Dying To Ask

Have something you need to do but can't find the motivation? Join the club.

Sometimes it's just hard to get yourself going, even if you're normally a disciplined person.

It's normal and it's really annoying!

This week, we're looking at where motivation comes from and why it's hard to jumpstart sometimes.

And we have a 4 step action plan to fire up your motivation to get more out of life.

• Defense of the word "busy"

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This summer, Paris will become the second city to host three summer Olympics. This week, we're merging history and the Olympics on the "Dying to Ask" podcast.

Bill George is the author of a new book called "Victory in the Pool."

Decades before Team USA celebrated names like Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky, Sacramento was the center of U.S. swimming, and its aquatic leader was a guy named Sherm Chavoor.

Chavoor coached athletes, including Debbie Meyer, Mark Spitz and Mike Burton, to win Olympic gold medals between 1968 and 1972.

Chavoor coached at the Arden Hills Swim and Tennis Club.

But he wasn't a swimmer himself.

And Sherm Chavoor wasn't even his real name.

"He didn't publicize it. His real name was Izikiel Correa and he was a poor kid from the Oakland area. He came to Sacramento as a swim coach and became famous as Sherm Chavoor. Everybody knew him as Sherm Chavoor. I think even his swimmers never really realized his real name," George said.

• How Sherm Chavoor became Sherm Chavoor.

As doppelgangers go, Talakai is the ultimate winner. And now he can credit his likeness for his latest opportunity.

Talakai is a 34-year-old singer from Sacramento. He turned chairs with his rendition of Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" during the blind auditions on "The Voice." Then, he turned heads with his uncanny resemblance to judge John Legend.

“Wait until you see his face,” Legend told Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani as the other coaches turned their chairs following Talakai’s performance.

Twinning with a superstar is nothing new for Talakai. He can't go anywhere without someone saying something. The thing is, Talakai can sing. Like, really sing. And now the world, and John Legend, know it.

Talakai stopped by the KCRA 3 studios in his now signature "Legend" jacket and charmed everyone he met. He's as likable as he is talented and is enjoying every minute of what he calls "the best week of my life."

He is seizing the moment and has advice on how you can, too.

• What it's like to have a famous doppelganger

What if I told you the key to personal growth could be forgetting everything you know? It's called a beginner's mind, and it's worth mastering.

It's the idea of approaching something with a 100% fresh perspective or like you've never done it before.

Do you remember the thrill of riding a bike? How about learning to read? Speaking another language and actually having someone understand what you're saying?

Beginner's mind is a little like the social media trend, "I was today years old when..."

It's a powerful tool.

Mastering a beginner's mindset can pay off big time for your physical and mental health.

And it's linked to boosting creativity and overall happiness.

• The areas of your life that can benefit from a beginner's mindset.

The Korean Wave continues and it's coming after your pores. Korean exports of beauty products have surpassed smartphones.

Elise Hu is the author of "Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital."

Hu is a journalist and podcaster who currently is the host of "Ted Talks Daily."

Flawless is inspired by her years working as an NPR bureau chief in Seoul, South Korea.

The book examines how South Korea's pervasive beauty culture spread globally as the latest ripple of a Korean Wave of entertainment and tech.

"Six out of 10 of all Netflix subscribers in the world have watched some sort of Korean content. When it comes to Korean beauty, Korea is now exporting more cosmetics and skin care and skin care tools than it exports in smartphones," Hu said.

Hu's book is part memoir, part international investigative reporting, and well-researched.

Fun fact: Elise and I are both graduates of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and our former professor connected us for this interview!

• How Korean beauty culture seeped into and then dominated beauty culture around the world

Growing up on the internet may not be as bad as we thought.

The first generation of kids exposed to a fully digital childhood is coming of age.

Their childhoods have been radically different than their parents' childhoods.

That's led a lot of parents to instinctively want to control kids' access to things like screen time and social media by installing limits and trackers on phones.

It's like a digital tug-of-war between parent and child with sometimes unintended consequences.

Dr. Devorah Heitner is an expert in all things family and tech and she has spent years looking at the impact of screens on kids.

Her new book, Growing Up in Public, examines the good and bad about growing up in a digital world.

Her message is non-judgmental and in many ways, she's more positive about teen screen exposure than their parents are.

In fact, a lot of teens are expressing frustration with their parents after, in some cases, discovering how much of their childhood was shared on social media.

Heitner says parents often express frustration with how much their kids share online. But, in her experience, kids often have a better grasp of online privacy than kids do.

Heitner says, "I have met so many kids who are so embarrassed by things that their parents are posting. When I go into schools, I'll ask kids to step in a circle if their friends have posted something that's embarrassing, and about half the kids will step in. Then, if I say step in if your parents have ever posted something embarrassing, and 100% of the kids will step into the circle."

• What it's like to grow up in public.

It's back to school time and that means back to anxiety for a lot of families. But four easy tips could lessen stress for kids and parents.

Jenn Curtis is an educational consultant, the founder of FutureWise, and co-author of "The Parent Compass." She says back to school stress is normal. But, going into the school year with a plan can help.

The school year is a natural reset for families and a great time to shake up habits, both in and out of the classroom.

Jenn has four tips to help improve academic success for kids. The funny thing? Those tips are applicable to all ages!

It starts with setting out some goals and then setting your kids (and yourself) up for success.

• How to set goals with your kids for the school year

Making a mark without leaving a digital footprint. It's tough to do, but debut novelist Elizabeth Castellano is pulling it off.

Elizabeth, or Liz as she goes by, is the author of "Save What's Left."

In a field where a strong digital footprint is often a predictor of professional success, Liz is defying the odds.

Her book is one of the most buzzed-about titles this summer. People Magazine called it one of the best books of the summer.

You can credit a lot of things for Liz's success, but a strong social media presence isn't one of them.

Liz has a three-line bio on her website and doesn't do social media.

"I got off social media a couple of years after college. I just decided not for me. I don't like it. I think there's more harm than good. I just felt better being off of it, and so it just stuck, and you do miss things," says Liz.

• What pushed Liz off social media, and how that impacted her mental health and creativity.

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Been there, done that. I've never been so glad to say that covering a one-year countdown to an Olympics.

It's been a few years since that milestone didn't involve significant talk about the pandemic.

This year felt, dare I say it, normal.

I had that realization while doing an interview with 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Gabe Gardner. I covered Gardner's golden moment in Beijing and we've been friends ever since. Gabe is still active with Team USA. He's worked as an athlete liaison and Board Member for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Endowment.

Gabe is one of my go-to interviews as we hit the one-year mark to an Olympics. In the last couple of Olympics, we've focused on pandemic protocols, masking, testing and all things COVID-19.

This year, we talked about the fun stuff. It was deliciously normal. And we both remarked after the interview that it felt good to get back to something we'd done before. Been there, done that.

• A challenge to all of us to recognize and appreciate these moments as they come up post-pandemic

Three words: less is more. That's the advice from professional organizer Kim Salisbury of Home Method Co when it comes to packing up and moving into a college dorm room.

Kim has helped families organize college dorms for years. This year, she'll take her own advice when her oldest child heads to college this fall.

"The most important thing that I can say is, don't bring too much, because that's what we have found. That's happening over and over again. You don't need to, much less is more," Salisbury said.

See the full top 10 list of must-have dorm items on Kim's blog.

And listen to this week's conversation with Kim goes over what to pack while unpacking the complex emotions parents feel when their kids leave the nest.

• What to pack and what *not to pack