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Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsBibliographyCurses, Blessings, and Ritual HarmCannon, Walter B. “‘Voodoo' Death.” American Anthropologist 44, no. 2 (1942): 169–181.Faraone, Christopher A. Ancient Greek Love Magic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.Gager, John G., ed. Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.Graf, Fritz. Magic in the Ancient World. Translated by Franklin Philip. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.Ogden, Daniel. Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.Stratton, Kimberly B., and Dayna S. Kalleres, eds. Daughters of Hecate: Women and Magic in the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. “The Magical Power of Words.” Man 3, no. 2 (1968): 175–208.Placebo, Nocebo, and Medical CommunicationBarsky, Arthur J., Ralph Saintfort, Malcolm P. Rogers, and Jonathan F. Borus. “Nonspecific Medication Side Effects and the Nocebo Phenomenon.” JAMA 287, no. 5 (2002): 622–627.Benedetti, Fabrizio. Placebo Effects: Understanding the Mechanisms in Health and Disease. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.Benedetti, Fabrizio, Marina Lanotte, Lorella Lopiano, and Luana Colloca. “When Words Are Painful: Unraveling the Mechanisms of the Nocebo Effect.” Neuroscience 147, no. 2 (2007): 260–271.Colloca, Luana, and Fabrizio Benedetti. “Nocebo Hyperalgesia: How Anxiety Is Turned into Pain.” Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology 20, no. 5 (2007): 435–439.Colloca, Luana, and Damien Finniss. “Nocebo Effects, Patient–Clinician Communication, and Therapeutic Outcomes.” JAMA 307, no. 6 (2012): 567–568.Colloca, Luana, and Franklin G. Miller. “The Nocebo Effect and Its Relevance for Clinical Practice.” Psychosomatic Medicine 73, no. 7 (2011): 598–603.Enck, Paul, Fabrizio Benedetti, and Manfred Schedlowski. “New Insights into the Placebo and Nocebo Responses.” Neuron 59, no. 2 (2008): 195–206.Häuser, Winfried, Ernil Hansen, and Paul Enck. “Nocebo Phenomena in Medicine: Their Relevance in Everyday Clinical Practice.” Deutsches Ärzteblatt International 109, no. 26 (2012): 459–465.Inner Speech and DevelopmentFernyhough, Charles. The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves. New York: Basic Books, 2016.Vygotsky, Lev S. Thought and Language. Revised and expanded ed. Edited and translated by Alex Kozulin. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.Winsler, Adam, Charles Fernyhough, and Ignacio Montero, eds. Private Speech, Executive Functioning, and the Development of Verbal Self-Regulation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.Rumination and Repetitive Negative ThinkingBrosschot, Jos F., Bart Verkuil, and Julian F. Thayer. “Conscious and Unconscious Perseverative Cognition: Is a Large Part of Prolonged Physiological Activity Due to Unconscious Stress?” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 69, no. 4 (2010): 407–416.Ehring, Thomas, and Edward R. Watkins. “Repetitive Negative Thinking as a Transdiagnostic Process.” International Journal of Cognitive Therapy 1, no. 3 (2008): 192–205.Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan. “Responses to Depression and Their Effects on the Duration of Depressive Episodes.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 100, no. 4 (1991): 569–582.Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan, Blair E. Wisco, and Sonja Lyubomirsky. “Rethinking Rumination.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3, no. 5 (2008): 400–424.Smith, Jeannette M., and Lauren B. Alloy. “A Roadmap to Rumination: A Review of the Definition, Assessment, and Conceptualization of This Multifaceted Construct.” Clinical Psychology Review 29, no. 2 (2009): 116–128.Treynor, Wendy, Richard Gonzalez, and Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. “Rumination Reconsidered: A Psychometric Analysis.” Cognitive Therapy and Research 27, no. 3 (2003): 247–259.Watkins, Edward R. “Constructive and Unconstructive Repetitive Thought.” Psychological Bulletin 134, no. 2 (2008): 163–206.Watkins, Edward R. Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression. New York: Guilford Press, 2016.Self-Talk and PerformanceHardy, James. “Speaking Clearly: A Critical Review of the Self-Talk Literature.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise 7, no. 1 (2006): 81–97.Hatzigeorgiadis, Antonis, Nikos Zourbanos, Evangelos Galanis, and Yiannis Theodorakis. “Self-Talk and Sports Performance: A Meta-Analysis.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 6, no. 4 (2011): 348–356.Theodorakis, Yiannis, Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis, and Nikos Zourbanos. “Cognition: Self-Talk and Performance.” In The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Performance Psychology, edited by Shane M. Murphy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.Affect Labeling, Emotion, and LanguageBarrett, Lisa Feldman. “Solving the Emotion Paradox: Categorization and the Experience of Emotion.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 10, no. 1 (2006): 20–46.Lieberman, Matthew D., Naomi I. Eisenberger, Molly J. Crockett, Sabrina M. Tom, Jennifer H. Pfeifer, and Baldwin M. Way. “Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli.” Psychological Science 18, no. 5 (2007): 421–428.Lindquist, Kristen A., Lisa Feldman Barrett, Eliza Bliss-Moreau, and James A. Russell. “Language and the Perception of Emotion.” Emotion 6, no. 1 (2006): 125–138.Torre, Jared B., and Matthew D. Lieberman. “Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling as Implicit Emotion Regulation.” Emotion Review 10, no. 2 (2018): 116–124.Self-Distancing and Reflective ProcessingAyduk, Özlem, and Ethan Kross. “From a Distance: Implications of Spontaneous Self-Distancing for Adaptive Self-Reflection.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 98, no. 5 (2010): 809–829.Kross, Ethan, and Özlem Ayduk. “Making Meaning out of Negative Experiences by Self-Distancing.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 20, no. 3 (2011): 187–191.Kross, Ethan, Özlem Ayduk, and Walter Mischel. “When Asking ‘Why' Does Not Hurt: Distinguishing Rumination from Reflective Processing of Negative Emotions.” Psychological Science 16, no. 9 (2005): 709–715.Kross, Ethan, Emma Bruehlman-Senecal, Jiyoung Park, Aleah Burson, Adrienne Dougherty, Holly Shablack, Ryan Bremner, Jason Moser, and Özlem Ayduk. “Self-Talk as a Regulatory Mechanism: How You Do It Matters.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 106, no. 2 (2014): 304–324.Moser, Jason S., Adrienne Dougherty, Whitney I. Mattson, Benjamin Katz, Tim P. Moran, Darwin Guevarra, Hannah Shablack, et al. “Third-Person Self-Talk Facilitates Emotion Regulation Without Engaging Cognitive Control: Converging Evidence from ERP and fMRI.” Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 4519.Affirmation and Counter-IncantationCascio, Christopher N., Matthew B. O'Donnell, Francis J. Tinney Jr., Matthew D. Lieberman, Shelley E. Taylor, Victor J. Strecher, and Emily B. Falk. “Self-Affirmation Activates Brain Systems Associated with Self-Related Processing and Reward and Is Reinforced by Future Orientation.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 11, no. 4 (2016): 621–629.Cohen, Geoffrey L., and David K. Sherman. “The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention.” Annual Review of Psychology 65 (2014): 333–371.Wood, Joanne V., W. Q. Elaine Perunovic, and John W. Lee. “Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others.” Psychological Science 20, no. 7 (2009): 860–866.Implementation Intentions and ActionGollwitzer, Peter M. “Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans.” American Psychologist 54, no. 7 (1999): 493–503.Gollwitzer, Peter M., and Veronika Brandstätter. “Implementation Intentions and Effective Goal Pursuit.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73, no. 1 (1997): 186–199.Gollwitzer, Peter M., and Paschal Sheeran. “Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Effects and Processes.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38 (2006): 69–119.Schweiger Gallo, Inge, Andreas Keil, Kathleen C. McCulloch, Brigitte Rockstroh, and Peter M. Gollwitzer. “Strategic Automation of Emotion Regulation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 96, no. 1 (2009): 11–31.Ritual, Identity, and Psychological FormationBell, Catherine. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.Hobson, Nicholas M., Juliana Schroeder, Jane L. Risen, Dimitris Xygalatas, and Michael Inzlicht. “The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 22, no. 3 (2018): 260–284.Rappaport, Roy A. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Xygalatas, Dimitris. Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living. New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2022.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball.
What happens to your income after your last federal paycheck, before OPM finishes processing your FERS retirement? For many federal employees, retirement brings a big change in cash flow. Your regular paycheck ends, you might get paid for unused annual leave, and OPM may start sending interim retirement payments while your application is being processed. So how can you keep paying your bills during this time? In this episode of the Plan Your Federal Retirement Podcast, is discussed why cash flow is the heartbeat of retirement and how federal employees can begin preparing for the transition before their retirement date arrives. As you approach retirement, it's essential to ensure that you have a plan in place to address any potential income gaps. Download your copy of our guide that can help you calculate this gap and offer practical strategies to bridge it - https://zurl.co/QLcgf Have a retirement question on your mind? Give us a call at 907-931-1775 and leave us your question - we're here to help create solutions that fit your goals! Need professional help with your retirement planning? Schedule a call today: https://zurl.co/AiAC Visit our website: https://zurl.co/ykNww Happy Planning!
Today's clip is from Episode 154, featuring Thomas Pinder. In this conversation, Thomas shares what he sees as the next steps for GPJax and how the project could become easier to use beyond its original research-focused audience.He discusses creating a higher-level interface that could make fitting Gaussian processes possible in just a few lines of code, while still keeping the flexibility and infrastructure that GPJax provides. He also talks about making the documentation more engaging by moving beyond synthetic examples and showcasing real-world applications, such as modeling ocean currents with Gaussian processes.It's a look at how GPJax could evolve from a powerful research tool into something that's even more accessible and practical for a wider range of users.Full discussion hereSupport & Resources→ Support the show on Patreon→ Bayesian Modeling Course (first 2 lessons free): Our theme music is « Good Bayesian », by Baba Brinkman (feat MC Lars and Mega Ran). Check out his awesome work!
Thabo Shole Mashao speaks to Nathalie Mat, Registered Dietitian discussing what metabolism is and metabolic processes. They also touch on how different diets affect our metabolic processes. The Clement Manyathela Show is broadcast on 702, a Johannesburg based talk radio station, weekdays from 09:00 to 12:00 (SA Time). Clement Manyathela starts his show each weekday on 702 at 9 am taking your calls and voice notes on his Open Line. In the second hour of his show, he unpacks, explains, and makes sense of the news of the day. Clement has several features in his third hour from 11 am that provide you with information to help and guide you through your daily life. As your morning friend, he tackles the serious as well as the light-hearted, on your behalf. Thank you for listening to a podcast from The Clement Manyathela Show. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 09:00 and 12:00 (SA Time) to The Clement Manyathela Show broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/XijPLtJ or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/p0gWuPE Subscribe to the 702 Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/v5mfetc Follow us on social media: 702 on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsBibliographyRepetition, Fluency, and BeliefBacon, Frederick T. “Credibility of Repeated Statements: Memory for Trivia.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 5, no. 3 (1979): 241–252.Begg, Ian Maynard, Ann Anas, and Suzanne Farinacci. “Dissociation of Processes in Belief: Source Recollection, Statement Familiarity, and the Illusion of Truth.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 121, no. 4 (1992): 446–458.Dechêne, Alice, Christoph Stahl, Jochim Hansen, and Michaela Wänke. “The Truth About the Truth: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Truth Effect.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 14, no. 2 (2010): 238–257.Fazio, Lisa K., Nadia M. Brashier, B. Keith Payne, and Elizabeth J. Marsh. “Knowledge Does Not Protect Against Illusory Truth.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 144, no. 5 (2015): 993–1002.Hasher, Lynn, David Goldstein, and Thomas Toppino. “Frequency and the Conference of Referential Validity.” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 16, no. 1 (1977): 107–112.Reber, Rolf, and Norbert Schwarz. “Effects of Perceptual Fluency on Judgments of Truth.” Consciousness and Cognition 8, no. 3 (1999): 338–342.Unkelbach, Christian. “Reversing the Truth Effect: Learning the Interpretation of Processing Fluency in Judgments of Truth.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 33, no. 1 (2007): 219–230.Zajonc, Robert B. “Attitudinal Effects of Mere Exposure.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 9, no. 2, part 2 (1968): 1–27.Memory, Spacing, and RetrievalCepeda, Nicholas J., Harold Pashler, Edward Vul, John T. Wixted, and Doug Rohrer. “Distributed Practice in Verbal Recall Tasks: A Review and Quantitative Synthesis.” Psychological Bulletin 132, no. 3 (2006): 354–380.Ebbinghaus, Hermann. Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. Translated by Henry A. Ruger and Clara E. Bussenius. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1913. Originally published 1885.Karpicke, Jeffrey D., and Henry L. Roediger III. “Repeated Retrieval During Learning Is the Key to Long-Term Retention.” Journal of Memory and Language 57, no. 2 (2007): 151–162.Roediger, Henry L. III, and Jeffrey D. Karpicke. “Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention.” Psychological Science 17, no. 3 (2006): 249–255.Tulving, Endel, and Donald M. Thomson. “Encoding Specificity and Retrieval Processes in Episodic Memory.” Psychological Review 80, no. 5 (1973): 352–373.Whitehouse, Harvey. Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious Transmission. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2004.Semantic Satiation and Verbal TransformationBalota, David A., and Sarah Black. “Semantic Satiation in Healthy Young and Older Adults.” Memory & Cognition 25, no. 2 (1997): 190–202.Jakobovits, Leon A. Effects of Repeated Stimulation on Cognitive Aspects of Behavior: Some Experiments on the Phenomenon of Semantic Satiation. PhD diss., McGill University, 1962.Kounios, John, et al. “On the Locus of the Semantic Satiation Effect: Evidence from Event-Related Brain Potentials.” Memory & Cognition 28, no. 8 (2000): 1366–1377.Pilotti, Maura, John S. Antrobus, and Monica Duff. “The Effect of Presemantic Acoustic Adaptation on Semantic ‘Satiation.'” Memory & Cognition 25, no. 3 (1997): 305–312.Ströberg, Kim, Lau M. Andersen, and Stefan Wiens. “Electrocortical N400 Effects of Semantic Satiation.” Frontiers in Psychology 8 (2017): 2117.Warren, Richard M. “Illusory Changes of Distinct Speech upon Repetition—The Verbal Transformation Effect.” British Journal of Psychology 52, no. 3 (1961): 249–258.Warren, Richard M. “Illusory Changes in Repeated Words: Differences between Young Adults and the Aged.” American Journal of Psychology 74, no. 4 (1961): 506–516.Speech, Song, and Musical RepetitionDeutsch, Diana. “The Speech-to-Song Illusion.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 134, no. 5 (2013): 4241.Deutsch, Diana, Trevor Henthorn, and Rachael Lapidis. “Illusory Transformation from Speech to Song.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 129, no. 4 (2011): 2245–2252.Jakubowski, Kelly, Sebastian Finkel, Lauren Stewart, and Daniel Müllensiefen. “Dissecting an Earworm: Melodic Features and Song Popularity Predict Involuntary Musical Imagery.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 11, no. 2 (2017): 122–135.Margulis, Elizabeth Hellmuth. On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.Marjieh, Raja, Pol van Rijn, Ilia Sucholutsky, Harin Lee, Thomas L. Griffiths, and Nori Jacoby. “A Rational Analysis of the Speech-to-Song Illusion.” Preprint, 2024.Vickhoff, Björn, Helge Malmgren, Rickard Åström, Gunnar Nyberg, Seth-Reino Ekström, Mathias Engwall, Johan Snygg, Michael Nilsson, and Rebecka Jörnsten. “Music Structure Determines Heart Rate Variability of Singers.” Frontiers in Psychology 4 (2013): 334.Breath, Vocalization, and Autonomic PhysiologyBernardi, Luciano, Peter Sleight, Gianfranco Bandinelli, Simone Cencetti, Lino Fattorini, Jacek Wdowczyc-Szulc, and Andrea Lagi. “Effect of Rosary Prayer and Yoga Mantras on Autonomic Cardiovascular Rhythms: Comparative Study.” BMJ 323, no. 7327 (2001): 1446–1449.Lehrer, Paul M., and Richard Gevirtz. “Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback: How and Why Does It Work?” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014): 756.Shaffer, Fred, and J. P. Ginsberg. “An Overview of Heart Rate Variability Metrics and Norms.” Frontiers in Public Health 5 (2017): 258.Zaccaro, Andrea, Andrea Piarulli, Marco Laurino, Erika Garbella, Danilo Menicucci, Bruno Neri, and Angelo Gemignani. “How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 12 (2018): 353.Meditation, Chanting, and NeuroscienceFox, Kieran C. R., Matthew L. Dixon, Savannah Nijeboer, Manesh Girn, James L. Floman, Michael Lifshitz, Melissa Ellamil, Peter Sedlmeier, and Kalina Christoff. “Functional Neuroanatomy of Meditation: A Review and Meta-Analysis of 78 Functional Neuroimaging Investigations.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 65 (2016): 208–228.Kalyani, B. G., G. Venkatasubramanian, R. Arasappa, N. P. Rao, S. V. Kalmady, R. Behere, H. Rao, M. Vasudev, and B. N. Gangadhar. “Neurohemodynamic Correlates of ‘OM' Chanting: A Pilot Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.” International Journal of Yoga 4, no. 1 (2011): 3–6.Travis, Fred, and Jonathan Shear. “Focused Attention, Open Monitoring and Automatic Self-Transcending: Categories to Organize Meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese Traditions.” Consciousness and Cognition 19, no. 4 (2010): 1110–1118.Ritual, Attention, and Embodied PracticeBell, Catherine. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.Hobson, Nicholas M., Juliana Schroeder, Jane L. Risen, Dimitris Xygalatas, and Michael Inzlicht. “The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 22, no. 3 (2018): 260–284.McCauley, Robert N., and E. Thomas Lawson. Bringing Ritual to Mind: Psychological Foundations of Cultural Forms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.Rappaport, Roy A. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Xygalatas, Dimitris. Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living. New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2022.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball.
This special series of Defensible Decisions, discusses Ogletree's Talent Risk Assessor dashboard that helps employers integrate data from the full employment lifecycle to give management a birds' eye view of the legal risks associated with employment decisions. Episode one features shareholders Scott Kelly (Birmingham/Washington) and Chris Near (Columbia), who are are joined by Chrissy Blantz from the firm's Data Analytics team, to examine how Ogletree's Talent Risk Assessor evaluates selection and hiring processes for legal risk. Using a continuing hypothetical involving a multi-state employer, the group walks through stage-by-stage funnel analysis and explains why a statistical flag should prompt a legally informed inquiry rather than a conclusion about compliance. Scott, who is chair of the firm's Workforce Analytics and Compliance Practice Group, also previews the data quality and documentation considerations that will be addressed in the next episode of the series.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Scenario planning isn't just for financials. Whether markets drop or your business faces adversity, having thought about the worst-case lets you operate with confidence. In this episode, Jess Dewell talks with Jack Oujo, Founder at Oujo Wealth Strategies, about why it is BOLD to embrace the concept of less is more — especially in today's fast-changing world. The toughest leadership calls are often the ones we delay. Welcoming peer feedback and brutal self-assessment catapults businesses to top-tier success. Embracing worst-case scenarios in decision-making and strategic planning is necessary to navigate recessions, market crashes, and disruption. You'll discover: Why focusing on existing clients drives growth far more than chasing new ones How career transitions can open unexpected doors when you embrace curiosity and risk Why process and scenario planning outperform rigid sales goals How culture and non-financial aspects determine long-term business stability The confidence that comes from preparing for worst-case scenarios Why financial independence matters more than following buzzwords like "retirement" How internal insights often outweigh endless external meetings What it means to make decisions based on deeply held principles Success is determined by how you choose to use the extra time you have. What you choose to carry forward from your biggest learning experiences shapes how you take calculated risks and move forward with intention. Take this work and focus on your client experience for connection and retention through change. —--------- If you're ready to build the kind of business that doesn't just survive uncertainty but leads through it, check out the Driving Solutions Strategic Intensive program, designed to support leadership teams through high-stakes strategic decisions. -------------------- You can get in touch with Jess Dewell on Twitter, LinkedIn or Red Direction website.
Thomas Erl speaks with Gijs in 't Veld, author of the newly published book "Leading the Customer-First Hybrid Enterprise," who shares his advice and insights for coordinating the involvement of AI agents and human workers in automated business operations. (Intro and outro music by Highet.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
IANR 2632 080826 Line Up4-6pmINTERVIEWS Here's the guest line-up for Sat, August 8, 2026 from 4 to 6pm CST on Indo American News Radio (www.IndoAmerican-news.com), a production of Indo American News. We are on 98.7 FM and you can also listen on the masalaradio app.By Monday, hear the recorded show on Podcast uploaded on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Radio Public and Breaker or go to our website and click on the IANR link. Our Podcast has been rated #2 among 100 Podcasts in Houston by feedspot.com and rated in the Top 20 Apple Podcasts in 13 countries by Podstatus.com. In 6 years and with over 1,000 Podcasts, we get thousands of hits each day.TO SUPPORT THE SHOW, SELECT FOLLOW ON OUR FREE PODCAST CHANNEL AND YOU'LL BE NOTIFIED OF NEW UPDATES.4:20 pm Artificial Intelligence is progressing faster than human intelligence can keep up with it, just as experts had warned us two years ago that the landscape of human experience and work would change dramatically. Many groups and individuals have come along in the past fewmonths to help those less educated in AI to catch up so that they can stay relevant. Today, we hear from Raja Roy and Shashikant Sarada, two professionals who regularly interface with AI in their workplaces, about an AI Bootcamp that the IIT Kharagpur Foundation is holding shortly to help in this re-training of computer skills.4:50 pm Living in the Gulf Coast, we are all well aware of the weather events that can cause havoc to the region, ranging from deep freezes to floods from heavy rains to hurricanes and tornadoes. Kara Cook-Schultz is Director of Disaster Recovery and Community Resilience at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, where she leads regional efforts to strengthen disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and long-term resilience. She also serves as co-director of the Greater Houston Disaster Alliance, a partnership between the GHCF and United Way of Greater Houston that works year-round to improve disaster readiness and strengthen long-term recovery across the region. She joins us today to tell us how to prepare for natural disasters.5:20 pm Immigrations cases have been thrown into chaos with changing rules of enforcement ever since the Trump Administration took office. Thousands of immigrants have been rounded up and deported or detained in rapidly deployed detention facilities. Heavily armed and ill trained ICE agents have been sent to Democratic cities resultingin violence and deaths and provoking national protests. H1-B visas have been capped and changes made to the work authorization process, bond eligibility if detained and to asylum regulations. Immigration attorney James Parkerwith Willy Nanayakkara & Associates talks about how important it has become to have the right legal representation to tackle these issues.Also stay tuned in for news roundup, views, sports and movie reviews.TO BE FEATURED ON THE SHOW, OR TO ADVERTISE, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 713-789-NEWS or 6397 or at indoamericannews@yahoo.comPlease pick up the print edition of Indo American News which is available all across town at grocery stores. Also visit our website indoamerican-news.com which gets 90,000+ hits to track all current stories.And remember to visit our digital archives from over 18 years. Plus, our entire 45 years of hard copy archives are available in the Fondren Library at Rice University
Kim Alexander joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about implementing online access to campaign finance data and founding the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to improve the voting process.
Negative thoughts can feel automatic, powerful, and sometimes even convincing—but just because a thought enters your mind doesn't mean you have to believe it.In this episode, we explore the power of negative thinking and how our thoughts can shape our emotions, behaviors, and everyday lives. More importantly, we'll discover practical cognitive tools and biblical principles that can help us recognize unhealthy thought patterns, challenge them, and replace them with truth.You'll learn a simple three-step plan you can practice throughout your day:1. Write a reminder note.Create a simple, visible reminder that helps you pause and remember to pay attention to what you're thinking. Use it as an intentional cue to check in with your thoughts throughout the day.2. Put your thoughts on trial.Instead of automatically accepting every thought as truth, examine it. Ask yourself: Is this thought true? What evidence supports it? What evidence challenges it? Is this thought helpful? Learn to separate facts from assumptions, fear, and negative interpretations.3. Filter your thoughts through biblical truth.God's Word gives us a framework for evaluating what we allow to take root in our minds. We'll explore how principles such as Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Colossians 3:2, and Proverbs 23:7 can help us become more intentional about what we think about and how we respond.This episode isn't about pretending negative thoughts don't exist or simply “thinking positive.” It's about learning to slow down, examine your thoughts, recognize what doesn't align with truth, and intentionally choose a healthier and more God-centered perspective.Your thoughts deserve to be examined—not automatically obeyed.Listen in and discover how a simple daily practice can help you take your thoughts captive, renew your mind, and respond to life with greater clarity, peace, and purpose.
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” That was Theodore Roosevelt, giving his thoughts on making a decision, and in this week's episode, I am answering a question about why we may be trying to solve a time management problem the wrong way. Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin Learn more about the Productivity Academy Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived Plan Your Week With Me: The Weekly Planning Matrix. The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page Script |428 Hello, and welcome to episode 428 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show. If you've followed this podcast for any length of time, you will have heard me talk about processes and routines. It's these little things that have the effect of automating your daily decision-making requirements. If you always start your day in the same way, you no longer have to decide what to do when you wake up. You do it automatically. And this is important. Reducing the number of decisions you make each day prevents something called “Prefrontal Cortex Overload”, which is often called “decision fatigue”. And it's not woo-woo science. It's very real The prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain that deals with executive function. These functions include impulse control, evaluating something, and making choices. Basically, decisions. When your prefrontal cortex becomes tired and fatigued, you find it harder to make logical, objective decisions, and instead your brain begins to use the amygdala, the part of your brain that controls emotions. In effect, you begin making decisions based on how you are feeling. And that leaves you picking the easy and exciting over the important, mundane tasks. It also leaves you with little discipline, which often means you eat unhealthy food and stay up later than you should. When overwhelmed, the brain defaults to the path of least resistance by delaying decisions, defaulting to the status quo, or refusing to choose at all. You then procrastinate, feel exhausted, anxious and overwhelmed. When you set up processes and routines as well as setting some “if this then that” rules, you reduce the burden you place on your pre-frontal cortex. And all that explanation now brings me onto this week's question. Which means it's time for me to hand you over to the Mystery Podcast Voice. Some say she's always on holiday; all I know is she's called “The Mystery Podcast Voice. This week's question comes from Fabian. Fabian asks, hi Carl, you recommend that you should do your daily planning at the end of the day, not at the beginning. But I am always so exhausted at the end of the day that I find I just cannot do any planning. Is there anything I can do to consistently plan at the end of the day? Hi Fabian. Thank you for your question. When I read your question, my thought was that it might be because you are not getting enough sleep, or that your work causes you to make decisions all day about what to work on next. Nothing is pre-planned or pre-decided. Both of which could be the underlying reason for feeling exhausted at the end of the day. If you're not getting enough sleep, the effect you will experience would be the same as if you were experiencing decision fatigue. An inability to make decisions. And that is why, at the end of the day, you find it so difficult to plan the next day. After all, what is planning? It's making decisions about what you will work on tomorrow. So, if a lack of sleep is the issue, then the fix would be to look at your sleep cycle and make adjustments there. However, for most people, the problem is making too many decisions throughout the day, leaving them feeling mentally drained and lacking in any motivation to do anything. This is where routines, processes and rules come into play. Every productive day is the result of hundreds of decisions: What deserves my attention? What can wait? What should I ignore? What should I delegate? When is “good enough” truly good enough? If each time you come up with something new and you have to decide whether something deserves your attention, whether it can wait, or whether you could ignore it, you're tapping into your prefrontal cortex's energy reserves. And your prefrontal cortex does not have an 850cc engine that only draws a minuscule amount of energy. No. It has a full-throated V8 and drinks fuel like it's put a straw in a lake and called it a warm-up. This is why pre-establishing what your core work is matters. Once you know what your core work is and what that work looks like at a doing level, you are pre-deciding what deserves your attention. It's the work you are employed to do. It's important and must be done. Now, all you need do is decide when you will do it. And with core work, given that the type of work you're doing will be the same, you can pre-block time each day for doing it. For example, you could protect 10 am to lunchtime for doing your core work each day. That means you are no longer deciding what to do each day. You've pre-decided; it's blocked on your calendar, and all you need to do now is turn up and do the work. It's always fascinated me that the most stressed-out people I've come across in my professional life are the ones who've told themselves they can't do that, and that they have to be available for everyone immediately they ask. Complete nonsense, of course, but there really are some people who believe that. In this situation, a person is constantly having to decide whether they should respond to this person or that person. Who is more important? Should I call my boss, or perhaps send her a text message? “Oh shoot! This person's been waiting 10 minutes. I must call them immediately!) It's also why the least stressed-out people are the ones who are comfortable turning on Do Not Disturb on their devices when they sit down to do some focused work. They've made the decision that for the next hour or two they will work on a specific type of task. If something was a genuine emergency, they would be told somehow. I remember last year, when we were changing our car, that the sales manager we dealt with was wonderfully laid-back. Within a few days of starting the process to change our car, I worked out that he would respond to our messages between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm or between 4:00 and 5:00 pm, depending on when we messaged him. It was consistent, and I was hugely impressed. When I picked the new car up, I asked him about it, and he said he gets so many messages and emails each day that he wouldn't be able to do any work if he responded instantly to everything that came in. So, he does an hour before lunch and an hour before he finishes the day. Brilliant. And I bet you he never gets any complaints about it. So, having a process for dealing with your communications is just as important as having time protected for doing the work that matters each day. Then we come to your routines. If you were to have a small fifteen-minute closing down routine at the end of the day, this would again minimise the decisions you need to make. For example, at work, I will close down by clearing my desktop and tidying up my desk. I clear out Todoist and process my inbox. Then I open up my daybook and plan out tomorrow by writing in my appointments and the most important things I have to do tomorrow, and that's it. Done. It tells me that my workday is now finished. There can also be other things you might do too. For example, at home, perhaps before you go to bed, you load the dishwasher and turn it on, or if you don't have a dishwasher, you wash all the pots and mugs before going to bed. That's a routine. A going-to-bed routine. Pre-decided, and after a few weeks, you would feel uncomfortable if you didn't do that. And then there are your rules, or standards. Again, this helps you make pre-decisions so that, on a day-to-day basis, you don't have to. For example, I have many of my coaching clients make a commitment to respond to their emails within a specified period of time. Let's say you set a rule to respond to all your emails within 24 hours. This means that any email that is close to your time limit must be responded to today. Anything else can wait. For emails that will require you to do a lot of work, the response time still holds, but the response is to reply with something like: “Thank you for your email. I will get it back to you as soon as I can” This way you filter out the genuinely urgent from the non-urgent. If the person you're responding to comes back to you saying they need it by such and such a date, now you know it's important, and you can prioritise it accordingly. If they respond with, “Thanks”. You know it can wait. The difference between a rule and a routine is that routines happen automatically. You do the same thing at the same time. A rule is conditional. A sort of “if this, then that”. If I have a presentation to do this week, I will protect an hour the day before for preparation, for example. Processes are pre-decided methods for doing the different types of work you do. For example, “if I get a sales enquiry, this is the process I follow.” What these routines, processes and rules do is they reduce the number of decisions you need to make each day. This helps to prevent you from overloading your decision-making abilities, which in turn reduces the amount of mental fatigue and tiredness you experience at the end of the day. Daily planning the day before is a decision-reducing routine. When you plan the day before, it leaves you knowing exactly what you need to do when you begin the next day. No decisions to be made. You know exactly what needs to be done and when you will do it. You can then preserve your energy for the decisions that may need to be made if something changes and you have to decide what you will work on. The new circumstances. This is why NASA's Mission Control in Houston in the 1960s practised every possible eventuality before any mission. It was this practice that enabled the brilliant people in Mission Control to get the Apollo 13 crew home safely in April 1970. They had practised that eventuality so many times that the decisions required were already made for them. So there you go, Fabian. I hope that has helped. Turn your daily planning into an end-of-day routine. Create a checklist to guide you (again reducing decisions). This daily planning will also help reduce the decisions you need to make the next day, which in turn will leave you feeling less exhausted at the end of the day. Thank you for your question, and thank you to you too for listening. Don't forget, my Productivity Academy is now open, and we have a date for our first live event. Sunday, 30 August. The topic will be where to start and a general Q&A session. Not to be missed. Joining now will give you plenty of time to do your homework before the session. I'll leave the details of the Academy in the show notes for you. It just remains for me now to wish you all a very, very productive week.
Hiring help doesn't automatically solve your workload. Many entrepreneurs believe bringing on a virtual assistant instantly creates more free time, but in reality, a VA simply magnifies whatever systems already exist inside your business. If your processes are organized, documented, and repeatable, a VA becomes a force multiplier. If your business runs on memory, interruptions, and last-minute decisions, adding help often creates even more chaos. That's why virtual assistant systems matter. In our continued conversation with John McKenna, CEO of Peachtree VA, the discussion shifted away from simply hiring an assistant and toward building a repeatable delegation system. The difference between entrepreneurs who succeed with a VA and those who abandon the idea after a few weeks isn't the assistant—it's the system surrounding the relationship. About John McKenna John McKenna is the CEO and Owner of Peachtree VA, a U.S.-based virtual assistant staffing company that helps entrepreneurs, founders, and business leaders reclaim their time through strategic delegation. With a background in executive recruiting and staffing, John specializes in matching businesses with experienced virtual assistants who become trusted extensions of their teams. Under John's leadership, Peachtree VA has focused on helping business owners move beyond doing everything themselves by building scalable delegation systems that improve productivity, streamline operations, and support long-term growth. He is a strong advocate for combining human expertise with modern AI tools, enabling entrepreneurs to focus on the high-value work that drives their businesses forward. Learn more about John and Peachtree VA at https://peachtreeva.com. Why Systems Matter More Than Hiring The first mistake many entrepreneurs make is assuming they can hand off work and immediately become more productive. Delegation doesn't work that way. Every business runs on unwritten rules: where documents live, how customers prefer to communicate, why one process works differently than another. A new assistant doesn't know any of that yet. John explained that the first ninety days of every engagement are the most important, because both sides are learning each other's communication style, workflow, and expectations. That investment builds the foundation for everything that follows. Without it, even an experienced assistant is left guessing. Successful delegation starts with building a repeatable process, not expecting someone else to read your mind. It Starts With Communication One of the biggest surprises from the discussion wasn't about virtual assistants at all—it was about entrepreneurs. According to John, the clients who see the greatest success aren't necessarily the most organized or experienced. They're the ones willing to admit they don't have everything figured out. They ask questions, accept coaching, and communicate consistently. Business owners who disappear after hiring an assistant often struggle because the relationship never gets the chance to develop. Questions go unanswered, expectations turn into assumptions, and small misunderstandings grow into real frustrations. Communication isn't extra work—it is the work. The more clearly you communicate early, the less supervision you'll need later. The strongest delegation systems are built on conversations, not instructions. Coaching Is Part of the System One aspect of Peachtree VA's approach stands out from traditional staffing models: they don't just introduce a client to an assistant and hope it works out. They build relationship coaching into the process. John described how every client works with a relationship specialist during onboarding—someone who acts as coach and facilitator, helping resolve communication issues and keeping both parties aligned through the first several months. That's a lesson worth applying even if you never hire a virtual assistant. Every delegation system needs feedback. Processes improve because someone is evaluating what's working and what isn't. Whether you're managing employees, contractors, or AI workflows, regular check-ins keep small problems from becoming expensive ones. Delegation without feedback usually becomes frustration. Measuring Success Entrepreneurs naturally want to measure return on investment: how much revenue did the assistant generate, how many hours were saved, what was the financial return. John approaches ROI differently. Instead of focusing exclusively on dollars, he asks clients to compare where they were before hiring a VA with where they are ninety days later. Are they less overwhelmed? Are workflows smoother? Can they focus on revenue-generating activities? Has their quality of life improved? Those questions often reveal value long before the financial metrics catch up. Better decisions create future revenue. More focused leadership builds stronger businesses. Better systems produce long-term growth—not every benefit fits neatly inside a spreadsheet. Systems Should Grow Gradually Another misconception is that entrepreneurs should delegate everything at once. That rarely works. John shared that many of Peachtree VA's most successful clients start with the company's smallest service package. They delegate a few recurring tasks, and as trust grows, responsibilities expand. Eventually, many clients increase their hours dramatically because they've experienced firsthand how valuable delegation can become. This gradual approach offers two advantages: entrepreneurs get more comfortable letting go, and assistants develop a deeper understanding of the business before taking on larger responsibilities. Scaling isn't about moving faster—it's about building confidence one successful process at a time. Great delegation doesn't happen all at once. It compounds through consistency. The Right System Includes the Right Expectations Not every task belongs with every assistant. John shared an example of a client who hired a virtual assistant for administrative support, then later expected that same assistant to become a cold-calling salesperson. The relationship struggled—not because the assistant lacked ability, but because expectations had shifted dramatically. Every system works best when roles are clearly defined. Administrative work, scheduling, customer communication, project coordination, and documentation align naturally with most virtual assistant roles. Business development, specialized technical work, or highly strategic decisions usually call for different expertise entirely. Good systems don't force people into the wrong roles—they match responsibilities with strengths. Create a "Delegation Guide" for your business. List recurring responsibilities, expected outcomes, software used, and success criteria for each task before assigning it to someone else. Building a Business That Doesn't Depend on You Every entrepreneur reaches a crossroads: one path leads toward becoming increasingly busy, the other toward becoming increasingly effective. The difference isn't effort—it's systems. Virtual assistant systems let entrepreneurs replace constant supervision with repeatable processes. Instead of solving the same problems every week, leaders spend more time improving the business itself. That's the true purpose of delegation: not eliminating work, but creating space for better work. Conclusion Virtual assistant systems aren't built the day you hire someone. They're built through communication, documentation, coaching, and trust. The entrepreneurs who see the greatest success aren't necessarily the best managers from the beginning—they're simply the ones willing to improve their systems one process at a time. Because once your business can operate without depending on every minute of your day, you've built something far more valuable than efficiency. You've built scalability. Stay Connected: Join the Developreneur Community
Imagine redesigning your most important processes from a blank sheet of paper, with no legacy systems to hold you back. Alpa Lally, Chief Product Officer at Grant Thornton, shares how the company is transforming into a frontier firm by reimagining core processes instead of automating them. She unpacks how embedded analytics reshapes client conversations, why AI governance is what helps you move faster, and how to reinvent your career in the age of AI. Key Moments: From Structural Engineering to Product Leadership (01:36): Alpa explains how designing buildings taught her the vision, strategy, and foundation-up thinking she now applies to product. Becoming a Frontier Firm (06:27): Rethinking how work gets done for 13,000-plus professionals means recognizing that automating a broken process just does the wrong thing faster. Embedding ThoughtSpot Analytics (14:57): By putting insights in auditors' hands on day one, Grant Thornton shifts client conversations from data gathering to strategy. The AI Proof Gap: Governance Enables Speed (19:32): Alpa reframes governance as what lets you move faster, sharing that 78% of firms doubt they'd pass an AI governance audit. Is Product Management Dead? (24:33): The role is evolving, not dying, and AI raises the value of deciding which opportunities are actually worth pursuing. Key Quotes: “A frontier firm uses AI not just to improve how work gets done, but fundamentally rethinks how the work gets done. It's moving beyond productivity gains and creating entirely new ways to deliver value.” - Alpa Lally “The challenge is if you simply automate a broken process, you end up doing the wrong thing faster.” - Alpa Lally “What ThoughtSpot has done is [give us] our ability to embed them immediately into the flow [which] has opened up a whole level of different insights that we can offer, not to our practitioners only, but imagine an auditor showing up on day one to your client and having these insights already calculated, already delivered.” - Alpa Lally Mentions Grant Thornton's 2026 AI Impact Survey Report Wall Street is debating the AI buildout. Enterprises just answered: More than 80% say their GPUs run at half capacity or less Hers for the Taking by Tracey Newell Guest Bio Alpa Lally is the Chief Product Officer at Grant Thornton. Alpa is an experienced product management executive with several years in designing, developing, and launching consumer and business products for large to mid-sized to small organizations, fintechs, startups, and Fortune 500. She has led global cross-functional teams to drive high growth targets while staying laser-focused on solving customer and consumer problems. Alpa leverages data and analytics to drive successful business outcomes that deliver results and achieve corporate growth goals. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.
Adverse action rules for federal employees are undergoing a major transformation. A set of final rules from the Office of Personnel Management transfer more power to OPM and take some authority away from the Merit Systems Protection Board. At the same time, agencies will now be required to prioritize employee performance over tenure during a reduction-in-force. Here with more, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Kumar Arora — entrepreneur, investor, brand-builder, and the founder of Arora Ventures, a venture studio and portfolio of businesses spanning hospitality, apparel, events, creative agency work, and consumer brands. Born and raised in Cleveland's Little Italy, Kumar grew up between science and art, a duality that continues to shape how he builds today. In our conversation, Kumar and I explore the cohort of ambitious Clevelanders he came up alongside, his early path through nightlife, events, and entertainment, the lessons embedded in failure and reinvention, and how ventures like Sora, ILTHY, Underdogs, and FutureLAND reflect a broader vision for Cleveland — one rooted in creativity, collaboration, and the belief that this city can think bigger, see in color, and export far more of its talent, culture, and ambition to the world beyond it.00:00 Introduction to Kumar Arora and Cleveland's Building Scene00:27 Kumar's Background and Cleveland Roots01:15 Changing Perceptions of Cleveland02:11 The Cohort of Cleveland Disruptors03:24 Early Entrepreneurial Ventures and Failures05:17 The Role of Personal Taste in Business06:24 LA vs Cleveland: Roots and Energy07:59 High Standards and Ambition in Cleveland08:53 Evolution of Entrepreneurship in Cleveland10:25 The Importance of Human Connection11:49 Arora Ventures: From Exit to Investment13:17 Brand and Taste: Living, Breathing Systems15:35 Can You Improve Taste? Insights from Kumar Arora17:17 The Pillars of Kumar's Business Evolution19:00 Systems and Processes in Portfolio Management20:07 Lessons from Failures and Resilience22:30 Working Towards Freedom and Empowerment23:52 Cleveland's Unique Perspective and Color25:30 The Subjectivity of Color and Perception26:55 Building Cleveland's National Profile28:22 Cleveland's Identity and Future Potential29:19 What Keeps Kumar Arora Up at Night30:17 Empowering Local Operators and Artists32:53 Futureland and Supporting Black and Brown Entrepreneurs35:12 Lessons from Restaurant to CPG Business36:48 Building Relationships with Big Brands40:08 Planting Seeds for Cleveland's Future42:33 Upcoming Projects and Cleveland's Visibility43:31 The Power of Collaboration and Local Pride44:16 Follow Kumar Arora and Stay Connected-----LINKS:https://www.kumar-arora.com/-----SPONSOR:Cerity PartnersCerity Partners, a full-service investment and wealth management firm serving high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs, and business owners, is proud to sponsor Lay of The Land. The firm has local roots in Cleveland and across Ohio, and like this podcast, Cerity Partners advisors specialize in serving the interests of local entrepreneurs and business leaders. The firm's national presence means it can offer the resources and specialized knowledge of the largest institutions with the independence and service of a neighbor. The Cerity Partners Cleveland team understands the complexity that comes with wealth, and they adhere to fiduciary standards. Discover the financial lay of your land.Learn more at https://ceritypartners.com/NPR or call 216-464-6266.Roundstone InsuranceRoundstone Insurance is proud to sponsor Lay of The Land. Founder and CEO, Michael Schroeder, has committed full-year support for the podcast, recognizing its alignment with the company's passion for entrepreneurship, innovation, and community leadership.Headquartered in Rocky River, Ohio, Roundstone was founded in 2005 with a vision to deliver better healthcare outcomes at a more affordable cost. Over the past two decades, Roundstone has grown rapidly, creating nearly 200 jobs in Northeast Ohio. The company works closely with employers and benefits advisors to navigate the complexities of commercial health insurance and build custom plans that prioritize employee well-being over shareholder returns. By focusing on aligned incentives and better health outcomes, Roundstone is helping businesses save thousands in Per Employee Per Year healthcare costs. Roundstone Insurance — Built for entrepreneurs. Backed by innovation. Committed to Cleveland.Learn more at https://roundstoneinsurance.com/-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here: https://layoftheland.ck.page/5f0c1e28faConnect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Don't miss the Travel Business Intensive, happening August 24-26! Learn more and grab your ticket here → RESERVE MY SPOT!Think having processes makes your business feel too rigid? Think again! In this Hot Take, Jennifer and Robin explain why clear workflows, written policies, and firm boundaries create a better client experience while protecting your time, profitability, and sanity. They share real-world examples of planning fees, cancellation policies, inquiry forms, and business boundaries to show how having a standard makes your exceptions meaningful instead of expected. Plus, they discuss why documenting exceptions, communicating them clearly, and resisting the urge to make decisions based on "vibes" are essential for building a business that scales without sacrificing the personal touch.FOLLOW ALONG ON INSTAGRAM @TiqueHQ
White House Border Czar Tom Homan announced that ICE instituted a new mandatory directive requiring body-worn cameras during vehicle stops and launched internal reviews of officer vetting and tactics following recent fatal agency shootings.
In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Jim Robb, President and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, discusses how the power grid has performed so far this summer and details NERC's response to large loads and data centers including its large loads action plan. He also discusses NERC actions tied to mitigating the threat to reliability from wildfires and provides an update on NERC's efforts to modernize its standards processes and procedures.
AI is changing the conversation around legacy modernisation, but successful transformation demands far more than powerful models and automated code generation. It requires engineering discipline, governance, and a clear-eyed view of where AI genuinely adds value and where it doesn't.On a recent episode of Tech Transformed, host Christina Stathopoulos, founder of Dare to Data, sat down with Shodhan Sheth, Enterprise Modernisation Platform and Cloud Lead, and Alessio Ferri, Lead Software Engineer, both part of Thoughtworks' Global Legacy Modernisation Service Development Team, to unpack exactly that.Legacy Modernisation With AIThe conversation around AI in legacy modernisation is often muddied by marketing noise. As Sheth puts it, "value and hype can coexist". Overpromising doesn't automatically mean a technology is worthless. The real question for technology leaders is whether AI meaningfully improves the cost-time-value equation for a specific problem.This will always start with problem-solution fitness: has someone already solved a comparable challenge with AI, and does the proposed use case genuinely fit that pattern? As Sheth notes, "most things can be judged by cost, time, and value", which is a simple but effective filter for cutting through the noise.Rethinking Legacy ModernisationGenerative AI is inherently probabilistic, while enterprise software has always relied on deterministic, predictable behaviour. Ferri unpacks this tension by separating two very different use cases: using AI to build systems, and embedding AI within operational systems.When AI writes code, inconsistency is manageable; developers review, test and refine the output before it ships. Production systems are a different matter entirely, where unpredictable behaviour carries real operational risk. As Ferri explains, "AI in production requires different guardrails than AI for building."The practical answer is controlled use. AI might suggest alternative products in a marketplace, for instance, while deterministic rules still guarantee that only in-stock items are ever shown. This lets AI add value within a firm, enterprise-grade constraints.Why AI Alone Won't Modernise Legacy SystemsTechnology is only part of the story. Sheth is clear that modernisation is fundamentally about change, and change is hard, especially across large enterprises with tangled, interconnected systems. Tasks that resist automation are often the hardest, like upskilling teams, explaining complex trade-offs, and winning buy-in; these cannot be solved with code alone. These human and organisational factors are routinely underestimated. Where the impact of a change is broad, he also advises either aligning teams properly across the business or breaking the change into smaller, more manageable pieces, a strategy that reduces resistance and smooths the path to adoption.If you would like to learn more about this, visit Thoughtworks or connect with both Sheth and Ferri on LinkedIn.TakeawaysApplying AI to modernise complex enterprise systems.Distinguishing hype from practical AI applications.Balancing probabilistic AI with deterministic enterprise software.Organisational and leadership challenges in AI modernisation.Building control, traceability, and abstractions in AI workflows.Advice for CIOs and CTOs on AI adoption.Chapters00:00 Introduction to AI and Legacy Modernisation01:18 Meet the Experts: Shodhan and Alessio02:47 Distinguishing Hype from Value in AI05:51 The Tension Between Probabilistic and Deterministic Systems10:13 The Human Element in Modernisation17:12 AI's Role in Enterprise Transformation19:26 Distinguishing Hype from Value in AI22:13 Probabilistic vs Deterministic Systems27:45 People and Processes in Modernisation29:03 Lessons in AI for Legacy Modernisation
Unmasking the Shadows: A Deep Dive with Tom Luongo on Global Power, Energy, and Geopolitics Join us for a compelling conversation with Tom Luongo, a seasoned researcher and libertarian thinker, as we explore the shifting landscape of global geopolitics, the decline of Western dominance, and the strategic moves behind energy and financial systems. This episode offers insight into the unseen battles shaping our future, challenging mainstream narratives, and inspiring critical thinking. He is a Former Research Chemist, Amateur Dairy Goat Farmer, Anarcho-Libertarian and Obstreperous Austrian Economist whose work can be found on sites like Zerohedge, Lewrockwell.com, Bitcoin Magazine and Newsmax Media. https://tomluongo.me/ https://x.com/TFL1728?s=20 In this episode: Tom Luongo's perspective on the transformation of Western powers and the concept of "The West" The strategic importance of energy sources like uranium and thorium in future power structures How global financial systems and institutions like the BIS, IMF, and World Trade Organization operate to maintain control The role of the United States in shifting the global order and preserving its sovereignty The influence of technocrats and AI in modern geopolitical strategies Key events and their implications, including the significance of the Israel-Iran conflict and recent NATO summits The subtle moves behind U.S. military and diplomatic actions under Trump and Biden regimes The potential impacts of election fraud revelations and political realignments Grassroots strategies for rebuilding local communities as a form of resistance The ongoing influence of colonial and globalist networks entrenched in the current system To gain access to the second half of show and our Plus feed for audio and podcast please clink the link http://www.grimericaoutlawed.ca/support. For second half of video (when applicable and audio) go to our Substack and Subscribe. https://grimericaoutlawed.substack.com/ or to our Locals https://grimericaoutlawed.locals.com/ or Patreon https://www.patreon.com/grimericaoutlawed Support the show directly: https://open.spotify.com/show/2punSyd9Cw76ZtvHxMKenI?si=ImKxfMHgQZ-oshl499O4dQ&nd=1&dlsi=4c25fa9c78674de3 Watch or Listen on Spotify https://www.simulationmaps.com/#products Disaster Maps, Volcano Sim, Asteroid Sim, Shipwreck Map, UFO Map etc https://grimericacbd.com/ CBD / THC Tinctures and Gummies https://grimerica.ca/support-2/ Our Adultbrain Audiobook Podcast and Website: www.adultbrain.ca Check out our next trip/conference/meetup - Contact at the Cabin www.contactatthecabin.com Join the chat / hangout with a bunch of fellow Grimericans Https://t.me.grimerica grimerica.ca/chats Discord Chats Darren's books www.acanadianshame.ca Sign up for our newsletter http://www.grimerica.ca/news InstaGRAM https://www.instagram.com/the_grimerica_show_podcast/ Purchase swag, with partial proceeds donated to the show www.grimerica.ca/swag ART - Napolean Duheme's site http://www.lostbreadcomic.com/ MUSIC Tru Northperception, Felix's Site sirfelix.bandcamp.com Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: Unveiling the hidden layers of global power shifts 02:29 - The myth of "The West" as a monolithic entity 04:29 - The real divide: New World vs. Old World orders 06:22 - The European influence and its enduring legacy in global networks 07:58 - America's unique identity and its separation from European culture 09:22 - The deep state and the structural erosion of U.S. federalism 10:48 - The global banking system and the control of currencies and debts 12:15 - The constitutional transformations and the rise of fourth branches of government 14:38 - The financial war against old systems and the role of central banks 15:20 - The strategic moves in energy, including pipelines and pipelines bypassing choke points 17:17 - The Canadian landscape and resistance to globalist control 18:23 - Mainstream media and the control of narratives in America and Canada 20:04 - The slow erosion of American sovereignty since revolutionary times 22:29 - Processes of incremental change and the Fabian gradualism model 24:21 - Historical conspiracies and the persistence of British influence 27:23 - The modern colonialist and resource extraction systems 30:17 - The geopolitical chessboard: Russia, China, and U.S. military posturing 33:46 - The real significance of artificial intelligence, technological control, and surveillance 36:46 - The technocrat class and their strategies for societal control 43:46 - Grassroots community rebuilding as a form of resistance 50:02 - The importance of recognizing incremental victories and long-term planning 58:13 - The emerging new energy and technological frontiers: uranium, thorium, and free energy 66:41 - The symbolic and real importance of personalities in geopolitics: Lindsey Graham, Netanyahu, and others 73:41 - The likely candidates for upcoming U.S. leadership and their possible trajectories 82:41 - Closing thoughts and how to stay informed and engaged in the new world order
S1E6: Eliminating unnecessary processes before implementing new technology On this episode host Shahid Shah addresses common objections encountered when trying to simplify healthcare workflows using the "Gross Plus Algorithm" framework, which involves questioning requirements, deleting unnecessary steps, simplifying remaining processes, and then automating. Healthcare leaders and builders frequently encounter five main objections: regulations require current workflows, systems won't allow changes, clinicians won't accept new approaches, healthcare is too complex, and AI is needed to solve problems. To stream our Station live 24/7 visit www.HealthcareNOWRadio.com or ask your Smart Device to “….Play Healthcare NOW Radio”. Find all of our network podcasts on your favorite podcast platforms and be sure to subscribe and like us. Learn more at www.healthcarenowradio.com/listen
In this episode of Communicable, Nav Narayanan and Thomas Tängdén kick off the first 'Ask me anything' episode, inviting EUCAST and CLSI leadership Sören Gatermann, Christian Giske and Amy Mathers to answer questions from our listeners. Together, they discuss the roles and operations of both organisations, similarities and differences between EUCAST and CLSI, how breakpoints and guidance documents are developed, set the record straight about the 'I' category, explain which data inform breakpoint decisions, and much more.This episode was edited by Communicable's executive producer, Angela Huttner. Further readingDocuments/resources:CLSI MicroFree, https://em100.edaptivedocs.net/Login.aspx?ru=1EUCAST: When there are no antifungal breakpointsEUCAST: When there are no breakpoints?Use_of_fosfomycin_iv_breakpoints_General_advice_20240528.pdfEUCAST: Definition of S, I and REUCAST Guidance Document, “When there are no breakpoints”, https://www.eucast.org/bacteria/guidance-documents/EUCAST Guidance Document for “Rare Yeasts”, https://www.eucast.org/fungi-afst/guidance-documents/Articles (alphabetical): Bixby ML, et al. Fosfomycin Disk Diffusion Testing among Klebsiella pneumoniae Results in Frequent Inner Colonies and Categorical Disagreement Based on Conflicting Breakpoint Organization Recommendations. Microbiol Spectr 2023. DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03363-22DeMarco MG, et al. Impact of media brand on cefiderocol disk diffusion results. J Clin Microbiol 2025. DOI: 10.1128/jcm.01648-24Giske CG, et al. Aminoglycoside breakpoints-the EUCAST approach and what this means for the clinician. CMI 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2025.08.015Mouton JW, et al. MIC-based dose adjustment: facts and fables. J Antimicrob Chemother 2018. DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkx427Narayanan N, et al. Amoxicillin-Clavulanate Breakpoints Against Enterobacterales: Rationale for Revision by the CLSI. Clin Infect Dis 2024. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciae201Narayanan N, et al. Amoxicillin-Clavulanate Breakpoints Against Enterobacterales: Rationale for Revision by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Clin Infect Dis 2024. DOI: Pham Thanh D, et al. A novel ciprofloxacin-resistant subclade of H58 Salmonella Typhi is associated with fluoroquinolone treatment failure. eLife 2016. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.14003.001 Smekal A. Swedish multicentre study of target attainments with β-lactams in the ICU: which MIC parameter should be used? J Antimicrob Chemother 2023. DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkad327Turnidge J, et al. How to: the application and analysis of categorical agreement in antimicrobial susceptibility testing using EUCAST breakpoints. CMI 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2025.12.018Turnidge J, et al. Rationale for contemporary antimicrobial treatment of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: a narrative review. CMI Comms 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmicom.2025.105082Weinstein M, et al. The CLSI Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Background, Organization, Functions, and Processes. J Clin Microbiol 2020. DOI: 10.1128/jcm.01864-19
In this special edition of Labor Law Insider, host Tom Godar is joined by the consummate insiders, Husch Blackwell attorneys Terry Potter and Jon Anderson. Jon offers insights gained from his decades of labor law practice and his participation on a panel with new National Labor Relations Board General Counsel, Crystal Carey. Jon organized this panel for the American Health Law Association and heard firsthand the insights offered by GC Carey. Terry Potter, who is in the trenches daily with Husch Blackwell clients, shares how the enormous backlog before the Board has affected the decision to transfer hundreds of cases from district to district, even as the interpretations of national labor law continue their return to a less union-oriented bias. Jon also comments on further changes in Board direction with the anticipated appointment of a new Board member, James Macy, Jon's former partner. Our Insider audience will want to learn how these changes will impact union elections and responding to unfair labor practice charges. Join this free-wheeling discussion that touches on General Counsel Carey's agenda, the appointment of a new Board member, and the impact on the world of labor law. You don't want to miss this discussion.
Which structure works best for a property management business: Departmental or Portfolio? This is a topic that can be pretty polarizing in the industry. Welcome back to The Property Management Show, where we deep dive into the world of property management, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Today, we're talking with two prominent property management business owners in Central Florida. Welcome to Maryann Hoffman and Andrew Dougill of Hoffman Realty and David and Stacy Wilson of Wilson Management Group. These experts are talking about the structures they've adopted and offering some advice to property management owners who have not yet decided on how they want to organize their businesses. td {vertical-align: top; border:1px solid #eee;} li {font-size:15px;} .clean-td {border-bottom:none;} Podcast Summary Each type of management structure has its pros and cons. For property management companies that are about to build out their own structure, they need to think about the things they like to do and don't like to do. Deciding what works best will require flexibility. Processes and systems are often more foundational than how a property management company is organized. Guest Bios: Hoffman Realty Andrew and MaryAnn Hoffman are the founders and principals of Hoffman Realty, bringing decades of leadership and experience to the Tampa Bay property management industry. MaryAnn, a licensed real estate broker, entered the industry in 1983 and established Hoffman Realty in 1988 with a clear vision: to deliver personalized, high-quality service to small residential investors. In 2000, Andrew, then Vice President of Engineering at TECO Energy, joined the firm to lead business operations, aligning his background as a long-time real estate investor and landlord with the company's mission. Together, they have built a 38+ year track record of supporting residential investors throughout the Tampa Bay area and currently oversee a portfolio of approximately 450 managed properties. Hoffman Realty's continued success is rooted in a disciplined operational approach and a strong commitment to client service, with MaryAnn remaining actively involved in day-to-day oversight to ensure every client receives personal attention, and no property owner is overlooked. Both Andrew and MaryAnn are deeply engaged in the professional community. Andrew is an active member of Suncoast Tampa Area Realtors (STAR), the Bay Area Apartment Association, and the Tampa Bay Chapter of NARPM. He has served as Property Management Chair for Greater Tampa REALTORS®, is a member of the STAR Government Affairs and Property Management Committees, a former Tampa Bay NARPM Board member, and currently serves as Tampa Bay NARPM Legislative Chair—advocating for landlord-tenant policy at both the state and national levels. Wilson Management Group Wilson Management Group was founded in Orlando in 1986 and has been family-owned and operated ever since. David Wilson obtained his Real Estate Salesperson's license in 1993 and began working for WMG as a property manager. In 2005, he obtained his Real Estate Broker's license and gradually transitioned into overseeing all day-to-day business operations. David, and his wife, Stacy, purchased the business from his parents in 2014, and they run it together with their fantastic team. They are active members of NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers). David has been a member since the Orlando/Central Florida chapter was formed in 1995. They are passionate about keeping Florida a landlord-friendly state, for the benefit of their current and future clients. They participate every year with NARPM in annual legislative summits both in Tallahassee, FL and Washington, DC, advocating for the rights of landlords here in Florida. What Do Successful Central Florida Property Management Companies Look Like? Let's take a look at who we're talking to today: Hoffman Realty is based in the Tampa Bay Area. They serve communities as far north as State Route 54 and as far south as Apollo Beach and Wimauma. They're a departmental structure and have about 450 companies under management. Wilson Management Group is in Orlando. They're a portfolio style management company and serve all of Orange and Seminole Counties, with part of Lake County, Volusia County, and Osceola County within their scope. They also manage about 450 doors. How Do These Structures Differ? At the NARPM Broker/Owner Conference this year, Matthew Tringali of BetterWho presented a framework called The Team Structure Checklist, which highlighted the fundamental differences between each business structure. Here's what Maryann reported from that event: Departmental Structure. Most people are in the office and available for phone calls, answering questions, and serving more specialized areas of expertise. There's one person managing inspections for all properties and another person managing the accounting or the leasing. One point of contact takes care of customer service. There are property management departments. Portfolio structures would have one professional with a portfolio of 75 to 125 properties and they handle everything. The entire experience of that property is under their purview, whether we're talking about maintenance or leasing or tenant management. The primary point of contact is the property manager overseeing the portfolio. Does the Company Structure Impact Quality of Service? When we talk about departmental vs. portfolio structures, is it merely an internal operational decision that owners don't notice, or are there differences in how service is delivered and perceived? It depends. When we talk about portfolio models, we're often talking about companies that cover a larger geographic area, and to expand the business portfolio is necessary. Departmental structures work better for smaller service areas. Both structures can provide excellent client experiences. This depends on policies and procedures and how effectively and consistently the company can apply those. It also depends on staff. A leasing agent having a bad day in a departmental structure will not affect an owner who calls to talk about accounting. But in a portfolio structure, the property manager may be having a bad day, and that can affect any owner who calls for help. The answer to high-quality service delivery in either structure? Having strong systems. Which Model is More Scalable for Property Management Companies? Property management companies may want to know if one type of company can support growth better than the other, but the answer comes down to company goals and vision. Portfolio property management companies are geographically based. Each property manager has a portfolio that they manage, and the properties assigned are based on maintaining boundaries geographically. There's always a bit of overlap, but it's not going to work to have property managers crossing counties while trying to provide great service. David and Stacy want their property managers to concentrate on their portfolios to the best of their ability. So from an expansion perspective, portfolio works for management companies that want to grow geographically. It's possible to add another property manager when new doors are added in different neighborhoods or cities. Departmental management companies grow best within a tight service area. Maryann and Andrew note that their employees go home at night without being on call for owners or tenants who might need them (Maryann hands out her cell phone for that purpose). The point is to have good property managers who communicate well with existing clients before growing. A new client joined Hoffman Realty because he had not heard from his previous property manager for three months. It turned out his assigned manager had left the company, but no one there had told him. In each business structure, growth is only possible with good systems, clear assignment of duties, and smart staff. What Are Some of the Weaknesses in Portfolio and Departmental Property Management Structures? What if a tenant doesn't pay rent? What if there are complaints that repairs are taking too much time? What if a key property manager leaves the company? Portfolio The main challenge for portfolio companies is the loss of that knowledge and expertise when a property anger leaves. And it's also important to be clear about who owns the client. In a portfolio system, you would not want a property manager to leave your company and take your clients with them. Property management is a relationship business. Internal controls are needed no matter what your structure. You will need: Management agreements Independent contractor agreements (this is how Wilson hires) Policies and procedures David and Stacy have done a great job of mitigating risk and establishing that clients belong to the company, not the property manager. Most of the professionals working for them have been with the company for over 15 years. Departmental For departmental companies, it can be a challenge to juggle all the repairs. It requires a lot of time management to negotiate every single lease renewal. Things come up and Maryann and Andrew must decide when the limits of their system have been reached and it's time to hire another person. Another weakness in departmental businesses is that sometimes owners and landlords can feel passed around from one person to another. They're talking to someone different about maintenance and accounting, for example. As the Business Development Manager, Maryann makes sure she is the point of contact for any struggles owners may encounter. There are lots of questions when they're being onboarded, but once the path is clear, things settle quickly. How Are Florida Property Management Companies Unique? The housing collapse in 2008. COVID eviction moratoriums. Massive hurricanes. Post-pandemic pricing surges. Major relocation of new residents into Florida. Major insurance crisis. Florida management companies have been through a lot. How does each business structure approach these elements that are unique to Florida property management? Andrew said that for Hoffman Realty, the 2008 crisis was one of the worst to manage. There had just been a huge boom and prices were high. Then, the market crashed and people who had no intention of being landlords found themselves renting out homes when they could not sell.That included a lot of private equity firms.Maryann remembers a meeting with a huge company that was planning to buy hundreds of properties in 2010. It was exciting at first; the idea that they would get so much business. But the geographic area covered seven counties. Hoffman Realty would have had to change their entire operation in order to accommodate that management contract. For Stacy and David, the COVID pandemic and hurricanes are particularly memorable.During the pandemic, people did not want to leave their homes but they needed to see properties. At that time, video walk-throughs were not common, but they quickly became necessary. They could not imagine doing without video tours, now. Property management companies in Florida have to adapt to manage these crises.In 2004, there were three different hurricanes that hit the Orlando region in a span of three weeks, including the very powerful Hurricane Charlie. That storm took out the power to the Wilson Management Group office for two and a half weeks. But they still had to operate. Trees were down everywhere and property managers could not use phones or email. This was long before the technology we have today. David was grateful that they had planned ahead and printed out what they needed and were able to physically check on their properties. Diving Deeper into Hurricanes: How Do Business Structures Respond? More recently, after Hurricanes Milton and Helene in 2024, Hoffman Realty had three pages of roof repairs that their properties needed. This is how the departmental process served them: One person was in charge of roofs. Another person was in charge of fence repairs. Another handled mold remediation. Separate people were assigned to insurance adjusters. Staff members were calling tenants to ask about any damage. It was a mess, Maryann said, but everything was departmentalized already. As a portfolio-based company, David and Stacy would have their property managers check in with tenants, first. In the first few days after a hurricane, roads were dangerous. There were no stop lights and trees were down across town. Before putting their property managers in any kind of situation where they had to go out and put eyes on a property, they'd ask their tenants for reports. Instead of conducting 30 inspections a month, their property managers were eventually conducting about 30 per day. What is the Relationship Between Team Structure and Company Size? Is there a size where one specific structure makes more sense than the other? It may not matter. Regardless of the business model a Management company has, there is some level of overlap into different sorts of business models no matter what. Some companies have a pod style, with senior and junior managers and they have coordinators in that pod. Andrew and Maryann have a departmental business which is similar. In the Wilson portfolio structure, property managers still have back-office support for accounting and leases. Overlap should be expected. Scaling any of those structures can be challenging. For portfolio companies, property managers are geographically aligned, so if there is a burst of new properties that come under management, how are they assigned when all of the existing property managers are at capacity? How Do Property Managers Know Which Structure is Right for Their Company? Maybe you're a smaller company at 50 to 100 doors, and you have to decide whether to form a portfolio or department company structure. What clues should you be looking for that might tell you which path is the best? Andrew says that if you're growing from a one-person show to a larger company, you'll realize you need help, and you should delegate the tasks you don't like to do. Maybe you like leasing and talking to landlords but you don't like coordinating maintenance. That maintenance supervisor should be your first hire. Stacy and David advise to be prepared for one thing: systems will break down as you grow. Whether you gravitate towards departmental or portfolio or something else, you'll have to pivot or adjust at some point. You might start off with one model and pivot to the other. Try to anticipate where the break might occur. If you can see it coming, you can prevent it. How Can AI and Technology be Used? Thanks to automation and AI, it's possible to do more with fewer people. With the help of technology, property management owners know that they can focus more on relationships. And remember that AI is able to do a lot of things, but it can't just be plugged into a property management business. Automating something that is broken will just allow mistakes to be made faster. We're saying it again: processes and procedures are essential. Deploying AI will not magically fix problems. Will Owners Care about Company Structure when Choosing a Property Management Partner? Hopefully, clients will ask deeper questions about how your business functions. How are applicants screened? How quickly does the staff handle maintenance? How and when will my residents get solutions to their problems? These are the things that help determine how efficient a property management business is. Company structure is rarely a part of the interview. Property managers trying to earn new business will want to clarify with the property owners and investors what the long-term financial goals are. That may play into how they decide what kind of company they hire. But that may not have to do with structure; it may have more to do with the perspective of the business and how they manage. What Are the Last Words from Hoffman Realty and Wilson Management Group? Here's what our guests want to leave you with: Loving what you do is a big part of success. Start off with strong systems and get those down before growing a property management company. Owning investment real estate is great. If you're starting off, keep moving forward. How can you connect with our fantastic guests today? Connect with Maryann and Andrew from Hoffman Realty at http://hoffmanrealty.com/ Connect with Stacy and David from Wilson Management Group at https://www.wilsonmanagementgroup.com/about Thanks for joining us on The Property Management Show. If you have any thoughts about what we've discussed, please contact us at Fourandhalf. var gform;gform||(document.addEventListener("gform_main_scripts_loaded",function(){gform.scriptsLoaded=!0}),document.addEventListener("gform/theme/scripts_loaded",function(){gform.themeScriptsLoaded=!0}),window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){gform.domLoaded=!0}),gform={domLoaded:!1,scriptsLoaded:!1,themeScriptsLoaded:!1,isFormEditor:()=>"function"==typeof InitializeEditor,callIfLoaded:function(o){return!(!gform.domLoaded||!gform.scriptsLoaded||!gform.themeScriptsLoaded&&!gform.isFormEditor()||(gform.isFormEditor()&&console.warn("The use of gform.initializeOnLoaded() is deprecated in the form editor context and will be removed in Gravity Forms 3.1."),o(),0))},initializeOnLoaded:function(o){gform.callIfLoaded(o)||(document.addEventListener("gform_main_scripts_loaded",()=>{gform.scriptsLoaded=!0,gform.callIfLoaded(o)}),document.addEventListener("gform/theme/scripts_loaded",()=>{gform.themeScriptsLoaded=!0,gform.callIfLoaded(o)}),window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",()=>{gform.domLoaded=!0,gform.callIfLoaded(o)}))},hooks:{action:{},filter:{}},addAction:function(o,r,e,t){gform.addHook("action",o,r,e,t)},addFilter:function(o,r,e,t){gform.addHook("filter",o,r,e,t)},doAction:function(o){gform.doHook("action",o,arguments)},applyFilters:function(o){return gform.doHook("filter",o,arguments)},removeAction:function(o,r){gform.removeHook("action",o,r)},removeFilter:function(o,r,e){gform.removeHook("filter",o,r,e)},addHook:function(o,r,e,t,n){null==gform.hooks[o][r]&&(gform.hooks[o][r]=[]);var d=gform.hooks[o][r];null==n&&(n=r+"_"+d.length),gform.hooks[o][r].push({tag:n,callable:e,priority:t=null==t?10:t})},doHook:function(r,o,e){var t;if(e=Array.prototype.slice.call(e,1),null!=gform.hooks[r][o]&&((o=gform.hooks[r][o]).sort(function(o,r){return o.priority-r.priority}),o.forEach(function(o){"function"!=typeof(t=o.callable)&&(t=window[t]),"action"==r?t.apply(null,e):e[0]=t.apply(null,e)})),"filter"==r)return e[0]},removeHook:function(o,r,t,n){var e;null!=gform.hooks[o][r]&&(e=(e=gform.hooks[o][r]).filter(function(o,r,e){return!!(null!=n&&n!=o.tag||null!=t&&t!=o.priority)}),gform.hooks[o][r]=e)}}); URLThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.First Name(Required)Last Name(Required)Email(Required) Phone(Required)Company NameComments or QuestionsThis field is hidden when viewing the formDate MM slash DD slash YYYY gform.initializeOnLoaded( function() {gformInitSpinner( 33, 'https://fourandhalf.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true );jQuery('#gform_ajax_frame_33').on('load',function(){var contents = jQuery(this).contents().find('*').html();var is_postback = contents.indexOf('GF_AJAX_POSTBACK') >= 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_wrapper_33');var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_confirmation_wrapper_33').length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf('gformRedirect(){') >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! 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In this episode of Art and Processes, Emeka Okereke sits down with Cameroonian photographer Angèle Etoundi Essamba — a defining voice in contemporary African photography whose four-decade career has centered the presence, dignity, and strength of the Black female body.Born in Douala in 1962, Angèle left Cameroon at nine years old for medical treatment in France — a rupture that shaped a lifelong meditation on displacement, belonging, and "home." The conversation moves from that culture shock, to the moment in 1980s Amsterdam when she realized the Black community around her was visually absent — and decided to put the Black woman at the center of her frame, on her own terms. They trace her major bodies of work: Série Noire, Afro Cosmos, and the Renaissance series (including The Girl with the Amber Earring), and talk about photography in the age of social media and AI, motherhood and darkroom discipline, and what freedom and dignity look like when "progress" means moving away from stagnation rather than climbing a ladder. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Support & Resources→ Support the show on Patreon→ Bayesian Modeling Course (first 2 lessons free)Our theme music is « Good Bayesian », by Baba Brinkman (feat MC Lars and Mega Ran). Check out his awesome workTakeaways:Q: What is Variational Bayesian Monte Carlo (VBMC) and how is it different from Bayesian optimization?A: VBMC borrows the machinery of Bayesian optimization but aims at a different target. Bayesian optimization fits a Gaussian process surrogate to an expensive function and uses it to hunt for the optimum. VBMC instead treats the log-posterior as the function to model, evaluates it at a few carefully chosen points, and keeps the whole reconstructed shape rather than just its peak. That gives you the full posterior, not a single best-fit value. Where MCMC might need tens of thousands to millions of evaluations, VBMC often reconstructs a good posterior approximation from a few hundred, which matters when each evaluation is slow.Q: When should you reach for PyVBMC, and when is it the wrong tool?A: Two symptoms tell you PyVBMC might help. First, speed: if a single evaluation of your log density takes on the order of a second, running MCMC over tens of thousands of evaluations becomes painful, and PyVBMC's few-hundred-evaluation budget pays off. Second, dimensionality: because it leans on a Gaussian process surrogate, it works well up to roughly 10 to 15 parameters and degrades beyond that. If your model already runs fine in Stan or PyMC, you do not need it. It shines for expensive, low-dimensional models common in science and engineering, where you are modeling a process rather than composing nice distributions.Full takeaways hereChapters:00:18:13 What is Variational Bayesian Monte Carlo (VBMC) and how does it differ from Bayesian optimization?00:30:21 When should you use VBMC versus BADS in practice?00:31:20 What is Bayesian Adaptive Direct Search (BADS) and how does its hybrid optimization strategy work?00:39:18 What are neural processes, and why are transformers a natural neural process architecture?00:45:54 What is the Amortized Conditioning Engine (ACE) and what problem does it unify?00:55:42 What do PriorGuide and the new autoregressive buffer paper solve for amortized inference?01:02:03 How does the new autoregressive buffer speed up predictions in transformer probabilistic models?01:06:11 What is Luigi Acerbi's vision for a foundation model for inference?01:09:26 What is ALINE and how does it add active data acquisition to amortized inference?01:12:43 How does Luigi Acerbi connect LLM agents, Bayesian decision theory, and the nature of intelligence?01:18:44 For a PyMC, Stan, or NumPyro user, where should you start with VBMC, BADS, or BayesFlow?Thank you to my Patrons for making this episode possible!Links from the show here
Investor Fuel Real Estate Investing Mastermind - Audio Version
In this episode, Matt Hetlage shares his journey from military discipline to real estate investing, highlighting innovative platforms like FuSeBOx RE and strategies for scaling in the real estate market. Discover how his operational mindset drives success and how he's bridging traditional and modern real estate solutions. Professional Real Estate Investors - How we can help you: Investor Fuel Mastermind: Learn more about the Investor Fuel Mastermind, including 100% deal financing, massive discounts from vendors and sponsors you're already using, our world class community of over 150 members, and SO much more here: http://www.investorfuel.com/apply Investor Machine Marketing Partnership: Are you looking for consistent, high quality lead generation? Investor Machine is America's #1 lead generation service professional investors. Investor Machine provides true 'white glove' support to help you build the perfect marketing plan, then we'll execute it for you…talking and working together on an ongoing basis to help you hit YOUR goals! Learn more here: http://www.investormachine.com Coaching with Mike Hambright: Interested in 1 on 1 coaching with Mike Hambright? Mike coaches entrepreneurs looking to level up, build coaching or service based businesses (Mike runs multiple 7 and 8 figure a year businesses), building a coaching program and more. Learn more here: https://investorfuel.com/coachingwithmike Attend a Vacation/Mastermind Retreat with Mike Hambright: Interested in joining a "mini-mastermind" with Mike and his private clients on an upcoming "Retreat", either at locations like Cabo San Lucas, Napa, Park City ski trip, Yellowstone, or even at Mike's East Texas "Big H Ranch"? Learn more here: http://www.investorfuel.com/retreat Property Insurance: Join the largest and most investor friendly property insurance provider in 2 minutes. Free to join, and insure all your flips and rentals within minutes! There is NO easier insurance provider on the planet (turn insurance on or off in 1 minute without talking to anyone!), and there's no 15-30% agent mark up through this platform! Register here: https://myinvestorinsurance.com/ New Real Estate Investors - How we can work together: Investor Fuel Club (Coaching and Deal Partner Community): Looking to kickstart your real estate investing career? Join our one of a kind Coaching Community, Investor Fuel Club, where you'll get trained by some of the best real estate investors in America, and partner with them on deals! You don't need $ for deals…we'll partner with you and hold your hand along the way! Learn More here: http://www.investorfuel.com/club —--------------------
16 Jul 2026. Dubai’s GDRFA issued more than one million new residence permits and 66,000 Golden Visas in the first half of 2026. We discuss what does that tell us about the emirate’s ability to attract talent, investors and businesses, and what could it mean for economic growth. Plus, if conflict is driving oil higher, why isn’t gold behaving like a traditional safe haven? We ask Marex. And the UN’s maritime body has raised concerns over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. We discuss the impact on global trade and shipping with maritime security expert Christopher Long.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Send us Fan MailWhy do nonprofits lose momentum after creating an inspiring vision or strategic plan? Doug Paul, Founder and CEO of Impact Co., explains how nonprofit operational systems, leadership clarity, performance measures, and consistent workplace rhythms turn ambition into measurable results.After working with approximately 1,300 nonprofit organizations, Doug and his colleagues studied the organizations that were consistently succeeding. They identified eight connected areas that distinguished them: vision, strategy, development, metrics, culture, people, systems, and rhythms.The central lesson is direct: “Nonprofits don't rise to the level of their vision. They fall to the level of their systems.”Doug explains why organizations can have memorable mission statements and well-designed strategic plans yet still miss deadlines, struggle with accountability, operate reactively, and fail to follow through. These are not always motivation problems. Often, they are evidence of systems that unintentionally produce last-minute scrambles and workplace frustration.The conversation also examines why business frameworks cannot simply be dropped into nonprofit organizations without adaptation. Systems designed primarily to create profit may not fully support organizations whose ultimate outcome is mission impact.Doug outlines how successful nonprofits create an attainable 3 to 5 year vision, distinguish strategy from goals, build a modern revenue playbook, track both lead and lag measures, align donors and stakeholders, and document repeatable processes. He also shares that organizations intentional about culture-building can experience a 43% increase in productivity!!Strong systems do not remove the human element. They help people succeed. As Doug explains, “I just don't think heart and passion can bridge that gap.”This episode offers nonprofit executives, managers, fundraisers, and board members a clearer way to diagnose stalled momentum—and begin releasing the organizational brakes.Key Takeaways:Define an attainable three-to-five-year vision rather than relying only on a distant aspirational goal.Separate strategy from goals and connect strategy to a specific winning action plan.Track lead measures early enough to influence lagging organizational results.Treat workplace culture as a measurable leadership discipline, not an accidental outcome.Align staff, donors, board members, executives, and community stakeholders around one direction.Build documented processes and calendar rhythms that repeatedly produce mission outcomes.00:00:00 Why Nonprofits Lose Momentum00:00:46 Building Built for Impact Through Collaboration00:02:17 The Gap Between Mission, Operations, and Results00:04:20 When Constant Firefighting Becomes the System00:05:31 Why Business Frameworks May Fail Nonprofits00:07:15 Passion Cannot Replace Operational Capacity00:10:11 Lessons From 1,300 Nonprofit Organizations00:11:27 Eight Drivers of Nonprofit Success00:12:27 Lead Measures, Lag Measures, and Better Decisions00:13:27 Culture Building and the 43% Productivity Increase00:15:36 Aligning People, Processes, and Stakeholders00:17:31 Using Organizational Rhythms to Drive Impact00:18:44 Creating a Nonprofit Performance Flywheel00:20:17 Building an Organizational Operating System00:21:52 Why Leadership Clarity Is a Survival Skill00:24:17 Making Tough Decisions Without Leading Alone00:25:57 Moving From Command-and-Control to CollaborationFind us Live daily on YouTube!Find us Live daily on LinkedIn!Find us Live daily on X: @Nonprofit_ShowOur national co-hosts and amazing guests discuss management, money and missions of nonprofits! 12:30pm ET 11:30am CT 10:30am MT 9:30am PTSend us your ideas for Show Guests or Topics: HelpDesk@AmericanNonprofitAcademy.comVisit us on the web:The Nonprofit Show
Want to Start or Grow a Successful Business? Schedule a FREE 13-Point Assessment with Clay Clark Today At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com Join Clay Clark's Thrivetime Show Business Workshop!!! Learn Branding, Marketing, SEO, Sales, Workflow Design, Accounting & More. **Request Tickets & See Testimonials At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com **Request Tickets Via Text At (918) 851-0102 See the Thousands of Success Stories and Millionaires That Clay Clark Has Helped to Produce HERE: https://www.thrivetimeshow.com/testimonials/ Download A Millionaire's Guide to Become Sustainably Rich: A Step-by-Step Guide to Become a Successful Money-Generating and Time-Freedom Creating Business HERE: www.ThrivetimeShow.com/Millionaire See Thousands of Case Studies Today HERE: www.thrivetimeshow.com/does-it-work/
Most companies are "sprinkling AI" onto old processes when the real wins come from throwing the process in the garbage and rebuilding it. In this episode of Content Amplified, Paul Schmidt, VP of AI and Innovation at SmartBug Media, an elite HubSpot agency partner, maps the AI adoption bell curve he sees across the thousand-plus companies SmartBug has worked with: early adopters who figured it out on their own, a chunky middle leaning on embedded features like auto-written subject lines, and laggards in litigious industries like finance and healthcare. Paul shares the practical playbook for moving up the curve: 30-minute audits with department leaders to surface bottlenecks and mundane processes, process mapping as the prerequisite for real AI maturity ("you're going to need a process for mapping processes"), and building agents early just to learn what they can and cannot do. He also explains how his roughly 200-person org went from nobody sharing AI use cases, out of fear of getting in trouble, to about five shared in Slack every day. If you want a clear picture of where your team sits on the AI curve and the next step to take, this episode is your map.About PaulPaul Schmidt is the VP of AI and Innovation at SmartBug Media, one of the few elite HubSpot agency partners in the world. In his role he oversees AI fluency and adoption for the SmartBug team, builds internal agents and tools that streamline the agency's processes, and develops new AI service offerings for clients. He has spent more than a decade in consulting, working directly with clients on CRM onboarding, growing their marketing teams, and building pipeline through marketing campaigns. If it touches the HubSpot ecosystem, Paul is your go-to guy.Show NotesConnect with Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drumming/Paul's website: paulschmidt.comText us what you think about this episode!
Hour one of DJ & PK for July 8, 2026: Kalani Sitake, BYU Football head coach Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State Football head coach Rich Clark, College Football Playoff Executive Director
Accounts receivable is still more manual than it should be, with teams juggling inconsistent payment data, slow processes, and limited visibility into what's actually coming in. In this episode, Jamie Delmedico talks through why reconciliation takes so long, where ERP systems fall short, and how AI is starting to change the way AR teams manage cash flow. For CFOs, finance leaders, and AR teams, it's a practical guide to reducing DSO, improving visibility, and removing unnecessary complexity from the process.
Join Rabbi Joey Rosenfeld as he guides us through the world and major works of Kabbalah, Hasidic masters, and Jewish philosophy, shedding light on the inner life of the soul. To learn more, visit JoeyRosenfeld.com
Fitness mit M.A.R.K. — Dein Nackt Gut Aussehen Podcast übers Abnehmen, Muskelaufbau und Motivation
Weniger als vier von 100. So wenige gingen ein Jahr später noch ins Fitnessstudio. Und das lag nicht daran, dass sie nicht wollten.Fitness-Gewohnheiten – ob gesundes Essen, Supplement-Einnahme oder regelmäßiges Training – spielen neurobiologisch in einer eigenen Liga. Am Anfang arbeitet Dein Gehirn gegen Dich. Am Ende dieser Folge weißt Du, warum, und mit welchen drei Strategien Du trotzdem dranbleibst.Du erfährst:Warum sich die ersten Wochen wie ein Kampf anfühlen, und wann sich das drehtWarum die „21-Tage-Regel“ nicht funktioniert – und wie lange Du wirklich brauchst3 simple Strategien, die in Studien zu >50% häufigerem Training führen.Los geht's. Und dann: dranbleiben.____________*WERBUNG: Infos zum Werbepartner dieser Folge und allen weiteren Werbepartnern findest Du hier.
Jackie is BACK! I knew I could find her so we could talk about the Harlan Coben adaptation of I Will Find You. What's true, night terrors, betrayal, birth marks, the Mandella effect and MUCH more!Email us: KillerFunPodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Facebook: fb.me/KillerFunPodcastAll the Tweets, er, POSTS: https://x.com/KillerFunPodInstagram: killerfunpodcast
Want to Start or Grow a Successful Business? Schedule a FREE 13-Point Assessment with Clay Clark Today At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com Join Clay Clark's Thrivetime Show Business Workshop!!! Learn Branding, Marketing, SEO, Sales, Workflow Design, Accounting & More. **Request Tickets & See Testimonials At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com **Request Tickets Via Text At (918) 851-0102 See the Thousands of Success Stories and Millionaires That Clay Clark Has Helped to Produce HERE: https://www.thrivetimeshow.com/testimonials/ Download A Millionaire's Guide to Become Sustainably Rich: A Step-by-Step Guide to Become a Successful Money-Generating and Time-Freedom Creating Business HERE: www.ThrivetimeShow.com/Millionaire See Thousands of Case Studies Today HERE: www.thrivetimeshow.com/does-it-work/
Pat Fauquet is the next stop onThe Road to Macstock is a conversation about her session, “Pills, Processes, and Procedures,” explaining how Apple devices can help manage medications, appointments, research, and communication with doctors. Drawing from years of health challenges and tech experience, she highlights the Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and Mac as practical tools for personal advocacy, caregiving, and preparedness. This might be the most important session this year. MacVoices is supported by the new MacVoices Merch Store, featuring Comfort Colors t-shirts and sweatshirts, caps, mugs, stickers, and even more items coming. Check it out at store.macvoices.com. Show Notes: Chapters: 00:44 Introducing Pat Fauquet01:41 Pills, Processes, and Procedures02:16 Personal Health Challenges and Medical Tracking03:25 Becoming Your Own Medical Advocate04:06 Using Apple Devices to Manage Health Information07:59 Medication, Research, and Doctor Communication08:43 Doctors Recommending Apple Watch09:56 Apple Watch Alert Leads to a Pacemaker13:01 Pat's Apple Community and Technical Background16:23 Why the Session Matters at Any Age Links: Macstock Conferencehttp://macstockconference.comPat's Discount Code: PATFAUQUET 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
Nadeem Farooq Paracha (NFP) is a prominent Pakistani journalist, author, cultural critic, satirist, and historian. A senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper, he is best known for his in-depth analysis of Pakistan's social, political, and cultural history. He is also an acclaimed author with multiple best-selling books on Pakistan's historyThe Pakistan Experience is an independently produced podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan through conversations. Please consider supporting us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperienceTo support the channel:Jazzcash/Easypaisa - 0325 -2982912Patreon.com/thepakistanexperienceAnd Please stay in touch:https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperiencehttps://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperienceThe podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. Instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikhFacebook.com/Shehzadghias/Twitter.com/shehzad89Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC44l9XMwecN5nSgIF2Dvivg/joinChapters0:00 Introduction1:14 Iran, Ideology. Religion and Nationalism 13:35 Pakistan's Foreign Policy, Social Media and Pragmatism25:30 Limits of Pragmatism, War and Nukes33:50 National Security, Human Rights and Balochistan40:10 Youthtubers, Parallel Realities and the Cult49:28 Hybrid Regime vs Democracy1:06:00 PTI, The Left and Imran Khan followers1:23:00 Democracy, Establishment, Processes and Personalities1:31:00 Dawn, Journalism and Bhutto1:48:40 Western Media and How the world has been exposed1:57:47 Old people Inquilaab2:03:00 Cricket2:28:00 Audience Questions
Cornelius was devout... but he was not saved. It must have taken courage for the Roman Centurion to abandon the numerous gods of his nation. He became devoted to the one true God. If anyone could have claimed righteousness by his own merits, it was Cornelius. But he needed to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus, like everyone else. It was a stretch for Peter to even enter his home, but what happened in that living room changed the world. Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS06252026_0.mp3Scripture References: Acts 10-11
Want to Start or Grow a Successful Business? Schedule a FREE 13-Point Assessment with Clay Clark Today At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com Join Clay Clark's Thrivetime Show Business Workshop!!! Learn Branding, Marketing, SEO, Sales, Workflow Design, Accounting & More. **Request Tickets & See Testimonials At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com **Request Tickets Via Text At (918) 851-0102 See the Thousands of Success Stories and Millionaires That Clay Clark Has Helped to Produce HERE: https://www.thrivetimeshow.com/testimonials/ Download A Millionaire's Guide to Become Sustainably Rich: A Step-by-Step Guide to Become a Successful Money-Generating and Time-Freedom Creating Business HERE: www.ThrivetimeShow.com/Millionaire See Thousands of Case Studies Today HERE: www.thrivetimeshow.com/does-it-work/
Are you letting AI decide what you share with your clients and audience? Are you trusting artificial intelligence to represent your unique voice and judgment? In this episode I ask whether you're using AI as a tool—or handing over your creativity and critical thinking. I'll share why it's essential to review, revise, and take true ownership of everything that represents your business, and how you can use AI to help brainstorm and generate ideas without losing your personal touch.Listen to this new 9-minute episode for ways to use AI to support your business—without ever letting it replace your judgment or your voice.If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com Please be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review (thanks, it really does make a difference). If you want to get notifications of new episodes and upcoming workshops and webinars, you can sign up at www.ConnectWithAlanBerg.com View the full transcript on Alan's site: https://alanberg.com/blog/Are you going to Wedding MBA? Use the promo code - Alan - to save $20 off your tickets, at www.WeddingMBA.com And don't worry, if you can't use your tickets this year, they're transferrable or you can hold them to use next year. I'm Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you'd like to suggest other topics for "The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast" please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks. Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site: Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/weddingbusinesssolutions YouTube: www.WeddingBusinessSolutionsPodcast.tv Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sGsuB8 Stitcher: http://bit.ly/wbsstitcher Google Podcast: http://bit.ly/wbsgoogle iHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/31C9Mic Pandora: http://bit.ly/wbspandora ©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com
Preaching to Gentiles - is that even kosher?! The kosher dietary laws became a symbol for something much more important, in Acts 10. That's where Peter gets that vision of a sheet lowered from heaven, full of unclean animals. He learned that "clean" and "unclean" is a distinction that God can un-make. And the unclean pagan masses were about to meet the cleansing word of the gospel. Here's Jim to begin a sermon called, Proud Peter Processes Pork. Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS06242026_0.mp3Scripture References: Acts 10-11
Grant Christopher, owner of Christopher Equipment, joins the episode to discuss his journey in business expansion and leadership. He shares insights on automating the sales process and the transition of ownership from father to son, highlighting the challenges and strategies involved. The episode delves into the implementation of EOS for business structure, managing key person risk, and the importance of documentation and automation. Grant emphasizes the role of technology, utilizing AI for efficiency, and investments like SmartEquip to enhance operations. He reflects on the value of mentors, offers advice to his younger self, and shares his thoughts on balancing people, processes, and technology for business growth.
Richard McGirr talks about how most of us are wasting hours on repetitive, error-prone tasks that could be automated. If only we knew how to harness the power of AI skills. Richard McGirr reveals how he transformed a 20-hour monthly process into an effortless, minutes-long workflow using cutting-edge AI techniques. Whether you're in real estate, finance, or any field drowning in manual work, this episode shows you how to unlock unprecedented productivity and precision without coding or hiring expensive developers. Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit https://malabarhillcapital.com/ for more info. Podcast production done by Outlier Audio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Play audio-only episode | Play on YouTube | Play on Spotify Episode Summary Preparing for the PMP exam means developing the ability to make sound decisions under pressure, not simply recalling definitions from a textbook. In this lesson, drawn directly from the PM PrepCast PMP exam prep course and PrepCast PMP Exam Simulator, Cornelius Fichtner walks through all six project management principles from the PMBOK Guide 8th Edition and shows exactly how to recognize and apply them when facing the kind of ambiguous, scenario-based questions that appear on the actual exam. Each principle gets its own sample question from the PrepCast PMP Exam Simulator, a step-by-step walkthrough of why the wrong answers are wrong, and a second practice question so listeners can immediately test what they have learned. The episode covers all six principles in sequence: Adopt a Holistic View, Focus on Value, Embed Quality into Processes and Deliverables, Be an Accountable Leader, Integrate Sustainability Within All Project Areas, and Build an Empowered Culture. Each principle is taught not as a concept to memorize but as a mindset to recognize and apply, because the exam consistently rewards situational judgment over terminology.
The Systematized Executive: Engineering Operational Freedom with Heather HargroveIn a recent episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Podcast, host Josh Elledge sat down with Heather Hargrove, an independent consultant and the founder of Grove, to dissect the backend operational failures that silently trap high-performing business owners in a state of perpetual exhaustion. Heather, a decorated military veteran who channels structured logistics and extreme resilience into her corporate strategy, specializes in auditing chaotic business infrastructure and transforming it into a self-sustaining asset. This conversation provides an essential operational blueprint for mid-market founders and enterprise leaders who are ready to eliminate administrative bottlenecks, design objective business dashboards, and transition away from a founder-dependent model to reclaim true lifestyle freedom.The Operational Backbone: Designing Resilient Workflow Frameworks Past Technical ToolsThe most widespread mistake made by scaling business owners is treating software purchases or rapid automation as a shortcut to corporate efficiency. Heather Hargrove points out that technology is merely a delivery mechanism; if an organization automates a broken, undocumented process, it only succeeds in accelerating its operational chaos and confusing its internal workforce. True structural scale is achieved by mapping out the "how" of daily operations—explicitly documenting communication flows, establishing ironclad Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and defining clear role ownership across all management tiers. When an enterprise replaces ad-hoc firefighting with centralized, living processes, it removes the founder as the primary operational bottleneck, liberating executive cognitive capacity to focus entirely on high-yield, long-term valuation strategy.Transitioning an organization out of administrative friction also requires a highly disciplined commitment to data visualization and clear team feedback loops. Many business leaders rely heavily on reactive financial statements or subjective intuition to make critical strategic decisions, which often masks creeping operational inefficiencies until lines begin to break. Real scalability is unlocked when an enterprise implements simple, real-time data dashboards to track predictive indicators, such as new lead velocity, active conversion metrics, and client engagement rates. These empirical insights empower management teams to operate with complete autonomy, resolving bottlenecks on the frontline long before they require corporate intervention. This structural framework completely eliminates the typical 3 a.m. executive anxiety, building an agile corporate engine that scales predictably without demanding the founder's daily physical presence.Furthermore, constructing a truly resilient enterprise demands that corporate leaders weave personal health advocacy, community support, and intentional boundaries directly into the fabric of their executive habits. Drawing from her intense military background and personal health triumphs, Heather highlights that an organization's ultimate capacity is tightly bound to the long-term well-being of its human capital. When a founder uses clear operational guardrails to protect their own time, they establish an internal company culture that rejects toxic hustle structures and respects natural human limits. By standardizing backend workflows and dedicating strategic resources to community initiatives—such as her pro-bono work with Project Vets—executives ensure their business serves their life rather than consuming it, creating a lasting professional legacy built on stability and premium market authority.About Heather HargroveHeather Hargrove is an independent operations consultant, a seasoned corporate systems strategist, and the founder of Grove. Leveraging a disciplined background in military logistics alongside years of high-level management consulting, Heather specializes in auditing structural gaps to help founders transition from reactive operators into visionary CEOs. She is a passionate advocate for executive resilience and active community volunteer, providing specialized advisory services to help veteran-led organizations streamline their corporate infrastructure.About GroveGrove is a premier operational development consultancy and systems engineering firm that provides custom workflow auditing, SOP design, and dashboard optimization for mid-market businesses. The consultancy eliminates administrative debt by mapping internal communication structures, simplifying corporate tech stacks, and introducing cross-functional accountability frameworks. Through proprietary diagnostic evaluations like The Inside Look, Grove enables companies to achieve predictable growth, eliminate founder dependency, and build self-sustaining operational assets.Links Mentioned in This EpisodeHeather Hargrove Official Website: heatherhargrove.comHeather Hargrove on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/theheatherhargroveKey Episode HighlightsThe Software Fallacy: Understanding why buying new tools before documenting your manual workflows introduces severe administrative debt.The Architecture of SOPs: Crafting simple, repeatable Standard Operating Procedures and Loom video pipelines to ensure flawless employee onboarding.Predictive Metric Dashboards: Transitioning away from reactive accounting data to build real-time visual charts that measure lead velocity and client retention.The Founder Extraction Strategy: Implementing high-accountability feedback loops that allow internal teams to operate independently without micromanagement.The Resilience Mandate: Applying military-grade operational discipline and personal health advocacy to protect executive focus and corporate long-term growth.ConclusionThe conversation with Heather Hargrove reinforces that operational excellence is a direct downstream result of intentional structure, not exhaustive manual hustle. By auditing current processes, standardizing data-driven dashboards, and prioritizing clear human communication over complex software, business leaders can transform a chaotic setup into a highly structured, self-sustaining corporate asset.More from The Thoughtful Entrepreneur
I just sat my first open book exam, the format where you’re allowed to bring your notes. You can even bring the physical textbook if you want, a testing format that was totally new to me. Should be easy, right? That’s what your tricky examiners want you to think. And I know not to fall for it. I have a PhD in Humanities, two MA degrees and taught at three universities around the world. During my years of teaching, I wrote, administered and graded more exams and assignments than I can count. Now, back in school as I near my 50s, I’m working on a second Bachelor’s degree. This time in law so I can develop an exact understanding for what law memorization is all about. For my first exam, I scored “High Distinction.” That’s the top grade here in Australia. But here’s something to consider that probably no one else will tell you about open book exams: There was one question I got wrong. And it wasn’t even the one I thought I’d missed. This “error” suggests that having the textbook wouldn’t have saved me even if I’d brought it with me. No, the problem was caused by the open book format itself. In this experience-based guide, I’ll show you what this kind of exam actually tests, and how to prepare properly. That way you can avoid the same recycled study advice just about everyone else gives online. https://youtu.be/_orag2IBwbA What an Open Book Exam Actually Tests (It Isn’t What Most Guides Tell You) First, I have to tell you that I was initially surprised that open book testing exists in law school at all. Especially since to pay for my earlier university studies I took some high-stakes exams for jobs I worked to help pay my tuition at York University. For example, I worked as a store detective and having open book testing for the required security guard license would have been absurd. No employer wants a guard who needs to flip through a textbook to determine whether or not they’ve witnessed a crime, after all. But now that I’ve taken my first exam of this type, I’m fascinated and did some research on why such tests are administered in the first place. In this study, researchers Ming-Yin Chan and Kwok-Wai Mui reveal that open book examinations have existed since at least the 1930s. Using my university library access, I found one such early study in the Journal of Higher Education from March, 1934. As John and Ruth Stalnaker argue in Open-Book Examinations, such testing has many positives: Emphasis falls on the course objectives Students utilize facts to solve problems Inference skills are exercised More time tends to be spent by students on preparation rather than cramming They predict that these kinds of tests will be more widely used in the future and encourage more research into the best kinds of questions suited to this format. Are the questions suitable to the format of studying law? Now that I’ve sat for a couple, I think so. After all, law is the field where getting even just one section number wrong could change the outcome of a case. That means this kind of testing is only partially about testing recall. It’s more about determining whether you can read with precision and work with the exact information as worded on a variety of source materials while the clock is ticking. Twenty Questions, Sixty Minutes, and No Authentic Way to “Look Things Up” So there I was at my laptop, the entire device reduced to just one screen by a lockdown browser called Respondus. My first exam was for a course called “Legal Institutions and Processes.” It is heavy on history and legislation. The first few weeks involved a ton of dense reading from multiple textbooks and a legal dictionary. This is the kind of reading I really haven’t done since I changed my major from Political Science to English during the second year of my first undergraduate degree. Although I had dreamed at my naive young age of one day becoming the Prime Minister of Canada, I changed my mind that year after interviewing the premier of British Columbia for the student newspaper. He clearly lied in response to my question and I determined right then that I was never going to be anything like him. Anyhow, do the math with me. Twenty questions during an hour-long exam gives you three minutes per question. During that time, you need to Read each question carefully Check your answers Fight off all kinds of urges and fidgety feelings that arise when you’re trapped And due to how the lockdown browser software works, I was literally trapped. The rules dictated that I could not leave the computer until I ended the session or the time ran out. The Practical Reality of Flipping Through Notes If you’ve never sat for an exam like this, ask yourself: How much time can you really afford to spend flipping through fifty pages of notes looking for an answer you don’t know? There’s no cookie-cutter answer here, but without preparation, the answer may as well be “zero.” The research agrees. In a 2024 study involving 112 open book and 83 closed book cognitive psychology students, the open book group scored higher. However, they also took longer to finish their exams. One way to interpret these research findings is that having access to your textbook increases your accuracy. But at what price in a world where time is your scarcest resource? How Long Did I Spend? As a time-poor entrepreneur with lots of polymathic projects on the go, I finished my first open book test in approximately thirty minutes. But needing the time to do other things was only part of the reason. A lot of the questions I was able to answer simply by using critical thinking, a skill I taught at university as a professor myself for four years. If you’re interested, here’s a list of my favorite critical thinking books. But the real reason I finished early is because I took the exam without a textbook. And that means for me, it wasn’t an open book situation at all. At least not in the normal sense. Here’s what I mean: My Notes-Only Experiment: Testing Digital Amnesia Under Exam Conditions Years ago, I wrote about a condition the Kaspersky Lab researchers called “digital amnesia.” In brief, your mind blanks out when trying to access information because you’ve stored it on a device you trust instead of in your head. Back then, I argued that every time you reach for a search engine instead of pausing to ask your own memory first, you deskill it. This is not unlike the way your muscles droop when you stop performing pushups. Here’s my original digital amnesia article if you’re interested. Anyhow, I don’t know if I’ll take more advanced law school courses without buying the physical textbooks. But for this exam, I took it as my chance to run a more high-stakes experiment with digital amnesia than I’d ever tried before. Did I have to experiment under proctored conditions, with a grade attached? Of course. Because real test conditions matter. And all the more so in the age of Artificial Intelligence, which challenges many aspects of mind and memory as I’ve previously written about in the context of learning. Let me take you a bit deeper behind the scenes. Because if you know my work with the Magnetic Memory Method, you’ve probably seen me with books frequently. And it can be confusing to suddenly hear that I decided to study 100% online. Why I Refused to Buy the Course Textbooks on Purpose Two reasons. First, I’ve said it on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast for years: I don’t memorize well from screens. In fact, 3x USA memory champion John Graham and I have talked about this “problem” of mine on more than one of our podcast conversations. I’m not alone with this problem. Some researchers even have a name for people who forget what they read from digital devices: the screen inferiority effect. Pablo Delgado and his research team probably gave away the best advice about how to handle the fact that we forget what we read from screens. They gave the solution away in the title of their 2018 Educational Research Review meta-analysis, “Don’t throw away your printed books.” Don’t throw print away indeed. Even some of the most pro-digital people I know follow this advice. For example, Andrew Mayne, host of the OpenAI podcast has been on my podcast to talk about how and why he still uses print journals and physical notebooks as part of training his memory. Second, I made this choice to dimensionalize my work on Peter of Ravenna, the 15th-century jurist who wrote about his legendary memory techniques. In my imagination, he wouldn’t have bought the textbooks either. All of which is to say that I knew what I was getting into when I made the deliberate choice to forgo ordering any of the physical textbooks for my first trimester of law school. But when I learned that my first test settings were going to be open book? I immediately had to reconsider my approach. And handle a frustration I faced with a contradiction in terms. The Unprintable Textbook Problem The assigned textbook, Laying Down the Law, is available through the university’s online library. But they’ve offered it in a digital format that makes printing individual chapters impossible. This means that a student who can’t afford the print edition, or doesn’t want to study from print, has exactly one permitted way to use the textbook: effective note taking. Could I have opened the library copy on a second computer during the exam? Technically, perhaps. But the rules make clear that accessing any secondary device counts as cheating. So I showed up to the test prepared with my handwritten textbook notes instead. I also prepared my own version of the lecture slides to make sure I could refer to them if needed. This required a couple of steps: Download them from the online course platform Upload them into Google Slides Export them as text files Edit the text into useful notes in a Google Doc Supplement the notes with my own observations Print them out Study them further from the printout These steps took time. But I wound up with much more understandable notes as a result. The notes not only fused the lecture content with the readings. I also got an additional review of the material. An Absurd Study Requirement Still, part of my mind couldn’t let go of the absurdity of the situation. I was preparing for an open book exam where the book is locked behind a screen you’re not allowed to open. Students willing to spend the money get to bring the textbook. Anyone else has to bring whatever they managed to copy out by hand. This is not a level testing field. It’s a paywall wearing an academic gown. In my case, the absurdity of this barrier served my learning experiment. But I had a choice. Plenty of students don’t. Think First, Verify Second: How I Actually Used My Notes So how did my handwritten notes and transformed notes based on the slides perform against the clock? At first, I didn’t use the notes at all. Instead, I initially answered every question by thinking first. Then I went over everything a minimum of three times, checking my answers for accuracy against the notes. In other words, I used my notes as a verification instrument, letting the answers come first from my memory. Now that you know how my exam went, let me consolidate everything into some tips for your own open book test. How to Prepare for Your First Open Book Exam: My Best Tips My study suggestions break down into practical strategies and mindset management. You really can’t have one without the other because unexpected things can and do happen no matter how prepared you come to a test. Build a Reading “Moat” Well In Advance Even before I knew about the assignment structure and course exams, I started reading the instant I had access to the course area. But not just the textbook. I made ample use of the included dictionary and memorized new terms using this tried and true vocabulary memorization process. To supplement the reading, I also found as many YouTube channels and podcasts about Australian law as I could. I listened intensely and watched as many hours of video tutorials as possible. Sometimes these audio and video supplements went quite ahead of the reading. So I took care to balance going too far afield of the requirements against making sure I was going through additional material related to legal institutions. Placing guardrails on myself required vigilant self-monitoring and discipline, but I wound up with a “moat” around the core reading. In other words, my core reading was surrounded by related multi-media study. How to Pass an Open Book Exam? Complete All the Readings & Every Exercise Often students ask me about how to find the most important details in their study materials. As I discussed in my tutorial on finding the main points in books and articles, many books include summaries and conclusions. And some include dedicated exercises. That was the case with Laying Down the Law. The instructor also included some additional exercises, and so I completed both. And this is exactly what you need to do too. Be a completist. I know it is tempting to search for hacks of every kind under the sun. But in reality, the point of studying something is to become an expert in that topic. Some experts certainly do skim and scan, but that doesn’t mean you should. Frankly, I found both the readings and the exercises for my first exam a bit boring. But I went through them anyway to help develop my understanding of the material. And to go beyond the call of duty so that later on, I will know I at least tried my best. How to Pass an Open Book Test with Help from AI As I discussed in my video tutorial on studying complex topics, I wrote an AI prompt to spar with and test my answers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfL5ygsYpyg The prompt is called A.I.M. and you’re welcome to grab it below if you want to give this GPT I trained for myself a try with your study material. Here’s an important point: Getting your reading down early and supplementing it with additional material enriches how you complete your exercises. Memorize Anyway, Even If You Have Textbook Access & Keep Flawless Notes One thing I kept hearing early on were sentiments like, “No one cares if you can remember legal Latin.” I took this point into consideration, but memorized the phrases I came across anyway. It turns out one Latin phrase did show up on the quiz. If I hadn’t memorized it, I would have been underprepared (especially since I did not have the textbook with me). Memorization of terms, dates, important names, sections and other minutiae related to your studies might not prove valuable in the end. But more practice with a variety of memory training techniques will provide many benefits. The core techniques I used for this part of the study process were: Memory Palaces Pegword method PAO System Spaced repetition Although it can take a while to learn and practice these mnemonic devices, it is well worth having them on your side. Organize & Supplement Your Notes Effectively I actually got the idea to print out the slides and then rearrange them from my friend Nick. At first, I thought it might be a waste of time. I already faced the problem of forgetting more from digital exposure. But as I edited the slides in a Google document, I realized that the additional exposure involved looking at the information from a unique perspective. While changing the format and organizing them into a structure I better understood, I was processing the information again. I wouldn’t call this form of learning either deep or shallow. It was simply an integrative step that enabled further questioning after I printed out the notes. And I found some initial study exercises in the notes that I later answered with a red pen after doing further research. For example, I extended my understanding of the “Cab-Rank rule” as you see here: Additionally, I took a moment to set up the footer area. As you can see in the example, this simple trick indicates: To which lecture slide the notes belong The page number The total number of pages for this set of notes Although I felt a bit silly, and perhaps more like a secretary than a student doing this, the rewards were obvious as I was doing it. Knowing that each set of notes was full and completed reduced my test anxiety. And because the pages were numbered and using the footer showed me at a glance that I wasn’t missing anything, I spared myself any and all mystery about the status of my notes during the testing hour. This is not a small point because anxiety-induced memory loss is a real problem. Seriously. I can imagine nothing worse than my mind seizing up with worry that a page of notes had gone missing. Especially when the rules of the test required that I remain in front of the computer throughout. Finally, I bound each set of notes together with a simple clip from the stationery store. Again, it felt a bit secretarial, but it was really useful in making sure all of my notes were organized. I did the same with my handwritten notes. In this case, my handwritten notes were based entirely on key terms I thought would be important for the exam. What I found interesting is that most of what I had written out from the online textbook was the same as on the lecture slides. For more tips on dealing with your reading, check out how to take notes from a textbook. Follow up with my how to memorize a textbook training for what to do with your notes once you’ve got them. Take Deliberately Timed Breaks While Studying Provided you’ve started reading early and expanded your reading to include a variety of sources, it’s important to rest. Frankly, taking breaks is a weakness of mine. I love to plow forward. But I made myself take entire days off leading up to the exam where I didn’t read anything related to the exam. However, I did engage in reflective thinking about my studies. This simple activity while taking time off helps with memory formation and comprehension. Verify Your Sources Before Exam Day As a final step, I went through everything again the day before the exam. This included checking the file names of all my notes and various citations. Plus, there were various names and dates that I had memorized that were not on my notes. So I checked those, such as for the Mabo decision, an important legal case in Australia. Although I knew it was unlikely that a multiple choice question was going to confirm that I knew Mabo’s first name was Eddie, I checked my memory of the fact anyway. This simple verification step not only made sure that other details of the case were clear to me. It’s also just fun to check for accuracy. For Online Open Book Exams, Test All Software In Advance Since I’m a remote student, I not only made sure I completed installing the Respondus software days in advance of the exam. I also made sure all my software was up to date, from the browser to the operating system. Not only is regularly updating software a best practice. Knowing that everything is operational helps reduce exam anxiety. Control Your Mind While the Clock is Ticking Although I finished the exam quickly, it’s not that time wasn’t on my mind. In fact, it was raining hard and I hadn’t slept well. Both of these factors injected no small amount of misery into my mind. In my case, I kept thinking about Peter of Ravenna and how disappointed he would be. There wasn’t much room for memory techniques to shine during the exam experience. Then I started doubting that law school was such a great idea after all. As soon as I caught myself doing that, I started running some of the mantras I memorized prior to writing The Victorious Mind. Having this simple ritual focused my mind back on the task at hand by blowing the distracting thoughts away. If mind wandering causes you issues while sitting for exams, it could be worth looking into various mental routines you can practice. This complete guide contains multiple concentration meditations you might find useful as a learner. Why Do Teachers Give Open Book Exams? Although I passed with High Distinction, my first exam of this type felt alienating. I can’t quite put my finger on what bothers me about it. But to use a critical thinking tactic, I’ll try to steelman the format by way of understanding the reason behind the testing scheme. It’s clear that this kind of test is less about knowledge and more about how detail-oriented the student is. I also suspect that the reason the teacher gave an open book exam is twofold: One: Anti-Guessing Design The open book format means that you will actually go through your learning material. There’s no incentive to guess when you can look at your study sources, leading to at least one more pass through the material. Two: Blended Testing This exam was only part of the grading for the course. I still need to give an oral presentation and submit an essay. By having an initial exam with the anti-guessing design optimized to generate an additional review of the study material, it does set the stage for stronger performance. Summing up: A Plan for Your First Open Book Exam Because time is always in short supply, I suggest that you: Start reading as soon as possible, ideally before the course even begins. Take extensive notes and give yourself time to verify them. Complete all of the available practice questions. Use ChatGPT as a sparring partner, not as a source of answers. Schedule plenty of breaks. If you’re a remote student, check that all of your software is updated. If you would like access to the sparring partner I created for myself, it is called A.I.M. As a study prompt, it’s simple and direct. But I found that it helped me identify a number of blind spots in my thinking. Click or tap the image below to claim it: I don’t know what Peter of Ravenna would have to say about exams like this. But in my experience, the format rewards the prepared mind and the precise reader. I expect my memory will be tested in future law courses and because of the amount of review this kind of testing promotes, I expect the experience has indeed helped my recall. Even if in a different way than I’m used to when studying. For more of my experience and teaching on that, check out my guide on How to Study Effectively next. Above all, enjoy the learning process. We sometimes forget what a blessing it is to be able to study at all. Yet, here we all are, with more people on the planet studying than ever before. Don’t forget to celebrate the opportunity you have and bring that awareness to the exam. Keeping a positive attitude is a major skill that promotes massive success in all of life’s many “tests.”
Why are so many companies investing heavily in AI yet struggling to see meaningful results? In this episode, Lisa Goldenthal reveals a hard truth: most AI initiatives do not fail because of the technology. They fail because AI exposes the hidden inefficiencies, outdated approval systems, and legacy processes that have been slowing organizations down for years. Lisa explores why AI often uncovers deeper operational problems, what it reveals about how companies really make decisions, and the bottlenecks that quietly prevent teams from moving faster and executing better. She also shares practical steps leaders can take immediately to eliminate unnecessary friction, improve decision-making, and create an organization that can fully benefit from AI. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why many AI initiatives fail to deliver ROI • What AI reveals about how companies actually operate • The real bottleneck holding most organizations back • Immediate actions leaders can take to improve execution • What separates companies that succeed with AI from those that struggle If your organization is investing in AI but not seeing the results you expected, this conversation will help you identify the real obstacles—and show you where to start fixing them. Listen now and discover why your AI problem may actually be a leadership and decision-making problem.
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