I used to be limber, in my twenties. In a hurdler stretch I could touch my nose to my knee with my knee straight. During my twice daily burpee-based calisthenic routine I do a couple stretches—my hamstring for sixty breaths immediately after the burpees and a bridge stretch for nine breaths near the end of the routine. I didn’t start stretching to get limber, though. I keep reading that flexibility[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been exercising more than usual for the past few months, amid travel. You might say I haven’t given my body time to recover, and I probably haven’t, but I find it glorious. This episode explains why. It’s about Fitness Travel Lego Eating Burpees Sidchas Discipline Diligence Resilience Lugubriousness Struggle Glory and so on.

I’m sharing thoughts on reading The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf, one of the New York Times’ 10 best books of 2017. Andrea Wulf’s the Invention of Nature Who is Alexander von Humboldt? The New York Times review of the book explains: Alexander von Humboldt was the pre-eminent scientist of his time. Contemporaries spoke of him as second in fame only to Napoleon. All[…] Keep reading →

Michael’s schedule turned a modest one-month challenge into a five-month one. Many would give up. I suspect most people respond that way to environmental challenges—when it gets harder or unpredictable, they abandon it. I wondered how Michael would handle it. Needless to say, he stuck to it—amid the extra time, involving his wife, travel, and more. What do you know, the challenge was easy. Not trivial, but something he could[…] Keep reading →

After some scattered posts dating to 2008, today in 2011 I wrote my first post in an unbroken daily series leading to today, with no future break planned. So today is day 1 of year 8. That’s 2,551 days in a row and 2,852 posts (I posted more than one per day), for those keeping track. It become my first sidcha, followed by burpees, cold showers, picking up garbage, and[…] Keep reading →

Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Who Are Your Peers, and What Are Your Sidchas? Want success? Compare yourself to historical greats and make them your peers, not the average. 18 years ago today, January 4, 2000, the New York Times reported: Today is the first day, after nearly half a century, that the daily comic strip ”Peanuts” will not appear. Just why it would be funny to see a young boy lean his[…] Keep reading →

Start a Sidcha! Resolutions and short-term thinking create short-term results and long-term failure. Start a Sidcha to last a lifetime. I just read yet another thread of people pledging resolutions, suspiciously many being ones they failed last year. This year they really meant it, though. Right. I had to comment on what works and doesn’t. Habits that work The day Nelson Mandela walked free for the first time in 27 years–a day of global importance[…] Keep reading →