During this holiday season, I hope you are grateful for the things that are great in your life,
that you choose what you can use from the things weren't great …
and that you invest those lessons in your future.
The hardest part of finding a better way is often just remembering that there might be one.
___________________
Best wishes to you for a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year.
- Howard
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I know what I want for the holidays ... an amazing island built right on a beautiful yacht.
HT KD
This was created by UK-based Yacht Island Designs.
As you can see, the design is inspired by tropical islands, with huts, a pool ... and to top that ... a volcano guaranteed not to erupt.
Since it's a yacht, it comes packed with VIP rooms, arcades, gym, lounges, spas and even a helipad. What a great place to do business?
The back of the yacht has a retractable beach deck and dock. Why go to the trouble of getting out to sea if you can't wake-board, jet-ski, or swim; right?
If you want to know how much it would cost to fuel-it-up or operate, it's probably not in your price range.
Hope you are having a happy holiday season.
This Thanksgiving weekend, a friend called to say he was reaching out to the people he was thankful for - and just wanted to let me know how he felt.
My mind immediately began thinking about what else the call could have been about? I remembered that I intended to send him a book. I thought about the last time we talked. And then it hit me, he was actually exercising his ability to be thankful.
Wow, what a concept.
Were you actually grateful and thankful this weekend?
It is a choice. It is a habit. For me, it is something I aspire to exercise more regularly ... What about you?
Looking back over the past few weeks, I recognize that I have been pushing hard - with a focus on finishing the year strong. Maybe it's time to recognize how much progress was made and intentionally focus on making people feel appreciated and capable instead?
Scar tissue, resentment, frustration, and fear are unnecessary and counterproductive. It's time to figure-out what feels good and do more of it.
With that in mind, here is a picture of me with my awesome wife and oldest son at the Cowboys game. We had a great Thanksgiving. Hopefully, you did too.
This public service message has been presented by the part of me that knows better. Hopefully, the part of you that knows better will notice it.
Have a great rest of the year.
Inspiring and Fun! Seems appropriate for the start of the Holiday Season.
Beware, these three short videos may encourage you to travel, learn something new, move your body, or create something.
3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage… all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food.
Click to Watch.
MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.
LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.
EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.
Looking back over his career and body of work, it is clear that Steve Jobs deserves credit.
He was a world-class innovator and showman.
More importantly, Steve Jobs said "I want to put a ding in the universe." He did!
There is not an app to replace Steve Jobs. He was one of a kind.
One of the phrases people associate with Jobs is "Think Different!" He did. Bill Gates said he wanted to put a PC on every desktop. Steve Jobs put magic in your pocket.
As we mourn his death and celebrate his life, here are a few of Steve's quotes:
Apparently he knew when it was time to quit.
When he stepped-down from his role at Apple, HBR pointed out that Jobs knew something needed to change. Perhaps it really is time for Jobs to go home, as he put it, to a "wonderful family" and an "amazing woman" and re-reflect on a few of the provocative questions (slightly altered) that he posed to the world in his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address.
Here is the video.
Here are some of the questions he posed. (click here for the complete text version of the speech)
For almost four decades Steve Jobs has certainly tried his best to "put a ding in the universe."
If you are looking for more on Jobs' wisdom and insights, Umair Haque has a nice post on the Harvard Business Review site; it is called "Steve's Seven Insights for 21st Century Capitalists".
He highlights lessons that jumped out at him while looking through this compendium of Jobs quotes.
Here are two examples.
It Matters that it Matters. "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water — or do you want to change the world?" That's what Steve famously asked John Sculley. Translation: do you really want to spend your days slaving over work that fails to inspire, on stuff that fail to count, for reasons that fail to touch the soul of anyone?
Do the insanely great. "When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it." We're awash in a sea of the tedious, the humdrum, the predictable. If your goal is rising head and shoulders above this twisting mass of mediocrity, then it's not enough, anymore, to tack on another 99 features every month and call it "innovation." Just do great work.
Those aren't the only lessons, nor probably the best lessons. There are lots to choose from.
Umair Haque challenges: Steve took on the challenge of proving that the art of enterprise didn't have to culminate in a stagnant pond of unenlightenment — and won. In doing so, he might just have built something approximating the modern world's most dangerously enlightened company. Can you?
What a great thing career he had. He ends his Stanford speech with a quote that sums it up well.
"Stay Hungry ... Stay Foolish."
Most people say they want to be healthy. That's the easy part ... it's more challenging to do.
To be fair, life happens ... and it is hard to find sufficient time to exercise. Nonetheless, in this case, procrastination can be a real killer.
Procrastination doesn't just happen with exercise. Many things get put off while waiting for better circumstances, more data, or for it to be the "right" time. Well, it turns out that it's always a good time to take right action.
Here is a great video called "How Bad Do You Want It?" It is inspirational and worth watching. It's not just some exercise video ... there is a great message in there worth hearing about business and life, too.
How Badly Do You Want It?
Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought "how did that happen"? Pictures of me on the beach resembled the image on the right.
Perhaps I should blame genetics. My grandfather was a professional wrestler who tipped the scales well above 300 lbs., and my Dad spent plenty of time north of 300 as well.
A year-and-a-half ago I was Twinkie away from there myself.
At 265 lbs., my doctor told me I had a 10% chance of having a heart attack in the next year. That was my wake-up call.
I'm down to 228; and I am committed to being healthy and vital. That makes all the difference.
You Manage What You Measure.
One of the things I really like about the Fitbit is that it's constantly monitoring and reminding me about the actions I take - or the amount of non-action I tolerate.
Here is a screenshot of my Fitbit home screen. It's graphically pleasing and lets me quickly focus on the number of important fitness and activity metrics.
Notice that there is an activity graph that shows the amount and intensity of my activity in five-minute increments throughout the day. It updates wirelessly, and automatically, without me having to press any buttons.
In addition, here is a graph that shows the days activity broken into intensity levels.
I use a graph like this to figure out whether I'm happy with what I'm doing. At work, I do something similar. I ask the team to think about whether we are 'walking', 'jogging', 'running', or 'sprinting'? More importantly, to achieve what we want, what's the right mix?
It's one thing to tell yourself you're working hard; it's another to compare your levels with benchmarks or standards. Here's another area that Fitbit excels. This graph shows that last week my activity level fell in the 90th percentile.
However, this graph shows that recently my sleep patterns fell in the bottom 2%.
While I am competitive and want to increase the number of steps or the percentage of time I'm in higher levels of activity, the quickest way for me to improve my health is probably to get more sleep.
The point is Fitbit doesn't just focus on activity; it helps you figure out the right activities on which to focus.
There are lots of other things I could tell you (like, it is about the size of money-clip) ... but the most important is to just go get one. It is about $90 at Amazon.
Being Healthy, Fit, and Vital ... that's Priceless.
Steve Jobs deserves credit. He is a world-class innovator and showman.
Despite what the cartoon says, there is not an app for that. Replacing Steve Jobs will not be easy. He was one of a kind.
His latest accomplishment is that he figured-out how to get everyone to eulogize him while he's still alive.
Brilliant.
To be fair, these may be the last years (or days) of Jobs' life. But, as HBR points out, if so, Jobs no doubt knew that something needed to change. Perhaps it really is time for Jobs to go home, as he put it, to a "wonderful family" and an "amazing woman" and re-reflect on a few of the provocative questions (slightly altered) that he posed to the world in his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address.
Here is the video.
Here are some of the questions he posed. (click here for the complete text version of the speech)
For almost four decades Steve Jobs has certainly tried his best to "put a ding in the universe."
If you are looking for more on Jobs' wisdom and insights, Umair Haque has a nice post on the Harvard Business Review site; it is called "Steve's Seven Insights for 21st Century Capitalists".
He highlights lessons that jumped out at him while looking through this compendium of Jobs quotes.
Here are two examples.
It Matters that it Matters. "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water — or do you want to change the world?" That's what Steve famously asked John Sculley. Translation: do you really want to spend your days slaving over work that fails to inspire, on stuff that fail to count, for reasons that fail to touch the soul of anyone?
Do the insanely great. "When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it." We're awash in a sea of the tedious, the humdrum, the predictable. If your goal is rising head and shoulders above this twisting mass of mediocrity, then it's not enough, anymore, to tack on another 99 features every month and call it "innovation." Just do great work.
Those aren't the only lessons, nor probably the best lessons. There are lots to choose from.
Umair Haque challenges: Steve took on the challenge of proving that the art of enterprise didn't have to culminate in a stagnant pond of unenlightenment — and won. In doing so, he might just have built something approximating the modern world's most dangerously enlightened company. Can you?
What a great thing career he had. He ends his Stanford speech with a quote that sums it up well. "Stay Hungry ... Stay Foolish."
How do you make it easier to find opportunities to be healthier in our busy lifestyles?
Lots of people say health and fitness are important to them. Too often, that is an aspiration rather than a resolution.
A Healthy Equation.
The key is burning more calories than you consume. Yes, that is obvious ... but isn't easy.
How do you measure your real caloric intake, and accurately track the calories you burn?
Image via CrunchBase
I found a tool that helps. It is called Fitbit; and it tracks your sleep patterns, eating habits and activity to help you become healthier.
It also wirelessly syncs that information with your computer, and presents it to you in a way that lets you compete to reach your goals and out-do your friends. Yes, fitness has gone social.
Gamification is getting a lot of press recently. Apparently, it works.
Competition often brings out the best in people. There is a part of me that it doesn't believe it. Experientially, however, it's clear that I'm more likely to take action in competitive situations.
In a way, you can think of the Fitbit as a game where the challenge is to get at least 10,000 steps per day (and you can also get bonuses and brownie points for doing other healthy things).
The tracking and reporting component add enough competition to change behavior.
For example, there is a certain venture capitalist who is consistently kicking my ass by generating much higher numbers than I do. In addition, there is a short and portly industry analyst (old enough to be my father) who somehow took more steps than I did last week. These things cause me to get out of my chair and exercise. It has become so persistent that I've started parking farther away just to add to my count.
The proof is in the results. Here's a graph showing my weight over the past two months.
The jump in the middle came from a visit to the Jersey Shore, where my will-power lost a battle to unlimited Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches and hot pretzels.
You Can't Get There From Here.
It was harder than you might guess to get started.
I remember hearing a funny story about someone asking for directions after getting lost in a city and asking for directions. The response was "you can't get there from here." Well, it turns out that my goal of taking 10,000 steps a day was impractical; I couldn't get there from where I was.
In other words, even on a day when I exercised, my lifestyle didn't come close to an activity level of 10,000 steps per day.
Last summer, I celebrated the fact that I went to the gym three times per week. On one hand, I'm sure that's an improvement from not going to the gym three times a week. On the other hand, as I measured my activity levels and steps, that's a 5,000 to 7,000 steps per day activity level. By that, I mean that 5,000 steps is average, and I might be able to get the 7,000 steps if I really pushed myself.
As a practical matter, I couldn't get to 10,000 steps per day unless I changed something. For me, that meant jogging. And trust me, jogging was something that I didn't want to do. At a little over 240 pounds it was hard to drag my well-marbled meat suit around the park (especially in the Texas heat).
So, after going to the gym, I would reluctantly find my way to the park to waddle the extra mile. That increased my steps; and it also took me past the tipping point where I started to lose weight. That made running easier. Soon, I was shuffling 2 miles. Now, 4 miles is within my comfort zone.
Again, the key is that once your activity burns more calories than you eat, weight comes off quickly. Like I said, simple, "just not easy."
Intent and Focus Help Too.
The other area where the Fitbit has made a big difference is with the intent to be healthy. It's one thing to say that you will be healthy. It's another to vote with your feet and actually do healthy things.
The Fitbit helps bring the intent to the forefront of your consciousness. That means you will think about it more often. That also means you will notice more opportunities to be more active more often. As a result of the increased activity, you will burn more calories and lead a healthier lifestyle.
It's easy to manage what you measure. So making it easier to measure something can actually make it easier to achieve better results. That's where the Fitbit shines.
You never know when something like this can change your life or the life of someone else?
Every three days, more Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest than the number who died in the 9-11 attacks.
You can lessen this recurring loss by learning Continuous Chest Compression CPR, a hands-only CPR method that doubles a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest.
It’s easy and does not require mouth-to-mouth contact, making it more likely bystanders will try to help.
Here is a video showing you how it works.
If YouTube is blocked by your organization, you can watch the video on the Arizona Health Sciences Center site.
Visit the Sarver Heart Center for more information and resources on Chest-Compression-Only CPR.
In my experience, managing attention is harder than it seems.
Let's start with something easy ... Do nothing for 2 minutes.
Here is a link to a website that will let you try to do that.
Focus can be pretty fragile if it isn't a conscious choice.
OK, Let's Try Something a Little More Challenging.
Controlling your body by doing nothing is one thing; but, controlling your mind is something else altogether.
To get a sense about this, here is a seemingly easy challenge ... simply listen to a favorite song.
The challenge is how you can truly do that without losing focus and having other thoughts intrude (for example, without thinking about your to-do list or other songs that you like, or who you're going to meet with later in the day, etc.)? For me, the answer was not that long.
Sometimes it feels like modern life causes attention deficit disorder.
Attention Deficit Can Be Dangerous If You Aren't Aware of It.
Yet, losing focus while trading, in business, or even during a simple conversation - can have serious consequences.
When you are not aware of your focus, I bet it wanders. Mine does; I get distracted easily.
It didn't take long for me to realize that this happened to me while talking to my wife, while listening to a telephone call, even when ordering food at a restaurant. How can I lose focus on the waitress while I was ordering? Apparently, quite easily.
How about you? When you're listening to someone talk to you, are you really listening to them - or are you checking e-mail, texting, browsing a website, watching TV, playing a game, or thinking about what you're going to say?
Be honest with yourself; how often are you fully present? For me, the answer was not nearly enough.
Practice Mind Control.
Try listening to one song with your full attention and focus.
Now, imagine how different a conversation with someone important to you would be if you were consciously aware of your intent for them to experience being heard the whole time they were speaking to you.
Maybe it is easier to recognize how different it is for you when someone is truly present and focused on you when you talk with them?
If you want to explore more activities like this, pick up a copy of Dianne Collins' book "Do You QuantumThink". It has dozens of clever ways to wake back up and operate on a higher level.
