Podcasts about as aaron

Erwin and Aaron McManus engage in a personal and heartfelt conversation this week about the 'Fear of Falling in Love' - specifically, Aaron's fear of falling in love. As Aaron shares his experiences and difficulties in finding love, Erwin pulls back the layers of conversation to get to the heart of the issue: what do you do when you don't think you're worthy of being loved? From identity crises to crises of uncertainty, Erwin and Aaron have a no holds barred discussion about how to find purpose, how to find peace, and how to find love. — LINKS: The Genius of Jesus: https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Jesus-Erwin-Raphael-McManus/dp/0593137388 "The Genius Of" Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-genius-of-with-erwin-raphael-mcmanus/id1572332623 Subscribe to the new Battle Ready YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/battlereadypodcast Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/battle-ready-with-erwin-aaron-mcmanus/id1300400330 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6L6MJBPCyKSbT4KlN8NDoz Check out Battle Ready merch: https://shop.erwinmcmanus.com/collections/battle-ready — Support the podcast: anchor.fm/battlereadypodcast Follow us on Instagram @battlereadypodcast Email us: aaron@battlereadypodcast.com www.battlereadypodcast.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/battlereadypodcast/support

God showed his power and supremacy over the wisdom and signs of the Egyptians. Nothing can stop the Lord from saving his people, Israel. Not Pharoah, not serpents, not even the devil. As Aaron's snake swallowed up the other snakes in front of Pharaoh, so will God conquer Satan, and swallow up evil and death forever, in the death and resurrection of Jesus for us. Our Bible reading is Exodus 7:1-13. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt.Exodus 7:5 Support Our Show Please prayerfully consider supporting our ministry at https://buymeacoffee.com/donutsanddevos. Your donations will help keep our show running and improving the valuable content we can provide our wonderful audience!

Episode Notes Who's Hungry? Aaron is going crazy over his co-workers vegan diet, but how far will he go to prove MEAT IS WHAT MATTERS? Find out, and make sure to bring napkins... You Are What You Eat by Rob Fields Buy the new "Babysitter Massacre" book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P4ZF9LG/ Get Cool Merchandise http://store.weeklyspooky Support us on Patreon http://patreon.com/IncrediblyHandsome Support Weekly Spooky by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Contact Us/Submit a Story twitter.com/WeeklySpooky facebook.com/WeeklySpooky WeeklySpooky@gmail.com Music by Ray Mattis http://raymattispresents.bandcamp.com Produced by Daniel Wilder This episode sponsored by HenFlix.com For everything else visit WeeklySpooky.com Transcript: Robbie Farns walked into Mirren Automotive, the factory where he worked, about twenty miles from Strickfield. He didn’t particularly care about the place or the job itself, but at least it was steady work with a decent paycheck. He’d been working there for a couple of years now, at least as a way to pay his way through Strickfield University. As he walked through the plant to get to his work area, he knew it was going to be hot as hell. Carrying his lunch box, he knew he would soon get even more hell from one of his coworkers about what was inside.  Robbie had been living the vegan lifestyle for the last few months. He had been careful to avoid eating literally anything that came from animals. That included – in addition to not eating meat – dairy, eggs, or any processed foods containing animal byproducts. Whenever he’d go out to eat, he was careful to avoid eating fried foods cooked in shared oil. He had even gone to a vegan festival in Erie City.   When Robbie reached his work area, he punched in at the time clock. After putting his earplugs in, he went to his locker to change into his work shoes and prepare for his shift. It wasn’t long before he was greeted by a troublesome coworker in the form of Aaron Jameston. Aaron and Robbie were opposites in many ways. Robbie was a head taller than Aaron, also thinner. Robbie had long dark hair that went down to his shoulders and was always clean-shaven, while Aaron kept his head shaved and had a long, shaggy beard. Robbie’s skin was a clean slate, while Aaron had many tattoos. The big difference was that Aaron was a hunter who always bragged about his kills, the trophies that he kept from many of them, and all the meat that he enjoyed. Then he learned that the new guy in his department, this quiet young pup, wasn’t a meat eater – a vegan – which got his attention in more ways than one.  As always, Aaron just looked at Robbie with contempt and disgust. Robbie knew and expected this every day, but he didn’t care. He’d been used to people picking on him about his vegan ways. Some of his other coworkers had asked him many questions about his veganism, mainly because they were curious. For the most part, people usually left him alone. Aaron Jameston, however, had issues with Robbie and would be anything but subtle.  “What kinda rabbit food you bring today, Rabbit?” Aaron asked, taking a seat at a picnic table across from Robbie.  Robbie remained calm, in spite of the nickname Aaron had hung on him. He looked up at Aaron. “What do you care?” Aaron was twice Robbie’s age and never liked when people back-talked him. There were times when he wanted to just lay into Robbie. Sure, Robbie always did his job and turned out great numbers. Just the same, he wanted to find something – anything – to justify giving Robbie a good ol’ fashioned ass whooping. As long as they both worked for Mirren Automotive, however, Aaron couldn’t physically lay a hand on Robbie, in or out of the plant. Not if he wanted to keep his job. “What, you don’t wanna tell me?” Aaron said in his always-threatening tone.  Robbie sighed. “Look, we both know you really don’t care about the food I bring. So why don’t you just save it?” Aaron smiled, which Robbie knew was never a good thing. “Lemme explain somethin’ to you, Rabbit. I don’t know what you think yer doin’ with all this vegan bullshit. But here, outside Strickfield, we’re hunters. That means meat is the way we do things. We love our meat. We kill for our meat. We eat meat! Now you come in here with yer vegan bullshit and expect us to just stop eatin’ meat?” Robbie held up his hand in front of him. “Whoa! Let’s get something straight. I don’t go around telling anybody to not eat meat. There are vegans out there that would, but I personally don’t care what you eat. You eat what you want, and I’ll eat what I want. I mainly do it for health reasons, if you must know. I’ve lost weight because of it.” Aaron kept on him. “So . . . you sayin’ we’re all fat fucks ’cause we eat meat?” True, Aaron was quite portly for a little man, but Robbie wouldn’t go there. “I never said that. Don’t put words in my mouth.” Aaron threw his arms up. “Why the fuck be a rabbit? Why can’t you just go bust yer ass at the gym or somethin’? Why you gotta be so fuckin’ different?” Robbie countered, “Again, what do you care? I’m not here to preach vegan. I’m here to do my job and get paid so I can keep the lights on at my place, eat, and attend college. Leave me alone, okay?” Aaron smiled more sinister now. “Yeah, yer a rabbit now.” He pointed at Robbie and shook his finger. “I seen yer kind before. Yer gonna crack. Yer gonna be back. Yer gonna eat meat again. Know why?” He leaned in a little. “’Cause that’s the way it is. Our ancestors have been huntin’ and eatin’ meat since caveman years. Meat is the way! The only way! There ain’t no room in this world for fuckin’ rabbits like you. People like you are weak. Always have been.” Just then, Robbie and Aaron were greeted by the presence of their boss.  “Hey, Aaron, you causing trouble back here again?” Mike Cruz demanded. “How many times have I talked to you about that? You looking to get wrote up or what?” Aaron wasn’t even afraid to talk back to his own boss. “You already wrote me up! What more you gonna do? I’m just havin’ a conversation with Rabbit here.” “I don’t see anybody here named Rabbit,” Mike snapped. “Last time I’m telling you, quit getting in everybody’s shit! I’m sorry about what happened to your sister, but mind your own goddamn business! You wanna keep going this way, I’ll give you your final write-up. After that, I’ll have no other choice but to walk you out. That what you want? You both do good work in this department, and I don’t want to lose either one of you. But if you keep it up, Aaron, you’re gonna be out on your ass. We on the same page here?” Aaron chuckled and looked at Robbie. “Know what, Rabbit? Yer part of a dyin’ breed. I mean it. Yer dead! Know why? ’Cause we meat-eaters hunt rabbits and other plant-eaters like you. You understandin’ me, you fuckin’ weaklin’? Only the strong survive! It’s only a matter of time before you end up like all God’s creatures . . . right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy! My sister was a fuckin’ rabbit – just like you. It didn’t keep her from bein’ kidnapped and killed a few months back. And you know what?” He pointed in a random direction. “The fucker that did it is still out there – still roamin’ free! And that’s another thing! Women are in the same place as you rabbits on the food chain – nothin’ but weak, dead weight. When the killer catches up to you . . . I’m gonna laugh my fuckin’ ass off.” Mike had had enough. “You know what, Aaron? Go home! This ain’t negotiable! We don’t need your shit here. It’s obvious you still ain’t over your sister’s death. Go home and cool off. Last warning! You come back in here tomorrow and start your shit again, I won’t worry about no final write-up. I’ll just walk you out myself, and you won’t have a job here no more.” He pointed in the direction of the nearest door. “Go home! Now!” Aaron didn’t move at first. Finally, he slammed his palms on the table, making sure he got Robbie’s attention. Then he stood up, still smiling his sinister smile at Robbie. “Be seein’ you, Rabbit.” “Move!” Mike commanded him.  “Fuck you, I’m goin’!” Aaron snapped.  Robbie and Mike both heard Aaron yelling and cursing as he moved to the exit door and walked out of the plant. Robbie was relieved to not have to work with Aaron, at least for today.  Robbie managed to avoid Aaron when he returned to work. He started taking his lunch box to a different break area and eating there. Mike had told Aaron not to talk to Robbie, unless it was work related. However, that didn’t keep Aaron from giving him his sinister looks.  Over time, Robbie had heard around the work area about what had happened to Aaron’s sister, Susan. Aaron had never gotten along with Susan. True, Aaron was old enough to be Robbie’s father . . . and Susan’s. Aaron’s mother had taken over raising him when her husband, David, had died of a heart attack. Aaron was around ten, and he never really got over the loss of his father. After that, he looked up to his uncle, George, who was even meaner and more vicious than his dad. Still, Uncle George taught Aaron everything he knew about hunting and fishing.  Then, when Aaron had reached twenty, his mother had met a man named William Sanders. Aaron didn’t think much about it at first. As far as he was concerned, William wasn’t going to be around long. All of the other men before him had left. But months went by and William was still around, committed to his mother. Aaron never saw the surprises coming when his mother made two big announcements. The first was that she and William were getting married. The second was that she was going to have William’s baby. Aaron flew into a wild rage and threatened to shoot William. As far as Aaron was concerned, he was the man of the house – end of story. Just the same, William and Rosie were married. Months later, Susan came into the world.  Aaron would never come to accept this daughter as his sister and let William and Rosie know about it on no uncertain terms. As Susan grew up, Aaron would be verbally abusive towards her. Being an overbearing bully, he never had to raise his hand to her. Over time, Susan became both angry and afraid of Aaron. As long as William and Rosie were around, Susan felt some semblance of safety from Aaron.  Over the last two years that Susan had lived at home, she had taken up a vegan lifestyle and refused to eat anything that Aaron had put on the table for her. Aaron became increasingly frustrated and abusive with her because of it. Susan had finally decided that she wasn’t going to tolerate Aaron anymore. During her junior year at Strickfield High School, Susan moved out and went to live with friends who shared her compassion for animals, who were also vegan. It had taken a restraining order to keep Aaron away from Susan.  After Susan graduated from high school, she had gone on to Strickfield University. Aaron was around forty and had become meaner and bitter than ever. During this time, Rosie had died. William died not too long after. By then, Susan was living in a dorm room at Strickfield University.  Aaron had been arrested once for breaking the restraining order during Susan’s freshman year at Strickfield University. He’d gotten drunk and confronted Susan in Wilder Hall, the student union building. Susan decided not to press charges, and he was released. The police gave him a warning about what would happen if he broke his restraining order again.  Aaron had heard through the grapevine that Susan had met someone on campus and was seeing him. He didn’t know who the person was, but he was determined to find him and make  life hell for anyone who thought about hooking up with Susan.  A few months later, Aaron was arrested again when it was revealed that both Susan and her boyfriend had been kidnapped. The remains of their bodies were found not too long after, with their clothes on them and the flesh and muscles stripped clean off. Aaron went into a rage when he was in jail and screamed up and down that he had nothing to do with the abductions or murders.  Aaron would be released since it was proven that he didn’t abduct and kill Susan and her boyfriend, whose name he didn’t know because he never could remember it. He had been home drinking with friends, all of whom were able to vouch for him. Aaron continued to go further down the spiral, and it showed at Mirren Automotive. If it wasn’t for Mike Cruz keeping the peace, Aaron would have created quite the hostile working environment.  A month later, Robbie had accepted some overtime at Mirren and was given an hour break to go and get some dinner. Robbie hadn’t packed extra food for the overtime period, but he knew that Rockne’s Bar and Grill across the street was a place that had vegan options and decided to go there. Robbie went in and sat at the bar. Rockne himself knew Robbie and told him of the vegan special, which was a meatloaf dinner with macaroni and cheese and a vegetable medley.  Robbie felt the glare and saw that Aaron was sitting about four seats down from him. Still, he knew that old man Rockne didn’t put up with Aaron outbursts in his bar any more than Mike Cruz did at work. Aaron gave Robbie his sinister smile, but he made no move.  Robbie looked back to Rockne. “Sounds good. I’m going to go use the restroom.”  “Your food’ll be waiting here for you when you get back, kid,” Rockne said.  Aaron watched as Robbie walked away. He watched with even greater anticipation as Rockne prepared the college rabbit’s food. He put the finished plate on the table and then put the silverware next to the plate. He finished it off by putting a glass of water down. As soon as Rockne went to the back, Aaron struck. He had a big bowl of beef gravy that he used for his plate of food. There was quite a bit of it left. He picked it up and moved over to Robbie’s plate. After making sure that Rockne was still in the back, he tilted the bowl and poured the gravy all over everything. When he finished, he went back to his seat.  When Robbie returned and sat down, he immediately noticed the gravy all over his food. When Rockne came back out, Robbie made his complaint. Rockne looked at the plate. “I didn’t put any gravy on that, kid.” He groaned. “I’ll getcha a new plate.” “The fuck you will!” Aaron called out. Then he pointed at Robbie. “You just sit yer ass down there and eat that food right there.” Rockne pointed right at Aaron. “I’m putting this meal on your tab, you little son of a bitch.” Aaron ignored Rockne and got off his stool. “Well, come on, Rabbit! Sit down there and eat.” Rockne said to Robbie, “Don’t touch that food. I’ll getcha a new plate.” Aaron glared at him. “No, you will not! He’s eatin’ this one.” He glared at Robbie. “Eat that food there! Or I swear to God I’ll fuckin’ feed it to you myself.” “Since you tainted my food, I’m not touching it,” Robbie replied in defiance.  Aaron’s glare turned into a sinister smile. “Fine, have it yer way.” Aaron hauled off and punched Robbie in the face with enough force to send him backward and flying over a nearby table. Aaron was quickly around to the other side. He pulled Robbie up and hauled off on him again. Before Robbie could fall, Aaron picked him up into a fireman’s carry. He took Robbie to another table and slammed him right top of it, making the table collapse. “What’s the matter, Rabbit?” Aaron taunted. “It’s vegan food, ain’t it? I just spiced it up a little for you.” He kicked Robbie in the gut. “This place used to be just for real men. Then you fuckin’ college kids came along with yer vegan shit. Now Rockne’s servin’ rabbit food here.” He kicked Robbie in the gut again. “You can’t even get a real man’s meal in here no more.” He kicked Robbie in the gut one more time. “Because of you fuckin’ rabbits!” Robbie tried to pick himself up. Aaron helped him up enough to punch him hard in the gut. “Look at you! You ain’t even a real fuckin’ man. Yer just some sissy-ass kid who can’t even fight me.” Aaron grabbed Robbie’s hair and pulled him back to the bar. Before Robbie could think, Aaron shoved his face right into the gravy-soaked food. Then he started rubbing Robbie’s face in it. “Come on, Rabbit! Come on! Eat that fuckin’ rabbit food. Doesn’t that gravy make it taste that much better? Huh? Mmmmmm . . . ! Eat as much as you want!” But the sound of the pump-action shotgun quickly forced Aaron to let go of Robbie. Rockne had pulled his shotgun out from underneath the bar and was now aiming it right at Aaron. “Let go of the kid, you little bastard!” When Aaron hesitated, Rockne screamed, “I said let him go!” Aaron finally let go of Robbie and stepped back very slowly. Rockne gave Robbie a wet towel. “Here, kid, wipe yourself off. Don’t worry, I just called the cops.” Aaron raised his hands in front of him as Rockne kept the gun on him. “Now, look here, old man . . . We wouldn’t want –” “Shut the fuck up, Aaron!” Rockne interrupted. “You’re done here! You hear me?! You’re banned for life from here. You ever step foot in my place ever again, and I’ll blow your goddamn head clean off. And you know I mean just what I’m saying! And don’t think I ain’t collecting what you owe me for wrecking my place.” Then Aaron heard another voice. “Hey, Aaron! You ever step foot in Mirren Automotive ever again, and I’ll have security walk your ass out.” Aaron quickly spun around and saw Mike Cruz standing there. He pointed right at Mike. “Bullshit! You didn’t see nothin’!” “I saw enough,” Mike said. “You’re fired! You hear me? Fired! Don’t even bother coming back to work. I’ll be in on Saturday. You can come back in and get your shit then.”  Mike came over to Robbie. “You okay, kid?” Robbie nodded. “I’ll be all right?” “I got the police coming,” Rockne told Aaron. “I’m pressing charges on you. You’re paying for all the damage you caused here – and that ruined plate.” Aaron pointed right at Rockne. “Fuck you, old man! You ain’t gettin’ one goddamn dime outta me.” He pointed at Robbie now. “This ain’t over between you and me, Rabbit! Yer permanently on my fuckin’ shitlist!” When Rockne raised the shotgun to Aaron again, Aaron shouted curses as he turned and stormed out of the bar.  Around 3:00am, Aaron sat in his pickup truck and eyed the Mirren Automotive east parking lot. Aaron took another swig out of the bottle of whiskey he’d brought with him and felt the alcohol mix really good with his anger. He caressed the double-barreled shotgun that he had sitting in the passenger’s side.  “Yeah, you think I can’t think, huh, Rabbit?” Aaron muttered. “Maybe I never knew yer fuckin’ name, but I know where you leave here from. I know what car you drive. I’ll fuckin’ kill yer rabbit ass before you make it back to that panty-waste college of yers.” He took another swig, then shouted, “Vegan, my ass!” He didn’t have to wait that much longer. Eventually, he saw a small group of people coming out of the plant. He raised his binoculars and saw that Robbie was among them. He grinned with anticipation. “Ooooh, yeah! I’ll get you easy, boy. I’ll run you right offa the goddamn road. Then I’m gonna go on a little rabbit hunt.” As Aaron reached over to caress his shotgun again, he suddenly realized that it was no longer there. “What the fuck?!” Suddenly, he felt the double barrels being pressed right up against the left side of his neck. Aaron turned his head to see who managed to sneak his shotgun out of the open passenger’s side window and brought it over to his side. His eyes went wide when he recognized the face.  “You?!” Aaron choked out. “Can’t be . . . ! Yer – !” Aaron didn’t have time to finish. The person quickly raised a pistol and fired it. Aaron gasped when he felt the dart hit his chest. He blacked out seconds later.  Aaron opened his eyes and groaned. “What the fuck . . . ?” he mumbled.  Aaron sniffed and recognized that all-too-familiar scent of smoked meat. When he managed to overcome more of the tranquilizer, he realized that he was tied up and elevated in some backyard somewhere. He looked and saw somebody was roasting a big slab of meat over an open fire.  “What the fuck?!” he repeated.  The person turned around. Then he moved over to Aaron. In the dim light, Aaron could see Robbie now. “Oh, hey! Glad to see you’re awake, Aaron. Guess that was some pretty good tranq, huh?” Aaron glared down at Robbie and demanded, “What the fuck you think yer doin’, Rabbit?!”   Robbie laughed. “Why . . . just watching you hang around. Literally! Pretty soon, you’re going into that little building right behind you. Since you can’t see it, it’s a smokehouse. Oh, and you’re going to be getting smoked to perfection. Once you’re skinned, that is . . .” Aaron screamed with rage and tried to squirm free. Robbie wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. When Aaron couldn’t fight anymore, he glared at Robbie again. “Lemme go, God damn you!” Robbie laughed. “Congratulations, asshole! You were right about me. Me being a vegan  won’t last. Okay, when we first met, I was eating vegan. Not because I wanted to, mind you. But the real truth is . . . you were the one I was hunting. See, I’m a hunter, too. Except I don’t just hunt deer and other wild animals. I also hunt for people that might make some great, tasty meat. And, yes, you were definitely right about meat being the way. Believe me, you were so right. And you are going to make some great eating once you’re all finished smoking.” Aaron growled. “When I get my fuckin’ hands on you, you son of a bitch . . . !” “Good luck with that,” Robbie said. “You might want to look down at your legs, though.” Aaron looked down to see that he not only had no pants on . . . he no longer had his lower legs!! Only stumps where they once were. “Holy motherfuckin’ shit! Oh, my fuckin’ god! Jesus fuckin’ – !” “Oh, for fuck’s sake, would you please – for once in yer life – just shut the fuck up?” a female voice familiar to Aaron called out from the back door.  Aaron looked to see the girl who came and stood next to Robbie. “I did see you outside the factory . . . Susan! But . . . but . . .  yer dead!” Robbie wrapped an arm around Susan’s waist. Then the two of them shared a kiss before they looked at Aaron again.  “Our plan worked, lover,” Susan said. “Yes, it did,” Robbie agreed.  “Goin’ to college was the best thing ever happened to me,” Susan explained to Aaron. “You see, when I met Robbie, he was such a sensitive guy. Yeah, he done has his problems, such as all the meat he eats, but he’s still all sweet on me. I mean, I literally fell in love with him at first sight.” Robbie smiled. “I used to think girls were trouble, especially the ones who lived out here in the country. Then I met your sister here – a country girl – while I was at the university. Boy, did she ever catch me off guard. Now, I don’t know how I ever lived without her. Anyway, when she told me about what an insufferable prick you were to her and how she had so many sleepless nights because of you . . .” He sighed. “I flat-out suggested just killing you.” Susan was angry now. “And, believe me, you don’t know how many times I wanted to blow yer fuckin’ head off while you was sleepin’. Robbie done showed me that killin’ you will be so easy. We’ll even benefit from you, too. Surprise! I ain’t vegan no more. Turns out I love eatin’ meat.” She giggled a little. “Human meat!” Susan picked up a knife and carved off a small piece of the meat from the roast. She turned back to Aaron. “This here’s one of yer legs over this here fire.” Aaron was horrified to see Susan put the cut meat into her mouth and eat it. She turned to Robbie. “Mmmm . . . smoked to perfection,  baby.” Robbie smiled at Aaron. “For the record, I did go vegan for the last few months. See, Susan made a little bet with me. She said I couldn’t be vegan for two whole months, so I agreed to try it. She in turn agreed to try eating human meat. If I made it two months, which I did – today, she would go back to eating meat on the full-time basis.” He turned to her. “Don’t worry, hon, I won’t hold you to it. If you want to be vegan, it’s fine by me.” They shared another kiss. Then Susan said, “Vegan food is mighty good, but I’ll consider eatin’ human steaks. As long as it don’t bother you that I still wanna eat vegan.” Robbie shook his head. “No, we can eat vegan food. You were right, it’s actually not bad. I’d say we found our happy medium, you and me.” They kissed one more time.  Again, Aaron struggled to free himself. He roared and thrashed with all his might. Finally, he realized it was useless and gave up.  “You were dead, Susan!” Aaron protested. “You and yer college boyfriend both.” “You saw two bodies we done carved up,” Susan corrected him. “Robbie and I put our clothes on them bodies. The police never even thought to do any kinda forensics to see if they was really us or not. We’re both legally dead. My new name is Megan Farns now. We got married shortly after we decided we was gonna kill you.” “Speaking of killing you, Aaron,” Robbie said, “we’re going to strip the flesh off you. Then we’ll put you in the smokehouse and smoke you to perfection, just like we did your legs. Susan wanted to keep you alive long enough so she could see you before we do what needs to be done.” “I know I’ll savor every bite of you until yer all gone,” Megan murmured.  “Still think I’m a rabbit now, you short little fat fucker?” Robbie teased.  “This is bullshit!” Aaron cried. “Bullshit!” “Puttin’ up with you all them years of my life was bullshit,” Megan snapped. “Now I’ll sleep peacefully, and with my wonderful man.” She glanced at Robbie. “I’m done talkin’ to this shitheel now. Thank you for this opportunity, honey. I love you.” “I love you, too, babe. Here, I’ll give you the honors,” Robbie said, handing her a buck knife. Megan stepped up onto a sturdy metal ladder to look at Aaron one last time. “This is for my life of hell, you fuckin’ Neanderthal!” Aaron screamed as Megan stabbed him hard in his stomach. His blood was spurting out quickly. He groaned, intent on not giving up on his life. Megan knew this and drew back again for another hard stab. Aaron Johnston knew that the second stab would be . . .  THE END!! Support Weekly Spooky - Scary Stories to Keep You Up at Night by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/weekly-spooky Find out more at http://weeklyspooky.com

Aaron Cooper is the Interim CEO at Groupon, an online marketplace with around 4,000 employees globally. Prior to that he had worked in several other roles at Groupon including president of North America, Chief Marketing Officer, head of Global Travel, Head of North America Services and Head of North America Goods. Before Groupon Aaron held a lot of marketing and leadership positions at Orbitz and optionsXpress and he held consulting roles at AOL and PwC. Aaron Cooper, who recently moved into the role of interim CEO at Groupon, says his recipe for success has been working across many different industries and in very diverse roles. These experiences have given him the skills and mindsets he needs to be the best leader he can be. He says it has been incredibly important for his career that he’s been able to work in finance, marketing, brand marketing, and general management across industries such as travel, retail, finance, and internet. He has worked with companies who were very successful and growing and he’s worked for companies that were in distress. All of these experiences have shaped his leadership approach and have led him to his current role. In fact, Aaron says most of the biggest career moves he made were jobs he didn’t even know were available. He got into a role and did exceptionally well and then management would grab him and tell him he’s moving to a new role. He said he learned quickly to just say yes to these opportunities and it has proved to be an effective way for him to climb up the ladder. What to do when you work for a bad boss  Aaron says he’s worked for a few tough bosses that have bordered on being too tough. There are always going to be people we work for who aren’t the best leaders. But Aaron says he always uses these opportunities to learn something and grow. He says, “At those times I was focused on what I can learn out of this situation. It's a mind shift, you have to decide that you want to be in that situation and you're up for learning from this person. I also find that when you adopt that mindset, the tougher boss changes their attitude towards you. Which is something that I realized as well, hey, I'm a student, so please teach, has been a productive relationship for me to get the most out of those. And because of that there are tools that I have in my toolkit now.” The best bosses on the other hand make employees want to show up every single day for them. Aaron says he had a great boss who with very little effort could get the very best out of Aaron. He knew the boss had his back and believed in him, so Aaron wanted to do his best and live up to the reputation the boss believed in. Aaron gives an example of this great boss. Aaron had moved into a role leading online marketing and his team did a deal, but it ended up being a bad deal that cost a lot of money. Instead of just firing him or demoting him, the boss called Aaron out and said it was his to solve. He was counting on Aaron to fix it. But the way he called Aaron out was in such a positive way that Aaron was able to come back from the failure. He motivated his team and they all went after it and fixed the problem. He actually looks back at this experience in a favorable way, which is all because of how the boss handled the situation. Aaron says being a good leader comes down to how you leave people feeling. When you leave the room is everyone wanting to crush it, and do a great job for you? Or does everyone want to leave the company? How Aaron carves out downtime and why every CEO should do the same Aaron is very busy with his role as CEO, leading his company through the pandemic, as well as his personal life with his wife and kids. He has found that it is so important to carve out time every day for downtime, time to think through issues, focus on one specific problem, or just think of the next big move for the company. He actually says his ideal amount of downtime each day is three hours. Which seems like a lot in a normal workday, but he says it’s important to have a good chunk of time so you can actually dive deep into the problems and issues you’re trying to solve. Aaron says, “if you actually get a chance to think there's such important things that you can always solve for your team. And sometimes during that time, I may call somebody and think a problem through with them. Absolutely. But it's time for me to just make sure to take a step back and make sure that in the relative challenges of COVID and people working from home, and everything that comes with that for running a company where local businesses around the world have been shut down and their business has been impaired. And we're looking for our strategies that we're working on right now to be successful to help our broad community of Groupon. There's so much in there for me, just to make sure that as things change day to day everyone's coming along the same way.” And even though downtime sounds like someone is just sitting around and pondering things, that is far from the truth. Aaron is very structured with his downtime. He always has a list of priorities he has to think through and he is very active and engaged during the entire time. During this time he only focuses on the top priorities, you can’t let priority 6 or 7 sneak into your thought process at this time. It has to be about critical issues only. How to give employees the autonomy to make decisions on their own In the past companies have tended to be bogged down with bureaucracy and hierarchy that made the decision process long and tedious. Just to get permission to buy a new piece of equipment or streamline a process it may take weeks or months to run it up the ladder and back down. Now, with our current pace of change companies can no longer afford to make decisions this way. Employees have to be able to have the autonomy to make decisions for themselves. So how does Groupon make this possible for employees? Aaron says it comes down a couple things they have done internally. The first big thing is transparency. Every employee, whether they have been at the company for 10 years or 4 months, knows what the company priorities are and they know what the current strategy is. In fact when they launched a new strategy during Covid-19 they not only announced it company wide, but they went team by team, person by person to make sure they fully understood what the new strategy meant. But Aaron knows that people can’t just understand the strategy, they have to believe in it. But you can’t force people to believe in something, it has to be a back and forth conversation until everyone is on board. This process takes consistency, discipline, and commitment. So you have to have transparency and alignment in order to successfully hand over control to your employees. As Aaron says, “Within that empowerment giving someone the task, the resources and trusting them and their judgment becomes so much easier, because trying to goal something so specifically for the uncertainties going on right now is that much harder. So I'm really proud of our team across the board for the way that everyone has come along on this.” How Aaron works on being a better leader One thing Aaron has found very helpful in his journey as a leader is reflection. He takes time to reflect on the week to think back to when he wasn’t the leader he wanted to be so he can address those issues. He also recently attended a class on authentic leadership which really impacted him and the way he approaches leadership. You have to figure out what kind of leader you are and you have to authentically lead in that way. Don’t try to be someone you are not. You can’t just read about another leader and try to copy and paste that into your way of leading. When asked what kind of leader he is, Aaron said “An energetic leader, I'm a structured thinking leader. I like to make sure that we have the strategy and goals set out clearly. And people have embraced those. Because for me it's grounded in getting the absolute best out of the team. And having them show up in ways where the energy that they're both getting and giving to Groupon makes them feel better about themselves outside of Groupon, especially in a pandemic.” And so he shows up everyday with that purpose and mission in mind and he leads as authentically as he can. How Aaron keeps up with the constant pace of change One thing a lot of leaders struggle with today is trying to keep up with things when the pace of change is so constant and so fast. This year has really shown how fast things can completely change. So how does Aaron keep up? He says constant learning is a crucial key. He is always reading and is a part of a few book clubs, he listens to podcasts, he meets with other leaders, etc...He also finds it important to pay attention to his employees and what they are saying. They bring different perspectives and ideas that drive him forward. What should leaders stop doing to become better leaders For any leaders who want to better themselves Aaron’s advice is to stop playing it safe. You are going to have tough decisions to make and you are going to have to keep the company moving forward, playing it safe will not help you. You have to be bold. Especially with the things we are facing this year. He says, “One of the things I learned in my turnaround management days is you've got to make the hard decisions, because time does not help when you're running out of cash. We were in that situation here. But I learned that earlier in my career, and that's something that now in leading through a year like now, it shows up, and it shows up in important ways. So stop playing it safe, is I think, really, really big.” What should leaders start doing to become better leaders Aaron says it is crucial for leaders to have a mission, a passion, an obsession and they have to be able to name it so that they know what they are doing when they get out of bed in the morning. This really goes back to the importance of reflection and understanding what kind of leader you are. As Aaron shares, “Here, we're helping local businesses, we're helping local businesses through a challenging time, we're helping our customers do more. There's more ways that we can help. But we are redesigning Groupon into a recovery so we can help grow local commerce. And for us, that's energizing, it shows up in multiple ways from our strategy, just to the way we were working throughout the team to develop more empathy and more listening on the front end with customers and merchants. But I would say you gotta you got to start with that passion. But again, I think the ingredient for that is you have to do the reflection. So you can really be genuine and honest with yourself about what your passion is all about.”

On this week’s episode of Uncorked, we circle back to move forward with Aaron De Jong, owner of Movement 108 and founder/CEO of Movr, a mobile interface designed to prescribe safe movements for every unique body. In this timely conversation, Aaron shares how Covid-19 forced him to make tough decisions in the fitness space inhabited, and what important lessons he learned from saying good-bye to the old “normal.” As Aaron moved from brick-and-mortar to an online fitness studio, he faced what many small business owners are going through as we speak – The inability to fully capture what his former company brought to his, and his clients lives. A realist, Aaron soon realized he wouldn’t be able to replicate the kind of connection with the community he fostered previously, and he had to reevaluate what space he wanted to take up in the world. His journey echoes what so many are currently experiencing, and his approach to letting go can certainly be of help to those in his industry, and beyond. EPISODE LINKS: Movr App: https://movewithmovr.com/ Movement 108: https://movement108.com/

This week’s episode of the Plant Medicine Podcasts features guest Aaron Orsini, co-founder of the Autistic Psychedelic Community and author of Autism on Acid: How LSD Helped Me Understand, Navigate, Alter & Appreciate my Autistic Perceptions. In this interview, Aaron gives an overview of his own experiences with autism and how psychedelics changed his relationship with his condition, while also providing fascinating insights into some of the neuroscientific research on both autism and psychedelic experiences. Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) later in life, Aaron describes the features of his condition as a dissociation from both his own inner experience and that of others (alexithymia), as well as a predisposition to getting lost in mental reflection and rumination. Four years after his diagnosis, Aaron tried LSD for the first time, and this experience helped him gain crucial insight into his condition and provided him with a different, more emotionally engaged and embodied sense of life.  His improved quality of life following his explorations of psychedelic medicines inspired him to write a book detailing his experiences as someone with ASD. However, Aaron stresses that everyone’s experience of autism is unique, similar to how psychedelic experiences can differ from person to person. So in the overlap of psychedelics and autism, there is a wide variety of responses as these compounds come into contact with the unique brain chemistry of autistic individuals.   As Aaron connected with other individuals with ASD who have explored psychedelic medicine, he realized this was a topic that deserved more attention, especially with how little information was available. As a result, he co-founded the Autistic Psychedelic Community, which is an online co-learning community for neurodivergent individuals who are interested in connecting on the topic of psychedelics.   In this episode: How people with ASD experience psychedelics differently  The intersection of trauma and ASD and how psychedelics impact both of these Quotes from people with ASD about their unique psychedelic experiences and the impacts What scientific research has been done on psychedelics and autism How ketamine differs from other psychedelics for people with ADS   Quotes: “It’s not a cure for autism spectrum, I think it’s another vantage point to see. I call it a contact lens for my sensory awareness.” [10:09] “I’ve had experiences with other individuals who aren’t on the spectrum taking similar dosages and they’ll enter a much more hallucinogenic state, whereas I’ll enter more of what feels like home or an embodied state.” [19:40] “These changes are far more remarkable than the currently available pharmacotherapies for autistics.” [34:11] “The idea that these are hallucinogens exclusively is really being challenged by my story in terms of taking that dissociative state and bringing it into a point of awareness.” [41:25]   Links: Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Aaron’s book Autism on Acid Autistic Psychedelic Community Psychedelic Medicine Association Porangui

As Aaron and Hur held up Moses hands when he was weary, we need to hold up each others hands.

As a long-time champion of the 3rd party channel, Aaron Milburn talks about his career, his love of helping brokers succeed, and his mission of educating consumers on their options so they never have to feel like there isn't hope to solve their financial challenges. Having worked in a number of 3rd party roles including state manager @ Bank West, Citi, and St George, Aaron has found his home at Pepper. Knowing the value brokers bring to each client, Aaron continues to advocate for how brokers can make a profound and lasting difference at a time when clients might be at their most vulnerable and needing hope, guidance, and a solution to help them move forward. Knowing the responsibilities of executive leadership can sometimes take a toll on people, Aaron clearly has a balanced approach to managing his day to day commitments while continuing to be an active father and husband. As Aaron says, “I don't shout at the rain”, meaning he doesn't invest energy into things he can't control.  He also likes to keep things simple and in perspective.  It is with this attitude, that Pepper is providing a suite of lending options to accommodate ‘prime' all way through to ‘specialist' lending. With a pragmatic, yet passionate approach to serving the industry, I hope you enjoy Aaron's journey and his advocacy for the broker channel. If you would like to continue the conversation with Aaron, you can reach him on 0438416882 or via Aaron's LinkedIn profile.

Here’s what a veteran electrician has to say to homeowners in our market. Today I’m joined by a longtime friend and skilled electrician, Aaron Ramos. In our current hot market, Aaron has been kept busy by a lot of remodels and solar panel installations. He’s helped homeowners and property management companies remain in compliance with California’s Title 24 code, which was designed to reduce wasteful energy consumption. As Aaron explained, solar panels are a great way to cut down your energy bill, even though their upfront costs can be steep. Electrical is a big deal when you’re buying or remodeling a home, and you want to have an expert make sure everything is functioning and safe. Aaron, for example, has over 25 years of experience in the field, and he’s headed his own company for 12 years now. He’s included on our vetted vendor list, which you can access here; it doesn’t take much research on your own to find out that he’s one of San Diego’s best. “When looking for an electrician, get referrals from people you trust who can testify to a company’s quality standard.” What does he have to say to anyone thinking about remodeling or building a new home? Make sure you hire a qualified electrician, whether it’s him or somebody else. “So many times, you’ll go inside a house and [the owner has] a carpenter that does everything,” Aaron said. “They do plumbing, they do drywall, they do tile, they do electric… you can just tell when somebody doesn’t know what they’re doing, and that’s a fire hazard.” When looking for an electrician, Aaron recommends getting referrals from people you trust who can testify to a company’s quality standard. Check out the Contractors State License Board website and search a name or company to verify that who you’re working with is licensed and bonded in the state of California. Again, if you’re looking for a well-qualified electrician who can get the job done properly, Aaron Ramos has my full confidence and stamp of approval. Reach out to him at aramoselectic@gmail.com or (619) 990-2002.

In 1993, Reba McEntire and Vince Gill teamed up on a duet with "The Heart Won't Lie." The song would reach the top of radio charts, making it a #1 single for the both of them. The video features Reba as a Navy Officer Candidate and Vince as her Marine Corps Drill Instructor. As Aaron and Emily break down this music video they learn that one of them isn't a fan of the music video and finds it rather cringeworthy. Listen to see where that conversation goes.

As Aaron continues the discussion of how to be a spiritual leader he invited some friends to join us. Three different men, three different perspectives and experiences, and lots of wisdom in this episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Aaron has been away in Holland this week and still wanted to bring you a show, he took the time before leaving to take you through his top 25 played tracks on iTunes with a few story's and why he listens to these tracks. So this week it's Aaron's Monitored Music Collection rather than monitored world

Episode #171 Do you want to play a game? In today's episode we talk about Union 32, and a lot of random things Sorry for how late the episode was this week. As Aaron mentioned in the intro, between going back to work unexpectedly, and having to deal with the theft of a catalytic converter on the day he usually edits the episode; this has been a week with little time to get podcast items done. We hope you are all well, and being safe, and we hope that we as a people can move forward and overcome the obstacles that we're facing. Be well everyone. Musical Credits: > Good Day by Alex (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: DonnieOzone > Now We're Talkin' by Jeris (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: lrockhq Find out more at http://www.travelbyproxy.com

As Aaron’s knee recovers, we talk about Drew skating up a storm at Cream City, Oshkosh skatepark, and on the new tootsie roll #coronacurb. We also continue our fakie 540 discussion, discuss the Roman fang, Sky Brown and her big fall, Fastlane skate shop in Burbank, first board memories, Street Plant and the Father Daughter(...) The post Skatosis 163 – One Shuv or No Love appeared first on Skatosis - An Obsession with Skateboarding.

Aaron has experienced some of life's lowest lows and highest highs. In the past 10 years, Aaron has started several companies and led them to success. He's also bought and sold more than 700 homes nationwide. As Aaron says, he's gone from "being broke to being blessed." On the Real Estate Rockstars Podcast, he's hoping to drive others to succeed by sharing guests' inspiring stories.

Watchmen complicatedly combined falling squid, horrifying racism, a glowing blue man, nuclear panic, fear of sexual humiliation, piles of dead clones, questions about whether we could all be doing more, and an armchair trap door. In the new Low Key podcast, we talk about why it worked for us.In every episode of Low Key, your co-hosts Aaron Lanton, Keith Dennie, and Tim Molloy talk about pop culture moments we think others may have missed, often through a racial lens. As Aaron explains near the 20-minute mark of this episode, "Watching this as a black viewer is very different, I think, from watching it as a viewer of some other ethnicity." It isn't just because of the show's heavy references to the Tulsa race riots, or secret racist societies. It's because of the show's difficult questions about how much obligation all Americans have to one another—and how those obligations relate to race.Watchmen is undeniably, deliberately, messy and confusing. While most screenplays aspire for clarity, Watchmen makes its most searing points by trying to cloud some of our most firmly held perceptions. It asks us to explore our deepest fears, and better understand ourselves in the process.We hope you like this episode. If you do, please subscribe and rate us. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's mystery time, Bookworms! This month we're reading The Dry, an atmospheric page-turner by Australian author Jane Harper. Join Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk as he reluctantly goes back to his home town to investigate the murder of his childhood best friend. As Aaron gets deeper in the investigation, it becomes clear that this small town is hiding some big secrets.  We'll see you at the end of the month, Happy Reading! 

From celebrity clients to campaigns for PETA and Old Navy, to editorials for People and Nylon magazines, Aaron Barry has 12 years experience in makeup and 15 in hair. But it wasn’t always red carpets and Hollywood glam. Aaron grew up in Ireland struggling against gay stereotypes and having no idea what he wanted from his life. Once he found his passion, everything he overcame as a young man with a dream helped shaped hime into a man with a plan. Find out how Aaron got to Hollywood and how he continues to grow in the competitive world of Hair and Makeup. As Aaron says, "everyone in this life is entitled to happiness." Sometimes, you've just got to #jumponaplane. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/beautiful-hollywood/support

Tune into this episode for a fascinating conversation with Aaron Faucher, a product designer focused on design ethics and augmented reality. You’ll hear about lessons from his path into design for augmented reality and virtual reality with clients such as High Fidelity, Alpha Computing, and Designation Labs. We’ll also dig into how being a Master’s student at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University builds on that experience, and where he sees his design practice going as he explores the intersection of UX design and emerging technologies. As Aaron shares, he’s early in his design career, and has been working professionally in the field for a bit over two years. His first exposure to design thinking was when he was an undergrad, when his focus was on social impact. He became obsessed with the question of where the logical end point of emerging technologies is, and started looking at technology as a social issue. Since then, Aaron has been trying to situate himself in the design world around augmented reality. At one point, Aaron learned about the concept of affordance, and the idea that we live in a state of action-potential in a digital world. This felt groundbreaking to him and helped him to rationalize the hyper-connected state that many people feel themselves in. He also explores the power of getting outside of the box of his own ideas. Aaron moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in August 2016 to try to find a job there, since that’s where a lot of AR and VR developments are happening. He worked on hustling and networking there, and describes the experience as a “trial by fire” that put him in his place as a designer. The process led to a couple of freelance opportunities. One thing led to another, and he has been able to work on some VR creation tools. Tune in to learn more about all these topics, as well as where Aaron sees his design career going in the future, questions that he wrestles with, the advice he would give to an undergraduate who is interested in his field, what resources he recommends to people who want to learn more, and much more!   Learn More About Today’s Guest Aaron Faucher Aaron Faucher on Medium aaron.faucher@gmail.com Aaron Faucher on LinkedIn   In This Episode [02:01] — We hear a bit about Aaron’s background and what brought him to where he is now. [05:16] — When Aaron made a connection between his design thinking experience and UI/UX, what in particular helped him recognize the connection? [06:39] — Aaron talks about how he has built the skills and connections to make the leap into his design career. [08:52] — Was there a moment or experience when Aaron’s thinking about design changed? [11:12] — We learn more about Aaron’s road into designing for AR and VR. [15:10] — Aaron talks about some opportunities and projects that came from his networking in the San Francisco Bay Area. [17:03] — What are some of the challenges and workarounds that Aaron faced in the projects he has been talking about? [20:14] — We hear more about Aaron’s thoughts on healthy versus unhealthy interactions. [23:43] — Where does Aaron think that things will go from here for him as a designer? What are some of the questions he’s wrestling with on his design journey? [27:03] — Aaron shares the recommendations he would give to an undergraduate who wants to enter into design in the AR/VR space. [29:59] — Are there any online references or books that have been exceptionally helpful in Aaron’s journey so far?   Links and Resources yes@designthinking101.com (Dawan Stanford) Aaron Faucher Aaron Faucher on Medium aaron.faucher@gmail.com Aaron Faucher on LinkedIn Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University HYPER-REALITY on Vimeo Unity Tutorials Kadenze Calm Technology by Amber Case Modern Medicine by Jonathan Harris

Aaron and Alex discuss Michel Fiffe's superhero revenge comic, COPRA, a modern indie classic if there ever was one.  The discussion mostly revolves around Fiffe's artistic style, but we also talk about his refreshingly natural writing.  As Aaron once said to Michel Fiffe, "Copra is pure comics!"

Welcome to the Sister Isles… of course that’s not what they’ve always been called, but that’s the only name anyone can remember anymore. The Sister Isles are named after the beloved children of High Lord Aaron. But as you’ve never heard of the these particular islands before it’s pretty certain you don’t know who that is. Let me explain. Over 1000 years ago HIgh Lord Aaron of Hythain was sent from the capital of Bondment to the far western islands to steady violent storms that were threatening to tear apart all of Hythainia. High Lord Aaron was a weather master and held special relations with the Ventus, God of Weather. Moving to the farthest reaches of the world was not something Aaron wanted to do, but he did as His High Lord commanded. With him he took wealth, power, guards and both his wife, Naomei, and mistress, Elizia. Naomei - Priestess of Sib The Goddess of Peacekeepers, Traders, Diplomats and Shipwrights. It is said Naomei could talk someone out of their last penny if she deemed the reasoning good enough. She was a quiet woman who rarely spoke of non-important things and she was known to be level headed and fair. Elizia - follower of the God Uje was just as quiet as Naomei, but being a true follower of The Goddess of Water, Rivers, Oceans and Wells she had patience that could use to slowly change the opinions of those around her to see her point of view. It was rumored that the Naomei and Elizia were, or should of been, sisters. They had shocking similarities in not only looks, but also in movement, speech patterns and personalities. This was often attributed to the girls being raised in the same clutch. As it might happen both his wife and mistress became pregnant and gave birth at the same time. Aaron, having two daughters from the two women he loved he could not and would not pick a favorite child. As Aaron’s daughters grew, however, it was very obvious that, even though they shared their birthdate and father - they were not destined to be close to one another as their mother’s were. Little Nexie (short for Nexelita) was a patient and loving child and very much resembled, in aptitude, the followings of the God Sib. She was always the placater or easing of tensions. Nexelita was the complete image of her mother in poise and temperament. Her sister, Thayous, was very much of the house of Ventus. She was violet and as erratic as a storm. She would blow from one mood to the next, often without warning. As the girls grew Aaron set to expanding his lands so that he could make homes for his daughters. On each of the nearest two islands High Lord Aaron carved out and civilized, practically, identical areas in which he had built keeps and rather large towns. Each town was a gift to each of his daughters on their wedding days. This, of course, made the hands of their first marriage quite valuable and there were no shortage of suitors who braved the long voyage from Bondment to come and try to woo one (or both) of the High Lord’s daughters. Both daughters were wed on their 17th birthday in a large and lavish affair that took place in the ornate temple of Ventus that still stands between the two cities. As the High Lord Aaron lived out his years watching his lands grow and he welcomed many grandchildren (and even a few great grandchildren) into his family and all during that time the seas stayed relatively calm. Even after his death the area seemed to stay blessed. The storms that ripped through the other outer islands seems to miss Aaron’s lands. But as High Lord Aaron’s memories and stories faded so did the protection they provided. By the year 1450 of the Hythain Reckoning Calendar the seas were so chaotic that to be on the water was to invite death to your door. Storm after storm tore through the islands and barrelled straight onto the mainland. Then, without a known cause, 720 years ago (in the year of 1453), right before the time of the Upheaval, something changed and the islands because peaceful again overnight. The constant storms subsided. Not only that, but while the lands around them were torn apart by the Orc Wars (years 1455-1456) peace remained on these protected lands and when the Upheaval shook the world and magic died The Sister Isles were spared the major catastrophes and chaos. Yes, arcane magic was lost here, as it was in the rest of the world, but bardic magic held on just as rumours say that some areas were able to keep their druidic magics. Even some druidic magic did find its way back to the islands far earlier than the arcanic magics were renewed (some say by the gods return to this world). The stories tell that even though he is gone High Lord Aaron still protects his lands. There are some who say they’ve seen his form walking in his temple on the eastern islands, but there’s always stories of strange things coming from people who seek attention. What is not fantastical is that the lands that High Lord Aaron settled have endoured. His Temple of Ventus still stands and is a working church. His Castle is still on the eastern island nearly untouched by time. His daughters’ homes still thrive. Port Thay and Port Nex are home to many a thousands of people and the areas surrounding these ports have grown as well. So now that you know about the Sister Isles let me again welcome you to them. Now that you know some about the history of the Sister Isles let me bring you in closer to where this story takes place. On Nex Island, home of Port Nex, there are a two largish towns. The one that you might not need to be concerned about is Norwich is is north or Port Nex. It’s a lumber town that supplies Port Nex and Acomb with almost all the timber needed to build and repair the constant stream of boats and ships that come through these islands. The other larger town is, as you might of guessed, Acomb. Acomb is the southernmost town on Nex Island and once was the finest harbor in all the lands. Acomb is, geographically, the closest harbor to the Temple of Ventus and High Lord Aarons Castle and as it was the closest High Lord Aaron would stop in Acomb each time he came to visit the islands. Acomb is also the closest harbor to Bondment and a fair number of ships from there make their way to Acomb before heading off to either the north or south lands. While Acomb is a busy town, it’s permanent population is just under 8,000. Our story is set in Acomb, so we’ll be back there shortly, but first let me explain a few other towns in the area. On Nex Island there’s a few other smaller towns and a few villages. I’ll start with the smaller towns: Fulda is nestled right between Port Nex and Acomb about equidistant. It’s not officially a Kender town, it’s as close to a “hometown” as they can claim. This small town with a population less than 2000 is made up of about 60% kender which is the highest concentration you will find anywhere in the world. The town is here because it’s a half a day's journey to either Port Nex to the north or Acomb to the south. Kender’s often travel between the two destinations to find work. I would love to give you a nice mental image of a happy little town where the little folk thrive, but, sadly, I can’t. If there’s a crime committed Fulda is the first place that people turn to for retribution no matter who is to blame. If there’s a tax to be raised it’s raised on the folk of Fulda for no other reason than “they deserve it”. Fulda is not a happy place, but it’s a place of necessity where the most unloved people band together to try to protect one another. On the other side of a small wood, also between Acomb and Port Nex there is a town called Midway. It’s the polar opposite of Fulda. It’s the “good child” and no-one would believe anything unsavory could come from such a find upstanding town. Where as Kender’s aren’t outright illegal in Midway, most kenders who travel through that town would find a very uncomfortable time. Actually anyone not Human would get the same reception. Midway is very racist against anyone not human. And that’s it for the smaller southern towns. Up north you have Plaidsville which is snap dab in the middle of Port Nex and Norwhich. It’s nestled right in the bend of the river that’s used to transport the logging south and the town is full of hearty people who work hard and treat others fairly, as long as they pull their weight. This leaves only three towns or villages on Nex Island those being Shores Edge, Amberville and Cordville. Of these three the only thing to note is Cordville is an interesting place due to it’s a Dragonborn town. Most inhabitants of Nex Island don’t go to Cordville because of this fact. Cordville was settled in 1455 as a way station during what was to become known as The Orc Wars. The soldiers came from Udorim on The Shimmering Shore and set camp and have a launching station to take out any Orc ships that came past The Sister Isles. But, the Orcs never came and the Dragonborn of Cordville stayed and in the past 700 years they’ve become part of the Sister Isles just as much as the dwarves, elves and halflings have. So that will work as your tour around Nex Island. Let’s head back to Acomb where our story begins. In Acomb there’s several pubs and inns. Being a harbor town there’s a lot of people coming and going and where you have travelers you have thirsty people. One of these inns is called The Drunken Starfish. It’s a rather large place at the end of a strip of shops and it’s known as an “adventurer's” bar, even though there’s not a lot of adventures in The Sister Isles. Most of its patrons come to hear stories of adventures that the owners (of which there are several) claim to of gone on, but no on believes they have actually saved a town, talked with the right hand of a goddess, held a magical sword, or fought a sea-monster in hand to hand combat. Currently The Drunken Starfish has 6 owners. Although the owners do change from time to time there seems to always be 6. Some of the regulars have found this curious, but not curious enough to do more than ponder such an oddity. It’s just enough to know that if you are thirsty for a drink or a story The Drunken Starfish is where you want to go hang out. What? You’re thirsty for both? Then Let’s go.

The book of Psalms is more than just a simple book. With several different writers over nearly five centuries, the book of Psalms is a collection of all of those psalms that were deemed important for the spiritual health of the Hebrew people. As Aaron shows in this talk, they didn't leave anything off-limits or out of bounds, but chose instead to provide a language of complete and utter honesty before God. Within the Psalms we have many different words that encourage us and invite us to be honest before God and that help us to develop a sincere relationship with Him through whatever circumstances we might find ourselves living through. 

Aaron Levy is a Millennial Workplace Expert, and shares his observations and  insights on millennial retention and satisfaction in the workplace. Aaron shares his journey into the science of human behavior,  addresses the common misnomers of millennial stereotypes, and teaches us how to approach critical conversations across the generational divide.     Key Takeaways    [2:20] Aaron’s  an avid reader of both fiction and nonfiction, and enjoys the training and personal rewards involved with participating in triathlons. [6:39] At an early age, Aaron was moved by the power of film’s ability to change our perspective on life and the world around us. [7:41] Aaron immersed himself in the science of human behavioral change. He studied and practiced what techniques work trigger change and how people can unlock their potential both in and out of the workplace. [8:37] As Aaron looked around at his millennial aged peer group, he saw them jumping from job to job, even when on paper they “had it good”, and their choices seemed to defy logic. He noticed a two headed problem: internal disengagement within the employees, and the workplace’s lack of fostering satisfaction and stability for their hires. [9:48] The biggest factor in driving engagement comes from the top. Leaders and managers must know how to motivate by listening. [11:15] For someone to become a great leader, they must receive training consistently and be given the chance to repeat and tweak their education. Aaron suggests moving from a two day intensive training to a quarter day training four times a year and including more experiential rather than event based methods. This method fosters accountability, time to create new neural pathways, and the art of deliberate practice. [16:27] The tactics of learning the art of managing and leaders are important for both those doing it in the company, and consultants on behalf of the managers.   [22:57] What do millenials most desire in the workplace? Usually it’s a combination of feeling connected with their team, secure in the impact they are making and a vision of personal growth and development within their company. [23:36] Aaron busts the myth that millennials are special snowflakes, that can’t handle any feedback. Constructive feedback is crucial, and something millennials crave to help them feel valuable and connected. [25:59] Aaron explains why there was no need to sugarcoat his article “Why Most Managers Suck.”  Managers fall short on listening, which he feels is the most important leadership habit one must develop, practicing, and exercise. We think at 3,000 words per minute, and listen at 450, making it an inherently difficult thing to do. For managers to change, they must understand that listening and responding from a connected place is an effective and powerful way to obtain their desired outcome. [31:37] To grow and adapt at a higher level of listening and leadership in general, we must consciously and consistently be aware of our habitual patterns so we can adjust them. [32:52] Aaron measures the effectiveness of leadership by his team's ability to perform at a peak level even when he is away. [34:39] Curiosity and the ability to open up and admit they don’t have the right answers is a theme that comes up with Aaron and previous episodes on vulnerability. When leaders establish ground rules within their team, it creates a platform for others to experience freedom and space to act authentically. [40:00] The first step in living our live by chance instead of choice is digging deep to get clear on your “why”, and what you would do if money and expectations did not exist. [41:32] Aaron is committed to finding more of the balance between being and doing. For every 15 minute break in between meetings, there will be more time in nature, rest or even just doing a headstand.   Quotable Quotes   Why when we know better, do we not do better? “Engage with intention, not tension.” “Authenticity is the first step to vulnerability.”   “The biggest factor in driving engagement is the boss.” “Listening is the most important leadership habits we can adopt.” “There is an opportunity to be better at listening. We need to dedicate the time, effort and energy to develop those skills.” “If we are not building our replacements, we are not truly growing our people and company as leaders.” “A great leader isn’t always right.” “The leader on who you are, is who you are in your heart.” “Most of us live our life by chance, not by choice.”   Mentioned Beneath the Scarlet Sky Principles: Life and Work ClassAct Leadership BS Why Most Managers Suck   Twitter: raisebaraaron LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aelevy Facebook: RaiseTheBarCo Website: RaiseBar.Co     Bio: Aaron is the Founder & CEO of Raise The Bar, a firm focused on helping companies retain their millennial talent. Aaron’s on a mission to transform the manager role by empowering managers with the tools & skills to be better leaders of people.  

As Aaron preaches from John 17, we discover more about Jesus, leadership and friendship during this Mother's Day message

As Aaron preaches from John 17, we discover more about Jesus, leadership and friendship during this Mother's Day message

As Aaron teaches about Phillip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, we discover action steps God is leading us to take.

As Aaron teaches about Phillip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, we discover action steps God is leading us to take.

I love offering listeners fantastic benefits, such as some great discounts for products. These include the PM Grow Summit, website production through Property Managed Website, showing services through Tenant Turner, and more, with new offers coming all the time! You can see a complete list of the current offers at propertymanagementmastermind.com. For all of these offers, use the discount code “Brad” to secure your discount. In this episode, you’ll hear a fantastic conversation with Aaron Marshall of Keyrenter. If you’ve ever wondered about whether franchising is a good idea or how to get started, this is absolutely the episode for you! Aaron will go into depth about franchises, franchising, the various property management franchises that are out there, how they work, what the benefits are, and much more! Aaron has been in real estate since 2001, and in property management since 2007. He sold his extremely successful real estate business in May 2013 and started a Keyrenter franchise in December 2013. Since then, he has become an expert on franchising within the property management space, and he shares some incredible wisdom and insight into the realm in our conversation today. For those just getting into real estate, starting with a franchise can be incredibly helpful. As Aaron explains, he helps people get into the business, set it up correctly with insurance and banking, assists with property management agreements and marketing, and much more. This saves people the trouble of fumbling through it for the first year or two and losing value during that whole period. Aaron is wonderfully open about the specific costs involved in opening a Keyrenter franchise. There’s no secrecy or vagueness about numbers in this conversation; he’s clear and upfront about what a franchise costs, as well as the reasons that the cost is well worth it. Tune in to learn much more about all this, as well as how to get started (whether you’re new to the industry or already have a property management business), additional reasons why it can be so valuable to have a franchise, and more. Finally, Aaron will also offer a fantastic deal to listeners, so don’t miss this episode!   Here’s where you can find Aaron: Keyrenter Franchise Keyrenter Property Management Aaron Marshall on LinkedIn   Show Notes [01:45] - Brad introduces today’s guest and explains what today’s episode will cover. [02:58] - Aaron gives us a quick intro to who he is and what he does, as well as how he got involved with Keyrenter. [05:28] - Why buy a franchise? Aaron answers, then Brad talks about the franchises that he thinks of offhand. [07:36] - Brad shares a story involving his wife, who gravitated toward a specific brand rather than looking for an individual agent. [09:06] - We hear about the value of having a franchise for someone who’s brand new to property management. [12:41] - Brad clarifies some of the specific ways in which Aaron (or a franchise in general) helps with getting started in property management. [13:38] - We learn about the costs involved with opening a Keyrenter franchise. [15:28] - Brad talks his own experience with buying a franchise. [17:07] - Aaron returns to the topic of franchise costs, including the fees involved. [21:23] - Let’s talk about revenue! Brad talks about the royalty that Aaron has been discussing, and explains how it can be justified. [23:39] - Are the fees that Aaron has shared consistent across the industry, or are they higher at some companie than others? [25:22] - Aaron walks listeners through the process of purchasing a Keyrenter franchise. [29:56] - We hear about the next steps in opening a franchise, which Aaron sees as a mutual interview. [31:50] - We shift from talking about brand new franchise owners to existing businesses transferring over to a franchise. If you have over 25 doors, Aaron explains, you pay half price. [34:43] - Is there any sort of exit strategy that Aaron looks at with franchisees as he sets them up from the beginning? [37:48] - Aaron talks about whether there’s something like a franchise report to help listeners assess different franchises. [42:08] - Brad talks about the fact that there will always be bad reviews. [42:47] - How can listeners get in touch with Aaron if they’re interested in getting into a franchise? [44:31] - Aaron offers listeners a gift: a discount on a review software offered through grade.us. Listen in to hear how you can get your discount! [47:35] - We hear some final words of wisdom and advice from Aaron. Links and Resources: adisarro@sccombank.com (619) 988-6708 (Allison DiSarro from Seacoast Commerce Bank) Seacoast Commerce Bank RentWerx Keyrenter Franchise Keyrenter Property Management Aaron Marshall on LinkedIn LeadSimple PM Grow Summit AppFolio Franchise disclosure document (FDD) grade.us

Today's interview is with the legend that is Aaron Cook, Aaron talks about his journey from competing as a child right up to his current competitions and how he's looking to the future 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Then its a chat about his eventual book, the biography of his ups and downs twists and turns and what the title of the book will be called and why. As Aaron is still competing at elite level, training is a big part of his life we discuss his new training facility and how he welcomes other elite fighters to come stay with him and work out together. Next on the list is competitions, which events he will be attending to gain those all-important ranking points. Support is a big thing for any elite athlete, Aaron has none of the normal extras a national team player normally expects, now self-funding his seminars around the world he teaches have been a big part in helping him financially, book one now!!! Aaron has many tkd memories, find out in this episode what his fondest memory is. The Grand Prix events are next on the conversation, how easy is it for an up and coming athlete to break into these elite series of competitions and what does it take. We move swiftly onto Tokyo 2020 and about the qualification to ensure we have team Cook at the Olympics once again. Then it's onto the subject of “Love” Bianca Walkden his girlfriend also an elite tkd fighter of the highest level, how does it work, when did it happen and was it love at first sight! Then finally what makes Taekwondo different to other martial arts and what does it take to be a black belt. If your interested in seeing more about Aaron, we have included his social media links below, be sure to check them out as you will find some great content. Facebook: @AaronCooktkd Instagram: @ac.network Twitter: @AaronCooktkd YouTube: Aaron Cook www.focusontaekwondo.com/aaron-cook-legend Please leave us a rating and review

Digging in with Aaron Naparstek of Streetsblog who blew the lid off Vista Outdoors, owner of many large cycling companies, Bell, Giro, Blackburn, Copilot, etc., sponsoring the NRA and NRATV. As Aaron dug in he realized that Vista Outdoors also has PAC that gives money to the main Utah politicians trying to privatize public land in Utah. This is the fight that REI is very vocal in fighting, and yet they carry a lot of product from Vista Outdoors brands.    Wherever you sit on this issue, we would love to hear from you! Find links to Aaron's findings at ShiftUpPodcast.com

As Aaron teaches on love, a message of preparation to receive God love, point us to Jesus.

As Aaron teaches on love, a message of preparation to receive God love, point us to Jesus.

For the message, Aaron P. read Luke 10:29-37. About a year ago, Aaron and his family returned from two hours of skiing to discover that someone had stolen their car. As Aaron told this story, he was surprised by the sense of violation he heard from others. Ultimately, Aaron stopped telling the story. From his perspective, the number of people who went out of their way to help (11 strangers and "grandpa") were more important to the story than the thief. Can acts of mercy be small and wobbly? Aaron has been experimenting with small acts of kindness; these feel like more than polite transactions. Instead of "big" or "small" acts of mercy, maybe there is only mercy. This is how we build the connections of community. What is mercy to me? When, where, how can I experience mercy? How might mercy build human community?

As Aaron preaches his last sermon before leaving for Abu Dhabi he helps us to consider what it means to "receive every spiritual blessing" while we endure suffering in this life.

This is our Question of the Week episode, with a deep dive on Microsoft's Build developer conference and the announcements it made there. As Aaron is away this week, Jan – who attended Build in person – talks through the major announcements from the two keynotes. The first part of the episode discusses the first-day keynote, which focused on cloud and AI as well as Satya Nadella's new vision for the company, which is all about the Intelligent Cloud and Intelligent Edge. The second half of the episode discusses the second day's keynote, where the focus was on Windows and Microsoft's vision for mixed reality. The following three posts may also be of interest to you: • Jan's comment on Tech Narratives about the day 1 keynote announcements: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/10/★-microsoft-makes-cloud-cortana-iot-announcements-at-build-conference/ • Jan's comment on Tech Narratives about the day 2 keynote announcements: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/11/★-microsoft-makes-windows-and-device-centric-announcements-at-build/ • Jan's weekly column on Techpinions, which ran through themes from Build: https://techpinions.com/microsofts-symbolic-shift-from-windows-to-cloud/50042 You can also find the podcast on iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyon…ast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/be…odcast/id1002197313), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Released in early February, We Are Chicago is a serious game with serious goals: to put players in the shoes of a teenager amid the problems of Chicago’s South Side. As Aaron you navigate the landscape of gangs, high school, family dynamics, and a part-time job. Structured almost identically to a Telltale game, you are […]

As Aaron teaches through Genesis 12:1-4, you will discover principals to help you walk in God's purpose.

As Aaron teaches through Genesis 12:1-4, you will discover principals to help you walk in God's purpose.

It's the million dollar question. Do you have enough money saved to send your child to college? How much do I need to have saved? In this eye-opening podcast, Aaron Greene invalidates this question because "it's the wrong question to ask." Rather, he says, we should be asking ourselves, "What SHOULD I be SPENDING on college?" As Aaron discusses in this podcast, college is a consumer purchase--and should be treated as an investment. Families should be empowered to spend based on what the desired degree is worth--not what the college deems as a set blanket sticker price. But can you do that? The answer is yes--and Aaron tells you how. During each episode, Aaron Greene, Founder and CEO at College Liftoff, and his staff of counselors help students and families reduce the cost of higher education, navigate the application process, and make well-rounded decisions by evaluating the modern metrics of education. College Liftoff emerged from Aaron's desire to help students learn to treat education like an investment, accounting for the career, academic, and financial factors that shape this decision. He has also forged a debt control calculation to set student loan debt limits for each student. College Liftoff opened its first office in Columbus, Ohio in May 2009. https://www.collegeliftoff.com/ (College Lift Off) - https://www.collegeliftoff.com https://facebook.com/collegeliftoff (Facebook) - @collegeliftoff https://youtube.com/collegeliftoff (YouTube) - https://youtube.com/collegeliftoff https://twitter.com/collegeliftoff (Twitter) - @collegeliftoff Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcast player. http://www.subscribeonandroid.com/ (Android user?) http://www.subscribeonandroid.com HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! We'd love it if you could please share this podcast with your social media friends!  If you liked this episode, please leave us a rating and a review in your podcast player.

Season One of HBO's Westworld has officially come to a close. As Aaron and Troy wrap up this season of the Beyond Westworld podcast, we decided to do it right. So, we invited one of our favorite hosts, Michael Ahr of DenOfGeek.com, to join in as we wrap up our thoughts on this fantastic initial season of television. We also take some time to discuss in detail our predictions and expectations for Season Two. Get ready for a ride, as rope our podcast into the stables until its next stop in 2018!Read more... The post BW16 – Westworld Season 2 Predictions And Expectations appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Highlights, Takeaways & Quick Wins:For big projects, you need long stretches of uninterrupted time to think and work.Work on building your focus muscle.The first five minutes of focus time are the hardest.Pick a task, pick a time, and do the task at that time.Show up every day and do your best creative work.If you can’t overcome fear, push through it—fear is a sign that you’re doing something that matters.The way you feel about a product doesn’t change how much it’s worth, which is how much the market is willing to pay for it.Protect your morning productivity time and your mental energy by setting out your clothes the night before.Don’t undervalue your products.Pick one thing, do it for two months, and allow yourself to suck at all the other areas of your life—after that, pick a new thing.Pick one action you can do tomorrow morning that will get you closer to the most important goal.Show Notes:Aaron: We both really loved Cal Newport’s Deep Work book. When did you get interested in the idea of intense focus and structuring your life in a way to make sure you get your best creative work done? When did you find that book or that idea and really start working on that?Shawn: I think I found the idea years ago. When I was a creative marketing director, like I mentioned, I was doing 80 hours a week. Part of my schedule was that on Fridays, I would come home and work from home. I wouldn’t be on email or answer the phone. I had an assistant, and anyone who needed to get ahold of me needed to go through my assistant. She would screen anything and see if it was urgent or important for the day. If it was, she’d let me know.I set up this distraction-free work time for myself on Fridays, because as the director for the marketing and all the creative stuff we were doing, it was on me to make sure that our marketing campaign for this big, end of the year, 25,000 person conference was going to happen. It was all on me. I had to drive that. You can’t do that in 10-minute time blocks scattered throughout your day.For big projects, you need long stretches of uninterrupted time to think, process, come up with ideas, and work on stuff.That was my first experience of going, “I have to have this. If I don’t, I won’t be able to do my job, and I will always be in reaction mode.” That was my first experience, and that was in 2008 when I came across that idea. It was born out of necessity for me. Obviously, that’s not new to the world, but it was new to me. When I quit my job and started blogging for a living, I came to that same spot of saying, “I need to set aside time every day to write without distractions, intentionally.”That has evolved as we’ve had kids, schedules have changed, and seasons of life go up and down. I need uninterrupted stretches of time on a regular basis to do my most important work and to focus on the stuff that’s not urgent today but is very important. If I neglect it, those things will become urgent, or the needle is going to start going backwards and I’m going to start losing ground.Why Deep Focus MattersShawn: Focused time has always been important. Then I came across Cal’s book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You. I read that in 2015. That’s a fantastic book. There was this chapter in there on intentional practice, and that resonated with me so much. It’s very similar to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book, Flow.He has a lot of books on very similar topics on finding flow, getting in the flow, whatever. He has one book called Flow and another one called Finding Flow. It’s the idea that not only do you need those times of uninterrupted work, but when you’re in that moment, if you can get into the flow, it’s challenging, it’s hard, etc, but you feel more rewarded. You feel better. You have a higher motivation about the work you’re doing. You feel like you accomplished something.I don’t know if anyone listening can relate to this. You spend your whole day in reaction mode, bouncing around between your email inbox, your Twitter feed, your Facebook feed, your Instagram feed, back to email, back to Twitter, back to Instagram, back to Facebook, back to email. You’re bouncing around all these inboxes, and then you’re like, “Wow, I just spent four hours. I haven’t done anything.”Aaron: You read a bunch of short emails, maybe you replied, maybe you sent some tweets, maybe you saw some articles.It’s so easy to spend all day doing short, quick tasks that don’t really change anything.Shawn: Exactly. They don’t change anything, and you feel zero satisfaction afterwards. You don’t feel like you got anything done, as opposed to if you took those four hours and, instead, spent it focused on something intentional, something that was challenging. If you set aside time to do deep work, when you come out of that time (even if it’s just one hour or half an hour), if it was distraction free and you’re focused and being intentional, you come out feeling better.After spending intentional time working on something without any distractions, you feel more motivated and you have more energy. It’s this muscle. You have a focus muscle that you have to work on, as opposed to the distraction muscle.Why is Creating Focused Time So Hard?Shawn: The hardest thing for getting into that focused work time, getting into the flow, is called the Activation Energy, just getting started. The first five minutes of focus time are the hardest. Something I like to do is have a set time every day when I am going to have my focused writing time, and before I even get there, the day before, I write down what my single most important thing is that I’m going to be writing about. I have the time on my calendar, and I have the challenge, project, or task that I’m going to be working on.As Cal Newport would say, what’s the artifact that I’m going to try and get from that focused time? Then I come, sit down, and do the work. I know that the first five minutes will be hard and I probably won’t be into it. I have to power through those first five minutes, and then you get into that flow. Time begins to get lost. Anyone who has been a painter, artist, musician, whatever, you can usually relate. You say, “I was just in the flow. I was in the zone.” That’s where your best work is going to be created.That’s where you’re going to feel the most satisfaction with your job. That’s where you’re going to increase your skill level as a creative person. You’re going to level up your ability to do stuff. Sean has talked about this so much with his Learn Lettering course: he did 9,000 hours of intentional practice! That’s what he was doing every day. He had this focused time where he was practicing letters. You have to put in the time.How to Stop Procrastinating and Do Your Best WorkAaron: Everyone should read Cal Newport’s books, So Good They Can’t Ignore You and Deep Work. Both of those books are phenomenal. It’s so important as podcasters to pick a day to outline and record an episode, and write the topic in advance. Say, “I’m going to spend 30 to 45 minutes at this time writing about this thing, and then I’m going to record an episode.”Otherwise, what ends up happening, and this is true of so many areas of life, is that you will spend a lot of time thinking about how you should do a thing. I’ve been thinking about how I should record a screencast for three weeks now. “Hey, I have to record that ‘introduction to limiting’ screencast for my Logic course,” and I’ve been thinking a lot about it, but I haven’t done it yet. It’s so silly, but that’s how procrastination works. You spend more time thinking about how you should do a thing instead of just doing the thing.Pick a task, pick a time, and do the task at that time.That’s such a simple version of an idea presented in Deep Work that is so life changing. I talk about that book all the time because I love it, and I know there are still some people who haven’t read it yet. It is a book that anyone who wants to create stuff for a living professionally needs to go listen to. Shawn, you should do a whole series of videos or interviews where you talk about deep focus for creative people.Shawn: I do. I did some stuff, like the TheFocusCourse.com/margin page. I interviewed Cal Newport, and we talked about this. I interviewed a few other folks and wrote some articles, and it was on this topic of having margin in your life, the breathing room, so that you can do your best creative work. That’s our mantra over there at The Focus Course: Show up every day and do your best creative work.I think margin is a huge part of that. The deep work, the focus, it’s a huge part of it. Otherwise, you’re just working on your email inbox all the time. That’s no fun.Push Through FearAaron: The first question I want to talk about is this one from Mariali. She asked, “How did you overcome the insecurity of giving birth to a new idea you weren’t sure people would respond well to?” I think this was about a book but it could be about anything, really.Shawn: I didn’t overcome the fear. I put it out there and stuck to the plan. The way that worked with my Delight is in the Details book, was that I had done it as a podcast mini series for my members only. It was a little five part podcast, and I got a lot of positive response from people. I had teased it out, and I got a positive response, so I thought, “I should sell this for maybe like $5 as a sample for the Shawn Blanc membership thing.”I thought, “I should rewrite it, so it’s a little bit more structured. I’ll rerecord it so it doesn’t have the welcome in it, so it’s a little bit more of its own product.” As I’m doing that, it goes from five episodes to like 12. There were all these extra chapters that I ended up writing. Then I thought, “Gosh, if I’m going to to this, I might as well interview some other people, and then I can charge more for the thing.” Instead of charging $10, I could charge like $20. That would double what I’d make from it.So I made the book, and when I was getting ready to sell it, that was the hard part. That launch day, I just felt super insecure. I felt bad and sick to my stomach. I texted a few friends of mine. I was like, “This book is coming out in an hour. People are going to hate it.” Everyone was like, “Stick to your plan. Put it out there.” The people I trusted, who’s opinions I cared about, all said, “You’re fine, keep going.” I listened to them, and I did. I kept going and it. I pushed through that fear.I never overcame the fear—I just pushed through it.I kept going. You begin to learn that the fear becomes this mile marker for you, a sign post that you’re probably doing something that matters and creating something that matters. Now I’ve learned that when I feel that, “This might not work,” or, “Holy crap, what am I doing? I’m in over my head!” I should probably keep going, because I might be on to something that matters at this point.Aaron: That’s fantastic advice.The Market Decides What a Product Is WorthAaron: I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I talked about this in the Fired Up Mondays podcast this morning, which is that the market decides what’s valuable. People will complain when they see a product that they don’t think is worth as much as the company is charging for it. Let’s say that you look at a Lamborghini, and you’re like, “I don’t know why anyone would ever pay $400,000 for that car. Why would you want that car? You could just buy a 1999 Toyota Camri that has 140,000 miles on it for $4,000.”“This ’99 Camry works great. It gets me everywhere. Good gas mileage, pretty comfortable. Not the most amazing sound system, but it does have a Bose sound system in it, so it’s fine. Why would anyone spend $400,000 on a Lamborghini?”The way you feel about a product doesn’t change how much it’s worth, which is how much the market is willing to pay for it.There’s somebody out there willing to pay that much money. They have that much money, and it doesn’t matter what you think about that product. Somebody else went out and made that, and they’re going to make money from that while you’re at home complaining about how somebody else is spending $300 for a picture book from Apple. How you feel about the price of a product doesn’t matter.Shawn: It’s how the people that are buying it feel that matters. To say, “I’m not going to start a Lamborghini company because used Toyota Corollas exist,” that’s silly, but that’s how we feel.Aaron: Relating to my courses, which I’m getting close to wrapping up, pricing is interesting for me. If I hadn’t met Sean and the people in the seanwes Community, I think I would have charged a fraction of what I’m planning on charging. I probably would have charged closer to $20. I would have put all this time and energy into it and not priced it high enough, because I didn’t realize that there are people out there that sell courses for $1,500 and $10,000.Don’t Undervalue Your ProductsShawn: I bought a course recently that cost me $2,000.Aaron: So many people don’t know that. A lot of us still think that $2,000 is a ton of money. For a lot of people, it is. That doesn’t mean that you have to apply such a low price to the product that you’re making, just because you feel like $50 is a lot of money.Don’t charge too little for your product because you feel like a higher price is a lot of money—that’s an easy trap to fall into.Shawn: That’s very true. You have to step back. This course I bought, for me, it was a no brainer. I bought the book that was written by the guy, and I went through the book and implemented some of the stuff in there, and it helped me launch my time management class. That did $20,000 its first launch week. I spent something like $18 on this guy’s book, and it helped me make $20,000. So his $2000 course was a no brainer for me.This master class version of that book, the online course version of it, that was a no brainer for me. There were a ton of videos, all this implementation stuff, coaching, and all this stuff that was involved in it. There were all these things you can do that can increase the value of your stuff. Don’t increase your price just because. Start with your basic price and then double it and double it again. Now you’re probably at a decent starting point.You’re so prone to under-valuing your own work. You don’t just jack the price up because people say so. You need to look objectively and say, “Alright, am I providing the value?” If someone comes in and takes my Focus Course, for example, we charge $350 for it. It’s not a lot, but it isn’t a little, either. If someone spends $350 and goes through this course, are they going to be able to walk away with at least, ideally, $700 worth of value? I want them to get at least double the value they’re paying for it.Can I get it to be even more? Can I get them to walk away with $3,500 worth of value, 10X the amount of value that I’m providing? You charge that, and if people take it seriously, they’ll walk away with something that wil literally change the way they spend their time with work, family, health, and finances. This is across the board for their life, and you can’t put a price on that.Objectively ask yourself if you’re delivering on your promises and providing the value that you say you are.With your stuff, Aaron, with podcasting, if you can help people get a podcast off the ground, they can turn that into a full time business. That’s worth $50,000 or $100,000. Someone could say, “Thanks to your stuff, I started a business that’s now thriving. I do this as my job.” That’s worth so much money! To charge $20 for it? Don’t undervalue your stuff.First Steps to Improve Your FocusAaron: I want to answer Kyle’s question here in the chat. I’m going to read his question and I’ll let you take a stab at it, Shawn. Kyle asked, “Is there a best first step to improved focus? I can think of so many directions I should go: exercise more, eat better, write down what I’m doing the next day, sleep better, etc. Trying to do all of it at once isn’t sustainable. What should I start with?”Shawn: This is great, Kyle, excellent question. I feel like there are two best first steps (which obviously doesn’t make sense, you can only really have one first step, but play along). We talked about this in the Focus Course. On the very first day of the Focus Course, there’s this super dorky assignment. You have to set out your clothes for what you’re going to wear tomorrow. Tonight, when you go to bed, pick out tomorrow’s outfit. It’s super dorky. You can do it in two minutes. In the morning, you have to wear the outfit you picked out the night before.You have to actually follow through with your commitment. You set this thing out, and you say, “I’m going to wear these pants and this shirt,” etc. In the morning, you wake up, and you have to wear it. You’ve made a commitment to yourself the night before. In the morning, you wake up and you follow through on that commitment. It’s a small step towards strengthening your personal integrity, which is your ability to follow through with your commitments to yourself. That’s super powerful.The other component to setting out your clothes the night before and then putting them on is that it’s your current self helping your future self. You’ve saved your future self five minutes in the morning. The quality of my time in the morning is super valuable. My mind is fresh, it’s the beginning of the day, there are no fires happening yet. That’s my best chance to get my best work done, early in the morning.Protect your morning productivity time and your mental energy by setting out your clothes the night before.It’s this idea of helping your future self. Once you get your toe in that water, you begin to see all the other areas of your life where you can begin to help your future self. We were talking during the podcast about this. Kyle says, “Yes, I’ve done this.” That’s awesome. As Aaron and I talked about earlier, when you have that deep work focused time, try to decide ahead of time what that focus is going to be. This is your current self helping your future self.It’s so powerful. For me, I write down my topic that I’m going to be writing about tomorrow when it’s time for me to write. I have the topic ahead of time, so I know what to write about. Then, when I sit down, I don’t have to think about. I have the singular focus to write about this topic that I’ve already chosen. That can really help with improving focus.Be ahead of your own curve and help your future self.Those of you who are registered for the Creative Focus Online Summit will get to hear Josh Kaufman and I talk about this. He talks about the importance of going on a walk in the morning and having 30 minutes where you leave your phone at home. You go outside, you’re moving, you’re getting sunlight, but also, it’s 30 minutes of thinking time where you can be undistracted. You can just think. He calls it “noodling.”You let your mind “noodle.” He talks about how when you have a productivity system and a focus system that gives you space to think and to be uninterrupted for a little bit, you’re going to be far more productive than if you have a system that doesn’t give you space to think. For him, he says that that is the number one, single most important component of being more productive and focused—actually having carved out time on a regular basis where you can just think.Be distraction free. That’s why he says to take a walk. You can combine that with movement, being outside, getting sunlight, and things like that. It’s easier than sitting on your couch and staring at the wall for 30 minutes. I don’t say that to put that idea down, but it can be easier to be undistracted when you’re outside walking around and you leave your phone at home. As opposed to, you put your phone next to you on the couch and you hope that it doesn’t buzz.You can put it in airplane mode, obviously, but it’s still right there. You want to grab it and take it off of airplane mode. So coming back to Kyle’s question: You have so many directions you want to go. Exercising, eating, writing down what you’re doing the next day, sleeping better. Right? People say, “I want to improve my relationship with my spouse. I also want to get better at budgeting my finances. I also want to get better at budgeting my time. I also want to read these books.”You look at it, and there is so much stuff that you want to do. You can’t do all of it right now, so pick one thing. What’s the one that’s most exciting?Build One Habit at a TimeShawn: Kyle, you listed exercise as the first thing on your list, so I would start with that. Not to pitch my course, but I’m going to pitch my course. We go through all the core areas of your life: your job, your relationships, your finances, your “down time,” your physical health, and your inner or spiritual life. These are the six areas of your life. We go through each one of those and spend time on each one, where you list out what’s important to you in this area of your life.What’s a goal that you want to have or a lifestyle practice that you want to implement, and how can you move the needle forward toward that goal? You come up with six goals and six action plans, one each for the main areas of your life. Spoiler here, at the end of the course, you pick one.Focus on improving one area of your life for six months and ignore the other ones.Don’t ignore them in terms of ignoring your wife for two months while you’re focusing on work, but you pick one area to build a habit, a routine, a lifestyle practice, that has you making meaningful progress in that area of life. A lot of people say that it takes 21 days to build a habit. Actually, if you’re a habit building master, you might be able to do it in 21 days, but it takes most people 60 days to build a habit. That’s the average. That’s two months!I think a lot of people are probably familiar with the Jerry Seinfeld productivity tip with the calendar. You write a joke every day and you put a big X on your calendar, and you don’t want to break the chain. It’s the same with this new habit of yours. Say, “What’s one thing I can do on a daily basis that’s going to help me move toward my goal of exercising more, of being more physically active?” What’s the minimum dose, the smallest thing you can do?You’re going to go walk for 20 minutes, or whatever it is. Do that every single day for two months. It’s a small start, but now you’ve done it. You’re two months in, and now, instead of it being this thing you are trying to get the motivation for to move forward, you’re doing it. It has become routine for you, which requires far less activation energy, far less mental energy. It has moved into your life. It’s there. It’s something that you’re doing on a daily basis.Now, you pick the next thing. “Okay, I have the exercise thing.” Keep that and layer the next thing on top of it. You’re doing that for your physical health. What about for your inner life, your spiritual life? What’s something you would want to layer on top of that, something you could do? Now, during that walking time, maybe you’re going to think about something. If you read a Bible or something like that, you could say, “I’m going to have a Bible verse that I think about during my 30 minute walk.”Maybe you’re trying to improve your relationship with your spouse. Bring them along on your walk. Now, you can incorporate this. Say, “I’m going to do this on a regular basis,” and you do that for two more months. Then you pick the next layer. Maybe it doesn’t build on that 30 minute walk itself. Maybe it’s an entirely different part of the day, but the core is the same.Pick one thing, do it for two months, and allow yourself to suck at all the other areas of your life—after that, pick a new thing.This is why New Year’s resolutions never work. We say, “I’m going to go to the gym for five hours a day every day starting on January 1st, and I’m going to start budgeting, and I’m going to stop eating chocolate, and I’m going to go on date nights every week, and I’m going to read a book a week.” January 1st, go! It’s so much. You’re going to run up and try to push a truck, but you don’t have the energy, the strength, to move and change that much that quickly.With the truck analogy, if you’re driving a car and you want to try and tow another car, you don’t gun it with all this slack on the tow line. You’re going to rip both of the bumpers off. You start super, super slow. You slowly build up that speed. That’s how you do it without getting in a wreck. You actually make that momentum. Start with just one thing.The hard part is giving ourselves permission to pick one thing and focus on that for two whole months.That’s the hardest part, really. It’s not in the doing. It’s in the not despising those small beginnings. That’s the crash course of the Focus Course right there. This is the value. If you stick around for the after show at seanwes, this is what you get.Aaron: I’ll agree with Shawn and say this: pick one action you can do tomorrow morning that will get you closer to the most important goal. I know how many goals you have right now. I know, because I have that many goals, too. Pick one thing and write it down. Get a little calendar. Make a big X. Do that every day.You’ll get other stuff done, too, but you need to think about doing one important thing first thing in the morning right after you wake up. Get that thing done, and then pat yourself on the back, feel good about it, and move on to the next thing.You can follow Shawn Blanc on Twitter @ShawnBlanc, and be sure to check out his website at www.shawnblanc.net.

This week we say goodbye to one of our most cherished producers ever - Aaron Bolton. As Aaron prepares for a life in the real world, we reflect on his time at Radio K and the lasting impact he has made in his years here.

This week we say goodbye to one of our most cherished producers ever - Aaron Bolton. As Aaron prepares for a life in the real world, we reflect on his time at Radio K and the lasting impact he has made in his years here.

As Aaron points out, we are currently in the fat weeks for tech news. We must work to consume as much as possible for the lean winter months ahead. In this week's episode, we delve into Phil W. Schiller being a guest on John Gruber's show, Apple's WWDC sessions, and briefly get distracted by stuff like grocery shopping, the Steam Summer Sale, and the TV show Community. John Gruber + Phil Schiller = Awesome Gruber, again, talking at the XOXO conference Firewatch, the game Community, the show

What's Up Birthday Cakes?! VGB is back and Aaron's Birthday Surprise Mystery is over! Our special guest of the week is none other than Anthony Burch! A man whose writing touched Aaron emotionally in Borderlands 2, is joining us to discuss why the decision was made to kill Sir Carter's favorite character. Will Aaron finally get the answers he is looking for?? Anthony did the show on EXTREMELY late notice and we cannot thank him enough for his time in sticking with us for the entire show! If you don't know who Anthony Burch is he is the wickedly smart and talented older brother of Ashly Burch. He talks to us about all things from #Gamergate to Impostor Syndrome, leaving Gearbox, and his new gig with Freddie Wong at Rocket Jump. As Aaron is one year closer to death we celebrate his life and some of his best moments on the show this week with none other than Schteven and Jada! We play a riveting round of Whattcha Playin?! as well as cover all of the geeky news stories in the world this week. We are talking about Spider-Man, Layoffs at Daybreak (Formerly Sony Online Entertainment) and much much more all on this weeks Birthdaytastic episode of Videogame BANG!

God wants to "restore" to you the things that have been stolen through sin. As Aaron journeys through Deuteronomy, you will see the process to being restored.

God wants to "restore" to you the things that have been stolen through sin. As Aaron journeys through Deuteronomy, you will see the process to being restored.

Are we as Christians producing the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives? As Aaron the High Priest ministered in the Most Holy Place the tinkling sound of the Golden Bells could be heard outside. As we move around daily are we producing an attractive sound, a message of hope and life to those with whom we live and work?