By Josh Bowen, on Thu Jun 12, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET
 My 11 years in the fitness industry has taught me a lot about life. It has taught me what to do and in some cases what not to do. Life often emulates art and I have always thought of personal training as art, it makes sense that I have learned some important life lessons. In no particular order, these are the 5 things I have learned about life from being a personal trainer:
1. Anything can be achieved with passion.
I’m not the best personal trainer and I am far from perfect. I am however passionate, a word that is thrown around in the fitness industry more than anything. My definition is simply one who eats, sleeps, breathes their work. That I do. Fitness taught me how. Through ups in downs, passion has let me conquer personal issues as well as professional. An unrelenting quest to be the best version of myself was taught to me from my experience in this industry. I attribute everything I have accomplished personally and collectively due to that passion. Without it, I have nothing.
2. If you want something bad enough you will do whatever it takes to achieve it.
My clients and clients of other trainers have taught me this. My client Rolodex is full of people who conquered the odds, all because they wanted it bad enough. In my book 12 Steps to Fitness Freedom I tell a story about a woman from Columbus who lost an extraordinary amount of weight and developed a community of enthusiastic people wanting to do the same. Or the woman who I have trained for many moons, who at first just wanted to be fit but now owns her own personal training business, all because wanted it more than other people. If you want it bad enough, you’ll go get it.
3. No one gets to where they are, alone.
I didn’t get to this point by myself. I had help…a lot of help. That help came in the form of support from others a long this 11 year journey. It also came in the form of detractors and negative people who taught me what I didn’t want be. No matter how successful you are, you got there with help. If I was never given a shot to train at Gold’s Gym in 2004, I would never be here today.
4. Bad times will always pass.
Obstacles are put in front of us not to stay and best us down but to leave after we have conquered it. I’ve seen it a thousand times, some one who goes through turmoil but keeps at it and never quits, always turns out for the better. If I have learned anything from working with trainers and clients is, regardless of the situation, if you keep at it, never waiver and never quit you will come out of the dark and into the light. It’s that simple.
5.Look to add value versus make money.
Money comes and goes like the wind blows. No matter how much you have you cannot take it with you. Having money is not impressive, adding value to other’s is. I have learned this through experience in the fitness industry. I have seen people with lots of money that truly had nothing, nothing because they were not adding value to others. The single most important lesson we can all learn is how to add value to someone else’s life. Whether it is to listen, be a shoulder to cry on or help a friend in need, adding value to someone means so much more than money. “Choose legacy over currency,” is a favorite quote of mine and it means to simple to add so much value to someone that you build a legacy and are never forgotten. A very important lesson.
I could write a list longer than this but for time purposes I will keep it short. Being in fitness has taught me so much that I feel honored to talk about it day. The lessons I have learned are so important not only to my life but the lives that interact with on a daily basis.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jun 11, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET
 I am at Walmart right now to buy an assortment of toiletries.
But on my way to the “Personal Care” aisle, I passed the “Automotive” section.
And I looked at the rows of sturdy tires and wanted to buy one–just a single tire at 12:41am.
Why? Because I could.
Maybe that is empowering.
But I have a feeling it’s just a really bad idea that sleepy people get when not expecting to see tires for sale when shopping past their bedtime.
By Lauren Mayer, on Wed Jun 11, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET I’ve used my teenage son’s line before here, about how ‘over 100 views is viral for old people.’ (Yes, I am shameless about using my kids’ comments for comedic purposes. And actually, they really like it – I do a whole routine about their reactions to learning the facts of life, which you’d think would be humiliating, but for a generation raised on Family Guy and The Daily Show, any kind of reference is apparently a good thing! But I digress . . . )
I do what I can to increase my views – I am now on Twitter (where I have tens of followers), and I send out email links, contribute content to Facebook groups, etc. I’ve even considered adding footage of our very adorable dog (who looks like the live action model for Tramp, from Lady And The Tramp), but it turns out, all I have to do is mention gun control. Suddenly, I’m a youTube sensation!
Of course, fame has its drawbacks – in my case, it’s dozens of really mean comments, disparaging my intelligence, my politics, my attractiveness and my singing. But it’s hard to take these kinds of insults seriously when they’re often so badly spelled, it makes my teenagers’ texts look positively erudite. And in any case, these anti-fans are still making my video go old-people-viral, and in the words one could imagine being tweeted by Kim Kardashian, “like, the only bad publicity is like not having any, like right?”
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Jun 10, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET When a small world forgets how to feel small.
In Orlando for conference.
I love Disney but wonder if their profit motive has outgtown their commitment to reasonable customer service.
Disney employees still wish you a “Magical Day” (after getting your name, address, phone number, credit card number and expiration date and thanking you for participating in the short customer service interview after the call), don’t get me wrong.
But I believe I have seen ant farms more logically and efficiently organized and easier to navigate than Disneyworld seems to be these days.
And I don’t want to sound like Grumpy. It’s still a magical place. If you don’t mind feeling like an ant inside an ant farm that was built by people who didn’t spend enough time asking themselves, “Will the ants like it?”
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Tue Jun 10, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET Walking past gorillas and robots, followed by a church dating back 200 years, then skyscrapers with men in business suits pouring out and finally sitting down to a steak lunch while watching tango dancers…just another day in Buenos Aires. Navigating from neighborhood to neighborhood the scenes change quickly from graffitied buildings in San Telmo featuring gorillas and robots to the financial district with smartly dressed business men on Florida Avenue.
Buenos Aires has something for everyone and being such a walk-able place there is no better way to explore than on foot. Below is a short summary of my favorite neighborhoods in Argentina’s beautiful capital:
Monserrat
Home to the Casa Rosada where Eva Peron famously addressed the nation, Monserrat forms part of Buenos Aires’ business district. The concentration of significant public buildings and local history make this a requisite stop for any visitor. This small neighborhood can trace it’s roots back to colonial times, it was here in 1580 that Spanish conquistador Juan de Garay first arrived with settlers from Asuncion and Santa Fe.
Must see: Casa Rosada, the elegant pink government building (feature in the above photo)- guided tours are interesting and worth checking out, take a stroll around Plaza de Mayo, which is always busy and offers great people watching. You can see Buenos Aires oldest church in this barrio, Iglesia de San Ignacio de Loyola sanctified in 1734. And don’t miss Manzana de las Luces (Block of Enlightenment), a block of 18th century buildings including Buenos Aires National College
 Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero is one of the newest barrios in Buenos Aires, located in the old port area, the brick warehouses have been transformed into trendy restaurants and offer excellent dining. Porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) spend weekend afternoons strolling along the docks, riding bikes on the wide pathways, and lingering over coffee and pastries at riverfront cafes offering great people watching.
Must see: Enjoy lunch at on of the many luxurious riverfront cafes, the all-you-can-eat lunch buffets are a great deal!
Read the rest of…
Erica and Matt Chua: Buenos Aires Walking Tour
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jun 9, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET
This is the new texting symbol I just invented.
I haven’t decided what it means yet. And may not even get that far.
But I do feel like it looks pretty cool and seems like it could mean something. And I think I am even going to use it.
I mean, who cares what it means?
It’s just texting. Right?
LOL ; <> GTG €]>
By Saul Kaplan, on Mon Jun 9, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET  I love conversations about ideas worth scaling. Many of the comments to my BW column on biotech disruption are from industry stalwarts fighting to defend the industry. Thinking about how biotechnology can help enable a transformed health care system seems worth talking about.
I am not criticizing either the pharmaceutical or biotech industry or any of its companies and executives that work hard every day trying to bring forward life extending and life saving drugs. I have the utmost respect for the industry having spent nearly my entire career in and around it. I am suggesting that the current blockbuster industry model may have served its purpose and can be changed by the disruptive potential of biotechnology. It is this disruptive potential that will enable us to get under the buzzwords of personalized medicine and begin to understand how a new and better health care system can work.
It is predictable that existing industry players will fight to strengthen their relative position in the industry and to sustain the current industry model. I don’t criticize them for that. I expect it. I can hear Clay Christensen saying that companies and industries don’t disrupt themselves. He is so right.
Our current health care system is unsustainable and until we experiment and scale new system approaches that take advantage of technology to put the patient and citizen at the center of a well care system our current system will expand out of control.
I have lived and worked in every nook and cranny of the pharmaceutical and biotech industry over a 30 year career and have helped design and build capabilities at the function, company, and industry scale.
One commenter mentions Leigh Thompson from Lilly. Leigh was a friend of mine from old Lilly days and one of the smartest people I have ever known. We worked together during the latter stages of clinical and regulatory development as well as on the U.S. launch planning for Prozac. Leigh was remarkable and is sorely missed. He was indeed a big proponent of internal systems to fail fast for product and clinical development programs. I know Leigh would be an active participant in today’s conversation about the need to experiment with new business models and industry systems. He saw the promise of biotechnology and knew the industry would have to change to take advantage of it. He was a world-class innovator.
I had a front-row seat during the early days of the biotech industry. I remember like it was yesterday touring the very first industry scale production facility for a recombinant DNA derived product, human insulin (Humulin). As a road warrior consultant over too many years I worked with many project teams building new capabilities for both pharma and emerging biotech companies. Some even harbored early hopes of leveraging biotechnology to create new platforms for discovery and development for personalized medicine. I was in many great discussions about the difference between a platform and a product business model. In every case the siren call of the blockbuster industry model reinforced by a VC exit strategy dependent on either an IPO or Big Pharma acquisition won out. It was predictable and companies did the right thing to maximize shareholder value.
There is a lot more technology development work needed to enable personalized medicine but biotechnology has advanced enough for us to demonstrate how a system can work in several specific diseases and care path areas. All key levers and stakeholder roles must be on the table to fully explore available system options. At the non-profit Business Innovation Factory we are creating actionable lab platforms for exactly this kind of experimentation.
There has been a lot of talk about business models built around outcomes that deliver better care for less money. The hypothesis has always been that drugs are cheaper than other types of health care and should be used, more not less, to save the health care system money. The theory goes that if you squeeze the toothpaste tube in one place it only pops up in another. Only looking at the entire tube not just squeezing all over the place will result in an opportunity to design and test possible new systems.
The pharma industry has never done particularly well at selling the “toothpaste tube” story and seems content working the current system for maximum return. The current blockbuster model is bringing continued consolidation and is not sustainable.
New business model discussions with industry friends that are open to the discussion and not defensive about the history and current position of the industry are always interesting. Discussions with the “lean against” crowd that don’t think the system has to change don’t go very far or last long. Most of this crowd just point at another silo in the rugby scrum as the source of the inertia. It is the fault of doctors. No, it’s the insurance companies, the hospitals, the government, the patients etc. Everyone points at everyone else as the source of the problem and nothing changes.
In the current health care system drugs, whether they are from chemical or biological processes, are treated as a cost center or one more silo to manage. The industry fights every day to make sure the silo is managed in a way that benefits the industry. Rules form the architecture that the industry operate and compete under including patent law, FDA regulations, and federal/state legislation. I don’t blame the industry for fighting for rules that are in their best interest. I am suggesting that we should at least consider that with today’s technology we can do better and should be testing new system designs to see what works and can scale.
The silver tsunami is coming as the first baby boomer turns 65 in 2011. We had better get on with exploring new system approaches before the current system crashes. I am proud of the industry I grew up in and want it to be an innovator and leader in shaping a new and better health care system. The patient is waiting.
By John Y. Brown III, on Sat Jun 7, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET Saturday morning prayer
“God, thank you for all you have given me; thank you for all you have taken away; and thank you for what you’ve left behind.
Please give me the strength and guidance to do Your wil always.
And Lord, even though this may seem a little off-topic, if you would help me get a good parking space at the mall this morning, that would be really great. Totally Your call and just mentioning as kind of an afterthought. Just something to think about.
Amen.”
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jun 6, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET Kentucky in late springtime is about as beautiful a place on our planet as you can find.
Especially early to mid-morning on a mild but sunny day when the foliage seems to be in 3-D and bubbling over itself.
Kentucky, at this time of year, feels like a sublime combination of an upbeat John Cougar Mellencamp song that is an old favorite coupled with serving as irrefutable proof of God’s existence.
By Julie Rath, on Fri Jun 6, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET  Do you ever wish you looked a little taller? Many of my clients, even if they are above average height, list this as an image goal. At 5′ 1″ myself, I appreciate the sentiment. Luckily for us vertically-challenged folks, we can use clothing as smoke and mirrors to achieve (or at least get closer to) the look we want. Below are 11 tips on how to dress so you look taller:
Patterns and Color
1) Wear the same color (or at least similar tones of color) on top as you do on bottom. That way, you avoid the horizontal line of a color break across your middle, which would cut you in half otherwise.
2) Similarly, you should avoid wearing a belt that contrasts strongly with the rest of your outfit, as it will abbreviate you.
3) Wear socks in the same color as your pants. It makes your legs look longer.
4) Everyone knows to wear vertical stripes, but did you also know that diagonal lines create illusion of length? In addition to vertically striped pants, suits, jackets, and socks, try a repp (diagonal stripe) tie.
Lines of Clothes
5) Dressing in layers allows you to add lots of elongating verticals. Think a hoodie or sweater with a zip or a cardigan left open (try under a sport jacket or a casual jacket).
6) Wear a pocket square. It draws the eye up to your chest favorably.
Sportcoats or Suit Jacket Details
7) Opt for peak lapels, as the detail and upward-pointing angles guide the viewer’s eye in an upward direction, making you look taller.
8) As in #1, the diagonal lines of a suit jacket or sportcoat’s lapels will extend your height. Choose one with a “low button stance,” which means it buttons lower on your body, extending those diagonal lines.
9) The gorge on your jacket is where the collar meets the lapel. If you’re buying custom, tell them you want a “high gorge,” which will have the same upward-orienting effect as in #7.
10) Buy your jacket on the short side (or have it tailored that way) so that it just covers the curve of your seat. This makes your legs look longer.
11) When you have your jacket sleeves tailored, ask for at least 1/4″ of shirt cuff to show. If not enough or no cuff shows, it can make your arms (and the rest of you by proxy) look short.
Is there anything about your appearance you’d like to balance or camouflauge? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll tackle it in an upcoming post.
-Content provided by Rath & Co. Men’s Style Consulting. Read more: http://rathandco.com/2014/05/look-taller-with-these-11-tips/#ixzz32ecGeINS
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The Recovering Politician Bookstore
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My 11 years in the fitness industry has taught me a lot about life. It has taught me what to do and in some cases what not to do. Life often emulates art and I have always thought of personal training as art, it makes sense that I have learned some important life lessons. In no particular order, these are the 5 things I have learned about life from being a personal trainer:
