Set Higher Standards by YogiRavi

I think we all know people who are great at coming up with excuses. Reasons for not going for a run. Reasons for not eating properly. Reasons why this person isn’t cool or why this other person is. Expert justifier. Fantastic arguer. Outstanding rationalizer.These people can be captivating to listen to and this is the problem. Excuse-making is a disease and it spreads.

Hearing someone justify stuff brings out an empathetic response in most people. This makes the person feel good and makes others on some subtle level feel relieved that they aren’t pushing themselves either. Someone who is good at justifying stuff can also hone the skill of conversation into an art. Their arguments can be entertaining and the more involved and elaborate they are, the more people tend to listen and empathize.

The problem is that excuses just take you off the hook. Instead of making up reasons why something isn’t possible, just say that you didn’t do it or don’t want to do it because you didn’t do it or don’t want to do it and leave it at that. Saying you are too busy, too tired, too stressed, too young, too old, too hungry or whatever isn’t going to help. It just feeds the negative thought pattern you don’t need in the first place.

"Denali" - a friend's black lab....does what he wants, when he wants...no excuses for him!

Hiking is a highly effective way to forget about your ego and be in the present! This is from my hike up Mt. Talpus in summer 2009.

The problem with self-help books, tapes and programs as they are commonly presented in bookstores and seminars is that they cater to the “self.” This is an issue since the self that desperately needs help is exactly the same self that is trying to help itself! It’s like trying to pick yourself up by your own bootstraps, it’s an impossible task. This is the issue with so many personal development and self-help approaches. They rely on some sheer force of will, ridiculous effort or some crazy process of control to create a change. These approaches simply strengthen the very things we must begin to let go of to achieve any sense of true personal growth, the ego.

This is where meditation fits in. When practiced without focus on outcome or desire, it provides a shim against the force of will that we apply in most every endeavor we take up. It allows one to grow without feeding the ego. It can help to undo the egotistical build up we experience throughout other activity. Through simply witnessing breath and becoming aware of what “is,” there is an increased capacity to see things objectively throughout all of life. It is perhaps the only form of self-help that is truly effective.

Pandora Town Hall (photo courtesy of ashwinrao1)

Last week I went to a Pandora user talk at the Seattle Library. Pandora founder Time Westergren has been doing these since 2007 (I actually went to one of the first ones back then – check out my notes) and he’s done over 250 since. He shared some stats about the service, and spent most of the Q&A with the audience.

Pandora has almost gone out of business several times (first during the dot-com bust and then due to licensing litigation), but is now doing well in terms of user growth (unclear about profitability, but looks close to it). Their core asset is their music genome, where they hire trained musicians to laboriously score songs along 400 dimensions (takes 20-30mins per song!). This asset is then used to build custom “stations” and target on-air advertisements based on user feedback.

I’m amazed at how they’ve built such a passionate fan-base in short order (the talk was overflowing yesterday, and they are packed in every city). They have strong conversion/engagement on their website (1 in four songs are “thumbed up or down”) and great breadth across connected devices (Pandora is available across cars – through Ford Sync, radios, PCs, iPhones, TVs, etc.). Also, they are laser focused on simplicity. They have seen first-hand that adding features lowers overall site engagement. In fact, their lead designer used to make exhibits for a children’s museum ?, that’s how much they care about simple UI.

Tim’s personal story is also quite amazing. He spent 10 years touring the country as a struggling musician, and brought Pandora back from the brink on several occasions to make it what it is today, quite a household name. There is something to be said for endurance and sticking with something you truly believe in. Since some of you are probably Pandora fans (like me), wanted to pass along my notes from the town hall meeting:

• Launched Pandora 4 years ago as a streaming radio station, before that the Music Genome Project was active from 2000.
• $50m in revenue and pays $30m in royalties for music
• Almost went bust a few times! (dot com bust and then licensing litigation)
• 50M registered listeners
• 2M new users join the service every month
• 180 employees
• Genome started in 2000 – started online streaming in 2004
• Hires 20 musicians to classify songs along 400 attributes
• 5Billion thumbs so far, 1 out of 4 songs are thumbed!
• 750K songs in their genome adding 10k new songs a month
• Songs are played in 3-4 song sets within a given station
• 70% of artists not on major label – goal is to help the underdog
• Half of their music not on major label compared to 5% of radio being not on major label
• Big challenge is to not be too repetitive – that is their challenge
• Their lead designer’s previous job was to make exhibits for a children’s museum! They care that much about simple UI ?
• “Disocverometer” is one dial they think of adding (choose how much you want to hear new stuff vs stuff you know)
• When u add extra options, u lose more than u gain – it’s been proven for them…..less features is best
• iTunes and amazon are fulfillment methods for buying songs you like, when they added a third fulfillment method the overall conversion drops!
• Pandora sells more music on amazon and iTunes than anyone else and most of their stuff is ranked 100k (long tail artists)
• Commission they get is in single digit percentages
• They get commissioned on entire shopping cart from amazon – so if you click to buy a song and then buy a TV…they get a cut of that!
• 80% of stations launched from typing in artist names
• Audience mirrors population of US
• Vision is to build infrastructure to enable matching musicians and people, to help live acts find and serve their audience
• Pandora is 1% of all of radio – they want to be more of that!
• Only serves US market
• No prereqs for new artists, just need to be avail on amazon – they have a submission process
• They pay $.02/hour in licensing costs
• No API anytime soon – otherwise monetization would be tough since small changes in the interface have large impacts on conversion
• iPhone is a huge success, 35K users a day are added on iPhone added
• Half of radio listened in-car – they see huge potential there
• Pandora is on over a 100 devices, from cars to TVs
• Game consoles are big target incl Xbox – they want to get in that market

Related posts:

1. Pandora…the best music site on the internet!

I sat in a few teacher training classes during a workshop held at my yoga studio this weekend. The training is geared for those who are not yet teaching but have the desire to do so.

Since I am already teaching I’ve had several folks ask me why I would sit on a training session that I’ve already done and progressed beyond. My response has simply been that even if the training is a repeat, I am bound to learn something new. It is like going out on your favorite hike for the fifth time or walking into your favorite restaurant for the second time in a week. Just because it isn’t new doesn’t mean your experience the same as it always has been.

There is always a new experience to be had and new lessons to be learned.

In this training, we spent time doing personal introductions and getting feedback on them. I realized how my body language and tone and filler words (and, but) were keeping me from connecting with people in a powerful way. I’ve done literally thousands of introductions at work, in social settings and to begin yoga classes, but never really thought about how important those first few words I say about myself can really shape others impressions of me. Boy am I glad decided to do this workshop again!

Today I have deactivated my Facebook account, and will no longer be posting to my Twitter account. This is another 30-day challenge. I’m an avid social networker, but at the end of the day, I realize that much of the conversations that happen through these networks are not directly supporting my overall goals or well-being.

Participating in social networks is a fantastic thing, but you need to be incredibly disclipined and focused so that you do not begin to allow the network to swallow you whole. As your network builds, the more people will contact you, the bigger and busier your news “feed” will be and the higher the noise-to-signal ratio will become.

You run the risk of becoming a human spam filter just trying to parse through what is valueable vs nice-to-have vs absolute garbage. For me, with over 600 friends on facebook, the information tsunami was difficult to manage. I would check the site several times a day just to see if there was something of interest.

I would get people sending me notes and e-mails on Facebook totally out of the blue and often off-topic. I’d also have lots of “shallow” interactions with people and very few meaningful conversations. In the end, I am not that big on small talk. I would much rather have a few meaningful conversations with people than a hundred casual chats. People can easily contact me through my blog (or my e-mail, which is also posted on this blog).

Lastly, I also have found myself posting updates and photos just to see what other people think…that is to say, just to get a reaction. I don’t think this is healthy behavior or a good use of my time.

Therefore, for the next 30 days, I have deactivated my Facebook account and also will not be using Twitter at all. The only exception with Twitter is that when I post a blog, my site auto-updates to Twitter. I’ll let that continue, I just won’t check it! I am curious to see if I even miss not having this connection to my online network.

Today is Day 11 of my Raw Food 30 Day Challenge. I really didn’t expect it to be this easy. I feel absolutely fantastic and have absolutely no detox symptoms to speak of. In fact, this transition from my vegan diet to a 100% raw food diet is easier than my transition from lacto-ovo vegetarian to vegan.

I think difference is that I am both far more educated and also have connected into a support system of people that I have learned a ton from – from various raw food online forums like Give It To Me Raw and 30 Bananas A Day, and through a few friends (like Darrick) who have been walking down this path for a while. I’ve also been reading a ton of books and online resources (including Dr. Doug Graham’s 80-10-10 and David Wolfe’s Sunfood Diet).

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You are what you eat.

This statement is so simple but true. I’ve written at length about the importance of eating a wholesome diet full of fresh and organic plant-based food. I’ve also written a bit about the power of an alkaline diet – a way of eating that focuses on supplying the proper nutrients to the body so it can naturally cleanse and provide you with sustainable power.

I’m really happy about today’s post, featuring an interview I recently finished with Ross Bridgeford – Co-Founder of Energise for Life, Europe’s #1 alkaline diet and nutrition store (check out his Energise Blog for more great tips!). Ross has been living the alkaline lifestyle for a while, and has a ton of great insights on how to live a healthier and more energized life.

I think you’ll find this interview incredibly informative. Enjoy!

Ross and Callum (Left to Right) – founders of Energiseforlife.com

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We all have our stories. Some of these stories give us strength. Other are draining. Most of them are the later not the former.

Our stories will take us out, if we let them. They will take us out of what we really want in life. They will take us out of the situations that help us to grow. They will come to the fore even faster than we can think. They grow over time and become further entrenched until it is hard to distinguish who we really are from the stories we tell about ourselves.

Our stories ultimately provide our mind with a rationale for why we are not in good physical shape, smart, successful, in a happy relationship, financially secure or otherwise living up to our dreams.

Our stories are a crutch.

Start taking note when you start “explaining” to someone why you aren’t doing something are being in a manner that you know you should be doing/being. Chances are your story is rearing it’s head. The more you can become aware of your stories, the less energy you’ll be feeding to them. The less you feed them, the less of a grip they will eventually hold over you.

Stop watering your plants and they will eventually die. Stop feeding your stories and the same will happen to them.

Once your stories drop away, you’ll be living a life that is authentic, and in tune to the person you really are.

This weekend I finished a teacher training intensive at my yoga studio. This intensive was 12 hours of yoga over the weekend (Friday night and 2 practices a day on Saturday and Sunday), with 25 other teachers and soon-to-be teachers from the Seattle area (though 1 person came in from Montana!).

My studio, Shakti Vinyasa, is a Baptiste Affiliate Studio, and this style of Power Vinyasa Yoga is quite popular nowadays. The training pushed us all to discover our own inner voice, our reasons for teaching and some of the key building blocks to leading an outstanding class.

Perhaps the most unnerving part of class was leading other students through small 3-5 minutes routines! In fact, at one point during yesterday evening’s class, while all of us were hanging out in downward dog waiting for the teacher to lead us to the next pose, we were asked to raise our leg if we wanted to teach the class.

Of course I did.

And of course I was then called on, and led the class through a little Sun Salutation B (with Crow thrown and a few Lion’s for good measure!). This was my first attempt at teaching a class this size at an actual yoga studio (in front of a bunch of other teacher’s no less!). It was a lot of fun.

Throughout the rest of the intensive, we had several practice rounds of teaching amongst smaller groups, with feedback (intense feedback I might add!) on what we did well and what we could improve on.
Feedback was a critical aspect of the training, and we were pushed to give feedback that focused both on “gems” (things we do well) and “opportunities” (things we could improve on). We were also repeatedly coached to not react to the feedback, and to just accept it.

I must say, that if you have never had to sit and listen to someone praise or critique you and SAY NOTHING…..you would not realize just how tough it is. No nodding the head or laughing or telling your story about why did such a thing…just sitting and accepting it quietly.

Through this experience, I have had a few realizations about making the transition from Yoga Student to Yoga Teacher:

It is far harder to teach a class (effectively) than I thought.

It is one thing to take class on a regular basis, and another thing altogether to remember the sequencing and cues for proper alignment that are needed when teaching. Remembering the proper breathing pace and cues also takes practice. From my own experience, it was as if there was a barrier between my brain and my mouth….and when I tried to teach, I smacked right into it! Already after just a few days of practice I can see that I’ve improved a lot. It’s also clear that I need to “study” more of the asana sequences and Sanskrit names more rigorously.

It is far more rewarding to teach a class than I thought.

It is a feeling that words cannot describe. On a practical note, teaching is an excellent way to really dial in your own practice. You also get to see many more people doing poses as an observer, which gives you insight into alignment issues you may be having in your own practice. It is also just so much fun. It’s like a runner’s high. I can also see how much you can contribute to society through effective teaching. You can help people remove stress from their lives and bring their bodies back into harmony. I’m so glad I’ve started out on this journey to become a yoga teacher.

For those of you who have read this far, are you a yoga teacher or student? If so, what is your motivation for practicing and/or teaching? Leave a note in the comments please!

I’ll cut straight to the punch. 1. Quality 2. Timing

I should know a thing or two about this. I spend the first half of my life as a massively overweight kid. I tried all sorts of tricks and different diets. It took me a long time to realize that are just two simple things you need to get a handle on to get complete control of your diet.

Understanding these two simple concepts gives you the intellectual ammo you need to start being aware of the quality of your food choices and the timing around when you eat them.

It’s heck of a lot easier to just focus on these simple guidelines than some other elaborate diet. In fact, if you are following any other diet, just add in these concepts and you’ll be sure to get better results.

1. Quality is all about the nutrient quality of the food you eat. Is it unprocessed? Is it organic? Is it fresh? Is it ripe? There is a lot to be said for quality. You can consume an apple as a mashed up apple that has been sitting in a del monte can on a shelf for years in some warehouse until it makes it to your supermarket and finally to your mouth…..or you can enjoy a fresh, ripe and crisp apple plucked straight from a tree.

There is a difference in the quality of nutrition you get from different food choices. Eating 500 calories worth of pizza is not the same as eating 500 calories worth of fresh greens, avacado and tofu or beans. Even if the “labels” look the same, use your common sense and think about what your body will have to do to digest that food.

In accounting, you look at assets and liabilities, revenue and expenses to measure the health of a business. When you look at food, just don’t think about what it puts into you, think about what your body will have to do (“spend”) to make those nutrients available to every cell in your being.

Focus on quality nutrition. There is no price too high to pay to feed yourself the highest quality food. I hear lots of people complain that organic food costs too much, and in the next breath blow $50 on an overpriced bottle of wine with a dinner. You body deserves the best and most high quality food around.

2. Timing is critical. Eating 500 calories after cycling a century is not the same as eating 500 calories when you are awake at 2am wasting time using the computing instead of going asleep. Your body has a rhythm and digestive fires need a break.

Eating a burger and fries in the middle of a sedentary workday is not the same as eating a high calorie smoothie before a big day of snowboarding.

It is time for common sense.

People get fixed into eating the same things and the same amounts (often too much) regardless of their situation or time. Feed your body what it needs, when it needs it. Don’t feed it what YOU want.

Perhaps the single biggest change people can make to their regarding timing is to limit the size of their final meal in the evening. In many cultures, the evening meal is small, consisting of a few fruits, breads, salads, etc. The midday meals were also lighter unless the daytime was busy with physical activity.

Today, we eat for convenience, which means a skipped breakfast (coffee is the most popular breakfast in the USA…how sad), a quick fast food lunch of pizza or a burger and an oversized dinner to feed a body that has been so starved of real nutrition during the day.

Today I started my day with a large glass of water mixed with dried greens. I ate 1/4 of a large pineapple midmorning and a vegan sandwich with lots of veggies for lunch. I had another 1/4 pineapple for afternoon snack.

After work I did a very intense 90 minute yoga practice, and am now enjoying a smoothie made with 3 celery stalks (great for replenishing electrolytes) and more powedered greens blended in my vita-mix. My dinner will probably be a soup of some sort. Something light. If I don’t wake up in the morning and feel a little hungry, I know I overate at dinner.  I burned a lot of calories in my yoga practice but I still am getting more than what I need because I have timed my nutrition appropriately and am getting high quality and unprocessed nutrients in my body.

This is typical of my average day. Some days I fall off the bandwagon and have a large plate of Chinese food for lunch, in general I try to keep my meals as high quality as possible, and timed appropriately.

Try focusing on quality and timing a bit more during your day and your bound to make better choices. Remember that the goal is not to get it perfect. The goal is to simply make 1-2 changes that stick and move you in a more positive direction. Even a 1% shift in course over the long term will translate to massive positive change over the long term.

Namaste.