Podcast Episode # 27 – Going Beyond Limitations

Episode # 27 of Xtraordinary Living is out. The topic is Going Beyond Limitations. In this episode I interview Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes. Dean is an amazing example of someone living an extraordinary Life. Men’s Fitness Magazine proclaimed, Dean “The fittest man in the world.”

As an internationally recognized endurance athlete, speaker and best-selling author, Dean has pushed his body and mind to inconceivable limits. Among his many accomplishments: he has run 350 continuous miles, foregoing sleep for three nights; run across Death Valley in 120 degree temperatures: and run a marathon to the South Pole in negative 40 degrees. His most recent endeavor was running 50 marathons, in all 50 US states, in 50 consecutive days — finishing with the NYC Marathon, which he ran in three hours flat.

In our 27th episode, you’ll learn:
– What it means to be an ‘Ultra’ Marathoner.
– When and why Dean decided to start to run.
– Why our obsession with comfort can lessen our enjoyment of living.
– Why it’s important to set lofty goals, yet take ‘baby steps’ to achieve them.
– Tips on how you can order food ‘to go’ while you’re running a marathon.
– The importance of scripting out your perfect life.
– What impact his passion for running has had on his family.
– How is 50-50-50 marathon achievement is adding scientific information on how his body handles going beyond the normal.
– And much more!

If you would like to find out more about Dean Karnazes, click here to visit his website.

After you listen to Dean’s interview, post your thoughts below. Be sure you tell us what you think about our new podcast theme song! In addition, you can leave your feedback by phone. Simply call 206-337-0637 and record your comments and tell us what you think. For your comments you will be entered into a contest to win a fully loaded iPod nano. Watch for details, but start getting your entries today.

This episode is approximately 34 minutes long. To listen to it, click here:Podcast 27

Instead of listening to the podcast here, you may want to consider subscribing directly using your preferred podcasting tool (see below.) The benefit to you in doing this is that it frees you from being tethered to your computer. You now have the freedom to listen to it WHEN & WHERE you want to.

Subscribe:

Or copy and paste this URL into a podcasting tool:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/rickipll/feed.xml

Technorati Tags: Ultramarathon Man, Dean Karnazes, Fittest Man in the World, Amazing Performances, Elite Runner, Inspiration, Xtraordinary Living, www.productivelearning.com, Rick Itzkowich

Quotes for the week of March 19-23

If you are currently a “QuoteActions” subscriber and would like to receive the corresponding actions to these quotes, please send me an email requesting them. Just be sure to include this week’s dates so I can send you the appropriate ones. If you are not yet a subscriber, you may want to take the 2-week $1 trial so that you can find out the tremendous value that these actions add to the quotes. Don’t forget to vote for this week’s favorite quote in the poll below.

Here are these week’s quotes:

“If we have our own ‘why’ of life, we can bear almost any ‘how’.” 19th Century German Philosopher, Friedrich Nietzche

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln

“There are no reasonable people at the top.” Image Consultant, Gloria Starr

“We never know the love of a parent until we become parents ourselves.” 19th Century Minister, Henry Ward Beecher

“The wise person questions himself, the fool others.” General, Henri Arnold

Which “QuoteAction” did you find most useful this week?
If you are not receiving the “QuoteActions” by phone, then vote on the quote alone
Friedrich Nietzche’s
Abraham Lincoln’s
Gloria Starr’s
Henry Ward Beecher’s
Henri Arnold’s
See Results

Technorati Tags: “QuoteActions”, Motivational Quotes, Xtraordinary Living, www.productivelearning.com, Rick Itzkowich

Save Internet Radio

About a year ago I wrote a post called Funning where I talked about one of my hobbies – listening to music. I do most of my listening when I’m in my office to two Internet radio stations that are now in jeopardy of becoming extinct thanks to some legislation. If you are an Internet music listener this is something that will affect you directly.

Please read the following post and be sure to fill out the petition. In my opinion, one of the best aspects of blogs and other social media, is that it allows us to exercise our freedom of choice. If this is something that matters to you, be sure to take 5 minutes and do this.

Technorati Tags: Internet Radio, Pandora, Xtraordinary Living, www.productivelearning.com, Rick Itzkowich

This week’s quotes used in the QuoteActions program

Many people participating in the “QuoteActions” program have asked to see if we would offer the program via email in addition to the telephone. While this is not a viable option right now, I’ve decided to offer a weekly recap of the quotes used in the “QuoteActions” program via this blog.

If you are registered for the “QuoteActions” program and you would like to receive the “action” connected to a particular quote, please send me an email and I will get it to you.

If you’re not yet a subscriber to the “QuoteActions” program, I really encourage you to give it a try. This program offers a great structure to tap into the best of your thinking on a daily basis. You can sample the program for 2 weeks for only $1. To find out more about it click here.

Here are this past week’s quotes:

“True discovery consists not in finding new landscapes, but in seeing the same landscape with new eyes” 20th Century Novelist, Marcel Proust

“What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.” Author, Norton Juster

“There’s only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.” Football Coach, Vince Lombardi

“The more a man knows, the more he forgives.” Empress Catherine the Great

“Often we change jobs, friends and spouses instead of ourselves.” Author, Arkbarali Jetha

IF you are in the “QuoteActions” program, please let me know if you find this weekly recap useful. I am also including a poll below so you can vote on your favorite “QuoteActions”.

Which “QuoteAction” did you find most useful this week?
If you are not receiving the “QuoteActions” by phone, then vote on the quote alone
Marcel Proust’s
Norton Juster’s
Vince Lombardi’s
Catherine the Great’s
Arkbarali Jetha’s
See Results

Technorati Tags: “QuoteActions”, Motivational Quotes, Xtraordinary Living, www.productivelearning.com, Rick Itzkowich

Podcast Episode # 26 – Livin’ Large

Episode # 26 of Xtraordinary Living is out. The topic is Livin’ Large. In this episode I interview Z57’s Co-founder and CEO Steve Weber. With Weber’s interview, you’ll get yet another perspective on how to have an extraordinary life. With a 200+ employee company, family of four and passion for baseball, Steve Weber mixes up these three ingredients with clarity and vision to achieve success.

Founded in 1998, Z57 has been one of San Diego’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately-held Companies for the last three years, named the number one web developer and design firm in San Diego for five consecutive years – and just this past year, was featured in Entrepreneur magazine under the headline of ‘Riding the Wave.’ We think you’ll get some great applicable information from Weber’s insights.

In our 26th episode, you will hear:
– How Z57 got its start with less than $2000 in 400 sq. ft. area.
– Why the company has been profitable since day 1.
– How Z57 “uncovered” its core values; hint – not in the usual way.
– When empowering managers and replacing yourself is the right and courageous thing to do.
– Tips on how to prioritize activities for balancing your personal and professional life.
– How the San Diego Padres have a boatload of fans when Z57 brings their team of 200 to Petco Park.
– And much more!

After you listen to Steve’s interview, post your thoughts below. Also, you can leave your feedback by phone. Simply call 206-337-0637 and record your comments and tell us what you think. For your comments you will be entered into a contest to win a fully loaded iPod nano. Watch for details, but start getting your entries today.

This episode is approximately 24 minutes long. To listen to it, click here:Podcast 26

Instead of listening to the podcast here, you may want to consider subscribing directly using your preferred podcasting tool (see below.) The benefit to you in doing this is that it frees you from being tethered to your computer. You now have the freedom to listen to it WHEN & WHERE you want to.

Subscribe:

Or copy and paste this URL into a podcasting tool:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/rickipll/feed.xml

Technorati Tags: Entrepreneurial success, Riding the Wave, Z57, Small Business, Xtraordinary Living, www.productivelearning.com, Rick Itzkowich

The cost of ignorance

As I was mounting my bike I noticed that I had a flat tire. On an earlier post I wrote about the lesson I learned from getting my first flat on the road. Having learned that lesson, I was ready to embark on this adventure. You see, I’m not the most mechanical person and changing a flat tire IS an adventure.

After a good number of tries, I finally was able to figure out what I needed to do, had the new tube in place and was ready to pump air into it. Unfortunately no matter how much air I was pumping in, it was all going out. I figured that I had either done something wrong or else I had a defective tube. It was time to go to the bike shop!

At the bike shop, as I handed my bike to the attendant and was explaining that this was my first attempt at changing a flat tire he asked me: “did you find what had punctured the first tube before you installed the spare?” I responded that it never occurred to me to do this. He then said that if I didn’t do this, there was a good chance that the same thing would happen to the next tube.

Sure enough that turned out to be the problem. There was a piece of glass inside the tire that had punctured the 1st tube. In my ignorance, I hadn’t removed the glass before installing the second tube, once I pumped air into it, the new tube came in contact with the glass and also got punctured. Of course this was also validation of my “I’m not a mechanical person” belief!

As I reflected on this episode, I remembered a quote by Derek Bok a former president of Harvard University:“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”. Yes gaining experience and education is often costly, but it sure beats the alternative.

Besides getting educated to prevent something like this from happening again, I also need to continue working on my belief that I’m not mechanical. Until I do, no amount of education will help me. This is a key ingredient that people often miss – the fact that our beliefs prevent us from making changes even when we have the necessary knowledge and/or information to do so.

In my case, I can start re-framing my “I’m not mechanical” belief with a new one that goes something like this: “I’m not very mechanical but I’m learning how to change that” This new belief opens up possibilities that are not available with the old one.

Learning how to change our beliefs will allow us to make better use of the education we receive.

Technorati Tags: beliefs, education, Xtraordinary Living, www.productivelearning.com, Rick Itzkowich