Last day of March! It’s gone fast, but I guess that happens when you get two full weeks off. I was really off last night - muscle aches, chills and massive loose stools. I slept ok and even work up without being fully exhausted. I took it easy with the workout and I’m glad that I did. I’ll take tomorrow off an be ready for some fun next week!

It’s also clear that I cannot stomach the flax muffins anymore or really anything with fake sugar. If I’m going to hack this diet, I’ll need to cut the fake sugar out completely. In the long run it’s probably a great idea. 

One thing I learned: Instead of leaping to a plunge with making art, try splashing around in the water or taking little jumps. Nobody needs to write the mega book to make good art. Just make a small one and keep building on it. 

One piece of motivation: Making yourself regularly uncomfortable builds character and grit. Putting yourself in a position of difficulty is the key to personal growth. There is no better example than getting up early in the morning to workout out. It’s hard, painful and long-term. Worth it though.

Three ideas: If this whole 3rd child thing is a bust then I’m definitely going to look into my idea of moving on with the science centre idea. Perhaps it can be started small - I don’t know.

Workout:

25 min run 7.25 mph tempo

2 x 500 row

5 min heavy bag work

2 x 20 50b kettle bell deadlift

2 x 10 kettle bell swing

2 x 10 medicine ball push-ups

Another tough morning workout. I need somewhere to put the tired. I’m shocked at how sore and weak I am that early in the morning. The next step is to grab some caffeine or ephedrine and see if I can get a quick boost before a workout. 

Melissa was in the dumps last night. I’m on the fence with this situation. I know she’s stressed, but I’m hoping that she can turn a corner. If she sees the doctor, hopefully she’ll at least talk to her about her feelings. 

Today the 6s start invention convention. I think we need to figure out a way to generate ideas online. I’ll spend some time trying to find a software program that works effectively for this. 

One thing I learned: Don’t focus on the one star reviews. It’s our lizard brain compelling us to do it. Nobody ever looks at their one star reviews and changes the way they write. It’s simply a way for our lizard brain to justify flying too high.

One piece of motivation: Find somewhere to put the tired. When people run marathons they know that they’ll get tired. The secret is finding a place to put the tired. Every single person who runs the race is going to get tired! 

Three ideas: If this mysterious news is indeed true, it may put my venture on hold for a little while. I can’t believe after 10+ years that I can’t seem to shake these ideas. I have to now admit that it’s in my blood!

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 500 row

3 x 10 sandbag burpee

3 x 10 Heavy bag lifts, run and wrestle

3 x 30 double unders

3 x 10 single arm dumbbell press.

Goodness, that morning workout smacked me in the face. How quickly you forget the loss of strength when working out in the morning. I’d be interested to know why that is. I’m sure it’s something to do with the need to get the muscles warmed up. Anyway, it feels incredibly good to have the workout over and the rest of the day to go on. I really need to take this philosophy seriously, especially on the weekends. There is no better time to make this happen than now because school is waning and the days are warmer and brighter. I at least need to TRY it.

One thing I learned: Industrialized education can still mascarade in different forms. Project based, challenge-based learning and all that goes on with it. The real secret to the connected education is when work (or art) is real and authentic. If students work on a project but produce the same old thing, it doesn’t matter how they arrive there. 

One piece of motivation: Chance favours the connected mind. The internet and iPads are connection machines. Ideas incubate and stir but come to fruition when they’re combined with other hunches. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU

Three ideas: So the science centre place could/would also serve corporate functions. Company’s could host a meeting/event/activity day where they could explore team building and rebranding. I think this idea fully embraces everything I love about work. I would love to see it happen. I really need to talk to Scully or someone about the feasibility of it. Obviously if a 3rd child is in the picture it doesn’t look good!

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 500 row

20 double handed kettle bell swings

15 single arm switch kettle bell swings

12 Hungarian farm bag front squat

10 bar jumps

30 rotating medicine ball push-ups

Last day of March break. Goodness it goes fast. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get more done on my book, but am reinforced with some confidence as I visit twitter to see what people are saying about design thinking. I really think there’s an opportunity for more here on the softer side of things (Seth Godin styles). Not everything has to be a process. If it’s possible to teach educators on how to teach kids to make good art, there’s plenty of value.

I’ve been disappointed with my diet over the last two weeks as well. Drinking every day has it’s toll both emotionally and calorically. I think that first weekend of partying really set the tone for the next two weeks. I have just under a week and a half to get back on track. School will help. So will the early morning workouts. I really get the purpose now. Working out in the am really frees up my day allowing me to get more out of the time with the kids. More importantly, it tires me out so I’ll be less likely to drink the next day. Important things to remember.

One thing I learned: Design thinking is a very process oriented way to develop creativity. I wrongly believed that it was encroaching on my idea. In fact, the entrepreneurship concept is really an extension of design thinking. Or one way to approach it. Keep on keeping on!

One piece of motivation: Art is out there. It just needs to be done. My art won’t be for everyone, but it’s still important to keep pursuing it. 

Three ideas: While scientist in schools doesn’t have lab for visiting, it’s possible to make the concept work. Discounts could be made for schools to get them in the door. It’s also a fantastic marketing opportunity to have a bunch of kids come visit and then go home and tell their parents how cool it was. 

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 500 row

3 x 10 heavy back squat

3 x 10 turkish sandbag getup

3 x 6 4-way DB complex

3 x 30 double unders

Wow, March is almost over! So is March break…boo.

Ran outside this morning with some glorious weather. I really enjoyed it and the best part was that my back held up. I just need to figure out how much of the stretching vs the magnesium supplements helped alleviate the problem.

I was making a mental note of all the things I need to accomplish over the next few weeks before Vancouver and there’s much more to do than I had imagined. It may require some late nights at school! 

One thing I learned: We need to be careful with the race to the bottom of cultural thinking too. People are looking for the easiest, most dumbed-down way to get their information. Look no further than ‘just go Google it’. If we teach students to dive deeper, be more inquisitive, as important questions, we’ll end up reversing this race to the lowest common denominator.

One piece of motivation: Getting by the fear is probably the single most difficult aspect of producing art. I’m currently feeling it with my book. It’s interesting though, when I went on Twitter and saw some similar people doing art (wasn’t that great in my opinion) it motivated me. The great thing is that they’ve got one up on me - at least they have done and are doing art.

Three ideas: I feel like there’s opportunity to carve out some of the speaker’s spotlight market. It’s outside of my wheelhouse, but it’s nice to have these thoughts. I should investigate the opportunities for getting a small science business going. Time, time, time is an issue!

Workout: 

Glorious 1 hour run outdoors. 10 k plus 50 pull-ups 40 push-ups and 10 burpees.

Today was less productive then I would have liked. It was nice to see Scully, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that I need some isolated time to get anything done. After going on Twitter for a little while I noticed that I can totally do this book. Even if the book or ‘art’ doesn’t get much traction, it’s a start. I need to get something down take some criticism and move on. This is important for the other things that will come. It doesn’t need to be perfect. The time is now. Do it!

One thing I learned: Marines use this idea of internal locus of control to install some self motivation into their recruits. Instead of drilling them like the old days, they place more of a decision making protocol on them. Force them to make decisions until they get decision fatigue.

One piece of of motivation: As mentioned above, it’s important to get the work done. As I approach the end of my break, I’m starting to get the feeling back of time pressure. It certainly helps get me going. It’s true that I probably needed a bit of down time. Now that it’s here, I should be able to pound out some more motivation into the project.

Three ideas: Didn’t get a great chance to talk to Scully in great detail about some of my ideas. He seemed to be open to the science centre one. Might be worth pursuing and reviewing a little more!

Workout:

22 min sprints (felt very winded)

3 x 500 row (felt great)

3 x 10 deadlift 

3 x 10 Hungarian farm bag front squat

3 x 10 one leg kettle bell lunge

Missed my post again yesterday. Can’t believe it! This non-routine is just killing me. Anyway, I’m hoping the change in routine can help next week. We had family dinner last night and I consumed way too much fried food and desert. I knew it was coming so I accounted for it by fasting until 2 pm yesterday. 

Lots of beer too. Not good.

One thing I learned: Willpower. Can this be taught in schools? Should it be? How would it look like? It should be teacher job to motivate kids to stick with problems instead of taking the lower mark and moving on. Mastery and willpower are key.

One piece of motivation: It’s important to understand your emotional compass when approaching tasks. What is driving you to do these things? If I grab for a beer, what’s motivating me to do it? Habit, really. To break the habit you need motivation.

Three ideas: The book is getting a lot about what school is and shouldn’t be, it needs to start to focus on how it can change and what that might look like. This is dangerous because this is where teachers with experience may dismiss the entire concept out of hand (it won’t work!).

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 6 bear complex - 6 clean, 6 press, 6 back squat

3 x 10 Hungarian bag squat

3 x 10 bar jumps

3 x 10 Bosu ball/medicine ball swings

3 x 500 row

Super late post - I actually almost forgot. Last day of March break by myself. And by myself, I mean like 5 hours. I spent the morning working out hammering on the tire and throwing the heavy bag. I gave in to my consumerism and spent about $450 today. Got a sweet new jacket, belt and shoes too. The Value Village t-shirts will be fun to wear too. And, the grey Kenneth Cole pants I bought are different colour than my jeans which means they’ll work out well in the rotation. All in all, things are great.

One thing I learned: The most important moment for an artist is the hallway. It’s the part before the job interview, the part before you get on stage, the part before you enter the classroom. It’s in this moment where if you can delay, you will gain the greatest advantage. That moment before the job interview where you get some more realization of your skills, that moment before you go on stage where you refocus. Be careful not to give into the lizard brain on this. Stalling is the lizard brain’s way of saying no and succumbing to resistance. Own the hallway and own your life!

One piece of motivation: The printing press was launched when 97% of Europe was illertiate. The Benz was first created in Germany when there was no roads. There’s never a good time to do it. Never. It gets done though.

Three ideas: Need to get this book going! 

Workout:

22 mins sprints - was tough!

3 x 500 row

Heavy bag madness. Threw it around like a cheap hooker.

Kettle bell clean and press

Tire hammers

Another late day entry! Today went fast though. For some reason, I barfed up big time last night. I think it might have been the lunch meat I bought at the end of last week. Anyway, I managed to work through it during my workout. Didn’t get much accomplished with my book though. I’m really struggling trying to be motivated to work. Mostly because it’s easier to relax and play the computer instead of typing. It’s the resistance!

One thing I learned: Creating dreamers. The industrial revolution gave people more opportunity to be picked. This created more opportunity for jobs, more chance to dream. Walking on the moon, science cool engineering projects. They all dreamed. The dreaming is gone for some reason. We’re focusing on sports starts. 

One piece of motivation: Find an hour a day to learn something new. This could be the new paradigm in schools. Just for an hour a day (45-90 mins) students are learning something new. They’re building, creating and tinkering. 

Three ideas: So this business of the OSC thing. It’s definitely plausible, but the business model that is used seems to be interesting. I wonder how stimulating it would be long term. Giving up a teaching career is risky - especially for this. However, if I could get some help it could really work out!

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 500 row

3 x 10 kettle bell deadlift

3 x 20 kettle bell swing

3 x 10 turkish sandbag get-ups 

3 x 30 double unders

This is a late entry. I was in a rush this morning trying to get out of the door to take Charlotte down to the OSC and get a workout in. It was tough, I was really sore from hockey and didn’t have the time to make it an hour long affair. Instead, I tried to do the cross fit workout Kalsu. Boy it was tough - I modified it to do clean and jerks instead of thrusters because my mobility with holding the bar on my shoulders is extremely low. I end up putting most of the pressure on my arms. 

One thing I learned: When you’re trying to meditate use the works “thinking” when your mind starts to wander. It should bring it back to your breathing.

One piece of motivation: Be in the arena. 

Three ideas: Investigate the possibility of opening a small outlet where it could be a science - not maker - themed experience for schools, birthday’s and events. The business could offer specialized programs to groups like brownies and scouts.

Workout:

1000 m row

Modified Kalsu with Clean and Jerk

1000 m row

~25 minutes. I was extremely gassed by it and wanted to quit several times. Glad I stuck it through - felt like I accomplished something.