I just finished watching an hour-long video on YouTube of a panel by authors Marci Alboher - “One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success” and Tim Ferriss - “The 4-Hour Workweek; Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich”. It was part of the Authors@Google series and took place about one year ago in Mountain View.

Some key takeaways resonated well with me. Tim Ferriss emphasized time and time again against focusing on list of items and accomplishing as much as possible as opposed to focusing on the effectiveness of the work you are doing. His pareto analysis approach, i.e. focus on the 20% that achieves the 80%, is spot on. He also said that, when forced to do things from 9-5 in a single location, people will make up things to do to fill the time. While managing organizations, I have found this to be very true . The key is getting people to do innovative, effective things with the extra time.

Marci Alboher talks about “Slash Careers” where you have multiple jobs/pursuits to your life. I can certainly relate to her discussion. In addition to having run a division in a high technology company, I have specific interests in marketing, sales, computers, coaching individuals, writing, presenting, wine and cooking. I am always balancing these different activities in my life. I am truly a “slash” individual.

The video offers a new way to look at careers and life and really reinforces my belief on time management. Enjoy.

Tags: Four-Hour Workweek, Slash, Careers, Alboher, Ferriss

There are times where you find a hidden gem and you need to pass it forward. Reckless Kelly is one of them.

I was introduced to them by one of my friends. Hailing from Texas, their country/rock blend is quite enjoyable...if you don’t have any of their music, it is time to visit iTunes and download their three best songs:

Wicked Twisted Road
Seven Nights in Eire
Stick Around

Enjoy!

In the following advertisement from State Farm, a businessman to save on rising gas prices moves from driving his car to commute to work to riding a bicycle. The advertisement's proposition is that they will save enough money on his insurance so he can go back to his gas-guzzling automobile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6sNjUoF_Do

The guy is portrayed stupidly with a suit top and cycling pants and a women ridicules the person for his cycling pants. This commercial is just another attempt to portray automobiles as the end-all, be-all and cycling as a second-class citizen. If the guy can get to his office safely, then all the power to him for cycling instead of driving. Good for his health, good for the environment, and good for all of us.

We should be promoting commuting to work by bicycle...not denigrating it. To learn more about commuting to work by bicycle, please see this site.

On June 6th I will be cycling 75 Kilometers to fight Diabetes in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. I have joined thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, the top 10 reasons to fight diabetes are:

• Nearly one in ten American adults now has diabetes.

• Diabetes is the fifth-leading cause of death by disease in the U.S.

• Diabetes is a chronic disease and has no cure.

• Each year, more than 80,000 people with diabetes undergo amputations.

• Diabetes can cause other serious health problems ranging from stroke, heart disease, and
kidney failure.

• The incidence of diabetes has increased by 61 percent since 1990 and continues to rise at an
alarming rate.

• Approximately 20.8 million Americans have diabetes — including 6.3 million who don’t even
know it.

• An additional 54 million people have pre-diabetes, putting them at great risk for developing
type 2 diabetes.

• One out of every three Americans born today will eventually develop diabetes if present
trends continue.

• More than $1 in every $10 spent on health care services in the U.S. is attributable to diabetes. This translates to more than $132 billion direct and indirect healthcare costs (2002 statistics).

If you are interested in helping with a donation, please click on this link. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of more than 20 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and another 54 million people in the United States with pre-diabetes. Each kilometer I ride, each dollar you donate will be used in the fight to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by this disease. Together, we can all make a difference!

Yesterday' post was an Internet prank called Rickrolling. Basically, you trick the reader into believing that the post is important and then sending them to a copy of Rick Ashley's "Never Give You Up". The song actually hit #1 on the Billboard Charts on March 12, 1988.

Some details on Rickrolling can be found here. And yes it is a real link!

Check out this link!


Enjoy! ;)

There once was a young man who had just left the doctors office after learning he was dying. He was understandably very upset by the news. He decided to find out what alternatives to medicine might be available and the very same day headed to the city's main public library to investigate further. Tucked away back in a dusty corner was an obviously old book on unusual facts. Searching through it, he stumbled across an entry concerning an account of some immortal porpoises living in Central Africa. Deciding on the spot that this was his salvation, he soon was on his way across the ocean to deepest darkest Africa. Hating to fly, he'd booked passage on an outgoing ocean liner. Read More...

Yesterday was a terrible day for cycling in the Bay Area. Two separate accidents on roads that I normally ride remind us how fragile life is.

On a normally safe road, two cyclists were killed and one seriously injured after -- believe it or not -- a sheriff deputy apparently fell asleep at the wheel and ran into them across the road. Both cyclists were professional racers with one having Olympic potential. Also, on Skyline Blvd. at the top of the western hills of Silicon Valley, a car turned right in front of four Webcor riders --- also a racing team --- who were in a paceline. Three were sent to the emergency room with one still in the ICU. These riders were not recreational riders, but very skilled riders.

Cars and bicycles need to share the road safely. Dave Zabriskie, a world-class cyclist and a member of the 2008 Slipstream/Chipotle, has founded an organization Yield to Life to promote a safer environment for cyclists. It is time to get serious about safety for cyclists. Please donate to Yield to Life.

http://yieldtolife.org/

This week, George Mitchell released his report on steroid use in baseball with the actual names of players. Included in the report was Roger Clemens, among other star players. We now have Clemens, the dominant pitcher during my lifetime, as well as the dominant batter (Barry Bonds) accused of using steroids to enhance their performance. It is an indication of the sad state of affairs, where win at all costs is paramount. I think it is a microcosm of a bigger problem in America: the lack of moral absolutes...no real definition of right versus wrong. Read More...

There is a common saying that there is only two certainties in life: death and taxes. The estate tax combines both into one event. Read More...