Lunch Break with Mike and John

We talk about the idea of setting some Mike and John 2.0 goals for the next year and we're looking for others to join us to be part of the effort and keep us accountable. We discuss some solid James Clear quotes from his newsletter. "Are we missing opportunities because they are subtle ideas and not obvious ideas." Links for James Clear: Newsletter: https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/refer?rh_ref=1af54a32 - Link to the book (affiliate link; we may receive a small commission): Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

We look back on our 1st year of the podcast! We talk about what we liked in the past year, and what were the highlights. And we talk about what we didn't like. There are 16 weeks left in the year. So, what if we lost 1 lb. per week until December 31st? We are going to try this, to lose 1 lb. per week! And there is the Final Thought.

Whew, we really start to get kind of vulnerable here. After kicking off with a little bit of a success recap for the week, Mike and John get into the concept of what direction we have taken, or actually, the lack of direction we have. We discuss a video from Terri Trespicio about Passion in one's career. She claims, contrary to many career coaches, that people should not follow their passions. The video is titled "Stop searching for your passion" (Terri Trespicio | TEDxKC from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBaFL7sCb8) We also discuss a Japanese concept to improve work and life called "ikigai", which looks for the intersection of what you love, and what you're good at, and what the world needs, with what you can get paid for. It's a term that embodies the idea of happiness in living, and, "Essentially, ikigai is the reason why you get up in the morning." We cap the episode with two Final Thoughts!

Last week, Mike and John discussed willpower and self-discipline, which are at times considered synonymous even though they really aren't. In this episode, they delve into willpower more fully. The topic involves a video by author and Stanford professor Kelly McGonigal. The video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BXuZL1HAg) was a presentation that the author gave to the employees at Google back in 2012. McGonigal is the author of the book "The Willpower Instinct". While Mike and John can't say that the presentation faithfully follows the book, it appears that the video distills a lot of the information from the book. Very likely though, the book provides WAY more detail than can be seen in this video. If you'd like to purchase the book, here is a link (affiliate link, we will receive a small commission): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E2ROMHE/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=kindmathgame-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00E2ROMHE&linkId=90beacfb620811da3c43cf3abd037995 At the end, as usual, we give the Final Thought. Song : Sand River - Guitar Version [Royalty Free] Music provided and produced by LonePeakMusic Video Link : https://youtu.be/QucZi66cjWo

Mike and John jump right to discussing the concepts of "willpower" and "self-discipline", as many folks consider these synonymous. Are they? We basically feel like willpower is a resource, finite and expendable, while self-discipline is a skill or 'muscle' that you need to use and work out. John then brings up compiling his completed To Do List, and what that means for him. It's really sort of unexpected... Then we transition to discussing how to make your To Do Lists more enjoyable with a simple addition of a word. While the title might seem a bit like clickbait, overall we think it's a valid suggestion. It stems from this Reddit column: "How to making to-do's MUCH more enjoyable by adding a single word" Finally, a twist on the Final Thought.

Check out our latest post at The Proverbial Contradiction, or, “John, you're an idiom” (Episode 41) – Lunch Break with Mike and John. Please leave us a comment. We thank one of our guests, Jessica, for referencing our podcast in her most recent newsletter. Thanks Jessica! You can find Jessica on instagram at @thereaders.edit, or you can read her blog at thereadersedit.com. Mike and John discuss some contradictory proverbs and idioms from a recent Reddit post titled Proverbs, idioms, and clichés that contradict one another. Compiled by my friend. : r/coolguides More specifically, you can review the idioms here: jnffswr3jtd71.jpg We transition to a principle known as Hanlon's Razor. You can find some more information on this topic here. Finally, the Final Thought: "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."

The topic of the Collector's Fallacy really struck a chord with some of our listeners that we decided to speak a little more about the topic. John digs into how the fallacy has affected him and what he's going to do about this. We briefly discuss Simone Biles news and the 'pressure to be perfect". We wrap, as always, with a Final Thought.

Mike and John discuss the potential procrastinator's tool called the Collector's Fallacy. Is this really something that affects people? Then we put one final touch on the DietBet Challenge. And we wrap up with the Final Thought.

We're Done! John and Mike have completed the 6 month DietBet Transformer Challenge, and we give the results. We knew we were close, so...did we make it? There's also talk about tasks and Big Rocks, before we go into the Final Thought(s).

There really IS something to the content by David Allen, BJ Fogg, Stephen Covey and others. They are all really hitting upon something important, ad today wee dive deep into Covey's "Big Rocks" concept. John mentions how his blood pressure project is going. Then we discuss concepts of resistance and friction, in terms of trying to improve ourselves. DietBet update is next, and then, Final Thoughts!

Mike and John examine recent challenges and try to figure out what's going on lately. Are we stuck or are we making progress? John mentions his efforts related to improving blood pressure. We give an update on the DietBet, and then there are the Final Thoughts.

Show notes for this episode include: Celebrate a success, talk about a win (and listeners, we want to hear about your wins!). John gives an update on his experiment with video creation. We talk about the DietBet challenge update before Mike gives the Final Thoughts

Mike and John talk about the current content of the podcast, and decide upon a future possibility to expand to video. It's not that the podcasts will stop, but there may be a video channel to be created and used to supplement our content creation. We have our DietBet update. The DietBet end is near! And finally, the fFinal Thought(s).

So much talk last week about Saboteurs from the Positive Intelligence, that we thought we could proceed a little more safely in the book by author Judith S. Beck, Ph.D. The book, titled The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person (affiliate link), is an excellent resource for both Mike and John. It's so well targeted and planned out, it's basically the easiest pathway we've seen to resetting our thoughts for weight loss. We also have an update on our DietBet Challenge, and there's also the Final Thought. 

Mike and John start to wrap up the topic of self sabotage, a force that affects many people to some degree (some more than others!). We do so by discussing the book titled Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours John details the saboteurs as well as the Sages that each of us have available to use. We also have the DietBet update, and our Final Thought

We are broadcasting live on Clubhouse, so you can join us on air! On our path to being more productive, and to eliminate procrastination, Mike and John are finding friction and resistance as we fight to improve. The term "productive procrastination" is thrown into the dialogue. And we start taking a deep dive into the concept of "self sabotage". We are going to have to address this more in the future. Plus the latest news on our DietBet Challenge, and the Final Thought.

Episode 30! YAY!  So Mike and John really open up and show their vulnerable sides here. The struggles are real. Barriers and constraints are evident. But they are breaking through. There's the DietBet update. And a good segment on the Final Thought portion of this podcast.

Have we done enough research behind discipline, habits and motivation? Perhaps we have! So, it's time to start DOING! John talks about beginning his action to start doing something by joining Clubhouse. (If you don't know what Clubhouse is, we do explain, but you can find info here: What Is Clubhouse? The Invite-Only Chat App Explained | PCMag) If you want to receive an invite to Clubhouse, please email/DM us and we can send you the invitation! Clubhouse seems like it's going to be quite successful, but you have to be careful as you could spend too much time in too many Clubhouse rooms. Next, john is going to start expanding his skillset with video. The first project is going to be a short workout video. To start, he's going to use KDEN  Live. Mike details his plan for increasing activity and tracking his actions. And for his review of tracking aps, he's got Strides, Way of Life and Momentum. If you have any insight on the best tracking, please let us know. For the DietBet update, it's becoming a greater challenge. Mike is improving, and to a degree, back on track. John is still close, but he's not reached the goal just yet.  Related to the DietBet Challenge, Mike discovers a book that might help both of our weight loss plans. The book is by Judith S. Beck, called The Beck Diet Solution. Finally, we have our Final Thought.

This is it, the final #MarchMadness of Motivation competition! And we had with us a special guest, John's son Alex. (Thank you, so much Alex, for joining us, and helping us out!) For the #Motivation competition, @GaryVee faced @RealLesBrown in the final match. You'll have to listen to see the final winner, but is was CLOSE! I mean, it was thisclose! So close, that we had to have Alex as the tie breaker in the decision! In this final matchup, the motivational sppeches were: One of the Greatest Speeches Ever | Les Brown (https://youtu.be/NQ4en7o8B-g) vs. A 5 Minute Plea To Do | Gary Vee (https://youtu.be/OIO0nMY4X3U) These were both AMAZING! But only one speech can win. Listen and find out who we chose. And, we have some excellent in-depth analysis into WHY we chose our favorite. Also, John mentioned a song writer, Jonathan Mann, who wrote his own Scientific 7 Minute Workout Video with Songs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LezARmLDu6U&t=104s) Plus, we have another month of DietBet updates, along with our Final Thought.

Details We take the top four motivational speeches from our last episode, and determine who the winners are for the finals! Mike's Bracket: Why it Pays to Be Hungry | Les Brown's Best Motivational Speech | Goalcast https://youtu.be/xFr0FKnaLDk vs. This One Hack Will Help You Take Control of Your Brain | Mel Robbins https://youtu.be/LCHPSo79rB4 John's Bracket Gary Vee (Vaynerchuk)  Winner Quarter Final Video - https://youtu.be/uDJUB2ZnBGA - 85% of People Hate Their Jobs. If You're One of Them, Watch This. | Gary Vaynerchuk Original Film Semi Final video - https://youtu.be/OIO0nMY4X3U - **A 5 Minute Plea To Do Tony Robbins  Quarter Final Video - https://youtu.be/lEL-y1W1jjg - Tony Robbins: KEEP PUSHING HARDER (Tony Robbins Best Motivational Speech) Semi Final Video - https://youtu.be/UFKCLjhO2bo - LISTEN TO THIS EVERYDAY AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE - Tony Robbins Motivational Speech Semi Final Results: - Gary for his ability to kick your butt into action and motivate you in a short video.  Tony gets high points for helping you figure out how to do it on a regular basis.

We're excited that March Madness is here, and there's lots of college hoops to watch. In keeping with the brackets, we decided to have some of the BEST motivational speakers go head to head. These speakers, and their best speeches, will have to fight hard to survive and get to the next round. For our brackets, we have: John's "Eastern Conference" Bracket, in the 1st Round we have: Gary Vee @GaryVee (WINNER!) -------------------------------- https://youtu.be/uDJUB2ZnBGA 85% of People Hate Their Jobs. If You're One of Them, Watch This. | Gary Vaynerchuk Original Film vs. Eckhart Tolle @EckhartTolle -------------------------------- https://youtu.be/yltxmm90N5g Eckhart Tolle - Living Your True Purpose and https://youtu.be/zIzbVUyujwc Eckhart Tolle - What's my Purpose? Tony Robbins @TonyRobbins (WINNER!) -------------------------------- https://youtu.be/lEL-y1W1jjg Tony Robbins: KEEP PUSHING HARDER (Tony Robbins Best Motivational Speech) vs. Jordan Peterson @JordanBPeterson -------------------------------- https://youtu.be/8hTSK1iDcvQ Incredible Motivational Speech By Jordan Peterson In Mike's "Western Conference" Bracket, in the 1st Round we have: Deepak Chopra @DeepakChopra -------------------------------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZugkZug1a0&t=157s 10 Rules for Success (ALL Successful People Are TAPPING Into DEEPER INTELLIGENCE! vs. Les Brown @RealLesBrown (WINNER!) -------------------------------- https://youtu.be/NQ4en7o8B-g One of the Greatest Speeches Ever | Les Brown Mel Robbins @MelRobbins (WINNER!) -------------------------------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp7E973zozc How to stop screwing yourself over | Mel Robbins | TEDxSF vs. Gretchen Rubin @GretchenRubin -------------------------------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNEVXg2CNU The 4 Ways to Successfully Adopt New Habits

It's Episode 25! Mike and John interview our guest, Craig, of @TechJahnke. Topics include his progression in his career using goals and community. We cover the several steps he's taken in the last ten years of his career, and how he motivates himself to achieve his goals. We also give an update on our DietBet challenge. We wrap up with news about our guests from Episode 12, Brooke and Lexie, and the Final Thought.

This week we take on the topic of Goal Setting! This is a big, BIG, episode for us. We've been building up our self improvement and self development chops over the last several episodes, while initially talking about habits, motivation, self-discipline, and all related things, Which should lead us to the major topic of goals. So we discuss GOALS this week. And, then, well, we sort of tear things apart. There are those who insist that goals are not good for people, that systems are the answer. What do we decide is best? We also update our progress in our DietBet Challenge, and give a Final Thought for the week.

Mike and John deeply examine what experts have said and written about self-discipline. They've examined a few books and videos about what experts and psychologists have to say about the skill of self-disciplin, and how it applies in personal lives. They give an update on their DietBet challenge, and provide a Final Thought.

After a wonderful Valentine's Day, we review excellent discussions from a few doctors into strengthening and improving relationships. We focused on TED Talks from Dr. Joanne Davila and from Dr. Andrea and Jonathan Taylor-Cummings, and the skills they say are necessary for strong relationships. At 22:15, we shift the discussion to what might be the root skill to work on in terms of personal transformation, self discipline. The DietBet update starts at 26:15, and our new segment, at 31:00, a Final Thought for our listeners to consider.

The Super Bowl Examination. Now that the Big Game is over, We dive deeper into what exactly motivates and drives Tom Brady. What is the secret sauce that has made him so successful on the field? We look into his decisions, and the forces that drove him to become the only person to win seven Super Bowls. We connect the dots back to prior episodes where we examined videos from Neil Pasricha and Andrew Peek.

We are more focused than ever before! Going forward, our topics are going to include those things that are motivational, inspirational, related to things like self improvement, self-help, stress management, overcoming procrastination, and all things life hacking. Effectively we are focusing on personal development and personal transformation. With this new focus in mind, we review two different TED talks. We discuss Neil Pasricha's TED talk titled "The 3 A's of awesome" (https://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare), as well as review Andrew Peek's TED talk titled "How your personal narrative limits your future" (https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_peek_how_your_personal_narrative_limits_your_future?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare), and finally we update our progress on our DietBet challenge.

The Super Bowl teams are decided! Brady vs. Mahomes! Will Tom Brady decide to retire, or keep playing? We try to answer that question. We have sad news in baseball about the passing of legend Hank Aaron. There's news about the vaccines from the CDC. Joe Biden signs many executive orders, and to wrap up news, we discuss the Gamestop short squeeze. In the Tech Update, John talks about his issue recently with identity theft. We also talk about an Amazon Prime benefit. More information about the action we have taken on self help books like "Tiny Habits". Mike brings up two new books he's looking into. Finally, we are beginning to wrap up the first month of our DietBet Challenge. Will we make it? Will we stumble?

As always, the first topic was sports. Tom Brady faced off against Drew Brees in what was officially called the Oldest Yard. The elder statesman Brady defeated Brees and what might be Brees' last game. We have some Chicago baseball news, and then we discuss the impeachment hearing. There was also some inauguration news discussed. John and Mike discuss additional chapters in the book that we're reading, and then we finally have an update to our DietBet challenge.

First topic is sports. We cover what will be the Medicare/Geritol/Old Timer's Bowl. We'd love to hear your suggestions for what the Brady/Brees game could be called this weekend. And we have Chicago baseball news. Tech update: we never heard from our hacker. If you were a good hacker, you would know how to reach out to us. Or else, you can reply to us on Twitter or leave a comment on the website. The juicy part of the podcast is the book update. John talks about his review and personal working of "Tiny Habits" by BJ Fogg. Mike discusses his review of the first chapter of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" by Mark Manson. Finally, we give an update on the major challenge of our DietBet Challenger. DietBet, from WayBetter, provides a 6 month Transformer game. And we give an update on our progress.

We are back from break. It's a new year and we're making changes. First some news on the finale of fantasy football, then a brief discussion on the invasion at the US Capitol. There's tech news and an invitation for an interview. Then we discuss the major pivot for the podcast, the focus towards all things productivity, effectiveness, self-help, and self-improvement. We discuss a few book ideas, talk goals and interviews, and then introduce the major challenge that we are going to do for the first half of 2021.

The end of the fantasy football season is getting closer! We discuss vaccine news, and Joe Biden is officially President-elect. Quick discussion about a potential relief bill from Congress. In our tech update, Facebook is making news for all sorts of reasons. And then we have guests on for our quarterly performance review! Finally we wrap up with a serious message for the season before we take a break for the holidays.

We start with sports and mention some coronavirus news. And we cover Breaking News about the FDA. There's information about the Galactic Federation (WHAT?!?). Our Tech Update covers subscribing to podcasts and receiving notifications. ANNND....Elf on a Shelf communications! We continue our Challenge updates, and John follows up on a life changing purchase mentioned a few episodes ago.

We welcome international listeners! In sports news we continue to update our fantasy football results. In other news we have discussions about COVID-19 as well as vaccines coming out for 2020 and 2021. We announce the official opening of our website and we discuss options for holiday shopping deals. Finally, we dig deeper into our personal challenges and give substantive updates. lunchbreakwithmikeandjohn.com

We give an update on fantasy football. We have a not so "tiny talk" about Trump's tiny desk. Sad news about Darth Vader, and Elon Musk is moving up in the financial world. John provides research behind fair use rules and we give an update on our challenge. There's a brief update on the iconic saxophone songs segment from last week. Then we interview college seniors as they look forward to graduation, even though it's in the era of the coronavirus pandemic. They provide some interesting perspectives and feedback on post-graduation prospects.

Week 10 of Fantasy Football. Election news and Michigan. It's also our Thanksgiving episode. A tech update about podcasts and direct, personal customer support. Our music segment features iconic songs with saxophones. Something to think about as we discuss our challenges for ourselves. And our apologies to our special guest Jimmy Kimmel.

The fantasy football update, followed by some news items. Check out our Alex Trebeck tribute. In tech news, what items are life-changing? And a few things to think about.

A brief(er) fantasy football report. News items about the current election status and a tech update. A follow up on Halloween. And an Instagram influencer joins us today!

Our Fantasy Football news, and other news from the week. Tech news and Black Friday. Preparing for winter, and a little family history. Finally, creepy Halloween.

Need about Fantasy Football (How did John do this week?). New information about coronavirus. Tech news about new podcast equipment. John traveled during the pandemic! And, a followup to our music segment from last week.

Getting closer with Fantasy Football. News from the White House and from the debate stage. Tricks and tweaks available in Audacity. What songs make our 80s playlists.

Mike and John discuss Week 4 Fantasy Football results. The latest news. Talking about task management in the tech update. Want to share your thoughts or ideas? Listeners can now share their comments.

Mike and John review fantasy football results. Discussion about the first Presidential debate. Technology notes ANNND...the Something To Think About segment.

Among many topics, Mike and John discuss Fantasy Football results, the latest news, the podcast website, voter registration.

Mike and John explore the latest news events, discuss setting goals, and talk about technology.

We have just a few minutes during lunch to talk about what's going on in the world around us. Join us for a few minutes each week while we discuss several topics and interview a diverse group of people across all age spectrums to get their thoughts and ideas. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to be interviewed...