As I’m forced to remind myself from time to time, my current focus is on finishing my doctoral dissertation. When I left LSU several years ago I was done with what seemed to be ‘the hard part’ at the time but little did I know that the real ‘hard part’ would be in getting myself to focus on it long enough to finish it. I was busy taking on new things (like another job at West Point), managing my growing company, and trying to stay active with my websites and media production (books, dvds, and articles). Long story short…my ADD got the best of me and in the 3 years since I left LSU I did little to move forward from when I left. Since I resigned at West Point though some things have changed. At least I’ve tried to make them change.

The most important thing I’ve done is take a new mindset on how to tackle seemingly monumental tasks. Normally, I’m GREAT at taking on a million things and juggling them with a high level of proficiency. On the flip side though, I SUCK at completing the jobs that I start. On top of that, I tend to take on anything that is offered or thrown at me and often find myself wasting time trying to get things PERFECT rather than just finishing it. The combination of these traits means I’m often baking a lot of really great cakes but all the while having a hard time putting the icing on the cake so to speak. This was especially true with my dissertation. Since I started rethinking my approach, things have been more productive though. Instead of looking at the remaining chapter of my dissertation that I have to write and thinking “where do I start,” or “I can just do it tomorrow,” now I approach it with the following two points in mind:

1. I give myself a fairly low minimum level of expectation for daily work on a given task. For example, on my dissertation writing, I now tell myself that I have to write a paragraph a day. That’s it. Just a paragraph. Sometimes I write 2 or 3 in a day but I’ve pretty much been just writing 1. I know it doesn’t sound like much but I’m actually finding that when stringed together over time, these little bits of progress will add up to the completion of my seemingly monumental task.  It’s kinda like the lifetime prisoner who chips away a fraction of his prison wall each day. Before he knows it, he’s broken free from what was holding him back.
2. The second thing that I’ve done is tried to put my OCD perfectionism at bay. I fight the urge to stay on something until it’s perfect and instead just plow through whether the work is good or not. On the surface, this doesn’t sound like a good idea but I’ve found that because of how I operate, it’s better for me to “Just Do It” because if it isn’t perfect the first time around I’ll fix it later. With writing, this approach makes it easier to just sit down and wright and is a nice way of busting through periods of writer’s block.

If you find yourself in a position like I’ve described and have the same disposition as I do, try out these tips and let me know if they work for you.

Image via Wikipedia

If you sit at a desk or spend as much time on planes as I do you’ve probably got chronic back issues. I do. Nothing bad. Certainly not debilitating by any means but enough where daily maintenance is necessary. I stretch, exercise, and perform special exercises just to keep myself ‘tuned up.’

Part of that is because I’m pretty sensitive to misalignments and hypertonicity. Because of this, I find myself adjusting myself by performing a variety of self-manual cervical, thoracic and lumbar adjustments throughout the day. I’m sure I’ve actually found quite a few adjustment techniques that aren’t even in a chiropractor‘s toolbox. Well, imagine my mindset when I read an article yesterday that said that cervical adjustments (self or by a chiropractor) might cause strokes. I’d heard this before but really only in the form of a pamphlet in a chiropractor’s office stating that it was essentially an urban legend. Now I find myself thinking twice before getting out that crick.

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Image via CrunchBase, source unknown

Despite having a small office in SoCal that I’ve never actually been to, I’ve primarily run HPC out of my home office for the past 5 years. This requires some creative use of collaborative tools, software, and specialized equipment. Here are some of my most commonly used web tools:

WEB 2.0 Tools

1. Zoho tools. I use this with my business partners to share files and documents that we’re collaborating on. You can collaborate in real time without having to bother with the typical annoyances of red pen editing or MS Office track changes options. At various times, we’ve used zoho writer, zoho sheet, zoho projects, and zoho share. [Free / Paid; OS Independent]
2. Google Hosted Apps. We primarily use this for our company email but we also use gCal and gTalk.
   The hosted email has been invaluable as it allows me to tag emails, archive them instead of deleting them, and use the most powerful search engine in history to find practically anything in your inbox. Also, since we get over 7gb of hosting space for each email account, we can save (or archive) everything it just in case we might ever need it again. 9 times out of 10 you’ll probably never look at those archived emails but when you do it’s a godsend. [Free; OS Independent]
3. Foldershare. If you use multiple computers and / or are on the road a lot, foldershare is a great free file synchronizer. It runs on a P2P protocol and is pretty easy to set up. I use this one for large libraries like my documents folder and my itunes library. [Free; OS Independent]
4. Dropbox. This is another file synchronizer but I use it for another purpuse. Dropbox is LIGHTENING fast. In fact, it’s file synchronization is almost simultaneous if all computers are connected. As a result, I can have many of the benefits of being on a network without having to fuss with setting up a network. Also, in addition to the file synchronization, all files in the dropbox on your computer are also backed up on the company’s cloud. You get 2gb of free storage. [Free; Mac Only]
   
5. Passpack. This is a great password locker. I’ve checked out quite a few and this one comes out on top for security, usability, and cost (it’s free). I store over 100 passwords in my passpack account and feel totally secure about it. They use 2 ultra-strict passwords to unlock your account and their data encryption is so good I have no problem storing everything from credit card info, ATM pins, and ID info (like driver’s license number and social security for myself and my wife) on there. [Free, OS Independent]
   
6. YouSendit. We have a business account with yousendit and we use it for a variety of purposes. First, our clients send us videos of their practices and meet performances for video analysis by uploading to our dropbox. When there upload is complete, I receive an email and a link to download their file. Second, we use it to send attachments that are too large for emails. This includes video analyses, training videos, or other miscellaneous training media. Finally, we use YouSendit to deliver videos as part of our contract with USATF’s High Performance Plan. This year, we filled 100s of video requests using this service. [Free/Paid; OS Independent]
   
7. Remember the Milk. Between finishing my dissertation, managing 5 websites, running a company, and trying to keep life balanced I have my hands filled. More so than my paltry memory can handle. That’s where RTM comes in. This is a great task manager that allows you to easily manage all your to-do lists. [Free; OS Independent]
   
8. MediaConverter / Zamzar. These are nice free online file converters. This comes in handy when an athlete sends you a file that you either can’t open, you need to compress the file to a more efficient format, or need to convert it in to a file format that a specific peice of software requires.
   
9. Firefox with Read it later, Firebug and Tinyurl creator plugins. Unless you’re on another planet, you know that firefox is the fastest and most secure browser out there (with Safari giving it some competition). What I really like about it is the ability to extend its capabilities with plugins. My 3 favorite plugins are:
   • Read it later. I use this both to make quick and easy bookmarks of sites that I’ve stumbled on to but don’t have time to read right then and there. This is especially useful when I find an interesting article or blog entry that I might want to reference in one of my future blogs.
   • Firebug. This one is great for web development and really helps in debugging CSS. I’m no CSS wiz so this plugin saves me a ton of time. It also allows you to take a look up the skirts of random websites that you might like to see what they’re doing to acheive their visual effect.
   • Tinyurl creator. This is a must have if you use twitter or ever need to send shortened URLS. It really comes in handy when you’re trying to send a link to a site that has an absurdly long URL.

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This morning I woke up at 10am (after going to bed at 3:40am), ate a light breakfast, spent the better part of the morning dancing with my daughter (we’re getting ready for a wedding next week), did about 2 hours of work on my dissertation, answered some emails, sent out some DVDs to customers, did a hill running circuit workout with my wife (using my daughter for resistance on calisthenics) and then ate a nice lunch. Now, since I’ve met my minimum daily requirement for dissertation work and have caught up on my HPC duties I’m taking a break to do some things I want to do (blog, update facebook, finish up some updates on my website, and read my favorite RSS feeds). Sounds like a nice day huh? This is what I like about my current working situation….I can work and play on MY time. I’m not stuck to the 9-5 (actually more like 9-7 at my last job) and I’m allowed to work to my strengths and minimize the negative affects of my weaknesses. That’s my workday. At least the start of it. Now don’t get me wrong. That’s not all I plan on doing today. In fact, in about an hour or so I’ll probably be back doing some real work and will likely be doing SOMETHING productive until about 3am. I’d guess that I’m probably putting in about as much or more time than I was when I was working at West Point in the day and running HPC in the evening. The difference is now I’m able to do it on my time.

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Well, I have to be honest. For the last couple days I’ve little to nothing on my dissertation. Despite the fact that it SHOULD be my primary focus right now, my OCD/ ADD has gotten the best of me. I’ve been spending too much time blogging about the Olympics on ELITETRACK, setting up streams of passive income, making adjustments and new feature additions to my 3 websites, taking care of the athletes I work with, and watching the Olympics. I had set the goals of writing a minimum of 1 paragraph of dissertation writing a day but that hasn’t happened over the last couple days. That seemingly small goal (which if done adds up quickly and makes the writing much more manageable). Also, I’ve got stuck on the stats section. I hate statistics. Kinda odd for a person that almost got his doctoral degree minor in the subject, but I hate it. I tend to over think and over-analyze my statistical methods and it just slows me down. Sometimes, I just need to “DO IT” without caring of whether it’s perfect or not.

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• Living with OCD

Since I’ve left my full time job at West Point, I’ve pretty much been able to go to sleep and wake up when I want. Normally, I’m a super-late night owl forced to operate on a ‘normal’ 9-5 day. If left to my own devices, I’m more likely to still be awake at 5am than to wake up by 5am. I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. My Dad’s kinda like that too. In fact, my thought processing, creativity, and productivity seem to peak around 11pm and stay high for 4-5 hours. Unfortunately, this didn’t work real well in the ‘real world’ since you’re kinda forced to operate on the ‘day-walkers‘ schedule.

My new schedule is much more my style and I’m feeling better for it. I’m getting about 6 hours of sleep a night…up from 5 when I work a ‘normal’ job and I’m much less likely to feel tired during the day. The reason I’m writing about this is because I recently read an article that alluded to what I’ve personally known about myself for a long time….that staying up late and sleeping in makes me more productive. While some people look at the time you wake up and immediately think that makes you lazy…I look at them and think how lazy they are for going to bed at 9 or 10pm….My second work day starts at 10pm!

• Advantages and Disadvantages of Working at Home

Since I’ve left West Point, 90% of the people I train are trained by correspondence. In other words, we live in 2 separate places and they receive their workouts and other necessary information via email, phone, IM, or text. In fact, every one on the HPC Elite team was trained this way for most of last year. This isn’t new to me though. I’ve been training people like this for almost 7 years now. And while it isn’t ideal, it can work. Here’s some tips from things I’ve learned on how to make correspondence training the best possible experience for your athlete. A lot of these are the result of mistakes I made early on that were valuable learning experiences to me.

1. Communicate often
2. Make sure you and the athlete recognize that the plan is a road map
3. Don’t plan too far in advance
4. Use video reviews for technical activities
5. Do some pre-testing with new athletes
6. Be flexible
7. Individualize the training plan and don’t be afraid to tweak it when necessary

I’ll expand on some of these if there’s an interest. If you’re interested post to comments.

If you’ve been anything like me you’ve been taking in as much of the Olympic Games as possible. They only come around every 4 years and to me it’s the best programming on tv…even with all the cheesy tidbits between events. The track & field competition starts in just a couple days. I can’t wait. I’m a track nut. When I watch the games I can’t help but wanting to be there though. It’s a big dream of mine.  Doing it as an athlete is no longer an option (and never realistic even when I was at my best!). But this year I had 2 other avenues: as a consultant to theUSA Track & Field Field team and as a personal coach. A year ago it seemed as if I (and maybe some more of the HPC crew) might be able to go as a sport technologist and biomechanics consultant for the track team. That fizzled away though amid logistics and planning for Beijng. Then three of the athletes I train qualified for the Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR. They were all in the same event (triple jump) and 2 made the final so even though none of them were favorites on paper, odds alone said there was a chance of going as a personal coach. Two of the three placed much better than expected but unfortunately, none of them made the team. So I’m stuck as an outsider looking in. Maybe next time.

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One of my favorites websites that I like to check out is Freelanceswitch. I check it out several times a week. The site is full of useful information for people who are trying to make it on their own as freelancers.

On the web, especially in the areas of web development, graphic design and blogging, those who are trying to make a living off of their skills are referred to as freelancers. In the world of business, people who are trying to make a living in small business are often called entrepreneurs. What’s the real difference? Wikipedia defines a freelancer as a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer and an entrepreneur as a person who has possession over a company, enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. Before looking up the definitions I didn’t know which category I’d fall in to. Right now, a decent amount of my income comes from speaking engagements and one off consulting gigs…that kinda sounds like freelancing. On the other hand, I have a company and am assuming the risks of the venture (no steady income, no benefits, possibility of flopping, etc). While I love the total freedom that freelancing provides, I’m hoping in a couple months (after I’m done with my dissertation) I can leave the freelance work behind for something more steady. The freelance work tends to be a little bit of a feast or famine, and while I’m fine with the risk, it’s probably not the best setup for the sole breadwinner of a family.

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• Knowing What You’re Not

One of the most frequently asked questions when I go and do consulting work or talk at clinics is “where are you located?” The answer isn’t real quick and easy. When people ask who don’t know us, they’re expecting us to have a shiny, new facility complete with tons of weight, rows of weight lifting platforms as far as the eye can see, and motion analysis equipment to track everything under the sun. The truth is we don’t really have a central location. In fact, we don’t even really have a facility. Up until recently, I’ve had 2 business partners (now just 1) who were in Southern California. Meanwhile, I’ve been in Baton Rouge, LA; West Point, NY; and now Southeastern Ohio. As I mentioned we don’t have a facility…at least not yet (more on this in a future blog). For the past 5 years, we’ve just been hustling and doing things either via correspondence, taking on-site visits for clinics and consultations, or training athletes at public facilities. My partners and I have a running joke that we have an East Coast Division and a West Coast Division of HPC since they’re on the left side and I’m on the right. Despite these shortcomings, things have gone about as well as could be expected. We’ve doubled our profit every year for the past 5 years (not too hard when you start out making nothing)…and hey, we’re still around….something that can’t be said for most small businesses after the second year of business. And amazingly, 70% of the work gets done at a home office. Since I’ve moved to Ohio for a temporary stint I’ve essentially relocated the “East Coach Branch of HPC” and opened a new “facility.”

So back to the original question- “Where are you located?” Well, I’m temporarily located in a small, country city town village in Southeastern Ohio and the extent of my world class facility / office / training center can be seen in the picture at the top.