Your best just got better

Race morning: Admiral's Cup Triathlon

Lucky me!

I'm up, my tri bag is packed, my bike is ready, and I'm "almost" there mentally...it's RACE MORNING!

The Admiral's Cup Triathlon is a fast race (last year, I finished in just over 57 minutes) made up of:

400 Meter Swim
11 Mile Bike
3.1 Mile Run

I won my age group in this race last year...I had a lot of factors in my favor:

The race was later in the season (the end of July); I had just raced in New York (where my "bike split" was 12th fastest overall, I finished 218th out of just under 3,000 athletes!); I had ridden 850 miles through Colorado (I had been training "at altitude" for 15 days); and, I had a really, REALLY good day!

Of course, I'm looking to repeat the performance today...so, at 0800 hours, from the beach of the Pt. Mugu Naval Base, in Ventura County, California, I'll run, bike and swim with the best of them!

Do you have a goal that seems "bigger than you?"

Bruzzese: Turn adversity into dreams come true

In one of those "amazing-power-of-the-Internet" introductions, I was introduced to Stephen Hopson. I admit, I went about reading his blog (Adversity University Blog) without realizing Mr. Hopson is deaf! Here's a link to an article written about him by Anita Bruzzese recently...

Deaf since birth, he achieved his dream in 2006...to become an airplane pilot!

As a self-described kid who was "scrawny, with yellow buckteeth and ... a monstrous hearing aid box that was strapped around my chest with hearing aid cords that ran up to my ears," Hopson had big dreams about one day becoming a pilot.

Tags: StephenHopson, Pilot

If there was balance, then what?

For years now, I've coached with what I will call "seriously" successful leaders on a few continents. One thing I've heard people talk about is this seemingly elusive thing called "work-life balance." Just when I started to consider the "impossibility" of such an equilibrium, I saw this picture. Now, I'm rethinking it all!

Tags: work-lifebalance

What's your "walking score?"

A friend of mine sent me this link (thanks James!), and I found it very, very interesting. My house...is a 0 out of a possible 100 points! What's YOUR walking score?

Where does YOUR attention go?

Got a nice little mention over here from guest blogger Andre Kibbe on the weblog that Francis Wade is writing...Thank you!

(Click the picture, to read my quote...)

Be a scientist...about your life and experience

I am reading the book, Predictably Irrational, on my Amazon Kindle and besides loving the eBook reading experience, I'm finding the book to be a major force in my learning and development as a Social Scientist of the work-life management process. Here's a quote from the beginning of the book by Dan Ariely:

"AS YOU WILL see in the pages ahead, each of the chapters in this book is based on a few experiments I carried out over the years with some terrific colleagues. Why experiments? Life is complex, with multiple forces simultaneously exerting their influences on us, and this complexity makes it difficult to figure out exactly how each of these forces shapes our behavior. For social scientists, experiments are like microscopes or strobe lights. They help us slow human behavior to a frame-by-frame narration of events, isolate individual forces, and examine those forces carefully and in more detail. They let us test directly and unambiguously what makes us tick."

If you're looking for a book the "proves" a lot of what makes sense intuitively, and provides some interesting background and "more-or-less" objective studies, I recommend checking Predictably Irrational out of the library or at least reviewing the pages on-line...And, Click Here for the book's official website.

Have you ever wondered how to repay someone a favor they gave to you...but didn't know how or what to do? Check out chapter 12.

Is your business based on selling products AND services? If so, check out Chapter 1...you may get an idea that boosts your bottom line in a matter of months, if not days!

"Pass along the savings..." a short article for small business owners

Our most recent article is on "cost-cutting" for small(er) business... Please take a look and let us know what you think!

What if you lose your Smart Phone?

UPDATE: A one-minute video presentation here...

There is article in the Wall Street Journal today called, "Do Hackers Pose a Threat To Smart Phones?"

The author, Joseph De Avila, does a great job in letting us know the possible security risks of entering a "lot" of information onto a Smart Phone; he also gives some ideas on how to mitigate some of those risks.

One thing I have done (thank you for showing this to me, Jonathan!) is created a security "password" on my BlackBerry. Any time I want to "get in" to the phone, I have to type in a multi-character password. (Yes, I realize that if someone gets my Smart Phone, and they REALLY know what they are doing, it may not block their access...)

My thinking is/was, if I accidentally leave my BB behind, I can at least know that the person who finds it may not have instant/complete access to all my personal information. So, here's how I did it:

(You can click on the pictures below to see them more clearly...)

On the "main screen" find the icon for "Settings." Click on that icon to amend your BB settings.

Click on the icon for "Options." Click on that icon to change your security settings.

What are you "thinking" of doing?

Occasionally, I see something that inspires me to sit down, take out a piece of paper, and start journaling...again. Usually, it is an inspiring story, the one where someone does something they are proud of, something that pushes them further, something they "didn't think they could do..."

I saw this great (six-minute) YouTube (thank you Michael Hyatt!) testimonial to running a 1/2 marathon...if you have a few moments, just look at these people, the smiles on their faces, and the pride in their voices. I missed running with this group in 2008, but I did finish the Nashville Country Music 1/2 Marathon back in 2002, with my brother, Nathan Womack..., here I am at the beginning, and at the end. (Something about running, it's easy to smile!)

Hey, what are YOU thinking of doing? Write it down, look at it from time to time, and let me know how it goes!

Wow, thank you for the great news!

I'm about to call it a night...it's late here in California, and I've already got a full day planned for tomorrow, starting at 5am! But, I had to share this quick quote.

Oh, right before I do, I'd like to ask you to pause for a moment and think about someone in your life who gets you thinking; someone who pushes you to be your best; someone there for you, when you need someone to be there...

Occasionally, I get the opportunity to meet people and to "stay in touch" over the years. Clients turn in to acquaintances who sometimes turn into friends...here is a note I read in my e-mail inbox this afternoon...

The SUBJECT line was: "I love getting your newsletters!"

...and, here is what he had to say:

Thanks.  I enjoyed the videos also.  I got a promotion late last year.  In part I attribute that to the learning journey you started me on.  Keep up the good work!