Today we say hello to Citron and Pink Mist! It's no secret that we love pink around here but you may not know about our other love - this Pink. If you haven't checked out any of Dan Pink's work, we strongly suggest you do. His books, his blog - everything the man touches seems to turn to gold - pink gold.

drive

Dan Pink speaks about motivation but he's not necessarily a motivational speaker. When he spoke at our Leadership Conference, he left us with six powerful words we won't forget. The first three were autonomy, mastery and purpose - the components of lasting, intrinsic motivation and the themes from his powerful book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. It's currently available in a whopping eleven languages (Pig Latin pending). You really need to read it. It changed how we do life around here.

dan pink on the surprising science of motivation

If you have 18 minutes, spend them wisely - watch Dan's TED talk on motivation. (In short, Pink says the business community is missing the mark.)

The last three words Dan left us with were brevity, levity, and repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition. (Okay, that's more than three but you get the idea.) According to Dan, these are the keys to powerful communication. (We agree. That's why we're keeping this blog post nice and short.) Pour yourself a glass of citron-ade and immerse yourself in Pink!

citron modern racer tank

Forget the business world. How are you trying to motivate yourself? How does autonomy, mastery and purpose fit into the way you achieve your goals? How does Dan's insight challenge the way you operate your personal business?

Try this at home. Post your goals to kindle your inspiration. 

How are you feeling about your goals now that the New Year's hype is behind you? Maybe that January 1^st gusto has dwindled a bit. Sometimes it helps to see what others are up to. We spied on some goals around the office to spark our inspiration. We got chills. Hopefully you do too.

in the spirit of sharing goals

Katie, Design

• I chest bump Minnie Mouse at the finish line of the Walt Disney World Marathon by 2020.
• I attend Wanderlust by 2011.
• I enroll in a raw foods cooking course by November 2011.

Matt, Leadership Development

• I complete 10 items off my 100-before-100 List by December 2011.
• I present at TED Global by September 2020.
• I spend a weekend with Jason Mraz on his avocado farm by September 2020.

Laurie, Planning

• I run the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon in less than 2:15 by May 2011.
• I publish my book titled "30, Single, With A Bulldog” by 2020.
• I create a Vancouver budget by August 2011. ("God knows I need it in this city!")

Laura, Recruiting

• I ride the Gran Fondo by September 2012.
• I am featured in Dwell by June 2020.
• I walk ten metres on my hands by February 2020.

Carolyn, Digital Innovation

• I have done hot yoga for 365 consecutive days by 2015.
• I drink wine from every winery in the Okanagan Valley by December 2011.
• I am offline after 10pm each night.

Laurie and her feel-good energy.

tips for staying motivated

"I surround myself with a community of goal setters. This makes it easier to bring my goals into our day-to-day conversations, meaning I already have a clear vision of what my future looks like just by talking about it often." - Carolyn

"The energy you give out is the energy you receive in return. Everyday I know that I am the one that is responsible for making my energy a great one. Setting goals keeps me motivated and excited for what’s to come which breeds some amazing energy for all." - Laurie

"I share my goals with anyone and everyone. Bringing them up in conversation keeps them in the front of my mind and enrolls those around me to keep me on track." - Katie

feeling inspired again?

Thought so. If you need help reviving your goals, get what you need on our goal setting education page. You can also read the posts below for our week's worth of goal coaching.

goal week breakdown

• Day 1: What's the goal of goal week?
• Day 2: What is a goal?
• Days 3 & 4: What does your ideal life look like?
• Day 5: How to create powerful goals?
• Day 6: Put your goals out there.
• Day 7: Love your failures.

We are equally inspired by Laura's goals and her visual interpretations of them.

What goals are you going to re-ignite?

Summer is finally here - do you need some new bright & shiny tunes to match the sunny weather? Well look no further - here are 13 tracks infused with virtual Vitamin D for your ears.

HOME – EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS
Start your morning with some yoga on your patio and play this in the background. Seriously happy music that you will hum happily for the rest of your day!

DANCING ON MY OWN – ROBYN
I know what your thinking - is this the same Robyn that is on all my dust-covered 90's compilation pop CD's? To answer your question - it sure is, but Robyn has zoomed into the 21st Century with some music dancy enough to give Kylie Minogue a run for her money. Plus she has cool hair - that counts for something, doesn't it?

MAN IN A SUITCASE - THE POLICE
Sting and company have never sounded more stoked than on this forgotten gem. You'll swear there is sun shining out of your stereo!

BIRDS - CRYSTAL CASTLES
Alice Glass and company are back with an album that will be ruling the airwaves all summer. Fantastic tunes if you like electro that is a little off-kilter and imaginative.

TENDERONI – KELE
No, this isn't a cover version of the hit Chromeo song; this is the brand spankin' new first single off of Kele's new album. Who's Kele, you may ask? No big deal - just the lead singer of a little group called Bloc Party. Oh, and he decided to make a dance record. Booiiiinnnggg!!!

AMERICAN DREAM - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG
Are you good at whistling? Can you whistle and smile at the same time? This song will put you to the test! A good old fashioned summer tune for that slow-pitch or beach volleyball playlist.

SONG FOR THE BABY - KELIS
Kelis has had a busy year. First she broke up with Nas, then she raided Grace Jone's tickle trunk for an aggressive game of dress-up, and now she has teamed up with superstar French producer/DJ David Guetta for an album filled with whimsical vocals and thumping beats.

WHITE LINES (DON'T DO IT) - GRANDMASTER FLASH
It's easy to see why all the young guns sample the hip hop classic tracks - they're unbelievably catchy! This song is amazing for intervals - hilarious lyrics and a wicked ascending chorus will make you forget about the pain. Well, kind of.

EASY LOVE - MSTRKRFT
An electro classic from the legendary Canadian duo. If you haven't checked them out yet, prepare for the obsession.

RÖYKSOPP - WHAT ELSE IS THERE? (THIN WHITE DUKE REMIX)
Yeah yeah yeah - it's been in a billion car commercials. Who cares - this early 2000's dance floor staple is a serious a sweat inducer.

LET'S DANCE - DAVID BOWIE
"When you say run, I run with you." Dude, DAVID BOWIE is running with you!

INFINITE ARMS - BAND OF HORSES
This song is plain and simple one of the prettiest tracks in recent memory. Run to your favorite beach and press play when your toes hit the sand - you'll reward yourself with a supremely serene cool-down.

WALKING ON SUNSHINE - KATRINA AND THE WAVES
The classic summertime jam-jam for dancing around and singing in the mirror post-shower with a towel on your head and your toothpaste as your microphone.

Do you have any suggestions for the next playlist? Leave Alexis a comment below.

you asked

How do you stay motivated to run? I can run on a consistent basis for about 2 weeks and then it seems like “life” gets in the way and I don’t have the time. - Kelly

I’m a very athletic person now and I’ve always ran, but I’m having a hard time right now to get the motivation to run for longer than 5km. What do you suggest? – Jenn

a runner responds

Kelly, Carolyn, Megan, & Jenn
I find this question a bit difficult to answer, because everybody is motivated differently. Some of us are motivated to run because it helps clear our minds, while others are motivated because they’ve got a race goal, and some are motivated to run purely for aesthetic reasons. I can’t tell you where you fit in, nor why certain people seem to stick with it and why others can’t. What I can recommend, however, is what works for me.

I love entering local running races – you name it, I’ve done it. The crazier it sounds, the more brutal the terrain, the more game I get. By entering my name in something that is slightly above my comfort zone, this is what gets me out the door on a rainy Sunday morning. I write out my runs and distances in my daily planner and physically check off my runs as I complete them, along with picking up the groceries and taking back my library books. My runs, and other workouts for that matter, are pieces of my day that belong to me and are scheduled events. I enjoy the solitude, but I am busy interacting with people all day long. If you are someone that works from home, or is shut away in an office, try forming your own run club, or enroll a committed friend to meet you at a scheduled time on scheduled days in order to hold yourself accountable. As hard as it feels to get going sometimes, you should always feel great when you are finished.

Ainslie

This is Ainslie's final column as our first run expert in our Ask a Runner series. We'd like to thank Ainslie for sharing all her amazing run tips, education, and insight with our online guests. Check out her website to get to know her better: http://triplethreattraining.ca/

We'll be back soon with more run experts to answer your questions. Stay tuned!

who are you guys?

We are Matt Hill and Stephanie Tait, runners who asked ourselves, “how could we give back to something much larger than us—our planet?” I, Matt, have been the voice behind some of the best cartoon characters to making kids laugh for the past 20 years. My passion for running started when I was younger and got to witness Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope, and personally went on to complete seven Ironman!

Steph was a small business coach, specializing in entrepreneurs achieving success, through standing for something larger than just themselves and their business dreams and just launched the Yoga School of Business. After surviving the tsunami in 2004 and our lives colliding in 2006, we began asking these same questions as we ran along each day, sharing our dreams. Blame Al Gore for his question in An Inconvenient Truth that got us thinking—what was the one thing we were now going to change in our daily lives?

Secondly, blame me for having the answer during a plane ride. “We need to do long runs and it needs to stand in service of our youngest generation, to inspire and empower them to grow up ‘lean and green’ ".

what is run for one planet and what inspired you to start it?

The actual Run for One Planet was conceived in Burnaby Lake Park. On Sunday, Dec. 9th 2006, we took our love of running, each other, people and our planet’s health and co-founded Run for One Planet: an 11,000 mile run across Canada and around the perimeter of America to inspire environmental action, one small step at a time.

In 369 tour days, we ran 420 marathons as a collective dynamic running duo, spoke to over 30,000 kids in more than 200 presentations and rose over $120,000 for our R41P Legacy Fund for Kids initiative.

Matt and Steph after one of their morning runs!

what are some tips you have for others to get involved?

Our core mission is to inspire people through the action of running, to make small daily changes in their habits towards our planet’s health. We created a list of “Top 10 Action Steps”, asking people to choose one action, commit to it and when that one action becomes your normal daily habit, you choose another until you’re doing all 10 as a daily part of living. Now multiply that over the number of people in North America and you see the collective power in making these small single changes. Here’s our list for your readers: http://www.runforoneplanet.com/actionchallenge.php

anything else you want to share?

We reached our goal on May 8th, 2009 as we crossed the Lions Gate Bridge under full police motorcycle escort! Two and a half years of running became reality. As we changed the “miles ran” to 11,000 in Stanley Park with a crowd of family, friends and our supporters, we knew we’d made it home! We smiled in the knowing that in the end, we had accomplished our dream and unlaced our 30th pair of destroyed Asics, completing our odyssey, by opening the EPIC Expo and giving our first post-tour presentation. When the numbers were added up it looked like this:

• 11,000 miles logged
• 420 marathons collectively ran
• 30,000 kids presented to
• 30 pairs of Asics destroyed
• 3 million calories consumed collectively, and
• $120,000 (and growing) raised, for our Legacy for Kids initiative.

Join us in Vancouver on May 8th at Kits Beach for a 3 km run and a celebration of our one year anniversary! Check out the Facebook invite here: Run For One Planet Day

It all begins with the first step. So we ask you, what’s your marathon a day? And where could your small steps take you?

I was crossing a quiet side street. One moment I was on top of the world, my eyes trained on the horizon and its infinite possibilities. The next thing I knew, my eyes were at ground level as I hit the sidewalk with a splat. A few cars drove by on the main road, but no one seemed to notice the girl sprawled out flat on the ground.

Get up, get up, get up! came the message from within. Bounce back up! Act nonchalant! Never let 'em see you sweat! Get up and keep on running!

I stood back up and, ignoring the little tweaks of discomfort here and there, resumed running. If I ran on confidently, perhaps no one would know that I'd fallen. The knees of my track pants were dirty, but I figured if I ran long and hard enough, it would be enough to undo the memory of the fall and lift the dust right out of the fabric.

That physical fall was momentary, but our psychological falls sometimes seem to stretch on for months on end.  I find myself wishing that the mental process of pursuing a goal were as easy as the physical one: even if you fall flat on your face, you can bounce right back up and keep on running as fast and as far as you can. A few bruises are nothing compared to staying down and giving up after falling - or getting up after you've fallen, turning around, and retracing your steps.

Many times we fall mentally and don't make an effort to get up. Many times we fall mentally, give up, and retrace our steps. Sometimes we sit there, feeling sorry for ourselves; sometimes we regress backwards, falling into old habits of inaction and thought that aren't going to get us anywhere.

At those times, we need to stop lying there. We need to bounce back up and keep on going. Remember the horizon and its infinite possibilities? As we run past pessimism, self-indulgence, and self-pity, we can imagine these things falling away from us, just as I once imagined the dust disappearing from the knees of my track pants as I got up for the tenth time, and kept on running.

Celebrating the ability to get back up a tenth time: a leap of faith.

Look inside some of your gear to see if there is a little motivational message for you!

Yoga makes you stop and just be present.

What are you doing today that is outside of your comfort zone?

Share your big hairy audacious goal with someone. People will hold you accountable to your goal's once they know about it.

What words of wisdom inspire you when you work out?

I never liked the word 'should'. Although words may be just words, I find you put a lot behind them, both consciously and unconsciously. To me, 'should' is surrounded by negativity: guilt, frustration, self-doubt. Even when used in a seemingly positive sentence like, "Oh you should go for that job, you are brilliant!". The word adds pressure to the person's decision to make the 'right' choice. But if we eliminate that word, we embrace the opportunities that lie before us, not making either right or wrong, merely a path we choose.

'Deserve' is an amazing word. Just this last week, I started substituting it for the word 'should', to an amazing affect. I found that it gave me a new sense of motivation when I realized I deserved greatness in my life. Honestly, this can apply to all areas. For example, washing dishes is my absolute least favourite chore to do. Too often I find myself having this conversation while sitting on the couch: "Oh, I should do the dishes... but I don't want to... gah but I really should do them..." etc. However, when I say, "I deserve clean dishes!", I'm like "Yeah!! I do!" and set about cleaning them.

I took this and applied it to my writing, my workouts, free-time, the lot! And I have to say I clearly notice a vast improvement, especially in my happiness and feeling of vitality. You all deserve an amazing life, the life you truly want. I challenge you to join me, in a 'should’-free diet!

When I get excited about something, I walk a little faster, smile a little wider and sometimes eat a little less - hard to believe, I know, but you'll soon find out. I triple checked the time on my alarm this morning.

6:21 a.m.

Let's face it - not too many of us are naturally morning people. I'm a nighthawk but have grown to love my early morning rituals. Coffee in my mug, ideal temperature showers, and uninterrupted wi-fi, are at the top of my a.m. list.

Another item on the list that's got me excited lately? The sun. The incoming warm front. Beach volleyball, a pick up ultimate game, and sunrise yoga. The potential of being active outside again. I've got all I wanted out of hibernation season and I can’t wait to get out there. Even if it's just walking to my bus stop.

One of my favourite sightings as I wait for my streetcar is a pair of women speeding down the main street every morning. One always in her blue running jacket, the other always in black. I can tell they are experienced runners by their form and lack of strain in their faces. In a mere five seconds, they're out of sight. As quick as their presence was in my intersection, I always look for a glimpse of them in the morning. It's comforting.

Why? I think I secretly want to be them. Either one of them, I wouldn't mind. Their dedication so early in the morning - every morning - is remarkable. Through snow, sleet and rain I’ve seen these women run by. They're not the only dedicated runners I see in my neighbourhood, there are a good number of them. But these two are the only pair I see, enjoying each other's company as they maneuver the streets.

I am by no means what one would call a "runner", but completing my first 10K race last summer has given me hope that I could be one. Always dubbed the yogi and gymnast amongst my staff at lululemon, running was a real physical and mental challenge that I loved overcoming. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my running colleagues – I probably wouldn't have even signed up if it wasn't for them. But setting that goal (and achieving it!) together really showed what we were made of. All of us finished, and all of us are still running in some shape or form.

Perhaps my newfound morning inspiration this year is leading way to add onto my morning ritual. Half marathon anyone?