After a short and rewarding career as an advertising executive and copy writer in NYC, and an even shorter and less rewarding career as an actor in several off-off Broadway plays and commercials, I became involved in what was called the human potential movement and eventually went to work for Esalen Institute in Big Sur Ca. At Esalen, I led encounter groups and as a former all American swimmer began to see the connection between mind/body awareness and sport.

Along with David Meggyesy, a former professional football player and author, I started the Esalen Sports Center one of the first organizations in sports psychology in the country. A major symposium that we created put sports psychology on the map as reporters from the NY Times, Sports Illustrated, and many other magazines covered the event. This event led to the publication of various books on the mental side of sports including such best sellers as the Inner Game of Tennis, and Golf and the Kingdom.

A result of this work was my co-authoring Inner Skiing (1978) which made the NY Times best sellers list. Ski Magazine said the book ‘set skiing ahead ten years’! Inner Skiing Weeks sponsored initially by Ski Magazine, were held at resorts around the country and Europe for five years. We didn’t make a lot of money but sure made a lot of turns and had lots of fun.

After the Inner Skiing adventure, I worked with Outward Bound, training their instructors, and helped develop and conduct Wellness programs for Wilson Learning Co in Edina MN. During this time and for the next 10 years I worked as a ‘mental coach’ for many Olympic and professional teams and athletes

From these experiences, my wife, Marilyn and I co-authored, The C Zone: Peak Performance Under Pressure. A two page interview, on this book, in US News & World Report paved my way into the business of public speaking. Giving speeches was natural for me because it combined my experience coaching athletes, working in the business world, acting and humanistic psychology. Initially my focus was on peak performance, but being of a restless nature I started becoming interested in people who broke the rules, and were ‘out of the box’ thinkers and risk takers.

Hence my book, If It Ain’t Broke… BREAK IT! (1991) which was a huge success making many best seller lists and translated into many different languages. And which is still selling today. My speeches then focused on what we called Break-It thinking; how to think out of the Box and Ride the Wave of Change and not get wiped out. At this point I was giving about 90-100 speeches a year and was a spokesman for Nuprin to colleges around the country. The Nuprin job only lasted a year, as they then went with someone a little better known—SF 49er Quarterback Joe Montana

I went on to coauthor Sacred Cows make the Best Burgers which made Business Week’s best seller list in its first month. This book focuses on developing Change-ready People and Organizations; those who are proactive not reactive, leaders not followers, who constantly challenge the status quo and look for bold innovative out of the box new ideas, opportunities and possibilities.

MY most recent book How to Succeed Without Working So Damn Hard: Rethinking Rules and Reinventing the Game was published in’06.

Having given over 1700 keynote speeches I recently decided to write a bok how to give great presentations to 5 or 5000

Even with all the success I have had, which frankly still surprises me, the most important part of my life is my family. My wife, Marilyn, is the best thing that ever happened to me. She is my coach, lover, friend, cohort, great dancing partner and the mother of Otis who is the pride of our family. And if you think I am an out of the box thinker and risk taker, take a look at his website www.Illegalart. Not only is he the most charismatic person I have ever met but he is my best buddy. And as I write this, Marilyn, Otis and I are on vacation hiking in the Sierra. Love, I have found, enriches one’s life far more than anything else.