Inc. Magazine, in its own words: For 35 years, we’ve been the premier publication dedicated to entrepreneurs—the most innovative, most courageous, and most essential business leaders in America. In that time, Inc. has won widespread recognition for maintaining the highest editorial standards as we’ve documented that world. How did it improve overnight? They hired me as their latest columnist! Today marks my first piece, “How I Wish Business School Had[…] Keep reading →

Damn, it feels good to lift. Since starting this blog, I’ve run a marathon, done over sixty-thousand burpees, developed well-defined abs, won summer league finals playing Ultimate Frisbee, rowed on the stationary rower the equivalent of the distance to Pittsburgh from New York, and a few other active things. But I haven’t lifted weights in that time. Except I have a few times lately, and, man, does it feel good.[…] Keep reading →

Do you like business success? Then read “Going the Distance,” in Columbia Business School’s alumni magazine, on how sports contribute to business success in an interview of me. Here is part of the interview, to whet your appetite: Skills mastered through endurance sports fuel success in business, says marathoner and serial entrepreneur Joshua Spodek ’06. […] First things first: why run?  One of the attractions of running is that there’s[…] Keep reading →

Leading others begins with leading yourself. Part of my daily workouts is to stretch my hamstrings by sitting with my legs straight in front of me, like this: How do you feel about your abdomen when you crunch forward like this? Does it show fat that you prefer people not see? Do you look flabby? Do you avoid such positions for that reason? I noticed that my entire life I’ve[…] Keep reading →

A reader asked the following: Regarding exercise, I have been able to start with my running and I still have some questions around managing what i eat when.. evening times seem a kind of “let it all go” time.. any suggestions you have towards that would be great. She suggested adding that she’s “of Asian origin.” I’ll share what worked for me. Since there are a million books on diet[…] Keep reading →

“He’s so lucky! He never puts on weight!” “She’s so lucky! She loses weight so fast!” I hear people say things like that all the time. If I eat one unhealthy meal, I can see it on my belly. But then even after running a marathon I don’t see that fat go away. Fat goes on immediately and takes a long time and a lot of work to get off.[…] Keep reading →

Have you put everything you had into something? Have you tried as hard as you possibly could? Have you run until you dropped? Skied as fast as you possibly could, risking injury? Decided to lift a weight you couldn’t conceive of lifting and done it? Have you run sprints in the rain, alone? Have you put your name and reputation on the line for all time? Have you said no[…] Keep reading →