Exercises

Improve your networking at ConnectorCon, next Saturday, Dec. 12 in Manhattan

Events / Exercises / Relationships

Improve your networking at ConnectorCon, next Saturday, Dec. 12 in Manhattan

I'm excited participate in ConnectorCon next Saturday, December 12 which you can read more about here.Â The conference is focused on bringing connectors and thoughtful givers together for a day focused on developing relationships, building partnerships, and learning about everything from psychology to new technology around connecting. I speak from personal experience that nearly every connection the founder has made for me has worked for me. Some people like connecting others. Some love it, and the ConnectorCon people are that. They take into account you, your interests, other people, and their interests, make connections that help both, and avoid connections that don't. They're obsessed, committed, and most importantly, effective. Since I'm leading a session and have a history with them, they're giving my invitations special discounts…

December 3, 2015

Exercises / Freedom / Habits / Leadership / Nonjudgment / Relationships

Why people like Donald Trump

One of the exercises my leadership students like most is the Authentic Voice exercise. I've written about it at least four times here, including examples from great masters of speaking in their authentic voice, like Muhammad Ali and Robin Williams. Communications skills exercises, part 10: Your Authentic Voice Your authentic voice The great masters of speaking with authentic voices Communications skills exercises, part 10b: another example of voicing your self-talk Most students in my full course are scared of the exercise before doing it but emerge transformed after a week of practicing it. They find it easier and more natural than they expect once they get it and love it. They find themselves able to say things they never could before, with an authenticity they…

November 28, 2015

Still running

Exercises / Fitness

Still running

I'm not going to claim my time was fast, but I'm happy enough with coming in second in my age / sex group in a small five-kilometer run NYU hosted yesterday and tenth overall that I can't help posting about it. I'm not bragging. The race didn't have meaningful competition: I finished several minutes behind the winner and there were only 127 runners, many of whom walked most of it, but I haven't run since injuring my leg playing ultimate in June or July, so I was mildly injured and my training was burpees. I'm just saying I enjoyed running in the brisk weather faster than I would have without the event. I would have finished faster but my shoelace came untied and I had…

November 23, 2015

Education / Events / Exercises / Leadership / Nonjudgment

Learn and practice Marshall Goldsmith’s Feedforward, December 1 in Manhattan

Want to learn and practice one of the most effective leadership techniques? Then join me for a workshop, Tuesday, December 1st at 6:30pm in midtown, and get a copy of the #1 bestselling leadership book included! This is an encore workshop from attendee enthusiasm at the last one. From the announcement from the Columbia Business School Alumni Club (everyone is welcome): The Workshop Committee of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club invites you to a workshop on Marshall Goldsmith's FEEDFORWARD hosted by Joshua Spodek, PhD MBA '06 including a copy of his #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller TRIGGERS with admission Click here to buy tickets. The Economist named Marshall "World's #1 Leadership Speaker" and Harvard Business Review named him "World's #1…

November 16, 2015

Art / Education / Exercises / Leadership

Why leadership and entrepreneurship training can learn from acting training

Longtime readers know a big inspiration for how I teach leadership and entrepreneurship is how we teach acting, based on the self-awareness, emotional expression, mutual support, and ability to perform I see in great actors. Leaders and entrepreneurs can use many of the same skills, and much of my teaching practice involves using what works in teaching acting for teaching leadership and entrepreneurship, with appropriate changes. To learn the training in more depth, I trained in one style of acting, called Meisner Technique after its originator, Sandy Meisner, and was rereading a book by the guy who founded the school where I trained, who studied and worked with Sandy for decades, Bill Esper. The following passage illuminates a lot about learning leadership and entrepreneurship, though…

November 10, 2015

Events / Exercises / Habits / Relationships

See me at Connectorcon, December 12 in Manhattan

The people who run Connectorcon love connecting people and they're good at it. Every person they've connected me to has been valuable to me. I'm not just talking: I drove back all night after my cousin's wedding near Pittsburgh to attend their all-day event this past summer. December 12, from 10am to 6pm they're hosting a conference to help people connect and learn to connect better. You apply through a questionnaire to connect everyone effectively. I'll give my Feedforward workshop that got rave reviews this past summer, based on Marshall Goldsmith's time-tested technique. I'll include applications beyond anything in his literature. If you like meeting people or want to improve at it, I recommend attending the whole day. Apply here. About ConnectorCon GUIDING STATEMENT ConnectorCon…

November 9, 2015

Confidence and pride in your body feels better than chocolate tastes

Awareness / Exercises / Fitness / Leadership / Perception

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 my abdomen so people wouldn't see it, including myself. Even when running marathons and going to Nationals playing ultimate, I never understood diet. I had…

October 28, 2015

Exercises / Freedom / Stories / Tips

I bought two books

I hope long time readers are asking, "What?!" Five years ago, in my fifth post on this blog, I wrote "Less, please," which founded one of my most fundamental practices, one I recommend to everyone. That post described reducing my wall of books to about ten, learning about my values and discovering freedom where I used to feel weighed down. I've since gotten rid of more books and more other stuff, finding yet more freedom and learning more about my values. I still read a lot of books, maybe two a month. I just don't value possessing the material product. I have a public library across the street from me I can have books delivered to. I have two books (on social entrepreneurship) on my…

October 20, 2015

Yoga, attention, nuance, and subtlety

Awareness / Exercises / Fitness / Habits / Perception / SIDCHAs

Yoga, attention, nuance, and subtlety

A reader wrote to ask about my August 2012 post, "Three things I learned from yoga" "With yoga you can use your body alone to create many emotions and learn how to handle them." Have you written more about this? I can only see me creating fear, determination, calmness, anger and patience. These don't count to many, so I wonder what other emotions could one create? I haven't done yoga in years, mainly since I found burpees and other sidchas easier, more convenient, and giving results I valued more, but I learned a lot from it and am glad I did it. And I would still recommend my teacher for anyone interested in yoga. Her background in dance made it more fun and artful. Looking…

October 15, 2015

Seeing my inspiration, Inside The Actors Studio, live

Art / Education / Entrepreneurship / Exercises / Leadership

Seeing my inspiration, Inside The Actors Studio, live

If you've talked to me in the past few years, you've heard how watching Inside The Actors Studio inspired me to learn how actors came to excel so much at skills leaders in other areas of life work hard to achieve but rarely do. On top of that, many great actors on the show dropped out, were kicked out, or otherwise didn't finish much school. Meanwhile, graduates of Ivy League business schools who studied leadership at the pinnacle of our educational system didn't measure up. The schools didn't even teach whatever the actors learned. My curiosity led me to discover about acting training, including its roots as far back as Constantin Stanislavsky, through the American Laboratory Theater, the Group Theater, the Actors Studio, and more.…

October 12, 2015

Bad boys, success, and discipline

Exercises / Freedom / Habits / Perception

Bad boys, success, and discipline

America loves and hates bad boys. The media vilify and attack small transgressions. Take Howard Dean. He wasn't even a bad boy and the media destroyed him after he expressed too much joy and he went from first place to no chance. Yet others who break more stringent rules become icons---in fact, some of our most highly regarded and lauded. Why the difference? Why did Howard Dean go down while others rose to fame for less forgivable behavior? Successful bad boys Let's look at some of America's highly regarded bad boy icons and see why some men who seem to break our society's most stringent rules, instead of suffering in the public eye, rise. I've written about Charles Barkley, who threw a man through a…

September 23, 2015

Education / Events / Exercises / Leadership / Nonjudgment

Learn and practice one of the most effective leadership techniques in person — September 30 in Manhattan

Want to learn and practice one of the most effective leadership techniques? Then join me for a workshop, Wednesday, September 30th at 6:30pm in midtown, and get a copy of the #1 bestselling leadership book included! From the announcement from the Columbia Business School Alumni Club (everyone is welcome): The Workshop Committee of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club invites you to a workshop on Marshall Goldsmith's FEEDFORWARD hosted by Joshua Spodek, PhD MBA '06 including a copy of his #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller TRIGGERS with admission Click here to purchase tickets. The Economist named Marshall "World's #1 Leadership Speaker" and Harvard Business Review named him "World's #1 Leadership Thinker," among many other accolades. Feedforward is a major reason. It…

September 16, 2015

I touched my toes for the first time in over twenty years!

Exercises / Fitness / SIDCHAs / Stories

I touched my toes for the first time in over twenty years!

In college I could put my legs in front of me, keep my knees straight, bend forward and touch my toes with my fingers. It was easy and I thought nothing of it. I don't remember the last time I could do it after college until last night. Why did I do it? It took me two or three months of twice-daily stretching to get there. I'd been embarrassed for decades at how un-limber I was. A few months ago I started trying to do an L-sit, which means doing this: I read L-sits exercised your abs well and I've developed enough definition in my abs that I wanted to work them more. I couldn't do the exercise if my hamstrings were too tight. I'm…

September 10, 2015

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / Perception

I don’t earn fitness, I enjoy it. It’s not about deprivation, it’s about doing what you want.

People see fitness as something you have to work hard for, doing painful things or spending long hours at the gym, avoiding eating things they like and having to eat things they don't. It's been the opposite for me. From my perspective, anyone with those beliefs doesn't know what they're talking about. They are confusing satisfying craving with enjoyment, sweating with misery, pleasure with good, and avoiding with depriving. People describe my diet as healthy. I've never avoided eating something I liked, nor eaten something I didn't like. When I first learn something is unhealthy, I still eat it, but I keep thinking about how someone is trying to profit from hurting me---like from hydrogenated oil, refined sugar, corn syrup, and things like that---and I…

September 7, 2015

Exercises / Leadership / Relationships / Stories

Leadership lessons from Frances Hesselbein, part 5/5

"What do I say to a 99-year-old woman?" "What do I say to a famous person?" "What do I say to someone who could help my career without seeming selfish?" All I could think to ask was what it's like to be 99, which seemed irrelevant and the same question people have asked her for a decade. I don't like when people find out I don't eat meat and ask me where I get my protein. Again? How unimaginative and boring. Do they not realize how many people ask the same question? I'm sure people ask you similar annoying questions. I don't want her thinking that of me. How do you prepare to talk to someone important that you hardly know? Who hasn't frozen at…

August 25, 2015

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / SIDCHAs

A reader’s SIDCHAs

A reader and friend wrote about his SIDCHAs: Hey Josh, How's it going? I was reading your blog and found your SIDCHA example and explanation post. Really enjoyed the distillation of it all, especially as my insecurities have many times led me to search for info rather than action. One thing I have been (attempting to) do is a Daily Review. It's just a checklist of all the SIDCHAs I do: [X] Reflect on Purpose [X] Make the bed [X] Stretch [X] Review Calendar [X] Write Journal [X]Plan Today :: Asana > DuoLingo > Headspace Sometimes its hard to even do those things but I feel like the habit of looking at the daily review is that first important foundation of confidence. At the top…

August 13, 2015

60,000 burpees!

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / SIDCHAs

60,000 burpees!

Somewhere around today I hit 60,000 cumulative burpees since starting in December 2011. I don't keep track rigorously, I only know I haven't missed a burpee. Sometimes I do a few extra, like to show someone how to do them, if I lose count and want to make sure I do enough, or if I want to make up for eating candy. What started as ten burpees per day has grown. Then ten was challenging. Now ten is easy. When my skills develop to make a SIDCHA too easy, I make it more challenging. Also, as much as burpees exercise most of your body, they have you push with your arms but not pull. So I added reverse-rows. Also, as my abs got more defined…

August 12, 2015

SIDCHAs in the wild

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / Leadership / SIDCHAs / Stories

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 burpees. Everyone loved doing burpees. They get the blood flowing and your lungs breathing. In a group they're fun. Afterwards, people thanked me for making…

July 29, 2015

Education / Entrepreneurship / Exercises / Leadership

Why leadership and entrepreneurship exercises work

It sucks when you're playing a team sport and you get shut down trying to cut to get open, the other team scores on you, you throw into an interception or some mistake like that. Few of us enjoy admitting to faults, so we often make excuses that the problem was with your team mates, the sun, the equipment, or something out of your control. When you run drills or exercises in practice, it's another story. Effective ones are designed to focus on particular skills. A cutting drill, for example, focuses on cutting. You might have to run the same cut many times in a row against different team mates but everything else is the same. If you don't get open, you can't blame anyone…

July 7, 2015

Entrepreneurship / Exercises / Habits / Leadership / Relationships / Tips

How to make a phone call with someone you don’t know but want to help you

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] I just got off the phone with a client who was preparing for a call with someone important to help her. She was nervous because of his status and not sure how to make the call work. She typically would talk too much about herself, which didn't get the results she wanted of the other person wanting to help her. I told her, based on "Fundamentals and technique: what you do when you don't know what to do," that in such situation I…

June 16, 2015

Making a habit stick makes other habits stick easier

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / SIDCHAs / Visualization

Making a habit stick makes other habits stick easier

In yesterday's session on starting habits, when I described how easy it was finally to floss my teeth daily after I started my burpees. An attendee asked me to clarify. After the session ended, others asked me to clarify more and the following diagrams emerged. Starting burpees This chart schematically shows my burpee habit performance. Flossing before burpees This chart schematically shows my flossing habit before I started doing burpees. The red line shows my flossing effort, overlaying the gray line of my burpee effort. Flossing after burpees This chart schematically shows my flossing habit after starting burpees. Conclusion Making a habit stick makes other habits stick too. I think of making a habit stick as a skill, or set of skills. The more you…

June 15, 2015

Exercises / Fitness / Freedom / Leadership / Nature / SIDCHAs

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 have taught you? Have you risked bankruptcy, friendships, jobs, your home? Have you put yourself into the unknown so deep you didn't know if you…

June 6, 2015

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / Nature

Central Park in the Spring

This morning was beautiful in New York City. I was thinking of a running, but when I saw how nice it was I couldn't stop from taking the train to Central Park and running in my favorite place in the world. A mile in it started drizzling. It turned into a downpour, for roughly the second mile. You rarely want to run in the rain but once it happens, you like it, especially a warm spring rain like you haven't felt since before the marathon in November. Last week's run that made me so sore was a mile and a half longer but almost all flat. Central Park has hills, which makes it more interesting. We'll see if this run makes me sore, but so…

May 16, 2015

Buying no food with packaging, eighteen days and counting

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / Nature / Visualization

Buying no food with packaging, eighteen days and counting

Two-and-a-half weeks ago I decided to avoid buying any food with packaging for a week. I'm on eighteen days and counting. I didn't try to come up with a perfect rule because trying for perfection kept making me delay trying. I settled on the rule that I wouldn't buy food that had any packaging or get food at a restaurant. I'd figure out on the fly what to do in border cases. I allowed myself to use food I already had. Discoveries It hasn't been as hard as I thought. I'm eating a lot more fruits and vegetables than usual. I'm also cooking a lot more beans and peas from dry. Instead of buying a lot of produce at once, I'm buying enough for a…

May 7, 2015

Choosing/Decision-Making / Exercises / Fitness / Habits

Better than what used to be good

This morning I read New York magazine's weekly listing of bars and restaurants, describing fun places in the city to go to. They have a section listing some activities called "The Cut," which I think means these are the activities that "make the cut" of their curating. I used to read the listings to find things to do. The section is for that, and I presume many people use it that way. Now I can barely bother. New restaurants? They don't compare to home cooking. New bars? I hardly drink when I go out, or at all for that matter since getting so close to having six-pack abs. I used to think about many events, "Well if it's not good at least they'll have free…

May 6, 2015

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