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Send us Fan MailShownotes can be found at https://www.profitwithlaw.com/553.Growing a law firm takes more than hiring people and bringing in clients. At some point, you need an operating system that creates consistency, accountability, and predictable growth.In this episode, Moshe sits down with Sharon Means, a fractional integrator and a CPA, to break down proven strategies from business operating systems like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), helping law firm owners move from burning out to scaling up with intention.Resources mentioned:Take the Law Firm Growth Assessment and find out how you rate as a law firm owner! Check out our Profit with Law YouTube channel!Learn more about the Profit with Law Elite Coaching Program herePodcast Ep 034 - What's Your Hiring ProcessPodcast Ep 144 - From Law School to a 150 Person Firm with Mike MorseTraction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino WickmanClockwork, Revised and Expanded: Design Your Business to Run Itself by Mike MichalowiczGet Scalable: The Operating System Your Business Needs To Run and Scale Without You by Ryan DeissCore Values Exercise: https://www.taproot.com/live-your-core-values-exercise-to-increase-your-success/Kolbe: http://kolbe.com/The Double Win podcast with Michael Hyatt and Megan Hyatt-Miller: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-double-win/id1294885433Connect with Sharon Means: Email | LinkedInSharon's Email: sharon.means.cpa@gmail.comJoin our Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lawfirmgrowthsummit/To request a show topic, recommend a guest or ask a question for the show, please send an email to info@dreambuilderfinancial.com.Connect with Moshe on:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/moshe.amselLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosheamsel/
What if you could switch between deep focus and true recovery on command, instead of white-knuckling one gear until you burn out? Serial entrepreneur and Organic Technology creator Hess Adnani joins Nick to map the human operating system: a two-axis model of your nervous system and your mind that tells you where you are and how to move. He explains why recovery is a productivity multiplier, not lost time, and how to read your body's free daily signals instead of leaning only on wearables and bloodwork. Meet our guest Hess Adnani is a serial entrepreneur and innovation ecosystem architect, and the creator of Organic Technology. He built Cyprus's largest startup community, facilitated over two million euros in funding, and helped create 100+ jobs. He now teaches founders to build strong companies and strong inner systems at the same time. Resources & tools: BioEnergetic Baseline (map your energy and nervous-system state): https://outliyr.com/app/bioenergetic-baseline Energy Leak (find what's draining you and blocking recovery): https://outliyr.com/apps/energy-leak/ Braverman Brain-Type Test (understand your default mind state): https://outliyr.com/app/braverman-test-online Create your FREE Outliyr account and unlock special tools and resources: https://get.outliyr.com Thank you to our partners Outliyr Biohacker's Peak Performance Shop: get exclusive discounts on cutting-edge health, wellness, & performance gear Ultimate Health Optimization Deals: a database of of all the current best biohacking deals on technology, supplements, systems and more Latest Summits, Conferences, Masterclasses, and Health Optimization Events: join me at the top events around the world FREE Outliyr Nootropics Mini-Course: gain mental clarity, energy, motivation, and focus Key takeaways Your internal state sits on two dials: the nervous system and the mind, forming four states of being. Wise mode is open and creative; doer mode is focused and executing. Camping in one mode backfires: doer mode leads to burnout, wise mode to stalling. Hustle past two weeks and output slides toward 50%; two to three days of recovery restores 80% to 90%. Short activations shift your state in minutes, with no equipment. Roughly 20% of your body's daily signals reveal about 80% of your health. Episode highlights 1:47 What Organic Technology is 5:15 Wise mode vs doer mode 19:09 Why camping in one mode burns you out 24:44 Recovery has a quality 37:18 The "invisible jacket" activation 49:30 Your body as an 80/20 diagnostic 56:02 The free assessment, plus a live activation Links Watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5cf_nfY7lOo Full episode show notes: https://outliyr.com/280 Connect with Nick on social media Instagram Twitter (X) YouTube LinkedIn Easy ways to support Subscribe Leave an Apple Podcast review Suggest a guest Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for us? Let me know in the show notes above and one of us will get back to you! Be an Outliyr, Nick
Today in Washington, DC, I shared findings from the State of Hotel AI research I ran with Nazpari Aydin for Destination AI. We surveyed hotel company leaders about how they feel about AI, where it's paying off today, and what's holding them back. The researchState of Hotel AI: Fall 2026 findingsTake the survey to get the full benchmarking data setRelated episodesDestination AI: How I Built the #1 Hospitality AI Event From Scratch (Nazpari Aydin)Stop Guessing About AI. See What Hotel Leaders Are Actually Doing (Nazpari Aydin)AI is the Tool. Mindset is the Operating System. Hospitality is the Outcome. (Danica Smith)How Loews Hotels Puts AI to Work for Guests and Teams (Dan Kornick, Loews Hotels) A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands
It's nine at night and you're answering the email that could have waited. Nobody asked you to. That isn't a boundaries problem. By the end you'll know which of the four engines is running hottest in you, and you'll have one change to make this week that your system can't talk you out of. Somewhere early in your career, usually for very good reasons, you built yourself an operating system for achievement. Deliver more than asked. Own everything you touch. Never be the reason something drops. Prove yourself in every room, every time. That system worked, and it's why you're where you are. Notice what it doesn't contain. No off switch. No definition of enough. No mechanism at all for protecting the person running it. It was built to produce output, and it will keep producing output until the machine it runs on breaks. Which is why burnout at this level isn't a workload problem and isn't a personal failure. One client arrived convinced she'd lost her resilience. When we mapped what she was actually carrying, she was running roughly two and a half jobs on one human, using an operating system she designed in her twenties when the stakes were far lower. Her resilience was extraordinary. Six months later she wasn't working less hard, because she didn't want to. She was working on one job, deliberately chosen, with the absorption named and redistributed. Her performance went up. This episode maps the four engines driving ambition burnout in high-achieving women, gives you five changes that rebuild the system rather than layering self-care on top of it, and ends with the argument that moves high achievers when nothing else does: your team inherits your pace, and the women watching you are doing arithmetic on what your job appears to cost. WHAT'S COVERED → Why "just get better at switching off" treats the symptom as the cause → The two stories, denial and shame, that keep capable women stuck → Four engines: proving, over-functioning, the invisible load, and success escalation → Why the fourth engine is only dangerous when it sits alongside another → Five changes that rebuild the system, starting with a written definition of enough → Why your calendar is your team's curriculum, and where the pipeline actually leaks RELATED EPISODES Part one, why this is so hard to see in yourself: https://tonicollis.com/leading-women-tech/318-quiet-burnout-high-achievers What burnout-proof leadership actually requires: https://tonicollis.com/leading-women-tech/294-burnout-proof-leadership-women-tech/ Boundaries for women in leadership: https://tonicollis.com/leading-women-tech/268-boundaries-for-women-in-leadership-how-to-lead-without-burning-out The invisible load and what leadership shouldn't cost you: https://tonicollis.com/leading-women-tech/254-the-invisible-load-leadership-shouldnt-cost-your-wellbeing Bravery, grit and confidence, the leadership energy model: https://tonicollis.com/leading-women-tech/312-bravery-grit-confidence-leadership-energy-model/ Leader as coach, the skill behind delegating capability: https://tonicollis.com/leading-women-tech/314-leader-as-coach-coaching-skills-transform-leadership/ RESOURCES The Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://tonicollis.com/burnout-to-balance Book a complimentary strategy call: https://tonicollis.com/lets-chat/ #WomenInTech #SustainableLeadership #TechLeadership #Leadership #WomenInLeadership
What worked in your last season might be the very thing holding you back from your next. God is shifting operating systems—moving us from relying on our own hustle to simply hearing His voice and walking in obedience. When you anchor yourself in why God called you, you get the strength to press through the middle and lay hold of what lies ahead.
AI is the tool, mindset is the operating system, and hospitality is the outcome. In this episode, Danica Smith, Guest Experience Correspondent at Hospitality Daily and founder of MorningStar GX, shares what this framework means for hospitality leaders: giving people the time and support to use AI, keeping experimentation focused on useful outcomes, and considering operational efficiency alongside team well-being and guest experience.Read Danica's article: You Cannot Automate Your Way Out Of OverwhelmListen to our previous conversation: Is AI Actually Improving Our Lives? A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands
In this episode Andrea Samadi revisits a 2020 conversation with trainer Jason Wittrock, exploring how movement, recovery, and nutrition interact to support learning, adaptation, and performance. They discuss sustainable eating strategies—like focusing on food quality, experimenting to find what works for you, and using tracking as a short-term tool rather than a lifetime rule. The episode also highlights the power of example: staying consistent with healthy habits even when others resist, trusting the process, and choosing one manageable change to practice until it becomes part of your life. Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance so we can create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity, and results. I'm Andrea Samadi, and if you've been following along through Season 16, you'll know that we have been building what I call The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—a neuroscience-based framework designed to help us understand how the different systems of the brain and body work together to influence how we learn, adapt, connect, lead, and ultimately perform. Today, we are completing Phase 3: Movement, Learning, and Cognition, where we have been following this central pathway: Movement creates the stimulus. Recovery allows the brain and body to respond. Adaptation is the change that follows. And improved performance is the outcome we are working toward. Throughout this phase, we have explored how movement activates the brain, how exercise primes attention and learning, and how recovery determines our readiness to perform. We have also examined how sleep, cardiovascular fitness, strength, nutrition, and metabolic health influence the way the brain and body adapt over time. For this final episode of Phase 3, we are returning to a conversation that played an important role in my own health journey. Today, we revisit my interview with personal trainer and fitness model Jason Wittrock, who first appeared on this podcast in Episode 94[i] in November 2020. On this episode, we explore: ✔ Why food quality can matter more than rigidly chasing numbers ✔ How hunger and fullness provide useful information ✔ Why tracking should teach us—not control us ✔ How experimentation builds body awareness ✔ Why consistency matters more than short-term perfection ✔ How leading by example can influence others—even when we cannot see it yet I first discovered Jason in late 2016 or early 2017, when I was standing at a crossroads with my health. I knew I needed to make some changes, but I didn't yet know what those changes should look like. I had heard people talking about keto coffee and the potential benefits of a ketogenic diet, including increased energy, greater mental clarity, and weight loss. So, like many people searching for answers, I went to YouTube and typed in, “How do you make keto coffee?” One of Jason Wittrock's[ii] videos appeared. That video became the beginning of a much larger journey for me—one that changed the way I thought about nutrition, energy, exercise, and metabolic health. What made Jason stand out wasn't only the information he shared. It was the intention behind it. He would speak quickly and enthusiastically about what he was doing, what he was eating, and why—and then he would say something simple: “Hey, I'm just trying to help.” And I believed him. Jason also emphasized something that has remained with me ever since: it isn't enough to follow a diet or health plan for 30 or 45 days. If we want lasting results, the changes must become part of the way we live. That message stuck—all these years later. I began making keto coffee, experimenting with new foods, learning what macronutrients were, and discovering what worked best for me. I began paying much closer attention to how nutrition affected my energy, mental clarity, and physical performance. I still make the occasional keto coffee and have MCT Oil next to the blender, and Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter in the fridge. ‘ What started with one YouTube video became part of a much broader investigation into the habits that support brain health, my metabolic health, as well as longevity. And this is exactly why Jason's work belongs at the conclusion of Phase 3. Movement is a powerful signal—but the body does not adapt to movement in isolation. Adaptation is also shaped by how we fuel the body, regulate blood sugar, support metabolic flexibility, sleep, recover, and repeat our habits consistently over time. Exercise, nutrition, sleep, fasting, and recovery are not completely separate health strategies. They are interacting signals that tell the brain and body how to respond, rebuild, and perform. As we revisit this interview, you'll hear some of my questions from the earlier years of my health journey. Science continues to evolve, and so have many of my habits and perspectives. But the central lesson remains highly relevant: Lasting change rarely begins with having every answer. Sometimes, it begins with one trusted voice, one new idea, and the willingness to take the first step. Almost six years after recording this interview, I can say that I still trust Jason's guidance on nutrition. As I reviewed these clips, they almost brought tears to my eyes because I could see how accurately his words predicted what would unfold years later. It was almost as if he were saying, “Keep going. Trust the process.” And when I look at the lasting changes in my own life and family, I can now see what he meant. CLIP 1: ESCAPING THE CAGE OF CONSTANT TRACKING In Clip 1, (click to watch VIDEO clip) Jason challenges the idea that we need a perfect calorie target or precise macronutrient formula to improve our health. He explains that nutritional needs vary from one person to another—and even from one day to the next. This makes it difficult for an online calculator or outside expert to determine exactly what an individual body needs at every moment. From Jason's perspective, one potential benefit of a well-formulated ketogenic diet is that it may help some people experience steadier energy, fewer cravings, and greater awareness of their natural hunger and fullness cues. Instead of constantly counting calories or tracking every gram of protein, fat, and carbohydrate, he encourages people to begin with the quality of the foods they eat and then observe how their bodies respond. Jason uses the image of a lion in the wild compared with a lion in a cage. The lion in the wild responds naturally to hunger and fullness. The lion in the cage represents someone constrained by spreadsheets, calorie targets, and rigid food rules. His central message is that nutrition should be sustainable enough to support your life—not so complicated that tracking the plan becomes your life. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM CLIP 1 There is no single perfect formula for everyone. Calorie and macronutrient recommendations are estimates. Individual needs vary according to activity, sleep, stress, health, body composition, personal goals, and many other factors. When I first watched one of Jason's “What I Eat in a Day” videos, it gave me a starting point. At that time, I didn't really know what to prepare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I ate healthy foods, rarely ate sugar, but knew I could improve with what I was using as energy. Jason's meals gave me a basic framework. From there, I adjusted the foods and portions to make his approach work for me. If you want to see a more recent video of what he eats in a day, you can visit his Instagram[iii] page. Food quality matters. Jason recommends beginning with nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods rather than focusing exclusively on calories or macronutrient percentages. This was a huge paradigm shift for me. At the time, I could tell you the calorie count of almost any food. But after listening to Jason, I stopped thinking only about calories in and calories burned. Instead, I began noticing which foods left me feeling satisfied, energized, and full. Hunger and fullness provide useful information. Learning to recognize physical hunger, satisfaction after eating, cravings, changes in energy, and fullness can help us understand how different foods affect us. This was another eye-opener for me. I began experimenting with intermittent fasting and eating within a defined window. This practice helped me learn what hunger actually felt like without immediately becoming afraid of it. With time, my body became more accustomed to recognizing hunger cues and waiting until it was time to eat. This became useful when I was traveling. If I couldn't find a restaurant or food choice that worked for me, I learned that I could wait rather than eat something simply because I was uncomfortable with feeling hungry. I also learned that drinking water could sometimes help that hunger feeling to feeling pass. Tracking can be helpful—but it is only a tool. Tracking may help someone understand portions, macronutrients, (how much protein, carbs or fats are in a certain food) or eating patterns. But when tracking becomes rigid, stressful, or obsessive, it can make a healthy lifestyle more difficult to sustain. I used an app to track my carbohydrates, proteins, and fats during the first few months. Once I understood what worked for me and found meals I could repeat, I no longer needed the tracker. The tracking served its purpose: it taught me something. But it didn't need to control me indefinitely. Experimentation builds self-awareness. Instead of blindly following someone else's formula, Jason encourages us to test different foods and routines while paying attention to our energy, appetite, mood, sleep, and performance. I liked Jason's food choices, so I used many of his meals as a starting point and adjusted the portions for my own body and needs. Sustainability (the long-term vision) matters more than short-term perfection. The most effective nutritional approach is one that supports your health while remaining realistic enough to continue over time. I had always believed that I ate healthy foods, but I didn't fully understand how to build meals that worked for me until I began following Jason's work. His guidance helped me move from generally trying to “eat healthy” to understanding how specific choices affected my energy, focus, and performance. Now I know what breakfast foods work best for me when I have a long day, without access to food, and what refuels me after a long hike, as well as what helps me to wind down before sleep. The goal is greater freedom—not another cage. Jason's lion metaphor reminds us that a nutrition plan should help us reconnect with our bodies rather than make us feel controlled by numbers, rules, and spreadsheets. Once we learn what works for us, it becomes easier to stay on track without constantly measuring everything. I still eat many of the same foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My youngest daughter has now discovered the meals that work best for her and has become an excellent cook who prepares her own food every week. There is still one person in our house who insists he will never change the way he eats. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he might try the carrots and celery I have ready to go--someday. HOW CAN WE PUT THE IDEAS FROM CLIP 1 INTO PRACTICE? First, begin by improving the quality of one meal each day. Build it around minimally processed foods that include some protein, healthy fat, fiber, and vegetables that are appropriate for your chosen nutritional approach. Like me, once you connect with someone you trust, you can learn from them. Second, pause before eating and ask yourself: Am I physically hungry, or am I responding to stress, habit, boredom, or simply the availability of food? This concept is still important for me. I sometimes reach for a snack when I'm stressed or rushing. In those moments, I can pause and consider whether a glass of water—or a few quiet minutes—would meet the real need more effectively. Third, slow down while eating. Give your brain and body enough time to recognize satisfaction. Halfway through the meal, pause and notice whether you are still hungry, comfortably satisfied, or already full. Bob Proctor, who has appeared often throughout this podcast, used to say often: “Do you taste your food?” Are you eating slowly and mindfully enough to notice how your food actually tastes? I noticed something interesting recently while eating at a steak restaurant. I had removed alcohol from my diet at the beginning of August after realizing that I didn't really enjoy it. After the first month, I began noticing that I could taste food differently. At this restaurant, I experienced the flavor of shrimp cocktail in an entirely new way. That is a story for another episode, but it reminded me that when we slow down and pay attention, we may notice something we have missed before. Fourth, observe how different meals affect you. Notice your energy, cravings, mood, focus, digestion, exercise performance, and hunger during the hours that follow. Fifth, experiment with one change at a time. If you change everything at the same time, it becomes hard to identify which food or habit produced the result. Sixth, use numbers selectively. Tracking your food for a short period can provide useful information, but it does not need to become a permanent requirement. Let the data teach you rather than control you. Seventh, remember that ketosis (or intermittent fasting) is not the only path to understanding your appetite or metabolic health. Some people feel better following a ketogenic approach, while others do well with a balanced diet that includes high-quality carbohydrates. The important question is whether the approach is safe, nourishing, sustainable, and effective for you. Finally, if you take medication or have diabetes or concerns involving your kidneys, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, cardiovascular health, or eating behaviors, speak with a qualified healthcare professional before beginning a ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, or another significant dietary change. The goal is not to copy someone else's perfect formula. The goal is to gather information, listen carefully to your body, and gradually uncover the nutritional approach that helps you feel and perform at your best. CLIP 2: PUSHING THROUGH THE BACKLASH In Clip 2, (click the link to watch the video clip) Jason and I discuss one of the most difficult parts of creating a healthy lifestyle: continuing to make intentional choices when the people around us do not understand or support what we are doing. I described the challenge of teaching my daughters healthy eating habits while they watched their friends eat fast food and sugary foods. As a parent, it can feel as though you are the “bad guy” when you establish boundaries or offer healthier choices that your children do not yet appreciate. Jason explained that these lessons might not make sense to them when they are young, because eating well did not feel necessary to them at that stage of their lives. They really want to fit in. But that did not mean they weren't paying attention. His message was to keep leading by example. The people around us may resist our choices, criticize us, or even think we are being extreme—but they are still watching. When improving their own health eventually becomes important or necessary, they may remember the habits, choices, and lessons they witnessed. The main idea is simple but powerful: Push through the immediate backlash, because the example you set today may become someone else's roadmap tomorrow. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM CLIP 2 People may resist what they do not yet need—or what they did not choose. Health advice can seem unnecessary to someone who has not experienced a problem, consequence, or don't have a personal desire to change. We each need to arrive at the point where we want the change for ourselves. Resistance does not mean your example is being ignored. People may question your choices while quietly observing your consistency, discipline, and results. When Jason predicted that I would notice the effects of my healthy eating choices years later, I had no idea how accurate he would be. Years after this interview, my youngest daughter now meal-preps. She is a wonderful cook, and I can learn from the foods she prepares each week. My oldest daughter (also meal preps) and thanked me for not making junk food and fast food a normal part of their childhood. They definitely ate some of these foods when they grew older, but they were grateful that those foods had not formed the foundation of what they ate when they were young. I'll never forget when she said “Hey Mom, thanks for making us eat healthy when we were little.” I remember being shocked—and grateful—that I had stayed true to what I believed was right. At the time, I sometimes wondered whether I was depriving them of experiences their friends enjoyed. People thought I was from a different planet when I told them I had never bought fast food for the kids. Years later, I could see that my example had made an impact, even when there was little evidence of it in the moment in those early years. Timing matters. We cannot force another person to change before they are ready. But we can make sure that helpful information and a positive example are available when their moment arrives. Leading by example can be more powerful than lecturing. Consistently demonstrating healthy habits gives other people a practical model they can use later. Children absorb more than they appear to. Even when children complain about boundaries we give them, or reject healthy choices, they are still learning what their family values and what healthy behavior looks like. Backlash is not necessarily evidence that you are doing something wrong. Making a change can disrupt established family or social patterns. Resistance may simply reflect that the new behavior is unfamiliar or that it challenges what others are accustomed to doing. Consistency creates a future roadmap. When health becomes personally meaningful to the people watching us, they may remember the lessons they once resisted and finally know where to begin. HOW CAN WE IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS FROM CLIP 2? First, connect your choices to a clear personal reason. When you understand why you are exercising, eating differently, or protecting your health, other people's opinions are less likely to pull you off course. For me, these habits help me think more clearly and feel better. They also allow me to take greater ownership of my energy and performance. Second, expect some resistance. When you change a familiar pattern, the people around you may feel confused, defensive, or inconvenienced. Prepare for that response without automatically interpreting it as failure. Third, be yourself instead of constantly trying to persuade other people. Continue preparing healthy meals, exercising, recovering, and making intentional choices. Allow others to observe your consistency, energy, and results. Fourth, share with others your results, but don't expect them to join you. You can explain why a choice matters to you while giving other people the time and space to make their own decisions. Fifth, avoid turning food into a battle—especially with children. Provide healthy options, explain their purpose (food as fuel) and allow some flexibility. This took me some time. When our girls were teenagers, I eventually took them through a fast food window, but made them place their own order. Sixth, focus on what you can control. You cannot control whether someone follows your example. You can control the example you provide. Seventh, recognize small signs of influence. Someone asking a question, trying one healthy food, joining you for a walk, or remembering something you said may be enough evidence that the lesson has made an impact on them. Eating was one area where I eventually saw that I had influenced my immediate family—but it took years for that influence to become visible. Exercise was another. I have always been a regular hiker, and I took my daughters onto the trails almost as soon as they were old enough to go outside with me. For years, we hiked Camelback Mountain together during their spring break. Then one day, they came to me and said, “We aren't going hiking anymore.” When I asked why, they told me that there was almost nothing they hated more than hiking. I wasn't upset about their choice to boycott the trails. I could hike or run on my own, which I often preferred. But I wondered why they didn't enjoy the mountains or being outside. Years later, my oldest daughter began hiking with her friends and asked whether she could buy a pair of hiking shoes. I wanted to ask, “Why? I thought you hated hiking.” But I realized that all those years on the trails had not been wasted. She had been taking in the experience. She simply wanted to experience the trails with her friends as a teenager—and that made complete sense. This brings us back to Jason's central message: The people around you are taking notes. They may not use those notes today. But when change becomes relevant or necessary, your example may help them know where to begin. Push through the backlash—not by arguing with others, but by staying steady enough for your actions to speak loud and clear for you. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude Episode 407, Jason Wittrock's message gives us two important lessons. The first is about learning to listen to our own bodies. Jason encourages us to move away from the belief that one perfect formula, calorie target, or macronutrient ratio will work for everyone. Tracking can teach us valuable information, especially in the beginning. But the goal is not to remain trapped inside a spreadsheet. The goal is to use what we learn to recognize the foods and habits that help us feel nourished, satisfied, energized, and capable of performing at our best. Begin with food quality. Notice your hunger and fullness cues. Observe your energy, focus, mood, digestion, and physical performance. Experiment carefully. Let the data inform you without allowing it to control you. Jason's second lesson is about the influence of our example. When we change our habits, not everyone around us will understand. Some people may question our choices. Others may resist them. Our children, partners, friends, or colleagues may not see the value in what we are doing because the need for change has not yet become personal to them. But they are still taking notes. This may be the most meaningful part of revisiting this interview almost six years later. At the time, I could not see whether the choices I was making were influencing my family. I could only continue doing what I believed was right. Years later, the evidence appeared. My daughters remembered. They began making some of those choices for themselves—not because I forced them to, but because the example was available when they were ready to use it. This brings us back to the central pathway of Phase 3: Movement creates the stimulus. Recovery creates the capacity to respond. Adaptation is the change that follows. And improved performance is the result. But this episode reminds us that movement is only one of the signals shaping adaptation. Nutrition matters. Sleep matters. Recovery matters. Consistency matters. And the environments and examples surrounding us matter. In a HUGE way! The brain and body adapt to what we repeatedly do—not merely to what we intend to do occasionally. If there is one action I hope you take from this episode, it is to choose one habit you can practice consistently enough for it to become part of who you are. It might be improving one meal. It might be slowing down and tasting your food. It might be paying attention to genuine hunger and fullness. It might be drinking water instead of automatically reaching for a snack. It might be walking, strength training, sleeping longer, or giving your body the recovery it needs to adapt. Choose one action. Observe how your body responds. Adjust what does not work. And repeat what does. This is how we move from information to implementation—and from implementation to adaptation. I'll also connect this episode to a couple others that were important at the time I interviewed Jason. EP 51[iv] was with Kelly Schmidt, my own athletic trainer who taught me how to meal prep. EP 90[v] was focused on health and wellness with Luke DePron, who was the fitness trainer who taught me to always have celery and carrots in the fridge. EP 160[vi] was with Chrissy Barth, a Functional Sports Registered Dietician who offered some great advice for fueling athletes. Many of the interviews in 2020 were focused on health and wellness and are great places to review. Health and wellness does go through different phases, but many of them remain constant. Exercise and eating healthy never goes out of style. As we bring today's conversation to a close, we are not quite finished with Phase 3. Before we move forward, we have one final step: integration. Our next Episode 408, From Movement to Performance: What We Learned About Building Capacity, we will bring together the major ideas we have explored throughout Phase 3: Movement, Learning, and Cognition. We'll examine how movement prepares the brain to learn, how attention opens the gate to encoding, how recovery allows adaptation to occur, and how our daily habits influence our long-term capacity to learn, perform, and remain healthy. Episode 408 will help us connect these individual pieces into one complete pathway: Movement creates readiness. Readiness supports attention. Attention opens the gate to learning. Recovery enables adaptation. And adaptation builds the capacity for sustained performance. With that final integration, we will bring Phase 3 to a close—and prepare to take the next step in our journey. Because human performance does not happen in isolation. Once we have strengthened our individual capacity—our ability to move, focus, learn, recover, and adapt—we must ask what happens when that brain and body encounter another person. How do we perceive someone else? How does that perception create an affective response within the body? How do those internal signals become emotions? And how do those emotions influence trust, communication, connection, belonging, leadership, and performance? That is where we are going in Phase 4: Perception, Emotion, and Social Intelligence. We will follow a new pathway: Perception leads to affect. Affect contributes to emotion. Emotion influences mindsight. Mindsight shapes relationships. And relationships create—or disrupt—the belonging and psychological safety required for people to learn, lead, and perform at their best. Phase 3 has helped us understand how to build the capacity of the individual brain and body. Phase 4 will ask what happens when that brain and body enter a relationship with another human being. Because we do not simply respond to the world as it is. We respond to the world as we perceive it. And that perception shapes nearly everything that follows. Thank you for continuing this journey with me. I'll see you next time for our final Phase 3 integration episode, From Movement to Performance: What We Learned About Building Capacity—before we begin Phase 4 and explore how perception shapes our emotions, our relationships, and the impact we create in the world. See you next time! FOLLOW JASON WHITTROCK Jason Whittrock Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jason.wittrock/?hl=enb Watch our Full YouTube interview from 2020 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ae2xADwj_I CLIP 1: ESCAPING THE CAGE OF CONSTANT TRACKING CLIP 2: PUSHING THROUGH THE BACKLASH https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOfJHaFLpfbi87xPoAa_NbQ https://www.instagram.com/jason.wittrock/ REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EP 94 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/personal-trainer-and-fitness-model-jason-wittrock-on-health-nutrition-intermittent-fasting-and-the-ketogenic-diet/ [ii] Jason Whittrock “What I Eat in a Day” https://www.instagram.com/p/DdcMmZ2DycK/?img_index=5 [iii] Jason Whittrock Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jason.wittrock/?hl=enb [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EP 51 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/fitness-expert-kelly-schmidt-on-easy-to-implement-fitness-and-nutrition-tips-to-maximize-home-workouts-and-meal-planning/ [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EP 90 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/host-of-the-live-great-lifestyle-podcast-luke-depron-on-neuroscience-health-fitness-and-growth/ [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast 160 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/functional-sports-registered-dietician-chrissy-barth-on-high-performance-fuel-for-athletes/
Restaurant profits don't disappear in one place. They leak through labor, food cost, poor systems, weak training, and missed opportunities. In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, Roger Beaudoin sits down with restaurant industry veteran Matt “Walls” Walls, whose career has included Domino's, CKE Restaurants, Caribou Coffee, Roti, and Edible Brands. Matt breaks down the operating systems he uses to build stronger restaurant teams, control labor and food costs, protect margins, and create a better guest experience. You'll discover how to: • Control restaurant labor hour by hour • Find hidden labor waste between peak shifts • Improve food cost through portion control and smarter SKUs • Create value without constantly discounting • Build a deeper bench of restaurant leaders • Recruit people for careers instead of simply filling jobs • Turn frontline employees into a source of new ideas • Improve onboarding and employee retention • Use AI to uncover trends and opportunities faster • Use technology without replacing human hospitality Matt also shares how a frontline employee's idea became a successful Roti menu item and why some of the best innovations in a restaurant can come directly from the people working in the stores. And when it comes to AI, Matt has a clear philosophy: use technology behind the scenes to make the business smarter while keeping the guest experience authentic and human. If you're a restaurant owner, operator, general manager, or hospitality leader looking for practical ways to run a more profitable restaurant, this episode is packed with ideas you can put to work. Subscribe to Restaurant Rockstars for more restaurant business, leadership, marketing and profitability strategies. Thank you to our sponsors: Smithfield Culinary: Smithfield knows that to meat lovers, a great serving of their favorite cut is so much more than just food. It's an experience. That's why they're committed to offering your restaurant the perfect protein for every dish at every daypart. When you partner with Smithfield, you will serve what you love…and your hungry, carnivorous patrons will love what you serve. For more information or to order products, visit http://smithfieldculinary.com/smithfield Yelp Host: In a busy restaurant missed calls mean missed sales opportunities. Yelp Host is an AI phone answering service that handles reservations, waitlists, and takeout orders 24/7. Yelp Host Speaks 17 languages, handles multiple simultaneous calls, answers questions, books tables and sends everything right to your kitchen. GO TO business.yelp.com/rockstars Forward Financing: Restaurants always need Capital when THEY need it! Problem is you don't have time to wait, you need the cash now! Forward Financing has funded more than $5.4 billion to over 100,000 small businesses, and 10,000 restaurants just like yours. Forward funds anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000, often with same-day FUNDING. Head to https://go.forwardfinancing.com/restaurants?utm_campaign=53259160-Restaurant%20Rockstars&utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=Audio
Erik Torenberg sits down with Box CEO Aaron Levie, and a16z's Martin Casado, and Steven Sinofsky to debate how the AI industry should think about safety, security, and regulation as increasingly capable agents move into the real world.They argue that much of today's conversation is happening before we have clearly defined the risks we're trying to regulate. Drawing on earlier waves of computing, from computer viruses and the early internet to aviation and automobiles, they ask what AI can learn from industries that developed safety standards only after understanding how their technologies actually failed.The conversation then gets concrete: agents don't get tired, can operate at enormous scale, and can probe systems in ways human employees never could. That could require rethinking permissions, authentication, operating systems, and the security stack itself. They also discuss why AI innovation may increasingly move beyond the frontier labs and into the software built around the models.Resources:Follow Aaron Levie on X: https://x.com/levieFollow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casadoFollow Steven Sinofsky on X: https://x.com/stevesi Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Send us Fan MailTrevor Folgering is the founder of The Metabolic Operating System (MOS), a metabolic health education and coaching system designed to help men over 40 improve their metabolism, energy, body composition, recovery, and long-term health.With more than 25 years of experience in health, fitness, nutrition, and coaching, Trevor's work challenges the traditional “eat less, exercise more” approach to weight loss. Instead, he teaches men to understand the metabolic signals their bodies are sending them - including hunger, energy, sleep, stress, cravings, and recovery, and use those signals to make better decisions about their health.At the heart of Trevor's philosophy is a simple idea: lasting change doesn't come from fighting your body harder. It comes from understanding how your body is adapting and learning how to work with it.Through The Metabolic Operating System, Trevor is working to change the conversation around metabolic health for men over 40 and help men build healthier, stronger bodies without relying on extreme diets or unsustainable approaches.Find Trevor at-https://rebuildyourmetabolism.com/Find Boundless Body at-myboundlessbody.comBook a session with us here!
Multiple new BSD Bases NASes have appeared, FreeBSD intern bringing ROCm to FreeBSD, OpenSSH 10.5, and more... Headlines [Two more BSD based NASes have appeared] BSDNAS The developers seem to work for a Hungarian ISP They're building on top of zVault's fork for some of the effort FreeCORE Developer admits to vibecoding - Statement #1 Developer admits to vibecoding - Statement #2 FreeBSD Foundation Intern Sourojeet Adhikari on Bringing ROCm to FreeBSD News Roundup ICEBP Finally Documented Cleaning costs, or, examining the OpenBSD -fret-clean flag OpenSSH 10.5 Why do I run FreeBSD for my home servers. Tarsnap This weeks episode of BSDNow was sponsored by our friends at Tarsnap, the only secure online backup you can trust your data to. Even paranoids need backups. Feedback/Questions [Phil - Listener Feedback] Hi, Thanks for a great podcast - last year I was wondering what bsd I'd try, moving away from Linux, I'd heard Benedict and other hosts talking about most of the day to day software I use, so I wasn't worried about any of that working, but what bsd to go for (I get very little free time these days so getting it right was important - Benedict (i think) mentioned He was using FreeBSD - choice was made! And it has been great - 3 or 4 logins later and I'm reading a motd message by Benedict himself! I need to learn a few things, but these arethe things I expected would need a bit of reading - the handbook has mostly got me there, plus google etc. I am happy with FreeBSD and with Linus recently going off on one about Welcoming AI, after allowing an unfinished file system (bcashfs) into production, to name just 2 reasons for a change, I was thinking.. I don't know what the FreeBSD developers are doing with AI, but it'll be considered and responsible - OMG I had to re-play the last podcast a few times - They don't know yet???? Now I'm stuck! I use FreeBSD for desktop & nas, I love pkg and poudriere. do any of the BSDs have (at least) a no vibecode/slop policy and offer similar pkg/build systems? Thanks Phill Send questions, comments, show ideas/topics, or stories you want mentioned on the show to feedback@bsdnow.tv Join us and other BSD Fans in our BSD Now Telegram channel
Agent Marketer Podcast - Real Estate Marketing for the Modern Agent
Send us Fan MailMost mortgage professionals are using AI to write emails, create social posts, summarize documents, and complete a few isolated tasks faster.Jonathon Haddad is building it into the operating system of his business and his life.In this episode of The Mortgage AI Podcast, Jonathon shows me an AI-powered neural network that connects his text messages, emails, meetings, social media conversations, contacts, and tasks. It remembers conversations, updates his to-do list, and prepares him before meetings.His goal is simple:“How can I get my brain onto this document so I never have to think about that again?”That is a much bigger conversation than prompting ChatGPT to write better marketing copy.Jonathon is also building Bevri, a platform designed to combine the CRM, LOS, and POS into one experience for mortgage brokers. The goal is to let loan officers manage their files without bouncing between 30, 40, or 50 different lender portals and disconnected systems.We also get candid about the part of mortgage AI that far too many people are ignoring: security.Mortgage companies and loan officers are building tools through vibe coding without understanding databases, permissions, compliance, or how to protect personally identifiable information. Jonathon has already found mortgage websites exposing Client names and email addresses.That mistake can lead to regulatory problems, expensive forensic audits, and serious damage to the entire broker channel.Then there is the cost of building with AI.Jonathon explains how companies can burn through tens of thousands of dollars in token usage because someone selected the most powerful AI model for work that never required it. His own automation platform once cost approximately $40 per day to operate. Through optimization, his team reduced that expense to around $40 every four days.Knowing when to build, when to buy, and which model to use has become an operating decision. Guessing can get expensive fast.We also look ahead to the mortgage company of 2030.Jonathon believes technology will allow processors to handle twice as many transactions and underwriters to manage four times their current volume. Standard mortgage files could reach clear to close in seven days or less, with much of the process completed without a traditional conversation with a loan officer.There will still be humans in the system. There will simply be fewer seats for people whose only value comes from completing mechanical tasks.In this episode, we cover:The difference between using AI and creating real leverageWhy the broker channel remains years behind retail technologyJonathon's vision for BevriHow his AI system remembers conversations and manages tasksThe danger of exposing Client information through vibe-coded toolsWhy SOC 2 compliance and database security matterThe hidden cost of AI tokensHow to decide whether to build or buy AI technologyWhat the mortgage company of 2030 could look likeWhy cash-out refinances and HELOCs may surprise the industryWhich AI tools Jonathon believes are overhypedThe one childhood experience he believes you should bring back into your lifeIf you lead a mortgage company, pay close attention to the conversation about PII and AI governance.If you originate loans, look at your current workflow. Where are you still relying on memory? Where are you repeatedly stopping to find information? Where are disconnected systems eating up your day?Those are the places where AI can create meaningful leverage.00:00 Welcome and Feedback01:19 Introducing Jonathan Haddad02:06 Why This AI Conversation03:29 Building Bevri Platform04:09 Broker Tech Pain Points07:10 Industry Misreads AI10:07 Underestimating Data Power12:22 AI in Daily Life14:34 Usage Versus Leverage16:12 Neural Network Rolodex19:12 Palantir and Big Picture20:51 Thinking Space with AI21:37 AI as Memory Boost22:40 Mortgage Tech Mindset24:18 Vibe Coding Risks27:11 Build vs Buy Costs28:14 Token Spend Control30:52 Mortgage 2030 Vision33:42 Humans Still Matter35:08 Rapid Fire AI Takes37:31 Protect PII Always38:23 Closing Joy ChallengeConnect with BevriPresented by: DIFRNT CoachingFounding Sponsor: MortgageConBroker Sponsor: Summit LendingFriends of the Program: Empower LO
In augustus lanceerde mijn allernieuwste programma de CEO Operating System. Een lancering wat ik dus wel ergens spannend vond. In deze aflevering wil ik je meenemen in deze lancering. Ik vertel je:Waarom ik van tevoren wist dat deze lancering twee kanten op kon gaan, en welke beslissing alles veranderde Waarom ik niet koos voor een webinar (terwijl deze altijd met 20% minimaal converteert) en wat ik in plaats daarvan deed. Hoe 1 zinnetje in een PS van een mail de hele koers van mijn lancering bepaalde Wat ik ontdekte over lanceren in 2026 en hoe ik mijn lancering hierop heb aangepastHet moment waarop ik halverwege de lancering stokte en welke vraag ik mij op dat moment stelde (which was a big one) Mijn biggest takeaway, en waarom die niets met strategie te maken heeft
The AI industry has faced a growing enterprise dilemma: companies want access to powerful proprietary AI models without risking sensitive data or intellectual property, while AI labs want to protect their model weights from being exposed to customers. Traditionally, businesses had to choose between proprietary models with potential data-leakage concerns or open-weight models that lagged behind the frontier. Vast Data co-founder Jeff Denworth argues that a new approach can address both sides of the trust problem.Vast Data's DataEnclave uses Nvidia's Confidential Computing technology to let enterprises run proprietary AI models securely on their own infrastructure, while preventing either the company's data or the AI lab's model weights from being exposed. Denworth says the timing reflects rapidly increasing enterprise AI adoption, particularly after agentic coding tools drove demand and usage. As AI agents create new requirements at the data layer, the podcast explores how enterprises are approaching AI, the security challenges involved, and the untapped potential of enterprise data.Learn more from The New Stack around the latest in AI trust:VAST Data tackles the enterprise AI trust gapGoogle, Microsoft, and OpenAI join forces to help create AI's missing trust layerJoin our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game.
I'm 12 weeks into fatherhood, and the health operating system I've relied on for the last 20 years has been stress tested. Life is less predictable, sleep and schedules can change quickly, and the routines that worked in a different season may not be realistic right now.In this episode, I'm sharing what I've kept, what I've simplified, and what I've had to adjust while navigating a newborn, a demanding work schedule, training, nutrition, and family responsibilities. Topics discussed: - What changed when I became a father- The health habits that survived a major life transition- How I'm adjusting training schedule - Supplements, sleep, and recovery- Back on track when life disrupts the plan- Different seasons of life - Building a system ---------- My Live Program for Coaches: The Functional Nutrition and Metabolism Specialization www.metabolismschool.com---------- [Free] Metabolism School 101: The Video Serieshttp://www.metabolismschool.com/metabolism-101----------Subscribe to My Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/@sammillerscience?si=s1jcR6Im4GDHbw_1----------Grab a Copy of My New Book - Metabolism Made Simple---------- Stay Connected: Instagram: @sammillerscienceYoutube: SamMillerScience Facebook: The Nutrition Coaching Collaborative CommunityTikTok: @sammillerscience----------“This Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast and the show notes or the reliance on the information provided is to be done at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and is for educational purposes only. Always consult your physician before beginning any exercise program and users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. By accessing this Podcast, the listener acknowledges that the entire contents and design of this Podcast, are the property of Oracle Athletic Science LLC, or used by Oracle Athletic Science LLC with permission, and are protected under U.S. and international copyright and trademark laws. Except as otherwise provided herein, users of this Podcast may save and use information contained in the Podcast only for personal or other non-commercial, educational purposes. No other use, including, without limitation, reproduction, retransmission or editing, of this Podcast may be made without the prior written permission of Oracle Athletic Science LLC, which may be requested by contacting the Oracle Athletic Science LLC by email at operations@sammillerscience.com. By accessing this Podcast, the listener acknowledges that Oracle Athletic Science LLC makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast."
In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner continues the operating system series by laying out the folder structure that holds a business's documentation. The previous episode dealt with organizing what already exists. This one gives those assets a permanent home, whether the company runs on Google Drive, a Microsoft shared drive, or Dropbox.Bradley walks through the four business principles of clarity, alignment, team, and execution, and the three playbooks under each, for twelve playbooks in total. He explains why a playbook, a system, and a process mean different things. He also shows how to build and number the folders so they sort in order, and gives examples of what belongs inside the marketing, attract A-players, and culture playbooks.This episode moves past folder names and into access. What good is a document nobody on the team can find? Could you pull up how the business sells or handles money the moment someone asks? And would your team know where to look without asking you? If you want every asset in your business to have a place your team can actually find, this episode is for you.Join us in the free Circle community and hop on the email list to get practical tools, resources, trainings, and updates on what we're working on next.https://blueprintos.com/assets/ ResourcesListen to the previous episode in this series, Marie Kondo Your Digital FilesThanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.
At Zapier, the rise of AI is changing more than the automation products customers build. It is reshaping how the company organizes, invests, prices its offerings, and thinks about its next stage of growth.COO and CFO Ryan Roccon describes Zapier's emerging role as the place where AI-built work actually runs. As tools such as Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT make it increasingly easy to build applications and agents, he sees a different challenge emerging: keeping those automations reliable, observable, auditable, and cost effective once they enter production.That challenge is influencing Zapier's product and financial agenda. Roccon points to the combination of deterministic workflows and agentic components as an important part of the company's future. An internal review found that rebuilding certain agents with rules where possible and inference where necessary reduced costs by about 75% while improving reliability.Zapier's financial model adds another dimension. The company has remained cash-flow positive under Roccon's finance leadership, giving it room to make aggressive investments while maintaining discipline around ROI and net present value. His challenge to the organization is to find opportunities compelling enough to justify breaking that rule.Meanwhile, Zapier continues moving upmarket while reorganizing around AI and expanding its enterprise business. For Roccon, the finance agenda increasingly extends beyond financial results: ensuring the product delivers, sharpening the go-to-market message, and making certain that customers understand the value of what Zapier is building.
Get AudioBooks for FreeBest Self-improvement MotivationThe Founder's Operating System: Build & Scale SmarterLearn Dan Martell's Founder's Operating System to improve focus, make better decisions, build strong systems, and scale your business with confidence.We Need Your Love & Support ❤️Get 3 Audiobooks Free -
280. Fireside Chat with Amber - Your Energetic Operating System In this Fireside Chat, I'm diving into your energetic operating system — the foundation beneath all strategy and content. Energy doesn't lie, and my business works because I've kept my signal uncompromised. I'm Team Human all the way, and I think people can feel that difference in the field. I unpack the shift from transactional thinking into the field of synchronicities, where generosity, reciprocity, and full self-expression replace pressure and manipulation. We explore the paradox of intention with detachment, why being okay with yourself before the outcomes arrive is what actually attracts clients, and how lighthouse marketing — where your people lead themselves to you — beats any formula. If you're interested in working together, book a call HERE. Can't wait to chat! If you want to follow along with what I'm writing and thinking in real time, subscribe to my Substack, The Way of Abundance. HERE If you want to build your business from abundance, alignment, and your actual design, you can join the House of Abundance here: itsambersmith.com/house HERE is the link to Money*Karma, you can still join.
Where Unix runs today, Webzfs updates, A remote filesystem for 2.11 BSD, Sylve, and more... NOTES This episode of BSDNow is brought to you by Tarsnap and the BSDNow Patreon Headlines Where Unix runs today (Dont get distracted by the game) WebZFS Updates The bugs are coming from inside the house NetBSD 11 Support News Roundup A Basic Remote Filesystem for 2.11BSD Curly braces: An evolution of UNIX and C Sylve: FreeBSD bhyve Virtualization with Ansible Automation Beastie Bits 1978 Aussi Users Group Newsletter Terminal UI and CLI for FreeBSD NFSv4 ACLs Sounds of the IBM 1401 Tarsnap This weeks episode of BSDNow was sponsored by our friends at Tarsnap, the only secure online backup you can trust your data to. Even paranoids need backups. Feedback/Questions [Jakob - Is this question too political for the show?] Hoping you lads can help solve a debate at work in the IT department. Whats the best song about a former Australian colony? Toto - Africa Men at work - Down Under For completeness: Split Enz - Six Months In A Leaky Boat (New Zealand) Don McLean - American Pie U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (Ireland) Gorillaz - Hong Kong Stan Rogers - Northwest Passage (Canada) [Reece - Webzfs] Guys, Just following directions. Im interested in hearing more about it? Did you just say that because jt is a little shy if I remember correctly? Thanks for another great show and taking the time to do it. 73.. Send questions, comments, show ideas/topics, or stories you want mentioned on the show to feedback@bsdnow.tv Join us and other BSD Fans in our BSD Now Telegram channel
Work With Me To Scale Your Business: https://go.scalingwithsystems.com/9-15-26 ———————————— Watch Me Fix $1M+ Businesses Live: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF-fSrHojCgG8V5-7AKVrKgcbtsd-BXti&si=kEOVnNFnLhhhDbYA ———————————— Join Our Team: https://www.scalingwithsystems.com/careers ———————————— I share the future-self rule guiding my decisions, the connected AI system I built for my health and daily life, and the new booking, content, and one-on-one offers I'm launching across my $35M business. CHAPTERS 00:00 Every Decision Is a Gift to My Future Self 04:55 Marbella, Food, and Being Present 07:57 Touring Homes and Planning My Return 10:22 Travel Plans and Life at Home 11:15 I Built My Own Journal App 12:39 Custom Booking Software 13:36 My AI Setter Booked 4 Calls in 4 Hours 14:28 Expanding Content Distribution 16:44 Automating Image and B-Roll Ads 17:40 My New Exclusive One-on-One Offer
Are you trapped in an endless loop of worry, anxiety, or unspoken pain? On this episode of the Interviewing Jesus Podcast, host Kristen Wambach sits down with researcher and lexicographer D. Earl Johnston (Doug Johnston) to unpack his landmark book, Choosing Emotions: Thinking with Your Head and Acting with Your Heart.When Doug's teenage daughter asked, "What do you know about depression?" it launched a nine-year quest across science, literature, and 30+ faith traditions. Doug discovered that roughly 25% of our everyday feelings are completely missing from modern psychology dictionaries.IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL DISCOVER: The Origin of the Two-Dollar Question: How an innocent family quiz game revealed a massive blind spot in modern emotional literacy. Feelings vs. Clinical Formulations: Why traditional reference books describe the outside symptoms of emotion while leaving your heart starving for real language. The Neuroscience of Self-Distancing: How speaking your hidden loops out loud shifts them into the physical realm, allowing the "laughter of recognition" to disarm recursive fear
We regularly update our phones, laptops and software to keep pace with changing demands. Yet many organisations are still trying to deliver customer experiences using operating systems designed for a different era.As customer expectations evolve and organisations progress in their customer experience maturity, businesses must continuously adapt the way their people, processes, measures and culture work together. The organisations that succeed won't simply have the best products or services. They'll have the strongest customer-centric foundations.In this episode of The Experience Perspective, Helen Bywater-Smith speaks with Mickael Subileau , Global Customer Experience Manager, Janice Kaiser, Customer Experience Project Manager, and Eva Rodriguez, Customer & Organisational Excellence Manager at Jungheinrich, a leading global provider of material handling equipment, warehouse technology and automated intralogistics solutions. Together, they share how they are transforming a traditionally product-centric organisation into one that places customers at the heart of decision-making, leadership and culture, with a clear ambition: to Transform Customers Into Fans. Their story is not about launching another CX initiative. It's about creating the governance, sponsorship, accountability and organisational alignment needed to embed customer centricity across a global business. From connecting customer experience with employee experience, to breaking down silos, improving responsiveness, and turning customer feedback into meaningful action, they reveal what it takes to drive lasting change at scale. Recognising that customer emotions are a key driver of loyalty, they also share how they have used the Ipsos Forces of CX framework to better understand customer needs and inform business decisions.This conversation makes one thing clear: customer centricity is more than a dashboard, programme or project. It's an organisational operating system. The invisible infrastructure of behaviours, processes and decisions that shapes every interaction and every outcome.The organisations that thrive in the future won't necessarily be those with the best products. They'll be the ones that place customer experience at the centre of how the entire organisation operates.
Quran Talk - God Alone, Quran Alone, Submission = True Islam
Discord: https://discord.gg/submissionserver Video Notes: https://qurantalkblog.com/2026/08/23/jesus-universal-operating-system-for-living-under-any-legal-system/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/talkquran Spotify: https://spoti.fi/30MB7Nw Podcast: https://apple.co/2lLnsFE Resources: https://wikisubmission.org/quran Problematic Sahih Hadith: https://qurantalk.gitbook.io/problematic-sahih-hadith Hadith Refutation: https://qurantalk.gitbook.io/hadith-refutation/
Tips from Trestle: The Senior Living Food & Hospitality Podcast
Can AI make senior living feel more personal, not less? In this episode of Tips From Trestle, host Aaron Fish talks with Lance Bell, CEO and Chief AI Officer of ServingIntel, about how senior living communities are killing pen-and-paper workflows and building unified AI operating systems for dining, housekeeping, retail, and maintenance. Aaron and Lance explore how proactive AI check-ins let caregivers walk into a resident's room already knowing about her recent yoga class or an overcooked breakfast — turning small moments into major trust builders. They also cover in-room pre-ordering, voice-AI order taking, real-time AI satisfaction surveys, and how eliminating operational friction directly impacts NOI, staffing, and resident quality of life. A practical, candid conversation for senior living operators exploring AI, hospitality technology, and resident experience strategy. Learn more about ServingIntel at servingintel.com.
In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner opens a short series on the foundational principles behind a business operating system. He goes back to a 2016 Strategic Coach session in Toronto, where an owner doing $40 million in revenue told him the difference came down to documented systems, processes, and a team, then pulled up his computer at lunch and showed him what those documents actually looked like.Bradley explains why documentation is an asset in the same way a rental property is an asset, and why most owners stall in front of a blank screen. He walks through four best practices: build one template so every document shares a look, appoint a systems champion instead of carrying the work alone, hold yourself accountable to the time you block, and expect resistance. He also shares what he lost when his first executive assistant left inside a year and every process they had built lived only in his head.This episode moves beyond the idea of systemizing and into the execution of it. What in your business exists only in your head right now? Who on your team is better suited to document it than you are? And what would you hand a new hire if the person doing the work left tomorrow? If you have believed in documented systems for years but have never finished building them, this episode is for you.Join us in the free Circle community and hop on the email list to get practical tools, resources, trainings, and updates on what we're working on next.https://blueprintos.com/assets/ Resources MentionedPick up 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin HardyCheck out The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (Reminder: add hyperlink)The E-Myth, referenced throughout the episodeListen to the earlier Above The Business episode on appointing a systems championThanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.
Joe Kissell discusses a new approach to Take Control Books's coverage of Apple's latest operating systems, including separate books for macOS Golden Gate, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, plus a cross-platform guide to Siri AI and Apple Intelligence. Joe explains the challenges of documenting changing betas, evaluates Apple's emphasis on polish and bug fixes, and examines Liquid Glass and lingering problems in Contacts. (Part 1) MacVoices is supported by CleanMyMac from MacPaw. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use my code MACVOICES20 for 20% off at http://clnmy.com/MACVOICES Show Notes: Chapters: 00:00 Joe Kissell Takes Control of Apple's Latest Operating Systems00:32 Welcome and Apple's New OS Releases01:24 A Busy Summer for Take Control03:34 Three New Take Control Books03:52 Rethinking OS Coverage After WWDC04:43 Siri AI and Apple Intelligence Take Center Stage05:19 macOS Golden Gate, iOS 27, and iPadOS 2706:17 Creating a Cross-Platform Siri AI and Apple Intelligence Book07:54 Pre-Release Editions and the Update Process09:23 Preparing Books for Apple's Final Releases11:38 The Challenge of Constantly Changing Betas12:40 Tracking Features Apple Barely Explained14:01 Explaining What Apple Doesn't Document16:03 Features That May Not Arrive at Launch17:37 What Stands Out Before the Final Releases?18:44 A Polishing Release Rather Than a Feature Release20:19 Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements20:44 What Apple's Liquid Glass Controls Really Do22:19 Liquid Glass Cosmetic Improvements23:11 Apple Contacts and Bugs That Still Haven't Been Fixed25:09 Questions About Apple's Quality Control25:59 Closing and Show Information Links: Take Control of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 by Glenn Fleishmanhttps://www.takecontrolbooks.com/ios-27-ipados-27/ Take Control of Siri AI ad Apple Intelligence by Joe Kissellhttps://www.takecontrolbooks.com/siri-ai/ Take Control of Golden Gate by Joe Kissellhttps://www.takecontrolbooks.com/golden-gate/ Guests: Get detailed bios and contact information about for the panel on the MacVoices Live! Panel page on our web site:https://macvoices.com/macvoiceslive/macvoices-live-panel/ Support: Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreonhttp://patreon.com/macvoices Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect: Web:http://macvoices.com Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoinerhttp://www.twitter.com/macvoices Mastodon:https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner MacVoices Page on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/ MacVoices Group on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe: Audio in iTunesVideo in iTunes Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss
In this episode Andrea Samadi explains the concept of sleep stress — a wearable-device measured how physiologically activated your body remains during sleep — and places it within a neuroscience-based movement and recovery framework. She reviews the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic vs. parasympathetic), how WHOOP estimates sleep stress from heart rate and HRV, and why trends over weeks matter more than single nights. Using her six-month data, Andrea shares how recovery habits and removing alcohol coincided with an 89% drop in nightly high sleep stress. The episode ends with practical steps and a seven-day experiment to help you observe and reduce nighttime physiological activation by changing daytime behaviors, sleep environment, and training timing so your body can better recover and adapt. When Sleep Isn't Rest—What “Sleep Stress” Reveals About Recovery: The Story Behind My 89% Drop in Sleep Stress Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance so we can create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity and results. I'm Andrea Samadi, and if you've been following along through Season 16, you'll know that we have been building what I call The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—a neuroscience-based framework designed to help us understand how the different systems of the brain and body work together to influence how we learn, adapt, connect, lead and ultimately perform. We are currently in Phase 3: Movement, Learning and Cognition, where we have been following a central pathway: Movement → Adaptation → Performance Movement creates a stimulus. But movement alone does not make the brain or body stronger. We must be able to recover from that stimulus before adaptation can occur, to give us our desired outcome of improved performance. This is why our recent bonus episodes have moved beyond exercise itself and into the recovery signals that help us understand whether our bodies are successfully handling the demands we are placing upon them. In Bonus Episode 3[i], we explored the hidden story behind my resting heart rate. My data showed that it was not merely a measure of fitness—it was also reflecting the total load my body was carrying. During the higher-stress months of January and February, my resting heart rate remained elevated at approximately 56–58 beats per minute. As I placed greater emphasis on sleep, hydration, Zone 2 movement, sauna, meditation and recovery, it gradually fell to 54 and then 53 beats per minute. The lesson was that a lower resting heart rate signals that the body is working less during rest, and recovering more efficiently. The idea is to learn what your baseline is, and see how you can improve this number for a more efficient RHR. In Bonus Episode 4[ii], we explored restorative sleep and learned that sleep quality is not measured by duration alone. Deep sleep supports physical restoration and repair, while REM sleep plays an important role in memory, learning and emotional processing. Because longer REM periods tend to occur later in the night/morning time my regular 4:00 AM wake time may give me less opportunity for that REM-rich portion of sleep—which is the tradeoff I'm choosing--since waking early allows me to exercise. Two additional hours in bed would not guarantee two more hours of REM, but they could create a greater opportunity for more REM sleep. The lesson was not to choose sleep over movement or movement over sleep. It was to protect enough sleep while still making room for movement, so the brain and body have the opportunity to adapt. Throughout these bonus episodes, I'm sharing patterns from my WHOOP wearable device[iii] data—not because everyone's numbers should look like mine, but to demonstrate what can happen when we measure consistently, look for trends and test small changes. The goal is not comparison. It is to help each of us better understand our own baseline and use that information to improve our habits, recovery and results. While examining my own sleep data for these recent bonus episodes, another question came to my mind. It was while looking this sleep stress score. What if we are sleeping—but our physiology remains unusually activated throughout the night? How would we even know if this was happening? This is another measurement I can see with this wearable device. What if our eyes are closed and we are technically asleep, but the body is still working harder than usual? What if our sleep isn't giving us the rest and recovery that we need. This brings us to today's question: What is Sleep Stress? One of the most valuable metrics I have been tracking this year is not simply how long I sleep or how much deep and REM sleep I achieve. Those are all important to me, but something stood out with these sleep scores to me, this year. It is the amount of time my body spends in a state of elevated physiological stress while I am asleep. When I examined my most recent six-month trend, I noticed something that kind of stopped me in my tracks. My average time in WHOOP's high sleep-stress zone (monthly score from January 2026 till now) initially rose from 21 minutes to a peak of 35 minutes (around April/May) where I noticed my sleep scores were terrible with International travel, but I can't blame everything on just the travel and times zones. I knew I was off track with rest and recovery. How much I was off, I'm not sure because Whoop confirmed my scores with the times zones might have been inaccurate, but either way, even if my sleep stress peaked at let's say 25 minutes, it still showed me that I was doing something to keep my body stressed out while I was sleeping. As I paid attention to rest and recovery, the scores began to improve in May, June, July, August…until now. 35 minutes of high sleep stress went…to 18…to 14…to 5…and finally to just 4 minutes of sleep stress each night. That is an approximately 89% decrease from my six-month peak. The data cannot tell me that one specific behavior caused this change. But it does suggest that my body has become progressively less physiologically activated while I was asleep. And this helped me see recovery in a new way. Sleep duration tells us how long we slept. Sleep stages estimate the type of sleep we experienced throughout the night. Sleep stress gives us another window into how physiologically activated the body remained during that sleep. In today's BONUS EP 5 we will explore: What Sleep Stress measures The sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the nervous system Where Sleep Stress fits into the Movement Loop What I noticed in my six-month results What the results show—and what they cannot prove How you can monitor nighttime physiological stress And practical tips to help your body settle and recover Let's begin with the nervous system and what's working behind the scenes while we are asleep. The Autonomic Nervous System To understand Sleep Stress, we first need to understand the autonomic nervous system and how ACTIVATION and RECOVERY work together. We covered this topic on a very early EP 59[iv] with Suzanne Gundersen on “Putting the Polyvagal Theory into Practice” and then again with educational neuroscientist Dr. Lori Desautels and Michael McKnight[v]. You can review those episodes if you want a deeper dive here. The autonomic NS is the part of the nervous system that regulates many of the functions that happen automatically, without requiring conscious thought. It helps manage: Heart rate Blood pressure Breathing Digestion Temperature regulation Energy use And our physiological responses to changing demands in our life experiences Two of its primary branches are the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system helps mobilize the brain and body when we need energy, alertness or action. It is often called the fight-or-flight system. We need this sympathetic activation to wake up, exercise, concentrate, solve problems, respond to challenges and perform under pressure. When sympathetic activity rises, heart rate may increase, breathing may become faster and energy becomes more readily available for action. That is exactly what we want when climbing a mountain, completing an intense workout, delivering a presentation or responding to an immediate challenge. The problem is not activation itself. The problem may arise when the body has difficulty shifting out of that activated state after the challenge has passed. The parasympathetic nervous system supports the restorative side of this process. It is often described as the rest-and-digest system because it helps the body conserve energy, digest food and create conditions that support rest and recovery. When our parasympathetic NS is activated, heart rate generally slows and the body becomes less physiologically activated. But the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are not simple on-and-off switches. They continually interact throughout the day and night. Healthy regulation depends on our ability to move flexibly between activation and recovery as our life circumstances change. I'm sure you've heard people talking about how they “regulate” themselves, or take themselves from a high stress state, to lower stress state usually through intentional breathing, (I've just started to add this technique), physical movement (my go-to way to get back to myself when I have time) and some people use sensory grounding to get themselves out of anxious loops. American neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman suggests the physiological sigh as a breathing technique “to reduce stress and anxiety in real-time, while they are still engaging in life.”[vi] He does say that this pattern of breathing is something that we all engage in when we are in deep sleep (our dogs do it too), a double inhale, followed by an extended exhale. He says it works well to reduce stress because “it offloads a lot of carbon dioxide all at once.” Until I started to look at this sleep stress number, I didn't realize that even during healthy sleep, our autonomic activity fluctuates. Deep sleep is generally associated with greater parasympathetic influence, while REM sleep can include more variable heart rate, breathing and sympathetic activity. This means that brief periods of increased physiological stress during sleep are not automatically signs that something is wrong. The more useful question is: Can my body move flexibly between activation and recovery—or is it remaining unusually activated for extended periods? What Does WHOOP Mean by Sleep Stress? WHOOP estimates physiological stress using signals that include heart rate and heart-rate variability, or HRV, compared with your personal baseline. Its Sleep Stress view shows the proportion of the night spent in low, medium and high physiological stress zones. This is an important distinction: A wearable does not directly measure your thoughts or emotions. It cannot know whether you are worried, excited, digesting a late meal, fighting an infection or recovering from a difficult workout. It also does not directly measure the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the nervous system. Instead, it uses cardiovascular signals to estimate how physiologically activated your body appears relative to what is normal for you. Elevated nighttime stress can potentially be influenced by: Mental or emotional strain Alcohol Illness or an emerging infection A late or heavy meal Intense exercise close to bedtime Accumulated training strain Dehydration Heat or an uncomfortable sleep environment Travel and disrupted routines Hormonal changes Certain medications Or sleep-disordered breathing Sleep Stress should therefore be treated as a signal to investigate, not a diagnosis. One elevated night may not mean very much. The greatest value comes from observing your own patterns across several weeks and comparing those patterns with your behaviors, environment, training and health. Where Sleep Stress Fits in the Movement Loop Our original Phase 3 framework was: Movement → Adaptation → Performance But we can now expand this pathway: Movement → Physiological Load → Recovery → Adaptation → Performance Movement provides a challenge to the brain and body. That challenge creates physiological load. Recovery gives the body an opportunity to respond to the load, repair what was challenged and build additional capacity. That process is adaptation. And the capacity created through adaptation supports future performance. Sleep Stress sits within the recovery stage of this loop. It helps us investigate whether the body is successfully downshifting from the demands of the day or remaining more activated than usual during the recovery window. This does not mean that every increase in nighttime stress prevents adaptation. The body is dynamic. Exercise, digestion, illness, temperature and different stages of sleep can all affect nighttime physiology. But if elevated Sleep Stress becomes a repeated pattern, it may indicate that the body is carrying more load than it is currently absorbing. This is why Sleep Stress belongs in Phase 3: Movement supplies the challenge. Recovery determines how effectively we absorb it. Adaptation builds capacity. And capacity supports performance. What My Six-Month Results Show When I examined my 6-month Sleep Stress results from March 17 through September 12 when I was writing this episode, I first looked at six consecutive monthly windows: March 17–April 15: 21 minutes of average high Sleep Stress April 16–May 15: 35 minutes May 16–June 14: 18 minutes June 15–July 14: 14 minutes July 15–August 13: 5 minutes August 14–September 12: 4 minutes The pattern was not a straight decline. My average high Sleep Stress initially increased from 21 to 35 minutes. That April-to-May period (with International Travel) was the highest point in the six-month window—a 67% increase from the preceding month. The nightly graphs also show more frequent and more substantial periods in WHOOP's high-stress zone during that time. The data cannot tell me exactly what caused the increase. It may have reflected accumulated emotional stress, training load, disrupted routines, sleep timing, travel, temperature, or several factors interacting at once. But after that 35-minute peak, the direction changed: 35 → 18 → 14 → 5 → 4 minutes That is an approximately 89% reduction from the peak. This was not the result of one isolated night or a single unusually good week. It was a progressive decline across four consecutive monthly windows. When I switched to WHOOP's full six-month view, however, I initially noticed what appeared to be a contradiction. My six-month average was 16 minutes in the high-stress zone—60% higher than my preceding six-month average of 10 minutes. How could my current Sleep Stress be improving so dramatically while the six-month comparison still showed an increase? The answer is that a six-month average is a lagging measure. You can see my 6 month data in the show notes. This graph includes the elevated spring period, particularly the April-to-May peak of 35 minutes. Those earlier nights continue to pull the six-month average upward, even though my more recent results are much lower. The percentage of each night spent in WHOOP's different stress zones makes the recent change especially clear. During the April-to-May peak: 6% of my sleep was in the high-stress zone 27% was in the medium-stress zone 67% was in the low-stress zone By August 14 through September 12: High-stress sleep had fallen to 1% Medium-stress sleep had fallen to 10% Low-stress sleep had risen to 89% This may be the most meaningful finding in the entire six-month trend. I did not simply spend less time in WHOOP's high-stress zone. A much larger proportion of my night shifted into the low-stress zone. From spring into early summer, my high Sleep Stress had already begun to decline as I was focused on my health routine it kept dropping—from 35 minutes to 18 and then 14 minutes. I was living my life as usual. Three observations help explain what I think this pattern means. Observation One The Spring Peak Was Worth Investigating The 35-minute average represented a 67% increase from the preceding monthly window. The nightly graphs also show more frequent and more substantial periods in WHOOP's high-stress zone during that time. Something was placing a greater physiological demand on my system, but the screenshots cannot tell me precisely what it was. The increase could have reflected emotional stress, training load, disrupted routines, sleep timing, travel, illness, temperature or several factors interacting at once. This is why wearable data becomes more useful when it is paired with context. The number shows us what changed. A behavior log helps us investigate why it may have changed. Observation Two The Improvement Began Before August My Sleep Stress did not suddenly improve in one week. After the April-to-May peak, it declined across four consecutive monthly windows: 35 minutes fell to 18, then 14, then 5 and finally 4 minutes. That suggests an ongoing recovery shift rather than one isolated good night. By the latest monthly window, 89% of my sleep appeared in WHOOP's low-stress zone, compared with 67% during the spring peak. My body appeared to be spending progressively more of the night in a lower state of physiological activation relative to my baseline. Observation Three One Change May Have Strengthened the Trend Then, on August 7, I changed one thing. My movement, training, sauna, hydration and sleep practices remained relatively consistent. The clearest variable I intentionally changed was this: I stopped drinking alcohol. The timing matters. My July 15-August 13 average, which contained only the first week of the alcohol-free experiment, was already down to 5 minutes. Because most of that monthly window occurred before August 7, alcohol removal cannot explain the entire decline. But after I removed alcohol, my Sleep Stress remained at its lowest level and fell again to 4 minutes. During the same period, my HRV increased, my resting heart rate decreased and my overall recovery improved. These measures are related rather than completely independent-WHOOP's Stress Monitor itself uses patterns in heart rate and HRV. Still, when several parts of my recovery picture begin telling a consistent story after one clearly defined change, the pattern becomes more compelling. The data does not prove that removing alcohol caused every improvement. The most responsible conclusion is that my recovery had already begun improving and alcohol removal may have helped reinforce and sustain that progress. My Biggest Aha Moment My biggest realization was this: I was not improving my sleep only by changing what I did at night-such as cooling the room, using a sleep mask or limiting phone use before bed. I was improving my nights by changing my days. This is exactly what Dr. Kristen Holmes suggested we do on EP 4054. Everything we do during the day contributes to the total load our bodies must process: The emotional stress we carry The timing and intensity of exercise The food we eat The time we eat it Alcohol Hydration Light exposure Travel Work demands And whether we create moments of recovery between those demands The night can become a physiological reflection of everything that came before it. For years, many of us have assumed that being exhausted guarantees a good night's sleep. But exhaustion and regulation are not the same thing. We can be deeply tired and still physiologically activated. The goal is not to exhaust the body until it shuts down. The goal is to help the body transition from meeting the demands of the day into the conditions required for recovery. How Can YOU Measure Nighttime Stress? WHOOP provides a specific Sleep Stress view, but you do not need WHOOP to begin observing your recovery patterns. Depending on the wearable or device you use, you may be able to track: Sleeping heart rate Resting heart rate Overnight HRV Respiratory rate Skin-temperature deviation Sleep disruptions Restlessness Blood-oxygen trends And recovery or readiness scores The most important consideration is your personal baseline. Your HRV, resting heart rate and respiratory rate should not be judged against someone else's ideal number. Begin by learning what is normal for you. Then look for: Sudden deviations Repeated elevations Changes lasting several nights Connections with specific behaviors (I noticed that sleep stress was ALWAYS there after no more than 1-2 glasses of wine) And whether multiple measures change together (I noticed that after a long hike, if I chose to have a drink that night, even one glass of wine, sleep stress would be there the next day). There was no escaping what elevated it for me. Even without a wearable, you can begin tracking subjective signs of recovery. Each morning, ask: How many times did I awaken? Did I feel restored when I woke up? Was my mind calm or racing before bed? Did I wake with tension, a racing heart or unusual warmth? How was my energy, mood and focus the following day? You can then compare those observations with factors such as: Alcohol Meal timing Exercise timing Emotional stress Illness Travel And changes in your sleep environment The purpose is not to become anxious about every fluctuation. The purpose is to find patterns that help you make better decisions. It did help me to have a wearable to notice just how consistent my sleep stress was with certain behaviors. Can you measure Sleep Stress without a wearable? Not in the same way. Without overnight heart-rate and HRV data, we cannot calculate WHOOP's Sleep Stress score—and we may not consciously feel that our physiology remained activated. That was true for me. I did not feel stressed while I was sleeping. I needed the data to show me that my body was experiencing something my conscious mind could not detect. Without a wearable, we can still watch for indirect clues: repeated awakenings, morning fatigue, an elevated morning pulse, daytime sleepiness or a bed partner noticing snoring, gasping or restlessness. A sleep diary can help connect those clues with our daytime behaviors. The wearable did not create the stress. It made an invisible physiological pattern visible. How Can We Lower Sleep Stress? There is no single method guaranteed to lower nighttime stress because the underlying cause may differ from one person to another. The following ideas are best approached as individual experiments. Examine Alcohol Alcohol can make us feel sleepy, but sedation is not the same as restorative sleep. Try reducing or removing alcohol for several weeks and observe what happens to your Sleep Stress, HRV, resting heart rate, awakenings and morning energy. Look for a trend rather than expecting every night to improve. This isn't the first time I've removed alcohol while creating certain conditions for my body to perform at its best over the past 7 years of this podcast, and prior. I remember first hearing Dr. Daniel Amen talking about how alcohol isn't a health food, and that he suggests no amount to be healthy for the brain. When I first heard him say this, I did think, “Oh come on, Dr. Amen, say it's not so” because I don't eat junk food (we'll cover this topic next) so I would almost look to find some research that would allow even just small amounts. You can hear what Dr. Huberman[vii] suggests on his riveting episode on this topic, and I'm sharing that my reduction with sleep stress was significant enough for me to decide that cutting it out of my diet would be a permanent decision. This is a personal decision though and what might be significant for me with my results, might not be what you notice. Finish Eating Earlier A large or heavy meal close to bedtime may keep the body active through digestion. Experiment with finishing dinner earlier and leaving a consistent interval before sleep. Then observe whether your nighttime heart rate, Sleep Stress or restlessness changes. I've always had dinner around 5pm and don't eat anything after 6:30pm (except the occasional hot chocolate). Create an Evening Wind Down The brain and body need a transition between daytime demands and sleep. Your off-ramp might include: Dimming the lights Reducing stimulating content Reading Meditation Slow breathing NSDR Gentle stretching A warm shower or bath Writing down tomorrow's priorities Or following a consistent bedtime routine The purpose is to give the nervous system repeated cues that the demands of the day are ending. I like an Epsom salt bath when I'm home to transition from a work day, to night time. Balance Training With Recovery Exercise generally supports sleep and long-term health, but timing and intensity can affect individuals differently. If you repeatedly notice elevated nighttime stress after late, intense workouts, experiment with completing those sessions earlier. You might replace a late high-intensity session with walking, gentle mobility or recovery work and then compare the results. I did notice that on days I go to the gym after work, I do have higher stress that next morning. It's not always easy to fit everything in early mornings. Practice Regulation During the Day Do not wait until bedtime to address accumulated activation. Small recovery periods throughout the day can include: Brief movement breaks Time outdoors Slow breathing Space between meetings Short periods without digital stimulation Meditation Recovery does not begin when your head hits the pillow. It is built into the rhythm of the entire day. Optimize the Sleep Environment Examine the physical conditions surrounding your sleep: Is the room comfortably cool? Is it dark? Is it quiet? Are notifications turned off? Are pets or other interruptions waking you? Does your bedding help regulate temperature? Has travel disrupted your routine? Sometimes the source of elevated nighttime activation is due to your environment. Pay Attention to Possible Health Signals A sudden increase in nighttime stress—especially when accompanied by changes in resting heart rate, respiratory rate or skin temperature—may occur when the body is fighting an illness. Persistent changes deserve attention, particularly if they are accompanied by loud snoring, gasping during sleep, chest symptoms, unusual shortness of breath or significant daytime sleepiness. A wearable cannot diagnose sleep apnea, an infection or another medical condition. Its role is to help us notice when something has changed and decide whether further evaluation may be appropriate. A Seven-Day Sleep Stress Experiment This week, select only one or two variables to change. Your experiment does not have to involve alcohol like mine did. I honestly just stopped enjoying it, so it was an easy variable for me to pick. Don't ask me to give up coffee though. I won't be participating in any caffeine reduction experiments. Choose one variable that may be influencing your nighttime physiology, keep everything else as consistent as possible, and watch the trend—not one isolated score. You might: Avoid alcohol Finish dinner earlier Move intense exercise away from bedtime Create a 20-minute evening wind down routine Practice five minutes of slow breathing Or make the bedroom cooler and darker Each morning, record: Time in high Sleep Stress, if available HRV Resting heart rate Respiratory rate Number of awakenings And how restored you feel on a scale from 1 to 10 At the end of the week, ask: What changed? What remained consistent? Which behaviors appeared to help my body settle? Which behaviors were followed by greater nighttime activation? Do not try to produce a perfect score. The goal is to identify a pattern you can repeat. Review and Conclusion To close out this BONUS EP4, where we explored Sleep Stress—not as another score to chase, but as a window into what the body may be experiencing while we sleep. We learned that Sleep Stress estimates how physiologically activated the body remains during the night. It is different from sleep duration, which tells us how long we slept, and sleep stages, which estimate the kinds of sleep we experienced. To understand this metric, we looked at the two primary branches of the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system mobilizes energy so we can move, focus, respond and perform. The parasympathetic nervous system supports conservation, digestion, restoration and recovery. Neither branch is inherently good or bad. We need activation to meet life's demands, and we need the ability to downshift when those demands have passed. Healthy regulation is not the absence of stress. It is the flexibility to move between activation and recovery. We also learned that WHOOP does not directly measure either branch of the autonomic nervous system. It uses patterns in heart rate and heart-rate variability, compared with our personal baseline, to estimate physiological stress. That makes Sleep Stress a useful signal—but not a diagnosis and not proof of what caused a particular change. This metric fits within the recovery stage of our expanded Movement Loop: Movement → Physiological Load → Recovery → Adaptation → Performance Movement creates the challenge. But the challenge alone does not build greater capacity. The body must be able to absorb the load, recover from it and adapt. When I examined my own six-month results, I saw my average high Sleep Stress rise from 21 minutes to a spring peak of 35 minutes. It then declined across four consecutive monthly windows: 35 → 18 → 14 → 5 → 4 minutes That represented approximately 89% reduction from the highest month The proportion of my sleep in WHOOP's low-stress zone also increased from 67% during the spring peak to 89% in my most recent monthly window. My recovery had already begun improving before I had cut out alcohol on August 7, so alcohol removal cannot explain the entire decline. But when I kept the rest of my routine relatively consistent and removed alcohol, my Sleep Stress remained at its lowest level. At the same time, my HRV increased, my resting heart rate decreased and my overall recovery improved. This does not prove that one behavior caused every change. But it gives me good reason to believe that removing alcohol helped reinforce an already improving recovery pattern. And that brings me to the most important lesson from this experiment: I did not improve my recovery by asking my body to do more. I improved it by creating better conditions for my body to recover from everything it was already doing. So tonight, instead of asking only: “How many hours will I sleep?” Think about-- “What am I doing today that will help—or prevent—my body from settling tonight?” Because the night does not begin when we close our eyes. It carries the accumulated effects of how we moved, trained, ate, worked, regulated and recovered throughout the day. Movement creates the stimulus. Recovery allows us to absorb it. Adaptation builds our capacity. And greater capacity prepares the brain and body to perform tomorrow. I'll see you next time for Episode 407, where we will revisit Jason Wittrock's work through a current and carefully defined lens. We'll examine his experience with nutrition and fasting as the perspective of an applied practitioner and personal case study, while comparing those ideas with current evidence surrounding nutrition, blood-sugar stability, metabolic flexibility, recovery and performance. Because if recovery determines how well we adapt to a challenge, metabolism determines whether the brain and body have the energy required to power that adaptation. And the brain and body cannot sustain performance without the energy required to power the system. I'll see you next time. REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EP 3 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-hidden-story-behind-your-resting-heart-rate/ [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EP 4 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/is-your-4-am-hike-costing-you-rem-the-movement-vs-sleep-trade%e2%80%91off/ [iii] whoop.com [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EP 59 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/suzanne-gundersen-on-the-polyvagal-theory-in-practice/ [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast “The Future of Educational Neuroscience” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/lori-desautels-and-michael-mcknight-on-the-future-of-educational-neuroscience-in-our-schools-and-communities/ [vi] Dr. Andrew Huberman Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety. The Physiological Sigh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSZKIupBUuc [vii] Dr. Andrew Huberman https://www.hubermanlab.com/subtopics/effects-of-alcohol-on-the-brain-and-body
Joe Kissell discusses a new approach to Take Control Books's coverage of Apple's latest operating systems, including separate books for macOS Golden Gate, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, plus a cross-platform guide to Siri AI and Apple Intelligence. Joe explains the challenges of documenting changing betas, evaluates Apple's emphasis on polish and bug fixes, and examines Liquid Glass and lingering problems in Contacts. (Part 1) MacVoices is supported by CleanMyMac from MacPaw. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use my code MACVOICES20 for 20% off at http://clnmy.com/MACVOICES Show Notes: Chapters: 00:00 Joe Kissell Takes Control of Apple's Latest Operating Systems 00:32 Welcome and Apple's New OS Releases 01:24 A Busy Summer for Take Control 03:34 Three New Take Control Books 03:52 Rethinking OS Coverage After WWDC 04:43 Siri AI and Apple Intelligence Take Center Stage 05:19 macOS Golden Gate, iOS 27, and iPadOS 27 06:17 Creating a Cross-Platform Siri AI and Apple Intelligence Book 07:54 Pre-Release Editions and the Update Process 09:23 Preparing Books for Apple's Final Releases 11:38 The Challenge of Constantly Changing Betas 12:40 Tracking Features Apple Barely Explained 14:01 Explaining What Apple Doesn't Document 16:03 Features That May Not Arrive at Launch 17:37 What Stands Out Before the Final Releases? 18:44 A Polishing Release Rather Than a Feature Release 20:19 Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements 20:44 What Apple's Liquid Glass Controls Really Do 22:19 Liquid Glass Cosmetic Improvements 23:11 Apple Contacts and Bugs That Still Haven't Been Fixed 25:09 Questions About Apple's Quality Control 25:59 Closing and Show Information Links: Take Control of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 by Glenn Fleishman https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/ios-27-ipados-27/ Take Control of Siri AI ad Apple Intelligence by Joe Kissell https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/siri-ai/ Take Control of Golden Gate by Joe Kissell https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/golden-gate/ Guests: Get detailed bios and contact information about for the panel on the MacVoices Live! Panel page on our web site: https://macvoices.com/macvoiceslive/macvoices-live-panel/ Support: Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon http://patreon.com/macvoices Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect: Web: http://macvoices.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner http://www.twitter.com/macvoices Mastodon: https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner MacVoices Page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/ MacVoices Group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe: Audio in iTunes Video in iTunes Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss
BSD Part Deux, Code that built the internet, and an interview about WebZFS NOTES This episode of BSDNow is brought to you by Tarsnap and the BSDNow Patreon Headlines BSD pt Deux Code that Built the Internet Interview JT on WebZFS TJ: I started by asking JT... Tarsnap This weeks episode of BSDNow was sponsored by our friends at Tarsnap, the only secure online backup you can trust your data to. Even paranoids need backups. Feedback/Questions Send questions, comments, show ideas/topics, or stories you want mentioned on the show to feedback@bsdnow.tv Join us and other BSD Fans in our BSD Now Telegram channel
Jeff Mains sits down with Jurgen Dauk to unpack why the org chart that got a company to its first 50 people is often the exact thing choking it at 500. Jurgen argues that most companies are still built and run like machines — predictable, controllable, command-and-control — when what actually thrives in fast-moving, crisis-prone markets is an organization that behaves more like an organism: adaptive, self-healing, and built around trust in people rather than rigid processes. The conversation covers why rolling AI into a broken structure just accelerates the dysfunction, how to diagnose silos and misaligned KPIs, why a real vision and mission (not a wall plaque) is the glue that holds cross-functional teams together, and concrete stories — from a car manufacturer losing the innovation race to China, to Ritz-Carlton's radical front-line trust — showing what happens when decision power moves closer to the action.Key Takeaways2:31 — The structure that got you here might be the exact thing slowing you down now.6:19 — Think of your company as an organism, not a machine — it puts people at the center, not the org chart.9:09 — Why command-and-control kills AI ROI: strategic top-down rollouts vs. empowered cross-functional teams choosing their own AI use cases.12:04 — The "garbage in, garbage out" AI story: a regional marketing team fed AI a stale document instead of training it on their ideal customer.15:19 — Command-and-control is really about fear — fear of losing control, fear it won't work out.17:07 — The fastest diagnostic for a broken org: ask 10 people the company's vision/mission and see how many different answers you get.18:19 — Gallup data: nearly 80% of employees are completely checked out.23:52 — What a "Leadership Operating System" actually is — not a machine principle bolted onto your org, but a guide to co-create your own unique structure.26:03 — How to find your silos fast: look at how decisions flow, how information moves, and whether your teams' KPIs actually conflict with each other.34:23 — The German auto industry story: a legacy manufacturer builds one generation of a car in the time a Chinese competitor builds three.37:26 — The #1 structural move before spending another dollar on AI: just ask your people what they need.42:49 — The Amazon Web Services story — building backwards from what the customer needs, not from existing tools/processes.45:36 — The Ritz-Carlton story: an employee flies to Hawaii to hand-deliver a guest's forgotten laptop, funded by a no-questions-asked discretionary budget.Tweetable Quotes"Your structure is either your engine or your anchor." — Jeff Mains"AI amplifies what is there. If your foundation isn't set up well, it will amplify exactly that." — Jurgen Dauk"Organizations are made up of people, not machines." — Jurgen Dauk"The reality is different — our issue is the time it takes us to build one generation of our flagship product, while our competition is developing three." — Jurgen Dauk"Instead of investing into AI, ask your people. Talking to people is not very expensive." — Jurgen Dauk"What people almost never ask is: In what way would I need to change?" — Jurgen Dauk"Organizational transformation really is personal transformation just at scale." — Jeff MainsSaaS Leadership LessonsTrust decision power to where the knowledge lives. Cross-functional teams closer to the action decide faster and better because they understand the problem firsthand.A rigid structure will sabotage your AI investment. Rolling out AI on top of command-and-control doesn't fix dysfunction — it accelerates it.Vision and mission are operational tools, not marketing copy. A vision that unites people (not "20% YoY growth") is what aligns fragmented teams and keeps talent engaged.Diagnose silos through decisions, information flow, and KPIs. Conflicting metrics between departments (e.g., sales vs. marketing) are a reliable early warning sign.Letting go of control is the hardest and highest-leverage move. It requires training people on communication, clear guardrails, and a safe space for mistakes — not just "here's the plan, good luck."Build backwards from the customer, not from existing tools or processes. Amazon Web Services and Ritz-Carlton both succeeded by empowering people to act in service of the customer outcome, not internal process compliance.Guest Resourcesj.dauk@theleadership-os.comhttps://theleadership-os.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/juergendauk/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel'Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/https://jeffmains.com/books/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains
In this episode of the industry's shiniest five-year-old podcast, Robert Lenzhofer discusses the innovative Hizi platform, a self-service operating system for iGaming studios that simplifies game development, deployment, and management, aiming to revolutionize the industry with cloud-based solutions. Hosts Fintan Costello and Jon Bruford welcome Robert – a returning guest! – as they discuss the usual mish-mash of topics alongside Robert's innovation.As ever, we thank our superb sponsors – you can find out more about Optimove, World Gaming, and GLI further down this page…Choice quotes: "This is more like an operating system for studios""Allows you to create any RNG game directly in the back office""It's like AWS for the gambling industry"“The RGS all grown up. The operating system for studios.”“If you still have to code into the backend, then it's not self-service.”“We just give you the best tool that possibly can be built.”Chapters (but add 30 seconds or so because of our beautiful music, which is copyright Mara Carlyle…)00:00 - Opening banter and the challenge of recording multiple episodes 01:02 - Moving house, lampshades, and the magnetic knife rack 03:18 - Holiday talk, hustle culture, and the death of downtime 04:04 - The world's best theme park in Devon: Diggerland, and possibly the best jingle for a theme park ever. 10:29 - Robert's summer chaos and building a point-and-click adventure with his daughter 12:20 - Introducing Robert Lenzhofer and the move beyond Holle Games 13:01 - What Hizi means and why it is about more than an RGS 14:43 - What the platform is for in practical studio terms 15:48 - Why RGS infrastructure should be treated like a commodity 16:29 - Self-service signup and instant dedicated instances 18:14 - Pricing tiers and what's included in the basic package 19:20 - The no-code, AI-assisted Hizi engine 21:02 - Early traction, partner growth, and game deployments 23:36 - What studios actually do inside the platform 24:34 - Why billing and back-office tooling matter for small teams 26:15 - Migration paths for existing studios and hybrid deployments 27:40 - How Hizi compares with Stake's model and game-upload systems 29:00 - The “end of RGS” idea and B2C engine support 31:12 - Could a simple card game or pub machine be built on Hizi? 33:15 - How the platform reduces startup friction and contract pain 35:07 - What onboarding looks like and the learning curve 36:06 - Why Hizi's challenge is broader than a single-operator system 37:43 - Scaling with a lean team and moving from beta to wider onboarding 41:39 - Distribution as the bottleneck for smaller studios 44:05 - Starting a game studio and the “Doctor Hour” joke 45:16 - Bamboo Guerillas arrives 47:56 - Closing thanks and an invitation to revisit the project in 12 monthsRobert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertlenzhofer/Resources & Links:As ever, we thank all of our sponsors for their vibrant and excellent support that makes all of this… magic… possible.Optimove, who turn customer data into something special, with tools that make businesses just plain work better. Optimove, your support helps us to keep creating content for an industry that probably thinks we disappeared years ago.Then of course there is Clarion Gaming, no hang on World Gaming, providers of the magnificent ICE expo and iGB Live! in London. There is simply nobody better at what they do.And the new-ish-est members of the family, the excellent Gaming Laboratories International. GLI is a world-class Testing, Inspections and Certification company committed to delivering the highest quality land-based, lottery, and iGaming testing and assessment services, working in more than 710 jurisdictions.For more information, visit gaminglabs.com.The Gambling Files podcast delves into the business side of the betting world. Each week, join Jon Bruford and Fintan Costello as they discuss current hot topics with world-leading gambling experts.Website: https://www.thegamblingfiles.com/Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3A57jkRSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4cs6ReF Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGamblingFilesPodcast Fintan Costello on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fintancostello/ Jon Bruford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-bruford-84346636/ Follow the podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-gambling-files-podcast/ Sponsorship enquiries: https://www.thegamblingfiles.com/contact/ Get our newsletter: https://thegamblingfilestldr.substack.com/
In this episode of the HVAC Know It All Business Edition Podcast, co-hosts Gary McCreadie and Furman Haynes from WorkHero speak with Bill Spohn, Founder & CEO of TruTech Tools, LTD, who brings 38 years of experience in the HVAC industry. They discuss the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), including meeting structure, decision-making, core values, accountability, and culture. Bill shares how TruTech Tools introduced EOS practices, used a Vision Traction Organizer, defined roles through the GWC framework, tracked leading indicators, and approached leadership succession. Expect To Learn: How EOS uses a two-page Vision Traction Organizer to guide business planning. Why regular meetings with clear agendas improve leadership communication. How to define core values through a keep, kill, and combine process. What the GWC framework means for assigning people to the right roles. Why quarterly conversations can support accountability and feedback. How leading indicators can help teams anticipate future performance. How structured meetings can help leaders identify, discuss, and solve issues. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction 01:14 – Discovering the Vision Traction Organizer 03:10 – Early EOS practices at TruTech Tools 04:29 – Implementing EOS and defining core values 07:32 – EOS impact on roles and accountability 10:57 – Quarterly conversations and giving people grace 13:27 – Defining culture through actions and process 16:57 – Succession planning and reducing Bill's day-to-day role 20:00 – Why Billy Spohn would not take over without EOS 20:22 – Visionary and integrator roles 22:55 – Identify, discuss, and solve meeting issues 23:51 – Using 90.io for EOS meeting preparation Follow our Guest Bill Spohn and his companies: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billspohn/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trutech-tools-ltd/ Company Website: https://trutechtools.com/ Follow Gary McCreadie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-mccreadie-38217a77/ Website: https://www.hvacknowitall.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/HVAC-Know-It-All-2/61569643061429/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hvacknowitall1/ Follow Furman Haynes: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/furmanhaynes/ WorkHero: https://www.linkedin.com/company/workherohvac/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workhero__/
Human Design can show you who you're designed to be, but what actually helps you become that person? Your chart gives you the map. Your spiritual gifts are the operating system that helps you navigate it.In this episode of Soul Alive Radio, I explore why understanding your Human Design is only the beginning. I break down the five spiritual gifts that make up your unique Soul Operating System and how these gifts help you move beyond understanding your alignment to actually living, creating, and leading from it.You'll discover:Why Human Design is the map, but your spiritual gifts are what help you move into higher expressionHow intuition, healing, manifestation, teaching, and leadership work together as your Soul Operating SystemWhy activating your unique gifts can transform the way you navigate change, serve your clients, and grow your businessYour chart can point you toward your potential. Your Soul Operating System is what helps you embody it.Timestamps:00:00 Welcome to Soul Alive00:23 New Studio Milestone01:50 Podcasting Is Evolving03:04 From Influencers to Depth06:26 Todays Topic Setup06:45 Listener Love and Reviews07:57 Human Design Basics11:12 Map Is Not Enough12:14 Soul Operating System17:51 Five Spiritual Gifts19:02 Collective Change Ahead25:58 Manifestation vs Creation34:16 Teaching and CoCreating37:51 Leadership and Essence44:00 InvitationLinks Mentioned:Download your My Soul OS Report Soul Week is coming September 21–25! Join me for five free live workshops to discover your Signature Soul Modality and learn how to integrate your spiritual gifts into transformational work that's uniquely yours. Join free: https://allysonscammell.com/soulweekTHE NEXT STEP:Join Soul Week: Save your free spot a 5-day experience to discover your Signature Soul Modality by activating your five Spiritual Gifts.Ready to use your Spiritual Gifts to attract soul-aligned clients? BOOK a Soul Blueprint Intuitive Assessment - to explore whether Soul Blueprint® is your next aligned step.Leave a review for Soul Alive Radio (and we'll read it on the air!)STAY CONNECTED:SUBSCRIBE on SubstackFOLLOW on InstagramFOLLOW on FacebookSUBSCRIBE on YouTube
After her husband Doug's sudden death in 2023, Samina Bari discovered that having a will, a trust, and a team of trusted professionals in place made almost no difference in the chaos that followed. What she needed was not a checklist, but a guide, someone or something to tell her what to do first, second, and third while she was too overwhelmed to think clearly. That gap became the foundation for Farewell, the first life admin operating system built to help individuals and families move through loss, divorce, aging parent care, and other major life transitions with clarity instead of chaos.Samina joins Melissa Joy, CFP®, to talk about what she calls life administration, the emotional, legal, financial, and practical work most of us postpone because it is simply too heavy to face. She explains how Farewell uses an empathetic AI to meet people where they are emotionally, break large to-do lists into manageable steps, and walk families through everything from locating vital documents to navigating an aging parent's finances. The conversation also turns personal, as Samina shares what she wishes more people understood about supporting someone through the loss of a spouse, and why she wrote Don't Call Me Widow to help close that gap.What You'll LearnWhy Samina calls the tangle of legal, financial, and emotional tasks after a major life event “life administration,” and why no system existed to manage itHow Farewell's empathetic AI checks in on how you're feeling and curates next steps accordinglyWhat to expect when gathering essentials like death certificates, and why timing and sequencing matterHow families can delegate tasks and control what each member can see and doWhy the planning phase, before a crisis hits, is where tools like Farewell add the most valueHow financial advisors can use Farewell to see client progress and offer more integrative supportWhat Samina wishes people understood about showing up for someone who has lost a spouseAbout Samina BariSamina Bari is the founder and CEO of Farewell, the first life admin operating system for financial advisory firms and their clients. She spent three decades leading more than $40 billion in biotech mergers and acquisitions before the sudden death of her husband, Doug, in 2023 revealed a systemic gap in how individuals and families navigate loss and major life transitions. Samina is an Operating Partner at How Women Invest and the two-time Amazon bestselling author of Don't Call Me Widow and I Can, I Will and I Did: Lessons on Life, Love, and Leadership. Learn more at saminabari.com and withfarewell.com. The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING's investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING's current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https...
What if our emotions are doing far more than simply making us feel happy, angry, afraid, or sad?In this episode of I Am Refocused Radio, Shemaiah Reed sits down with Doug Johnston, author of Choosing Emotions: Thinking with Your Head and Acting with Your Heart, for a fascinating conversation about emotional literacy, human behavior, and the hidden emotional sfile:///Users/shemaiahreed/Music/doug%20headshot.jpgtates that influence how we think, communicate, work, lead, and live.Drawing from more than 3,000 years of recorded thought, Johnston's research examines 272 emotional states across psychology, philosophy, science, linguistics, art, spirituality, and more than 30 faith and philosophical traditions.Johnston explains why our traditional vocabulary around emotion may be far too limited and explores several major ideas from the book, including emotions as an internal “Operating System,” the “Gears of Life” that translate feelings into behavior, and a kind of emotional “Rosetta Stone” that can help bridge cultures, disciplines, and human experiences.The conversation also explores why emotions such as admiration, confidence, procrastination, and zeal deserve closer examination, how language shapes our understanding of what we feel, and whether becoming more emotionally literate can help us make better choices instead of simply reacting.Choosing Emotions has ranked among Amazon's Top 10 titles in categories including Positive Psychology, Emotions & Mental Health, and Adult & Continuing Education.If you have ever wondered why you feel what you feel, how emotions influence your decisions, or whether we can become more intentional about the emotional states guiding our lives, this conversation opens a much bigger door.Topics include: emotional intelligence, emotional literacy, psychology, human behavior, decision-making, philosophy, mental health, leadership, communication, self-awareness, and the science of emotion.https://choosingemotions.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-am-refocused-radio--2671113/support.Subscribe now at YouTube.com/@RefocusedNetworkThank you for your time.
Episode 406 explains how movement prepares the brain but does not guarantee learning. It traces the full sequence—movement, RAS-driven readiness, salience and relevance, focused attention, encoding, retrieval and repetition, and recovery and sleep—that turns activation into lasting memory and performance. The episode offers practical steps in a Move–Focus–Learn protocol: use brief movement to create readiness, clearly identify and remove distractions for one learning target, interact with material in meaningful ways, practice retrieval and spaced repetition, and protect recovery to support consolidation. Listeners are encouraged to test these simple experiments for school, work, or personal learning to make experience more usable and improve attention, memory, and performance. ON THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: ✔ Why movement prepares the brain but does not guarantee learning ✔ How attention directs the capacity movement creates ✔ Why meaning and emotional relevance capture attention ✔ The difference between paying attention and actually learning ✔ How retrieval and repetition help new information stick ✔ How seeing, hearing, explaining, and applying an idea can help us remember it ✔ How restorative sleep supports memory and learning ✔ A practical Move–Focus–Learn Protocol for school, work, or your own personal learning The central idea is simple: Movement opens the window. Attention determines what enters. Repetition strengthens what remains. And recovery helps the brain integrate what it has experienced. Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance so we can create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity, and results. I'm Andrea Samadi, and if you've been following along through Season 16, you'll know that we have been building what I call The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—a neuroscience-based framework designed to help us understand how the different systems of the brain and body work together to influence how we learn, adapt, connect, lead, and ultimately, how we perform. We are currently in Phase 3, focused on Movement, Learning, and Cognition. As I prepared for this phase, I went back through more than 400 episodes of the podcast and organized them according to the five phases of this framework. I wanted to see whether any patterns would emerge. And some did. Phase 1, Regulation and Safety, includes 57 episodes. Phase 2, Neurochemistry and Motivation, includes 41 episodes—the smallest category, possibly because this is the area I have explored the least with my learning. Phase 3, Movement, Learning, and Cognition, includes 174 episodes—the largest category by far. Phase 4, Perception and Social Intelligence, includes 68 episodes. And Phase 5, Integration and Meaning, includes 71 episodes. When I saw that 174 episodes—more than 40 percent of the entire podcast—fit into Movement, Learning, and Cognition, it immediately showed me where much of my curiosity has been directed over the years. I have always been fascinated by learning: How do we prepare the brain to learn? What captures our attention? Why do some ideas (or people) remain with us while others disappear? How does knowledge become something we can retrieve, apply, and actually use to improve our lives? And while I am spending most of my spare time hiking, or at the gym over the years, I wonder, how does this movement that I'm doing help to improve my attention, or memory, and finally, where does recovery fit into this process? The past few weeks, I'm finally connecting the dots with how important recovery is with this equation. I'm also learning how to determine what's important to me. John Medina's Brain Rules book explains what holds our attention. He reminds us that “we don't pay attention to boring things (or people).[i] As we continue through these five phases of The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance, I'm especially curious about how we will move beyond understanding these lessons, to begin implementing what we are learning, and connecting more ways to improve how we learn, adapt, connect, lead, and ultimately perform in our day to day lives. That will become an important part of the upcoming workbook—which is a practical way for each of us to identify what we have already strengthened, where gaps may remain, and which specific actions can help us to improve our own learning, well-being, and performance. Because the purpose of this 5 Phase Framework is not simply to collect more information about the brain. It is to understand how the systems connect—and then use that understanding to create meaningful change. “Attention Is the Gate—How Movement Becomes Learning.” For today's Episode 406, we'll connect Dr. John Medina's Brain Rules to the Movement Loop we have been building throughout Phase 3—and answer the next important question: Once movement activates and prepares the brain, what determines whether that readiness becomes lasting learning? You can review our full interview with John Medina from EP 42[ii] from February 2020. (find the link in the reference section of the show notes). INTRODUCTION: THE MISSING STEP We have spent this phase so far, examining how movement changes the brain. Dr. Chuck Hillman and Paul Zientarski[iii] showed us that movement prepares the brain for learning. Dr. John Ratey[iv] helped us understand how exercise influences neurochemistry, BDNF, and neuroplasticity. Dr. Kristen Holmes[v] showed us that recovery helps determine whether strain becomes adaptation. And our restorative-sleep episode explored where some of that recovery, adaptation, and integration may occur. But one important question remains: A brain can be activated, chemically prepared, and physiologically ready—but what determines what it actually learns? The answer begins with attention. Movement may create the readiness to learn, but readiness alone is not learning. The brain must still select what matters, focus on it, interact with it, encode it, revisit it, and eventually integrate it. That gives us the pathway we will explore today: Movement creates readiness. But what is the filter in our brain that helps us to focus on the things that are most important to us. What gives us the ability to pay attention to something? The RAS- or The Reticular Activating System. Before we continue, let's remind ourselves what the RAS is. The RAS—or reticular activating system—is a network of neurons extending through the brainstem that helps regulate wakefulness, alertness, and our readiness to respond to incoming information. We explored this system previously in Episode 272, “Priming the Reticular Activating System to Achieve Our Goals.” In that episode, we described the RAS as a type of filter that helps us notice information connected to what we have identified as important. For example, once you decide that you are interested in a particular type of car, you may suddenly begin seeing that car everywhere. That's the RAS filtering system in our brain. The cars were already there, but your attention now has a reason to prioritize them. In Episode 272[vi], we applied this idea to goal-setting. When we clearly identify an intention, we may become more likely to notice relevant information, opportunities, and connections that were previously present but did not receive our attention. That explanation gave us a useful starting point. But here in Episode 406, we can add more precision. The RAS is not a tiny gatekeeper sitting in the brain and personally deciding what we will learn. It is part of a broader network that helps maintain the level of arousal and alertness required for our attention. It helps the brain become available to notice whatever it is that is important to us. Then salience, relevance, emotion, intention, and our current goals help determine what receives priority. Focused attention directs our limited cognitive resources toward the selected information. Next, encoding and repetition help strengthen what we want to focus on. And recovery and sleep help to further support its consolidation and integration. So our expanded Movement Loop now looks like this: you can see an image in the show notes to expand this understanding. Movement supports brain activation. RAS helps the brain become awake, alert, and ready to pay attention. Salience and relevance (or what matters the most to us) helps to determine what receives priority. Our focused attention selects what gets our priority. Encoding and repetition further strengthens this pathway. Recovery and sleep (that we've dove deep into) support consolidation and integration. And together, these processes increase the likelihood that experience becomes learning—and that learning becomes available for future performance. Whatever it is that we have put our attention on, is now made usable. This shows us how our understanding has evolved since Episode 272, three years ago. Then, we were asking: How can our intention help us notice what matters with the attainment of our goals? Now, years later, with more understanding, we are asking: Once the brain is alert and something important has captured our attention, what sequence of events must occur for that information to become lasting learning? We are no longer asking only what must remain top of mind so we can notice opportunities connected to our goals. We are asking what happens next: How does something we notice become something we understand? How does something we understand become something we remember? And how does something we remember become knowledge or a skill we can retrieve, apply, and use to improve our performance? This is where Dr. John Medina's Brain Rules help us to connect the pieces. Let's begin with Lesson One: Lesson 1: Movement Creates Readiness—Not Guaranteed Learning Movement can increase alertness, circulation, and readiness for cognitive work. But why might movement have such a powerful relationship with the brain? Dr. John Medina explains this through an evolutionary lens. His point is that the human brain did not develop while we were sitting motionless at desks or staring at screens. It developed while human beings were moving through changing outdoor environments, solving immediate problems, and continually responding to the world around them. Let's listen to how he explains it. CLIP 1 John Medina “The human brain was designed to solve problems related to surviving in an outdoor setting, in unstable meteorological conditions—and to do so in constant motion. The constant motion is where the exercise comes in. But the rest of that—the more a school, or any of us, can recreate the world of the Serengeti, the place where this brain actually grew up, the better things are. And exercise, particularly outdoor exercise, is a terrific example of this idea.” When Medina refers to the Serengeti, I don't think he is suggesting that schools should literally recreate the dangers or conditions of an ancient environment. He is giving us an evolutionary picture of the conditions under which the human brain developed: We moved. We navigated changing environments. We encountered new sensory information. We solved problems. We adapted to uncertainty. And we did these things together rather than remaining physically still for most of the day. Outdoor movement may bring several of these conditions together. We are moving our bodies while also responding to changes in light, temperature, terrain, sound, distance, and direction. This helps explain why movement belongs at the beginning of our Movement Loop. But it also brings us to an important distinction: Movement creates readiness. It does not guarantee learning. A student can move before class and still become distracted. A leader can exercise before work and still spend the morning reacting to notifications. An athlete can warm up physically without becoming mentally focused on the strategy or skill required next. Movement can help activate the system. The RAS in the brain helps us become awake and alert. But the brain must still determine what stands out, what is relevant, and what deserves focused attention. Movement opens the window. Attention determines what enters through it. Our Key lesson: Movement prepares the brain. Attention directs the preparation. PUT THIS INTO ACTION Before your next period of demanding cognitive work, use movement to create a window of readiness. Take a five-to-ten-minute walk, complete a brief movement break, stretch, or choose another form of movement appropriate for your ability and environment. But do not move without deciding what comes next. Before you begin, identify the specific task you will return to: “When this movement break ends, what will receive my attention?” For a student, it might be the first problem on a math assignment. For a leader, it might be the one decision that requires uninterrupted thinking. For an athlete, it might be the cue, strategy, or skill that needs to remain at the center of practice. Movement creates the opportunity. A clear intention helps direct what happens next. Your experiment is: Move briefly, choose one target that you want to complete with this intention, and begin that task immediately after the movement ends. Lesson 2: Attention Is the Gate In EP 395[vii], we examined what captures attention: Meaning Emotion Relevance Intention Reward Human connection Now today's episode shows how we move beyond why the brain notices something and explains what attention does after movement has prepared the system to learn. Attention acts as a filter. The brain encounters more information than it can consciously process, so it must select what receives priority. This creates the bridge: Brain activation creates capacity. Attention distributes that capacity. Our Key lesson: What the brain does not attend to has little opportunity to become lasting learning. Andrea's Application This distinction between brain capacity and cognitive efficiency became personal for me when I reviewed the results of my 2020 brain scan. We covered this topic on EP 84[viii] and we will do a thorough review of what was learned with our brain scans at Dr. Daniel Amen's CA Clinic. The evaluation that I received after my scan was completed with Dr. Shane Creado, suggested that I had areas of strong capacity, but that my brain appeared to be working harder than necessary to complete certain tasks in the cognitive testing. A possible contributor we discussed was sleep deprivation. I want to be careful here: a SPECT scan is not a direct measurement of attention or learning, and my results cannot tell us that insufficient sleep caused a specific attention pattern. But the experience gave me a useful way to think about what we are learning today. Having cognitive capacity does not necessarily mean that we are using that capacity efficiently. I may be motivated, active, and ready to work—but if I am under-recovered, under-slept, distracted, or trying to process too many competing inputs, my brain may have to expend more energy to sustain focus. This helped me understand the Movement Loop at a more personal level: Movement can help activate my brain. Attention gives that activation a target. But recovery may influence how efficiently I can sustain that attention and use it for learning. My scan did not define what my brain could do. It gave me another reason to examine the conditions under which my brain performs at its best. PUT THIS INTO ACTION Before asking yourself—or someone else—to focus, make the target of attention clear. Start by completing this sentence: “The most important thing to notice right now is…” Then reduce the competition around it. We all know to do this. Silence unnecessary notifications. Close unrelated tabs. Remove extra materials from view. Avoid asking the brain to switch repeatedly between tasks. If you are teaching, make the relevance visible: “Why does this matter?” “What should students be listening or looking for?” “How does this connect to something they already know?” If you are working independently, write your one priority clearly where you can see it. Remember, the goal is not to force the brain to attend to everything. The goal is to help it identify (with your RAS-that filter in your brain) what deserves your priority. Your experiment is: Choose one target, (something you want to accomplish) remove as many unnecessary sources of interference as possible, and create one meaningful reason to pay attention. This also helps explain why keeping your desk clear, your closet organized, or your car tidy may make you feel calmer and more focused. How we do anything is how we do everything. Every object, notification, unfinished task, or piece of visual clutter can become another potential signal competing for your attention. That does not mean everything must be perfectly organized before you can begin (while some of us would prefer to work this way), perfection can become its own form of interference. Just get started. It simply means that when you reduce unnecessary visual and mental competition, you make it easier for the brain to recognize the priority in front of you. Clear the space. Name the target. Create the relevance. Then give the task your full attention. Lesson 3: Attention Is Necessary—but It Is Not Enough Paying attention to information once does not guarantee that it will be remembered. This is where Dr. Medina's memory rules enter: Repeat to remember. Remember to repeat. The first refers to giving new information more than one opportunity to be encoded. The second points toward revisiting information over time. This allows you to extend the Movement Loop: Movement prepares the brain and body. Attention selects what to focus on. Retrieval and Repetition strengthens our focus. Recovery helps us to integrate what we are learning. PUT THIS INTO ACTION After learning something new, do not immediately reread it. First, look away from the material and try to retrieve it. Ask yourself: “What were the three most important ideas?” “How would I explain this without looking at my notes?” “What can I remember on my own?” Retrieval reveals the difference between recognizing information and actually being able to access it. Then return to the material, check what you missed, and retrieve it again later—after an hour, the next day, or several days afterward. For students, this could mean closing the textbook and explaining the lesson to a partner. For professionals, it could mean summarizing a meeting before reviewing the notes. For personal learning, it could mean recording a short voice memo explaining the idea from memory. Your experiment is: Learn it once, retrieve it without looking, and schedule a brief return to it later. See if you can remember it. Attention begins the pathway. Retrieval and repetition help strengthen it. Andrea's Application This lesson reminded me of one part of the cognitive testing that accompanied my brain scan at Amen Clinics: a Continuous Performance Test, or CPT. In the version I completed, letters appeared on a computer screen. The instruction was to press a button whenever a letter appeared—except when the letter was X. This type of task may sound simple, but it requires you to remain attentive over time, respond consistently, and inhibit your automatic response when the target letter appears. My results indicated that this was an area in which I did not perform as strongly. Looking back, I remember hearing the basic instruction: press the button for every letter except X. But I do not remember fully appreciating that the speed and consistency of my responses also mattered. This gave me an important real-life lesson: Hearing an instruction is not the same as accurately encoding everything the task requires. Before beginning something important, pause and ask: “What exactly am I being asked to do?” “What details determine successful performance?” “Can I explain the instructions back in my own words?” And, when appropriate, write down the key steps before beginning. This applies in a classroom, during a meeting, while completing an assessment, or whenever accuracy matters. First, attend to the full instruction. Then restate or retrieve it. Clarify anything that is missing. And only then begin the task. My experience showed me that attention is not just about working harder or concentrating more intensely. It is also about identifying the correct target—and making sure we understand the complete task before directing our effort toward it. Lesson 4: Learning Becomes Stronger When It Has More Than One Path Dr. Medina's Brain Rule #9 about sensory integration and vision(meaning our brains learn and remember best when multiple senses—like sight, sound, and touch—are engaged at the same time) give you the practical learning background to involve ALL of your senses. While teaching and learning you can ask: Can I see it? Can I hear it? Can I explain it? Can I demonstrate it? Can I connect it to something I already know? Can I apply it physically or practically? The goal is not sensory stimulation for its own sake. It is to provide clear, relevant pathways through which the learner can interact with the information. Our Key lesson: The more meaningfully we interact with information that we are learning, the more opportunities the brain has to encode and retrieve it. PUT THIS INTO ACTION Choose one idea you want to remember and interact with it in at least two meaningful ways. You might: See it in a diagram. Hear it explained. Say it in your own words. Write or draw it. Teach it to someone else. Demonstrate it physically. Connect it to a previous experience. Or apply it to a real problem. The goal is not to add noise or stimulation. More input is not automatically better. Each interaction should make the idea clearer, more relevant, or easier to retrieve. For example, instead of only reading about the Movement Loop, you could draw the sequence, explain it aloud, and identify where it appears in your own daily routine. Your experiment is: Take one important idea and represent it in two different, meaningful ways. The more deeply we work with information, the more opportunities the brain has to encode and retrieve it. Andrea's Application If you have been listening to this podcast for a while, I'm sure you have noticed that when I organize an idea into a framework—or represent it in a visual graphic—it begins to come to life. I can see how the pieces from past episodes connect, can explain the concept more clearly, and retrieve and apply it to my life more easily. It's also difficult to forget something when there's a visual image connected to it if you are the type of learner who needs to see something to make it stick in your memory. LESSON 5: RECOVERY HELPS LEARNING CONTINUE AFTER ATTENTION ENDS So far, we have followed learning through four important steps: Movement prepares the brain and body. RAS helps “turn on the lights,” allowing us to become awake, alert, and ready to respond. Next, the brain begins identifying what might be important to us. Salience refers to something that stands out—perhaps because it is new, unexpected, emotional, or connected to a possible reward or threat. Relevance refers to how closely that information connects to our goals, needs, experiences, or interests. In simple terms: Salience asks, “What stands out?” Relevance asks, “What matters to me?” Attention through the RAS next directs the brain's spotlight toward the information selected for deeper processing. Imagine a flashlight shining on whatever it is that you have picked to be important to learn. Encoding creates the initial memory. Retrieval and repetition strengthen it. But learning does not necessarily end when we close the book, leave the classroom, finish the meeting, or stop practicing. The brain still needs time to stabilize, organize, and connect what we learned. This is where recovery and sleep enter the Movement Loop. SLEEP IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF LEARNING Sleep is not a period when the brain simply switches off. While we sleep, the brain continues processing information from the day. Newly encoded memories may be reactivated, strengthened, reorganized, and connected with knowledge we already have. This is called memory consolidation. In simple terms, consolidation helps make a new memory more stable and easier to access later. Deep non-REM sleep and REM sleep may support different but overlapping parts of this process. Deep sleep is associated with physical restoration and the consolidation of certain facts and experiences. REM sleep has been associated with emotional learning, procedural skills, creative connections, and integrating new experiences with older memories. But we should not think of these as completely separate jobs. Deep sleep and REM are parts of a repeating sleep cycle, and both may contribute to learning. This is why I use the phrases: Deep sleep helps me recover from the hard work I did that day. REM may help me integrate what I experienced and what it meant to me. The word “may” matters because sleep is more complex than saying that deep sleep only restores the body and REM alone integrates learning. The most important lesson is this: What we focus on while we are awake gives the brain something to work with while we sleep. Retrieval and repetition strengthen the information before sleep. Then sleep provides conditions that can help stabilize, organize, and connect what we learned. THE MOVEMENT LOOP IN SIMPLE TERMS Let's put the complete cognitive side of the Movement Loop into simple language. MOVE—to prepare the brain and body. BECOME READY—RAS- in the brain helps us become awake, alert, and available to respond. NOTICE—salience helps something stand out because it is new, emotional, unexpected, rewarding, or potentially threatening. RELEVANCE—relevance helps the brain recognize how that information relates to our goals, needs, interests, or previous experiences. ATTENTION—directs our mental resources or a spotlight toward the selected information. ENCODE—begins forming a memory of what we are focused on. RETRIEVE AND REPEAT—strengthens the memory and makes it easier to access again. RECOVERY and CONSOLIDATION—so the brain and body can restore, and sleep can support memory consolidation. Leading us to-- INTEGRATION—to connect the new learning with what we already know. APPLY—Making the learning available and ready to use when we need it. So, in its expanded form, the Movement Loop looks like this: Movement → RAS-Supports Readiness → Salience and Relevance (what's important to us)→ Focused Attention → Encoding (forms the memory of what we are focused on)→ Retrieval and Repetition (to strengthen the neural pathway) → Recovery and Consolidation (important for the brain and body to be rested and recovered)→ Integration (connect new learning with what we already know)→ NEW Learning and Performance (ready and available for us whenever we need it). Here is an even easier way to remember how we LEARN: Move. Wake or Get Ready. Notice. Focus. Form a Memory. Strengthen it. Recover it. Connect it. Use it. Movement prepares the system. The RAS helps us become alert. Salience and relevance identify possible priorities. Attention selects the target. Encoding begins the memory. Retrieval and repetition strengthen it. Recovery and sleep help stabilize it. Integration connects it. And application makes it useful. These stages do not always occur in a perfectly straight line. We may notice something before we are fully focused on it. We may need several rounds of encoding and retrieval. We may sleep on an idea and understand it differently the following day. Or we may try to apply what we learned and discover that part of the pathway still needs strengthening. That is why this is a loop rather than a one-way process. Application produces feedback. That feedback shows us what we understand, what we can retrieve and use, and what still requires attention, repetition, or recovery. Then that feedback guides the next cycle of learning. We move again. We become ready. We direct our attention toward what matters. And with each cycle, we build learning that becomes more accessible, adaptable, and useful in our performance. PUT THIS INTO ACTION Before ending your next learning or work session, take one minute to ask: “What is the most important thing I want to remember?” Without looking at your notes, write down the central idea in your own words. Then decide when you will retrieve it again—perhaps later that day or the following morning. After that, give yourself permission to recover. When your attention is fading, another exhausted hour may not be as valuable as a break or a full night of sleep. The following day, try to retrieve the idea again before looking at your notes. Notice what remained accessible and what needs another repetition. Your experiment is simple: Summarize it. Sleep on it. Retrieve it again. Because learning begins while we are awake—but recovery and sleep help the brain continue the work. The Move–Focus–Learn Protocol BRINGING THE FIVE ACTIONS TOGETHER Here is the full Move–Focus–Learn experiment: Test this in school, work or personal learning: Use a brief walk or appropriate movement break before demanding cognitive work. This is what I told Dr. Medina 6 years ago is the only way I'm able to stay focused on writing difficult topics, like this one. Identify the one thing that deserves your attention next. Pick one priority you will focus on. Remove interference. Reduce unnecessary notifications, competing tasks and distractions. This can take a few minutes ahead of time, but keeps the learning slate clean so to speak. Create relevance. Ask, “Why does this matter to me—or to this learner?” Interact with the information you want to learn. Explain it, visualize it, discuss it, demonstrate it or apply it. Retrieve it. Close the book or screen and recall the important ideas without looking. Repeat it later. Return to the information after time has passed. Protect recovery. Allow sleep and recovery to support the next stage of learning. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION As we close out Episode 406, I want to return to the question we began with: Once movement activates and prepares the brain, what determines whether that readiness becomes lasting learning? The answer is not one single process. Learning emerges through a sequence of connected conditions: The brain and body must become ready. Something must stand out and feel relevant. Attention must select it. The information must be encoded. It must be retrieved and revisited. And recovery and sleep must provide opportunities for consolidation and integration. Dr. John Medina's Brain Rules helped us follow this sequence through five key lessons. LESSON 1: EXERCISE PREPARES THE BRAIN Movement helps create biological conditions that support alertness, attention, and cognition. The RAS contributes to this process by helping us become awake, alert, and ready to respond. But movement creates an opportunity—not a guarantee. A prepared brain still needs direction. LESSON 2: ATTENTION SELECTS WHAT MATTERS The brain encounters far more information than it can consciously process. Salience helps us notice what stands out. Relevance connects that information to our goals, needs, interests, or previous experiences. Attention then directs the brain's spotlight toward the selected target. Movement may create greater readiness, but attention determines where that readiness goes. LESSON 3: RETRIEVAL AND REPETITION STRENGTHEN WHAT ATTENTION BEGINS Paying attention once may create familiarity, but familiarity is not the same as learning. Encoding begins the memory. Retrieval asks the brain to locate that information again. Repetition gives us additional opportunities to strengthen our access to it. This is why explaining an idea without looking at our notes can be more useful than simply rereading it. Attention begins the pathway. Retrieval and repetition help make it last. LESSON 4: MEANINGFUL INTERACTION HELPS LEARNING STICK We can strengthen encoding by interacting with an idea in more than one meaningful way. We might see it, hear it, explain it, draw it, demonstrate it, or apply it. The goal is not to add as much stimulation as possible. The goal is to give the brain clear and relevant ways to understand, represent, and later retrieve the information. This is something I have experienced while creating this podcast. When I organize an idea into a framework or bring it to life in a visual graphic, I can see how the pieces connect. That helps me explain the idea more clearly, remember it more easily, and apply it more effectively. LESSON 5: RECOVERY ALLOWS LEARNING TO CONTINUE Learning does not necessarily end when we close the book, leave the classroom, finish the meeting, or stop practicing. During sleep, newly encoded information may be reactivated, stabilized, reorganized, and connected with existing knowledge. Deep non-REM sleep and REM sleep may contribute to this process in different but complementary ways. This is why recovery is not separate from learning. Recovery is part of the learning process. PUTTING THE MOVEMENT LOOP TOGETHER The complete cognitive side of the Movement Loop now looks like this: Movement prepares the brain and body. RAS-supported arousal helps us become awake and alert. Salience and relevance help identify possible priorities. Attention selects the target. Encoding begins the memory. Retrieval and repetition strengthen it. Recovery and sleep support consolidation. Integration connects the new learning with what we already know. And application makes that learning available when we need it. Or, in its simplest form: Move. Wake. Notice. Focus. Form. Strengthen. Recover. Connect. Use. Movement creates readiness. Attention provides direction. Encoding begins the memory. Retrieval and repetition strengthen the pathway. Recovery supports consolidation and integration. And application turns what we have learned into improved performance. Together, these processes help turn activity into lasting learning. FINAL THOUGHT This is not the first time we have explored Dr. John Medina's work, but each return has allowed us to ask a different question. In Episode 42[ix], we asked: How should schools and workplaces change when we understand the brain? In Episode 370[x], we asked: How can neuroscience and emotional regulation improve learning environments? In Episode 395[xi], we asked: What captures attention and motivates behavior? And here in Episode 406, we asked: How does an activated and attentive brain convert an experience into learning? That question has helped us add important detail to the Movement Loop. Movement alone does not create learning. Attention alone does not create lasting memory. Repetition without meaning may not produce understanding. And effort without recovery may not give the brain the conditions it needs to consolidate and integrate what happened. Each part of the process matters. Before we close, consider these questions: What are you preparing your brain to notice? Where is your attention going after you move? Are you interacting with important information deeply enough to encode it? Are you retrieving what you are learning—or merely rereading it? And are you protecting the recovery that allows learning to continue? Because what we repeatedly attend to, retrieve, and apply begins to shape what we know, what we can do, and how we perform. PREPARING FOR EPISODE 407 Movement can prepare the brain. Attention can direct it. Encoding can begin the memory. Retrieval and repetition can strengthen it. And recovery can help consolidate and integrate it. But every part of this process requires energy. The brain needs energy to direct attention, form memories, regulate behavior, and sustain performance. The body needs energy to move, adapt, recover, and begin the cycle again. So in Episode 407, we will revisit Jason Wittrock's work through a more current and carefully defined lens. We'll examine his experience with nutrition and fasting as an applied practitioner and personal case study, while comparing those ideas with current evidence surrounding nutrition, blood-sugar stability, metabolic flexibility, recovery, and performance. Because the brain and body cannot sustain performance without the energy required to power the system. I'll see you next time as we ask: How does metabolic health influence our capacity to move, learn, recover, and perform? RESOURCES Clip 1 with Dr. John Medina https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zDItOHAc8qQ Full Interview with Dr. John Medina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFzg5nQnEMs REFERENCE [i] John Medina's Brain Rule #4 https://brainrules.net/article/attention/ [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 42 with Dr. John Medina on “Implementing Brain Rules in Schools and Workplaces of the Future” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-john-medina-on-implementing-brain-rules-in-the-schools-and-workplaces-of-the-future/ [iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 403 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-first-how-a-20%e2%80%91minute-walk-lights-up-the-brain/ [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 404 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-matters-how-every-move-rewires-the-brain/ [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 405 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-isnt-enough-how-recovery-drives-real-adaptation/ [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 272 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-priming-the-reticular-activating-system-to-achieve-our-goals-in-2023/ [vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 395 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/theory-of-mind-the-missing-link-between-attention-reward-and-motivation/ [viii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 84 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/how-a-spect-scan-can-change-your-life-part-3-with-andrea-samadi/ [ix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 42 with Dr. John Medina on “Implementing Brain Rules in Schools and Workplaces of the Future” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-john-medina-on-implementing-brain-rules-in-the-schools-and-workplaces-of-the-future/ [x]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 370 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-rules-revisited-how-neuroscience-can-transform-classrooms/ [xi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 395 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/theory-of-mind-the-missing-link-between-attention-reward-and-motivation/
BONUS: When the Team Becomes the Operating System for AI — Marko Taipale on the Twin Project at Solita Most teams trying to "use AI" end up with fast individuals and a slower system. Marko Taipale ran a two-year experiment at Solita that suggests the real bottleneck isn't the tool — it's the team's operating model. In this conversation, Vasco and Marko walk through the Twin Project with ISS Finland — two teams, same ERP pricing tool, one classical agile, one with generative AI in the room — and the lessons that became the CollabAI framework. The Twin Project — Two Teams, Same Product, One With AI in the Room "We had a luxury of: do whatever you want with AI, please get at least the same results, towards the same goal." In 2024, Marko's team at Solita was set up as the counterpart to an existing Scrum team building an ERP pricing tool for ISS Finland. Same product mission, two different operating models. The first days were chaotic and exploratory — the team tried over 120 AI tools, built a custom GPT to act as a stand-in product owner, and even sent a virtual assistant to sit silently in the other team's meetings so nobody from Marko's team had to attend. The framework grew out of what kept working, not from a plan written upfront. "Fast Individuals, Slow System" — Why Buying Licenses Doesn't Fix the Bottleneck "If you don't change your structures, AI won't do anything faster. The only thing that gets faster is the queues between your decision-making gates." The line from Marko's book lands hard once you have seen it inside a team. A Copilot license speeds up the individual — and then the individual sits and waits for the rest of the system: reviews, handoffs, refinement, stakeholder meetings. Those queues are exactly what AI accelerates, and the team feels even more frustrated than before. The real intervention is upstream, in how the team shares context and makes decisions together. Without that, AI just makes the existing inefficiency more obvious. Drifting in the Solution Space — Why Sense-Making Has to Happen Together "None of the real problems are so simple that a single person can solve them. If it's that simple, you should automate it." The early Twin Project team kept seeing what Marko calls drifting — small interpretive mistakes at the start of a task that twisted the solution into something unrecognisable later. Each person was reading the same docs and the same proxy-PO conversations, and each was leaving with a slightly different picture. Individual interpretation was not enough. They moved from individuals to pairs, then to whole-team sense-making sessions. The shared context only became useful when the team processed it together — and that processing turned out to be where the learning compounded. Never Leave the Daily — When Mob Programming Becomes the Operating System "This is happening so fast, we shouldn't actually leave the daily." The team started with vanilla Scrum, extended dailies, then ran multiple per day, then realised that the meeting was the work. They drifted into mob programming without naming it — a shared virtual machine where one person controlled the screen at a time, switching every few minutes. The agile labels came later, when someone read Mob Programming by Woody Zuill (see his earlier episodes on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast) and saw the team's own behaviour reflected back. The takeaway: when the pace of decisions exceeds the cadence of meetings, the team has to live inside the conversation, not visit it once a day. The 40-Prototypes Moment — When the Customer Joined the Mob "You waited 37 hours to get to this point where we get feedback." This was the turning point. Marko had built 40 different prototypes of the pricing tool in one hour, then walked into a weekly review where the customer pointed out the obvious: if the prototypes took one hour to make, the team had been waiting 37 hours to get the feedback that actually mattered. From that moment the client became part of the mob. New product directions started landing every five to seven minutes. The backlog quietly disappeared — issue management stayed, but for the AI's context, not for humans. When the product owner is in the room all day, the storage-and-handover layer stops earning its keep. The Regulation Layer — Why Sustainable Pace Gets Sharper, Not Softer, With AI "AI is a machine. It won't stop. That's why we need a regulation layer — and we have to regulate together, not individually." What broke first in the Twin Project was not the technology — it was the people. Cognitive load and the brain's hunger for clarity become the new constraint once decisions are flying every few minutes. The old Scrum idea of sustainable pace gets a second life here, but it has to be a shared pace, set by the team, not an individual one. Engagement is the early warning signal — when people start disengaging, the system is already over its capacity. For Scrum Masters and coaches, this is where the work moves: watching the team's energy curve, not just its throughput. The Agentic Horizon — From Teammates to Agents Acting on the Team's Behalf "AI is a new player in this field. The next conversation is governance — and it has to start now." CollabAI was about humans and AI on one screen. The next move — what Marko is now building at Agion — is agents acting on the team's behalf. The governance shape is not optional, and it is the conversation Scrum Masters and coaches need to start having before agentic systems are everywhere on the team. Marko's article series on Agion (the brain fry posts) is the public record of what they are learning as they build the governance layer for autonomous agents. About Marko Taipale Marko Taipale is the author of CollabAI: AI Teamwork In Practice (foreword by Joe Justice) and currently works at Agion Inc. At Solita, he co-led the Twin Project with ISS — two teams building the same ERP pricing tool, one with classical agile, one with generative AI embedded end-to-end — and turned what they learned into a framework for teams that want AI as a synchronous teammate, not a faster individual tool. CollabAI book · Leanpub · LinkedIn You can link with Marko Taipale on LinkedIn.
NOTES This episode of BSDNow is brought to you by Tarsnap and the BSDNow Patreon Headlines NetBSD 11 Release SR-IOV Is a first class feature News Roundup Grafana dashboards are a marvel of the modern web environment OpenSSH 10.5 released FreeBSD Ate my RAM ThinkPad End Game Tarsnap This weeks episode of BSDNow was sponsored by our friends at Tarsnap, the only secure online backup you can trust your data to. Even paranoids need backups. Feedback/Questions Send questions, comments, show ideas/topics, or stories you want mentioned on the show to feedback@bsdnow.tv Join us and other BSD Fans in our BSD Now Telegram channel
✅ The Green Impact Report Quick take: David Gottfried co-founded USGBC, wrote the first white paper proposing a US rating system, and lit the fuse on what became LEED. Now, 30+ years and 30 billion square feet later, he's back with a bigger question: if we can green every building on Earth and still miss the climate targets, what have we forgotten?
How do you grow a company without losing your culture, your mission, your faith—or the people you're called to serve? In this episode of the Profitable Christian Business Podcast, Doug Greathouse sits down with Kenny Wyatt, CEO of Pushpay, for a practical conversation about faith-driven leadership, company culture, customer focus, stewardship, innovation, goal setting, and sustainable growth. Kenny describes one of his foundational leadership principles as: "Humility as an operating system." For Kenny, servant leadership isn't the opposite of high performance. Leaders can set ambitious goals, hold people accountable, make difficult personnel decisions, and build high-performing teams while still leading with humility, love, and purpose. Kenny also makes a strong case that CEOs and founders cannot allow growth to disconnect them from the customer. He argues that leaders need to spend significant time with their ideal customer profile, listening closely enough to recognize when the company is beginning to drift from its mission. In this episode: What fly fishing taught Kenny about adaptability, instinct, and leadership Why culture matters even when you're a company of one Why Kenny hires for mission and values before skill What Pushpay does and how it serves churches How Pushpay evaluates AI and emerging technology Why your ideal customer profile should guide innovation Why CEOs can't outsource their relationship with customers How to recognize when a high-growth company is drifting How to create and use a customer advisory board Why in-person customer conversations still matter Kenny's Philippians 2 approach to servant leadership What "humility as an operating system" looks like in practice How to hold people accountable without abandoning grace How to handle difficult firing decisions with dignity Why stewardship includes time, talent, and treasure How to identify your company's stewardship metric How faith shapes Kenny's approach as CEO Why your leadership team matters so much A radically different approach to annual goal setting Why Kenny believes you should rebuild the business every single year Why leadership retreats create better thinking Why Christian entrepreneurs need to keep prayer in the driver's seat Kenny closes the conversation with a deceptively simple challenge for every Christian business leader: How's your prayer life? Because sustainable growth isn't simply about better technology, smarter goals, or stronger systems. It's about becoming the kind of leader capable of stewarding the growth God has entrusted to you. Connect with Kenny Wyatt & Pushpay Pushpay: Pushpay Nurture: Nurture Stop Drifting. Start Executing. Knowing what matters isn't enough. The Goal Getting App helps entrepreneurs turn clarity into a focused 90-day plan, identify the needle-moving actions that actually create progress, and consistently execute. Start Your Next 90 Days with Goal Getting
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning. What's the one premier event that brings the global attractions industry together? IAAPA Expo 2026, happening in Orlando, Florida, November 16th - 20th. It's where more than forty-thousand professionals come to share the wonder, explore over a thousand innovative exhibitors, and discover future-focused solutions. From education to networking to ideas that drive real business impact, IAAPA Expo is where what's next takes shape. Register now and save up to 30% at IAAPA.org/IAAPAExpo. Guest experience is often introduced during orientation, reinforced through a training session, and documented somewhere in an SOP or handbook. The challenge is what happens after that. If the standard is not consistently reinforced, coached, recognized, and refreshed, it can quickly become disconnected from daily operations. Building guest experience into an operating system creates a continuous cycle that keeps the standard active while allowing it to evolve as the organization improves. In this minisode, Matt and Josh talk about treating guest experience as an operating system that lives within the daily rhythm of the organization. Guest experience should live in the operation “Guest experience is not simply a standard, not simply a training initiative, and it certainly is not a one-time event.” A guest experience standard provides an important foundation, but the standard needs a system around it to remain relevant. That begins before or on an employee's first day and continues throughout their entire experience with the organization. Rather than treating guest experience as a standalone initiative or department, it becomes part of how employees are selected, trained, coached, recognized, and developed. The standard must translate to the job “They're both personalizing the experience, but they're being done in a very different way.” A consistent guest experience does not mean every employee delivers it identically. Personalization at admissions might include learning and using a guest's name, while a ride operator may have only seconds to notice a shirt, team logo, or other conversation starter. The same standard can look different across roles while remaining anchored to the same expectation. On-the-job training creates the bridge between understanding the standard and knowing how to demonstrate it within a specific position. Reinforcement keeps the standard alive “Are they seen as micro training sessions?” Guest experience cannot rely on everything being taught during orientation. Daily shift meetings, one-on-one conversations, and spot coaching create opportunities for continuous reinforcement. Instead of using every pre-shift meeting exclusively for operational updates, leaders can ask about recent wow moments, guest complaints, or feedback employees have heard. Those conversations turn everyday experiences into training content and continually reconnect the team to the standards they learned on day one. Recognition strengthens the system “You must prioritize recognition over reward.” When employees demonstrate the guest experience standard, recognizing the behavior helps reinforce what the organization wants repeated. Recognition does not need to be transactional or dependent on prizes and gift cards. Genuine appreciation can show employees that leaders notice how the standard is being delivered. Combined with coaching and reinforcement, recognition helps move guest experience beyond a training initiative and into the everyday culture of the organization. Your operating system needs updates “It literally is refreshing the operating system.” Standards should evolve as the organization improves. A handbook that accurately described exceptional service two years ago may no longer represent what the team is capable of delivering today. Periodically reviewing and raising the standard creates a cycle of continuous improvement. Day one leads to on-the-job training, reinforcement and recognition, followed by refreshing the standard and beginning the cycle again. Each pass through the cycle creates greater alignment and momentum. Consistency does not require scripting “The message was consistent, but the delivery was very personal.” A strong operating system creates consistency without eliminating personality. Team members across different departments can deliver the same underlying standard in ways that fit their roles and interactions. A parting pleasantry, for example, may sound different at a ride exit than at the park exit, but both reinforce the same expectation. Guests experience a cohesive standard even when every interaction feels natural and personal. Guest experience already exists in every organization. The opportunity is to become more intentional about how it operates every day and how it continues to improve. How are you building guest experience into your daily operating rhythm? Find AttractionPros on social media or email attractionpros@gmail.com to share what is working in your organization. To connect with AttractionPros: AttractionPros.com AttractionPros@gmail.com AttractionPros on Facebook AttractionPros on LinkedIn AttractionPros on Instagram AttractionPros on Twitter (X)
Summary This episode, Marc is chattin' with Ahmad Alokush, a technology risk, AI governance , and cybersecurity oversight expert. Their chat centers on AI governance and why organizations often approach it too narrowly. Ahmad explains that one of the biggest blind spots is treating governance as a one-time compliance exercise instead of a continuous operating discipline. He frames AI governance as an operating system for trust — something that must evolve as AI systems, business use cases, and risks evolve. A major theme is the hidden cost of AI governance. Ahmad notes that many CFOs underestimate the true investment required, because governance includes not just technical maintenance but also data quality work, regulatory compliance, and change management. His point is that governance is not overhead; it is what makes AI's ROI sustainable and defensible over time. The discussion then shifts to the difference between reactive and proactive organizations. Reactive teams tend to address issues only after deployment, often after a problem has already become a crisis. Proactive organizations, by contrast, build risk assessments, bias testing, documentation, and oversight into the process before systems go live. Ahmad emphasizes the importance of visibility into AI usage, including the dangers of “shadow AI” when employees adopt tools outside approved policy. They also chat about accountability and ownership. Ahmad points out that AI initiatives often span IT, data, HR, compliance, and business teams, which can make ownership unclear. In his view, mature governance requires a clear owner, often supported by a chief AI officer, risk committee, or audit committee, along with a living inventory of AI systems that identifies risk levels and update cadence. Finally, the chat moves to global regulation and how organizations can manage conflicting rules across jurisdictions. Ahmad describes the need for jurisdiction-specific risk mapping, compliance by design, and deployment variants that can satisfy stricter disclosure or transparency requirements where needed. He closes by encouraging listeners to stay proactive, continuously improve, and treat AI governance as part of the organization's long-term operating model rather than a box-checking task. Key Points AI governance should be treated as an ongoing discipline, not a one-time project. The real cost of AI governance includes technical maintenance, data quality, compliance, and change management. Reactive AI programs often lead to shadow AI, poor documentation, and post-deployment crises. Clear ownership and a live AI inventory are essential for accountability. Global AI regulation requires jurisdiction-specific strategies, not a one-size-fits-all approach. Key Quotes “[T]he biggest [blind spot] that I see is treating the governance like a one-time compliance project instead of like a living operating discipline. “[Governance] is not paperwork. It's an operating system for trust.” “AI isn't overhead. It's the insurance that keeps ROI real.” “Reactive [thinking about AI] is thinking of it as a compliance task. That's after deployment. ‘We'll fix it after it breaks.'” “You have to have a live AI register with ownership, risk level, and updating the cadence for each model.” About Our Guest Ahmad Alokush is a globally recognized expert in AI, cybersecurity, fintech, and technology litigation, and the founder of Ahmadeus Technology Boutique. He advises foreign governments, institutional investors, and C-suite leaders on emerging technologies, M&A strategy, digital asset valuation, and complex regulatory matters, while also serving as a trusted expert witness and keynote speaker for Fortune 500 companies, AmLaw 100 firms, and global policy leaders. Known for bridging technical, legal, and business perspectives, Ahmad brings clarity, discretion, and strategic insight to high-stakes engagements in boardrooms, courtrooms, and advisory settings. Follow Our Guest LinkedIn | Website About Our Host National co-chair of the Cyber Center for Excellence, Marc Schein, CIC,CLCS is also a Risk Management Consultant at Marsh McLennan Agency. He assists clients by customizing comprehensive commercial insurance programs that minimize the burden of financial loss through cost effective transfer of risk. By conducting a Total Cost of Risk (TCoR) assessment, he can determine any gaps in coverage. As part of an effective risk management insurance team, Marc collaborates with senior risk consultants, certified insurance counselors, and expert underwriters to examine the adequacy of existing client programs and develop customized solutions to transfer risk, improve coverage and minimize premiums. Follow Our Host Website | LinkedIn
Medsider Radio: Learn from Medical Device and Medtech Thought Leaders
In this episode, we sat down with Deanna Harshbarger ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-harshbarger-mba/ ), CEO of Cala Health. ( https://calahealth.com/ ) Cala Health developed the Cala kIQ® System, a prescription wearable therapy for action hand tr...
Medsider Radio: Learn from Medical Device and Medtech Thought Leaders
In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Deanna Harshbarger, CEO of Cala Health.Cala Health developed the Cala kIQ® System, a prescription wearable therapy for action hand tremor.Deanna holds a degree in chemical engineering and brings more than 20 years of commercial medtech experience to Cala. Before joining the company, she held senior leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic, and helped develop and commercialize technologies across interventional cardiology, neuromodulation, and diabetes care.In this conversation, Deanna shares how she empowers leadership teams to execute, building clinical evidence step-by-step, how patient observation shapes product development, and why raising capital is both a sprint and a marathon.Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things:First, if you're into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter.And if you're ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization.These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass.If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Deanna Harshbarger, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like!KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW(03:34) - Deanna's journey from J&J, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic to Cala Health (08:16) - How Cala personalized therapy around each patient's unique experience (11:53) - Operating lessons Deanna carried from strategics to startups (22:27) - The unboxing interview that changed Cala's product design (29:16) - How Cala balanced feasibility studies, RCTs, and real-world evidence after its commercial launch (34:33) - Years of clinical evidence helped Cala win reimbursement for a new therapy (38:52) - The case for holding back when you're ready to commercialize (44:30) - Why fundraising is both a sprint and a marathon
In this episode Andrea Samadi explores how movement and sleep work together in a "brain operating system" for human performance, focusing on restorative sleep (deep + REM), personal WHOOP data, and the trade-offs created by early-morning exercise. She shares four lessons and a simple experiment to help listeners protect REM and deep sleep while maintaining an active life, emphasizing weekly rhythms, small changes, and tracking patterns rather than chasing perfect numbers. SEASON 16 | BONUS EPISODE 4 RESTORATIVE SLEEP Where Adaptation Happens Why deep sleep restores the body, REM helps integrate experience, and healthy habits must work together. ON BONUS EPISODE 4, YOU'LL LEARN: ✔ What restorative sleep really measures ✔ How deep sleep and REM support different forms of recovery ✔ Why REM percentage and duration tell different stories ✔ What my six-month sleep data revealed ✔ The hidden tradeoff behind my 4:00 AM hiking routine ✔ What happened when I slept just 21 minutes longer ✔ Why healthy habits can sometimes compete ✔ How to protect sleep without giving up movement ✔ 4 Lessons and a simple experiment for discovering your own best rhythm Episode Introduction Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance to create measurable improvements in well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity and results. I'm Andrea Samadi, and throughout Season 16 we have been building what I call the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—a neuroscience-based framework for understanding how the systems of the brain and body work together to influence how we learn, adapt, connect, lead and ultimately perform. We are currently in Phase 3: Movement, Learning and Cognition. Movement is the foundation of this phase because it affects far more than our muscles. When we move, we activate processes throughout the brain and body. Movement supports neurogenesis—the development of new neurons—particularly in areas involved in learning and memory. It strengthens connections between neurons through synaptic plasticity. We covered neurogenesis on EP 141[i] if you want to revisit that episode, if you are as curious as I am about how to regrow our brain cells. Movement that we are learning in this phase, also influences brain chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and acetylcholine, which affect motivation, mood, attention and learning. Movement can also strengthen our resilience by helping us manage stress and become more emotionally flexible. It builds sleep pressure, (the longer we stay awake, the more adenosine accumulates that increases our need or “pressure” to rest) which can support deeper, more restorative sleep. And over time, these changes may contribute to greater creativity, insight, endurance and human potential. But movement only creates the stimulus. The benefits don't come from movement alone. They come from the way the brain and body respond to that movement—and that response is called adaptation. Movement changes the brain. Adaptation changes the body. Recovery is what connects the effort we make today with the strength, resilience and capacity we hope to build tomorrow. Without adequate recovery, we can receive the stimulus without fully receiving the benefit. That is why sleep belongs inside the Movement Loop. Sleep is not separate from movement, learning or performance. It is one of the primary places where the brain and body respond to what we have asked them to do. Throughout Season 16, I've been sharing some of my own health and performance data as a living case study—not because everyone should try to reproduce my numbers, but because our individual trends can help us understand how neuroscience shows up in everyday life. I thought that if I was curious about understanding my numbers—and using them to improve my health, well-being and productivity—then other people might benefit from what I've learned along the way. My data has helped me see that movement, recovery and performance cannot be understood in isolation. They work together as a system: Movement creates the stimulus. Recovery creates the conditions for adaptation. Restorative sleep is one of the places where that adaptation unfolds. And this brings us to one of the most important recovery metrics I've learned to follow: Restorative sleep. We often celebrate what happens while we're awake: Our productivity. Our focus. Our learning. Our movement. Our performance. But much of the adaptation supporting those abilities happens while we sleep. Deep sleep supports physical restoration. REM sleep supports emotional processing, memory integration and cognitive flexibility. Together, these stages help convert the demands of one day into greater capacity for the next. This episode began with one honest question about my own routine: THE QUESTION: What am I gaining by waking at 4:00 AM to hike—and what might I be giving up by not sleeping longer? This is not simply an episode about sleeping more. It is about creating a rhythm in which two essential health behaviors—sleep and exercise—support one another instead of competing for the same limited hours. You will see my data exactly as it is. Sleep is one of the weaker links in my current health routine, which makes it a useful place to learn. The goal is not to judge the data. The goal is to let the data ask a better question. Lesson 1: Restorative Sleep Contains Two Stories WHOOP (the wearable device that I use to measure sleep) defines restorative sleep as the combined time spent in deep sleep, also called slow-wave sleep, and REM sleep. Combining the two creates a useful overview, but separating them reveals two different parts of the story. Deep Sleep or Slow-Wave Sleep: Physical Restoration Deep sleep is concentrated more heavily in the earlier part of the night and supports processes associated with physical restoration. It is relevant after hiking, Zone 2 exercise, strength training and other demanding activity because sleep is part of how the body responds to the strain we create. During deep sleep: Tissue repair is supported. Growth hormone release increases. Immune function is supported. Energy is restored. The body adapts to physical strain. REM Sleep: Integration REM stands for rapid eye movement sleep and is known as the “mentally restorative” stage of sleep. This is where most dreams occur, and short-term memories are converted into long-term memories. During REM, the brain is highly active while most voluntary muscles remain temporarily inhibited. I'll never forget the part of our interview with Dr. Jaland Balal[ii], when he explained that this feature is what keeps us safe from moving around too much while we are sleeping, keeping our sleeping partners safe. REM has been associated with: Emotional processing Memory integration Aspects of learning Cognitive flexibility Creative associations Connecting new information with previous experiences Memory is supported across several sleep stages—not by REM alone. REM helps the brain process, connect and integrate. REM periods also tend to become longer as the night progresses. That means shortening the end of the sleep window may disproportionately reduce the opportunity for the longer, more REM-rich cycles that occur toward morning. Deep sleep helps restore the body. REM helps integrate the brain. We need both. That second sentence is personally meaningful because I have logged my dreams for years. A dream is not a diagnosis or a literal solution, and dreams can occur outside REM. But a dream log gives me a qualitative record of recurring emotions, images, relationships, problems and emerging ideas that my mind may still be processing. Since I enjoy learning, interviewing, writing, teaching and connecting ideas across neuroscience and social-emotional learning, REM matters for more than dream recall (which by itself is fascinating and something we will look deeper at in Phase 5 with Integration and Meaning). Lesson 2: My Data Revealed a Duration Gap When I looked at my WHOOP trends, the total restorative-sleep number was only the beginning. Metric My average Six-month restorative sleep 2 hr 43 min Lifetime REM 1 hr 37 min Last 90 days REM 1 hr 18 min Last 30 days REM 1 hr 20 min Recent REM percentage About 20% When I looked at six months of WHOOP data, my average restorative sleep was: 2 hours and 43 minutes per night. That number gave me the total time spent in deep sleep and REM—but it did not tell me how those two stages were distributed. When I separated them, another story emerged. My lifetime REM average was approximately: 1 hour and 37 minutes per night. But over my more recent periods, that changed: Last 90 days: approximately 1 hour and 18 minutes Last 30 days: approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes Recent REM percentage: approximately 20% of my total sleep Twenty percent is within a commonly reported adult range. But compared with my own lifetime average, my recent REM duration was approximately 17–19 minutes lower per night. That distinction matters. My REM percentage may appear healthy while my total REM duration is still lower than my personal historical average. So my real question became: Not “Is my REM normal?” but “What conditions help my brain produce more of its own normal REM?” This is the value of tracking. THE DATA LESSON: A population range provides context. Your baseline provides the story. Your trend gives you a question to test. Lesson 3: The 4:00 AM Tradeoff I love hiking early. It gives me cardiovascular conditioning, time outside, morning light, mental clarity and consistency. In Arizona, it also helps me finish before extreme heat heats around 8am. But if I go to bed at 8:30 PM and wake at 4:00 AM, I create a maximum sleep opportunity of seven and a half hours. That is time in bed—not necessarily time asleep. It does not include the time required to fall asleep or periods of wakefulness during the night. If I remain in bed until 6:00 AM, I create two additional hours of sleep opportunity. Those two hours would not equal two hours of REM. They would contain a mixture of sleep stages and perhaps brief wakefulness. But because REM episodes generally lengthen later in the night, the added opportunity may protect some of the more REM-rich portion of sleep. If you want to understand sleep cycles, I highly recommend taking Dr. Mathew Walker's Masterclass[iii] The Science of Better Sleep. What the Early 4am Wake Gives Me Early movement and consistency Cardiovascular conditioning Time outdoors and morning light The mental and emotional benefits of hiking What Might it Cost Me Up to two hours of total sleep opportunity (lost) Part of one or more later sleep cycles (lost) Greater opportunity for REM and dream recall (important to me) Time for memory and emotional processing across sleep (important to me) The accurate interpretation is not that I lose two hours of REM. It is that I may give up two hours of sleep opportunity containing some of the night's more REM-rich cycles. That led to my central realization: healthy behaviors (like my early wake to hike) can compete when their timing is not coordinated. MY AHA MOMENT: Am I creating better sleep through movement—or repeatedly borrowing from the final part of sleep to make that movement happen? My wearable cannot prove that early wake times caused the change. Consumer wearables estimate sleep stages; they do not measure them with clinical polysomnography. But the pattern gives me a reasonable hypothesis to test. That is what self-tracking should do: not make us anxious about a number, but help us ask a better question. A Real-Time Clue: What 21 More Minutes Revealed While preparing this episode, my data gave me a real-time example of the tradeoff. On Thursday, August 27, I woke at 4:21 AM instead of 4:00 AM. That night I recorded three hours and two minutes of restorative sleep—the highest total of the week. It included one hour and seven minutes of deep sleep and one hour and 55 minutes of REM. That REM duration was approximately 35 minutes above my recent 30-day average. My graph in the show notes showed a substantial REM period close to the end of the sleep window. Twenty-one additional minutes cannot explain a 35-minute difference, and one night cannot establish cause. Sleep varies from night to night. But the observation supports the hypothesis that a 4:00 AM alarm may sometimes interrupt a REM period already underway. I also remembered my dream and added it to my dream log. That gave me another kind of data: not just how long I slept, but what my mind may have been processing, integrating or connecting. One night is a clue—not proof. Watch the trend. The lesson is not that 4:21 AM is a magical wake time. The lesson is that the final portion of sleep may be more valuable than its length makes it appear. A small extension may sometimes allow the brain to finish a cycle that an earlier alarm (or your natural body's alarm) would interrupt. Lesson 4: Build a Rhythm, Not a Perfect Day The remedy I've concluded is not to stop hiking, (I would be miserable) and it is not to maximize sleep or exercise in isolation (I wouldn't feel productive sleeping in longer). The solution is to create a weekly rhythm in which movement provides the stimulus and sleep protects the opportunity for adaptation. For me, that rhythm can include two kinds of days: 1. Early-Hike Days (twice a week) When a 4:00 AM wake time is necessary, (and possible). I can treat bedtime as part of the training plan. If family responsibilities the night before make a very early bedtime unrealistic, I can recognize that constraint and adapt. But it is important that I get to bed by 8:30pm if I want to wake up 4am. 2. Sleep-Protected Mornings On selected non-hiking days, I can remain asleep until approximately 5:00 or 6:00 AM and move later. These mornings create more opportunity for later sleep cycles and give me a comparison condition for my experiment. What happens if I stay in bed longer? The goal is not a perfect day. The goal is a sustainable week. The Movement Loop is not: Move → Move More → Keep Pushing. It is: Movement → Recovery → Adaptation → Performance → Greater Capacity. For you, the listener, are you giving yourself enough time to recover? To Adapt? To Increase Performance? That leads to greater capacity? Or, did you notice, like me, that there was a trade off with your schedule? Tips to Implement: Run Your Own Restorative-Sleep Experiment You do not need my wake time, my REM number or a WHOOP device to learn from your own pattern. Use this five-step experiment for two to four weeks. Establish your baseline. Record your usual bedtime, wake time, estimated sleep duration, morning energy and—if available—deep and REM sleep for at least seven nights. The Whoop device rewards users who go to bed, and wake at the same time, calling it sleep consistency. Choose one change. Add 20–60 minutes of sleep opportunity on selected mornings, or move bedtime earlier before early-training days. Avoid changing every variable at once. Stanford Professor, Dr. Andrew Huberman[iv] suggests that if you can find a way to add heat to your sleeping environment in the final 2 hours of your sleep, it can increase your REM sleep. Sleeping just 21 more minutes for me made a notable difference. Protect movement differently. On sleep-protected mornings, move later, shorten the session or choose a lower-intensity option instead of skipping movement entirely. This was the game changer for me. I opted for a walk on sleep protected days. Track a small set of outcomes. Use total sleep, restorative sleep or dream recall if available, morning clarity, afternoon energy and exercise quality. Optional wearable metrics include recovery, HRV and resting heart rate. This is where you have to notice what you see from this ONE change. It might be obvious like mine—I noticed that extra time led to a dream that I could recall. Review the pattern—not the best night. Compare at least one or two weeks of early mornings with sleep-protected mornings. Look for a repeatable combination that supports both recovery and movement. The patterns will reveal whether the ONE thing you changed made a difference for you. If you do use a wearable, remember that sleep stages are estimates. Use the device to compare patterns under similar conditions, not to diagnose a sleep disorder or chase a perfect stage score. KEY QUESTION: Can I preserve the benefits of movement without repeatedly borrowing the time my brain and body need for recovery? A Bigger Experiment Is Still Underway I have also removed one significant sleep disruptor and am tracking what happens to my REM, sleep stress, HRV, resting heart rate and recovery. I do not want to draw conclusions too early. I want enough data to distinguish a temporary response from a genuine physiological shift, so I will return to that experiment in a future episode. For now, the question is narrower: how can I protect restorative sleep while continuing to live an active life? Review To review and conclude this week's BONUS EP 4, let's bring the four lessons—and the data—together. Lesson 1: Restorative Sleep Contains Two Stories Restorative sleep combines two important stages: Deep sleep and REM sleep. Deep sleep supports physical restoration and adaptation. REM supports emotional processing, memory integration, cognitive flexibility and creative association. We need both. Every morning, I look at my restorative-sleep total and hope it is closer to three hours than two. But this episode taught me not to stop at that combined number. The total gives me the overview. Deep sleep and REM tell me how that restoration was distributed. And REM is personally meaningful to me for another reason: I have recorded my dreams for years. Dream recall does not provide a literal interpretation of everything happening in my life. But it gives me a qualitative record of the emotions, experiences, problems and ideas my mind may still be processing. So Lesson 1 is: Restorative sleep is not one number. It contains the story of how the body restores—and how the brain integrates. Lesson 2: My Data Revealed a Duration Gap Over the past six months, my average restorative sleep has been two hours and 43 minutes. My recent REM has represented approximately 20% of my total sleep—a percentage that may appear reasonable. But when I looked at duration rather than percentage, I discovered that my recent REM was approximately 17–19 minutes below my lifetime average. REM percentage and REM duration answer different questions. Percentage tells me how my sleep was distributed. Duration tells me how much actual time my brain spent in that stage. That distinction matters because someone can have a reasonable REM percentage but still receive less total REM when the overall sleep window is shortened. So Lesson 2 is: A percentage can look healthy while duration still reveals a gap. This is why personal baselines are so valuable. Our trends help us identify the question we need to investigate. Lesson 3: The 4:00 AM Wake Time Creates a Tradeoff My data led me to examine my 4:00 AM wake time. Waking at 4:00 does not mean I am losing two hours of REM. It means I may be giving up two hours of total sleep opportunity—time that could contain approximately one to one-and-a-half later, more REM-rich sleep cycles. Then, while I was preparing this episode, I received an early clue. When I slept just 21 minutes longer—waking at 4:21 instead of 4:00—my restorative sleep reached three hours and two minutes. That included one hour and seven minutes of deep sleep and one hour and 55 minutes of REM—approximately 35 minutes more REM than my recent 30-day average. I also remembered my dream and added it to my dream log. Twenty-one additional minutes cannot explain the entire 35-minute difference, and one night does not prove causation. But the graph showed a substantial REM period close to the end of my sleep window. That gave me a clue worth investigating: My 4:00 AM wake time may sometimes interrupt a REM period that is already underway. So Lesson 3 is: The final portion of sleep may be more valuable than its length makes it appear. This does not mean that 4:21 is a magical wake time. It means that a small extension may sometimes allow the brain to finish a cycle that an earlier wake time would interrupt. Dr. Huberman, and Dr. Holmes offered tips to stay in bed longer, to capture REM rich sleep time. Lesson 4: Build a Rhythm, Not a Perfect Day My early-morning hikes provide cardiovascular conditioning, time outside, morning light, mental clarity and emotional regulation. They support my health. They also make me happy. The remedy is not to stop exercising and become miserable. The remedy is to protect sleep as well as I realistically can and arrange movement around a more complete sleep window. That might mean saving selected mornings for longer sleep. It might mean moving later on non-hiking days. It might mean moving bedtime earlier when possible. And it might mean shortening a workout when sleep has been limited. The goal is not to maximize sleep or exercise in isolation. It is to create a sustainable weekly rhythm in which both can happen. So Lesson 4 is: The best routine is not the one that produces a perfect number. It is the one that allows the whole system to work. Now let me ask you: Do you know how much restorative sleep you receive? Do you look beyond the total and examine both deep sleep and REM? Are you tracking percentages—or actual duration? Does your schedule give you enough sleep opportunity? And could one healthy behavior in your life be unintentionally competing with another? My restorative-sleep average gave me the overview. My REM duration revealed the tension. My 4:00 AM wake time created the hypothesis. My additional 21 minutes gave me an early clue. My next step is to test a better rhythm. That is what measurement is supposed to do. Not judge us. Not pressure us to produce a perfect number. Guide us toward a better decision. I hope this deeper look at restorative sleep encourages you to identify one small experiment of your own—not to chase a perfect number, but to discover the rhythm that helps you learn, adapt and perform at your best. We'll see you next time as we return to Dr. John Medina's work—not to repeat what we have already learned about attention, but to answer the next question in the Movement Loop: once movement activates the brain, how does attention determine what becomes learning? From there, we'll revisit Jason Wittrock's work through a new lens: how metabolic health, nutrition and energy availability help the brain and body sustain movement, recovery and performance. Resources and Episode Pathway Phase 1: Regulation & Safety The Foundation Core Question: Is the nervous system safe enough to learn? Everything begins with regulation. Before we can focus, learn, lead, or perform, the brain first asks one fundamental question: Am I safe? Throughout Phase 1, our guests showed us that regulation isn't simply about reducing stress—it's about creating the biological conditions that allow the brain to learn, adapt, and thrive. Together we explored: Baland Jalal – how sleep, curiosity, imagination, and creativity prepare the brain for learning. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/hypnagogic-genius-capture-your-best-ideas-at-the-edge-of-sleep/ Dr. Bruce Perry – why regulation, rhythm, and relationships form the foundation of every healthy nervous system. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/safety-first-why-a-regulated-brain-is-the-key-to-learning/ Dr. Sui Wong – how lifestyle medicine and autonomic balance build lifelong brain resilience. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/your-eyes-the-brain-s-early-warning-system/ Rohan Dixit – how heart rate variability gives us real-time feedback on our ability to regulate stress. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/breathe-to-reset-how-hrv-tech-reveals-hidden-stress/ Dr. Kristen Holmes – how recovery metrics reveal our physiological readiness to perform. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/kristen-holmes-from-whoopcom-on-unlocking-a-better-you-measuring-sleep-recovery-and-strain/ Dr. Antonio Zadra – how sleep and dreaming consolidate memories, regulate emotions, and generate insight. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/when-brains-dream-how-sleep-integrates-emotion-insight-and-creativity/ Together these conversations taught us that sleep and stress regulation aren't optional—they're the operating system that allows every higher brain function to work. Phase 2: Motivation & Neurochemistry The Direction Core Question: What moves us into action? Once the brain feels safe, it becomes ready to pursue goals. In Phase 2, we explored the internal chemistry that transforms intention into action. Our experts helped us understand that sustainable motivation isn't about willpower—it's about aligning our beliefs, thoughts, attention, energy, and movement. Together we discovered: Bob Proctor — our beliefs determine the direction of our lives. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/belief-first-the-neuroscience-of-motivation/ Dr. Carolyn Leaf — our thinking literally changes our brain chemistry. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/thoughts-as-biology-how-your-mind-shapes-neurochemistry/ Dr. John Medina — attention determines what the brain encodes and remembers. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/theory-of-mind-the-missing-link-between-attention-reward-and-motivation Dr. Anna Lembke- Dopamine, Motivation and Why the Brain Repeats Behavior https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dopamine-nation-the-pleasure%e2%80%93pain-balance-that-drives-motivation/ Dr. Friederike Fabritius — managing our energy allows high performance to become sustainable. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/fun-fear-focus-closing-the-motivation-loop/ Dr. Chuck Hillman & Paul Zientarski — movement activates the brain, preparing it to learn. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/move-to-learn-how-movement-activates-the-brain-and-fuels-motivation/ By the end of Phase 2, we introduced what became The Motivation Loop, showing how beliefs influence thoughts, thoughts influence actions, actions create results, and results reinforce future beliefs. Phase 3: Movement, Learning & Human Performance The Transformation Core Question: How does movement change the brain—and how does recovery transform that change into performance? Now we're taking the next step. Phase 3 builds on everything we've learned so far. If Phase 1 created a regulated nervous system... If Phase 2 created motivation and direction... Phase 3 explains how the brain and body actually become stronger. Together we've explored this process through conversations with: Dr. Chuck Hillman & Paul Zientarski — why movement activates the brain before learning. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-first-how-a-20%e2%80%91minute-walk-lights-up-the-brain/ Dr. John Ratey — how exercise builds a healthier, younger brain. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-matters-how-every-move-rewires-the-brain/ Dr. Kristen Holmes — why recovery determines adaptation and readiness. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-isnt-enough-how-recovery-drives-real-adaptation Dr. John Medina — how attention transforms movement into lasting learning. Jason Whitrock — how metabolism and cellular energy fuel long-term performance. WHERE WE ARE GOING NEXT Phase 4 — Connection, Emotion & Social Intelligence The Human System Core Question: How do we thrive with other people? The brain didn't evolve in isolation—it evolved through relationships. In Phase 4, we'll explore emotional intelligence, empathy, communication, trust, leadership, and psychological safety to understand how our relationships shape learning, well-being, and performance. Phase 5 — Integration & Human Performance The Complete System Core Question: How do all the systems work together? In our final phase, we'll bring everything together—regulation, motivation, movement, emotion, relationships, learning, and recovery—into one integrated framework. We'll discover how these systems work together to create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity, and results. Selected Sleep References “What Is Restorative Sleep?” https://www.whoop.com/us/en/thelocker/what-is-restorative-sleep/ Patel AK, Reddy V, Shumway KR, Araujo JF. “Physiology, Sleep Stages.” StatPearls/NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526132/ Goldstein AN, Walker MP. “The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Function.” Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4286245/ Paller KA, Creery JD, Schechtman E. “Memory and Sleep: How Sleep Cognition Can Change the Waking Mind for the Better.” Annual Review of Psychology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7983127/ REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 141 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-neurogenesis-what-hurts-or-helps-your-brain-cells/ [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 384 Review of our Interview with Dr. Baland Jalal https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/hypnagogic-genius-capture-your-best-ideas-at-the-edge-of-sleep/ [iii] www.masterclass.com Mathew Walker The Science of a Better Sleep [iv] https://www.instagram.com/p/DbO7dKLO-c8/?hl=en Dr. Andrew Huberman on ways to increase REM sleep.
Switches in your ceiling, AI affecting interest in things, Commodore Phone and more... NOTES This episode of BSDNow is brought to you by Tarsnap and the BSDNow Patreon Headlines How you wind up with switches above your office's false ceiling On AI News Roundup Attempting to reproduce the missing etcmerge from 15.0 to 15.1 upgrade Commodore is releasing a flip phone running Sailfish OS! Why a Flip Phone? $399 - $640 preorder BSD Make extravaganza HardenedBSD June / July 2026 Status Report MidnightBSD 4.0.7 RELEASE Tarsnap This weeks episode of BSDNow was sponsored by our friends at Tarsnap, the only secure online backup you can trust your data to. Even paranoids need backups. Send questions, comments, show ideas/topics, or stories you want mentioned on the show to feedback@bsdnow.tv Join us and other BSD Fans in our BSD Now Telegram channel
Clean data beats clever algorithms in AI marketing. Katrina Wong, Chief Marketing Officer at New Relic, brings 20+ years of enterprise go-to-market experience to the data-versus-AI debate. She argues AI functions as an operating system, not a standalone tool, becoming the intelligence layer powering interconnected agent workflows. Wong stresses that AI output quality depends entirely on data hygiene, making clean data infrastructure a prerequisite for effective AI-driven decision-making.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
One of the biggest mistakes in AI? Thinking that your company's AI use is noteworthy. Or, even a competitive advantage. It's not. We break it down in Volume 3 of our 'Start Here Series.' AI as an Operating System: LLMs Are the Internet Now -- An Everyday AI Chat with Jordan WilsonNewsletter: Sign up for our free daily newsletterMore on this Episode: Episode PageJoin the discussion on LinkedIn: Thoughts on this? Join the convo on LinkedIn and connect with other AI leaders.Upcoming Episodes: Check out the upcoming Everyday AI Livestream lineupWebsite: YourEverydayAI.comEmail The Show: info@youreverydayai.comConnect with Jordan on LinkedInTopics Covered in This Episode:AI As An Operating System ExplainedLarge Language Models Replace Traditional AppsAI Integration in Knowledge Work PlatformsChoosing the Right AI Operating SystemMicrosoft Copilot vs. Google Gemini vs. Claude vs. ChatGPTAgentic Browsers Powering Autonomous WorkflowsModel Context Protocol (MCP) for AI AgentsOrchestration Layer and Agent CollaborationChatGPT Apps Merging AI and InternetEnterprise Data Integration with AI ToolsContext Switching Reduction Through AI AgentsStrategic AI Adoption and Platform RedundancyTimestamps:00:00 "AI: A New Operating System"03:58 "AI Transforming Work Interfaces"06:41 "Collaborating in AI-Native Workspaces"12:25 Anthropic's Innovations in AI Tools13:46 "OpenAI's Strategy and Market Focus"18:02 "Cognitive Evolution Through AI"20:57 "Agentic Browsers: Key 2025 Advancement"25:12 Improving Content Through Data Insights26:42 "Anthropic's MCP: The AI Connector"32:19 "AI Tools for Productivity Integration"34:20 "AI: Unlocking Context and Efficiency"36:32 AI Governance and System Portability39:35 "AI Operating System Insights"Keywords: AI operating system, large language models, LLMs, AI as infrastructure, enterprise AI, AI adoption, agentic workflows, AI agents, orchestration layer, Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Google Gemini, Gemini business, Gemini enterprise, Anthropic Claude, Claude cowork, MCP, model context protocol, OpenAI, ChatGPT, ChatGPT apps, ChatGPT business, ChatGPT enterprise, AI native, dynamic data integration, productivity with AI, collaboration tools, agentic browsers, autonomous AI agents, context window, memory and personalization, expert-driven loops, app hop tax, context switching, AI integration in business, AI tools for teams, AI platform selection, data governance, modular AI workflows, permissions and audit logs, backup and redundancy in AI, competitive advantage with AI, Send Everyday AI and Jordan a text message. (We can't reply back unless you leave contact info)
Your AI tools keep promising to save you time — so why do you feel more buried than ever? We have a blunt answer: the tools were never the problem. You've been bolting AI onto a system that was already broken, like turbocharging a car with a flat tire. This Wisdom Wednesday, we lay out […]