets You’ll Never Learn Reading A Book
5: Inc.com Today: 2 Questions To Ask in Every Interview So They’ll Want You Back (Video)
4: Convincing people doesn’t influence them how you intend
3: Three Leadership Secrets You’ll Never Learn Reading A Book
2: Introducing the most effective leadership course available anywhere
1: Pressure cookers rock!
January
31: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Can I Call My Nonbiological Twins Black Because My Husband Is?
30: Have I wrung this opportunity dry — absolutely, completely dry?
29: Inc.com Today: How to Build the Best Relationships With Both Leaders and Superiors
28: Five years of daily posts! Not one missed.
27: Inc.com Today: Why You Should Never Let Anyone Call You ‘Smart’ in Business
26: Plastic grass for kids? What are we doing?
25: How Inc. Magazine improved overnight
24: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should I Help My Sister End Her Life?
23: Do you lie to yourself about your priorities?
22: Why not to ask if something is worth doing
21: Two types of students?
20: Forty-eight point nine
19: Why I love jet lag
18: Speaking authentically, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, and Vietnam
17: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Should I Tell Mom I Think Dad Was Gay?
16: I haven’t settled into a routine. I created a platform to get things done.
15: You have too much garbage
14: Take my entrepreneurship and sales classes at NYU this spring!
13: “One of the greatest classes I have ever taken. It was engaging, thought provoking, challenging, and fun.”
12: What everyone misses when looking at “the science behind science-related movies”
11: Leading Colonels, Majors, and other Officers In Charge
10: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Do We Have to Send Our Kid to a Bad Public School?
9: Sidchas when you’re tired and exhausted? Especially!
8: Thoughts returning home
7: Stop before you ruin things, part 2: a reader’s additions
6: Thoughts about thoughts
5: I know what the carrying capacity of the Earth is, and you don’t want to know it
4: Why Sriracha Hot Sauce tastes good
3: Non-judgmental Ethics Sunday: Is It O.K. to Go to Work While Sick and Sneezing?
2: Do you have a One Ring? If so, what is it?
1: Stop before you ruin it: Math that improves your life
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