Podcasts about 'yes

With air and space as his training ground, Wes knows what it means to pay attention and stay focused. While these military skills are synonymous in the business world, knowing how to focus your attention on what you need to be paying attention to is the key to achieving your business goals.   How to stay focused on achieving your goals: Start from the target and work backward   In today's edition of the Knucklehead Podcast, our guest, Wes Woodhouse will discuss how skills learned in the military are applicable to almost every aspect of life. Furthermore, he will present one of the unique perspectives that lead businesses to success - the ability to focus your attention to where it is needed.   Wes Woodhouse is a husband, father, marathon runner, and fighter pilot. He pilots the F-15E Strike Eagle which is a multi-role fighter aircraft currently in the USAF inventory. Knowing the skills he learned in the military are the perfect foundation for business, he founded Vector Mastermind to help build up the next generation of leaders, armed to take on the dynamic challenges of the 21st Century.   Enjoy!   In This Episode 1:12 - What motivates Wes to get up so early in the morning   2:21 - Backstory of Wes Woodhouse   6:54 - His journey to Michigan Technological University   8:20 - Wes' perspective on education   10:18 - How his skills as a pilot can be used in any area of life   12:33 - What led him to use his military skills in business   16:17 - How a scene from the movie Top Gun can be applied to business   24:04 - A few of the screw-ups he made in his mastermind group   Favorite Quotes "When you wake up in the morning and you're sitting down and you're thinking about what you're going to do for the rest of the day, where do you need to put your attention today? What do you need to put your attention on today that's going to make you successful as you carry on towards your goals?" - Wes Woodhouse   "In the studying of people who are successful, I've found that invariably, they work hard.  And many times working hard means you got to get up a little bit earlier than most of the people and hit it." - Wes Woodhouse   "The reality is, you can do almost anything without having to go to college. With the internet and the opportunity for entrepreneurial pursuits, I think giving them life experiences and giving them an understanding of, 'Yes, you can envision something and then build it and then make it happen', is going to be more valuable." - Wes Woodhouse   "The military does a great job of building up leaders who can be strategic thinkers but then can execute at a tactical level." - Wes Woodhouse   "If you put your attention in the right spot, you're going to be thinking about the right things and you're going to be able to make the appropriate decision." - Wes Woodhouse   "Business is always moving. It never stops. Regardless COVID happens, that's just a giant roadblock. The business is still going and you still have to keep it afloat." - Wes Woodhouse   Engage with Wes Woodhouse LinkedIn Wes Woodhouse Website   Reach out to Justin Szerletich to get in touch with Knucklehead Media Group LinkedIn Twitter   Knucklehead Podcast is brought to you by Manscaped- Use the Promo Code: KNUCKLEHEAD  for 20% Off   Grab your COVID 19 survivor T-shirt HERE   Connect with Knucklehead Media Group Website Facebook Twitter   Knucklehead Media Group is your “push button” for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours. Click here to more episodes of the Knucklehead Podcast  

785- Are you CONFUSED as to what steps to take to grow your business? Are you OVERWHELMED and STUCK not knowing the steps needed to move forward? Don't know who to TRUST to help you grow your business? Do you need money to GROW your Business? Are you tired of being told that: *You don't have the revenue history to support a loan *Your business is not an attractive "investment" for capital funding *Your personal credit is not strong enough My team and I provide you with a fresh perspective on how to build a foundation for scalable growth. One that attracts not only customers but sought after funding needed to exponentially grow your business. A solid foundation for growth will turn PROSPECTS into RAVING FANS! One that will help you turn the 'NO' to 'YES' when it comes to funding your business! Whether you're seeking early start up financing or capital funding to take your business to the next level, we have cracked the code for getting the dollars you need. Business success is about people. We view our clients as relationships, not transactions. The disconnect when launching and growing a business is that most business owners are not clear on WHY they do what they do and HOW to communicate their WHY to others. Your WHY is what will attract the resources you need...customers, partners...even money To learn more, visit our website at www.marketatomy.com. ________ Want your customers to talk about you to their friends and family? That's what we do! We get your customers to talk about you so that you get more referrals with video testimonials. Go to www.BusinessBros.biz to be a guest on the show or to find out more on how we can help you get more customers! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/businessbrospod/support

There are times that you meet someone who lights your heart with inspiration. And with that inspiration comes a lot of great adventures in your life. This episode shares one example of inspiration. The quote in this episode is from Sonia Sotomayor: "A role model in the flesh provides more than inspiration; his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one may have every reason to doubt, saying, 'Yes, someone like me can do this."

Pastor Lily reminds us that so often the world gives us a negative answer, but not only does Jesus say 'Yes,', but though us he can say 'Yes' to others.

Ethical email marketing is more critical now than ever. People are busy and are constantly getting bombarded with emails and sales messages. Now it's so important to serve and sell in a way that resonates with your subscribers. I have the perfect person on the show to talk about serving and selling in a way that puts the FUN back in email. Kate Doster believes that by having fun and treating people like people, sales will follow.    Kate is the host of the Inbox Besties Podcast and the creator of the Love Your List 2.0 email marketing mega-course. Her obsession with helping ethical entrepreneurs goes back to her copywriting days where she discovered her real love was email marketing. She's helped over 4000 students open the hearts and wallets of small but mighty audiences while using the power of fun email marketing and easy yes mini-offers. Her fun style is contagious, and it's hard not to notice her passion and love of email marketing.    We dive into why email marketing is so important. I'll give you a hint. It's longevity. We talk about engagement and why it's more important than list size. Kate shares some of her secrets for making offers fun and writing for people the way you would talk to people. We tackle the scarcity mindset and why being on your list is a privilege. Kate talks about getting people's attention with value emails, creating sexy lead magnets, and why people buy from people who make them feel good. This episode is about loving the people who have said 'YES' to your list.    And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode.   Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com    Kate Doster thank you so much for being here!   Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself.  Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.   Join 18,000 subscribers looking to do "business with a soul" and sign up to receive The Self-Employed Nutshell Newsletter! Sign up here!   Guest Contact –   Kate Doster Free Weekly Newsletter Topics Inbox Besties with Kate Doster Love Your List 2.0 Kate Doster Facebook Kate Doster Twitter Kate Doster Instagram Pelotaunt - SNL   Contact Jeffrey – Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!   Valuable resources to help you-   The Self-Employed Business Institute- You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out!   Take The Self-Employed Assessment! Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that's keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You'll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap.   Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

On today's episode of the Locked On Sooners Podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, John Williams of the Sooners Wire at USA Today discusses the latest from Oklahoma's planned migration to the SEC. Austin Reaves went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, and John provides his 5 most intriguing matchups on a future SEC schedule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"The phone rang and rang and a lady picked up on the other end and I still remember the operator saying, 'You have a collect call from Ian for Debbie. Will you accept the charges?' And I remember Debbie saying, 'Yes, I accept.' And I just remember blurting out, 'Ms. Baigrie, I just called to wish you and your family a merry Christmas and to apologize for shooting you.'" At 14 years old, Ian Manuel was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and spent an estimated 18 years in solitary confinement. Today, he tells his story. His book is My Time Will Come. You can listen to our full conversation with Bryan Stevenson in Episode 46: Just Mercy. For a transcript of this episode, send an email to transcripts@thisiscriminal.com with the episode name and number. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Learn more about our upcoming live shows at thisiscriminal.com/live. Criminal is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Please review us on Apple Podcasts! It's an important way to help new listeners discover the show: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Did you know that God is ever faithful and true? Do you know He blesses us with life, abundant life? Did you know He offers peace? "No matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through Him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God." - 2 Corinthians 1:20

Alderman Marti Zucco was one of only 3 'Yes' votes for the Cable Car at last night's Council meeting and fired off his thoughts to Brian this morning... Do you agree? Plus we take on all roll out issues with Covid-19 vaccines with Secretary of Health, Kathrine Morgan-Wicks and chat to newly elected Kingborough Mayor, Paula Wriedt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How To Use 'Yes People' To Supersize Your Business! Join in here every day for a dose of different business building perspective. https://facebook.com/supersizebusiness #supersizeyourbusiness #lessonslearned #yesman

How To Use 'Yes People' To Supersize Your Business! Join in here every day for a dose of different business building perspective. https://facebook.com/supersizebusiness #supersizeyourbusiness #lessonslearned #yesman

When what is inadequate in our lives is placed in the hands of Jesus, anything is possible.  God created everything out of nothing.  If you are generous with your 'Yes' to God, He can take you from nothing to becoming a great saint if you just allow Him and follow Him.  Fr. Philip Kemmy explains.   PAVING THE WAY HOME: Website: http://pavingthewayhome.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pavingthewayhome Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pavingthewayhome_ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com   SUPPORT PAVING THE WAY HOME: If you would like to financially support the work of Paving The Way Home so that we can keep on top of our costs and can continue to produce regular material, there are three possible methods: 1) Please visit http://pavingthewayhome.com/support-us/ for our bank account details 2) Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pavingthewayhome 3) PayPal: https://paypal.me/pavingthewayhome?locale.x=en_US Your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you.  

Today on the show, Marco Lowe, Professor at Seattle University's Institute for Public Service, joins Crystal to discuss recent polls that have come out about Seattle's mayoral, city council, and city attorney races, the importance of understanding poll methodology and margin of error, and the historic and tragic impact of Seattle's recent heatwave and our governments responsibility to act to protect people from the impacts of climate change.  Key takeaways: Seattle's population has changed so much in the past 10 years that incumbents can't run just on their past popularity - a lot of folks who live here now won't remember it. Polls are just a snapshot in time, and it's important to contextualize them.  Climate change is here, and there is no more neutral ground. All policy and legislation needs to be evaluated through the lens of helping or hurting the environment. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal Fincher on Twitter at @finchfrii and find today's co-host, Marco Lowe, at @MarcoLowe. More info is available at officialhacksandwonks.com.   Resources “Bruce Harrell, Lorena Gonzalez lead in 2021 Seattle mayoral race with many undecided” from the Northwest Progressive Institute: https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2021/07/bruce-harrell-lorena-gonzalez-lead-in-2021-seattle-mayoral-race-with-many-undecided.html  Poll released by Echohawk campaign:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/pvy5wwbipq2ln4t/Seattle_Primary_Mood_Q1-9.pdf?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR2szALLpK5ndk6lUQfD4faPero_XajzTUU7g83EByX95iF_zLhwFBtXmmc  https://www.dropbox.com/s/abts97djtqhv08i/Seattle_Primary_Issues_Q11-17.pdf?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR1BG9eSNaZi0wvM2c-2o92fHHynGUd7HXbM28lcnWU8go55oLtAMJW48po  https://www.dropbox.com/s/t387o51ncqqr8ia/Seattle_Primary_Q18-22.pdf?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR2e-n1Jl6tnIp99yZWVZZF8_gwczGlMhimhLIVRblDB_jmSpQGqoSBHB44  “A three-way race for Seattle City Attorney: Pete Holmes barely ahead of two challengers” from the Northwest Progressive Institute: https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2021/07/a-three-way-race-for-seattle-city-attorney-pete-holmes-barely-ahead-of-two-challengers.html  “Nikkita Oliver has a big lead over Sara Nelson for Seattle City Council Position #9” from the Northwest Progressive Institute: https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2021/07/nikkita-oliver-has-a-big-early-lead-over-sara-nelson-for-seattle-city-council-position-9.html  Endorsements The Stranger: https://www.thestranger.com/news/2021/07/14/59065522/the-strangers-endorsements-for-the-august-3-2021-primary-election  The Urbanist: https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/06/28/the-urbanists-2021-primary-endorsements/  The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/who-supports-who-in-seattle-elections-endorsements-roll-in-for-mayoral-council-races/   350 Seattle: https://350seattleaction.org/2021-elections  Publicola:  Mayor: https://publicola.com/2021/07/19/publicola-picks-lorena-gonzalez-for-mayor/  City Council Position 9: https://publicola.com/2021/07/19/publicola-picks-brianna-thomas-for-seattle-city-council-position-9/  “2021 heat wave is now the deadliest weather-related event in Washington history” by John Ryan at KUOW: https://www.kuow.org/stories/heat-wave-death-toll-in-washington-state-jumps-to-112-people    Transcript:  Crystal Fincher: [00:00:00] Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington State through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Today, we're continuing our Friday almost-live shows, where we review the news of the week with a cohost. Welcome back to the program friend of the show and today's co-host: professor at Seattle University's Institute for Public Service, Marco Lowe. Marco Lowe: [00:00:52] Thank you for having me. Always love being here. Crystal Fincher: [00:00:54] Always love having you here. Always very insightful. I thought we would get started talking about polling that was released in the past week about Seattle races, including the Mayor's race, City Attorney's race, the City Council races - the Northwest Progressive Institute actually sponsored a whole slew of public polling - some of the only public polling that we've seen regarding these races this cycle. We've heard a lot about internal polls at various points from different campaigns, but this was really interesting. So, I guess, starting with the Mayor's race, what did you glean from these polls? Marco Lowe: [00:01:39] I think that they're reflecting what we've seen some of the campaigns release quietly, maybe through back channel communication. That it looks like, currently - and again, Not Sure is the winning candidate in most of these races - but Bruce Harrell seems to have coalesced a good group behind him that gives him a very good chance of getting into the general. And then Council President Lorena González is probably in that second spot behind him. But what I think we've been watching is the jockeying with Colleen Echohawk and Jessyn Farrell that are trying to jump into that second spot as the weigh-in days of the campaign commence. Crystal Fincher: [00:02:17] Yeah, absolutely. And so, just for the percentages that were in this poll that has a 4.3% margin of error and a 95% confidence interval. Not Sure, Undecided at 54% - more than half of the people there. So to your point, Undecided is the winner here and really how they break will be how this race breaks, it looks like. Bruce Harrell at 15%, Lorena González at 8%, Colleen Echohawk at 6%, Jessyn Farrell 4%, Andrew Grant Houston 3%, Arthur Langlie 3%, Casey Sixkiller 2%. Lance Randall 2%, and everyone else has not broken 1%. The rest are at 0%. So really what that says is even though, technically, Bruce Harrell is - looks to be leading in this poll for people who've made a choice - one, more than half of the people who are still Not Sure. And it really is still a race for second place, if not first. It's certainly still a race for second place, and by no means decided. Marco Lowe: [00:03:27] I agree. And just to say that sometimes there's a tactic that you think you're going to push all the Undecided into the current levels and that's not often true. If people aren't deeply engaged in a race - when they enter and get educated, it doesn't follow that pattern. They will find other candidates. So I would agree with you entirely. This is an open race. Crystal Fincher: [00:03:48] Yeah, absolutely an open race. And there usually are a percentage of Undecideds who, unfortunately, end up not voting. Also, sometimes they just do not end up feeling strongly about any candidate and don't wind up pulling the trigger at all. But certainly, even with that percentage accounted for, this race is still wide open. But I think a number of the candidates certainly view the two front runners in the poll as front runners. And you see a number of candidates taking aim at the leader in their lane. And we've talked about lanes on this before - who is the more progressive candidate in the race who are aiming for that lane. Who is - again, I always talk about conservative in Seattle does not equate to a conservative in other areas - but Seattle's version of a conservative or a moderate Democrat, certainly, Bruce Harrell in that lane and people looking at that. And so, you have people like Colleen Echohawk, really seeming to take the fight directly to Lorena González, which led to another quasi poll released that we saw this week, that came from Bill Broadhead and people affiliated, it appeared with the Colleen Echohawk camp. But who released a portion of a poll, which upfront means that we need to take it with a grain of salt, because we don't see the methodology. I mean, there are best practices around how to release polling, so other people can, basically, check your work and verify that this is a legitimate poll - polling is an actual science. And we didn't get all of the information from this poll that purportedly shows that Colleen Echohawk performs better head-to-head against Bruce Harrell than Lorena González. And they certainly were pressing that point very hard online, but, unfortunately, the actual poll information that they released was scant. How did you view that? Marco Lowe: [00:06:06] It was an interesting release, because they did not, as far as I can tell, formally release it from the campaign. I saw it on Facebook from Bill Broadhead. And I think the way that you normally see these laid out, it looks a little different. Not bizarre, but just it was a little more informal, might be the right word. And I don't know exactly what they were trying to do, but there is potentially this effort to show that she could possibly win in a head-to-head. And that, again, we're trying to see her move into second place. So, I think this may have been more an insider game to show to donors or larger groups, versus a wider - because you see campaigns release these with press releases and press conferences and framing for the race. And this seemed to be a much more subtle effort. Crystal Fincher: [00:06:53] Yeah. I agree with that. And certainly, this brings to mind conversations - I've had a number of these conversations in real life with people - but polls as marketing versus polls as actual research. And this certainly seemed to be on the side of a marketing effort. Now I say that, and I certainly would not be surprised at all, to see that Colleen Echohawk polled more favorably against Bruce Harrell than Lorena González. I actually don't think that's a wild and ridiculous outcome if it were to happen. That could be the case. It's just making that conclusion from the data that we've seen publicly seems to be a stretch. Especially given as I read it - the bios as they were constructed in this are not consistent with the bios that people have heard to date. Now this can certainly have been message testing and "Hey, this is how we will message him and paint him if we do get through the primary. And so we can create these conditions." Maybe that's part of the conversation. And to your point, maybe part of that insider conversation, but we just haven't seen this information publicly. So, and given just the platform that it appears that the poll was done on, based on the watermarking, is one for corporate market research, commercial market research, not necessarily public opinion polling. So there are challenges there. That doesn't mean that the result is wrong, but it does mean that it's hard to accept that conclusion based on the information that we see here. And clearly the campaign was comfortable just releasing this information. So, I mean, I assume it's accomplishing their objectives, especially with some of the coverage of it that I've seen is certainly advancing this narrative. But it'll be interesting to see how this continues to play out over the final weeks of the campaign. Marco Lowe: [00:09:02] And it's worth saying - even just putting this poll aside, head-to-heads are tough until you're really in a race. And if you're in the last month of a presidential race, where there's been so many TV stories and everything about it, that's one discussion. But I remember in the second round for Dino Rossi and Governor Gregoire, he was polling very well into the spring against her. And one of her campaign folks, when I called them asking about it, they said, "Let's get them both in the ring and then let's see what happens. This is all just subjective data at this point." And so, it does just always with every poll - put it in its place in time. Crystal Fincher: [00:09:35] Yeah, absolutely. And it is worth reiterating that polls are in fact, just a snapshot in time. These polls are a snapshot of what people thought when they were fielded - which for the NPI poll was week before last or going into early last week, and it finished in the field early last week. So that certainly is before a lot of voter communication has happened, it's before a lot of the messaging from campaigns that are happening in these final weeks and campaigns making their closing arguments for this primary have happened. And that's going to impact how a lot of people wind up making a decision for this, in addition to a lot of endorsements that have come out and people seeing organizations that they like or trust, or dislike or distrust - see who they wind up supporting. So, certainly not conclusive. It would not be a shock if the results don't wind up lining up with these polls, because there's a lot that can change. And again, it's worth noting that the more than half of the people, the biggest vote getter were people who were Undecided. So, anything can happen. We're still in a wide open situation. Speaking of wide open situations, though - one race that really caught my eye in this polling that I think has to be causing some consternation for the incumbent is the polling in the Seattle City Attorney race. That race is extremely close in this poll with - again, 53% of people not sure who they're going to vote for, but Pete Holmes coming with 16%, which as a three term incumbent, not the number that you are aiming for. I mean, either he has not made an impact, has not been notable, or people have not noticed the work that he's done, or they're just unhappy with it. Either way, a tenured incumbent is never going to be happy with a number like 16%. Marco Lowe: [00:11:46] As a creature of City Hall, I will defend City Attorney. If you stopped cars on Fourth Ave in downtown and rolled down the window and put a mic in and said, "Who's the Seattle City Attorney?" I think you'd be lucky to get 16% to name any - maybe going back to Mark Sidran in the 90s and early 2000s, you had somebody who was on the press a lot. But Tom Carr, in the middle, lost to Pete Holmes - I think by his second re-election in '09. And I do agree with these numbers. I don't think anybody on Mr. Holmes' teams are saying this is a good news, but it's a challenging place to be. But that knee-jerk reaction aside - yeah. I agree with you. Going into a primary with these numbers and having three people so close together - you made a great point that with three - we were talking prior to the show. They can pitch somebody out really easily and it raises the bar for what he needs to get to now to close. I think that may be the first race I look at it on election night when the numbers drop. Crystal Fincher: [00:12:44] Yeah, same here. And so Pete Holmes is at 16%, Nicole Thomas-Kennedy at 14%, and Ann Davison at 14% also. So a race within the margin of error. The interesting thing about Pete Holmes is he used to be well-known. When he first came onto the scene, it was with a lot of pomp and fanfare - and he had looked at doing what, at that time, were some progressive things. Certainly, working with the nightlife community - there were a number of issues that were important to people involved in nightlife - owners of bars and cultural establishments, arts establishments, who definitely preferred him over his incumbent. And being willing to decriminalize, at that point in time, pre-legalization of marijuana, that they were going to de-emphasize prosecuting marijuana crimes. And they were on the front end of doing that. So when he came in, it was with progressive fanfare. But I think that, one, what we've seen from him in the preceding years was a lot less vocal, a lot less upfront, and he has been in the background. And a lot of the conversations where previously he has been in the foreground with, he was also well known for having some disagreements with Mayor McGinn at the time when that came in. But also - yes, there's been a lot of population change since he first came in. So there are just a lot of people in the City who never experienced that Pete Holmes, and never experienced what he hung his hat on. And so he's just a name that's part of this unpopular administration. And so looking at these numbers for his opponents, and especially given that The Times has endorsed Ann Davison, his opponent to the right. And The Stranger has endorsed Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, his opponent to the left. So, I would not call his position comfortable. And he certainly has to campaign and deliver a message to the people in order to get through this primary. Marco Lowe: [00:15:03] No, absolutely. And it is a low turnout - those endorsements matter a heck of a lot more right now. And it's interesting - boy, that point on population growth - we've added 30,000 people since '14. That's an incredibly good point. And he may be - you could almost look at his campaign like he is a new entrant into the race and we have three first-timers. That's a really interesting way to look at it. Especially when you're in an office that just isn't watched. I mean, there hasn't been high profile cases, they work a lot behind closed doors as attorneys do. Boy, when I'm hitting refresh on Tuesday night, it's going to be looking at that race. Crystal Fincher: [00:15:43] That's going to be one of the first races that I'm looking at. And who knows how that's going to end up? One and two could be anyone in that race. It could include Pete Holmes, it could not include Pete Holmes. Just really interesting. And the polling shows that it's completely up in the air. So, that's interesting. The other race that we saw some notable polling in was in the City Council race, with Brianna Thomas, Nikkita Oliver, and Sara Nelson - where Nikkita seems to be in a comfortable position in the lead. I'm actually pulling up this polling to get the exact numbers as we speak. Marco Lowe: [00:16:33] 26% was- Crystal Fincher: [00:16:36] Yeah. And so look, especially comparing this with the numbers in the other races - I mean, we're looking at Pete Holmes at 14%, Bruce Harrell at 15%. Seeing Nikkita Oliver at 26% - that's a big number. It's a big number, especially compared to a number of the other numbers. Certainly helps that Nikkita had been on a citywide ballot before - with this has Sara Nelson at 11%, Brianna Thomas at 6%. Again, Undecided - still 50%. So, again, when you're looking at this, it certainly is a race for number two, it appears, that could go any way. And with 50% of people Undecided and looking at Seattle ballot return - Seattle was trending a few percentage points behind the full King County number, which in my opinion, Seattle usually - well, I guess the fact that Seattle usually ends up with higher turnout numbers, but I feel like they may be lagging behind a little bit, because there are some tough choices for Seattle residents to make that aren't as tough in other cities, and in terms of City Council and mayoral races. So it just may take people a little longer to decide, but I anticipate that we'll see a Seattle number probably higher than the overall King County number. But this is going to be another interesting race to watch. And seeing Brianna Thomas and Sara Nelson - seeing how they both make their final statements. Sara Nelson ended up with The Times endorsement, Nikkita Oliver got The Stranger endorsement. Just saw today, PubliCola endorsed Brianna Thomas in the race. So we will see how this finishes out. But again, another one of those races that is not sold and that has a big Undecided number. Marco Lowe: [00:18:36] And you're seeing it's an open seat - when Nikkita Oliver, when they ran last time - if somebody agreed with them or not, oh my gosh, they were amazing. That King 5 debate - they owned the stage on numerous answers. And so, we have that name ID for them. Sara Nelson did not get through the primary last time. This is Brianna Thomas's first race. 26%, I mean, that's- Crystal Fincher: [00:19:06] Second race actually. Marco Lowe: [00:19:07] Second race. Oh, I apologize - so second race. So yeah, they're in a real strong position. And then you get to the general and it kind of resets, but I agree with you. Compared to the Mayor's race, it'd be hard to see them not going to the general. City-wide race to city-wide race, this is how people get into elected office. Crystal Fincher: [00:19:30] Yeah. I would agree. It is - this more than any other situation, that's hard not to see Nikkita getting through to the general. This seems like it would be the least likely to wind up in a surprise for the person in the lead in this poll to not make it through. But I do think that it's - we're up in the air for number two. Certainly a Times endorsement - countywide, a Times endorsement is a big deal. This could be something that really helps, or actually hurts - in terms of a Seattle race. But I also think an interesting dynamic there, because the voters who that would probably hurt most with are probably leaning towards Nikkita. But there is a lot to be talked about just in terms of people's records, whether they've been honest and forthcoming about those records. And I think that there may be more to come about that in the race. We will see. Marco Lowe: [00:20:39] Agreed. And also, you see this if Seattle breaks into, I call it, the outer ring and the inner ring. And the outer ring, homes with a view, tend to be the more conservative Seattle Times voters. And the inner ring tends to be the more progressive candidates. And you see the progressive candidates win when they push out the ring and the conservative candidates win when they compress the ring. And that's where I think you're going to see if Sara Nelson can attract the outer ring voters or not. Crystal Fincher: [00:21:07] Absolutely. And we will put in the show notes a review or links to different organizations and the endorsements that they've made. I know, certainly, it helps me sometimes to read through how other organizations are making their decisions, if I'm undecided about something. And I certainly have spoken to a lot of Seattle voters who still don't know which way they're voting in a number of races. So, this is still a critical time for making the case and people are still trying to decide. There's still a lot of communication that campaigns have to do. And that's also still making a difference. So the race is still shaping up. Marco Lowe: [00:21:49] If I can throw in one quick thing too - for all the races in Seattle, I think these three candidates have done an excellent job of articulating what they want to see in the City. This is as issue-based race as I've seen in a long time and I appreciate it. There's a lot of, "Here's what I'd like to do." And I just really appreciate that. A lot of races tend to say, "Look over here, look over there, but not right at what I'm trying to do." That is not the case. All the mail has been very specific. Crystal Fincher: [00:22:21] Yeah. Which I appreciate and I think is actually necessary at this point in time - not just that someone has a vision, and we've heard lots about people's visions. Or even that they're supported by, "I've got a ton of endorsements." Lots of candidates can tout that, but what do you actually plan to do with your power and authority and your jurisdiction? What are your plans? Not what we can do regionally, not what we need partners to do, or what we can study and learn more about doing, but what are your actual plans? What action will you take? I really do hope voters take a look at what candidates have said on that. And to your point, in that City Council race, there certainly is a lot that have been talked about for what the candidates actually plan to do, the action that they plan to take. And I hope they look at the mayoral race through that lens to say, "Okay. It's one thing to say, 'Yes, I believe in equity and treating people well, and we can have a better Seattle tomorrow,' but what have they committed to doing? What are our concrete steps and concrete actions beyond 'A lot of people support me?'" Marco Lowe: [00:23:42] And I give a little bit of credit to Nikkita Oliver on that. Anytime they're on stage, they are ticking off boxes. And even on Twitter, they said with a retirement of Seattle police officers, this money should be going to these kind of community groups. And again, this is a constant statement of what they would do in office. So, just - you kind of set the example - and the other candidates, it's hard to be on stage if you're not doing that as well. Crystal Fincher: [00:24:13] Very hard to be on stage if you're not doing that. I mean, just drawing on - we had conversations with all three of those candidates on Hacks & Wonks, and I heard a lot of information in detail and frankly, leading by example, from Nikkita Oliver, Brianna Thomas. Heard a lot of" I don't know"s from Sara Nelson and "We'll have to study that and figure that out." it's also interesting to see how campaign candidate rhetoric evolves throughout the campaign. So, a little bit more polished, but I certainly think that it is more natural for some candidates to be more action and ownership focused than others. And I think that's really important, especially at a time like this, when so much needs to be done to get us on the right track. Marco Lowe: [00:25:09] Sometimes just where they are in the race too. They're kind of - I mean, where I've started with some candidates early on at positions and later they may get better, but I agree, that's going to be a really interesting race. Crystal Fincher: [00:25:23] Going to be a really interesting race. So, we've covered races. Another thing that I wanted to talk about this week is it's taken a little bit for the state to compile all the numbers on what the impact of the historic heat wave that happened as a result of climate change was, but 112 deaths is the current toll. Throughout the entire Northwest - hospitalizations up over 60x. Not 60%, but 60x higher than what they normally are. So, the toll that the heat took on our communities was huge and devastating. It was the most lethal weather event that Washington State has ever had. And by all accounts, more extreme heat is something that we have to be expecting, because of climate change over the coming years. So this is something that our state and local governments have to prepare for. And frankly, it seemed like a lot of them were caught flat footed with, "Oh, heat coming. Oh, it's just another heat wave." We have some of these occasionally, but especially with the amount of folks that we have who are unhoused, who are vulnerable with a low percentage of air conditioning in homes and apartments now. This - you could see it coming - was a major threat to people's health and wellbeing. And it just seemed like a lot of governments were viewing this as something that was happening, that they didn't have to prepare for, that they weren't responsible for. And I think that we have to have a massive shift in attitude that, "Hey, this is something that is predictable - the consequences, the deaths, and the casualties are preventable. And we actually have a responsibility to prevent it." How did you see that play out? Marco Lowe: [00:27:30] I agree. A lot of local governments looked very flat-footed and we saw this temperature coming over a week away. And that's just irresponsible to not have both cooling centers, and how you get people there. The humans that are most vulnerable to this heat, whose bodies can't cool themselves. And at 105°, nobody's cooling themselves. Crystal Fincher: [00:27:47] No one. Marco Lowe: [00:27:49] But the most vulnerable aren't often driving. We have a whole issue with seniors in America that are somewhat stranded. Whether they can't drive, they live in a non-walkable community, what have you. So it's not just that you open the centers, but you get people in the center. And you staff them and people may be sleeping in those centers, because the night did not get better. So we have this immediate tactical response that we need to have better going forward, because we're not done. 2021 has been a B-roll for a disaster film - Texas mold, China and New York rain, Northwest heat, the fires in Oregon, in Washington, California, and the smoke that's gone all the way to New York City. We are in climate change, people are dying, and we have to react now. The other thing I'll throw in is that we are watching a fight in Washington, D.C., over an infrastructure bill that has in it more money towards renewable energy, so we can decarbonize this world. And America has to be a leader on it, because we are most of the carbon. So, to have both this tactical response and strategic response is essential and immediate and there's not a this or that. It is all of the above. Crystal Fincher: [00:28:53] It is all of the above. And I forget who it was on Twitter, but someone very astutely tweeted like really there is no neutral action on climate change. Every piece of legislation that every City Council person advocates for, passes, mayor legislator, there is no neutrality on climate change, on pollution. We have to examine every piece of legislation and say, is it hurting or is it helping? And to that point, we have a transportation package coming up in our State Legislature, where this has been a big point of conversation and contention - in that, are we going to continue to push for highway expansion and building and road expansion, which is the number one source of pollution. Over 40% of greenhouse gas emissions and a lot of air pollution is directly attributable to the transportation sector. So, are we going to continue and move in that direction? Are we going to start to move in the other direction? And to your point, climate change is here. We are dealing with it. And we also talked about, before the show - a point you made, which is very true - a lot of people have been pushed out of the city, because of affordability, into suburbs. A lot of our most vulnerable people now live in suburbs. And what people always hear talk about the "inner city," which is really a relic of the past, especially here on the West Coast. And that extreme poverty and some of that hardship is now in suburbs, who do not have the human services infrastructure that was built and developed in cities. And so, access to transit, access to assistance and help, just the visibility and prioritization of human services and health, in a lot of these suburbs and rural areas just does not exist. And it's not something that they've even factored in before and thinking in conversation. So, we're so behind. And so, experiencing these lethal challenges with some governments who just up to now aren't up to the task, we just need a rapid redeployment of resources, a rapid getting electeds up to speed, and demand from people in every city that you're in, that this is an essential service of government. Fundamentally, they're there to protect their residents and to keep them from foreseeable harm. And this is a threat that we know exists. It's so interesting seeing how heat and climate related disasters are covered in comparison to a lot of other things. Because there's this tendency for media to just cover it as an extreme weather event, disconnected from anything else, and like, wow, that was wild. Who could have predicted that? Or that was a once in 100 year event. We've seen these once in 100 year events, several times a year, all over the place. This is what climate change is. We have a responsibility to prevent it from getting worse. And man, we're already in for it getting worse and more just trying to prevent Earth from being uninhabitable for a majority of its people and for mitigating those impacts. So, we have to take action. I've certainly been vocal about this and the responsibility that local governments have to their residents to protect them. And that deaths and injuries that result are really a matter of negligence at this point, because we know what these consequences are. And either we choose to act and protect people or ignore the risk, and people should be held to account for that. Marco Lowe: [00:32:53] And if U.S. and, frankly, human history teaches us anything, when a crisis hits the wealthy will be taken care of. I mean, I have to - in my head, Exxon has a Dr. Evil lair some place, where they know they're going to be okay. I know that sounds crazy, but they know the data better than we do. They've been looking at it for 40 years and continued on their path. So if they're comfortable, it's not that they don't see the change, it's that they don't worry that it's going to impact them. And that has to be part of it. I will also just really - you said something that's worth putting a light back on. Legislation all needs a lens - is this making it better or worse? There is no middle land. I just think that's a really, really great idea. Crystal Fincher: [00:33:35] Well, thank you so much - we are at this time - certainly, issues that we both feel very passionately about. But I just want to thank you, the listener, for listening to Hacks & Wonks on KVRU 105.7 FM, this Friday, July 23rd. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler. And our wonderful cohost today was Professor at Seattle University's Institute for Public Service, Marco Lowe. You can find Marco on Twitter @MarcoLowe, it's M-A-R-C-O-L-O-W-E. You can find me on Twitter @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. Now you can follow Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts. Just type "Hacks & Wonks" into the search bar, be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost-live show and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave us a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time.

Are you doing what you love or doing what pays the bills? Most people are unfulfilled in their careers because they didn't what they siad 'Yes' to for a job. Today's Business Wingmen show talks about how to align your interests and strengths with a career path you will one day be proud of. Join father and son co-hosts, Steve and Travis Smith for the usual sharp debate and amusing anecdotes about starting your career journey with a personal mission statement.

Life itself is easy...deep breath in; deep breath out. It's everything else that challenges us, deepens us, and breaks us down - that makes life hard. Kari Fulmek had a dream that fuelled and fulfilled everything she ever wanted in life. Stepping into her dream was easy, she just said 'YES'. It's what came after the initial affirmation that would take her on a ride through hell. Kari's story is one of guts and loss, of passion and perseverance. It's the kind of tale that takes you on a rollercoaster ride of feelings, hoping like hell things will turn out, but knowing that her story isn't over yet.

It happens in the bedroom to all of us: the mind is willing, but the body is weak. Minsan, masyado ka lang talagang pagod for sexy time! Let's differentiate sexual compliance and consent with wife and mother Crissy Aquino. She says talking about consent isn't baduy—it actually makes sex more exciting! With sex and relationships therapist Dr. Rica Cruz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Supporters say they will keep showing up until the tribal council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians hears their call to recognize same-sex marriage. Just like last month, tribal council members voted for a second time not to read a resolution that would change the Cherokee code to recognize same-sex marriage. But at Thursday's meeting, almost 20 Eastern Band members turned out to show their support for the measure. They included Big Cove resident Tamara Thompson, who submitted the resolution. She spoke first after the council voted 7-5 against it. "The culture against LGBTQ people is hurtful, it's physically hurtful. I'm Cherokee. If you read my shirt it says, 'We are family,'" said Thompson. Tribal Council member Chelsea Saunooke voted for the resolution. She shared that she has known since 2 nd grade that she is a member of the LGBTQ community. "And I even told my granny about everything and she says, "I love you no matter what. Only you know your heart. And I said, 'Yes. I

It's a special review show as the guys look at Craig Moss and Goldwyn Films new movie, "Let Us In" which debuted on VOD last Friday. They discuss the movie and other examples of "gateway" horror geared towards kids, or that is at least kid-friendly, and how they both were drawn to and/or introduced to the horror genre. But before that Mike reveals what has been ailing him the past six months or so and then it's a trip to their favorite landmark, Mt. Retromore, where they each run down their top four TV detectives from the 70s and 80s. And for Pete's sake, if someone starts knocking on your door asking if they can come in, make sure they aren't dressed in black and don't have empty black eyes before you say 'Yes'.

Find out what three Gallup-Certified Strengths Coaches are learning about community and networking via the Clubhouse social app. View the complete transcript for this webcast, along with audio and video, at https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/351878/power-of-saying-yes-taking-chance-on-clubhouse.aspx Follow Us Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/CliftonStrengths/ LinkedIn -- https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/cliftonstrengths/ Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/cliftonstrengths/ Twitter -- https://twitter.com/CliftonStrength Pinterest -- https://www.pinterest.com/CliftonStrengths/ Learn More About CliftonStrengths Subscribe to the CliftonStrengths Newsletter -- https://bit.ly/30IjWMH How It Works -- https://bit.ly/36gD4mi 34 CliftonStrengths Themes -- https://bit.ly/30FyexO 4 CliftonStrengths Domains -- https://bit.ly/36eLvyx The History -- https://bit.ly/30OggZZ Who's It For Individuals -- https://bit.ly/2ukUNf1 Teams -- https://bit.ly/3axoASj Organizations -- https://bit.ly/38pj7Lm Schools -- https://bit.ly/37gPvjl Popular Products Assessments -- https://bit.ly/2Gi9Etf Materials and Tools -- https://bit.ly/3azKrZc Courses -- https://bit.ly/37ftuRP Books -- https://bit.ly/36jdfC2 Additional Resources Articles and Videos -- https://bit.ly/2TNAh19 Webcasts -- https://bit.ly/2GeKHip Guides and Reports -- https://bit.ly/37erWI0

Find out what three Gallup-Certified Strengths Coaches are learning about community and networking via the Clubhouse social app. View the complete transcript for this webcast, along with audio and video, athttps://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/351878/power-of-saying-yes-taking-chance-on-clubhouse.aspxFollow UsFacebook -- https://www.facebook.com/CliftonStrengths/ LinkedIn -- https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/cliftonstrengths/Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/cliftonstrengths/ Twitter -- https://twitter.com/CliftonStrengthPinterest -- https://www.pinterest.com/CliftonStrengths/Learn More About CliftonStrengthsSubscribe to the CliftonStrengths Newsletter -- https://bit.ly/30IjWMH How It Works -- https://bit.ly/36gD4mi 34 CliftonStrengths Themes -- https://bit.ly/30FyexO 4 CliftonStrengths Domains -- https://bit.ly/36eLvyx The History -- https://bit.ly/30OggZZ Who's It ForIndividuals -- https://bit.ly/2ukUNf1 Teams -- https://bit.ly/3axoASj Organizations -- https://bit.ly/38pj7Lm Schools -- https://bit.ly/37gPvjl Popular ProductsAssessments -- https://bit.ly/2Gi9Etf Materials and Tools -- https://bit.ly/3azKrZc Courses -- https://bit.ly/37ftuRP Books -- https://bit.ly/36jdfC2 Additional ResourcesArticles and Videos -- https://bit.ly/2TNAh19 Webcasts -- https://bit.ly/2GeKHip Guides and Reports -- https://bit.ly/37erWI0

Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes'. Disciples of Jesus are covenant keepers.

Hi my name is Ryan and welcome to the show! This Amazing Life encourages and inspires YOU, the listener, to take action so that you can live your own AMAZING LIFE! Every week, I offer a new “Intention of the Week!” A tool, a mantra, or a guideline for you to use throughout your week on your own path to success. This week's Intention of the Week is "The First Step In Creating Change Is Saying 'YES'!" The first step to creating any real change in our life is saying "yes!" The question is what are we saying yes to? Are we saying "yes, we recognize we want something to change in our lives"? Maybe we're saying "yes, we have a plan and know the direction we want to head moving forward"? Are we saying "yes, we are finally ready to take the steps needed to create change"? Or is it that we're saying "yes, I am committed to making this a real part of my life"? Whatever we're saying "yes" to can be different every day, week, month, and year but the most important thing is the decision making component about moving forward and the action that happens as a result. Another question for us to consider is why does it take us so long to actually say "yes" and do anything about it? These are some of the many different questions and ideas that we'll be exploring together with this week's IOTW. Thank you so much for choosing to listen to the show. Please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing with a friend! If you're interested, make sure to check out my Instagram @ryanoneill.online and send me a DM to try your first workout with me online for free or head over to https://ryanoneill.podia.com/ to learn more! Have an Amazing Day!

Welcome back to the Orange Juice Optional podcast! Today, Suzanne and Michelle will talk about success in the later stages of one's life: in their 30's, 40's, 50's, and beyond. In this podcast, Suzanne and Michelle discuss multiple topics like the world's perception of older people and age discrimination. They'll talk about how one needs mental strength and belief in themselves to succeed. Tune into this podcast to learn about inspiring people who have achieved success. From Ronald Reagan to Martha Stewart, there are many people who prove that age is no barrier to success! You'll also hear about the roadblocks that older people face, like not being able to have a solid knowledge of technology. The Finer Details of This Episode How dedication and success can help you succeed, regardless of your age Personal lessons Suzanne and Michelle have learned from their family members Identity crisis and how to battle it Barriers that Suzanne and Michelle feel come in their way to success Quotes “Yeah, pride, determination, just that mental, yeah, that mental pushing you forward, it is so strong. It really cannot be dismissed in any way, shape, or form.'' “'You can't because you're too old. You can't because you don't have the knowledge. You can't because you're not good enough.' And I think that's the hardest part of doing anything. is powering through that and saying, 'Yes, you are good enough.' '' “And then, you know, I even think about beyond our generation, our parents' generation, when they come to us thinking that we have all the technology answers. And then we're like, 'No, go talk to the grandkids. We don't know.' '' Show Links Homepage:  Orange Juice Optional   Goodnight Sweet Bear:  Goodnight Sweet Bear   Why Hello! Modern Home:  Why Hello! Modern Home                   Why Hello! Modern Home Facebook                       Why Hello! Modern Home Instagram   A Milne Shares:  A Milne Shares To share comments & podcast ideas please email:   OJO Email

Enhancing Customer Experience With Floris Blok  You might be wondering why customers sometimes love you and sometimes don't. Is it something you're doing or something you're not? It is like when you go to a trash-and-treasure market, sometimes you find trash and sometimes you find treasure but that doesn't mean anything is wrong with those customers. Today, we've got Floris Blok from Blok Business Consulting and he's going to be talking to us about the customer journey, the customer experience, and what it means. Get more tips on how to enhance customer experience at dorksdelivered.com.au What is meant by customer experience? What is meant by a customer experience? How can you say it's a good customer experience?  Floris: To actually figure out what the customer experience is, you need to understand who the customer is. So if you're trying to sell something to someone, you want to know who they are before you try and sell them anything. That would be your first point of call or a call to action as an organisation, as a marketing department or whoever you may be. Understanding the ideal customer profile (ICP) is actually the first thing that you need to do. Floris: Once you have a deep understanding and insight about that, like a group of people or certain demographics or psychographic segmentation, then you can start understanding where they get their information, where they actually go out and buy stuff, what it is they are interested in, what makes them tick. Once you figure that out, then you can actually expand and actually build that customer journey or at the very least identify what the customer journey is through all kinds of different ways of research and analytics. And then, you can start optimising each of those touchpoints that you have with that particular segment's ICP. Floris: There are many different ways of doing it. For example, if you're an e-commerce platform, one way would be certain KPIs, like how many people dropped out from your website once they've done a search or how many people leave a basket with stuff in it and don't actually convert to an actual sale. There are different KPIs that you can measure. How do you identify your ideal customer? If you've just started out in business or maybe you've decided to start a business, but have no idea about marketing or who my customer is going to be. All you know is you make really good pies or you're a little bit faster laying a concrete driveway or you've got a cool way that you're doing your accounting, how would you know who is going to pick up on this? How do you work out who your customer is before you've had one? Floris: If you are already working for an employer and you want to go on your own, then you already have that experience. You would have had exposure to the type of people that are purchasing the products or hiring services that your organisation is actually putting out into the market. You would have at least some kind of idea. Floris: If you are completely new. Let's say hypothetically, you've just rolled out of college or university. You've got this great idea for something, like software. First of all, what you need to do is actually develop it into a product. There are all kinds of different things that we can talk about here from the product management point of view and a product development point of view, like setting up your MVP or minimal viable product, and then how do you go about getting financing, funding, etc. so you can develop it further and all of these things. Floris: Let's go back to your example of pies. Let's say you've just won MasterChef and now you've got $250,000 in your pocket, but your entire life, what you've done is you've basically put these pies or baked these pies for your family. Now you're sitting there with $250,000 in your pocket and they're burning a hole in it because you want to open a shop. You need to understand what it is about your pies that people like because three MasterChef judges liking it is fantastic. They've talked about it in front of the entire Australian population that watches MasterChef and all the international ones abroad and all of these things. Kudos! Floris: But you need to understand what the people who are going to come into the shop are going to come in for. They need a pie, but is it a breakfast pie? Is it an afternoon lunch party? Is it a snack? These are the things you need to understand. Floris: Once you understand what people like about your pies and what time they like to eat them, you can manage your production schedule, the marketing, your shop front or where you can actually locate your shop. We know that with COVID, there's a lot of real estate in the CBD that's emptying up because workers are not there. Are you going to move into CBD or are you going to be selling pies out of a truck? Food trucks are doing great because you can move locations and you can be in different places at different times. Floris: Understanding what your customers want and how they want to consume it, whether it's a product or service, is a very good start to understanding how you can then deliver that service to them for them to give you their hard-earned cash. How do you measure customer experience? On the MasterChef example, I've got this $250,000, let's go through the process. You might have a mobile location or something that's static. If you've got these people coming to the front of the van or the shopfront, and they're ordering pies, you can obviously say the pies are selling really well and then have things like best sellers and know how to promote and critique and change different product lines and measure the analytics, the same way you could do that with an e-commerce website. If you've then got those numbers in play, how do you know that you're attracting enough of the right audience or you're measuring things? Are you looking at people that are coming through the door going, 'Okay, they look like 45 to 60-year old business people, so I should be marketing more towards that segment.' How do you put pen to paper to actually work out the demographics and psychographics of your customers? Floris: I can give you the theory from now up until the moon shines tonight, but I think the answer was in your question, which is analytics. Once you have the data, then you can be a data-driven organisation and you can then adjust based on the data. For example, if the data says that you've got a meat pie that sells more than a cheese pie, you're more likely going to start buying in more stuff for the meat pie and making more meat pies and having them on hand, especially if you've got another data point that says that you've run out of them halfway through the day. A lot of this can happen quite instinctively with a lot of people. Now we're taking an example and we're applying it to a lot more complex processes, but principles are the same. If you have a pie that sells really well and it goes out of stock midday and you still got people coming in asking for it, then you've got a great set of customers that actually know what they want and they like your product but if you run out of it, that means that you haven't forecasted enough of that product. Now you're delivering a very bad customer experience. All of a sudden, you end up having to offer an alternative product, maybe even at a discount just to keep the customers happy and coming back through the door the very next day. Floris: It is about the data. If you have the data and you can see where the data is actually, providing you insights. Information, knowledge and insights are three different things. Information leads to knowledge, and knowledge leads to insight, which is then applied into an action in a business sense. You can translate that into future actions in order to improve. Floris: Data analytics can be very simple. It could be just you sitting there at the end of the day looking at your cash register or your receipts and looking at the number of pies sold and left. That's enough to give you an idea. It doesn't have to be as complex as an ERP system hooked up to a CRM that's tracking your website and all of these things.  Is scarcity a good customer experience strategy? You brought up something that's quite interesting. You said if the pie ran out halfway through the day, it affects the customer's experience. Apple intentionally creates short runs of their products so that there is scarcity in the market. How does creating scarcity affect the customer experience? Is that something that can be good or bad? You have these people then talking more about it. You have this line at the door versus having an empty store. Because you're really good at serving people quickly, they're coming in and out of the store very quickly, but it ends up looking like your store is empty because you're too efficient. Is that a problem that you should be worried about? Floris: It's a complex question and no simple answer can be given here. Let's give it a try and unpack it. If we use Apple as an example, Apple has an enormous level of brand loyalty, right? The level of scarcity only feeds into that brand loyalty because of the marketing around it and the hype that Apple creates around its brand. In this regard, it doesn't really matter whether you are in shortage of stock. You've got such brand loyal customers that even if they have to wait six months to get a phone, they will wait six months to have a phone. They'll walk around with a cracked screen, iPhone 11 or whatever it is, and then try and upgrade to an iPhone 12 because the Apple TV shows how you can take a great picture of your dog. That's brand loyalty for you. Apple does that almost to perfection.  Floris: On the other hand, if you've got a product like a meat pie or a pie store and you run out of pies, it's not going to look very good for you because it looks like you don't know how to run your business and this is a consumer product that's consumed in very high volume. It's a low-value-high-volume sales that if you don't get in our instant gratification culture right now, we're going to go somewhere else and get it. If your competitor has a product that is of equal quality, equal taste, in this case, potentially cheaper, they're more likely going to become your competitor's loyal customer. You would have lost a customer, which is why in the service industry or in the hospitality industry, it becomes very much relational based on relationships. If you can provide a good customer experience by making people feel welcome, making them feel that they are in a store where they are heard, whether they can get what they want and all of these things to actually make them feel good and activate these dopamine levels, they will then keep coming back. Customer Experience Differs  We've got McDonald's, Wendy's, Hungry Jack's, or Burger King if you're not in Australia, and Grill'd, which is a gourmet burger place in Australia. All of them are doing reasonably well for different reasons. McDonald's and Hungry Jack's are very similar, but we've been led to believe the burgers are better at Hungry Jack's through repetitious marketing. Grill'd is a bit more gourmet. But still, the customer experience could be very different for the three different places. In my eyes, I'd say if I were to go to McDonald's, which I don't go to very often, I'd be going there because I need something quickly, not because I need a high-quality item. So the customer experience for me in going to McDonald's is because I want something now—I'm on a road trip going somewhere or in between meetings—and I know that they're consistently quick and that would be why I'd go there. That's also exactly why I wouldn't go to Red rooster because they're consistently slow. On that same vein, I guess people don't go to Grill'd because they're quick; people go there because the quality is better. But the customer experience is around the demographics of the people that are coming there and the reason why they're going there. If you've got a pie shop and you ran out of pies and customers go somewhere else and the pie is better but they are slower, they still may come back to you. Is that fair to say or is there more play here? Floris: Yes, it's absolutely fair to say, which is why earlier I said that it was a complex question with a complex answer because there are multiple factors. If we take it purely on price, then if you've got a competitor with a low-priced pie within the same geographic area, then there's a good chance that they'll go for that one. Floris: But let's say, yes, it's a bit slower but it tastes better, then you're more likely going to want to have that pie because it does taste better than the quicker one. Floris: Yes, it's fast but one of the reasons I don't go to McDonald's is because personally I'll eat a burger and within two hours I'm hungry again. Yes, they've got a great customer experience inside now with the ordering screens as well. You get your number, you pick it up, and then you can sit down. You can do the drive-thru, and you can take it home. But I don't do drive-thru because it stinks inside the car. I don't take it home because it's cold and inedible by the time I get home, in my opinion. If I go to McDonald's, I'm in a rush and I need to get something done right, and I'm more likely going to be doing it in the store. The only other reason I go to McDonald's is the kids love their Happy Meals. What a scam that is. Did you know that McDonald's is the largest toy distributor in the world just because of their Happy Meals? Floris: Forget about value, just purely on volume. That's because they've done some amazing marketing on getting these kids hooked on Happy Meals. Happy Meals and sugar, and they do great. I know a lot of people, including my sister, who love McDonald's. I'd rather eat a hundred other things before McDonald's. Floris: They've catered to the customer, which is the little one that will nag and nag and nag the parents until the parents cave in and say, 'Yes, we'll go to McDonald's.' Very emotional decision. Floris: Absolutely. Not in the sense of I'm going to get something I really want. What I really want is for my kids to stop nagging me. Not to destroy the McDonald's brand, because we can't and that's not the aim of the conversation, but it's the lesser of two evils. I love my kids and I respect them enormously, but still, when they nag, it's unbearable. It Depends on Customer Expectation  Floris: Back to the customer experience. They've created that customer experience. You go in, you get what you get. Floris: They've got their 500 or 700-page manual that every franchise is exactly the same, so your expectations are met in each and every store that you walk into. Each and every McDonald's will give you the exact same thing, and the exact same thing is not that burger in the picture because we all know that's fake. It's consistent in its delivery and its service and in its product. The tastes are the same. They're all sourced locally, they say, but in any case, they are built all to the same standards, and therefore, you will get what you pay for. Floris: And that's the expectation of the customers and they provide that positive experience that, regardless of the taste, you keep coming back to McDonald's, even if you go there every blue moon or something. Floris: On the other hand, Grill'd, you're absolutely right. It's more gourmet. Location-wise, they're more into the CBDs, where you've got a high-net-worth, middle-class people who are willing to pay slightly more than a convenience fast food store. They will sit down. They'll eat it as well. They'll enjoy it. They'll have a conversation. It's much more of a social event. These are the expectations they have and these are the expectations that are met by growth, which is why they're doing fine. Businesses Measure Customer Experience Differently  So it doesn't always have to be the same metrics that you're measuring, as long as you know what they are and why people are coming to you. How do you go about creating that customer experience strategy? How do you go about actually playing through that? We do a lot of work with IT companies to better their processes. We also do a lot of work with schools, governments and small-to-medium businesses, and all their needs are very different and things that are important to them are very different. A lot of the time, small businesses could be more money-conscious. They are only just starting up. They're on an oily rag. They just want to have the smallest thing to get them through to tomorrow to be able to continue working. Generally speaking, a more experienced business will look more towards longer-term goals and have different interests that will then market ourselves around. With pen and paper, how would you go about creating a customer experience strategy? Should you just maybe cancel out all the different things and look at whatever is bringing in the money to your business and focus heavily on that one vertical. What is a customer experience strategy? Floris: Let's go over the definition of strategy. In its simplest form, the word strategy means a roadmap to do A, B, C in order to get you to Objective X. It's nothing more than a roadmap on how to achieve your objective, so you need to know what your objective is. Floris: In order to know what your objective is, you need to understand who you're doing it for so we can go back to the assignments in a golden circle. Why is it that you do what you do? How is it that you do it? What is it that you deliver in order to achieve it? Floris: Let's assume for a second that you know why you do things like in your case, you have an absolute obsessive joy of delivering highly automated and optimised processes for organisations because you want to give people their time back in order for them to be able to scale up but also have a family life. The way you do it is you set up an organisation with like-minded people and you now have a team that will then have the same passion and the same drive as you in order to deliver the service or product to your customers. You do hosting, you do automation, you do processes and all of these things. That's the 'what.' These are your products and services. Floris: But you started off by understanding who it is that you're trying to do it for. You have your objective. Let's say this year I want to have 20 million in turnover. And now the strategy comes into play, which is how you map out going from A to B in order to achieve that objective. Floris: Now you have all the elements in place. Let's go back to the pie store example. You know the customers like these five pies out of the 10 that you've got on your menu, so you're going to focus your production, stock purchases, etc. on these five pies. You still need the other ones because they're about 20% of your business, but you need to focus on 80% right now. Floris: You also know that most of your customers are in or around the CBD area, and they eat around lunchtime. You need to have a location that can actually put you in the most optimal place for these people to actually come to you. Is that an actual store, a fixed store, or is it a van or a food truck? Floris: Once you've answered these questions, you start looking at how are you going to market services? Should you go around all the companies and drop a flyer at the reception area so that people can see when they walk into the building in the morning? Should you do targeted Facebook ads or should you do LinkedIn ads because you're targeting professionals working in CBD? Floris: Pure statistic. There are about 26 million residents in Australia, and 11.6 million of them are on LinkedIn. If you would do LinkedIn targeted ads, which are a bit expensive, but you can actually market your pie to all of these professionals that are looking at their LinkedIn in the morning and getting hungry and then go look for that food truck. Floris: You know what you want to do. You know who you're doing it for. You know why you're doing it. Now you just basically build a roadmap in order to get there, and that could very easily be a pen-and-paper type of strategy where you go like, 'This is the shop or the food truck. I need to be there from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. I need to have the meat pies half-cooked by then. And I need 200 of these. 600 of these. 700 of these.' Customer Experience Strategy Doesn't Have to Be Complicated  It's not that hard. It doesn't have to be that difficult. As I was saying at the start, you can have websites looking at the different types of traffic that are coming, the demographics of the people that are coming there and then have your website do all other sorts of stuff to make sure they're on their customer journey. But it doesn't have to be that complicated. Floris: No, that could be your optimisation process afterwards. Once you get the foundations or the basics in place, and they're working. Let's say you now have another food shop that comes next to you and it's selling nachos. All of a sudden, you're competing. How can you start getting an edge? How can you start improving your business so that you can be more efficient in terms of your stock or in terms of your marketing? Focus on the Foundation Floris: We can go back into marketing terms like customer acquisition cost and all of these intricacies that business consultants love to talk about, which is all optimisation. This is all fine tuning. This is all taking the basics that you have in place and just making them slightly better. Floris: If you don't have the right foundations, you're basically just amplifying something that's not good. It's absolutely essential to actually have the foundations in place. Once you have these, then you can optimise and start looking into more details. Floris: Customer experience and marketing are very close to each other, but it's all about testing. You've got the basics in place. If you do this, what would happen? You can do A/B testing.  Floris: Let's say you chose to sell pies in Location A on Wednesday, and you earned $100,000. You went to that same location on Thursday, and you earned $80,000. So you know that it's probably best to be there on one day and choose another location on the other day. It's about taking that data, analysing the data, finding insights out of it, and then applying it to whatever it is that you do. Keep a Record of Everything Make sure you're recording that and keeping that so you can see what the trends were. If there were things that you weren't aware of and you picked up on, that would be very important. Floris: What can be tracked can be managed, and what can be monitored can be managed. If you're not monitoring your income, even the ATO is going to come to you. Floris: The same principle applies to everything else. If you want to be good at what you do, you have to be able to track it, monitor it, and then draw conclusions from it or insights and turn those into business applications. A lot of the time, we try and think that we do A and B happens, but there could be a whole bunch of different things. Like on the Wednesday and $100,000 example, maybe there was a huge conference just around the corner and you had a lot of people that came out. I'm happy to say that in October I'm going to become a dad, so I'm pretty excited. It was interesting. I've been doing a lot of research on how babies communicate, how language works for them and things like that.  Gather Data Until You Get a Pattern One of the cool things that I thought is when they see something or they're introduced to a new object, they don't start saying it until they're confident of that object and what it's called. It's the same as if you're sitting there and there are five different types of exotic fruit, and I just pointed across and said, 'That's a holla baba.' You wouldn't say anything and the baby doesn't, but then if you then saw that same piece of fruit in a completely different example someone said, 'Oh, that's a holla baba.' The baby would be like, 'All right. I now know through the process of elimination that that's what it is.' Floris: I'm not an expert. I'm not a neurologist. I'm not a medical professional in any way, shape or form. What I do know is what you just described there is how kids learn, and I know that from my own two kids. It's pattern recognition. In order to recognise a pattern, you need data. Without the data, you can't really do anything. Floris: If you've picked up that on that Wednesday, you made $100,000 in front of that location or at that location, that same location made $80,000 a week later, and you made $120,000 the week afterwards. It averages out quite nicely, but why were there differences? Is it just a normal everyday life or were there events during that? Observe the data points. Two points make a straight line. With three points, you start getting a bit of a trend or a pattern. Floris: The more data points you have, the more accurate your insight could be. But now that you have them and if you have a curious mind, which every entrepreneur should have, then you can start investigating what was happening at that location or within a kilometre or a two-kilometre range of that location. On that day, was there a museum event? Was there a conference? Was there a street band that was playing really well? Was it good weather? Was it bad weather? Your competitors down the road shut down. Floris: Absolutely right. You can take all of that data. For a large corporation, it's becoming easier to actually take all of these different data points into account because they can throw it into a machine learning algorithm and then something will pop up that says, 'Hey, you've done really well on this day because you had the high exposure for the number of people that were walking on the street.' Floris: But if you were a small organisation, you can do quite a lot of this quite manually and all you need is Google for your searches and YouTube, which is the second-largest search engine in the world, for your how-tos, in case something doesn't jive really well or you need some help with some piece of software or whatever. Ask the Right Questions Floris: All you need is a curious mind. Ask yourself all of the right questions. If you are going down the route of the back questions, it's good to have some sounding boards like either coach or consultant or anyone that you have on retainer for a once-a-month check-in or accountability sessions. Floris: Entrepreneurs sometimes might get a bit slack. They can lose their motivation for a day. It's not easy being an entrepreneur. It's not easy setting up a business. You could lose. It takes a lot of mental energy. If you have a bad day, it could impact your business. If you have employees, that could impact your employees. Having that support structure from a consulting perspective is actually quite helpful, but it's about asking the right questions. Get an Extra Pair of Eyes You've touched on a lot of information here. If anyone is out there and they are looking for a consultant or someone to be able to talk to and make sure that they have the right strategy, they're looking at the right data, possibly not getting distracted by cat videos, make sure they have a level of accountability, they are keeping on track and looking at the right resources, is that something you can help people with? Floris: Absolutely. As a consultant and an entrepreneur myself and as an ex-corporate myself, I have the experience and the passion, if you wish, to help people to get the answers and to help them along their way to achieve the success they want. I'm focused quite a lot on marketing strategy, customer experience and digital transformation. When I say digital transformation, I'm not talking about IT stuff. I come at it from a commercial and business point of view. Floris: Digitisation, digitalisation and digital transformation are three different things. Digitisation is basically analogue to digital. Digitalisation is looking at your value proposition. Digital transformation is when you look at the entire structure of the company—its culture, people, processes and technology in that order. That's where I focus on as well, and that fits quite nicely with marketing strategy. I definitely think that extra eyes can't hurt, and having a set of eyes go over that would help anyone out. We'll get you in to check out our process. I always think that we're doing all right, and then I get on one of these conferences and I go, 'No, we're not okay.' Now, there's lots of it you can be learning. There's Always Be Learning. ABL is something I'm very, very fond of, and hearing from someone else's perspective is always exciting. Floris: A word of caution: never really go down that rabbit hole. There's always that risk. Sometimes what you're doing is actually good enough, right? It's having someone affirm that sometimes that is needed. Bonus: Plan, Plan and Plan I am guilty of being an engineer first, business entrepreneur second, and that means that I have a ready-fire-aim mentality. It's very difficult for me. I'll spend 90% of the time on planning, and 10% on execution. When it's executed, it's fantastic and it always works. Floris: If that's your mantra, that's really good because Albert Einstein said that if he's got an hour to solve the problem, he'll spend 55 minutes on understanding the problem and 5 minutes on actually solving it. Perfect! I hadn't heard that quote actually. That's cool. We're coming very close to the end of the podcast now. I had a couple of quick questions. You might have already answered them, but you brought up Simon Sinek's Know Your Why. I wanted to understand from you what is your favourite book or what is the book that you suggest for some of our listeners to read to further understand customer experience. Suggested Read: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Floris: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. One of my favourite quotes is you can control what's within your reach, but you can only influence what's not within your reach. That's something that helped me quite a lot in my career as well. Similar to you, I used to go down quite a lot of rabbit holes and I used to want to impact all kinds of things, but I couldn't and I used to build so much frustration in me. I read the Stephen Covey book, and since then I only focus on what I can manage, what I can influence is great. Anything outside of that scope is unfortunately beyond. I have that book. I thought it was in my bag. It must have been in the car at the moment. I'm going through for a second read. It's definitely a fantastic read. I love having you on the show. Is there anything else you'd like to cover? Floris' Tip: Breathe, Think It Through and Move Forward Floris: If you're a budding entrepreneur, if you're starting out, it might feel overwhelming. Focus on your breathing. I tell that to all of my kids and my wife, and I use that technique. When you get overwhelmed, whatever the reason, slow down, breathe, think it through and then move forward. That applies for business, sports, even tests. Focus on not getting overwhelmed. Don't overthink.  The guts sometimes, right? Floris: Yeah. Even now at my age, I'm still learning to listen to my gut. The older I get, the more I want to listen to it and the less I want to use my head because my head sometimes can go off on many tangents. Instinct is one of the crucial factors in business that cannot be monitored or quantified, but it shouldn't be underestimated. I completely agree. I think everyone's played a couple of games of pool after a couple of beers and they all of a sudden become better when they stop thinking about it. Floris: Inhibition levels drop. What is business freedom to you? One last question. The podcast is Business Built Freedom. What is business freedom to you? Floris: Business freedom is another way to actually get life freedom. Being able to secure an income for my family so that I can actually spend time with them. Live to work and not work to live. It's the freedom of actually being able to have that good work-life balance but also have an impact on the life of the people around me. Hopefully, if I'm big enough one day to actually have an impact on people beyond our Australian borders, that would be nice. I love having you on the show, Floris. I hope everyone else has enjoyed the time that we've had together. If you do have any questions, we will have him jump across to the Facebook group to better answer anything you might have there. Otherwise, feel free to jump across to iTunes, leave us some love, give us some feedback and as always, stay good and stay healthy. Floris: Thank you very much for the time and for having me on the show, and thanks to your listeners for listening in.  

Danielle is a therapist who has also graduated from the school of life. Her earliest sexual experiences were non-consensual and impacted her for long after the events happened in implicit, explicit, and confusing ways. She found healing within a happy marriage, then suffered a miscarriage with its own series of impacts. She's doing well now, and still loves a Reverse Cowgirl.   Danielle is a 35-year-old cisgender female. She describes herself as straight, monogamous, married, and pre-menopausal.  She describes her body as athletic.   Bookmark moments: 3:10 - Danielle shares her first memory of sexual pleasure, watching Cinderella at age 4-5 and being sucked in by the “will they/won't they” and the power of the first kiss. She recalls being seeking dedicated attention and commitment, even in pre-school. 8:00 - She has her first kiss. It's magical until she finds out he's kissing other girls too. 11:40 - She meets her first bad boy – a tortured-artist type. Non-consensual intercourse occurs. A lack of “no” is not a “yes.” 20:30 - The body can still have an autonomic pleasure response when there is abuse or coercion. 24:00 - Danielle talks about her first real love, her college boyfriend who is a deeply good human dude. A lot of processing of her past experiences ends up happening on his time. The Kobe Bryant assault coverage triggers her in the breakroom at work; she spontaneously recalls an assault by a group of boys at age 7. Waves of memory and pain break over her for a while. 33:27 - She opens up about what sex was like while she processed her trauma. She reclaims her sexuality within the safety and intimacy she finds with her husband. 38:10 - Danielle talks about experiencing miscarriage last year, her hopes for having children, and their marriage bed turning into a micromanagement project: how to make a baby when great sex isn't enough, and how to prevent that from spoiling the great sex. 47:10 Danielle is curious about how people function in non-monogamous relationship styles and what this means about our ability to love and connect across the commitment and desire spectrums.   The Lowdown (53:22)   Patreon: Creating this show isn't free, so if you'd like to support the work I do, I am grateful for your contributions at www.patreon.com/goodgirlstalkaboutsex.   BE PART OF THE SHOW: Rate this pod: Leave a rating and review at RateThisPodcast.com/goodgirls   Have a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Leah at 720-GOOD-SEX (720-466-3739) - this is a voicemail-only line, so I promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!   Be a guest on the show - I'd love to talk with you! Fill out the form at www.leahcarey.com/guest   FOLLOW LEAH: Instagram - www.instagram.com/goodgirlstalk YouTube - www.youtube.com/goodgirlstalk Leah's website - www.leahcarey.com Podcast website - www.goodgirlstalk.com   WORK WITH LEAH: Learn about coaching with Leah - www.leahcarey.com/coaching   Join a PJ Party for Grown Ups - www.leahcarey.com/pjparty   EPISODE CREDITS: Host / Producer – Leah Carey (email) Audio Editor – Gretchen Kilby Administrative Support - Lara O'Connor, Maria Franco Transcript creation – Jan Acielo Music – Nazar Rybak

Improving Communication With Marlise van der Merwe  G'day everyone out there. You might be wondering what we're going to be talking about today. Funny enough, it's exactly that: communication.  We're going to be talking about talking and body communication, verbal communication and the right time to communicate, how to communicate in business and why it's important. We've got Marlise van der Merwe from the Alternative Board, and she's going to be talking about exactly that. Get more tips on how to improve your communication at dorksdelivered.com.au Why is communication in business important? Why is communication in business important and how does it vary? Marlise: Communication is a process and you have to consider the message you want to send to your audience as well as the different listening styles because different people communicate differently and they have a preference to be communicated to.  Some people like more details. Some people would like the communication to be slower. They need time to process what you're saying and feel safe and have that comfortable, calm feel around them. Some people prefer to read through things and process the material in that way. There are various options on how you can communicate. The important part of it is to consider the intent of the message. What is it that you want to communicate and why? What are the most common communication challenges, and how can you avoid them? I remember many years ago, I was doing a meeting with a business north of Brisbane and I spoke to them at the rate that I normally talk, which is quite quick, people say you must have 15 coffees before you get here and I don't actually drink coffee at all. That's no caffeine doing this. It's just how I talk. At school, I could get in trouble. I needed to slow down with what I was saying, and it feels like I'm going in slow motion sometimes when I'm talking. But I know that for people to listen, people are only hearing a certain amount of what you're actually saying and a lot of that comes down to the body language in the way that you're talking, eye contact, etc. How do you pick the right audience or how do you know what other people are going to be listening to? Like, if you've got ADHD, a lot of the time, you listen or talk really quickly. Other times, if you might be talking to someone who's a country fellow that likes talking a bit slower but just enjoys the conversation and every single word is meaningful, how do you make sure that the words that you're saying have meaning and you're not just dribbling and that while you're talking, you're using the right style for the person that's listening? Marlise: The general rule of thumb is to use easy language at a general age of 15 years old. If a 15-year-old is listening and he or she understands the message, you can use this type of language to communicate with people. Not everybody knows a specific industry talk, the jargon and abbreviations they use.  When you use those terms, make sure that you also give a proper explanation of what it means and put it in context. When you're going to talk to people, say, at an old age facility or a specific city, you should do a bit of study of who your audience is—what is the general age, what's the culture, what are the language that's spoken, is English the first language, is it younger generation? Do a bit of research around that region: what's the history like, what technology trends are going in there, what type of firms and technology are they used to. Once you've got a bit of a background regarding that, you can then work on how am I going to send a clear message? What is the best medium to reach them? Would it be an email? Would it be going on one-on-one talks? Would it be broadcast media?  Business Communication and Cultural Differences  You've touched on a couple of things, including cultural differences, like if you passed your business card to someone in Japan and you handed it with one hand, it would be seen as very disrespectful. Hold it using both hands when passing a business card. Similarly, in a business meeting, the first few minutes are meant to be friendly banter. You don't just start talking about business straight away. When you came to Australia, how did business communication or communication in general change? Has that been a big shift and change for yourself? How did you fit in or make sure that you were doing the right things? Marlise: I'm from South Africa. In general, South African people are pretty straightforward. They will tell you a spade is a spade.  When I got here, I had to learn Australian English or the terms and things like, 'No worries' and 'Do you want a cuppa?' I thought, 'cup of what?' Getting used to the terminology was quite interesting. It took about a year to adjust but before coming here, I already started to look out for what certain words mean in Australia. For instance, Brisbane's talk is different from the outback. People use different terms and you pick that up when you talk to people.  By being honest and asking, 'What do you mean by that?' helps them to also understand what might be misinterpreted. Australians love to explain or put a story to the meaning of the word. I think in Australia we say 'I blew a thong' and it means you've busted a sandal as opposed to in America mother's would be holding their hands over their child's ears. When I was in Vegas, I said, 'Can I have a jug of beer?' He said, 'What? You want a jug of what? You want to see someone's jugs?' And I said, 'No, no. That's definitely not what I want to see.' I pointed to it and he said, 'Oh, a pitcher of beer.'  What are ways to make communication more effective? Contextually, you need to know what it is that you're talking about and who your audience is. Talking in gigaflops and terahertz to someone who is not in the know isn't going to make you look smarter. It's going to make them feel stupid. And that's not necessary. Marlise: Imagine the confusion. A lot of the business communication stuff comes down to not just talking but also the way your marketing is felt. You might talk about marketing in a way that's not recognised by the people. Use Terms That People Will Understand  If you're writing about features and benefits or specifications of something, some of the readers might not know why that's important to them. You might be writing it fully as a really passionate business owner, but a lot of the time, you're not your customer. That means that they're not necessarily understanding what you're writing, so they're not going to call you up. Ask for Feedback Effective business communication is very important. How do you know if you've got good communication or you don't? How do you benchmark yourself or how do you do that? Marlise: Get trusted resources. If you know someone that's got a bit of a background, such as culture, or if you can approach someone that can give you a bit more context, go and look up a few people. There's usually someone in your circle. There's always someone that might know someone that you can reach out to and bounce your ideas with. I would say go to an expert in a specific field. If it's communication and you've got a specific message you would like to say to Western Australia, talk to a contact over there and you could be introduced to someone in the marketing space that's been operating there for a few years and that might know the demographics of that area. It's always good to test your message with someone to just get a bit of feedback into the message you want to send and they will give you some input into that. If you've got an important message to share with someone, check it with various people. Check with someone from the Asian culture. Check with someone with South African culture because Australia is so diverse. I read something the other day that the original Australians were like third and fourth generation. There is always be that you could reach out to, and remember to study your target audience. If you're going to do business marketing and you consider doing a radio advert, talk to the radio owners and ask them what your demographics are like. What's your reach and who are your listeners because they know the market quite well. You don't want to talk to the audience in the 45-65 age group in a young language. Utilise Your Target Audience's Platform  Do a bit of research on the platform that you want to join. If you're going to talk to teenagers, you might consider talking to them through Snapchat or the newest one that they're talking about: TikTok. Who would have known that Facebook is actually used more by the older generation, like 45 to 65.  It depends on who you would want to reach. Consider their platform and the type of users. Some people don't want too many words, and you have to send the same message in different ways. Some people would like to have a bit more explanation of your intent in a certain way. If people want to know a bit more detail, then prepare a message in that regard. If people prefer a short message, do so but with the purpose. Bring that across like in a picture and you will publish that in different areas. I'm going to think of a scenario here and you tell me if I'm right or wrong or if I've missed the mark. Let's say I run a sandwich shop. You could say that everyone's your customer because everyone eats sandwiches, but if you were to advertise your sandwiches on Instagram, you'd be wanting to have a really nice photo that's going to be relaying the message and getting people's mouths watering. They'll be seeing the crisp lettuce and the steam coming off of it and things like that. If you were to advertise on Facebook, you could still use a similar photo. But because the audience is more likely to be parents, you might be talking more about the nutritional value of it as opposed to just quickly grabbing a sandwich on your way to work. If you were to advertise exactly the same sandwich on LinkedIn, you might be talking about big platters and the cost-effectiveness of how this would work and how quickly they can deliver and cater for businesses. If you talk about catering for businesses on Instagram, no one is going to pick up on that. Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn have their own purpose. Does that pretty much sum up how you'd want to make sure that you're adjusting your message accordingly? Marlise: Yes, that's right. Good example. You know that McDonald's advert? I think it is 'Shut up and take my money.'  We went to a marketing company a couple of years ago and they looked at our marketing stuff and they said some of the stuff we got there were a bit offensive. I said, 'Really?' He said, 'Yes, it is. Your email signature has "Leave us a Google review for a free six-pack" and a six-pack relates to alcohol, which means you're completely missing the whole Muslim community who are very much against alcohol.' I thought about it for a while and thought that's cool, except we just don't happen to have many Muslims that are working with us. So we kept it even though it's grossly offensive. I guess it's about knowing your audience and you can't be friends with everyone. There are too many different ways that people might misinterpret what you're saying, and that comes down to how to know who your clients are and the advertising platforms that you might be using. Communicate to Understand and Be Understood  Even if you were stepping away from marketing and business communication, like knowing your family and knowing your business. You see all the time in shopping centres, a child throws himself on the floor, 'I want that lolly.' And then the mother's yelling or the father's yelling, 'No, you're not going to get the lolly now. Get up.' If you have a look, the child is communicating exactly the same way as the parent—yelling—as opposed to effective communication. How do you make sure that you have effective communication? Marlise: I would say upskilling on one-on-one communication is really important, especially if you're in a leadership position. If you want to be better at communicating, you would have picked up body cues, like yawning or they just want to interrupt you the whole time. If someone interrupts you the whole time, it is like, 'You're oversharing information with me.' Those types of things will give you an indication, especially in your family members and close relatives. Sometimes they are brutally honest and they will tell you if you've got to speed up what you're saying or they don't get what you're saying. Practise with them and ask for feedback. There are organisations that can help you work on effective communication and they generate more awareness of the different types of communication with people. How would you communicate with someone who has a specific disability? What if a person can't really observe what you're doing with your hands? You've got to consider that context as well so that your message comes across properly. That also makes the medium that you're going to use. I love that nowadays, when you look at the news, they've got an interpreter for people who are deaf. They can see and do sign language. Did you know that there are various languages in sign language? I never knew that. I found out by speaking to experts in that field. If you have a hearing disability, you must consider that you've got to know maybe more than one dialect. That's so interesting. Listen Twice as Much as You Speak I've been taught you have two ears and one mouth and use them in that ratio—listen twice as much as you speak. Many years ago, I was working at a shop called Jaycar Electronics and I was one of their highest skilled audio engineers. I've gone to university to study it all. I was selling speakers for certain applications to people that really needed them. I wanted to do really cool stuff, maybe on a budget. I was able to say, 'Can you hear the difference between this and this one?' I was a salesperson, a sales assistant, and I was able to say this is why this one is better and that's why you want to spend the money on this one instead of this one. Someone came in and he's deaf and he was looking to buy speakers for his son. When he came in, it nearly made me cry because he just completely entrusted everything on what you had to say. I helped him out, but it definitely gave me that you don't know when you're doing something wrong or you might take it for granted that you might be saying things wrong or you might be being rude to people and not even know, which is obviously very different to being deaf.  I guess I was effective at communicating the product, even to someone that was not necessarily able to hear the same way as me. How can communication be improved in business? If you're yelling at your kids at home, does that mean you're bad at communication at work? Are there ways to know that you've done one thing wrong or there are things that need to be adjusted? Where would you go to make sure that you're improving on yourself?  Establish a Safe Environment  Marlise: Usually, when you look at your business processes and company's performance and a specific department or certain areas that are not doing as good as they should but some areas are great, you're expecting more from that specific area. About 90% of the time, it is because you are not having a crucial conversation with someone even if you have all the processes documented. Making sure people are doing what they are supposed to be doing by having that crucial conversation has a big impact on your legal and financial environment. For instance, when you're having a crucial conversation with someone, he or she will not be honest if the emotional environment is perceived to be not safe. So how do you create a safe environment? Make sure that they understand that all emotions are accepted. Sometimes when you say something, it might come across as being dictative or aggressive. They say there are two cues when people perceive it's not a safe environment. It's either silence, that is, people don't say what they want to say because they don't feel emotionally safe, or the conversation becomes aggressive. That's when they become intimidating and start shouting. Find the balance to create that safe environment to speak with people.  Understand Nonverbal Cues We talked about body language earlier. When people talk to you but don't make eye contact with you, there are various reasons why they wouldn't do that. Figure out which is applicable. You can say, 'If this discussion is too much detailed for you, how can I communicate more effectively with you? What works for you?  You should know your team. If you're in a leadership position, know what motivates your team. There are various tools that you can use to figure that out, the DiSC Profile method is easy to use. You can get an expert to coach your team and help you with general cues. An interesting thing I've heard is dealers know when a poker player has got a good deal just by looking at their facial expression.  Have you heard of Paul Ekman? He's got a book called Emotions Revealed that reviewed hundreds of different court cases where people have sworn an oath that they're not going to lie. He looked at these microexpressions as they're answering questions. He's also known as the human lie detector and inspired the TV show called Lie to Me. His books have been used in a lot of police academies to teach police how to pick up if there's someone who's lying or not telling what they meant to be saying. I've read some of his books, and it's amazing. As you said in poker, your facial expression can potentially be the giveaway of thousands of dollars if you've done it wrong. Marlise: Listen to cues. Cues like 'uh-huh' that means they are listening to you. When they're silent and sitting with their arms or legs crossed, they are not engaging with whatever you're saying. Adjust your message a bit and use communication tools to make things a bit more interesting. Practice, Practice, Practice  It takes practise. The more you do it, the better you get at it. Practise and talk to your family and even strangers and see how that works for you. Join networks. Have you heard about Lunchclub? It's a networking platform for practising your communication skills, but it's like a networking setup where you get to meet people. They facilitate the introduction, and I use that to meet interesting people. There are various reasons why people do that. It could be to be in contact with people that advance your business in a different area or a country, for instance. They match those needs with other people's similar.  The conversations I've had with those people are very interesting. For me, I've got to practise my communication skills and I've used different platforms to practise my skill set. For instance, I've joined Toastmasters, and I found that it's a really good platform. I go to various networking events and I listen to what people say and I try to repeat what I heard.  Asking for complex response questions and then say, 'Does that make sense?' The answer is very close, yes or no. Most of the time, people are going to say yes to that, especially if they're not engaged.  Marlise: In business, something that will indicate that your communication isn't effective is productivity levels go down. It could be ineffective communication and leadership, people not holding people accountable for what's happening in that space. They're not having those conversations they're supposed to be having or maybe they're having those conversations but it's not effective. It doesn't come through or across to the individuals. It's very important to have those good communication skills developed. Marlise: It is also very important to learn and figure out all of the skills that each individual needs to function. You wouldn't employ someone with English as their third language to do safety work, where safety is a high risk. If you have something slightly misinterpreted, it could affect people's lives.  Marlise: Communication skills should be tied to your positions. Your position, skills and skill levels should be part of that. On the softer skills side of understanding the way people talk, they should have empathy. Those are the types of skills you can develop over time. But if it's a crucial role or position, you would rather employ someone that fits that profile.  Determine What Motivates Your Employees People also have different motivational methods. What motivates Joshua and what motivates Marlise might be totally different. I like to learn new things and have different experiences, but maybe you like to have a journey through life and experiment with things and feel safe in that area to do so and then give feedback.  Use what motivates people when communicating with them. If I'm going to talk to my daughter about something that she's done wrong, I won't be shouting. With my son, I have to make him realise the consequences of whatever he's going to do, like 'That's not a good idea because you're going to lose this and this.'  It's about knowing the audience, understanding what motivates them, and adjusting the message. I know that some of the staff members at Dorks Delivered will be very passionate about telling me every single reason why they've done every single thing they've done, while others don't want to be mucking around, wasting anyone's time talking about things that need to be told. Some people really want to have that appreciation and be known. It all comes down to knowing who you're talking with and vice versa. It's not just about having the business owner having good communication. It's a whole team approach. Join the Alternative Board If there are people out there that are looking to gain more information or more knowledge, tell me a little bit about the Alternative Board and what you do with them. Marlise: At the Alternative Board, we gather small business owners and medium-sized business owners with similar complexity and in similar stages of their business around a table for a safe, secure environment. The type of people that are there are not just open to receive input but also open to give input into someone else's challenges. We use those boards to have a more affordable option for people to talk about business and solve challenges using the room's expertise.  It's similar to a board of directors in public companies. It has the same structure. Each one gets a chance to present a challenge and then a round of questions goes to understand the challenge a bit more and make sure that the goals are addressed.  And then they go into suggestion mode and then the person presenting takes suggestions and makes commitments according to the business and what he's willing to do, and then gives feedback in the next meeting. That happens on a monthly basis.  They form a trusted environment because they meet with the same people every month and they get to know each other's environment. When they've got an idea, they would bounce the ideas and the way they want to talk with people inside that group. That's really the key to solving challenges and helping each other out and becoming trusted advisers in that regard.  We also do one-on-one business coaching in terms of forming a strategic plan and then having goals in place to reach that specific personal vision of the owner. As you progress, you take those challenges and opportunities to your board. Sometimes it's really lonely for some people. I met someone who told me that his wife just wants to spend his money but doesn't want to know the challenges at work. He enjoyed joining the board. Other people from different walks of life join the board to prepare the next generation and someday distance themselves from the business. They want to prepare their team for different roles and responsibilities. Through the Alternative Board, you can meet very interesting people and become good friends. I've been in business for more than a decade, and sometimes you really feel very lonely over the years. You think you can't talk to your client about that because that might look like a weakness. You might not be wanting to talk to your partner, as you said, either because they have no interest or it's not their cup of tea.  Having a sound board or an alternative board to talk about this sort of things is really handy because you can really dive into business problems and talk to people. How much money are you making? How many hours should I be working? Am I working too much? Am I not working enough? Am I getting to where I should be for the many years that I've been in business? Marlise: How do I employ someone? How do I write the job description? What should I be looking for? Do you know someone that can help me with this? There are a lot of scary things for a lot of business owners, and that's cool. I like it. Do you have anything else you'd like to add before we finish up for today? Marlise: The only thing I would like to add is when you have conversations, consider the relationship you have with that person. When you have a good relationship with someone, you want to keep that relationship and you would use different communication styles that suit that relationship.  I 100% agree. You've got kids. Are you aware of the Captain Underpants books? Marlise: Oh, yes. I was only just introduced to the rally a couple of weeks ago, so I'm definitely late to the party. Talking to your kids about fart jokes might be appropriate, but not necessarily talking to a new business contact. They might not necessarily think it's very funny. Just make sure you're doing what you need to be doing, where you're meant to be doing it and being present. If you have enjoyed this podcast, make sure to jump across to iTunes, leave us some love, and give us some feedback. If you have any questions for Marlise, we're going to have her join our Facebook group so you can jump onto the group. If you have any questions, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help you out. Well, thank you very much for coming along. Everyone out there in podcast land, stay good.

On today's episode of MercyTalk, we have a conversation with our Founder and President, Nancy Alcorn, about some of her story and some of the things that God has taught her – not only when she started Mercy back in 1983 but as she has continued to lead this organization for the past almost 38 [...] The post Saying ‘Yes' to God with Nancy Alcorn appeared first on Mercy Multiplied.

Speaker: Greg Grimwood Life in the Kingdom Part 6 Matthew 5:33-37

Do you feel like you're nowhere near your goals? Do you want something so badly but think that it's impossible to achieve? Having goals in life gives us a sense of purpose. Whether they're for our career or relationships, goals push us to give our best. However, we sometimes set too many goals and find ourselves stuck. We can also feel discouraged from pursuing our dreams because we subject ourselves to other people’s standards. But while our plans may sometimes seem impossible, we have everything we need. If you can stay determined and learn how to prioritise, we can have our breakthrough. In this episode, Dr John Demartini joins us to talk about living your best life by structuring it. Learn how to prioritise and you can achieve anything. He shares the philosophy of the Breakthrough Experience, which has miraculously helped thousands of people reach their goals. John also discusses how to make decisions based on priorities, not emotions and instincts. If you want to learn how to prioritise and stick to your top priorities, then this episode is for you.   Get Customised Guidance for Your Genetic Make-Up For our epigenetics health program all about optimising your fitness, lifestyle, nutrition and mind performance to your particular genes, go to  https://www.lisatamati.com/page/epigenetics-and-health-coaching/.   Customised Online Coaching for Runners CUSTOMISED RUN COACHING PLANS — How to Run Faster, Be Stronger, Run Longer  Without Burnout & Injuries Have you struggled to fit in training in your busy life? Maybe you don't know where to start, or perhaps you have done a few races but keep having motivation or injury troubles? Do you want to beat last year’s time or finish at the front of the pack? Want to run your first 5-km or run a 100-miler? ​​Do you want a holistic programme that is personalised & customised to your ability, your goals and your lifestyle?  Go to www.runninghotcoaching.com for our online run training coaching.   Health Optimisation and Life Coaching If you are struggling with a health issue and need people who look outside the square and are connected to some of the greatest science and health minds in the world, then reach out to us at support@lisatamati.com, we can jump on a call to see if we are a good fit for you. If you have a big challenge ahead, are dealing with adversity or are wanting to take your performance to the next level and want to learn how to increase your mental toughness, emotional resilience, foundational health and more, then contact us at support@lisatamati.com.   Order My Books My latest book Relentless chronicles the inspiring journey about how my mother and I defied the odds after an aneurysm left my mum Isobel with massive brain damage at age 74. The medical professionals told me there was absolutely no hope of any quality of life again, but I used every mindset tool, years of research and incredible tenacity to prove them wrong and bring my mother back to full health within 3 years. Get your copy here: https://shop.lisatamati.com/collections/books/products/relentless. For my other two best-selling books Running Hot and Running to Extremes chronicling my ultrarunning adventures and expeditions all around the world, go to https://shop.lisatamati.com/collections/books.   Lisa’s Anti-Ageing and Longevity Supplements  NMN: Nicotinamide Mononucleotide, a NAD+ precursor Feel Healthier and Younger* Researchers have found that Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide or NAD+, a master regulator of metabolism and a molecule essential for the functionality of all human cells, is being dramatically decreased over time. What is NMN? NMN Bio offers a cutting edge Vitamin B3 derivative named NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) that is capable of boosting the levels of NAD+ in muscle tissue and liver. Take charge of your energy levels, focus, metabolism and overall health so you can live a happy, fulfilling life. Founded by scientists, NMN Bio offers supplements that are of highest purity and rigorously tested by an independent, third party lab. Start your cellular rejuvenation journey today. Support Your Healthy Ageing We offer powerful, third party tested, NAD+ boosting supplements so you can start your healthy ageing journey today. Shop now: https://nmnbio.nz/collections/all NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 250mg | 30 capsules NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 500mg | 30 capsules 6 Bottles | NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 250mg | 30 Capsules 6 Bottles | NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 500mg | 30 Capsules Quality You Can Trust — NMN Our premium range of anti-ageing nutraceuticals (supplements that combine Mother Nature with cutting edge science) combat the effects of aging, while designed to boost NAD+ levels. Manufactured in an ISO9001 certified facility Boost Your NAD+ Levels — Healthy Ageing: Redefined Cellular Health Energy & Focus Bone Density Skin Elasticity DNA Repair Cardiovascular Health Brain Health  Metabolic Health   My  ‘Fierce’ Sports Jewellery Collection For my gorgeous and inspiring sports jewellery collection ‘Fierce’, go to https://shop.lisatamati.com/collections/lisa-tamati-bespoke-jewellery-collection.   Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode: Learn about the Breakthrough Experience and how it has changed thousands of lives. Discover how to prioritise and determine your top priorities. John shares his secret to retaining Information in the quickest way possible.   Episode Highlights [05:00] About John Dr John is an educator, researcher and writer. He has spent over 48 years helping people maximise their potential. John wanted to know what allows people to do extraordinary things. That's why he distilled information from great minds throughout history. He made them into practical things that people today can use.  John had speech and learning challenges as a kid. At a doctor’s recommendation, his parents took him out of school and put him into sports. After having a near-death experience at 17, Paul Bragg inspired John to overcome his learning problems. With the help of his mom, he eventually learned how to read.  Listen to the full episode to learn more about John's inspiring story! [15:42] How Surfing Changed John’s Mindset Surfing has taught John that people are not going to excel without perseverance and commitment.  John converted his determination for surfing into persistence in reading.  [17:57] The Breakthrough Experience The Breakthrough Experience is a philosophy and program changing lives globally.  This system teaches you how to prioritise and structures life by priority. It breaks through limitations and helps achieve life goals.  John teaches people to use any experience, even challenges. These are catalysts for transformation and progress.  John has helped people learn how to prioritise to get their breakthrough experience in different areas of life. These include businesses, careers, health, relationships, among others. Lisa relates the Breakthrough Experience philosophy to when her mom had a severe aneurysm. [24:14] John Shares a Miraculous Experience At 27 years old, John handled a family with a son in a three-year coma. The family went to different hospitals in Mexico and the United States. However, they found none to help their son. They then went to John, and he thought of a maneuver to help the child. However, the treatment also came with significant risk. Listen to the full episode to find out how John helped a child get out of a three-year coma. [33:34] Jesse Billauer’s Breakthrough Experience Jesse Billauer, a surfer, decided to go to the Breakthrough Experience after a surfing accident.  At the time, he was depressed because he was physically unable to surf.  After the Breakthrough Experience, he learned how to prioritise and what his top priority was. Jesse became determined not to let anything stop him from surfing. Jesse developed a way to surf as a quadriplegic person. He taught others how to do the same.  [38:58] Herd Mentality in the Sciences New ideas are violently opposed and ridiculed. That's why people fear going against the norm. People who aim to survive follow the multitude. People who want to thrive create a new paradigm.  Each person can excel at anything if they focus on that, not on others' opinions.  [41:37] How to Prioritise John made a list of every single thing he does in a day over three months. He then placed multiple columns next to that list. The first column contains how much money each task produces per hour. The second column contains how much a job inspires him on a scale of 1-10. He also considered the cost and the time spent on each activity.  After doing that, he prioritised the activities that made thousands of dollars. He also focused on ones that scored ten on the inspiration scale.   John hired people for the low-priority tasks. This choice allowed him to be more productive in his top priorities. Within 18 months, his business increased tenfold. Listen to the full episode to learn how to prioritise and about investing in your top priority.  [56:19] How John Stays Looking Young John is almost 67 years old. However, Lisa describes him as someone who looks like a teenager. John doesn't eat junk. He drinks a lot of water, has never had coffee in his life and hasn't had alcohol in over 48 years. Doing what you love every day also slows down the aging process.  [58:03] Some Lessons from the Breakthrough Experience Nothing is missing in you. When you compare yourself to others, you'll try to live by their values or get them to live by yours. Both of these are futile.  Sticking to your values and priorities is key to resilience and success. People are different from each other, but no one is better than the other.  If you don't empower your own life, others will overpower you.   Your mission is something that you're willing to get through any means necessary. [1:06:38] How to Get Your Amygdala Under Control The amygdala is associated with emotions and the "fight-or-flight" response. Because we have neuroplasticity, we can remodel our internal system.  Perceiving challenges and feeling shame and guilt trigger an autoimmune reaction that attacks your body. Every time we choose to live by the highest priority, the amygdala calms down. The prefrontal cortex is reinforced. [1:12:03] The Mind-Body Connection Our psychological processes also affect our physiological processes.  People are used to blaming external factors. They don't take accountability for the things they experience.  John uses the example of when people get symptoms after eating unhealthy food. They don't face the fact that they brought it upon themselves.  Our bodies do an excellent job of guiding us. That's why we should learn how to listen to them. [1:18:13] The Journey to Financial Independence There is nothing evil about having money.  John believes that you can be a slave to money, or you can be a master of it.  Nothing is stopping you from doing what you love to do. [1:21:28] How to Retain Information Teaching what you've learned is the key to retention. Teaching compels your mind to organise ideas and reinforce them.  Teach the concepts as soon as you've discovered them. Don't wait until you're an expert on the subject. Resources Gain exclusive access and bonuses to Pushing the Limits Podcast by becoming a patron! You can choose between being an official or VIP patron for $7 and $15 NZD per month, respectively. Harness the power of NAD and NMN for anti-ageing and longevity with NMN Bio. Related Pushing the Limits Episodes 135: How To Make Better Decisions Consistently 183: Sirtuins and NAD Supplements for Longevity with Elena Seranova 189: Increasing Your Longevity with Elena Seranova Connect with John: Website | Facebook | Linkedin | YouTube | Instagram ‎The Demartini Show Demartini Value Determination Process The Breakthrough Experience program Join John's The Mind-Body Connection course Learn more about Jesse Billauer and his story. High Surf: The World's Most Inspiring Surfers by Tim Baker The Time Trap: The Classic Book on Time Management by Alec Mackenzie and Pat Nickerson  Brain Wash: Detox Your Mind for Clearer Thinking, Deeper Relationships, and Lasting Happiness by David and Austin Perlmutter The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing by Bronnie Ware   7 Powerful Quotes ‘I'm an educator, a researcher, a writer. I do a lot of interviews and filming for documentaries. I've been spending 48 years now on doing anything I can to help human beings maximise their potential.’ ‘I love studying and learning anything I can from those people that have done extraordinary things and then passing that on.” “I love anybody who's done something extraordinary on the planet in any field. I love devouring their journey.’ ‘No matter what the teacher was trying to do, I just couldn't read. And my teacher and my parents come to the school and said, ‘You know, your son's not able to read. He's not going to be able to write effectively’ because I wrote kind of backwards.’ ‘Well, I'm surfing the cosmic waves now. And in surfing big cosmic waves, radio waves that are big waves. Yes, that's the move from water waves into electromagnetic waves.’ ‘And so the Breakthrough Experience is about accessing that state. And breaking through the limitations that we make up in our mind and transforming whatever experiences you have into “on the way” not “in the way”.’ ‘She said that there was something that took over me, I can't describe it. It was like a very powerful feeling — like I had a power of a Mack truck. And me? I don't know how to describe it.’   About Dr John Dr John Demartini is an author, researcher, global educator and world-renowned human behaviour specialist. Making self-development programs and relationship solutions is part of his job. Among his most popular programs is the Breakthrough Experience. It is a personal development course that aims to help individuals achieve whatever goal they have. As a child, Dr John had learning challenges and could not read and write well until 18 years old. He has now distilled information from over 30,000 books across all academic disciplines and shares them online and on stage in over 100 countries.  Interested in knowing more about Dr John and his work? You may visit his website or follow him on Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and Instagram.   Enjoyed This Podcast? If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning in, then leave us a review. You can also share this with your family and friends so they can achieve their life goals by learning how to prioritise. Have any questions? You can contact me through email (support@lisatamati.com) or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. For more episode updates, visit my website. You may also tune in on Apple Podcasts. To pushing the limits, Lisa   Full Transcript Of The Podcast Welcome to Pushing The Limits, the show that helps you reach your full potential with your host, Lisa Tamati, brought to you by lisatamati.com.  Lisa Tamati: Welcome back to Welcome back to Pushing the Limits. This week, I have Dr John Demartini. He is a world renowned speaker, teacher, educator, researcher, medical doctor. He's written I don't know how many books, countless, countless books. He's an incredible, incredible man who teaches literally thousands and thousands of people every year in his breakthrough experience. The information that you're going to get in this podcast could change your life. So I've given you a fair warning. He's an amazing, incredible man that, and I've talked to a lot of incredible people but this one is really next level, he started out as a big wave surfer in Hawaii, way back in the day. Even knew Laird Hamilton and people like that. Had learning disabilities and could hardly read or write, and yet managed to overcome all these things to become one of the greatest scholars that there is. He's read over 30,000 books. He has distilled the knowledge from people right through the ages, through leaders and philosophers and stoics and scientists. He's an expert in so many different areas. He teaches people in business, he teaches people how to overcome massive challenges in their life. So I really hope that you enjoy this episode. It is going to get uncomfortable in places because we’ll talk about really being accountable, really understanding our own physiology, and just so much more. An absolutely amazing interview. So I hope you enjoy it.  Before we head over to the show, just reminder, we have our patron membership for the podcast Pushing the Limits. If you want to join our VIP tribe, we would love you to come and do that. It's about the price of a cup of coffee a month or two. If you want to join on the premium level, we would love you to come and join us. Support the show. Help us get this work out there. We are passionate about what we do. We want to change lives, we want to improve your life, we want to improve the lives of others. And we need your help to do that to keep the show going. So please, head over to patron.lisatamati.com. Check out all the premium VIP member benefits here, and support the show. Be a part of this community, be a part of this tribe. Help support us and reach out to me or the team. If you have any questions around any of the topics or any of the guests that have come up. We would love to hear from you. Any feedback is always welcome. Please always give a rating and review to the show as well on iTunes or whatever platform that you listen to. That is really, really helpful as well. We do appreciate you doing that. And as a reminder, please also check out our epigenetics program. We have a system now that can personalise and optimise your entire life to your genetics. So check out our program, what it's all about. This is based on the work of hundreds of scientists, not our work. It has been developed over the last 20 years, from 15 different science disciplines all working in collaborating together on this one technology platform that will help you understand your genes and apply the information to your life. So check that out. Go to lisatamati.com and hit the Work With Us button and you'll see their Peak Epigenetics, check out that program. And while you're there, if you're a runner, check out our Running Hot Coaching program as well. Customised, personalised training plans made specifically for you, for your goals. You get a video analysis, you get a consultation with me and it's all in a very well-priced package. So check that out at runninghotcoaching.com.  Now over to the show with Dr John Demartini. Well, Hi everyone and welcome to Pushing The Limits. Today, I am super excited for my guest. My guest is an absolute superstar. Welcome to the show. Firstly and foremostly, thank you very much for taking the time out today. Dr John, I'm just really excited to have you. Whereabouts are you sitting in the world? Dr John: I am in Houston, Texas. I'm in a hotel room in Houston, Texas, even though it shows that I've got a library.  Lisa: Yeah,I love that background. That is a fantastic background. Really great. Well, greetings to Texas and I hope that everything is going well over there for you. Today, I wanted to talk about you, your work, the breakthrough experience. Some of the learnings and the exciting mission that you've been on for now. For 47 years, I believe. Something crazy like that. So Dr John, can you just give us a little bit of a background on you and your life and what you do on a day to day basis? Big question. Dr John: I'm an educator, a researcher, a writer. I do a lot of interviews and filming for documentaries. I've been spending 48 years now, over 48 years, on doing anything I can to help human beings maximise their potential, their awareness potential, and achieve whatever it is that they're inspired to achieve. So that could be raising a beautiful family to building a massive business to becoming fortunate or celebrity, doesn't matter. It's whatever it is that inspires them. I've been studying human behaviour and anything and everything I can get my hands on for the last 48 years to assist people in mastering a lot. That's what I love doing. I do it every day. I can't think of any else I'd rather be doing. So I just do it. Lisa: It's a bit of a role model for me, Dr John, because I think what you have achieved in this time, the way you've distilled information, I mean, you've studied, last time I looked on one of your podcasts, that was over 30,000 books, probably more now. And you've distilled the information from great masters throughout history into practical things that humans today can actually benefit from. Is that a good assessment of what you basically have done? Dr John: I'm writing right now a 1200 page textbook on philosophers and great minds through the ages. I summarise it. I love studying and learning anything I can from those people that have done extraordinary things, and then passing that on. So yes. Right now, I'm actually, I just finished, I’m just finishing up Albert Einstein, which is one of my heroes. I had a dream when I was young. When I saw that E = mc² drawn on that board, I wanted to find out where that board was. I went to Princeton, and met with Freeman Dyson, who took over his position at Princeton in 1955. Spent part of the day with him and we're talking on cosmology. I wrote my formula on that same board, exactly the same place, because that was a dream that I had since I was probably 18, 19. Lisa: Wow, and you got to fulfill it and actually love it. Dr John: Yeah. Took me a bit of time. So what? But yeah, I love anybody who's done something extraordinary on the planet in any field. I love devouring their journey and their thinking. That's every Nobel Prize winner I've gone through and every great philosopher and thinker and business leader and financially or spiritually, to try to find out and distill out what is the very essence that drives human beings? And what is it that allows them to do extraordinary things? So I wanted to do that with my life. Most of the people I get in front of want to feel like they want to make a massive difference. They want to make a difference in the world. They want to do something that’s deeply meaningful, inspiring. And so yeah, we're not 'put your head in the product glue and let the glue stick' and then pass it on.  Lisa: Instead of having to reinvent the world, why not? So Dr John, can you give us a little bit of history though, because you're obviously an incredible scholar,have an incredible mind. But as a child, you struggled with learning and with reading and writing.Can you give us a little, how the heck did you go from being this kid that struggled with all of that to where you are today? One of the greatest minds out there.  Dr John:  Yeah, I definitely had some learning challenges. I had a speech challenge when I was a year and a half old to four, I had to wear buttons in my mouth and put strings in my mouth and practice using all kinds of muscles. Went to a speech pathologist. When I was in first grade. No matter what the teacher was trying to do, I just couldn't read. My teacher, and my parents would come to the school and said, 'You know, your son's not able to read. He's not going to be able to write effectively,' because I wrote kind of backwards. 'I don't think he's going to mountain and go very far in life, put him into sport.' Because I like to run. And I did sports there for a while. But then I went from baseball to surfing. I hitchhiked out to California and down Mexico and then made it over to Hawaii so I could ride big waves and I was doing big wave and stuff when I was a teenager. So I didn't have academics. I dropped out of school. I was a street kid from 13 to 18. But then right before 18 I nearly died. That's when I met Paul Bragg, who inspired me one night in a presentation. That night I got so inspired that I thought, 'Maybe I could overcome my learning problems by applying what this man just taught me. And maybe someday I could learn to read and write and speak properly.' That was such an inspiration, such a moment of inspiration that it changed the course of my life. I had to go back. And with the help of my mum, I went and got a dictionary out, started to read a dictionary and memorise 30 words a day until my vocabulary. I had to spell the word, pronounce the word, use it with a meaningful sentence, and develop a vocabulary. Eventually doing that 30 we would, we wouldn't go to bed. I didn't go to bed until I had 30 new words, really inculcated. My vocabulary grew. And I started to learn how to do the reading. It was not an easy project. But, man, once I got a hold of it, I never stopped. Lisa: And once you started to read, you didn’t stop. Dr John: I've never stopped. I've been a voluminous reader now. You know, 48 years. Lisa: That’s just incredible. Dr John: I can’t complain. Lisa: So was it a dyslexia or learning disability? I just asked because my mum was a teacher of children with dyslexia and things like that. Was there specific ways that you were able to overcome the disability so to speak? Dr John: Yeah, I just, sheer persistence and determination to want to read and learn. I remember, I took my first, I took a GED test, a general education high school equivalency test. And I guessed, literally guessed, I close my eyes. I said this little affirmation that Paul Bragg gave me that, 'I'm a genius, and I apply my wisdom.' And some miraculous thing made me pass that test. I didn't know how to read half the stuff that was on it. I just went with my intuition and guessed. And I tried to go to college, after taking that test and had the test. I failed. And I remember driving home crying because I had this idea that I was going to learn how to teach and become intelligent. Then when I got a 27, everybody else got 75 and above. I got a 27 and I thought, 'Well, there's no way it's going to work.' But then I sat there and I cried and my mum came home from shopping, and she saw me crying on the living room floor. She said, ‘Son, what happened? What's wrong?’ I said, ‘Mum, I failed the test. I guess I don't have what it takes.’ And I repeated what the first grade teacher said, 'I guess I'll never read or write or communicate effectively, or amount too much. I guess I'll go back to Hawaii and make surfboards and surf. Because I was pretty good at that.' And she said to me something that was a real mind bender. She put her hand on me and she said, ‘Son, whether you become a great teacher, philosopher and travel the world like your dream, whether return to Hawaii and ride giant waves like you've done, return to the streets and panhandle like you've done. I just want to let you know that your father and I are going to love you no matter what you do.’ Lisa: Wow, what a mum. Dr John: That was an amazing moment. When she said that, my hand went into a fist of determination. And I said to myself, ‘I'm gonna match this thing called reading and studying and learning. I'm gonna match this thing called teaching and philosophy. And I'm going to do whatever it takes, I'm going to travel whatever distance, I'm gonna pay whatever price, to give my source of love across this planet.’ I got up and I hugged her. And I said to myself, ‘I'm not gonna let any human being on the face of the earth stop me, not even myself.’ I got out of my room. And that's when I decided with her help to do the dictionary. That was an amazing turning point. Lisa: And I can feel it, the emotion and what a wonderful mum you had. I mean, what a perfect thing to say when someone's down. Dr John: It was the most. If she hadn't said that, I might’ve come back to surfing. I might  be a surfer today. Lisa: Which would have been a good thing as well, probably because surfing is great. Dr John: It didn’t make money in those days. I'm in the mid 60s and 70s, early 70s. But,, now, the guys I served with, Laird Hamilton and- Lisa: Wow. He's a hero is amazing.  Dr John: Both Ben Aipa, Gerry Lopez, and these guys, those are the guys I served with. And so those guys went on to be incredible. Lisa: I wasn't aware of that. Dr John: I lived at the same beach park in Haleiwa, where Ehukai Beach Park is, near Pipeline, between Rocky Point and Pipeline. Laird Hamilton was dropped off by his mother there and lived there on the beach. I lived up on where the park bench was. We lived right there and I saw him on the beach each morning. He was seven, I was 16. He was going on seven, I was almost 17. We live there at the same place and Bill Hamilton saw him out there and grabbed him and took him in and trained them on surfing and found his mum and then married the mum. That's how I became. I hung out with those characters. Lisa: Legends. You became a legend in this direction and they have become a legend in a different direction. Dr John: Well, there's a book out called The High Surf by Tim Baker. That’s from Australia. He wrote a book on people that rode big waves. And he said, 'I'd like to put you in there.' I said, 'Well, I didn't go on to be the superstar in that area like these other guys.' He said, 'But I want you in there because you became a legend. Lisa: Became a superstar. Dr John: Yeah Lisa: Do you think that there's, you know, I come from a surfing family. My brother's a big wave surfer in New Zealand. I've tried and failed miserably, stuck to running. I was better at it. But do you think there's a correlation between the mindset that you developed as a surfer? Because going in those big waves is scary. It's daunting. It's frightening. It's challenging. It's teaching you a lot. Is there a lot that you took from that for this journey that you've been on? Dr John: Yeah, I didn't surf anything more than 40-foot waves. So I think that was about as good as about as big as you get back in the 70s. At 70s is when I was- Lisa: Oh, just a mere 40, it’s okay. Dr John: Well, 40-foot waves was the biggest thing out in outer reef pipeline was the big thing. They hadn't had tow-in surfing yet. That was just, that wasn't begun yet. So there was that idea, we had to catch those waves. That was not easy because they're too big to catch. you got to have big long boards, and you got to really paddle to get into those waves, and it's usually too late. But I think some of those, I used to surf 11 hours a day sometimes. When you're really, really committed to doing something, that's... Einstein said perseverance is the key to making things happen and if you just stay with something. So, if you're not inspired to do something, enough to put in the hours and put in the effort, and you don't have somebody that you can bounce ideas off of, kind of mentoring you, you probably are not going to excel as much. But I did that. And then I just converted that over into breeding 18 to 20 hours a day, feeding once I learned to read, so I just and I still voluminously read I mean, I read every single day. Lisa: That is incredible. And so you've taken that big wave mindset a little bit over into something else. So obviously, everything you, do you do to the nth degree, we can probably agree on that one. Dr John: I'm surfing the cosmic waves now. And in surfing big cosmic waves, radio waves that are big waves. I move from water waves into electromagnetic waves. Lisa: Wow. Now, you run something called The Breakthrough Experience, which you've been doing now for 40 something years. This is a philosophy and a system and a program that really changes lives and has changed lives all over the planet. Can you tell us a little bit about what you've distilled from all this information that you have in your incredible mind? And what you teach in this course, and how this can actually help people? Today, right now listening to this? Dr John: Well, the breakthrough experiences, sort of my attempt to do with what that gentleman did to me when I was 17. I've done it 1121 times into that course. I keep records, and I'm a metric freak. Every human being lives by a set of priorities, a set of values, things that are most important. Lisa: Podcast life. Dr John: Welcome to it. I thought that was off, but I didn't quite get it off. But whatever is highest on the person's values, priorities, whatever is truly deeply meaningful to them, the thing that is spontaneously inspiring for them to that they can't wait to get up the morning and do.If they identify that and structure their life by priority, delegating the lower priority things and getting on with doing that, they will build momentum, incremental momentum and start to excel and build what we could say is a legacy in the world. And so, the breakthrough experience is about accessing that state, and breaking through the limitations that we make up in our mind,  transforming whatever experiences you have into 'on the way' not 'in the way.' So no matter what goes on in your life, you can use it to catalyse a transformation and movement towards what it is that you're committed to. And if you're not clear about it, we'll show you how to do it because many people subordinate to people around them. Cloud the clarity of what's really really inspiring from within them, and they let the herd instinct stop them from being heard.  I think that The Breakthrough Experiences is my attempt to do whatever I can, with all the tools that I've been blessed to gather to assist people in creating a life that is extraordinary, inspiring and amazing for them. And if I don't do whatever it takes in the program, I don't know when it's going to be. I've seen six year olds in there write books afterwards. I've seen nine year olds go on to get a deal with Disney for $2.2 million dollars. I've seen people in business break through plateaus. I’ve people have major issues with relationships break, too. I don't know what's gonna be. I've seen celebrities go to new levels. I've seen people that have health issues that heal. I mean, every imaginable thing, I’ve breaking through. I've seen it in that course. And it's the same principles applied now into different areas of life. In any other area of our life, if we don't empower, the world's going to overpower something. And I'm showing I want to show people how to not let anything on the outside world interfere with what's inside. Lisa: And you talk about, it's on the way, the challenges that we have to look at the challenges that we have and ask how is this going to actually help me get wherever I am. And this is something that I've managed to do a couple of times in my life really well, other times not so good. But where I've taken a really massive challenge, I had my own listeners, I had a mum who had a massive aneurysm five years ago, and we were told she would never have any quality of life again, massive brain damage. We know that's not happening on my watch. I'm going to, there is somebody in something in the world that can help with her. And this became my mantra that I was going to get back or die trying. That was that total dedication that I brought to her because of love. When you love someone, you're able to mobilise for the last resources that you have. And that nearly bloody killed me as far as the whole effort that went on to it, and the cost and the emotional costs, and the physical and the health and all the rest of it. It took me three years to get it back to health, full health. She's now got a full driver's license back and a full independent life back and as my wonderful mum again. And that was coming from a state of being in a vegetative state, not much over a vegetative state at least. Hardly any higher function, no speech, no move, be able to move anything. Dr John: That’s a book there. That's a book or a movie. Lisa: It's the book. Dr John: That's a book and a movie for sure. Lisa: Exactly. And this is very powerful. Because I saw this and when you're in the darkness, everybody is telling you there is no hope, there is no chance. And these are medical professionals who have been to medical school, who have a hell of a lot more authority than you. You just go, ‘No, I am not accepting it because that alternative means death, basically, decline and death in being in an institution. And that is not what I'm going to answer. I'm going to find somebody who can help me’ and I did. I found hundreds of people, actually, and this is what tipped me into doing what I'm doing now, is finding world leading experts to give me the next piece of the puzzle for her and for the people now that are following me so that I can help empower people, not to be limited by the people who tell us we can't do something. It's because that means basically they don't have the answer. Not that there is no answer, is my understanding. And they were right. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. But I did it and my mum is alive and she's well, and that book. I really want to empower people with a story. I see that same like they're obviously your passion. What you went through with your learning problems when you were young and your mum standing beside you has actually propelled you into this lifelong journey that I find absolutely fascinating because that passion, and I can see that passion in you, is still very much alive 48 years later because you're doing what your priority is. Dr John: I'm definitely doing what I love doing. It's interesting that your story reminded me of something that happened to me when I was 27. If you don't mind, I'd like to share this. So I graduated from my professional school. I had a bit of a reputation there of being kind of the taking the cream of the crop clients, patients that were turned down everywhere else. I just tackled it, see what we can do with it. And I got a family from Mexico, with a son that fell three stories off an apartment complex onto the ground on his head. He went into a coma, been in a coma for three and a half years. And the mother, they assumed he was dead a few times, but there was still a breath. There were still something. It wasn't a strong breath. You couldn't see it but you could put a mirror in front of you and get a little bit of breath out there. So he wasn't dead. And he had decerebrate rigidity. So his whole body was so rigid that when I saw him, you could lift up his feet and his whole body would rock. It was so stiff. His hands are like this. A classical decerebrate rigidity. And he had gone to, throughout different hospitals in Mexico, where he was from, and nobody checked them. They came to America, they went to the Medical Center in Houston, which is the largest Medical Center America. And they got rejected. No one would accept it. There's nothing we can do. They went out to the professional school that I'd gone to. And they said, ‘We can't do anything.’ But we know this interesting character. West Houston, if there's anybody that would try something this guy might try, who knows? And they sent him to my office. I remember when they came in, they carried him wrapped up in a white sheet, and laid him on the armrest of the chairs on my office. I looked out there and I saw this Mexican man and woman and seven or eight other kids in a family. I'm in this. At first, I didn't know what this was, this thing wrapped up in this sheet. They came down my hallway and I saw him going down the hallway. And like, ‘What on earth is this?’ Then they unveiled him in my exam room. And there was this 58 pound tube in his nose, coma case that was so stiff. It was ridiculous. I mean, he had gauze on his chin and his hand was rubbing on it and to protect the chin from having an ulcer. It had an odor to him in the head. It was just nothing. Just stare. He just sat there. But the mother and father said, ‘No, he's still alive. Please help.’ So I didn't really have much to do an exam with. So I got him, we took him in and did a film of his spine and his skull from the history. We found his foramen magnum, his skull was jammed down on a spinal cord and his spinal cord is up in his foramen magnum. This opening in the bottom of the skull. And I thought that night, when I was developing those films, and I looked at that I thought, 'I wonder what happened if I lifted that skull? If I've got that off? It could? Could something happen?' And I was scared because you just don't do that. He could die just instantly. I sent them over to this health food store to get him some liquid vitamins and minerals and amino acids to try to get nutrients in him because they're feeding him beans and rice with liquid. It was just crazy. So the next day came in. We had four doctors on a preceptorship visiting my office, one doctor that was working for me, one assistant, the seven or eight kids plus him and the mother and father in this little room. It was packed. And I said to him that I saw that on the film something that might have make him, help. I don't know, I can't guarantee it. But if we, if I did a particular manoeuvre, it might open up the brain function. And the little woman held on to her husband and she said, 'If he dies, he dies. If he lives, we rejoice. But please help us. We have nowhere else to go.' Lisa: Yeah. Wow. Dr John: She said that there was something that took over me, I can't describe it. It was like a very powerful feeling, like I had a power of a Mack truck in me. I don't know how to describe it. And I had this manoeuvre that we could do this, what they call the Chrane Condyle Lift, that can actually lift the skull up the spine. And I said to myself, if I'm not willing to have him die in my hands, I can't raise the dead with my hands as a little quote that I learned from an ancient healing philosopher. And I thought, 'Okay, we're, I'm going to take the risk, and just see what happens.' Because, I mean, I don't know what to do. I'm just gonna do it. Because I mean, they've got no place to go and I only took a rip. As I lifted that skull with this powerful movement. He came out of his coma. He came right out of the coma. He screamed, and this whining noise you couldn't. It was not coherent. It was just this whining sound. The whole family went on their knees, they were Catholic. They just went to their knees and prayed. I was blown away. I saw the four doctors one of them ran down the hallway and vomited, couldn't handle it. The other just stared. And here's this boy squirming on the table. I walked out to let the family be with the child for a minute and just sat with one of my doctors. We sat there and just cried. Because we knew that the spinal cord expressed life in the body. But we didn't know what would happen if we took the spinal cord, it just scanned off. Theoretically, it could kill you. But there was some still life in the spinal cord. Anyway, this boy went on to gain 20 pounds up to 78 pounds. We took him off the tube, we got him to move, we had everybody in the family take a joint in his body and move his joints to remobilise him. Sometimes I think we probably tore some ligaments doing it. But we got mobility. And this boy came out of it. And I have a picture here with me of the boy actually graduating from high school. Lisa: You’re kidding me? Why is this not an? What is not? Why have I never heard the story?  Dr John: I don’t get to share it too often. I didn't many years ago. I haven't practised in a long time. But all I know is that that was a moment that you just, it's probably like you had with your mum when you saw incremental progress. Lisa: Yeah. Just grind. Dr John: And I think that that's a metaphor. That's a metaphor. It doesn't matter where you've come from, doesn't matter what you're going through, doesn't matter what you've been through. What matters is you have something that you're striving for. And are you willing to do some incremental movement towards that? What else just said is, he's got a diagnosis. Diagnosis means through knowledge, supposedly, but it could also mean die to an agnosis. You don't know. Even the doctors don't know. But the reality is,  he came out of the coma. And I had over the next few months, I had some amazing cases of a boy that was blind and couldn't walk, and all of a sudden see and walked again. I had a boy that was paralysed quadriplegic, was able to walk. I mean, I had some amazing stuff happen. When you're willing to do what other people aren't willing to do, you're willing to experience when other people don't get to experience. Lisa: Yep, it is just so powerful. And I'm just absolutely blown away from that story. Because, I mean, I know with my mum who was only in a coma for three weeks, and had stroke and so on, and in the specificity and the things that I've had to deal with. The whole vestibular system being completely offline, she has like a rag doll, having to read, programming her from being a baby, basically, to being an adult, within that three year period with a body that is now like 79 years old. And the doctors going like, your brain can't change that much. And in just going, I'm going to keep going. I'm only listening to people who tell me I can do something, I'm not listening to anybody who tells me I can't do something. And this is something that I've really integrated into my entire life like as an athlete, doing stupidly long ultramarathon distances. I was always told you can't do this, and you can't do that. It's impossible. And I was like, 'We'll see.' I'm going to throw everything in it. And that was my passion at the time have now retired from doing the stupid distances because I've got other missions on in life. But whatever it is, is always the big mission. And then everybody comes up against people who tell you, you can't do it. This is one of the biggest limiting things that I see. Dr John: That's what Einstein said, greatness is automatically pounded by mediocre minds.  Lisa: Wow. Dr John: I had a boy, a boy attend my breakthrough experience, who had a surfing accident and became arms and legs not working, He could move his neck. He got a little bit of function slowly into the hand that was about it, just a tiny bit. And I remember a man wheeling him in and having them kind of strapped to a wheelchair. I knew the father and I knew his brother. There were doctors who were colleagues of mine. And they brought him, they flew him literally from Los Angeles over to Texas to come to the breakthrough experience. I remember him looking straight down really depressed, suicidal, because he was a surfer and he was on his way to being a great surfer. If he couldn't surf, he didn't want to live kind of. I remember getting on my knees and looking up at him at this chair, and I said, 'It all determines inside you what you decide. I don't know what the limit you have in your body. I don't know what you can repair. I don't know what you can do. I don't want to say you can't. But all I know is that if you're going to, you're going to have to put everything into it. You're gonna have to have no turning back kind of attitude. There's got to be a relentless pursuit of your master plan to serve.' His name is Jesse Billauer. He made a decision at the Breakthrough Experience that nothing was going to stop him from surfing again, nothing. He is really, in the room was absolutely applauding him. The before and after in that weekend was so astonishing that it was tear jerking. Well, about 17 years ago, 16 half years ago, I had the opportunity to get, I was living on the Gold Coast of Australia. I had many homes in New York and different places. But I had one in the Gold Coast of Australia in Aria, lived in the penthouse of Aria. And all of a sudden, I found in my entrance of my penthouse, which you only can get into with my key somebody from downstairs, put it in there like mail, a DVD video of a surfing movie, called Stepping Into Liquid. And when I pulled that up and put that in there, there was Jesse Billauer, surfing. He found a way of using his head muscles, and designing a special vehicle, a transport system, a surfboard. He had to have somebody take them out into the water and push him. But once he got on a wave his head movements were able to ride and he was riding like 12 foot waves, which is 20 foot face waves. He was doing that. And he was an inspiration. He became friends with Superman who had quadriplegia and they became friends and he created a foundation to do something but he taught people how to go surfing as a quadriplegic. So when the wise big enough to house take care of themselves, you've proven that in your book. What little I've done in my life compared to some of these kind of stories is just astonishing what I see sometimes people do. I mean, mind blowing stuff that people, that determination to overcome that are absolute inspirations. Inspiration is a byproduct of pursuing something that's deeply inspiring and deeply meaningful, through a challenge that people believe is not possible. That's inspiration. Lisa: That's how we grow as a human race. We have these amazing people that do incredible things. And these stories, I mean, these are stories that aren't even out there in the world, in a huge way. There are hundreds of these stories and thousands of these stories and miraculous stories. These are the things that we should be talking about. Because why are we not studying the outliers? Why are we not? When I look at my book, or my story, which I share publicly and not a single doctor that had anything to do with my mum ever asked me, 'Well, how did you do it?' Nobody is interested in why she has not taken the normal path as long gone. Nobody has asked me what did you do? People do. My audience want to know why. The people that follow me, etc. But nobody that was involved in that case. And I see that over and over again.  Dr John: It's forcing him to face their own, you might say, belief systems about what they've been taught. There's an educated awareness by the herd and then there's an innate yearning by the master. The master transcends the herd, if you will. You can be a sheep or a shepherd. The shepherd is the one that goes out and does things that the sheep are not willing to do. But then once they do it, they'll rally around it. They are there watching you to be the hero instead of becoming the hero. Lisa: Wow. And why is it in the medical fraternity that there seems to be a very big herd mentality, like no one is scared to step outside of their norms, and they get slammed. I see this in academia and in science as well, where people who have brilliant ideas and hypotheses and studies and so on, they just get slammed because it's outside of the current paradigm.  Dr John: William James, one of the founders of modern psychology, said 'To be great…' And Emerson followed in suit, 'To be greatest, to be misunderstood.’ William James basically said that the majority of people fear rejection from the multitudes because that was survival. People that are into survival follow the multitude. People that are in thrival create a new paradigm. At first they're going to be ridiculed. They're going to be violently opposed to Schopenhauer and Gandhi said, but eventually becomes self-evident. And you're either following a culture or building one. The people that do that build a new culture. They build a new culture of idea. Emerson said in his essays on circles, 'We rise up and we create a new circle of possibility. And then that becomes the new norm until somebody comes up and breaks through that concentric sphere with another circle.' It's like the four minute mile. I had a gentleman on my program the other day who is striving to be the fastest runner in the world. He's got bronze and silver medals, but he hadn't got the fastest running. And he's not stopping. He's working sometimes eight to 13 hours a day on this project. I believe that the way he's so determined to do it, and how he works on it, and he doesn't need a coach telling him what to do. He just does it. He's inspired to do it. He'll be the fastest runner, he won't stop till he's the fastest runner in the world. And that’s determination, that to be great at that one thing, find that one thing that you really target like a magnifying glass, on that you become the greatest at that thing.  Mine was human development, human behaviour. I want to have the broadest and greatest width of information about that. That's my one thing. But each individual has something that they can excel in, if they just define it, and give themselves permission at it, and say, thank you but no thank you to the opinions. The opinions are the cheapest commodities on Earth that would circulate the most as a use value. There’s ton of those. But those opinions aren’t what matter. It's not you comparing yourself to other people, it's you comparing your daily actions to what's deeply meaningful to you, and the highest priority actions daily, that’s what it is. Lisa: How do you, this is a problem that I face, get to a certain level of success and achievement, and then you start getting lots of offers and opportunities and so on, and you start to lose the focus. You get distracted from the things that are happening in this day and age where the internet and everything that ends up like I get the shiny object syndrome. And say, 'Oh, this is an extremely interesting area of study, and I should go down that path. And then I go down that path, and then I go down that path.' It is adding to the whole picture of a general education. as someone who studied as much as you have, you've obviously encompassed all of these areas. But I think what I'm asking is, how do you find out what your highest priority is? And how do you get a team around you, so that you're not limited? I think there's a lot of business people that are listening to this, me included in this, who has struggling to get past a certain ceiling because the area of genius is one thing that they love and excelling at, and you'd like to spend all of your time doing that. But you're stuck in the groundhog day of admin and technology in the stuff that you hate. And not busting through because financially, you can't delegate to people. You also got to find people that are a good fit for you who can do the jobs, and then also have the finances to be able to break through to that near next level. Can you talk to that about? Dr John: Yes, absolutely. When I was 27 years old, I was just starting my practice. I was doing a little of everything, anything and everything, just to get the thing cranking. I had one assistant that I hired. But I realised I was doing way too many trivial things. And that'll burn you out after a while if you're doing stuff that's not really what your specialty is. I went to the bookstore and I got a book by Alec McKinsey called The Time Trap. I read this book. As I read it, I underlined it and extracted notes like I do. I decided to put together a little sheet for it. I'll share that because it was a goldmine. I made a list of every single thing that I do in a day, over a three month period, because each day I had sometimes different things to do. But I wrote down everything I might be doing in those three months in a day. I just wrote them all down. And I don't mean broad generalities like marketing or this type of thing or radiographs or whatever. I mean, the actual actions. The actual moment by moment actions I do in those categories. I made a list of those and it was a big list. And I looked at it. Then right next that list, every single thing I did from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed, everything —  home, personal, professional. I wanted to know what my day looked. I want to be an honest, objective view of what am I actually doing with my day. Because if I want to create my life the way I want, I've got to take a look at what I'm actually doing because if I'm not doing things that give me the results, no wonder I'm not getting there.  I made that list, and right next to it, in column number two of six columns is how much does it produce per hour. Which is a measure of actually meeting somebody's need as a service and people willing to pay. How much is that produced per hour? And that was humbling because there are whole lot of stuff that I will do without pay. I was minoring in majors and majoring in minors. I was doing all kinds of stuff that was just cost, no return. I stopped and I looked at that, and that was humbling, and frustrating, and a bunch of stuff went through my mind. I mean, I just, but I had to be honest to myself, what does it actually produce? I extrapolate. If I spent two hours on it, what is it per hour? Cut it in half. If I spent 30 minutes, I’d double the number to get an idea what it is per hour. There's a lot of stuff that was not making anything and there was a few things that were making a lot.  The third column I wrote down, how much meaning does it have? How much is it that makes me inspired to get up and do it? I can't wait to do what people can't wait to get. Those are the things I want to target. So I looked at it on a one to ten scale, how much meaning it was. I made a list on a one to ten scale of every one of those items, how inspired am I to do that? And there's a lot of stuff on there that was not inspiring, that I didn't want to do. I thought, 'Hell. I went to ten years of college for this?' I made this list and I put this one to ten thing. And then I prioritised the tens down to the ones. I prioritise productivity down from the ones that made thousands of dollars an hour to nothing an hour. I just prioritise them. And then I looked. There were some that were overlapped, where the thing that was most meaningful and inspiring match where it’s most productive. I prioritise that based on the two together. And that was really eye opening. Then I went to the next one because I realised that if I don't delegate, I'm trapped. Then I put what does it cost? Every cost. Not just salary, but training costs, no hiring costs, parking costs, insurance costs, everything. What is the cost of somebody excelling at doing what it is I'm doing at a greater job than me? What would it cost? On every one of those items? The best I could do? I had to just guess on something, but I definitely did the best I could.  And then I prioritise that based on spread, how much it produced versus how much it cost. Then I put another column. How much time am I actually spending on average? The final column, I wrote down, what are my final priorities with all these variables? I did a very thorough prioritisation system there. I sliced those into ten layers. I put a job description, I put a job description on that bottom layer, and hired somebody to do that but bottom layer. It took me three people to get the right person because I had to learn about hiring. I didn't know how about, hiring. I finally got the first person there, and that was free. That allowed me to go up a notch. And then I hired the next layer. What I did is it allowed me to go and put more time into the thing to produce the most, which was actually sharing a message of what I was doing publicly, with speaking. Public speaking was my door opener. I just kept knocking out layers.In the next 18 months, my business tenfold in increase in income and business. I had 12 staff members and five doctors working for me in a 5000 square foot office from under 1000 square foot original office in 18 months. Because I said goodbye to anything that weighed me down. Anytime you do something that's lower on your values, and anytime something hone your value value yourself and the world values you when you value. It's waiting for you just to get authentic and live by the highest values, which is your ideological identity. The thing you really revolve around you. Mine was teaching, so I call myself a teacher, right? So whatever that highest value is, if you prioritise your day and fill your day with high priority actions that inspire you, it doesn't fill up with low party distractions that don't, because it's now you're allowing yourself to be authentic. And it doesn't cost to properly delegate if you get the right people, and you go on and do what produces more per hour, it doesn't cost it makes sense. Lisa: That's the hard part, isn't it? As is growing. Dr John: You do your responsibilities. Go do the thing that knocks down the doors and goes and does the deals and then go and let them do all the crazy work. Like when I was 27, that's the last time I ever wrote a check or did payroll or looked at bills. I never looked at that again. Because that's a $20 an hour job and I could make way more speaking and doing my doctrine. So I thought, 'I'm not doing anything that's going to devalue me ever again in my life.' I've never gone back. 38 years, I've never gone back. Lisa: So systematise. This is a thing here, where I have a bit of a problem, a bit of a chaos, right? Dr John: I'm an ignoramus when it comes to anything other than research, write, travel, and teach. I'm useless. I'm not. I do jokes and say when I'm having I want to make love with my girlfriend. I tell her. I put my arms around I said, 'If I was to organise and have Hugh Jackman or Brad Pitt take care of lovemaking for you on my behalf and things like that, would you still love me?' One time if she said, 'No, I will still love you more.' I'm joking. That’s a joke. But the point is that if you're not delegating lower priority things, you're trapped. Lisa: And this is the dilemma, I think, of small businesses is giving that mix right and not taking on people before you can go to that next level. Dr John: But you go. You go to the next level by taking them on if it's done properly. Lisa: If it's done properly, because I've- Dr John: You want to make sure. That's why I have a value determination process on my website to determine the values of people I hire because if they're not inspired to do what I need to delegate, that's not the right person.You gotta have the right people on the bus, this column says. I have to be clear about what I can produce if I go and do these other things. And me speaking it, and doing the doctoring on the highest priority patients was way more productive financially than me doing those other things. So once I got on to that, I put somebody in place just to book speeches, and just to make sure that I was scheduled and filled my day with schedules with patients, it was a updated day and night. I've never gone back to that. I only research, write, travel, teach. That's it. Lisa: That's my dream. I'm gonna get there. Dr John: I don't do it. What's interesting is I became financially independent doing that because of that. I learned that if I don't value myself, and I don't pay myself, other people aren't going to pay me. If they're waiting for you to value you add when you value you, the world values you. You pay yourself first, other people pay you first. It's a reflection, economically, there. And that's what allowed me to do it. Because financial independence isn't for debauchery and for the fun life, in my opinion. It's for making sure that you get to do what you love because you love it not because you have to do it. Lisa: And having an impact on the world. But if you're stuck doing the admin and the technical, logical stuff, and the crap that goes along with the business. You're not impacting the world like you want to be impacting. Dr John: Weel, the individual that does the administration is impacting the world through the ripple effect by giving you the freedom to do it. Lisa: Exactly. Dr John: If that's what they love doing. That’s not what I love doing. But there are people that love administration, they love that stuff and love behind the scenes, I love doing that. Finding those people. That's the key. Lisa: Finding those people. I's given me a bit of encouragement because I've been in that sort of groundhog days I had to get through the ceiling and get to the next level of reach. Dr John: I finally realised that the cost of hiring somebody is insignificant compared to the freedom that it provides if you do your priority. Lisa: If you get your stuff right, and know what you… Dr John: Because the energy, your energy goes up the second you're doing what you love doing. And that draws business to you. Lisa: Absolutely. I mean, like doing what we're doing. Now, this is my happy place.  Dr John: We’re both in our element. This is why we're probably going to slow down. The point is, when you're doing something you love to do, when you're on fire, with kind of an enthusiasm, people come around to watch you burn. They want to see you on fire.  Lisa: I mean, they do, they do. And I've seen that in times in my life where I've been preparing for a big race or something, and I need sponsors. I just go out there.  At the start, I didn't know how to do a sponsored proposal, I didn't know how to do any of that fancy stuff. I just went out there and told the story. And by sharing the story, people were like, 'I want to get on board with this. That's exciting.' People would come on in and and when you don't know, one of the things that I've found in life is the less you know, sometimes the more audacious you are. When you actually h

Mike Stafford hosts 640 Toronto's Morning Show   Dr. Susan Newman, social psychologist, author of ‘The Book of NO: 365 Ways to Say It and Mean It—and Stop People Pleasing Forever' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the 2021 market continuing to be unpredictable, you may be used to seeing different client concerns and interactions that are likely a bit different than you're used to. Sellers now are worried a

With the 2021 market continuing to be unpredictable, you may be used to seeing different client concerns and interactions that are likely a bit different than you’re used to. Sellers now are worried about finding somewhere new to stay, and buyers are plentiful but that’s making competition fierce. However, there are ways to continue to stay ahead and work with top quality clients that want to do business with you. It’s all about the solutions you can solve for your clients and how to create the optimal scenario for them. What strategies are you using today to create optimal scenarios for your clients? How can you improve your offer to stand out in a 2021 market? Michael Bernoff is the President and Founder of the Human Communications Institute, a leader in the personal and professional development industry. He works directly with individuals as well as corporate executives who desire to transform their corporate culture in an ever changing marketplace. During his own journey of self-discovery, Michael studied and modeled effective leaders recognized worldwide. He focused on their philosophies, strategies, and techniques that have consistently produced rapid and lasting change. By combining a variety of these proven disciplines and his own strategies, Michael has created his own programs that he now teaches to people looking to level up their life, skills, and business to stop being average. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Michael run through many scenarios that we see commonly in today’s market, and how to respond efficiently and effectively. We’ll discuss how to respond to objections, get clients to say yes faster, and how to build rapport easily without being pushy. If you’re looking to brush up on your conversation skills and pick up new tactics to improve your craft, this episode is for you. Tune in to be the best salesperson you can without feeling like you’re selling at all. Three Things You’ll Learn in This Episode How to lead conversations without a sales approach You always want to be in control of your conversations with clients and in order to do so there’s a certain strategy to implement. We’ll talk about 3 ways to lead the conversation by making your client still feel in control. How to get hired before you show up There’s a difference between working with people, and people wanting to work with you. The latter is always easier and leads to more success in closing deals. Find out one way to keep your brand in shape and relatable. How to discuss costs comfortably and effectively Especially today, costs are often a touchy subject for many clients. Knowing how to navigate this conversation comfortably and professionally is important for everyone. Not only will you learn how to assure much happier clients, but also more money in your pocket as you’ll be able to justify a higher cost. Connect with Michael Learn more about Michael at MichaelBernoff.com and connect with him on Facebook to continue the conversation. Resources Average Sucks by Michael Bernoff Join the Average Sucks 5 Day Challenge for FREE Michael on Instagram Real Estate Marketing Dude REMD on YouTube Follow Us On TikTok

On today's episode, we discuss how concerned we should be about Netflix's slow start to the year, which activities people will do at home versus in-person (if both were safe and possible), how TikTok can convince people to buy things on its platform, details about a Twitter Blue subscription service, whether a travel recovery already happened, some interesting facts about 'Forrest Gump,' and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer director of forecasting Oscar Orozco, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch. For sponsorship opportunities contact us:   advertising@insiderintelligence.com.   For more information visit:   https://www.insiderintelligence.com/contact/advertise/ Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com

On this terrific Tuesday with the Mentorship Quest podcast, we have a quote coming at you from entrepreneur and creator of Apple, Mr. Steve Jobs! And he says, “I'm as proud of what we don't do as I am of what we do.” In this episode, we're talking about how saying 'YES' to too many things can interrupt your life's harmony, as well as sharing a few handy tools when it comes to turning down asks and offers!

Anyone out there miss X-Men Unlimited?  No?  How 'bout I pretend you said 'Yes'? Well, have I got the book for you!  In this "Just the X, ma'am" look at another issue of the Marvel's Voices anthology, we've got some very X-Men stories you'll swear you've already read... at least twice! First, Domino talks about how lucky she is... then, Storm recruits a young troubled mutant. All that, plus great Mailbag, and the X-Sales Chart from February, 2021! -- Twitter: @acecomics / Instagram: @90sxmen weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com chrisandreggie.podbean.com chrisisoninfiniteearths.com xlapsed.chrisisoninfiniteearths.com/ facebook.com/groups/90sxmen

It's time to get personal. Today I'm talking about my recent struggle with apathy and all the things I had to do to return to my usual state of creative inspiration. Tune in to hear me dive into: Energetic Alignment, Lifestyle Creation, Stepping into the new Paradigm, How to clear space in your energetic field by purging emotions, Self expression and communication as an experiment, channeling your content from the present moment, spiritual awakening & shadow healing &  Collectively creating a new reality. Possibly my most important episode yet.   Come kick it with me on Insta & YouTube   Work With Me | 30 Day Scripting Mentorship   Get My Book | Her Feminine Frequency

On this episode-Unpacking grief beliefs-Western culture and grief illiteracy-How to show up for others that are grieving by “showing up, shutting up, and listening”-Navigating the process of grief for yourself-Whole self healing in the midst of grief-How grief changes fundamentally who we areFind Lisa Keefauver at the following WebsiteReimagining Grief WebsiteReimagining Grief InstagramReimagining Grief TwitterReimagining Grief FacebookLisa Keefauver, MSW on LinkedIn PodcastGrief is a Sneaky B!tch (available on all platforms or stream on website) ArticlesWhy The Stages of Grief are Limiting. Instead, think 'Yes and' - ArticleBack to Normal? Not so fast: Employee burnout, grief and trauma is real - Article Find us on Social MediaInstagram @dopeshttherapypodClubhouse @dopeshttherapypodTik Tok @dopeshttherapypodemail us at dopeshttherapypod@gmail.comLogo artwork by Nora Padison: Instagram @bynorajayne***Disclaimer***Dope Sh*t My Therapist Says Podcast is not a replacement for therapy. The conversations, guests, and tips talked about on the episodes are provided as educational, thought provoking, and to be inspiring and are NOT specific theraputic advice. The views of our guests reflect their own personal experiences and perspectives. Information and tips heard on the episodes are to be used at your own caution and discretion as they are not being given by a therapist that knows you personally. As always please seek out your own individual mental health care to best serve you.

Is it possible to rise from the ashes of defeat, disgrace, and destitution? God's Words says, 'Yes'. as we reveal four stories of great comebacks. Where there is life, there is hope.

Failure happens to everyone; we will experience it at some point in our lives. Despite our sacrifices and hard work, we may not achieve what we set out to do. It is, however, important to approach failure not as the end of a journey but as a crucial lesson. And it doesn’t matter how many times you fail—physical, emotional and mental resilience will take us one step forward towards our eventual success and victory.  Laura Penhaul joins us in this episode to share the story of her expedition across the Pacific Ocean. She describes the preparations she undertook, from planning the expedition to gaining financial support. Laura also talks about the importance of breaking down the journey and being clear with team dynamics in the expedition’s success.   If you want to know more about the makings of strength and mental resilience in a person, then this episode is for you.   Get Customised Guidance for Your Genetic Make-Up For our epigenetics health programme all about optimising your fitness, lifestyle, nutrition and mind performance to your particular genes, go to  https://www.lisatamati.com/page/epigenetics-and-health-coaching/.   Customised Online Coaching for Runners CUSTOMISED RUN COACHING PLANS — How to Run Faster, Be Stronger, Run Longer  Without Burnout & Injuries Have you struggled to fit in training in your busy life? Maybe you don't know where to start, or perhaps you have done a few races but keep having motivation or injury troubles? Do you want to beat last year’s time or finish at the front of the pack? Want to run your first 5-km or run a 100-miler? ​​Do you want a holistic programme that is personalised & customised to your ability, your goals and your lifestyle?  Go to www.runninghotcoaching.com for our online run training coaching.   Health Optimisation and Life Coaching If you are struggling with a health issue and need people who look outside the square and are connected to some of the greatest science and health minds in the world, then reach out to us at support@lisatamati.com, we can jump on a call to see if we are a good fit for you. If you have a big challenge ahead, are dealing with adversity or are wanting to take your performance to the next level and want to learn how to increase your mental toughness, emotional resilience, foundational health and more, then contact us at support@lisatamati.com.   Order My Books My latest book Relentless chronicles the inspiring journey about how my mother and I defied the odds after an aneurysm left my mum Isobel with massive brain damage at age 74. The medical professionals told me there was absolutely no hope of any quality of life again, but I used every mindset tool, years of research and incredible tenacity to prove them wrong and bring my mother back to full health within 3 years. Get your copy here: https://shop.lisatamati.com/collections/books/products/relentless. For my other two best-selling books Running Hot and Running to Extremes chronicling my ultrarunning adventures and expeditions all around the world, go to https://shop.lisatamati.com/collections/books.   Lisa’s Anti-Ageing and Longevity Supplements  NMN: Nicotinamide Mononucleotide, a NAD+ precursor Feel Healthier and Younger* Researchers have found that Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide or NAD+, a master regulator of metabolism and a molecule essential for the functionality of all human cells, is being dramatically decreased over time. What is NMN? NMN Bio offers a cutting edge Vitamin B3 derivative named NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) that is capable of boosting the levels of NAD+ in muscle tissue and liver. Take charge of your energy levels, focus, metabolism and overall health so you can live a happy, fulfilling life. Founded by scientists, NMN Bio offers supplements that are of highest purity and rigorously tested by an independent, third party lab. Start your cellular rejuvenation journey today. Support Your Healthy Ageing We offer powerful, third party tested, NAD+ boosting supplements so you can start your healthy ageing journey today. Shop now: https://nmnbio.nz/collections/all NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 250mg | 30 capsules NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 500mg | 30 capsules 6 Bottles | NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 250mg | 30 Capsules 6 Bottles | NMN (beta Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) 500mg | 30 Capsules Quality You Can Trust — NMN Our premium range of anti-ageing nutraceuticals (supplements that combine Mother Nature with cutting edge science) combat the effects of aging, while designed to boost NAD+ levels. Manufactured in an ISO9001 certified facility Boost Your NAD+ Levels — Healthy Ageing: Redefined Cellular Health Energy & Focus Bone Density Skin Elasticity DNA Repair Cardiovascular Health Brain Health  Metabolic Health   My  ‘Fierce’ Sports Jewellery Collection For my gorgeous and inspiring sports jewellery collection ‘Fierce’, go to https://shop.lisatamati.com/collections/lisa-tamati-bespoke-jewellery-collection.   Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode: Gain valuable insights through Laura’s journey and expedition across the Pacific Ocean. Learn about mental resilience and adaptability in dealing with failure.   Discover the importance of team dynamics in the success of Laura’s expedition.   Resources Gain exclusive access to premium podcast content and bonuses! Become a Pushing the Limits Patron now! Support healthy ageing through the NAD+ boosting supplement, NMN! Visit NMN Bio for more information.  Watch Losing Sight of Shore, a documentary about four brave women rowing across the Pacific Ocean, from America to Australia. The strength of adaptability: achieving the impossible, Laura Penhaul on TEDxTruro What it takes for a team to survive 9 months at sea, Laura Penhaul on TEDxClapham Endurance podcast with Mark Beaumont and Laura Penhaul Endurance: How to Cycle Further by Mark Beaumont Connect with Laura: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn   Episode Highlights [05:12] Laura’s Background Laura worked in elite sport for the Olympics and Paralympics for more than 14 years. As a physical therapist, she was able to see people through their journeys as athletes.  In the face of adversity, Laura found two types of people: those who bounced back from it and those who gave up because of it.  She was inspired by those who wanted to thrive and make the most out of life.  She never experienced rowing before, but she was searching for a challenge. Ocean rowing was something she found ideal.  The expedition gave her a lot of learnings.  [12:58] Gaining Confidence Reach out to those who have done what you want to do or to those who have expertise.  Laura had to break down the journey and prepare for it: planning the possibility of the route, gaining logistical and structural support, planning out the time frame and preparing the team.  She expected to finish in a year but didn’t. It took four years of planning before they could carry out the expedition.  She had to learn from her failures, figure out her blind spots and reach out to other people for help.  [16:12] Gathering Financial Support and Sponsorships At first, Laura could not ask for money to support her journey. She reached out to people who worked in business and sponsorship. They helped her shape her deck, brand and business model.  She also reached out to Mark Beaumont, an elite expedition athlete. She learned from his experience and failures.  With Mark’s help, Laura could have a structure for the timeline, budget and sponsorship.  [20:06] Physical, Emotional and Mental Resilience  Optimise your own elite performance.  Break down the journey and plan everything. Being prepared makes you feel confident when dealing with the unknown.  Have the courage to step away from comfort and the norms.  Push outside of your comfort bubble to reach your full potential.  [25:40] Going Beyond Your Comfort Zone Laura considers herself a calculated risk-taker.  She does not leap blindly and makes sure not to leave any stone unturned.  It’s not a failure if you learn from it.  Have the physical, emotional and mental resilience and robustness to bounce back and ask where and why you went wrong.  [29:36] Dealing with Failure You can prepare everything and still fail. There are things you can’t control. Be adaptable and flexible in your performance. During difficult times, the strength of Laura’s team was able to support a struggling individual. Different perspectives help you see things you can and cannot control. It can prevent you from being ill or injured. [34:42] Team Dynamics Compared to individual sports, being in a team is difficult.  Expeditions bring out the best and worst in people. You won’t know unless you are in the situation.  Laura wanted her team to be cohesive and transparent. She always confronts an issue and steps forward to speak about it.  A performance psychologist helped them understand the differences in each other's personalities, which helped make their journey a success. [44:05] Keeping Mindfulness in Moments of Struggle Leveraging each member’s strengths and differences can end up holding the team together rather than pulling it apart. When you are struggling, you may show a part of yourself that is cynical and selfish.  Remember: we are all working on our character.  In extreme circumstances, the bad side of ourselves could come out. Dealing with it is part of resilience and teamwork.   7 Powerful Quotes ‘There's people that can go through the same type of thing. And yet one person wakes up, being so thankful that they're alive’ they're now going to make the most of life. And then somebody else that wakes up and they're like, they wish they didn't wake up’. ‘How can I put myself in a situation which is completely unknown, that's kind of gonna make me want to give up? And I want to understand what it is we draw on when we can't give up [and] we've only got one option’. ‘It's all about perspective, isn't it? And it's all about the context that you're in. And this is the thing that I get really passionate about is, I want to optimise people's own elite performance’. ‘It is not a failure unless you don’t learn from it. And leaping sometimes is exactly what you need to do, and it's just not being scared to fall, like just knowing that, you know what, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. It's got you one step further. And one step closer to finding what the next thing might be’. ‘You kind of just got to crack on and then there's no going back, you can't row backwards, sort of, it's only about having the confidence to step into taking on the Pacific’. ‘You've got to understand that there are things you can't control. So you've done everything you can control. And now the rest is up to the gods, basically. And you're going to have to be able to be adaptable and flexible’. ‘The girls hated confrontation. They weren't used to giving and receiving feedback. That was always felt like a personal threat. I just had to put myself in the barrier first. I be like, “Right, cool, okay, if you're not going to give it and you're going to say everything's rosy when it's not, I’ll pull it out”’.   About Laura Laura Penhaul is one of the world's most respected physiotherapists. She helps train many of the top athletes in Olympic sailing and the Paralympics.  Laura is known for her nine-month, 9000-mile crossing of the Pacific in a rowboat. She managed a team of four women known as the Coxless Crew; she was the expedition's team leader and organiser. The expedition is featured in a documentary called Losing Sight of Shore. Connect with Laura through Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.   Enjoyed This Podcast? If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning in, then leave us a review. You can also share this with your family and friends so they can learn more about stories of strength and mental resilience. Have any questions? You can contact me through email (support@lisatamati.com) or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. For more episode updates, visit my website. You may also tune in on Apple Podcasts. To pushing the limits, Lisa    Full Transcript Of The Podcast!  Welcome to Pushing the Limits, the show that helps you reach your full potential with your host Lisa Tamati, brought to you by lisatamati.com. Lisa Tamati: Hi everyone, and welcome back to Pushing the Limits once again. Today, I have another world-leading, actually world-record-holding, superwoman. Now, this lady is Laura Penhaul from England, and Laura is one of the world's most respected physiotherapists. She helps train many of the top athletes in Olympic sailing and in Paralympics with people with disabilities. She's done an awful lot in high-performance sport. But what Laura is really known for is that Laura did a 9,000-mile crossing of the Pacific in a rowboat, you heard that right. Right across the Pacific. Nine months it took and she was the team leader and organiser of this whole expedition. She got four women together to do this epic event. And there is a documentary out called Losing Sight of Shore. And today we discuss this mammoth expedition that Laura undertook. The funny thing is that Laura hadn't even been a rower before she took this on. But because she had worked so much with high-performance athletes, people pushing the limits of endurance, and people with disabilities doing crazy things. She wanted to understand what is it that makes some people so resilient and strong, and other ones want to give up when they're faced with a trauma. And she thought, 'I don't need to wait until something drastic happens in my life, and my health has taken off me or my mobility, or I have an accident or I have something to wake up. I can actually take on some mammoth task so that I can start to understand what it actually takes and what resilience and strength is all about'. And she felt like she didn't have the right to be leading and guiding other people if she didn't have that experience herself. So she set off on a mission, what she thought would take them a year to do for a status to organise this expedition across the Pacific. And they knew that taking it four years of preparation, we go into the, all the details of putting together such a high-performance team, it's a fantastic interview. She really is a superwoman. I'm in awe over here, I can't imagine being in a 29-foot boat for anything more than about two hours, I reckon, before I'd start going nuts, so she's pretty impressive, this lady. And before we head over to the show, just want to remind you, we've launched now, our patron program for the podcast. So if you want to become a premium member of our podcast tribe, if you like, we'd love you to come and join us here on over to patron.lisatamati.com. And we'd love to see you over, the, it's all about keeping the show going. We've been doing it now for five and a half years each and every episode takes me a long time to put together to chase these world-leading experts, to do the research that I need to do, especially when it's dealing with scientific topics, and a test takes an awful amount of time. And to keep it going we need your help. And we wanted to give you lots of benefits too so people who do get in behind the podcast and help us provide this super valuable content to everybody get a whole lot of exclusive member benefits. So we'd love you to check it out. Go to patron.lisatamati.com for more information on that. And on that note before we just hit over to Laura, I just want to remind you about my new longevity and anti-ageing supplement NMN Nicotinamide Mononucleotide. You would have heard a couple of times in the podcast I had Dr Elena Seranova and we're going to have her on more often. She's a molecular biologist and tells us all about the ways that we can help with anti-ageing. And one of those things is by taking Nicotinamide Mononucleotide, which is a very, very powerful supplement. It's an NAD precursor that helps up-regulate the sirtuin genes, helps provide a bigger pool of NAD to every cell in the body and helps on a very, very deep level. The ageing working against the ageing process and who doesn't want to know about them if you want to find out all about it and all the science behind it, please go to nmnbio.nz. Right, now over to the show with Laura Penhaul. Lisa: Well, hi everyone, and welcome to Pushing the Limits. Today I'm super excited. I have an amazing, amazing guest for you. I really do find the most incredible people and this lady is a superwoman. So welcome to the show. It's really, really nice to have you Laura. Laura Penhaul is sitting in Cornwall in England. Laura, how's your day going? Well, you're not going. Laura Penhaul: Oh I was gonna say yeah no, it's been great. Do it. Yeah, it's now eight o'clock in the evening. So yeah, no, it's all good. It's been a beautiful sunny day. Lisa: Oh lovely, lovely. So Laura is an amazing person who does expeditions and as a physio, Laura, can you give us a little bit of background? I want you to tell your story in your words, give us a bit of a synopsis about what you do and what the critical things. I mean I've done a bit in the intro so, but I really want your words, if you like. Laura: Yeah, no props well, firstly, yes. Thanks, Lisa for having me on the show. It's been an honour because I think you're a superwoman more than me. Lisa: Hell no. Laura: But no I mean yeah, my background is I worked in elite sport, in Olympic and Paralympic sport for over 14 years. Sort of went to Vancouver, London, Rio, Tokyo cycles. And yeah during that kind of journey, and that was as lead physio in different sports, whether that was downhill skiing, whether it was with British Athletics Paralympic team. And more recently, I was with the British sailing team. And during that sort of journey as a physio like, the role that we have, as physios, physical therapists are very much kind of, you know, you're seeing somebody through a journey. And like when I worked with them and we've worked with patients in trauma, worked versus kind of, you know, in spinal cord injuries, and then straight to Paralympic sport, I've been surrounded by people that have been faced with significant adversity. And it's sort of, it's always along my journey of my career, have I been fascinated by understanding the person in front of me and kind of going, there's usually two types of people when they've been thrown a massive curveball, like an RTA or road traffic accident, or something horrendous, that is completely changed their life for the rest of their life. Those two, there's people that can go through the same type of thing. And yet one person wakes up, being so thankful that they're alive, they're now going to make the most of life. And then somebody else that wakes up and they're like, they wish they didn't wake up. And as a physio dealing with those two people, you've got to have a very different approach. And in the, kind of—to me, understanding that person that wants to give up and actually being able to change their mindset and facilitate, go shoulder to shoulder with them is really powerful. And then those people that do wake up and want to thrive, like they're the ones that have inspired me to do more stuff, because I'm like, why do we wait for adversity? Why do we wait for something to be a curveball before we then, like, start to go, ‘Oh, my God, I need to make the most of life like I’m fit. And I'm healthy. I need to make the most of life because clearly stuff could happen in an hour’s time. Lisa: At any time. Laura: Exactly. So that's kind of what then drove me to start to do more and more personally, and kind of a bit of exploratory expedition space. And then the real, so that led me to ride the Pacific Ocean, which is kind of you know what, we're talking about. Lisa: You said it again, you just rode the Pacific Ocean is, I just dropped it as a, to yeah, and then I rode the Pacific Ocean. So you were into sailing and into rowing and into all of that sport, as prior, this was your thing? Laura: No. Well, that's the thing, no wasn't in all honesty. I was, I'm kind of a jack of all trades like I love anybody, any athletes, anybody that I work with, I want to understand them. And I want to understand the sport, the environment that they're in. So when I was working with skiers, I went off and did a ski season. I learned to ski when I, and I'm somebody that, yeah, I love to do different sports and outdoors, the sort of outdoor environments. And if I was working with marathon runners, I was like, I can't fully treat them if I don't understand, if I haven't run a marathon like, to me, I need to experience what they've experienced, even in a small way to kind of get a glimpse of the environment. So I would run a marathon, same with triathletes, and, you know, not to the extent of your, sort of did a half Ironman, and then the point was the Paralympic cohort when I was working with them. I was like, this is an area that I can't untap you know, yeah. Lisa: Yeah. Laura: I can do it, but I can't understand what it is to be a Paralympian. Lisa: Yep. Laura: However, how can I put myself in a situation which is completely unknown, that's kind of gonna make me want to give up. And I want to understand what it is we draw on when we can't give up you know, we've only got one option. Lisa: Yep. Laura: So I kind of, that's what I was searching for, for a couple of years of searching for something that was going to be out of my comfort zone completely and was going to be a challenge on multiple levels. Lisa: Sure must have been. Laura: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I guess at the time, I was doing, sort of, triathlons. I was enjoying them. But anything that was cycling, running, swimming, I felt like this would be expected and I kind of would already be a bit familiar with it. So when I suddenly heard about ocean rowing, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is ideal'. I've always wanted to row but never did it. Then never got a chance to, so I'd never rode before. I've never lost sight of shore. Like, you know, I've never been out at sea properly, never sailed or any of that stuff. Well, a bar like going on a few trips. But yeah, not a sailor by anyway, shape or form.  So it was, I was, and that just connected, you know, when something, an opportunity comes up and you're like, ‘This is exactly what I've been looking for'. And it was a proper light bulb moment. And the thing for me, it's the one time in my whole life that I've been so focused, like, ‘I have to make this happen'. Because I know, in my heart of hearts, I know what I'm going to get out of this is going to be huge. Lisa: Wow. Laura: And that basically is why starting point with it, it was kind of, I didn't know how to row, I went from being a marathon weight of like, something stupid, like 58 kilos up to, I had to go up to 72 kilos to grow on mass, you know, to be not skinny, because we lose a lot of weight out there. I had to put a team together, whereas, in my personal sport, I was doing quite individual sports. So, you know, I had to work out the team cohesion, the whole team dynamics, and recruitment. I had to figure out what the boat was, get it built, like then set up this as a business, you know, so. So yeah, so the whole journey it was, I mean, now on reflection, there's so many learnings from it. But I absolutely thrive from the self-awareness piece, how much I've learned about myself, and the different perspectives. And you know, approaching that row, my approach is very much like, this is all brand spanking new. So if I can approach it with a blank canvas, if I can have a real adaptive mindset, and if I surround, if I've now gone on the other side of the table, rather than surrounding athletes, if I surround myself with the relevant expertise, how far can I get? And how far can I really experience that athlete? Lisa: Yeah, sorry, just my brother's just come in the middle of the podcast it’s all right. There. Come on Mitch, get around the other side. Yeah, this is podcast life for you. Didn't tell your brother you’re recording. There was so much here that I wanted to unpack. Because there was like, you just skipped over a ton of stuff. Number one, you had no idea. So what gave you the confidence, what was the little voice inside you saying, ‘I can do this’, when you're in a completely unknown sport? Like what was it that made you think, ‘Oh, yeah, I can ride across the Pacific on a row across the Pacific, you know, for nine months, and that all worked out well'. You know, how did you even come up with a concept for something so audacious? Laura: Well, I mean, it's all about small pieces, isn't it, and kind of reaching out to those that have done stuff and those that you respect and have the expertise. So it was basically breaking it, breaking the journey down. First of all, one is that route even possible? So initially, somebody had asked me to be part of the Indian Ocean, and they were putting a team together and then I evolved it into the Pacific. And then somebody, I was like, well, actually, originally, it might have been the new ocean wave race, which just goes from San Fran to Hawaii. And I was like, well, that's not the Pacific. That's a third of it, like so if I'm going to say I'm going to row the Pacific. I want to row, can I row all of it? Yeah. So it was then reaching out to somebody from a logistical point of view and a support structure point of view saying, ‘Is this even feasible? And what would it look like?’ And when they said, 'Yes'. I was like, right, okay. So that's route can get involved, this is what it's going to look like. We're going to need to start, we're going to need to replenish, but it's doable. But it's going to take this time frame. And then it was kind of like right, in order for me to get prepped and the team to get prepped, what's the time frame that it's going to take to do that? Let's be realistic. And I wasn't realistic. I was naive, I thought it would only take us about a year to get to the start line. And hell no. It took four years to get to start, like four years. Lisa: Four years. That’s massive. Laura: Yeah, so it was. But interestingly, there's so many parallels, you know, like working in Olympic sport, everything's in four-year cycles for the Olympic cycle. And so there's so much that I learned through that process of, I thought I was only going to go in a year's time. That didn't happen. We didn't have the funding. I didn't got the team, the boat wasn't finished, you know, it was like, right, I need to go again. I need to reset. I need to sort of keep the ball rolling. But I need to learn from what failures have had here. And how do I overcome them? Lisa: Wow. Laura: The second year, I didn’t quite have to win I thought it was but it's all that sort of stuff. You go, yeah, you can give up why it's such a clear vision with it. And the question in my head was, ‘There's going to be an all-female team that is going to do this at some point. Like, why can't it be me? And I'm sure that will happen in my lifetime'. So what am I missing? What are the things that I can't see? That's in my blind spots. And that's where I started to reach out, to pull in different people to say, right, ‘This is the problem I've got, how can you help me’? How can you see and it was that reaching out for help with the right expertise that got us to the start line? It wasn't me. It was the collective bigger support team around us. Lisa: How did you even, like the resources and the money in the financial and the sponsorship, when you didn't have a—I mean, you had a backstory as a high-performance expert, and helping other people in training and so on. But, you know you didn't have, you weren't—there were no huge amount of resources behind you. How did you—I know what I had to go through to get to the races that I did. And that was probably a heck of a lot less than what you had to go through. How did you face that? And what did you learn on the business side of the journey, the marketing, all of that sort of stuff? Laura: Yeah, I mean– Lisa: Selling the idea to people. Laura: Yeah, the money. It kind of—it’s exactly that. I think it's showing the belief, like the absolute dogged determinedness, that this is going to happen, and you know, like, I put in my own swag to it. I paid for the boat built in the first place. So I'm like, I'm gonna do this, like, do you want to be part of it or not? But I want to do this regardless. Yeah. Lisa: So basically, how I did too. Laura: This is not my approach. But you know, I mean, I say that, but let's face it, I was useless at kind of asking for money, like, you know, it's great, you're doing it for charities. But to ask to support me, and like our journey. I was crap. You know, I'm a physio, I like to help people. I don't like asking for help. You know, at the time, I was very much in that poor sort of leadership style. And that's a big, that was a big learning point. But then reaching out to people that do work in business and do work in sponsorship. And they were the people that then helped me to shape sort of your sponsorship deck and how you need to brand it, what's your, you know, the colours, the language, all of that type of stuff. Lisa: Wow. Laura: And I loved it because I mean, I love learning. So suddenly, I was entering a snippet of a different world that I knew nothing about previously. Same with like the PR side of it, I had no idea but that was great fun, and, and the business model itself, like yeah became a business and I thought it was all about the physical and that was totally not it was 10% of like the project. And then yeah, so like you say, setting up a business no Scooby-Doo about and so simplicity was reaching out to people that had been successful had done it before. And the likes of, you know, Mark Beaumont, that we've talked about before like Mark. Mark is somebody that's an elite athlete, expedition athlete, he'd actually at the time rode the Atlantic, and unfortunately, they nearly died at sea. So I'd reached out to him to learn from his experiences from the actual failures, more, I don't want necessarily the successes, but, and he then was great at providing me with a bit more of the structure for you know, the timeline, the budget that this, that in the other room. Lisa: Wow. Laura: How you sort of need to get the sponsorship. And yeah, so I think to me, it's about as you know, if you hold, if this is a new space and you hold an ego thinking you're going to, then you're never gonna get anywhere. Lisa: You’re gonna get your ass kicked. Laura: Yeah, basically, just whereas for me, yeah, well, I don't mind. I don't mind saying I don't know something. I'm happy to ask why and how and who can help… Lisa: You can be very humble, we can tell that five minutes of talking to you, you know. Laura: Thank you very much. Lisa: And how did you get a team together? Because you get four ladies, you rode the Pacific and people were talking like nine months and a rowboat unsupported, like from California to Cairns, wasn’t it? It's great. Yeah. There's a documentary out on it. If people want to find out we'll work out with it with the link sir. And how they can get hold of it perhaps afterwards. Four ladies in a rowboat, rowing across the lake. I mean, to the average person who doesn't know anything about rowing? It sounds absolutely insane. And I, like, I said to my husband, I was interviewing this morning and I said I couldn't last 24 hours in a rowboat. I probably couldn't last four hours in a rowboat. How do you comprehend nine months like that for me? Is, I mean, I've never done anything on that scale, of that long. You know, like, the longest thing I ever did was run through New Zealand which was a sustained effort over 42 days. And that well nearly bloody killed me, you know. But that's not nine months, you know, little logistics and all that. Wow. Laura: Yeah, but you know what, I've been, flipping heck, you know. 40 odd days that you're running the lengths of New Zealand, like that is insane. So you could have... Lisa: That’s a hell lot easier than rowing. Laura: It’s not though! I mean, it's all about perspective, isn't it? And it's all about the context that you're in. And this is the thing that I get really passionate about is, I want to optimise people's own elite performance, like, not comparative to anybody else, like, what's your—so what you're really is your achievement of like, 42 days and everything else you've achieved is huge. Whereas somebody else's 42 days of running, will be running a marathon like that will be—it's about that gap analysis, like, where you'd got yourself to, to then be able to take on the 42-day sort of challenge. Like that was a big old leap, but you're already like, sort of—your experiences, and you'd prepped yourself for that. Lisa: Yes, years and years. Laura: Yeah, and where is somebody who's on a couch, but then is setting their sights of running a marathon. That's their 42 days, like, that's their elite performance for them. And the row for us? Yeah, it was a big old leap, but it was fundamentally, it was broken down. Like I think sometimes you must have found this with the run, you're talking about there and everything else. You've got to break it down, like you certainly in the preparation phase, you've got to plan every inch and every sort of crook of it within its life so that you don't leave any stone left unturned. You feel like you're best prepared, that gives you confidence, to then have capacity to deal with the unknown when you're faced with it. So to me, that sort of, I always wanted to leave, like, at least 30% of capacity in my headspace to make sure I can react to when I need to. Lisa: You can handle it. Laura: Exactly, and deal with the unknown. If I mean, if we'd gone on that row in that first year, Jesus Christ, like most of it was unknown, like that. I was so naive, it was ridiculous. But by the time you know, it's four years down the line, I felt so confident in actually we've trialed the boat, we've done 72 hours, we've done a couple of weeks. We've done team testing, we've done routines, we've done steep depot, we've done the training, we've done the site support, you know, all of those, every aspect of it. I feel like we took out and then it was a case of right, well, then we just need to do this on a day and day out. And then however long that's gonna last for it's just sticking to routines, which you know, the same in whatever you do. Lisa: The more you do the more it becomes normal. Laura: Exactly. And then it's kind of like, Well, actually, once you lose sight of shore, whether you're out there for five days, five weeks, five months, actually doesn't make much difference. Lisa: You’re in this shit anyway. Too far from home anyway, you've lost sight of shore! Laura: Yeah, you kind of just got to crack on and then, you know, there's no going back, you can't row backwards, sort of, it's only about, you know, having the confidence to step into taking on the Pacific. And for us, you know, yes, we rowed the Pacific literally, but to me, it was the essence of everybody's got their own Pacifics to cross like... Lisa: Yes.  Laura: ...our film’s called Losing Sight of Shore because it's about having the courage to lose sight of shore, like, have that sort of courage to just step away from the comfort, step away from the knowns. And like, Oh, my God, you know, that's where life just opens up and expose. Lisa: Because you know, I had Paul Taylor, who's a neuroscientist, and ex-British Navy guy, and exercise physiologist on the show last week, and he's talking about the small bubble where you can live in or the big bubble. And the big bubble is where we all want to be, you know, where we’re reaching our potential and we are filling and where are all these amazing things that we could do. We know that that bubble was there. But we're all scared living in this little comfort zone. And how do you push outside because that outside is risk of failure, and in your case risk of dying. You know, there was so much that you put on the line physically, mentally, financially, emotionally, relationships, you know. You name it, you put it on the line for this one thing, and that is living in that big bubble and scaring the crap out of yourself and doing it anyway. Most people have this tendency to want to be comfortable in and I see this as a massive problem in our society today is that we are all cozy and comfortable and sitting on the couch watching Netflix and we are warm and we don't push ourselves for the gloom we don't push yourself. And this leads to disaster when it comes to resilience and being able to cope because you're been through this amazing adventure and expedition and you've risked everything, you must have an inner confidence that is just—and I know that you won't have it in all areas of life because this is certainly specific. And I know how that works because I'm really good and some things and really crap in others and I'm still working on my mindset in this area and that area or whatever, we're work in progress but you when you've lifted up your horizons to that big, nothing must daunt you in a way. Like he must be like, ‘Okay, whatever is coming at me, I can probably handle it'. Because you know, inside you have that resilience, which is so important. Laura: Yeah. I mean, I think you're right. It's about context, isn't it? Like I—you know, I'm a risk-taker, but I'm a really calculated risk-taker, right. Lisa: Yeah. Laura: Exactly. So kind of the Pacific seems like it's ridiculous, and it's life threatening. I mean, I didn't leave any stone left unturned. I had military guys helping us to make sure we'd sort of not left stuff unturned. We went through survival practice. We, I mean, there was everything and the amount of sort of, you know, routines we had on the boat, leashes, and kind of safety equipment was next to none. Because I was like, the risk we've got is getting separated from the boat. So I'm risk-aware, really risk-aware. And, and kind of, and make sure that sort of don't leave any stone unturned so then I feel confident to go forwards. I wouldn't just leap into it like blindly. Lisa: Yep, you shouldn’t. Laura: Yeah exactly. Lisa: Because you will die. Laura: Yeah. But I mean, it's no different if you watch, I don't think like, you know, you watch Alex Honnold, climbing free solo, you know, the El Cap, sort of the climb, if anybody’s seen that film. I mean, it's phenomenal. And anybody would, you know, you watch it. You're like, ‘Oh, my God, that's insane. He’s free climbing that like, what if he just slipped’? What if this? What if that? But look at his meticulous approach to it. Lisa: Yeah, one hand wrong. Laura: Exactly. But then his meticulous approach, he hasn't just woken up that day one, right. So I'm going to climb up, you know, sort of freestyle at this thing. He's like, he's been off top-roping with it, he is kind of lead climbed it. He's, kind of, known every single holding place he's written it, he’s drawn it, he’s visualising it. And he's only done it when he feels completely ready, prepped. And that actually, there's no move in that that is going to be a risk. So, therefore, he's a calculated risk-taker. And it is extreme when you watch it, but the preparedness is totally there. Lisa: I couldn't do it. I didn't put the parachute on as I'm halfway down. You know, you do learn from that, you know. I remember going out into the race in Niger, which was 353Ks across one of the most dangerous landscapes in you know, places on Earth, countries on Earth. And we were meant to have food come from France, and it didn't arrive. And I wasn't prepared. I didn't have my own stash, I didn't, my husband at the time, my ex-husband there. He did, you know, like, and when you're doing things like that, and you end up with food poisoning, and you're, you know, vomiting and shitting your way across the Sahara. And you realise, you know, you could have avoided that. That’s sort of a big lesson and do your preparation better, you know. Don't be so cavalier with your, ‘I am going to go and, you know, run 100 miles, and I haven't even trained for a marathon yet'. No, no, you know, and I had to learn those things the hard way because I had a tendency just to dive in. And this is all exciting. And let's do it. Laura: But then you learned that didn’t you? Lisa: Yeah, but it's not a good way to learn in the middle of the Sahara. It’s better to learn previously. Laura: Yeah, that is sure. But yeah, I mean, you still but you learn and I think that's one of the biggest takeaways, of whenever we talk about failure and stuff. It is not a failure, if you, unless you don’t learn from it. And leaping sometimes is exactly what you need to do, and it's just not being scared to fall, like just knowing that, you know what, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. It's got you one step further. And one step closer to finding what the next thing might be. Lisa: Yeah. Laura: So yeah, just it's having that like you say, that the sort of the robustness, the resilience or whatever it is to bounce back to kind of jump back up to ask the questions. ‘Well, why didn't that work? And let's try it a different way', or learn from it and do something. Lisa: Yeah, like you said, You reached out to Mark and he'd had, you know, nearly died and had actually failed in that particular expedition, done lots of other crazy stuff, but you know, and that one and it is those things like you are risking failure and you have to understand it from the outset. That you can take care of all the things you can prepare. You can get everything and you're still risking because, if this was easy, everyone would be doing it. And you have to be okay with the—this is something I try and get my athletes to understand. When you're actually done the work, you've done the boulder, you've done the—all the hard stuff that you knew now standing at the start line, that's actually to have time to celebrate and go, you know, ‘I've done the hard work. Now it's up to whatever's going to come my way'. And like you say, being able to adapt and to have the flexibility to take whatever's coming at you, which isn't always easy, but you have to sort of give up those—I think the consequences of what if, what if, what if, because if you’re constantly asking yourself, for ‘What if I don't make that time?’ You know, say you're running a marathon, or I want to do it in under three and a half hours, or whatever the case may be, and then you're so like, ‘Oh, no’, and then it takes you three hours and thirty-two and you know, ‘I'm a failure’, you know, like, hang on a minute, no, hang on. That's not how it works. Laura: Yeah. Lisa: Yeah, you've got to understand that there are things you can't control. So you've done everything you can control. And now the rest is up to the gods, basically. And you're going to have to be able to be adaptable and flexible. And that was one of the things in your website, talking about adaptive, being adaptive in your performance. And I think that's a really good thing because we cannot control like… You can be having a bad day at the office and get up and you feel sick and your immune system’s down and you've got your period and you've, you know, whatever the case may be. And you weren't bargaining with that, you know, so you have to be able to work, ‘I need to still go because there's no way back. How do I deal with it’? You know? Laura: Yeah, and I think it's a really valid point. Because I mean, even in the row halfway through, and it's in the films, it's not kind of confidential stuff. One of the girls, like, she just completely changed her personality, right, because that was exactly the problem. She thought she could control the boat. She thought, you know, she was a rower. Out of all of us, she was somebody that actually had rowed since she was a kid and stuff. She thought ocean rowing was, you know. She didn't want to lose the passion. Unfortunately, yeah, it killed her passion. She didn't know then, she lost the sense of identity, all of that stuff. Lisa: Oh yeah, real tough. Laura: Yeah, awful. And, but because she was trying to control the boat, you know, like, the current, the wind was against us, like, those are things you cannot control. It’s a one ton boat, not one person is going to be able to control moving that in the direction you want it to go in. And so, but it was the collective of the team that enabled us to be able to rally around and understand, first of all, recognise the change in personality, it was a behaviour, it was yeah, there was something underlying. It was not her—well, it was, but there was something emotional that she couldn't verbalise straightaway. So hence, she just changed her personality type. Lisa: Wow. Laura: And then it was like the strength of the team to be able to rally together to support that. So kind of come at it from the right approach that she was able to share it, to then collectively go, we just need to see a different perspective on this stuff. And I think that's where, you know, a vast dynamic sort of team, you know, a diverse team sorry is what I meant, has got so much strength in it, because you know, what, when you see it through your own lens, there's only sort of one way. Whereas if you've got some diversity there, I just think it brings a different perspective. And suddenly, you're able to see, you can't control the uncontrollable, you know, you can only control the controllables. You can't control what's out of control. And those things are the weather that is, you know, yes will prevent being ill or injured. But that might well happen. That, you know, is what it is. And if the boat sort of fails, but you whatever, then those are only three things that are going to be out of our control. And if anything happened there, then I wouldn't be. I would have been upset, I would be upset, but I wouldn't be throwing my toys out the pram because it isn't something we could control. And if the row didn't happen, we didn't finish because one of those three things, that is what it is. Lisa: Yeah, it is what it is. And you've done your utmost. And I mean, I've failed on different expeditions and things that I’ve done, like really fallen on my face, you know, with, you know, documentary crews there have captured all on film as you just absolutely completely faceplant. And, you know, and it takes a long time to get up again, and it knocks the crap out of you. And, you know, but it's part of that, okay, well, this is the game wherein, you know, we’re pushing the limits, and sometimes, you know, you are human and you don't have the resources or one of the things that I find really, really I'd love to and I think this probably needs its own podcast is the whole team dynamic thing. I mean, it's one thing to be a solo athlete that does things, you know, but it's a—couple of times when I've had to be in a team situation. I find it really, really tough because you were reliant... I did one in the Himalayas, and we're trying to do the world's highest marathon ever done. And I was with a guy who was a mountaineer and used to altitude and very at home in that space. And I wasn't. And I don't—I've done a couple of things at altitude and sort of survive by the skin of my teeth. I'm an asthamtic and I don't really do well on the mountains. So take on, you know, the world's highest mountain. Good idea. And we'd be in shape. And I got sick. I got altitude sickness, and I couldn't even start my body. I couldn't even tie my shoelaces.  But the worst thing was that he changed. The person that he was down here was not the person that he was up there, and, it ended up being quite nasty, and quite, detrimental. And he's not here to defend himself. So I'm not gonna say anything too much. But it wasn't a nice situation to be in — I did not trust that if I was in the shutout there, that we would work together as a team to get through it. I felt like, now, he wouldn't do that.  And then so now I'm like, very, very always aware of if I'm teaming up with people like we've got at the moment, this weekend in my hometown, that Oxfam 100, it's 100-kilometre event where lots of just normal everyday people are doing 100Ks, which is like amazing, walking, and they're doing it in, you know, teams of four, and the staff are going to go through... And there'll be people that are, you know, expeditions bring out the worst and bring out the best in people. And you don't know until you're in the situation with them, which way are they going to go, and which way you're going to go. I mean, I can become, I've been a really horrible person on some of my, you know, with my crew on different occasions where I've just lost my shit because I'm in so much pain, sleep deprivation, motions are up the wazoo. And you just, you know, you're snappy, irritable, you know, just horrible. Afterwards, I’m heading to go and say, ‘I'm very sorry'. You know? So how did you deal with that over nine months like that on steroids? Like the dynamic—four women—everybody's having their highs and lows at different points in there. How did you cope with that? I mean, you're obviously,  you've mentioned the one person and how you helped pull together, it takes incredible leadership to keep a team like that together for nine months, no matter how wonderful you all are. Laura: Yeah, that I mean, don't get me wrong, you still have arguments and stuff, but it was all in the preparation. And it was, we knew I mean, so it is a 29th version rowing boat, right. So it's kind of the size of Greg Rutherford's, it's got the world record for the long jump, right? So it is, kind of, his long jump is the size of our boat. So it's a really small space. And then when you're cramped into the cabin, there's two of you. And if it's stormy, then all four of you are either in that or two in each cabin. So it's a tight, confined space. So it was really clear from the outset that this team had to be, we had to be cohesive, we had to be really transparent. And something I was particularly pedantic about was, I never want to leave a permanent issue. Like if there's an issue, we need to confront it, we will have to step forward into it. We can't, I don't want any bitchiness like, there was, that was always been, sort of my approach to most things. Like, I can't stand the whole talking to other people, rather than talking to the individual that you've got an issue with. You just need to step into that as much as it might feel uncomfortable. And I guess, working in a performance context, we're scrutinised on a daily basis, you know. We're kind of everybody's asking you why what are you doing, you know, type stuff, you've got to justify, you feel like you're under a spotlight all the time. So you start to feel this kind of separation, you know, look kind of right. No, this is they're asking me that because of the person in front of us or the, you know, the end goal, that's what it's about. It's got nothing to do with me personally. We're just trying to optimise what we need to do. So when, my, I pulled this, the sort of the team came together, a lot of it, I was like, how do we stress test this, like, we have to stress test it because– Lisa: Hell yeah. Laura: –exactly. And that's where I, you know, I started working with Keith, the performance psychologist. I reached out to him so I was like, there's got to be more depth to this, you know, we need tools we need to I need to know what I'm going to draw on when I'm wanting to give up like, what's going to be my go-to’s, I'm going to, I need to know how I can respond and react to different personalities and stuff and how they're going to react to each other. So Keith was the absolute rock to the success of our journey, in all honesty. I worked with him for four years and I still worked with him. I still work with him, sorry, to this day. And Keith, sort o—he enabled us to sort of understand the differences in our personalities from the basics of just doing psychometrics and stuff, but pretty in-depth ones. And then analyzing that a little bit more and playing it out in different scenarios, and then really forcing us to kind of do the round table. Yeah, because—and the girls hated confrontation. They weren't used to giving and receiving feedback. That was always felt like a personal threat. Yeah. So I just had to put myself in the barrier first. So I be like, ‘Right, cool, okay, if you're not going to give it and you're going to say everything's rosy when it's not, I’ll pull it out'. ‘So this is what's not going so well. And this is not going so well. Right now give it back to me, hit me’, like because then as soon as I've given it they're happy to give it back to me because I think I'm being—yeah exactly. That's fine. And then I would show them that I was learning from it because I was. And there was— I— they would call me, I would have Laura number one, Laura number two, my personalities. And they—I didn't realise that until sort of, you know, going through the row and they're like, ‘Oh my god, it's Laura number two'. And Laura number two is somebody that when she starts getting, like, tired, hungry, all of that gubbins and, and sort of just a bit over it, I start getting really assertive. I'm very tunnel vision, and my empathy just goes. Whereas normal time, like I've got heaps of the empathy, until it gets to a point… Lisa: Yeah, yeah. So like me. Laura: And so they’d be like, all right, Laura number two. Because we then had a language that was a little bit disconnected to the personal and it made a bit of fun of it, then we sort of were able to sort of take a pause, hear it and stuff. But we had loads of loads of methodologies that we built, we'd worked on to try and get to that point. And that was sort of to the point with there, though, is that is not to say we didn't have any arguments, because we did like, I mean Nat and I, in particular, completely different personalities. She is like a, she's a beautiful character. She is Miss Mindful, she is in the moment, and she is just totally there. She's talking about the sky and the sea and the colours. Whereas I'm Miss Planner. Like I'm already in Cannes, I'm thinking about fear, I’m planning, and what do we need to do, what do we need to sort out? So, you know, when we did the team testing before, this was during selection of the team. I remember when I met Nat, I was like, ‘Oh, god, no, we are poles apart. There's just no way', you know because I was trying to see it through. I was only seeing it through my own lens of who I was getting a rapport with. But I brought her onto the team testing weekend, which was, I'd gone to some ex-military guys. And I said, ‘Look, we need to be tested. I need to see what we're like when we're cold, we’re hungry, really sore, in pain. You need to physically push us. You need to mentally push us'. Well. And so we did like a 72-hour sleep depot type thing, you know, in the Brackens in Wales, yeah. On reflection that was like, yeah, that was it was great fun and obviously hated it during. I remember, like during it, sort of Nat in particular, as a personality that stood miles out because when she came on to it, I was thinking oh she can come along. But she's, I don't think that I’m going to be selecting her. And then Nat was the one that, you know, she might not have been the fittest. But even when she was struggling, and she was in pain, she had a sense of humour. When I was starting to struggle, she made me laugh. And I was like, ‘Oh my god, there's not many people that can do that while I'm in that space'. Lisa: Yeah. Laura:  And I'm like, this isn't just about me. But for the comfort of the team, like we need that. Because otherwise, I will make this too serious. I will. When it gets into it, it will be too boring and serious. I need a sense of humour in this. And she is, she's got it in abundance. And she kept us at the moment. Lisa: Wow, yep. Laura: As well. Like, I needed that mindfulness when we're out to sea because otherwise, I wouldn't have remembered half the things that went on and I wouldn't have recognised and seen it. Lisa: Isn't that amazing? So looking at the strengths and differences can actually end up being the thing that holds you together rather than pulls you apart. Laura: A hundred percent. Lisa: And I just think in this space I have to connect you with Paul Taylor, he will love you. He's a resilience expert that I was mentioning before and yeah, I think it when you have characters and I've started to do this just with for myself even now I have these different characters, you know, there's the good me and there's bad me and the good means like Wonder Woman, she can do anything and she's amazing.  And he has all these character traits that you know I aspire to and want to have and that side of me and then the other side's a real bitch, you know, she's a horrible, cynical, selfish person and those are both of me. And I know when you put this on—Paul talks about doing like cartoon characters and putting speech bubbles on them and actually giving them life and because it puts you outside of these characters that are fighting in your head, and you're trying to be that good one you want to be, but when you're hungry and cold and freezing, and you haven't slept in three days, and you're struggling somewhere, and God knows where. And you just want to go home and cry and hide under the covers and get mummy to give you a chicken soup. Well, you—it puts it outside of you, and it helps you see what you're doing.  And even in daily things like, you know, I've been rehabilitating my mum now for five years, seven days a week. And you know, beginning first three years, it was like eight hours a day. So it was just, it was full, full-on. And then even longer than that in the first year. And I catch myself sometimes being so short and irritable because I'm like trying to multitask and trying to run my businesses and she's waiting for me and you know, like, you just find yourself snapping at somebody when you just feel like, you know, that asshole is sure is present, you know, and you're just like listening to yourself going, ‘How the hell do I get a grip on this?’ We're all human. And we're all working on this. And, you know, I go to my mum and I put her in bed at night time and a cuddle. And tell her, I say, 'You know, I'm sorry for being a bitch today, Ma. I’m sorry for snapping at you'. And she's so lovely. She's like, 'Oh, that's all right'. Like, you know. But we have moments where we're just not nice, and when you're in these extreme circumstances fad, the ones that come out, and this is a part of the dynamic thing that I find really, really fascinating in that whole resilience and teamwork, and how do you bring it all together? So, you know, we're going to have to wrap up this one, because I've really enjoyed talking to you, Laura. But I really would like to have you on a couple of times, because I think there's much more to this actual story because we haven't even got to talking about well, what was it actually like to row? How did you, you know, do, what did you actually do on a daily basis? And how do you plan for such a thing? And how do you have such a big project and deal with it? And so I'm really glad that we've made this connection, and I'm very, very keen to have you on the show again, if you, because we've really just been part one, I think. Laura: Let's see… No, I’ll be honoured to come back on. There’s so much I think we connect with in, and we can talk about for sure, especially in that headspace how we can be… What we've both learned from the experiences that we faced and continue to learn, I think is always an exciting journey. Lisa: Yeah. Laura: Yeah, I'd be honoured to come back on it. It’s been great. Lisa: That would be fantastic because I think also the work that you've done with Paralympians and, you know, people that have worked with disabilities and trauma, we haven't even unpacked that either. Because I think that, you know, we can learn a heck of a lot from people that have gone through, you know, all these dramas and so on, me, I learn every day from Mum, like, her mindset is just like, incredibly strong, resilient. And so I'd like to unpack some of that stuff as well. So Laura, thank you very much for your time today. I think you're a rock star, where can people find you? And where can they get involved in what you're doing? And, you know, do whatever you got available? Because you've got some really good lessons to share with people. So tell us where we can find you. Laura: Yeah, I mean, on usual social media, sort of, the Instagram or Twitter or LinkedIn, just @laurapenhaul. And that sort of, you know, P-E-N-H-A-U-L is my surname. So yeah, reach out to that we've also got our endurance book. So where we've sort of added science behind, kind of some of the endurance sort of focus is on GCN, which is a Global Cycling Network website, or our podcast is Endurance as well, which is where's Mark Beaumont, which I co-author on. Lisa: So I'm very keen to meet and hopefully get on the show as well. Yeah, hook me up there. Laura: Yeah, Keith will get you on that as well. I think you've got a lot to add and share their experiences for sure. Lisa: I'd love to. That would be an absolute honor. Laura, you're one hell of a strong woman. I can't wait to see where you go and in the future in what you know, what you take on. God forbid is probably going to be big, and thank you for sharing. I think you have such great knowledge to share with people and you have a duty to get that information out there because this is the sort of stuff that helps people. So thank you very much for your time today Laura. That's it this week for Pushing the Limits. Be sure to rate, review, and share with your friends and head over and visit Lisa and her team at lisatamati.com.      

Artemis ambassador Phoebe Stoner joins us this week to talk about becoming a hunter as an adult, and about realizing that serving on a board is for EVERYONE. We hear about hunting in the greater Yellowstone area, plus making a difference in the same region through service to municipal/non-profit boards. Also? That elk is SO MUCH BIGGER than a whitetail.  2:00 Rocky Mountain gardening... keeps you on your toes!  4:00 Growing up in a rural, ag-centric place in a progressive/liberal family 6:00 That first whitetail deer in the greater Yellowstone area... first deer, trembling arms 10:00 Being a new hunter, your mental checklist in the field can feel so long compared to people who grew up doing it... but it DOES get shorter over time 13:00 Hesitating and second-guessing... those things can be good  16:00 Hunting/fishing... it can be hours of low-key mellowness before 'the thing' happens and you're 0 to 100.... "everything I've been working for is right here!" 19:00 Serving as a board member on a conservation group... from interest to 'yes, I'll do it' 22:00 Being a 20-something in Jackson likely means you'll have approximately four jobs, have trouble finding a place to live... AND, if you don't ski, you also might feel like something of an outsider 25:00 Offering public testimony to a group of policy-makers... it's kind of what democracy is about 28:00 Boards... they're everywhere! Corporations, non-profits, city/county government, state government, state agencies, etc 29:00 Board service is a great way to interact deeply with people you might never otherwise meet; And you have useful expertise! Truly. Boards benefit from backgrounds of all kinds 32:00 Every board's dream: Engaged, responsive people (knack for tangent-killering is a bonus) 38:00 What exactly does it mean to be "an expert"? (Pssst... you don't need to be an expert to have something important to say.) 41:00 Board struggles... how to make them productive versus time-wasting? Good facilitation helps. 43:00 Being a 'yes person' can bring you to a lot of AMAZING opportunities... the harder part is nailing the work-life balance 44:00 "I'm a recovering people-pleaser." (More on this? NPR's Life Kit podcast on it is worth a listen, How to say no, for the people pleaser who always says yes.) 47:00 Spending your career as an advocate vs. volunteering as an advocate 54:00 First elk after deer... 'Wow, this is big' 55:00 When your body falls INTO the elk's body (AH!) 57:00 There ARE perks to learning things the hard way 59:00 Peer mentorship for ladies on boards, anyone? Like a book club, maybe? 1:03 Purchasing a raft with a partner, two doggie life jackets included... life = changed!! Plus, learning to steer the oar rig 1:06 A healthy appreciation for realizing you don't know anything 1:07 Happiness is... a new toilet you install yourself 1:08 Artemis 'Turkey Tactics' storytelling contest... check it out!

How many times have you told yourself 'no' when thinking about prioritizing your physical health? What would it be like if you started with a 'yes'? We are joined by Lauren Mallory as she shares her journey of making her physical health a top priority. She unpacks how that decision has impacted many other areas of her life in a positive way, including ministering to students. ----- Connect with Lauren @laurenmallory60 ----- Book Mentioned Try Softer ----- Follow us on Instagram @youthminnetworks ------ Did this conversation resonate with you? We want to hear from you! Write us at freerefillspodcast@nnym.org Help us grow the community! Subscribe, share, and leave a review. For more information about the National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM) or to find a community of leaders in your area: www.nnym.org

Resources / Links: Coupon Code: CLONE https://www.aprilmeese.com/offers/CyMRty5P?coupon_code=CLONE How can you be more aligned with your conversations with your clients and prospects? Let's leverage the power of communication by using persuasive language. What you will learn from this episode: Discover the persuasive words to use for people to book your beauty services Learn some key things that align your conversations to attract the right clients to your business Find out how to 'future pace' so clients can visually experience your services' benefits which can also boost your sales Find a way to eliminate procrastination and get prospective clients to take action sooner rather than later "Imagine is such a powerful word because you actually help the client, it's called 'future pacing'." - April Meese Topics Covered: 01:06 - One of the most powerful words for sales 03:16 - Using this word will bring more legitimacy to your conversations 05:13 - Imagine what word helps the client sell themselves on the benefits of your beauty services 07:09 - The two most popular words used in advertising 08:37 - You should never leave this off of your CTA (call to action) 09:17 - Make the client the 'hero' in your business Key Takeaways: "It's been said that we are all tuned into the radio station WIIFM, and that stands for what's-in-it-for-me. We don't pay attention to things until we know what we can get out of them. And so they want to know that you are invested in them, and you have their best interests at heart. People start paying attention when you use the word 'You' or when you're using their name." - April Meese "You should look at your website and go through and maybe even print off some of the pages and take a red marker and circle all of the times you use the word 'I' in red versus all of the times you use the word 'You' and put that in green. And you can look for ways to change your website so that it speaks to your clients and creates desire and demand for your services because they know that you are interested in them. " - April Meese "I always say the 'proof' follows the 'because'. So, if you make a claim about how great your services are, or why they should have your services, follow it up with proof." - April Meese "When you use the word 'Imagine' and then talk about benefits after that, it helps the client see themselves in that having those benefits; it takes some of the risks away for them. Because we know we're doing beauty services on the face and body, there's some risk there. And people are risk-averse." - April Meese "And what's interesting about these words 'New' and 'Different' is that the brain likes things that are new and different. We've seen this in our beauty industry, there's always a new technique coming out. And the word 'New' implies that it's better and different, that they're going to have results that they maybe haven't had before. And that's exactly what they want." - April Meese "I think the word 'Now' is also very powerful because people will often procrastinate. You've heard that procrastination equals elimination, meaning that 'delay' is the death of the sale, meaning they never get back to it. So just by saying, click this button 'now' or call 'now' versus just click the button or just call, instead of just call us, if you have the word 'now', it actually inspires them to take action sooner rather than later." - April Meese "You don't want to be the hero in your business. You want the client to be the hero."- April Meese Connect with April Meese: aprilmeese.com support@aprilmeese.com LinkedIn Instagram Facebook        

Lyra hates the movie, which makes her an excellent guide to Lizzie and Lynnie's love for 'Yes Day,' a family movie on Netflix. We review it here, as well as Édgar Ramírez's beard.

Julie wanted to be a school teacher. At the end of her degree program she was student teaching with someone who told her she had no business working with people, especially children, and would be better off working in a cubicle by herself never interacting with others. As a result, her confidence was decimated. It took her two years after that experience to find a teaching job because she didn't believe in herself. Then she met another teacher who began to pour truth into her. During that time she came to faith in Christ and started saying "Yes" to God's promptings; that's when EVERYTHING began to change. The transformation has been gradual, powerful and undeniable. Now she helps others say "Yes" and is living life in a way she previously could only have imagined. Meet Julie: https://www.realfaithstories.com/guests/julierichards

This one's for all you people pleasers out there. If you can't say 'no' to things, can you ever really say a resounding 'hell yes'? If you tend to overcommit, Lindsey's advice today will help you self-protect and stand firm. Master your mindset, optimize your life with The Inner Game, Episode 183.

This week on WWE Friday Night SmackDown, "The Rated-R Superstar" returned, Daniel Bryan ended the night standing tall, and Apollo Crews challenged Big E to a Nigerian Drum Fight. How did this week's show hype up WWE WrestleMania 37? We break it down on the SmackDown Double Down with Colin Tessier and Robert DeFelice.

Say 'Yes' To God This Easter Season.

Rich and Doug discuss WTH happened in 2020 with Patrick Byrne in this riveting podcast.   What do you think about the episode?  Comment below or email us

Saying YES to ambition. My guest this week is Claudia Reuter, Author of "Yes, You Can Do This!" , Podcast Creator & Host for "The 43 Percent", and a tech CEO. In the episode we get into:  Calling bullshit on structures that aren’t made to support mothers (Remember 85% of women become mothers! How’s that for equality

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 John Chambers served as Cisco’s CEO from 1995-2015 and Executive Chairman from 2015-2017. Cisco went from $70 million to $40 billion in annual revenue during his time. Notes: When John was six years old, he went fishing with his Dad in Elk River, WV. He was told, "Don't get too close to the water, the current is strong and could pull you under." John's curiosity got the best of him. He went too close and slipped, falling into the water. His dad ran towards the current as it was pulling John and yelled, "Just hold on to the fishing pole." Fortunately, John survived and was eventually pulled out of the water by his dad. His dad said, "Do you know why I told you to hold on to the fishing pole? "Don't let panic set in. Focus on what you can control. Work your way to calmer waters." It's a great metaphor for life. When dealing with stress, hold on to the fishing pole. How to deal with fear and uncertainty? "I had two parents that were doctors. They helped me a lot." "They taught me not to waste cycles on things you cannot change. Focus on the future, deal with the world as it is, not as you wish it was." This is why John deliberately puts the leaders he leads in stressful situations. "Under stress you learn who people are." "With that said, I only coach leaders that want to be coached." -- If you don't want to be coached, you probably won't work with John Chambers. How did he earn the job as CEO of Cisco? "My parents taught me that education is the equalizer in life. I was a professional student. I got three degrees. And was trained very well at IBM, even as an entry level employee." "I decided to leave my job at Wang for the same reason that most people leave their jobs. My manager." "I left prior to even discussing another job with someone else. I didn't feel it was right to be laying people off while looking for another job." "I thought the job offers would roll in. They didn't. I initially had no job offers... And then I reached out to my friends and network and asked for help... I had 22 offers in 90 days. 21 of them from friends of mine. I learned that the golden rule is true. Treat others how you'd like to be treated and it will come back to you when you need it." "How you treat people determines your brand." Relationships -- "I'm usually the best prepared for every meeting I'm in. That way, I can move with speed." "The emotional part of relationships comes from my mom. She taught me how to connect with people." "I love building extended family teams. My team at Cisco was my family. We had only 5% turnover while the market rate was 15%. How is John different from Jack Welch? "I learned a lot of lessons from Jack. He sent his team from GE to benchmark us at Cisco. They took 22 ideas from us." "Jack was great at quarterly business reviews, but he was very tough on his people." "I tried not to embarrass the people on my team in front of one another. I like to praise in public and criticize in private. That was different from Jack." How did they successfully acquire 180 companies? They developed great playbooks and implemented them. What John looks for in a company: Do they have an excellent CEO who wants to be coached? Can the company be #1 or #2 in their market? Talk with customers and get a feel for the company from that vantage point What is their culture? What John looks for in a leader: A track record of overachieving "I look at their leadership team. Can they build a great team? That speaks volumes about them." Cultural match - "Our values need to match." They understand the industry they're in Culture must be owned at the top: "The CEO must own the culture. In every meeting, the CEO should point out an example of how someone is living their values." Why are off site leadership retreats so important? "It allows you to develop relationships outside of the office environment. You can build in depth relationships, built on trust." "The off sites helped us learn much more about one another." Gustavo (a leader John works with) saw a grizzly bear. Later he said, "I've never been more scared or more alive." "In the evenings, I ask for each person to give a toast and share a key learning." "I look for teaching moments." Sales - A noble profession: "We are all in sales. It's about connecting with people. I was with the King of Jordan and his wife (the Queen) was pregnant, I asked, "So King will you be in the room while your wife gives birth?" This was not something that was typically asked of the King. John did it as a way to connect and offer advice. "You need to be in that room. It's the most amazing moment." This is how John connects with others. Sales is part of everything we do. You get rejected, have to bounce back, and keep going. "I once asked Steph Curry, 'do you think you're going to make every shot? Even if you've missed your last five?' 'Yes, he said.' Sales is like that, you have to believe in yourself to make the next one." Advice: Never compromise your values How you handle your setbacks with determine your life Treat people like you want to be treated. Be kind. Focus, but also relax. Don't be so uptight.