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Thinking For A Change

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Thinking For A Change

Thinking For A Change

 

Skill #3: Discover the Joy of Creative Thinking

  • “The joy is in creating, not maintaining.” – Vince Lombardi (97)
  • “Originality is the art of concealing your source.” – Thomas Edison (98)
  • “To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter (99)
  • “The most valuable resource you bring to your work and to your firm is your creativity.” – Annette Moser-Wellman (99)
  • “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” – Pablo Picasso (100)
  • Characteristics that creative thinkers have in common: (1) They value ideas, (2) explore options, (3) embrace ambiguity, (4) celebrate the offbeat, (5) connect the unconnected, and (6) don’t fear failure. (101-104)
  • “Highly creative people are dedicated to ideas. They don’t rely on their talent alone; they rely on their discipline. Their imagination is like a second skin. They know how to manipulate it to its fullest.” – Annette Moser-Wellman (101)
  • “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein (101)
  • Creative thinking works something like this: THINK > COLLECT > CREATE >CORRECT > CONNECT
  • An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. (104)
  • “anxiety is the essential condition of intellectual and artistic creation.”(104)
  • Sometimes creative thinking lies along the lines of invention, where you break new ground. Other times it moves along the lines of innovation, which helps you to do old things in a new way. (105)
  • “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use it, the more you have. Sadly, too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured. There has to be a climate in which new ways of thinking, perceiving, questioning are encouraged.” – Maya Angelou (107)
  • If you cultivate creativity, you will become more attractive to other people, and they will be drawn to you. (107)
  • “Creativity is the joy of not knowing it all.” Ernie Zelinski (108)
  • Creativity is teachability. It’s seeing more solutions than problems. (108)
  • The status quo and creativity are incompatible. (108)
  • Wrong questions shit down the process of creative thinking. (111)
  • “The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes Ā a creative mind to spot wrong questions. (111)
  • Negative environments kill thousands of great ideas every minute. (112)
  • A creative environment, on the other hand, becomes like a greenhouse where ideas are seeded, sprout up, and flourish. (112)
  • A creative environment: (1) encourages creativity, (2) places a high value on trust among team members and individuality, (3) embraces those who are creative, (4) focuses on innovation, not just invention, (5) places a high value on options, (6) is willing to let people go outside the lines and (7) appreciates the power of a dream. (112-116)
  • “Studies of creativity suggest that the biggest single variable of whether or not employees will be creative is whether they perceive they have permission.” – David Hills (112)
  • Creativity always risks failure. That’s why trust is so important to creative people. (113)
  • “Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.” – Rita Mae Brown (113)
  • Creative people say, “Give me a good idea and I’ll give you a better idea!” (114)
  • Look at more stuff, and think about it harder… That’s the formula all of us can learn to embrace if we want to become more creative people.
7 Mile - Lap Times

H.M.T. III – Week 7 Recap

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HMT III: Week 7

HMT III: Week 7

Monday 12/31/12

New Year’s Eve!! I spent New Year’s Eve at my Sister’s place and kept it pretty low key because I had a New Year’s Day 10K the following morning. I did take 3 shots of Henny, but my brother-in-law was kind enough to make them half shots because he knew what I had planned that next morning. I didn’t strengthen this day because I wanted to rest my body for the 10K, BUT I did stretch (somewhat). On my way to my sister’s place, I stopped by a running store and bought this bad boy:

The Stick

The Stick

So I was rolling out my quads, calves and IT Band the whole day. After eating and playing with my nieces, I went to sleep around 9pm and asked my sister to wake me up for the countdown…. she forgot! But she did wake me up right after the countdown and I was able to wish all my family Happy New Year.

Tuesday 01/01/13

Check out my New Year’s Day 10K! post.

Wednesday 01/02/13

I was supposed to run, BUT I was still recovering from my 10K, so I just relaxed this day.

Thursday 01/03/13

I did strengthen my back, shoulder and triceps this day. After resistance training, I hopped on the treadmill for my 4.5-mile run and ended up only running half a mile; my legs still weren’t ready after that 10K (that hill was nuts, for me anyways).

10K Elevation Chart

10K Elevation Chart

Friday 01/04/13

Rest Day!!!! Yes please!!!!

Saturday 01/05/13

My lady and I started off this Saturday by volunteering a food bank with a few of my staff from the Y. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun doing what we were doing. After the food bank we had lunch and after lunch I KTFO!! My body, my legs still needed some good rest.

Sunday 01/06/13

Today was my 7-miler. I wasn’t too sure how this run would go because I haven’t really ran since my 10K and my legs still felt a little tired. Here’s my run:

Lake Merced

Lake Merced

7 Mile - Lap Times

7 Mile – Lap Times

My legs felt really heavy today and I think its because I have been eating way too much Quinoa! I just started eating that shtuff and I have fallen in love with it. I spoke to my buddy about my run today and he told me that Quinoa definitely makes you feel a little heavier. So after I spoke with him, I went to Chipotle and got me a Chicken Fajita Bowl with EXTRA RICE! I think I haven’t been consuming too much carbs this past week (because of Quinoa) and that’s why this 7-miler was a little tougher than usual.

I you haven’t noticed yet, I have posted something every day this year! This is one of my goals for 2013: to post something on my blog everyday! I hope all of your running is going well! Cheers to 2013!!

Start With Why — Chapter 1: Assume You Know

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Start With Why

Start With Why

I started read this book and I want to post the more interesting elements that grab my attention. And I’ll do it in bullet form šŸ™‚

  • behavior is affected by our assumptions or our perceived truths; we make decisions based on what we think we know. For example; “not too long ago, we all believed that the world was flat, that if we traveled too far we would literally fall of the edge of the earth. It wasn’t until that minor detail was revealed — the world is round — that behaviors changed on a massive scale… The correction of a simple false assumption moved the human race forward.”
  • whatever the result (of our decisions), we make decisions based on a perception of the world that may not, in fact, be completely accurate.
  • so how can we ensure that all our decisions will yield the best results for reasons that are fully within our control? Logic dictates that more information and data are key… More data, however, doesn’t always help, especially if a flawed assumption set the whole process in motion in the first place.”
  • assumptions, even when based on sound research, can lead us astray
  • “… they engineered the outcome they wanted from the beginning. if they didn’t achieve their desired outcome, they understood it was because of a decision they made at the start of the process.”
  • “when faced with a result that doesn’t go according to plan, a series of perfectly effective short-term tactics are used until the desired outcome is achieved. But how structurally sound are those solutions?”
  • “… great leaders understand the value in the things we cannot see.”
  • “there are those who decide to manipulateĀ  the door to fit to achieve the desired result and there are those who start from somewhere very different. though both courses of action may yield similar short-term results, it is what we can’t see that makes long-term success more predictable for only one: the one that understood why the doors need to fit by design and not be default.”

I Was On the Radio!

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HELLLLOOOO!!

It’s been so long since my last post, but I’ve been super busy! It’s not that I stopped caring about my “ypowr” or WordPress, I just had something else come up; something new and exciting! On May 21, 2012, I started my new job as Program Director for Health & Wellness at the Central YMCA in San Jose, California!!!! Woot woot!! It’s such an awesome position and I am very blessed to have been given the opportunity. It’s a lot of work, but I’m lovin’ it!! I’ll let you all know more about it on my next post, which will be a video post!

But this post is about my experience on KSFS: The Cycle. My good friend Mr. Conclara was (and I saw “was” because he just graduated, woo!!) a student in the Broadcasting and Electronic Communication Arts (BECA) Program at San Francisco State University and actually hosted a radio show (The Cycle) every Tuesday during his final semester. He asked me if I would be a guest on the show and I immediately said yes. So here’s is the recording, I hope you all enjoy it!

Sorry again for not posting much lately, but I’m back on it! I promise! Cheers!

Just click on this link and enjoy:Ā KSFS: The Cycle

HMT: Days 7 & 8

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HMT: Days 7 & 8

HMT: Days 7 & 8

Day 7 was 5K day! The 5K that I ran was Kaiser Permanentes First Annual Running of the Elk held in Elk Grove, CA. This race had a half marathon, a half marathon relay and the 5K.

Kaiser Permanentes First Annual Running of the Elk

Kaiser Permanentes First Annual Running of the Elk

I think I summed up my first 5K experience best when I Instagram’d a photo of me and my brother immediately after the race:

JR: #2913 (22:47:36; 8th place). Gordon: #1936 (22:43:00; 7th place).... One of the best experiences of my life. I know it's just a 5K (~3 miles), but there was more to it. There was a mental component to it that I didn't really expect. Within the first 5 minutes I was like "wtf did I get myself into?! This a pretty fast pace!! I don't think I could do this"... But then I just kept running... S/o to my brother Gordon for running this with me. This is my first of many races!! Thank you Lord for today and thank you Lord for the opportunity and the ability to participate in this. All of this is yours and I hope you enjoyed this race as much as I did. Happy Palm Sunday everyone!

"JR: #2913 (22:47:36; 8th place). Gordon: #1936 (22:43:00; 7th place).... One of the best experiences of my life. I know it's just a 5K (~3 miles), but there was more to it. There was a mental component to it that I didn't really expect. Within the first 5 minutes I was like "wtf did I get myself into?! This a pretty fast pace!! I don't think I could do this"... But then I just kept running... S/o to my brother Gordon for running this with me. This is my first of many races!! Thank you Lord for today and thank you Lord for the opportunity and the ability to participate in this. All of this is yours and I hope you enjoyed this race as much as I did. Happy Palm Sunday everyone!" - Instagram: iamjohnross

And if you have an Instagram, please follow me at: iamjohnross

Here are a few souvenirs from yesterday. Another thing I didn’t expect after my first official race: loving all the free stuff you get when you complete the race. I could see this becoming a big reason why I run; I’ve always loved collecting stuff. I can’t wait for my first medal!

Souvenirs from the 5K

Souvenirs from the 5K

Day 8 was a “Stretch and Strengthen” Day. So today I spent a good 30 minutes on the foam roller, SMRing my IT, my quads, my ADductors, my calves, and my piriformis. I also did a good amount of static stretches after my strength training. My strength training consisted of 2 back, 2 shoulder, and 2 tricep exercises…… oh yea, and 1,000 bicep curls.

"Oh, I can barely lift my right arm 'cause I did so many." - Ron Burgundy

"Oh, I can barely lift my right arm 'cause I did so many." - Ron Burgundy

And one last thing: I found out yesterday from my friend at Racing the StatesĀ that Caballo Blanco was found dead yesterday. I don’t want to say too much other than this: thank you, Caballo, for inspiring me to run, but more importantly thank you for inspiring me to be a better human being. If you’ve never heard of him before, please take some time to read up on his life.

Caballo Blanco

Caballo Blanco

I hope all your weekends were awesome and I hope this week goes well for you all! Work hard! Cheers!