Jason Womack

Reflecting on procrastinating...

Jason,

If the work gets, "broken down,"  things seem more manageable.
Thanks.

Stan

Occasionally, someone pauses long enough to make it all worthwhile. Here's a really short e-mail I received after working with someone a couple of weeks ago.

      

Driving north...to ride south!

Well, I leave in the morning! I'm packed, the bike is ready, and we're sending "good thoughts to the sky" for weather to be in our favor for the trip.

I've been looking forward to this for over 2 decades! I'm riding my bike from where I grew up (Marin County) to where I went to graduate school (Santa Barbara). Here's a map of the route...

We'll be in Monterey on Thursday (3/1) and Morro Bay on Friday (3/2). We'll have a late lunch in Santa Barbara, to finish the ride, on Saturday (3/3). Anyone want to join us for a bit of the ride? Just let us know... We'll actually follow a bit of the Amgen Tour of California route!

Performance...and sleep

Click this Link for more: How to Know How Much Sleep You Need

Keep in mind that a typical sleep cycle is around 90 minutes, so sleeping in multiples of 90 minutes (and as a result, waking up at the end of a sleep cycle) can help you get the most out of sleep sessions. Waking in the middle of a sleep cycle leads to drowsiness and confusion, whereas waking at the end of one will often have you feeling more refreshed and alert.

This is something I've talked about with my clients for years. I've not done nearly as much study in this area as I'd like to. I've read a few books, and watched a few programs on the Discovery Channel and PBS. However, this one I trust: The 90-minute rule.

3 Dimensions to wealth

3 Dimensional Wealth by Monroe Diefendorf and Robert Madden...

Being a FitAndEffective guy, I realize it's not all about "physical" fitness. Years ago, while working with an Investment Bank in New York, I spoke on my expertise in potential and performance.

A managing director I worked with said, "You know, we're a lot alike; it's just that I'm focused on "fiscal" fitness." We went on to discuss that if you were fit - physically, fiscally, mentally, etc. - it made the everyday engagement in life and work easier and more rewarding.

How do you know your work out is effective?

How do you know if you're working out as effectively as possible?

Honestly, it's a question I still ask myself! Many people reading this are, in fact, "too busy" to get a long workout in. (C'mon, you've heard the advice: 40 minutes of exercise, at least 5 days a week. And some say, even more!*)

The way I see it, we could think about "physical performance" in many different ways.

(1) Actually track and judge the exercise and effort expended.
(2) Look at functional fitness as the intersecting point of engagement between your work and your life.
(3) Accept that physical activity need not be strenuous exercise to have a positive effect.

Leadership...a valuable asset

Click this Link for more: Some good words.

Leadership is the most valuable commodity in the world. Define your success. If you don't define success, you're future becomes a random ressult. Choosing the right behaviors is the key to success. In order to lead others, you need to be able to lead yourself first.

My friend Nik is always sharing good stuff with me. It turns out, he'll be leaving for a new leadership post in the SouthWest US. I can't wait to see what he learns - and shares! - from that detail.

What do you need to succeed?

Link: Dean Karnazes Interview

"You can't be afraid to fail, and that's hard, but unless you fail, you never push hard enough, so I think if you look at successful people, and happy people, they fail a lot because they're constantly trying to go further and expand."

In conversation with a reporter last week, discussing the new year, and he wrote to me asking:

The question is: what do you do to get the reluctant worker/wife/child in line with your goals for the new year?

Collaboration Success...

Click this Link: Collaboration Success Advisors, Ltd..

Helping People and Organizations Be Successful with Collaboration

You have a job to do ... a contribution to make so that this world is a better place ... and in nearly all cases, that requires working effectively with other people.

My New Zealand connection (it's on the "Someday/Maybe" list of places to ride my bike for a month or two...for now, I'll take the California Coastline) has launched a new organization.

Life/Work Balance in action

When I stop and consider how fortunate I am, the reminders come flooding into my mind. Just this morning, I awoke in Ojai and walked outside to find a star-filled sky. Looking to the west, I saw two shooting stars in the space of 5 minutes! Immediately, I noticed how warm it was...the Santa Ana winds last night brought us a temperature of 68 degrees...at 4:45am!
I began writing at 5am, and spent the next 95 minutes pouring ideas onto lined paper. Soon, the alarm rang (again)...it was time to go back outside.

Picture taken 02/17/2007  ~ 7:30am

The plan was to meet in Ventura. Our triathlon club puts weekend rides together, and today was one of my favorites. Ojai to Ventura to Santa Paula to Ojai. Along the way, before I met everyone at the starting point in Ventura, I stopped off at the beach and asked a couple to take my picture.

A colleague of mine - a financial analyst in NY and an Ironman triathlete - e-mailed recently to let me know it's very, very cold in NY these days. "Well," I say, "come out to CA for a little winter training!"

Promoting learning in a classroom environment...

My friend, and mentor, Barbara Blackburn, just published another book.

If you open this PDF, and go to the third page, under the section on "Variety," you'll read about my "teaching days." Reading this brought back many, many memories of times long ago...
If you are a teacher, or if you know a teacher, consider picking up a copy: Classroom Instruction from A to Z: How to Promote Student Learning.