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How can you be more relaxed about your writing process? What are some specific ways to take the pressure off your art and help you enjoy the creative journey? With Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre. In the intro, Spotify 2025 audiobook trends; Audible + BookTok; NonFiction Authors Guide to SubStack; OpenAI and Disney agreement on Sora; India AI licensing; Business for Authors January webinars; Mark and Jo over the years Mark Leslie LeFebvre is the author of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as nonfiction books for authors. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and the Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and memoir as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Mark and Jo co-wrote The Relaxed Author in 2021. You can listen to us talk about the process here. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Why the ‘relaxed' author Write what you love Write at your own pace Write in a series (if you want to) Schedule time to fill the creative well and for rest and relaxation Improve your writing process — but only if it fits with your lifestyle You can find The Relaxed Author: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey on CreativePennBooks.com as well as on your favorite online store or audiobook platform, or order in your library or bookstore. You can find Mark Leslie Lefebvre and his books and podcast at Stark Reflections.ca Why the ‘relaxed' author? Joanna: The definition of relaxed is “free from tension and anxiety,” from the Latin laxus, meaning loose, and to be honest, I am not a relaxed or laid-back person in the broader sense. Back in my teens, my nickname at school was Highly Stressed. I'm a Type A personality, driven by deadlines and achieving goals. I love to work and I burned out multiple times in my previous career as an IT consultant. If we go away on a trip, I pack the schedule with back-to-back cultural things like museums and art galleries to help my book research. Or we go on adventure holidays with a clear goal, like cycling down the South-West coast of India. I can't even go for a long walk without training for another ultra-marathon! So I am not a relaxed person — but I am a relaxed author. If I wanted to spend most of my time doing something that made me miserable, I would go back to my old day job in consulting. I was paid well and worked fewer hours overall. But I measure my life by what I create, and if I am not working on a creative project, I am not able to truly relax in my downtime. There are always more things I want to learn and write about, always more stories to be told and knowledge to share. I don't want to kill my writing life by over-stressing or burning out as an author. I write what I love and follow my Muse into projects that feel right. I know how to publish and market books well enough to reach readers and make some money. I have many different income streams through my books, podcast and website. Of course, I still have my creative and business challenges as well as mindset issues, just like any writer. That never goes away. But after a decade as a full-time author entrepreneur, I have a mature creative business and I've relaxed into the way I do things. I love to write, but I also want a full and happy, healthy life. I'm still learning and improving as the industry shifts — and I change, too. I still have ambitious creative and financial goals, but I am going about them in a more relaxed way and in this book, I'll share some of my experiences and tips in the hope that you can discover your relaxed path, too. Mark: One of the most fundamental things you can do in your writing life is look at how you want to spend your time. I think back to the concept of: ‘You're often a reflection of the people you spend the most time with.' Therefore, typically, your best friend, or perhaps your partner, is often a person you love spending time with. Because there's something inherently special about spending time with this person who resonates in a meaningful way, and you feel more yourself because you're with them. In many ways, writing, or the path that you are on as a writer, is almost like being on a journey with an invisible partner. You are you. But you are also the writer you. And there's the two of you traveling down the road of life together. And so that same question arises. What kind of writer-self do you want to spend all your time with? Do you want to spend all your time with a partner that is constantly stressed out or constantly trying to reach deadlines based on somebody else's prescription of what success is? Or would you rather spend time with a partner who pauses to take a contemplative look at your own life, your own comfort, your own passion and the things that you are willing to commit to? Someone who allows that all to happen in a way that feels natural and comfortable to you. I'm a fan of the latter, of course, because then you can focus on the things you're passionate about and the things you're hopeful about rather than the things you're fearful about and those that bring anxiety and stress into your life. To me, that's part of being a relaxed author. That underlying acceptance before you start to plan things out. If the writing life is a marathon, not a sprint, then pacing, not rushing, may be the key. We have both seen burnout in the author community. People who have pushed themselves too hard and just couldn't keep up with the impossible pace they set for themselves. At times, indie authors would wear that stress, that anxiety, that rush to produce more and more, as a badge of honor. It's fine to be proud of the hard work that you do. It's fine to be proud of pushing yourself to always do better, and be better. But when you push too far — beyond your limits — you can ultimately do yourself more harm than good. Everyone has their own unique pace—something that they are comfortable with—and one key is to experiment until you find that pace, and you can settle in for the long run. There's no looking over your shoulder at the other writers. There's no panicking about the ones outpacing you. You're in this with yourself. And, of course, with those readers who are anticipating those clearly communicated milestones of your releases. I think that what we both want for authors is to see them reaching those milestones at their own paces, in their own comfort, delighting in the fact their readers are there cheering them on. Because we'll be silently cheering them along as well, knowing that they've set a pace, making relaxed author lifestyle choices, that will benefit them in the long run. “I'm glad you're writing this book. I know I'm not the only author who wants peace, moments of joy, and to enjoy the journey. Indie publishing is a luxury that I remember not having, I don't want to lose my sense of gratitude.” —Anonymous author from our survey Write what you love Joanna: The pandemic has taught us that life really is short. Memento mori — remember, you will die. What is the point of spending precious time writing books you don't want to write? If we only have a limited amount of time and only have a limited number of books that we can write in a lifetime, then we need to choose to write the books that we love. If I wanted a job doing something I don't enjoy, then I would have remained in my stressful old career as an IT consultant — when I certainly wasn't relaxed! Taking that further, if you try to write things you don't love, then you're going to have to read what you don't love as well, which will take more time. I love writing thrillers because that's what I love to read. Back when I was miserable in my day job, I would go to the bookstore at lunchtime and buy thrillers. I would read them on the train to and from work and during the lunch break. Anything for a few minutes of escape. That's the same feeling I try to give my readers now. I know the genre inside and out. If I had to write something else, I would have to read and learn that other genre and spend time doing things I don't love. In fact, I don't even know how you can read things you don't enjoy. I only give books a few pages and if they don't resonate, I stop reading. Life really is too short. You also need to run your own race and travel your own journey. If you try to write in a genre you are not immersed in, you will always be looking sideways at what other authors are doing, and that can cause comparisonitis — when you compare yourself to others, most often in an unfavorable way. Definitely not relaxing! Writing something you love has many intrinsic rewards other than sales. Writing is a career for many of us, but it's a passion first, and you don't want to feel like you've wasted your time on words you don't care about. “Write what you know” is terrible advice for a long-term career as at some point, you will run out of what you know. It should be “write what you want to learn about.” When I want to learn about a topic, I write a book on it because that feeds my curiosity and I love book research, it's how I enjoy spending my time, especially when I travel, which is also part of how I relax. If you write what you love and make it part of your lifestyle, you will be a far more relaxed author. Mark: It's common that writers are drawn into storytelling from some combination of passion, curiosity, and unrelenting interest. We probably read or saw something that inspired us, and we wanted to express those ideas or the resulting perspectives that percolated in our hearts and minds. Or we read something and thought, “Wow, I could do this; but I would have come at it differently or I would approach the situation or subject matter with my own flair.” So, we get into writing with passion and desire for storytelling. And then sometimes along the way, we recognize the critical value of having to become an entrepreneur, to understand the business of writing and publishing. And part of understanding that aspect of being an author is writing to market, and understanding shifts and trends in the industry, and adjusting to those ebbs and flows of the tide. But sometimes, we lose sight of the passion that drew us to writing in the first place. And so, writing the things that you love can be a beacon to keep you on course. I love the concept of “Do something that you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.” And that's true in some regard because I've always felt that way for almost my entire adult life. I've been very lucky. But at the same time, I work extremely hard at what I love. Some days are harder than others, and some things are really difficult, frustrating and challenging; but at the end of the day, I have the feeling of satisfaction that I spent my time doing something I believe in. I've been a bookseller my entire life even though I don't sell books in brick-and-mortar bookstores anymore—that act of physically putting books in people's hands. But to this day, what I do is virtually putting books in people's hands, both as an author and as an industry representative who is passionate about the book business. I was drawn to that world via my passion for writing. And that's what continues to compel me forward. I tried to leave the corporate world to write full time in 2018 but realized there was an intrinsic satisfaction to working in that realm, to embracing and sharing my insights and knowledge from that arena to help other writers. And I couldn't give that up. For me, the whole core, the whole essence of why I get up in the morning has to do with storytelling, creative inspiration, and wanting to inspire and inform other people to be the best that they can be in the business of writing and publishing. And that's what keeps me going when the days are hard. Passion as the inspiration to keep going There are always going to be days that aren't easy. There will be unexpected barriers that hit you as a writer. You'll face that mid-novel slump or realize that you have to scrap an entire scene or even plotline, and feel like going back and re-starting is just too much. You might find the research required to be overwhelming or too difficult. There'll be days when the words don't flow, or the inspiration that initially struck you seems to have abandoned you for greener pastures. Whatever it is, some unexpected frustration can create what can appear to be an insurmountable block. And, when that happens, if it's a project you don't love, you're more likely to let those barriers get in your way and stop you. But if it's a project that you're passionate about, and you're writing what you love, that alone can be what greases the wheels and helps reduce that friction to keep you going. At the end of the day, writing what you love can be a honing, grounding, and centering beacon that allows you to want to wake up in the morning and enjoy the process as much as possible even when the hard work comes along. “For me, relaxation comes from writing what I know and love and trusting the emergent process. As a discovery writer, I experience great joy when the story, characters and dialogue simply emerge in their own time and their own way. It feels wonderful.” — Valerie Andrews “Writing makes me a relaxed author. Just getting lost in a story of my own creation, discovering new places and learning what makes my characters tick is the best way I know of relaxing. Even the tricky parts, when I have no idea where I am going next, have a special kind of charm.” – Imogen Clark Write at your own pace Mark: Writing at your own pace will help you be a more relaxed author because you're not stressing out by trying to keep up with someone else. Of course, we all struggle with comparing ourselves to others. Take a quick look around and you can always find someone who has written more books than you. Nora Roberts, traditionally published author, writes a book a month. Lindsey Buroker, fantasy indie author, writes a book a month of over 100,000 words. If you compare yourself to someone else and you try to write at their pace, that is not going to be your relaxed schedule. On the other hand, if you compare yourself to Donna Tartt, who writes one book every decade, you might feel like some speed-demon crushing that word count and mastering rapid release. Looking at what others are doing could result in you thinking you're really slow or you could think that you're super-fast. What does that kind of comparison actually get you? I remember going to see a talk by Canadian literary author Farley Mowat when I was a young budding writer. I'll never forget one thing he said from that stage: “Any book that takes you less than four years to write is not a real book.” Young teenage Mark was devastated, hurt and disappointed to hear him say that because my favorite author at the time, Piers Anthony, was writing and publishing two to three novels a year. I loved his stuff, and his fantasy and science fiction had been an important inspiration in my writing at that time. (The personal notes I add to the end of my stories and novels came from enjoying his so much). That focus on there being only a single way, a single pace to write, ended up preventing me from enjoying the books I had already been loving because I was doing that comparisonitis Joanna talks about, but as a reader. I took someone else's perspective too much to heart and I let that ruin a good thing that had brought me personal joy and pleasure. It works the same way as a writer. Because we have likely developed a pattern, or a way that works for us that is our own. We all have a pace that we comfortably walk; a way we prefer to drive. A pattern or style of how and when and what we prefer to eat. We all have our own unique comfort food. There are these patterns that we're comfortable with, and potentially because they are natural to us. If you try to force yourself to write at a pace that's not natural to you, things can go south in your writing and your mental health. And I'm not suggesting any particular pace, except for the one that's most natural and comfortable to you. If writing fast is something that you're passionate about, and you're good at it, and it's something you naturally do, why would you stop yourself from doing that? Just like if you're a slow writer and you're trying to write fast: why are you doing that to yourself? There's a common pop song line used by numerous bands over the years that exhorts you to “shake what you got.” I like to think the same thing applies here. And do it with pride and conviction. Because what you got is unique and awesome. Own it, and shake it with pride. You have a way you write and a word count per writing session that works for you. And along with that, you likely know what time you can assign to writing because of other commitments like family time, leisure time, and work (assuming you're not a full-time writer). Simple math can provide you with a way to determine how long it will take to get your first draft written. So, your path and plans are clear. And you simply take the approach that aligns with your writer DNA. Understanding what that pace is for you helps alleviate an incredible amount of stress that you do not need to thrust upon yourself. Because if you're not going to be able to enjoy it while you're doing it, what's the point? Your pace might change project to project While your pace can change over time, your pace can also change project to project. And sometimes the time actually spent writing can be a smaller portion of the larger work involved. I was on a panel at a conference once and someone asked me how long it took to write my non-fiction book of ghost stories, Haunted Hamilton. “About four days,” I responded. And while that's true — I crafted the first draft over four long and exhausting days writing as much as sixteen hours each day — the reality was I had been doing research for months. But the pen didn't actually hit the paper until just a few days before my deadline to turn the book over to my editor. That was for a non-fiction book; but I've found I do similar things with fiction. I noodle over concepts and ideas for months before I actually commit words to the page. The reason this comes to mind is that I think it's important to recognize the way that I write is I first spend a lot of time in my head to understand and chew on things. And then by the time it comes to actually getting the words onto the paper, I've already done much of the pre-writing mentally. It's sometimes not fair when you're comparing yourself to someone else to look at how long they physically spend in front of a keyboard hammering on that word count, because they might have spent a significantly longer amount of a longer time either outlining or conceptualizing the story in their mind or in their heart before they sat down to write. So that's part of the pace, too. Because sometimes, if we only look at the time spent at the ‘writer's desk,' we fool ourselves when we think that we're a slow writer or a fast writer. Joanna: Your pace will change over your career My first novel took 14 months and now I can write a first draft in about six weeks because I have more experience. It's also more relaxing for me to write a book now than it was in the beginning, because I didn't know what I was doing back then. Your pace will change per project I have a non-fiction work in progress, my Shadow Book (working title), which I have started several times. I have about 30,000 words but as I write this, I have backed away from it because I'm (still) not ready. There's a lot more research and thinking I need to do. Similarly, some people take years writing a memoir or a book with such emotional or personal depth that it needs more to bring it to life. Your pace will also shift depending on where you are in the arc of life Perhaps you have young kids right now, or you have a health issue, or you're caring for someone who is ill. Perhaps you have a demanding day job so you have less time to write. Perhaps you really need extended time away from writing, or just a holiday. Or maybe there's a global pandemic and frankly, you're too stressed to write! The key to pacing in a book is variability — and that's true of life, too. Write at the pace that works for you and don't be afraid to change it as you need to over time. “I think the biggest thing for me is reminding myself that I'm in this to write. Sometimes I can get caught up in all the moving pieces of editing and publishing and marketing, but the longer I go without writing, or only writing because I have to get the next thing done instead of for enjoyment, the more stressed and anxious I become. But if I make time to fit in what I truly love, which is the process of writing without putting pressure on myself to meet a deadline, or to be perfect, or to meet somebody else's expectations — that's when I become truly relaxed.” – Ariele Sieling Write in a series (if you want to) Joanna: I have some stand-alone books but most of them are in series, both for non-fiction and for my fiction as J.F. Penn. It's how I like to read and write. As we draft this book, I'm also writing book 12 in my ARKANE series, Tomb of Relics. It's relaxing because I know my characters, I know my world; I know the structure of how an ARKANE story goes. I know what to put in it to please my readers. I have already done the work to set up the series world and the main characters and now all I need is a plot and an antagonist. It's also quicker to write and edit because I've done it before. Of course, you need to put in the work initially so the series comes together, but once you've set that all up, each subsequent book is easier. You can also be more relaxed because you already have an audience who will (hopefully) buy the book because they bought the others. You will know approximately how many sales you'll get on launch and there will be people ready to review. Writing in a non-fiction series is also a really good idea because you know your audience and you can offer them more books, products and services that will help them within a niche. While they might not be sequential, they should be around the same topic, for example, this is part of my Books for Authors series. Financially, it makes sense to have a series as you will earn more revenue per customer as they will (hopefully) buy more than one book. It's also easier and more relaxing to market as you can set one book to free or a limited time discount and drive sales through to other books in the series. Essentially, writing a book in a series makes it easier to fulfill both creative and financial goals. However, if you love to read and write stand-alone books, and some genres suit stand-alones better than series anyway, then, of course, go with what works for you! Mark: I like to equate this to no matter where you travel in the world, if you find a McDonald's you pretty much know what's on the menu and you know what to expect. When you write in a series, it's like returning to hang out with old friends. You know their backstory; you know their history so you can easily fall into a new conversation about something and not have to get caught up on understanding what you have in common. So that's an enormous benefit of relaxing into something like, “Oh, I'm sitting down over coffee, chatting with some old friends. They're telling me a new story about something that happened to them. I know who they are, I know what they're made out of.” And this new plot, this new situation, they may have new goals, they may have new ways they're going to grow as characters, but they're still the same people that we know and love. And that's a huge benefit that I only discovered recently because I'm only right now working on book four in my Canadian Werewolf series. Prior to that, I had three different novels that were all the first book in a series with no book two. And it was stressful for me. Writing anything seemed to take forever. I was causing myself anxiety by jumping around and writing new works as opposed to realizing I could go visit a locale I'm familiar and comfortable with. And I can see new things in the same locale just like sometimes you can see new things and people you know and love already, especially when you introduce something new into the world and you see how they react to it. For me, there's nothing more wonderful than that sort of homecoming. It's like a nostalgic feeling when you do that. I've seen a repeated pattern where writers spend years writing their first book. I started A Canadian Werewolf in New York in 2006 and I did not publish it until ten years later, after finishing it in 2015. (FYI, that wasn't my first novel. I had written three and published one of them prior to that). That first novel can take so long because you're learning. You're learning about your characters, about the craft, about the practice of writing, about the processes that you're testing along the way. And if you are working on your first book and it's taking longer than planned, please don't beat yourself up for that. It's a process. Sometimes that process takes more time. I sometimes wonder if this is related to our perception of time as we age. When you're 10 years old, a day compared to your lifetime is a significant amount of time, and thinking about a year later is considering a time that is one-tenth of your life. When you have a few more decades or more under your belt, that year is a smaller part of the whole. If you're 30, a year is only one-thirtieth of your life. A much smaller piece. Just having written more books, particularly in a series, removes the pressure of that one book to represent all of you as a writer. I had initial anxiety at writing the second book in my Canadian Werewolf series. Book two was more terrifying in some ways than book one because finally, after all this time, I had something good that I didn't want to ruin. Should I leave well enough alone? But I was asked to write a short story to a theme in an anthology, and using my main character from that first novel allowed me to discover I could have fun spending more time with these characters and this world. And I also realized that people wanted to read more about these characters. I didn't just want to write about them, but other people wanted to read about them too. And that makes the process so much easier to keep going with them. So one of the other benefits that helps to relax me as a writer working on a series is I have a better understanding of who my audience is, and who my readers are, and who will want this, and who will appreciate it. So I know what worked, I know what resonated with them, and I know I can give them that next thing. I have discovered that writing in a series is a far more relaxed way of understanding your target audience better. Because it's not just a single shot in the dark, it's a consistent on-going stream. Let me reflect on a bit of a caveat, because I'm not suggesting sticking to only a single series or universe. As writers, we have plenty of ideas and inspirations, and it's okay to embrace some of the other ones that come to us. When I think about the Canadian rock trio, Rush, a band that produced 19 studio albums and toured for 40 years, I acknowledge a very consistent band over the decades. And yet, they weren't the same band that they were when they started playing together, even though it was the same three guys since Neil Peart joined Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. They changed what they wrote about, what they sang about, themes, styles, approaches to making music, all of this. They adapted and changed their style at least a dozen times over the course of their career. No album was exactly like the previous album, and they experimented, and they tried things. But there was a consistency of the audience that went along with them. And as writers, we can potentially have that same thing where we know there are going to be people who will follow us. Think about Stephen King, a writer who has been writing in many different subjects and genres. And yet there's a core group of people who will enjoy everything he writes, and he has that Constant Reader he always keeps in mind. And so, when we write in a series, we're thinking about that constant reader in a more relaxed way because that constant reader, like our characters, like our worlds, like our universes, is like we're just returning to a comfortable, cozy spot where we're just going to hang out with some good friends for a bit. Or, as the contemplative Rush song Time Stand Still expresses, the simple comfort and desire of spending some quality time having a drink with a friend. Schedule time to fill the creative well and for rest and relaxation Mark: What we do as writers is quite cerebral, so we need to give ourselves mental breaks in the same way we need to sleep regularly. Our bodies require sleep. And it's not just physical rest for our bodies to regenerate, it's for our minds to regenerate. We need that to stay sane, to stay alive, to stay healthy. The reality for us as creatives is that we're writing all the time, whether or not we're in front of a keyboard or have a pen in our hand. We're always writing, continually sucking the marrow from the things that are happening around us, even when we're not consciously aware of it. And sometimes when we are more consciously aware of it, that awareness can feel forced. It can feel stressful. When you give yourself the time to just let go, to just relax, wonderful things can happen. And they can come naturally, never feeling that urgent sense of pressure. Downtime, for me, is making space for those magic moments to happen. I was recently listening to Episode 556 of The Creative Penn podcast where Joanna talked about the serendipity of those moments when you're traveling and you're going to a museum and you see something. And you're not consciously there to research for a book, but you see something that just makes a connection for you. And you would not have had that for your writing had you not given yourself the time to just be doing and enjoying something else. And so, whenever I need to resolve an issue or a problem in a project I'm writing, which can cause stress, I will do other things. I will go for a run or walk the dogs, wash the dishes or clean the house. Or I'll put on some music and sing and dance like nobody is watching or listening—and thank goodness for that, because that might cause them needless anxiety. The key is, I will do something different that allows my mind to just let go. And somewhere in the subconscious, usually the answer comes to me. Those non-cerebral activities can be very restorative. Yesterday, my partner Liz and I met her daughter at the park. And while we quietly waited, the two of us wordlessly enjoyed the sights and sounds of people walking by, the river in the background, the wind blowing through the leaves in the trees above us. That moment wasn't a purposeful, “Hey, we're going to chill and relax.” But we found about five minutes of restorative calm in the day. A brief, but powerful ‘Ah' moment. And when I got back to writing this morning, I drew upon some of the imagery from those few minutes. I didn't realize at the time I was experiencing the moment yesterday that I was going to incorporate some of that imagery in today's writing session. And that's the serendipity that just flows very naturally in those scheduled and even unscheduled moments of relaxation. Joanna: I separate this into two aspects because I'm good at one and terrible at the other! I schedule time to fill the creative well as often as possible. This is something that Julia Cameron advises in The Artist's Way, and I find it an essential part of my creative practice. Essentially, you can't create from an empty mind. You have to actively seek out ways to spark ideas. International travel is a huge part of my fiction inspiration, in particular. This has been impossible during the pandemic and has definitely impacted my writing. I also go to exhibitions and art galleries, as well as read books, watch films and documentaries. If I don't fill my creative well, then I feel empty, like I will never have another idea, that perhaps my writing life is over. Some people call that writer's block but I know that feeling now. It just means I haven't filled my creative well and I need to schedule time to do that so I can create again. Consume and produce. That's the balance you need in order to keep the creative well filled and the words flowing. In terms of scheduling time to relax instead of doing book research, I find this difficult because I love to work. My husband says that I'm like a little sports car that goes really, really fast and doesn't stop until it hits a wall. I operate at a high productivity level and then I crash! But the restrictions of the pandemic have helped me learn more about relaxation, after much initial frustration. I have walked in nature and lain in the garden in the hammock and recently, we went to the seaside for the first time in 18 months. I lay on the stones and watched the waves. I was the most relaxed I've been in a long time. I didn't look at my phone. I wasn't listening to a podcast or an audiobook. We weren't talking. We were just being there in nature and relaxing. Authors are always thinking and feeling because everything feeds our work somehow. But we have to have both aspects — active time to fill the creative well and passive time to rest and relax. “I go for lots of walks and hikes in the woods. These help me work out the kinks in my plots, and also to feel more relaxed! (Exercise is an added benefit!)” –T.W. Piperbrook Improve your writing process — but only if it fits with your lifestyle Joanna: A lot of stress can occur in writing if we try to change or improve our process too far beyond our natural way of doing things. For example, trying to be a detailed plotter with a spreadsheet when you're really a discovery writer, or trying to dictate 5,000 words per hour when you find it easier to hand write slowly into a journal. Productivity tips from other writers can really help you tweak your personal process, but only if they work for you — and I say this as someone who has a book on Productivity for Authors! Of course, it's a good idea to improve things, but once you try something, analyze whether it works for you — either with data or just how you feel. If it works, great. Adopt it into your process. If it doesn't work, then discard it. For example, I wrote my first novel in Microsoft Word. When I discovered Scrivener, I changed my process and never looked back because it made my life so much easier. I don't write in order and Scrivener made it easier to move things around. I also discovered that it was easier for me to get into my first draft writing and creating when I was away from the desk I use for business, podcasting, and marketing tasks. I started to write in a local cafe and later on in a co-working space. During the pandemic lockdown, I used specific playlists to create a form of separation as I couldn't physically go somewhere else. Editing is an important part of the writing process but you have to find what works for you, which will also change over time. Some are authors are more relaxed with a messy first draft, then rounds of rewrites while working with multiple editors. Others do one careful draft and then use a proofreader to check the finished book. There are as many ways to write as there are writers. A relaxed author chooses the process that works in the most effective way for them and makes the book the best it can be. Mark: When it comes to process, there are times when you're doing something that feels natural, versus times when you're learning a new skill. Consciously and purposefully learning new skills can be stressful; particularly because it's something we often put so much emphasis or importance upon. But when you adapt on-going learning as a normal part of your life, a natural part of who and what you are, that stress can flow away. I'm always about learning new skills; but over time I've learned how to absorb learning into my everyday processes. I'm a pantser, or discovery writer, or whatever term we can apply that makes us feel better about it. And every time I've tried to stringently outline a book, it has been a stressful experience and I've not been satisfied with the process or the result. Perhaps I satisfied the part of me that thought I wanted to be more like other writers, but I didn't satisfy the creative person in me. I was denying that flow that has worked for me. I did, of course, naturally introduce a few new learnings into my attempts to outline; so I stuck with those elements that worked, and abandoned the elements that weren't working, or were causing me stress. The thought of self-improvement often comes with images of blood, sweat, and tears. It doesn't have to. You don't have to bleed to do this; it can be something that you do at your own pace. You can do it in a way that you're comfortable with so it's causing you no stress, but allowing you to learn and grow and improve. And if it doesn't work but you force yourself to keep doing it because a famous writer or a six-figure author said, “this is the way to do it,” you create pressure. And when you don't do it that way, you can think of yourself as a failure as opposed to thinking of it as, “No, this is just the way that I do things.” When you accept how you do things, if they result in effectively getting things done and feeling good about it at the same time, you have less resistance, you have less friction, you have less tension. Constantly learning, adapting, and evolving is good. But forcing ourselves to try to be or do something that we are not or that doesn't work for us, that causes needless anxiety. “I think a large part of it comes down to reminding myself WHY I write. This can mean looking back at positive reviews, so I can see how much joy others get from my writing, or even just writing something brand new for the sake of exploring an idea. Writing something just for me, rather than for an audience, reminds me how much I enjoy writing, which helps me to unwind a bit and approach my projects with more playfulness.” – Icy Sedgwick You can find The Relaxed Author: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey on CreativePennBooks.com as well as on your favorite online store or audiobook platform, or order in your library or bookstore. The post The Relaxed Author Writing Tips With Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre first appeared on The Creative Penn.

To adopt a pet or see how you can help LOLA's Rescue, check out the 12 Strays of Christmas event page at www.alice1059.com! You can also text STRAYS to 303-222-5423 for more info!

In today's episode, Neil takes a look at the concept of self-directed learning and the importance of creating a structured plan for personal education. Drawing from his 27 years of experience in the tutoring and coaching business, Neil emphasises that while many of us consume educational content, few take the time to design a comprehensive learning strategy for ourselves. He challenges listeners to envision their future selves, identify the skills needed to achieve their goals, and develop a written plan to guide their self-education journey. KEY TAKEAWAYS Emphasise the importance of creating a structured plan for self-education, rather than relying solely on informal learning through books, podcasts, and videos. This involves setting clear goals and outlining steps to achieve them. Acknowledge the essential role of teachers and mentors in the learning process. Investing in quality instruction can save time and enhance the learning experience, making it more efficient. Focus on the significance of taking small, consistent actions every day towards your learning goals. Over time, these incremental efforts can lead to substantial progress and mastery of a subject. Create a personalised learning environment by surrounding yourself with inspiring materials and individuals. This can include listening to thought leaders and experts in various fields to broaden your knowledge and insights. Adopt a mindset of lifelong learning and continuous improvement. Regularly assess your progress, adjust your learning plan as needed, and remain open to new ideas and experiences that can contribute to your growth. BEST MOMENTS "But let me ask you one question. Who's the person most likely to skip on education? Well, chances are it's you and me." "The idea of self-directed learning is what interests me. Learning about what interests me." "If you're perfect, you're finished. You're at the end of the line. And the only thing that can happen next is decay." "Your schedule will be horrible. It'll be full of errors and flaws because it's just your best guess based on what you know now." "Think about what you want to become excellent at. What do you want to be better at? What do you want to become?" VALUABLE RESOURCES www.Neilcowmeadow.com info@neilcowmeadow.com HOST BIO Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years' experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil's invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Au cœur de la nuit, les auditeurs se livrent en toute liberté aux oreilles attentives et bienveillantes de Valérie Darmon. Pas de jugements ni de tabous, une conversation franche, mais aussi des réponses aux questions que les auditeurs se posent. Un moment d'échange et de partage propice à la confidence pour repartir le cœur plus léger.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

One of the best ways to have readers like our story is to have readers like--maybe even love--our main character.   But we usually don't want our protagonist to be a Pollyanna, always sweet and understanding.  Rather we want to create a fully-formed character--maybe with some weird or off-putting angles,  maybe some flaws and shortcomings--to make the character interesting and believable.  Here's a technique to make sure readers will root for our main character even if the character isn't usually endearing.  Also, here is how a master writer describes her settings.Support the show

We often find ourselves trapped in the "relentless pursuit" of success, constantly moving the goalposts and feeling that we are never "good enough." But what if the secret to achieving your dreams wasn't found in the chase, but in a profound shift in identity? The truly successful understand that the goal is not to pursue success—it is to become the person who effortlessly attracts it. Key Highlights: The Strategy to Attract Success The Trap of the "Enough Bar": Many of us live in "quiet desperation," chasing an arbitrary idea of success (more money, next degree, next car). This "enough bar" constantly moves, leading to continuous emptiness because the focus is on the outcome, not the inner work. The Paradigm Shift: Success should be attracted, not pursued. This means the quest is not for the "thing" itself, but for the person you must become to be capable of attracting and holding that thing. (Credit to Jim Rohn for this philosophy). The Value of the Journey: The real reward of any challenging pursuit (like a 16-week transformation) is not the medals or the outcome, but the character traits you develop along the way: Discipline, Focus, Trusting the Process, and Patience. Define Your Success: You must first clearly define what success means to you, without comparing yourself to others. What would have to happen for you to feel a sense of accomplishment? Craft Your Identity: Once you know what you want, ask: "Who do I have to become?" Find a mentor living the life you desire. Adopt their "alter ego" or mindset. Practice the Be, Do, Have principle: Be that successful person now, Do the things they would do, and you will Have what you desire. Bring More Value: You get paid for the value you bring to the hour, not the hour itself. To elevate your life, you must elevate your skills. Invest in courses, mentorship, and self-improvement (refining your skills). Be the Thermostat: Stop being a thermometer that only reflects the temperature of the room (your circumstances). Become the thermostat that actively sets the temperature (the energy, the impact, the value) in your life and environment. Become Attractive, Not Chasing Success is not an external thing to be hunted down; it is a mirror reflecting your personal growth. By focusing on constant and never-ending improvement—by adding value to yourself and the world—you transform into an attractive person with compelling energy. Stop chasing the goal, and start becoming the one who is inherently worthy of it.  

Chaque matin, à 8h50, l'imitateur rejoindra Apolline de Malherbe. Au programme : un débrief impertinent et sur-mesure de l'actualité politique, juste après le face-à-face avec l'invité du jour. À l'approche des municipales et de la présidentielle et dans un contexte politique en pleine effervescence, Nicolas Canteloup apportera sa voix unique, son regard affûté, et surtout une dose d'humour bien placée pour réveiller les auditeurs.

Katie May, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer for PAWS Chicago, joins Lisa Dent to feature PAWS’ annual Holiday Adopt-a-Thon. May shares that along with walk-ins, families can fill out an adoption application to find the perfect fit. the PAWS’ Holiday Adopt-A-Thon begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday, December 14

HSBC Innovations is the global bank's financing arm for American and European startups, especially in the healthcare and life sciences industries. The bank's semi-annual Venture Healthcare Reports document trends in the investment market.Key Tech's Andy Rogers welcomes the report's author, HSBC Innovation Managing Director Jon Norris in Episode 43 of the MedTech Speed to Data podcast.Need to know·       Four core market segments — HSBC Innovation's Venture Healthcare Reports cover investments and exits in Biopharma, Dx/Tools, Med Device, and Healthtech.·       Sourcing investment data — Norris enriches Pitchbook data with additional structure and analyses, making the report more relevant to these market segments.·       Sourcing exit data — Norris supplements media and industry publications with market research and conversations with industry leaders.·       An investment data tapestry — The reports provide “an honest picture of what's going on in the market” so investors and innovators alike “can make targeted smart decisions.”The nitty-grittyAndy and Norris discuss the investment market's recent history before exploring drivers of today's investment headwinds.“2021 was a record-setting year,” Norris recalls. “Every record that could be set for deals and dollars was set across all the sectors.” Things changed in 2022 as new BioTech IPOs struggled, prompting investment reprioritizations.“VCs had done all these… frothy valuations,” Norris says. “They had to go back and look at their own portfolios and say, does this company have enough capital? How do you want to put money to work?”Investments rebounded in 2024, but not the number of deals. Investors poured money into their existing portfolios to boost their exit chances, resulting in today's nine-figure megadeals.“Basically, they're smooshing two rounds together and extending the investors coming in to support that round,” Norris says.Headwinds stiffened in 2025 as tariffs, a more litigious competitive space, and other factors amplified business uncertainty.Norris attributes this progression to the psychology of venture capital. “When you think about what makes these folks tick,” Norris explains, “they want to continue to raise new venture funds because they get paid management fees. But in order to raise their new venture funds, they have to show their investors that they've actually gotten returns.”That means reaching an acquisition or IPO. “They're very focused on getting to exit right now. That's why they're so focused on their existing portfolio. And because of that, they haven't been doing as many new investments.”New investments still happen, of course, but the criteria have changed. “While the dollars are actually up in some of these sectors, especially Med Device,” Norris says, “you're seeing that being put to work on later-stage deals because they'd rather get a shorter time to exit.”Data that made the difference:Norris' insights from the HSBC Venture Healthcare Report let him advise startups fighting today's investment headwinds.Adopt a megaround mentality. “Series B has been extremely difficult,” Norris says. “[Raising] sub two million, that's one thing. But if you're looking to raise five million, it's almost better to raise twelve.”Find investors outside the mainstream. “Traditional venture investors don't want to write small checks.” Norris sees angel groups, innovation centers, and other small investors funding these early rounds.Explore acquisition exits, but be careful. “On the device side, most of the corporates have been pretty darn active,” Norris says. However, some litigate to block emerging competition, especially in the Dx/Tools sector. Norris' recommends researching potential acquirers before taking meetings.Download the HSBC Venture Healthcare Report for Norris' complete analysis, and watch the video below for insights into the Medical Device and Dx/Tools sectors, AI's role in MedTech, and more.

Discover the powerful link between nutrition and immunity, and learn practical healthy habits you can adopt today to strengthen your body's natural defenses and live more healthfully.https://www.youtube.com/@healthylifeessentials2557/featured Healthy Life Forward City: Austin Address: 11320 Hwy 620 N Website: https://healthylifeforward.com/

Description:Today we're talking to someone whose work really hits right where we live this year — in that messy middle space where you know you need joy, but you're not totally sure how to find your way back to it. Sarah Catherine “SC” Perot created Styles of Joy, which is genuinely one of the most grounding, practical, soul-forward frameworks we've encountered in a long time.  SC is an author, speaker, Vanderbilt professor, and self-proclaimed joy enthusiast whose work explores how we reclaim joy in seasons of transition, loss, rebuilding, and reinvention. Her debut book blends personal storytelling, cultural observation, and her CAPS Framework—Cultivate, Adopt, Protect, and Spread—a blueprint for understanding how joy works in us, around us, and through us. In this conversation, we talk about reclaiming joy after difficult seasons, the identity shifts that come with major life transitions, the science and soulfulness of joy, and why small, daily practices matter more than we think. SC brings brilliance, compassion, and practicality to a topic that often feels elusive, reminding us that joy isn't something we “earn” — it's something we can cultivate and choose, even in the midst of imperfect lives. If you've been craving a reset, a reorientation, or just a little more light in your day, this episode is a beautiful place to begin. Thought-provoking Quotes: “Music is like a scent that can transport us back in time. We have so many memories bookmarked in our heads.” – SC Perot “Joy can meet us in our quiet moments. It can meet us at a concert in a room full of people drowned in confetti. And it can meet us anywhere in between.” – SC Perot “The heat I was getting in my DMs, people are saying, have you lost your mind? You used to be on the straight and narrow. What has happened to you? What is with the feather boas?” – SC Perot “If we know we can tee ourselves up for productivity and if we know we can tee ourselves up for healthy decision making, why would we also not give joy a shot first thing in the morning?” – SC Perot “Joy can start small, just as hope does.” – SC Perot Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Styles of Joy: A Feel-Good Framework for Rediscovering Joy (with a Twist!) by SC Perot – https://amzn.to/48yUooy Harry Styles – https://www.hstyles.co.uk/ The Joy Hotline – https://www.scperot.com/joy-hotline/ Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven – https://amzn.to/4oC3iYK Unlocking the Secrets of Consciousness and Telepathy: Ky Dickens and The Telepathy Tapes - https://jenhatmaker.com/podcasts/series-64/unlocking-the-secrets-of-consciousness-and-telepathy-ky-dickens-and-the-telepathy-tapes/ Jen Hatmaker | Advent Week One: The Light of Hope – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obh3zvna-ng Elizabeth Gilbert Oprah show botox post on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/p/CCyHEtZh8DG/ Tom Holland “Umbrella” Lip Sync Battle – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPCJIB1f7jk The Guardian | I tried some hacks to make my phone less appealing. It got existential – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/15/phone-addiction-cut-screen-time-diary Catherine Shannon Substack | Everyone is Numbing Out –  https://catherineshannon.substack.com/p/everyone-is-numbing-out This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something--Anything--Like Your Life Depends On It by Tabatha Carvan – https://amzn.to/4pora36 Guest's Links: Website - https://www.scperot.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/scperot/ Substack - https://substack.com/@scperot Connect with Jen!Jen's Website - https://jenhatmaker.com/ Jen's Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmakerJen's Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ Jen's Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmakerJen's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker The For the Love Podcast is presented by Audacy.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Brennan Spiegel, Director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA, author of the book Pull, explains why illness is often a failure to manage gravity. He describes how our relationship with gravity defines strength, balance, digestion, mental stability, and emotional health.  Take the Gravotype Quiz at BrennanSpiegelMD.com to identify how your body manages gravity. Key Insights and Action Steps — Dr. Brennan Spiegel "Every single cell of your body evolved from this force of gravity. Physics came first, and biology came second." Illness arises when we fail to manage gravity. Every organ, tendon, and cell depends on that relationship. "When you stand up straight and lift your diaphragm, it pulls up this sack of potatoes that we all have in our belly. When you open up the gut, it opens up digestion." Posture determines how well the gut, diaphragm, and circulation function. Sitting compresses digestion and lowers energy. "Your balance and relationship to gravity is a predictor of how long you're going to live." Balance, grip strength, and posture are measurable indicators of longevity. "The inner ear is like a gyroscope constantly keeping track of your position in relation to gravity." The nervous system continuously measures gravity. Inner-ear disturbances can create dizziness, anxiety, and panic. "When you're depressed, you can't get up out of bed. Your body is slumped over. It's almost like there's so much gravity pulling on your body, it's like you're in a black hole." Depression mirrors an excessive gravitational load. Emotional heaviness is a physical experience of being pulled down. "Strong negative emotional experiences can permanently change the way the brain forms… the mind has learned to be pulled down emotionally, physically, socially." Childhood trauma reshapes how the brain perceives gravity, making the body feel heavier and slower to rise. "The feet are a gravity management surface… only five percent of the body's surface area but holding one hundred percent of the weight." Feet are the interface between body and planet. Strengthening them restores alignment and balance. "Your relationship to the planet, both latitudinally and altitudinally, will determine your health." Altitude, light, and environment influence serotonin, immunity, and microbiome function. "Serotonin itself is a gravity management substance." Serotonin regulates mood and physical stability, linking emotional and gravitational balance. "When it's stimulated, it activates the rest and digest phase and helps release serotonin." The vagus nerve is the primary connection between body and mind, calming the system and improving serotonin flow. "I pretended I was on a bigger planet… I became stronger and stood up straighter." Carrying additional resistance through weighted movement improves posture, strength, and metabolism. "When we lay down to sleep, we give our body a break… the blood easily flows into our brain and flushes out amyloid." Sleep restores gravitational equilibrium and supports brain recovery. "Gravity doesn't change, but your relationship to gravity does." Long-term health depends on strengthening that relationship physically, mentally, and emotionally. Action Items from Dr. Brennan Spiegel  1. Identify your gravotype. Take the 16-question quiz at BrennanSpiegelMD.com to learn which of the eight gravotypes you belong to and how your body manages gravity. 2. Build gravity fortitude. Strengthen the muscles and bones that keep you upright — especially your back, core, and legs. "When you stand up straight and lift your diaphragm, it pulls up the gut and opens digestion." 3. Stand tall and move often. Avoid long hours of sitting. Use a standing desk or take frequent standing breaks. Sitting compresses the abdomen, slows digestion, and reduces serotonin. 4. Strengthen the diaphragm and posture daily. Practice standing with shoulders back and chin level to engage the diaphragm and improve breathing and gut function. 5. Train your balance. Test and improve balance by standing on one leg, walking heel-to-toe, or using a balance board. "Your balance and relationship to gravity is a predictor of how long you're going to live." 6. Practice grip and hanging strength. Hang from a bar daily. Aim for 30 seconds, then increase gradually toward 2 minutes. Even short "dead hangs" improve shoulder, spine, and nervous-system alignment. 7. Use light weighted resistance. Try a weighted vest or light ankle weights while walking or doing chores. "I pretended I was on a bigger planet… I became stronger and stood up straighter." 8. Walk, run, or train barefoot or in minimalist shoes (safely). Let the feet feel the ground to activate stabilizing muscles. "When you ground your foot, everything else pulls up straight from there." 9. Reconnect with the ground. Spend time standing or walking on natural surfaces (grass, sand, earth) when possible. 10. Stay hydrated. Keep enough fluid in your body to "pump blood and oxygen up into the brain." Dehydration weakens gravity tolerance and causes dizziness or fatigue. 11. Regulate the nervous system. Do slow, controlled breathing through pursed lips to stimulate the vagus nerve and calm the body. "Slow meditative breathing activates the rest-and-digest phase." 12. Consider gentle vagus-nerve stimulation. Use only safe methods such as breathing, humming, or medical devices under supervision. Avoid carotid massage unless advised by a doctor. 13. Strengthen vestibular and proprioceptive awareness. Engage activities that challenge coordination: yoga, dance, gymnastics, tai chi, or balance training. 14. Manage mental gravity. Notice emotional heaviness as a physical sensation; practice posture, breathing, and grounding to counteract "mental black holes." 15. Use awe and nature to elevate mood. Spend time in nature, watch sunsets, or listen to music that evokes awe. "Feeling part of something greater than yourself elevates mood and serotonin." 16. Increase natural serotonin. Seek sunlight, exercise outdoors, connect socially, and reduce processed foods. Serotonin helps both mood and muscle tone to "fight gravity physically and mentally." 17. Optimize sleep for gravitational recovery. Sleep 7–8 hours flat or slightly inclined if you have reflux. Avoid heavy meals within 2 hours of sleep. Limit screens before bed. "When we lay down to sleep, we give our body a break… the blood easily flows into our brain." 18. Manage reflux and digestion. If prone to reflux, raise the head of the bed about 10 degrees or use a wedge pillow. Sleep on your left side to reduce acid reaching the esophagus. 19. Support circulation through movement. Use your muscles as pumps, walk regularly, stretch calves, and move legs during travel or desk work to prevent stagnation. 20. Avoid chronic compression. Reduce time bent over laptops or phones; keep screens at eye level to protect diaphragm and digestion. 21. Engage with natural environments. Nature exposure increases serotonin and improves gravity resilience. "Being in green spaces is mood-elevating because that's what we evolved with." 22. Monitor environment and altitude. If you live or work at high altitude, be mindful of mood or sleep changes and adjust oxygen exposure and sunlight time. 23. Balance convenience with movement. Spiegel warns that modern comfort, constant sitting, processed food, artificial environments, represents "our species losing the battle against gravity." 24. Reframe health. Adopt the mindset that "gravity doesn't change, but your relationship to gravity does." Everything, from mood to digestion, is part of managing that relationship.   Get Brennan's book, Pull, here: https://shorturl.at/XjNt3   Claim your free gift: Free gift #1 McKinsey & BCG winning resume www.FIRMSconsulting.com/resumePDF Free gift #2 Breakthrough Decisions Guide with 25 AI Prompts www.FIRMSconsulting.com/decisions Free gift #3 Five Reasons Why People Ignore Somebody www.FIRMSconsulting.com/owntheroom Free gift #4 Access episode 1 from Build a Consulting Firm, Level 1 www.FIRMSconsulting.com/build Free gift #5 The Overall Approach used in well-managed strategy studies www.FIRMSconsulting.com/OverallApproach Free gift #6 Get a copy of Nine Leaders in Action, a book we co-authored with some of our clients: www.FIRMSconsulting.com/gift

Ecoutez L'oeil de Philippe Caverivière du 10 décembre 2025.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

On this edition of Building the Premier Accounting Firm, Roger Knecht and Laura Shepherd, founder of Momentum BK, discuss pricing strategies for accounting firms, focusing on Shepherd's "Pricing with Purpose" philosophy.  Learn how to categorize services, build confidence, and avoid common pricing pitfalls to grow your accounting business. In This Episode: 00:00 Introduction to Pricing with Purpose 03:49 Categorizing Accounting Services for Pricing 08:42 Deep Dive into Service Categories 14:43 Mindset Shift for Accounting Professionals 19:05 Real-World Pricing Success Stories 24:38 The Importance of Confidence and Explanation 29:45 Entrepreneurial Journey and Gratitude 34:29 Future Goals and Elevating the Profession 38:40 Closing Thoughts and Call to Action 42:45 Podcast Conclusion and Resources Key Takeaways: Assess your services to define clear value for clients. Categorize offerings into task management, compliance, and advisory for transparent pricing. Adopt an entrepreneurial mindset to confidently set and explain your fees. Understand specific client needs and industry compliance for accurate pricing. Leverage clear communication to build client trust and increase revenue. Featured Quotes: "If I can't explain it, it doesn't exist." - Laura Shepherd "You're not a bookkeeper. You are an accounting entrepreneur who provides bookkeeping services." - Laura Shepherd "I want to create more opportunities to reach those people where they are." - Laura Shepherd Top 3 Highlights: Pricing with Purpose: Understand and articulate the value of your services to clients, moving beyond arbitrary fee setting. Service Buckets: Segment services into necessary, compliance-based, and advisory levels to offer clear, structured pricing. Entrepreneurial Mindset: Adopt the perspective of a business owner to manage profitability and confidently communicate your worth. Conclusion: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Building the Premier Accounting Firm with Roger Knecht. For more information on how you can establish your own accounting firm and take control of your time and income, call 435-344-2060 or schedule an appointment to connect with Roger's team here.   Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: With the purchase of the Pricing with Purpose Webinar & Workbook ($49.00) https://momentumbk.com/pricing And receive the bonus tool of "Pricing with Purpose Checklist". https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BPqND-4q8cHaY1_KE_5NptxwrWY8DL6r/view?usp=drive_link   Get a FREE copy of these books all accounting professionals should use to work on their business and become profitable.  These are a must-have addition to every accountant's library to provide quality CFO & Advisory services as a Profit & Growth Expert today: "Red to BLACK in 30 days – A small business accountant's guide to QUICK turnarounds" – This is a how-to guide on how to turn around a struggling business into a more sustainable model. Each chapter focuses on a crucial aspect of the turnaround process - from cash flow management to strategies for improving revenue. This book will teach you everything you need to become a turnaround expert for small businesses. "in the BLACK, nine principles to make your business profitable" – Nine Principles to Make Your Business Profitable – Discover what you need to know to run the premier accounting firm and get paid what you are worth in this book, by the same author as Red to Black – CPA Allen B. Bostrom. Bostrom teaches the three major functions of business (marketing, production and accounting) as well as strategies for maximizing profitability for your clients by creating actionable plans to implement the nine principles. "Your Strategic Accountant" - Understand the 3 Core Accounting Services you should offer as you run your business. help your clients understand which numbers they need to know to make more informed business decisions. "Your Profit & Growth Expert" - Your business is an asset. You should know its value and understand how to maximize it. Beginning with the end in mind helps you work ON your business to build a company you can leave so that it can continue to exist in your absence or build wealth as you retire and enjoy the time, freedom, and life you want and deserve.     In addition to becoming an author, see what you can do to follow the Turnkey Business plan for accounting professionals.  After more than 40 years we've identified the best practices of successful accountants and this is a presentation we are happy to share.  Check it out and see what you can do to be in business for yourself but not by yourself with Universal Accounting Center.   It's here you can become a:   Professional Bookkeeper, PB Professional Tax Preparer, PTP Profit & Growth Expert, PGE   Next, join a group of like-minded professionals within the accounting community.  Stay up-to-date on current topics and trends and see what you can do to also give back, participating in relevant conversations as they relate to offering quality accounting services and building your bookkeeping, accounting & tax business.   The Accounting & Bookkeeping Tips Facebook Group The Universal Accounting Fanpage Topical Newsletters: Universal Accounting Success The Universal Newsletter   Lastly, get your Business Score to see what you can do to work ON your business and have the Premier Accounting Firm. Join over 70,000 business owners and get your score on the 8 Factors That Drive Your Company's Value.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Be sure to join us for GrowCon, the LIVE event for accounting professionals to work ON their business. This is a conference you don't want to miss.   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   Also, let us know what you think of the podcast and please share any suggestions you may have.  We look forward to your input: Podcast Feedback   For more information on how you can apply these principles to start and build your accounting, bookkeeping & tax business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 8012653777  

A 10h, ce mercredi 10 décembre 2025, les GG : Antoine Diers, consultant auprès des entreprises, Didier Giraud, éleveur de bovins, et Fatima Aït Bounoua, professeur de français, débattent de : "Budget de la Sécu adopté : la victoire des peureux ?"

durée : 00:12:42 - Journal de 7 h - Si le gouvernement Lecornu - fort d'une méthode plus ouverte au compromis - a réussi à se maintenir malgré les larges désaccords au sein de l'Assemblée, la copie initiale du budget de la Sécurité sociale a largement été amendée.

Ecoutez L'oeil de Philippe Caverivière du 10 décembre 2025.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

durée : 00:23:34 - 8h30 franceinfo - La présidente de l'Assemblée nationale était l'invitée du "8h30 franceinfo", mercredi 10 décembre 2025. Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

durée : 00:12:42 - Journal de 7 h - Si le gouvernement Lecornu - fort d'une méthode plus ouverte au compromis - a réussi à se maintenir malgré les larges désaccords au sein de l'Assemblée, la copie initiale du budget de la Sécurité sociale a largement été amendée.

Le président-fondateur du quotidien L'Opinion, Nicolas Beytout, et l'éditorialiste politique Ruth Elkrief reviennent sur le vote survenu hier à l'Assemblée nationale. Selon eux, ce budget de la Sécurité sociale, profondément socialiste, est un désastre absolu. Mention légales : Vos données de connexion, dont votre adresse IP, sont traités par Radio Classique, responsable de traitement, sur la base de son intérêt légitime, par l'intermédiaire de son sous-traitant Ausha, à des fins de réalisation de statistiques agréées et de lutte contre la fraude. Ces données sont supprimées en temps réel pour la finalité statistique et sous cinq mois à compter de la collecte à des fins de lutte contre la fraude. Pour plus d'informations sur les traitements réalisés par Radio Classique et exercer vos droits, consultez notre Politique de confidentialité.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Dépité après le vote, le patron de la droite n'a guère été suivi par ses troupes. Marcelo Wesfreid nous explique les raisons de ce désaveu.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Le nouveau budget est passé — mais que contient-il vraiment ?Yaelle Ifrah revient sur les arbitrages, les priorités choisies, et les zones d’ombre qui divisent déjà la classe politique. Entre promesses tenues, compromis forcés et inquiétudes économiques : on fait le point.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Le suspense aura duré jusqu'au bout ! Sur le plan tactique, on peut bien parler d'un succès, mais qui ne sera pas sans conséquences au vu des concessions faites. Mention légales : Vos données de connexion, dont votre adresse IP, sont traités par Radio Classique, responsable de traitement, sur la base de son intérêt légitime, par l'intermédiaire de son sous-traitant Ausha, à des fins de réalisation de statistiques agréées et de lutte contre la fraude. Ces données sont supprimées en temps réel pour la finalité statistique et sous cinq mois à compter de la collecte à des fins de lutte contre la fraude. Pour plus d'informations sur les traitements réalisés par Radio Classique et exercer vos droits, consultez notre Politique de confidentialité.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Adopté de justesse à l'Assemblée nationale, le budget de la Sécurité sociale introduit plusieurs mesures marquantes : gel de l'âge légal de départ en retraite, revalorisation des pensions pour certaines mères de famille, hausse de la CSG sur une partie des revenus du capital et ajustements dans le remboursement des médicaments. Une victoire parlementaire pour l'exécutif, mais dont la portée reste à confirmer alors que le budget de l'État poursuit son parcours au Sénat. Les explications de Xavier Timbeau, directeur de l'OFCE. Ecorama du 9 décembre 2025, présenté par David Jacquot sur Boursorama.com Hébergé par Audion. Visitez https://www.audion.fm/fr/privacy-policy pour plus d'informations.

Can't we just give money for presents?! My Mom has a lot of ... mouthwash?? Protein is very, very heavy ASK MY MOM: Thrift shop Christmas Become a Certified Fan! Help support the podcast and get our Thursday show, More Mama's Boy!  Adopt An Episode! Want to show us a little extra love? Adopt an Episode and get a personal shoutout in an upcoming show! Certified Fans, join this year's Secret Santa! (You must be logged into your Supercast account) This episode was adopted by the amazing Alexandra T. from WA.! Thank you!! A special thank you to our Boy-lievers for your extra support of our show: Candy Z, Marci H, Eileen F, Kat R, Rachelrose S, Donald S, Queen Pam , Erin D, Alexandra T, Deb S, Lisa G, Julie B, Carly M C, Karissa R, Sue W, Lucino , Lisa H, Kayla S, Karen W, Tina U, Lety S, Julia M, Michele K, Angela P and our mystery Boy-liever!  Listen to my other podcast, “Kramer and Jess Uncensored”! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the quest for better water quality, farmers and city residents share a vital common goal: protecting our shared water resources by managing runoff. Host Jamie Duininck speaks with Ann Zawistoski and Sophie Wicklund of the Adopt-a-Drain program to draw a direct line between agricultural and urban water management practices. Just as farmers use practices like buffer strips, bioreactors, and controlled drainage to minimize nutrient loss, our “city cousins" clean their local storm drains to prevent urban pollutants like leaves and debris from entering waterways.Adopt-a-Drain empowers the public to take responsibility for stormwater management, recognizing that urban stormwater runoff is a major source of water pollution. The program encourages residents to adopt a storm drain near their home and clean it just twice a month. This simple, hands-on approach transforms the public's understanding of their impact on the watershed, leading to broader behavioral changes. The collective results prove the power of individual action, with over 30,000 adopted drains and nearly one million pounds of debris removed across the country. Tune in to discover the powerful parallels between urban and agricultural water quality practices and how community engagement is successfully working toward clean water for everyone.Chapters:00:00 Introduction00:36 Adopt-a-Drain Guest Introductions01:57 The Urban Stormwater Challenge04:00 How the Adopt-a-Drain Program Works05:40 Nearly 1 Million Pounds of Debris Removed06:35 Behavior Change07:50 Adopt-a-Drain's Origins and Inspiration10:52 Why Small, Frequent Cleanings Make a Big Difference13:56 Engaging Participants Year-Round15:53 Funding and Partnerships19:42 The Parallels to Ag Water Management25:39 Expanding the MovementRelated Content:#138 | Set It & Forget It... Making Controlled Water Management Accessible with Agri Drain#56 | A More Efficient Approach to Water Quality: Batch and Build#14 | Opportunities in Water QualityAdopt-a-DrainFind us on social media!Facebook Twitter InstagramListen on these podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube MusicYouTubeVisit our website to explore more episodes & water management education.

durée : 00:51:56 - Les informés de franceinfo - Les informés débattent de l'actualité autour de Victor Matet. Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

Les députés ont adopté mardi de justesse le projet de budget de la Sécurité sociale pour 2026, une victoire majeure pour le Premier ministre, Sébastien Lecornu.

À l'Assemblée nationale, Sébastien Lecornu a décroché de justesse l'adoption du budget de la Sécurité sociale, sans recourir au 49.3. Un vote gagné à 13 voix près, marqué par la suspension de la réforme des retraites et un soutien déterminant des socialistes. Le Premier ministre sort-il renforcé de ce premier test, à l'heure où s'ouvre déjà la bataille, autrement plus délicate, du budget de l'État ? Quel rôle pour les oppositions ? L'échec de l'union des gauches, et le début de l'union des droites ? Décryptage avec le politologue Jean Petaux, expert associé au think tank « Spirale Institut ».Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

La France a un budget 2026, ou presque. L'Assemblée nationale a voté la partie dépenses du Projet de loi de finances de la Sécurité sociale (PLFSS) par treize voix d'écart. Cela devrait se traduire par un déficit de la "Sécu" limité à 19,6 milliards d'euros en 2026. Parmi les mesures phares du projet, il y a effectivement la suspension de la réforme des retraites, le congé de naissance, qui sert l'objectif de "réarmement démographique" d'Emmanuel Macron, ou encore une surtaxe exceptionnelle sur les mutuelles.

Steve et Rose Haldeman s'expriment aussi sur trois autres sujets, en rapport avec leurs écrits :- les sexualités- le monde de l'entreprise- la science-fictionPour en savoir plus, vous pouvez les retrouver :- sur leur site internet : stevehaldeman.com- sur leur chaîne Youtube principale : https://www.youtube.com/@steveetrosehaldeman- sur leur chaîne secondaire : https://www.youtube.com/@protectiondelenfance- et sur leurs autres réseaux sociaux, dont les liens sont disponibles sur la page d'accueil de leur site.----------------------------------------------------------------Leurs écrits :Petite histoire d'un entrepreneur désabusé, de Steve Haldeman- version e-book : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0FNT8TMDT/- version papier : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2494242061/Notre histoire : La série "Maître et soumise, leur histoire" est un double roman BDSM, raconté pour l'un du point de vue du maître, et pour l'autre du point de vue de la soumise. Elle se compose de 4 tomes.Par Steve HaldemanMa soumise, mon amour, Tome 1 (septembre 2022)- version e-book : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BDMWCYR6/- version papier : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2494242002/- livre audio : https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Steve_Haldeman_Ma_soumise_mon_amour?id=AQAAAEDSe2o7qM&pli=1Ma soumise, mon amour, Tome 2 (décembre 2023)- version e-book : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CQ3YG9T7/- version papier : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2494242029/- livre audio : https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Steve_Haldeman_Ma_soumise_mon_amour?id=AQAAAEAyL3hvWMPar Rose HaldemanMon Maître, mon amour, Tome 1 (juin 2023)- version e-book : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0C9H2GYK9/- version papier : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2494243009/Mon Maître, mon amour, Tome 2 (décembre 2024)- version e-book : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DPGJ8HZV/- version papier : https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2494243025/Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Invités :François Patriat, sénateur Renaissance de Côte d'Or, président du groupe RDPI (Rassemblement des Démocrates, Progressistes et Indépendants) au SénatMarc Touati, économiste et conseiller économique EToroChroniqueurs :Gilles-William Goldnadel, avocatJules Torres, journaliste au service politique du JDDGilles Boutin, journaliste en politique économique au FigaroJean-Michel Salvator, chroniqueur politique et communiquantHébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Invités :François Patriat, sénateur Renaissance de Côte d'Or, président du groupe RDPI (Rassemblement des Démocrates, Progressistes et Indépendants) au SénatMarc Touati, économiste et conseiller économique EToroChroniqueurs :Gilles-William Goldnadel, avocatJules Torres, journaliste au service politique du JDDGilles Boutin, journaliste en politique économique au FigaroJean-Michel Salvator, chroniqueur politique et communiquantHébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

On this episode of What's Next?, we explore two ways Western New York communities are responding to need and opportunity. Jennifer Rizzo Choi, Executive Director of the International Institute of Buffalo, joins us to unpack recent shifts in U.S. immigration policy, including the review of hundreds of thousands of recently admitted refugees and the pause on asylum applications. She also shares upcoming events at the Institute, from a Meet the Ambassador series to a regional Model UN conference, designed to foster cultural understanding and engagement. We also hear from Alicia Stark of Child and Family Services about their Adopt-a-Family program. She explains how the annual initiative supports over a thousand people each year, providing everything from winter boots and books to essential household items, and how community support is critical as local needs continue to grow.

Quelque part, à différents endroits du monde, des communautés traditionnelles accordent à la femme une place à part, centrale. Voyage inspirant sur la terre des «matriarches». Depuis plus de quinze ans, la photographe française Nadia Ferroukhi sillonne la planète, avec son appareil, de la Chine à l'Estonie, de l'Inde à la Mauritanie, du Kenya à la Colombie, à la rencontre de sociétés où le pouvoir se conjugue aussi au féminin. Des sociétés traditionnelles -mais résolument modernes-, où les femmes transmettent le nom, possèdent la terre ou la maison, divorcent librement ou attendent avec impatience d'avoir une fille perçue comme une bénédiction… Ces femmes Khasi en Inde, Moso en Chine, Maures en Mauritanie, Minangkabau en Indonésie ou Wayuù en Colombie offrent alors de puissantes images et opposent de vivifiants modèles au patriarcat. Pour Nadia Ferroukhi, tout commence au Kenya, quand en 2008 la photoreporter découvre le village de Tumai (soit «espoir de vie» en Samburu) exclusivement peuplé de femmes. Là-bas, les hommes sont interdits et seuls les enfants, les jeunes hommes jusqu'à l'âge de 16 ans y sont autorisés. Loin de la violence des hommes, ces femmes Samburu, souvent victimes de mariages forcés, de viols ou de maltraitances, se réparent et imaginent une communauté basée sur le partage et la démocratie participative 100% féminine. Adoptée par ces femmes de Tumai qui la surnomment «Namoniak», Nadia Ferroukhi va y retourner régulièrement, monter une association pour leur venir en aide et réaliser un magnifique travail documentaire qui dit la force et la résilience de ces femmes, enfin libres. Après quoi, sous le regard bienveillant de la célèbre anthropologue française Françoise Héritier, elle décide de partir à la rencontre de sociétés matrilinéaires, où c'est la lignée féminine qui transmet le nom ou la propriété par exemple. Dans ce long voyage aux pays des femmes, Nadia Ferroukhi n'a pas trouvé de «matriarcat» qui dominerait ou opprimerait les hommes, comme le patriarcat le fait sur les femmes. Le pouvoir est juste souvent mieux réparti, plus équilibré et partagé avec les hommes. Avec ses images en couleur et ses multiples rencontres à travers le monde, la photographe élargit son champ de vision mais aussi le nôtre. Et après un premier livre sorti en 2021 «Les matriarches», elle vient de publier en France un second opus «Les nouvelles matriarches» aux Éditions Albin Michel. Deux beaux livres de photo, nourris de légendes très documentées, qui décentrent le regard et donnent de l'élan et de l'espérance. Car, comme l'écrit en préface l'intellectuelle française Laure Adler, «ces sociétés de femme existent. Le savoir d'abord puis les découvrir […] constitue en soi une forme d'espoir, une leçon de courage, un moyen de résistance contre toute forme d'oppression».   À lire et voir : - «Les nouvelles matriarches», de Nadia Ferroukhi. Éditions Albin Michel. 2025 - «Les matriarches», de Nadia Ferroukhi. Éditions Albin Michel. 2021 - L'association «Douniatou» montée par Nadia Ferroukhi pour venir en aide aux femmes Samburu - Nadia Ferroukhi est exposée à l'espace Co 42 à partir du 12 mars jusqu'au 16 mai 2026. 42 bd Victor Hugo, 92110 Clichy. Puis du 4 au 13 juin 2026 à l'Ephémère Galerie de Comptoir des Voyages, 12 rue St Victor, 75005 Paris.

Key Takeaways: Energy-independent homes create value: Houses powered by solar panels and Bitcoin mining can produce their own energy and generate income. Use AI for smarter living: Automating homes with AI and smart tech can cut costs and even create new income opportunities over time. New opportunities for trade workers: Electricians and other skilled workers can benefit by offering smart home upgrades and related services. Work together as a community: Collaboration between tradespeople and tech experts is key to building innovative, energy-efficient homes. Adopt technology to grow wealth: The future of financial success depends on embracing new technology and continuously learning to adapt.   Chapters: Timestamp Summary 0:00 Creating the Self Sufficient Home of the Future 1:44 Transforming Homes Into Income-Generating Smart Centers 6:19 Integrating Robots and AI as Trade Apprentices 6:56 Challenges and Solutions in Smart Home Maintenance 8:56 Embracing Future Opportunities and Evolving Archetypes in Business 10:16 Exploring Opportunities Beyond Taxes    Powered by ReiffMartin CPA and Stone Hill Wealth Management   Social Media Handles    Follow Phillip Washington, Jr. on Instagram (@askphillip)   Subscribe to Wealth Building Made Simple newsletter https://www.wealthbuildingmadesimple.us/   Ready to turn your investing dreams into reality? Our "Wealth Building Made Simple" premium newsletter is your secret weapon. We break down investing in a way that's easy to understand, even if you're just starting out. Learn the tricks the wealthy use, discover exciting opportunities, and start building the future YOU want. Sign up now, and let's make those dreams happen!   WBMS Premium Subscription   Phillip Washington, Jr. is a registered investment adviser. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

In EVN Report's news roundup for the week of December 5: Armenia and the EU adopt a new Strategic Agenda; Church–state tensions continue to escalate as ten bishops call for the Catholicos' resignation; Government releases key OSCE Minsk Group documents from past Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations and more.

durée : 00:19:34 - Journal de 18h - -Adopté ! Les députés ont finalement donné de justesse en début d'après-midi leur feu vert à la partie recettes du budget de financement de la sécurité sociale. Une petite victoire pour Sébastien Lecornu, mais le chemin reste semé d'obstacles.

durée : 00:19:34 - Journal de 18h - -Adopté ! Les députés ont finalement donné de justesse en début d'après-midi leur feu vert à la partie recettes du budget de financement de la sécurité sociale. Une petite victoire pour Sébastien Lecornu, mais le chemin reste semé d'obstacles.

Aruba is overrated Don't ever try to pinch it off Even though social media is fake, it still hurts... ASK MY MOM: I'm not proposing on Christmas... Become a Certified Fan! Help support the podcast and get our Thursday show, More Mama's Boy!  Adopt An Episode! Want to show us a little extra love? Adopt an Episode and get a personal shoutout in an upcoming show! Certified Fans, join this year's Secret Santa! (You must be logged into your Supercast account) This episode was adopted by the amazing Alexandra T. from WA.! Thank you!! A special thank you to our Boy-lievers for your extra support of our show: Candy Z., Marci H., Eileen F., Rachelrose S., Donald S., Queen Pam, Erin D., Alexandra T., Julie B., Carly M., Karissa, Sue W., Lucino, Lisa H., Kayla S., Karen W., Tina U., Leticia S., Julia M., Kimberly W., Michele K., Angela P. and our mystery Boy-liever!  Listen to my other podcast, “Kramer and Jess Uncensored”! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Auditrice :Sarah raconte la vision positive qu'elle a adoptée après un long travail sur elle-mêmeHébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

In today's episode of Reddit Stories Podcast, a wild Karen completely loses it. You won't believe how this one ends! Sit back, relax, and enjoy this binge-worthy Reddit Stories Podcast, featuring Karen freakouts, entitled people stories, and pro revenge tales.

Worried about your child's risky play?Dr. Joanna Spotts joins me in this conversation to talk about the benefits of risky play and why it is essential for development. We also discuss ways to safely provide opportunities for risky play.Joanna Spotts, EdD has been an educator for over 20 years. Dr. Joanna discovered her passion for risky play during her doctoral journey and seeks to use her voice to help others find the joy of risky play. Join her monthly newsletter to stay up to date! Ready to Adopt the 4 C's of Collaborative Discipline?⁠⁠⁠⁠Grab your free download and embrace connection before correction! Get it ⁠⁠⁠⁠here.⁠⁠⁠November 27, 2025Episode 294 The Power of Risky Play (Why Your Child Needs It) with Dr. Joanna SpottsAbout Your Host: Cara Tyrrell, M.Ed. is a mom or three, early childhood author, parent educator, and founder of Core4Parenting. A former preschool and kindergarten teacher with degrees in ASL, Linguistics, and Education, she created the Collaborative Parenting Methodology™ to help parents, caregivers, and educators understand the power of intentional language in shaping a child's identity, confidence, and future success.As host of the top-ranking podcast Transforming the Toddler Years, Cara blends science and soul to show adults how to “talk to kids before they can talk back,” turning tantrums into teachable moments and everyday challenges into opportunities for connection. She is also the author of the forthcoming book Talk to Them Early and Often, a guide for raising emotionally intelligent kids who thrive in school and life.Be the First to Know When Talk to Them Early and Often is Available For Preorder. Get on the list ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠!⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Interested in being a guest on the podcast? We'd love to hear from you! Complete the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Guest Application form⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer is crashing with the Martins—and Gio has a wild suggestion: Al needs to adopt a teenager!

Superpowers for Good should not be considered investment advice. Seek counsel before making investment decisions. When you purchase an item, launch a campaign or create an investment account after clicking a link here, we may earn a fee. Engage to support our work.Watch the show on television by downloading the e360tv channel app to your Roku, LG or AmazonFireTV. You can also see it on YouTube.Devin: What is your superpower?Craig: Empowering ordinary investors to take control of their money whether they are young or old.Most of the wealth created by today's fastest‑growing companies never reaches ordinary investors.Innovative firms like Uber stay private for years, creating massive value for venture capitalists and insiders before ever listing on a public exchange. By the time these companies finally go public, most of the growth is already “cooked in.” That leaves people investing through retirement accounts buying stock at a premium while much of the upside has already been captured.In this episode of Superpowers for Good, guest Craig Stephens, founder of Anatoc Media, shares how he helps everyday investors understand and, where possible, tap into this elusive pre‑IPO and IPO economy through AccessIPOs.com and his Retire Before Dad blog.Craig explains the core problem bluntly: “From 1996 to this year we went from about 8,000 public companies to just 4,000.” That shrinking universe means the broad market funds many people depend on for retirement are drawing from fewer companies, while an expanding slice of innovation remains locked up in private markets.He points to the rise of giant private companies as a turning point. “These companies really started with Uber. Uber waited a long time to go public and by the time it went public most of its growth was already built into the company.” When firms can command higher valuations and easy capital while staying private, they have little incentive to list, especially when secondary markets and tender offers already provide liquidity for insiders and employees.The result is a widening access gap. “With fewer companies going public that wealth is getting sort of sectioned off in this venture capital world which is just not accessible to everybody,” Craig notes. Regulated crowdfunding and other exemptions appear as part of the solution, opening a window for retail investors to participate earlier, even if only on a small scale compared to institutional players.Craig distinguishes between his two platforms. Retire Before Dad focuses on what he calls the “boring stuff” — index funds, sound retirement planning, smart personal finance habits. Access IPOs is intentionally more speculative, a place for investors to allocate a small slice of their wealth to higher‑risk, higher‑potential pre‑IPO and IPO opportunities.The discussion underscores a growing conviction among advocates for retail investors: the financial system needs more pathways for ordinary people to participate in the wealth generated by innovation. While regulation crowdfunding alone cannot fix the system, it is an essential part of a broader effort to ensure that elites are not the only ones who benefit from the most dynamic companies of this era.tl;dr:The episode explores how shrinking public markets prevent many ordinary investors from sharing in innovation‑driven wealth.Craig explains why companies stay private longer, shifting most gains to venture capital and other private‑market players.The conversation highlights how regulation crowdfunding and Reg A create limited but meaningful early‑stage access for the crowd.Craig shares his path from IT consulting to launching Retire Before Dad and Access IPOs to educate DIY investors.Craig presents his superpower of empowering investors, illustrated through his IPO community and practical guidance for smarter participation.How to Develop Empowering Investors As a SuperpowerCraig's superpower is empowering investors to take control of their own money. His work is about “empowering ordinary investors to take control of their money whether they are young or old.” Through his two platforms, he supports younger people “interested in these hot companies that are going public or that are private” and retirees he “empower[s] to manage their own money as DIY planners and investors.” Craig challenges the aura of complexity built by the financial industry, insisting “investing doesn't need to be that difficult or complex and ordinary investors can do it on their own,” accessing both traditional assets and, where appropriate, “the other economy that a lot of people don't have access to.”Craig described a small investing community that began on Facebook and later moved to Patreon. He does not give formal advice but offers tools, education, and a trusted space to discuss IPO and pre‑IPO opportunities. Within that group, members identified and accessed the Circle IPO. “At some point it was up six or seven hundred percent and that's very unusual,” Craig explains. Because the community had developed knowledge and shared strategies together, ordinary investors were ready to participate through available brokerage channels. Craig emphasizes there are also deals that “didn't jump out of the gate,” highlighting both the potential and the real risks of this approach.Tips for Developing This Superpower (Actionable)Demystify investingLearn basic concepts in public markets, IPOs, and private offerings to see that they are understandable and navigable.Adopt a DIY approachTake responsibility for core decisions about saving, allocation, and risk instead of defaulting everything to professionals.Anchor most money in simple vehiclesUse broad index funds and long‑term retirement accounts as the foundation of a personal investing strategy.Limit speculative capitalTreat IPOs and pre‑IPO deals as a small, clearly defined portion of an overall portfolio.Build or join trusted communitiesEngage with smaller, higher‑trust groups rather than anonymous online forums crowded with bots and hidden agendas.Increase access thoughtfullyWhen appropriate, open accounts at reputable brokers or platforms that offer IPO, pre‑IPO, or crowdfunding access.Stay clear‑eyed about riskRemember that “IPO investing carries significant risk” and expect that not every deal will be a winner.Prioritize habits over hypePair occasional high‑upside opportunities with disciplined saving, consistent investing, and long‑term planning.By following Craig's example and advice, empowering investors can become a skill. With practice and effort, it can become a superpower that enables more good in the world.Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!Guest ProfileCraig Stephens (he/him):Founder, Anatoc Media LLCAbout Anatoc Media LLC: Access IPOs help ordinary investors explore opportunities to invest in the world's most innovative and disruptive pre-IPO companies. Website: accessipos.com, retirebeforedad.comCompany Facebook Page: facebook.com/accessiposTwitter Handle: @RetireBeforeDadBiographical Information: Craig Stephens is a former IT consultant for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) turned full-time writer and podcaster.He's also the founder of Retire Before Dad (RBD), a website and YouTube channel about DIY investing for retirement and financial independence. He's a former contributor to TIME.com, US News & World Report, and HumbleDollar, and his writing has been featured on Yahoo Finance, Seeking Alpha, Apex Money, WTOP, Becoming Minimalist, Optimal Finance Daily, and Business Insider. He's a retail investor advocate, promoting equal investment opportunities for all investors.LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/craighstephensPersonal Twitter Handle: @AccessIPOs Support Our SponsorsOur generous sponsors make our work possible, serving impact investors, social entrepreneurs, community builders and diverse founders. Today's advertisers include FundingHope, Otherwise Brewing, Artisan Tropic, and Envirosult. Learn more about advertising with us here.Max-Impact Members(We're grateful for every one of these community champions who make this work possible.)Brian Christie, Brainsy | Cameron Neil, Lend For Good | Carol Fineagan, Independent Consultant | Hiten Sonpal, RISE Robotics | John Berlet, CORE Tax Deeds, LLC. | Justin Starbird, The Aebli Group | Lory Moore, Lory Moore Law | Mark Grimes, Networked Enterprise Development | Matthew Mead, Hempitecture | Michael Pratt, Qnetic | Mike Green, Envirosult | Dr. Nicole Paulk, Siren Biotechnology | Paul Lovejoy, Stakeholder Enterprise | Pearl Wright, Global Changemaker | Scott Thorpe, Philanthropist | Sharon Samjitsingh, Health Care Originals | Add Your Name HereUpcoming SuperCrowd Event CalendarIf a location is not noted, the events below are virtual.Impact Cherub Club Meeting hosted by The Super Crowd, Inc., a public benefit corporation, on December 16, 2025, at 1:30 PM Eastern. 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Gratitude doesn’t come easily for everyone—especially if life has conditioned you to expect the other shoe to drop. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 calls us to give thanks in all circumstances, not because everything feels good, but because God is faithfully at work in every moment. When negativity feels more natural than gratitude, shifting your perspective becomes a slow, intentional surrender. But as God reshapes the heart, thankfulness becomes less of a struggle and more of a steady rhythm. Highlights Early experiences can shape a pessimistic mindset, but God can retrain our hearts toward gratitude. Gratitude leads to contentment—and contentment frees us from constantly chasing “more.” A simple gratitude journal can refocus your mind on God’s ongoing work, even in small blessings. Positive community helps redirect your perspective toward God’s faithfulness. Jesus modeled thankfulness—even in pain—and invites us to adopt the same posture. Choosing gratitude is a daily decision that transforms the way we interpret trials and blessings. Shifting your viewpoint ultimately reshapes your attitude and nourishes a thankful spirit. Gift Inspiration: Crosswalk's Holiday Gift Guide Looking for a meaningful way to celebrate the season? Check out our Holiday Gift Guide—from beautifully illustrated Bibles and devotionals to novels, greeting cards, and picture books, there’s something for everyone on your list. Wrap up stories for loved ones, tuck a book into your own nightstand, and join us in celebrating the wonder of giving this Christmas! Full Transcript Below: When Thankfulness Doesn’t Come NaturallyBy: Michelle Lazurek Bible Reading:“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 As a kid, I didn't have it easy. I came from a controlling household, plus I faced several health challenges. Life was not easy, even in my childhood. Even though I enjoyed the simplicity of playing with toys, playing outside, and just enjoying life, I endured other issues that made my childhood less than simplistic. My mother was also a negative person. She often saw the glass as half-empty, rather than half-full. This taught me to be a pessimistic person, focusing on the negative side of things rather than the positive side. If something good came my way, I often wondered when things would soon turn bad. For years after becoming a Christian, I still felt like this way. Because the Christian life has been full of ups and downs, and I've endured my share of trials, it's easy to look on the negative side of things. This viewpoint has caused me to become less grateful and more entitled. As I've matured in my faith, God has taught me that it's essential to be thankful for everything I have. When I'm grateful, I'm content. When I’m content, I'm no longer searching for the perfect life, the simple pleasures, or the luxuries that I feel I deserve. Switching my viewpoint didn't come easily. Because I had been pessimistic and that attitude was deeply ingrained in my mind, it was hard to shake. But I've learned over the years how to make thankfulness a daily activity, even though it doesn't come naturally to me. Here are some ways to adopt a spirit of thankfulness even when it doesn't come naturally: Start a Gratitude Journal One of the easiest ways for me to switch my viewpoint is to start a gratitude journal. Each day, I'm able to write down even just a few things for which I'm thankful. These can be small blessings, such as having clean clothes or a job. It can also be the bigger things that God does, like the miraculous ways in which He works, or the way He heals my body when it's sick. The most important thing I need to remember is that God is constantly at work in my life. It's a matter of whether I choose to see it or not. Keeping a gratitude journal shifts my focus every day to what I should be thankful for and content in my life. Because I'm someone who doesn't enjoy journaling, this is an easy way for me to adopt the habit of journaling, without having to write complete sentences. Use bullet points and write the words regarding the blessing, so you know what it references. At the end of the month, go back and think of all the ways God has blessed you that month. During your prayer time, thank God for all the ways He is working and for all the ways you see His blessings. Surround Yourself with Positive People Because I learned my pessimistic attitude from my mother, it was an attitude easy to adopt, as she was always around. However, when I became a Christian and attended churches in my area, I surrounded myself with positive people. Instead of focusing on the negative trials in their lives, they chose to be grateful to God for all the ways he was working. As I participated in small groups and heard about all the ways God was working in their lives, it became easier for me to adopt that same attitude. Analyze the company you keep. Do you surround yourself with naturally pessimistic people? Be in regular community with those who seek to see the world positively. Adopt the same attitude of seeing how God is working, rather than focusing on all the things He hasn't done. Adopt Jesus’ Attitude Jesus’ attitude was one of thankfulness. Even in his last moments before he was going to be crucified, he chose to break bread with his disciples. Although I'm sure they discussed many things throughout that meal, the Gospels record that Jesus took the bread and cup and gave thanks to God. If Jesus can choose to adopt an attitude of thankfulness even moments before he knew he was going to be crucified and brutally beaten, then so can we. We can adopt the same attitude of gratitude by looking at our trials and seeking to choose joy rather than sorrow. Although it is normal to feel sadness or despair in times of deep spiritual trial, we mustn't stay there. Instead, grieve the loss, but then move on to a spirit of thankfulness. See all the ways God may be sparing you from the situation if the answer to your prayer was no. If you are in a trial, see all the ways God is refining your character through it. By changing your viewpoint, you change your attitude. Change your perspective to one of gratitude, knowing that God is working on your behalf. Choose to think of it this way rather than dwelling upon the negative parts of life. By choosing to focus on the positive aspects of life rather than the negative ones, you can cultivate gratitude even when it doesn't come naturally. Adopt behaviors and surround yourself with people who will help you give thanks in all circumstances. Father, let us be people who give thanks in all we do. Help us understand how you always work in all situations. Let us adopt an attitude of thankfulness, even when our will is bent toward negativity and discontentment. Amen. Intersecting Faith & Life: In what ways do you display your thankfulness in all circumstances? What is one thing you can do to express your gratitude toward the people in your life today? Further Reading:Philippians 4:6 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

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