Over twenty years in the making . . .

Initiative

A Proven Method to Bring Your Passions to Life (and Work)

Even (especially) if you don’t know yours yet

I felt trapped as I approached graduation. My advanced degrees led me to ask what I could do with them. They narrowed my options.

Wait. Isn’t narrowing options the opposite of what education is for?

Initiative will show you why your education likely did the same to you and why organizations claiming to promote entrepreneurship—like Shark Tank, media treating entrepreneurs like rock stars, and business plan competitions—discourage people taking initiative. Entrepreneurial activity is lower now than in generations.

Initiative then shows a way out: how to create in your life the success of hundreds of clients and students of a variety of ages, cultures, and interests. Its exercises work.

Initiative shares stories of people who started, often with no ideas, to develop projects they loved and others rewarded them for.

Initiative goes beyond “just” entrepreneurship. You can apply it to start for-profits, not-for-profits, community organizations, hobbies, or anything that takes initiative.

You can use it to gain responsibilities at your current job, get promoted, and get job offers.

You will unearth passions you forgot you had.

You will meet and lead valuable people in any field to see you as a peer and support you.

You will only wish you started earlier.

For projects begun from Initiative‘s exercises, results include:

One participant became a Y Combinator company
Coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Forbes, Inc, TechCrunch, etc
One gave a TEDx talk on his project
One spoke at Harvard on her project
Funding from Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Eric Schmidt
One led a team of medical engineers (while she was an undergraduate)
One was named a Dalai Lama fellow
Plenty of others have gotten funding, promotions, jobs, etc

Jonathan’s story

Jonathan from Chapter 1 shares his experience:

Here is a Wall Street Journal article about his project:
For Struggling Consumers, a Cheaper Way to File for Bankruptcy
(and without the paywall).

An Initiators’ Roundtable

RJ, Grace, and Nikita from the book and three others share their experiences:

An interview with Dan, who did the exercises from the book

Reviews

Whether leading or following, you need to read Initiative. I have long yearned for such a book—the most clear and persuasive on personal development and leadership I’ve found in 60 years of adulthood.

— Lieutenant General Paul K. Van Riper, US Marine Corps (Retired)

The disease is helplessness and inaction, and Joshua Spodek has the cure: Initiative.

— Daniel Pink, author of When and Drive

Joshua Spodek’s Initiative enables everyone to imagine more and to do more through simple exercises.

— Beth Comstock

Many congratulations to Josh Spodek for Initiative!

— Alan Iny, Boston Consulting Group

Joshua Spodek restores the humanity, soul, and passion to the entrepreneurial spirit.

— Frances Hesselbein

If you’ve ever wanted to start a project but weren’t sure how, Initiative is the missing piece.

— Dorie Clark

Joe’s story

Results

I’ve led clients and students through the book’s exercises from executives to high school students worldwide.