My friend Sarah Robinson has this cool thing going on over at her blog, Escaping Mediocrity, this month. It’s 28 days of getting your shit together and highlights guest bloggers each day who have new and interesting ways for you to, well, get your shit together.

I blogged on day three, which was at the beginning of the month. This is what I had to say.

As I was trying to decide what to write about for this blog post, I Googled “get your shit together” to see if anything came up that inspired me. What I found, instead, was, well, a bunch of shit.

So then I thought, “How do I write about getting your shit together without inspiration?” There are a lot of things to consider: Productivity, time management, keeping up on blogs and social media, growing a business while starting a new business, sending gifts before birthdays instead of after, remembering to eat during the day, washing your hair more than twice a week, exercising, getting more than six hours of sleep a night, mentoring a team, managing clients, getting Sarah her guest post on time instead of a week late, and more. You know, not that I’m feeling guilty or anything.

It’s not like I’ve had some life-changing experience like Les McKeown (did that give you chills, or what?) to make me think it’s time to get my shit together. But, most days, I can barely get three things checked off my to-do list and I know everyone feels that way. Continue Reading »

Guest post by The Young Turk. Additional editing and amplification by his mom, Sarah Robinson.

A note from the author’s mother:

My son, The Young Turk, is all about ruling the world. It is one of the many reasons Gini Dietrich thinks he is awesome. So when we were asked to write a guest post for Spin Sucks, I asked the YT for the top five strategies he would share with those who also aspire to world domination.

Here’s what he offered – with some additional thoughts, editing, and amplification from me.

~ Sarah Robinson, otherwise known as The Young Turk’s Mom Continue Reading »

I first published this on Sarah Robinson’s blog, Escaping Mediocrity. So if you read it there last week, you won’t learn anything new by reading it here today. But, by all means, don’t be shy about leaving a comment!

On June 30,  Matt Lauer had  Elizabeth Edwards onThe Today Show to talk about life, family, her revised book as it comes out in paperback, criticism she’s received, and what she thinks about her ex-husband’s love child. Before seeing her interview, I’m not sure I would have been able to clearly articulate what creating irresistible presence really means. And then I watched her, with complete fascination and respect, as she answered tough, tough questions with confidence, class, and ease. Continue Reading »

On today’s video…I am a total dork, three housekeeping items (including something BIG coming here next week), and (the real meat) how to create a business blogging strategy while you’re on vacation.

Are you ready?

@PatrickReyes Patrick works at GM and is the furthest thing you would think when you think marketing and automaker. If he gets his way, he’ll change the way the auto industry communicates…for the better. On top of his demanding job, he blogs at Salt and Light, and quite consistently. AND, his New Year’s resolution was to commit to exercise. He’s on day 31 of P90X and loving it. He talks about his progress and it’s fun to watch. His only negative? He’s a Lions fan.

@dietcokeluvah You know how you meet people who are not scared ONE BIT to jump into a conversation, engage, and endear themselves to you? That’s my Diet Coke friend, who (for some reason), has an avatar of My Little Pony today. She has just started her blog, but I’m already intrigued. Note the Web sites/blogs she has listed…see a common theme? Continue Reading »

My good friend Sarah Robinson wrote a great post on her blog, Maverick Mom, on Monday about the things that hang her up so much that she can’t move forward. She asked her readers what three things hang them up.

I thought I’d share here what I commented. The three things that get in the way of my own success.

1) Last year I thought bigger was better. I ignored the bottom line, but drove top line growth and added more staff. And we lost money. For the first time in our history. And I had to make a lot of hard decisions about both staff and clients. Bigger is not always better.

2) My cycling goal for this season was to ride 20 mph, average, when I ride alone (easier to do that in a group). I push myself really hard, but my personal record is only 18.5 mph average, for the season. I was really hard on myself and then I realized I might not get to 20 mph, but that’s okay…18.5 mph is still pretty freaking fast and I can spend the winter working really hard in order to hit 20 mph next season.

3) My entire life I’ve been good at things. My college roommate hated that I didn’t have to study and still got straight As. But I’m a perfectionist and really hard on myself. I think I have to be superb at everything that I do. I have to be the best cyclist (see #2). I have to be the best skier. I have to grow a business as quickly as Zappos. I have to be like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan – the top of my game in everything that I do. So when I perceive something as failure, I have a really hard time. I beat myself up. I go introspective. I question why I’m doing what I do. I keep a quote on my wall to remind me that everyone fails and that’s how we, as human beings, learn. It is “It’s not in failing, but how we get up when we do.”

What are the three things you do that get in the way of your success?