The Curious Engineer

Joshua Spodek

2008–2012

921 posts

2013–2015 →

2012 428

December 2012

  1. What is purpose? How do I create more purpose in my life?
  2. What is meaning? How do I create more meaning in my life?
  3. Understanding others’ value and their values
  4. What is value? What are values? (short version)
  5. What is value? What are values?
  6. Cognitive behavioral therapy and its problems, part 2
  7. Cognitive behavioral therapy and its problems
  8. The irony of my last two posts
  9. Vince Lombardi: What It Takes to be Number One
  10. Public speaking and karaoke success
  11. Burpees — the one year review
  12. Nature versus Corporate (slideshow)
  13. Nature versus Corporate
  14. Petty pathetic censorship
  15. You know, ordinary life is pretty complex stuff
  16. Thoughts on mourning
  17. A poem: In the sea of Iwami by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
  18. One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 5: examples
  19. One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 4: overcoming them
  20. One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 3: why empathy gaps make sense
  21. One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 2: research and experiments
  22. One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 1
  23. Moving doesn’t have to suck. It can be great.
  24. Talking about race is sure to lead to nonsense
  25. Responsibility and consuming resources
  26. Scandal about that refreshing voice on copyright from a hard-core conservative
  27. You’re an animal
  28. Schopenhauer on the consistency and reliability of our emotional systems
  29. Overcoming Objections and Blocks overview and table of contents
  30. Overcoming objections exercise
  31. Common objection 11: Other people tell me not to

November 2012

  1. Common objection 10: I’m good at something else
  2. Common objection 9: I’m too busy. I have other priorities.
  3. Common objection 8: But it’s embarrassing or it makes me anxious
  4. Common objection 7: I’ll feel fake
  5. Common objection 6: That’s just the way it is
  6. Common objection 5: I have to take care of “real world” issues first
  7. Common objection 4: I don’t know how to do it, I’m too introverted, I’m not smart enough, etc
  8. Common objection 3: I don’t have enough money/time/connections/etc
  9. Common objection 2: I’m not good at X. I can’t do Y. I’m not a Z person
  10. Publishing
  11. Common objection 1: I want to understand the root of the problem before solving it
  12. See Rufus Seder’s talk on “Magic, Art, and Motion Pictures” featuring my work in Boston November 29
  13. How to view objections and blocks as advantages
  14. Overcoming objections and blocks in leadership and personal development: The overarching principles
  15. How to make yourself more confident
  16. A refreshing voice on copyright from a hard-core conservative
  17. Experimenting with ads
  18. Variety, choice, the manufactured illusion of it, and creating more yourself
  19. Appreciation for good customer service
  20. Obesity, insults, and living by your values
  21. A good video on body language, non-verbal communication, and improving yourself
  22. Perceiving tragedy
  23. Thriving in challenging situations
  24. How do you respond to others’ suffering?
  25. Amazing software to help you think and organize
  26. The most important parts of any exercise or diet
  27. Values change
  28. Misconceptions about values
  29. Another genius business idea: Iron Designer tv show
  30. You’re always emotional, not only when you’re angry or excited
  31. Non-attachment, caring, and motivation, part 2
  32. Sensationalist reporting
  33. It’s what you make of it

October 2012

  1. Always remember the media wants to sell ads
  2. No power? No complaints.
  3. Measuring costs of disasters, modeling your world, and accounting
  4. Social challenges can be harder than technical
  5. The simple pleasures of home
  6. Know your self-talk, lead others
  7. Know your self-talk, know yourself, part 2
  8. Know your self talk, know yourself
  9. Some self-talk you’ll recognize, to improve your self-awareness
  10. You can connect with anyone
  11. If we return to the same happiness level eventually, why do we prefer winning lotteries to becoming quadriplegic?
  12. The metric system isn’t that much better
  13. Starting a leadership school
  14. You show me the best leader in a room and I’ll show you the one who works the hardest
  15. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Review
  16. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Shortcomings of 360-degree feedback reports
  17. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Weaknesses are often strengths misapplied
  18. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: foreseeing challenges
  19. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Focus on the client
  20. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Use Feedforward
  21. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Create accountability for yourself
  22. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: find a relevant exercise
  23. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: figuring out what to start with
  24. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Personal development skills
  25. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: Improve one thing at a time
  26. INSEAD leadership seminar
  27. A sample 360-degree feedback report: qualitative feedback
  28. A sample 360-degree feedback report: more detail
  29. Leadership lessons from 360-degree feedback charts
  30. A sample 360-degree feedback: Overview charts
  31. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students: 360-degree feedbacks
  32. Coaching highlights from coaching Columbia Business School students

September 2012

  1. See Joshua Spodek at INSEAD Singapore next week
  2. Amazing essays by amazing writers and thinkers
  3. Sports and passion
  4. Science is a long way from helping diet
  5. How does a car flip over like this?!?
  6. My beautiful eight-minute Shanghai commute
  7. Your commute is too long
  8. People who claim not to judge and blame often do, illustrated, part 2
  9. People who claim not to judge and blame often do, illustrated
  10. My Mom, the new face of fashion
  11. Our polluted world
  12. Where do you buy fruits and vegetables?
  13. One of the best exercises I know to raise your self-awareness
  14. Why food matters
  15. You can still learn new things
  16. North Korea and relationships
  17. Motivating populations
  18. Occupy Disney
  19. Broccoli rabe versus sweets
  20. What causes all the stress in your life?
  21. Non-attachment, caring, and motivation
  22. A good listening question, especially if you talk too much
  23. If you want to change something you do, its opposite usually is no better. Look for its complement.
  24. Examples of ignoring impediments on the way to greatness
  25. A model to make hard decisions easier
  26. Lessons in freedom from Charles Barkley
  27. Being overweight looks depressing
  28. Too much is a problem too
  29. How I got to work a day or two a week
  30. Union Square in Motion named Adobe Design Achievement Award Semifinalist!

August 2012

  1. So you’re good at meeting people. How do you choose whom to meet?
  2. A fundamental contradiction for many women in dating
  3. I flipped burgers at the Burger King on the Champs-Elysees in Paris
  4. You can plan good times. The best times just happen.
  5. Motivation, energy to act, and expectation of success
  6. Growing up in a bad part of town
  7. More on power, leadership, lawlessness, justice, and amnesty
  8. Power, leadership, lawlessness, justice, and amnesty
  9. Handling annoying requests from your superiors at work
  10. Typical conversation in Chinese restaurant
  11. The Leaders in Software and Art Conference, October 16
  12. My essays for getting into an Ivy League business school in 23 days
  13. My background for getting into an Ivy League business school in 23 days
  14. I started at an Ivy League business school 23 days after deciding to apply. Here’s how.
  15. I love the West Village
  16. Soursops — my new favorite fruit!
  17. Boracay!
  18. How I edit these posts
  19. The one person you can never see from another person’s perspective is yourself
  20. Kim Il Sung Square, the day before his birthday celebration
  21. More on rules
  22. An old building in North Korea
  23. Rules: what are they and how do you get to play by your own?
  24. North Korean monuments, part 2
  25. More on becoming a superstar
  26. North Korean monuments, part 1
  27. How to become a superstar
  28. My coffee habit and rules
  29. More on North Korea’s art
  30. Why I don’t like watching soccer
  31. Three things I learned from yoga
  32. North Korean children’s nearly unbelievable performances
  33. How far should I develop myself? It’s hard!
  34. An olympic shock
  35. An interesting character in North Korea
  36. Why do you read joshuaspodek.com? What do you want to see more or less of?
  37. Genuine North Korean emotion and tears
  38. Facebook’s woes and what it could have done instead
  39. Pyongyang’s slums

July 2012

  1. Another genius business idea: real-life fairy tales
  2. Great Bruce Springsteen article in this week’s New Yorker
  3. What works in X web page mind map
  4. Do you overvalue originality at the expense of getting the job done?
  5. Another genius business idea: the “What Works in X” web page
  6. How I could be wrong about North Korea’s stability
  7. Another genius business idea: the “What Works in X” book series
  8. Bizarre tour of the metro museum
  9. The Art of What Works
  10. Natural beauty in North Korea, part 2: beaches
  11. Words to help you do things daily
  12. What do you think of “leaders” whose people suffered
  13. Another genius business idea: the series
  14. Natural beauty in North Korea, part 1: mountains
  15. Leadership, personal development, choosing to care, and emotional pain
  16. Random observations of Pyongyang and North Korea
  17. Having acceptance, tolerance, and hope show gaping holes in your life
  18. My first tilt-shift: North Korea
  19. My fitness habits, part 4: Nothing special about what I did
  20. My fitness habits, part 3: Exercise
  21. Pyongyang city planning
  22. My fitness beliefs and habits, part 2: Food and Eating
  23. North Korea and deteriorated infrastructure
  24. My fitness beliefs and habits, part 1: Principles
  25. North Korea and industry
  26. Things aren’t suddenly getting worse
  27. North Korea and inequity
  28. You don’t find your passion, you create it
  29. In North Korea, many people just sit by the roadside with nothing to do
  30. Every moment counts
  31. How to generate tons of hits and posts and why I don’t do it
  32. Public speaking: one way to captivate audiences
  33. More North Korea posts to come
  34. I like luxury when someone gives it to me just for being myself
  35. My satellite in the news!
  36. Would you eat the cherry tomato?
  37. A leadership dream
  38. The scourge of romantic comedies
  39. If you crave something you don’t have, people who have it will always be able to control you
  40. You don’t have to accept anyone else’s hierarchy of taste
  41. Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July
  42. Ultimate in Shanghai!
  43. Ten Years of Submedia’s New York City display!
  44. Another awesome blog — this one on living richly

June 2012

  1. Spending less improves your life
  2. The bigger problems you don’t consider big deals, the more important people consider you
  3. The U.S. has a “dysfunctional patent system”
  4. Sharing what you love fills your life with sharing, love, and stuff you love
  5. A tip for high-status behavior
  6. Burpee overview
  7. Explaining China’s support for North Korea
  8. Burpee six-month review
  9. Impressions of China
  10. The terracotta army
  11. Xian
  12. Learning social skills helps your life more than almost anything
  13. Durians!
  14. Proof you can change even very important beliefs in an instant
  15. On creating emotions
  16. Persistence pays off, so does treating people like people
  17. “Extremes” usually aren’t
  18. Not envying others, without complacency
  19. The values of different fields
  20. Living by your values
  21. Leadership lessons from method acting
  22. Difficult lessons in leadership
  23. America’s infrastructure, leadership, idealism, and getting the job done
  24. What is progress?
  25. My cousin — Olympics bound?
  26. A Korean-American friend’s article about visiting North Korea
  27. Seeing movies in theaters reminds my why I don’t like watching movies in theaters
  28. How you see the world when you see it from space
  29. Every word you say counts
  30. My comedy sketch script
  31. Great videos on understanding the economy, environment, and energy
  32. Facebook versus Walden
  33. Entrepreneurs saving heating costs and polluting less

May 2012

  1. Creating your emotions — my friend’s incredibly successful story
  2. First cherries of spring!
  3. The difference between men and women
  4. Human history, on a flash drive
  5. On the values of travel
  6. If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy, Consider Time
  7. Problems at the foundation of economics
  8. Why people flip out (including yourself) and what to do about it
  9. A leadership perspective on differences between economic systems
  10. Robert McNamara on Vietnam and leadership (or lack thereof) that led to the war
  11. Joshua Spodek mentioned in Tate Modern lecture
  12. Xu Bing’s gallery show at the Shanghai Gallery of Art
  13. Ho Chi Minh City’s War Remembrance Museum
  14. Leadership and the environment
  15. Culture shock comes when you experience something old for the first time in a while, not something new
  16. Difficult life decision? Here’s how to look at it.
  17. Founding myths and who created North Korea
  18. The difference between “about science” and science
  19. I don’t know when the United States and North Korean governments will be at peace, but we made it sooner
  20. Entrepreneurs: think twice before taking advice from venture capitalists
  21. Business people should understand our effect on the environment better than anyone, part 2
  22. Business people should understand our effect on the environment better than anyone, part 1
  23. One of the best books I’ve read on the environment, our impact on it, and what we can do about it
  24. A leader and physicist’s view on morality, ethics, and judgment
  25. How do you lead when you can’t stand working with someone?
  26. Deciding right and wrong for others and causing them guilt and blame doesn’t help anyone
  27. The New York Times had a contest about my post
  28. Giant marshmallow dreams
  29. On the counterproductivity of motivating people with guilt and blame — aka moralizing
  30. North Korea, China, Vietnam, Cuba — a case for humility and understanding
  31. Ecology, economy, population growth and Do The Math
  32. Perhaps this blog’s most useful and effective advice
  33. Food, joy, and values

April 2012

  1. Awesome math book and an anecdote on it
  2. The height of annoying
  3. See my North Korea strategy talk
  4. Words of wisdom for crunch time
  5. Leadership-based thoughts on economic and energy growth and limits
  6. Fantastic video on economic and energy growth and limits
  7. The Forbidden City
  8. Back from North Korea!
  9. See Joshua Spodek on understanding North Korea from a business strategy perspective in Beijing
  10. Why don’t they teach emotional intelligence and self awareness in school? (part 1, K-12)
  11. Giving unsolicited advice generally backfires. Here are alternatives.
  12. How to identify great life lessons
  13. Learning from performers to live in the moment
  14. How to get the body you want
  15. Conquering anxiety (or any other emotion) and getting the job done
  16. The Great Wall of China!
  17. More on the subjectivity of “truth”
  18. Talking about “truth” or “reality” confuses things
  19. Do you think truth is objective?
  20. I don’t like to travel
  21. Learning the incredibly helpful skill of forgetting
  22. My interview by Leaders in Software and Art
  23. Yet more perspective on the economy, environment, and ecology
  24. Finally, more great perspective on the economy, environment, and ecology
  25. How to feel good anytime
  26. North Korean models
  27. Two representations of problems with America
  28. Podcast from my August North Korea trip
  29. Finding home by traveling far
  30. A story of a North Korean prison camp
  31. Physical and emotional tension are similar and you can use either to help the other
  32. North Korea, the environment, and trees
  33. Your online tools spy on you. There is a way out.
  34. Is there no comprehensive list of emotions?

March 2012

  1. Balancing challenge, learning, fun, and reward in personal development
  2. Creating miracles
  3. One way to accept without judging
  4. Hard work, money, and American values
  5. Obama’s missed North Korea opportunity
  6. Working hard versus getting things done
  7. The slides from my North Korea talk at Columbia Business School
  8. Leaving Facebook is easy and fun
  9. Eloquence
  10. Make your faults and weaknesses strengths
  11. A Catch-22 of minority and underprivileged leadership
  12. Spring in New York 2012, part 1
  13. Fun words for annoying people
  14. Activating mental chatter
  15. Another review of Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country
  16. The first step in strategy
  17. How gyms having big mirrors helps so much
  18. A question on my North Korea talk at Columbia
  19. See Joshua Spodek on understanding North Korea from a business strategy perspective at Columbia Business School
  20. When the greatness of great leadership emerges
  21. Spring sunshine and breezes
  22. What is status?
  23. What is power?
  24. Depressions don’t make you depressed
  25. Attempting to succeed means you will fail sometimes
  26. Some consolation
  27. How to attract anyone, part 3
  28. A way to attract anyone, part 2: how to do it
  29. How to attract anyone, part 1
  30. An exercise to help keep you from getting angry
  31. A self-awareness exercise to help keep you calm and effective
  32. Psychologists on self-awareness
  33. My habits
  34. A North Korean vegan food blog
  35. Habits can be contagious. How to make that work for you.

February 2012

  1. Telling my awesome story on stage about inspiring my mom’s first marathon
  2. Hard projects will be harder than you expect. How to prepare.
  3. Using an MBA as a multi-media artist, and other uses
  4. E. O. Wilson and evolutionary psychology in the New Yorker
  5. An essay on money
  6. A bad day skiing beats a good day of almost anything else
  7. Planet Money on the North Korean economy
  8. A solution to all ethics problems
  9. Forget what you have. What can you create?
  10. Hopeless or worth it? When should you give up on a project going nowhere?
  11. How not to fail
  12. Does greatness require letting go of your safety net?
  13. Nobody is normal
  14. What I learned from football ads
  15. How to respond to insults
  16. Vulnerability and opening up first
  17. Josh’s growing list of differences with mainstream American culture
  18. Amazing representation of the size the universe and everything in it
  19. Don’t let a sour grapes attitude ruin your life
  20. Some reasonable talk on the China Study
  21. Getting through the challenges of personal development
  22. Improve your public speaking through storytelling, part 2
  23. Improve your public speaking through storytelling, part 1
  24. More labels not helping: a man’s autism vanishes
  25. “Introverted” / “Extroverted”: labels hold you back from improving your life
  26. Willpower, part 9: an image of how to use willpower
  27. Willpower, part VIII: images of temptation
  28. Willpower, part 0: The value of willpower
  29. Communications skills exercises, part 10a: examples of voicing your self-talk
  30. Willpower, part VII: what to do with your old motivations
  31. Is New York City’s warm February weather scaring you?
  32. More on burpees
  33. Grand Illusions and North Korea, part 2
  34. Who knew a one-minute-a-day workout could do so much?

January 2012

  1. Grand Illusions and North Korea, part 1
  2. How to begin a workout routine to last: start with joy
  3. The Method: exercise to transform yourself
  4. The Method: exercise in new beliefs
  5. The Method: exercise in knowing yourself
  6. The Method: long term
  7. The Method: improving your life as much as you want is all based on one cycle
  8. Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” reveals more than you’d think
  9. The Method: long-term growth from many transformations
  10. The Method: illustration of implementation stages
  11. The Method from another perspective
  12. The Method: implementation stage 1: a caveat
  13. The Method: implementation stage 3: regular life
  14. The Method: implementation stage 2: support
  15. The Method: implementation stage 1: transition
  16. The Method: implementation overview
  17. The Method: summary of one cycle (with diagram)
  18. The Method, step 4: Implement the environments, beliefs, and behaviors
  19. The Method, step 3: conceive of new environments, beliefs, and behaviors
  20. The Method, step 2: conceive of new emotions
  21. The Method: steps 0 and 1, awareness
  22. The Method, step 1: understand your current emotional cycles
  23. The Method, step 0: know your emotional system
  24. The Method, step by step
  25. Models: an exercise in spotting the model
  26. This land was made for you and me
  27. Models: an exercise in evaluating models
  28. Hundreds of millions of counterfeit hundred dollar bills, part 3
  29. Models: examples of the active view
  30. This photograph is free!
  31. Hundreds of millions of counterfeit hundred dollar bills, part 2
  32. Models: the active view, part 2
  33. Hundreds of millions of counterfeit hundred dollar bills, part 1
  34. Models: the active view, part 1
  35. Models: flaws from experts
  36. Models: why I stress that they all have flaws
  37. Models: the passive view
  38. A kink in the armor: The Wall Street Journal on luxuries entering North Korea
  39. Examples of models: Mexico city, lack of awareness, and leadership
  40. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on North Korea’s nuclear power development
  41. Favorite moments in North Korea of my travel group-mates, part 3
  42. Examples of models: “Everybody does their best according to their abilities and perception of their environment”
  43. Examples of models: “beliefs and expectations filter your perception”
  44. Favorite moments in North Korea of my travel group-mates, part 2
  45. Examples of models: why he or she didn’t call
  46. Favorite moments in North Korea of my travel group-mates, part 1
  47. Examples of models: how a slight change in your model can create big changes in behavior
  48. Understanding North Korea featured on Amazon
  49. Examples of models: beliefs and mental models
  50. A brief history of Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country

2011 480

December 2011

  1. The best book for understanding North Korea
  2. Examples of models: the Earth from several perspectives
  3. Examples of models: maps
  4. Leadership opportunities in North Korea for U.S. Presidents
  5. More on kids’ understanding about eating meat
  6. Celebrations on a North Korea scale
  7. Communications skills exercises, part 10: Your Authentic Voice
  8. More mass crying at Kim Jong Il’s funeral
  9. Wrapping up reasonable talk on eating
  10. The Vice Guide to North Korea teaches little and perpetuates pre-conceived notions
  11. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issue7: anatomy
  12. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issue6: religion
  13. The media keeps misinterpreting North Korea
  14. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issue5: feeling closer to nature
  15. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issue4: animal cruelty
  16. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issue3: animal rights
  17. Mass crying over Kim Jong Il’s death: Learning about others teaches you about yourself
  18. Vaclav Havel and freedom; perhaps I was wrong
  19. Srikumar Rao’s talk follow-up: deep discounts on January’s class
  20. Understanding Kim Jong Il from a systems perspective, and what to do now
  21. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issue2: environment
  22. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issue1: health
  23. Why I don’t eat meat: non-issues
  24. What comes next for North Korea?
  25. On the death of an unpopular leader
  26. Kim Jung Il died today
  27. Why I don’t eat meat, part 2
  28. Why I don’t eat meat, part 1
  29. Why I stopped eating meat, part 3
  30. McLibel
  31. Why I stopped eating meat, part 2
  32. Why I stopped eating meat, part 1
  33. More reasonable talk on eating, part 3
  34. More reasonable talk on eating, part 2
  35. Rules: what we could and couldn’t do in North Korea
  36. Our North Korea itinerary
  37. More reasonable talk on eating
  38. North Korea strategy: a toy proposal to promote thought
  39. Some reasonable talk on eating
  40. Computer problems
  41. Pictures of North Korea, part 9: the Grand People’s Study House
  42. Reasons to visit North Korea
  43. Comedian Chris Rock can solve all your relationship problems
  44. “Elements” — Special viewing of my art December 10, 8-10pm
  45. The Method: three exercises to transform your life, part 3
  46. North Korea strategy: what you can do
  47. The Method: three exercises to transform your life, part 2
  48. North Korea strategy: reducing domestic support
  49. My North Korea talk slides
  50. The Method: three exercises to transform your life, part 1
  51. North Korean strategy: increasing interaction
  52. Upcoming events!
  53. See me speak on North Korea Sunday at 7pm in Soho!
  54. Communications skills exercises, part IX: statements instead of questions
  55. The heart of freedom, part 2

November 2011

  1. The heart of freedom
  2. North Korean strategy: reducing the risk to North Korean decision makers
  3. North Korean strategy: China
  4. You can get reward from every part of your life
  5. North Korean strategy: starting points for successful change
  6. Audio interview: why leadership? what’s so great about leading?
  7. Make painful emotions useful
  8. North Korean Strategy: what won’t change things
  9. North Korean strategy: how does the world look to North Korean leaders?
  10. Director of MTA Arts for Transit on Union Square in Motion
  11. Occupy Wall Street and Leadership, part 4: Bloomberg taking sides polarizes situation
  12. North Korean strategy: what do North Korean leaders want?
  13. Occupy Wall Street and Leadership, part 3: recommendations
  14. North Korean Strategy: from the leaders’ perspective
  15. Occupy Wall Street and Leadership, part 2: the New York City Mayor’s opportunity
  16. Occupy Wall Street and leadership, part 1: the context
  17. North Korean Strategy: the North Korean government’s sustainable competitive advantages
  18. Audio interview: best part of visiting North Korea?
  19. North Korea strategy: the players and their motives
  20. There will never be a periodic table of emotions, part 2
  21. There will never be a periodic table of emotions, part 1
  22. North Korea strategy: the playing field and major players
  23. North Korea strategy: a primer on strategy
  24. How to bring happiness and emotional reward to your life by analogy with pleasure, part 3
  25. North Korea strategy: preview
  26. How to bring happiness and emotional reward to your life by analogy with pleasure, part 2
  27. Pictures of North Korea, part 8: the road back to Pyongyang
  28. How to bring happiness and emotional reward to your life by analogy with pleasure, part 1
  29. Pictures of North Korea, part 7: Kaesong
  30. See Professor Srikumar Rao at the New School December 13, 6:30pm
  31. Central Park: Sunday’s stunning explosion of autumn colors
  32. Audio interview: why did I go to North Korea?
  33. An offer to the Freedombox community
  34. Weird things in the United States from a North Korean perspective
  35. First time sprints
  36. Weird things I saw in North Korea
  37. Using the Method to wake up earlier
  38. See me speak on North Korea in December!
  39. Rules for visitors in North Korea, part 2
  40. The Method: summary of stages
  41. WordPress bug
  42. Rules for visitors in North Korea, part 1
  43. The Method: transformations, stage 3: regular life
  44. Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, part 7
  45. The Method: transformations, stage 2: support
  46. Audio interview: the difference between my seminar and traditional business school leadership classes
  47. Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, part 6
  48. Union Square in Motion on NY1
  49. Amartya Sen and North Korea
  50. The Method: transformations, stage 1: a caveat
  51. Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, part 5
  52. Union Square in Motion NY1 Interview with designers
  53. Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, part 4
  54. The Method: transformations, stage 1: transition
  55. Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, part 3
  56. The Method: transformations overview
  57. Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, part 2
  58. The Method: summary of preparation (with diagram)
  59. The Method: step 4, create and implement them
  60. Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, part 1

October 2011

  1. Audio interview: ultimate frisbee in Pyongyang, North Korea
  2. Reminder: My next leadership seminar: This weekend at the New School
  3. Beliefs affect your perception, illustrated with wine
  4. North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 4
  5. North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 3
  6. On Responsibility and Occupy Wall Street
  7. North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 2
  8. The Method: step 3, conceive of new consistent environments, beliefs, and behaviors
  9. North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 1
  10. Propaganda in North Korea
  11. The Method: steps 1 and 2, awareness
  12. Common questions about visiting North Korea, part 2
  13. The Method: step 2, understand your current emotional cycles
  14. Common questions about visiting North Korea, part 1
  15. Audio interview: my first sale, with Coca-Cola
  16. Food in North Korea
  17. The Method, step 1: know your emotional system
  18. The Method: example 3: two simple but effective examples
  19. Freedombox’s pursuit of perfection undermines its goals
  20. Pictures of North Korea, part 6: the Demilitarized Zone
  21. The Method: example 2: overwhelming joy on a bleak morning
  22. Pictures of North Korea, part 5: approaching the DMZ
  23. The Method: example 1: a home run after three strikes
  24. Joshua Spodek on Official North Korean Television!
  25. The Method: how-to
  26. North Korea themes, part III
  27. The Method: when to use it
  28. North Korea themes, part II
  29. North Korea themes, part I
  30. Reminder: My next two leadership seminars: October 23,30 and November 5,6 at the New School
  31. Audio interview: sales lessons from a great failure
  32. Review of non-Method methods
  33. Pictures of North Korea, part 4: the Arch of Reunification
  34. Pictures of North Korea, part 3: first views of Pyongyang
  35. Non-Method method 4: positive thinking
  36. Pictures of North Korea, part 2: preparing for our first adventure
  37. Non-Method method 3: “The Secret” or “Law of Attraction”
  38. What’s counterproductive about “making the world a better place”
  39. Non-Method method 2: New Year’s resolutions
  40. Pictures of North Korea, part I: starting at the hotel
  41. I won’t get in trouble for this
  42. Flying through Shanghai
  43. Basic observations of North Korea
  44. Expectations of North Korea
  45. Visiting Occupy Wall Street
  46. Non-Method method 1: “I need a new house/car/job/girlfriend/boyfriend/etc”
  47. I’ll get in trouble for this in two ways
  48. Audio interview: life lessons from academia: business school
  49. Non-Method methods
  50. North Korea bibliography and what I will write about
  51. The Ethics of Visiting North Korea
  52. The Method: the foundation, part I
  53. Crossing Art: Motion in Stillness images
  54. What’s touring North Korea like?
  55. How to get to North Korea and if you can legally
  56. From the Model to the Method
  57. North Korea!
  58. The Model: summary
  59. My next two leadership seminars: October 23,30 and November 5,6 at the New School
  60. Union Square in Motion summary
  61. Union Square in Motion: opening event pictures
  62. The Model: what is freedom?
  63. Communication skills exercises, part VIII: breaking the ice
  64. Audio interview: how travel improves your life — even without traveling
  65. The Model: strategize, then enjoy
  66. The Model: bring about emotions you want and enjoy them, don’t dwell on them

September 2011

  1. The Model: “What is the meaning of life” is a needlessly and counterproductively complicated question
  2. The Model: the source of all meaning, value, purpose, and importance
  3. The Model: a single cycle is simple. Many cycles get complex.
  4. Fantastic behind-the-scenes making-of video of Union Square in Motion
  5. How to get past “I can’t get past it”
  6. Should you get a coach?
  7. Press and reviews of Union Square in Motion
  8. Union Square in Motion public art opening today
  9. Audio interview: don’t just accept, celebrate!
  10. Union Square in Motion opening Monday 7pm
  11. The Model: what you can and can’t control
  12. The Model: how your emotional system chooses your emotions
  13. The Model: more on the difference between “positive” and rewarding emotions
  14. The Model: more functional views of emotions
  15. Videos of Union Square in Motion with children, in interior and article
  16. Earth from space, a pale blue dot
  17. The Model: what are awareness, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence?
  18. Video of Union Square Public Art Piece during installation
  19. Cleaning up: moving “My Art” to separate page
  20. Finding Union Square in Motion
  21. Audio interview: how I make eating well and exercising easy, fun, and rewarding
  22. The Model: reward in more depth
  23. Union Square display just up and beautiful!
  24. The Model: behavior in more depth
  25. The Model: characteristics of emotions
  26. The Model: the origins of your emotions and emotional system
  27. The Model: emotions in more depth
  28. The Model: perception and belief in more depth
  29. The Model: environment in more depth
  30. Audio interview: how I pick my seminar and blog topics
  31. Introducing Audio Mondays
  32. Working on bug — Edit: resolved!
  33. Shortcomings of cognitive behavioral therapy and remedies to them
  34. The Model and cognitive behavioral therapy
  35. The Model: our emotional system is outdated
  36. The Model: your emotional system is consistent and predictable
  37. The Model: our emotions transcend “nature red in tooth and claw”
  38. The Model: emotional reward differs from the emotion that brought it about
  39. The Model: examples of emotional cycles
  40. The Model: where emotional cycles came from
  41. The Model: reward, happiness, and pleasure

August 2011

  1. Dropping friends who bring you down can hurt, but improves your life
  2. The Model: adding reward
  3. The Model: adding belief and perception
  4. The Model: adding emotions
  5. The Model: environment and behavior
  6. The Model: why
  7. The Model: models in general
  8. The Model
  9. The Model — introducing my model for the human emotional system
  10. More excitement than most people can handle
  11. Three little birds
  12. How to make people around you miserable
  13. How to get others to improve your life
  14. The most effective self-awareness exercise I know
  15. How to make persistence pay off more effectively
  16. How to stop boring everyone you meet
  17. When to judge
  18. More thoughts on being less judgmental
  19. Another way to avoid acting judgmentally
  20. How to stop being so judgmental
  21. Women are not “more emotional” than men
  22. Gender neutral language
  23. Mild emotions are still emotions
  24. People who say “Why do you care what other people think” are hypocritical, insensitive, self-important, and antagonistic
  25. Business school’s first major lesson: how to resolve ethical dilemmas
  26. Man Ray on values
  27. The essence of creativity, as expressed by Man Ray
  28. Communication skills exercises, part VII: building blocks and tips
  29. The tough times of personal change
  30. Communication skills exercises, part VI: feedforward
  31. When 100% orange juice isn’t: Pepsi, Coke, and agribusiness turn fruit into chemical concoctions

July 2011

  1. Communication skills exercises, part V: Meaningful connection
  2. Communication skills exercises, part IV: Storytelling
  3. Communication skills exercises, part III: Conversation hopping
  4. Animated Freedombox logo!
  5. Communication skills exercises, part II: Body language
  6. Communication skills exercises, part I
  7. You don’t know your values until you test them, part II
  8. You don’t know your values until you test them
  9. Walking is not dangerous
  10. Have you forgotten you’re alive?
  11. You can’t “create your world” but you can do better.
  12. Words to live by
  13. The best day of the year!
  14. How to turn lemons into lemonade, part IV
  15. How to turn lemons into lemonade, part III
  16. How to turn lemons into lemonade, part II
  17. How to turn lemons into lemonade, part I
  18. Calling emotions positive or negative doesn’t help — it hurts
  19. Roots — I descended from seventeenth-century Salem puritans!
  20. Making childhood dreams happen
  21. Culture shock
  22. Fun to imagine
  23. How to choose between nearly equal but incomparable options
  24. Inline videos
  25. Statements about time are statements about priorities and values
  26. New videos of my art
  27. Closing event for my solo show at Crossing Art gallery with Leaders in Software and Art
  28. People join good projects and leave bad management
  29. Independence Day
  30. Travel and developing empathy
  31. Exercise: how to improve your empathy
  32. Rock Star Dream
  33. Behind China’s Censorship

June 2011

  1. Solving Problems II: The Dandelion Versus The Burning Building
  2. Solving Problems I: The Dandelion Versus The Burning Building
  3. More belief-changing exercises
  4. More changing your perspective
  5. Change your perspective to change your perspective
  6. Istanbul!
  7. Leaders take responsibility
  8. The most common route to CEO
  9. More thoughts on motions, values, children, and school
  10. Emotions, values, children, and school
  11. A review of my solo gallery show
  12. Joshua Spodek: big in China
  13. A review of my seminars
  14. Solo gallery show first images and video
  15. Finishing touches
  16. Early reviews of the show from a four year old
  17. The CEO is the least hurried or reactive
  18. The CEO carries the least
  19. Announcement on the show
  20. Your new plans for Saturday
  21. How to tell if someone is good at something
  22. Linear zoetropes in Amsterdam
  23. Celebrating other people’s values
  24. Leadership seminar at New York Academy of Sciences posted
  25. Freedombox logo designs
  26. My next solo gallery show at Crossing Art Gallery
  27. Leadership and personal development and school
  28. Another successful leadership and personal development seminar
  29. Willpower, part VI: examples
  30. Willpower, part V: how to use it
  31. Willpower, part IV: when to use it
  32. Willpower, part III: when not to use it

May 2011

  1. Willpower, part II: what it is
  2. Willpower, part I: what is it, when to use it, and how
  3. I have low standards the first time
  4. Best solo workout I know
  5. Parsons student linear zoetrope videos
  6. Parsons Students Linear Zoetrope Photos
  7. Observations on Flow, part II: two improvements
  8. Observations on Flow, part I
  9. Silly joke
  10. Another friend wins writing award
  11. A beautiful spring day in my neighborhood
  12. More thoughts on “Where you get energy”
  13. If you love it, do it even if you aren’t good at it
  14. Where you get energy
  15. Sometimes working harder is easier
  16. Vipassana Meditation
  17. A vegetarian entrepreneur’s take on test tube meat
  18. Venture Capital myths
  19. Don’t be like a cheetah running into a wall
  20. What’s wrong with “making the world a better place”?
  21. Are you being judgmental without realizing?, part IV
  22. Your life is no more complicated than anyone else’s
  23. Thinking about business school?
  24. Updated art resume and post from Leaders in Software and Art talk
  25. My next leadership seminar: June 4 and 5 at the New School (jointly with Columbia Business School)
  26. Alternatives to counterproductive emotions and behavior
  27. Goodbye guilt and blame, VII
  28. Goodbye guilt and blame, VI
  29. Are you being judgmental without realizing?, part III
  30. New images and videos of the Parsons Displays
  31. Are you being judgmental without realizing?, part II
  32. Are you being judgmental without realizing?, part I
  33. What do I do?
  34. On vengeance
  35. Successful, field-tested mental models likely to improve your life
  36. Update #3 on the Union Square display

April 2011

  1. Goodbye guilt and blame, V
  2. Update #2 on the Parsons Union Square display
  3. Goodbye guilt and blame, IV
  4. Update #1 on the Union Square display
  5. Goodbye guilt and blame, III
  6. Goodbye guilt and blame, II
  7. Goodbye guilt and blame, I
  8. Tonight’s talk’s map
  9. Working on art
  10. Added press page
  11. How to succeed in difficult situations
  12. See me speak on creativity!
  13. Another reason to avoid proprietary software
  14. Values and diversity in higher education
  15. The root of happiness
  16. Grete Waitz: superhero
  17. My teammate won a Pulitzer!
  18. When you want to feel fake
  19. How to find strengths in your weaknesses
  20. Freedombox logo ideas
  21. Perfection in leadership and how to improve
  22. More Where to Find More
  23. Why learn leadership (even if you don’t want to be a leader)
  24. Great opening lines to books
  25. Challenges of feedback and how to use it
  26. More rapid life-level changes and an origin of this blog
  27. The value of looking for solutions over looking for problems
  28. Hudson River swimming
  29. When polarizing helps
  30. Awesome Union Square Parsons art project gaining support!
  31. Personal development doesn’t have to take years
  32. Suggesting to calm down or take it easy is usually a jerk move by an annoying person
  33. Fine tuning and preparing
  34. About Joshua Spodek: Where to find more
  35. About Joshua Spodek: Topics this blog covers
  36. About Joshua Spodek: Whom this blog is for
  37. About Joshua Spodek: My background
  38. Another donation — over 5% there!
  39. Simplifying the About page
  40. Donations begun. You can be next!
  41. My next big beautiful public art piece! (please contribute!)
  42. The fun side of raw food
  43. How insults can be calming, liberating, and informative
  44. A master speaks on creative expression

March 2011

  1. Creativity talk mindmap
  2. Who am I and what am I doing here, part II?
  3. Another way to decrease stress, part II
  4. My April creativity talk at Fred in Brooklyn
  5. Awesome software to help you think
  6. Who am I and what am I doing here?
  7. Special seats available for NYAS seminar
  8. More pictures
  9. Exclusive pictures of life and death adventure!
  10. One way not to be manipulated
  11. Questions and answers about seminar
  12. Seminar seats limited
  13. My New York Academy of Sciences Seminar
  14. Systematic creativity resources
  15. Innovative technique
  16. More history of innovative technique
  17. Initial creativity research II
  18. Initial creativity research I
  19. More awesome friends
  20. Aspiring authors: get to know me!
  21. How much can you take responsibility for someone else’s emotions?
  22. When values collide I
  23. Teaching is awesome and inspiring
  24. How to get called a creative genius: when function follows form
  25. Productive alternatives to the genius myth
  26. How the genius myth is counterproductive
  27. How to be more creative
  28. What makes people see something as creative
  29. Why suggesting to think outside the box hurts you
  30. Creativity

February 2011

  1. Summary of counterproductive entrepreneurship myths and productive beliefs
  2. Four productive beliefs about entrepreneurship, part IV
  3. Four productive beliefs about entrepreneurship, part III
  4. Four productive beliefs about entrepreneurship, part II
  5. Four productive beliefs about entrepreneurship, part I
  6. Four counterproductive myths about entrepreneurship, part IV
  7. Four counterproductive myths about entrepreneurship, part III
  8. Four counterproductive myths about entrepreneurship, part II
  9. Four counterproductive myths about entrepreneurship, part Ia
  10. Four counterproductive myths about entrepreneurship, part I
  11. Switching domain name and software
  12. Your understanding of creativity holds you back from creating
  13. The Worst Problem In The World
  14. How much can you change your taste?
  15. Improving on focusing on what rewards you
  16. Choosing what you like is not denying what you don’t
  17. Creating more freedom
  18. How do you keep going in the face of adversity?
  19. On reading the 2010 New York City Marathon results
  20. E-book overload
  21. Predictably Irrational
  22. Another way to reduce stress more
  23. One way to decrease stress
  24. What is a belief worth?
  25. What do you never regret?
  26. Parsons Class
  27. Freedom today
  28. Responsibility versus blame
  29. Fracking — unhealthy for people who drink water or breathe air
  30. How much do you understand?
  31. Rowing machine!
  32. Why are decisions hard?
  33. Do you want to win debates or enjoy life?

January 2011

  1. Less lingo please. More plain talk.
  2. The best book on the environment, economy, and ecology
  3. An alternative to truth and lies
  4. Why do movies still have closing credits?
  5. The empowering relationship between time and priorities
  6. Is Urban Dictionary this awesome for everyone?
  7. Twenty years of gospel church
  8. Crowding out beats letting go
  9. Why I avoid proprietary software
  10. Where does value come from?
  11. How willing are you not to judge?
  12. Unsolicited advice annoys people: how to avoid giving it.
  13. Awareness
  14. Demotivating acceptances
  15. Motivating rejections IV
  16. Motivating rejections III
  17. Motivating rejections II
  18. Motivating rejections
  19. Joshua Spodek’s Art Resume

2010 5

July 2010

  1. Tao translations and translators

March 2010

  1. New Bryant Park in Motion Videos
  2. Public Art

February 2010

  1. Food

January 2010

  1. Post ideas

2009 5

October 2009

  1. Redefining Possibility: My mom ran her first marathon at 67 years old.

June 2009

  1. Discipline
  2. Jumping for Joy

April 2009

  1. Less, please

February 2009

  1. My Cash Machine Heineken Story

2008 3

August 2008

  1. Saturday Morning Hudson River

April 2008

  1. Acceptance and Celebration

February 2008

  1. Get out what you put in

2013–2015 →