The manufacturer of my rowing machine, Concept2, created its annual holiday challenge. In honor of anyone rowing at least 100,000 meters between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, they would donate to a climate charity of your choice. Something got into me to do it. 26 days meant five of my workout cycles (day 1: lifting, day 2: Turkish Get Up (TGU), day 3: rest, day 4: cardio, day 5: rest). I[…] Keep reading →

I don’t know how long it takes time for depression to take root — that is, for someone feeling fine to feeling depressed. A quick web search didn’t show anything and I’m sure it differs from person to person. I imagine it rarely happens overnight. The reason I thought about it was a conversation with a friend about sidchas and my twice-daily burpee-based calisthenics. As he put it, motion creates[…] Keep reading →

If you don’t think personal action makes a difference on big things like elections or the environment, try looking at it this way. I’ll put it in terms of the environment, but it applies to diet, voting, self-expression, and more. Many people do many things against their environmental values. Not just in general, but many times daily. They buy packaged food, they eat packaged food several times daily. They drive[…] Keep reading →

I write a lot about cold showers. They may sound crazy, but bear with me and you may find them more helpful than you could have imagined. After taking a few in Shanghai because the water took five minutes to warm up that I couldn’t stand wasting, in December of 2013, I took thirty days of cold showers. I can’t tell you how much the discipline, dedication, and so on[…] Keep reading →

I can’t believe I didn’t think of saying the phrase until the other day: I do more burpees before 9am than most people do all day. It’s satisfying to write. I could have said it years ago. Friends are surprises I haven’t said it. When I said it to someone out loud, he pointed out I could say: I do more burpees before 9am than most people do in their[…] Keep reading →

I’m pleased to appear on Dan Zehner’s Anthem of the Adventurer podcast. In a refreshing diversion from most of my recent podcast appearances, we talk about adventure, challenge, growth, and how to create them. Click to his site or listen below: His notes describe our conversation well: Episode Summary Today, we talk with Josh Spodek, who lives a life full of adventure while teaching at NYU. He’s got some amazing[…] Keep reading →

EDIT (May 2020): I gave my most comprehensive talk on sidchas. Here is the recording Most people seem to want improve themselves, personally or professionally. Reading, watching, and listening to people tell you how you can develop yourself professionally or personally doesn’t change anything beyond give you a bit of information. People don’t succeed because they have more information. They succeed because they act. Even if you know you should[…] Keep reading →