Podcasts about when alan

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

Divorce and child custody battles can be brutal, but they rarely end in murder. In February, 2002, Alan Bates and his wife Terra were excited to pick up his two daughters from the home of his ex-wife, Jessica McCord. His relationship with Jessica had been acrimonious since the divorce, but he loved his girls and would not give up on them. The couple was planning to take the girls to his parents’ home for a weekend visit, a rare and happy event.When Alan and Terra failed to show up at his parents’ house, his family was worried. Alan’s father called the police, who handled the call as a routine case of overdue motorists. It happened all the time. People made plans, and something along the way held them up. But this wasn’t like Alan and Terra. The longer family members waited, the more panic began to set in. Join us at the quiet end for Overdue Motorists: Alan & Terra Bates. Alan’s ex-wife Jessica and her police officer husband, Jeff McCord, would claim that Alan and Terra never showed up to pick up his children. But investigators were concerned. Their story didn’t add up. Soon, the McCords became prime suspects. They refused to let the police search their home after they had pulled up carpet, re-wallpapered the walls, and hauled away furniture. They were hiding something, and what investigators found would expose an evil plot carried out by cold-hearted morons.

Alan Jessop announces his retirement! When Alan met the queen Did your parents move cities for you? Alan Jessop's grand-daughter, Emma, speaks with Kristen and Nige

What Women Want The day after giving him a laptop for his 53rd birthday.    Dell 5100 Inspiron weighs 7.22 pounds, has a 30 gig hard drive, 2.4 GHz, 14.1" XGA TFT Screen, 384 MB, 56K modem, 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive, True Mobile wireless Broadband Router, Office XP, Extended 3 year warranty with free 24/7 tech support, USB200 Advanced port, Mini PCI, MS Money 2002, Jukebox, Office XP and a wireless mouse (because I just hate putting a mouse on a leash).   Dear Howie,  I am the one with the ego problem.  I have never been able to let others do things for me.  I have to disassociate myself from the cats to ask for help there and have to keep telling myself that people are doing it for the animals and to fulfill their own need to do something noble.  I know that what you do for the cats, you are doing for me and that your sense of leaving a mark is tied to what you do for people and not so much for the animals.   Knowing that has made me feel uncomfortable because as much as I need and want your help, I cannot let you do that for me, because of my own overdeveloped sense of pride.  You have indicated that I can pay you at some time in the future, but meanwhile you have invested an inordinate amount of time and thought into helping me that I have felt powerless to repay.  Perhaps I am not as observant as you, but I cannot think of anything that I can do for you to show how much I appreciate what you have already done for me.   I am not going to take ALL of the responsibility for this inequity ;-)   You seem to have a very hard time assessing value to your ability.  This has been my meager attempt to repay a debt that I consider to be far greater than the price of a computer.  This thing wouldn't even cover 10 hours of your time and you have spent that much on helping me in less than 2 days.   I don't even know what your shed cleaning rate is, but it's got to be more than sitting at a desk ;-)   I don't mean to diminish any of the feelings you have and I am especially sensitive to you feeling kept.  This is probably what it at the core of freaking my family out whenever I am in a relationship.  I change to accommodate the person because my sense of self has always been in reflecting those around me.  Whatever is your desire in life becomes mine and gives me a sense of joy to be helping you have whatever it is that you want from life.  You have told me that your desire is to make me happy and that caught me off balance, because I am still not certain how to help you help me, without me feeling that this is all about me, when it's my nature to want to make it all about you.  The more I learn about the reasons I behave the way I do, the more capable I am of being myself, but that person is still a bit of a mystery to me.   I feel bad for you that I am so attached to this place, because I realize how strange that must feel to you to come here.  It is made worse by the stigma caused by what others may say or think.  The only saving grace is that when your friends see the place they can understand that it is about the uniqueness of the property and not the opulence of the home that makes the island the undeniable best choice of locations.  It just can't be duplicated.  Frankly, your address is far more prestigious than Town N Country, which has reputation of being blue collar.   Nonetheless, I do realize that you have had to make a considerable concession with your own pride, for a man who is so capable of taking care of himself, to agree to come here just to make me happy.  I think that alone speaks volumes about your own inner strength.   I also appreciate the way you just come right out and say what is on your mind.  You do it in such a polite way, that I often wonder if I caught all of what you were trying to say.  Some of the things you have had to say were probably very hard, or uncomfortable for you, but you have had the wisdom to know when it needed saying and the courage to say it.  I admire that.  I apologize for tear-ing up on you, because that has to make things so much harder on you, but I cry easily (as you have undoubtedly figured out by now).  Jews used to hire professional mourners, and I always thought I would have been in high demand.  When Alan's father died (a man I had met once) I was the most distraught person in the room.  No one knew who I was and later it was told that they all assumed I was the mistress.   Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.  Below are the details on the laptop so that you can think about what you want to do.  With laplink it is so easy to synchronize computers that you might do well to keep this and buy an extremely small and portable one that you just synchronize before and after trips like a PDA.  That way you still have the benefit of the CD burner for back ups, the larger keyboard and screen for home use and the portability of something ridiculously small for the road.    Whatever you choose to do is fine with me.   WHAT WOMEN WANT!   Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom.  The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals.  So the monarch offered him freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question.   Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer; if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.   The question: What do women really want?   Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But since it  was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to  have an answer by year's end.   He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everybody:  the princess, the priests, the wise men, the court jester.   He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.  Many people advised him to consult the old witch, only she would know the answer.   The price would be high; the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.   The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no alternative but to talk to the witch.  She agreed to answer his question, but he'd have to accept her price first:   The old witch wanted to marry Gawain, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!   Young Arthur was horrified.  She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc.  He had never encountered such a repugnant creature.   He refused to force his friend to marry her and have to endure such a burden.   Gawain, upon learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur.   He told him that nothing was too big a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.  Hence, their wedding was proclaimed, and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:   What a woman really wants is to be in charge of her own life.   Everyone instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared.   And so it was. The neighboring monarch granted Arthur total freedom.   What a wedding Gawain and the witch had!   Arthur was torn between relief and anguish.  Gawain was proper as always, gentle and courteous.  The old witch put her worst manners on display, and generally made everyone very uncomfortable.   The honeymoon hour approached.  Gawain, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom.  But what a sight awaited him!  The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen lay before him!   The astounded Gawain asked what had happened.   The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she'd appeared as a witch, she would henceforth be her horrible, deformed self half the time, and the other half, she would be her beautiful maiden self.   Which would he want her to be during the day, and which during the night?   What a cruel question!   Gawain pondered his predicament.  During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his home, an old witch?   Or would he prefer having by day a hideous witch, but by night a beautiful woman with whom to enjoy many intimate moments?   What would you do?   What Gawain chose follows below, but don't read it until you've made your own choice.   Make YOUR choice BEFORE you read Gawain's answer!   Noble Gawain replied that he would let her choose for herself.   Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.   What is the moral of this story?   The moral is:  If your woman doesn't get her own way, things are going to get ugly   Howie writes to Carole 5/14/03 :   For all our joking about "nothing in common", we are alike in many of the most important ways.  It  should make it easier for us to continue to get to know each other (and ourselves as we see that reflection of ourselves in each other) and to hopefully understand each other.   I talked to Dell for a bit.  Did not explain the situation, just inquired as if new purchase.  I think the 600m is very good alternative.  In addition to lower weight, it has longer battery life and the wireless is built into the centrino chip instead of added (although I have heard some conflict about if this is better).  Want to spend a little time on the specs and options before making the switch. I will pay any differences.   Do you know what the process is?  The guy I spoke to said they pay shipping on returns, but I did not ask about exchanging.. I wonder if it is simplest to send the other one back and order fresh vs. swap, but maybe they can handle latter.  There are also a couple of discounts they say are based only an online order, so not sure if calling to switch affects that.  Anyway, we can talk about it later.   Thanks VERY much for this spectacular gift and the wonderful thought and intent behind it!  Howie   Carole writes to Howie 5/15/03  :   I found a home for Chester the Chausie Bengal Cat with Don Machen 907-7396 who lives in New Tampa and works for JP Morgan.  He is 50, lives alone, has no other pets and loved it when Chester would bite him.  They will be good for each other.  Now Howie can bring Sydney and Crystal and put them on the back porch so that they are safe from Maya (my other Bengal cat).   I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

When Alan walked into a famed L.A. bar forty years ago, he had no idea he was about to meet his future wife. But Rachel captivated him from the start. “Love at first sight” grew into an easy comfort that’s lasted decades, sweetened by memories of a much-expected proposal, and a particularly memorable picnic in Ojai. 

When Alan last tried the Hyundai i10 it was competent but slow. With a turbocharged 1.0 triple delivering 100PS and set of subtle suspension changes, has Hyundai cured its Achilles heel? Alan tried the i10 N-Line for a week to find out.

On this episode of Stories of Hope in Hard Times, Tamara K. Anderson interviews Alan Gulledge. After a life-altering accident, Alan learned to set powerful goals, face his fears, and move forward with faith. He now helps others learn reach their physical goals as a coach.Alan Gulledge – Setting Goals, Facing Fears and Recovering with FaithBioAlan Gulledge has lived in Virginia, California, Honduras, and Utah. He was a Division 1 collegiate track and field athlete in the pole vault who was fortunate enough to win conference championships, competed in the NCAA finals and appeared in the top 50 in the pole vault for world rankings in the 2000 Olympic year. Once he retired from pole vaulting he began to explore the world of triathlon/endurance sports and has been hooked ever since—having competed in over 200 competitive endurance events.Alan qualified for the Boston Marathon and became and All-World Ironman tri-athlete (top 5% division worldwide). After receiving his undergrad in Psychology and getting his MBA had a 13 year career in corporate sales. About 8 years ago he left the sales world to pursue his passion of working in the world of health and fitness. He is the owner and operator of TriFit Evolution a small strength, endurance coaching and personal training business located in Arlington, Virginia. His goal is to help others achieve their fitness goals. He married his sweetheart, Laura Dawn two and a half years ago and they have been blessed with a beautiful son.Loving the ProcessPole VaultingAlan says he could never sit still as a kid. He was always wanting to be running outside. Alan became a pole vaulter in high school, but he actually joined the track team after moving to Utah in order to make friends. At first, he was the worst one on the entire team at the pole vault. Alan was very competitive and started practicing more and more. He would drag his twin brother to the track on Saturday mornings to help him get better. Alan says even though he wasn’t a gifted athlete, he believes that applying yourself and working hard is what it takes to become better.In college, Alan loved training for pole vaulting. Most of the time, he was running, working in the weight room, working on technique, plyometrics, running stadiums, and working on aerial and body awareness. Alan truly loved that process. He retired from pole vaulting in his mid twenties.TriathlonsAlan moved to California and that’s where his friends introduced him to the triathlon. Again, he was not very good in the beginning. He could barely swim across a 25 meter pool doing a unique combination of many swimming strokes. He was familiar with challenging athletic goals, as he had tried to qualify for the Olympics in the pole vault the year before. Alan thought pole vaulting was difficult and that a triathlon wouldn’t be as challenging since it was just running, riding a bike, and swimming.He was wrong. Alan did not do well in his first race. In triathlons, they put you in a division based on age, so your age is written on your leg for the race. He remembers women in their 50’s just flying past him on their bikes, and he was this 26-year old collegiate athlete. That was very eye opening for him and made him want to work even harder to excel. He thinks that is a good life lesson to learn: even if you aren’t a natural or something, you just work on the process and become something that you never imagined you’d become.The AccidentIn September of 2015, Alan was two weeks away from running an Iron Man. An Iron Man involves swimming 2.4 miles, riding a bike for 112 miles, and then running a full marathon, 26.2 miles. This was not Alan’s first Iron Man and he was excited. He was poised to do well as an amateur in his division. On that fateful day, Alan decided to go out for an easy training ride of about an hour. He was riding across a bridge on a bike path alongside a major highway. There had been a car accident and another cyclist was distracted by the accident and crossed over into Alan’s lane and ran into Alan head on.The force of the impact went down his spine and caused compression fractures in three of his vertebrae. He also broke a rib and his left knee and hand were severely damaged. Alan was in the hospital for four days, rehab for four months, required knee surgery, and then had four more months of rehab after the surgery . The whole healing process took him out of training for a year and a half.SetbacksJust before the accident he had started his own personal fitness company. His livelihood depended on his ability to work with clients and he was no longer able to do so. Alan faced major setbacks both professionally and athletically, but says that amazing doctors and other medical professionals, as well as wonderful people in his community rallied around him to help him get through it. The road to recovery was very long but Alan says he is stronger and faster now than he was before, a miracle in his life.Lesson One: Patience & GratitudeAlan says one of the biggest lessons he learned during that long period of recovery was being patient. Life can be very fast-paced and everyone has their own agenda and things to do. The timeframe of life (especially back east) is now and yesterday.Alan says his recovery taught him to slow down and work through the process. He learned to appreciate the things he had taken for granted. Alan prayed for patience and faith and doing so helped him to have a different perspective. He often thought about how he, as a competitive athlete, was worrying about getting a faster marathon time or a higher bike power or a smoother swim stroke but during that time it was a blessing just to be able to move without pain.This experience helped Alan think about those who experience chronic pain and those who can’t walk at all. He remembers running and wondering if he would ever be able to run without pain again. His doctor took some x-rays and told him that he was extremely lucky. If his head had moved at all when the accident happened, he would more than likely be in a wheelchair or worse. Even now, while he trains other athletes, he looks back on a regular basis and reminds himself to be grateful for all that he can do.Lesson Two: Service & HumilityAlan says another thing that he was extremely grateful for was the support of others. When tragedy strikes, having people that come to your aid can seem like a silver lining. He had people reaching out to him that he hadn’t seen in almost 30 years.Learning HumilityAlan took time to say a prayer of gratitude for all the wonderful people who were so helpful in his time of need. The service of others taught Alan another important lesson: humility. Alan considers himself to be fiercely independent. He doesn’t like to ask for help, but prefers to do things on his own. While he believes it’s important to be self-reliant, experiences like his require us to humble ourselves.Alan says he had to work on humbling himself and allow others to do things that he would normally do on his own. With his injury, he had to lay on his back for an extended period of time, and he was bedridden for weeks. He found himself, an athlete, requiring help to get out of bed, take a shower, even go to the bathroom. He had friends who would sleep on the floor in his apartment in order to be able to help him in the middle of the night when his pain medication wore off and he couldn’t move.Allowing ServiceAlan thinks that many times we aren’t willing to ask for help as often as we truly need it. We often talk about the virtues of service and how we strive to be Christlike and loving towards others. But in order to do so, we also have to provide others with the opportunity to serve. If we don’t ask for help, we are withholding precious opportunities for service. Alan realized he could give others those opportunities by saying, “yes, please bring me meals or just come sit with me while I watch Netflix,” one of the only things he could do at the time. Sitting with him was something Alan considered a service.We often don’t think that we are helping others by allowing them to serve us. We view it as being a burden. But Alan experienced a shift in perspective and learned that he was truly allowing someone else the opportunity to learn and serve. Alan has learned that life is about both giving and taking. Finding the balance between the two is crucial. Alan believes that if we don’t allow others into our lives to help us, we become prideful. All too often we see accepting help as a sign of weakness. Alan believes this can be corrosive to our spirits.Lesson Three: There’s Not Always a WhyDespite the extremely difficult challenge Alan faced, he doesn’t remember asking God why he had to go through this. Alan thinks sometimes we try to hard to attribute meaning to things that happen to us. While he remembers trying to find meaning in his accident, he also says that we don’t necessarily have to have a reason for everything.We tend to think that the trials we go through are going to be a blessing, but that’s not what people want to hear in the moment. Hindsight is 20/20, and Alan is grateful that he went through what he did and he sees the blessings that came from it. But he also says he’d be fine if it had never happened. “We often try to look for meaning but sometimes terrible things happen, whether it’s trauma, illness, or someone passing away too soon.”A Painful ExampleAlan had some friends from high school who were coming back from a camping trip they had taken together. The driver of the car fell asleep at the wheel and the car rolled. Three of his friends died. All of them had given a few years of their lives for church service. They had their whole lives ahead of them.When Alan attended the funeral, he thought that the church leader, Jeffrey R. Holland, who spoke would give a talk about there being a reason and to have faith and that this was God’s will. That was not the topic of his message. Mr. Holland said that sometimes we don’t know why things happen and that it’s ok to question and not have the answer. Terrible things happen and that’s simply part of living in an imperfect world with imperfect people.Build Back StrongerEven if we don’t know the reason why, Alan believes that when we go through a process, whether it be grief, physical rehabilitation, emotional rehabilitation, or something similar, we come back stronger. If we do the physical, spiritual, or emotional work, Alan says it’s like strengthening a limb or a joint. We have to take it one day at a time, one foot in front of the other, and keep our focus and perspective and be grateful for what we do have.Lesson Four: Let Go of FearThrough his experience, Alan has learned how to approach those he coaches now with more patience and understanding. Running with a limp and constantly in pain was yet another humbling experience, and he channeled that into his coaching. Alan coaches many people who are coming back after an injury. He understands what it is like to be afraid of pain if you perform a certain movement.When he was in rehab after his accident, his physical therapist had to teach him to trust his injured knee again. He had developed a protective stride because he was afraid of the pain he might experience in his leg. He likens this to real life when we are afraid to move forward with something because we are afraid it may hurt us in the end.Obviously we want to heal, but we also have to unlearn that fear. We have to consciously make a decision that we aren’t going to let the pain of failure, pain, trial, or tribulation, get in the way of our progress. Instead, we have to find something else to focus on.Lesson Five: Focus on Your GoalsAs a coach, one of the first things Alan asks his clients is to tell him about their goals. Then Alan is able to help them break down the big goal into an achievable process. Breaking a goal down into bite-sized, manageable chunks is an important part in setting the course. Then their whole training cycle is process oriented. Alan then reminds them of their big goal on a regular basis. He believes that having that focus is crucial, especially when coming back from a challenge or injury.Keys to Setting Appropriate GoalsBut how do we set appropriate goals? Alan says there are three keys.Set a specific, time bound goal. (Example: I will lose 10 pounds in three months by exercising 40 minutes three times per week).Have a process written down or recorded in some way that you are going to follow.Have someone who you are accountable to. Of course you are accountable to yourself. Alan’s clients are also accountable to him as their coach. Alan also thinks it’s important to have someone else, like a spouse, friend, partner, coworker, or family member to be accountable to. He explains that those who stick to these three keys are the ones who are successful.Alan also believes in involving God in your goals. He often finds himself preparing for an event and kneeling down to say, “Lord, I have done my part. I did this training and I need you to help fill in the gaps. Help me to be focused on whatever else it is that I need.” While Alan knows that coming first or last doesn’t make a difference in God’s eyes, he also knows that races matter to him, and because racing is important to him, it’s important to God. The greatest accountability we have is to God.Favorite Bible VerseAlan’s favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord in all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Even if things don’t go our way and we aren’t delivered from our trials, we still need to remember and worship God. Our trials can be used as stumbling blocks or stepping stones, we just have to choose which one.Lesson Six: The 40% RuleRecent studies have indicated that your mind gives up before your body does when you are pushing yourself physically. There is a phenomenon called the 40% rule. When you think you have reached your physical limit, you have actually only given 40%. You have another 60% effort left to give.Alan says this is a good reminder to have a little tough love for ourselves. We need to push ourselves a little harder each day in order to reach the goals we have set. It is important to remember not to push yourself to the point of injury, but Alan says it is good to make yourself hurt, in a good way.Getting outside of your comfort zone can be helpful physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Alan says that during his rehabilitation, pushing his limits made him more present. He had to check in with himself. Was he hurting or just uncomfortable? On the other hand, Alan also says it’s important to practice self care in the form of getting enough rest, taking time out of your day to meditate or pray, and do something that helps to calm your mind. It’s all about balance.ResourcesAlan takes a holistic approach to combating life’s difficulties. He believes that the soul is the body and spirit combined, so we have to nurture both.Scripture Study: In trying times, the first and foremost resource he would recommend is any type of scripture.Get Inspired: Alan also recommends listening to inspirational talks or podcasts.Exercise/Stress Relief: From a physical standpoint, Alan says that exercise is a great stress reducer and also influences our behavior and mental health in a positive way. Physical activity can be a great preventative treatment for stress. Take the time to take a walk, go for a jog, ride your bike, take a hike.Diet: Watching what we eat is another facet of physical health that can improve our wellbeing.Alan also recommends the book, “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins. What Alan took away from the book was that it’s important to look at yourself every day and ask, “Am I the person that I want to be?” (Please note that David is a former marine and uses some harsh language in the book).Contact InformationAlan has a personal Facebook page, as well as a Facebook and Instagram page for his business, TriFit Evolution. You can also reach out to him via his website, trifitevolution.com. 

Hughie is handsome, charming and popular but he has been very unlucky as far as financial matters are concerned. He was left nothing of any great value in his father's will. He has tried his hand at several different businesses, all of which have failed. Having no job, Hughie's only source of income is two hundred pounds a year which is given to him by an elderly aunt. Hughie has fallen in love with a young woman named Laura Merton and she loves him in return. Laura's father, Colonel Merton, is fond of Hughie but, due to his poor financial prospects, he does not want the young man to marry his daughter. He has often told Hughie that he will only allow him to get engaged to Laura after he has earned ten thousand pounds. Hughie goes to see his artist friend Alan Trevor. He finds that Alan is painting a portrait of an old man who appears to be a beggar. The old man is wearing a tattered brown cloak and boots which have been mended many times. He has a rough walking stick in one hand. In the other hand, he is holding out an old hat as if to ask for money. His face is heavily wrinkled and he looks extremely sad. Both Alan and Hughie agree that the old man is an excellent subject for a painting. Hughie, however, cannot help feeling sorry for the man. He thinks it is unfair that, although Alan's paintings regularly sell for two thousand guineas, he only pays his models one shilling an hour to pose for him and does not give them a percentage of the money which he makes from sales of their portraits. When Alan leaves the room, Hughie looks in his pockets. He finds that the highest denomination coin which he has is a sovereign. Although it means that he will have to economize more than usual for the rest of the month, Hughie gives the coin to the old man, who appears very happy to receive it. Hughie leaves soon afterwards. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/hmphaudiobooks/support

Systems are the missing link in most real estate investors strategies. There are better things to do than waste your time and the way you avoid chaos in your business is with systems and checklists. When Alan got into real estate he didn't have any systems in his business, so he looked around the world for direction on what to implement. He found Michael Gerber's E-Myth Academy and after spending five years working with Michael's team Alan had streamlined systems for every part of his business.  There are 30 steps that you should always walk through when buying a house, which is why the checklist is so important. Skipping a step or doing them out of order will cost you money every single time. During this episode Alan goes into several different systems that he uses to reduce chaos in his business and accelerate the purchasing process including how he organizes his paperwork, how he hires people, and how he saves time making decisions about which property to buy. When you implement the systems that are keys in your business it will change your life for the better. Without them you eroding your bottom line and creating chaos in your business that is very hard to overcome. You only have so much time in the day and implementing systems is how you become not only more efficient, you become more effective as well. Go to privatelendingmadeeasy.com and click on Real Estate Management Made Easy to find out more about how you can implement Alan's systems in your real estate business. You can also reach out to Alan at mkt@acowgill.com

Alan is a national security specialist living in the D.C. area. He graduated with $120,000 of student loan debt, which had now climbed to $160,000 with interest. His wife is a vice principal with about $40,000 of student loan debt herself. Both are working toward student loan forgiveness — Alan with Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and his wife with Teacher Loan Forgiveness.   Learn about Alan’s struggles with FedLoan Servicing (the servicer in charge of all things PSLF) and how loan forgiveness is unfolding for both he and his wife.    In today’s episode, you'll find out:   How Alan ended up in the national security field — and what that career is really like What education is required to work in national security When Alan first realized he had tons of student loan debt How bad advice from his loan servicer led his loan balance ballooning How the incentive structures of loan servicer call centers affect the advice you get Why it’s usually best to use your prior tax returns to certify income for income-driven repayment plans How student loans affect married couples filing taxes jointly or separately Alan’s experience with FedLoan Servicing after inquiring about loan forgiveness Why PSLF is usually the better option over Teacher Loan Forgiveness — and how both programs work Why an emergency fund is essential, especially as the student loan debt crisis will likely get worse Alan’s tips for dealing with the psychology of debt   Full show notes at: http://studentloanplanner.com/21 

Hughie is handsome, charming and popular but he has been very unlucky as far as financial matters are concerned. He was left nothing of any great value in his father's will. He has tried his hand at several different businesses, all of which have failed. Having no job, Hughie's only source of income is two hundred pounds a year which is given to him by an elderly aunt. Hughie has fallen in love with a young woman named Laura Merton and she loves him in return. Laura's father, Colonel Merton, is fond of Hughie but, due to his poor financial prospects, he does not want the young man to marry his daughter. He has often told Hughie that he will only allow him to get engaged to Laura after he has earned ten thousand pounds. Hughie goes to see his artist friend Alan Trevor. He finds that Alan is painting a portrait of an old man who appears to be a beggar. The old man is wearing a tattered brown cloak and boots which have been mended many times. He has a rough walking stick in one hand. In the other hand, he is holding out an old hat as if to ask for money. His face is heavily wrinkled and he looks extremely sad. Both Alan and Hughie agree that the old man is an excellent subject for a painting. Hughie, however, cannot help feeling sorry for the man. He thinks it is unfair that, although Alan's paintings regularly sell for two thousand guineas, he only pays his models one shilling an hour to pose for him and does not give them a percentage of the money which he makes from sales of their portraits. When Alan leaves the room, Hughie looks in his pockets. He finds that the highest denomination coin which he has is a sovereign. Although it means that he will have to economize more than usual for the rest of the month, Hughie gives the coin to the old man, who appears very happy to receive it. Hughie leaves soon afterwards. Alan and Hughie meet up again later. The artist tells his friend that, after he left, the old man asked several questions about him. Alan goes on to say that he told the old man all about Hughie, Laura Merton and the condition which Colonel Merton set that prevents their marriage. Hughie is unhappy that his friend told "that old beggar" all about his private life. The amused Alan tells Hughie that the old man he was painting was Baron Hausberg, one of the wealthiest men in Europe and someone who often buys Alan's paintings. For reasons which Alan does not really understand, the millionaire baron had asked to be painted as a beggar. The tattered clothes he was wearing were supplied by Alan. Hughie feels ashamed about having given a coin to a millionaire, although Alan tells him not to worry. The following day, a representative of Baron Hausberg comes to Hughie's house with an envelope. The writing on the envelope says that it contains a wedding present "from an old beggar". Inside the envelope, Hughie finds a check for ten thousand pounds. Hughie and Laura get married. Baron Hausberg attends their wedding. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/hmphaudiobooks/support

Alan Rosenberg has volunteered at local animal shelters for years, helping those animals in need. With Alan's background in accounting and finance he uses his skills to focus on animal advocacy and shelter reform. When Alan is not busy with his day job, he's pulling public records to research various topics and he shares his findings through his blog to shed light on what is going on in shelters today across the state of New Jersey. Looking specifically at New Jersey, the kill rate has decreased by half and the rate of decrease is 2 to 3 times faster than four previous years since Alan has been involved.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Alan MCkenna. Alan is the President and CEO of Business Acceleration Strategies, a firm that has generated over $30 million in additional revenue for clients through implementing funnel optimization, producing 6 and 7 figure evergreen, automated sales and marketing funnels. Alan has worked with and provided expertise to everyone from John Assaraf, T.Harv Eker, Success Magazine’s Darren Hardy, Lisa Sasevich, and a number of INC 500 companies. Alan has done the impossible. From adding $600k in additional revenue and shortening a client’s sales cycle by 66% in just 6 months to helping clients go from $0 to over $200k a month in revenue in just 4 months – he is a master at growing a business. So, I wanted to have him on to get his best tips and secrets that you can use to turbocharge your own income. www.businessaccelerationstrategies.com www.highprofitsalesfunnels.com When Alan was 21, he was working for a company making good money, but kept seeing a guy a few years older than him that was doing exponentially better. The guy was the #1 sales guy in the company. Alan approached him and asked him to mentor him. The guy took Alan under his wing and taught him how to sell and get leads. Alan, sold for a few years and then went into marketing. The owner of the company then purchased another company in New Jersey and Alan moved from the UK and was asked to come open the office to run marketing and build the sales team. After a few years, Alan went back into selling because it was very lucrative. He did that for a while and had put away a significant amount of money. He then moved to California and started to study internet marketing and immersed himself in it. His first clients came by word of mouth and things just grew from there. One of Alan’s secrets is the way he looks at a business and where sales and marketing fits in from end to end. What was the #1 piece of advice you learned from your mentor in sales? How to get people to a yes before you get to the money How to sell payment plans and structure payments so people can afford the things they want. What is your best advice for creating a great, consistently producing funnel? First, you need to know who your ideal client really is. You have to get laser-focused on who they are. Once you have your ideal client, it then becomes easy to go out and get joint ventures with others that have those idea clients and grow. How do you setup a good joint venture? The most important thing is to show the partner how you are going to look after and take care of the client they are introducing to you. It is more important than the revenue share. Make sure that the joint venture partner has no work to do other than “copy, paste, and send.” Make it easy for them and give them everything they need so they don’t have to think. Revenue share – there is a value exchange, so take care of them. How do you find a good JV Partner? One of the easiest ways is to look in Facebook groups and LinkedIn groups Joining the group will give the ability to get an understanding of the members and their needs The group owner is always looking for how to give value and good content to the group, and in a lot of cases, monetize it if possible. Brian Tracy taught you a great way to double revenues and you created a system for it, what is it? If you want to double your sales, you have to increase the face-time you have with people. What this means is that you are either meeting with someone in person, on the phone, on a web- meeting. The more times you can have a conversation and look into someone’s eyes, the more you will sell. So, you have to constantly look at your database and the clients that have spent money with and look for new ways for them to engage with you and continue to help them. In short, create more solutions to sell to your clients that you already and to take future clients on the journey with you not just once, but in multiple ways. At the 20-min mark, Alan talks about his 9 simple sales conversion strategies and gives us some of his top ones with examples on how they are implemented. You must have a good script with the correct language and verbiage for people to take prospects through a process to a decision point. Make it obvious that if they have questions, they can call or email and get answers. Make it visible on every web page, communication, etc. Email them that you are available for questions as many times, people are just a few questions away from buying. There is so much gold in anyone’s database and there is so much opportunity to harvest it. Don’t neglect what is already there. Alan gives a FREE 1-page infographic on the 9 Strategies Best methods for generating more leads Paid traffic works (Facebook, Google, etc.) Joint Ventures are the easiest, simplest, and least up-front cost way to drive traffic Being endorsed by people who have a trust with an audience greatly enhances your credibility. List size thoughts? It depends on the relationship people have with their list A list that is nurtured through giving great value is much more engaged and does not have to be big to drive great revenue. It doesn’t need to be big, but it must be solid with your “ideal clients.” Building the trust and connection is most important What are the biggest mistakes that are made when it comes to funnels? It is one thing to know who your ideal client is, it is another to really understand their pain points and the things they really want to move towards. You need to fully understand the needs, wants, worries, and pain points that your ideal client is looking to have solved. Make sure you are going and marketing to where your ideal client is hanging out. You must have a very solid process to capture, nurture, and convert leads – most fall short. You have to build the relationship and educate first. Earn the right to make an offer. One of the biggest things that people miss is the gold in their existing database. Don’t get hung up and chasing the “new.” At the 38-min mark, Alan talks about how people can create a virtually unlimited marketing budget and how do it… (You’ll want to listen to this a couple times!) Best tips for maximizing marketing and sales on the following: Facebook: If you are going to do paid ads, the most important thing to have in place is retargeting from your website. Google: With paid Google ads, people searching have “buying intent.” They want to resolve a pain Instagram: Any business that people can engage with beautiful photos needs to use Instagram. If you can evoke an emotion with a picture, then you should be using it.   Best Quote: "One key thing every business must have in their marketing to find the best way to consistently communicate with their perfect audience. You must spend the bulk of your time there."   Alan's Misfit 3: There is absolute gold in your database. Do not neglect it. Build a complete strategy to capture, nurture, and then make offers to the marketplace. Think this through and do the work ahead of time. Have a strategy to pre-qualify and sell with a specific script that still ads value whether they choose to buy or not.

Alan Schnur was away on a business trip when a plane struck his office building, killing 40 of his 44 team members. In the aftermath of 9/11, Alan spent a lot of time questioning what he wanted out of life and the experience informed his drive for continuous growth. Because you never know when another plane is coming, Alan doesn’t believe in complacency. In fact, he makes it a point to reinvent himself every few years and take on new challenges in residential and commercial real estate. Alan is a wildly successful real estate investor based in Houston, Texas. He began his real estate career rehabbing single family homes, owning a portfolio of 120 before making the transition to apartment buildings. Alan’s go-big-or-go-home mindset translated to multifamily, and he invested in 2K units across 18 complexes—AND founded a property management company that handled 7K units across 40 properties. Now he is taking on a new challenge in commercial real estate, investing in shopping centers along with medical, office and warehouse buildings. Alan is the author of three books on real estate investing, including The Cashflow Mindset: Millionaire, Billionaire & Zillionaire Designs for Financial Freedom & a Fulfilled Life. Today, Alan joins me to share the story of his reawakening in the aftermath of 9/11 and explain how his skill set as a commodities broker translated to real estate investing. He speaks to the single family formula that dominated the first ten years of his career and his subsequent shift to apartment buildings during a trip to Japan that may or may not have involved saké. Alan describes his apartment addiction, discussing his best and worst multifamily deals as well as his reasons for pursuing syndication. Listen in for Alan’s insight on being flexible with geography and asset classes, taking on new challenges in commercial real estate, and stepping out of your comfort zone to take ACTION! Key Takeaways Alan’s AHA moment Job as commodities broker on 101st floor of World Trade Center On business trip during 9/11, lost 40 of 44 team members Week in hotel room led to reflection, reawakening Move to Houston with company, rented condo in NYC Alan’s experience with single family homes First purchase for $23K, profit of $100/month Bought one/month for 10 years (120 houses) Formula: Rehab, Rent, Refi, Repeat Why Alan made the transition to multifamily Accumulated enough assets to quit job Bought 25 houses during trip to Japan Realized potential of apartment buildings Alan’s first multifamily acquisition $40K down on 76-door building (owner financing) Generated more income than 100 houses Alan’s ‘addiction’ to apartments Buy one every 90 days 18 complexes with 2K units When Alan got involved with syndication Running out of money, wanted to share risk Started raising money on second or third complex Began with general partner at 30%, 70% for sale Work up to 40-50% for general partner Alan’s best multifamily deal: The Bangkok Close 1031 buyer wanted 300-unit deal Invested $7M, sold for $14M Alan’s worst multifamily deal Paid $5K/unit for 160-door complex School across street closed and knocked down Money from bank robbery hidden in sewer line Inspired shift to higher quality assets Alan’s shift to commercial properties Apartments have variable costs (unpredictable) Triple net lease makes commercial predictable Business renting covers repairs, insurance/taxes Alan’s shopping center deal in Boise, ID Bought six storefronts for $1M 50% discount (three vacancies) Closed at $2.4M Alan’s outlook on asset classes Be flexible with geography, asset classes Try more things = better chance of success Alan’s advice for aspiring real estate investors Put book down and get out to property Join networking group or pay for mentor Watch and learn by joining syndication What Alan is excited about moving forward Retail syndication Education, helping others Connect with Alan Alan’s Website Resources The Cashflow Mindset: Millionaire, Billionaire, Zillionaire Designs for Financial Freedom & a Fulfilled Life by Alan Schnur Books by Alan Schnur LoopNet International Council of Shopping Centers National Apartment Association National Real Estate Investors Association Michael’s Coaching Program Michael’s Products Michael’s Syndicated Deal Analyzer Michael’s Deal Maker Mastermind Financial Freedom Summit Partner with Michael Invest with Michael Michael’s Course Free eBook: The Secret to Raising Money to Buy Your First Apartment Building Review the Podcast on iTunes

Podgodz 287: Tron (1982) Recorded 08 May 2018 Other shit Avengers Infinity War Cobra Kai Tron (1982) Plot (Wikipedia) Kevin Flynn is a leading software engineer formerly employed by the computer corporation ENCOM, who now runs a video arcade and attempts to hack into ENCOM’s mainframe system. However, ENCOM’s Master Control Program (MCP) halts his progress. Within ENCOM, programmer Alan Bradley and his girlfriend, engineer Lora Baines, discover that the MCP has closed off their access to projects. When Alan confronts the senior executive vice president, Ed Dillinger, Dillinger claims that the security measures are an effort to stop outside hacking attempts. However, when Dillinger privately questions the MCP, he discovers the MCP has expanded into a powerful virtual intelligence and has become power-hungry, illegally appropriating personal, business, and government Read More →

CliffCentral.com — When Alan’s away, Nathan plays. Nathan talks to the beautiful and talented ladies from The Muses, actress and TV presenter Eloise Cupido, and the multi-talented performer Candice van Litsenborgh.