Tips

At Princeton’s ELab: How to become a “genius” entrepreneur that people want to help

Education / Entrepreneurship / Leadership / Tips

At Princeton’s ELab: How to become a “genius” entrepreneur that people want to help

I got a few short clips from my presentation on entrepreneurship when I spoke at Princeton's Elab recently. Entrepreneurs are often so busy pitching their ideas, they miss opportunities to attract people to help them. They don't realize their pitching is leading people to evaluate them, which tends to separate them. Here I talk about how to talk to people to Improve your project Feel vested in your success See you as a genius Put you in touch with others who can help and more. https://youtu.be/cANE9fdoMZ0

May 28, 2016

How not to be afraid to be yourself, Italian style

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Exercises / Fitness / Leadership / Nature / SIDCHAs / Tips

How not to be afraid to be yourself, Italian style

The other day I was interviewed for a podcast (I'll link to it when they edit and post it). The interviewer asked me how I accomplished so much. I told him and his listeners to look up sidchas on my blog. Everyone who aspires to greatness knows the importance of building discipline, integrity, dedication, and other skills. I accomplish things by acting by my values. I practice with small challenges like daily exercise, daily writing, cold showers, and so on. Almost nobody does these things or their equivalent for them, yet they want the benefits. You have to do things to get the benefits of doing them. Well, today's post is the smallest yet activity you can do to develop such skills. I don't care…

May 7, 2016

Education / Perception / Relationships / Tips

Use fewer words

Extra words water down what you say. "Go ahead and..." for example. People with lower status use more words to say the same thing. People who feel insecure keep talking and explaining more than they need. I think people are afraid of implying they're equal to people they see above them. Is that what you want for yourself? Speak more succinctly and see if weathering the challenge leads you to grow.

April 7, 2016

Creativity / Education / Entrepreneurship / Inc.com / Tips

Want to Succeed as an Entrepreneur? Learn This One Lesson From ‘The Martian’

My Inc. article today "Want to Succeed as an Entrepreneur? Learn This One Lesson From 'The Martian'," begins Want to Succeed as an Entrepreneur? Learn This One Lesson From 'The Martian' Think The Martian was about solving technology problems? Those were the details. You missed the big picture that ties it all together. Though engineers andÂ space aficionadosÂ probablyÂ loved The Martian, entrepreneurs had the most to love and learn. We got the forest. Everyone else got trees. It wasn't special effects. It wasn't references to getting to Mars soonerÂ or feeling like you were there. In fact, the most exciting parts--where Matt Damon's character solved each engineering challenge, handling the teamwork challenges of rescuing him, the space walks--only built the foundation for the story's biggest lesson. Most viewers…

April 6, 2016

Education / Entrepreneurship / Exercises / Tips

Overview of my experiential course in entrepreneurial thinking and behavior

How does a course get student reviews like these? "This is one of the greatest classes I have ever taken. It was engaging, thought provoking, challenging, and fun. Josh is an incredible teacher, mentor, and friend to everyone in the class who is passionate about the subject matter. If I could take this class all over again, I would" — "10/10 would take again! I loved every second of this class, but what's cooler, is that I think I may have loved the homework even more." — "As a senior, this was the first course that challenged me, asking me to think outside my comfort zones. Yet, it is also where I developed a strong network of supporters through group projects." — "I cannot even…

March 24, 2016

Entrepreneurship / Models / Nonjudgment / Tips

Don’t “Become an entrepreneur.” Solve people’s problems so well they pay you for it.

Teaching entrepreneurship, I often hear people say they want "to become an entrepreneur," "to be their own boss," and "to run their own company." I have to distinguish between thinking and behaving entrepreneurially and "becoming an entrepreneur." Thinking and behaving entrepreneurially means identifying problems that people would pay you to solve, figuring out how to solve them, creating sustainable models to implement the solutions, attracting teammates, marketing and selling the solutions, and so on. Note that everything here emerges from the problem and the people feeling it. They come first, not you. You serve them. The solution and everything after, depends on the problem and the people feeling it. "Becoming an entrepreneur" means you want to start a company or be your own boss, so…

March 19, 2016

Exercises / Freedom / Tips

I don’t swim much, but when I do, it’s a mile in open water

On vacation over the winter, I found myself swimming in a pool. I realized I don't swim much. As best I remember, it was the second or third time I swam since swimming across the Hudson River in 2008, pictured at the top of this page. I took a few surfing lessons in the meantime. I don't know if I should count when I have something that floats with me. I'm sure I forgot a few other times. I'd never swum in open water before then, which is harder than in a pool since the waves get in your mouth and the current takes you directions you didn't expect faster than you'd think. I mention the infrequency of my swimming to underscore the accessibility of…

March 15, 2016

Awareness / Entrepreneurship / Exercises / Leadership / Relationships / Stories / Tips

Video: How to Make Meaningful Connections

Here is the video from Sunday's webinar on How to Make Meaningful Connections, which, as I describe in it and you'll find if you practice the exercise in it, is about how to develop compassion. The exercise in this webinar teaches some of the most valuable skills you can learn about relationships. Every leader I've ever heard talk about compassion describes it as critical, up there with empathy and self-awareness. Scratch that. Every successful person, not just leaders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9h3gNZ3rl4 If you want your questions answered, attend the webinars or contact me. By the way, I'm still getting to the questions people responded to in my poll on what your most important question about leadership is. If you haven't responded to it, please do, at this…

March 8, 2016

Awareness / Exercises / Habits / Tips

If you can’t say the word ‘passion,’ how do you expect to create it in your life?

Prelude A client's friend had lunch with Warren Buffett. He talked a lot about passion. In fact, she wrote Throughout the conversation, Buffett stressed the significance of passion—how necessary it was for his own journey and how imperative it is for us to find ours. Passion was the fire behind his focus that encouraged him to absorb all things business, all the time. It was a job, it was his life. Can we consider Warren Buffett a successful businessman? If so, let's remember this anecdote and continue. Can you say the word passion? I teach and coach people to create meaningful connections and to lead people to the point of inspiration. My testimonials tell me I do it well. Preparing for tomorrow's webinar, "How to…

March 5, 2016

Webinar: How to Make Meaningful Connections, Sunday 1pm EST

Education / Leadership / Relationships / Tips

Webinar: How to Make Meaningful Connections, Sunday 1pm EST

After teaching, coaching, studying, and practicing leadership for twenty years, I announced my online leadership course, "Introducing the most effective leadership course available anywhere." I'm hosting a series of free webinars on the most actionable, useful, effective, and exciting parts of the course. My webinars will always deliver exclusive, valuable lessons you can use that day and how to build for the long term. Attend my fourth webinar, free, this Sunday, March 6, 1pm Eastern Standard Time! All you need is an internet connection. How to Make Meaningful Connections If you want to lead or influence others in business and to have meaningful relationships everywhere in life, you need to create meaningful connections. If you're like me, you were born shy and awkward. You can…

March 3, 2016

Exercises / Fitness / Habits / Models / Perception / SIDCHAs / Tips

Discipline doesn’t enable you to do things. Doing things consistently makes you disciplined.

[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.] People keep getting it backward when they congratulate me on the five years of daily posts, four years of daily burpees, and other disciplined achievements. They say, "You must have a lot of discipline to do that," implying that before I started I had some special trait that enabled me to do what they couldn't. They have it backward. No baby is born able to do multi-year projects. We all have to develop discipline like anyone else. Doing daily exercises develops discipline just…

February 16, 2016

(Video) David Allen: “I am a freedom junkie”

Choosing/Decision-Making / Relationships / Tips

(Video) David Allen: “I am a freedom junkie”

I wrote about David Allen's influence before, in "'I am a freedom junky' -- David Allen's inspiring words that simplified my life," which describes how I implemented his system of getting things done. His words and advice regularly come to mind and help me. They did recently when an email that would have stressed and burdened me had I not known his system. I had his book and a camera handy and tell the story of my taking a risk offending him when I met him and, instead, learning more about the book and its purpose than I could have otherwise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLeaxT7I8p0 How to implement Getting Things Done Read his book for the full version, but copying the important parts from my earlier post: I…

February 15, 2016

Video: Avoid Taking a Job You Hate by Doing This in Your Interview

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Inc.com / Tips

Video: Avoid Taking a Job You Hate by Doing This in Your Interview

My post today on Inc.com, "Avoid Taking a Job You Hate by Doing This in Your Interview," begins: You could have learned in the interview why you'd hate your job if you'd had this perspective. Learn it and make your interviews productive. If youÂ ever left a job you expected to love, or endured hating it, these words likely ring true for you: "People join good projects and leave bad management." Leaving jobs is painful and expensive. You can learn about future managersÂ in your interview, but few people do. If youÂ don't know better, you'll choose jobs based onÂ what the company does, your title, your pay,Â the company's growth, and other things that don't affect your daily experience. In other words, "good projects." Read the rest at Inc.com:…

February 9, 2016

Video: Do what others fear, easy version

Fitness / Nature / Nonjudgment / Tips

Video: Do what others fear, easy version

I've posted how unhealthy fruit juice is, how beverage corporations (Coke and Pepsi, mainly) turn even so-called "100% juice" orange juice into chemical concoctions (which led to a beverage industry PR person contacting me to try to change my story), and how healthy orange peels are. They're full of fiber, vitamin C, and flavor and texture that contrast and complement the juice inside. Since most people think of citrus fruit peels as not something you eat, except when covered in sugar, I think most people would consider eating them weird. That's their business. I thought that way too long. If I swam across the Hudson River, I can experiment with some fruit peel I learned is healthy and that people eat anyway. I just won't…

February 8, 2016

Video: Three Leadership Secrets You’ll Never Learn Reading A Book

Awareness / Events / Exercises / Leadership / SIDCHAs / Tips

Video: Three Leadership Secrets You’ll Never Learn Reading A Book

I just finished my first webinar, "Three Leadership Secrets You'll Never Learn Reading A Book". Here is the recording of it for those interested but who couldn't make it. If you like what I write about and want more, contact me about what you want and I can tailor webinars to what people are looking for. I prefer to stick with topics I cover here but I'm flexible too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21a9_ih2Z4c From my first announcement the other day: Three Leadership Secrets You'll Never Learn Reading A Book

February 6, 2016

Inc.com Today: 2 Questions To Ask in Every Interview So They’ll Want You Back (Video)

Inc.com / Leadership / Relationships / Stories / Tips

Inc.com Today: 2 Questions To Ask in Every Interview So They’ll Want You Back (Video)

My post today on Inc.com, "2 Questions To Ask in Every Interview So They'll Want You Back," begins: Instead of trying to show off, making you look like a commodity, use these techniques to make interviews two-way conversations where they'll want you back. Isn't that what you want from an interview? If you want one thing most from an interview, you want the interviewerÂ to want you back. If you want a second thing, you want to know if you want to work there--do you like the people, the culture, and everything else about working there. What not to do in an interview Most people undermine both goals by trying to show off. Telling them about your features feels like itÂ should work, but since everyone doesÂ itÂ you…

February 5, 2016

Audio / Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Creativity / Education / Entrepreneurship / Exercises / Leadership / Models / Nonjudgment / Relationships / Tips

Introducing the most effective leadership course available anywhere

If you read this blog, you know I care about leadership and how to improve yours---in business, personal, family, and every other part of your life. I presume you do too. As much as you've learned from the blog, you can learn more from doing. If you want to improve because you're moving up the corporate ladder, just finished school, starting your own projects, or any other reason that you have to lead people and teams, developing leadership skills from practice will improve you most effectively. Anyone can improve their ability to lead, and the most effective improvement comes from experience, not books, lectures, or case studies. Or even my blog. I created what I believe the most effective course in leadership you can find…

February 2, 2016

Fitness / Nature / Tips

Pressure cookers rock!

I posted this elsewhere and couldn't help reposting here, risking repeating from earlier posts: Bought an electric pressure cooker a few months ago (Cuisinart CPC-600, $50 pre-owned but unused from Craig's List). One of the best purchases of my life, especially combined with my farm share, which brings me fresh seasonal vegetables. Also avoiding food packaging, which nearly eliminated food from boxes, bags, or other packages. I tell myself I'll follow a recipe at some point, but so far I haven't needed one. All I do is wash vegetables, chop them, and put them in with beans or lentils, olive oil, garlic, onions, and whatever spices I feel like (usually just cayenne pepper). Then I add salt when I eat it. The flavors are deep,…

February 1, 2016

Inc.com / Leadership / Relationships / Tips

Inc.com Today: How to Build the Best Relationships With Both Leaders and Superiors

My post today on Inc.com, "How to Build the Best Relationships With Both Leaders and Superiors," begins: Misunderstanding how we like helping others holds many back from building relationships with leaders and superiors. Getting their help can advance you. You get that meeting with that decision-maker/founder/CEO/titan/guru/expert who can make your project happen. You've dreamed of this chance for years. How do you interact with this person? If you're like most people, you treat them deferentially, meaning you show respect. YouÂ don't ask too much of them. After all, they're doing you a favor, right? I suggest avoiding this strategy, however natural it feels. Read the rest at the site: How to Build the Best Relationships With Both Leaders and Superiors.

January 29, 2016

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Tips

Do you lie to yourself about your priorities?

Does this sound like a reasonable question: "Do you do things in order of importance?" I don't think it is. I suggest the question gets things backward. Your priorities don't determine what order you do things in. The order you do things in determines their priority. What you do first is your highest priority, given all your values and constraints, and if you tell yourself otherwise, you're lying to yourself. If you say, "but the project will take an hour and this other thing will only take five minutes," you're still prioritizing the other thing if you do it first because you only have time for it. That's what I mean by "given all your values and constraints." If you play a quick game of…

January 23, 2016

Choosing/Decision-Making / Perception / Tips

Why not to ask if something is worth doing

You get chances to do cool things: classes to take, hobbies to try, relationships to develop, books to read, movies to watch, and so on. How do you decide which to do? Most people look at the new thing and ask if it's worth doing. I recommend not asking that question. There are many things worth doing in the abstract. Too many. I recommend instead asking what you'd have to stop doing to make time for it---a more discriminating question. Asking what existing things to get rid of forces you to evaluate the new thing against your values in terms of your time, your most valuable and irreplaceable resource. It prevents you from overloading your schedule. It practices "You have to say no to a…

January 22, 2016

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Tips

Another reason to say no to a lot of good things to have a great life

Think of your heroes and role models. How many of them reached their greatness by doing many things in many areas at once? All the ones I can think of reached greatness by excelling in one area. After greatness they may have branched into other areas, but they all focused with discipline at first. Most people I know spread themselves thin on many projects. They don't say no to good things and therefore don't have the resources to succeed on great things. They point out how hard it is to say no to things they like. I agree. That's why so few people qualify as heroes and role models. They didn't say no to anything, lacked resources (time, money, enthusiasm, etc) to excel on what…

December 24, 2015

How orange peels free you from shame and ignorance

Fitness / Habits / Nature / Nonjudgment / Tips

How orange peels free you from shame and ignorance

Would you feel weird to eat the peel of an orange? I don't know about you, but I would have thought people would consider me weird to peel an orange and then eat any of the peel. It turns out the peel has most of the fruit's vitamin C, nearly all of its fiber, a decent amount of calcium, and almost no calories. It's healthy and comes free with the orange. Look at the numbers: If you think it's crazy to eat orange peels, consider these gourmet candied orange peels. Don't they look delicious? And how about these candied lemon peels? Don't they look delicious too? They look delicious, only they're covered in sugar. What this post is about If you're like I was, you…

December 14, 2015

Life lessons from fruits and vegetables

You're born liking fruit. Even if you liked candy more than fruit as a kid like I did, you still like it. If someone gives you a mango, you'd rather eat it than not. You aren't born liking vegetables. At least I wasn't. Until adulthood, if someone gave me a cauliflower, I'd rather not eat it, no matter how healthy they told me it was. The problem is that you can't live on fruit. You can live on vegetables (I'm including legumes and all the other non-fruit plants I've lived on the past twenty-five years). So you have to find ways to enjoy eating vegetables if you want to live a healthy life. As I've matured, I've found I like vegetables more. I still love…

December 10, 2015

Awareness / Entrepreneurship / Habits / SIDCHAs / Tips

Everyone gets distracted. Here’s how to overcome it.

A student in the online entrepreneurship course I'm creating asked about distractions. When he wants to work, he often gets distracted. I think me answer will help others so I'm sharing it here. Most life-long valuable things have long-term, non-urgent reward. Things that have immediate reward or urgency will distract. For example, if you want to do well at school, the reward for working on a project may come days or weeks later when you finish. Meanwhile, if you clean your room, play a video game, or eat, the reward will come in seconds. I've found the most effective way to stay on course is to start with awareness. To realize that there's nothing special about me that makes me lazy---rather that humans have a…

December 9, 2015

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