Freedom

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Freedom / Leadership / Nature

Why I turned down nearly $10,000 to teach for an Ivy League school for a week in Shanghai

Columbia University offered me nearly $10,000 to fly to Shanghai to teach an entrepreneurship class, block-week style, meaning a semester in a week, 9-5 each day. I've taught that way before and got great results. I love teaching entrepreneurship. I'm not bragging to say that my reviews say I'm exceptional at it. I love my alma mater, Columbia, and as an adjunct professor, experience teaching at Ivy League schools helps my career. I had developed the relationships with the department that offered me to teach with them for years. I had worked on making this opportunity happen for years and could expect more offers if I did well. I like making $10,000 doing what I love. I loved living in Shanghai for a year in…

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June 17, 2017

Choosing/Decision-Making / Freedom / Habits / Inc.com / Nature / Podcast

Leadership and the Environment Podcast episode #3: Freedom, empathy, garbage, and compost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEKCbrTZ9CM How much waste do you create that others have to deal with? The environment involves more than global warming. As my Inc. piece reported recently, we're producing enough waste that an island in the middle of the Pacific, with no inhabitants and thousands of miles from any city, is covered with plastic and other waste, most of it needless garbage: I don't know what to call that amount and kind of garbage: sickening? Insane? Irresponsible? Typical of our lifestyle? Here's how remote the island is: Maybe a couple pieces of that garbage came from you! ... or me. We both contributed to a system that helped produce it. In any case, I can't take responsibility for your behavior, but I can take responsibility for…

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June 5, 2017

Joshua Spodek on Leigh Martinuzzi's The Hidden Why podcast

Audio / Choosing/Decision-Making / Entrepreneurship / Freedom

My first guest “host” on a podcast: The Hidden Why, by Leigh Martinuzzi

Leigh Martinuzzi hosts the podcast The Hidden Why. He posted my first solo audio recording. Listen to the recording! Listen to the recording! We met online, which led to speaking, learning each other's work and interests, and talking about collaborating. I thought he might interview me. Instead he suggested me recording something for his blog by myself, which I consider harder. More than harder, I find it scarier to record something from scratch by myself. I describe in the recording how I viewed the chance as an opportunity, but not how scary I found it. Even so, I took on the challenge and am grateful to Leigh for giving me the chance and motivation, and then to share the recording with his audience. Listen to…

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June 3, 2017

Daniel Gefen's Can I Pick Your Brain interview of Joshua Spodek

Audio / Choosing/Decision-Making / Fitness / Freedom / Habits / SIDCHAs

Can I pick your brain? … Daniel Gefen’s wonderful, funny, penetrating interview of consistency and greatness you can achieve

I wish I could convey how much fun Daniel Gefen and I had talking before the podcast. I think it comes out in the conversation. Beyond being fun, Daniel went into depth nobody has about something I long wished someone would---the motivation behind the burpees and sidchas. Most interviewers ask about what I do, less about why or the effects. Daniel delved into consistency and how much it can create in your life. Listen to the interview! Listen to the interview! From Daniel's about page: Here are Daniel's show notes: My guest today is probably one of the most accomplished and consistent individuals I have had the pleasure to meet. Joshua Spodek holds five Ivy-League degrees, including a PhD in Astrophysics and an MBA from…

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April 28, 2017

My guest post to Lidiay K's blog on how I wake up in under one minute every day.

Choosing/Decision-Making / Freedom / Habits / Tips

How I Wake Up in Under One Minute Every Day

Yesterday my guest post, "How I Wake Up in Under One Minute Every Day," posted in Lidiya K's Let's Reach Success blog. It begins For most of my life, certainly the past decade, I'd take twenty-plus minutes to get out of bed after my alarm, often forty minutes or more. Since November I've gotten out of bed in under sixty seconds, without fail, each day, at 6:15am. When a mutual friend put me in touch with Lidiya and we talked about cross-posting to each other's blogs, I saw her posts on the value of getting up early and thought I'd share my transformation. I didn't ease into getting up in a minute. I did it one morning for the first time in my life, found…

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April 1, 2017

Audio / Freedom / Habits / Stories

How to Turn the Knob of Leadership and Your Life: The Tanner Gers Interview

I can't say enough about Tanner Gers. He posted the podcast of our conversation today. We had a great time talking about life and doing things. A bit of a love-fest between two people who admire and respect each other. Before linking to the podcast, a few words about Tanner from his about page. If you've read Chapter 8 of Leadership Step by Step, you'll see the connection this man's story to my life, passion, and message. About Tanner Gers Thanks for stopping by and saying hello You may have found me through my health & fitness site, coaching site, or have heard me on someone else's podcast, but either way… I'm glad you've come to hangout. Here's the real background story that most don't…

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March 21, 2017

Audio / Awareness / Freedom / Leadership

A more personal podcast interview with Jared Angaza

I comment these days that I'm becoming friends with the people interviewing me in podcasts and Jared Angaza's interview of me, "Do the Thing," is a perfect example. I've also said lately that if you put yourself out for public scrutiny, to succeed you can either create a persona and act like it or you can express yourself more openly, but to mix them---to mix acting like someone else with acting authentically---doesn't work. I'm trying to use these interviews to open up more and to speak more freely. I think I'm succeeding. I'm sure I have blind spots, like anyone, that people who know me pick up on but I don't. And I can't talk about everything all the time. I'm mostly focusing on the…

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March 2, 2017

Audio / Choosing/Decision-Making / Freedom / Leadership

The One Way Ticket Show podcast: the American Revolution and Leadership

Steven Shalowitz, host of The One Way Ticket Show podcast, posted yesterday our interview, "Josh's one way ticket is back to this historic time in American history," which covers the time in history I would choose to go to if I could magically go there with no chance to return, as well as Leadership Step by Step. Click here to listen! I find the show fascinating, as well as his guests, who include Nobel Prize winners, heads of state, heads of industry, and more, including, at last, me. From the podcast's about page: There was one question Steven Shalowitz thought to ask his many celebrity guests while hosting his radio show, Encuentro Latino, on Singapore's Gold 90.5 FM: "If I gave you a one way…

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February 15, 2017

Exercises / Freedom / Leadership / Models / Perception

Listen to a wonderful interview of me by Sami Honkonen of Boss Level podcast

Sami Honkonen records Boss Level Podcast Interviews with interesting people doing awesome things Boss Level is a podcast on people and organizations aiming for the boss level. Boss level is the status a person or an organization achieves by making a better quality of life for themselves and others by doing what they need to do regardless of all the haters and obstacles out there. I love his interview of me, "Joshua Spodek and seven years of burpees," which he posted today. If you like my material and, especially, if you're curious about my long-term direction and goals for it---my passion, or one of them, for those who've done my book and leadership course's Unit 4: Leading Others exercises---he brings them up at the end.…

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January 17, 2017

Freedom / Habits / SIDCHAs

The busier I am, the more I stick to my sidchas

Being busy means not having time. If you want more time, don't do things you don't have to. Makes sense, right? My book launch is making me busier than ever. I have four or five big in-person events coming up in February to plan and host, a seminar or two to plan and host, two classes at NYU to teach, one sales class in January to teach, ... Forbes interviewed me the other day as have as maybe ten podcasts in the past week or two with more to come (I'll link to them as they get posted), I started my webinar, and I forget what else. Oh yeah, I'm working on a long opinion piece I'm not sure where I'll submit. I don't know…

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January 14, 2017

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Fitness / Freedom / Habits

The bounty of more value from less crap

I'm scheduling being on a podcast (with Steven Shalowitz of the fascinating The One Way Ticket Show) and Steven and I got to talking about food, flying, and trying new things instead of unthinkingly doing what everyone else does. Or not experimenting at all. Since I figure you're here to improve your life, I couldn't help but share some of our conversation. I mentioned I'm avoiding flying for a year. He asked, didn't know about the year of no flying. what precipitated it, if you don't mind my asking? love the idea. at this point i'd like to try a year without tv . . . I wrote, Two main precipitations: The first was my huge improvements in my life of little experiments like that…

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December 6, 2016

Choosing/Decision-Making / Freedom

How to do the things you dream of

People look at my bio or hear about the things I do and ask how I do them---visiting North Korea (twice), running marathons, working with Nobel Prize winners, getting a PhD, getting an MBA, starting companies, and so on. I finally figured out the answer. Here's how I do all those things: I do them. That's it. If you want to go to to North Korea, here's how you do it: Go to North Korea. There's no mystery. Want to do 75,000 burpees? Here's how: do 75,000 burpees. No mystery. You start with one, then the second, and so on. If you have to take a break, take a break and start later. It took me five years. Want a PhD? Here's what I did:…

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October 18, 2016

Art / Awareness / Education / Freedom / Nonjudgment / Relationships / Visualization

Origins: of me and teaching leadership

My reasons for teaching leadership experientially today are mainly To enable people to create meaning, value, importance, purpose, and passion in their lives and in the lives of people around them Because the challenges the next several generations will face require changing behavior on a global scale, which are social and emotional challenges, not technical, and I hope to help create a community of people with the skills to overcome these challenges but why I do it today isn't why I started. Why I Felt Attracted to Leadership I remember the first time I saw Nurse Ratched, from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, named as one of the top villains in movies (#5 in the American Film Institute's ranking, two spots below Darth Vader…

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September 11, 2016

Choosing/Decision-Making / Freedom / Inc.com

A Simple Way To Simplify Your Life

My Inc.com post today, "A Simple Way To Simplify Your Life," begins The Simplest Way to Simplify Your Life This one step, iterated, will simplify your possessions and keep it that way. Books started the process, which expanded to everything. I viewed books like everyone else: they showed people who I was, they added to my home, were useful for reference, etc. I went through an experience that changed that. It started innocently. I decided to get rid of only my useless books--the ones I wouldn't miss and had for no good reason. Looking at my shelves it was easy to pull the junk from those worth keeping. Actually, there were some borderline ones, which I decided to be conservative about and kept. I still…

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August 29, 2016

Fitness / Freedom / Habits / Nature

How to get a six-pack eating tons of delicious, cheap, convenient food: Cut out garbage and you get quality

Yesterday I posted about two of my most valued things: Eating tons of delicious, convenient, cheap, and diverse food---basically until I'm stuffed nearly every meal A fit body with well-defined abs with energy for athletic achievement I have found that sharing what you love fills your life with sharing, love, and stuff you love. I can't tell you how good it feels to feel firm, lithe muscle under skin not thickened and jiggling uncontrollably with fat, even on your abs, while eating to stuffed incredibly delicious food, save time and money in the process and exercise, on average, less time than it takes to watch one sit-com per day. And I produce almost no trash. These are the pictures that tell the story. My 45-year-old…

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July 21, 2016

Fitness / Freedom / Habits

How to eat a bag of chips every couple days and lose weight

This is a post about freedom from people controlling your life. Years ago I couldn't help buying ice cream all the time. I'd almost always have a carton in the freezer. I'd come home and try not eating it but I often would. And I used to love the Snyder's of Hanover pretzel bits that were broken on purpose to hold the flavored powder they added. Before then I loved Doritos. Once I started eating them I wouldn't stop until the skin in my mouth was tender and even hurt. All the corn flour would get stuck in my teeth. The powder would cover my fingers. I loved chips and manufactured snacks. I lived an active lifestyle so I didn't put on too much weight,…

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July 12, 2016

Entrepreneurship / Freedom / Humor / Inc.com

The Declaration of Independence: The Best Entrepreneurial Document Ever?

My Inc.com piece today, "The Declaration of Independence: The Best Entrepreneurial Document Ever?", begins The Declaration of Independence: The Best Entrepreneurial Document Ever? Would you be happy for your venture to last a few years and make a few million? How about 240 years and 3 trillion dollars? Nobody pulled in Benjamins like Benjamin. Any entrepreneur who has written a business plan knows the challenge. For one thing it has so many goals. Among others, a plan should: Describe the market need Describe a plan of what you're going to do Attract investment Attract a team Look good Be flexible Describe your competition I suggest the United States Declaration of Independence can claim to be the best entrepreneurial document in history, perhaps combined with the full…

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July 1, 2016

Freedom

Op/Ed Fridays: New York Times: Please stopping walking us into an Orwellian dystopia

Tuesday's New York Times posted a chilling article, "How Do You Stop a Future Terrorist When the Only Evidence Is a Thought?" If you haven't read Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, you've probably still know the name he created for what the New York Times seems to seriously consider, thoughtcrime. It has a Wikipedia page that describes it: A thoughtcrime is an occurrence or instance of controversial or socially unacceptable thoughts... The term was popularized in the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, wherein thoughtcrime is the criminal act of holding unspoken beliefs or doubts that oppose or question the ruling party. In the book, the government attempts to control not only the speech and actions, but also the thoughts of its subjects. I take for…

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June 24, 2016

Exercises / Fitness / Freedom / Habits / SIDCHAs

The subtle value of sidchas

I write about self-imposed daily challenging healthy activities (sidchas) a lot. Why is the sidcha different from the countless recommendations to do other things daily? The difference is subtle but important. It will give you more time, structure, and discipline. Some examples: People who meditate regularly tell me that I should meditate daily for the full benefit. Yoga people say the same thing about yoga, at least that I should do it regularly. A video of a girl who practiced dancing daily for a year, became amazing at it, and got onto TV for it inspired me to want to practice dancing daily. Marshall Goldsmith tells me I should answer six questions daily. Writers tell me I should write daily. Fitness people tell me to…

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June 5, 2016

Fitness / Freedom / Leadership

RIP Ali

About few people in few fields can we say there is a before and after. Muhammad Ali is one of them, and beyond "just" boxing, but to sport in general, and free and open expression. Every athlete today lives in his shadow. Every war resister. Every public speaker. Every person who works for fairness. Nobody before him did anything like what he did. Compare athletes of today. Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan dominated their sports, but what social change did they create outside it? Who speaks with his honesty? Compare public speakers today. What public figure spoke with such openness? Who made such sacrifices for their beliefs? Who inspired so many? What poet or songwriter put so many phrases with so much meaning into the…

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June 4, 2016

Awareness / Freedom / Nonjudgment / Relationships

Why I like helping people discover their inhibited passions

We all have strong motivations---what I call passions. Some of us feel like we don't, but we do. Motivations that drive us our whole lives, that we can always tap for energy to do things. Some we like, others we don't. Some are solitary, others are social. One thing for everyone: our greatest passions are also our greatest vulnerabilities. Great passions enable others, if they know about them, to motivate us, or to manipulate us. Things we don't care about we can drop if others judge or laugh at us for them. Passions we can't. So most of us learn to protect these passions. We inhibit how we express and act on them, meaning we inhibit many of the things we care about most. Some…

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May 19, 2016

Awareness / Freedom / Habits / Leadership / Nature

Wasting less, could still waste yet less

On January 27th I made a video about starting a new trash bag for my waste. I predicted I would take six months to fill it. With a guest staying over, we ended up filling it in just over four person-months. I think I can produce less waste, but I'm pleased with how I did so far. In no way did I feel constrained. On the contrary, I felt less confined by stuff and certainly less dirty, having less garbage around. Here's a video about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MYxs6wAdUk Efficiency and Responsibility Why do I post about garbage? Who cares about it? Your waste affects everyone. Within your teams, you create less garbage, literally and figuratively, when you run more lean. Beyond your teams, your garbage is…

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April 30, 2016

Awareness / Education / Exercises / Freedom / Habits / Leadership / Nonjudgment

Video: What a leadership course can deliver, part 3

Here is an interview with a student who took my online leadership course, Isabeaux, an undergraduate at NYU who hadn't taken an experiential course before, which initially threw her, before she came to find it led to more growth than she'd ever seen, despite going to an elite university. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxo-msa9dGQ Reach your potential in business and life. My courses don't take time from the rest of life. You work with people in your life that you care about on projects that you care about without distracting from the rest of your work and life. Learn more about the course and register here Read testimonials about my courses here I look forward to having you aboard.

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April 28, 2016

Entrepreneurship / Freedom / Inc.com / Leadership

“How to Break Rules and Succeed Like Kobe Bryant”

My Inc.com piece today, "How to Break Rules and Succeed Like Kobe Bryant," begins How to Break Rules and Succeed Like Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant polarized and broke rules most of us can't, yet earned admiration and support. Why can some people break rules, yet get support? The LA Times called Kobe Bryant "the most polarizing figure in the history of L.A. sports." He spoke out against his team. He publicly quarreled with his teammate. These are transgressions that could end many people's career's, no matter how talented. Yet Kobe leaves the game admired and supported. Why can he break so many rules, yet exit so admired? As entrepreneurs and leaders, the answer matters. We work in spaces where rules aren't as clear as in…

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April 14, 2016

Choosing/Decision-Making / Freedom / Stories

“Stuff,” challenging your values, and freedom

I find material things beyond the basics become a burden. What constitutes "basics" depends on everyone's unique values, but I find the more I get rid of, and the more free I feel as a result, the fewer things I need as basic, which lets me get rid of more. The less "stuff" I have, the more freedom I have, mental and physical. I value few things more than freedom. I think Thoreau said it well: "Simplify, simplify, simplify." Getting rid of unnecessary things starts simple. Nearly everyone has junk they already know they want to get rid of. Each piece of junk gotten rid of leaves the remaining possessions more valuable, so getting rid of each next thing becomes more challenging. What's the challenge?…

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April 4, 2016