I'm excited to announce I am partnering with Podfest Global Summit to present 5 incredible podcasters in an afternoon of motivation and information!! The #podfestglobal Summit is a week-long event, and we’re taking over August 13th from noon to 4:00pm EST and featuring Matt B. Davis of Obstacle Racing Media, Mark Divine of Unbeatable Mind, Anders Varner of Barbell Shrugged, Lara Pence, PsyD, MBA Pence from our Spartan Up MIND series and ... super exciting! .. GABBY REECE of The Gabby Reece Show!!
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Free tickets are still available at the Podfestexpo website.
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Thank you Chris Krimitsos for this opportunity!

Let's be real.  We all want to look our best on camera and in videos, and we want to be real.  Here are 3 simple tips that will make you look better without changing your make up or using filters. 3 simple tips so you look better in your videos.

If you want to see more like this, please subscribe to my youtube channel.

Life is different now.  Learning comes from new experiences.  But sometimes doing the same thing ... staying home... IS a new experience.

I challenged myself to create a series of four videos with myself as host, and to talk about my own creative and personal development journey.  I have made fun of people who do this for my entire life...until I started producing Spartan Up podcast and listening and learning from them. There is still a high proportion of blowhards and snake oil salesmen in the self help arena, and yet those reminders, hacks and lessons propel me forward.

As Doug Comstock said - I'm not telling you anything new, I'm just reminding you.

So here is video three of the series.  In this video I talk about the two most helpful tactics / principles I have learned.

When I posted the video about podcasting safely while social distancing a few people asked me about wind noise.  I realized that things I've been doing for 30 years  are second nature to me, but not everyone knows them. So - here's a quick video about 4 ways to stop wind noise from ruining your shoot when you get to record outside.

Find more technique and "how To" videos for podcasters and YouTubers here.

It started when I heard an interview with James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.  He said to establish a habit start with something really small, for example one push up a day.  It sounds ridiculous.  But when you start with a small commitment you'll be more likely to keep it.  Once you start keeping it you begin to see yourself in a new light - as someone who does a push up every day.

So I decided I'd run one mile every day.  I've written about that, and it's been going pretty well.  And James Clear was right.  Success there lead me to take on another challenge.  When COVID times started I committed to posting a daily photo journal here on my blog for a month.  I did that too.  I realized that the simple practice of writing and photographing every day was helping me grow as a creative, whether anyone read it or not.

Now I'm challenging myself to create a video, with me as the on camera host, talking about my own creative journey, every week for the next four weeks.  Here is the first:

Next week I'm going to talk about the value of keeping your work to YOURSELF.

 On January 2nd I wrote in my journal "Run 1 mile every day. More is ok, but always 1 mile."

I hadn't given much thought to that fact that it was January and the days were short and cold. I figured I could do one mile.  I had heard an interview with James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, a few days before.  He suggested picking something small, like one push up, every day.  Through my work at Spartan and the Spartan Up podcast I've come to think of ultras as no big deal.  A mile seemed so small.  But I started. 

For 44 days, usually in the dark and usually in the snow, I ran one mile every day. I never looked forward to it, but I was always glad I had done it.  I made it public - told my family and friends.  But on day 45 I mixed up time zones coming back from a conference in LA and missed a day.  So I started again at one.

Here's what I've learned:
1. I've heard it takes 30 days to create a habit. I disagree. It's been over 150 days (minus the two I missed) and it's still not a solid habit.  
2. That moment of decision - "should I run today or take a day off?" - that is where the greatest challenge lies.  Knowing that I will run every day, removes that hurdle.
3. In COVID times I've had the most consistent and predictable schedule I have had in years! Probably ever. I miss unpredictable, but the sameness has made me start look forward to my daily runs.
4. It's about more than running.  I'm starting to think of myself as someone who runs every day and that starts  driving me to keep doing running, but also to take on new challenges. 
5. It's a bare minimum that I always know I've accomplished when my head hits the pillow.  That's good.

Ultimately I think of it as practice keeping my word to myself.

So... the home haircut didn't quite turn out as planned.  But it provided a few of the best laughs we've shared as a family since COVID times began!
The good news:
1. His beautiful smile is even more visible
2. Hair grows back
​3. Mac is a great sport, with a great sense of humor who doesn't let the little things like an unintended shaved head get him down.

8 years ago the small town of Pittsfield was struck hard by the remnants of Hurricane Irene.  In a town of fewer than 500 people more than 10 homes were completely destroyed. The town, with little official infrastructure, was completely cut off from the outside world.  Pittsfield did not have it's own police force, ambulance, hospital or school. What it had was strong resilient community.

Our house was among those hit hard, but still in many ways it was a glorious time.  Days filled with sunshine and community. The roads were closed so everyone walked, the pace slowed down and everyone was looking for ways to help their neighbors.

That first Sunday when the storm hit was frightening, we saw the river rise higher than we'd ever seen it rise.  Friends had to be rescued by volunteer fire fighters and neighbors just minutes before their house collapsed, my husband was stuck for the night in the car in the driveway.  Unable to get back to our house as it was slammed by 8 feet of raging water, and unable to cross the bridge from our road into town.  Meanwhile I had taken our two young kids and my mother to the Swiss Farm Inn for refuge. 

By 7am the first morning the town gathered at the town hall to start coming up with a plan.  Already neighbors were feeding each other, taking each other in, and sorting through debris for prized possessions. Soon after families with heavy machinery started building roads, the two general stores in town set up a massive BBQ on the town green with the food from their quickly thawing freezers, medical facilities were set up in the library, and an outdoor school was set up on the green.

I did what I knew how to do.  I started to capture the story.  It was awkward at first.  I wanted to be part of the story, part of the effort to rebuild, but eventually I realized this was my best way to contribute.

The film aired on PBS 4 or 5 times, now I'd like to get the word out - community resilience comes from strong community bonds. Here is the complete documentary.

We're not waiting to get back to life.
We are living. 
This IS life. 
Not life as we expected it to be.
But life as it is. 
Life is a gift.
A sunny day is an even greater gift.

Breakfast with "Grumpy" and Trooper and an afternoon in the sun. 

Followed by family "dinner out."

I had a quick (socially distanced) meet up with Sefra to shoot some podcast intros. I've missed people!

I do feel a little heartbreak on their behalf - at a time in life when they should be spreading their wings they are pushed back into the nest.  But it's just a speed bump in the story of their lives.

And - they are learning a set of skills that will set them up for life.  The skills of the "digital nomad." If you can work independently, digitally, you can work wherever and whenever you want.  You need to have work that can be done virtually, you need the ability to manage your own time and deadlines interspersed with scheduled meetings and phone calls, and you need a sufficient self drive.

Their school right now is very much like 80% of my work.

Of course I look forward to the day when we are all able to be more human and social again, but it the meantime I'm focusing on what can be learned.  What we learn is not always in the classes we take or the books we read, but in the way we live.

I knew the day would come. After a month of these posts my kids have had enough.  I can't say I blame them. We're all home all day, so when I committed to taking photos every day that meant a lot of photos of them.  I'm going to give them a break.

Today I want to share this Bukowski poem I just discovered called "The Laughing Heart."

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

“The Laughing Heart” by Charles Bukowski from Betting on the Muse

​When a small pebble lands in a pond it makes a splash. At first, only that one point in the water is affected. But with time the ripples expand.  Soon every part of the pond has been altered.

If you are feeling a pause, then take this time to steady yourself. To strengthen and ground yourself firmly. This is just the beginning.

I'm an optimist.  We will find new ways to thrive, but here are some of the ripples I think are coming our way, followed by some of the true wisdom our moms have divined from this experience so far.

The Economy
Some are feeling comfortable right now. Maybe you work in eCommerce or software design and you are busier than ever. The ripples are coming.  If your business is still going strong that's great.  But how are your customers doing? And their customers ... and their's? When this many people are jobless, and this many businesses are closed, the eventual impacts are inevitable.  It may take years for the ripples to reach every shore.

The Value of Local
With disruptions in the supply chain, people have a greater recognition for the value of local.  Local produce, local dairy, local take out, and local innovation will be prized.

Virtual work is a Double-Edged Sword
Right now the world is discovering the value of virtual.  You can work from anywhere in the world. That also means employers can get the services you provide from anywhere in the world. Soon you will be competing against a much wider and deeper pool of workers for your job.  

If you've found a way to move your services, courses, or coaching online and you're excited about the possibility of scale, be ready. You will soon be competing head to head against the biggest players in the world.  Without local, what will set you apart?


Hunger for In-Person Connection
A lot of people have learned they can do more than they ever dreamed of from home - zoom family reunions, virtual work, even the news anchors are reporting from their living rooms.  But I believe this experience will also awaken a recognition of the true value of in-person connection.  I have been working from home for most of my career and cherish my in-person time with friends and colleagues. I'm intentional about planning in-person coffee meetings, yoga classes, and walks.  This way of thinking is becoming more widespread.  I've heard predictions that this will be the end of movie theaters.  Maybe it will.  But going to  the movie theater hasn't been just about the movie for a very long time.

What the Wisest Moms Can Teach:
We host a daily Spartan Up Podcast Zoom call with some of our podcast hosts and featured guests.  Today, through a series of mistakes and coincidences, Johnny Waite, Sefra Alexandra and I found ourselves on the call with our moms!  Michael Aspinall showed up and after a little catching up he asked the 3 moms - with all of your wisdom, what have you learned from the pandemic?

The answers:
* The importance of family and of recognizing the good moments.
* That being alone is Ok, in fact, it can be good for creativity and self-development
* That people are more intentional than they've ever been and are paying attention to what is most important. 

The refrain - we are staggered by the blessings.

Today I'm taking a moment to appreciate the incredible craftsmanship my kids put into this hobby.