OK, what can I say, I'm a fan. When he first wrote The 4-Hour Work Week, he had me at hello. The guy's a maverick so it should be obvious for those of you who know me. His ideas are radical, revolutionary, outside the box and I just love how he challenges convention (no surprise there). This book is the result of an obsessive quest spanning more than a decade. From elite athletes to dozens of MDs plus years of personal experimentation, Tim was searching for the answer to this question: "For all things physical, what are the tiniest changes that produce the biggest results?" This book answers that question. It's a great book to begin the new year.

Don't miss the teleseminar on Tuesday, January 25th at 12:00 noon CST.
 

Just CLICK HERE to get the call-in or log-in information.
 

Conversation with Mikki and  Laura Berman Fortgang
 

Musical Theatre was her first love which explains why everything is a song to Laura, but with a pretty reliable self-edit button, she has turned her ebullient take on life into a career

inspiring others to take action on their deepest desires and dreams. A pioneer in the life coaching field, an author of five self-help books and a continuous presence on national TV and print media, Laura has impacted millions of people over the last twenty years.

She'll be joining me to discuss:

• What you can control to improve your luck
• How rich people define security
• What these times are calling for to succeed
• Where to focus your energy for faster results in biz and life

No, these are not the shoes that go with this story but these are my newest

shoes and one of my oldest stories.  Okay, okay, I'm taking artistic liberty here. I'm in Mexico on vacation sharing stories with my travel companion.  When we finished the turtle experience, it triggered my duck story. At the famous Peabody Hotel in Memphis, renowned for the Peabody ducks, I was honored to be one of their honorary duckmasters (got the T shirt) and I believe my photo hangs in the Wall of Fame. I went to the penthouse where the ducks live, brought them down in the elevator, then using a gentle stick, directed them onto the red carpet that led from the elevator to the fountain where they spend their days, and at night the whole procedure reverses itself. People come from all over at the two designated times to watch the ducks enter and leave the fountains. Just another experience for the experience junkie...me  (I know what you're thinking)

And no, these shoes would not be duck-herding shoes.

The $100K Bird

My parents spent a near fortune sending me to an out-of-state university for a business degree from a highly-ranked institution. After changing majors five times I emerged with a degree in journalism. I don't know about you, but I retained a limited vat of collegiate knowledge, most of it 'worthless' in the most literal sense. But I do recall learning about an African deity known as the 'Sankofa Bird' that's brought clarity to my life.

The Sankofa Bird stands tall on its two legs, head turned back toward its tail feathers. The meaning? One must look to their past before flying forward.

As I look ahead to a new year, marked by just another day, I look back with gratitude for 2010's invaluable lessons and blessings. I'm thankful for surviving 16 weddings and still having shoes on my feet. (Thank you, Mikki, for your kind contribution of killer heels. They hurt like hell, but damn I look good!) Thankful for a family who, despite our gumbo nature of halves, steps and half-steps, show only love and support. (Respect can be questionable during heated board games.) Thankful for friends who applaud my efforts to be weird by wearing ripped leggings and colorful hair extensions. And most of all, thankful that I'm 28 and at a place in my career where I'm neither an overpaid executive or underpaid bottom-feeder, fearful of walking the unemployment plank.

As we fly into this new year, arms stretched wide and open to new experiences, I hope you take a moment to look back and prepare yourself to fly forward shakin' those tail feathers. Tweet-tweet!

)

Each year I have to weigh giving realistic fitness advice to my clients versus telling them what the latest science says. Through my years of experience and a lot of street education - I can tell you this - the closer I go to realistic - the greater the adherence and success. Therefore keeping with this notion and the K.I.S.S. principle - here are 3 things that will help improve your health and bring you greater amounts of energy in 2011.

1. Drink water....lots of it! Most of us walk around in a state of dehydration. By simply making a conscious effort to drink copious amounts of water - you hydrate yourself adequately and allow the body to function and feel better. As a rule of thumb aim to drink half your weight of water in ounces daily.

2. Skip Dinner and eat a hearty breakfast.  For most busy Americans, by the time dinner arrives we have already consumed our daily calorie requirements...and then some. Skipping dinner is simply putting the cap on the gas tank. Do this for a week - and you will begin waking up hungry which will encourage you to eat the most important meal of the day...breakfast.

3. Strive to move as much as you don't move. Most of our day is spent lying down or sitting, in other words not moving. Plan to be active every day. This does not mean just go to the gym or work out every day but  simply incorporate as much movement/activity as you can on a daily basis.

Dave Nelsen
Entrepreneur and Social Media Guide
Dave's formal title is President, Dialog Consulting Group
 From 2005 to 2009 he was CEO of TalkShoe, a social media company now serving more than one million monthly listeners...and the fabulous company I use to produce my monthly teleseminars.

 

An Idea Exchange
 

One hundred years ago most business people knew their customers' names, needs, likes and dislikes. Since then we scaled up in the name of productivity and volume but lost that customer intimacy. We mastered the art of the monologue (think websites, product brochures, press releases, advertisements, and email blasts).
 

Social networking tools allow us to create many-to-many conversations that reconnect us as individuals. One of my favorite such tools is an "idea exchange."
 

At www.MyStarbucksIdea.com you can make a suggestion, vote on the ideas of others, and see a list of Starbucks' changes resulting directly from customers' suggestions. Recently I received an email from Starbucks saying "Dave, here are the first 50 changes we've made based on your ideas!" (Note: Only 37 of the ideas were mine, personally; 20 million other fans contributed too). 

Countless organizations are facilitating similar dialogs. Dell is learning with its customers at www.IdeaStorm.com. Vancouver government officials are garnering the best ideas from citizens at www.Vancouver.UserVoice.com. What a fabulous development: politicians actually listening to and acting on the collective wisdom of their constituents!

You can run your own idea exchange for roughly $100/month with a service from either www.SalesForce.com or www.UserVoice.com. Together these folks power idea exchanges for more than 50,000 organizations, including all of the examples I've cited here. What are you waiting for?

REGISTER NOW!

 SPEAKERS SCHOOL IS NOW THREE DAYS!

Day One: Presentation Skills
Day Two: Learning Lab (Your opportunity to practice what you learned in Day One. You must have completed Day One to participate.)
Day Three: Getting Booked