[This post is part of a series on the Self-Imposed Daily Challenging Healthy Activity (SIDCHA). 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.] Here are two videos of people who learned to dance by doing it every day. So much more photogenic than burpees and writing here daily. I don’t know[…] Keep reading →

Yesterday began my fourth year of burpees. I’ve written about them at length, so I’ll keep it brief today. A few sets of burpees are good fitness exercise. A few years of burpees is a solid foundation for a healthy life. Here are the top things they create for me. Sticking with them for a long time without missing any creates discipline, which is a foundation I can build other[…] Keep reading →

I almost missed the anniversary of starting my thirty days of cold showers last December, followed by taking cold showers every fourth day since. That comes out to about 75 cold showers, the coldest reaching 39.9F, the first thirty being at least five minutes long. Most people, thinking about the physical discomfort of a cold shower, dismiss the activity as crazy. Some sincerely ask about it. A small number act[…] Keep reading →

I think dessert is standard after dinner in the U.S., especially at restaurants. Even if you don’t eat one, they give you the dessert menu to think about it. I read that only a generation ago dessert tended to be just a piece of fruit, and not every day. Less dessert seems like less sweets, but more overall appreciation of sweetness. That is, I think eating less or fewer sweets[…] Keep reading →

As much as I advise people not to do it, I catch myself relying on willpower when it won’t work all the time. Willpower is when you do something counter to what your emotional system motivates you to do. If you put a chocolate bar in front of someone who loves chocolate, their motivational system makes them want to eat it. If they are trying to avoid sugar, it takes[…] Keep reading →

Each exercise in my seminars teaches a fundamental, useful leadership skill. Collectively, when you practice them more than a few times, they teach empathy and compassion, two critically important skills if you want people to want you to lead them. With my one-on-one coaching clients I can see their empathy and compassion skills develop over weeks and months. I’ve noticed patterns. At first people feel odd asking about emotions and[…] Keep reading →

Over a drink the other night, a guy I met told me his record for 100 burpees was 7 minutes. He does cross-fit a couple times a week. I couldn’t help trying this morning. I did them in 9:21. I wrote him: I couldn’t help trying to see how fast I could do 100 burpees. Just did 100 in 9:21. Getting to 7 minutes seems hard, almost impossible, but now[…] Keep reading →