Chicago has the best outdoor concert venue I've ever
been to anywhere: Charter
One Pavilion at Northerly Island, a little gem of a place right
on the lakefront. And it just so happens I witnessed Phil Lesh & Friends play
a MONSTER show there this past Friday night -- check
out the setlist. Founding member of the Grateful Dead, Phil is 68 years
old, still pushing the envelope of rock and roll improvisation -- I
wanna be like him when I grow up ...
Jack
Welch Speaks A lot of meaty quotes from the former GE CEO
about what it was like to reshape an already good company into a great
one over the course of almost 20 years.
Winter finally ended here and we had a wonderful week down in Puerto Morelos, near Cancun for the 11th annual White Iris Yoga Mexico Retreat (click on "Retreats") If you want to join us next year, mark the week of April 4th - 11th, 2009 -- you'll find the heat helps you get into the down dog pose real easy ...
What Got You HERE Won't Get You THERE Marshall Goldsmith, THE "Coach to the CEO Stars," give solid actions you can take to go from being a very good leader to becoming a great one. His unique approach: Most people at or near the top of an organization are pretty good at "To Do" lists. Goldsmith suggests a "To Stop" list, and goes on to list 20 specific habits you might need to break to help you improve your interpersonal leadership skills.
Mindset:
The New Psychology of Success What separates high achievers
from the
pack? Author Carol Dweck suggests winners have an ability to view
failure as a "growth opportunity" rather than a defeat, an important
lesson for anyone in a leadership position, especially parents and
teachers. The book shows
us how to interpret situations that don't go our way as a
challenge to get better rather than labeling ourselves a "f&#%ing
loser!" (That would be "failing loser" -- what were YOU thinking?)
I saw Dark Star Orchestra this past Friday night. It was another full-tilt, dance-til-you-drop (no one sits), sing-til-you're-hoarse (my voice sounds like I've been gargling with gravel) jam-band show. DSO channels the Grateful Dead like no one else, getting even better musically as time goes on -- been playing together since '98, started here in Chicago, Saturday 2/2 was their 1,500th performance (sold out, or I might have gone again).
They really capture the spirit of what it was like back in the day -- over 3 hours of music, and I was shakin' it the whole time. A GD/DSO concert absolutely has the same party atmosphere as other rock shows, except the band rarely says a word to the audience -- the strength of the music whips the crowd into a frenzy song after song. It's hard to imagine -- you have to experience it to believe it. If you got familiar with the songs I KNOW you'd become a great DeadHead/DSO fan, twirling 'round and round all night long amid the wafting scent of patchouli-tinged sweat and ganja mon! (What smoking ban?)
The
Pursuit of Happyness Yeah, the movie was good. But if you
want the real inside scoop of how much adversity Chris
Gardner overcame to make it, well, the book's a lot rawer than
the movie. Yet he triumphs in the end, which begs the question:
What's your excuse?
The Go-Giver Bob Burg (author of Endless Referrals) and John David Mann have crafted a fine parable about the power of sharing your network with other people regardless of any initial personal gain for you. What's interesting is Napoleon Hill mentions the exact same concept in Think and Grow Rich -- so the message of Burg and Mann's book might as well be "GIVE and Grow Rich." A must read for those who want to understand what networking is REALLY all about.
Here, There and Everywhere This is the best book I've seen on the creation of the Beatles' landmark recordings, written by a guy who would know -- their sound engineer from 1962 - 69, Geoff Emerick. If you ever wondered what went on in the studio between John, Paul, George and Ringo to make some of the greatest music of all time, THIS is the book you've got to read!
The 4-Hour Workweek Pretty outrageous title, no? But author Timothy Ferris claims he's doing it, and give you a road map on how to do it for yourself. While most of you won't get your week down to four hours, wouldn't it be nice to cut some of your workweek down (while being even more effective) to spend more time with family, friends and/or recreation? Lots of tips in here on how to do just that.
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