Hello Everyone,

Can you believe it has already been three months? It is crazy how fast this year is going, already time to release the second volume of the Live Life Love newsletter.

I am very excited that I started this project. Thank you for all the positive feedback. It’s so awesome to interact with all of you and share information and experiences. From my best friend’s mom contemplating taking the risk of starting her own business, to my brother losing almost 100 pounds, it is a good feeling to know forward momentum is contagious and that already a few of you have espoused my vision.

This is especially important given that new research shows our level of happiness will most likely follow a “U” shaped curve, with our most unhappy years falling somewhere at middle-age. “One possibility may be that people realize they won’t achieve many of their aspirations at middle age,” the researchers of this study say. If we stay cognizant of what we want in life and develop a proclivity towards those goals, I feel that each of us can combat disappointment and pessimism and avoid this.

In the next three months my aspiration is to flesh out a Web portal to document the goals of this project (for those of you new to the newsletter the goals are: learning from 100 wellness leaders and 100 business leaders, experiencing life in 100 new and exciting ways and giving $65,000 and 2000 volunteer hours to charity). My hope is to create a system of capturing the elements of this project that provides value to other people.

This quarter I got the chance to catch up with two old friends, Luke Aguilar and Jamie Ramsden. They are the interviewees of this volume and after reading their pedigrees I think you will understand why I chose them.

Luke Aguilar is the second wellness leader lending his knowledge to this project. Luke is the All-South Texas Cross Country Coach of the Year for two years running. He has ten years of Track and Field experience spanning the high school and college level. He is a Level One Coach with USA Track and Field and has been a certified Personal Trainer with the American Council on Exercise since 1995. My five questions with Luke about running can be found here.

Jamie Ramsden was chosen by me to be this quarter’s business leader. Jamie is the CEO of Goodridge USA which is an automotive company that supplies high performance products to the automotive and racing industry. Jamie is a Certified Executive Leadership Coach and ad hoc faculty member at the Center of Creative Leadership. Jamie also manages his own consulting firm, Adastra Consulting, which specializes in the development of executive talent and leadership potential. My five questions with Jamie about leadership can be found here.

My exciting life experience to report for this volume is vacationing in Paris, France for New Year’s 2008. My wife and I got to spend the night with some Stanford MBA candidates at a private club near the Saint Germain district. It was a great night. We stepped outside the club just before midnight for the countdown and watched the Eiffel Tower light up to cheers from the crowd while drinking French wine and celebrating another year gone past (silly tourist picture below).

Eiffel Tower | Paris, France | Michael Rucker
Eiffel Tower | Paris, France | 2008

As far as charity this quarter, I have donated twenty hours towards Project Lifesaver as the Lead of Corporate Sponsorship for this project. My team has raised close to $10,000 towards providing lifesaving tools to members of the Southern California, South Bay community. However, we still need more funding, so if you happen to think your company would be interested in some positive exposure and PR by donating money to a worthy cause please contact me.

Thanks for taking the time to listen to me once again. The Internet is such a great medium for staying in touch. Next quarter’s volume ought to be good. I have secured an interview with productivity expert David Allen (of Getting Things Done fame). It should be extremely interesting.

Warm regards,
Michael

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