Podcasts about traits

Support The Show On Patreon!: https://www.patreon.com/AaronMachbitz In this solo episode, I explore four harsh truths about success that are often overlooked. From defining success on your own terms to managing the loneliness and persistent traits that come with achievement, this discussion offers valuable insights for anyone striving for greatness. - Timestamps:  00:00 Introduction to harsh truths about success 00:36 The importance of defining your own success 02:03 Giving your best effort as a success measure 04:30 Success is simpler than you think 09:05 The loneliness of success 12:18 Traits that persist after success 14:43 Recap and final thoughts -

John continues his conversation with Maeve Ferguson about using intellectual property to create assessments and gather data about potential clients. Maeve explains what a data funnel is, how it differs from a traditional lead magnet, and how businesses can use it to connect people with the right offers. They also discuss adding assessments to books, the cost and process of building one, and how Maeve balances her business with family life. About Maeve Ferguson: Northern Ireland-based strategist working with bestselling authors, 7-10 figure thought leaders, and the world's most established experts. Former EY consultant. Former private equity director. Now the architect behind a new category of business asset that most experts do not yet know exists. Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - People who might benefit from Maeve's work [02:00] - What is a data funnel? [05:45] - Why Maeve recommends making assessments part of the book [08:04] - Adding an assessment to books that are already published [10:52] - Cost of assessment implementation [12:26] - Maeve's connections with authors and publishing professionals [13:01] - Maeve's plans to write her own book about data [16:18] - John's plans for his book launch [17:28] - How entrepreneurship has affected Maeve's family life [19:45] - Maeve's definition of success [20:45] - #1 daily habit [20:52] - Traits of a great leader [22:14] - Legacy Maeve wants to leave behind [22:42] - How Maeve invests in her own marriage [28:23] - Creating memories with family [29:22] - Best way to connect with Maeve [33:10] - Books recommendation [33:37] - Wrap-up NOTABLE QUOTES: "Execution is an underrated skill." "The greatest thing that you can give your kid is to demonstrate for them on a daily basis what it looks like to have a loving, healthy marriage where Mom and Dad love each other and express that in front of them." "One of my favorite things about the assessment is that it leads with value. It gives so much insight, so much value before anything is ever sold. People have huge breakthroughs, huge realizations about self, or their situation, or where they are, or where they are in the process." "Date night or date day, whatever works for you guys. That needs to be in there in ink, and you plan everything else around that. That's how important it is for your marriage." "There's another way to do life." "Purpose is on the other side of pain. You can't deny it, you can't numb it, you can't pretend it's not there, and you can't avoid it. You have to work through it." BOOKS MENTIONED: You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business by Mike Kim (https://amzn.to/4y1qvYJ) The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip and Dan Heath (https://amzn.to/3VL1Xpv) Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives—Including Your Own by AJ Harper (https://amzn.to/4iZsLfx) 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan (https://amzn.to/4AO2lnu) Rich Relationships: Create a Million-Dollar Network for Your Business by Selena Soo (https://amzn.to/4dLOaVS) PODCAST MENTIONED: Don't Write That Book Podcast with Mike Michalowicz and AJ Harper (https://tinyurl.com/DontWriteThatBookPodcast) USEFUL LINKS: https://www.maevefergusonconsulting.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/maeveferguson/ https://www.instagram.com/iammaeveferguson/ https://substack.com/@maeveferguson https://www.youtube.com/@maeveferguson CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen    X - https://x.com/johnhulen    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@iamjohnhulen    EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/ 

John continues his conversation with Maeve Ferguson about using intellectual property to create assessments and gather data about potential clients. Maeve explains what a data funnel is, how it differs from a traditional lead magnet, and how businesses can use it to connect people with the right offers. They also discuss adding assessments to books, the cost and process of building one, and how Maeve balances her business with family life. About Maeve Ferguson: Northern Ireland-based strategist working with bestselling authors, 7-10 figure thought leaders, and the world's most established experts. Former EY consultant. Former private equity director. Now the architect behind a new category of business asset that most experts do not yet know exists. Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - People who might benefit from Maeve's work [02:00] - What is a data funnel? [05:45] - Why Maeve recommends making assessments part of the book [08:04] - Adding an assessment to books that are already published [10:52] - Cost of assessment implementation [12:26] - Maeve's connections with authors and publishing professionals [13:01] - Maeve's plans to write her own book about data [16:18] - John's plans for his book launch [17:28] - How entrepreneurship has affected Maeve's family life [19:45] - Maeve's definition of success [20:45] - #1 daily habit [20:52] - Traits of a great leader [22:14] - Legacy Maeve wants to leave behind [22:42] - How Maeve invests in her own marriage [28:23] - Creating memories with family [29:22] - Best way to connect with Maeve [33:10] - Books recommendation [33:37] - Wrap-up NOTABLE QUOTES: "Execution is an underrated skill." "The greatest thing that you can give your kid is to demonstrate for them on a daily basis what it looks like to have a loving, healthy marriage where Mom and Dad love each other and express that in front of them." "One of my favorite things about the assessment is that it leads with value. It gives so much insight, so much value before anything is ever sold. People have huge breakthroughs, huge realizations about self, or their situation, or where they are, or where they are in the process." "Date night or date day, whatever works for you guys. That needs to be in there in ink, and you plan everything else around that. That's how important it is for your marriage." "There's another way to do life." "Purpose is on the other side of pain. You can't deny it, you can't numb it, you can't pretend it's not there, and you can't avoid it. You have to work through it." BOOKS MENTIONED: You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business by Mike Kim (https://amzn.to/4y1qvYJ) The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip and Dan Heath (https://amzn.to/3VL1Xpv) Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives—Including Your Own by AJ Harper (https://amzn.to/4iZsLfx) 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan (https://amzn.to/4AO2lnu) Rich Relationships: Create a Million-Dollar Network for Your Business by Selena Soo (https://amzn.to/4dLOaVS) PODCAST MENTIONED: Don't Write That Book Podcast with Mike Michalowicz and AJ Harper (https://tinyurl.com/DontWriteThatBookPodcast) USEFUL LINKS: https://www.maevefergusonconsulting.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/maeveferguson/ https://www.instagram.com/iammaeveferguson/ https://substack.com/@maeveferguson https://www.youtube.com/@maeveferguson CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen    X - https://x.com/johnhulen    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@iamjohnhulen    EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/ 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Villain-Venice-Steampunk-Adventure-Expanded/dp/B0GYVW1ZM3?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE notes from wiki This article is about the novel. For the 1997 film, see Starship Troopers (film). For other uses, see Starship Troopers (disambiguation). Starship Troopers First edition hardcover Author Robert A. Heinlein Cover artist Jerry Robinson Language English Genre Military science fiction Philosophical fiction[1][2][3] Publisher G. P. Putnam's Sons Publication date November 5, 1959[4] Publication place United States Media type Print (hardcover and paperback) Pages 263 (paperback edition) Award Hugo Award for Best Novel (1960) ISBN 978-0450044496 Online Computer Library Center number"}]]}"> OCLC 2797649 Library of Congress Classification"}]]}"> LC Class PZ7.H368 Su Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests,[5] the story was first published as a two-part serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as Starship Soldier, and published as a book by G. P. Putnam's Sons on November 5, 1959.[4] The story is set in a future society ruled by a human interstellar government called the Terran Federation, dominated by a military elite. Under the Terran Federation, only veterans of a primarily military Federal Service enjoy full citizenship, including the right to vote.[6] The first-person narrative follows Juan "Johnny" Rico, a young man of Filipino descent, through his military service in the Mobile Infantry. He progresses from recruit to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between humans and an alien species known as "Arachnids" or "Bugs". Interspersed with the primary plot are classroom scenes in which Rico and others discuss philosophical and moral issues, including aspects of suffrage, civic virtue, juvenile delinquency, and war; these discussions have been described as expounding Heinlein's own political views.[7] Identified with a tradition of militarism in US science fiction,[8] the novel draws parallels between the conflict between humans and the Bugs, and the Cold War.[9] It is also a coming-of-age novel, which criticizes the US society of the 1950s, arguing that a lack of discipline had led to a moral decline, and advocating corporal and capital punishment.[7][10] Starship Troopers brought to an end Heinlein's series of juvenile novels. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960,[3] and was praised by reviewers for its scenes of training and combat and its visualization of a future military.[11][12] It also became enormously controversial because of the political views it seemed to support. Reviewers were strongly critical of the book's intentional glorification of the military,[13][14] an aspect described as propaganda and likened to recruitment.[15] The novel's militarism, and the fact that government service – most often military service – was a prerequisite to the right to vote, led to it being frequently described as fascist.[14][16][17] Others disagree, arguing that Heinlein was only exploring the idea of limiting the right to vote to a certain group of people.[18] Heinlein's depiction of gender has also been questioned, while reviewers have said that the terms used to describe the aliens were akin to racial epithets.[19] Starship Troopers had wide influence both within and outside science fiction. Ken MacLeod stated that "the political strand in [science fiction] can be described as a dialogue with Heinlein".[2] Science fiction critic Darko Suvin wrote that it is the "ancestral text of US science fiction militarism" and that it shaped the debate about the role of the military in society for many years.[20] The novel is credited with popularizing the idea of powered armor, which became a recurring feature in science fiction books and films, as well as an object of scientific research.[21] Heinlein's depiction of a futuristic military was also influential.[22] Later science fiction books, such as Joe Haldeman's 1974 anti-war novel The Forever War, have been described as reactions to Starship Troopers.[23] The story was adapted several times, including in a 1997 film version directed by Paul Verhoeven that satirized what the director saw as the fascist aspects of the novel.[24] Writing and publication The cover of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (November 1959), illustrating Starship Soldier Robert Heinlein was among the best-selling science fiction authors of the 1940s and 1950s, along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke; they were known as the "big three" that dominated US science fiction. In contrast to the others, Heinlein firmly endorsed the anti-communist sentiment of the Cold War era in his writing.[25] Heinlein served in the US Navy for five years after graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1929. His experience in the military profoundly influenced his fiction.[26] At some point between 1958 and 1959, Heinlein put aside the novel that would become Stranger in a Strange Land and wrote Starship Troopers. His motivation arose partially from his anger at US President Dwight Eisenhower's decision to suspend US nuclear tests, and the Soviet tests that occurred soon afterward.[5] Writing in his 1980 volume Expanded Universe, Heinlein would say that the publication of a newspaper advertisement placed by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy on April 5, 1958, calling for a unilateral suspension of nuclear weapons testing by the United States sparked his desire to write Starship Troopers.[27] Heinlein and his wife Virginia created the "Patrick Henry League" in an attempt to create support for the US nuclear testing program. Heinlein stated that he used the novel to clarify his military and political views.[28] Like many of Heinlein's books, Starship Troopers was completed in a few weeks. It was originally written as a juvenile novel for New York publishing house Scribner; Heinlein had previously had success with this format, having written several such novels published by that publisher. The manuscript was rejected, prompting Heinlein to end his association with that publisher completely, and to resume writing books with adult themes.[5][19][29] Scholars have suggested that Scribner's rejection was based on ideological objections to the content of the novel, particularly in its treatment of military conflict.[19][30] The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction first published Starship Troopers in October and November 1959 as a two-part serial titled Starship Soldier.[29] A senior editor at Putnam's, Peter Israel, purchased the manuscript and approved revisions that made it more marketable to adults. Asked whether it was aimed at children or adults, he said at a sales conference "Let's let the readers decide who likes it."[31] The novel was eventually published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.[29] Setting Set approximately 700 years in the future,[19] the book depicts an Earth ruled by a world government run by military veterans.[6] The society is depicted as affluent, and futuristic technology shown as coexisting with educational methods from the 20th century.[19] The rights of a full citizen, to vote and hold public office, are not universally guaranteed, and rather must be earned through Federal Service.[18] Those who do not perform this service (of which only military service has been described) retain the rights of free speech and assembly, but can neither vote nor hold public office. People of either sex above the age of 18 are permitted to enlist; only those who complete their service receive the right to vote.[19][32] Important government jobs are reserved for federal service veterans.[6] This structure arose ad hoc after the collapse of the "20th century Western democracies", driven in part by an inability to control crime and juvenile delinquency, particularly in North America, and a war between an alliance of the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia, against the "Chinese Hegemony".[33] Two extraterrestrial civilizations are depicted, respectively, as the "Pseudo-Arachnids" (or "Bugs"), and the "Skinnies". The "Bugs" are described as communal beings originating from the planet of Klendathu, and consist of multiple castes; workers, warriors, brains, and queens, similar to those of ants and termites on Earth. The warriors are the only ones who fight, and are unable to surrender in battle.[34] It also is implied that the Bugs are technologically advanced, possessing such technologies as spaceships.[35] The "Skinnies" are depicted as less communal than the Arachnids, yet more so than humans.[36] The events of the novel take place during an interstellar war between the Terran Federation and the Arachnids.[37] At the opening of the story, Earth is not at war, yet such a declaration has come when Rico has completed his training.[5] The "Skinnies" are initially allies of the Pseudo-Arachnids, but switch to alliance with humans, midway through the novel.[36] Faster-than-light travel exists in this future: spacecraft use the "Cherenkov drive", and can travel "Sol to Capella, forty-six lightyears, in under six weeks".[38] Starship Troopers is narrated by the main protagonist Juan "Johnny" Rico, a member of the "Mobile Infantry". It is one of the few Heinlein novels which intersperses his typical linear narrative structure with a series of flashbacks.[5][37] These flashbacks are frequently to Rico's "History and Moral Philosophy" course in school, in which the teacher discusses the history of the structure of their society.[5][18] Rico is depicted as a man of Filipino ancestry. He is from a wealthy family, whose members had never served in the military.[5][19][32] Rico's ancestry is depicted as inconsequential, society having finally abandoned racial and gender-based prejudice.[19] Plot The novel opens with Rico aboard the corvette transport Rodger Young (named after real life Medal of Honor recipient Rodger Young),[39] serving with the platoon known as "Rasczak's Roughnecks". The platoon carries out a raid against a planetary colony held by Skinnies.[19] The raid is relatively brief: the platoon lands on the planet, destroys its targets, and retreats, suffering two casualties in the process. One of them, Dizzy Flores, is rescued by Rico but dies while returning to orbit.[40] The narrative then flashes back to Rico's graduation from high school. Rico and his best friend Carl are considering joining the Federal Service after graduation; Rico is hesitant, partly due to his father's attitude towards the military.[5] Rico makes his decision after discovering that his classmate Carmen Ibañez also intends to enlist.[41] Rico's choice is taken poorly by his parents, and he leaves with a sense of estrangement. He is assigned to the Mobile Infantry, and moves to Camp Arthur Currie (named for Sir Arthur Currie who rose through the ranks to command the Canadian Corps in World War I) on the Canadian prairie for his training under Sergeant Charles Zim.[42] The training is extremely demanding.[43] Rico receives combat training of all types, including simulated fights in armored suits.[44][45] A fellow recruit is court-martialed, flogged, and dismissed for striking a drill instructor who was also his company commander. Rico himself is given five lashes for firing a rocket during a drill with armored suits and simulated nuclear weapons without ensuring that no friendlies were within the blast zone, which in combat would have resulted in the death of a fellow soldier.[46] Another recruit, who murdered a baby girl after deserting the army, is hanged by his battalion after his arrest by civilian police.[46] Disheartened, Rico thinks of resigning when he receives a letter from Jean Dubois, who taught Rico History and Moral Philosophy.[47] Dubois reveals that he was once a lieutenant colonel in the Mobile Infantry, which gives Rico the motivation not to resign.[48] After further training at another camp near Vancouver, Rico graduates with 187 others, of the 2,009 who had begun training in that regiment.[49] The "Bug War" has changed from minor incidents to a full-scale war during Rico's training. An Arachnid attack that annihilates the city of Buenos Aires alerts civilians to the situation; Rico's mother is killed in the attack.[50] Rico participates in the Battle of Klendathu, an attack on the Arachnid's home world, which turns into a disastrous defeat for the Terran Federation.[51] Rico's ship, the Valley Forge, is destroyed, and his unit is decimated; he is reassigned to the Roughnecks on board the Rodger Young, led by Lieutenant Rasczak and Sergeant Jelal.[52] The unit carries out several raids, and Rico is promoted to corporal by Jelal after Rasczak dies in combat.[53] One of his comrades in the Roughnecks suggests that Rico go to officer training school and try to become an officer. Rico ends up going to see Jelal, and finds that Jelal already had the paperwork ready. Rico enters Officer Candidate School for a second course of training, including further courses in "History and Moral Philosophy".[54][55] En route from the Roughnecks to the school Rico encounters his father who has also enlisted and is now a corporal, and the two reconcile. He is also visited in school by Carmen, now an ensign and ship's pilot officer in the Navy, and the two discuss their friend Carl, who had been killed earlier in the war.[56] Rico is commissioned a temporary third lieutenant for his final test: a posting to a combat unit. Under the tutelage of his company commander, Captain Blackstone, and with the aid of his platoon sergeant, his boot camp drill instructor Fleet Sergeant Zim, Rico commands a platoon during "Operation Royalty", a raid to capture members of the Arachnid brain caste and queens.[57] Rico then returns to the officer school to graduate. The novel ends with him holding the rank of second lieutenant, in command of his old platoon in the Rodger Young, with his father as his platoon sergeant. The platoon has been renamed "Rico's Roughnecks", and is about to participate in an attack on Klendathu.[58] Themes Robert Heinlein in 1976 Commentators have written that Starship Troopers is not driven by its plot, though it contains scenes of military combat. Instead, much of the novel is given over to a discussion of ideas.[59] In particular, the discussion of political views is a recurring feature of what scholar Jeffrey Cass described as an "ideologically intense" book.[16] A 1997 review in Salon categorized it as a "philosophical novel".[1] Critics have debated to what extent the novel promotes Heinlein's own political views. Some contend that the novel maintains a sense of irony that allows readers to draw their own conclusions; others argue that Heinlein is sermonizing throughout the book, and that its purpose is to expound Heinlein's militaristic philosophy.[16][18] Militarism Starship Troopers has been identified as being a part of a tradition in American science fiction that assumes that violent conflict and the militarization of society are inevitable and necessary.[8] Although the Mobile Infantry, the force to which Rico is assigned, is seen as a lowly post by the characters in the story, the novel itself suggests that it is the heart of the army and the most honorable unit in it.[43] In a commentary written in 1980, Heinlein agreed that Starship Troopers "glorifies the military ... Specifically the P.B.I., the Poor Bloody Infantry, the mudfoot who places his frail body between his loved home and the war's desolation – but is rarely appreciated ... he has the toughest job of all and should be honored."[13] The story is based on the social Darwinist idea of society as a struggle for survival based on military strength. It suggests that some conflicts must be resolved by force: one of the lessons Rico is repeatedly taught is that violence can be an effective method of settling conflict.[19] These suggestions derive in part from Heinlein's view that in the 1950s the US government was being too conciliatory in its dealings with communist China and the Soviet Union.[17][59][60][61] Heinlein draws an analogy between the human society in the novel, which is well-to-do but needs to be vigilant against the imperialist threat of the Arachnids, and US society of the 1950s. Reviewers have suggested that the Arachnids are Heinlein's analogue for communists. Traits used to support this include the communal nature of the Arachnids, which makes them capable of a much higher degree of coordination than the humans. Bug society is once explicitly described as communist, and is moreover depicted as communist by nature; this has been read as implying that those with a different political ideology are analogous to alien beings.[9][19][62] The related motifs of alien invasion, patriotism, and personal sacrifice during war, are present, as are other aspects of US popular culture of the 1950s.[17] Commentators have argued that Heinlein's portrayal of aliens, as well as being a reference to 1950s communist countries, aims to "reinscribe the ideologies of America's mythic frontier history". The concept of the frontier includes a social-Darwinist argument of constantly fighting for survival, even at the expense of indigenous people or, in the case of Starship Troopers, of aliens. Heinlein suggests that without territorial expansion involving violent conquest of other races, humans would be destroyed.[63] Scholar Jamie King has stated that Heinlein does not address the question of what the military government and Federal Service would do in peacetime, and argues that Heinlein has set up a society designed to be continuously at war, and to keep expanding its territory.[64] Coming of age Starship Troopers has been referred to as a bildungsroman or "coming-of-age" story for Rico, as he matures through his tenure in the infantry. His training, both at boot camp and at officer candidate school, involves learning the value of militarism, thus inviting the reader to learn it as well.[43] This is especially true of the parts of his training that involve indoctrination, such as the claim by one of his instructors that rule by military veterans is the ideal form of government, because only they understand how to put collective well-being above the individual.[43] The story traces Rico's transformation from a boy into a soldier, while exploring issues of identity and motivation,[18] and traces his overall moral and social development, in a manner identified by commentators as similar to many stories about German soldiers in World War I.[65] Rico's transformation has been likened to the common narrative within stories with military themes by scholar H. Bruce Franklin. This typical narrative is that of a sloppy and unfit civilian being knocked into shape by tough officers, whose training is "calculated sadism" but is depicted as fundamentally being on the right side.[32] The letter Rico receives from Dubois, partly responsible for Rico "crossing the hump" with his training, is shown as a turning point in his development.[19] The classroom scenes embedded in the story serve to explain Rico's adventures, and highlight his reactions to events around. A notable example is the execution Rico is forced to witness after a deserter from his unit murders a young girl; Rico is uncertain of his own reaction until he remembers a lecture by Dubois in which the latter argues that "moral sense" derives entirely from the will to survive.[19][66] The concept of the American frontier is also related to the coming-of-age theme. Young protagonists across Heinlein's novels attain manhood by confronting a hostile "wilderness" in space; coming-of-age in a military, alien context is a common theme in Heinlein's earlier works as well.[67] Rico's coming-of-age has also been described as being related to his relationship with his father; the journey "outward" through the novel also contains a search for Rico's childhood and a reunion with his estranged parent.[68] Moral decline Starship Troopers also critiques US society of the 1950s, suggesting that it led young people to be spoiled and undisciplined. These beliefs are expressed through the classroom lectures of Dubois, Rico's teacher for History and Moral Philosophy. Dubois praises flogging and other types of corporal punishment as a means of addressing juvenile crimes. It has been suggested that Heinlein endorsed this view, although the fact that Dubois also compares raising children to training a puppy has been used to argue that Heinlein was making use of irony.[10] The story is strongly in favor of corporal punishment and capital punishment, as a means of correcting juvenile delinquents, part of a trend in science fiction which examines technology and outer space in an innovative manner, but is reactionary with respect to human relationships.[7][23] As with other books by Heinlein, traditional schools are denigrated, while learning "on the spot" is extolled: Rico is able to master the things required of him in military training without undue difficulty.[19] Dubois also ridicules the idea of inalienable rights, such as "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", arguing that people have only the rights that they are willing to fight and die for to protect.[33][66][69] The novel appeals to scientific authority to justify this position; Dubois repeatedly states that his argument is mathematically demonstrable, statements which have led scholars to label the novel "hard science fiction", despite its social and political themes.[70] The "moral decline" caused by this situation is depicted as having caused a global war between an alliance of the US, Britain, and Russia against the "Chinese Hegemony" in the year 1987. Despite the alliance between the US and Russia, this war has been described as demonstrating Heinlein's anti-communist beliefs, which saw "swarming hordes" of Chinese as a bigger threat. The novel draws some comparisons between the Chinese and the Arachnids, and suggests that the lessons of one war could be applied to the other.[69] Reception To Heinlein's surprise,[71] Starship Troopers won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960.[72] It has been acknowledged as one of the best-known and most influential works of science fiction.[2][21] The novel is considered a landmark for the genre, having been described by a 1960 review as one of the ten best genre books of 1959,[73] in a 2009 review as a key science fiction novel of the 1950s,[14] and as the best-known example of military science fiction.[74] The novel has been described as marking Heinlein's transition from writing juvenile fiction to a "more mature phase" as an author.[3] Reviewing the book with others written for children, Floyd C. Gale of Galaxy Science Fiction wrote in 1960 that "Heinlein has penned a juvenile that really is not. This is a new and bitter and disillusioned Heinlein". Rating it 2.5 stars out of five for children, 4.5 stars for adults, and "?" for civilians, he believed that the novel would be "of exceptional interest to veterans with battle experience ... but youngsters will find it melancholy and verbose".[75] Conversely, Michael Moorcock described it as Heinlein's last "straight" science fiction, before he turned to more serious writing such as Stranger in a Strange Land.[76] By 1980, twenty years after its release, Starship Troopers had been translated into eleven languages and was still selling strongly. Heinlein nevertheless complained that, despite this success, almost all the mail he received about it was negative and he only heard about it "when someone wants to chew me out".[71] The novel is highly contentious.[3] Controversy surrounded its praise of the military and approval of violence, to the extent that it has frequently been described as fascist, and its implication that militarism is superior to traditional democracy.[3][77] Heinlein's peers were among those who argued over the book; a comparison between a quote in Starship Troopers that "the noblest fate that a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and war's desolation"[78] and the anti-war poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen began a two-year discussion in the Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies from 1959 to 1961, with James Blish, Poul Anderson, Philip José Farmer, Anthony Boucher, John Brunner, Brian Aldiss, among those debating Starship Troopers's quality of writing, philosophy, and morality.[79] The writing in Starship Troopers has received varied responses, with the scenes of military training and combat receiving praise. In a 2009 retrospective, science-fiction writer Jo Walton wrote that Starship Troopers was "military SF done extremely well".[18] She went on to argue that "Heinlein was absolutely at his peak when he wrote this in 1959. He had so much technical stylistic mastery of the craft of writing science fiction that he could [tell the story] 'backwards and in high heels' and get away with it."[18] Others referred to it as very readable, and found the military scenes compelling.[3][11][12] Heinlein's descriptions of training and boot camp in the novel, based on his own experiences in the military, have been described as being rendered with remarkable skill.[17] A 1960 review in the New York Herald Tribune praised the "brilliantly written" passages describing infantry combat, and also called attention to the discussion of weapons and armor,[80] which, according to other reviewers, demonstrated Heinlein's "undiminished talent for invention".[19] Scholar George Slusser described the book in 1986 as the "ultimately convincing space-war epic", praising in particular the "precisely imagined" weapons and tactics,[68] while a 1979 science fiction encyclopedia referred to it as the "slickest" of Heinlein's juvenile books.[19] Criticism of the style of the book has centered on its political aspects. Heinlein's discussions of his political beliefs were criticized as "didactic",[11][80][81] and the novel was derided for "exposition [that was] inserted in large indigestible chunks".[80] Author Ken MacLeod's 2003 analysis of the political nature of Starship Troopers stated that it was "a book where civics infodumps and accounts of brutal boot-camp training far outweigh the thin and tensionless combat scenes".[12] Scientist and author Brunner compared it to a "Victorian children's book",[82] while the Science Fiction Handbook published in 2009 said that the novel provided "compelling images of a futuristic military" and that it raised important questions, even for those who disagree with its political ideology. However, it stated that the story was weak as a tale of an alien encounter, as it did not explore alien society in any detail, but presented the Arachnids as nameless and faceless creatures that wished to destroy humanity.[22] Boucher, founder of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, remarked in 1960 that Heinlein had "forgotten to insert a story".[80] A 1979 summary said that though Heinlein's vision might verge on fascism, his tightly controlled narrative made his ideology seem "vibrantly appealing".[19] Criticism of militarism Starship Troopers is generally considered to promote militarism, the glorification of war and of the military.[14] Scholar Bruce Franklin referred to it in 1980 as a "bugle-blowing, drum-beating glorification" of military service, and wrote that militarism and imperialism were the explicit message of the book.[15][83] Science fiction writer Dean McLaughlin called it "a book-length recruiting poster".[84] In 1968 science fiction critic Alexei Panshin called Starship Troopers a militaristic polemic and compared it to a recruiting film, stating that it "purports to show the life of a typical soldier, with a soundtrack commentary by earnest sincere Private Jones who interprets what we see for us." Panshin stated that there was no "sustained human conflict" in the book: instead, "All the soldiers we see are tough, smart, competent, cleancut, clean-shaven, and noble."[85] Panshin, a veteran of the peacetime military, argued that Heinlein glossed over the reality of military life, and that the Terran Federation-Arachnid conflict existed simply because, "Starship troopers are not half so glorious sitting on their butts polishing their weapons for the tenth time for lack of anything else to do."[85] Literature scholar George Slusser, in describing the novel as "wrong-headed and retrogressive", argued that calling its ideology militarism or imperialism was inadequate, as these descriptions suggested an economic motive. Slusser instead says that Heinlein advocates for a complete "technological subjugation of nature", of which the Arachnids are a symbol, and that this subjugation itself is depicted as a sign of human advancement.[83] A 1997 review of the film in Salon stated that the novel could almost be described as propaganda, and was terrifying as a result, particularly in its belief that the boot camp had to be an ingredient of any civilization. This was described as a highly unusual utopian vision.[1] Moorcock stated that the lessons Rico learns in boot camp: "wars are inevitable, [and] that the army is always right".[76] In discussing the book's utility in classroom discussions of the form of government, Alan Myers stated that its depiction of the military was of an "unashamedly Earth-chauvinist nature".[11] In the words of science fiction scholar Darko Suvin, Starship Troopers was an "unsubtle but powerful black-and-white paean to combat life", and an example of agitprop in favor of military values.[81] Other writers defended Heinlein. George Price argued that "[Heinlein] implies, first, that war is something endured, not enjoyed, and second, that war is so unpleasant, so desolate, that it must at all costs be kept away from one's home."[86] Poul Anderson also defended some of the novel's positions, arguing "Heinlein has recognized the problem of selective versus nonselective franchise, and his proposed solution does merit discussion."[87] Complaints were made against Heinlein for the lack of conscription in Starship Troopers. When he wrote the novel, the military draft was still in effect in the US.[88] Allegations of fascism The society within the book has frequently been described as fascist.[14][16][17] According to the 2009 Science Fiction Handbook, it had the effect of giving Heinlein a reputation as a "fanatical warmongering fascist".[6] Scholar Jeffrey Cass has referred to the setting of the book as "unremittingly grim fascism". He has stated that the novel made an analogy between its military conflict and those of the US after World War II, and that it justified American imperialism in the name of fighting another form of imperialism.[89] Jasper Goss has referred to it as "crypto-fascist".[17] Suvin compares Heinlein's suggestion that "all wars arise from population pressure" to the Nazi concept of Lebensraum or "living space" for a superior society that was used to justify territorial expansion.[90] Some reviewers have suggested that Heinlein was simply discussing the merits of a selective versus a nonselective franchise.[18] Heinlein made a similar claim, over two decades after Starship Troopers's publication, in his Expanded Universe and further claimed that 95 percent of "veterans" were not military personnel but members of the civil service.[91] Heinlein's own description has been disputed, even among the book's defenders. Heinlein scholar James Gifford has argued that a number of quotes within the novel suggest that the characters within the book assume that the Federal Service is largely military. For instance, when Rico tells his father that he is interested in Federal Service, his father immediately explains his belief that Federal Service is a bad idea because there is no war in progress, indicating that he sees Federal Service as military in nature. Gifford states that although Heinlein's intentions may have been that Federal Service be 95 percent non-military, in relation to the actual contents of the book, Heinlein "is wrong on this point. Flatly so."[5] Dennis Showalter, writing in 1975, defended Starship Troopers, stating that the society depicted in it did not contain many elements of fascism. He argues that the novel does not include outright opposition to Bolshevism and liberalism that would be expected in a fascist society.[89] Others have responded by saying Showalter's argument is based on a literal reading of the novel, and that the story glorifies militarism to a large extent.[89] Ken Macleod argues that the book does not actually advocate fascism because anybody capable of understanding the oath of Federal Service is able to enlist and thereby obtain political power.[12] Macleod states that Heinlein's books are consistently liberal, but cover a spectrum from democratic to elitist forms of liberalism, Starship Troopers being on the latter end of the spectrum.[2] It has been argued that Heinlein's militarism is more libertarian than fascist, and that this trend is also present in Heinlein's other popular books of the period, such as Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966). This period of Heinlein's writing has received more critical attention than any other, although he continued to write into the 1980s.[14] Apparent utopianism The setting of the book is presented by Heinlein as utopian; its leaders are shown as good and wise, and the population as free and prosperous.[6][19] Slusser wrote in 1987 that Starship Troopers depicts a world that is "hell for human beings", but nonetheless celebrates the ideology of its fictional society.[83] The rulers are claimed to be the best in history, because they understand that human nature is to fight for power through the use of force.[43] The suggestion of utopia is not explored in depth, as the lives of those outside the military are not shown in any detail.[19][22] The novel suggests that the militarist philosophy espoused by many of the characters has a mathematical backing, though reviewers have commented that Heinlein does not present any basis for this.[18][43] Writers such as Farmer, Robert A. W. Lowndes, and Michael Moorcock have criticized the novel for being a hypothetical utopia, in the sense that while Heinlein's ideas sound plausible, they have never been put to the test. Moorcock wrote an essay entitled "Starship Stormtroopers" in which he attacked Heinlein and other writers over similar "Utopian fiction".[76] Lowndes accused Heinlein of using straw man arguments, "countering ingenuous half-truths with brilliant half-truths".[92] Lowndes further argued that the Terran Federation could never be as idealistic as Heinlein portrays it to be because he never properly addressed "whether or not [non-citizens] have at least as full a measure of civil redress against official injustice as we have today".[92] Farmer agreed, arguing that a "world ruled by veterans would be as mismanaged, graft-ridden, and insane as one ruled by men who had never gotten near the odor of blood and guts".[93] Race and gender Authors and commentators have stated that the manner in which the extraterrestrial beings are portrayed in Starship Troopers has racist aspects, arguing that the nicknames "Bugs" and "Skinnies" carry racial overtones. John Brunner compared them to calling Koreans "gooks".[82] Slusser argued that the term "Bugs" was an "abusive and biologically inaccurate" word that justified the violence against alien beings, a tendency which, according to Slusser, the book shared with other commercially successful science fiction.[62] Some of Heinlein's other works have also been described as racist, though Franklin argues that this was not unique to Heinlein, and that he was less racist than the US government of the time.[94] Heinlein's early novel Sixth Column was called a "racist paean" to a white resistance movement against an Asian horde derived from the Yellow Peril.[95] In 1978, Moorcock wrote that Starship Troopers "set the pattern for Heinlein's more ambitious paternalistic, xenophobic" stories.[76] Robert Lowndes argues that the war between the Terrans and the Arachnids is not about a quest for racial purity, but rather an extension of Heinlein's belief that man is a wild animal. According to this theory, if man lacks a moral compass beyond the will to survive, and he was confronted by another species with a similar lack of morality, then the only possible moral result would be warfare.[92] The fact that all pilots in the novel are women (in contrast to the infantry, which is entirely male) has been cited as evidence of progressive gender politics within the story, although the idea expressed by Rico that women are the motivation for men to fight in the military is a counter-example to this.[18][22] A 1996 science fiction encyclopedia said that like much of Heinlein's fiction, Starship Troopers exemplified "macho male culture".[96] The prosthetically enhanced soldiers in the novel, all of whom are men, have been described as an example of the "hyper-masculinity" brought on by the proximity of these men to technology.[97] The story portrays the Arachnids as so alien that the only response to them can be war. Feminist scholars have described this reaction as a "conventionally masculinist" one.[98] Steffen Hantke has described the mechanized suits in the novel, which make the wearer resemble a "steel gorilla," as defining masculinity as "something intensely physical, based on animal power, instinct, and aggression". He calls this form of masculinity "all body, so to speak, and no brain".[99] Thus, in Hantke's reading, Starship Troopers expresses fears of how masculinity may be preserved in an environment of high technology.[100] This fear is exacerbated by the motifs of pregnancy and birth that Heinlein uses when describing how the soldiers in suits are dropped from spaceships piloted by women.[101] Though Rico says he finds women "marvelous", he shows no desire for sexual activity; the war seems to have subsumed sex in this respect.[19] A 1979 summary argued that despite the gestures towards women's equality, women in the story were still objects, to be protected, and to fight wars over.[19] Influence A real-life concept of powered armor, an idea popularized by Starship Troopers[102] Heinlein's books, and Starship Troopers in particular, had an enormous impact on political science fiction, to the extent that author Ken MacLeod has stated that "the political strand in [science fiction] can be described as a dialogue with Heinlein," although many participants in this dialogue disagree with Heinlein.[2] Science fiction critic Darko Suvin states that Starship Troopers is the "ancestral text of US science fiction militarism" and that it shaped the debate about the role of the military in society for many years.[20] In addition to his political views, Heinlein's ideas about a futuristic military as depicted in the novel were deeply influential among films, books, and television shows in later years.[22] Roger Beaumont has suggested that Starship Troopers may some day be considered a manual for extraterrestrial warfare.[103] Suvin refers to Juan Rico as the "archetypal Space Soldier".[104] Starship Troopers included concepts in military engineering which have since been widely used in other fiction, and which have occasionally been paralleled by scientific research. The novel has been cited as the source of the idea of powered armor exoskeletons, which Heinlein describes in great detail.[83][105][106][107] Such suits became a staple of military science fiction. Franchises that have employed this technology include Iron Man, Exo Squad, Halo, District 9, Elysium, and Edge of Tomorrow.[21] During the shooting of the science fiction film Aliens, director James Cameron required the actors playing space marines to read Starship Troopers to understand their parts, and also cited it as an influence for the space drop, terms like "bug hunt", and the cargo-loader exoskeleton.[108] Starship Troopers had a direct influence on many later science fiction stories. John Steakley's 1984 novel Armor was, according to the author, born out of frustration with the small amount of actual combat in Starship Troopers and because he wanted this aspect developed further.[109] The "Mobile Suits" from the 1979 Nippon Sunrise anime series Mobile Suit Gundam were inspired by the powered armor from Starship Troopers.[110] The 1988 Gainax OVA series Gunbuster has plot elements similar to Starship Troopers, depicting humanity arrayed against an alien military.[107] Scholars have identified elements of Heinlein's influence in Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, as well. Hantke, in particular, compares the battle room in Ender's Game to Heinlein's prosthetic suits, stating that they both regulate but also enhance human agency.[111] Suvin suggests parallels between the plots of the two novels, with human society in both stories at war against insect-like aliens, but states that the story of Ender Wiggin takes a very different direction, as Ender regrets his genocidal actions and dedicates his efforts to protecting his erstwhile targets.[104] Conversely, Joe Haldeman's 1974 anti-war, Hugo- and Nebula-winning science fiction novel The Forever War is popularly thought to be a direct reply to Starship Troopers, and though Haldeman has stated that it is actually a result of his personal experiences in the Vietnam War, he has admitted to being influenced by Starship Troopers.[112][113][114] Haldeman said that he disagreed with Starship Troopers because it "glorifies war", but added that "it's a very well-crafted novel, and I believe Heinlein was honest with it".[112] The Forever War contains several parallels to Starship Troopers, including its setting. Commentators have described it as a reaction to Heinlein's novel, a suggestion Haldeman denies; the two novels are very different in terms of their attitude towards the military. The Forever War does not depict war as a noble pursuit, with the sides clearly defined as good and evil; instead, the novel explores the dehumanizing effect of war, influenced by the real world context of the Vietnam War.[23] Haldeman received a letter from Heinlein, congratulating him on his Nebula Award, which "meant more than the award itself".[115] According to author Spider Robinson, Heinlein approached Haldeman at the awards banquet and said the book "may be the best future war story I've ever read!"[116] Harry Harrison's 1965 novel Bill, the Galactic Hero has also been described as a reaction to Starship Troopers,[6] while Gordon R. Dickson's 1961 novel Naked to the Stars has been called "an obvious rejoinder" to Starship Troopers.[117] Ring of Swords, written by Eleanor Arnason in 1993, also depicts a war between two highly aggressive species, of which humans are one. The story deliberately inverts several aspects of Starship Troopers: the story is told from the point of view of diplomats seeking to prevent war, rather than soldiers fighting it, and the conflict is the result of the two species being extremely similar, rather than different.[118] Adaptations 1997 film Main article: Starship Troopers (film) Further information: Starship Troopers (franchise) The film rights to the novel were licensed in the 1990s, several years after Heinlein's death. The project was originally entitled Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine, and had been in production before the producers bought the rights to Starship Troopers.[119][120][121] The film was directed by Paul Verhoeven (who found the book too boring to finish), and released in 1997.[122] The screenplay, by Ed Neumeier, shared character names and some plot details with the novel.[123] The film contained several elements that differed from the book, including a military that is completely integrated with respect to sex. It had the stated intention of treating its material in an ironic or sarcastic manner, to undermine the political ideology of the novel.[17][124] The mechanized suits that featured prominently in the novel were absent from the film, due to budget constraints.[99] The film used fascist imagery throughout, including portraying the Terran Federation's personnel wearing uniforms strongly reminiscent of those worn by the SS, the Nazi paramilitary.[125] Verhoeven stated in 1997 that the first scene of the film – an advertisement for the Mobile Infantry – was adapted shot-for-shot from a scene in Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1935), specifically an outdoor rally for the Reichsarbeitsdienst. Other references to Nazism include the Albert Speer-style architecture and the propagandistic dialogue ("Violence is the supreme authority!").[126] According to Verhoeven, the references to Nazism reflected his own experience in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II.[24][127] The film reignited the debate over the nature of the Terran society in Heinlein's world, and several critics accused Verhoeven of creating a fascist universe. Others, and Verhoeven himself, have stated that the film was intended to be ironic, and to critique fascism.[77][128] The film has also been described as criticizing the jingoism of US foreign policy, the military industrial complex, and the society in the film, which elevates violence over sensitivity.[129] It received several negative critical reviews, reviewers suggesting that it was unsophisticated and targeted a juvenile audience, although some scholars and critics have also supported its description as satirical.[21][24][124][129] The absence of the powered armor technology drew criticism from fans.[21][99] The success of the film's endeavor to critique the ideology of the novel has been disputed.[24] Four sequels, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004),[130] Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008),[131] Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)[132] and Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017) were released as straight-to-DVD films. In December 2011, Neal H. Moritz, producer of films such as the Fast & Furious series and I Am Legend, announced plans for a remake of the film that he claims will be more faithful to the source material.[133] In 2016 Mark Swift and Damian Shannon were reported to be writing the film.[134][needs update] Animated series Main article: Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles An animated TV series was also released based both on the novel and 1997 film called Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, it follows the exploits of the Mobile Infantry squad, "Razak's Roughnecks", during the SICON–Bugs War between a newly united humanity and an extraterrestrial race, known as the "Bugs," also sometimes referred to as Arachnids. The show focuses mainly on the Roughnecks' missions, rather than addressing the larger war. Paul Verhoeven served as an executive producer.[135] The show ran for one season from August 1999 to April 2000. Other media From October to December 1988, Sunrise and Bandai Visual produced a six-episode Japanese original video animation locally titled Uchū no Senshi with mobile infantry power armor designs by Kazutaka Miyatake, based on Starship Troopers.[136] Dark Horse Comics, Mongoose Publishing and Markosia hold the license to produce comic books based on Starship Troopers, written by authors including Warren Ellis, Gordon Rennie and Tony Lee.[137][138] Avalon Hill published Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers in 1976, a map-and-counter board wargame featuring a number of scenarios as written in the novel.[139] In 1998, Mythic Entertainment released Starship Troopers: Battlespace. The web-based interactive game, in which players battled each other in overhead space combat, allowed players to assume either Klendathu or Federation roles, was developed alongside the film adaptation.[24][140] Starship Troopers: The Miniatures Game was released by Mongoose Publishing in 2005, a miniature wargame which used material from the novel, film, and animated TV series.[141] Spectre Media released Starship Troopers: Invasion Mobile Infantry, a game for PCs, in 2012.[142] Offworld Industries developed and published the 2023 game Starship Troopers: Extermination, a cooperative multiplayer first-person shooter available for PC.[143]

After more than 50 episodes interviewing founders, investors and leaders, Giant co-founders Tommy Stadlen and Cameron McLain turn the mic on themselves to ask what the best entrepreneurs have in common.From resilience, storytelling, obsession and self-awareness, to the power of control. They speak about:Cameron's four founder traits, and why three out of four is the barWhy Tommy added control to his list (and what Alex Ferguson has to do with it)Producing under fire vs simply enduringThe case for benign dictatorship in early-stage companies"Trauma showcasing" in pitch meetings, and what drives foundersThe four burners: what founders give up, and why the greats might not call it sacrificeWhy intelligence might not make the top threeAgentic founders, 16-year-olds pitching from Sweden and 10-person teams building huge revenue...Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

Ep. 124: Porn, Marriage, Singleness, & Celibacy with Matt Dobschuetz   LISTENER DISCRETION ADVISED: DON'T LISTEN WITH KIDS AROUND Matt Dobschuetz is the host of Porn Free Radio, the top-rated podcast for motivated guys who want to quit looking at porn. His hope-filled approach to a subject many have trouble talking about has inspired a global audience of men to take action and transform their lives. He is the author of the 2022 book, Porn Free: Becoming the Type of Man That Does Not Look at Porn. From his home in suburban Chicago, Matt podcasts and runs a professional coaching practice. He is happily married to his wife, Janice, whom he has been friends with since college. Together, they have two sons in college. Matt is a diehard Chicago Bears fan, a coffee enthusiast, and a lover of old-school hip hop.  To learn more about Matt, his coaching, and his Rev Groups, visit https://recoveredman.com.   Resources shared:    Assessing Problematic Porn Use w/ Bill Herring https://recoveredman.com/311-assessing-problematic-porn-use-w-bill-herring/ In recovery circles we often use labels rather than descriptions. Words like sex addict or porn addiction are hastily applied or adopted. But often we miss gaining a greater understanding of ourselves and the truth of our situation. Bill Herring, LCSW, CSAT joins Porn Free Radio to share his framework for assessing problematic sexuality. It can easily be used to assess problematic porn use. Bill's common sense framework looks at 5 categories and uses 5 questions to assess problematic sexual behaviors. Bill's Questions: Are you keeping your promises? (Commitments) Are you OKAY with what you are doing? (Values) Are you in control of yourself? (Control) Is everything okay? (Consequence) Are you protecting everyone? (Responsibility)     ---- 10 Traits of the Mature Celibate   The former Catholic priest and psychotherapist A. W. Richard Sipe has spent the bulk of his career (approximately four decades) studying the practice of celibacy in Roman Catholic contexts, and he argues that genuine celibacy is indeed viable and healthy for those who attain it. But he believes it must be pursued. A large number of vowed clergy do live lives of disciplined sexual abstinence, according to Sipe's major work Celibacy in Crisis, but what he refers to (unhelpfully) as the “achievement” of celibacy—in which the major developmental crises have been weathered and the celibate state has been embraced and is, for all purposes, irreversible—is more rare, according to Sipe. He thinks this mature state of “attained” celibacy is virtually always characterized by at least ten traits:  first, by work (the productive use of time and energy); second, by prayer (an active interior life lived in the presence of God);  third, by community (“people to whom [the celibate is] committed and people on whom they can rely”); fourth, by service (some form of self-giving that takes one beyond one's own sphere);  fifth, by an awareness of one's physical needs and a willingness to fulfill one's lawful hungers with gentleness and self-care;  sixth, by balance in the rhythms of one's lifestyle;  seventh, by security in one's relational and communal commitments (“all celibate achievers had someone to whom they felt that they had confided the essence of themselves”);  eighth, by order in one's daily and seasonal life;  ninth, by learning and ongoing curiosity about others and the world one inhabits; and  tenth and finally, by an appreciation of beauty.  The one who undertakes this kind of celibate life must become intimately familiar with his or her characteristic patterns of desire, temptation, longing, and weakness. 10 points from book: A. W. Richard Sipe, Celibacy in Crisis: A Secret World Revisited (New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2003), 301. Quoted in book by: Hill, Wesley. Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality. Zondervan.    You can also watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IDB_Xmwz01Y   Flip Side Notes: Join an upcoming Beyond the Battle online group at www.beyondthebattle.net   Support Flip Side sponsor Angry Brew by using promo code FLIP at fivelakes.com and get 10% off your order.   Get a free month of Covenant Eyes at www.covenanteyes.com using promo code BEYOND   Get a free month of Accountable2You keyword accountability: a2u.app/beyond (do not use “www”)   Your recurring gifts make Noah's ministry & The Flip Side possible. Get some sweet swag by becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/noahfilipiak – includes exclusive access to Noah's episode commentary, interaction, and email access. (Not tax-deductible)  Tax-deductible recurring gifts can be given at www.noahfilipiak.com/give.    Purchase Shelter in the Storm, Beyond the Battle, and Needed Navigation by Noah Filipiak.

Do you have a favorite child? Probably! Are you a dolphin, elephant, or free-range parent? Do you know? Dr. Danny Huerta and Rebecca St. James go through some recent research that explain, personality types, conscious and unconscious choices in your parenting. If you question your parenting, or if you're anxious about doing the right or wrong things, you'll learn a lot through this episode. 7 Traits of Effective Parenting Want To Know Your Parenting Style? Parenting Tools Library Join the Focus on the Family Parenting Facebook Group Take Our Parenting Assessment Reach Out To Our Team of Christian Counselors

Sign up to Revolut Business https://www.revolut.com/business/james/pod/sept2/ at before 31st December 2026 and add money to your account to receive a £200 welcome bonus. Fees, Promotion terms and Business T&Cs apply.Find out more from Lullaby lane childcare here: https://lullabylne.co.uk/Try Entrepreneurs University 14 Day FREE Trial Here ►https://jamessinclair.net/entrepreneurs-university-free-trial/Sign up to my weekly newsletter 'The James Sinclair Letter' here:https://www.jamessinclair.net/the-letterFind out your Entrepreneurial DNA, take the '8 Traits of the Greats' quiz here ► https://jamessinclair.scoreapp.comGet your tickets to our next event here ► https://www.jamessinclair.net/

******Support the channel******Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenterPayPal: paypal.me/thedissenterPayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuyPayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9lPayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpzPayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9mPayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ******Follow me on******Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoBFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Dr. Kevin Mitchell is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He is interested in the development of connectivity in the brain, specifically in how this process is controlled by genes and how mutations in such genes affect the connectivity of neuronal circuits, influence behavior and perception and contribute to disease. His latest book is Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will. In this episode, we talk about the study of individual differences in psychological traits. We start by discussing what they are. We talk about process ontology and dynamical systems theory. We discuss animal models and ecology. We talk about what we can learn from behavioral genetics, the concept of heritability, and the role of the environment and gene-environment correlations. We discuss misconceptions people have about group differences. We talk about the role of randomness in development and psychology. Finally, we discuss why some behavioral scientists aredeterminists.--A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, HUGO B., JORDAN MANSFIELD, CHARLOTTE ALLEN, DAVID TONNER, PATRICK DALTON-HOLMES, NICK KRASNEY, RACHEL ZAK, DENNIS XAVIER, CHINMAYA BHAT, RHYS, ALEX MACLEOD, HAIDAR, JULIEN PORCHER, JON STEWART, JAMES DORLING, JULIEN PORCHER, 航 豊川, ED MAKLOUF, LUIZ PESSOA, AND DAVID COOPER!A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, NICK GOLDEN, CHRISTINE GLASS, IGOR NIKIFOROVSKI, PER KRAULIS, ADAM HUNT, AND JOÃO BARBOSA!AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER,SERGIU CODREANU, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!

Sign up to Revolut Business https://www.revolut.com/business/james/pod/sept1/ at before 31st December 2026 and add money to your account to receive a £200 welcome bonus. Fees, Promotion terms and Business T&Cs apply.The Manager that Makes You Money, Workbook & Course ►https://james-sinclair-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbpFind out more from Ryan here: https://www.owl-adventures.co.uk/Try Entrepreneurs University 14 Day FREE Trial Here ►https://jamessinclair.net/entrepreneurs-university-free-trial/Sign up to my weekly newsletter 'The James Sinclair Letter' here:https://www.jamessinclair.net/the-letterFind out your Entrepreneurial DNA, take the '8 Traits of the Greats' quiz here ► https://jamessinclair.scoreapp.comGet your tickets to our next event here ► https://www.jamessinclair.net/

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Nobody outsources the engine. It's the heartbeat of the vehicle, and outside of a few niche players, no large OEM has ever seriously considered handing it to someone else. Tom Lewis is betting that rule's about to break.Tom is President of Horse Powertrain USA, the company formed by Renault, Geely, and Aramco with 19,000 people and 18 plants across 4 continents. OEMs bet big on battery-electric vehicles and pulled investment away from combustion and hybrid systems, but now consumer demand isn't matching the plan. Many of the hybrids sold in the U.S. today still run on engines developed at the start of the millennium. Horse's answer is fully assembled engines and transmissions from an unbiased partner, some call a tier 0.5, so OEMs don't have to pour capital into technology they can't justify building alone.The business model breaks one rule. Tom's leadership breaks a few more. He calls himself a catalyst, and he's got the stories to back it up. A purchasing leader once told him he had no chance at an inverter program and to come back next time. Tom asked what the current suppliers weren't solving, pulled together a skunkworks team, found a way to meet the power requirement with a single power module, and slid a quote across the desk without ever receiving an RFQ. His company won the business. Then there's the inflation negotiation, where everyone in the room was hunting for ways to pressure the customer, and Tom stopped the discussion to ask what a positive lever might look like. That offer went straight to the CEO, who said yes on the spot, because Tom wasn't willing to wait for every business unit controller to protect their own turf.Jan and Tom also get into what it takes to blend French, Spanish, Swedish, and Chinese teams into one culture, why a vision has to be built by the team in the room (and never pulled from an AI tool), and what Tom's leaving behind as he builds Horse's U.S. organization as employee number one.This one's for every leader who's been told to wait for the RFQ, follow the process, and stay in their lane, and knows the automotive industry can't afford to keep playing it safe.Themes Discussed in this EpisodeWhy the rule against outsourcing the engine is breakingThe BEV bet and the return of the hybridTier 0.5: an unbiased powertrain partner for OEMsMerging Chinese and legacy automotive culturesThe leader as catalyst: ambition, vision, creativity, driveBreaking the rules to win the customerPositive levers in tough commercial negotiationsLeaving complex hierarchy and decision-making behindThis episode is sponsored by Lockton, click here to learn more

Yes, you read that title correctly! It's a good ol' fashioned animal trivia episode! Alexis learned some surprising new information about dinosaurs, so Ella decided to find a bunch of animal facts to match! Also, we will be going on a hiatus for the month of October, but we promise to come back with more delightful animal stories! We will miss you! See you in November! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joincreatures

Send us Fan MailWhat are the narcissistic traits in terms of a narcissistic mother? My Google number (941) 841-9337Join my private Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1165736933586382/?ref=share_group_linkBuy Me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/enmoms993Email me at enmoms99@gmail.com#narcissists #narcissisticmothers #toxicfamily #enablingfather #narcissisticfamily #mentalhealth #healingfromabuse        Support the show

This marketing agency is only 2 years old but generating up to £60k per month. Connor has an impressive business but has a few challenges scaling and building the best possible team. Find out how James would solve this problem.Find out more from Connor here: https://fullybooked.com/The Manager that Makes You Money, Workbook & Course ►https://james-sinclair-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp/products/managerSign up to my weekly newsletter 'The James Sinclair Letter' here:https://www.jamessinclair.net/the-letterFind out your Entrepreneurial DNA, take the '8 Traits of the Greats' quiz here ► https://jamessinclair.scoreapp.comGet your tickets to our next event here ► https://www.jamessinclair.net/

Is your anxiety rubbing off on your kids? In this episode of the Focus on the Family Parenting Podcast, host John Fuller and Dr. Danny Huerta unpack how parental stress becomes contagious, the key difference between fear and anxiety, and why managing your own mental health is essential to showing up well for your children. They're joined by Sissy Goff and David Thomas from the Raising Boys and Girlspodcast, who share practical tools for self-assessment, parenting out of love rather than fear, and simple daily strategies from breathing exercises to building routines that help you reset and model healthy stress management for your family.Take the 7 Traits of Effective Parenting AssessmentAre My Kids on Track?Leading Your Child Through Emotional Milestones (Digital)

DESCRIPTION Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management.   This week, we're talking about what happens when TikTok becomes more than a social platform and starts playing a central role in the commerce funnel. We'll look at how TikTok Shop creates demand, how that demand shows up on Amazon, and how brands can measure and scale the relationship between the two.   Joining us today is Matt Rosenfeld, who many of you know as the founder of CRUSH, now the accelerator team within Acadia's broader retail business.   Let's dive in!    Quote: I think what's unique about TikTok is that all brands are essentially doing today is trying to find an arbitrage for attention. And the way you unlock the arbitrage is by finding ways to drive attention where it's disconnected from direct dollar investment.    Matt Rosenfeld    KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Jordan and Matt discuss: The evolving role of TikTok in driving awareness and sales for consumer brands, especially how it compares to the earlier days of Facebook, Google, and Amazon as commerce channels The unique ability of TikTok to "arbitrage attention" through creator-led content, making organic growth less directly tied to ad spending How TikTok engagement can deliver higher-quality, high-intent traffic to Amazon, improving conversion rates versus traffic from Meta or Google Challenges of attribution from TikTok to Amazon and the importance of monitoring branded search trends over perfect attribution models Traits of brands succeeding on TikTok: volume of samples sent, content creation strategy, and community engagement—why premium brands historically struggled, and what's changing Tightening connections between Amazon and TikTok, such as Amazon's discounted multichannel fulfillment for TikTok orders and the future potential for Prime integration or collaboration Strategic advice for brands: why TikTok is becoming a tier 1 initiative for most e-commerce brands and how sample distribution and community building can yield significant upside The rising cost of customer acquisition across channels and TikTok's continued position as a cost-efficient engine for attention

Send us Fan MailThe host brings back the Fantasy Draft concept, drafting a roster of traits and characteristics of the best wholesalers he's interviewed or worked with during his career as a wholesaler. Loving Internal Use Only? Sign up for our free newsletter for episode recaps, community benefits, and moreSupport the show

Rigorous exposition isn't at odds with engaging preaching. Pastor John encourages pastors to work for creativity when technical, abstract sermons feel easier.

Aaron Lee | 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 | FCBCW Youth Worship | September 20, 2026Christians love like Jesus by laying down their lives for others.https://www.diveindigdeep.com/blog/messages/lay-down-your-life

On today's episode, I'm joined by Norman Santos, a Las Vegas nightlife promoter with years of experience at XS Nightclub and Encore Beach Club. Norman began promoting events in Hawaii at just 19 years old before moving to Las Vegas to pursue a career in one of the world's most competitive nightlife scenes. We discuss the hidden economics of bottle service, what separates elite promoters from everyone else, how status and social pressure influence attraction, why nightclub culture has changed, and what Las Vegas reveals about modern dating and relationships. Norman also shares firsthand stories from behind the scenes and explains how the lessons he learned in nightlife can apply to everyday social situations. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:49 Meeting Norman Santos 00:05:10 Why Norman Loves Nightlife 00:07:41 Bottle Service vs The Dance Floor 00:08:29 The Death of Bringing Girls to Clubs 00:11:29 Why Nightclubs Are Dying 00:13:46 The Clout Test Concept 00:15:08 The Clout Test Explained 00:23:23 What is a Girl Guy? 00:25:12 Girl Guys vs Regular Promoters 00:32:34 Traits of a Good Girl Guy 00:35:02 Splitting Groups at the Club 00:44:25 Dating in Las Vegas 00:48:01 Building a Promoter From Scratch 00:55:07 Spotting Game in Nightclubs 01:05:31 Mistakes Guys Make at Clubs 01:13:12 Three Biggest Nightclub Mistakes 01:32:13 Uncomfortable Truths About Vegas 01:35:12 Bachelorette Parties in Vegas 01:38:29 Where to Find Norman ————————————————————

Article Mentioned: https://www.everydayhealth.com/mens-h...CONTACT/ FOLLOW ME:Instagram: @courtneycristineryanBUSINESS INQUIRES: courtneycristineryan@gmail.comAMAZON STOREFRONT: https://www.amazon.com/shop/courtneyryanI make a small commission on items purchased with my link. Thank you for the support, I appreciate it!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On today’s show: (00:00) Megan reveals the surprising signs you might be more attractive than you think... (04:00) Ben accidentally gives a repairman the worst customer review imaginable (06:50) The quirky traits we've inherited from our parents and given to our kids (17:15) Megan admits ChatGPT gave her better motivation than her husband! (19:40) Bin-day disaster strikes before dawn and Jono pays the price (22:10) The warning signs we ignored right up until everything went wrong (27:40) The Fray’s Joe King joins us ahead of the band's return to New Zealand! (32:50) Ben reflects on the Warriors’ season after their heartbreaking finals exit (36:10) We attempt to interview the world’s first AI actress! Join the Itty Bitty Hitty Committee HERE!Instagram: @THEHITSBREAKFASTFacebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & Megan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This business owner returns to the podcast 3 years later to share how his business had grown, the challenges he faces now and what needs to be done to scale to the next level.Find out more from Harry here:https://garagestyleltd.com/The Manager that Makes You Money, Workbook & Course ►https://james-sinclair-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbpSign up to my weekly newsletter 'The James Sinclair Letter' here:https://www.jamessinclair.net/the-letterFind out your Entrepreneurial DNA, take the '8 Traits of the Greats' quiz here ► https://jamessinclair.scoreapp.comGet your tickets to our next event here ► https://www.jamessinclair.net/Apply to be on my podcast here ►https://jamessinclair.net/podcasts/

Bree Tomasel & Clint Roberts on ZM - find us @breeandclint on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get AudioBooks for FreeBest Self-improvement Motivation3 Traits All Great Entrepreneurs Have | Dan MartellDiscover 3 powerful traits that great entrepreneurs share. Learn how to build the mindset, habits, and skills that drive lasting business success.⁠We Need Your Love & Support ❤️⁠⁠Get 3 Audiobooks Free -

Faith is often caught more than it is taught. In this episode, John Fuller and Dr. Danny Huerta discuss a conversation with Stephen and Sarah Williams about standing firm in your faith when it's challenged. As Stephen shares his experience facing opposition as a public school history teacher, you'll discover how parents can model courage, resilience, and biblical conviction for their children, helping them build a faith that remains strong even in a culture that pushes back against Christian beliefs.Take the 7 Traits of Effective Parenting AssessmentProtecting Your Child's Faith in Public School (Digital)Resources: Schools and Related Issues

In this episode I discuss 9 Green Beret principles that apply far beyond Special Forces—from fitness and self-reliance to communication, confidence, leadership, resilience, and competition.Need guidance on building these traits? Check out my new E-book:  Be The Exception: TTM's Personal Development Handbook 9 GB principles: 00:00:00 – Intro 00:03:46 – #1 – Fitness Is the Foundation 00:08:17 – #2 – Look the Part 00:16:26 – #3 – Nobody Is Coming to Save You 00:19:44 – #4 – Communication Skills Are Non-Negotiable 00:28:00 – #5 – Tenacity Is Perishable 00:32:57 – #6 – The Confidence Fairy Doesn't Exist 00:41:11 – #7 – Leadership Is on You 00:44:16 – #8 – Thick Skin Is Not Optional 00:48:10 – #9 – Everything Is a Competition—Questions? Look for bi-weekly Q&A on my stories. I'll answer your questions on IG and here on the podcast.—New SFAS Program (includes 59-page SFAS Personal Dev Guidebook) New Running Program: TTM Run AdvancedNew Selection Prep Program: Ruck | Run | Lift New Hybrid Program: Jacked Gazelle 3.0Ebook: SOF Selection Recovery & Nutrition Guide—TrainHeroic Team Subscription: T-850 Rebuilt (try a week for free!)—PDF programs2 & 5 Mile Run Program - run improvement program w/ strength workKickstart- beginner/garage gym friendlyTime Crunch- Workouts for those short on timeHypertrophy- intermediate/advancedJacked Gazelle- Hybrid athleteJacked Gazelle 2.0 - Hybrid athlete—New partnerships Rice ‘N Grinds (Pride Foods) – 10% off w/ code TTMMegaFit Meals - 10% off w/ code TTMSpoken Supplements: Code terminator_trainingCwench supplements: Code terminator_training—Let's connect:Newsletter Sign UpIG: terminator_trainingYoutubeWebsiteSubstack

With over 45 years in engineering, enterprise software, sales leadership, and global sales enablement, Art Fromm joins us to share his thoughs on what sets exceptional sales leaders apart from sales managers, how to build high-performing, collaborative sales teams, and the importance of aligning around the client's buying journey rather than just the sales process. We discuss what makes coaching effective, how to leverage technology without losing the human touch, and which leading indicators really predict sales success.    Outline of This Episode [00:00] Traits of effective leadership [03:42] Aligning sales with buyer process [08:32] Balancing AI and Human Thinking [11:03] Building strong client partnerships [14:01] Sales management do's and don'ts [17:07] Impact of sales methodology Sales Leadership vs. Sales Management: Understanding the Difference Sales management is primarily about executing the business—monitoring forecasts, managing pipelines, and ensuring activities are tracked. Sales leadership, on the other hand, is about changing the business: creating clarity, removing obstacles, cultivating culture, and inspiring teams to achieve more than they believed possible. Organizations thrive when they strike the right balance—leveraging strong management for operational excellence and empowering visionary leadership to ignite motivation, foster trust, and drive innovation.   The DNA of Great Sales Leaders Reflecting on decades of experience, Art identifies several key traits that set exceptional sales leaders apart: Consistent Curiosity & Coachability: Top leaders ask questions, remain open to feedback, and are always learning. Client Focus: They prioritize external and internal customers—striving to truly understand their needs and equip them for success. Building Trust: Effective sales leaders foster both top-down and bottom-up trust. They lead with authority but drive buy-in and collaboration to achieve shared objectives. Leaders recognize that motivated individuals deliver superior results—making collaboration and mutual understanding the foundation for sustained performance.   Building High-Performance, Client-Centric Sales Teams High-performing sales teams are unified around the client's buying journey, not just their own sales process. Too often, organizations focus inward—pushing opportunities through their defined stages and losing sight of the buyer's critical milestones. Art advocates for: Aligning all go-to-market roles (sales, pre-sales, and customer success) around the client's process Clarifying roles and shared accountability within the team Leveraging technology and CRMs to facilitate—not complicate—selling and buying When sales teams operate as a coordinated unit, customer outcomes improve, win rates rise, and engagement soars.   Technology, AI, and Human Insight in Sales Leadership While artificial intelligence and advanced tech can streamline research and drive efficiency, Art Fromm stresses that competitive advantage still stems from genuine, human-to-human discovery and emotional intelligence. Leaders should use AI to augment—not replace—strategic thinking, preparation, and authentic customer engagement. Seamless Alignment Drives Lasting Impact Aligning sales, pre-sales, and customer success around shared goals and frameworks fundamentally transforms results. It's not about hoping for improvement—it's about intentionally shaping the environment so that teams and clients alike thrive. Great sales leadership means moving from silos to synergy, from seller-centric to client-centric, and from transactional management to transformative guidance.    Resources & People Mentioned Making SEAMless Sales  Articles & Events - Team Sales Development  Team Sales Development    Connect with Art Fromm Art Fromm on LinkedIn    Connect With Paul Watts  LinkedIn Twitter    Subscribe to SALES REINVENTED Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com  

In todays episode of the show James sits down with behavioural and team building expert Tim Sissons to discuss company culture, recruitment and how to make your team as effective, happy and ultimately as profitable as possible. Want to find out more about how Tim can help your business check out In2action here: https://www.in2action.co.uk/Interested in joining our Business Accelerator programme, find out more here: https://www.jamessinclair.net/business-acceleratorSign up to my weekly newsletter 'The James Sinclair Letter' here:https://www.jamessinclair.net/the-letterFind out your Entrepreneurial DNA, take the '8 Traits of the Greats' quiz here ► https://jamessinclair.scoreapp.comGet your tickets to our next event here ► https://www.jamessinclair.net/Apply to be on my podcast here ►https://jamessinclair.net/podcasts/

How do you raise kids who will have a good attitude? Arlene Pellicane and Jim Daly give some ideas for how to encourage godly character in your kids instead of entitlement. Also, Danny and John discuss how building character in your kids can help improve their mental health. Find us online at focusonthefamily.com/parentingpodcast. Or call 1-800-A-FAMILY.Parents RisingTake the 7 Traits of Effective Parenting AssessmentRaising Godly Children in Today's Culture (Digital Download)8 Strategies PDFCan a Parent Expect Respect?

What seems soft on the surface can become a serious advantage for leaders who want stronger teams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Series: N/AService: Sunday 11:00 a.m.Type: SermonSpeaker: Lee Moore

Autism and eating disorders can create a complicated relationship with food rigidity, routines, sensory needs, and predictability. For autistic people recovering from anorexia, ARFID, bulimia, or other eating disorders, repetitive eating patterns aren't always symptoms that need to be challenged. Sometimes autistic food routines and preferred foods make consistent nourishment more accessible. In this solo episode, Dr. Marianne explores the difference between autistic food rigidity and eating disorder rigidity, including why they can be difficult to separate. Sensory processing differences, executive functioning challenges, autistic inertia, interoceptive differences, and a strong preference for sameness can all shape autistic eating and eating disorder recovery. Autism, Food Rigidity & Eating Disorder Recovery A familiar breakfast, preferred brand, predictable meal schedule, or small rotation of foods may look rigid from the outside. For an autistic person, however, these routines can reduce sensory overwhelm, decision fatigue, and the executive functioning demands involved in eating. Dr. Marianne explains why autism and eating disorder recovery may require a different definition of flexibility. Mechanical eating and predictable meal routines can be particularly helpful for autistic people who experience inconsistent hunger cues or difficulty interpreting internal body signals. You'll also learn how the same autistic traits can sometimes complicate recovery. Changes to meal timing, unfamiliar foods, unexpected sensory experiences, and disruptions to established routines can create significant distress. What appears to be eating disorder resistance may actually involve autistic sensory needs, difficulty with transitions, interoceptive differences, or a need for predictability. Autism, ARFID, Anorexia & Sensory Issues With Food Food variety is another area where neurodivergent eating disorder treatment requires nuance. Expanding someone's range of foods can be important when limited intake creates nutritional or medical concerns, particularly with autism and ARFID. But eating more variety isn't automatically the same as eating disorder recovery. Dr. Marianne discusses how sensory sensitivities can overlap with ARFID, anorexia, and other restrictive eating disorders, and why clinicians need to understand what a food behavior is doing before trying to change it. Avoiding a food because of texture, smell, temperature, or unpredictability isn't necessarily the same as avoiding it because of eating disorder fears about calories, weight, or body shape. Sometimes both are present. Related Episodes   Neurodivergent-Affirming Eating Disorder Treatment Successful autistic eating disorder recovery doesn't require making someone's eating look neurotypical. An autistic person may continue to plan meals, repeat breakfasts, rely on preferred foods, check restaurant menus ahead of time, use sensory accommodations, and maintain predictable eating routines after the eating disorder has significantly improved. Dr. Marianne also explains how autistic traits can become recovery strengths. A preference for routine can support regular meals and snacks, pattern recognition can help identify situations where nourishment breaks down, and understanding sensory needs can make eating more sustainable. Rather than automatically trying to eliminate food rigidity in autism, neurodivergent-affirming eating disorder treatment asks a more useful question: Does this pattern strengthen the eating disorder, or does it help this person stay nourished? Dr. Marianne specializes in autism, ADHD, ARFID, anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and neurodivergent eating disorder recovery. Learn more about working with Dr. Marianne and her eating disorder therapy services at drmariannemiller.com. You can also explore her self-paced ARFID & Selective Eating course for adults with ARFID, parents and caregivers, and eating disorder providers.

What actually makes a diet "good"? Not how quickly it produces weight loss, how restrictive it is, or how many foods it eliminates.  In this episode, the second in a mini-series about diets and dietary patterns, the focus is on seven characteristics commonly found in eating patterns that support health: adequacy, balance, variety, moderation, sustainability, enjoyment, and cultural fit.  Learn why these characteristics matter and why a healthy eating pattern needs to work in real life, not just look good  Read More: What Makes a Diet “Good”? Common Traits of Healthy Eating Patterns Read More: What Is a Diet, Really? Why We've Misunderstood the Word "Diet" Episode 257: What Is a Diet, Really? Why We've Misunderstood the Word "Diet”

How do you raise kids who will have a good attitude? Arlene Pellicane and Jim Daly give some ideas for how to encourage godly character in your kids instead of entitlement. Also, Danny and John discuss how building character in your kids can help improve their mental health. Find us online at focusonthefamily.com/parentingpodcast. Or call 1-800-A-FAMILY.Parents RisingTake the 7 Traits of Effective Parenting AssessmentRaising Godly Children in Today's Culture (Digital Download)8 Strategies PDFCan a Parent Expect Respect?

If you’re screening candidates on experience or technical skills, you may be making a mistake. In this episode, Chip and Gini make the case that curiosity and problem-solving are the two traits that separate great hires from mediocre ones, and neither one can be taught from scratch. Most agency skills, from writing a press release to running Google Ads to using AI tools, can be picked up on the job. Curiosity and problem-solving are different: people either arrive with some baseline capacity for them, or they don’t. Gini makes it about AI, where ever-evolving tools and audience behavior reward the people who keep asking questions instead of coasting on routine. The two discuss how to actually screen for these traits in a couple hours of interviewing. Gini leaves 15 to 20 minutes at the end for the candidate’s questions and reads a lot into what they ask, or whether they ask anything at all. Chip changes up the order entirely, opening by asking the candidate what questions they have for him before he’s asked anything himself, and he’ll throw a candidate’s own question right back at them to see how they handle being put on the spot. Both dismiss scenario-based questions and interview theater like “what animal would you be” as close to useless. Gini also flags a habit she’s trying to break on her own team, being “Gini-GPT,” where people default to asking her for the fast answer instead of working through problems themselves. Key takeaways Chip Griffin: “Curiosity and problem-solving in my experience are things that most people either have or they don’t. And they can perfect it, they can improve it, but starting with a clean slate there is gonna be much tougher than teaching someone how to write a press release.” Gini Dietrich: “You can teach how to write a release, how to use AI, how to pitch to media, how to write content, how to do Google Ads or social media ads. Those are skills you can teach. The innate sort of curiosity and wanting to know more, that can’t be taught.” Chip Griffin: “If the questions are all about, ‘Well, how much does it pay, and what are my hours? And do I have to work weekends?’ And that kind of thing, then clearly they’re not curious. They’re just looking to punch their ticket.” Gini Dietrich: “I think problem-solving and curiosity are two of the most important things that you can hire for, because like I said, you can teach many skills. You might be frustrated if you’re teaching a seven-year professional how to write a news release, but you can still teach it.” Related Hire people who understand how to solve problems Rethink entry-level hiring to succeed in the AI era Balancing skills and personality when hiring a new team member View Transcript The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy. Chip Griffin: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: And I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: You know, Gini, we have a problem today with this recording, and I’m curious as to how we’re going to solve it. Gini Dietrich: Oh, boy. I live, I live for your intros ’cause I never know what they are. They’re always really bad. You come up with them on the literal fly. Chip Griffin: On the fly as I watch that five, four, three, two, one on the screen … I dream something up, which is, uh… I mean, that’s more thought than we sometimes give to what we’re gonna do for an episode. Although we have- at some point we’ll talk about our new system for this, because we have- Gini Dietrich: We do have a new system, and it’s very good … Chip Griffin: it, it is- Gini Dietrich: It’s very, it’s very good. Thanks to you. Chip Griffin: You know, thanks to me with a little, little assist from Claude, so, Gini Dietrich: It’s very good … Chip Griffin: but we’ll talk more about that in a future episode. But no, today, normally we, to record this episode, or each episode, we get together, we kibitz for a bit and talk about the world, and then we end up recording as soon as we look at the clock and say, “Oh my God, we’re about to run out of time- Right. … to actually record something before our next meeting.” Gini Dietrich: Yes. Chip Griffin: Um, because really, this show is just an excuse for us to have social hour. I mean, let’s, let’s be honest. That’s- Gini Dietrich: Right, yes … Chip Griffin: we happen to end up with content out of it. But today- Gini Dietrich: We do happen to end up with content because of it, Chip Griffin: but today it turns out you’re getting a grocery delivery right in the middle of when we would normally be having that panicked conversation about how we’re gonna record in time. Gini Dietrich: Correct, yes. Chip Griffin: So- Gini Dietrich: There, there was a- Chip Griffin: We’re flipping the script as they like to say … Gini Dietrich: that was like an hour early, so- Chip Griffin: Yes … Yes. But- Gini Dietrich: Although right now it says five stops away even though it’s only four block- … the, the GPS shows they’re only four blocks away, so maybe it’s five stops in between four blocks of- Chip Griffin: So, so basically, if all of a sudden Gini disappears in the middle of this episode- Gini Dietrich: You’ll know why Chip Griffin: you’ll know why. It’s because she didn’t want her milk to spoil, so. Anyway- … we’ll do our best to muddle through as we always do, but we are gonna be talking about curiosity and problem-solving, because I firmly believe that those are the two qualities that agencies should be hiring for first and foremost, not worrying so much about what experience do they have working with the particular industry that you serve, or even their specific technical capabilities for whatever role they may have. Because a lot of those things can be taught, but curiosity and problem-solving in my experience are things that most people either have or they don’t. And they can, they can perfect it, they can improve it, but starting with a clean slate there is gonna be much tougher than teaching someone how to write a press release or teaching someone about the industry that you’re primarily working with. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, it’s, it’s the things, like when you think about the type of people that you want on your team and the things that you can teach versus the things that kind of come innately, and I think you’re right, curiosity and problem-solving are the, the critical thinking skills are the things that you can’t really teach. You, they, people have to come with those. They either have it or they don’t. You can teach how to write a release, how to use AI, how to pitch to media, how to write content, how to do Google Ads or social media ads. Like, you can teach those. Those are skills you can teach. The innate sort of curiosity and wanting to know more, like that’s, that can’t be taught. That’s, that’s just something that people either come with or they don’t. Chip Griffin: And, and curiosity is taking on increasing importance in the age of AI- Gini Dietrich: I think so, yeah Chip Griffin:… because things, things are changing so quickly and so we need to be not just creative, but we need to understand, you know, how to take advantage of all of the tools that we have, how the audience behavior is shifting right under our feet, and all of those things benefit from curiosity. But I think as we look at problem-solving, I mean, that’s fundamentally agency-client relationships are about just a continuous cycle of problem-solving. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Chip Griffin: Right? I mean, you… From the problem-solving to acquire the client, to onboarding the client, to keeping the client, to dealing with team members, look, it’s all problem-solving just over and over again, and I think most agency owners, if they looked at how they spent their week, they would be spending a lot of it solving one problem or another. And, and problems don’t necessarily have to be bad things, right? Problems can be just challenges. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, yeah, of course. Chip Griffin: But you, you gotta try to figure out how to surmount whatever is in front of you. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. You know, I think, I think a good way to think about this, especially for agency owners, is when you think about the work that you do with clients, which kinds of clients are really fun to work with, and which ones kind of make you wanna poke your eyeballs out? For instance, we have a client who, their chief communications officer is so incredibly curious that he’s constantly… He– like, he and I are always like brr, to the point where our teams are all like, “What’s happening here?” But be- but he’s- he and I are at the same curiosity level where we’re constantly asking questions, and for me, it’s so fun to work with him. It’s so fun. Every time I get an email from him or he texts me and he wants to call, I’m like, “Yes,” because I know we’re gonna have a really good conversation, versus the clients who are like, “I don’t understand why we would use social media for the business when, you know, social media is for the kids,” even though it’s been 15 years, right? It’s the, like the, the kinds of… It’s a different kind of working relationship. And those are the people you want on your team, the ones that are curious and ask lots of questions and want to understand and want to grow and want the professional development to be able to do that. That’s who you want on your team. Chip Griffin: Yeah. I mean, it makes all the difference in the results that you’re producing for your firm and also for the clients because if all you do is show up and do the exact same thing day in and day out and you don’t bother to learn and you’re not curious about, you know, how can you continue to improve what you’re producing, I mean, you’re right, it’s boring- Yeah and it doesn’t produce good results. So you’ve got… You know, you’re oh for two. And so you need to be better at that. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. It’s funny, you know, there, there’s a common generalization, I would say, about baby boomers, and that baby boomers are not curious. And you find this– I think you find this with your parents, where they don’t ask a lot of questions. They tend to be more invested. It feels like they’re more invested in the neighbors or the people they go to church with than in their children and grandchildren. And I started to, started to see this a little bit, and I think it’s just as a generation, and it’s, it’s a generalization, like it’s a gross one, right? But as a generation, because they were taught that children are to be seen and not heard, they’ve never really learned how to ask questions or be really curious. And because of that, I think our generation and our kids’ generation, They’re, they’re seeing that come into play where they aren’t curious about what our lives and about their, their grandchildren’s lives. And so when you think about that from a personal perspective, you’re like, “Why aren’t you curious?” Right. Now extrapolate that to work, right? The same kind of thing. Like, why wouldn’t you want to work with people who have curiosity and who have the ability to problem solve, so who have critical thinking skills? Because those are the things that, to your point, are gonna help you excel for your clients faster than anything else. Chip Griffin: Yeah. And I think, I mean, it, you know, I think that curiosity is not necessarily a generational thing. I know plenty of folks who are at an advanced age like myself on the back nine, if you will, and- Gini Dietrich: You’re not on the back nine yet. Chip Griffin: I, I, mean, I’m into my 50s, so, um, I, I’m not sure I’m gonna live to be 110, so I think I’m on the back nine. Gini Dietrich: You might. You never know. Chip Griffin: I think very unlikely. But in any case, before we really get sidetracked here. I mean, look, there are people who are at that age who are curious. I count myself in that category. I think I’m intensely curious about a lot of things, but I know a lot of other people who are, you know, like, “Eh, just let me show up. Let me do my job. Let me get things done. I’ll do it well, but I don’t really have any desire to, you know, to be that dog that learns a new trick at this point.” Flip side, I know plenty of young people who aren’t curious either, and, you know- Gini Dietrich: Yeah, that’s fair. Yeah … Chip Griffin: and all they really wanna do is show up, collect a paycheck, and move on. And I would actually argue that for young people that’s more common today than I think it was 20 or 30 years ago. Gini Dietrich: Do you think so? Chip Griffin: I do. I think there’s … you know, we’ve spent a lot of time, teaching our young people about the importance of, you know, having balance in their lives and all of that, and they keep hearing this message, and I think that for some they’ve found a balance, and for some that pendulum just has swung a lot in the other direction. And so I, I don’t wanna overgeneralize because I’m not gonna say this is true of all young people, but just in my experience it seems to be more common than I think it used to be. Although, I mean, obviously we all have- Fascinating … we all have different recollections of what things were like 30 or 40 years ago, so. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Interesting, yeah Chip Griffin: And I always walked uphill to school both ways, barefoot, and- Get off my lawn. Gini Dietrich: That, that was our parents. Yes. That wasn’t us. Chip Griffin: I walked to school, so. But anyway, so you know, so we’ve talked about the curiosity, we’ve talked a little bit about the problem-solving, but how do you test for these things when you’re interviewing? Because it’s all well and good to say you need to hire people who are curious problem-solvers, but how do you figure that out in those- It’s so hard … two or three- Yeah, yeah … we always talk about how little time you actually have- Yeah, yeah … with prospective hires, and you have to make that decision about whether they truly are curious or whether they truly can solve problems when they pop up. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, it’s really hard. I think part of it is, I mean, certainly you can ask scenario-based questions, right? But I think part of it is listening to the types of responses they give, but more for me, it’s the questions they ask. Mm-hmm. And so I say at the end of every interview, you know, with like 15 or 20 minutes left, “What questions do you have for me?” And I always know if the person is curious or not based on what they say. And I would say 75% of the time people say, “Well, your team already answered all my questions.” Okay, you’re not getting hired. Yeah. Like you, you, you have the CEO sitting in front of you. Ask the same questions. See if you get the same response. Ask what the vision is. Ask where you think we’re going. Like, be curious, and if you, you say things like that, we’re not gonna hire you because that tells me that you’re not curious. And so I think a part of it is in listening to the conversation that you’re having as well as the questions that they’ll ask. Chip Griffin: Yeah, I mean, I, I think that, that you’re absolutely right. The curiosity shows itself in the questions that come up during the interview, and I’ll be honest, I’m a lot more aggressive about this than you are because I actually, I do intros of myself… I do intro of myself and generally what we’re doing, and I ask them to give a brief intro of themself, and then I just, I stop right there and say, “So what questions do you have for me?” Before I even ask any questions myself, just lead off- Gini Dietrich: Smart. That’s smart … because that- I like that. Yeah … Chip Griffin: because that, at that point it tells me, you know, what kind of, of research- Mm … they’ve done coming in. Sure. You know, how… and a lot of times the, you know, the questions may be off base, but I don’t care, right? I want them to show something that they- Yep … that they were curious enough to have maybe done a little bit of research. They’ve got some ideas in their head- Mm-hmm … and wanted to probe, and so that really helps me. If those, if the questions are all about, “Well, how much does it pay, and what are my hours?” Yeah. “And do I have to work weekends?” Yes. And you know, that kind of thing, then, then clearly they’re not curious. They’re just, you know, looking to punch their ticket, and I mean, that’s fine for some people. That’s not what I’m looking for. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. When I interviewed for our chief learning officer role, I, we interviewed several people, and the person that we ended up hiring, who’s fantastic, she showed up to the interview with Spin Sucks the book, and she had it, had Post-It notes in there flagged. And so, but she, the thing about it is she didn’t… it wasn’t like blowing smoke. She said to me, “I’ve done some research. I’ve read the book. You know, I’ve done all the things. I’ve gone through the curriculum. I’ve gone through the PESO model certification. I don’t wanna call your baby ugly, so I’m gonna ask you some questions to help me understand if my hypothesis is right or not.” And I was like, like I, I could feel myself getting a little defensive. And I was like, “Okay.” But she asked such smart, curious questions that I was like, I actually had never thought about it that way because her, she’s coming at it from an adult learning perspective, right? And I’m coming it from a, from an expertise perspective. And so when you combine the two, you actually get a product that’s smart for the industry but also positioned in a way that adult learners learn. And the way she did it I, like, I, like I said, I could feel myself getting defensive at first, but the way she handled it and the kinds of questions she asked made me go, “Huh, I’d actually never thought about it that way.” And so of course she got the job, and that’s how she works. She’s just super curious and delightful from that perspective. But she did say, like, “I don’t wanna call your baby ugly, so I’m gonna ask you some questions to help me understand if my hypothesis is right.” And I was like Serenity. Okay, go. But it works. Chip Griffin: And so clearly she has more judgment than I do because I just call the baby ugly and move on. So I do it with a smile and a chuckle, but I’ll still call the baby ugly. Mm. You know, it is what it is. But yeah, I, I don’t know. Bringing the book as a prop, that feels, that feels a little extra to me, but- Gini Dietrich: Well, she had a couple of things that she had- Yeah that highlighted- Yeah … that she was like- Okay … “Okay, when you talked about this, I need to better understand it.” And I was like, “Well, that was 10 years ago, so things have evolved.” But we were able to talk about it so that she had… ‘Cause she’s like, “This doesn’t seem to be what you’re talking about right now.” And I was like, “Yeah, ’cause the book was published a decade ago.” Chip Griffin: Right. A lot has changed in the last 10 years- A lot has changed, yeah … if, if you haven’t noticed- Yeah, yeah … in everything. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. So- And actually, to be fair, she had it down below where I couldn’t see, and finally I was like, “What are you looking at?” And so she held it up and showed me. Chip Griffin: Yep. Yep. So, I mean, curiosity, I think the, the questions are a good reveal. I think the other one is I- I like to ask people, you know, what, what are they, you know, most interested in or most excited about professionally right now? I always make sure I add professionally. Gini Dietrich: That’s for Gen Z. Chip Griffin: It’s for everybody. I think I’ve shared the story before about how I had a hiring manager, a number of years ago who said to me that his favorite question was asking what people like to do on the weekends. And I’m like, “Please, please do not ask that question. That, that opens up all sorts of- yeah, you can’t … possible HR issues.” Right. Don’t, don’t do that. Yes, stop. Don’t do that. So, so I do try to keep everybody in a professional lane so they don’t inadvertently volunteer things that would make all of us uncomfortable. But yes, so but, so I do like to ask that because that then, you know, will tend to reveal, you know, are they, are they excited about AI or not? Are they excited about, you know, what the, the changing trends in media consumption mean or not? And all of those things contribute to my assessment of their curiosity. And so I think curiosity’s probably the easier of the two to, to sort out in a couple of hours of time. You just, you kind of get that feel from talking to somebody. Yeah. I think to me the problem-solving is the harder one- Yeah … to get at. And you, you mentioned earlier scenario-based questions. I, I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of scenario-based questions. Gini Dietrich: I’m not really either, yeah. Chip Griffin: Because it kinda, I mean, you’re, you’re, you’re sort of putting people in a very difficult spot because at that point they don’t really know anything at all. Yeah. And most people are gonna feel the need to perform in that, so they may not, you know- Yeah … give you their, their honest assessment. So I do think it’s tougher. I, I… Here’s where I tend to ask for examples of things that they’ve done, you know. Tell me about a, if they come from an agency background, tell me about a difficult client experience and how you handled it. You know, tell me about, you know, some particular challenge that you had professionally and walk me through, you know, how you came back from it or those kinds of things. It’s not perfect, because a lot of times those are collaborative efforts and so maybe they’re not the one- Right. Yeah … who actually solved the problem, they just implemented it. Yeah. But sometimes in, in the hearing, the retelling of it at least, you can sort of pick at those. But I think the, the problem-solving is really the, the tougher of the two qualities to figure out in just, you know, a couple of conversations. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. And I will say one of the challenges that I have is the– it’s not lack of critical thinking, but it’s finding an answer fast. And so they call– my team calls me Gini-GPT because it’s faster to ask me a question, and I’m trying to break that habit. So now I say, “What do you think? What you…” You know? And so it forces them to, to find the answer on their own. But I– they will say, “But it’s so much easier to ask Gini GPT.” And I’m like Chip Griffin: Right. Well, that, I mean, that’s a good point. I mean, you know, so if, if they, if they ask me a question, you know, about, you know, what I’m most interested in from the perspective of agency world or AI or whatever, I will often throw that question right back at them- Gini Dietrich: Yeah Chip Griffin: in the interview because that, that helps- Love that … me see some of their thought process. And it, I mean, arguably it still shows you more of the curiosity side of things, but just their thought process, even in being able to handle the volley coming right back at them as opposed to, you know, having the time to think and- Gini Dietrich: Yep. Yep. Love that.  Love that. … Chip Griffin: And all that, you know. Are, are they, are they able to, to work on their feet? And even my first question where I just, you know, immediately go into asking them questions, that sort of shows their general demeanor to problem-solving because almost nobody expects that- I love that unless they happen to listen to this episode. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, I’m gonna start doing that. I think that’s smart. Yep. I’m gonna start doing that. I love that. Chip Griffin: Yeah. And I mean, a lot of times I, you know, there’s nothing, and sometimes it’s just because they’re, you know, they’re, you know, they may be, you know, shy or they’re just not confident or whatever, and that’s fine. I mean, not everybody’s gonna come into that and be like, “Yes, I’ve got questions for you,” right out of the gate. So it’s not disqualifying if they don’t have them. But it’s certainly, it’s certainly a nod in their favor if they are able to come up with something on their feet. But anything you can do to kind of gently throw them off base helps you understand the problem-solving, not the old style Google, you know, “Tell me what happens when these 17 things happen,” and, or the, the crazy ones where they’re like, “If you were an animal, what, what kind of animal?” Like, I’m like- Gini Dietrich: What, what would your tree be if you were a tree? Chip Griffin: Like, I don’t really want- I don’t know. Gini Dietrich: I d- I don’t know Chip Griffin: what that’s gonna do for me, so. Right. But you know, I mean, Google used to be famous for the incredibly difficult questions they would ask during the interview process, and I just, I really don’t have any idea what they were trying to accomplish with that. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, I don’t know either. I don’t know what it tells you about the person either. Chip Griffin: That’s performative interviewing. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think problem-solving and curiosity are two of the most important things that you can hire for, because like I said, you can teach many skills. You might be frustrated if you’re teaching, you know, a seven-year professional how to write a news release, but you can still teach it. Chip Griffin: Yes. It can be incredibly frustrating to have to teach the basics- Yeah … to people who ought to know it. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Chip Griffin: And this isn’t, none of this is to say that, that curiosity and problem-solving aren’t things that you can further develop. You can absolutely hone those skills, and as an owner, as a manager, you need to be encouraging people to further develop these skills. You need to mentor them on improving their pursuit of curiosity, and their ability to solve problems. But you’ve got to start with a, a nugget of strength there, I think, in order to be successful. And I, I would tell you, if you hire for nothing else, if you hired curious problem-solvers, you will come out ahead of most other hiring individuals. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, I totally agree. And not only will you come out ahead, but you really won’t have to be teaching the basics, ’cause they will already know, because they’re curious and they’re problem solvers. Chip Griffin: Correct. And if they don’t, they’ll figure it out. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Yeah. So. That’s what you want, is people who will figure it out. Chip Griffin: So just like we did, and we managed to get this whole episode in before your groceries arrived, so. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. I think they even went the wrong direction which is fantastic. They did. They’re still five stops away, but now they’re by the lake instead of by my house. Chip Griffin: Well, what- whatever it took, I’m just- … I’m happy that we were able to record smoothly, and I’m sure that Jen is happy that she has a nice clean episode to edit, and we don’t have any- Gini Dietrich: You’re welcome, Jen. Chip Griffin: any weird stops in the middle. So, on that note, thank you all for listening. This draws to an end this episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And it depends.

This week on Swimming with Allocators, Henrik Reimavuo traces his path from teen volunteer at Slush to LP and co-founder of Firm, a fund of funds backing next-gen venture managers. He explains how Slush exposed him to the power of narrative in capital flows, what he learned from legendary investors with low ego and high conviction, and how his stints at Nokia's NGP and a Swiss insurer shaped his view of incentives. The conversation dives into why Europe's VC gap with the US is more about quality and misallocation than raw capital, the outsized role of government and corporates, and today's hot themes like European resilience, defense, and cybersecurity. A key takeaway: incentives and authentic community-building matter more than ever, and the future of European venture will be defined by specialized, culturally rooted managers rather than broad, state-driven capital programs. Also, Sidley's Michael Podolny shares how he's increasingly helping startups navigate early founder breakups and complex AI/data licensing deals, and how deeply integrated AI tools have transformed his legal workflow without replacing his core judgment and client relationships. Highlights from this week's conversation include: Henrik's Path From Slush Volunteer to Venture (0:14) Scale of Slush and First Lessons on How Capital Flows (1:53) Traits of Great Investors and Lessons from Industry Legends (4:51) Direct Investing Roles at NGP, Tempo Driven Fund, and Swiss Insurer (7:57) Swiss Wealth Culture, Capital Preservation, and Slow Venture Adoption (13:04) How State-Backed Capital Shapes Incentives and Misallocation in Europe (14:50) Defining Next Gen Managers Operating at the Esoteric Edge (18:47) IRL Community Building, Niche Founder Networks, and New Funds (26:43) Frame Overview, Sub 100 Million Focus, and Firm Building Philosophy (30:36) European Focus, Cultural Proximity, and European Links for US Managers (33:34) Why LPs Want More Direct Deals and Power Law Concentration (38:19) Future Role of Fund of Funds as Filters and Strategic Partners (41:32) Emerging Manager Map and VC Fund Benchmarking Tool Insights (43:31) Radical Transparency, LP Behavior, and Just Saying No Clearly (45:27) Closing Thoughts and Episode Wrap-Up (47:02) FIRM Capital is a next-generation fund-of-funds backing next-gen venture managers “defined by a clear strategic edge, formed by firsthand operating and investing experience.” The firm looks for managers who “operate at the esoteric edge, invest at inception, build belief through proximity,” and it aims to become the first call on the cap table — writing up to $10 million as a manager's first institutional check into sub-$100M funds across Europe and the US, where it looks for a strong European link. FIRM runs a deliberately concentrated portfolio where every manager has to matter, offers its LPs direct, fee-free co-investment alongside its portfolio GPs, and publishes open resources for the ecosystem including its Emerging Manager Market Map and Venture Fund Performance Benchmarks. Learn more at wearefirm.com. Sidley Austin LLP is a premier global law firm with a dedicated Venture Funds practice, advising top venture capital firms, institutional investors, and private equity sponsors on fund formation, investment structuring, and regulatory compliance. With deep expertise across private markets, Sidley provides strategic legal counsel to help funds scale effectively. Learn more at sidley.com. Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies.  The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does your child need a word of encouragement or strong discipline? Debra Fileta and Jim Daly explain how to gauge what your child is feeling during a moment of praise or correction. Then, Danny discusses how you can correct your child without discouraging him or her in the process. Find us online at focusonthefamily.com/parentingpodcast. Or call 1-800-A-FAMILY.Nourish Your Family’s Mental Health BundleTake the 7 Traits of Effective Parenting AssessmentHow to Nourish Mental Health in Your Family (Digital Download)Counseling Consultation & Referral ServicesListen to Focus Live on Godcaster

Why does perfectionism slow business growth, even when the right strategy is already clear? Most practices do not stall because they lack information. They stall because the doctor is waiting for the perfect plan, the perfect script, the perfect team, or the perfect moment to act. Dr. Pete and Dr. Stephen expose the hidden cost of perfection paralysis and show why execution, honest measurement, consistent training, and imperfect action create the momentum that knowledge alone never will. The path to a remarkable business is not getting everything right before moving. It is taking the next step, learning through repetition, and becoming more capable with every rep. In this Episode You Will Discover: Why perfection quietly disguises itself as productivity while preventing real progress. The hidden habits that keep capable doctors stuck despite knowing exactly what to do. A simple shift that turns hesitation into consistent execution. How continuous improvement creates momentum that perfection never can. The mindset every growing practice adopts long before results begin to show. Episode Highlights 03:46 - A conversation about execution exposes the gap between knowing what to do and actually creating change. 04:38 - A familiar phrase gets challenged when perfection begins to look just as dangerous as settling for good. 06:22 - Traits that once looked like strengths start to reveal how they can quietly become constraints. 07:05 - The identity that created past success begins to look different when the next level requires a new way of operating. 10:21 - A team training philosophy reveals why excellence depends more on continual improvement than flawless execution. 11:08 - The desire to feel completely ready starts showing up in places that can delay hiring, coaching, and critical decisions. 12:33 - A discussion about inertia exposes what makes starting something new feel harder than improving it once it is already moving. 13:17 - The fear of being bad at something becomes a surprising clue to why some people never give themselves the chance to become great. 13:56 - The distance between doing nothing and doing something imperfectly turns out to be much larger than most people realize. 14:38 - A different view of failure reframes mistakes as part of the process rather than evidence that the process is broken. 15:27 - The right technology should give chiropractors more time to care for people, not more work to manage. Dr. Pete speaks with Gabriel Doty from Success Partner ChiroHD about building smarter practice management software that streamlines workflows, improves efficiency, embraces meaningful AI innovation, and helps chiropractic practices scale with confidence while preparing for long-term success. Resources Mentioned Learn more about the TRP Remarkable Practice Immersion Oct 1 - 3, 2026 in National Harbor, MD and Nov 13 - 14, 2026 in Adelaide, AUS - https://theremarkablepractice.com/upcoming-events/   To learn more about the REM CEO Program, please visit: http://www.theremarkablepractice.com/rem-ceo For more information about ChiroHD please visit: https://content.chirohd.com/remarkable-practice Book a Strategy Session with Dr. Pete - https://go.oncehub.com/PodcastPC Prefer to watch? Catch the podcast on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRemarkablePractice1 To listen to more episodes, visit https://theremarkablepractice.com/podcast or follow on your favorite podcast app.

In this episode of HALO Talks, host Pete Moore sits down with Nico Varano, CEO of SWTHZ who initially started as a franchisee and went on to help built the company into a fast-rising player in the contrast therapy and workout recovery space. Nico talks about his fairly unconventional path from finance into to the HALO sector, reveals why focus and simplicity drive SWTHZ's unit economics, and explains how a data-driven approach helps franchisees scale profitably. With over 100 studios and private equity backing, the company is redefining the recovery sector. Listen to learn more about how the franchise's unique model is attracting operators who want to roll up their sleeves and build real community, and to get insider insights on how to thrive in this fast-evolving segment of the HALO sector. On building a competitive moat in the space, Varano states, "We want to be focused on being the best at one thing . . . which is contrast therapy. When people think about sauna and plunge, SWTHZ should be the first thing that comes to their mind." Key themes discussed Franchisee to franchisor journey and leadership evolution Traits and selection of successful franchisees Focus on contrast therapy specialization Importance of proven unit economics before franchising Data-driven approach to operational improvements Community building and plus-one session strategy Optimizing studio size, suite count, and hours A Few Key Takeaways 1. From Franchisee to Franchisor. In-the-Trenches Leadership: Nico started initially as a SWTHZ member and then a franchisee, rapidly growing his portfolio to five studios and eventually stepping in as CEO. He has kept his hand in operations, signing leases and personal guarantees. This dual franchisee/franchisor perspective creates a unique level of authenticity and alignment with operators 05:12. 2. Hyper-Focused Modality Drives Brand and Economics: SWTHZ stands out by focusing on mastering contrast therapy (saunas and cold plunges) while competitors dilute their platforms with too many modalities. This tight focus builds a competitive moat, streamlines operations, and fosters brand clarity, ensuring customers immediately associate the brand with contrast therapy 07:22. 3. Relentless Data-Driven Optimization of Unit Economics: Nico and his team are obsessed with the numbers: every dollar of additional daily profit directly impacts franchisee success and brand reinvestment. The ongoing, data-heavy approach means constant refinement of unit economics, build-out costs, and suite count per location to ensure payback periods of under 3–3.5 years . . . a huge key to scaling 08:23. 4. Community Through Private Wellness. The Plus One Effect: Despite the private suite model, SWTHZ successfully builds community: 16% of sessions now include a "plus one," up from 7% earlier in the year. Whether it's date night, book clubs, or friends catching up, the company is quickly becoming a new social and wellness "third place," offering an alternative to cafes or group fitness hangouts 15:47. 5. Operator-Minded Partners Willing to Roll Up Their Sleeves: The most successful franchisees are present, engaged, and solution-oriented who are prepared to do everything from P&L analysis to cleaning a suite if necessary. Culture fit, passion, and operational grit matter more than a polished resume. "Own it, fix it, finish it" is the operating mantra 21:05. Resources: SWTHZ: https://sweathouz.com/ Nico Varano: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicovarano/  Integrity Square: https://www.integritysq.com Prospect Wizard: https://www.theprospectwizard.com Promotion Vault: https://www.promotionvault.com HigherDose: https://www.higherdose.com

Having mentored many of the world's most successful human beings over many years, I can share with you that they have a lot of common traits.For example:—they are wildly curious—they are less scared of saying yes—they understand that failure is a gift—they know that relationships are key—they agree that disruptors win—they focus less on cost and more on value—they relentlessly invest in their growthMy latest book “The Wealth Money Can't Buy” is full of fresh ideas and original tools that I'm absolutely certain will cause quantum leaps in your positivity, productivity, wellness, and happiness. You can order it now by clicking here.FOLLOW ROBIN SHARMA:InstagramFacebookYouTube

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Today, we explore how Jesus can help your child's mental health. Kori Pennypacker talks with Jim Daly about how she's shared the gospel with young kids. Then, Danny and John explain why thinking about Bible verses can help you feel more hopeful. Find us online at focusonthefamily.com/parentingpodcast. Or call 1-800-A-FAMILY.Backpack FaithTake the 7 Traits of Effective Parenting AssessmentBringing Good News to Kids in Public Schools (Digital Download)Learn About Our Age and Stage e-NewsletterListen to Focus Live on Godcaster

09 03 26 Corn and Soybean Traits by Ag PhD

How does your child learn and process information? Cynthia Tobias and Jim Daly explore different learning styles kids have. Also, John and Danny provide encouragement for if your child is struggling with discouragement because he or she is struggling to learn things in school. Find us online at focusonthefamily.com/parentingpodcast. Or call 1-800-A-FAMILY.The Way They LearnTake the 7 Traits of Effective Parenting AssessmentDiscovering Your Child's Learning Style (Digital)Counseling Consultation and ReferralsLearning Styles: Different Kinds of Smart