Hello Everyone,
It’s amazing and a bit scary how fast time flies by. We just celebrated my daughter’s first birthday last weekend but it seems like just yesterday that I was telling you about her birth. Honoring that time is precious, especially yours, I will keep this quarter’s newsletter brief. I’d just like to share one quick lesson my daughter has taught me over the past year that has been tremendously helpful in my life. She has incredible resilience. Unlike my experience with other young children, her ability to shake things off is incredible… it’s as if she knows that any extended form of discord or tantrum would simply take time away from her preferred states of curiosity and elation. Impressed by this skill I’ve recently implemented reducing the amount of time I let unpleasant events bother me. Since I do not possess this skill innately in the way my daughter appears to it has taken me a bit of practice, but none-the-less I can attest putting it into practice has freed up a lot more time to enjoy better things. In a reciprocal way it has even changed my personal vernacular. Before when something would go wrong I would normally burst out an expletive, or say, “this sucks!” Now I often simply emulate my daughter and say, “uh oh!” when an unwanted inconvenience arises. Hard to stay upset for very long when you say ‘uh oh’ in a silly voice. It’s as if the words I attach to an experience actually help shape the reality of that experience.
This quarter’s health and wellness interview is with Matthew Heineman, the director of the documentary “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare,” a film that examines the deficits and challenges in today’s healthcare system. Escape Fire has recently been airing on CNN and has amassed an impressive amount of critical acclaim. My interview with Matt Heineman about healthcare in America is available here.
This quarter’s entrepreneurial interview is with the founder of Perkville, Sunil Saha. Perkville is a service which allows businesses to offer cardless customer loyalty and reward programs. Sunil has previously held leadership roles at LinkedIn, Yahoo! Small Business and Neoforma. My interview with Sunil Saha about customer loyalty programs is available here.
Regarding life experience this quarter there are a few things to choose from, but the one I’m most grateful for aside from being a part of my daughter’s first birthday is getting the chance to speak twice at this year’s International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association Convention (IHRSA) in Las Vegas.
Both speaking opportunities were centered on my growing expertise in the use of technology with regards to activity tracking and behavior change. It was a very memorable and rewarding experience. On one panel I sat with four heavy hitters from my industry including Dave Mortensen the co-founder of Anytime Fitness and Russell Benaroya, CEO of EveryMove. It was humbling to have a seat at the table with such esteemed colleagues, but also extremely motivating to push harder and continue to grow.
At IHRSA I was also able to attend the Eighth Annual BASH for Augie’s Quest which is a health club industry event to help find an end to Lou Gehrig’s disease. This quarter’s contribution was a modest donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Augie’s name as well as a modest donation in honor of Alex K’s Escape from Alcatraz race supporting the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
Wishing you continued success throughout 2013.
Warm regards,
Michael
