Podcasts about for alan

For Alan's birthday, we dip a toe into Charles Fort.

Alan Hald is an inspiring and successful futurist. He co-founded and served as chairman and president of Micro Age, which he helped grow into a multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 company. He has an MBA from Harvard, with an emphasis in entrepreneurship, and he is the founder and manager of American Law Firm Funding.    More than two decades ago, Alan was one of my advisors when I was a 25-year-old CEO of a publicly-traded SaaS company. In today's episode, we are going to discuss Alan's entrepreneurial journey and how he found success through identifying business tectonic shifts.    Alan's Entrepreneurial Journey   When Alan was newly married, he could not get a job for six months, so he and a friend followed their passion for future studies and started the Phoenix Chapter of The World Future Society in 1973. “The idea of passion is a strong motivator and extremely important to being effective and successful in business,” Alan said. “The key thing to me is to identify something you do have passion for.”   While Alan had a passion for futurism, he realized he also had to look for patterns in the marketplace if he wanted to prepare for his future as an entrepreneur and earn a living.    “You really have to look at underlying patterns that might give you a hint as to how the world is changing and how new opportunities because of that might be created. In other words, you must change the way you look at the world by identifying patterns and then project those patterns into the future,” Alan said.    In the early seventies, Alan watched the market and identified several patterns relating to social behaviors and technology creating unique emergent needs and capabilities which, as they converged in the near future, foresaw a business tectonic shift. The first pattern he noticed was the coming of age of baby boomers. This generational shift meant more people that were growth-oriented individuals were entering the workplace. Baby boomers wanted to work with others in society and were very involved in communication. That led Alan to notice the second shift of microelectronics. He did not quite know what it meant yet, but he knew microelectronics was changing everything.    Alan saw the emergence of new, personalized communications capabilities enabling many-to-many communications which later became social media and near-instantaneous access to all information which he called the playground of information; today it is called Wikipedia. The enabling pattern catching his attention was the microtechnology revolution and the 1975 introduction of the personal microcomputer kit. It was a eureka moment, the dawning of the computer revolution and the information age, the birth of a new market, a tectonic shift that would transform the economy and society unlike any other.   Alan made a commitment to engage with those shifts and started a computer store with a business partner in 1976, the first computer store in Arizona called the Byte Shop, which became Micro Age. It grew 10 fold over the next three years, stumbled in the 1980-81 recession, recovered by 1983, and nearly doubled in size each year for nine years breaking $1 billion in 1992, which ultimately became a $6 billion company with 6,000 employees when Alan left the company in 1999.    As entrepreneurs, we can follow a similar path as Alan. We can identify our passions and motivators, look for emerging patterns, and apply our current knowledge and skills to a new industry or opportunity.    Find Motivators    Many times, we may hesitate to act on our ideas because we feel we have no resources, but really, we are lacking motivation and passion.    “[Entrepreneurship] is not a resource-constrained activity. It's a motivation constrained opportunity,” Alan said. “You may feel you can see an opportunity you know you can engage in, but if you don't have the motivation to actually take action, it's [just] an idea, and 20 years from now you will regret having never done it.”   What propels us to act on our ideas? Alan explained that passion is one of the greatest motivators. If we are passionate about our businesses and enjoy working every day, we will be more likely to pursue an idea and take advantage of an opportunity. Instead of pursuing something we hate, we should strive for opportunities we are passionate about.    We do not need a lot of resources to make an idea successful. For example, Steve Jobs started Apple by building the first computer in his bedroom and garage. “[Success] doesn't require a lot of resources. It requires a lot of motivation, and the ability to address failure and view it as an opportunity to succeed,” Alan said.    For Alan, his motivation was his passion for involvement in dramatic business shifts and his desire to make a change in society. For others, their motivation could be providing for a family, a desire to innovate, to help others; Whatever the case, we need to find something that motivates us to act. Without action, our ideas will only remain ideas.    Identify Emerging Patterns and Shifts   We should reexamine the world and see if we can find emerging trends and patterns around us that could create new tectonic shift opportunities, large or small, provided the endeavor can be self-sustaining as the market develops. Alan created a billion-dollar company because he was able to identify and leverage patterns and tectonic shifts in the marketplace. He noticed the coming of age of baby boomers, a generational shift, and the trend towards microelectronics. Based on these two shifts, Alan took his background in business and started a computer store that eventually became a $6 billion company.    I did something very similar with Adoption.com. I had some background with adoption, and then the Internet came out. I saw a tectonic shift that could help my business community if I put the two things together. I found a way to take the internet and leverage it to help the adoption community. When we are looking for tectonic shifts, we can take something that is transforming a different industry, and find a way to leverage that same shift to transform our industry.    The first step to identifying tectonic shifts is to consistently look for them. How do we change our mindsets so we can recognize them? The patterns are there, but it's all about how we perceive the changes. The trick is to step out of our box and look at things differently.    One of the key ways to find these tectonic shifts is to look at failures, problems, or challenges, and then flip them on their head and find the opportunity that exists in those challenges by finding and creating a solution. We do not need to find a shift that is earth-shattering and world-changing, but it needs to cause large transformations.   We can ask ourselves, “Is there a need that isn't being met?” This could be a current need or an anticipated need.  It should impact a group of people, or even better, an entire industry. Once we recognize the needs, we need to do the research to understand them and find a solution we can offer.    Apply Current Skills to New Projects   After we identify the shifts happening in the marketplace, we must act.    “Once you see [patterns] you're going to have to evaluate them in some way, but don't be discouraged if you think you don't have the skills or the experience or the understanding,” Alan said. “What you know now can be completely applied to something new in the future, if you only spend some time to understand how that works. Once you understand how something works, all kinds of traditional skills, experience, understanding, and knowledge can be reapplied to emerging future activities.”   Even though Alan knew nothing about computers or electronic kits, he used his passion and vision to drive him forward to act and pursue an idea he was not 100% sure about. Instead of sitting on his idea, he started to figure out how he could use his current knowledge to help him.    “I really knew nothing about computers. I knew nothing about building computers, but I was excited about it, so I was open to learning,” Alan said. “I didn't really have to create new skills. I had the skills ready; I just had to reapply it to how things were changing.”   Alan took the knowledge and skills he developed in growing a business and applied it to a new emerging industry to help propel him towards success.    Key Takeaways   Thank you so much Alan for sharing your stories and insights with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:   Sometimes we may hesitate to act on our ideas because we feel we are lacking resources, but really we are probably lacking motivation and passion.  Passion is one of the greatest motivators. If we are passionate about our businesses we will be more likely to pursue an idea and take advantage of an opportunity. We should look for underlying patterns and business tectonic shifts in the world and other industries that might give us a hint as to how the world is changing.  One of the key ways to find these tectonic shifts is to look at the biggest failures, problems, and challenges, and then create a better solution. We can take our current knowledge and skills and apply them to a new emerging industry to help propel us towards success.    Connect with Alan   If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Alan or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn.   Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?   Please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:   Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.  Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.   Share Your Story  How do you identify business tectonic shifts and patterns? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.   Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/how-to-identify-business-tectonic-shifts/

In today's episode, Alan and I are answering frequently asked questions we get about our age gap relationship.  Some of the questions we answered include: How old are you? How did you meet? How to find an older person online? How to make the first move as a younger person? How did you plan for one person working and one person retired? Any advice on how to handle your financial future together? For Alan: did you deal with feelings of guilt about your relationship with Carrie? About Age Gap Love Story Age Gap Love Story offers information, support, and community to help make your age gap relationship successful. We are Carrie and Alan, a married couple with a 32 ½ year age difference. We've been together since 1998 and we want to share our experiences navigating the unique challenges of this type of relationship, including issues of family, infertility, health, and more. Join the Age Gap Love Story community! Website: https://www.agegaplovestory.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agegaplovestory Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Age-Gap-Love-Story-102399771548653/ Private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/agegaplovestory/ Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter:  http://eepurl.com/g9ukan Contact us: https://www.agegaplovestory.com/contact/

In this episode of the Fire In The Belly Podcast, Alan Wallace, the co-founder of OnlyJustMedia Summit, shares about the benefits of social media and also the summit’s success this year.  Millions of people around the world are on at least one online platform right now…why not take advantage of this? Let Alan convince you to get on it by naming its countless benefits today. For Alan, it is the network he has built on social media that he thinks is invaluable. He also dives deep on the best type of content you should put out so you reach more people. Time to listen in! KEY TAKEAWAYS   The OnlyJustMedia Summit aims to educate content creators and businesses more about social media. Alan, together with Lucy McMullan, headed this year’s conference. They’ve gone big and invited various people from different parts of the world. Build relationships and increase engagements. Social media is something entrepreneurs and thought leaders should take advantage of since most people in the world own an account or two. It’s easier these days to find and connect to your target market because of these platforms. There are different types of content you can explore. You can post videos, audios, articles, blogs, etc., and then repurpose them to whatever you like. It’s up to you where you can best you’re your idea, product, or service. Alan’s tip too, is to link your other platform accounts to each other. Just get on the platform. Don’t think too much. As long as you put a quality content out there, the possibility can be endless. It might not gain traction right now, but when the time comes, someone (even just one) will need a niche information from you. You’ll get there; you’ll get better.   BEST MOMENTS “I love working with people, I love collaborating and I love seeing things come in together.” “The opportunity is huge when you’re a content creator.” “It has never been easier to build a global brand [with social media].” VALUABLE RESOURCES Know more about OnlyJustMedia Summit here: https://www.latest.facebook.com/onlyjustmedia/  Listen to Fire In The Belly Podcast in Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fire-in-the-belly/id1499375061)! ABOUT THE GUEST Alan Wallace is the co-founder of OnlyJustMedia Summit, the Belfast’s biggest summit for content creators. Many international speakers were invited to share their knowledge and tips on how to utilise the available social media platforms right now. ABOUT THE HOST The ‘Mighty Pete Lonton’ from the ‘Mighty 247’ company is your main host of ‘Fire In The Belly’.  Pete is an Entrepreneur, Mentor, Coach, Property Investor, and father of 3 beautiful girls. Pete’s background is in Project Management and Property, but his true passion is the ‘Fire in The Belly’ project itself. His mission is to help others find their potential and become the mightiest version of themselves. Pete openly talks about losing both of his parents, suffering periods of depression, business downturn and burn-out, and ultimately his years spent not stoking ‘Fire In the Belly’. In 2017, at 37 years of age that changed, and he is now on a journey of learning, growing, accepting, and inspiring others. Pete can connect with people and intuitively asks questions to reveal a person’s passion and discover how to live their mightiest life. The true power of ‘Fire In The Belly’ is the Q&A’s - Questions and Actions! The ‘Fire In The Belly’ brand and the programme is rapidly expanding into podcasts, seminars, talks, business workshops, development course, and rapid results mentoring. CONTACT METHOD https://www.facebook.com/mightypetelonton/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-lonton-4b83184 https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/   Support the show: https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alan Goodrope is a success story from the 1970's. An era where sportspersons were regarding as amateurs, working full-time jobs and striving for success in a sport they enjoyed. For Alan, Cycling was his love.A Victoria State title holder and champion at 21 years old, before soon becoming an Australian Olympian, selected in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.This is a raw episode where Alan talks about the pride and elation of securing his spot on the Olympic team, how hard work pays off, and the importance of understanding that there will be setbacks along the journey, but you need to have that fighting spirit.Commitment, hard work and focusing on your goals are the pillars behind this interview.If you enjoyed this episode, please visit www.chrisgoodrope.com subscribe to the podcast and follow at Instagram.com/dreamsintosuccess See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Stories of Hope in Hard Times, Tamara K. Anderson interviews Alan Smith. Alan shares how he was able to take health struggles and the death of a child, and find happiness even after extreme pain.How Alan Found Perspective and Peace After His Son’s Death.Alan’s BioAlan was born and raised in Utah. He is something of a Renaissance man with his love to read, write, paint, sing, and ballroom dance. He’s a realtor by profession, and has been married for 25 years to Susan who rolls her eyes at his dad jokes, but he’s sure she’s laughing on the inside. As a writer, Alan goes by the name A.D. Sherman.Alan’s Writing CareerAlan goes by A.D. Sherman because he says he’s still a little shy about his writing, and the name Alan Smith isn’t that exciting. Alan decided to write under a pseudonym. A high school nickname inspired the last name of Sherman, the A is from his name Alan, and the D stands for death, dismemberment, dragons, Dracula and all of those fun, creepy things.Alan is currently working on a book. It is called the Undertaker’s Apprentice and it’s about a 16 year old boy who on his first awkward day as an undertaker’s apprentice, accidentally becomes a sorcerer.Alan’s Childhood and PastAlan is the oldest of four kids, but was very small for his age and got bullied in the neighborhood. He had one close friend but didn’t have lots of other friends. Alan’s mom also had some complications with pregnancy and postpartum, which left Alan to do a lot of the work around the house like laundry and cooking. Alan didn’t really have a traditional childhood because he was busy taking care of things for his siblings. He tried to have a sense of humor and fun, but overall his childhood was busy and full of work.A Stroke At Age 18At the age of 18, Alan had something shocking happen to him. He had a significant stroke, which is highly unusual in someone so young. He didn’t expect it at all. Alan and his family didn’t realize what had happened right away. He was working in a book warehouse, and suddenly began feeling really sick. He felt dizzy and nauseous and he couldn’t stand or see. Alan worked at the warehouse with his mom, and she was busy working. So, Alan went up to the bathroom and spent a half hour throwing up and feeling miserable. He finally dragged himself to the break room couch where slept the rest of the day. Within a couple of days he felt enough better that he could go back to work, and he thought nothing else of it.A little while later Alan went in for a physical. They tested his peripheral vision by holding up fingers, and on one side Alan couldn’t see any fingers at all. This lead to a lot of tests, a misdiagnosis of a heart valve issue, and more tests.The Cause of the StrokesFourteen years later, Alan was having stroke symptoms. He decided to go in and see a doctor who told him he had an opening between the chambers of his heart. This opening allows blood clots to happen, so he was having little strokes. The doctor went in with a catheter to close the opening, which is a relatively successful surgery. It didn’t work for Alan though. He had another surgery 10 months later which fixed the problem.Alan says that spending so much of his life wondering why he felt tired and sick made him depressed and was extremely hard to deal with. But 14 years later when he finally understood that he’d been having strokes, it made a huge difference in his ability to start moving forward with his life.Stroke SymptomsAlan says that when he was young MRI’s were relatively new and unreliable. So it was hard for him to get correctly diagnosed. He says that you can watch to find stroke symptoms like drooping in a face, tingling in a face or fingertips, and other things that can help indicate a stroke.A Shocking Infant DeathAlan met his wife after his first stroke at 18, and has been married for 25 years. But marriage and parenthood didn’t start out smoothly for Alan and his wife Susan. On May 6th, 1996, Alan’s first son Bryse was born. But just a few months later on August 14th, Bryse died. He was at his daycare center, and passed away from SIDS. Alan says that being at work and having the police show up to tell him about his son was absolutely awful.Alan says he and Susan grieved their son’s death very differently. He felt it was his job was to be the protector and to take care of his family. He grieved by trying to control things, trying to make sure everything was done right. Alan felt he had screwed up and hadn’t done his job. Susan felt an emptiness and guilt that she had been at work.Alan says that they dealt with lots of “what-if” situations. What if they had gone to pick up their son early? What if they hadn’t taken him to daycare that day? There are a hundred things they thought about and wondered if they should have done differently.They also thought about all the things they wouldn’t get to see. They wouldn’t see their son go to school or get married. Alan said they had to start to recreate the way their life would look now that their son was gone.Support GroupAlan says they had to spend time grieving the life they wouldn’t have. Alan says to cope they threw themselves into helping others. A woman named Jolene came to their house the first day after their son had passed. The police officers had given Alan a hotline number to call, and Jolene showed up out of the blue. She was a peer counselor, someone who had been through this same thing. Jolene held their hands and helped them walk through their grief. She suggested things that they maybe wouldn’t think of to do before the funeral. For example, they had a plaster cast of their son’s hand and foot made for their home.Alan and Susan would call Jolene when they needed to talk or cry, and she was there. They went to support group meetings to talk with other families who had gone through a similar situation. After a little while, the Utah SIDS Alliance asked if Alan and Susan would be willing to help other people. Susan and Alan became the co-presidents of that organization and were able to run the support meetings, work with the State Health Department, and create the Back To Sleep campaign to remind parents to put babies on their backs to sleep.Alan is grateful for the work they were able to do, and all the Utah families they were able to help. Alan found a closeness to this community of people and the support they gave each other was indescribable.Conversations With GodAlan’s conversations with God at that time involved a lot of questions, mostly asking “why?” Alan says he eventually learned that he needed to be in a place where he could benefit others. He says he wasn’t happy to hear that. But he learned what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to be there for others.  “I need to be there to help take care of them. I’ve been there, done that and don’t want to ever do it again,” he says.More ChildrenAlan’s next daughter Haylee was born a few years later. He says that when Susan was pregnant, she was a train wreck and was so worried about everything. Alan felt calm, and at peace that it would be fine. Once Haylee was born, Alan and Susan switched places. Susan became calm and comfortable, and Alan became a train wreck.He would go into the kid’s rooms every night to put his hand on them to make sure they were breathing. He jokes that it was great as teenagers because they were too afraid to sneak out, knowing their Dad would come check on them in the night.Alan says that his feelings of a protector came back out when his children were born, and he wanted to control everything he could. He says now that his children are grown he feels less pressure, and can know that he’s done his best and it’s up to them now.Lessons Alan Has Learned1. Empathy and Serving OthersWhen Alan and his wife were able to serve and help others who had children die unexpectedly, they felt unity, support and healing. Serving others also brought them happiness and joy.2. Learn Lessons Amid HardshipAsk God, “What do I need to learn this situation?” Often learning the lesson will benefit your life moving forward.3. Good Things Can Come from TragedyFigure out how to see the positives in any situation. You can’t let the crazy stuff that happens in your life beat you down. For example, Alan says some of his greatest friendships and best points of his life are connected to Bryse dying.4. Awfulizing: Life isn’t as bad as we thinkAlan says that a psychologist worked with him and taught him about awfulizing. For example, you get a hang nail and then you feel like you’re going to have to get your thumb amputated. You’ve created a horrible thing out of something small, and it’s a negative cycle. To break the cycle you have to put everything on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 is the worst, most horrible thing ever. For Alan, his son dying was the 10. Nothing else in his life can compare to how awful that was.Alan says sometimes something will happen, like the kids put crayons in the dryer and shirts are ruined. We tend to grow that into an 8. But if you really look at it, it’s just a 2 or a 3. Comparing it to the worst thing ever helps you put it into perspective. You can have control over your reactions when you think about your life in this way.5. There is Power in ForgivenessAlan remembers one bully from his childhood taking particular care to make his life miserable. At least, that was Alan’s perception. Alan later was in a religious ceremony, and this person from his childhood was there. Alan decided in that moment to let go of his childhood hurt with this person. And 30 years later, he hasn’t harbored any ill-will toward him. He believes that Jesus Christ and God helped him let go of that hurt and anger.Thirteen years after Alan decided to forgive this person, he got a phone call saying they had died of a heart attack at a young age. Alan says he felt so blessed that he had let go of his anger and could go to the funeral without any upset feelings.Alan says often the people in our lives that have hurt us probably don’t know that they’ve done something so bad to us. The anger we feel is hurting us more than it’s hurting them. As long as we’re willing to give God our struggles, He can help us overcome the feelings and take them away.6. The Ability to Choose How to ReactAlan says sometimes he’s been put on a path he didn’t want to walk, but learned to figure out what positives he could take from each situation. He says he would never have wanted to be on a path that included having a child pass away. But everyone has things happen to them that they don’t want. And we don’t get to choose them. But we do choose how to deal with the consequences. “The only thing we get to choose really is how we react to any given situation,” Alan concludes.7. Embrace Your New NormalAlan has the chance to meet with families and groups and help them get over hardships. He talks about embracing a new normal (one of Tamara’s favorite things as well.)Alan says, “The day before my son died, I was a dad. The day after my son died, I was still a dad, but I didn’t have my son. Normal had changed for me, normal was never going to be the same as it was before. And so I have to learn how to adapt and how to work within the range of what normal is.”Alan likens it to going on a vacation to Italy that you’ve planned thoroughly and you’re so excited for. You get to the airport, and they tell you to go to sleep and they will wake you up when you arrive. Now imagine you go to sleep, and you wake up on the ground and they say “Welcome to Holland!” You’d probably think, “Wait a minute, I was planning to go to Italy.” But you’re in Holland and there are great things to do in Holland like windmills and wooden shoes. But it’s not Italy. Being in a different place can be wonderful and great, it’s just not what you were expecting. Finding the good in your new normal. (The original credit for the “Welcome to Holland” story goes to Emily Perl Kingsley).Advice on How to Support OthersAlan also talks about being on the other side of the table when someone you know is going through a new normal. Other people may not understand what you’re going through, because your new normal doesn’t impact their daily life. At the beginning of a loss people crowd around and try to support and help, but that slowly fades away as they get back to their life.How to Help a Grieving FriendPart of what you can do is create a place where you remember that somebody is in a new normal space and finding ways to still support them in that place. This doesn’t have to be crazy hard. It doesn’t have to be a lot of work, it can be sending them a text that you’re thinking about them. Just so that they know that somebody is aware of them. You can put flowers on their loved one’s grave.Alan says you can also remember significant dates (like the birth or death day or a loved one) and show that you’re there for your friend on those important dates. Being aware of the needs of others is an important key. All it takes is setting a recurring annual reminder on your phone and you can remember and comfort your friend on these critical anniversaries. Doing this means a lot.Sleepless In Seattle AdviceAlan has some thoughts about this popular movie. In the movie, Tom Hanks is being interviewed on the radio on Christmas Eve. The therapist on the radio asks Tom Hanks how he got through his wife dying. Tom Hanks says “I just remind myself to breathe and hopefully someday I won’t have to remind myself to breathe.” Alan says that this advice is key. You can live moment-to-moment. And pretty soon you’ll be able to take two breaths and be able to manage two breaths.Alan says it’s important to remember that nobody expects you to be perfect. You can be in a bad place, and that’s OK. It’s just one breath at a time. Inhale, exhale. That’s all it takes.How God HelpedAlan says God put amazing people in his life as part of this whole experience. They were earthly angels to Alan and Susan and their family. Creating lifelong connections has been such a gift.God also gave Alan the ability to have perspective and to stop awfulizing things so much. He gave Alan the knowledge that we can choose the opportunities before us, and that we don’t have to let life happen to us. Most of all, Alan says he learned that God won’t leave us alone. There are always people who can help us and support us. And we can always be there for other people by asking them to dinner, to go for a walk, to serve them, send flowers, or more. God has helped Alan take his pain, and turn that into great ways to help others.Recommended ResourcesAlan loves the following resources:Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson. Alan says this book helps us realize that things change and we don’t always get a choice in what happens, but that’s ok.Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute. This book talks about putting up walls, our thought processes, and our perspective.Contacting AlanYou can contact Alan at ADShermanauthor@gmail.com.

In this episode of Stories of Hope in Hard Times podcast, Tamara K. Anderson interviews Alan Smith. Alan shares how he was able to take health struggles and the death of a child, and find happiness even after extreme pain.How Alan Found Perspective and Peace After His Son’s Death.Alan’s BioAlan was born and raised in Utah. He is something of a Renaissance man with his love to read, write, paint, sing, and ballroom dance. He’s a realtor by profession, and has been married for 25 years to Susan who rolls her eyes at his dad jokes, but he’s sure she’s laughing on the inside. As a writer, Alan goes by the name A.D. Sherman.Alan’s Writing CareerAlan goes by A.D. Sherman because he says he’s still a little shy about his writing, and the name Alan Smith isn’t that exciting. Alan decided to write under a pseudonym. A high school nickname inspired the last name of Sherman, the A is from his name Alan, and the D stands for death, dismemberment, dragons, Dracula and all of those fun, creepy things.Alan is currently working on a book. It is called the Undertaker’s Apprentice and it’s about a 16 year old boy who on his first awkward day as an undertaker’s apprentice, accidentally becomes a sorcerer.Alan’s Childhood and PastAlan is the oldest of four kids, but was very small for his age and got bullied in the neighborhood. He had one close friend but didn’t have lots of other friends. Alan’s mom also had some complications with pregnancy and postpartum, which left Alan to do a lot of the work around the house like laundry and cooking. Alan didn’t really have a traditional childhood because he was busy taking care of things for his siblings. He tried to have a sense of humor and fun, but overall his childhood was busy and full of work.A Stroke At Age 18At the age of 18, Alan had something shocking happen to him. He had a significant stroke, which is highly unusual in someone so young. He didn’t expect it at all. Alan and his family didn’t realize what had happened right away. He was working in a book warehouse, and suddenly began feeling really sick. He felt dizzy and nauseous and he couldn’t stand or see. Alan worked at the warehouse with his mom, and she was busy working. So, Alan went up to the bathroom and spent a half hour throwing up and feeling miserable. He finally dragged himself to the break room couch where slept the rest of the day. Within a couple of days he felt enough better that he could go back to work, and he thought nothing else of it.A little while later Alan went in for a physical. They tested his peripheral vision by holding up fingers, and on one side Alan couldn’t see any fingers at all. This lead to a lot of tests, a misdiagnosis of a heart valve issue, and more tests.The Cause of the StrokesFourteen years later, Alan was having stroke symptoms. He decided to go in and see a doctor who told him he had an opening between the chambers of his heart. This opening allows blood clots to happen, so he was having little strokes. The doctor went in with a catheter to close the opening, which is a relatively successful surgery. It didn’t work for Alan though. He had another surgery 10 months later which fixed the problem.Alan says that spending so much of his life wondering why he felt tired and sick made him depressed and was extremely hard to deal with. But 14 years later when he finally understood that he’d been having strokes, it made a huge difference in his ability to start moving forward with his life.Stroke SymptomsAlan says that when he was young MRI’s were relatively new and unreliable. So it was hard for him to get correctly diagnosed. He says that you can watch to find stroke symptoms like drooping in a face, tingling in a face or fingertips, and other things that can help indicate a stroke.A Shocking Infant DeathAlan met his wife after his first stroke at 18, and has been married for 25 years. But marriage and parenthood didn’t start out smoothly for Alan and his wife Susan. On May 6th, 1996, Alan’s first son Bryse was born. But just a few months later on August 14th, Bryse died. He was at his daycare center, and passed away from SIDS. Alan says that being at work and having the police show up to tell him about his son was absolutely awful.Alan says he and Susan grieved their son’s death very differently. He felt it was his job was to be the protector and to take care of his family. He grieved by trying to control things, trying to make sure everything was done right. Alan felt he had screwed up and hadn’t done his job. Susan felt an emptiness and guilt that she had been at work.Alan says that they dealt with lots of “what-if” situations. What if they had gone to pick up their son early? What if they hadn’t taken him to daycare that day? There are a hundred things they thought about and wondered if they should have done differently.They also thought about all the things they wouldn’t get to see. They wouldn’t see their son go to school or get married. Alan said they had to start to recreate the way their life would look now that their son was gone.Support GroupAlan says they had to spend time grieving the life they wouldn’t have. Alan says to cope they threw themselves into helping others. A woman named Jolene came to their house the first day after their son had passed. The police officers had given Alan a hotline number to call, and Jolene showed up out of the blue. She was a peer counselor, someone who had been through this same thing. Jolene held their hands and helped them walk through their grief. She suggested things that they maybe wouldn’t think of to do before the funeral. For example, they had a plaster cast of their son’s hand and foot made for their home.Alan and Susan would call Jolene when they needed to talk or cry, and she was there. They went to support group meetings to talk with other families who had gone through a similar situation. After a little while, the Utah SIDS Alliance asked if Alan and Susan would be willing to help other people. Susan and Alan became the co-presidents of that organization and were able to run the support meetings, work with the State Health Department, and create the Back To Sleep campaign to remind parents to put babies on their backs to sleep.Alan is grateful for the work they were able to do, and all the Utah families they were able to help. Alan found a closeness to this community of people and the support they gave each other was indescribable.Conversations With GodAlan’s conversations with God at that time involved a lot of questions, mostly asking “why?” Alan says he eventually learned that he needed to be in a place where he could benefit others. He says he wasn’t happy to hear that. But he learned what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to be there for others.  “I need to be there to help take care of them. I’ve been there, done that and don’t want to ever do it again,” he says.More ChildrenAlan’s next daughter Haylee was born a few years later. He says that when Susan was pregnant, she was a train wreck and was so worried about everything. Alan felt calm, and at peace that it would be fine. Once Haylee was born, Alan and Susan switched places. Susan became calm and comfortable, and Alan became a train wreck.He would go into the kid’s rooms every night to put his hand on them to make sure they were breathing. He jokes that it was great as teenagers because they were too afraid to sneak out, knowing their Dad would come check on them in the night.Alan says that his feelings of a protector came back out when his children were born, and he wanted to control everything he could. He says now that his children are grown he feels less pressure, and can know that he’s done his best and it’s up to them now.Lessons Alan Has Learned1. Empathy and Serving OthersWhen Alan and his wife were able to serve and help others who had children die unexpectedly, they felt unity, support and healing. Serving others also brought them happiness and joy.2. Learn Lessons Amid HardshipAsk God, “What do I need to learn this situation?” Often learning the lesson will benefit your life moving forward.3. Good Things Can Come from TragedyFigure out how to see the positives in any situation. You can’t let the crazy stuff that happens in your life beat you down. For example, Alan says some of his greatest friendships and best points of his life are connected to Bryse dying.4. Awfulizing: Life isn’t as bad as we thinkAlan says that a psychologist worked with him and taught him about awfulizing. For example, you get a hang nail and then you feel like you’re going to have to get your thumb amputated. You’ve created a horrible thing out of something small, and it’s a negative cycle. To break the cycle you have to put everything on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 is the worst, most horrible thing ever. For Alan, his son dying was the 10. Nothing else in his life can compare to how awful that was.Alan says sometimes something will happen, like the kids put crayons in the dryer and shirts are ruined. We tend to grow that into an 8. But if you really look at it, it’s just a 2 or a 3. Comparing it to the worst thing ever helps you put it into perspective. You can have control over your reactions when you think about your life in this way.5. There is Power in ForgivenessAlan remembers one bully from his childhood taking particular care to make his life miserable. At least, that was Alan’s perception. Alan later was in a religious ceremony, and this person from his childhood was there. Alan decided in that moment to let go of his childhood hurt with this person. And 30 years later, he hasn’t harbored any ill-will toward him. He believes that Jesus Christ and God helped him let go of that hurt and anger.Thirteen years after Alan decided to forgive this person, he got a phone call saying they had died of a heart attack at a young age. Alan says he felt so blessed that he had let go of his anger and could go to the funeral without any upset feelings.Alan says often the people in our lives that have hurt us probably don’t know that they’ve done something so bad to us. The anger we feel is hurting us more than it’s hurting them. As long as we’re willing to give God our struggles, He can help us overcome the feelings and take them away.6. The Ability to Choose How to ReactAlan says sometimes he’s been put on a path he didn’t want to walk, but learned to figure out what positives he could take from each situation. He says he would never have wanted to be on a path that included having a child pass away. But everyone has things happen to them that they don’t want. And we don’t get to choose them. But we do choose how to deal with the consequences. “The only thing we get to choose really is how we react to any given situation,” Alan concludes.7. Embrace Your New NormalAlan has the chance to meet with families and groups and help them get over hardships. He talks about embracing a new normal (one of Tamara’s favorite things as well.)Alan says, “The day before my son died, I was a dad. The day after my son died, I was still a dad, but I didn’t have my son. Normal had changed for me, normal was never going to be the same as it was before. And so I have to learn how to adapt and how to work within the range of what normal is.”Alan likens it to going on a vacation to Italy that you’ve planned thoroughly and you’re so excited for. You get to the airport, and they tell you to go to sleep and they will wake you up when you arrive. Now imagine you go to sleep, and you wake up on the ground and they say “Welcome to Holland!” You’d probably think, “Wait a minute, I was planning to go to Italy.” But you’re in Holland and there are great things to do in Holland like windmills and wooden shoes. But it’s not Italy. Being in a different place can be wonderful and great, it’s just not what you were expecting. Finding the good in your new normal. (The original credit for the “Welcome to Holland” story goes to Emily Perl Kingsley).Advice on How to Support OthersAlan also talks about being on the other side of the table when someone you know is going through a new normal. Other people may not understand what you’re going through, because your new normal doesn’t impact their daily life. At the beginning of a loss people crowd around and try to support and help, but that slowly fades away as they get back to their life.How to Help a Grieving FriendPart of what you can do is create a place where you remember that somebody is in a new normal space and finding ways to still support them in that place. This doesn’t have to be crazy hard. It doesn’t have to be a lot of work, it can be sending them a text that you’re thinking about them. Just so that they know that somebody is aware of them. You can put flowers on their loved one’s grave.Alan says you can also remember significant dates (like the birth or death day or a loved one) and show that you’re there for your friend on those important dates. Being aware of the needs of others is an important key. All it takes is setting a recurring annual reminder on your phone and you can remember and comfort your friend on these critical anniversaries. Doing this means a lot.Sleepless In Seattle AdviceAlan has some thoughts about this popular movie. In the movie, Tom Hanks is being interviewed on the radio on Christmas Eve. The therapist on the radio asks Tom Hanks how he got through his wife dying. Tom Hanks says “I just remind myself to breathe and hopefully someday I won’t have to remind myself to breathe.” Alan says that this advice is key. You can live moment-to-moment. And pretty soon you’ll be able to take two breaths and be able to manage two breaths.Alan says it’s important to remember that nobody expects you to be perfect. You can be in a bad place, and that’s OK. It’s just one breath at a time. Inhale, exhale. That’s all it takes.How God HelpedAlan says God put amazing people in his life as part of this whole experience. They were earthly angels to Alan and Susan and their family. Creating lifelong connections has been such a gift.God also gave Alan the ability to have perspective and to stop awfulizing things so much. He gave Alan the knowledge that we can choose the opportunities before us, and that we don’t have to let life happen to us. Most of all, Alan says he learned that God won’t leave us alone. There are always people who can help us and support us. And we can always be there for other people by asking them to dinner, to go for a walk, to serve them, send flowers, or more. God has helped Alan take his pain, and turn that into great ways to help others.Recommended ResourcesAlan loves the following resources:Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson. Alan says this book helps us realize that things change and we don’t always get a choice in what happens, but that’s ok.Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute. This book talks about putting up walls, our thought processes, and our perspective.Contacting AlanYou can contact Alan at ADShermanauthor@gmail.com.

What is the best elevator pitch you've ever heard? For Alan, it just may be from the duo that designed Omicron Protocol, squad-based miniatures game currently on Kickstarter (http://kck.st/2ITSBiZ). Listen to Bernie Lin and Brendan Kendrick discuss how they met, their love for games, their attempts to voice female characters, and all about their behind-the-scenes efforts to make their dream game. Mentioned this episode: www.deadalivegames.com Music Attribution: Ultima 6 Intro Music by Origins Systems Stuck in the Air by Tower of Light Sponsor: www.thegamecrafter.com

It might be a little early, but I’m calling it - today’s guest is our favorite by far!  Dr. Alan Mead is a podcasting guru and one of the inspirations behind the production of the Dental Slang podcast. Alan has been listening to podcasts since the early 2000s, downloading them to his mp3 player (if anyone remembers those anymore). He’s always been fascinated about people coming together remotely to talk about the things they’re passionate about, and today he’s hosting two podcasts of his own.  But his podcasting knowledge isn’t the only reason we invited him onto Dental Slang today. Alan is talking mostly today about the slang he uses when referring to his dental tools. In fact, we all use slang for our tools. Most dental tools have terrifying names, with words like “blade” in them. No patient wants to hear words like that while they’re sitting in your chair! For that reason, we all come up with our own unique, sometimes completely nonsensical, words and phrases to describe the tools we use.  Dr. Alan is being completely honest when he says he’s never called a dental tool by it’s real name. In fact, many of us can claim the same. This can cause a lot of problems when we start using the same slang for different tools. For Alan, he’ll call too many of his burs “footballs”, downright confusing his team so they end up bringing him all of the football-shaped burs rather than risk bringing the wrong one by accident.  Regardless of these funny little stories, Jodi brings up an excellent point in today’s episode. The slang we use, while sometimes silly, really works at humanizing what it means to be a dentist and sit in a dentist’s chair. Think about it - a lot of our patients are anxious about their dental appointments. It’s a pretty scary, sometimes uncomfortable, place to be. Being able to use slang and other analogies to explain what we’re doing can help patients feel at ease, and can even help them understand the most confusing aspect of dental practice - dental insurance.  On today’s episode, the three of us are sharing the different analogies we use with our patients. There’s slang we use to describe our tools, and there’s stories we tell to help patients understand the procedures we’re performing on their mouths. More than that, we use analogies every day to help patients understand the billing process and insurance claims. Anyone practicing in the dental industry today knows the woes of the in-network vs. the out-of-network patient. And sometimes it’s better not to talk about insurance at all. But we can’t avoid that conversation forever. Especially when many of us, like Jodi, are fee-for-service offices. This can often change the dynamic if your patient relationships, and she shares her unique analogies for helping patients understand the charges they’re seeing.  Alan and Jodi share their experiences with different insurance slang, and we’re eager to hear your feedback and what slang you’re using to help patients understand your practice. We know that these conversations can be hard to have, and it can help to have a few slang terms and stories to reference when trying to explain something as complicated as dental insurance. So tune in now to hear what dentists like Dr. Alan Mead are telling their patients.  In This Episode You Will Learn: What “glamping” really means 1:43 How Alan’s mentorship shaped the production of the Dental Slang Podcast 9:34  All of the jokes you’ve ever heard in a dental office 12:48 Our favorite slang and analogies to use with patients 25:27 The slang we use to help patients understand dental insurance 34:46 Our favorite analogies to use on patients who don’t floss 45:19 Some Questions We Discuss: What does Alan mean when he calls himself a “plain jane” dentist? 4:15 How did Alan create a social life online? 6:35 Why did Alan want to start a second podcast? 8:40 Which slang does Alan use in his dental office? 11:20 Where does the ridiculous slang for dental tools come from? 17:30 Which phrase from Jodi’s slang repertoire is Alan going to steal? 32:11 Resources: Visit our website: www.DentalSlang.com Connect with us on Facebook: Dental Slang Check out Alan’s podcasts: Dental Hacks Podcast and The Alan Mead Dental Experience Get in touch with Dr. Alan Mead at the Dental Hacks Nation Facebook Give it a listen: The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Podcast

On this week's show, we have a wonderful conversation with Alan and Katie Donegan, who have reached Financial Independence and are now doing work that brings them happiness and fulfillment.  Alan and Katie tell us steps you can take to find that happiness for yourself. Discovering the FIRE movement….. Alan and Katie initially thought they would achieve financial independence through real estate investments.  They read Rich Dad Poor Dad and began purchasing real estate.   As Alan became more involved in this own personal development, he read  Tony Robbins, Money - Master the Game.  This book introduced to him index investing.  When he mentioned his investment plans to a friend, he introduced him to Mr. Money Mustache and, JL Collins, The Simple Path to Wealth.    Coming together to share a passion for FIRE….   Alan was always more open and entrepreneurial - able to try unchartered ideas.  Whereas Katie needed to learn, digest and understand before coming fully on board with the FIRE concepts.    Likewise, Wendy identified with Katie’s desire to thoroughly dive into learning about new concepts.  Curtis, on the otherhand, is more hands-on and learns by experiencing and doing.    DESIGNING A HAPPY AND FULFILLING LIFE Alan suggests conducting Mini-Experiments.  Try things out before you dive in 100% then it is not really a risk.   SUNSHINE - AVACADOS - AND CREATIVE PROJECTS Now that they have freedom, do they ever worry about wasting time and not doing anything?  Alan says the more scary thing is unlimited choice.  For them - they chose to pursue creative endeavors.  To them, these did not feel like work. They say - "if in doubt - go to L.A."  They find the creative energy and sunshine in Southern California has been very satisfying.    The solution to being overwhelmed by choice once you have reached Financial Independence is to understand, there’s more to be done than you can ever do and it's deciding what’s important and trying some balance of having fun.    The traditional mindset - Work is Work and relaxing is relaxing. For Alan, work is fun.  Now all of their work is projects that they want to do.    HOW DOES FIRE CHANGE THE RELATIONSHIP   It has forced them to confront things. Now there is no distraction - to avoid conflict.  It's learning to communicate better.    Alan gives some great advice - Put your thinking on the outside.  CONDUCTING MINI - EXPERIMENTS   Lots of people view entrepreneurship as a risk.    Alan likes to conduct low-risk experiments instead.    For instance - set up a website, sell a service.  If it sells, you have a business.    If you have an idea - what’s the ZERO financial risk version, ask people to buy and do the experiment to get a result.    What about being perceived as flighty - or as someone who cannot commit to one thing?  Alan suggests changing the language to experiment.    If you endlessly plan without starting - you are going to be stuck forever   With an experiment - you are looking to see the result.  It doesn’t matter whether it is successful or not   It makes failure more palatable - more an UNsuccess.    Getting Your Partner on the Same Page   On subjects that are important - you have to go on the journey together. Go to conferences together. Read books together.    ALAN AND KATIE ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS:    Katie’s one lesson from childhood she has carried over into her FIRE journey, don’t spend everything you have and to pay of your credit cards in full every month.    Alan learned from his father what was possible in business - but also what NOT to do.     Favorite Life Hack:    Being on the same page about projects, creating an action list, doing the action, then coming back after the step is complete.  This has helped their relationship but also their productivity.    FAvorite Read    Katie   Miracle Morning    Six habits to make your life better:    Silence Affirmations Visualization Exercise Reading  Scribing/journaling    Alan    4 Hour Work Week    Simple Path to Wealth    Quit Like a Millionaire  WHERE TO FIND ALAN    Pop-Up Business School  alandonegan.com 

Alan Stein is a speaker and author, after spending over 15 years as a basketball coach. He has coached some of the top players and now brings what he learned from the world of sports to the world of business. The same skills and strategies that help basketball players be the top of their game can help top performers in the corporate world too. Alan believes in the power of doing sports throughout childhood and the traits and qualities they can instill in young people. He is also the author of Raise Your Game: High-Performance Secrets of the Best of the Best. In this episode Alan talks about finding your passion, letting go of what you can’t control and the power of self-awareness. You grew up playing sports competitively and reached a high level. And you coached for many years. Are you still coaching? Alan doesn’t coach anymore. Now he can be found on the sidelines watching his 3 children compete. Many of the traits that have helped him in his life have come from doing sports as a young person. What are some of those traits that you learned from sports that have helped you in business and life? Passion. Finding something you love and being able to spend time doing it is really important. That was the first lesson sport taught Alan. Learning to be coach-able. Having the discipline to go in and get reps done. All the little things that can add up and can have a profound impact on your performance. Being a good teammate. That when you sign up to a team sport you are a part of something much bigger than yourself. You mention passion and when I’ve seen you speak, that passion really comes through. You seem to love teaching people and helping them be better. Alan wants to be a servant leader who fills other people’s buckets. Sport was always just his vehicle to do that. It wasn’t just the sport that gave him so much enjoyment, it was the ability to be around other people and help to make them better with what they were trying to do. I grew up playing tennis, which is a very individual sport. In your book, you talk a lot about teamwork and I realized that I’ve been on a very individual path with both participating in an individual sport and working for myself. It has been Alan’s experience that people, especially in sport, tend to gravitate to one or another. He tried to get his kids to experience both so they could see what they liked. Even if you are a solopreuneuer you still work with other people and teamwork traits are important. A family can also be a team. We ebb and flow from one to the other throughout our lives. Sometimes you’re the player, sometimes the coach and sometimes you’re on a team. Part of being a good teammate is being a good leader. There are traits that we all should be working on regardless of our specific scenario. The traits of being an effective leader and being an impactful teammate. They have such high utility and can be applied to any area of life, personal or professional. They are important skills and can be reinforced through sport. Alan encourages his children to play different sports so that they can work on those skills. They will learn things through a sport that they won’t learn at school and that is hard to teach as a parent.  What about emotional intelligence? That is another skillset which can and should be developed through sport. Emotional intelligence is about the ability to be aware of and manage your emotions and the emotions of others. Be able to read other people, know when and what to say and how to show somebody that you care about them. The best leaders and coaches all have very high emotional intelligence. How do you think you can develop emotional intelligence? It is a skillset and like any skillset, can be improved with purposeful practice and repetition. Repetitions is the oldest and most effective method of leaning in existence. I think one of the biggest things that I learned through sports was losing and dealing with those emotions of loss. And getting back up, looking at what I did right or wrong and then going back out there. Some of that is grit and resilience. But also have some self-compassion for yourself when you do lose, or make a mistake or don’t perform well. Being able to forgive yourself so you can move on but also learning a lesson from it so that you become better moving forward. No matter what happens in life, it is important to find a way to take from it and use it to inch forward. Rather than it being something that makes you regress and move backward. We hold that power. We can’t control what happens but we can control how we move forward. You choose that. If you want to be a high performer you will consistently choose something which serves you and helps you move forward. Alan recognizes that it isn’t always easy to do, but that is what you have to do if you want to be the best you are capable of. Managing the emotional part really makes the difference for someone who is going to be a high performer. If you let your emotions get the best of you, they will get the best of you. If you’re sitting in traffic, which nobody enjoys, what are your options? To let your blood pressure rise, get frustrated and honk your horn? Putting yourself in a negative mood just because there are more cars on the road doesn’t help you move forward or serve you in any way. Why do we consistently make choices that don’t serve us? You have a choice for how you respond to that. Maybe you make some phone calls or listen to a podcast. This line really struck me from your book - ‘Control the controllables.’ You have a choice to be able to have control over the things you can control. You can’t control the traffic but you can control the thought pathways that you choose to go down and how you choose to respond. The number of things we have complete control over is actually pretty small. However, there is a significant power in the things we do have control over. These are primarily your effort and your attitude. These are incredibly influential and impactful. Many times it is not easy to make that choice. A lot of stuff happens in life which is challenging to deal with. But we always have that choice. One quote that gives Alan comfort is - ‘This too shall pass.’ Our moods are important too. When we are in a bad mood we are going to react to things more than if we are in a good mood. I was talking to a client who hadn’t slept well because she was traveling. And I said to her ‘be gentle with yourself.’ I know that if you haven’t slept the quality of your thoughts are going to be poor. Sometimes you have to ride that wave and be gentle with yourself until that negativity passes. It takes high self-awareness to be able to recognize that. Many times people identify with their thoughts but really we are separate from our thoughts. We can often see in a friend when they are in a bad mood and give them space. It’s harder to do that with ourselves. You say something in your books something which I love - ‘self-awareness is one of the highest predictors of performance and the least utilized criteria.’ It is not being taught, it is something we have to seek out on our own, which is something high performers tend to do. People who are not self-aware, don't know that they are not self-aware. Self-awareness can be looked at different levels. At a surface level, it’s just about knowing who you are, what you stand for and what your goals are. It is also having the courage to look at the darker stuff -what are you scared of, what are your insecurities, what are the things that give you the most shame and guilt. This can be uncomfortable but is crucial to get the full overview of who you are as a human being. It is important that the way you see yourself is in alignment with the way the rest of the world sees you. This is not about pandering to other people but that you see yourself accurately. An example would be if someone asked you if you were a good listener and you said yes but then they asked 5 friends and they all said no. That would be a lack of self-awareness. The last level is being able to look at your emotions and understand why you’re feeling that way. When you get frustrated in traffic because someone cut you off, there’s a deeper reason as to why you’re frustrated. I love how you talk about the unseen hours. With social media, we see so much outward success but we don’t see the unseen hours. What have you seen or observed or practiced yourself in the unseen hours? Most of what we do is in the unseen hours. When you’re working on your self-awareness, that’s unseen hours. When an athlete is in a gym practicing a move over and over again, that’s unseen hours. The relationship you have with your significant other is heavily predicated on the inside work you do to be the best version of yourself during the unseen hours. Most hours are unseen but they are the ones that dictate how well we do when we are seen. Sometimes we try to cut corners as we live in a fast-paced world and want everything now. I think it’s actually slowing us down in terms of our performance. Mastery takes time and it takes a lot of reps. Social media can be great but it encourages us to play the comparison game. We have plenty of opportunities in the unseen hours to get better at anything we put our mind to. We have to be willing to put in the work. If you can find alignment between what you love and what you’re good at then it doesn't always seem like work. If you don’t have that passion it can be really difficult to put in the work. You are likely to just quit. Absolutely. That is why you have to find that alignment. Find what you love, find what you’re good at and then find the place where those two things overlap. I’m curious about your journey. You were in youth sports and coaching for 20 years but you recently made a pivot. Alan’s passion in the youth sports arena was starting to wane so he decided to make a change. In teaching and coaching, you have to be all in. He decided to make a pivot into the corporate space as a speaker and author. He now has a passion back for what he is doing. The things that you love and what you’re good at will change over time. Some people might be feeling like they need a change but don’t know what the new thing is. What was your process for going through that? Was it an ‘a ha’ moment or were there lots of little moments which added up to the new direction? For Alan, it was both. A few years ago he was in Germany speaking at a basketball conference and he realized that it wasn’t exciting him as much as it should. Then a friend asked him to give a keynote at a corporate retreat after somebody had dropped out at the last minute. He was asked to give a speech on leadership and when he stepped offstage he felt alive and invigorated. He knew it was what he wanted to start pursuing. If you don’t know what you want to do, it is worth considering what you would do if you could take a month off from work. What would you do with your time? Whatever it is you would be doing is probably close to what you should be doing. So I’m curious about the difference between the talk in Germany and the talk at the corporate retreat. Was it the audience? Was it the content? It was both. He realized that a good portion of his time in the basketball space was filled with 15-18-year-old teenage boys. They are very narrow in what they like to talk about. It’s mostly basketball and girls. In the corporate space, Andy is around peers who are teaching him as much as he is teaching them. This has invigorated him. The content that people want from him has also changed. As a coach, people wanted to know how to run faster and jump higher, but Andy has always been interested in leadership, teamwork and building a winning culture. So, how do you jump higher? One. Strengthen the major muscles in your body. It’s not just the legs that are needed for jumping. You need core strength and even the upper body is involved by providing momentum. If you can produce more force against the ground, it will propel you higher. Two. Practice jumping. Practice the skill. And practice it in the way you want to use it What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? Find what you love. Find what you’re good at and find where those two things intersect. From a coaching standpoint: Every coach should look in the mirror every morning and say ‘it’s not about me, it’s about them’. Tell us how we can get in touch with you https://raiseyourgamebook.com/ https://alansteinjr.com/  

The title on Alan VanderMolen’s bio is Respectful Disrupter – in his words, our industry, and the environment in which clients operate, is being greatly disrupted by technology and, at the same time, we’ve seen the massive disruption in the media ecosystem. So in that environment, Alan’s role at WE Communication is to disrupt the agency’s business model to make sure it is keeping pace with the external environment. Alan was in Australia recently to launch WE Communications Global second Brands in Motion Research. The research challenges the traditional concept of brand perception as a static indicator, by arguing that all brands are constantly in motion – either driven by or inspired by technology. In this episode, Alan, takes us through a few of the key findings: Consumers still want a high level of innovation. However, given real concerns about data security consumers are getting a bit nervous about the pace of innovation and now expect brands to use technology and innovate ethically and responsibly Consumers and B2B decision makers are defaulting to rationality. That is, show me, prove it, versus tell me. Consumers have become increasingly weary of being talked to, and marketed at, and want to be engaged with.  Consumers have become binary. They tend to love you or not love you, there is not a lot of in between and that has been a big change over the last 12 months. In this environment, it is more difficult for brands to be consistently loved. On the hot topic of brand purpose, 72% of respondents think it is important for brands to take a stand on important issues. There is a nuance to that – the brand has to have permission to take that stand. Permission is given by having a good product or service from an organisation that is operating ethically and responsibly - then consumers are  very interested in the brand having a purpose. In other words, brands need to start with do - do what they say will do; move to the how – act in a way that meets community expectations; and then end with the why – the broader purpose of the business. So what it means for PR professionals? For Alan, this represents a call to action for PR professionals to take responsibility for the moral and ethical behaviour of brands and not just be focused on promoting products and services. Beyond the research Alan believes the future for the profession is a positive one. As issues become more real time and more transparent, the communications function will re-establish itself in the C-Suite. We’ve seen communications subsumed to marketing in the past three to five years but that trend is reversing. Alan believes you will see communication re-emerge primarily because there is a massive call for responsibility and ethics to be embedded in innovation and that is clearly the domain of PR versus marketing.

As a writer, when Alan Cohen taps into a stream of truth or wisdom or heart, it always takes a hold on him. For Alan, writing is a journey of ever deeper authenticity. In fact, ever since he wrote his first successful book, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore, writing has been Alan's therapy. His writing is always related to topics he's working on himself or wants to learn about, whether it be a sufficiency, grace, relationships, or business. Alan has gained clarity by passing through those challenges as he writes. Alan also shares his secret to success - "getting real" and living from the heart rather than the head. Alan has striven to write as his own therapy. Everything he writes about are stuff that he's working on and needs to learn, whether they be about sufficiency, grace, relationships, or business. Alan includes those challenges and the clarity he's gained through passing through those challenges. Get the newest Conscious PIVOT Podcast episodes delivered directly to you - subscribe here. And, if you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a 5-star rating on iTunes! For instructions click here DOING THIS for 10 Seconds Can Change Your Life! Click here to watch Adam's Inspiring TEDx Talk! ---

In the first half, Patricia interviews Alan Seale, founder and director of The Center for Transformational Presence. Alan discusses his new book, Transformational Presence: How to Make a Difference In a Rapidly Changing World. The book explores how change is happening at a pace never seen before in human history and provides advice on how to cope with uncertainty being the new normal. In the second half Patricia interviews Dr. Ann Kaiser Stearns, a professor of behavioral science at the Community College of Baltimore County. She discusses her most recent book, Redefining Aging – A Caregiver's Guide to Living Your Best Life, which helps readers think differently about caregiving, ageist stereotypes, and their own aging. Here, Dr. Stearns couples findings from the latest research with powerful insights and problem-solving tips to help caregivers achieve the best life possible for those they care for and for themselves as they age.

In the first half, Patricia interviews Alan Seale, founder and director of The Center for Transformational Presence. Alan discusses his new book, Transformational Presence: How to Make a Difference In a Rapidly Changing World. The book explores how change is happening at a pace never seen before in human history and provides advice on how to cope with uncertainty being the new normal. In the second half Patricia interviews Dr. Ann Kaiser Stearns, a professor of behavioral science at the Community College of Baltimore County. She discusses her most recent book, Redefining Aging – A Caregiver's Guide to Living Your Best Life, which helps readers think differently about caregiving, ageist stereotypes, and their own aging. Here, Dr. Stearns couples findings from the latest research with powerful insights and problem-solving tips to help caregivers achieve the best life possible for those they care for and for themselves as they age.

The boys were lucky enough to get an hour with Alan to talk about cereal, the healthy (ok, totally not healthy) cornerstone to many of our childhoods. They go through Alan's top 5, try them all, get sugar rushes but somehow manage to chat about their own favorites and the story behind Cereal Killer which somehow became somewhat controversial...would you believe people have rioted outside the shop? Well they have. Listen in to find out if it was all just over spilt milk. (sorry)Great ideas are born in the strangest of places. For Alan and Gary Keery it was whilst sat nursing a hangover that they came up with an idea for a place that served cereal exclusively. That idea became an obsession and now Cereal Killer Cafe's are opening up all across the world.....If you like retro breakfast cereal or want to try the new hotness...we'll just leave this here:http://www.cerealkillercafe.co.uk/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alan Mindell is our guest for today. He's the one who taught us that life begins at seventy.  Alan Mindell’s novel, The Closer, became a bestseller, including being listed on Amazon as the number one paperback in new sports fiction. His new novel, The B Team, about horse racing, also became Amazon`s number one bestselling paperback in new sports fiction. For Alan, his speaking topic of “Life Begins at Seventy” certainly fits. Besides writing novels, he also dances regularly in the San Diego area, and works as a tour guide for Friendly Excursions, the tour company he founded more than forty-five years ago. One of the things that he has been doing and getting great pleasure from lately is conducting beginning creative writing workshops.  Today he gave us some tips on writing a novel or memoir. Alan has been writing since his late 20’s. when he turned 60, he decided to take it seriously. He found a publisher and got his first book published. Alan always has a notebook and pencil with him so he can write anywhere he is. His goal is to get people to write. He doesn’t care how they write or what they write. One of his students wrote about a pet turkey which lead me into my story about living on a commune (yes a commune) and my pet sheep. What are 5 tips to writing a book? Our Freebie, 5 Tips on Writing That Novel or Memoir You Know You Have in You. Can be found at http://RockYourRetirement.com/Novel but here is a brief synopsis of what we talked about. * Don’t Edit. Don’t get stuck. Flow with your ideas. Don’t stop and edit every word that you write. * Decide whether to write in first person or third person. All of Alan’s novels have been written in third person but he enjoys writing in first person * Never be afraid of dialogue. Stay true to the character * You do not have to go in time sequence. You can start in the future and then go back to the beginning. Flashbacks or backstories then you can bring the story to the present * Have fun! Today's Freebie, 5 tips on writing that novel can be downloaded for free at http://RockYourRetirement.com/novel So what if you can't join Alan's writing workshop or you want to find your own? Alan says you can find a lot of workshops in your area online. He said Meetup is also a good way to find these or, form your own! You can find Meetup at https://www.meetup.com/ Remember, Life begins at seventy! Get Alan's books! * The B Team: * The Closer: A Baseball Love Story Contact information for Alan: solanabeachalan@yahoo.com If you would like to check out the tour company go to http://friendlyexcursions.net/