Escape Adulthood

Workplayce

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Have You Ever Washed Your Face with a Fudgesicle?

Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever have enough money to make a Super Bowl commercial. Maybe one starring a dancing lizard or Justin Timberlake. And then I wonder that even if we did, would I be crazy enough to spend it in such a gratuitous manner? We'll cross that bridge when we get there, I suppose. Until then, we'll continue to operate with a shoestring marketing budget that is short on cabbage and long on weird ideas. Which is actually a good thing. And very childlike, indeed. When I was a kid, afternoons often evaporated in a whirlwind of exciting adventure fueled by little more …

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JELL-O for Breakfast

Jason is drinking JELL-O through a straw. Why? Why not?! Last month I wrote about the crazy childlike selections at IHOP, in celebration of the Seuss movie, "Horton Hears a Who!" Well, there's only 12 days left (until April 20th) to order one of these colorful dishes. Jason and I ended up at an IHOP in Waterloo, IA last week, after a speaking program. Jason decided to order the "Beezlenut Splash." IHOP's description of this silly drink is as follows: Springing up from the jungle of Nool. Lemon-lime soda- refreshing and cool. With Cherry and Berry Blue Jello-O - what fun! Slurping up …

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Brett Favre: The Childlike Quarterback

I live in Wisconsin, which means we're still dealing with the fallout from the retirement of Brett Favre. Most of the Land o' Cheese is in an official state of mourning, which I doubt will end anytime soon. I said "most" on purpose, because I, my friends, am a Chicago Bears fan. Living as a Bears fan in Green and Gold country is no easy task. But the load got a little lighter when Number 4 announced his retirement last week. As a Bears fan, I hated Brett Favre. But as a football fan, I respected him. And as a human being, I downright admired him. A perplexing dichotomy, to be sure, …

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an interview with… Seth Godin

(This is an interview with Seth Godin, the best-selling author of the “Purple Cow” and the newly released "Meatball Sundae." Seth candidly shares his thoughts on Adultitis and being childlike.) Kim & Jason: You wear Missmatched socks, feature kewpie dolls on book covers, write about purple cows, and created a book that was packaged in a cereal box. You obviously have a pretty strong childlike spirit. Where does that come from, and why do you feel it’s important in the work you do? Seth: I actually think that most kids aren’t so childlike. With all the pressure and fear and insecurity …

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Lessons From the Guys Who Gave Us Hula Hoops

It's always sad when someone who impacted your childhood positively passes away. Obviously, parents, grandparents, teachers and coaches top the list. A loss can also be felt when a much-loved television personality (like Fred Rogers) dies. But what about the inventor of your favorite toy? Rich Knerr, co-founder of the toy company Wham-O, died last Friday, at the age of 82. His partner, Spud Melin passed away in 2002. Their first big hit was the hula hoop, of which 100 million were sold in just two years. That sounds like the makings of a true one-hit wonder, except for the fact that the duo …

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Pokey Mania

In our speaking programs Jason and I share tons of tips (many from The Escape Plan) to give our audiences realistic ideas to bring back into their busy lives to help them stress less and have more fun. It's one thing to talk about all of this... and it's an entirely different thing to actually do something about it. We love talking to individuals afterwards as they share what action steps they are planning to adopt immediately on their fight against Adultitis. One idea is the game "Hide Pokey." Some of you long-time podcast listeners may remember this from one of our shows in '05. You all …

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They Pick Me Up

As Jason mentioned the other day, we recently worked with Enterprise to rent a car during our week of road trips while our car was in the shop. I am consistently impressed with this company, and it's not just the local branch in Madison, it's everywhere! The employees are friendly and sincere, and they go above and beyond to make you their number one priority. They do the little things like walk you to your car, offer you a bottle of water, turn the car on for you, and ask for feedback on their service. They do business the way it should be done, in service to their clients, with smiles on …

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Celebrate More

To continue my series helping adults move “Beyond the Elementary,” in order to overcome stress and acheive success, here's lesson #3. 3. Celebrate more Are you a party animal? Apparently the students at UW Madison are and have earned the award of America's #1 party school (we're so proud). As Jason jokes, the folks handing out these awards have obviously not spent much time in a kindergarten classroom lately. Five and six-year-olds know how to celebrate! …

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Making Schools Better: People Trump Government

It's back to school week here in Wisconsin, which reminds me of how much the school system in this country stinks. Not the teachers (well, not most of them), but the system. It's broken. I'm not exactly sure why school boards are run by people who don't know the first thing about running a school (having gone to school doesn't count), or how it's possible to spend almost $9,000 per student on education in this country (which has tripled since 1965, while national academic performance has not improved) and yet still want to throw more money at it. It shouldn't really surprise me, as anything …

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