By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jun 18, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
We all say this almost weekly when describing to others what it’s like to live in Louisville.
“It’s a great place to live and raise a family” I’ve said over 3000 times. And meant it each time.
Sure, it’s not “edgiest… city”, or “fastest growing city” or “fastest dying city” or any of the other more thrilling adjectives that would be more conducive to a burst of adrenaline.
But Louisville isn’t where people move to for an adrenaline rush. It’s where people move to after the they’ve tried the “adrenaline rush” cities and found them wanting.
They’ve learned the hard way that a uniquely “livable city” was what they were really looking for all along…and just didn’t know it. At least that’s my story. And I know it’s a common one.
Louisville is not a city full of cheap external thrills. Rather it is a city that allows us to become our better selves internally.
Congrats Louisville. On being great –in fact, the best–at being a good place to live.
I’d put it this way: LA, NY, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Philly, Cindy, Indy, Atlanta and Nashville are all fun cities to date. But Louisville is the city that you are going to want to marry.
By Krystal Ball, on Wed Jun 13, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET  Women’s health and birth control access have sparked a contentious political firestorm in American politics as Republicans have unleashed a barrage of restrictive and damaging legislation. As we fight back against these historic attempts to undermine women’s health and family planning access here in the US, let’s not lose sight of our sisters around the world. Access to family planning education and contraception is one of the global keys to improving health, economic development, and security.
While fertility rates have declined dramatically in most of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia have resisted the trend toward fewer lifetime births per mother. From 1950 to 2000, the average fertility rate in developing countries was cut in half, from 6 to 3.
Fertility rates, however, in many African countries have remained stubbornly high. In Nigeria, the rate is 5.5, in Chad and Uganda it’s over 6. With a fertility rate over 7, Afghanistan has one of the highest rates of childbirth in the world. The fact that it is also poor, uneducated and prone to extremist movements is no accident.
Take a look at this list of countries by fertility rate. A quick glance confirms that poor countries tend to have high rates and rich countries tend to have low rates. Is this simple correlation or causation? In other words, which comes first, the economic development or the declining fertility rate? It’s probably some of both but there’s good reason to believe that access to contraception, even in a poor country, can decrease fertility rates and improve economic development.
Researchers in Bangladesh studied the impact of access to birth control, in Matlab district, over the course of 20 years. They found that in villages with family planning, every measure of well-being, including health, earnings and assets, improved. While cultural preferences for large families remain, an increasing amount of research also shows that couples in developing countries desire fewer children. Marie Stopes International surveyed Afghan families and found that the ideal size for most Afghan families was 4 or 5 children, in other words, 2 or 3 children less than their current fertility rate would dictate. Afghan couples also seemed to understand the benefits of limiting family size. One man commented that: “Three to five (children) is perfect in order to feed and educate them well.” Another study found that more African women said they wanted contraception but had no access than said that they actually use contraception. Most poignant however was the reaction of one woman, a mother of 17, upon receiving birth control for the first time. The woman was reportedly so delighted that she “hugged and kissed Aziza (the provider), ripped open a package and swallowed a pill with a gulp of water.”
 Increased access to contraception is not just good for families, it also contributes to a stable and sustainable world. While the link between poverty and terrorism has been difficult to tease out, the growth for example of the deadly Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria appears directly tied to grievances about poverty and inequality, economic stress that is worsened by large families.
All of this is to say nothing of the burden that climate change puts on our world and the strain and conflict it creates. The Department of Defense calls climate change an “accelerant of instability” that exacerbates volatile situations.
Warmer temperatures and increased incidences of severe weather lead to more natural disasters, dislocation, and disease. This stress and hardship in turn fuels extremism. Smaller families consuming fewer resources can be a step on the road to lessening the impact of extreme weather events on global security.
Read the rest of…
Krystal Ball: Women’s Health is Key to Global Health, Economic Development, Security
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jun 11, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
 Commit to goals ahead of time so you have no choice but to achieve them!
A short story by Flannery O’Conner has a scene where a character throws his hat over the high fence so he’ll have no choice but to climb over it as part of the story’s adventure. I love that.
And try to replicate that in my life.
For example, this morning I put on and comfortably fastened a new pair of pants for the first time. The pants were purchased two sizes smaller than my usual waist size. Because I wanted to be sure I had no choice but to achieve my goal.
It was a great feeling of success for being so goal oriented.
Even though I bought the pants nearly 3 years ago.
By Jimmy Dahroug, on Mon Jun 11, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET You’ll have the rest of your life to be conventional graduates. Now is the time to chase your dreams, while you’re still young enough to start over if you fall.
“This is maybe your one shot when you come outta here, so don’t blow it by jumping at money, by doing the things that everybody thinks you should do because it seems successful, figure out where your heart is and try to go with that.”
 Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and The Blind Side, offered this advice to college graduates on Meet the Press when discussing guidance he has offered at commencement addresses. It may be the best advice for any college graduates that I have ever heard. Platitudes about “going for it” are easy to dismiss unless you consider that time is running out quicker than you realize. The first year or so after college may be your last, best shot to take risks to pursue to the job you love.
For most of you, this is the rare few years before family needs and the responsibilities of a stable career consume your daily lives. If there ever was a time to risk pursuing a dream career instead of taking the comfortable path, that time is now.
Earlier this year I was privileged to attend an event where Marty Rouse, National Field Director for the Human Rights Campaign, was honored for his significant work in helping pass marriage equality in New York State. With a career of stories to tell an audience hanging on his every word, Marty chose to share that pivotal choice he made shortly after college to leave a comfortable job and devote his life to the work he loved.
Shortly after college, Marty was moving up the ladder at a promising job in New York City. One day his boss pulled him aside and told Marty that while he was great at the day job, it was clear that Marty’s passion was in his work as an LGBT rights advocate. He advised Marty to quit and at least try to make a living doing the work he loved because in ten years Marty would likely be in his boss’s shoes: too comfortable and too risk-averse to leave that job to do what he loved.
Read the rest of…
Jimmy Dahroug: Class of 2012 –This May Be Your Last Best Chance
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Jun 5, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET Can’t win them all.
Last physical blood tests were “good” but with a few “slight irregularities.”
While waiting for explanation my mind raced. It was “slightly elevated cholesterol and glucose. That’s all.”
Me:”Ok . Good.”
And I added “I figured the “slight irregularity” may have been traces of Tiger Blood.”
Nurse:”Ha! No traces of Tiger Blood. Did you eat anything sweet just before the test?”
Me:”Yes. An ice cream cone.”
Nurse:”That explains glucose. If I ever worry that I need to test for Tiger Blood I’ll let you know.”
Me:”I read once that tigers like ice cream.”
Nurse: “Uh-huh. You can go now.”
Personally, I don’t even think she tested for Tiger Blood.
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue May 29, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET One more reason I love technology.
In the old days when you committed you were going to start a new diet you had to join a gym, buy some new work out clothes, get a heart rate watch, subscribe to an exercise magazine, and perhaps even hire a personal trainer.
Before failing at the diet and exercise plan.
But not anymore!
Thanks to the internet and smartphones, we can save time and money by bragging to our friends—and they pretending to believe us—that we are “committed” to making some major changes in our dietary lifestyle without having to spend hundreds of dollars on all these old school props.
All we have to do is download an “app” for our smartphone called “Lose It”
And then fail at the diet and exercise plan.
Sure, we’re still overweight but look at the time, money and energy we save!
Thanks technology!! You really do deliver! Despite having to put up with us too human humans.
(Caveat: Some people really have succeeded using this app. They must have either really wanted to lose weight or simply lacked the ability to be able to fool themselves.)
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri May 25, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET  Human motivation and how to understand it.
We all do things or say things that perturb and puzzle others. That don’t make logical sense or seem appropriate for the situation.
Why do we do it? I have a 6- pronged approach to make sense of such situations and would like to share it with you.
1) Ask “What is the pay off for the behavior?” You will often discover there is a history or story behind seemingly silly behavior that helps explain otherwise unusual behavior. Under the right circumstances, many unusual behaviors can still have a “pay off” for people.
2) Dopamine spurt. It’s remarkable how many of our behaviors are unknowingly locked into dopamine “reward system.” Running, sports, anger fits, romance, good grades, and so on–including a number of less savory behaviors are reinforced daily by our desire to get a quick hit of the brain chemical dopamine.
3) Parents. This explanation is a time-honored standby for unpleasant behavior. Tracing it back to some parental deficiency that is still having an awkward impact today. This must be used sparingly to remain credible.
4) Birth order. Sibling birth order can explain some traits and temperaments and has a good deal of solid science to back it up.
5) Philosophical-spiritual. When someone behaves badly simply understand it as the person acting the way he or she needs to at the moment as part of a larger positive process. Statements like “He’s doing the best he can with the tools he has” are often heard to describe this assessment tool.
6) Not caring. This is fast becoming my favorite strategy when trying to understand another person’s inappropriate behavior. It’s more declarative than diagnostic but works very efficiently. When someone behaves badly instead of starting down a long mental path to understand the behavior, stop. Instead, simply say to yourself “That was a really inappropriate behavior and i don’t need to understand why he did that.”
Over time many who use this last technique are able to use the shorthand, “I can’t believe he did that. What an asshole.”
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu May 17, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET The mathematics of dieting (or the value of a rationalizing mind)
Apparently–and this is important if you didn’t learn this in school–addition and subtraction; multiplication and division all can have nuanced exceptions apply to their normal functions when calculating caloric intake.
For example, let’s say you buy a pastry at Starbucks that you know has 400 calories.
For dieting purposes that is potentially 300 calories you will need to record for yourself if you eat the entire pastry (because you aren’t really exactly sure it’s 400 calories and it’s a smaller than usual looking pastry–and you are just trying to be honest with yourself).
However, if you only eat half the pasty, that only counts as about 100 calories (not the usual 150 or even 200 you might assume would apply using “regular non-dieting math.”
Why?
You look at the pastry and feel you ate the “smaller half.”
But, if you come back to the pastry and decide to eat 3/4ths of it (and not just 1/2), you must add another 10 calories (because the math has gotten so complicated and hard to remember that it’s OK to use shorthand at this point). So, you eat another 1/4 of the pastry and duly note the additional 10 calories. (The fact that it is 1/4th of the “bigger half” isn’t necessary to factor in at this point because you really forgot about this small fact anyway.)
And if you decide a few minutes later, “Screw it , I’m eating the whole thing” and pop the last tiny morsel in your mouth (or final 1/4 of the pastry), you will have to make yet another adjustment. Since you will recall that you just added 10 calories from eating an additional quarter of the pastry a few minutes earlier–and since you have to remain mathematically consistent— you must add another 10 calories for the final quarter of the pastry.
At this point, all you can remember is that you just added 10 calories for eating the final quarter (1/4) of the punier than usual pastry–and can’t recall what the old total calories calculation was to add to.
But that’s the beauty of math. You don’t have to remember. There’s a shortcut. If you know that one quarter (1/4th) of the pastry is 10 calories, you can be sure that the entire pastry (4/4ths) is exactly 4 times that number–or 40 calories.
So, write down 40 calories for eating that entire Starbucks pastry that was really 400 calories.
This is why so many people fail at their diets.
It not only takes willpower to succeed dieting. But you have to be really good at math, too.
By RP Nation, on Thu May 17, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET  I was flying high!
20 years as a senior-level executive with three Fortune 500 companies, a high-level governmental official, a political player rubbing elbows with governors, members of congress and even private visits with the President.
However, after 20 years of climbing the corporate ladder, extensive travel and a cell phone permanently in my ear, I started to feel that while I had achieved some level of “success,” I was lacking “significance.”
While playing corporate musical chairs, the music suddenly stopped one Friday afternoon and I found myself without a chair in that ivory tower I had grown so comfortable in occupying. But it was a 300 year old story that would not only be redemptive; it would provide the purpose I had been seeking and the means to help others in similar situations find their purpose.
Ironically, I had delivered thousands of speeches over the years about the power of purpose. Included in those speeches was a simple yet powerful story of a bystander observing two people laying bricks. The first person when asked what he was doing responded, “I’m laying bricks.” The second responded, “I’m building a cathedral.” Naturally, the “cathedral builder” had resonated more with me than the “bricklayer,” but after 20 years of playing the corporate game, pushing my way to the front of the room, I was starting to feel more like that “bricklayer.” And unfortunately, I wasn’t alone.
 Click to order Greg's book Numerous studies report that less than half of employees are actually satisfied with their jobs and feel a sense of purpose. Other surveys suggest that a high number of employees would leave their companies today if the economy were better. And with one in ten Americans currently unemployed, six of those ten unemployed say the next job they get will most likely not provide purpose; instead, they expect to have to settle for something less.
A women and workplace survey from “More Magazine” revealed that 43% of the women surveyed say they are less ambitious now than they were a decade ago. And only a quarter of the 500 women ages 35 to 60 say they’re working toward their next promotion. Three out of the four of women in the survey, 73%, say they would not apply for their boss’ job, reporting the stress, office politics and lack of purpose make the leap simply not worth it. In fact, two of three women said they would accept considerably less money for more free time and more flexibility. The bottom line is, there’s never been a time when Americans, male and female, young and old, public and private sector, need a sense of purpose.
Read the rest of…
Greg Coker: The Recovering Bricklayer
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu May 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET What doth it profit a man to reduceth his cholesterol if he CRS?
That’s my dilemma.
I’m in a tiny minority who respond well to statins (reducing my cholesterol levels) but experience significant memory loss on the flip side.
And it’s true with any statin. I’ve tried about 4 different ones.
My doctor, thinking the memory problems were minor, even suggested it may be worth the payoff.
That reducing cholesterol by 80 points is worth struggling to remember an old phone number or friend’s name you hadn’t seen in years was worth the trade off.
So I tried again.
Within 3 days I was leading a conference call with a client and had my boss and several other colleagues on. Three times within 15 minutes I could not remember my boss’ name.
I told my doc, whose name I was fortunate enough to remember, and he said best to look for alternatives to statins….I agree.
But won’t hold my breath.
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