Today’s post is mostly a rant from someone who has eaten too many carrots and little else for a week, but I’ve traveled six continents and in only two places did I go hungry—Brazil and North Korea. North Korea has a failed authoritarian central planned economy. It’s tragic for the people living there, but at least I understand the situation and knew to prepare for difficulty finding food. Brazil has[…] Keep reading →

It’s just past midnight, meaning I’m about fifteen minutes into Saturday, November 1. Tomorrow, Sunday, is the marathon. I’ve trained for it pretty well for months. I’ve wondered what to about my burpees. Some people suggested skipping burpees on days I run the marathon. I see it otherwise. Those are the most important days to do them. What’s the point of doing something only when it’s easy? The benefit comes[…] Keep reading →

[I wrote a new introduction to my SIDCHA series. I’m happy enough with it to share it as a regular post.] 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.[…] Keep reading →

Have you stood on the edge of an open airplane door, looking at the sky beneath you and the ground miles below it, parachute on your back, trying to will yourself to jump? Have you stood outside your boss’s door, after days and weeks working up the courage and what to say to ask for a raise or promotion, trying to will yourself to knock and enter? Have you sat[…] Keep reading →

If I did my math right, today is my one-thousandth day of burpees, starting at one set of ten per day, now up to two sets of twenty-five per day. That’s somewhere over 40,000 burpees. I’ve done them in North Korea, China, and across the U.S. Following the principle that if you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it’s all over, I haven’t missed one[…] Keep reading →

I woke up this morning with pain in my back. I felt it yesterday morning too. It had woken me up both nights before, I guess when I moved in ways that caused it to hurt more. Then this morning when I did my burpees the pain got searing. I had to stop at seven. The pain was bad enough I had trouble breathing. The pain was in the same[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] This morning I ran about a half-marathon. I say “about” because I run for the fun of it and how it makes me feel after (and this year to train for the marathon[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] What is creative avoidance? You know the feeling, or rather the mental chatter. The scene: Some time ago you told yourself you would do something challenging. Maybe going to the gym, talking to[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] I’ve been talking to people about SIDCHAs. I’ve found something surprising that I’d consider researching if I were still in school or had students working with me. Nearly everyone who does a SIDCHA[…] Keep reading →