Category Archives: Exercises

A New Reason I Pick Up Trash Every Day

on July 7, 2021 in Exercises, Habits, Leadership, Nature, SIDCHAs

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: Leading Science Living 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[…] Keep reading →

Exercise: Imagine a Day Without Doof

on May 17, 2021 in Exercises, Fitness

Here’s an exercise, just to imagine something: Imagine 24 hours without ingesting any doof—that is, without putting anything in your mouth whose primary pleasure comes from added salt, added sugar, added fat, or convenience. Nothing packaged. You know you can do it. That is, you know you possess the ability to do it. You know humans lived that way for almost all of human history. I’m not saying doof is[…] Keep reading →

Exercise: Imagine a Day Without Using Electric Power

on May 13, 2021 in Exercises, Nature

Here’s an exercise, just to imagine something: Imagine 24 hours without using any electrical power. You know you can do it. That is, you know you possess the ability to do it. You know humans lived that way for almost all of human history. I’m not saying electrical power is good, bad, right, or wrong. I’m not asking where it came from or how green or sustainable it is. I’m[…] Keep reading →

458: The Spodek Method: How to Lead Someone to Act Joyfully Sustainably

on May 12, 2021 in Exercises, Leadership, Nature, Perception

I’ve taught a half-dozen people the technique I use in this podcast—the hosts of the other branches of the This Sustainable Life podcast. They started calling it The Spodek Method, so now I do too. It’s enabled me to reach amazing people, many of global renown, who enjoy the experience. It doesn’t alone solve all the world’s problems, but it works. The Spodek Method leads a person to share and[…] Keep reading →

Envisioning a more open world: an exercise

on May 10, 2021 in Exercises, Nature

Here’s an exercise I’ve enjoyed playing around with. I’ve written in other posts that the sustainable population of the Earth is 3.7 billion. I’ve read other reports that it’s more like 2 billion. The number depends on the standard of living we choose, how much we wreck the Earth on the way to sustainability (it could go to zero), and other factors. I don’t know why people want a bigger[…] Keep reading →

An empty sidcha I’m considering

on March 26, 2021 in Exercises, SIDCHAs

Once I was getting ready to leave my apartment and trying to remember what to bring. My friend said “phone-wallet-keys” like a single word and since then I’ve thought of them as the basic what to carry. I go for a walk every day, at least to pick up my daily pieces of litter, which also brings me to the park. I also sing with all my electronics turned off[…] Keep reading →

See my webinars on Initiative to Wharton and U. of Chicago Business School alumni.

on July 14, 2020 in Education, Entrepreneurship, Exercises, Leadership

I recently spoke online to alumni groups from the Wharton and University of Chicago business schools on developing initiative, specifically from my book, Initiative. Here are reviews from NYU students who did the exercises I describe in them. I asked if I could share the videos from the webinars. Here they are. As I say in them, I designed them to give you enough to work with on your own.[…] Keep reading →

Sign up for my weekly newsletter