After 17 years at the helm of Unified Team Diving I have passed the management of the company on to Director of Development Jay Gardner and Training Director Ben Bos. In this carcast I take a few minutes to look back at some of the history of UTD and how it impacted my life and, hopefully in a really good way, the lives of lots of scuba divers and scuba instructors.

The electrical engineers creed about soldering: "The bigger the blob, the better the job."

The rock climbers creed about rope: "If you don't know the knot, tie a lot."

These two sayings, unfortunately, summarize much of the recreational scuba training that is currently happening. Without an understanding of "why," instructors are showing students how to do skills and expecting them to fully learn those skills. That, however, is impossible.

In this short carcast, Jeff looks at the concept of proper education and its most vital cousin: retention.

For more information and to contact Jeff about coaching, click here for the website. 

Do you feel like you are good enough? That is the core of this episode. In diving, and in sports, we are constantly comparing ourselves to others and that can be a huge impediment to any successful outcome in a class or training program. The most important thing in any training situation, or in a competition, is simple: you do you.

As usual, I tie diving to cycling. Regardless of whether these stories are about you, let us know if you need some guidance, some coaching, or some mentoring as you move though your career as the best scuba diving version of you.

Jeff

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #107

How many dives do you have? I believe the answer to this question is the biggest lie in scuba diving. As instructors, we are trained to take this answer with a grain of salt. In this short carcast, Jeff takes a look at logging dives, logging flight hours, and some ideas about how to best log your dives.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #103.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

Do you feel like you are in a rut with your diving? Doing the same dives over and over? How do you stay motivated year after year? These are the question we look at today in another of Jeff's soon-to-be-famous UTD Carcast episodes.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #102.

Things don't always go quite as planned. Sometime the planning turns into a setback. What is the best way to deal with that? Take "no" for encouragement and take a setback for opportunity.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #98.

Who is brilliant? You? Or your students? Or both? What happens when you face an instructor or a coach who is more focused on their own brilliance than yours.

In this short carcast I take a look at a scenario where the brilliance got confused. Have a listen, let me know what you think.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

Following someone else's dreams. This is something every scuba instructor has faced. A student brings a partner, who does not want to be there, into a class, usually Open Water. As instructors, we get to see this play out, sometimes in terror, sometimes in joy. What do you do when someone drags someone into your class? What is it like to successfully follow someone's dream? What is it like  to not want any part of someone's dream. In this short podcast I tell a few stories, some about me, some about my students, and look carefully at following your own dreams. 

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

One of the great things about me and Unified Team Diving is that I get to set the company culture around money, finances, student fees, all of it. I feel very strongly that financial transparency is critical to the health of any business. I also believe "free" does not serve anyone – us or you. Basically, I believe free has no value. In this short carcast I expand on my vision around UTD and money.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #88.

There is much to unpack around how we run out instructor development program, how we train our instructor trainers, and how all that benefits the Unified Team Diving students and coaching clients.

Back in the car, Jeff takes a look at the mechanics of teaching teaching – education as a change in behavior, that change being worthless without retention, how we use levels of learning, and how we create common ground with our students. Grateful to Socrates for allowing us to take his principles and maneuver them into our program to teach scuba instructors how to properly teach scuba.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #91

In any business one of the most important things is knowing who your clients are. And equally important is to know who your clients are not. In this carcast, I take an honest look at who we are for and who we are not for. It's a complex discussion about a very simple concept.

Are we for you?

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #84.

In the late 1970's or early 1980's I had an opportunity to take on something that looked really cool to me but my situation at the time blocked it. I've kept that dream alive until this past weekend when I fulfilled an unfulfilled dream. What are your unfulfilled dreams? What are you missed opportunities – in scuba or in life? Do you have the chance to close the loop now? In this short episode I look at how I completed something I started almost 50 years ago. No regrets, just fun. 

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #80.

Setback happen. This is true for everything we are learning, particularly when moving to a higher level in any field. In scuba training, in Unified Team Diving, we have a thing called the "ebay dive." This is when you come out of the water after such a frustrating dive that you want to put all your gear on ebay, sell it, and take up another sport.

How we deal with the frustration of setbacks in scuba also informs how we deal with setbacks in life. In this short carcast, Jeff takes a look at the frustrations surrounding a setback and talks about how he deals with the days when everything goes sideways.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #81.

This short podcast is all about choosing a coach, staying with a coach, leaving a coach, and much more. But most importantly, how to apply what you learn in the UTD Scuba Coaching Program to not only diving, but to the rest of your life.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #61.

Consistency and compliance. Or is it compliance and consistency? Either way, these are the two hallmarks of a great client relationship with their coach and coaching program.

In this carcast, Jeff takes a look at how consistency and compliance inform the best possible training for scuba divers. If you are just chasing a certification card, the UTD Coaching Program may not be for you. But if your goals and desires are to become the best scuba diver you can possibly be, then have a listen and give us call.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

More on the Scuba Coaching Program
https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-scuba-coaching/

This is a short addendum to my previous carcast on quitting. In this quick episode I add a little info, this time about when it's okay to quit. There is a time and place for everything and sometimes the best thing is to "know when to fold 'em."

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #77.

"Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away,  know when to run." Great words to live by. In this carcast, actually recorded as a "hikecast" during this year's solar eclipse, Jeff looks at some of the mental and physical elements of quitting – quitting a class, quitting a training path, quitting anything. But, more importantly, how to avoid some of the traps of quitting and what you can learn from teetering on the edge of "quit or succeed."

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

Do you have goals?  In scuba diving? Sports? Work? In this episode Jeff takes a look at goals and goal setting and the process of training to reach those goals. If the point of the goal is just to get there, you run the risk of missing the most amazing parts of life. Listen to the episode, set some goals, and have some fun.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #43.

Speaking to the North County Parkinson's Support Group in Rancho Bernardo, CA, Jeff takes us on a journey of how the Institute of Purpose came to be, what its current goals are, and how the Institute of Purpose can help us all live strong, powerful lives.

https://instituteofpurpose.org/

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

Jeff is a guest on Bill Holt's "BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour" talking about the inception and early iterations of The Institute of Purpose.

Bill's Podcast:  https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bhsales

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This week I had the honor to join Mike Solitro on an episode of his 12/30 Podcast, a podcast where guests have 30 minutes to answer 12 questions. Mike is a great interviewer and in this episode we spoke about Jeff's pursuit of the hour record on the bike and what it's like to encourage everyone to try something that might, initially, seem a bit out of reach.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

Listen to the episode on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3TJqOHDbvhjR2mlv4pqzby?si=fbb8eec8a78247e6&nd

Listen to all episodes of Mike Solitro's 12/30 Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/62o0S0lV7zbfS1jbzdTECj

Your "Path to Mastery" is a buzzword (or buzz-phrase) that's been around forever but, what does it really mean and how can you take your path to becoming great at one thing and apply it to becoming great at something else (like scuba)?

In this carcast, recorded on an endless, rainy drive from San Diego to Las Vegas, I explore the path to becoming good at something, then I define a structured way to use what you know to get really good at something else.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #69.

Jeff 

Jeff Seckendorf shares his experience about discovering a new sense of purpose, and how this contributes to our longevity, health, and happiness. This is seen through the lens as an hour record holder in his age group at the San Diego Velodrome and at the World 6-hour Time Trial Championships.

Our guest for this Living to 100 Club Podcast is Jeff Seckendorf. At age 70, in about two years, Jeff will attempt to break a U.S. or international cycling hour record. Our guest shares with us his process-oriented training program, incorporating both mental and physical dimensions in his cycling competition. In addition, this conversation takes a close look at finding our sense of purpose, especially after a life change like retirement, separation or divorce, or other major event. We discuss the process of discovering a new purpose, especially through sports, and how finding your purpose contributes to longevity, health, and happiness. What can we learn from adopting a competitive spirit in our senior years? What is the Institute of Purpose that our guest has recently co-founded? And how do we discover a new sense of purpose in our lives?

Living to 100 Club

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

Aging up. It's inevitable. But that does not have to stop us from diving. If you are working your way up to what we're calling Gen O/W, or Generation Older/Wiser, or you're diving with parents or grandparents or friends who have joined Gen O/W, then this episode is for you. Jeff (who is now officially Gen O/W) and Ben (who is getting closer) look at some of the options and ideas that will keep you diving well into your older years.

This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #46.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

"Aging up" is inevitable. Retirement may be inevitable. Many of us completely identify with our jobs and careers as our "purpose." But when that job, or career, goes away, how do you continue to find purpose in your life? In this episode  Partner in Aging's Jonathan Schwartz looks at the power and joy that comes from finding purpose at any stage in life.

For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

This was originally published as The Parkinson's Association of San Diego Microcast Episode #40.

https://partnerinaging.com