Podcasts about logically

Send us a textYou know they're not right for you. You know you deserve better. You know the anxious spiral is hurting you. So why does it still feel like your heart hasn't caught up with your head?In this episode, Carly Ann is diving into the frustrating phenomenon known as head-heart lag...That all-too-familiar space where your logic is crystal clear, but your emotions and behaviours aren't playing ball. If you've ever said, “I get it, but I just can't seem to do it” this one is for you.Other useful links: FREE BREAKING THE CYCLE OF ANXIOUS ATTACHMENT WORKSHOP FREE ANXIOUS ATTACHMENT BUNDLE Follow Carly Ann on Instagram

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger Picture The EU countries are realizing that they were headed down the the wrong path in regards to green energy, now they are reversing course. EU has now bent a knee to Trump and they will negotiate a trade deal. Countries around the world are making trade deals. Consumer sentiment is now rising and the window is now closing for the [DS]/[CB]. The [DS] is panicking because everyday that passes they lose more and more control. They have lost the funding, security clearances, the intelligence orgs and now the FBI has begun their investigation into the pipe bomber, SC leak and cocaine in the WH. Think logically, elections, judges and who was managing the WH. Pain. Majority of Americans say the US is on the right track.   Economy Energy Costs Now ‘Main Issue' For US Ally That Barred Nuclear Power Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said high energy costs are the most critical economic issue for her country  Italy has embraced green energy and enacted a ban on nuclear power that has lasted nearly 40 years, though the nation's Council of Ministers and Meloni have recently moved to reintroduce the technology, joining other European countries like Belgium, Denmark and Germany that are also reconsidering their turns away from nuclear power. Emanuele Orsini — the head of Italy's largest business lobby — called for Meloni to cut energy costs and pave the way for a return to nuclear energy at the annual assembly for Confindustria, where Meloni again acknowledged her country's energy problems, Reuters reported. “Our companies continue to suffer from an energy (price) surcharge of more than 35% over the European average, even reaching peaks of 80% when compared to the largest European countries,” Orsini said at the assembly, according to Reuters. Meloni has expressed support for expanding nuclear energy in Italy, as have other officials, including the Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. Source: dailycaller.com   Trade with the United States of America. They will BOTH be very happy, and successful, if they do!!! (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");  US Consumers Now More Optimistic, Ending 5 Straight Months Of Decline In Confidence Index U.S. consumer confidence bounced back in May ending five straight months of decline and beating economists' expectations. The Consumer Confidence Index increased by 12.3 points in May to 98.0, up from 85.7 in April, according to a report released Tuesday by The Conference Board. This notably marked the first increase in consumer confidence in five months. The Conference Board's Present Situation Index, which is based on consumers' outlook on current business and job market conditions, increased 4.8 points in May to 135.9. Meanwhile, the Expectations Index, which is based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business and job market conditions, jumped 17.4 points to 72.8 in the same month. Source: dailycaller.com  Political/Rights Star Harvard Business Professor Who Studied Honesty Pays a Historic Price for a Faculty Member at School After Falsifying Her Findings on Multiple Studies   As The New York Post reported, Francesca Gino,

The end of the cruel Peace & the start of the desperate War.Based on ‘One In Ten' by FinalStand, adapted into 17 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.A frightened Mother Mouse will devour her young; similarly, a frightened culture will devour its future.It wasn't like a magic force field bubble protected us until our 16th birthday. I couldn't recall all the times after I was 13 some woman asked me, or my Mother, when my 16th birthday would be. Back then, I didn't think much about it. In hindsight, those women were wondering when I would become legally sexually vulnerable. In way too many cases, women with access to teenage boys didn't wait.Even if they did,"It was my Aunt," Barabbas confessed. "She and her boss."You would think a sixteen, or seventeen, year old guy getting to sleep with a Milf would be a trip. It could be. For the boys with better developed empathy, you started to realize a woman you trusted was using your sexuality for their own advancement. Then you began feeling like a whore."She got me a job, but I quit after four months, you know,” he trailed off."Yeah," I sighed sympathetically."Yeah," Lowry snorted, "when the rest decided you should be putting out for free.""That was completely unnecessary," I glared at him."But true," he defied me."True," Barabbas agreed with a familiar degree of rejection."Mom flipped out when she figured out what Tamara; my sister; was doing," Pierre picked up his tale. "I was seventeen by that time. She helped pay for my college." We assumed the 'she' was his sister; the one who pimped him out."I hit one once," Lowry bragged. I found that somewhat difficult to believe."What happened?" Pierre asked."She kicked my ass," he chuckled. "Ex-military Reservist. Beat me like I had a cock." I read somewhere in the old days it was more common to say 'like a little bitch.' Now it was 'like I had a cock' because they didn't like teaching men to be 'too violent' aka how to defend ourselves.No one else felt like inquiring, so Barabbas did the deed."Go to the cops?""For what?" he shook his head. "I threw the first punch, and the second. Fucking Bitch. We both looked pretty rough, but I lost."Another pause."What was it like to hit one with your stick?" Lowry shot me a look."Good, damn good, and stupid. I mean, I could have ended up like you with a crowd of women on a subway kicking and stomping on me and I would have ended up in jail too," I related. "Still, it felt good, just to tell one to keep her hands to herself, ya know?" I got nods all around. We were all young, healthy and relatively handsome."Yeah, you could have gotten your ass kicked," Barabbas reminded me."In fact, one of the major reasons I didn't, gave me the pistol I'm carrying," I twitched it slightly. "The first time they came for me, I asked them ~ the Vanishers ~ to wait, and they did.""Why in the fuck would you do that?" Lowry blurted out, shocked and skeptical."At the time, I didn't trust them since I figured they were nothing more than another bunch of women telling me what to do. I wanted to use them to escape. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life serving them if it meant the same fucked-up existence I was currently living," I shared the enlightenment."What changed your mind?" Pierre's eyes lit up."I figured out their prime motivation, the nature of the conspiracy and that I had no rational chance to escape them," I answered. "Every angle I was figuring out, they had figured out years ago. On the plus side, their core philosophy requires them to engage men as equals for both biological and social reasons ~ which means they are the best game in town. In case you missed it, the Vanishers didn't 'vanish' me. I escaped on my own. They have agreed to join forces with my group; no lie.""Your group has a lot of girls," Lowry drolly noted."Lowry, exactly how was I going to recruit any male to my cause without dropping the entire Metropolitan G E D (Gender Enforcement Division) on me?""Flyers?" Barabbas joked softly."He's got a point," Pierre rallied to my cause. "As far as any of you have confessed, none of us had any guy, or girl, friends. It is why we were selected.""Okay, fine. Now what?" Lowry conceded to the consensus."We wake up tomorrow working toward equality," I huffed. "We are all going to have to learn to fight and shoot because the entire group is going to be in danger for some time to come. Society, as in Global Society, is going to come crashing down. And that means anarchy, lawlessness and barbarism before it violently spasms off into extinction.""We have lived our lives effectively as slaves, though no woman inside that house will admit it truly in their hearts. For the first time in our lives, we can change our futures. I'm sure if we surrender to whomever kills the others, they will enslave us once more and leave us with far fewer illusions about our status. Or, we can chose to fight and, if worst comes to worst, die free. I'm not going back to what I was. That means I will need to learn how to survive; and that means fighting. Not because I hate women, but because there are several I love and respect and I don't want to let them down ~ as their equal.""Tonight, think about what I've told you. Tomorrow morning, I hope you join up with us," I concluded my 'pep talk.'"And if we don't?" Lowry stared defiantly."That is something you are free to do too," I shrugged. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. Let's go back inside. It is late."We'd almost made it back when Lowry put a hand on my shoulder."Can I see the gun now?""This thing? Like this?" I half-turned, made eye contact then flick my eyes down to the pistol then back to him again."Yeah.""Have you ever handled a loaded firearm before?" I requested."Yeah, plenty of times, in my dreams," he mocked me."You are a moron," I felt my blood simmering. "This isn't a game, this (the pistol) isn't a toy, and you have not been paying attention." I put both hands on the pistol, removed the magazine then removed the chambered bullet. Lastly, ass-first, I handed him the empty pistol with my left hand while keeping the ammunition in my right."Moron, huh?" he chuckled. "Gonna give me the bullets?""No, no, I'm not going to give you the bullets because you don't know what you are doing. Unlike you, I actually have had a firearm lesson. More to the point, I won't give you a loaded firearm because I think I've stressed the lady, or ladies, watching over us right now enough for one night.""Huh?" Lowry and Barabbas echoed. Pierre looked around."Wes didn't keep us inside to play '20 Questions' for her own amusement. She kept us occupied so her other teammate, or teammates, could move to this side of the house, so they could watch over us while giving you three the delusion we were alone. They are professionals in camouflage gear with night-vision goggles, so unless they had to move rapidly through the underbrush, we weren't likely to detect them.""I played along because I felt it was necessary for you three to open up a little bit. Life is only going to get tougher over the next few months. None of us want to have a chat with heavily armed women staring over our shoulders, so I took us outside where it would appear we were alone," I explained."You lied to us," Lowry snipped."No. My words were true. What I did was allow you to deceive yourself as to our level of security and amount of company. I did what I did for the good of the group, regardless of gender, Gentlemen. It is how we all need to start thinking. Something else you might want to think about is: everyone I love is with me here today. A good number of people who decided getting in my way was a good thing aren't even alive anymore. I will gladly embrace any one of you as brothers. If you are an obstacle, I will fucking see you gone, one way or another; clear?""We are guys," Lowry insisted smugly. Old thinking: women protected men."I; don't; care," I glared back. "You may be a sperm-shooter, but inside me is the only surefire cure for the Gender Plague. I repeat: people I love, and there are several, are all alive today because I cared and took an active hand in their survival. My enemies are mostly dead. Being a man will save you from the women in there. It won't save you from me.""You'd kill us?" Pierre whispered."Pierre, my Mother died over a year ago. Where are your Mother and Sister? You don't give a damn about a single fucking human being and yet you expect me to trust you? Why?" I challenged him. "I've already proved to multiple people I can reach beyond my shell and give a fuck. Until you rejoin the Human Race, I value the rest of those battling alongside me far more than you, or anyone else regardless of whether they have a penis, or a vagina. I'm not going to snap your neck, stab, or shoot you. I'm simply not going to bother trying to save you. The World is doing a bang-up job of killing the rest of Humanity off, without my assistance.""I really ought to punch you," Lowry threatened."Give it your best shot," I took a step toward him. That wasn't what he, or I, was expecting. I put down my poor judgment and combative demeanor to exhaustion."Don't, guys," Barabbas interceded."You are an Asshole," Lowry snarled."And you are consistently ignoring reality," I snapped back. "For instance, we are not alone out here, plus we are also at the door." I knocked once. The door swung open to reveal a rather attentive and unhappy Wes Prince. I handed her the bullet and magazine."You were listening in?" Lowry turned his anger on her. Wes' eyes went from me, to him, out into the darkness then back to me, though her words were to Lowry."Yes. Of course I was listening in. I wouldn't call him an Asshole. I'd go for Smart-ass." To me, "Do you enjoy being annoyingly correct?""No. I'd be ecstatic to realize I was completely wrong about everything and had lapsed into a mad delusion," I related, my own anger seeping away. "Being right means I have to keep appreciating and respecting you and your compatriots and taking responsibility for my own clumsy contributions to our current situation, which I don't want to do. I want to go to bed.""Come on in and go to bed then," she softened. She made a slight hand gesture. "My pistol, please, Mr. Pritchard?" she requested of Lowry. Grudgingly he gave her the firearm. She stepped aside. Lowry went first, Barabbas second. Pierre gasped slightly because as he went up the steps he noticed the two Vanishers coming toward us from outside ~ the ones I had predicted to be watching us.I went in after Pierre. Wes followed along. Capri and Kuiko were waiting. The lights had already been dimmed throughout most of the rest of the dwelling."Who were those other two guys?" Wes stopped me."Sergeant Major Daly was a Marine N C O and improv poet renowned for his battlefield musings. His most famous philosophical insight into the fighting spirit of men came in World War One. In his words "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" He also won two Medals of Honor, so he must have had some talent.""Company Sergeant-Major John Robert Osborn was a Canadian; that was the country which now makes up the northern third of our current Federation; who found himself misplaced on the island of Hong Kong in late 1941; him, a handful of lads from Winnipeg and a shitload more Japanese. He and the Japanese ended up in a game of grenade tag,”"Grenade tag?" one of my two 'silent' guardians interrupted."Yes ~ grenade tag. Apparently in the olden days, grenades didn't airburst, or explode on impact. You pulled a pin and threw it at the enemy, then waited for the fuse to burn out and the grenade to go 'Boom!.' Quick, brave, and or stupid people could grab that grenade and toss it back. In some cases, one grenade might make two, or three trips before detonating.""Anyway, the Japanese were so very rudely throwing grenades into the position he and his Winnipeg Grenadiers were defending, so he kept returning them. After eight and a half hours of such fun, he came across one he couldn't toss back in time. He covered it with his body to shield his comrades from the blast, dying instantly. The British Empire gave him something called the Victoria Cross for his actions. He was the first Canadian in World War Two to receive it.""Why do you know such stuff?" she grinned. "Oh, I'm Scar and this is Nat," she indicated the third member of the Wes-Scar-Nat Vanisher trio."I considered myself a coward, so I read a lot about brave men. I was kind of hoping to figure out how I could be brave myself, one day," I disclosed."Mission success," the third one smiled. "Go to bed."I gathered up Capri and Kuiko and did as instructed. As I rested my head on the pillow, lights out and my mind gratefully shutting down."Less impressive sex, Bitch," Capri teased."No," I groaned."They definitely think you've got the 'sexy'," Kuiko enlightened me."Can we please just go to sleep?" I begged.Capri rolled onto her side, back to me, gave me a bump in the hip with her ass, then moved away a tiny bit. Kuiko wiggled close, kissed me lightly on the cheek, and then did the same. Unconsciousness took me before any other worries could steal my much needed slumber.The Larger World:As I struggled for sleep a second time, events unfolding in three different places around the Globe (Asia, the City and the Capitol) would impact my fate.Asia:First; the brutal agony still going on as the Sun disappeared over the horizon wasn't over when I woke up the next morning. It was largely misunderstood for some time afterwards, but was referred to as; the Battle for Shanghai.Five Chinese regular force divisions fought the garrison division of Shanghai, its 'reserve' division, hastily gathered volunteer female formations and a hodge-podge of ancillary forces the United Nations could throw into the fray. The goal for both sides was to seize a mother and her unborn child. Within them were the only other active resistant viral factory killing the T2 Gender Plague. By the time I woke up, both sides were sure the other side had killed them both, pretty much insuring the extinction of all sentient life in Eurasia.I say 'Eurasia' because by dusk of the previous day, the Federation knew for sure I, the other source of a cure for the T2, was still alive and kicking, as were my sons. My sons held a nebulous promise for a future date. I was of immediate importance since my adult body could produce enough antivirals to protect tens of thousands of people on a relatively continuous basis, or so it was projected.With, or without the mother and child, China was done for. Japan and Korea were rapidly circling the drain. North of China, the Plague was racing across Siberian Russia. Central Asia had never really recovered from the first round of the Gender Plague all those years ago so, now off the beaten path, would be longer in dying. India had too many outbreaks to even dream of containment. Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the Levant Republic all had reported cases as well.Europe:Beyond the Urals, the Europeans were grappling with the looming fear of a global economic collapse along with the Specter of Death though 48 hours into the crisis, there were no cases to report yet. Civil order was teetering. Several nations had either closed their borders, or were considering doing so. Women began hording food, and men.Africa:

watch here if audio doesn't work: https://rumble.com/v6tp41d-thinking-logically-special-episode-gene-decode-talks-dumbs-and-more.html Gene is a 21-year Navy vet a during the Vietnam war era. He also worked with special forces, and specialized in electronics aboard submarines. This is an episode you are not gonna want to miss!

Rabbi Saadia Gaon's sefer Emunot V'Deot (Book of Beliefs and Opinions) innovated the genre of Jewish philosophy. Long before Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi and the Rambam, R. Saadia paved the road for viewing Jewish principles through a lens of classic Greek philosophy, the science of his time, and is justifiably where Jewish philosophy begins. Join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rabbi Daniel Korobkin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ as he explores this important, monumental work, tracing the differences in approach between R. Saadia and those who came after him.For the original course page please visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://webyeshiva.org/course/emunot-vdeot-the-first-book-of-jewish-philosophy/

In this episode of The Rocky Garza Show, I explore a tension I know we've all felt—choosing between emotion and logic. For years, I've heard (and said) that we're either “feelings people” or “facts people.” But what if that's a false choice?What if clarity doesn't come from choosing one over the other—but from learning how to hold space for both?Neither Emotion Nor Logic Has the Whole TruthHere's the truth: your emotions are lying to you—and so is your logic.If we make decisions based only on emotion, we risk being swayed by temporary feelings. If we only rely on logic, we risk ignoring the humanity behind the decision. The result? Half-informed choices. And when we operate that way, we limit our leadership and our lives.In this episode, I challenge the idea that we need to choose a side. Because I believe the real magic happens in the tension between the two.We All Want a Place to LandMost of us find safety in identifying as “logical” or “emotional” because it gives us a tribe, a default. But life is rarely binary. And when we assign ourselves a category, we unconsciously start operating only from that place—even when it no longer serves us.I've lived in both camps. I've made hyper-logical decisions to protect myself. I've made deeply emotional decisions because I didn't know what else to do. Both have value—but neither tells the full story on their own.A Friday Afternoon With My KidsTo bring this to life, I shared a real-world example: Friday afternoons at my house. Logically, it makes sense to knock out all the chores after school. But emotionally, is that what my kids need? After a long week of school, practices, homework, and being “on” all day, is logic what gets us connection?Not usually.And if I lead with logic without emotion in my home, what makes me think I'm doing any better at work?What About Your Team?Think about your team showing up Monday morning. You're ready to run, energized, focused. So you stack meetings. But your team? They're still coming off the weekend. Their minds are scattered. Their energy is different.Have you ever stopped to ask how they feel? Have you created space for both their logic and emotion before expecting peak performance?If we don't lead with that awareness, we lose people—not because we don't care, but because we don't calibrate.Decision-Making in AlignmentI'm not asking you to throw out structure or ignore your intuition. I'm asking you to align the two.If you're overly emotional, add some logic.If you're purely logical, make space for feeling.Let them complement each other, not compete.Because I believe neither emotion nor logic holds the full truth—but together, they reveal what's real.Questions to Ask YourselfWhat is my emotion trying to tell me that logic can't?What is my logic trying to protect that emotion doesn't see?Where can I start practicing this kind of aligned decision-making in my life or business?You don't have to abandon one to embrace the other. You just have to practice using both with intentionality.Final EncouragementIf you're a leader who's struggled to find balance between heart and head, I want you to know: you're not alone. And you're not broken.You're human. That's the gift.This week, I encourage you to make one decision—big or small—from the alignment of your intellect and your emotion. Not just from your instinct. Not just from what looks good on paper. But from what feels real and makes sense.If this episode spoke to you, please share it with your team, your friends, your boss. You never know who else needs to hear this today.And if you want to go deeper, join me in my next free monthly workshop on leadership and clarity at rockygarza.com/confidence. I'd love to walk with you as you continue to build the clarity and confidence to lead well.Until next time—be seen, be known, and lead well. And when life gets hard—prove it.Resources MentionedFree Leadership Workshop: https://rockygarza.com/confidenceKey Timestamps00:00 Introduction: Emotion vs. Logic01:17 The Dichotomy of Decision Making01:53 Finding Balance in Emotions and Logic02:23 Personal Experiences with Logic and Emotion04:17 Practical Examples in Parenting07:00 Applying Balance in the Workplace08:02 Encouragement for Balanced Decision Making09:53 Conclusion and Call to ActionTo join Rocky for his next free virtual event, go to https://rockygarza.com/beyondsuccessSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/trgs/donations

Show LinksStart your day with helpful reminders by signing up for the Daily Email:https://yourlevelfitness.com/daily-emailExplore the inside/out process through self-paced resources on the YLF Blog:https://yourlevelfitness.com/blogWant more guidance and support? Join The YLF Experience:https://app.moonclerk.com/pay/5t93iox9udm3Episode Description:In this episode of The Daryl Perry Podcast, we're unpacking one of the biggest mindset shifts you can make in your fitness and personal development journey — separating your self-worth from your body size.Logically, we know our value isn't determined by how we look. But emotionally, it's not that simple. We've been taught to tie our worth to appearance for so long that unlearning it takes time, awareness, and a whole lot of reinforcement. I talk through how to start that process by focusing on what makes you you, not just how your body looks.We also talk about societal standards and how they're designed to make you feel insecure so you'll buy products or follow trends. Knowing that can help you step back and reframe the way you see yourself. I share how the fitness industry often feeds into this mindset and how my approach — through daily messaging, coaching, and podcasting — aims to give you tools to build a life from the inside out.I'll also walk through why appreciating your past self and your current self is key. This isn't about “new you versus old you.” You've always been worthy. You've just evolved. And no matter where you are on your journey, you deserve to be seen, supported, and valued by yourself first.Rewiring your default thought patterns takes time. You'll need patience. You'll need consistent reinforcement. But most of all, you'll need compassion for yourself as you do this work.Please share this episode with anyone you think would be interested in listening to it.Visit darylperrypodcast.com for links to the show page on each of the major podcast directories. From there, you can subscribe and share this pod.For comments, questions, topic ideas, possible collaborations please email daryl@yourlevelfitness.com

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found Click On Picture To See Larger PictureThe climate scam is officially over, it has been defunded. The [CB] are struggling, Trump is setting the stage and is trapping the [DS] and China. Soon the dismantling will be complete. Trump and team are finally putting America first.  The [DS] is panicking, Trump and the patriots are releasing the puzzle pieces one piece at a time. Eventually the pieces will form a picture and the people will finally see who the true criminal. Tulsi sends a message to the [DS] and the people of this country. Trump replaces the portrait of Obama with fight, fight, fight portrait. All roads lead to Obama and HRC. Everything is being put into place to bring down the [DS].   (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); Economy https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1910890395304669444 USPS To Hike Stamp Prices By About 7.4% To 78 Cents Effective This Summer The U.S. Postal Service has proposed raising the price of a "forever" stamp from 73 cents to 78 cents as part of a broader rate hike set to take effect July 13, pending approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission, according to CBS News. The increase would raise mailing service prices by about 7.4%. The USPS says the hike is necessary for financial stability, continuing a trend of rate increases under former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who warned customers to expect “uncomfortable” pricing adjustments after a decade of flawed pricing models. Source: zerohedge.com https://twitter.com/RealAllinCrypto/status/1910415797052203317   https://twitter.com/RealJessica05/status/1910812769164603530 trade surpluses with the U.S., are now facing real consequences. Tariffs hurt them more than us. Trump holds the leverage. China, Europe, and Latin America all are feeling the pressure. This is not just a pause. It's a test: Who's ready to renegotiate the terms of global trade Xi calls on EU to join China in jointly resisting 'unilateral bullying' by U.S. There is no winner in a tariff war, and going against the world will only result in self-isolation, says Chinese President Xi Jinping amid the tariff war with U.S. As U.S. President Donald Trump targeted China with heavy tariffs while pausing levies on other countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (April 10, 2025) appealed to the European Union (EU) to “jointly resist the unilateral bullying" by Washington.  Source: thehindu.com   https://twitter.com/DC_Draino/status/1910721712250855787   negotiate with China to remove tariffs and trade barriers, and put in place strong structural protections for IP. Trump Lobs Energy Bomb at EU EU leaders face a dire choice with no consensus. Germany and France advocate talks, aiming to lessen Trump's demands—perhaps by partly meeting his energy terms—to avert disaster. They dread export slumps, factory closures, and a downturn worse than past crises, clinging to a fragile hope of stability. The EU Commission's pleas for cohesion fall flat amid the clash. Ireland and Luxembourg brace for export losses, while Italy and Spain eye energy price hikes that could spark unrest. The European Central Bank, hampered by debt and limited options, stands by anxiously. Protests ripple across cities like Lisbon and Warsaw, split between anger at Trump and frustration with Brussels' long drift. If the EU buckles under Trump's grip, a new path could open: a alliance of sovereign states, free from Brussels' overreach and Washington's demands. The West might be tearing itself apart, but from the debris, a stronger,

Over this past weekend, I had some Massage Therapists come into my clinic for some in-person training. They asked me a great question about how to make more money in their massage practice and have a consistent and predictable income, so I decided it was a great topic to share on the show as well!⁣⁣

Graduation Day.  Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."You know nothing of what you speak of, Ishara, yet you now feel free to insult us," she simmered."Don't know, don't care. It was all before my time. I care about the 'here-and-now' as well as what we do in the future. What I am asking you is what concrete item or 'thing' can be provided to House Zorja to put this blood feud behind you. Name it and House Ishara will endeavor to procure it for you.""We are not merchants," Jana's eyes narrowed."No. I didn't imply you were. If you want new sandals for everyone in your House, I'll find you new sandals. If you want 100,000 acres of ranchland, I'll find you the land. Name it," I persisted."Our prestige cannot be bought," she 'explained'."No, but a blood feud with House Ishara can be avoided by making a request of us in the same way as expressing your desire to harm my daughter can be expressed by denying my offer," I hardened. "And 'fuck you very much' if you think I won't use every son, daughter, mother, aunt, and uncle of Ishara when I come gunning for House Zorja too.""You wouldn't dare bring outsiders into this," Klavdiya interjected."Why not? The offices of Ishara handed House Zorja the coup of the century ~ the capture of the People's Liberation Army Navy nuclear carrier. A member of House Zorja commanded that task, yet they did so by leading forces marshalled by House Ishara, outsider forces. You may wish to keep playing by old rules concerning who is and isn't part of a House, but I am not so constrained, sisters.""So Klavdiya, if House Meenakshi pursues its blood feud with House Zorja, House Ishara will gleefully join them in the pummeling. And we have Isharans in the 9 Clans, the Khanate and the Illuminati who will gladly help us out in slapping them around like the old-fashion curmudgeons they are showing themselves to be, or, House Zorja may request a gift from House Ishara and we will happily clear accounts between them and House Meenakshi in the name of our daughter, Parvati. Their choice.""You are still on the mats," Elsa reminded me. Sikia coiled protectively next to us."And you said something about a lesson being long overdue," Pamela smirked, "Kitten.""Cáel Ishara," Shawnee said in a soft voice, "perhaps it is germane to the argument: the fault of the blood feud rests with House Zorja, not House Meenakshi."I fell on my back, carrying Tad fi with me. She gasped out in surprise while remaining closely cuddled with me. Her right hand never left my lips."Why does no one tell me this shit?" I moaned."You are hard," Tad fi announced. "Are you ready to have more sex?" She was sounding upbeat about our prospects. She was also ignorant of our surroundings being deaf and blind to the mortal realm."Gossamer Wing," I created a pet name for the augur, "we are lying on the sparring mats of a large combat arena in the central Full-blooded training center for Havenstone with roughly 500 sisters in attendance (the audience had grown). While I am enticed by your scent, words, proximity and sweet memories of what we've shared, I'm probably going to be badly beaten up really soon for a terrific diplomatic snafu.""But then we can have sex?""Yeah. I'm totally up for having sex with you after they release me from Medical," I assured her. I looked around her to a very unhappy Mahdi."Can you find it in your heart to forgive House Zorja? Anything I can,""Yes," she abruptly cut me off.What the fuck?"At this time, my hatred of House Ishara, and you in particular, make any grievance I have with House Zorja pale in comparison. You have bewitched my only daughter. She bares your child, and it will be a wonderful child if the soiled augur you've stuck your cock in is to be believed," she ground out bitterly. "I want to go home. I want to find enemies to kill. And when I do, Cáel Ishara, know each and every one of them will carry your face in my mind."She turned to Jana. "Do you agree that we both hate Ishara enough to put aside our current differences?"Jana studied Mahdi, me, then Mahdi again and agreed. She stood. Mahdi stood. They clasped arms like Amazons, then hugged like sisters."Agreed. He is much worse."My thoughts on the matter. Woot! I was having sex! Oh, and I was making Aya happy by ending a blood feud."My admiration of you continues to increase," Krasimira looked at me. "This diplomacy stuff is harder than it looks yet you pull it off so effortlessly.""Yay me!" I muttered."Keeper, are we done?" Sikia asked Krasimira."I believe so," the older Amazon rose to her feet. Sikia was far faster in rising."Mahdi of Meenakshi, you have insulted me and my augur. Defend yourself," she snarled. If Tad fi hadn't been immediately present, Mahdi wouldn't have even warranted a warning no doubt."Had you done your job," Mahdi flowed into her fighting stance, "you both wouldn't be pregnant.""Whoa now," I struggled to rise while keeping Tad fi close and my body between her and the Meenakshi/Zorja side of the mat. "Sikia, I can't let you fight. You're pregnant too.""Don't be stupid, Cáel Ishara," Sikia retreated off the mat, so she could shed her jacket and footwear. "Amazons have fought pregnant for thousands of years.""Hold on now," NYPD Sgt. Larisa Kutuzov said in English as she moved forward. I was a millisecond too late. Larisa's foot touched down on the mat and Marlene Zorja popped her one, a hand chop to the larynx. The senior cop stumbled forward."Mom!" shouted Nikita. Marlene followed up with a leg sweep, putting Larisa face first on the mats, then a fist strike to the back of the head, knocking her out. Neat and tidy in less than two seconds.Nikita was about to charge in when Chaz stopped her."Footwear," he advised in the tone of voice I had learned to associate with him and imminent violence. The moment he stopped her, he was quickly removing his own socks and shoes. Virginia and Pamela were doing the same. I was allowed freedom of movement because I was holding Tad fi. Krasimira exited because of her unique status. The rest were already barefoot."Gale, could you please stay with Tad fi," I tried to hand her off."No," Gale looked me over. "I will fight." No hint on whose side she would be fighting on. Krasimira came to my rescue."I'll take her.""Tad fi," I told the augur, "I have to go get beaten up now, but I promise I will be back for you directly.""This is not your fight," Krasimira said. "The words and deeds are Sikia's.""A, she carries my child and B, the deeds being called into question are my fault.""You told me once they were the Will of Ishara," Krasimira mused."We are one in the same," I gave a lopsided grin."Be careful," Tad fi pleaded. "Your future is a chaotic jumble, I cannot see,""Eh, I've been very bad. We'll talk about it later. Gotta go," I headed onto the mats.Pamela was giving the ground rules to the 'normals': No 'fair warnings'. No 'fair play'. No 'time outs'. You fought until unconscious, or you surrendered."This is going to suck," Virginia assessed our odds. Two Amazons had removed Larisa from the mats and were tending to her. Nikita was kneeling by her side until she heard Virginia, then came our way.Besides Sikia, we had Pamela, Chaz, Virginia, myself and Nikita. Oneida stepping up was nice. She wasn't a great combatant, but we dearly needed the help. Gale joining us was, unsettling. Amazons don't play fair, so this could be a ruse.Against us were all three Zorja and both Meenakshi ~ I imagined Rhada felt she had something to prove to her mother. They'd picked up ten other Amazons and Rhonwenn Nemain. Klavdiya joined them to counterbalance her baby sister. Eight to seventeen ~ ouch."Damn," a familiar voice from my first days on the job spoke up from behind me, "we almost missed this." I didn't dare look over my shoulder. Desiree stepped between Chaz and Virginia. Rachel came up on my left and Tiger Lily on my right. At the tail end of our line was Mona, Meridian, Brielle and Wiesława. Fifteen to seventeen was looking much better, especially considering Desiree had brought five Security Detail warriors with her, all of whom were moving to further bolster our numbers."Rachel," Elsa looked to her underling, "you have no idea why you are fighting.""It is for Cáel. So it must be for a better tomorrow," Rachel laughed."Very well," Elsa smirked."You!" Mahdi pointed at me, and we both charged. It was a jumbled nightmare of clashing bodies, war cries and flashes of movement all around. Our side had two main advantages -While Chaz was by no means the best hand-to-hand combatant present, he knew the basic Amazon style and most Amazons didn't know his. Added to his overall height and bulk advantages, he bought us time.Of greater importance, Rachel, Tiger Lily and Mona had extensive training working as a team, which none of the opponents had.Elsa was the most dangerous individual on the mat. Pamela was the second most dangerous, so Elsa grabbed a couple of partners and ganged up on her to drive her off the mats. Chaz went next, out-Elsa'ed and beaten unconscious. The issue was, it took her too long to accomplish those two feats. By the time she rounded on me, Rachel and Tiger Lily, our half of the field had wiped out theirs. It was six of us (me, Rachel, Tiger Lily, Gale, Wiesława and Desiree) versus four of them (Elsa, Marlene, Klavdiya and Rhonwenn).Still, I was facing Elsa, so a judicious bit of treachery was required."Gale," I huffed and puffed, "please retire. I don't want you to fight your sister.""What?" Gale snapped. She'd taken a beating, yet remained feisty."No, fighting her sister is okay with me," Desiree scowled. "We are still facing fucking Elsa.""All the other women you have mated with have failed. I remain," Gale trumpeted."Oh, you are right," I half-turned. "All the reason you are more precious to me.""Really?""Of course," I deepened my introspective appreciation of her."Oh," and Klavdiya punched Rhonwenn. That was an 'oh, Cáel Ishara must actually care for my baby sister and not be just a Playa' on Klavdiya's part. Yeah. I'm a horrible fucking person at times.Rachel, Tiger Lily and I rushed Elsa. Marlene pivoted to ward against Klavdiya while Gale and Wiesława stormed in against her. Desiree helped Klavdiya finish drubbing Rhonwenn before they combined to force Marlene off the mats. Elsa chose to go down swinging in a dogpile of bodies. I took an ear-ringing blow to the head which allowed Rachel to apply a chokehold and it was lights out for the Head of SD.After some water bottles went around and those concussed returned to wakefulness, the resolution of the brawl was decided. Mahdi apologized to Sikia. It was short, terse and sparing of any empathy, yet was within the bounds of Amazon etiquette. She departed with Rhada, which left me to pick up the pieces, starting with Nikita's mom."Oh," the older woman moaned then, "Ms. Fredrickson? What are you doing here?""Avenging you, Mother," Nikita fluffed up the truth. "She, Cáel and the others cleaned house on the woman who jumped you and her allies.""Desk Sergeant," Desiree gave a curt nod."This isn't over," Larisa winced as she moved to a sitting position."Mrs. Kutuzov, it is over," I headed off a colossal waste of time. "This is my daily life and part of your daughter's life with JIKIT. You will find scant witnesses and no tape recordings of these events. This craziness is just another day in the life here at Havenstone. You stepped on the mat and thus became fair game to any physical confrontation an opponent cared to mete out. Consider this sovereign soil of an independent nation-state.""We," she looked around. "You kicked their asses?""Definitely," Pamela gave a feral snarl."This is plain nuts," she shook her head, winced in cranial pain, then put her aching head in her hands."One of the reasons we've put our dating in hiatus," Nikita comforted her mother while looking at me, and smiling affectionately.Ah, for fuck sakes! I was engaged to someone else and having a dozen kids by ten different women. How could I still possibly be considered viable dating material? Oh yeah, martial valor, laughing at death, I hung out with truly exceptional cool people and I would always be in need of saving, a plus for a crusader like Nikita.I had so many allies to tend to, but only one who seemed to be making an exit. I swooped down on Tad fi long enough to place her fingers to my lips."I'll be right back, friend of a friend in need," and off I went. I caught Tavi of House Stolgos just outside the door. She wasn't avoiding me. She'd been observing Chaz and he had been otherwise occupied.My British companion had played a pivotal role in the combat and taken his beating like a man. He'd been rendered unconscious. So had many others, so no stigma was attached to his loss. Post-battle, he had chosen to sit on his haunches, knees up, talking to several of the Amazons, both kneeling and standing. A few had been bystanders and a few others foes.He stayed on his ass to reduce his height advantage. Letting Amazons make eye contact while not having to look up at you created definite benefits. His good natured approach to his role in the fight and pummeling earned him positive vibes as well. He made it clear the tussle to him was not macho-personal. He was my 'brother / sister / sibling' spiritually-speaking via Pamela adopting us both as her 'grandsons', so my fights were his fights. Sikia had my (Cáel's) child, so that bond extended to her as well ~ family.Pamela and I had schooled him on Amazon psychology and those lessons were now paying serious dividends. 'The Male' hadn't wanted to fight them ~ 'Amazons are tough' he'd confessed, he knew this because he worked with several every day on JIKIT~ but family was on the line, so he fought. Mahdi had apologized, so the matter was settled. The other Amazons he'd fought? They had fought for their reasons and he was okay with not questioning them about it.Why? He was conscious of his conspicuous status as a 'guest', knew he was in no way an Amazon, and was not privy to what motivated them. He didn't want to be an Amazon. He had his own, much younger, martial tradition he was proud of, yet was eager to learn from the vastly greater Amazon war lore because 'winners' didn't have a gender-bias and no other tradition could compete with the Amazons' 3,000 years.Under normal circumstances, the women around him wouldn't have given credence to his praise. He was a male after all. Through the tiny tear I'd created in their insulating social fabric, Chaz was building upon his own exploits. In the after-battle analysis, the Amazons reflected on the realization Elsa had concentrated on him as her number two objective, second only to Pamela who scared everyone who knew anything about her. That bolstered Chaz's appeal.For the Amazons who thought a male would get all pouty and cry over being beaten up by a girl/girls, Chaz was breaking the mold. He wasn't angry. He was amused. The fight had been a learning experience and he'd felt honored to watch, no matter how briefly, a warrior of Elsa's caliber fight. He'd explained 'I', Cáel Wakko Ishara, considered Elsa one of the top 5 combatants I'd ever seen, which included Ajax the Unconquered. The others were Sakuniyas, reborn Amazon and former Queen of Assyria, Saint Marie, the Golden Mare, and Pamela, the Cliff-walker.More happy Amazons because the list's only non-Amazon was a dead Hero from the Trojan Wars and it was well known I 'got around' (aka dealt with violent outsiders.) Chaz was telling the truth, almost. The 'fifth' person on the list was Alal, but explaining him would be difficult, so Chaz edited him for this particular audience. Good man.In the hallway, "Tavi, a moment," I called out. She slowed down, took a few more steps allowing me to catch up."Yes Ishara?" she gave me her best neutral look. Yep. She was jealous."I beg two favors from you," I quickly went down to one knee in her path. That caught her off guard and left her in the awkward position of me being terribly close and staring up at her."I, I will listen," she muttered."I would like to know if you are pregnant," I asked very softly. Yes, she was, but she didn't want to tell me. She contemplated pushing past me. It would be very easy. "I know I am stepping beyond the boundaries between warriors. Please. My destiny has brought you two together. I am at fault here." 'Fault' was the key word."If I have a son, he will be given to the Queen," Tavi's face was stern and unforgiving. "He will live.""That's not what he's worried about," I shook my head. "He wants to be a father to your daughter, Tavi. He wants to introduce you to his mother and grandmothers, maybe his sisters too, if that can be arranged.""Huh?""He is not like me, Tavi. There is no other in his life, but you.""I, I will not leave my House for him," she protested angrily."He would never ask you. That doesn't mean he doesn't want to remain at your side for years to come. He can be a father to your child and not be a part of House Stolgos in the same way you can be a mother to your child and not be a part of Clan Tomorrow.""Oh," she furrowed her brow. "How would this possibly work?""I have an 'in' with the Queen," I winked. "I'll work out something.""He knows I will never stop being an Amazon," she elucidated intensely."Absolutely. He is an intelligence operative after all. He's figured a few things out for himself.""Why doesn't he tell me these things?""Tavi, he threw his body on top of me to shield me from a bomb blast, so he's undoubtedly brave, but telling you what is in his heart is scary for him. As his brother, I see behind his silence,""Oh, what should I do?" she was vexed."Go back in there, demand to speak with him and tell him the truth," I stood up."The truth?""That you are going to have a little StolgosTomorrow-ite running around sometime next year," I exuded confidential friendliness."Cáel Ishara," she tilted her head slightly, "you don't know much about infants, do you?""Nope," I pseudo-confessed. I actually did know something about newborns. I'd studied up so I could make a move on a cute girl whose free time was eaten up by babysitting, so I 'helped out'. Oink."They aren't 'running around'," she turned to head back into the gym, "until the ninth month at the earliest. Normally, running doesn't happen until the eighteenth month.""My fiancée has a three-year old, so she should be able to help me through some of the hardest parts," I babbled along. Tavi didn't give a crap.In we went. Tavi stormed straight toward the bevy of Amazon babes concentrating on 'her' Chaz."Color Sergeant Tomorrow," she abruptly interrupted. "A moment of your time.""Ladies," Chaz uncoiled himself from the surrounding women. The Amazons were either mildly put off, they thought they were about to get laid, or pissed off, they were sure they were about to get laid, and Tavi was stomping on their happy."Yes, Ms. Gentry," Chaz linked his hands behind his back in a 'rest easy' stance. 'Gentry' was the fake last name Tavi used in the outside world. She motioned toward the windows with her head. Off they went. I couldn't hear what was being said, but my lip reading skills were up to the task.T: (I am pregnant)C: (I love you)T: (Oh) ~ stunned. Go Chaz!C: (Well, I don't imagine the Amazons have a marriage ceremony and an Anglican service would be inappropriate, so perhaps we could research a Scythian ritual which could make both families happy) ~ delivered in the patented smooth Chaz style.T: (Marriage? To you?)C: (I will not submit to being anyone's slave nor would I ever ask you to submit to me. Outside of that, will you be my partner and my partner alone until the cliffs separate us?)T: (Amazons are not monogamous)C: (I am)T: (I will, I mean, can I think about this?)C: (I am not going anywhere, Tavi){Pause}T: (Did you put Ishara, Cáel Ishara up to this?)C: (Yes)T: (Why?)C: (I imagine he explained what I am feeling better than I could)T: (Oh, do you want me to meet your mother and grandmothers?)C: (Absolutely)T: (Okay)C: (Okay ~ you would like to meet my Mother and Grandmothers?)T: (No, yes, I mean, yes I would like to meet them and I am okay with you being with no other woman until the cliffs separate us, and I will do the same, no other males)C: (If I pick you up, hug you and kiss you, will your sisters freak out?)T: (I don't know)So Chaz swept Tavi up until her head was higher than his (a feat, considering their 8" height differential) and kissed her deeply. Mumbled words followed. Tavi wrapped her legs around Chaz's waist and out they went. Around me were angry murmurings of the 'did that Amazon just run off with our man' variety. Not my problem. I had plenty of different Amazons wanting my attention. Hallelujah!{8:00 pmDon't try this at home.I covered my face with a pillow and pressed down hard. I'd already tried breathing exercises, meditation and even contemplated more cranial trauma before thinking up this particular crazy idea. It took some mental effort and accessing some of my Alal-'pain sorting' skills to accomplish, but in the end, I felt myself 'let go'.I sat up."Hello," Tad fi beamed."Hey," I took a deep breath. Since we were talking, I must have passed out. Her eyes wandered over the room."Is this the world as you see it?" she wondered. Oh yeah, I had to be creating the environment for her to enjoy.Sikia was kneeling on the bed a foot away, her gaze moving between the two of us. The 'grayness' of her form suggested she was wholly in reality and not in the 'Ishara-space' the goddess had shown me and I was now sharing with my augur."This is how you see me?" she examined her fingers, her wrists, then some long locks of her hair."You are more beautiful," I answered. The impact of my words crossing over drew her eyes back to me. It was the magic of hearing for the normally deaf girl. I concentrated, peeled back some fantasy and attached a realistic form to Sikia. Tad fi followed my gaze."Your hair," she addressed her guardian, "It is lighter than I imagined."Sikia said something I couldn't understand, muffled as it was by my dreaming."I cannot hear you, but I see you through his eyes," the augur carried on her conversation. They touched. It had to be somewhat bizarre for Sikia. As she reached for Tad fi's hand, her friend intercepted the extended member. Their fingers intertwined before completing the journey to the guardian's lips."Don't cry, no, we couldn't have, no, we shouldn't have knocked him out sooner. I don't think he was aware of this discipline when we first met. Were you, Cáel?""No. Perhaps if I had understood more about the consequences of seeing ghosts, I might have," I tapered off. "Now that we know. I can try this more often.""Your health?" Tad fi worried."I might be immortal," I confessed. I was confessing because I was desperately seeking a way to share some of my genetic quirkiness with her ~ some strength to carry her through this pregnancy and spare her life, Dot Ishara be damned."And you would seek a way to spare me," she graced me with her gentle presence. Lying in the 'spirit' world was a whole lot tougher than in the flesh."Yeah. I've got some arcane lore rattling around in my head, plus I have a few outside sources I can ask for help. I'm not giving up on you.""I have foreseen my death.""Well, un-foresee it," I scolded her. "Dot Ishara told me we see what might happen, though nothing is guaranteed. So even your death isn't an absolute. Since it hasn't happened, I see no reason to let it happen. You are going to live to hold our daughter. If not, my immortality is worthless.""You can never save everyone. Sometimes you must let a few go to save the rest," she advised."If I find someone I'm not attached to, I'll let them go. I promise. Until then, I'm, ugh, I'm fading, and I'm keeping you.""We shall see," she murmured. I fell back into my body and into wakefulness."Now we have sex," Tad fi announced in a melodic voice."He is ready to perform," Sikia agreed. She was fondling my balls with one hand while her breath played across my rod. I sat up to see the augur climbing up the bed between my thighs. She kissed my glans, licked across its top, then kissed it again."I've got it from here," she told Sikia."What?" Sikia was confused. Tad fi's lips began to engulf my sceptre."Sikia, come here," I gently pulled on her arm. She was conflicted yet up some came.We started out with tender kisses on the lips. I kept drawing her toward me. My lips and tongue migrated down her chin and throat to her breasts. When she thought my target was her breasts, she was all onboard. That was a mere stop-off point on my journey, though I played around for a while.At the same time, I had to use subtle movements with my hips and clenches with my gluts to school Tad fi on her fellatio. Thankfully, I was doubly-blessed. This wasn't my first time schooling two girls at once and Tad fi could determine more from such minimal reactions due to her heightened sense of my muscle contractions through her touch than any other woman I'd ever met.When I began running my tongue in large lashes underneath her breasts, I confused Sikia once more. She was resistant as my hands on her hips pulled her higher so that my lips and teeth could tease her taut stomach while I twirled my tongue in her belly button. She giggled.I had been slowly wiggling down the bed, backing Tad fi up, so when it came time to mount Sikia on my face, I had the headboard room. I kept her muscular thighs securely in hand because the moment I had her happy, I pushed her up. She looked down, seeking guidance and I motioned her to turn around. She did the eye-ball math, realized she'd be facing her augur, and hastily obeyed. Of course, her movement on the bed alerted Tad fi through mattress vibrations.Sikia was sitting on my face, leaning down so she could run her hands through Tad fi's hair and along her face and lips (and my phallus). I kept my hands pressed between our bodies. My right made the sojourn to my pubic area to play around and give them both something else to suck on, my fingers. My left loitered around between Sikia's breasts and her clitoris when my lips were otherwise occupied.I could cup her clit with my tongue in a U-shape, rubbing it along my taste buds. Most of my time was taken up with my tongue broad lashing her vulva or tightly-twisted and delving into her cunt and my nose pushing against her brown hole. I could tilt myself up so I could make tongue-intrusions into her back passage as well. The first time, she squealed.Before she could decide if she wanted to make me stop (she did, virtually all first timers always default to asking their partner to stop, so you have to distract them), Tad fi wanted to know what had brought her reaction on. Then came Sikia's troubled revelation of what I was doing, how the augur shouldn't suffer through it, despite the increasing pleasure she was receiving, only to finally be unable to supply the answer as to why Tad fi shouldn't experience it too.Sikia shot me a treasured look of bewilderment. I'd brought her to orgasm with my tongue alone. I was a guy after all."Switch?" I suggested. Tad fi was still administering one of the slowest, most considerate blowjobs I'd ever experienced. She wasn't rushing toward anything. Sure, she was unschooled, but was devoting her incredible sensitivities to my pleasure and taking pleasure in her ability to bring me to such excitement."Change places?" she mused. "Okay." Tad fi's lips slid off me with one final, loud 'pop', then she used her spider-like fingers to climb up my body while Sikia traveled south. She lavished butterfly kisses on my face ~ childish, yet so very appropriate between us ~ and I mirrored the gesture.With some reluctance, she mounted me, facing Sikia. My tongue flicking across her clit on its first exploration brought out a joyous gasp. It only got better from there.The Long Slide Into Domestic Life:"Twins?" Hana snuggled into my arms. We were at her place, naked in bed together after a late late-night unscheduled meeting with some VIPs. Despite the late/early hour, she was alert, tense even. It had been a mentally stimulating late night encounter which had brought me to her bed."Yes. That is what Tad fi predicted," I inserted between raining kisses down on her forehead. Hana liked non-distracting attention when she was in this kind of mood. She was exhausting herself mentally as she was building up to being amorous."Ana-Călina and  rp d?" she worked over the names on her tongue. "They have a special meaning?""Only if you are Hungarian and Romanian," I teased her. She elbowed me slightly. " rp d was the semi-mystical pagan warlord who led the Ten Tribes who became known as the Hungarians ~ the Magyar peoples ~ into the Carpathian Basin, present day Hungary. Ana-Călina was born a Byzantine princess of the storied House of Basarab; she married Radu Negru, thus becoming the first Princess of a free Wallachia ~ the foundation for a free Romania. She was also the great-grandmother of Dracula.""So they are famous names with regional historical significance, did they live long, happy lives?"" Árpád, no one knows for sure. His kids were quarrelsome, but they did manage to found a dynasty at the start of the second millennia which ruled for three centuries.""Ana-Călina, yeah. I think so," I continued. "She lived into her seventies and her eldest son left his country stronger, richer and safer than when he received it. She did out live her husband by over fifty years, and got to see her youngest grandson bury most of his rivals, the kids from her husband's first marriage.""Ah, what?" Hana rose up until we were eye to eye. Since she was naked, her boobs swayed slightly as she did so. My eye flickered. "Eyes forward, Mister," she playfully barked. "What happened to all her other grandsons?""Wallachia in the 15th century was a tad rough and tumble," I evaded."They killed one another?""Mostly they were killed by conspiracies amongst their boyars, nobles of the time.""Why does, Tad fi want to dredge up these names again?" she kept eye contact."Not a clue," I pleaded."But you think it is important?""No. I think you are important. Screw Fate. It can name its own kids. We can chose whatever names make you happy, except 'Up'. Up's been taken.""You've named another of your offspring 'Up'? That's cruel, or does that mean something in another language I'm unaware of?" she shifted her shoulders so her boobs wobbled again. Of course, I broke eye contact. I hadn't had sex in hours and her boobies were right there, damn it!"Actually, Pamela and I named this secret agent in Hungary that, just to fuck with his head," I divulged."Oh. Pamela. I should have known," she slowly smiled. "You are being very well behaved," she added. Woot! She noticed I wasn't throwing her down and pawing her delectable flesh. "One more thing before the nookie.""Name them. Their dead," I pledged."Not necessary," her sigh turned into a giggle. "If I'm going to be having twins, I'm going to be rather big come late March. We need an earlier wedding date."Oh, fuck me!"What do you have in mind?" I tried to keep the creeping dread out of my voice."New Year's Day?" she suggested. I did a quick calculation. That was annihilating 78 days out of what remained of my bachelor life. In 114 days my life would cease having any meaning whatsoever. I'd be a Mr. to someone's Mrs. The end"Sure, I can arrange to be killed before then," stumbled out of my mouth."What was that?" Hana pouted."Nothing Dear. Cosmic psychic intersection with an Al -demon; don't know what came over me," I fibbed."Man up," Hana bit my nose. "Our marriage won't be that bad if we both work at it. It isn't like I'm demanding celibacy from you." Then she mouthed 'yet'."Wait. Did you mean celibacy, as in no fun at all, or monogamy, as in only 'happy time' with you?" I desperately sought clarification."Oh," she pursed her lips. "I meant monogamy. I didn't mean to scare you.""Oh, thank goodness," I sighed."Here," her gaze turned tender. "Let me make it up to you." Hana placed one hand on my shoulder and rose up my body until my face was gently nestled in her bosom. Then she wiggled back and forth, basically because I'm a big baby and easy to please. I was alternating which nipple I was kissing in no time."Mmm," she murmured. "I've missed you." Her other hand's fingernails coasted down my abdomen and found 'Mr. Happy' had risen to attention. Okay, he'd been hopping up and down on my groin since she'd said we were 'going to bed' 30 minutes ago. Hana decided wrap up my shaft with her hand, then applied a few tender strokes. I reciprocated by cupping her left tit in one hand, forming a mound with her areola at the center, and began to twirl from the outside inward to her hardened nipple with just the tip of my tongue.It was 4 a.m. Why was I taking it slow when I had my final work review with Katrina in three hours? Hana deserved this and more. Why was Hana doing it? She was her own boss, plus her life was careening wildly outside of anything she'd imagined before she'd first laid eyes on me. Half of the financial empire she shared with her father was suddenly in the hands of a military dictatorship, her beloved father was dealing with the murder of her hated step-brother and she was marrying a Prince in a European cathedral which required someone high in the Vatican's approval process to use.Yeah, her life had gone nuts. Worse, she loved me. And I wasn't the kind of man she ever thought she'd love. She'd thought she'd never love anyone again after her life with her asshole of an ex-husband and their bitter, contentious divorce. I was barely someone she could classify, and Hana was a terribly ordered and organized person. Saying my life was messy was being generous. I was some mysterious warrior-diplomat-playboy-aristocrat who hung out with people more bizarre than me.Hana picked up her tempo. I switched breasts. Her motor was really starting to hum. Any other night, I could have moved straight to revving her up to an orgasm. I had the time to make it two without any problems. A good one and Hana would be happy and drift off to sleep. Instead, I intuited she wanted more, so we developed our own game of cat and mouse with her climax, and its suspension, being our ultimate goal.My left hand danced down the back of her ribcage like playing keys on a piano. It was a light, teasing gesture. Her hair the color of tarnished gold cascaded down as she began placing her own kisses upon my crown. Each move by one partner evoked a response by the other. Hana ran my glans over her glistening labia, getting it nice and slick. I worked down her waist, cupped her ass, and then glided over her thigh to the back of her knee where I started tickling her. She snickered."You are distracting me," she murmured. I wasn't. I knew these things."I like to get the feel of every inch of your flesh," I responded. More mirthful noises from her. Slowly, her gooey vestibule rubbed against and over the top, until I felt myself entering. There, she hesitated. I propelled my hips an inch up, twisted right then left before falling back down, a micro-fuck."Ah," she emoted her approval. "My turn." Hana's knees spread to the side, making a memorable sound on the silk sheets as she impaled herself. This time she rolled her hips forward, back, then did a slow 360 with me  inside her, letting the slow progress over her spark memories for her to savor. "I never believed sex could be like this," Hana hiccupped."How so?" I knew the answer, but wanted her to put her chaotic passions to words. It would make her happier."Experimenting, silly. Stopping in the middle and doing, this," she reversed her hip rotations this time. "I never imagined a lover having such patience, or,""Yourself as being so openly sexually adventurous?" I finished."Yeah," she huffed. "I really, really owe your college professor, plus you and all your diligence, for this," at the last moment, she encountered the gateway to her G-spot. I knew precisely where that gem was. Previously, Hana had gained a vague idea where it was from the perspective of masturbation and our prior lovemaking. Now I had let Hana rediscover that joy with my cock as her tool to utilize as she wished."You realize pregnant women want even more sex," she hummed. She was vigorously working my cock now. Hana had bridged a huge gap, sexually. Normally, a woman of Hana's quality tried to please her man first with the hope her orgasm would soon follow. I was different. My greatest sexual gratification came from her ecstasy. She was confident in that now. By bringing herself to climax, she was making me excited for what would come next."That's okay," I propped myself up on one elbow now that Hana was riding me cowgirl-style. "I dig big chicks." The open-palm slap to the chest was a given."Hercege, you, you are horrible," she growled around a feral smile. The lip-biting, tongue-sucking kiss was equally vicious, primal and leading Hana to the end of her tether. Not only was Hana's sexual trust in me/us expanding, she was putting extra effort into her physical workout regime too. She might still have a ways to go to compete with an Amazon, but it was still going to be a great night."Hercegn , I am nothing but a twisted shadow of masculine lust whose every contour is cast by your muliebrous glow," I teased. Her eyes twinkled. Yes, definitely still going to be a great night."Okay," Hana yawned, "I give up. What does 'muliebrous' mean?" She'd been holding on to that for an hour and a half. It was five-thirty and I was dressing in my biking clothes before heading into work."From the Latin 'muliebri' which means 'womanly'," I answered. Her sleepy eyes drank in both my response and my physique. I had discovered another thing Hana liked and that was to expand her academic/linguistic frontiers. She was enchanted with the idea that I liked to engage her mind along with her body, sparking on all cylinders.She'd crawled over to my side of the bed, her head resting on my pillow, soaking up my scent as she watched me. I knelt down, kissed her on her ear, cheek and finally the side of her lips. Hana was beat."Have a good day and be careful," she mumbled. Her eyes closed. Her chest rose with one last, waking breath before her sleep rhythms took her."Ditto," I whispered. I snuck into  Annela's room and planted a kiss on her head as well. The craziness of my life had a way of cascading over to the ones I loved. Loved? Oh boy,7:00 am Monday, September 8th, Graduation Day!Brielle and her buddy were humming along as the elevator doors closed. Once more, my 'hellish' schedule demanded I change in the elevator. I'd gone to gun practice with my bike clothes on, so I absolutely had to change into business attire in the magic box, in front of them.Juanita adjusting my tie was a less than subtle attempt to strangle me. I was about to be late to my final 'start of day' meeting as an intern in Executive Services, so her chastisement would have to wait. Who would have thunk it? Juanita would have to wait outside for this ceremony. Paula raced with me to be the last one in, only to have Daphne grace us with the 'news':"The meeting won't start for another fifteen minutes," she grinned. "Katrina is bringing up the 'new hires' for the fall program."I finger-flicked my head. The 84 days as an intern was merely the 'training wheels' period. To really be a member of ES was at least a two year training process. The Amazons around me had started their training for this gig when they were fifteen and were eighteen and nineteen now, their ID's said they were older for legal purposes.In theory, my four years in college was counted as 'preliminary' training and provided things such as acclimation to outsider culture ~ aka 'acting normal'. Logically, I would train under someone like Desiree or Buffy for a year before being a full-fledged member of the service."How many this time?" I asked Daphne since she seemed to be in the know."Twenty," she grinned. "We are getting two."I noticed there was still only my tiny desk in Katrina's office. That meant the new guys would be out in the office pool with everyone else. Probably for the best. The ladies were now used to having a male around, so would be careful in what they did and didn't say. I yawned."Tired," Fabiola smirked."Oh yeah," I stifled another yawn. "Met an emissary from the Pope." Fabiola glowered. "No. Seriously. I met an emissary from Holy See. I let Hana know I wanted to get married in a highly improbable place, a ruined cathedral, so she contacted the Catholic Church and one of their guys wanted to meet with me.""That had to be fun," Tigger grinned. "What does the Cult of the Nazarene think of you and the Goddess Ishara?""We actually discussed polytheism and the place of an omnipotent, omnipresent being in the scope of things," I placed my hands behind my back and rocked back and forth. "It was quite interesting. The guy knew his shit."By that, I meant he was probably with the Pope's Secret Service as well as a Brainiac with a PhD in something. He'd promised to be in touch as soon as he heard back from his superiors. He had this hot chick with him who I suspected was a nun. And if his driver wasn't ex-military, it was because he was still in the service. On the plus side, Hana had been beaming when we left, which assured me the meeting had gone well, so we had sex from 4 AM until 5:30, thus my current fatigued state."Are you going to abandon your faith?" Fabiola taunted me."I don't have faith, Fabiola of Minerva. Faith would imply I don't know there are supernatural entities screwing with our lives. I know they do exist, I've met a few. To satisfy your disingenuous curiosity, we discussed the nature of the Weave and it being the possible manifestation of God's Will.""How did that go?" Paula appeared interested."He strongly suggested I should 'revisit my Catholic roots' soon. By that, I think he meant I'm supposed to start attending church regularly," I shrugged. "The Pope is sending an envoy to the Great Khan too, so odds are good I'm getting married," I pronounced the last bit as the doom-laden prediction it was."Oh, yes," Fabiola reached passed Paula and smacked me in the chest with the back of her hand. "That is for insinuating you and I had intercourse to my Mother and the Council.""Was that chastising me for lying, or for not making it so?" I winked."Ah, no!" she pouted. "Stop lying about me."I looked down at my phone."We've got twelve minutes," I double-pumped my eyebrows. "Want to go to Katrina's bathroom?""What! No!" Fabiola

No matter how long you've been in markets, we're all guilty, at one point or another, of operating at a headline level. When markets are moving violently - like they are now - and we're all trying to keep up, operating at a summary level can become even more pronounced. But looking beyond the headlines, challenging what you think you know, and diving deeper into complex issues, will almost certainly always yield a better result. For example, one of the dominant narratives right now is that Trump's tariffs will lead to higher inflation. Logically, it makes sense. But the reality could look quite different according to Charlie Jamieson, Co-Founder of Jamieson Coote Bonds. “Everybody just jumps to ‘tariffs mean higher prices, that means inflation'. Well, it's not quite that simple. It definitely means higher prices, but that does potentially mean demand destruction in some things. It really matters how elastic the thing that is being tariffed actually is", says Jamieson. He goes on to provide the example of a 100% tariff on a luxury handbag: “you probably won't sell too many.” Conversely, a tariff on the one little part you need for a broken-down heating or air conditioning unit: " You're probably going to pay it because you're really, really need it - it's very inelastic.” Jamieson also points out that inflation is “a continual and sustained increase in pricing”. “If prices go up 10% that's terrible, obviously demand will be affected, but if they don't change thereafter, it's not inflationary.  It just means that yes, of course it is in the very first reading of, but it's not a continued and sustained price increase”. The final piece to this puzzle is what happened last time. “As we saw in Trump 1.0, despite his tariffs at that time, inflation continually fell through that period”, notes Jamieson. “Trump's thinking is that if he can bring that budgetary deficit down considerably, it will also help take out excess demand, it'll bring more efficiency to government and in doing so, he will lower inflation”. This is just one of the many narratives that Jamieson unpacks in the following Rules of Investing podcast, which covers a lot of ground about the global economy, central bank policy, interest rates, inflation, and why investors have a great opportunity right now to rethink and reposition their portfolios. Thanks to our Sponsor AlphaSense This latest episode is brought to you by AlphaSense. See what AlphaSense can do for your investment research—visit alpha-sense.com/livewire to get started.

Have you ever felt like you're stuck waiting for someone to change or finally treat you the way you deserve? In this episode, I'm breaking down why waiting around for respect or accountability from the wrong person is a losing game. It's time to look at this LOGICALLY and from a place of SELF-RESPECT. This is your wake-up call, with a sprinkle of humor... and a whole lot of tough love.  Listen NOW!  Then, check out my book "Don't Be DESPERATE: Get Over Your Breakup with CLARITY & DIGNITY" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3R2EHiz AND, let's take this a step further... (1) ORDER EMAIL or PHONE coaching at breakupBOOST.com (2) Call Trina direct on The Breakup Hotline ANYTIME! (see website for details: https://www.breakupboost.com/live-coaching-trina-breakup-boost) (3) Check out Trina's BREAKUP AND DATING MERCH: blockandshop.com (4) SUBSCRIBE to Trina's YouTube - search "breakup BOOST" (5) Follow Trina TIKTOK @breakupBOOST

Explore the essentials of MySQL database design with Lois Houston and Nikita Abraham, who team up with MySQL expert Perside Foster to discuss key storage concepts, transaction support in InnoDB, and ACID compliance. You'll also get tips on choosing the right data types, optimizing queries with indexing, and boosting performance with partitioning.   MySQL 8.4 Essentials: https://mylearn.oracle.com/ou/course/mysql-84-essentials/141332/226362 Oracle University Learning Community: https://education.oracle.com/ou-community LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/oracle-university/ X: https://x.com/Oracle_Edu   Special thanks to Arijit Ghosh, David Wright, Kris-Ann Nansen, Radhika Banka, and the OU Studio Team for helping us create this episode.   ---------------------------------------------------------   Episode Transcript:   00:00 Welcome to the Oracle University Podcast, the first stop on your cloud journey. During this series of informative  podcasts, we'll bring you foundational training on the most popular Oracle technologies. Let's get started! 00:26 Lois: Hello and welcome to the Oracle University Podcast. I'm Lois Houston, Director of Innovation Programs with Oracle University, and with me today is Nikita Abraham, Team Lead of Editorial Services. Nikita: Hi everyone! Last week, we looked at installing MySQL and in today's episode, we're going to focus on MySQL database design. Lois: That's right, Niki. Database design is the backbone of any MySQL environment. In this episode, we'll walk you through how to structure your data to ensure smooth performance and scalability right from the start.   00:58 Nikita: And to help us with this, we have Perside Foster joining us again. Perside is a MySQL Principal Solution Engineer at Oracle. Hi Perside, let's start with how MySQL handles data storage on the file system. Can you walk us through the architecture? Perside: In the MySQL architecture, the storage engine layer is part of the server process. Logically speaking, it comes between the parts of the server responsible for inputting, parsing, and optimizing SQL and the underlying file systems. The standard storage engine in MySQL is called InnoDB. But other storage engines are also available. InnoDB supports many of the features that are required by a production database system. Other storage engines have different sets of features. For example, MyISAM is a basic fast storage engine but has fewer reliability features. NDB Cluster is a scalable distributed storage engine. It runs on multiple nodes and uses additional software to manage the cluster.  02:21 Lois: Hi Perside! Going back to InnoDB, what kind of features does InnoDB offer? Perside: The storage engine supports many concurrent users. It also keeps their changes separate from each other. One way it achieves this is by supporting transactions. Transactions allows users to make changes that can be rolled back if necessary and prevent other users from seeing those changes until they are committed or saved persistently. The storage engine also enables referential integrity. This is to make sure that data in a dependent table refers only to valid source data. For example, you cannot insert an order for a customer that does not exist. It stores raw data on disk in a B-tree structure and uses fast algorithms to insert rows in the correct place. This is done so that the data can be retrieved quickly. It uses a similar method to store indexes. This allows you to run queries based on a sort order that is different from the row's natural order. InnoDB has its own buffer pool. This is a memory cache that stores recently accessed data. And as a result, queries on active data are much faster than queries that read from the disk. InnoDB also has performance features such as multithreading and bulk insert optimization. 04:13 Lois: So, would you say InnoDB is generally the best option? Perside: When you install MySQL, the standard storage engine is InnoDB. This is generally the best choice for production workloads that need both reliability and high performance. It supports transaction syntax, such as commit and rollback, and is fully ACID compliant. 04:41 Nikita: To clarify, ACID stands for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability. But could you explain what that means for anyone who might be new to the term? Perside: ACID stands for atomic. This means your transaction can contain multiple statements, but the transaction as a whole is treated as one change that succeeds or fails. Consistent means that transactions move the system from one consistent state to another. Isolated means that changes made during a transaction are isolated from other users until that transaction completes. And durable means that the server ensures that the transaction is persisted or written to disk once it completes. 05:38 Lois: Thanks for breaking that down for us, Perside. Could you tell us about the data encryption and security features supported by InnoDB? Perside: InnoDB supports data encryption, which keeps your data secure on the disk. It also supports compression, which saves space at the cost of some extra CPU usage. You can configure an InnoDB cluster of multiple MySQL server nodes across multiple hosts to enable high availability. Transaction support is a key part of any reliable database, particularly when multiple concurrent users can change data. By default, each statement commits automatically so that you don't have to type commit every time you update a row. You can open a transaction with the statement START TRANSACTION or BEGIN, which is synonymous. 06:42 Nikita: Perside, what exactly do the terms "schema" and "database" mean in the context of MySQL, and how do they relate to the storage structure of tables and system-level information? Perside: Schema and database both refer to collections of tables and other objects. In some platform, a schema might contain databases. In MySQL, the word schema is a synonym for database. In InnoDB and some other storage engines, each database maps to a directory on the file system, typically in the data directory. Each table has rows data stored in a file. In InnoDB, this file is the InnoDB tablespace, although you can choose to store tables in other tablespaces. MySQL uses some databases to store or present system-level information. The MySQL and information schema databases are used to store and present structural information about the server, including authentication settings and table metadata. You can query performance metrics from the performance schema and sys databases. If you have configured a highly available InnoDB cluster, you can examine its configuration from the MySQL InnoDB cluster metadata database. 08:21 Lois: What kind of data types does MySQL support? Perside: MySQL supports a number of data types with special characteristics. BLOB stands for Binary Large Object Block. Columns that specify this type can contain large chunks of binary data. For example, JPG pictures or MP3 audio files. You can further specify the amount of storage required by specifying the subtype-- for example, TINYBLOB or LONGBLOB. Similarly, you can store large amounts of text data in TEXT, TINYTEXT, and so on. These types, BLOB and TEXT, share the same characteristic, that they are not stored in the same location as other data from the same row. This is to improve performance because many queries against the table do not query BLOB or TEXT data contained within the table. MySQL supports geographic or spatial data and queries on that data. These include ways to represent points, lines, polygons, and collections of such elements. The JSON data type enables you to use MySQL as a document store. A column of this type can contain complete JSON documents in each row. And MySQL has several functions that enable querying and searching for values within such documents.  10:11 Adopting a multicloud strategy is a big step towards future-proofing your business and we're here to help you navigate this complex landscape. With our suite of courses, you'll gain insights into network connectivity, security protocols, and the considerations of working across different cloud platforms. Start your journey to multicloud today by visiting mylearn.oracle.com. 10:38 Nikita: Welcome back. Perside, how do indexes improve the performance of MySQL queries? Perside: Indexes make it easier for MySQL to find specific rows. This doesn't just speed up queries, but also ensures that newly inserted rows are placed in the best position in the data file so that future queries will findthem quickly. 11:03 Nikita: And how do these indexes work exactly? Perside: Indexes work by storing the raw data or a subset of the raw data in some defined order. An index can be ordered on some non-unique value, such as a person's name. Or you can create an index on some value that must be unique within the table, such as an ID. The primary index, sometimes called a clustered index, is the complete table data stored on a unique value called a Primary Key. 11:38 Lois: Ok. And what types of indices are supported by InnoDB? Perside: InnoDB supports multiple index types. Raw data in most secondary indexes are stored in a BTREE structure. This stores data in specific buckets based on the index key using fixed-size data pages. HASH indexes are supported by some storage engines, including the memory storage engine. InnoDB has an adaptive HASH feature, which kicks in automatically for small tables and workloads that benefits from them. Spatial data can be indexed using the RTREE structure.  12:25 Nikita: What are some best practices we should follow when working with indexes in MySQL? Perside: First, you should create a Primary Key for each table. This value is unique for each row and is used to order the row data. InnoDB doesn't require that tables have an explicit Primary Key, but if you don't set one, it creates a hidden Primary Key. Each secondary index is a portion of the data ordered by some other column. And internally, each index entry uses the Primary Key as a lookup back to the rest of the row. If your Primary Key is large or complex, this increases the storage requirement of each index. And every time you modify a row, MySQL must update every affected index in the background. The more indexes you have on a table, the slower every insert operation will be. This means that you should only create indexes that improve query performance for your specific workload. The sys schema in MySQL Enterprise Monitor have features to identify indexes that are unused. Use prefix and compound keys to reduce indexes. A prefix key contains only the first part of a string. This can be particularly useful when you have large amounts of text in an index key and want to index based on the first few characters. A compound key contains multiple columns, for example, last name and first name. This also speeds up queries where you're looking for only those values because the secondary index can fulfill the query without requiring a lookup back to the primary indexes.  14:35 Lois: Before we let you go, can you explain what table partitioning is? Perside: Table partitioning is enabled by using a plugin. When you partition a table, you divide its content according to certain rules. You might store portions of the table based on the range of values in a column. For example, storing all sales for 2024 in a single partition. A partition based on a list enables you to store rows with specific values in the partition column. When you partition by hash or key, you distribute rows somewhat evenly between partitions. This means that you can distribute a large table across multiple disks, or you can place more frequently accessed data on faster storage. Explain works with partitioning. Simply prefix any query that uses partition data, and the output shows information about how the optimizer will use the partition. Partitioning is one of the features that is only fully supported in Enterprise Edition. 15:57 Lois: Perside, thank you so much for joining us today. In our next episode, we'll dive deep into MySQL security. Nikita: And if you want to learn more about what we discussed today, visit mylearn.oracle.com and search for the MySQL 8.4: Essentials course. Until next week, this is Nikita Abraham… Lois: And Lois Houston signing off! 16:18 That's all for this episode of the Oracle University Podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please click Subscribe to get all the latest episodes. We'd also love it if you would take a moment to rate and review us on your podcast app. See you again on the next episode of the Oracle University Podcast.

Logically, you would want Fry to kill his dog. For bonus episodes, go to patreon.com/mostcontroversial

I have used the terms over methylator and undermethylation in the past to help categorize people to streamline their supplement start with MTHFR or other methylation imbalance, but the terms themselves can be confusing and misleading because they imply a biochemical state that isn't actually there. Logically, it makes sense that an undermethylator would be globally undermethylating things, but that doesn't bear out in reality, and part of that is because these terms (over- and under-methylator) were coined well before we had as much knowledge about the actual biochemistry and genetics linked to it as we do now. Categorizing people in this way does still have some uesful aspects because many of the traits we see in people with methylation imbalance that are used to determine over and under-methylators, still point to some predictable medication reactions, supplement guidelines and other useful information. So how do we keep the good without keeping the names? Tune in next episode because we'll be talking about a new way of looking at this. Methylation Archetypes. GENETIC ROCKSTARS (an MTHFR community): https://community.tohealthwiththat.com FREE COURSE: MTHFR Basics: https://to-health-with-that.teachable.com/p/mthfr-basics GROUP COACHING: https://www.tohealthwiththat.com/group-coaching/ WEBSITE: https://tohealthwiththat.com/ AFFILIATE LINKS: I appreciate you using these links to purchase products you would buy anyway, because they allow me to keep putting information out there. Thank you! SEEKING HEALTH (metylation and histamine support supplements - these ship internationally): https://bit.ly/3afXYH4 STRATEGENE REPORT (detailed genetics using 23andme or ancestry raw data): https://bit.ly/3retbm5 FULLSCRIPT (professional grade supplements): https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/thwt QUEEN OF THE THRONE (castor oil and castor oil packs):  https://shop.queenofthethrones.com/amy-tohealthwiththat use code AMY_TOHEALTHWITHTHAT10 for 10% off of any order of $59 or more

At Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC, our senior pastor Rev. Craig Bailey preached for the third week of Advent, encouraging us as devoted disciples to train our brains to think logically.

Dr. Brian Harris of Smile Virtual gets real and raw with Kiera. The topic: burnout, and how Dr. Harris navigated it to boost himself toward success. He talks about what that meant personally, professionally, as well as tackling the reality of finances and production with a practice partner, and more. Episode resources: Learn about Smile Virtual Listen to episode 840: Easy Way to Get More Patients Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00.536) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am super pumped to welcome back one of our top guests that's been on the podcast, Dr. Brian Harris. I hope you guys caught his last podcast where we went into all things for Smile Virtual, how we can increase your practice by doing virtual consults. And today he's back to chat, case acceptance, and I'm going to geek out and ask him my own personal selfish questions, but Brian's incredible. Welcome back, Brian. How are you today? Thank you. It is great to be back. I loved the conversation we had last time and I feel like we started to   to get into some really cool topics and then we ran out of time. So this is great. I'm excited to be back for sure. I love someone who can geek dental with me for as long as we were to where we run out of time because we're just so in the thick of it. And so welcome back. I love it. Tell us though, for those who might have missed the last episode, kind of just give them a quick rundown of who you are, how you became the Brian Harris, how you're helping dentists across the nation. I love what you do. I think you do incredible work.   And we even have actually had, this is random. I have friends that have worked for you in Arizona that I just put the connection together last night. I was like, wait, Trista worked for you. And so it's kind of a fun time, but kind of for our audience, if they don't know you, give them a quick intro about you and what you do and how we even got here to then tee up our stage for today. Yeah, that's always scary when you have friends that have worked for somebody or worked for me because then you're like, shoot, they know like, they know the real me. So,   You know, I will I'll give you a background. You know, I feel like I've got, you know, a pretty common story in dentistry, but then also like a pretty interesting one, too. You know, I grew up around it. My dad was a dentist. I've got two brothers that are dentists. My father-in-law is a dentist. I mean, it's it's just kind of always been part of my life. Joined my dad's practice 2005. He was doing a ton of cosmetic dentistry at that time. And so   you know, naturally was able to mentor me and allow me to do a lot myself. And we have a, you know, just a great family cosmetic practice. And we built that into five different locations throughout Arizona. And then probably like 2016 was like the real pivot point for me because I was, you know, we were cruising along, we had the five locations, but I was burning out and   The Dental A Team (02:29.088) And I kind of was just like, man, I just want to do what I love to do. And I don't necessarily want to be going to all these offices. I don't want to be working the hours that I was working. And so I had an experience with my wife kind of urging me to push and post more on social media and kind of show the world the type of dentistry that I do. And everything just kind of took off from there and started to build a brand and started to   to have patients flying in to see me. because of that, launched a software platform called Smile Virtual. talked about that last time and it's the top tele-industry platform now in our industry. And I still am seeing patients three long days a week and loving what I do with Smile Designs and probably about 70 % of all my patients fly in from out of state to see me in two visits.   That's my story. It's been pretty remarkable and I've been able to take the things that I've learned and I'm just passionate about sharing that with other doctors and helping them do the same in their own practices. I love it. Thank you for sharing that. And it was interesting because my husband and were talking last night. I told him, said, hey, tomorrow's podcast day. I'm really excited. We were chatting about your podcast. And my husband actually asked me an interesting question. He's like, Kiera, I think this would actually be a really good podcast topic. And I said,   I don't know the answer to it. So Brian, maybe you can actually help. Because as you were talking about your story and having the locations, I think there actually becomes this pivotal moment where we're on this path. And so my husband asked me, he said, what's the difference between settling, failing, and living in the moment? And I'm curious if you have any insights on that. I know I didn't prep you up for it, and I didn't even plan to talk about it with you. But I think you kind of hit that level, right? You could have kept growing, and you decided.   Like I'm burnt out, but I think so many of us it's like, well then am I settling and like gonna just scale back? Am I failing because I'm tired or am I like living in the moment or then also pivoting to what I really want? So do you have any insights on that? Like I said, I wasn't planning on it, but I didn't have quite the answers and I think it could be a really interesting combo to kind of kick us off today. Yeah, I love that question. I really love that question and I've never been asked it before. And so that's why when you asked it, I was like, huh.   The Dental A Team (04:50.446) That's actually really interesting. I think, I think what happens is for me, at least the way I experienced it, it kind of, I experienced all three of those things at the same time. Like I felt like to some degree I was like, well, yeah, we have the five locations. Like I should be happy, know, I need to be successful doing what I love. But then also I kind of felt like I was, you know, so I felt like I was like, well,   am I settling because I don't get to do only the stuff I love? And then it kind of felt like failure because I felt like, you know, I should be happy, but I wasn't. So I kind of felt like I was failing at this game of happiness as a dentist. And then I think the third part of that is like recognizing that like, that's the sweet spot. Like that's where you want to be because I feel like that's where the magic happens when you get to this.   this point of like internal conflict of like, what's really going on here? Like that's like, when you make a move there, you know, if you make the right move, it's always going to be like the move that made a difference. know? It's interesting. And I'm curious, like, how did you reconcile through that? And like, how long does it take? Because I know, like I'm going through a very similar experience and like this summer, I just hit rock bottom and I'm like, but on paper, my life is like popping.   It's the most perfect and like people on the outside looking in are like, here, what are you talking about? My family is like, what are you talking about? But internally you have this guilt, you have this struggle. It's like, I'm so happy with the life I'm living, but I'm also like so stretched, so thin. And I'm also questioning like, am I really on the path that I want to be on? Or am I just on the path that kind of like fell into my lap? And maybe I'm, managing it rather than creating it. So like how long does, and I agree with you, it is the magic sweet spot, but it.   feels like it's the failure sweet spot. feels like it's the rock bottom. feels like it's the the ultimate failure of your life. I'm like, I'm, my life is so good that I'm so miserable. It's such like this like paradox of life. So how did you navigate through it? How long did it take you? Because it doesn't happen overnight. And I think so many people have this like   The Dental A Team (07:01.678) misbelief that it's like, Brian woke up and was like, I know what I want to do. Versus it's like it takes some time. And maybe you did. Maybe I'm the one who just takes a long time to figure out what I want to do in life. But how was that for you? How did you navigate it? Yeah, I think what happens is, when you've been there a couple times, like to me, I see it now is like, that's just part of the process is part of growth. The first couple times I found myself in situations like that with different   companies that I started or things that I got involved in. It took me months, even years to make a decision. But now it happens all the time where, you know, I'll have this great idea and on paper, like it's like, this makes total sense. And then I start down that path and I'm like, ooh, this is a bad idea. And so now I've gotten really good at like, just, when I recognize that it's not a dead end, it's just a cul-de-sac. You just freaking turn around and go back the other way and,   and do something different. And so I think, I mean, you're going to have listeners, viewers that are at this point where they're like, I don't get it. Like I'm just getting started. don't even, I can't even get patients in the chair. Like I don't have that problem yet, but they will get to that point at some time. And so I think if you're there, then it's like, listen to this conversation, cause it's going to happen sometime. And then you're going to have a lot of people that I feel are there. And, and I think that the important thing is   stop making decisions, just decide. Just decide. If it's what you want to do and you're like, you know what, I'm ready for a change. A mentor of mine pushed me and as I was going back and forth with him of like, I want to do this, but I also only want to see small design cases. But I also don't want to make my dad and brother upset because they think I'm being selfish for not wanting to do hygiene exams anymore. I was going back and forth and he's like, dude, Brian.   He's like, for two days we've been talking, he's like, stop making decisions, just decide, are you gonna do it or not? He's like, if you're gonna do it, then just do it and then go and create it. But if you're not, then stop worrying about it and just get back to what you were doing before. How did you figure out, Brian, that you, that's so lovely, and I love that you brought up family dynamics and guilt and like, I don't want my spouse to think this about me, but it's like, people don't actually think those things. I think a lot of times we project it. And even if they do think that, like,   The Dental A Team (09:25.486) At the end of day, it's your life and you're creating it and you're living it. How did you decide though? Cause I think there's a piece of you of like, you've got this serial entrepreneur in you. mean, we're going to talk clean products. We're going to talk a lot of the different things you've done. You cosmetic dentist, smile, virtual, clean products. Like you've got this serial entrepreneur within you. So you've got this like massive growth. You're building all these practices, but then you also love cosmetic dentistry. How did you navigate and decide like, what I really have my passion for is this? Because I think some people get like sloshy there and they get gray there. And it's like, it's.   under the surface of I think like layers and layers and layers of guilt or what I should be doing or maybe I don't know but I'm like I feel like people always have that core they do know how did you decide that that was your core and you wanted to do these these smile virtual designs and that's what you really wanted to do. Yeah, I think I think two things happen I think people they realize it's what they want to do but then they don't feel like you know they have these thoughts of doubt of like well   I'm never gonna have enough of those type of patients come in. I think that's a separate conversation. I think the conversation of like the first part that you mentioned of like, do you do that without feeling selfish? Especially within like a family dynamic. I think you just have to be vulnerable and really open and honest and speak to your partners. Speak to those in your life that it's going to affect and come up with a way where it works for everybody. know, it was, and I mean, rightfully so.   It does seem selfish to say like, hey, I am only going to do smile designs. I don't want to do hygiene exams anymore. You know, if I've got a dad and a brother who are my partners that are like, well, that's not fair. know, cool. We don't want to do them either. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it depends. Every practice different sometimes like, that's, that's how you fill your schedule. But other times, like it is a burden. And so being able to go to them and say, okay, here's my thought. If I do this.   I know it's going to increase my personal production, know, and we're partners, you know, all three of us are partners in this. And so in the end, what's going to happen is like, I'm willing to push hard. I'm willing to work hard. And at the time I think I was personally producing, I think my monthly average is about 450,000 a month, just myself, you know, doing smile design cases. And so I was able to show them like, if I do this,   The Dental A Team (11:49.08) there's gonna be significant amount more money going into practice that we can all share. And the trade off is that I'm not gonna have to do the exams and I'm gonna be able to practice kind of over here separate from the practice, but it's gonna put more stress on you guys, but ultimately we'll all win financially because we're partners. And that's exactly what happened. So. Yeah, no, and I think that's incredible because I also think as society and as doctors and as partners and as people,   I think we often think what's fair is equal. And that's actually not true. Like it doesn't have to be like just because you can produce more doesn't mean that we have to be seeing all the hygiene exams. And I think when we can all step back and say, what's in the betterment of the business, which is ultimately in the betterment of all of us. And then how can we do that? And I know for even like some partnerships, yeah, it does make sense financially for you to do it, but the stress of the hygiene exams is going to be a piece for us.   Well, great, let's find a middle ground. Maybe I take pick up hygiene exams one day out of the week, but I do smile design cases for the rest of the week until we realize like this is really better or like let's bring on an associate that does hygiene exams. Where it's like there's so many different crayons in our crayon box. Like let's not forget that we don't just have black and white. We actually have all the myriad of colors and finding the solution. I think it's important. So thanks for like going down that rabbit hole with me a little bit. I was just so curious. I'm like, it seems like he's got it like pretty much figured out. And I also really loved and I hope people heard like   I think the more we can practice this skill of, like, I remember I was at a conference this summer and the speaker was saying, he's like, why, why did you ever think that you have just one why or one purpose in this life? He's like, why can't you think that you might have multiple purposes and multiple whys throughout your lifetime? And it was just like, aha moment. Cause I was like, find your why. I'm like, what if there's a few whys throughout like the chapters of our life. And so I really loved how it sounds like you've just built that mental resilience of.   try this path and if we get to the end, it's just a cul-de-sac and we redirect and come back rather than it being like, I'm at the bottom, I'm at the ultimate failure. No, we're just like redirecting and figuring out exactly where we're going. And I think like mountain climbs, you look at it, it's not just a straight uphill climb. It's literally like there's dips and ups and dips and ups, but that's actually how we get to the top, not just in one like direct line. So I really, really loved it. Any last thoughts you've got on that before I pivot into case acceptance and clean products?   The Dental A Team (14:06.348) No, the only other thing that I thought of when when I was talking is just what I don't think it's talked about enough is partnerships and especially family partnerships, but just partnerships in general. I mean, you hear just horror stories of how how things end and and the reality is like working with family or working with partners where you're really close like it's it can be a beautiful thing, but it's it's just like a marriage to like you.   you will have your times where, you know, there's frustration, there's, you know, anger, there may be some tears, you have to be able to just talk through things and hear both sides and come up with a solution that's fair. I think when I see things fall apart, there's all this tension, but nobody's willing to talk about it. And I think that's where problems happen.   So let's dig a little deeper on partnerships because you actually have family partnerships and then you have other business partnerships. What do you find are some of the top things to make partnerships successful? Because there is a phrase that I have heard that I think is very ironic and they say, partnerships sink ships. But then I also hear other people where partnerships can actually exponentially grow the ship as well. So what are some of the things you've done from family partnerships to business partnerships?   that you feel have set that up because I don't think you could do all the things you do without strong partnerships. Maybe you could. I don't know. Maybe you're Superman and I don't know it. But I feel like so much of your success is actually on leveraging and being connected to really great partners. I could be wrong. But what do you find within that partnership world that has helped you be successful in partnerships and not sinking the ships? I think you have to find partners that, you know, are aligned in the same vision. But I also think you   you have to go into it with a strong understanding that it may end. And if it does, how do you both be able to walk away and be at peace with everything? I think the struggle I've found for myself in some partnerships in the past is like for me, and it's just more my personality, like I'm ready to go. Like I'm up at four every day. I leave my house by like,   The Dental A Team (16:27.854) between 431 and 432, depends on how long it takes me to feed the dogs. And I'm at the office, I've got a little bit of a commute, but I'm there at 510. And then I work until I start seeing patients at seven, and I don't take a lunch, and I work through the end of the day. On Thursdays, I work nonstop on the businesses. But I recognize now, but that's not normal. And it's not necessarily healthy. For most people, it's not.   healthy thing. It's just how I operate best. And I would go into partnerships sometimes expecting that like, we're both going to just be working this hard and growing this thing. And my brother Scott's like a perfect example of this. Like, he is very balanced. And he is like, he's going to go to the gym. And he's going to leave right on time so he could be home be with the family. And it and, you know, so it's it's like for him.   He's not going to waver. He's not going to bend on those things because, you know, those, you know, structure for him and his personality is extremely important. And so it's just understanding those things and then creating things within the partnership around that that just work. So again, communication, but then also don't just go form partnerships to form partnerships. You know, no, I was going to say, I think sometimes you're like, well, I have this idea.   I'll partner with somebody and we'll go and do it. I think you can actually run much faster alone. And then when you get to a point where it's time to bring in like a good strategic partner, you know, then then really think about who that who that person is. So on that, I'm curious, we're going to dig into this. This is so juicy, because people don't talk about it. So Brian, thank you for like tipping into the iceberg with me that I think is so just relevant. What's your take on? Do you go 5050?   And then as a stronger producer, how do you make that to where you as a stronger producer actually don't become resentful to say people who like your brother Scott are leaving on time? Like how do you, because I think that the resentment is the underlying tones. Logically, I can understand that like I'm this type of wiring. My brother's this type of wiring, but how do you not like allow that underlying tension? Do you set it up to where you're paid more as a higher producer? Because I know that there's some partnerships where the producer, I think   The Dental A Team (18:52.27) I don't know. I'm going to give air quotes. think sometimes being the larger producer sometimes feels like the easier person in the partnership, even though like I've got air quotes around that because the other partner usually is the one picking up the hygiene exams. They're doing the minimal dentistry, but they're benefiting from the higher producer. And the higher producer has all the stress of you've got to freaking produce as well to like carry this ship as well. Like how do you navigate and not get resentment? Should it be 50 50? Should it be broken down on like   how much you're producing so that way you keep your drivers incentivized. Like what are your thoughts around how to set that up? Obviously, this is what's worked for you. People have to figure out what works for them. But any tips that you have on that or insights from all the partnerships you've done? Yeah, I'll just share what's worked for my brother Scott and I and hopefully he's cool with me sharing this. And we need to understand about Scott is like he's   He's an amazing cosmetic dentist. Like his attention to detail is like next level. And that's not saying that mine is not. It's just that, you know, from like a comfort level and speed and like flow, what works for me really works for me. It works for him, really works for him. But yeah, like let's say, let's say in a certain scenario, you know, you get to the end of the month and you're 50, 50 partners, but let's say, you know, I'm just going to use rough numbers just to keep it simple.   Let's say one partner produces $100,000 and the other one produces $200,000 and you're both paid on a percentage of what you do. let's just call it like 35%. Well, what happens is over here, after I get paid my 35%, Scott gets paid his 35%. Like that's fair because we're getting a percentage of what we produce. But a lot of times in this higher percentage area of production, there's more pure profit going to the practice.   Right. so, but technically you split all the profit 50-50. Right. And so what can happen sometimes is you get to a scenario where like you're like, wait, for me to move the needle more and to make more money, I've got to produce significantly more. Right. And so what Scott and I ended up doing is like, we would just say like, hey, this is what it is. We each get paid our 35%. We split whatever comes in, but that we stop.   The Dental A Team (21:14.734) like two times a year, once before the summer, once before the end of the year, look at all the numbers and say like, okay, before we do this actual split, let's look at it. Do feel it's fair? You know, are you good with how things are going? He would say his piece, I would say mine. And if we looked at the numbers and it was like, man, I produced quite a bit more the last six months, then we take whatever that money was there to split that month and be like, well, hey, how do you feel about 70 30 or a feel about 60 40? And, and we would do things   that way. And I know that doesn't work for everybody. But I think I think just being open, it's like you have you have the rules of like how the partnership set up. But then you also have the ability to be able to say like, Hey, do we need to adjust a couple times a year? And would this feel more fair just so you don't get to a place where you're resentful? And you said oftentimes, the easier partner is to be the higher producer. Yeah.   I totally agree with that. But then I also feel like sometimes, you know, the the partner doctor, you know, that's not a fun place to be in either, because, you know, they're they're always feeling like, you know, they're always feeling like maybe there could be some resentment there, they're always feeling like, you know, maybe things potentially aren't fair. I mean, it's it's a delicate, it's a delicate situation. But I think you   You treat the business like a business. I guess that's the one thing that I would say is treat it like a business. Try to take the emotion out and say, okay, what's really like the fairest way to do this? And that will resolve a lot of the issues. Yeah. And I think like props to you and Scott. Scott, I know you're not on this, but thank you. Like, hopefully you listen to this. I also think that there's different value systems, right? Like hearing just you and Scott, I don't know Scott, I'm not interviewing Scott, I'm not podcasting with him. But to me, sounds like Scott's big thing is like his balance of his life.   Like he wants to be with the kids. He wants to work out. He wants to have like, loves doing dentistry. but like that to me is what I would think if I was looking at a value chart, that would be it. And Brian, not to say that your family is not important. Brian's family. That's not what we're saying here. Okay. We're just saying Brian's wired to your, a race horse. You want to go, you want to drive like that keeps you so inspired. And when you're fulfilled that way, you actually show up better for your family. You show up better for yourself. I can relate to that because I'm very much wired that way. And I always feel like a little bit of a jerk, like   The Dental A Team (23:39.32) Jay, I promise I love you. But it's like there's two different value systems running too. And so I think when partners can realize that, like, don't chop off Brian as this racehorse who wants to produce and wants to be there early and wants to go at 4.30 in the morning. Don't cut that to make the partnership fair. Like let Brian be himself, let Scott be himself. And then like you said, I do think the evaluation throughout the year is smart because a racehorse like yourself, Brian,   Like it is fun on the production. is fun to like hit the numbers. fun to see what you can produce. It's fun to challenge yourself. Like that's, think probably like growth and that drive for you. And so reward that person, give them like extra production, like rock on, keep running, keep doing it. And I'm going to keep my awesome balanced life over here. And I can see that. But I also think like kudos to Scott. I think that takes a lot of humility on his part too, to see that, because I think so many partners potentially on Scott's side can actually feel like less than.   and ego can creep in and say, well, no, I'm doing all these other things. We're fair. We're equal. So like, what do do when that creeps in of ego? Maybe Scott's just like an amazing human. I'm sure there's been times though. How do you guys navigate that conversation, Brian, because I've heard it in so many partnerships that I can't imagine you guys are immune to it forever. Maybe it was just earlier on too. Yeah, I think part of it is   You know, I remember we, I run a mastermind and a group of doctors that I started about six years ago and it's called the Elite Academy. And when we meet together, we'll share numbers, we'll share production numbers. I think...   Scott had always felt a certain way about it until we're in this room and everyone's sharing their numbers. And he's like, wait, I actually am a super high producer. He's like, wait, I'm producing $180,000 a month just himself. And yet maybe in our partnership, it can feel a certain way just because of how I work or how I do things. But the reality is he's super successful.   The Dental A Team (25:50.382) cosmetic dentist and and is producing a really high level. So I think it's it's important to understand that like you got to step out of it sometimes and look at like the big picture and be like, okay, maybe this isn't what it seems like. But then also like, you know, it does happen sometimes where you have a partner that's just just cool cruising kind of at the bare minimum and and and I think you have to respect that you either change the partnership you get out of it or   Like you respect that and you come up with a better solution that's going to to work for that partnership. have, I have a close friend that got stuck in one of the situations where he was kind of essentially feeding the other two partners and they were on cruise control. It started to create a lot of resentment because he's wanting to run fast over here. They're like, Hey, we're comfortable here. Part of the reason they're comfortable is because all this productions, you know,   going to them and paying the bills. And so that that's a type of situation where he struggled forever to get out of that and finally went to him and said like, Hey, I think it's time that we dissolve the partnership. And at the end of the day, I think they feel like it's the best move to they don't want to be living in that kind of stress either. So just communication, just talk about it. And I think like that feels scary. It feels scary to have those conversations. It feels scary to say that I had a very similar I remember working with a partnership and   the doctor that was a high producer was so frustrated because the other doctor was just not even like, not even trying to support, not looking for ways, like super comfortable. Like I got this great producer, keep producing for me. I'm gonna sit over here and have my great life. But there, built up so much resentment between the two that it was irreparable. And so really, like you said, I think having those conversations and when things frustrate you from the get go or like, I think we think we're being the bigger person, I think it's cool.   just let it like roll over. But I'm like, when you let it roll over so often, I see it with so many partnerships, I see it in marriages of doctors that are married and they're working in the practices and I'm sure you do too. It's, I think it's we work on it when it's like a tiny sliver rather than when it's a massive boulder between the two. Because then you can't fix it. But like a little sliver, we can like pluck that out and we can take care of it we can repair that and we can move on. But so many times I think it's we gloss over, we don't work on it, we don't talk about it.   The Dental A Team (28:18.124) and talking about it in a way where we actually come to a resolution, not a caving or giving in that then later builds resentment. So kudos to you guys, Brian. think great job, Scott. Great job, Brian. And I love what you said, Brian. And I'm the same way I always say, plan the divorce before you get married. How will we split this so that way all parties know? I think education on that is very powerful to know how we're going to end this if we ever end it. And then we write it and we do it until it no longer serves, but also.   Seeing the value that other partners bring, even if you're the high producer, think like kudos to you Brian on that. I think that that's a really magical thing because they do a lot of work that you're not doing. Like you're not doing hygiene exams. so seeing that that value, even though it's not dollar per dollar production, it does allow you to produce exponentially more. And without that, now you'd probably be okay. You probably don't need it as much, but to get you to where you are, they had to pave the way for you as well too. I think that there's, gosh, like you're right. There's just so many dynamics on it. So kudos to   But it's also a beautiful thing too. mean, if you look at, I mean, I've been married 24 years now. And if you look at, if you look at like relationships and partnerships, like you, you, you, least in my own relationship, I start to see like for, for so long, it was like, man, I wish she could be like this, or she would think, wish she could be more like this. And then you start to realize like, Hey, part of what makes this work is that we are very different. And part of what makes it work is like, you know,   we have different things to bring to the relationship. I think partnerships, it's the same thing, but sometimes we look at it as like, well, no, I'm doing this, they should be doing this too. Could you imagine what a marriage would be like if you were the younger or if you were the lower producer and you just felt like every day, your spouse was looking down on you and all the things that you're not doing right and how you need to be better and how you need to show more love. mean, it would just feel   it would feel super empty, but that's it's the same type of feelings, you know, and so it's being able to be like, okay, wait, okay, here's our here's our each of our strengths, like, let's play off these and let's create a great relationship. So yeah, no, and I'm so glad you brought that up. Because I remember for a long time, my husband is just such a fun human. And he like his his phrase lately has been like, gosh, like, why is life so good? And he's just like, obsessed with living in the moment and obsessed with being so happy. And I he reminds me   The Dental A Team (30:46.488) to stop and smell the freaking roses of like this beautiful rose garden we've built rather than be like, rose garden done. We now need a forest. Like he's so good at reminding me of that. And for probably like the first five years of marriage, we've just hit our 13 years, so not the 24. But I remember like at year five, six, I thought, gosh, like I probably should have married someone different. Like I probably should have married someone who's a stronger driver with me. Someone who like challenges me harder. Neither is wild epiphany of   man, if I would have married that person, I don't think I could have blossomed to the level that I did because I would have been competing with someone. I wouldn't have had someone who's there like supporting me day in day out. Jason will wake up early with me in the morning. I'm sure you do it too, Brian. Like we just rattle off all of our brilliant ideas. Our poor spouses like love them because we just like hit them with all these great ideas and they just sit there and they love us and they encourage us and they inspire us. And I just thought there is so much beauty in who Jason is.   being complimentary to me rather than being the same as me. And it took a long time for me to realize that compliments actually so beautiful. And that's what makes the masterpiece rather than being the exact same color. And I think that it's well said. And with partnerships, just think like it takes humility and it takes like effort and it takes intentionality on partnerships to see what they're doing right rather than focusing on what's wrong, because what they're doing right and good and great is as available as what they're not doing and what they're failing at.   Both are available to us every single day. It's just which one are we choosing to look at more? And that's what creates our vision from my perspective. Yeah. For those just joining, welcome to the successful marriage podcast. We're here today. We'll dive into all things relationships. it's, it's, listen, it's beautiful. And, and I think some of it just comes with time and maturity and realizing like, I think the more time has gone on,   the more I realized like a lot of times like, and maybe I am the problem in both professional and personal relationships. And when you start to realize like, okay, you're way more in control than you think you are. So no, that was good. I'm glad we went into all that. I think it's important. You and me both. And I know we had come into the podcast thinking we were going to talk about something and the reality is we went in different route, but that's how podcasts work. so   The Dental A Team (33:07.756) And I'm glad we did because I do agree with you. Partnerships are not discussed a lot. And I think people jump into partnerships and they're so excited about them. And I think you and I have a lot of years of experience personally. I've been in several partnerships myself in business and I've been burned a lot. I've had some very great successes a lot. I think you probably can relate. But the reality is I think so much success can come from partnerships. So just to clarify, do you believe in 50-50 partnerships? So pretend you're a solo doctor. You don't have family.   Are you a 50-50 proponent? Are you like a 30-70 proponent? Are you a small in this practice? And then we go 50-50 in the next practice. What's kind of your like, your flavors on partnerships just as a general consensus, which I understand will asterisked across. Every marriage looks different. Every relationship looks different. Every partnership looks different. There's different reasons for different pieces. But if you're an owner doctor, because I think so many owner doctors, Brian, you hear this, I hear this. I built this freaking practice and now just going to give away 50%.   and the newer doctors like, yeah, I'm not going to be like less than you. So like, how do you navigate that? What are your thoughts on that? Since we've decided to elect to partnerships today, partnerships and marriages, whatever we want to talk about. No, it's great. Let's do it. When, when I first bought into my dad's practice, we sat down with a consultant and the way they looked at it, they're like, Hey, if we're going to do this, we have it valued. And whatever that top value is, Brian, like that's what you're going to pay into the partnership.   Like you will be 50-50 partner, but you're going to buy in what the practice is worth now. And I think that's absolutely how it should be handled. I think you treat it like a business. When my dad retired a couple of years ago. So then at that point, then when it was time for Scott to buy in, we had the practice evaluated at top dollar and then Scott bought in one third of that. How long has Scott been working? Just as clarity. Cause a lot of doctors get angry with this too, cause they feel like they've worked. They've   added to the value of the practice and they don't want to buy their equity that they've done. So Scott's been out of school two years less than I have. So he graduated in 2007, but he had his own practice. One of the five offices was his and then he bought in. We ended up selling off the four offices, kept our flagship office. He bought in as one third partner on that. So he was partners on the rest. But as far as our main practice in Phoenix, he bought in and paid   The Dental A Team (35:33.486) what one third was worth. And then when my dad retired, like we both came in and we bought out my dad's one third for what it was worth. Now at the time, you could say like, I mean, it was like eight and a half million dollar practice. And so you could say of that, probably 45 % of that on an annual basis was maybe 40 % was coming just from my production. So like I could have   And I'm not going to lie. I started to go there. I started to be like, wait, I'm to pay top dollar. But essentially what I'm paying for is what I've. Yes. What I myself. Yeah. And like what I've been building. Yeah. And so it's like, well, yeah, over the last several years, like, you know, I've been producing, you know, three, $4 million a year myself for last several years. So that's why now we're at this place where the practice is worth eight and a half. Exactly. And, and so it's like, well, is it fair that I then go in and pay?   top dollar, even though a lot of that's coming from me. And I think the answer to that is absolutely it's fair. It's fair because, you know, my dad started in 79, you know, and we bought in along the way. And the fair thing to do is like treat it like a business. And and then there's then there's no regrets. And so, you know, it can seem it can seem unfair from the owner or the senior doctor standpoint.   But the last thing you want is a partner that's not motivated or that's resentful. I think it's okay to acknowledge those things, to say like, hey, here's what I'm feeling and here's why. And here's what I spent a lot of time building. And I just need you to know that so you know like what I'm going through and maybe this isn't, it's not easy for me. But then the last thing I'll say is the consultant back in 2008 when I first bought into the practice is like, at the end of the day, both of you should feel like you're getting screwed.   And he's like, that's, you know, like you've got a good deal. And that's exactly what happened. I felt like I was paying more than I should have for my half of my dad's practice. And my dad was like, well, I got screwed. Like I should have got more. And, and that's where we knew we were like at a good place. Yeah. No, that's actually really good because I hear so many doctors say this, where I even have a partnership right now that we're working through and the, the doctor buying in, they have actually two locations and the doctor buying in right now, like,   The Dental A Team (37:58.365) doesn't like it's really hard for them to see for the second location to pay for it in two years after they've been working for it. And so I'm actually really happy to hear from you because I don't know what that feels like. I can buy in as a consultant. I can buy in as a team member. I can buy in on all those different levels. I can help close the cases. I can help grow the practice. Like the systems we bring in are exponentially high, but I'm not a producer. And I think the producer piece is the hard piece because you're like, I literally have grown this and now I'm going to buy into that. How did you work through that Brian? Because   so many doctors think it's more fair of like, no, no, no, let's get evaluation today. And then in two years, I'll pay for it, or whatnot, or like we take out my production. But like, how did you and your dad reconcile that? Because I look at it, I'm like, yeah, but your dad had a practice and without your dad, you would never have had this opportunity to do it. You can argue with me and say, I could have gone and done on my own. And I always say, then go do it. You're clearly buying in for this. How did you reconcile that? Because I think your space is actually a really hard space to come to.   when you're actually buying your own production in that practice, because you are, that's what the true fair value of that business is.   Yeah, so we've actually kind of technically done it both ways. So the first time when I bought in, it was like, okay, this is something we're to want to do, but to do it right and to get financing in place, let's scale up. And this is going to happen. You know, we'll sign documents in like six months. But what we're going to do is we're going to value the practice now. And, know, so that Dr. Harris, you're motivated to, you know,   Dr. Brian Harris, you're motivated to grow and still build this practice, but you're going to pay for what the fees are now. And every month, we're going to set aside some of that cash instead of paying you on a percentage of production. So let's say you're getting paid 35%, then you'd say, for the next six months, you're actually going to get paid 40%, but 5 % of that will be held back and we'll go towards paying you part of the practice.   The Dental A Team (40:01.085) I think there's ways that you can do it to where the doctor buying in, especially if it's like, this is going to be in two years. You can do a hold back on profits and say, yes, let's do it in two years. Let's value it then. But instead of 35%, let's pay you 40%. You're only going to take 35, but we're going to put 5 % over here. And that's going to grow. And that can be used as your down payment. So it's essentially like the doctor's not.   just working their butt off for nothing. They're working towards buying the practice and that extra money is going towards that purchase price. Yeah. And I think you have a really good long vision game. You knew this is where you wanted to be. You knew it was a great place for you. It was with your family. It was something long term. I think you buying in, you had to have a longer term vision for it of seeing, yesterday, like you said, I agree. I had a mentor this summer tell me, they're like,   you should always feel like you're being screwed. Both parties need to feel like they're being screwed and it's the perfect deal. Cause if one party feels like they walked out of there like high on the cloud, then it's not the right deal. and like go back to the drawing board until you both feel that way. So I think though kudos to you to have that long-term vision. because I think a lot of people can't see that and it's like, no, no, no, it's so good. Like it might sting today, but just think about it eight years down the line. I mean, what you bought it in 2008 and now we're 2024.   That's a pretty long-term vision. Your dad's not in the practice. sounds like your brother's there now. And you guys are now building this to where is today. That's incredible. And Dental A Team listeners, I cannot wait for you to hear Brian and I finish this conversation. Today we talked about partnerships and all the different pieces. And tomorrow we are actually going to cover how to have a successful practice.   after you buy in. So get ready, I cannot wait for you guys. We broke this one up into two parts because I think it's that important for you. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Send us a text

Send us a textPodcast Episode Summary:

Send us a text

Send us a text

Send us a text

Send us a text

Send us a text

Send us a text

Send us a text

The Channeling Source Podcast Episode 11. Is Protection Necessary? Is Evil Eye Real? Discerning The Voice of Your Spirit Team, and More! | Full Channel Mode Episode (with Kat Collins) In this episode, Brandon jumps into full channel mode and channels The Angelic Collective of Xorbítal on listener submitted questions that he was divinely guided in choosing for this episode. Kat joins in once again to read aloud the submitted questions and ask some additional questions. Some topics channeled on in this episode include whether surrounding yourself with protection is necessary or not, discerning the voice of your spirit guides, raising your vibration, overcoming resistance, whether or not evil eye is real, and more! Timestamps Intro 0:00 Full Channel Mode Portion Begins 3:15 Source is me; I am Source and everything. Is it necessary to put protection around us (e.g. I put myself in a protection bubble)? Can you expand on what ideas are from a human construct vs what is necessary for our spiritual construct? 4:36 After already asking and intending from my spirit guides, angels, source, higher self, inner being to differentiate their voice, tone, feeling, sensation from my own thoughts and ideas: how can we better distinguish and clearly differentiate when we are channeling thoughts and ideas from Spirit versus our own contemplation? 11:00 If we can manifest anything we want by just raising our vibration, (inviting good energy, allowing improved emotions/ feelings/ moods), is taking antidepressants a direct shortcut? Are people on antidepressants able to manifest desired results faster? Logically this would make sense. 17:28 Any tips for getting over the resistance to putting yourself out there (romantically). I can finally admit I want romance as part of my life again but I feel... the way you feel after you get over food sickness but eating still makes you wary. 21:51 I can sometimes get into these moments where I feel very vulnerable and like everyone can pick up on everything about me when I'm around them, usually when I go to class for some reason. And I've sat with it and gone “I'm not even sure all of these people are even energetically sensitive or able to pick up on me.” Basically, I'm wondering how based in reality is that feeling, and what do people typically pick up on about us? And is it best to just let go of their perceptions and not really worry about it? 29:02 Is there any reality to evil eye? Do we need to care at all about other people's throwing things at us energetically if we do own our power and own our success and anything like that. 36:09 I've been noticing I can fall into a more depressed mood, lately it's been 1 or 2 days out of the week. I was wondering if it was because I have habituated to it and the pendulum just keeps swinging back to that because I'm used to it or if it's because I'm still actively healing? 40:38 The Angels and Source take the floor to say more of what they'd like to say for this crowd listening at this time. 44:59 Brandon and Kat talking about the episode, talking about more of the offerings facilitated by Brandon that are available, to end of episode 51:44 *** Resources Mentioned Step Out Into the World and Shine Channeled Audio Bundle https://www.brandonhbloom.com/store brandonhbloom.com valeyuart.com *** About The Angelic Collective of Xorbítal When asked about a name for them, Brandon's spirit guides replied, "You know we don't have names up here." to which he said, "Yeah, you're right." A few seconds later they gave him a name for them, The Angelic Collective of Xorbítal. In essence, it is a collective of his spirit guides, the angels, and Source. It very strongly features angelic energies and the angels, if you were wondering. *** Benefits of Listening to Channeled Material •The Messages themselves •An energetic transmission from Source that works only for the highest good. This can move energies, be like a healing session, facilitate upgrades, create shifts and changes for you and your world, etc. and it only works for the highest good. •Imbibing channeled content can open your own third eye and intuition •Listening to, watching, or otherwise imbibing channeled content can open your own channeling if you're meant to channel •Potentially more! (No need to limit it!) *** Websites https://www.brandonhbloom.com https://www.valeyuart.com *** Social Media Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6GYWjX7tT7Js9KrK3JB4AQ Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@channellingsource?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc Instagram https://www.instagram.com/channellingsource/ *** Disclaimer https://www.brandonhbloom.com/legal-disclaimer

In this episode of the Humane Marketing podcast, Sarah speaks with Marc Winn about how AI and automation can enhance human interactions and support meaningful connections when used with the right intentions. They explore the impact of AI on marketing and the workforce, reflecting on how businesses can shift from manipulation to empowerment. Together, they discuss the ethical implications of AI, the role of marketers in creating positive and healing stories, and how heart-centered entrepreneurs can embrace technology to build community, foster trust, and stay present amidst rapid change. This episode is a thoughtful guide for those looking to partner with AI in a human(e) way. Here's what they talked about in today's episode: How AI and automation can enhance human interactions and marketing, and the importance of using these technologies with the right intentions to support meaningful connections. The impact of social media, AI, and automation on the workforce, questioning the future of employment and the potential for a reevaluation of what we sell and how we find meaning in our work. The ethical implications of AI, particularly in marketing, and the need to shift from manipulating people's subconscious drivers to empowering them. The role of marketers in creating positive, hopeful stories that inspire deep connection and trust, viewing marketing as a form of healing. The concept of mutual exchange in business and how businesses can foster connection and community while leveraging technology like AI. How businesses and individuals can build optimism and focus on creating something better amidst the rapid technological changes. The importance of focusing on the present and using AI to create deeper connections, rather than amplifying attention-seeking behavior. -- Parterning with AI in a Human(e) Way Intro with music NEW 2022: [00:00:00] Hello, Humane Marketers. Welcome back to the Humane Marketing Podcast, the place to be for the generation of marketers that cares. This is a show where we talk about running your business in a way that feels good to you, is aligned with your values, and also resonates with today's conscious customers because it's humane, ethical, and non pushy. I'm Sarah Zanacroce, your hippie turned business coach for quietly rebellious entrepreneurs and marketing impact pioneers. Mama bear of the humane marketing circle and renegade author of marketing like we're human and selling like we're human. If after listening to the show for a while, you're ready to move on to the next level and start implementing and would welcome a community of like minded, quietly rebellious entrepreneurs who discuss with transparency what we're doing. Works and what doesn't work in business, then we'd love to welcome you in our humane marketing circle. If you're picturing your [00:01:00] typical Facebook group, let me paint a new picture for you. This is a closed community of like minded entrepreneurs from all over the world who come together once per month in a zoom circle workshop to hold each other accountable and build their business in a sustainable way. We share with transparency and vulnerability, what works for us and what doesn't work. So that you can figure out what works for you instead of keep throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks. Find out more at humane. marketing forward slash circle. And if you prefer one on one support from me, my humane business coaching could be just what you need. Whether it's for your marketing, sales, general business building, or help with your big idea like writing a book, I'd love to share my brain and my heart with you together with my almost 15 years business experience. experience and help you grow a sustainable business that is joyful and sustainable. If you love this [00:02:00] podcast, wait until I show you my mama bear qualities as my one on one client can find out more at humane. marketing forward slash coaching. And finally, if you are a marketing impact pioneer and would like to bring humane marketing to your organization, have a look at my offers and workshops on my website at humane. marketing. com. Dot marketing. Sarah: Hello friends. Welcome back to another episode of the humane marketing podcast. Today's conversation fits under the P of partnership. We're partnering with AI. Yes. If you're a regular here, you know that I'm organizing the conversations around the seven P's of the humane marketing mandala. And if you're new here and don't know what I'm talking about, you can download your one page marketing plan with the Humane [00:03:00] Marketing version of the 7 Ps of Marketing at humane. marketing forward slash one page, the number one and the word page. And this comes with seven email prompts to really help you reflect on these different Ps for your business. Before I introduce my guest today, just another reminder that if you're playing with the idea of writing a business book about change, you might want to consider looking at my Business Book Alchemist program. I'm only running this once per year, and not sure if I'll run it again next year unless I'll write a fourth book. I'm finishing my third book with this cohort, and in the eight weeks that we have together, we'll refine your big message. Get clear on your ideal reader. Then build a solid outline for your book and also create a marketing plan for it. The program starts on [00:04:00] November 14th and lasts officially for 8 weeks. I'm saying officially because with last year's participants, we're still meeting monthly in the BBA book lab to hold each other accountable with our writing. It comes with recorded video lessons, so homework, a workbook as well, But also live calls where we connect and have time to really exchange on our big message and the book writing. So check out the details. If you're interested at humane. marketing forward slash BBA and book a call to talk to me about whether this is a good fit for you. All right, back to today's episode. So my guest today, Mark Nguyen, is a dedicated guide and mentor, helping individuals and organizations navigate the complexities of our modern world. With a focus on fostering innovation, [00:05:00] building social capital, and nurturing a sense of togetherness, Mark's work is transforming communities and inspiring countless people to reach their full potential. I Mark is the co founder of the Dandelion Foundation, an initiative aimed at creating a better future by leveraging the unique strengths of small island states. He is also the mind behind the 50 Coffee Adventure, a project that encourages meaningful connections and conversations to drive social change. So join us as we dive into Mark's insight on human centered AI adoption and his vision for a more connected and innovative world. Here's a summary of what we talked about in this episode, how AI and automation can enhance human interactions and marketing. and the importance of using these technologies with the right intentions to support meaningful connections, the impact of social [00:06:00] media, AI and automation on the workforce, questioning the future of employment and the potential for re evaluation of what will sell and how we find meaning in our work. The ethical implications of AI, particularly in marketing and the need to shift from manipulating people's subconscious to empowering them. The role of marketers in creating positive, hopeful stories that inspire deep connection and trust, viewing marketing as a form of healing. The concept of mutual exchange in business and how businesses can foster connection and community while leveraging technology like AI, how businesses and individuals can build optimism and focus on creating something better amidst the rapid technological changes, the importance of focusing on the present and using AI to create deeper connections rather than [00:07:00] amplifying attention seeking behavior. What's funny is that it is only after the episode finished recording that we found out how to apply AI in the form of a background noise cancellation on Mark's Zoom account. I did my best and used all the AI tools I know to make the sound experience as pleasant as possible. But if you do hear some background noise, just appreciate the humanness of this episode. Let's dive in. video1863576471: Hey, Mark, so good to see you again. You already had a good laugh, Off, off recording. So I'm sure this is going to be a, a fun and hopefully also inspiring conversation for, for people listening. Welcome to the Humane Marketing Podcast. Thanks Sarah: for having me. Yeah, it's a delight. Always a delight talking to you and, and like Rachel shout out to Rachel if she's listening, cause she's the one who introduced you having me. The other way around and, and I [00:08:00] really, she, she told me like, Oh, every time I talk to Mark, it's like blows my mind. I'm like, Oh, cool. I want to talk to him. So we did. And now here we are talking about AI and human and whether that, you know, there's anything ethical about that. So yeah, let's dive right in. If you're. open to that? Marc: Yeah, I suppose probably the place to start is kind of what really the moment of realization for me that, that we needed to start having deeper conversations about it. Think I, I ended up in Silicon Valley maybe 11 years ago at a place called Singularity University, which was a place that teaches people about all of the crazy technology that's now arriving and the fact that it was going to arrive far faster than we realize. And so I learned about all of these crazy, fabulous, amazing tools. And it blew my mind. And it took me seven days to get to sleep [00:09:00] again after kind of hearing about the craziness that's arriving. And I was getting the plane home and I stayed in San Francisco the night before, after doing it. I, I I was walking past the Twitter head office. And or near in that area. And I just was thinking that there were tens of millions of dollars being raised to deliver food to that building. 10 minutes faster or three minutes faster or something like that. But meanwhile, there were people homeless outside for drug addiction and things like that. And I started to really question and this is at the forefront of innovation and technology and things like that. And yet, and all of this money going into stuff, but right outside, there was stuff that really mattered that Was being left behind and so I think for the past decade a lot of my focus has really been around how do we bring together this very kind of human world with this [00:10:00] extraordinarily incredible possibility in a way that we don't get some of the unintended consequences of our actions and how does governance itself. Do you know, how do we regulate all of that? And how do we realize that the, the solutions may be arriving in different silos to the ones where we're currently managing for them. And there's, you know, there's some very, very smart people doing some unwise actions. Things in the world. And so in this world of artificial intelligence you know, there's a deeper call for artificial wisdom, maybe, or birth of wisdom. And so, you know, a lot of my work in the last decade is really about, you know, the intersection of where humanity meets technology. And this idea of something new feels like it's being born and and many of our old systems are [00:11:00] collapsing under the scaling complexity of, of, of the era we're in and and, you know, deep down, we all feel like something isn't right. And, you know, I used to be a marketer myself you know, I know this is a marketing community and a direct marketer, you know, really focused on data driven insight and conversion and all the kind of standard of marketing stuff, but, but essentially underneath it all, we were kind of using people's subconscious to, drivers and fears to manipulate them into our desired outcomes. And I started to realize, well, you add AI to that, infinite power and superhuman persuasion. And at the time, 11 years ago, I saw things like Cambridge Analytica. I saw things like Trumpism arriving before Trump even arrived. And ultimately that's the whole world trying to manipulate other people. To do what they want to do rather than what is in our [00:12:00] individual best interests, you know, be it The amount of time we're on screen time having all these amazing behavioral scientists and neuroscientists leveraging Ever more powerful tools to get to do things that aren't necessarily Thriving be it the newspapers pulling us in with huge headlines or clickbait or all of this kind of thing and so I felt that my own gifts were part of the problem When I started to think about the amplification of of what what I know. So many ways. I started to move away from. You know, manipulating others into empowering others to to. To be in their own wisdom and to do things in their individual and collective best interests. And then how do you actually build a mode of governing ourselves from that place? So yeah, I'm 10, 11 years into that process and I probably have more questions than answers. But these are incredible, amazing tools that do we have the wisdom to use? To use them wisely. [00:13:00] Sarah: Yeah. I think that, that really is the big question, right? Because like you, I'm fascinated by the intersection of the human versus the artificial intelligence and people are sometimes quite surprised because I talk about all things human marketing, like we're human selling, like we're human. I'm writing my third book business, like we're human. And, and yet. To me, artificial intelligence is an integral part. That new paradigm that I love to talk about because in my view, it actually helps us to be, or to go back to be more human. And so I guess I would like to have your perspective on that as well, because right now there's two opinions. The one that says, well, AI or chat GPT in marketing is, is just there to dehumanize. everything and [00:14:00] it dehumanizes the interactions and it dehumanizes the, the, the, the messages. So is that true or is there another way to use AI to actually, you know, make that humanness come out in a different way? Marc: So it's all about intention for me. Like the same tool used with misaligned intention. Can deliver vastly different outcomes. And so it's like, it's not really the tool that's the problem. So if I'm using it, I need to create more time that I can pay, spend time with another human being in deep care and deep love, and that is a tool being used to support my humanness, just like zoom is being used right now to have this conversation. It's like, you know, this is the one that says this is an artificial conversation because we brought two humans together. Together that otherwise wouldn't have the time to be able to reach each other and so You know [00:15:00] like like all things it could be used to separate or to connect. It can And so and really it's around what is the intention that these tools are being used for so, you know Say we've got this we've got airline here in my community. It's under Lots of stuff. It's kind of breaking because planes are not going right and the customer service is really Bad because they can't scale to a crisis. And so you couldn't employ enough humans to be human, right? And well actually if you've got systems that can expand and scale and And communicate in a human like way that can support people When they need it in an emergency when you can't provide humans And the current alternative is to be a robot and not available then And people being struggling at airports and all of this Kind of stuff and in crisis and not knowing what to do and all of this kind of stuff but if you've got an Intelligence system that can solve every problem rather than if you press button five And then button three and then about two you [00:16:00] can solve this particular problem, which isn't the problem. I'm really wanting a It's an act of care to provide a tool that meets people's needs. It's an act of love to design a system that cares, even though you're using technology. You know, so for me, I have this I'm a huge proponent of using systems from a place of love, care, and connection. And you know, AI is like magic. If used in the right way with the right kind of, you know, Emotion. Sarah: It leads me automatically to the next question, which is, well, are humans ready for that tool? You know, because if we're saying it's a great tool with the right intention, then maybe what we need to work on is the intention because the tool is already smart enough. So it's the intention that we actually need to work on. And so how [00:17:00] do we, how do we work on that? How do we get humans ready to use the tool with the right intention? Marc: Well, it's not only using it, but it's also about how susceptible are you to manipulation? You know, so like if you have loads of subconscious fears or stories and things like that, it opens you up to people using superhuman persuasion to, to, you know, if you have a fear of death, you're much more likely to be sold health products and all this kind of stuff. So in many ways the inoculation is, you know, what I always say, you should actually teach kids. about marketing and behavioral science, not because to get them to manipulate other people with it is so that they become more aware of what's driving the bus when most messaging is subconscious. And. Yeah, and so, you know, there's this, I think most of us have been through that aging process where we get wiser as we get older. [00:18:00] And that's kind of the shift in consciousness we go through as we evolve during, you know, our lives and humanity has to go through. a real shift for it to Be able to build systems in a way that don't have those consequences So you look at something like facebook or smartphones and things like that We can see all around us that this death of a thousand cuts has happened where everybody's just living in this kind of screen Like every single one of the thousands and thousands of decisions that went into that was probably made sense Logically and smartly but somehow we've ended up in a place where we're All in the same room but disconnected from each other. And so it's like you know, we've accidentally lost ourselves and we can see that with climate change or like with something like that you know, like can you really solve a problem like climate change without Without understanding that over consumption [00:19:00] Is a maybe a self worth issue like, you know, am I enough, you know? Or do I need more to To be someone and recognizing that, you know, these tools are manipulating that Sense of not enough and then how do you how do you how do you market pay a bill? when Your whole business model requires people to consume more even though it may not be in their best interest And so that interesting gap between wants and needs You and how do we, how do we, how do we get technology to support us what we really need rather than what we can be manipulating to wanting and I, you know, I kind of always look at what, say, how billionaires operate. Themselves, you know they'll a lot of them have an amazing assistant that is like the world's best ad blocker, you know You know what I mean? They don't really need to use the internet themselves or anything like that because it'll be facilitated and [00:20:00] so we kind of you know need to look at those kind of tools and stuff that we can build which are you know, the wise owl that sits on people's shoulder and and supports people, to choose the higher selves in moments of You of kind of manipulation. So I think it's an extraordinarily interesting time to be a builder that cares. I think there's never been a better time to you, to develop kind of technology with wisdom and technology that can bring us together and technology that can create magic and wonder and all of these kinds of things. But also there's, there's never been a better time to create lots of unintended, Consequences. Sarah: Yeah, I think that's the issue that I have is that we don't have enough examples of good people using AI right now. And that's why there's so much fear because people look at the. Not so good examples, [00:21:00] you know, the, the, the, the LinkedIn bots putting, you know, AI chat, GPT messages and spamming people and things like that. And so they're like, you see, you know, that's what AI is going to do. It's going to dehumanize everything because the good people, I'm just putting the two of us in the good people side, you know, there's not, you haven't seen Marc: me on a bad day. Sarah: But I'm just saying, there's not enough people who, who talk about doing business for good, who are also saying, yeah, but AI can be actually really good if we use it with the right intention. That's what I'm seeing. Marc: So a LinkedIn bot, I'm like, why wouldn't you use a LinkedIn bot to spread delight and wonder and mischief? You know, I was thinking about developing a belly laugh app the other day, just to, just to send belly laughs to people and things like that. You'd [00:22:00] be really good at that. Yeah. Record yours. Yeah. And it's just like, well, why would you automate something that would bring joy, laughter, and kindness? So, you know I think a friend of mine, Nipun Mehta, who does a lot of stuff around AI and wisdom, highly recommended stuff, and he's like, what about the seven viral virtues, you know, and how do you actually get to that? technologies to support the virality. I, you know, again, it's, it's like, I love the idea of a LinkedIn bot that just makes people laugh and, and, and it's about value, right? Yeah, you see a lot of these LinkedIn bots and it's all about what can I get? What can I get? And then sometimes it's a bit lazy and and it's like, Literally, it's like, I'm a human being. Why would I even respond to that? It's not even clever. Exactly. Well, that's what I Sarah: mean by bad examples, right? But it doesn't Marc: mean you can't be, you can't use the same technology and genuinely be clever and funny. [00:23:00] And well, but humor is my Brand essence and things like that mischief and playfulness. I'm not going to design something using these tools I'm not afraid of using these tools which kind of but I I would use them that really spread the essence of me to find That kind of deep resonance with other people, but you've also got to say well look if everybody used those tools which is increasingly getting easier and easier to do. We just break every social platform. There's so much noise, like the information overload right now is, is getting exponentially worse. And so, you know, to even get connection, you know, the depth of connection that has two people trust each other enough to work together. You know, that isn't going to come from the scaling the shallow, right? You know, that's, there's, you know, there's a reason why I kind of wrote a book on having coffee and, and teaching people to have coffee was, I think, in a world of ever increasing shallowness and scale, the ability to go deeper is kind [00:24:00] of the social network raster class. So, you know, I've had 10, 000 coffees in the last decade because I didn't think the other stuff would, would work that well as the noise did. You know, because everyone's like me, me, me, me, me, me, me with all this technology and amplifying the need for attention when, you know, and, and what we really want is the need for connection. And then when you, if you start with the premise on, okay, how do we use technology to support depth and trust an emotional connection. I think we build very different things. And that's the paradox Sarah: for me, that that really is the paradox. And that's why I believe that AI is actually helping us to create more spaciousness, to have time for those coffee chats. Yeah. Because right now people don't have the time. They're like, I don't have the time to talk to someone for 45 minutes. I have all these things to do. We have all these, this busy work [00:25:00] that we keep doing. Especially as entrepreneurs, often it's not even paid work, right? It's just like all these marketing messages and content plans and all of these things. And that's where AI is actually really good at helping us create that, if we even need to create that. I'm all about questioning our assumptions as well. Like, do we even need to create all that love? So yeah, people want depth more, right? And so that's what AI helps us create. create this more spaciousness to then spend time on a thousand coffee chats. And that's where the humanness comes back. Marc: And we're also going to realize that the world we're moving into is very different. You know, the idea of free intelligence, free energy, free labor, if we And like making money is something, you know, capitalism itself starts to break down in the next [00:26:00] decade or two as a result of if you draw the line of where all of this is going, because we're automating parts of our process today. But you know, you add a humanoid robot to that kind of thing and like everything can be done All needs can be provided and things like that with that kind of technology that's arriving And so it's like what are we selling when there's nothing to sell and how do we make? We have no needs that can't be met by you know The robots and the ais and all of that and the free energy Around us, right? And so Yeah Sarah: Yeah, that's huge. Like, yeah, what do we sell anymore? How Marc: do we find meaning in that process? Which, you know, I'm kind of the global conversation around meaning is, you know, around me since that WikiGuide diagram went around the world and things like that, that are responsible. There's a crisis of meaning.[00:27:00] Happening in the world right now. In in many age groups as people are trying to reconcile where, where do they fit in, you know, as the world is changing very rapidly and the old stories of who we are are moving in. And so, how do you find. Intrinsic motivation to when your old identities kind of dissolve, you know because, you know, we are more than our jobs or who we are with something deeper, but that process of discovery of who we are and what we find joy in when the workplace is going to radically change, it is changing. And how do we, yeah it's just like a. It's a very kind of strange time to be alive, you know, we're all kind of going through a process of death and rebirth, whether we like it or not. And it's like yeah, the need for attention to pay the bills is a kind of temporary state that I think we'll have to raise questions about whether we need to do that. To do that anymore. And [00:28:00] then, and I always kind of say to my wife and it's like, vague, it's like, when the robots come out, you know, our marriage is what's left. Let's work on that bit, you know, rather than understanding the importance of all of these tasks that need to be done in everyday family life. And and likewise, you know, when the robots come and, and who you are, And AI comes, who you are is what's left out of all of this stuff is done. It's like, what would you do when nobody is looking just for the sake of the joy of doing it? That's, that's Sarah: really interesting. Cause it in the, in this new book Business Like We're Human, I basically feel that we have to work on our relationship with work right now. Yeah. I think that is for the next five or so years. That is our main thing because also of you know what's going to come but for [00:29:00] me also because if we want to run businesses like we're human well right now we're working all the time and that that's not human or humane. But then also to To tie back into climate, the climate crisis and all these other crisis we have right now, we cannot solve those if we're constantly working to pay our bills. So we need to free our time for creative thinking, for just, you know, being human again so that we can tackle those and, and probably AI will help us with that as well. But I do believe that as humans, we need to redefine who we are. When we're not working, that is kind of like the question of the of the decade. I feel like, like, who are we if, if we're not working, if we're not defined by our work, because I, yeah, I didn't take it as far as the robots coming, but yeah, that's where we're going, right? Marc: Yeah. Whether it's Sarah: robots or AI or [00:30:00] whatever it is. Marc: Yeah. And it's like, what are we, what painting do we paint with that? We've kind of grown up with many kind of dystopian views of, Of what the world can be with that and I'm I'm more hopeful than that. But also recognizing that in in business terms I think about capital flows during that kind of period. And, you know, if we think about, you know, say the Holy Grail is in 10, 20 years or whatever, or 30 years, depending on your understanding at 40, 50, a hundred years or whatever, and you say, okay like how much money needs to flow to create a world of human thriving within planetary boundaries, you know So the energy system needs to change the health system needs to change all of these kind of things And so huge amounts of money Needs to move to facilitate that transformation. So I you know, I don't really like we need money to end money I kind of always say and it's like [00:31:00] I think it requires the best marketers the the best businesses the to You you know, to shift all of the resources from this kind of extracted deficit, extractive deficit based world that is around human coping to you know, this regenerative asset based world around human thriving that will unlock more wealth than we can ever imagine. Imagine to the point that wealth becomes pointless. So I don't really necessarily think it's an either or Thing it's not something we need to create time with our jobs to then have something else I think we'll see exploding industries and businesses that come from people who care that want to build something human with all these great tools That actually are unafraid to make money in the process of doing it because they, they're willing to inspire people to be hopeful and to move to another world. And and you, you see all sorts of brands starting to emerge that, that, that [00:32:00] attract lots of resources because, you know, I, it's not an either or thing. Like there's, you know but it's, it's messy, you know, going from caterpillar to butterfly and I, I don't necessarily have all the answers myself, but I, I don't you know, the idea, you know, I think there'll be an explosion of wealth but because we have all of these machines and potential, and we'd be able to create more circular ways of doing things, more regenerative ways of doing things, and like, you know, really well, people are better. And people who are below the poverty line, you know, create income and and money for businesses. And you get a load of struggling people behind the poverty line, that's not good for anyone. Or people with chronic disease or all of these kinds of things, that's not good for anyone. And I think once we start lining up kind of these entrepreneurial desires with what the world really needs and what we all need, and we get into creating a much, much bigger pie for everyone. Then, you know, we'll all do much better than we did before [00:33:00] monetarily as well as. And, you know, these tools can help us do that, but we need to all kind of learn to line with our own best interests and humanity's best interest heart, but, you know, part of that is how do we learn to get along enough to find out enough about each other to be able to collaborate to find out what really matters to us individually and collectively. And I think we're struggling as a, as a human race. With that right now, Sarah: yeah, that's, that's the main thing. It's like, yeah, the outer stuff is all lining up for us, but are we ready in terms of the inner job? Are we doing our inner job? And Marc: yeah, I mean, I can't even create agreement in my own family, you know, how do you create agreement in the world? And it's like, man, this feels like the tension, you know, it's like we have all of this limitless possibility arriving, but can we get out of our own way? to, to to manifest it. And I think this is the, I think this is the real role that marketers play which is [00:34:00] telling these really positive, hopeful stories that not just for people to consume, but to inspire people, you know, to be the best selves and, and to create the thing that they're, they're born to create and to be okay to do that perfectly. And in a human way and to create that kind of, you know, viral deep connection that comes with people. being alive. Sarah: Yeah, I love that. That's kind of a a good place to to come full circle. I love how you did that It's like, oh, yeah, it's all about the marketers Marc: I did start off as a marketer So, yeah, I can spin a story I can't do much but spinning a story Sarah: That's great. No exactly and I think that's really You What, [00:35:00] what we're working on is like, you know, marketing has been taught as an outside job for so many years. What I'm trying to do with humane marketing and some friends and colleagues are, you know, they're calling it differently conscious marketing and Claudia and other people. It's like, well, What if we start from the inside? What if market, a marketer is actually a healer, right? That's, that's what this is about. And it's, it's, you can call it a marketer or you can, whatever, a facilitator, whatever it is, right? If, if more people heal themselves and then help others heal, that's, that's. Marc: Yeah. I mean, I tend to, cause I work right across community and I knew the language of consciousness and healing and stuff really resonates and connects with a certain part of the community. And be at whatever stage and kind of the adoption curve that is, although that's rapidly changing. But to me, it's just good marketing. Like, let's not cloud [00:36:00] it with its own form of words. Bureaucracy and stuff like that. It's like, you know, the whole point of marketing is to emotionally connect with people to create a mutually beneficial outcome, right? That's just good marketing. Let's not dress it up. And like, we're just, we're just learning in this era that there are ways of marketing better and deep connection and trust is one of the core aspects of, you know, Marketing for as long as I've known it and it's just like we're we're learning our craft collectively. We're getting better at doing that and let's See it something else or them and us. It's just It's just good marketing. Sarah: Yeah, that's really good. I always ask now that I'm working on this book the final question is like, what does business like we're human mean to you? Like when you hear this term business, like we're human, what comes up for you? Like, what, what does that make you [00:37:00] think of? Marc: Yeah, for me, it's like this idea of mutual exchange. Yeah. You know, I think in the consciousness community, there's a lot of fear of receiving, I think, and You know, I kind of always had these visions of like, kind of the Italian markets and things like that, where there's this great flow of abundance and handing over the money and fruit and beautiful stuff coming the other way. And there's all this kind of love and conversation and things like that. So that, but there's still trade because, you know, it's, it's. It's a, it's a pain in the ass to do barter, you know, it's exhausting to like find the right person who's got the bits, you know, so there's, there's something magical in as a technology [00:38:00] commerce itself that, that allows previously impossible exchanges to place. And I think there's beauty in that. You know, the market was a place of conversation and connection and wonder and beauty and care. and you know, that to me, and it can take all forms, but the essence of that, that it's something done together from a place of, but there's still this kind of exchange going on. That's, for what that means in a modern context. You know, it's not sitting at home, pressing one click on Amazon, watching Netflix for three hours a night. Not speaking to anyone, not going anywhere that to me isn't human business, it's business. But Sarah: Yeah. It's also, it's like buying from not a human, but this giant mega list of company, right? Where on the market you see the person that you're buying from. So you [00:39:00] like, there's this establishment of trust as well. Marc: But it's not to say that I haven't had amazing things from Amazon or amazing things from Netflix. And that there is an art and wonder and love that's been put into all of these things. And, you know, we've just got to hold it lightly and say, well, okay, how do we just tweak these things a little and then be a little wiser about how we're using them and then try and build these systems in a way that bring us together rather than drive us apart. And and I think that'll be good for business, you know maybe, you know, Netflix becomes the world's greatest party planner or something, you know, like that brings people together. I'd pay a subscription for that, you know, took all the effort by meeting and, you know, Amazon was creating pop up markets all over the world to create kind of wonder. I think these things will end up being massive. Businesses that will create more commerce than the current kind of disconnected way of doing things and it's just these are really complex, complex problems is, you know, working [00:40:00] globally, but the bringing us all back to each other. Whereas I think, you know, globalization is has driven a lot of convenience, but it's also driven a lot of disconnection. And I think. You know, the businesses of the future will be much more fractal that allow us to be human and in villages and at Dunbar kind of scale of connection, but still provide us with that kind of convenience and wonder. But I think that's where things like AI are really interesting because they can hold all that complexity that I kind of hunter gatherer localized minds can't hold. And when those 2 things work in unison that work in our individual and collective best interest, then I think we'll, we'll create. Wonderful, inspiring, connecting businesses that will not be the same as the Italian markets that drove that, but will be even better. Even Sarah: better. Even better. I don't know about that one. Marc: What if that was possible? How magical would the world be? I like to, you know, see the, I [00:41:00] like your Sarah: optimism. Yeah. Well, as I Marc: say to my dystopian friends the day we all die, at least I would have enjoyed myself on the way there. What's the downside for hope, right? You know, that's the, and so, yeah, I, I, I, I'd like to think we could live in the world where the wonders of the past and the wonders of the future meet together to create something better than we can even imagine today. I don't think we have a choice. Sarah: Yeah, we don't want to be stuck where we are, so Well, we Marc: can't. We can't unify unless we honor the past and bring forward the magic of the future and do it in a way that honors us all, in a way that inspires us all and connects us all. I don't think we have a choice about that because everything else leads to, you know, a huge kind of dissatisfaction and disconnection of one society, part of society over another. So, you know, it's [00:42:00] a time for the hopeful imagineers to, you know, that COVID phrase, you know, build back better. I don't think we And you know, this is about society turning from a caterpillar into a butterfly and and you know, we're in the messy bit it's hard for a caterpillar to see what a butterfly looks like from that perspective, right? So like we it's hard to imagine from where we are going into the liquidation Liquidation that there could be a mutable butterfly the other side I don't want to you know, spend hours and hours of my life fearing for the future Yeah I want to be part of building the butterfly and not to say I don't spend hours and hours of my life figuring for the future, but like when I remember, that's pretty pointless. I get back to the, you know, the everyday wonder of spending time with amazing people, building amazing things as you do, right? And that's always what turns me to hope is when I'm in a conversation with someone like you, realizing that there are people like you all over the world in all sorts of different ways doing amazing things. And [00:43:00] that whilst it's not always easy to see on the news feeds and the social media feeds, like if you spend enough time out in the world, you, you can feel, you can feel all over every day. And whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed or stressed by the future, I just go and have coffee with someone wonderful. And it reminds me that I'm not alone in this And There are people building technology from care. There are people Bringing the markets back. There are people like doing all sorts of but you know with thumb up machines and all of these kind of other other bits and pieces that that will you know, yeah But we'll find our way. Sarah: We're just Marc: a little lost right now. Sarah: Yeah, well, I, yeah, I definitely want to talk again to you because every time I speak to you it's like, oh, you see, there's so much no, no, I'm usually a very optimistic person as well, and I still am. Surround myself by, yeah, content and, and ideas and inspiration. But yeah, talking to you, [00:44:00] it's, it just confirms all of that. It's like, yeah, that's exactly what I'm working towards. So it's been a, it's been a delight to refresh my memory with your wisdom. So so much for coming on today. You spend a Marc: day with me when I'm in family life, you'll see. See, I'm not that wise, you know, there's no pedestal here. I spent time thinking and feeling about certain things. I have some gifts, but I also have many, many weaknesses. And so I don't want to cover this space. I'm good. You know, this is my gift. But please don't get the wrong idea that I don't spend lots of time in my struggle as well. How British of you to Sarah: be so humble. Marc: Self deprecating, I think it's Sarah: the Marc: culture of birching ourselves. Sarah: And I'll just have to mention that I'll have to use the best AI possible out there to clean up the audio from all [00:45:00] the mic sounds and stuff. Marc: Do our best. Sarah: I hope it wasn't too terrible Marc: to listen to. Yeah, and the builders started hammering half way through it, but I think that's the best. The magic. Although I, although I, I invite you to put out an imperfect live offering that shows the humanism. Yeah, we'll do a mix of Sarah: humanness. We can't, you Marc: know, polishing everything also loses some of its. Some of it's magic. It's like romantic almost. As long as you put a good story on it, it's fine. Sarah: Good. Well, delightful to hang out with you, Mark. Thanks so much for being here. Marc: Take care. Sarah: I hope you got some great value from listening to this episode. Find out more about Mark's work at markwin. com or [00:46:00] connect with him on LinkedIn. And if you're looking for others who think like you, who are wanting to create this new paradigm of marketing and business, then why not join us in the Humane Marketing Circle? You can find out more at humane. marketing forward slash circle. you find the show notes of this episode at humane. marketing forward slash M 1 9 8. And on this beautiful page, you'll also find a series of free offers. The Humane Business Manifesto and the free Gentle Confidence mini course, as well as my two books, Marketing Like We're Human and Selling Like We're Human. Thank you so much for listening and being part of a generation of marketers who cares for yourself, your clients, and the planet. We are change makers before we are marketers. So go be the change you want to see in the world. Speak [00:47:00] [00:48:00] soon.

How To Start Thinking Clearly, Logically, Rationally - Get OUT Of Your Emotions!

Are you equipping your kids to think clearly in a world filled with misinformation? Delise sits down with Kathy Gibbens, host of the Filter It Through a Brain Cell podcast. They dive into the importance of teaching children critical thinking and logical reasoning in today's world, discussing how to cultivate compassionate and empathetic thinkers. Plus, Kathy shares insights on AI and how it might impact the next generation's ability to discern truth. https://www.filteritthroughabraincell.com/ Discover the clarity you need to make the best decision for your family's educational needs at one of our Information Meetings. Connect with experienced CC parents, learn about our unique classical, Christian programs, and find out if attending an Open House is your next step.   Take control of your homeschooling journey by attending an Information Meeting. Find an Info Meeting near you at https://classicalconversations.com/events/   

Divorced, remarried, I have one boy from the first marriage and two boys from the second one. After my first son was born, I managed to gradually work myself into one of these two horrible choices: catastrophic marriage or catastrophic divorce. I chose the second one out of selfishness and fear that I would replicate my parent's marriage. I denied my older son the joy of seeing his parents in love and I will forever be sorry for that.When I had my second boy with my current wife, she became very cold and distant to the one from the first marriage, which I suppose is quite normal when having to take care of a baby.But after all this time she still seems reluctant to fully accept my firstborn into our family when he's with us. I know that philosophy is about prevention, not cure, and I'm sure that my kids will never end up where I am right now, but any tips on how to help my family be happier would be greatly appreciated.Oh Stefan! I would love a show on how to throw an amazing dinner party! Sounds like you're a pro at it!Hey Stef, we have antibiotics, internet, relative peace and freedom and I most probably will not die as a drafted soldier, but I am still unable to feel gratitude and make myself happier just because my ancestors lived in incomparably worse conditions. Even if I am the 2nd wealthiest generation in the World history I tend to perceive myself as a tax slave in a luxury barn. Would you have any tips on how to practice gratitude and how to teach gratitude to my children?How to wish well rationally?In your presentation "Vampire Love Kills!" you describe that stating "you're lucky" means admitting helplessness to achieve goals like having a six pack through hard work at the gym. Is "Freedomain dot com slash donate" the new well wishing phrase? You keep referring to the shortness of your remaining days which is depressing.PART 1Thank you for answering my previous question regarding the rationality of child abuse. I'd like to continue that discussion if possible by raising a few points. First I'd like to clarify why this matters to me personally because without the context, I think we might misunderstand our intentions.My brother recently became a parent. I tried to advocate for peaceful parenting (this was before you finished the book), and he said he trusted more in how he was raised, with corporal punishment. The typical points of “I turned out fine”, etc were raised by him. It was a lost cause, and by the end of it, he felt as though his honour was challenged by me calling it cowardly. He wanted to spar with me in a ring for 5 rounds as a way for me to prove my point (he's older than me by 4 years and also more muscular). The only other way he'd accept my proof would be through raising my own children peacefully and seeing what kind of adults they would be. At that point course, the damage to his own children would already be done.Long story short this was the end of our relationship. I have grieved, and I'm still in the process of accepting things, but a part of that process for me is steel manning his position. Maybe in seeing it completely destroyed I'll have more peace of mind. As such in Part 2, I shall continue to play devils advocate. There might appear to be some level of disassociation in part 2 since there is clearly an emotional undercurrent to this discussion. A call-in might be good, but for this I prefer the slower process of contemplating and responding through argumentation. The emotions are still being processed and this sore emotional underbelly might also be why I haven't yet read peaceful parenting.First I think you made a few fantastic points which are worth repeating and rephrasing just to make sure I understand you.1. “If you can't hit any characteristic of a child, how can you hit a child?” I.e. if there is no justification for violence against someone with a single characteristic of a child, how can violence be justified when you have those characteristics in aggregate?2. “Rationality is an abstract thing and abstract things judge abstract things. You don't judge particular actions, you judge arguments. It's a category error to say that reason should judge individual actions.” I.e. Reason is a standard that we use for judging the quality of abstractions. If we want to judge the quality of actions outside of practicality, we use morality.3. “Practicality is taking the steps in order to achieve a goal. Morality is universally preferable behaviour.” I.e. something is given the quality of being ‘practical' when it makes it likely that a given goal will be achieved. Something is given the quality of being ‘moral' when it is universally preferred and enforceable.With these points in mind, I have a question regarding point 3. If the act of copying yourself / reproduction is universally observed across all living organisms, does this qualify as a universally preferable behaviour? Since morality is exclusive to human beings, then does reproduction both (physically or memetically) qualify as a universally preferable behaviour since human beings show a universal preference for this?If it is universally preferable to reproduce, with memetic reproduction as one part of this process, then child abuse can be considered a form of memetic reproduction that has a moral status because it is an enforceable subset of a universally preferable behaviour (reproduction). On the other hand, memetic and physical reproduction is goal oriented and practical. Since you made a distinction earlier between the practical and the moral, is this not a case of the two overlapping? If the two can overlap, then are we back to the point I was arguing earlier of rationality and practically overlapping, since you said that morality is a subset of reason.The key mechanism here is to first say that reproduction is a UPB. Then to say that child abuse is a form of reproduction (memetic). Once child abuse is seen as a form of reproduction, it has moral and rational status. On the other hand, reproduction is also practical. Therefore, you have the moral/ rational intersecting with the practical.Thank you in advance.I am struggling with how to navigate raising children: should I participate in creating the belief that Santa Claus exist ?I don't have children, but actively planning to have children.I'm leaning towards not wanting to participate in creating the belief in Santa Claus because it seems like a huge deception. When I explain to people why I don't find it healthy for children to be deceived then I'm typically met with “oh! you have to! it's just for fun! it's magical! It's Christmas! It's part of childhood!”My best answer would be to explain to my children that Santa Claus is not real, explain the concept, and allow them to enjoy the fictional character.( Then , I'll face the problem when my child tells other children that Santa Claus is fictional, future podcast question I suppose, lol)Recently, you've said that Izzy is quick to identify contradictions because you've never asked her to believe in contradictions.I recall the age I realized Santa Claus wasn't real, but feared if I let anyone know then I wouldn't be getting as many gifts. This led me to develop an ability to deceive the “giver” into “yes, I'll believe what you want in order for me to get what I want”.It all seems so innocent when looking at a fat jolly man dressed in a red suit.Is Santa Claus (maybe include Easter bunny, tooth fairy, other pagan folk lore, etc) a contradiction that Izzy was never asked to believe in?thanks!Hello Stefan!My first question is: How can I become a more content person?For example, I fall into a cycle of saying, "This is going to be our forever home!" and then after a few years, I start dreaming of something bigger and better, getting excited about the prospect of moving again. I can't seem to go 3-4 years without feeling the itch to move up!My second question is: Why am I struggling with feeling left out?Maybe my two questions are somehow linked. Lately in my community and circle of mom/homeschooling/neighborhood friends, I've been aware of recent instances where I haven't been invited to join a dinner or gathering. Logically, I tell myself that it's okay! We live in a small town and I don't have to be invited to everything! Emotionally it still hurts though.Thank you!GET MY NEW BOOK 'PEACEFUL PARENTING', THE INTERACTIVE PEACEFUL PARENTING AI, AND AUDIOBOOK!https://peacefulparenting.com/Join the PREMIUM philosophy community on the web for free!Also get the Truth About the French Revolution, the interactive multi-lingual philosophy AI trained on thousands of hours of my material, private livestreams, premium call in shows, the 22 Part History of Philosophers series and much more!See you soon!https://freedomain.locals.com/support/promo/UPB2022

Monday, 26 August 2024   and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew 3:2   “and saying, ‘Reconsider! For it has neared – the kingdom of the heavens'” (CG).   In the previous verse, John the Baptist was introduced, noting that he came proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea. The words now continue with his message. He was proclaiming “and saying, ‘Reconsider!'”   The Greek verb metanoeó is introduced here. It is almost always translated as “repent,” a word that has such a different meaning in today's society that it is no longer acceptable as a translation. The word comes from meta, with, and noeó, to exercise the mind, such as in observing or comprehending. Thus, the word signifies “‘think differently after,' ‘after a change of mind'” (HELPS Word Studies).   It thus signifies a mental assertion that the thought process has been incorrect and needs to be adjusted. To get the sense, imagine being a Democrat who supports abortion, thinking that a woman's right to choose trumps the right to life that was generated in her womb. One day this person realizes that her stand is completely immoral and perverse. She then changes her mind about her stand.   It deals with the mind, not the actions. Any actions would follow from the change of mind but are not necessarily a required condition of that change. A person who mentally supports abortion but who never participated in an abortion and who will never face such a decision would not have any actions to back up the change of mind.   Ellicott says, “Etymologically, the word ‘repent,' which has as its root-meaning the sense of pain, is hardly adequate as a rendering for the Greek word, which implies change of mind and purpose. In the Greek version of the Old Testament, the word is used of divine rather than human repentance, i.e., of a change of purpose implying pity and regret.”   Cambridge says, “The original implies more than ‘feel sorrow or regret for sin,' it is rather ‘change the life, the heart, the motive for action.' It was a call to self-examination and reality of life.” Note: as long as “change the life” means a change in the inner disposition, this analysis is correct.   Bengel says, “A lovely word (see verses 8, 11), implying change your disposition, put on a disposition royal, heavenly, worthy the kingdom of heaven.”   Vincent's Word Studies says, “A word compounded of the preposition μετά [meta], after, with; and the verb νοέω [noeó], to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after. Μετάνοια (repentance [reconsideration]) is therefore, primarily, an after-thought, different from the former thought; then, a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct. These latter ideas, however, have been imported into the word by scriptural usage, and do not lie in it etymologically nor by primary usage. Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as ‘Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.' Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word. Paul distinguishes between sorrow (λύπη) and repentance (μετάνοια), and puts the one as the outcome of the other. ‘Godly sorrow worketh repentance [reconsidering]' (2 Corinthians 7:10).” Note: Vincent's is careful to distinguish the actual meaning and its common use. Any change that takes place in a person is the result of the mental reconsideration, not a part of it.   Each of these explanations shows that a change in life follows, not precedes or is necessarily in conjunction with, a change of mind. Logically, it must be this way. Of this reconsideration, John the Baptist next says, “For it has neared – the kingdom of the heavens.”   The word “heavens” is plural, following the Hebrew word shamayim, heavens. This phrase is used many times by Matthew and is unique to his gospel. He is expressing the Hebrew thought, demonstrating that his epistle is particularly directed toward the Hebrew or Semitic mindset. Vincent's Word Studies does an excellent job of explaining the phrase –   “It is a kingdom of heaven because its origin, its end, its king, the character and destiny of its subjects, its laws, institutions, and privileges - all are heavenly. In the teaching of Christ and in the apostolic writings the kingdom of the Messiah is the actual consummation of the prophetic idea of the rule of God, without any national limitation, so that participation therein rests only on faith in Jesus Christ, and on the moral renewal which is conditioned by the same. It is the combination of all rights of Christian citizenship in this world, and eternal blessedness in the next. All its senses are only different sides of the same great idea - the subjection of all things to God in Christ.”   This is correct. His words “without any national limitation” mean exactly what Paul explains in Galatians –   “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” Galatians 3:26-29   In this kingdom, such distinctions – even if there are these differences – are eliminated. This new economy in the redemptive scenario was coming. John the Baptist was the one to prepare the nation of Israel for the Messiah who would establish it.   Life application: Today, people use the word repentance in a manner that is synonymous with, “remove the sin from your life.” In other words, “You must do this before your salvation is realized.” This is an incorrect and harmful addition to the gospel based on a misinterpretation and misapplication of the word “repent,” which is now different from what it once meant.   The meaning of words often changes over time. For example, the words awesome and awful used to be essentially synonymous. However, this began to change. Now, awesome signifies something marvelous or wonderful while awful signifies something very bad, bordering on terrible.   This is what has happened to the word “repent” in the church today. It has been so misapplied that it no longer means to reconsider but to repair through action. The problem with this is that it makes the idea of repentance one of “fixing your life of sin before God will accept you.” That is not the biblical understanding of salvation. Though a descriptive passage, the account in Acts 10 reveals this –   “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.” Acts 10:44-46   Likewise, Paul says –   “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13, 14   The process of salvation is to hear the word, believe it is so through reconsideration of who Jesus is and what He has done, or reconsideration of who God is and what He has done. The reconsideration is based upon past understanding and a new faith, not on a change in lifestyle. And change in lifestyle is subsequent to this change in mental thought.   Think it through – how many things are Christians to do or not to do as detailed in the epistles? The answer is “a lot.” However, there are those who have been in Christ for many years and who have never learned the Bible. They have not had a change in action even though they are saved.   Logically, one must know what pleases God before he can do it. Thus, to expect a change in action without even knowing what that change is cannot be a condition for salvation. Belief (faith alone) must be the only condition for salvation. To say otherwise is to present a false gospel. If you are presenting a false gospel you must reconsider!   Lord God, may we be careful to never add to the gospel of our salvation as we proclaim it to others. What we are asked for is faith in what Christ has done, not in what we must do. Once we believe, we can spend whatever time it takes to then be obedient to the things laid out in Your word. Help us, Lord, to not assume we can merit our salvation through our own deeds. Amen.  

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Are We Leaving the Individual Behind? The Role of Animal Storytelling in the Animal Rights Movement, published by Ronen Bar on August 19, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum. The identifiable victim effect is a psychological phenomenon that describes how people are more likely to offer help or feel empathy when presented with a specific, identifiable individual in need, rather than a larger, anonymous group. When victims are given names, faces, or personal stories, it becomes easier for them to relate. Studies have shown that this is also the case for farmed animals, and that this effect can be limited to a single-identifiable victim (i.e., the singularity effect, the phenomenon where people are more motivated to help a single victim than a group of victims, even when the group is small). Identifying a victim can be seen as a solution to scope insensitivity; people undervalue the scale of a problem when presented with statistics. That insight is the basis of storytelling - showing individuals turns numbers into faces, which forms the foundation of how the media tell stories and how the educational system approaches learning. I personally became aware of this when I studied journalism about 15 years ago, when one of my teachers told me I can't do a story on farmed animals because I don't have anyone to interview. No individual, no story. As a journalist on Israeli TV and an animal rights advocate working with the media, I told stories about facilities, industries, and practices, not individuals. My unchecked assumption is that the most effective way to present a story is with faces and numbers, having a strong connection between the two, and explaining the big statistics through the eyes of one individual. On an anecdotal level, when individual stories of animals are told, they seem to have a significant effect. My Octopus Teacher is an interesting example; the most amazing thing about it is that nothing dramatic happens in this movie - nothing that you wouldn't expect, no twist. Just a guy coming back again and again to visit the same individual animal. The Dodo is based on telling stories about animals, usually those that were rescued, sometimes also farmed animals. Organizations such as DXE have been able to tell stories of farmed animals, such as that of Lily and Lizzie, the pigs they rescued. However, when I look at our movement as a whole, this individual focused strategy seems quite uncommon. Animal Think Tank's messaging guide also includes the need to tell the stories of individuals (like Esther the Wonder Pig). What is a Story? A story involves change over time, highlighting the interactions between an individual and their environment. The more we can tell about this change, the better. If all we have is a picture, it is only a frozen moment; the viewer needs to fill the gap of what happened before and after. A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth a thousand pictures because it shows the change of the individual and the environment through time. Furthermore, the more you can reveal about the animal's personality and the finer details you can describe, the more profound the story becomes. Imagine a boy in Ukraine who excelled in physics but struggled with math. A missile strike on his school took his life. You might wonder why I mentioned his strengths and weaknesses. Logically, it may not seem relevant, but emotionally, it is. It creates a connection, perhaps because you know someone like him - or maybe you see a bit of yourself in him. Our movement lacks stories about individual animals. With the exception of sanctuaries, we are almost a story-less movement, lacking canonical stories that resonate in the collective memory, not of farmed animals and not of wild animals. What is animal storytelling? Animal storytelling is a narrative appro...

This is a hard post to write. It's uncomfortable talking about sadness. Many of us have been conditioned to think that it's unproductive or even wrong to discuss. While I do think there is some truth to the idea that we shouldn't overly focus on our negative emotions, I also think that ignoring these feelings can give others the incorrect impression that everyone else has their life figured out and that when you are personally struggling with the feelings of sadness, it can make you feel like the only one experiencing those feelings. After I started writing the Year Of The Opposite, I was shocked to discover how many of my close friends and family had also struggled with similar feelings that I experienced. I share this post reluctantly and it makes me feel quite vulnerable. But I want to do it because I think it's important to be honest about the positives and the negatives. I don't just want to show an Instagram highlight reel of my life. I don't think that is fair, and it's certainly not accurate. I suspect, it's not accurate for anyone. So here it goes…Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Confession: I've been feeling depressed for about a week now. It's a persistent fog of worthlessness and loneliness that weighs heavily on me, despite, paradoxically, being surrounded by loved ones.Logically, I know these feelings make no sense, yet they drift through my mind like a fog, dulling the light and leaving only shadows behind.I'm fully aware of what can lift this fog—taking the necessary actions that I've learned will pull me out. But here I am, avoiding them, stuck in a cycle of inaction.It's a strange and unsettling realization: I've achieved everything I once believed would bring me happiness, yet the fulfillment I sought seems elusive. The goals that once held the promise of contentment now feel hollow, revealing a deeper truth that I'm grappling with. It's not the destination that brings peace; it's the journey. The process, the daily grind, the struggles—this is where life truly happens. (Why is it that all the old platitudes seem to be so accurate?!) I know what I need to do to regain my footing. Habits like running, eating healthy, reading, avoiding the news, and not checking my phone in the morning or night—these are the practices that keep me grounded, stave off the darkness, and restore my sense of well-being. But lately, I haven't been doing them. Instead, I'm stuck in a loop of avoidance, fully aware of what works but unable to take action. It's like standing at the edge of a cliff, knowing I need to step back but feeling frozen in place.And here's where another, deeper weight presses on me—the sense of being a fraud. I've challenged others to face their depression, to take control and make the changes that can pull them out of the darkness. And it worked for them. But now, as I struggle to apply that same advice to myself, I feel like a liar, a hypocrite. How can I guide others when I'm floundering in the same waters? It's a disheartening contradiction that only adds to the fog.In a recent challenge I issued, others found their way through their struggles by following the very steps I've been avoiding. You can read about their successes here. Their triumphs should inspire me, but instead, they highlight my own inaction, making the weight of this fog even heavier.Being a hyper-achiever myself, I've always been drawn to the powerful illusion that happiness is just around the corner. Once I reach this milestone, once I make this much money, once I have this title—then I'll be happy. But each time I've reached that point, the happiness was fleeting at best, and soon I was setting my sights on the next goal, convinced that this time it would be different. It's a cycle that has driven me forward, but also one that has kept true contentment just out of reach.Goals are essential. They give us direction and a reason to push forward. But the real value lies not in the accomplishment itself, but in the process of getting there. The struggle, the learning, the day-to-day efforts—this is where we grow, where we build our character, and where we find the small joys that, when added up, lead to something far more meaningful than mere satisfaction.Happiness isn't something you find at the end of the road. It's something you experience along the way, woven into the very fabric of the journey. The destination may offer a fleeting sense of success, but it's the journey that shapes who we are and how we live.When I started writing this post at 8 a.m. on August 15th, I was still deep in that fog, feeling sad and depressed. But as the day went on, and I began taking the actions I know work—including writing this post—the fog started to lift. By 10 p.m., the heaviness had already begun to fade, proving once again that the steps I advocate for others are just as crucial for myself.This experience reminds me that none of my posts are meant to lecture others. They're always reminders to myself because I'm still very much a work in progress. Even as I challenge others to grow, I'm on the same journey, facing the same struggles, and learning the same lessons. The process is ongoing, and it's in these small, daily victories that I find my way out of the darkness, one step at a time.And today, August 16th, I started where it all began. By the small step of making my bed. I already feel a little better. On a completely unrelated note, I got to see the Northern Lights for the first time this week in Northport MI. Get full access to Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack at www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe

Send us a Text Message.

Are you surrounded by challenges with no way out? Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller. This week, we are in 1 Samuel 7. I've titled this chapter "Stand Up And Make A Declaration." Let's recap the story a bit. Israel, having lost and regained the Ark of God, defiled the Tabernacle and found themselves in a 20-year hiatus from worship and sacrifice. But after two decades had passed, Samuel called the nation to repent. He gathered them at Mizpah for national declaration and spiritual restoration. But right at this moment, the plot thickens. Let's listen to 1 Samuel 7:7-11: Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.  — 1 Samuel 7:7-11 An Intense Battle This is quite an intense moment. Imagine for a moment you are the people of Israel. You and your entire family are gathered with the rest of the nation. You are unarmed, fasted, and in a vulnerable emotional state. In the middle of this event, word spreads that the five lords of the Philistines with their armies are gathered around you. You look up to the surrounding territory to see they have you surrounded. Logically, you face destruction. Surrounded & Vulnerable Completely vulnerable, there is only one possibility—salvation by the Lord. Therefore, the people beg Samuel to pray for their salvation, so he does. With the enemy within sight, Samuel responds with prayer and sacrifice, something he has not done in twenty years. Then God makes a mighty thundering sound that throws the Philistines into confusion. I should stop and make a note here. The people of this time had a unique understanding of military combat. They believed every military conflict (victory or defeat) played out on two planes: the natural and the supernatural. Therefore, any unusual phenomenon during a military operation would be interpreted as evidence of a deity at work (Joshua 10:11; Judges 5:4, 20–21). In this case, the loud and unexpected thunder, whatever it was, was immediately understood by the Philistines as a bad omen, which was supported by the fact they were attacking them in the middle of the worship of their God, causing mass panic. Israel immediately understood this as an answer from the Lord from Samuel's prayer and sacrifice and took advantage of the mass hysteria. So let me make three points of application. One | Grasp The Battle First, the enemy always strikes when you are weakest and most vulnerable. This is what he always does in my life. The enemy loves to wear down believers; he is relentless. He knows your weaknesses, vulnerable moments, fears, and failures. If he sees you are about to turn to God, he will send the full force of his armies against you to defeat you. Two | Gird Your Mind Second, when the enemy strikes at these vulnerable moments, you get to make a strategic choice. You can look at the situation from a natural or supernatural perspective. This mindset you adopt will change how you view this situation and will impact your next decision. The choice is either the enemy and natural forces are in control, or God and his supernatural force are in control. Three | Get Out And Fight Third, when you surrender to God, assuming you do, you still need to listen for God and join him in the fight. Surrendering to God does not mean we surrender the fight. We need to fight, but we need to fight the right enemy in the right way. The only way to do this is to get behind the God who fights ahead of us in every battle. Today, you might feel just like Israel, surrounded and vulnerable. If so, grasp the battle, gird your mind, and get out and fight. #DivineVictory #SpiritualWarfare #PrayerPower Ask This: How can you identify and prepare for moments of vulnerability in your spiritual journey, knowing that the enemy often strikes in those times Reflecting on Samuel's response of prayer and sacrifice, what practical steps can you take to deepen your reliance on God during challenging circumstances, aligning your actions with faith rather than fear?

Do You Logically PIP?Joshua Skeens, CEO at Logically, shares the powerful question that saved an employee from being fired and then completely turned their performance around.We all need a question like that.As leaders it's easy to get caught up in the “telling” BUT miss the opportunity of the “asking”. Josh's story is enough to inspire you and your entire team to shift you consider performance across your entire organization and even your leadership culture.—Logically is a leading national managed security and IT solution provider based on Dubiln, OH that helps organizations secure and support their businesses today, solve for tomorrow, and strategize for the future with cyber-first solutions.He”s a CEO who seeks out change, enjoys mentoring other leaders, and was raised on a farm where he learned about work and leadership…LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaskeens/Company Link: http://www.logically.com/What You'll Discover in this EpisodeLife Lesson from Growing Up on a Farm.The Mindset Shift that Changed his Leadership Approach.The Words Leaders Should Use.His Powerful Morning Routine.Why He Writes a Gratitude Message Every Day.The Vital Skills of LIViNG and LEADING in the GRAY.A Hybrid Work Leadership Strategy.The Twist that Accelerated His Career.-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

#212: Have you heard of the donkey problem? It's one of the hardest philosophical problems to solve and the reason why is linked to one of the biggest things that's holding you back in business and in life. You see, the question of this problem was - if you place an equally hungry and thirsty donkey in the middle between food and water, which one should it go to first? There's no wrong answer here. Logically it should either eat or drink and then switch sides, but like us, the donkey may overthink the situation it is in and eventually end up dying of both hunger and thirst because it didn't do anything. It overthought.And overthinking is one of the main blockers that can keep us from achieving our goals - whether that is reaching our business/professional goals or any other types of goals you may have.Come join us, as we continue to focus on sustainable productivity and success in this episode through:The Science of Why We Overthink: Understand how overthinking impacts your brain and bodyPractical Tips and Strategies: Learn actionable techniques and strategies to help prevent you from falling into the spiral of overthinkingImportant Links & Mentions in this episode:SheInherited Rhythms DashboardKelly's Free Resonate GuideKelly's 4D Breakthrough DevotionalKelly's Youtube ChannelPower of One Framework MasterclassSubscribe + Review on Apple PodcastSubscribe + Listen on Spotify Remember, YOU Matter! See you in the next episode.

Nathan and Erik explain the meaning of the phrase “logically consistent” as it appears on the LSAT. Read more on our website!Email daily@lsatdemon.com with questions or comments.Watch this episode on YouTube.

Intuit's Dave Raggio shares why SMB MediaLabs doesn't own inventory, how it prioritizes privacy for its customers, and the reason consumer and CPG brands are turning to Intuit's data.  Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.[00:00:00] Damian: I'm Damian Fowler.[00:00:01] Ilyse: and I'm Ilyse Liffreing[00:00:02] Damian: and welcome to this edition of the current podcast.[00:00:05] Ilyse: This week, we're delighted to bring Dave Raggio to the podcast. Dave is the vice president of S& B Media Labs, a B2B media network owned by Intuit, which is of course known for business products like TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and MailChimp.[00:00:22] Damian: Now Dave developed the idea of SMB Media Lab, which leans on the first party data from the millions of people who use QuickBooks, and it provides small businesses with the intelligence they need to reach their customers across channels like audio and CTV.[00:00:38] Ilyse: We start out by asking Dave about the origins of S& D Media Labs.[00:00:42] : It really came from honestly my personal frustration, in trying to reach SMBs for my, what I'm calling my day job. So, I was hired four years ago, at Intuit to lead QuickBooks acquisition marketing. And I actually still hold that position today. Um, my entire career has [00:01:00] been consumer brand. So I was with North Face before this.[00:01:02] Um, spent a lot of time agency side, working on a variety of clients across CPG and e comm retail. And when I got to, into it, um, I tried to essentially apply the same data sources and tactics that worked very well for me in the, in the consumer world. And it was met very quickly with the reality that SMB data is very hard to find, and when you do find it, the accuracy is just not great.[00:01:28] So, you know, I have a friend, um, that works in the agency that me that at the top you have enterprise level data, which is pretty high quality at the bottom. You have your consumer data, which is abundant and high quality, but between there's a big void and that's pretty much where all S and B data lives.[00:01:49] Um, so it started off. Kind of, it's just a joke internally that I really wish there was a company like QuickBooks that I could partner with and [00:02:00] buy media through that would allow me to find not only the scale of audiences that Intuit has, but also the depth of knowledge about how those, how those businesses are operated and run.[00:02:10] And then that joke kind of became a realization that it is a need for other advertisers that Intuit could very much fill and very uniquely fill as well. Just considering kind of. The breadth and depth of information that we have, um, on, on our small business owners. Um, so that was the start of it. Um, but of course, you know, we wanted to make sure that we were doing it in a way that was beneficial to our customers, um, and done in a privacy safe way.[00:02:38] So that was kind of the start of the journey was just the realization that we had something that advertisers would be interested in, but we also wanted to make sure that it was something that benefited our customers as well.[00:02:47] Damian: That void that you talk about in the middle between enterprise level data and consumer data is quite surprising, isn't it? That there wasn't anything there for those small businesses. I know that 99 percent of all businesses are [00:03:00] SMBs. So that's a huge, uh, yeah, that's a, that's a huge amount of, uh, data that's not being used.[00:03:09] So was it a surprising moment when, when, when you go, when you saw that and you thought, Oh, this is an opportunity.[00:03:15] Dave: Yeah, I, you know, there are small pockets of data where you can get very narrow in, it's just not scalable. So that was the sort of challenge. So you can go to a lot of individual professional sites. But the reality is the world of media is not built around the business that you run, it's built around you as a person.[00:03:31] So stitching those two parameters together, because, you know, as QuickBooks growth, We're looking for specific types of business problems. And, you know, a lot of these small business owners are not active on professional networks. Um, if they have profiles there, they're not looking at them on a regular basis or updating them.[00:03:51] Um, so they, they kind of become. In the shadows, like the S and B part of the data and the targeting capabilities and the need state from the business that they [00:04:00] run sits behind their sort of consumer profiles. So I think it was a surprise when I first joined, but. Logically, after a little while, I was like, okay, that makes sense of why we're not able to find the business traits and qualities that we are able to.[00:04:18] Damian: Yeah, that makes sense. The[00:04:20] Ilyse: Now, how would you go about like describing the value of these small businesses and the data that their advertisers are trying to use to reach this audience?[00:04:31] Dave: Yeah, um, so great question. And there's, there's a couple of different layers of sort of knowledge that we have on our, on our customer base, and we're not unlocking all of those just yet. So we want to, again, going back to the want to do what's right by our customers, we want to make sure that. All the information that we're collecting is something that they would expect us to collect, that they have full control over their ability to participate in this, and that we're only partnering with advertisers that, um, you know, have the best [00:05:00] intent for, for our customers.[00:05:02] With that, uh, we are layering on top of ad buys, data that seems to already exist in the market, but is much more accurate. So that was one of the sort of uphill battles that we've had in the early stages of this. So things like industry, age, revenue, employee count, these are things that on the surface appear to exist in other third party data sources, but You know, again, being on the other side of the buying of this one, I see how wildly off some of those data sources can be and the assumptions that they have about a small business.[00:05:34] So what we're adding on to that is just a very, very, um, deterministic one to one knowledge and accuracy that didn't exist. So we eliminate a lot of waste that comes with using some of the other data providers or even just kind of doing broad market advertising. So that's kind of the main value prop.[00:05:54] That said, we are working with our legal and privacy team. And our [00:06:00] executive sponsor is actually the head of privacy. So that should tell everyone a little bit about how serious we're taking this. But we're also thinking about with our customers, what value can we add to them if we continue to go into what we're calling transactional type data, if we're able to go the next step deeper.[00:06:16] And the reason for that is every business. on the surface may look the same in an industry size employee count, but how they run their business could be very different. So if you're a construction company, that's in the same region as another construction company, roughly same revenue, roughly same employee count doesn't mean that you invest completely different in marketing.[00:06:37] And you may be, Think about your supply chain very differently. What that allows us to do is actually find need states for our customers and be able to pair them with the advertisers that might be able to serve, um, solutions for them in those needs states. And so that's kind of the next wave that we're working on.[00:06:52] It's something that we haven't done yet, but we're hoping to unlock for our advertisers.[00:06:57] Ilyse: Yeah, that's definitely a good example. [00:07:00] Um, I feel like, In a, such a new kind of company like this, and I know you refer to you guys as like a retail media network, although you're not exactly a retail media, um, so it's, it's, it's definitely hard to kind of describe, I would assume, to other B2B businesses exactly what to do and how your like first party data And you essentially use QuickBooks, um, primarily, right?[00:07:27] Um, how they can use that data to their advantage. Is there, like, another example that you can give how, um, advertiser would use your, your media network in order to, like, reach their audience? Heh[00:07:43] Dave: you mentioned that, that, you know, we've, we've been using the term retail media network, but we're, we're very much not a retail media network. So we do not have owned and operated inventory and that's by design. Um, you don't start a business because you're passionate about bookkeeping in most cases.[00:07:55] Um, so we're leaning into as a company, AI and, and, [00:08:00] um, automation to make sure that we're trying to reduce the amount of time that That a customer has to spend in our platforms in order to, um, to get their work done. So throwing ads in there will slow that down. It's not something that, you know, someone that's already paying for subscription would, would want to have that said, there are potentially ways that we've been looking at that. Provide additional value to that. That said by not having owned and operated, I think that we accidentally fell into what I'm calling kind of the next wave of retail media network. So we are more of an audience network that can be layered on to any part of your ad buy that's programmatic. So we have partnerships with the trade desk, with physio, with DV360, with meta, and we We are agnostic to inventory source.[00:08:44] We just allow the advertiser, whatever their KPIs are across the board to just get more efficient and more focused on just the right people. And that's been, um, again, slightly different than what most retail media networks are going, but attending a bunch of [00:09:00] conferences, that seems to be really the hot topic of your own and operated inventory is great.[00:09:04] It is the last. bottom, bottom, bottom of the funnel that you're able to, um, that you're able to really leverage. We are able to address full funnel campaigns with that audience targeting.[00:09:18] Damian: That's very interesting. What kind of advertisers in this space are keen to take advantage of this opportunity to reach these millions of small businesses?[00:09:29] Dave: Yeah, it's so that's been one of the larger surprising things when we started this up. So we built this assuming insurance, banking, credit cards, those would be the The sort of the very close in some of the software SAS providers. Um, that has been very true for us that that's where we're seeing a lot of interest, but we've had a lot of consumer brands coming to us.[00:09:48] There seems to be a wave of interest in small business as a segment for a lot of advertisers. So we've had one of the largest CPG brands approach us. I worked at Method for [00:10:00] a while, so I know firsthand that shipping a bottle of hand soap is very expensive, and it's only a 3 bottle of hand soap, but it's mostly water and fragile, so you're upside down in your e comm costs.[00:10:12] So the area where e comm works really well for CPG brands is concentrates in large formats, and the normal consumer do not want that. It is very profitable to go that direction. Um, so they reached out to us, same thing with one of the largest beverage companies reached out to us cause they want to be in more restaurants, more independent restaurants than the chain restaurants.[00:10:30] So it's been a little surprising across the board of, you know, who's really approached us. Um, and, and some of these non traditional sort of B2B, as you would think about it are really the ones that have a ton of interest.[00:10:42] Ilyse: yeah I must say. It seems like B2B is on like some kind of upward trending line right now. Um, we are seeing like a, an increase across like all channels, I feel like, maybe. Like, um, maybe that's due to like, I don't know, the rise of like [00:11:00] LinkedIn or like, um, just more businesses coming forward. And being created in general, maybe the pandemic even, I don't know, it's, it's curious because I do feel like even like channels like CTV, for instance, there's a lot more like B2B kind of marketing happening.[00:11:16] Is[00:11:16] Dave: Yeah. We're seeing the same thing and we're excited that we're kind of showing up at the right time for that. You know, I think our hypothesis on that is, um, very much correct. There was a small business boom during the pandemic, but a lot of advertisers I think have, have started to kind of run out of scale and saturation that they can have amongst the sort of consumer.[00:11:36] And this is an entirely new audience with tremendous spending power that you can talk about different products that you wouldn't want to put, you know, on a Super Bowl spot. You know, the CPG brand is not going to run a large format concentrate ad in the Super Bowl, but there's now a new path and a new audience that is kind of untapped.[00:11:54] And we're also seeing that also in the marketing space. So a lot of the major social networks and ad providers. [00:12:00] Their next target is all the S and B's because they've got so much share of wallet amongst the enterprise level brands that their, their next growth area is going to have to come from the long tail of S and B's.[00:12:10] Um, so we're happy because we truly feel like we are the most accurate and best way to reach those S and B's. Um, so we're, we're hoping that, that, you know, everything kind of comes together.[00:12:20] Damian: Is there a, is there some kind of nuance in terms of the channels that advertisers trying to reach businesses use versus, you know, more traditional, you might say consumer channels? I mean, they're obviously consumers. are also business owners and business owners are consumers. But is there a different sort of way that you're thinking or the advertisers are thinking about leveraging, um, the data that you're providing?[00:12:48] Dave: We've not seen that. So kind of going back to the challenge that brought this whole thing to life is that The the line between them as a small business owner and them is just a person [00:13:00] is almost indistinguishable between the two of those. So The nice thing is because it's programmatic wherever they happen to be We're able to find them and able to serve them relevant advertising at that point I think that Um, it really the, the majority of channel selection will come down to the objective of the campaign.[00:13:22] So we had a major global logistics company that was very focused on brand advertising and we were running them on connected TV with Vizio. We were running them on some digital video formats. We had another SaaS provider that was very focused on cost per leads. And we. Much heavier on the social and programmatic, uh, display side of things.[00:13:41] So it's really more of what's the objective dictates kind of the channel mix itself. But, um, in terms of are there subtle nuances or specific places we go? Not really. We kind of just follow, follow the sort of, um, friends that we're seeing with the, with those small business [00:14:00] owners.[00:14:00] Damian: Totally makes sense.[00:14:01] Ilyse: Now, you've described SMB MediaLabs as the next wave of retail networks, which is very interesting. I like that kind of quote right there. Um, you've also said it's like a more open network than some others. Can you describe why that is?[00:14:20] Dave: Yeah, so I would say we're not the next wave. I think that we are ahead and riding the next wave. So I don't say that we are defining it by any means, but, um, we were open in the fact that we're not relying on our own inventory. So we can go. Pretty much anywhere. Um, and if an advertiser comes to us and they have a specific DSP that they really want to work with, we can onboard those DSPs if they're not already in our network.[00:14:44] So a big part of our, of our product is really making sure that we have the largest breadth of inventory sources and partnerships available, that we can develop campaigns in partnership with the advertiser and the agencies that actually, um, can [00:15:00] span wherever they believe that their customers are, whatever their objectives are.[00:15:03] So that's, that's the open part. Of what we're doing. Um, and because of that also, like there's just easier capabilities for them to, to measure it because they're already using a lot of the DSPs and platforms that they're, they're using for their normal campaign. So we're not any sort of walled garden that has hidden metrics behind the scene, which I know is also, you know, a challenge for a lot of retail media networks as well.[00:15:26] Ilyse: That's awesome. How do you, going about your own advertising for this network, how are you basically scaling it?[00:15:34] Dave: Getting the word out and, uh, getting people to, uh, to, to try it. So we have had, um, I think we're, we're in, in month eight now, and we've had a number of large advertisers come in the data's, the data and the audience targeting is performing extremely well, that is something that, um, was a concern of mine going in that, you know, a, is there enough people that are interested in S and B's and we already [00:16:00] talked about how that, you know, You know, has been something that we've been able to check that box and say, yes, there is a ton of interest from advertisers across the board.[00:16:07] The second one was, have I convinced myself that our audience quality is as good as it is. Um, and the data that's come in as, as shown that it's, it's performing extremely well, both on brand metrics and on cost per action. So, uh, our goal right now is to just have as many conversations and just do as many tests as possible.[00:16:26] And let the advertiser see how well it performs comparatively to other things.[00:16:31] Damian: I guess the next question would be how well does it perform? You know, what kind of data insights are you getting back to provide to advertisers?[00:16:39] Dave: Yeah, so, uh, we are seeing so we've done some disco studies on brand ones, and we're seeing on average 30 to 40 percent increase in brand metrics, which is huge. That was not that's actually outside of what we anticipated and hoped for on that one. And I think probably the big one was when we've run some cost per lead campaigns for SAS [00:17:00] cloud service.[00:17:01] We cut their CPLs by 75%. So just eliminating the inaccuracy and focusing your spin on deterministic direct connections with those advertisers or with those, with those customers as has worked extremely well.[00:17:18] Damian: Yeah, that's a high fidelity audience. I, I, I like that phrase.[00:17:23] Damian: I guess we have to have a question about ai, right? We have to talk about ai.[00:17:44] Um, you know. In April, Intuit introduced an AI assistant to its core product. Products, I should say, um, in TurboTax. It's going to shorten the time to file taxes, credit karma, users [00:18:00] get personalized financial information advice, I should say, and users can generate marketing content in MailChimp. You know, how are you and SMB Media Labs using AI?[00:18:09] Yeah,[00:18:13] Dave: we built, we are a managed service. So we are doing the buys and executing for the time being. That is something that is very difficult to scale because for us it is kind of core to Google. Make sure that the, that the media that we're buying, not only is targeted, but it's performing.[00:18:29] So there's a lot of optimizations that we want to be able to make recommendations on and act on. Uh, it's hard to do that. You know, our goal is to have hundreds of advertisers. You can't optimize hundreds of advertisers. So there are tools that we are bringing on board that actually use AI to understand how the various campaigns are performing, are able to serve up some sort of triggered recommendations based off of that.[00:18:51] Um, and that allows our team to scale and really make sure that everything that we're doing is. hitting the benchmarks and exceeding the benchmarks that we want them to do [00:19:00] across all of our advertisers.[00:22:09] Damian: One question I guess from that is, you know, the actual marketing of the SMB, uh, the actual marketing of SMB MediaLabs, how do you think about that?[00:22:21] Dave: Uh, well, the marketing of SMB Media Labs is a lot of. Conversations like this. Um, so I'm a little bit on a podcast tour. I am, I'm going to be at Cannes. So we do have a space in the media link to a can where we're going to be having a number of meetings, speaking engagements. Um, it's, it is different enough that it does require a little bit of explanation and, you know, in full transparency, there's an added hurdle that as it stands now, we are a managed service.[00:22:45] So, um, it is. It adds complexity to what a traditional we are not doing the model where we just park our data and anyone can go and pull it like through a marketplace. We still have to control. And that's that's because we want to have the highest bar possible for how we [00:23:00] control our data. So it just takes more conversations.[00:23:03] But, uh, You know, we are doing some programmatic media buying and we're doing some digital out of home in the elevators of a lot of the major agencies in New York City. So we're, we're trying to really focus in on, on both the agencies and the advertisers that would be interested in something like this.[00:23:19] Damian: And that's it for this edition of The Current Podcast. We'll be back next week, so stay tuned.[00:23:24] Ilyse: The current podcast theme is by Love and Caliber. The current team includes Cat Vessey and Sydney Cairns.[00:23:30] Damian: And[00:23:30] remember I'm Damian.[00:23:32] Ilyse: I'm Elise.[00:23:33] Damian: And we'll see you next time. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a review.[00:23:38] Also, tune in to our other podcast, The Current Report.

Logically, we all know that pushing ourselves to do harder things will make us better handlers, BUT it's just so cozy in our comfort zones! Today I'm going to share seven things you'll learn from pushing yourself PLUS five ways to make growth a habit! Really like this episode? Say thanks with a coffee or slice of pizza! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theqcoach Got a question for me? Or a topic idea? You can even be anonymous. Drop me a note: https://www.theqcoach.com/askQ Don't forget, if you want more support, check out the Q-membership! https://www.theqcoach.com/q-membership The planner is out!! WooHoo! https://www.theqcoach.com/dogged Get on my email list: https://www.theqcoach.com/fb-sign-up-page Music by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay.

Sunday morning message with Pastor Brad Wilkinson. Visit christianlifeustin.com, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram @christianlifeaustin to stay up to date with the exciting things happening here at Christian Life Austin.

#RafiFarber - We're Rounding the Corner to the End Game Sprint Day after day, gold reaches new highs. Silver, just crossing $29, is only now starting to catch up. The miners are still extremely cheap relative to the price of the precious metals that they mine, so while this rally in mining stacks has been nice, it is not that impressive. But it will be. Once silver crosses $30, Rafi Farber thinks we'll be back in 1979, when the dollar almost collapsed last time. This time, though, it won't be almost. It will just be. That's because 93% of the value of the dollar is backed by debt that is quickly losing value as interest rates rise. That means, if they hike, the dollar falls. If they cut, the dollar falls. Logically, there can be no other possibility. To find out more, click to watch the video now! - Sign up for The End Game Investor! https://endgameinvestor.substack.com/ To find out more about Fortuna Silver go to: https://fortunasilver.com/ - To get a 30% discount to the 'premium' level of Vince's Goldfix newsletter go to: https://vblgoldfix.substack.com/Arcadia30off To join our free email list and never miss a video click here: https://arcadiaeconomics.com/email-signup/ - To get on the waiting list for your very own ´Silver Chopper Ben´ sterling silver figurine click here: https://arcadiaeconomics.com/get-a-chopper-ben/ - To get your paperback or audio copy of The Big Silver Short go to: https://arcadiaeconomics.com/thebigsilvershort/ Find Arcadia Economics content on these sites: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/ArcadiaEconomics Rumble - https://rumble.com/c/ArcadiaEconomics Bitchute - https://www.bitchute.com/channel/kgpeiwO1dhxX/ LBRY/Odysee - https://odysee.com/@ArcadiaEconomics:5 Listen to Arcadia Economics on your favorite Podcast platforms: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/75OH2PpgUpriBA5mYf5kyY Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/arcadia-economics/id1505398976 Google-https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9teXNvdW5kd2lzZS5jb20vcnNzLzE2MTg5NTk1MjMzNDVz Anchor - https://anchor.fm/arcadiaeconomics Amazon - https://podcasters.amazon.com/podcasts Follow Arcadia Economics on these social platforms Twitter - https://twitter.com/ArcadiaEconomic Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/arcadiaeconomics/ #silver #silverprice And remember to get outside and have some fun every once in a while!:) (URL0VD) We do receive compensation from Miles Franklin from orders placed through our show. For our full disclaimer go to: https://arcadiaeconomics.com/disclaimer-miles-franklin-precious-metals/Subscribe to Arcadia Economics on Soundwise

Each of us needs to understand the other in conflict and yet our personalities get in the way. This listener-requested episode helps you to walk through conflict with those people with temperaments who do not show as much emotion and/or prefer to solve problems logically or linearly. You'll learn ways you can develop a healthier internal narrative as well as prevent and repair conflict, building understanding together, too! Make sure you get a copy of "The Enneagram in Marriage" also here to get Enneagram and conflict tips. https://www.amazon.com/Enneagram-Marriage-Thriving-Together-Pairing/dp/1540903370 Make sure you connect with us at 941301-8420 if you'd like to connect with a coach or counselor or visit https://www.enneagramandmarriage.com/contact-us Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first time in a long time, the boys are back in Studio A! On this momentous occasion, the Iceman and JJ brought snacks and beverages to sample on the show. Logically, the conversation devolves into a heated debate about proper expectations at fast casual restaurants. All three hosts finally get around to sharing their thoughts about XMen '97 (with a few spoilers sprinkled in along the way). And after all is said and done, AJ gives his final report on the Road to Wrestlemania, on the eve of the marathon weekend. Grab a sweet treat and have a listen…just not TOO SWEET. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/badslant/support

If you have ever heard of manifesting, then you probably know, at least in part, where this conversation is headed… but for those of you who might not be as familiar with the concept, let me take a moment to explain.  Manifestation is basically the belief that if you visualize and believe something enough, it will come to pass. There are a lot of varying beliefs about manifestation, and many people claim that it works in many different ways. Some believe that it is an almost spiritual, mystical phenomenon, while others tend to believe that any basis for it being true lies within the human mind. More people probably believe that if you believe in something enough, you will not be inhibited as you strive to achieve it… which is what actually ends up winning in the end.  Let's approach manifestation from a position of pure logic. Logically, you ARE able to manifest things by visualizing and believing in them. This will enable you to break down self-imposed barriers and to give yourself the freedom that you need to pursue your goals without inhibitions. Once you acquire the ability to ‘live' your success before it is physically in place, you will have realized what it truly means to ‘manifest' the next level of success for yourself.  Tune in tomorrow for more ideas on helping you manifest your desire to get things done.  Remember to subscribe to my high-value proven business success tips and resources Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/)  Want more from The Accountability Coach™, subscribe to more high-value content by looking for me on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/my-podcast/ and on most podcast platforms and in most English-speaking countries, or by going to https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/accountabilitycoach.com/id290547573.  Take advantage of all the complimentary business tips and tools by joining the Free Silver Membership on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/.  Go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com to check out for yourself how I, as your Accountability Coach™, can help you get and stay focused on you highest payoff activities that put you in the highest probability position to achieve your professional and personal goals, so you can enjoy the kind of business and life you truly want and deserve.  I'm the author of many books, including, Excuses Don't Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, The Guide to Stopping Procrastination, The Power of Visualization, My Gratitude Journal, the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, and The Roadmap To Success with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, and more.   Aim for what you want each and every day!  Anne BachrachThe Accountability Coach™

Mitt Romney's niece and resident Swamp creature,Ronna McDaniel, is out as RNC Chairwoman. She will step down after being an abysmal failure.  Peter Doocy trolled Karine Jean-Pierre in an outstanding exchange over the wide ass open border, Chris Christie may run as a third party candidate, and Joe Biden confused Republicans with Hamas. Finally, Logically.AI, a firm that "is poised to shape the 2024 election", boasts they can "automatically suppress and label any content they deem as misinformation" on Facebook and much more. RUMBLE: See the full LIVE show on Rumble. Subscribe, Watch and Engage at https://rumble.com/DrewBerquist SHOW SPONSORS AND AUDIENCE DISCOUNTS GENESIS GOLD GROUP Genesis Gold Group helps Americans protect their life's savings from the threats facing our nation.Get Your Free, Definitive Gold Guide Here  https://goldwithdrew.com/ THE ROOT BRANDS Get rid of heavy metals and toxins in your body! Purchase Clean Slate and other Root Brands products here: https://www.rootbrandswellness.com/drewberquist PREPPER BEEF  Hope for the best, prepare for the worst at Prepper Beef. Get freeze-dried, sous vide 100% premium U.S. beef at https://BeefwithDrew.com. Eat it today, or tomorrow. Beef has a 10+ year shelf life. THREE Live a life of health and purpose. Three's highly bioavailable products are uniquely formulated to deliver maximum nutrition for maximum benefits. Visit Here to shop: https://iii.earth/en/ShopProducts/1315620 --or-- Here to enroll: https://drewberquist.iii.earth/en/enrollment/enrollmentconfigurationpc GOOD GUIDES Good Guides protects what you don't expect. Whether it is home or auto, Good Guides offers affordable protection from people who actually care! Visit https://goodguidesusa.com/dberquist or Call (239) 366-1803 SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDIT Get Back the Money That You've Left Behind! Self Employed may be due up to $32,000 and Business owners may be due up to $26,000 per employee. Visit here and get started https://www.mytaxcreditservice.com/drew MAMMOTH NATION Shop Conservative and push back against the woke left. Become a member at https://mammothnation.com/ and use promo code DREW to save 30% on your membership. MY PILLOW Get the best night's sleep of your life and save! Use Promo Code DREW to save up to 66% off your purchase at https://MyPillow.com/Drew

Grammy nominated rapper Logic brings us Logically Speaking, a series of unfiltered conversations with the people who inspire him. It's fun and lighthearted, yet also honest and sincere as it gets into the nitty gritty of life.  From spirituality and addictions to love, loss and everything in between, join Logic as he dives deep into the stories behind his guests.

I love color, and I love a “koan”--a question, story, or statement that can't be understood logically. These thirteen color koans explore the mysteries of color. Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com Follow on social media: @GretchenRubin on YouTube @GretchenRubin on TikTok @GretchenRubin on Instagram @GretchenRubin on Threads Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes Get Gretchen Rubin's newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here. Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.  Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,' a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  I spent many years attempting to hack my behavior. Forcing change, trying to make something budge. It's the typical approach to life and health that appears like it should work. Logically doing something should create something different. And it does, but only if you change the pattern because your pattern produces the outcome you experience. If you have a problem, that problem was birthed out of a pattern. Change requires shifting the pattern, and that starts by understanding the pattern (learn your pattern here). When you know the pattern, you can influence it by creating better skills. Skills reinforce behaviors, even those you want to change. I am skilled at sleeping past my alarm. I'm skilled at waiting too long to prepare food until I'm ravenous and will eat anything. I'm skilled at overthinking, worrying, and anxiety. I'm skilled at things that reinforce the outcomes, creating the problems I want to change. Changing this requires influencing the pattern with better skills. Part two of this podcast mini-series teaches you how to transform the goal into skills you need to develop to create a better outcome. Change requires you to focus on developing the skills you need to create change. Ask yourself what skills you want to develop this year. I'm not talking about your average skill, like getting skilled at weightlifting. But the everyday mundane skills necessary to influence your patterns.   Learn More: https://thelivingwell.com/319   Additional Resources to get you started building better patterns and setting healthier resolutions: Upgrade Your Wellness Routine With This Tip 5 Ways To Guarantee Health Success 15 Healthy Habits To Take Into The New Year Why I Gave Up Finding Myself (Real Story) The Power of A Habit