Hello Everyone,

This quarter has been an interesting one. My wife lost her job last month and my primary engagement is winding down and will conclude next month. We are comfortable enough to weather the storm so we feel quite fortunate, especially considering what many families are going through. It is times like these that allow you to get back to basics. In my spare time I have begun to work on an exciting project with my father, which has allowed us to connect in a way that we haven’t been able to do since my youth. I am also getting to watch my wife enjoy renewed passions, such as Spanish and yoga, which were somewhat unavailable to her before due to the rigors of her career. Even in turbulent times, there are always benefits if you pursue them. I am also using the free time to rip my long term goals back down to their foundation and reevaluate and architect a sounder and more optimized path to getting the things I would like to achieve accomplished… more to come on that next quarter.

In the meantime, I am using my fresh budding autonomy to complete some pretty exciting stuff. By the time I write the next newsletter I will have completed my fitness certification from UCLA, received my American College of Sports Medicine accreditation and attended the first IPPA World Congress on positive psychology in Philadelphia. It should be a fruitful next few months.

Regarding…

Entrepreneurship: To commemorate Web 2.0 becoming the official 1,000,000 word in the U.S. vocabulary I reached out to Web entrepreneur Todd Dipaola, the co-founder of Vantage Media, which in 2007 reached 31 in Inc Magazine’s annual 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America List. Todd is now the president of Pier Alliance, a company that he has founded with former executives from Yahoo and Google. The transcript of my discussion with Todd about Internet search can be found here.

Wellness: I was especially honored this quarter to get to sit down for half an hour with running legend Jeff Galloway. Jeff has helped over 250,000 non-elite runners achieve their goals through coaching and instruction and authored the best-selling running book in North America entitled Galloway’s Book on Running. Click here to read my write up of the interview between Jeff and me about running.

Life Experience: I used one of my last remaining “hall passes” from Anna to go to the Wounded Warriors Project benefit at the Playboy Mansion. As many of you know I have kept a list since my youth of trying to hit every major party spot around the world. This was the last destination to check off the list.

 

Playboy Mansion | The Grotto | Michael Rucker
Playboy Mansion | The Grotto | 2009
 

 

Contribution: Along with the contribution to the Wounded Warriors Project, I proudly contributed to the Steve Larsen fund. As you might recall last quarter I was able to interview Davis, CA legend Dave Scott. For those of you who don’t know Steve Larsen, Steve was another Davis legend that contributed tremendously to the world of cycling and tri-sport. Unfortunately, while training Steve’s heart failed and they were unable to revive him. If you are interested in contributing to help out the Larsen family you can do so here.

So it is back to the lab again. I am going to spend July finishing up some contract work and clearing out my surplus of reward points by doing a little traveling and then start job hunting in August.

Before I go I would like to give a plug to my friends over at ElliptiGO. They are a start-up that has created a super fun outdoor elliptical bike. It is an extremely innovative product. We were giving test rides at the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and people just loved it. If you have any interest, check out the ElliptiGO website.

If I do not see you before the next newsletter, please enjoy your summer! And as always, let me know if I can help you with your goals in any way.

Warm regards,
Mike

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