My mom grew up on a farm in South Dakota — the kind where she and her siblings had to walk through snow up to here miles to a one-room schoolhouse. I can’t imagine growing up on a farm like that. Her little sister, my Aunt Ellen, visited recently. I don’t remember the details of Ellen’s learning music growing up, but here’s my understanding. She got a hold of a[…] Keep reading →

When someone gets animated others often describe them as emotional: “John is acting so emotional” “Jane got so emotional when Ryan said …” and things like that. I’d like to suggest an alternative perspective I think you’ll find more precise and useful: Everybody feels emotions all the time. What’s the difference? When someone sits quietly reading, they aren’t acting or feeling unemotional. I suggest the are feeling and acting on[…] Keep reading →

Yesterday I mentioned I would debut a new page design for joshuaspodek.com. Here it is! You’re only seeing part of it now since, deciding we’d rather release something and force ourselves to fix bugs fast than wait and try to get it perfect, we’re releasing it in stages. So far you’re seeing just the basics Blog and About pages. If we did it right, you can access the whole blog[…] Keep reading →

Life has only one finishing line, which is when you die (I hope I didn’t break that news to you). Everything else is a part of life — no more an end to one thing before than a beginning to something else. That view seems inarguable. Whatever happens to you, no matter how much you like it or not, if you haven’t died you’ll continue past it. So how can[…] Keep reading →

Some things seems obvious after the fact. A trick to success in business and life is making productive and effective things happen. Today’s post is not about discovering bartering, which happens all the time. It’s about social and business skills — a major topic of this blog — and using them to create success. A one-time arrangement is nice. The ability to see opportunities and make them happen makes for[…] Keep reading →

I’ve come to enjoy giving presentations, but no way did I start this way. I was mortified to speak in public only a few years ago, well into my thirties. How did I grow and develop to love public speaking? The same way as anyone. Experience. In my life experience means failing and getting back up again. It means overcoming embarrassment and anxiety, risking being laughed at, acting like I[…] Keep reading →

Two days ago a guy named Satya Narayan Goenka died. Who was Goenka and why should I care? First, I’ll mention how I found out about him. I had no experience with meditation when a longtime friend I hadn’t seen in a while suggested I try it. The idea made no sense to me because meditation made no sense to me. I didn’t know or care about it to that[…] Keep reading →