Success Road: inspiration for your journey

People have varying definitions of joy. Some tend to look for material things to guarantee such joy and associate it with happiness. While only a few go beyond these external things to find the true meaning of joy. However, with the society that people live in – people succumb more to superficial things in defining joy and bridge such ideas to happiness. But the real question is, how do we seek joy in this world fully dictated with material things in defining life's beauty?Erin Mac joins the podcast to talk about joy. Specifically, how you could recognize your experience and learn to strategize it to a positive experience regardless of outside influences. As someone who's built her company 20 years ago, Erin shares more how money can't provide the real meaning of joy, and it won't help if you only rely on external things. In this episode, she shares how one can start finding oneself and get on that journey.Impenetrable JoyImpenetrable joy is the experience that you no longer have to be at the mercy of or beholden to people or circumstances to dictate as to whether you're having a good day or a bad day, or for that matter, a good life or a bad life. You're no longer on the roller coaster ride of emotions, like when someone says something or something happens, and all of a sudden, our mood switches, and we start going south. When you recognize that you are responsible for your experiences and learn how to change them into the experiences you want, then create a penetrable joy, which is internal. It's not based on something that's going on externally.It's recognizing that some things are going on behind the scenes that we are often unaware of, and when we can get awareness of them, we can begin to unpack what's going on. Not so much on why it happened, what were the circumstances or the things that led to the experience, but more just in the proactive state of how can I change that experience? Joy vs HappinessThe difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is based on external things. It's a brand-new car, but it's short-lived and is based on an external thing. Joy is an internal experience that you can create throughout each day. However, the idea of happiness that we've been taught in our society and many other societies is based on external things. But the real joy is the kind of joy available now, regardless of what's going on out here. The internal experiences, the one that's meaningful and has a purpose. And that's what we're after. But people don't know it because we don't make these distinctions. Sufficiency and ExcessWe have this idea of sufficiency and excess. It's like, what is going to be enough for me? Is it enough to have a nice home, to have shelter, to have access to food and water? Is it enough to have those things to have deep, meaningful relationships with people and purpose and meaning in your life? Or do I need to subscribe to what society would have you believe? If that's the case, why are multimillionaires or billionaire clients also miserable despite having all the money? It's because of that happiness thing they were pursuing. Because it's the journey inside that has meaning and purpose. It's not the exterior nor the external things.Journey of GrowthPeople are essentially here for growth. As humans like to evolve as human beings. And when we can align with that idea, then we find purpose and meaning in our life. Hence, the way to begin the growth journey is to recognize that you do not have purpose and meaning. And sometimes, that comes in the form of a crisis. Like recognizing that if you keep doing the same things repeatedly, you will have the same...

With the constant demand of time in a fast-paced world, automation took the stage of varied industries. From marketing, management, support, and more, human intervention was less needed, and technology became essential. Hence, businesses delve more into implementing automation, especially when industries shift to virtual set-ups.Samantha Porter Fox of Samantha Porter Enterprises helps businesses automate their marketing and sales systems. Her whirlwind journey began as a professional organizer in 1997. After ten years, she started to help clients organize their digital files and go paperless. From there, she went to marketing and started a web business design after college. Years later, she joined Chris Davis' automation program. Now, she joins the podcast to talk about automation. Specifically, mistakes people make when they start getting into the automation process and how they should overcome them.Beginner's MistakesOne of the biggest mistakes is that people immediately jump into the technology tool itself without any strategy. In the end, they feel disgruntled. It would have been a great tool if you had started with a strategy on how you need to use it and knowing your end goal. It is like how easier it is to see problems beforehand when you're doing it on paper first or mapping it out first. However, since many business owners aren't tech-savvy, they get easily overwhelmed with the options. It's like spending money without using it for your advantage and end up becoming a collector of all this software.Document the ProcessKeeping everything in your head on how to do things will keep it trapped in there. It's easy to blow things up if it becomes complicated. But if you write it down, you can streamline a lot of things. Remember, you can't scale your business if you're the only one who knows what's going on in your business. Document your process! It doesn't have to be fancy. You can write or record and let someone else transcribe it into a document. It will help you pivot things up when need be.Getting StartedStart at the place closest to the money. For example, if it is a process that you generate money and you are doing it manually, like a coach manually booking people. It can be a start to document the steps like what do you send out to the people? What information do you need? And find a tool that will automate that. Another place that's easy to automate is social media. There are a plethora of social media dashboards you can use to start to automate that process. Like Facebook, you can start automating your posting with native Facebook and schedule stuff ahead of time. If you want to automate your content to drive awareness to you quickly, that would be a quick thing you could do to get started.Things People AutomatePeople want to save time, but some apps don't allow the usage of third-party tools, for you can be penalized for that. However, you can take advantage of a lot of stuff right from your phone and schedule or create content in advance. Also, most booking software has integrations with email management software like MailChimp or Active Campaign. You can have it set where it sends information once something is booked and send out these sets of emails. These are the types of things people can automate.Identify your NeedsOne major thing is to sit down and think about your goal for your business. What area is the most important for you to automate right now to put you on the path to reaching that goal? Once you do that and have the vision and the goal, that's where the strategy starts. Don't look at every other business out there. Because what works for one business may not necessarily work for yours, or you may not even need that. And don't get...

People find it very difficult to manage their energy. Especially if the energy comes from considering one's food intake, hydration, exercise, sleep, and etc. It almost feels as if the difficulty comes not with the lack of focus or time. But the lack of habit to condition ourselves into doing so. Looking into these areas would actually lead to a good energy flow, as well as making us more productive in the process. Chelsea Stegman has an undergrad degree at Miami University of Ohio. Got her dietetic internship in Louisiana, and worked with the worst diabetes, and kidney dialysis. Afterward, she became a dietitian, moved to Cincinnati, and worked in a health club for three years. Now, she's in downtown Chicago, worked in another health club, finished her master's, and started her own virtual business. She now joins the podcast to talk about energy management. Specifically, about managing nutrition, how to decrease burnout, increase energy, productivity, and performance. Managing your nutrition Managing nutrition often depends on the person but the most realistic way for you to start, with priorities in general, is finding that needle mover that moves all these other habits. Health-wise, it's focusing on exercise, and a lot of nutrition habits, water intake, and eating frequency. But a big priority with most people that leads to all these other things is managing blood sugar throughout the day and looking at macronutrients' meal timing. And that can also help with productivity and reducing brain fog throughout the day. The Blood Sugar and Diet You don't have to look at blood sugar, or blood values consistently. It's really what makes up your meals. Starting off the day with adequate protein, non-starchy vegetables, a complex carbohydrate, healthy fat, or overall a well-balanced meal. Also, looking into the components of each meal throughout your day, and ensuring that you are eating or snacking to just keep that blood sugar stable. So, you don't ride the blood sugar roller coaster. And symptomatically we can feel it, we feel the cravings, we feel the brain fog, the energy dips, and rises and everything that comes with it. Hence, what people should look at is what they are eating and noticing that link between a lot of those symptoms. Also, we kind of life in a world of extremes, there are some components that do help with brain health, people with actual disorders, such as epilepsy. It can be beneficial for the general population. Not advised for that, just making more of a well-rounded approach. Because carbs can support brain health, muscle development, and so many other things. So just making sure we have all those components to keep it stable, and not just go into the extreme forms of dieting. All is right. Cortisol and Energy It is your stress hormone, it takes a diurnal rhythm, that spikes in the morning then slowly taper off throughout the day. And has an inverse relationship to melatonin. For instance, at night, when cortisol is supposed to be low, melatonin is supposed to be high. But some people could have that imbalance if their cortisol is high. A lot of people with productivity energy levels throughout the day performance, like at work or at the gym, are looking more into those cortisol levels and how they're managed. Also, it has a very close relationship with blood sugar too. Managing blood sugar can help manage that cortisol throughout the day. If blood sugar is super low, your cortisol spikes and vice versa. Also, you can tell symptomatically if you're tired and wired throughout the day. Your brains keep on going but...

As everything comes online, sometimes we could not eradicate the overwhelming pressure. We constantly work and speed things up. And we often forget to take a short pause or break. Then we either forget things altogether or leave things in a mess. Hence, burning out ourselves too in the process. Jimmy Claire is a motivational speaker and an autism advocate. He joins the podcast to talk about different time management tools and tips. Specifically, the tools he used to help improve his work-life balance.Block SchedulingOne of the biggest things that helps a lot is block scheduling. And not like block scheduling and Google Calendar. It's a different tool called Time Tune for Android. It helps you to block your time. It's useful because it helps you stay on track of each task on a day without overwhelming your calendar. It helps you to stay away from burnout, and information overload. Because sometimes too much information could shut you down. But with Time Tune, it can tell you that there's two hours' time remaining, and you can find two hours of time that you didn't even know that you had.Stack BrowserWhat process are the most unfriendly tools to use and keep your most important websites at hand possible? Yes, you can have bookmarks, but then you can also have search functionality. Eventually, a bookmark bar is also going to fill up or you start scrolling down and say, “Now where do I put this website?” It's like a shell kind of game where that person puts the ball underneath it and mixes it all around and everything. So, there is this tool called things browser stack or stack browser. It lets you bookmark all the important web pages that you use on a daily basis. It keeps them all in one spot, and it syncs across your devices, from Windows and Linux and an Apple.An All-in-One Tool The notion is basically an all-in-one app that can do pretty much everything. You can store files, has databases like spreadsheets, and it condenses everything in just one box. So even if the text is long, it just makes the box bigger. And it doesn't overlap with another box or another row or column. It's literally the best tool.Browser Extension One of the other tools that you will find helpful is called station. It is a web browser extension and helps you find all the files that you need in different places that you put them in. And if you might say, “Okay, well, why can't I just use my browsing history?” Yes, you can but if you want to have everything just a click away - you can use Station. It used to be an all-in-one app, but their goal was not to become a web browser, it was to help people find stuff. So, they kind of rebranded their tool and made it into a web extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. It's helpful because sometimes there are so many places where we store stuff, and we can't find it all nor do we really want to go to that service area, a lot of times. Blocking out Distractions One of the things you can use is called a Dragon. It's a Pomodoro timer app, it's free, and it syncs with your to-do list. If you are a person who likes everything digitally and has it on all your devices wherever you go and need them. Like if you forgot to upload up the night before on your computer, then you should be able to go on your phone, get it from the web browser, like the cloud storage. And instead of logging into every system.

Jim Rohn said, "You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with." The amount of information we can get from people is astounding, and most of it is pretty useless. If you want to accelerate your learning, you need to surround yourself with the right people. The people who will help you accelerate the ladder of success and not failure. It might seem pretty intense but not impossible. And all you have to do is to get started!Geoff Woods was a former medical sales representative. In 2015, he started The Mentee Podcast because he wants to start a business that will deliver a massive impact on society. Later, he joined Gary and Jay in building the company around The One Thing. Now, he joins the podcast to talk about The One Thing. Specifically, how The One Thing can be the simple truth behind extraordinary results.Take the First StepIt's mind-blowing to see someone be able to pull off something amazing and seemingly effortless. But it can be hard to imagine it for yourself because we're so used to "Well, he is a movie star" or "He is a famous actor." But just because you don't see the clear path on how to go from where you are to where you want to be, doesn't mean that you can't take the first step. Enjoy the ClimbYou need to learn to focus less on the destination and more on the journey. You hate it when you're in the middle of it but miss it when it's gone. So, enjoy the climb because that is where the value is. Stop focusing on the destination that you want and start celebrating the journey.Time Over MoneyWhich is more valuable, time or money? Time for sure! We're in the business of time and it's our most valuable resource. But most people spend time and do not invest it. We don't hold our time to the same standard we hold our dollars. But anything that we want in our life happens over time. You look at somebody who's built wealth, they built it over time. You look at somebody who's in shape they got there over time, you look at great marriages and relationships, they were developed over time. The key is over time. The Domino EffectThe path to getting everything you want in life personally and professionally starts by getting one thing at a time. Back in 2009, there was a group out of the Netherlands Wieder Domino productions, they broke the world record for Domino falls, they lined up 4.5 million dominoes. But the most amazing part was that when the leader of that group knocked the first one down, how much effort did that take? It's almost effortless. If you were that leader, you would have just unleashed 94,000 joules of energy. Put that into context, if you were to do 545 consecutive push-ups, that's how much energy you would release. So, think about it, the flick of a finger, that one subtle action could create a massive reaction. Small actions can unleash massive reactions. And if you graph this out, it's that hockey stick growth where it feels like you're moving forward not making much progress and suddenly, boom, it's just exponential. This is the shape of success. The Seven CirclesThe seven circles are the seven most important areas of your life. And you only need one area to focus on. However, this is hard for people because they feel like they want to focus on all of them. But again, the path to getting everything you want starts by getting one thing at a time. Think big, go small, trust the dominoes will fall, start by picking one circle. It could be a circle that...

I grew up in the era when the original NES came out. I could often be found spending my free time playing video games.As a family, we would often have competitions on games like Tetris or Klax, but I also spent a good deal of time playing role playing games like Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. These games required a lot of solving puzzles, planning, and strategizing. We would have some family collaboration with these games, too - mostly with my mom and grandma. We would often pause the game to make notes on clues from talking with different characters, draw rudimentary maps, list where certain items could be found or bought, and so on. I often found myself looking over this array of information before and after playing so I could strategize my next course of action.Similarly, we sometimes need to hit the pause button in life to figure things out.

People often find information about productivity helpful but fail to put it into practice. It is why we hope to filter through mere information processing and help you dive into the actual process!Jim Woods comes on the podcast to talk about productivity and what comes with it. Specifically, we'll look at why rest is a big part of productivity. One of the things that people need to address when it comes to productivity is not about time or task management but about their energy and how energy plays a big part of rest!The Role of HustleRest is important to keep you going, but it is not often discussed since people focus more on the hustle, grind, and being more productive. But obviously, rest is important since it keeps people going and keeps things sustainable, but it's completely different for the young ones. It is why context also matters when we talk about rest. On the other hand, sleep becomes the first thing that comes to mind when people talk about rest, but other people might also have other ideas.Managing Your Energy Managing your energy is different for each individual. Still, people can manage their energy by avoiding putting everything on a calendar, knowing their patterns, and understanding their tendencies. There are also many tools people can choose from when they want to know more about their personality like the enneagram or the Myers Briggs. But the best way could be having a huge mindset.Know Yourself Being honest with yourself and learning to say NO to things is a good start to set some boundaries to keep your focus on things that matter. People always think they have too much responsibility and end up getting burned out. Hence, it would be good to start being honest with yourself on these things, or finding an outlet to talk to is also a good start. You have to know when you have enough and set some boundaries for yourself. Try to learn new things, and paying attention to your patterns will keep you on track.Healthy Diet and Exercise Don't take your frustrations on a coffee pot. Don't keep on drinking coffee and avoid junk foods, especially at certain parts of the day. How you eat affects how you feel, and your energy levels for food can affect your body in different ways. Also, doing some physical activity like playing basketball or standing using a standing desk will help bring rest, even though it requires physical exertion. It may seem counterintuitive, but doing something physical may rest your mind a little bit instead of being in a more awkward position, which will add extra stress and tension and then make you feel more tired. Make Rest Like A HabitResting your energy should be a daily thing like water. It should become a good habit, but people often tend to forget things that work well. When one doesn't do it constantly, it kind of derails. And you are back to square one! A good foundation is to start with things that excite you, like how Jim started using an Alpha Neo Smart typing device. Doing things that excite you is huge and ends up making things work well. Hence, resting as a habit will help prepare you for something bigger. It can be like a day-to-day project like drinking enough water to help prepare yourself for something bigger.Restart Yourself Figure out what works well for you to get something out of rest. Moderate screen time activities to give yourself more free room. Restart yourself, have some accountability and some form of boundary. And even if rest is

Productivity could be defined as accomplishing more with less.But this is an oversimplification of what productivity is and what goes into making it work.Here are the 4 Pillars of Productivity:Time ManagementTask ManagementEnergy ManagementSelf Management

David Hanscom has an entertainment company that provides DJs, photo booths and more for weddings and corporate events. David has also been featured on television, radio programs, industry magazines, as well as selecting the headlining talent at events such as Super Bowl XXXIX.  Getting StartedDavid started podcasting and creation online content because it was a natural extension of what he likes to do. He likes to talk, and he also loves to hear people's stories. He also loves to hear about the successes people have and how they accomplish those things.  While we all face  different struggles and challenges in life, when we engage in conversation, we learn more about each other. We can see that the challenges a DJ has are not very different from the challenges of a restaurant who suddenly has to cut their capacity of guests by half or down to 25%.   One of the things that David always wanted to do was to find a way to give back to the industry. He says a lot of amazing people mentored him and guided him especially in the early years. Even now, he still looks to these people for help and guidance. The Benefit Of Doing Live ShowsDavid says that sometimes when you do a podcast, it feels like being on a one-way street. Occasionally, you'll get comments on your podcast or somebody might reach out to you, but the communication is not instant. That’s one of the clear benefits of doing a live show. You can have direct interaction without delay. And that is quite powerful. Another one of the really cool benefits is having a different guest every week. That created a drive in me to keep going out and finding new, interesting people to bring on board.  And number two, I think it's helped me to, understand the importance of kind of this symbiotic relationship where one person is not doing all the talking all the time and make it more of a communication and less of a presentation, if  The Power of PivotingHistorically, we have seen big companies that have gone out of business because they did not pivot. For example, Blockbuster went out because they did not change their business model when Netflix came along. A modern business needs to be able to pivot and adapt to the wants and needs of the customers.  David has stayed relevant within his industry because of pivoting. Through content creation, David has been able to educate people and to engage in healthy conversations on a regular basis. Podcasting and live streaming has given him the opportunity to start laying the foundation and planting the seeds for the future. This concept is the same as if you were making investments. It's not always a direct line from making a podcast to money in your pocket. Rather, it's more of cultivating those relationships and being able to make those connections.  There is even more information included in this insightful episode. I highly recommend you listen to it. You can connect with David at https://davidhanscom.com/ (his website) or on https://www.facebook.com/davidhanscom (Facebook), https://twitter.com/davidhanscom (Twitter) or https://www.instagram.com/davidhanscom/ (Instagram).  Thanks so much for listening to the Podcast Experiment and for being a part of this community. Special thanks to Richard for being a guest. 

Mark Herschberg is the author of https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/ (The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You). From tracking criminals and terrorists on the dark web to creating marketplaces and new authentication systems, Mark has spent his career launching and developing new ventures at startups and Fortune 500s and in academia. In this episode Mark shares his approach for podcasting and how he used podcasts as a way to build an audience for his upcoming book.  The Importance of Podcasts When Mark started writing his book he first reached out to his friend, Dorie Clark. Dorie has written a number of bestselling business books. She said, podcasts, podcasts, podcasts. If you think about when some big celebrity comes out and they've got a new movie, what do they do? They go on the late night talk show circuits. Podcasts are the standard for authors. Mark approached it very systematically and created a list of over 500 podcasts from the topics in his book. In the career toolkit, he covers 10 different skills. There's a chapter on networking, a chapter on negotiations, a chapter on leadership. So he had 10 different topics to choose from and then he just looked for top podcasts on each specific topic. And from there he looked on websites. Marketing on Podcasts Mark says that he thinks no podcast opportunity is bad. Think of it as follows. If you're doing traditional marketing, you’re likely using Facebook or Google. then you're paying a CPC cost per click. Only a few people might click out of a thousand. But when you're doing a podcast, even if that podcast only has 10 people listening to an episode, you have 10 people who are actively engaged with your content. That audience is actively listening to you. They hear about your book, your service, or your product. And it's going to register far more than just some ad that popped up in the corner of their screen. So even when there seems to be a tiny number of listeners for the investment of time, you're going to get just much more attention and much more engagement. Networking Through Podcasting Mark says that most people think about networking in a very transactional way. They think I need a job, so I have to go network. However, networking is relationship building. And so when you go out and network, don't think of it as I have to go network today to get a job. Build relationships with people so that down the road, when you need a job or something else, then you can reach out to your network. You're going to want to build that relationship over time. The way you think about doing that is by asking a few questions. What do we have in common? What might be of interest to this person as well as myself? Once you figure that out, you want to do some exploration to understand what is important to this other person. Then you can talk about topics of interest or find activities or common interests for both of you.  There is even more information included in this insightful episode. I highly recommend listening to the entire episode. If you would like to learn more about Mark, you can visit his website https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com (here). If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone you think would also benefit.

Richard Haiduck is a former life sciences executive and mentor, and is the author of the book, https://richardhaiduck.com/book/ (Shifting Gears). In this episode, We will talk about how we can utilize podcasting to help grow our business as well as how you can be a great podcast host and guest.  Go Where Your Audience GoesIt is important to hang out wherever your audience hangs out. That’s a great way to meet them and interact with them. For example, Richard is a part of several Facebook groups for retirees or baby boomers. There are about a dozen different groups focused on this demographic and focused on the topic of what you do during retirement. He is very active in those groups. Richard is also a guest blogger on websites that have about 200,000 subscribers. Using these opportunities, Richard’s content is broadly distributed.  The Book Writing ProcessRichard says that he interviewed about 75 retirees which gave him approximately 800 pages of transcript. He has a half a dozen interviews about someone who had a spiritual experience and  shared about it at a deep emotional level. There are others that are about physical conditioning. There was one individual who ran his 19th marathon and almost did it. And he almost collapsed over the finish line. Others interviews focused on business, leadership and social impact. Others were about volunteering for organizations. Through the process, Richard was able to cover a lot of different stories and share a variety of perspectives.  Promotion through PodcastingRichard says that he views all promotion is good promotion. So the more different things he can do, the better. He doesn't want to be known as  just the Facebook guy or just the LinkedIn guy or just the podcast guy. Rather, he wants to have content available in multiple places simultaneously. It’s important to have a diverse content mix so people can find your content in a variety of ways.  A friend of Richard’s told him to get involved in podcasting. She told him that you just show up, and you tell them what you want to tell them. They take care of everything. She recommended he try it out. So a few months before his book launched, Richard started sending out requests to various podcasters. He also used some organizations that provide leads such as http://www.poddit.net (Poddit). The more podcasts you do, the more practice you get with storytelling. Podcasting is a learning experience. There is even more information included in this insightful episode about reaching your audience, writing a book and promoting a book. I highly recommend you listen to it. You can pick up Richard’s new book, Shifting Gears, here on https://www.amazon.com/Shifting-Gears-Meaningful-Journeys-Retirement/dp/1647042437/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=shifting+gear&qid=1605544434&sr=8-8 (Amazon). Thanks so much for listening to Podcast Experiment and for being a part of this community. Special thanks to Richard for being a guest. 

Matt Norman is President & CEO of Norman & Associates as well as the author of the book https://www.amazon.com/dp/1950043126/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_QPXPK5QYP2NVTYB3BZEY (“Four Patterns Of Healthy People)”. In addition, Matt’s coaching and facilitation has helped Fortune 100 corporations, nonprofits and entrepreneurial firms to transform the way they engage employees and clients. Today’s episode of Success Road focuses on how to be more healthy.  Matt’s StoryMatt realized we all develop ways of thinking and behaving as an adaption to our environment. And every day we repeat those thoughts and behaviors in order to succeed and maybe even survive in our environment. And one day, it's likely that we realize that those ways of thinking and behaving no longer serve us, well, we realize we're stuck. And so because of that, we have a decision to make, whether we'll remain stuck, or self confront and grow. And because of that, Matt wrote the book, to help people grow into healthier patterns. In addition, the book focuses on how successful people think, relate with others, view themselves and make choices about how they operate.   The Four PatternsThe first pattern is our thought patterns, which is how we think. Then our relationship patterns, which are how we view ourselves. Our relationship patterns are the third, which are our ego patterns. Then fourth is  our operating patterns, which is really about the choices we make and about how we engage with our environment. A good example is with energy. When we're tired, it's hard to have healthy thought patterns. It's harder to relate well with others, as we become less patient. And we also become more self protective, more focused on our own needs, which is when the ego comes into play. So simple things like getting enough sleep, from an operating pattern standpoint can really fuel the other patterns. The Importance Of SleepMatt mentioned that the Stanford University's sleep Center has produced really interesting research showing that for about 99.5% of the population. This organization says we need to have at least seven hours of sleep on an ongoing basis in order to function properly. In fact, they recommend between seven and nine hours of quality sleep. So a key part of sleep is just making a commitment to get that amount of sleep.  You also have to start asking ourselves how we can optimize the quality of our sleep or ability to go to sleep. Studies show that screens activate parts of our brains and make it harder to enter into REM sleep or just shut down our thoughts. Food and alcohol consumption affect our sleep. So it is important to not eat or drink anything but water before bed. Stretching, for example, or having a nightly routine is really important.  Your body builds circadian rhythms. For example, if one day, you’re waking up at 7am, another day, we're waking up at 5am and then another day at 10am. Your body just doesn't know quite what to do with it. We've all had the experience of going to another timezone where it's hard to fall asleep or wake up at certain times. Keep in mind that circadian rhythms are really a thing.   When Do You Have The Most Energy?There are certainly people that tend to be morning people. There are people that are night owls. And then there are people that have the most energy in the middle of the day. We must know what kind of person we are, so that we can do our most vigilant activities or most thought intensive activities during our most productive time period.  Next Steps We dive deeper in this podcast into the topic of self-awareness as well as how to have more mental energy. I encourage you to listen to the podcast for this helpful information. You can pick up Matt’s book at https://www.mattnorman.com/ (mattnorman.com) or you can find...

Emilie Aries is the CEO of Bossed Up, an author, a speaker, and also the host of thehttps://www.bossedup.org/podcast/ ( Bossed Up Podcast). We discuss pivoting during times of crisis, using a podcast as part of your marketing mix, having an advertiser on your podcast and also the unexpected opportunities that can come your way from podcasting.    Insights From Emilie’s Story Emilie started as a professional advocate for political campaigns and elections, where she became good at advocating for other people. However, one day realized how hard it is, especially as a woman, to advocate unapologetically on your own behalf. She started Bossed Up where her company has created coaching programs, leadership accelerators, in person training programs. She now works with companies who believe in gender equality to really help further develop their women leaders.   Pivoting During Crisis  The Bossed Up business model was based primarily on live events and workshops. So during 2020 they had to change their business model. All of Emilie’s in-person speaking contracts evaporated. All of the Bossed Up events we had planned for across the country went away and her company had to scrap everything. Emilie realized that her company had to figure their own way out of these problems. She started to ask questions such as: “How can we offer these services online?” The answer to this question led to the creation of new online offerings. On the whole, Emilies says her business is actually going to be stronger because of Covid-19 forcing rapid innovation into the digital space.    Using A Podcast To Market A Business  Emily was originally recruited by a very big podcasting network called HowStuffWorks. She was offered the position as host for a major podcast. Then the podcasting network was sold and she found herself out of a job. However, by that point, she already had fallen in love with the medium.  At that time, podcasting really wasn't used for marketing. She decided to create her own podcast: Bossed Up. She thought it was an opportunity to be generous and to serve others well. For anyone who wanted more content or services, she would sell products and services to those individuals.    Creating a Podcast For Marketing Purposes  Emilie views using podcasting as marketing as a compromise between her artistic desires and her business requirements. Emilie has a marketing director Kirby. Together they look at the calendar as it relates to their sales goals. When creating the new podcasts, Emilie and Kirby ask, “What kinds of episodes would attract that client? How can we create fun, interesting, informative and high value episodes that also happen to attract the client we're looking for?” Once they come to a conclusion, then that's the topic that we hammer home for a couple of weeks. There are some exceptions. For example, something might happen in the news that calls for our attention, we kind of stop the presses and focus on those current topics.    Finding Advertisers For Your Podcast   Emilie works with an advertising agency, because she is not a full time podcaster. Her role is that of CEO. An advertising agency does the work for her. Emilie admits that she is not sure if it's worth the time. It takes time to research brands and to figure out if they're a great partner for the show. Then they have to read the copy that they send over and then record it, edit it, upload it, and insert it into the podcast. And for all of this work, Emilie says that the company does not make much money.   Finding Opportunities Through Podcasts  Emilie got her book deal, because her editor at Hachette is a huge podcast fan. So she's just one of those people who is constantly poaching podcasters, to become authors. And it was a very organic partnership. If you have a great relationship with thousands of people who have tuned into your podcast, some of them are...

Sarah St. John is an entrepreneur, podcaster, author, animal lover, and world traveler. Her goal is to show people how to launch and manage an online business on a budget. https://www.thesarahstjohn.com/about/ (https://www.thesarahstjohn.com/about/) Sarah’s Story Sarah started her entrepreneurial journey back in 2008. She decided that she wanted to work for herself and realized that she liked taking photos of architectural landscapes and animals. She didn't like taking photos of people. But that's where the money was, so was doing portraits and weddings. Over time, she decided to do something online. She tried different things like drop shipping, affiliate, marketing, and all these different things. But it was in the process of trying these different things, she discovered many free or affordable tools and resources that can help you run a business on a budget.  Sarah got the idea to write a book called FrugalPreneur, where she would talk about the different types of online businesses and how you can run them affordably. She decided to start a short-term podcast to coincide with the book.  Sarah realized she was getting more traction leverage from the podcast than the book. So she kept doing podcasts and like just basically fell in love with the medium and the connections I was making.  As she kept podcasting, other people told her that she is pretty good at it. She figured why not get paid to do it for other people? That was the moment Sarah decided to launch a podcast production agency. Using Giveaways Strategically  Every month Sarah does a new giveaway on her podcast. Most often, the prize is a book that her audience would enjoy. She uses the same url each month, https://www.thesarahstjohn.com/giveaway/ (thesarahstjohn.com/giveaway )and uses a free tool called King Sumo for the giveaway. Sarah shares that it is important to giveaway something that's relevant to your audience. For example, if you were to give away an iPhone, well, everyone is going to want that. But as soon as the giveaway is over, like probably 99% of the people who signed up for the prize are going to drop off. So it really helps to giveaway something that your audience would actually like.   What Podcast Production Looks Like A lot of people might want to start a podcast, or they're thinking about starting a podcast. But many people may find it overwhelming due to technology and the post-production. So when Sarah is working with clients, the client records their podcast episode and then sends it to her. Sarah then does the editing, producing and the mixing.  She then uses a service called https://chartable.com (Chartable) To track podcast statistics. This service gives more information than most other podcast services and then each month she sends a report to each client.  Why Podcasting Is Important For Business Podcasting is great because it's a way to get your content out there. And Google transcribes podcasts now. So even if you're searching for something in Google, it's a possibility that a podcast might show up. Of course, every podcast directory is a search engine too. In addition, podcasting has a shareability or viral aspect to it, because people will actually share podcast episodes.  When you interview guests or being a guest on someone else’s podcast,  you're getting access to that person's audience and you can cross promote. You're reaching people you wouldn't otherwise. Sarah also says that she thinks podcasting is only going to continue to grow and get bigger. In the same way every business needs a website, Sarah says that every business is going to need a podcast at some point. A podcast can act as a business card, but it also forms relationships. You get to know the person, and people do business with people that they know, like and trust.  Consider These Things When Starting A Podcast It is important to niche down as much as you can. For example,...

Jason Osbourn is a LinkedIn coach and consultant with an incredible story. In this episode, he shares how he was involved in a plane crash and how he used that as a catalyst to help him change his life.  Jason’s StoryJason started his first business when he was 20 years old. He sold window coverings. After Jason was involved in a plane crash, Jason decided that he still wanted to go into business. However, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do.  Once he recovered, he started some different things. He transitioned into coaching and a few years later, he moved to Ireland. He realized that he wanted to start an online business where he could do business anywhere in the world, doing something that he loves doing. Jason studied as a life coach, and took a course for that. Within 18 months, he built up an email list of about 9000 people and was coaching people in 13 countries.  A Simple, Powerful Tool Jason shared that his most useful tool is a daily journal daily log where he tracks the different things he wants to achieve in his life. His daily log has three sections to it. The first section tracks his daily habits. He tracks health. He tracks finances, LinkedIn and some personal development areas.  And a lot of times people say that it takes 30 days to build to create a habit. But a habit doesn't really form until it becomes second nature. That’s when it is an ingrained habit. Another powerful way to stay on track is to have three clear priorities for the day. Jason does his in the evening. When he knows his top two or three priorities are for the next day, he doesn’t have to think about it in the morning.  A Common Challenge Jason shared how he thinks we often create unrealistic expectations around things in our life. Whenever people start something they often think about all of the positives that are possible. We start thinking about the lifestyle we want. How this opportunity is going to give you money or freedom.  We rarely consider the negatives. We don't think of these things from the beginning. And so we go into a situation infatuated with all the positives. The reality is, as soon as you start doing something new, there is going to be challenges. A Final WordWe also spoke about the importance of finding the right customers and how to scale your business during this episode. I encourage you to listen to the podcast in its entirety.  If you would like to download the first four chapters of the book Rethink Social Media by https://rethinkgift.com/get-your-free-rsm-book1595460063 (clicking here). If you want to connect with Jason personally, you can find him on https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonaosborn/ (LinkedIn here).  Thanks to Jason for being a guest on Success Road. 

Lori Olinsky is the author of children’s books such as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QMP49BN/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1 (Being Small (Isn’t So Bad After All)) and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0875K2W2C/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 (The Toothfairy’s Tummy Ache). In this episode, she shares the catalyst for her becoming an author and what it is has been like writing several books.  Inspiration to Write a Children’s BookLori always wanted to write a children's book, but she never had the inspiration to do so. She shared that she remembered sitting at coffee shops and just trying to think of a subject and nothing ever hit her. One day when Lori’s daughter was three years old, she came home from school crying. And it turns out, her preschool teachers were redecorating the classroom, and they hung a growth chart in the classroom.  Her daughter was the shortest in the class, all her friends were at the top and the middle of the chart, and she was all the way at the bottom. It was the first time that they realized she was different from them, they would call her names like “Shorty” and “Peanut” and other names that made her feel really upset. Lori’s daughter even went through a phase where she didn't want to go to school.  Lori would always tell her all the great things that small kids can do, because she is only 5’1” tall. However, whatever Lori said never resonated with her. So she just went on Amazon and I typed in books about short kids. Nothing came up.  That was Lori’s “aha moment.” She decided that she was going to write this book. And she is going to write it for her daughter and for any parents that are in a similar situation.  The book is called Being Small (Isn't So Bad After All.) It's literally a rhyming picture book about this story of a little girl who doesn't want to go to school because she's the shortest in class.  How Writing One Book Led To Writing OthersLori says she is thankful for the negative experience her daughter went through because it gave her the confidence to write a book. She realized that she can write more books. Her second book is called The Toothfairy’s Tummy Ache. It's another rhyming lesson based picture book. The background for that book is Lori struggled with teaching her daughters how to be honest. Lori and her spouse noticed her kids were sneaking candy up into your room and things like that.  She wanted to teach my girls a lesson on how to be honest. Lori realized who better to do that than the Tooth Fairy? That is someone they look up to and love. And so this book is about a little girl who lies and puts a piece of popcorn under her pillow. Then the story is about what happens to the Tooth Fairy and what happens when we believe a lie.  Connecting With LoriIf you would like to connect with Lori, you can visit https://loriorlinskyauthor.com/ (loriolinskyauthor.com). Her books are available there as well as on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can also connect with Lori on http://facebook.com/lorionlinskyauthor (Facebook) and http://instagram.com/lorionlinskyauthor (Instagram). Lori says that she loves talking to people hearing about their experience and reading my books, I love seeing pictures. Lori also mentions a preview of sorts about her third book which is very different from her other books in this podcast episode, so I encourage you to listen to the full episode.  Thanks to Lori for being a guest on Success Road. I really enjoyed speaking with her, and I’m very excited about the positive impact her books are having in bringing families together. Thanks for listening. 

Joschka Strakerjahn is the founder of the Launch Your Challenge Podcast and has built a successful business using launches. In this episode, he shares how you too can create a challenge.  Joschka’s StoryCOVID-19 changed everything for Joschka. Over the course of a few days, every one of his clients was gone. He went from running a successful business to having no business at all.  A year or so before Joschka lost his work, he discovered challenges. He saw an ad for  a challenge. Joscka signed up, and soon was fascinated with how fast he turned from a complete stranger into a fan. And then he realized the potential of a challenge for businesses to grow and scale.  Starting A ChallengeIn March of 2020, Joschka decided to do a challenge of his own, using paid ads. In just three weeks, he had 4,500 people sign up. That response completely blew him away, and it sold him on doing challenges as a way to create a business.  When Joschka started doing his challenge, he did not have a real online presence. He just has a very simple website, but he didn’t use it very much. He got all of his clients through personal connections. But for his challenge, he got all 4,500 people for his challenge through paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. So don’t overlook the power of paid advertising.  Challenges Faced And Lessons LearnedWhen creating a challenge, the first decision is whether it will be a free challenge or a paid challenge. When you run a free challenge, you can run it with a Facebook group. If it is a paid challenge, you need to create a sales funnel of sorts with a landing page. But it can be very simple.  Joschka says that one of his first mistakes was that he actually had nothing to offer the participants of the first challenge. To avoid this mistake, it is important to go to the offer first, then work backwards from there. If you already have an existing business, you want to base the challenge around a specific need your business already serves. This approach will help you create the right call to action.  Another common challenge is in how to structure the lessons you give to challenge attendees. Joschka shares that he learned you want to structure the lessons in a simple way that serves the needs of the attendees. In most cases, you don’t want to have lessons any longer than 20 minutes. When challenges are executed properly, you can actually create an entire business based on challenges. You can promote the challenge for three weeks and then on the fourth week do some lessons and at the end of the week, you get more customers. Joschka shared with this flexibility and the use of ads, you can even run multiple challenges at once.  Joscka also expands more on all of these concepts and more in this podcast. I highly recommend you listen to the full episode for more details. In addition, you can connect with him https://createyourchallenge.com/ (on his website) or you can join his https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengefunnelentrepreneurs/ (Facebook Group).

I love watching superhero movies. Take the original Avengers movie, for example. You have a conflict that starts when Loki shows up, takes the Tesseract, and starts his plan to take over the world. SHIELD assembles the Avengers for the first time to find and take down Loki. Loki is captured, but soon the SHIELD flying base is attacked, the Hulk goes crazy, Loki escapes, and it looks like the Avengers are defeated. That’s the point where they step back and regroup to figure out how to make it work now that new variables are introduced. So what’s the situation that we have here? There’s a dream to assemble a team of superheroes to save the world. The problem is that these heroes, for the most part, have never worked together before and each one has his own idea of how everything should go. And then there’s a disruption that shakes up everything. So, they’re at this point of regrouping before they can go back out to face Loki again. Of course, this is the overall scenario of most superhero movies. But it is also the story of many entrepreneurs as they start and grow their business. You have a plan to save the world - or at least serve it. You start to assemble a team. As you start to figure things out, then something disrupts the business. Then it comes time to take a step back and regroup. That’s where I’ve found myself. As you’re well aware of, the pandemic and wide-spread shut downs across the country and world have impacted almost every small business. For a long time, I thought that I was doing well with little-to-no impact on my business. But then I lost a couple clients back in the fall - this may have been due to the pandemic, but I’m not entirely sure. But let me rewind quickly: Back in January 2019, I left my full-time job to work on growing my business. It had been a side-gig since 2015, slowly growing. It wasn’t enough to live on yet, but I had several potential opportunities that I was hoping would pan out. Some of them did, but most of them did not. I also made this decision to leave my job with little discussion with my wife. But after I did it anyway, my wife and I laid out a plan and gave 6-12 months to get the business making the money it needed to. Well, by the summer of 2019, the business had seen some growth - not to where we wanted it to be, but it was showing some good promise. By the beginning of 2020, the business finances had gotten better and I had a plan to try to get some new clients. The plan, though, was dependent on going to a live event and to utilize networking to get new clients. We all know what happened to live events in 2020, but the first event happened right before everything shut down. The problem was that I am introverted by nature and terrible at networking. I had a few conversations with people I already knew and met a few people, but few that were potential clients. From there, a couple of other podcast editors and I started a mastermind group and met almost every Friday. From those meetings, I started to develop a plan to delegate more of the day-to-day responsibilities and focus on networking and lead generation. I developed a new, higher end offer and did some work to update the copy on my website. I used a VA to help me reach out to all my connections on Linkedin, but I connected with very few potential clients. And that’s where I found myself in the fall of 2020. So as I looked at the down-turn in my income and the lack of growth, I was also reminded about the 6-12 month timeframe my wife and I had set. I had a lot of hopes and dreams of growing the business, but only had 50% of the income we planned for. So after several difficult conversations, we decided that I needed to step back. I’m going back to my previous job, which is a box factory and has only grown throughout 2020, so it will provide a stable income. I’m scaling back my business and focusing just on podcast editing (I had been promoting and doing some other content work, which is getting scaled...

Today’s episode of Success Road features Lydia Lee. Lydia is the founder of http://screwthecubicle.com (Screw The Cubicle), a movement to inspire people to break free from the shackles of conventional work. Lydia works with talented professionals who want to repurpose their skills towards a more meaningful career. Lydia’s Story Of Becoming A Business Owner Lydia did not plan on changing careers. In 2012, she experienced a really bad health scare during a business trip in Russia. She had a nervous breakdown and wasn’t able to leave her hotel room for several days. It was during this time that she realized that she wanted more freedom and balance in her life. She did not like bureaucracy and politics. At first, she repackaged herself as a consultant, and her previous employer was her first client. This kind of business is what Lydia calls a low-hanging fruit transition business. Her current business, Screw The Cubicle, was kind of a bit of an accident. It was a blog that she started when she was struggling with her job. And it was also sort of a resource and a place that she would send her mother, friends, and colleagues. Now, seven years later, this is her primary business and is something that she absolutely enjoys. Common Challenges For Potential Business OwnersLydia says that many people know what they want to do for a business, but they often get tripped up when they ask, ”What’s the next step?” Often the moment someone starts to think too much into the future, the brain starts to imagine all sorts of consequences for quitting their day job.  Another issue is that as humans we want to belong. We want to be liked. So when someone switches careers, after having been in a different career for 15-20 years, and it is common to have your identity tied to your career. So, in many cases, the first challenge is a shift of identity when you pursue something different. The second obstacle is that it can be hard to imagine other ways to use your skills. Because we are busy living our lives, it's really hard to kind of step out of our own bodies, and observe. We need perspective. We are too close to the situation. It’s hard to think of new opportunities and to be creative when you are focused on the status quo.  Some Common Self Sabotaging HabitsAs you know, we live in a modern digital age. Rarely do we need more information. If anything, we often have too much information. In many cases, the bigger obstacle is getting out of our own way. That sounds sort of simpler, but I think that is actually a great place to take that reflection.  While there are many benefits to technology, it can often become a distraction. When we're about to make a life change, a lot of times we find ourselves browsing online or scrolling, as we look for inspiration. But that inspiration can quickly turn into comparison as we look at other people's lives or other people's businesses. Online, we often put our best profile out there. We're never talking about bad days on Instagram. It is really easy to feel like a loser when we compare ourselves to others.  Lydia also expands more on these concepts and shares why it is so important to not compare our beginnings with someone else’s progress. I highly recommend you listen to the full episode for more details. In addition, you can connect with Lydia on http://screwthecubicle.com (her website). Lydia offers some resources that will help you if you want to start or business or if you just feel unsatisfied in your career.  Thanks so much for listening to Success Road, and special thanks to Lydia for being a guest. 

Today’s episode of Success Road features Sean Rosensteel. Sean is an entrepreneur, speaker and the author of https://www.seanrosensteel.com/ (The School Of Intentional Living). This episode focuses on the importance of priorities, boundaries, structure and more.  Sean’s Personal Story  Sean says that he grew up with a very conventional idea of success. He believed that success was tied to big homes, fast cars, and fancy toys. That was his focus throughout my teenage years. And for most of my twenties and I pursued that conventional definition of success in a negligent way. It led to his bankruptcy, which happened when he was 28 years old, just one month before his wedding. That was a real wake up call because for the first time he took a little inventory and recognized how unintentionally he had been living. He realized that his financial bankruptcy was actually the least of my concerns. Sean says that he was physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and relationally bankrupt.  Sean realized that he needed to start living intentionally as he was about to get married. He had to make some serious changes in his life.  The Most Important ThingMany people don't know what they want in life. Sean mentioned that he did some little research on the word priorities. The word is actually singular. The word is priority, not priorities. In the 1960s, people started using that as the plural term priorities. But the idea behind the word priority was a singular focus. To know what it is that we want, we have to set some boundaries and understand the frameworks that work in our life. Sean started to give himself letter grades in the different areas of his life. The letter grades serve as a reminder. Instead of viewing something as 7/10, it is a C.  If one part of your life has a D, it is clear that area needs improvement.  Moving Past RoadblocksSean says that his father taught me that complexity is the enemy of success, and he fully bought into that concept. In Sean’s book he talks about lockers. In school, that's that place students place their things. In the real world, lockers could be as simple as a filing cabinet. Inside there could be folders or tabs used to dedicate as space to the areas of life that matter.  But a locker doesn’t hold everything that you need. Sean uses a backpack. He stores his laptop, the book he’s reading, a tablet, water, snacks, and chargers in his backpack. But he takes this concept even further with the work he does on his computer. He considers his phone and project management app to serve as a digital backpack of sorts.  Freedom Through StructureSean shares that the main struggle we all face is one of distraction. And when you have structure in your life, you can best handle distraction. When Sean structured out his calendar and scheduled out his priorities, he found freedom. For example, he schedules family time. Every day, from Monday through Friday from about 5:30 PM until 8:30 PM is uninterrupted family time. He is with his family physically and  mentally. His phone goes on do not disturb mode. It is essential to create an environment that supports your success.  Sean expands more on these concepts and shares some practical ways to detail with distraction and also manage your expectations. I highly recommend you listen to the full episode for more details. In addition, you can pick up Sean’s book, https://www.amazon.com/School-Intentional-Living-Real-World-Approach-ebook/dp/B089LJ8PK4 (The School Of Intentional Living) on Amazon or on his phttps://www.seanrosensteel.com/ (ersonal website).  Thanks so much for listening to Success Road, and special thanks to Sean for being a guest. 

Today’s episode of Success Road features Benjamin Ritter. Benjamin is a leadership and empowerment coach who is also the founder of https://www.liveforyourselfconsulting.com/ (Live For Yourself Consulting). If you’re wanting to start a new career, or you just want to become a better leader, you’ll really enjoy this episode.  Why Self-Leadership Is KeyBenjamin says the most important leader is the one that resides within you. On that note, self-leadership is the ability to lead yourself. However, when most people talk about leadership, though, they often look towards others. The only person that leads you to taking action is you, ultimately. Your brain controls your body.  The Power of The 3 C’sThe three CS are clarity, confidence, and control. Clarity is what you care about or your values. Then confidence is really just the belief in yourself that you can work towards these things. Too often people just don't take action because they doubt themselves. They ruminate and overthink. The last C is control. No matter how you feel, no matter if you’re having a bad day, or you’re having relationship issues or something, you still have the control to understand what you care about.  Finding ClarityMost people struggle with finding clarity. So to gain a level of clarity, answer this simple question: what drives you? What makes you wake up? Why do you feel stuck at your current position? Why do you feel like it's not right for you?  Exploring these questions will often give you the clarity that you want. Once you have clarity, just put it into action in the form of goals. You’ll have to be specific.  What can you say no to? This will help you create more boundaries. When you can say to yourself, “I’m working on the most important thing right now,” you’ll know that you are on the right track.  How Self-Leadership WorksSelf-leadership focuses on creating an environment that relates to what you care about and it aligns. And so it's about making connections with people that are on the same page as you, or working towards the same thing, or these individuals have already been where you want to be. When you're investing in those relationships, the other relationships may fall to the wayside, especially your closest relationships if you're not communicating with them. Part of a relationship is finding someone that shares similar values, but that might not always mean that they're interested in the same things. It’s important to lead with this non-judgemental mindset. Not everyone will actually have the same level of passion or spark that you have for your passion. There is even more information included in this insightful episode. If you’d like to connect with Benjamin, I recommend you check out https://www.liveforyourselfconsulting.com (his website) or connect with him on https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritterbenj/ (LinkedIn).  I highly recommend you listen to it. Thanks so much for listening to Success Road and being a part of this community. Special thanks to Benjamin for being a guest. 

Case Lane is a speaker, entrepreneur and consultant. She also has a podcast called https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/podcast/ (The Ready Entrepreneur) and is the author of the book https://www.amazon.com/Podcast-Discoveries-Listeners-Through-Podcasts-ebook/dp/B08GH53STX/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=podcast+case+lane&qid=1604072909&sr=8-6 (Podcast Discoveries). We will talk about how we can utilize podcasting to help grow our business as well as how you can be a great podcast host and guest.  Case’s Personal StoryCase started self-publishing ebooks while in law school. She was interested in writing and was fascinated by the opportunity that Amazon and Smashwords presented by allowing writers to directly reach their readers. That led her to pursue entrepreneurship and having an online business.  Case realized that most online entrepreneurs don’t have a clear path they can take, so that’s why she started creating content to help online entrepreneurs. It’s no surprise that she uses her academic background to reach individuals in a way to help them learn.  How To Learning About EntrepreneurshipFor those just starting to learn about becoming an entrepreneur, Case recommends books such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This book was originally published in the early 1930s and is still very  relevant today. One of the most amazing things mentioned in this book is that people need to have specialized knowledge. A fact you hear all the time today from many online business experts.  Case also encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to read the biographies and the autobiographies of famous entrepreneurs, such as John D. Rockefeller. When you actually read their stories, you find out that entrepreneurs come from everywhere. They come from every kind of background. They come from all sorts of beginnings. The facts about these individuals helps others learn about real-life entrepreneurship.  Entrepreneurship is not necessarily being an inventor in your garage. It's about what you have to deliver to others using information-based products. You can teach people how to help other people. Finding Customers And Telling Them What You HaveCase compares reaching your customer with a medieval marketplace. Essentially, everybody comes in from the countryside to sell what they have in town. The gates of the city are wide open. Anybody can come in, but then you have to get the attention of the people that are there shopping.  People today are online all day searching for things that they want or need. They're searching on many websites such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook. They might even just be scrolling around in random places as they are searching for something. The key is to find where the people you want to reach hang out.  The Power of CommunityCase says that going to conferences were very important in her entrepreneurial journey. She says when you go to a conference, you realize that there are a lot more people doing the same thing. You get to meet lots of other people and form relationships. Then you have the ability to ask them different questions, such as what apps do you use? Which coaches did you like? What courses have you taken? All of this information proves to be invaluable, especially over the long-haul. The Power Of Getting StartedWhen someone is just starting out with a project such as podcasting, Case recommends telling others that your project is going live at a specific date. This deadline is important because it helps you move forward. It’s totally normal to be nervous when starting out, especially if you are podcasting. Almost everybody hates the sound of their own voice. But as Case has podcasted over the years, she got used to her voice. The same approach applies to anything that you want to do too. You might want to start making videos, selling things, crafting emails, or more. You’ll get better over time and keep improving with regular practice. 

Welcome to Success Road Podcast. Today’s episode features Brent Magnussen. Brent is an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, an accomplished cook, a speaker, and the author of the book Roger Up: The Mission Ready Blueprint to Crush the Morning, Own the Day, and Be the Best Version of You.  Brent is also one of the board members of the Resilient Warrior Foundation which serves United States veterans, and first responders who suffer from post-traumatic stress. This organization provides scholarships to study the art of Brazilian jiu jitsu in the Academy of their choice, anywhere in the United States. Brent is a veteran and also an avid practitioner of Brazilian jiu jitsu.  Benefits of Brazillian Jiu-jitsu   When someone is a member of the military, you are constantly in high stress situations. From the first day an individual arrives at basic training, people are screaming at you at four in the morning to get up and do a bunch of pushups. And they're spraying you with hoses and whatever else. Not to mention the verbal assault you take for a couple of months. As a result, individuals learn very quickly how to deal with stress. Once you’ve been in the military for an extended period of time, you get used to it. Then, when you leave the military, you're no longer in a constant state of stress. Many people have trouble coping with the difference in lifestyles.  What Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu does is it provides you the opportunity to use stress in a safe environment. This allows the veteran to relearn how to manage stress. When you go through hard situations, you learn how to manage them. This approach transfers over into your work life, into your relationships, and into everything you do. You learn how to become a better person, and you get your confidence back.   A Real Life Example Brent mentioned his daughter is nine years old. And when she gets older, she's very likely going to be a smaller person as her Mom is five foot tall. I don't think Emma's going to be much over five foot, four or five foot five, 105 pounds. And God forbid, someone, some guy tries to attack her or hurt her. Since she has been trained in jiu-jitsu, she's going to know exactly what to do. When she's on her back and having to deal with an aggressive person, she's going to know what to do. When a bully confronts her, she's going to know how to use her words first, because she's going to have that extreme confidence that if it does get physical, it doesn't matter if.  Establishing A Morning Routine  Brent came up with the Zero Five Thirty Blueprint. First, he gets up at 5:30. He says the key is getting up at the same time every morning. He says to never use the snooze button. The first thing he does is smile. Then he does a hundred pushups. He smiles because it tricks his body and gives him the right mindset. Then he gets up and makes the bed. Then he drinks sixteen ounces of room temperature water. Next he does some quick diaphragm breathing and goes for a walk. And after his walk, he takes a cold shower.  In the rest of the podcast, Brent shares more information about Brazillian jiu-jitsu, morning routines, the benefits of water, and more. I encourage you to listen to the entire podcast. Special thanks to Brent for being on Success Road. 

Today’s episode of Success Road features Eddie Maalouf. Eddie is an entrepreneur and marketer at brilliantmarketers.com  Eddie’s Personal Story   In college, Eddie would skip classes and go out start his own businesses on the side. He always had the idea of starting his own business. Once he graduated college, he worked for a fitness company and became the number one salesman. But once he realized he had reached the top spot, he decided to quit his job and work for his father for a flat rate plus 20% of any revenue increases in his father’s business. During that time, Eddie realized like the wonders that marketing actually does for a business. Since then he expanded by starting a team and building an agency.   How To Push Past Barriers and Limits Eddie sees three challenges that are common to most businesses. The first challenge is when people are making money, and they're often self employed, and they don't want to hire. They want to see how much they can make without having to hire someone. But then there comes a point where you need to hire someone.  In some cases, there are people that are ineffective in their company, that aren't doing the job. When you fire them, you notice that your efficiency as a company still stays the same. Eddie says, “I'd rather own half of a watermelon than an entire grape.” This is why mindset is so important when looking at a business. In order to get to that kind of watermelon point, you have to build the team around you to take care of other things. The second challenge is marketing. Eddie says the biggest growth in every business that he has seen comes from a really good marketing campaign. So that is usually the bottleneck. And when that campaign works well, it often leads back to the first challenge with hiring.  The third challenge is that owners need to invest in themselves and their own mindset and personal development.  For example, if all someone’s friends make $10,000 a month and they make 20,000 a month they think they're a success. But you know, if you actually said that at the wrong table at a restaurant, you realize all those people are making a million dollars a month. All of a sudden, that whole mindset that you had your whole life just kind of comes crashing down.  How To Start Hiring People  The first step is recognizing where you need employees. When a business owner hires someone to do one or two jobs that take the most time out of your day, you'd be surprised within a month, they probably are doing that job better than the owner, because that is that they do that from nine to five every single day.  Once Eddie realized this, he became more comfortable hiring and like losing money for a month, knowing that next month, this person on my team is going to be able to generate that revenue back and make even more revenue in the future.  Eddie says that it is also important to know that not everyone is going to have the same vision as the owner. And they're not going to understand what metrics are important and what standards the business owner has. That’s why it is important to use KPI’s, or key performance indicators, on paper for each position.  I learned a lot from this interview and I wanted to mention that Eddie’s course is available at brilliantmarketers.com. This program primarily teaches business owners how to learn online advertising. I recommend checking it out.  Thanks so much for listening to Success Road, and special thanks to Eddie for being a guest.   

Welcome to Success Road. Today’s episode features Brad Hart. Brad is an entrepreneur and author who has a lot of experience building mastermind groups. This episode will focus on how masterminds work as well as the benefits of joining a mastermind.  What Is A Mastermind?  Brad says that a mastermind is made up of 8 to 15 people that are seeking clarity and accountability. Masterminds are also about getting the support you need in a trusted environment, which gives you the leverage you need to overcome any challenges, stay engaged in your business, and also achieve your goals.  The main difference between a mastermind and group coaching is that the facilitator of a mastermind isn't necessarily the guru or the expert. There might be several experts in the group. And there might be multiple solutions that different people are looking for. But generally, a mastermind member comes with the expectation of getting what you came for, but also a whole lot more. Each member learns from the experience and the hot seats of the other people that are in the group.  Brad says when he runs a mastermind, he loves for them to be intimate, and he wants each member to get at least 10 to 15 minutes on the hot seat. The hot seat gives every member the clarity that they need to make the breakthroughs that they need to move forward in their business.  Different Levels of Masterminds There are free masterminds and there are also masterminds that cost six figures a year to participate in the group. Brad encourages everybody to not compare themselves to others, but rather to focus on their own growth. One of the really cool things about mastermind groups is that there are different shapes and sizes. Brad has been a part of 30 now. He has participated in free ones to high-ticket masterminds with well-known entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, Neil Strauss, and Tim Ferriss.  Just One Word Makes A Big Difference Whenever Brad talks about the price of masterminds, he looks at it as an investment. He does not look at it as a cost. He says, “It's only a cost if you don't get something out of it.” The reason he joined masterminds is to be connected to the people that can solve the problems that I have. And this mindset propels Brad forward. Brad doesn't look at a mastermind as a one time event. Rather, a mastermind is an ongoing process. Just as you don't shower once and expect it to work forever. You don't brush my teeth once and expect it to work forever. You need to keep intentionally participating in these activities. The Next Step For Your Journey Brad recommends that everybody start with his book, 8 Minute Mastermind. He also has a podcast with the same name that you can check out here. Brad is very passionate about masterminds, and I know they can be very beneficial too. I hope you’ll consider joining one or starting one as you move forward.    Thanks to Brad for being on Success Road. 

When you’re starting or growing your business, it is extremely helpful to get outside help. Specifically, I’m referring to help in the form of coaching, consulting, masterminds. Of course, you can (and probably should) get some help on regular daily tasks, especially when those tasks need to be done, but take your time and focus away from the most important and revenue driven tasks. Last week on the podcast, I shared an interview I had with Matt Clark. It was a fantastic interview and gave me some really great takeaways and things to think about. After the interview, he ended up giving me a spontaneous coaching session. I’m going to share that part of the conversation with you, and it picks us right after we ended the official interview. If you didn’t listen to that episode, you’ll definitely want to go back and listen to that conversation first - this episode will make more sense. After the conversation I had with Matt, I also started working with a business coach, who agreed with what I needed to work on. In order for me to really hone in on what my offer is and how to present it, I needed to get clear on who I wanted to serve. So I started to delve into who my target audience is and create a specific avatar. His name is Anthony. I loosely based him on one of my clients that I absolutely love working with. I’m currently working on my offer - as Matt plainly told me - I’m too cheap and have basically positioned my service as a commodity. Another aspect that I’m getting help to work on my business - rather than in my business - is through my mastermind group. We’ve been meeting weekly since late March of 2020, and have only missed a couple weeks. We take turns being in the “hot seat” where we can each get help in specific areas where we need improvement or to help us get clarity on what we should be focusing on. It has been very helpful for me to get this extra perspective between my business coach and mastermind group. Next week on the podcast, I’ll be sharing a conversation with Brad Hart, and we’ll be delving into exactly what a mastermind is, different ways of doing it, and the benefits from these groups. If you think you might be interested in either getting coaching yourself or joining a mastermind group, let me know and I’d love to help you get going with either or both of these. Send me an email, joshua@podcastguymedia.com, and I’ll help you get started.

Today’s episode of Success Road features Matt Clark. Matt specializes in helping coaches, consultants and advisors get more leads. If you have a small business, you know the importance of finding new customers. This podcast episode provides valuable insights that will help you automate the sales process and find more qualified leads.  Matt started doing door-to-door sales and transitioned to online marketing. After some experience with online businesses, he realized there was a big need for finding new leads.  He wasn’t having any success with Facebook and the traditional routes to find new leads. He realized that LinkedIn gave him a platform to be able to just find and connect, and reach out to my ideal clients. He starts conversations and then converts them into customers.    The Key To Sales Matt says one of the biggest challenges businesses face is “How do you get people interested in what it is that you're doing?” You need a message that's going to capture people and lead them to take action. Then you want to take them through a repeatable sales process. A common approach is to start off with something like a landing page where people can learn about what you do. Then people can see what connects with them and then find out more about how you can help them get results.  The best part about this approach is that it is evergreen. It doesn’t need to change. When the sales process is streamlined, businesses save yourself tons of time and even have these potential customers watch a video or take a questionnaire before anyone gets on a sales call with them. In addition, this approach provides many opportunities to scale up your business.   Finding The Ideal Client Everything starts with your ideal client. Many business owners say that they have between two and four different potential ideal clients. But it is important to narrow it down to one person. One of the best questions to ask is “Who would you be willing to put time and energy and effort into to get on a phone call with?” Another great question to ask is ”What are the biggest problems you can solve in the easiest way?”   Matt recommends taking a look at your previous clients. Summarize how it went in words. You might say, “Okay, cool. Well, you know, I've helped five different people. Some of them were in the same industry, some of them weren't. But I really liked working with this person.” And you can start building a model around that person. Ask questions like:  What industry are they in?  What is their job title?  What size company do they have?  What was the big problem that you solved for them?  Do other people have this kind of problem too?  And you just go and look for you to solve that one problem, and then look for more people with that problem.   You can connect with Matt via LinkedIn here or reach him directly at connect@thevirtualedge.com. In addition, Matt has invited Success Road listeners to get his 20-minute LinkedIn Profile makeover.   

Ready to boost your productivity to new heights? Today’s episode features USA Today Bestselling writer, Russell Nohelty. He is not only an author, he also runs three companies. Clearly, Russell has to be very productive. And in this episode, he’s going to share with you how he does it. Best of all, his approach is actually very simple.    The One Thing Russell uses The One Thing approach which was made popular by author Gary Keller. The One Thing focuses on moving one domino or boulder at a time. If you focus your attention and energy on one specific area, you can move past the one challenge that is in your way. And then once you push that domino over, you create momentum. Then you move on to another domino. Most people don’t have one clear intention. They are just very busy. But being busy does not mean you’re being productive.  For example, Russell wanted to be a USA Today bestselling author. Not so much for the acclaim, he wanted to have this behind his name so get more clients and reach more readers. It took about two years of pushing all sorts of different boulders and working with people to push that boulder over. But he pushed that boulder down in 2018, and says that it felt great.    Another Important Approach  Russell uses time blocking during the week to take care of the tasks that are most important. Every block of time is labeled as green time, yellow time, or red time. Green time is when you are working on things that are moving you towards your goal or working with customers. Green time is when you're making money.  Yellow colored time is focused on activities that are indirectly related to Russell’s income. For example, customer service, shipping something, or doing payroll. Lastly, there’s red time. These activities have no bearing on making money. Some of these things include eating lunch, going to pick up your kids from school, or going to a doctor's appointment. While all of these things have no bearing on making money, these tasks are still essential.    Working During The Right Time It is very important to work when you are most productive and have high amounts of energy. Russell says that while he doesn't have any kids, he has two dogs that are very, very needy. They want his attention most between about 6 am and 8 am, and 5pm to 7pm. Because of that, he knows that he is most likely to have a problem with distraction during those times. With this knowledge in mind, he does not schedule his green time during those hours.  For even more info about Russell’s approach, I recommend listening to the podcast. It’s a great interview. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.    A Final Word  To further connect with Russell check out The Complete Creators blog and podcast. This content helps creators build better businesses and then make the best work of their life. And don’t forget to check out his author website which features his fiction work which focuses on fantasy, sci-fi and supernatural stories. A special thanks to Russell for being on the show. I hope you are able to use some of these approaches to be more productive on your journey.

Do you want to scale up your business? Thinking about making that first hire? Today’s episode covers these topics and more. Get ready as JC Hite is going to share his story as well as some really helpful information about how to hire and scale up your business.  JC Hite started out as an entrepreneur when he was only 14-years-old, and now he leads Hite Digital as Founder and CEO. Hite Digital is all about helping digital marketing agencies scale. They provide SEO, PPC, Facebook, websites, and CRM automation for agencies. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or on Instagram.   Scaling Up Your Business  Before you start scaling up your business, it is important to take the time to consider your goals. One way to figure out your goals is to ask questions like, “What do I really want to do?” The answer to this question is key in the scalability of a business. JC’s goal is to create 1,000 jobs. That goal would give his company the ability to serve about 10,000 clients in total. So 1,000 jobs is the goal. In order to reach that goal, JC says that he knows he has to have some great systems in place.  It is very helpful to ask questions like:  What’s the endgame?  What do we want to build?  Why does it matter? And then reverse engineer your goals. But that’s not all you need to consider. There’s another important part of the equation.   Even More Than Goals JC shares that it is also important to consider commitments. For example, what are we committed to in life? There are struggles everywhere. If you have a commitment to something, you’ll do anything for it. You’ll do whatever it takes.  It’s also important to focus on the big picture, not just the short-term. Our commitments have to be worthy. When you see people like Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King Jr., they were dedicated to one thing. Mother Teresa was committed to helping people. Martin Luther King Jr. was committed to equality.  I want to grow my team. And whatever the reason for it, they want to grow their team beyond themselves. So how do they get started then being able to transition from working for themselves to Okay, now they're working with other people? How do they make that transition?   Learning What You Need To Know If you are hiring other people and scaling up your business, it is essential to know the skills required for a job. If you don’t know how to do telemarketing, how can you hire a telemarketer? You hire an expert who knows a lot more than you and learn what you need to know to hire for that position.  Communication is also essential. You must improve how you communicate with other people. This takes time. You don’t want to hurry when making that first hire. Don’t hire out of desperation.    My Personal Story I’ve heard a lot of stories of people that started some sort of small business as a kid - whether that was a bike repair business, or lawn mowing service, or whatever. I never really did any entrepreneurial things like that growing up. But I did like doing creative things and starting projects. I did do a little subcontract work washing windows for a few months when I was 22 and I looked into some sort of mail-order, work from home thing - from my lack of descriptiveness with this, you can probably tell that it never worked out. My first stint into entrepreneurship was in 2010 when I landed my first web design client. At the time, I had worked at 2 different churches - almost full-time work for part-time pay. For a couple years, I also worked a full-time job to compensate for the lack of money. But that first web design client gave me the idea that I could create my own business to provide the income I needed while still maintaining a level of freedom - both location and time freedom. Now, I have moved away from web design and into podcast production, but, 10 years later, I am now fully self-employed.   A Final Word JC highly recommends the book Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey. He even says it’s the very best book available on being an entrepreneur. In fact, every new team member on his team is required to read it. I love the book too, as Dave Ramsey’s principles helped me pay off my first home. 

What is one of the most important things you can do to ensure success? It is also one of the most overlooked areas of our lives: mindset.  Today’s episode features Kimberly Milousis. Kimberly has a great story and a lot of great advice to share the importance of having the right mindset in our lives.  A Huge Transition Kimberly had over 20 years of experience as a CPA working as a senior corporate tax manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Despite having a beautiful office, working with a great staff and earning a six-figure income, she knew something was missing.  Kimberly and her husband decided to try something different. She left her job not even exactly knowing what her next steps were. She just knew she wanted to do something more.  Pivoting During Times Of Change Kimberly found herself pregnant shortly after leaving her job. She decided with her husband that it was a good time to sell their home in Toronto and moved into the country. They decided to flip houses and did that for a while during that time of change.  While flipping houses, Kimberly had purchased some essential oils to make one of the houses smell better. Kimberly had always maintained an interest in natural health products. As she learned more about the products, she became excited about them. She found a business opportunity when she was not looking for one.  There's also a mental aspect that Kimberly discovered as she started building her new business: that in order to move forward, you must adjust your mindset. Moving Past Limiting Beliefs  In building her business, Kimberly had to let go of her limiting beliefs. Some of these included having her identity attached to her past career as a CPA for over 20 years. It took her a long time to realize that she had gifts to share with the world that were not attached to her job.  In addition, Kimberly had to get over her fear of rejection. She says,”I just wanted to be liked, I just wanted to be accepted, so the terror of putting myself out there with the possibility that someone could say no, to me was just overwhelming.” You’re Always Selling Something The act of selling something is very powerful. There are times when we sell our kids on the idea that going to bed is a good idea. And we’re always selling people on something whether we're making a movie recommendation or recommending a restaurant. Kimberly views sales as an act of service. She is more passionate about helping people than making money.   A Common Setback And The Solution We often compare ourselves to other people and what we used to do. But the reality is we are often not making fair comparisons. You might be comparing someone else’s ending with your beginning. You can't compare people that way. Comparison truly kills joy. And it also steals motivation.  Kimberly feels more abundant in all areas of her life now: her physical health, her emotional health, her relational health, her spiritual health and her financial health. No one piece is more important than the other; they are all important. And it is because they are all pieces of a beautiful tapestry that gets woven together to create abundance in your life.  An abundance mindset can completely change how you view everything. I would like to challenge you to spend some time asking yourself what kind of mindset you have. And then taking the next steps to improve your mindset.  A Special Offer For Success Road Listeners You can learn more about Kimberly’s course here. If you use the discount code “success” you’ll receive 20% off the regular price.  Special thanks to Kimberly for being on the podcast. 

Do you enjoy taking personality tests? I do. I love the helpful insights they provide.  On today’s podcast, we have coach and speaker Kelly Knowles sharing how to understand the Color Code personality test.  The Color Code was developed by a psychiatrist named Taylor Hartman. Hartman created the Color Code as a way to help his patients get better, faster. One key differentiator with this test is that it delves down into what is your driving core motive. And this driving core motive is something that you were born with, this is your natural state. It is what drives you in your most authentic self.    A Summary Of The Color Code There are four colors: red, white, blue, and yellow. For reds, their driving core motive is power or doing things. For whites, the driving core motive is peace. They're all about maintaining a steady state, because they want to stay in a state of peace.  For individuals who are yellow, their driving core motive is fun. They are optimistic, energetic, and they have a really fun spirit. For blues their driving core motive is intimacy or connection. They are the people that feel they are all about quality and value.  When you start to learn these things about yourself, then you start to be able to pick out and play with this in terms of your relationships with other people.    Digging Deeper Into The Color Code It is important not to use The Color Code, or any other personality test, to make assumptions; rather, it is a tool to open up communication. While you might have one predominant core driver, you likely have a secondary driver too.  As human beings, we are complex: it is essential to not use The Color Code as a way to generalize others or ourselves.    Why Habits Are So Important I really believe our habits make or break achieving our goals. If you wake up in the morning with the best of intentions and you say, today I'm going to do something in about five seconds, I'm going to offer that Murphy's Law is going to kick in and something is going to jump that off base.  However, if you have some habits built in, if you even have some routine built in, those are actually Something that will give you freedom. And you're going to find that you're going to be able to achieve your goals and make those strategic steps that you need. Even better.  When habits are used to create freedom, you will see great traction. Instead of habits being about limitations, they are tools that you use to build a better life.    An Important Change We grew up believing we should minimize our weaknesses, but I believe this isn’t true. First, we should not call them weaknesses. Otherwise we view them as problems. Rather, you can view them as limitations. And it is ideal to maximize your strengths and neutralize your limitations. There are many tools and services available that we can use to neutralize our limitations. If you are someone who is disorganized, there's technology out there. There are personal assistants out there professional organizers that can help you with that limitation. to neutralize it, so you can go and be your best self.    A Final Word I encourage you to try taking the Color Code personality test. You can take it free right here. I found it really useful as a way to promote  self-awareness.  If you enjoy taking the Color Code, Kelly offers a coaching program called Next as well as other coaching programs to help you grow and pursue your dreams. Don’t settle. Keep being intentional so you can keep moving forward every single day. 

Feeling stressed? Know you’re not alone. We all inevitably have stress in our lives, and we need to manage stress in healthy ways while also staying productive. On today’s podcast, Daria Tsvenger joins us. Daria is a mindset coach and has also studied cognitive neuroscience at Stanford University. Daria has a unique program called The Dream Sprint, a personal growth challenge that people gain clarity and pursue their dreams.   The Problem With Stress Stress is a state in our bodies. It's a primal response that occurs in our brain whenever we face some kind of change. If the changes are sudden, our stress levels rise higher. Our brain wants things to stay the same; stress is the brain’s response to change. Thankfully there is a healthy way to handle stress.  How To Handle Stress Resilience is the best way to handle stress. And resilience is like a muscle in your body. When you train a muscle, you do the same activity over and over. So the next time you do the same activity, it is easier for you to do because your muscles are trained. The same concept applies to your mind. The more we process change, the more we develop resilience.  Moving Past Mental Blocks We all face mental blocks, things that stop us from doing the things we want to accomplish. And it might not even be the same challenge that stops us. Daria recommends the “big perspective exercise” where you take into account how long your life actually is.    On average, a human being’s life expectancy is around 80 years, which comes to about 4,000 weeks. Once you are able to realize how many weeks you’ve already been alive, and approximately how many more weeks you have to live, you’ll likely start to see that your time is limited. You know you don’t want to waste your time. This creates urgency and allows you to move past any challenges so you can take action.  Becoming More Confident Many people struggle with confidence. But what is confidence really? It is when you're able to keep the promises that you gave to yourself. Every time you break a promise to yourself, you become less confident. So the best thing we can do to move forward is to set micro goals. Micro goals add up and enable us to keep our promises to ourselves.  Next Steps Wherever you are today, I want to challenge you to take the next small step that will lead you to where you want to go. Daria’s Dream Sprint program could be a great way to get some support and accountability as you move forward. We all need support and encouragement. Once you have those, you also have hope. And hope is a very powerful thing. That’s why I make this podcast. So I want to encourage you to keep taking intentional small steps as you are on your journey.    Best of luck as you pursue and achieve your goals. Feel free to contact me, Joshua Rivers, if I can help in any way. 

I’ve heard the mantra “Leaders are readers” - you probably have, too. The problem is that, if you’re busy like me, you struggle to find time to read as much as you want to or as much as you feel you should. Today, I’m going to share a couple things I’m doing to help make this easier. Physical books There is something special about reading a physical book. You can actually feel the pages. It’s easy to underline, write notes, or dogear pages. However, physical books take up space. If you have lot of books, a lot of space can be used just in storing books (I have boxes and boxes of books). eBook/Kindle books To save physical space, Kindle or other types of eBooks make it easy to store a lot of books in a single device that may be even smaller than a single book. This makes it easy to take a lot of books virtually anywhere. While you can still take notes, it seems to be a little more cumbersome in my opinion. Audiobooks A downfall to both physical books and eBooks is that you can’t do anything else at the same time (well, I guess you can do some exercise like walking on a treadmill or exercise bike). A lot of the books I “read” are actually audiobooks. I can listen to the books while I’m doing a variety of tasks - mowing, cleaning, driving, etc. I can even speed it up and get through the books a little faster. A downfall to audiobooks is that it’s easier to get distracted and you don’t get as much out of the books. Blinkist While you can miss a lot of the details in books, many times, all you need to do is grasp the main points. A lot of the details just support or prove the main point(s). There is value in getting the details, for sure, but you can make a lot of progress if you take the main point and apply it to your life. Blinkist is an app that is like Cliffnotes - which you never used to take a shortcut when writing book reports back in school. A benefit of Blinkist, though, is that you can have written summaries and audio summaries, so it’s like a summarized ebook and audiobook in one. While this doesn’t let you get the depth of going through the full book, you are able to get those important points out of it and have a good foundational basis. You can check out Blinkist for yourself.  

Are you an automator? Do you automate your sales? Do you automate the growth of your following? Are you able to automate for impact?  Today’s guest is a serious automator, and she would like to show you how how to do it too. Kathryn Jones is a bestselling author, Certified Internet Marketer and the ClickFunnels Dream Car winner. You can connect with her on Instagram or join her Facebook Group Design Hackers Official. You can also pick up Katryn’s book Automate Your Routine, Guarantee Your Results.   How We Can Start Automating Becoming an automator really is a mindset and a lifestyle. The word automation means to set up systems so that things can be done without human control.  We all have repetitive tasks that we can outsource to other people. We can use software systems to free up our headspace and out time.  Catherine discovered in her early twenties that she was lacking motivation and will power to get up. By setting up a simple system with a loud alarm clock, she discovered that she could use that tool and suddenly set herself up for success.  She even applied this principle to eating healthier; instead of having waffles and cinnamon rolls in the house, she would only have egg whites.  All automation can be simplified to one basic question:  How can I avoid making the same mistake twice?    Automation Is More Than Apps  There is more to a system than just an app; barriers are important. The elimination of other possibilities is essential too. When you combine human behavior with essentially computer science coding, right, you're actually able to program your brain.  If we look at the basics of coding, it's zeros and ones.  A computer will do exactly what you tell it to do.  So when you're creating your routines, it is important to write out what you want to do as if you are a computer. Break it down, and you literally program your mind.  With the example of using an alarm clock, she broke it down like this: Open your eyes Take two deep breaths Sit up Get out of your bed Leave your room and close the door so you can't go back in there Walk to the alarm clock Turn it off Go into the bathroom Close the door and shower. When you eliminate other options, you also get your brain into a regimented routine.  I highly recommend you listen to this entire episode, as we spoke more about health and routines in the show notes as well as automating your business. Thanks to Kathryn for being a guest on the Success Road Podcast. 

Are you falling short in meeting your goals? Or maybe you feel like something is just missing.  On today’s episode, I chat with Roman Marinov about goal setting. Roman is a relationship coach who has been trained in Tony Robbins’ coaching program. He also is offering a free 30% discount on coaching for anyone who mentions Success Road Podcast listeners. Just mention the show to him.  Why Is Goal Setting Important? A great example is to think of a plane. A plane needs to know where it's going. It needs to know his destination. Otherwise the plane will waste time, and fuel. It might get lost or even be going in the wrong direction. And that's what goals are for us. Goals are our destinations. That’s why goals are so important. How To Approach Goal Setting Roman uses a straightforward framework that consists of a quick meditation. Then he asks individuals to share their goals in four specific categories which include personal, financial, adventure and contribution. This entire process comes from the book Awaken The Giant Within.   And so they give Roman those goals, he writes them down. And then the next step is he asks why these goals are important to them. And the next step is getting very, very specific, creating specific action items for each goal and the deadlines. That's the process. Best Advice For Someone Not Working With A Coach Roman recommends reading Awaken The Giant Within and following the framework described in the book. The very first step is taking five minutes to write a goal in each category without filtering yourself. For example, if you're working in the financial category of goal, so someone may write “I want to make this specific amount of income.” Following the framework is key, and sticking to it by showing up everyday.     When Goal Setting Isn’t Working If you’re struggling with achieving goals, Roman recommends focusing is on the future. Believing something will happen and what it will feel like when it happens. This provides a form of motivation. Roman uses visualization in the morning and evening to stay on track.  Accomplishing Goals With Loved Ones Roman recommends reading the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, because Covey goes into depth about this topic in the book.    In some cases, putting some of your money at stake can help too. You could tell a friend, “If I don't complete complete this goal by the specific deadline, use this money however you want.” And if you accomplish the goal, you get the money back. That's a pretty easy way to hold yourself accountable. Your Next Steps We will all fail at meeting our goals sometimes. We all have to readjust our goals too. This is all just part of the process. You set new goals, and then you create a plan. Whether you are starting a new goal or just need some help with a current goal, Roman offers a free complimentary coaching session for all new clients. In addition, mention Success Road Podcast for a special 30% off discount.    Best of luck as you pursue and achieve your goals. Feel free to contact me, Joshua Rivers, and tell me some of your wins. I’d love to hear them!

A key part of productivity is having the ability to focus and to do the deep work.  Lee Chambers is the guest on today’s episode of the Success Podcast. He is a life coach,  and he is going to talk with us about this specific topic. Lee looks at how we attach to tasks and how we then carry them out. These two areas intersect with employee productivity and performance in today's society. Here are some key points from this episode.    We have so many different things vying for our attention.  It’s becoming more and more difficult to follow our biological rhythms and work deeply for periods of time.We face many businesses that get paid to remove our boredom. At the same time, these businesses are also removing our ability to focus on one specific task and carry that out to a really high peak performance level for a long period. The average worker does so many different things today, he or she can't possibly just work really deeply on one task. There are emails pinging here and notifications over there.    How To Start Doing The Deep Work Despite Distractions It’s a lot like riding a bike. First you get on and you balance the bike. You visualize the path ahead. You start pedaling.  But do you remember what it was like when you first started learning how to ride a bike? The same applies to deep work. A lot of practice is required. You’re not going to get it right when you do it the first time.    You have to set boundaries. No notifications. Your email is closed. Anything that's gonna distract you from the work is not there, and naturally takes a big step to make those intentional decisions. Deep work really starts to become a process of you becoming aware, and then implementing these things into your life.    When Challenges Come Your Way At some point you’ll face different challenges in your life. They might be health related or financial problems. Whatever the problem, you can turn a threat or challenge into an opportunity to learn. Lee became seriously ill, spending three weeks in hospital and spending six months learning to walk again. His illness was a turning point for him. Lee spent the last five years studying and practising everything he could learn to optimise my mind, body and soul. There will be times when your back is up against the wall. You must decide to take responsibility for your own situation and do what you can do. That’s how you’ll keep growing and learning.    You can connect with Lee Chambers on his website or on Instagram.

Step into your greatness by taking action with intention and purpose. Ryan Stanley, a Certified Personal Coach, dives into the driving force behind living life without fear and on your terms. He talks about the impact of stress and anxiety on the mind, the body, and life. Taking steps toward change will make you the creator of your dreams. Ryan delves into the importance of shifting your mindset, pushing through negative self-talk, and utilizing your time intentionally. He talks about building patience and pushing through the stress to increase your level of success.   What you’ll learn: Living on purpose doesn’t happen by accident.  The Doc Brown Theory  The first step to overcoming negative self-talk.  Dealing with the mindset and taking the first step.  Be Patient, Be Present, Be Joyful: A First Aid Kit for the Emotional Bumps, Scrapes, and Bruises of Life   Quotes: “In order to get what we want in life in any capacity, it takes intention and it takes purpose.” - Ryan Stanley    More about Ryan M Stanley: Website: https://www.ryanstanley.com/be-patient-be-present-be-joyful Website: https://www.ryanstanley.com/free-ebook  Website: http://teachmetocoach.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rms_ryanstanley/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmslifecoach/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/RMS_RyanStanley  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RMS.Life.Coach/    Recommended Reads: “Be Patient, Be Present, Be Joyful: A First Aid Kit for the Emotional Bumps, Scrapes, and Bruises of Life” By Ryan Stanley “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” By Dr. Joe Dispenza.   

Chris Krimitsos and I talk about the discovery of the self by starting ugly, perfecting your craft, and innovating. We delve into Chris’s book, Start Ugly: A Timeless Tale About Innovation & Change, and discuss the benefits and conflicts of innovation. I tend to get bogged down with perfectionism, which prevents me from getting started. The philosophy of Start Ugly is to ‘stop thinking and start doing,’ which helps me get started. Innovators are dreamers who problem solve by probing and implementing ways to improve. Join us today as we delve into the story behind Start Ugly and some current-day innovators.   Quotes: “It’s not starts ugly stay ugly; it’s starts ugly and perfectly execute from there.”  “Innovation is always happening whether we like it or not.”  “We all reach a semblance of success, and then we wind up plateauing because we’re afraid to move out of our comfort zone.”   Links:  Start Ugly: A Timeless Tale About Innovation & Change by Chris Krimitsos Chris’ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chriskrimitsos Chris’ Website: https://chriskrimitsos.com/ Chris’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/chriskrimitsos Chris’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriskrimitsos/ PodFest: https://podfestexpo.com/ VidFest: http://vidfestexpo.com/podfest-2020-big-in-size-huge-in-memories/

Over the past several months, the coronavirus pandemic has caused a lot of changes and, as a result, we have experienced a lot of constraints, both personally and corporately.  I have witnessed many times where these constraints have led to various creative solutions. Schools have done parades instead of traditional graduation ceremonies. While this isn’t an ideal solution for the graduates, it was at least a way to celebrate the accomplishments. I live out in the country and a nearby small town had the whole town involved, where there may normally have been less community involvement. While many small businesses have had to close for a period of time and suffered a lot, other businesses have had to rethink how they can operate while under the legal limitations. My wife and I recently went to a restaurant, and found out we could pay the bill through our phone - no need for a paper check or using the Ziosk machine. Churches have worked to come up with alternative ways to gather. While many churches utilized streaming services online more - and adapting better ways of doing this - some churches started having parking lot services where everyone stayed in their vehicles. My church is one that did this - we had only online services for a few weeks, and then we started meeting in the parking lot. A few weeks ago, we started having indoor services, but increased sanitation practices and sat in every other pew. I think about the movie Apollo 13. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I’m sorry for any spoilers here. When the shuttle experienced an electric malfunction and the CO2 filter stopped working, an extreme situation was created. There was an option to make some modifications, but they were faced with having to connect the proverbial round peg in a square hole. It may have been the other way around, but close enough. The scientists back on earth were gathered and a box of miscellaneous parts were thrown on a table. The leader said, “We have to make this fit into this, using only these parts.” And they only had a very short amount of time before the toxicity level got too high. Spoiler alert - they were able figure it out and save the astronauts.   Scientific studies about constraint So, as I’ve been thinking about this idea of constraints breeding creativity, I found 2 articles, from Inc Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. The Harvard Business Review article, they conducted a survey and found that individuals, teams, and organizations benefited from a healthy dose of constraints. The Inc Magazine article said that we actually need constraints to get good at creating something remarkable. Both articles go on to explain how constraints can help by forcing you to work with less so you can actually begin to see the world differently. They even talk about how new inventions and business practices have been inspired through various constraints.   Too much constraint Both articles do mention that too much constraint can dampen creativity. In other words, there’s a point of diminishing return. So it’s like chocolate - a little bit is good, but too much isn’t good for you.   Creating (or using) constraints to you benefit Here are some ways you can use constraints: Limit inputs (time, human resources, funds, materials, etc.) Enforce specific processes (lean start-up model, agile management, etc.) Set specific output requirements These came from the Harvard Business Review article and have a slant toward the business usage of this, but we can apply these to our personal lives as well. Here are some questions to ponder: How can you create a garden when you have little to no yard to work with? How can you declutter and organize your house when it seems like you have more stuff than space? (By the way, I love seeing this type of show, like Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.) How can you make your budget work when you lose 25% of your family income?   What’s really important here? Facing constraints really makes you evaluate what is actually important and necessary vs what is nice to have. When you start prioritizing things and you only have limited resources, it causes you to look at your situation differently. I remember hearing a lot of examples on Dave Ramsey’s show. Dave would have people call in and do a debt-free scream. With this, they would share their story of how they paid off their debt. They got to the point where they realized the limitations they had to pay the debt and, after evaluating their priorities, they made some changes to actually start paying off the debt. Usually, they would start cutting unnecessary things out of their budget (bye-bye cable company). Sometimes they would sell some things or get a part-time job to bring in a little extra money. But, everytime, it seemed difficult or impossible when they started, but they saw that they would have to make changes, and, over time, made a big difference. And then it usually creates lasting changes and differences in the way they view their money and lives.   How can you create and use constraints in your life? I want to encourage you to really think about this and see what differences you can make in your life.  

I have been concerned about many issues of injustice over the years based on various issues. The most prominent injustice revolves around race and police brutality. There are a few problems that I’ve realized for myself regarding these. I don’t follow enough of the news to fully understand the details of the issues. I hope to remedy this going forward. Even with what I do know, I never really knew how to respond or react properly. As a Christian, my first priority is to honor God in all I do. So I saw the way people responded across the county, I had a hard time seeing how I could participate in those ways while still honoring God by following the Biblical principles I know to be true. For one, I ought not act with a spirit of rebellion. For example, injustice by a few against one (George Floyd) is not remedied by injustice by a mob against all. Peaceful protests are great, but the riots and violence taking place across the country are completely anti-Christian. One thing I do know is that doing nothing isn’t help at all. I’m reminded of the quote, “All that’s needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” At the same time, I don’t want to just complain about how wrong people are acting and reacting. Rather, I want to be part of a solution that actually helps people and still honors the Biblical principles God wants me to follow.   There is a Bible principle that shows that when offences and afflictions come to me personally, I am to take that to God and allow Him to take care of it. Additionally, it is also the responsibility of the government to execute judgment in such cases. It is not my right to execute judgment or revenge for myself. At the same time, God tells us that when we see injustices take place, as a Christian, we are to take a stand. We are to be a voice for them. We are to help and minister to them. My pastor, Rick Carter, Jr., took the lead over this last week to create a non-profit organization to address this exact issue. It’s called Solidarity Stand. It’s still in very early stages, but on the website, there is a pledge that can be taken. I’m going to go ahead and read that now.   I signed the pledge this morning, and you can also sign the pledge yourself by going to SolidarityStand.org.

Whenever you are working on developing habits into your life, it’s easy to try to do it all on your own. Especially when you have tried to do it before and failed. You feel a sense of shame because of that failure, so you do it alone for two reasons: You don’t want others to see you fail again If you succeed, then you’ll be able to show off that you can do it The problem with trying to establish new habits on your own is that it’s easier to fail. Yes, there are some people who have a higher level of self-control and discipline, but we all come across weak points and temptations. Or maybe it’s not a matter of will power and just a matter of trying to remember to do something that you haven’t done before. First of all, I want to state that we ought to rely on God to help us establish new and better habits into our lives. He’s the One that ultimately gives us the ability to accomplish what we do. But it’s also wise and helpful to build accountability into our lives. Let me share some ways that I’m building accountability into my life, and, hopefully, that will give you ideas of what you can do. I’ve been sharing some things about my personal health, and I’ll use this as an example. Working with my doctor Family Mastermind Ask people to check on your progress Tracking my progress At Risk and Overweight Podcast Facebook group Sharing my progress online

We’ve all read different self-help or productivity books, and there are many that talk about a narrow section of a particular topic. I mentioned this as I started this season, and I’m interested in exploring what it could look like to take several of these books and start to put the concepts together to get a more broad view of the topic. Now, there are many reviews and summaries available that cover the topics, but I’d like to start exploring how these different books intersect - how they fit together, like a puzzle. I haven’t really started delving into this yet, but I’d like to share how I hope to approach this, and then probably start rolling through this over the upcoming months. Here are some of the books I have in mind (and a little about each one): The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan What is the one thing I can do such that doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary? Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown Less but better. Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time by Rory Vaden Eliminate Automate Delegate Procrastinate Concentrate Interview I had with Rory The Power of Habit: Why We Do what We Do in LIfe and Business by Charles DuHigg How habits work (the habit loop) and how to create new habits Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal Opposite of distraction is traction (this blew my mind - I thought it was focus) Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport Develop deep work routines to drastically improve your focus while working Grit:  The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth Grit is about stamina, not intensity Passion is not quite what I thought it was I participated in a 2-month book club on this book Time Management Magic: How to Get More Done Every Day and More from Surviving to Thriving by Lee Cockerell Haven’t listened yet, but I have listened to Lee Cockerell’s podcast and have heard many of the principles he has in the book. Lessons he’s learned and fine-tuned while working as a VP at Disney World as well as in other management positions in the hotel industry Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen Get everything out of your head and on paper “Being creative, strategic, and simple present and loving don’t require time - they require space.” There are probably many other books or resources I could include in this, but these 9 were readily available on my Audible account. As you can see, they all relate to time management and productivity in some way, but all from different angles and perspectives. I don’t have a solid plan on how I’m going to tackle this project or how I’m going to share results with you when I do, but I want to at least take the first step and introduce this to you. I also don’t know what it’ll look like when it’s done, but that doesn’t really matter right now. Maybe you would even be interested in working with me on this - maybe like a virtual book club or something. If so, send me an email: jr@joshuarivers.net, and let me know that you’re interested in this. If I get enough people interested, we’ll get something started. Also, let me know if there are any other books you think I should add to this list. I’m going to have links to each of these books in the show notes, in case you want to check them out.

We all operate at lot based on our habits - those things we do with little-to-no thinking. The problem is that we have many habits that don't support good health. Formerly a software executive, life and weight-loss coach Elizabeth Sherman joins us on the podcast to share how to build healthy habits into your life. Elizabeth traveled a lot. Her mother’s breast cancer really took a toll on Elizabeth. Her death spurred her to research how to live her healthiest life. Ultimately, she wanted to find out how to prevent breast cancer. In her research, she found that being overweight contributed in a significant way, not just for cancer, but for a variety of serious health problems.                                                                         Going through something of a midlife crisis, she was laid off. Her therapist recommended becoming a life coach. She developed a plan for understanding habit forming. First, it was knowledge. Know what you need to do. Second, habits. Create habits that will contribute to the healthy goals you have. Accomplishing her half-marathon goal allowed her to finally see herself as an athlete. Elizabeth explains the five-band triangle for habits: Environment Creating Habits Skills Beliefs and Values Your Identity The top band is the environment. You want to “peg” a new habit to something that you’re already doing. She gives an example of physically putting your floss next to your toothbrush if you want to start a new habit of flossing. The second band is creating habits that then support that environment. Meal planning is an example of this. The third band are the skills you need to execute those habits. Cooking is one example because cooking skills can support your healthy eating habits. The bottom band is your identity. Once you identify as a certain kind of person, your identity can inform beliefs and values (the fourth band). All of these support the skills, the habits, and environment. Elizabeth discusses how to change your negative thoughts into positive thoughts. You have to believe in your own self-worth to start to commit to positive actions. Episode Topics: Elizabeth shares a story about her mother. Being a vegetarian was all she knew toward eating better. How Elizabeth’s view of habit development has changed. Elizabeth completes a half-marathon and she begins to identify as an athlete. “Pegging” new habits to old ones. Why do some of us pick up some habits more easily? Considering your identity can drive all the change. Uncovering limiting beliefs. It’s easier to examine your family’s belief than your own.

As we explore many areas relating to self-development and self-care, the topics I’m trying to focus most on relate to building habits, productivity, and health. While there is some strategy involved, these are things that can be more related to tactics - specific things to do or not do. There are other things that are more like glue, holding everything together. One of those things is music. A lot of people listen to and enjoy music, but the truth is that most people don’t really think about how the music is affecting them. So, today, I have Bill Protzman here today to talk about music, specifically in relation to self-care and self-development. Bill opens by saying that going without music is like going without food. He speaks about feeling suicidal, and how listening to music uncovered wells of emotion. Bill talks about how many music therapists are formally trained in the nature of the therapeutic relationship. In “vocal psychotherapy,” a therapist helps you unlock things through playing musical instruments and singing. Music care, on the other hand, is self-care using music. And music can be used intuitively to accomplish whatever goal you want. He also talks about the different ways people actually use music, and how those uses actually benefit us. For example, listening to songs about gratitude can actually draw up gratitude in you, which is ultimately a net positive, a reward. Bill has worked a great deal with the homeless and encourages people to reach out to their local organizations to seek information about how to engage and help the homeless.             We also talk about: Why is music important? What’s the difference between music therapy and music care? Music can animate genuine emotion in us. Music also brings you into physical “alignment” with your emotions. The spiritual rewards of allowing music to animate emotions. We understand the power of voices, and we need them. Bill’s books—moral injury and best spiritual practices. Key quotes: “The sounds around us are a fundamental part of who we are.” “Being isolated from all sound? That would be like starvation.” “Change your awareness, change your life.” “Who wouldn’t want to be appreciated by someone with an elevated consciousness?” “It’s not the person we know, it’s the vibration.” “[The homeless] are facing humanity in the same way that we are.”   Connect with Bill Protzmann on his website at www.quest.musiccare.net

2 weeks ago, we looked at what intermittent fasting is and how it can benefit. I also mentioned that it pairs well with the keto diet, which is what we are going to look at today. As a reminder, I am not a doctor or nutritionist - I’m just a guy trying to figure out how to lose weight safely.   What is Keto? Keto is short for Ketogenic diet. It is a low-carb, high-fat diet that allows ketones to be produced. From WebMD: “Ketones are chemicals your liver makes. You produce them when you don't have enough insulin in your body to turn sugar (or glucose) into energy. You need another source, so your body uses fat instead. Your liver turns this fat into ketones, a type of acid, and sends them into your bloodstream.” So, you are basically drastically reducing the amount of carbs that to take in, neglecting your body the direct sugar it’s looking for. When you do this, your body doesn’t create insulin to process the food, so the body creates ketones from your fat cells to produce the energy it needs. Hence, the ability to burn fat and lose weight. Just so we’re on the same page, carbs come from things like sugar, flour, fruits, beans, and starchy foods like potatoes and corn. Things you can eat are like meats, cheese, and many vegetables. There’s actually a good variety of food you can have, it can just be hard to say no to the other foods.   How low is low carb? There are a couple “levels” of the Keto diet: Strict Keto - 20 carbs or less (and almost all carbs come from veggies) Dirty Keto - 50ish carbs or less and it doesn’t matter where the carbs come from If you’ve never looked into it, the numbers may not mean anything to you. As a point of reference, if you were to get a Quarter Pounder, large fry, and large drink from McDonalds, that would be 48 carbs. For one meal. Other examples: 1 cup of cooked pasta or rice - 45g Whole english muffin - 30g Medium potato - 30g 1 cup of corn - 30g A small fruit - 15g 1 cup of milk - 12g 1 corn tortilla - 13g 1 flour tortilla - 98g This puts a lot into perspective. It can actually be pretty easy to get 400-500 carbs in a day. The Mayo Clinic recommends between 225 and 325 grams a day for the “normal” diet. This is one reason why I and many others have gained weight - eating too much food in general, and especially eating too many carbs. Since everyone is different, your body will go into Ketosis when you eat between 20 and 50 carbs for 2-3 days. That’s when you start to see the difference in your weight.   Benefits of Keto The obvious benefit of Keto is being able to lose weight pretty quickly. Generally speaking, the lower your carb count, the more you can lose; but that’s obviously not a guarantee. There are too many variables. I can’t speak for everyone, but my wife and I can attest to having no heartburn while following a keto diet. While we eat normally, we’ll get heartburn and have to take antacids 4-5 days a week. On Keto, it was close to 0 times that we had heartburn in a 3-month period. Overall, you start to feel better because you’re not having the sugar coursing through your body.   A couple warnings One negative with starting with keto is what’s known as “Keto flu.” The symptoms and severity are different for everyone, but usually include things like headache, foggy brain, fatigue, irritability, nausea, difficulty sleeping, and constipation. It usually happens about 2-3 days after starting and lasts for a few days. So basically, when you start to get the benefits from keto, your body is also basically going through withdrawal.  One way to minimize the effects of keto flu is to gradually bring your carbs down so it’s not quite a shock to your body. So start by dropping to 150 carbs the first day, then 100 the second day, and so on. Once you get past the first week, the symptoms usually go away, and your body starts to get used to the new normal. Another thing to keep in mind is your blood sugar is you have diabetes. This would definitely be a case where you want to work with a doctor on what you should do.   What do I plan on doing with Keto So, as I mentioned previously, I plan to slowly work into lowering my carbs after I get used to the intermittent fasting. I’ve been mostly consistent with the fasting, so I just started to lower my carbs. I don’t plan on following a full keto plan most of the time, because that can sometimes be a little harder when no one else in the family is doing keto. I plan to keep my carbs under 100 and then have times where I do 3-5 days of 20-30 carbs. So this might look like being full keto for 3-4 days and then allow upto 100 carbs for 3-4 days. The whole time, though, I plan to keep doing the intermittent fasting. The big thing for me is that I want to have a plan that I can follow consistently because I’ve tried to start the keto diet full-fledge several times, and I struggle because of the food that’s available in my house. So, for me, doing a keto diet along with intermittent fasting will compose my eating plan to try to lose weight and get in better health. This is only half of the equation, though. I still need to work on the exercising part, which I’ll talk about in a future episode.

Perhaps you have heard the terms: ”Inner Critics” “negative self-talk” “Impostor Syndrome” For many years, our guest today, Michelle Kuei, allowed negative beliefs to rule her life and keep her down. Her story is one of courage, determination, and vulnerability. But more importantly, it is about having the confidence to face fear in everyday life. Facing our own worst enemy, facing our own judgments and harsh criticism. Today, she works with negative self-talkers as a life coach to discover inner strength and beauty by overcoming the fear of judgments. Michelle and I discuss how she overcame negative self-talk and her own inner critic and how you can do the same. Michelle begins by telling listeners her story, which began at age 11 when she was hit by a car. She had complications during the long years of recovery and, in the midst of it all, her family immigrated to New York. In addition to overcoming the physical challenges that her body presented her, she also confronted the challenge of adjusting to a new culture, learning a new language, and making new friends. Her inner critic told her she didn’t meet society’s standards. In her 40s, she decided she no longer wanted to live as her own critic and began a journey of overcoming physical as well as internal challenges, leading her to hike Machu Picchu. In the second half of the episode, Michelle explains her “three D” rules — determination, discipline, and dedication — and how you can use them to overcome your own challenges and change your life. She also talks about her passion for changing society through education. At the end, you’ll hear about Michelle’s book and podcast and how to connect with her.   Key Quotes: “The emotional challenge is the most challenging portion to overcome.” “I lived 30 years of my life looking down to myself, being ashamed of my body.” “One day when I was waking up, I realized that this is not the life that I want to live. I don’t want to live my life feeling sorry for myself. I don’t want to be constantly beating up myself over how I look. I’m going to change that.” “I came home and I realized what worked really well in that moment of time was that single moment of idea that ‘I don’t want to live this life anymore… I want to be different. What do I have to do to make it different?’ And that single idea got me here.” “That just shows that when you’re determined, you can overcome.” “With that you had to overcome both the internal and the physical aspects that you were describing.” “The 3 D rules are determination, discipline, and dedication.” “Determination: you have to be determined in what you want for your life.” “Discipline: you have to be able to discipline yourself and keep showing up no matter if it’s the worst hour of your life.” “Dedication: you have to dedicate your entire life for this to be your passion.” “One of the things that I believe is that children deserve education regardless of where they are, who they are, and what race or gender they are.” “My purpose of this life is to use my difference, my appearance, my uniqueness to inspire others.” “You are not in this alone.”   Links: Michelle’s podcast: Perfectly Normal Podcast Michelle’s Book: “Perfectly Normal: An Immigrant’s Story Of Making It In America” Michelle’s Website: https://elevatelifecoaching.org/ Instagram: @elevatelifecoach

Today, I want to start looking at some aspects of health. I’m going to be sharing some things that I’m specifically working on implementing into my life and how it could be a solution for you. Now before I get into anything else, I do want to say that I am not a doctor or nutritionist - I am just a guy on a journey to get control of my weight and my health. I’m sharing information that I have found and the results that I’m seeing for myself. The main focus of this episode will be about intermittent fasting - what it is and how it can benefit. But first, I want to give you a quick history of my personal relationship with my health: Growing up, I could eat whatever I wanted, and as much as I wanted, with no visible consequences. In my 20’s, my weight would fluctuate between 180 and 195. When I got the upper end, I could fairly easily lose the 10 pounds. Around age 26, it seems like my metabolism switched off. Between 2008 and 2010, I went from 195 to 235 pounds. Since that time, I have periodically tried some diets, bouncing up and down in my weight - mostly up. I peaked last month at 295 - that’s more than 110 pounds in 12 years. So, not only has my weight affected my clothes and I’ve had to do the “walk of shame” on some theme park rides, but other health risks and problems have gone up significantly: High blood pressure High cholesterol High risk for diabetes Snoring and sleep apnea - I just did a sleep study and discovered that I stopped breathing almost 300 times Probably more, but these are the highest priorities at the moment   Finding a Solution In February, I went to the doctor, and, for the first time ever, I talked with him about getting my weight under control. Throughout all my other dieting attempts, I never consulted a doctor about it - in fact, I almost never went to the doctor - only if I was really sick and needed a doctor’s note or a prescription. One diet I had tried before, and had good success while I was on the diet, was the Keto diet. I’m planning on talking about this in a future episode, but it’s basically a low carb diet. My doctor said that it was a good idea to follow that diet, but also for me to try intermittent fasting. He recommended a book for me to read as I get started: Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle. I ordered it right away and began reading it over the next 2-3 weeks. It has a lot of really great information about intermittent fasting. I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for the past month, and have been mostly consistent with it, so I want to share some of the things I’ve learned.   It’s a Lifestyle, not a Diet One of the main points of the book is that intermittent fasting needs to be a lifestyle change, not just a diet, which is just a temporary situation. A diet lasts for a month, six months, a year - whatever. And then you revert back to your normal eating habits. The problem is that your normal habits - and my normal habits - are what led to being really overweight and at risk for a lot of issues. Committing to a forever lifestyle is the key to lasting change. Now before you start worrying about starving yourself and the long-term effects of starvation…   What is Intermittent Fasting? So intermittent fasting is fasting...intermittently. In other words, it’s having a shorter, specific period where you eat and then not eating (or fasting) for more than 12 hours. And this fasting time does include sleeping. Many people, myself included, tend to eat late into the evening and then wake up and have breakfast. This leaves maybe a fasting time of 9-10 hours. During this time, your body is working on processing the food that you ate. After about 12 hours, your body is done processing the food, and then starts to work on healing itself. Also, after 12 hours, your body starts to burn fat for energy, since you don’t have the sugar from your food to draw from. With intermittent fasting, the point is to take advantage of these self-healing and fat-burning aspects of fasting.   Intermittent Fasting Plans So, there is more than just one way to do intermittent fasting: 5:2 - where you eat regularly for 5 days and fast for 2 days (not consecutive: i.e Wednesday and Sunday) 16:8 - fast for 16 hours and eat during the 8-hour window 18:6 - fast for 18 hours and eat during the 6-hour window OMAD - One Meal a Day, you give yourself a 1-hour window to eat Other variations I am starting with the 16:8 plan, allowing 16 hours of fasting each day. You can adapt your eating window to your schedule/preference. I chose to have my window be 1pm-9pm. I’ve been doing this for about a month, and it has been a little difficult, but not as much as I thought it would have been. I’ve always been one to eat breakfast within the first hour or two of waking up, so I started by changing when I first eat during the first week: 8am the first day 9am the second day 10am the third day 11am the fourth day 12pm the fifth day It hasn’t always been smooth and I’ve allowed myself to adapt my window, like I would start at 12:00 some days and stop early. And many times, I would stop before 9:00 anyway. I’m mainly trying to keep the fasting time at least 16 hours regardless of the specific time, which I think is the most important part of this.   What to Eat? This principle of only eating during your window only restricts when you eat, not what you eat. Theoretically, you can eat whatever you want to inside your window and still be doing an intermittent fast. But you do need to remember why you’re doing the fast - in my case, I’m trying to be healthier and lose weight. So, while I can load up on cookies and brownies, it’s not necessarily the best choice. (my daughter has been on a baking kick lately, which has made this harder)   It’s not a Religion Remember, intermittent fasting is not a diet - it’s a lifestyle. But that doesn’t mean that it controls your life - it’s supposed to compliment your life. So, if you have a birthday party - eat the cake and icecream, and get back to eating better tomorrow. If you have family or friends from out of town for the week, go ahead and eat brunch, even if it’s outside your eating window; and then get back to it when they’re gone. If intermittent fasting becomes such a burden, you’re going to hate it and give up on it.   Pairing Intermittent Fasting with Other Habits One way you can maximize the effectiveness of intermittent fasting is by pairing it with other habits. For me, I plan to add a Keto diet on top of intermittent fasting. I’m waiting a bit until I get used to the intermittent fasting part before adding this. I’ll be talking about this more in a couple episodes, but the two work really well together when it comes to losing weight. Another thing that I’m adding is exercise. My doctor wants me to do 30 minutes of exercise 4 days a week. I haven’t had a history of exercising, so I’m slowly working on adding this. I’m currently doing 20-30 minutes 2-3 times a week, but hope to get up to my doctor’s goal within a month.   This is obviously a quick overview of intermittent fasting, but I hope this has given you some great information to help you decide if it might be right for you. It’s ok if it’s not. If it is, however, I would encourage you to check out the book I mentioned earlier, “Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle.” (this is an affiliate link, so I’ll get a small percentage if you use it, but it’s no extra cost for you)