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introverted intuition

Kate St Hilaire – Being Introvertedly Bold: Unlocking the Magic of Introverted Intuition (AoL 121)

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Introverts are said to be geeks, lonely, and awkwardly shy. At least that’s what society would have us all believe. Many of us use that stereotype as a means to stay in our comfort zone.

In fact, we trick ourselves to think that extroverts are the only people who can make a big impact in the world. I mean, they’re people-people, right?

Actually that’s not totally the case. Some of the most influential figures in tech, art, and business have been and are introverts.

So how do we embrace our introversion and use it as a superpower?

That’s what today’s guest, Kate St Hilaire, helps members of her Facebook community with.

Join us as we talk about how she found herself in this business and how you can use your leverage your intuition as a super power!

Enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • When did Kate realize there was a big difference between introverts and extroverts? 8:05
  • Why did she pursue studying Psychology in school? 9:14
  • How’d she came to the realization she could make her interest in introversion as a business? 11:05
  • What can happen if people can “get over” their introversion? 27:42
  • What are some specific tools that someone can use to change their mindset or get out of their limiting beliefs? 31:04
  • What’s Kate looking forward to in the future? 35:48
  • What are 3 of Kate’s top favorite books? 41:39
  • What’s a gift she loves giving others? 42:36
  • Smallest decision she’s made that has had the largest impact on her life? 43:30
  • What is something Kate has learned to say no to? 44:54
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 46:21

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

 

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

#BeBoldGoLive Challenge 1

#BeBoldGoLive Challenge 2

You Don’t Want to Bother Anyone?

Put yourself out there to make more impact!

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

5 Levels of Leadership

The 5 Levels of Leadership: A Way to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

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You guys know that I’m a big student of leadership. Heck, I even got my masters in the subject! As such, one of my favorite influencers is John Maxwell, and I once heard this really interesting lesson of his.

He called it the 5 Levels of Leadership.

Since the time I’ve learned about these levels of leadership (and posting this post on December 19, 2010), it’s helped me put a few things in perspective when it comes to not only seeing my progression, but recognizing where other influencers are at in their journey. By using this simple tool, among others, I keep myself from comparing where I’m at in my journey to where they’re at.

If you find yourself comparing your level of influence to others on social media and it bums you out, then you should definitely consider changing this habit!

You shouldn’t feel like you’re in a competition with them. Instead, you should use them for inspiration. Chances are good that they’ve had a longer journey and during that journey have had to go through each one of these checkpoints.

What’s great is that you can too!

As you all know, I’m a fan of John Maxwell. A really REALLY big fan. And I believe the main reason why is that I’ve always been interested in what makes a successful leader successful.

One of the key things to note about being a leader is that, according to Dr. Maxwell, leadership and the ability to influence others are basically the same thing. So in many, if not all, of his talks and writings, he will say that leadership IS influence.

With that said, it’s pretty obvious why one would want to be a leader. Just think, the more you lead, the more people that will agree with what you believe (for their own reasons)!! So really, your ability to influence others is a huge part of being successful not only in life, but also in business.

So how does one become a leader? Well, you can definitely wing it as many people do. You can have natural charisma (or any other leadership traits) and just get by OR, like anything else, you can learn to be one – A great one.

For me, I have had to relearn to be one – a real one. Not a guy who simply manipulates people to do what he wants them to do. Neigh, I mean a real leader who leads by example. A leader who pulls people with him and not pushes them. (Side note: people who push people where they don’t necessarily want to be often lose those people because they have pushed them too far.)

So answering the question… one becomes a leader by understanding key principles of leadership and practicing them. It’s as simple as that. Part of those key principles is the 5 Levels of Leadership. A note about these levels is that they are somewhat linear. Many times you must lead someone through level 1 before they are really in level 2 or 5 for that matter. However, this is not always the case.

5 Levels of Leadership:

Level 1.) Leadership from Position

This leadership level is the most basic. Many times it is usually not earned. One person has a title that another person does not. And because of this, one person reports to the other person. An example of this would be two people working at a restaurant. One has title of manager, the other has the title of line member. More often than not, the line member reports to the manager what they need to know and that’s it – without much feedback. Often with this level, there is minimum rapport because the person.

Level 2.) Leadership From Respect

This leadership level is just a notch higher than positional leadership. This level is where people start following another because they actually want to! The key to this position in leadership is that the leader shows that they care before the followers are interested in what the leader knows. You can begin to grow professionally as an organization when people follow you on their own.

Level 3.) Leadership from Results

People follow you not only because they want to, but also because of what you have accomplished.  Your group/organization will start to see what’s possible because you’ve actually accomplished a few things! And guess what? As a result, morale will rise even further than it was at the respect level.

Level 4.) Leadership from People Development

At this level of leadership, people follow you because of what you, as the leader, have done for them personally. Loyalty is key. At this point, the leadership has not only lead the organization to better things, but it has lead to the people themselves growing as leaders. Also, successful leadership at all levels is has an underscored by a win-win philosophy.

Level 5.) Leadership from Mentorship

At this point the leader is definitely respected. He has spent years developing other people and the organization. As a leader you are bigger than life and your success is shown through a life of accomplishment. Because not many people get to this level, people seek your knowledge for the success of other organizations.

In the end, success in leadership can be accomplished by any one. Something that is important to note is that the higher up in the levels a leader is, the longer it takes for that leader to get their own results and the more important it is for them to be aware of the leadership levels themselves.

If you’d like to know more about Leadership in general, for a starting point I highly recommend checking out John Maxwell’s Book – Becoming a Person of Influence.

Actions Steps

So where do you fall? How do you think you could get to the next level?

Even if you’re not actively comparing yourself with other influencers online, this is still a good way to measure where you’re at on that leader journey. As I’ve said in the past, all of us creators who have a message, product, or service that we want to give to the world… we’re eventually going to be leaders. It’s those of us who are aware that influence is leadership who will make the most impact.

So, have it. Let us know where you’re at in your journey below!

self fulfillment

Self Fulfillment: The Secret to True Success

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In our world today, we’re often seen as doing the right thing when we’re seeking success. I mean, why not? On the surface, success seems like the perfect way to measure someone’s value to society. The more success someone has had at doing a particular thing, the more likely they’ll be able to teach someone else to do the same thing.

Right?

Well, perhaps.

See when I think of the word success, I think of it more as a label coming from external sources. Someone else has told me I’m successful. Whether by a simple compliment or by getting my degrees in college, it’s been someone else telling me that I’m a success.

On that same note, I’d really only say I’m successful when I achieve goals that I set for myself.

However, as much of a good feeling I had when I got my Masters, it was short lived.

The hard reality set in that I hadn’t been really setting my own goals. Others had put emphasize on what I should be pursuing. When I achieved that, I asked “What now?”.

It took me a good several years to truly figure out the answer to that.

Here’s what I’ve realized.

 

Modern Success is Superficial

Since our success is usually measured by other people, it’s probably not the best measurement for ourselves and navigating our own personal journey.

Take, for example, your typical “successful” professional athlete. On the outside, they seem to have it all. Many have a job that pays super well (the low end is $100k/yr for NFL players), and because of that, they should have a cushy lifestyle compared with the rest of us.

They should be set for life.

As we know, this isn’t always the case. For some people who go the professional athlete route, their money goes as quick as it comes in. Or they get injured on the job and are unable to perform at the same level. For those folks, they’re not considered any more a success in life when they end their career vs when they got started.

So maybe there’s another way to measure success?

Well, in professional sports, we can say that a player has had a successful career if they have had great stats over a certain amount of time.

But, from their perspective, good players tend to not really care about padding stats. They simply want to be considered great at what they do. It just so happens that good stats in professional sports usually means someone’s really at their craft – playing their sport.

Thing is, not all professions have these measurements of greatness built in. In fact, most don’t.

So, the question is, how do we measure our greatness?

 

Greatness comes through Mastery

Those professional athletes could not have the stats that they had without seeking mastery in their craft. If you have two people with the same level of talent, who will come out ahead? The one who works on their craft day in and day out? Or the one who just tries to wing it?

In sports, we see this time and again. The players who study film and go through the reps in practice are going to be more successful than those who don’t.

Same is true about the rest of us.

Those of us who improve in our craft a little more each day are going to eventually get better than those who just do the same thing as a hobby.

As we work towards this mastery, the better we get at something, the more we’ll be fulfilled.

So, if that’s the case, the more fulfillment we get from doing something, the more potential we have to be great at something. If we don’t get fulfillment from doing something, then there’s most certainly going to be a cap in how great we’ll be able to make ourselves at it.

 

Action Steps

So as you’re thinking about this new definition of “success” and how importance true fulfillment is, perhaps we can think of it in simple terms. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

How many things are you currently doing or have done because you wanted the reward at the end? Compare that to the activities you do because you truly want to get better at that particular craft or process. Which percentage is higher?

If money or stuff wasn’t a measurement of true success (because it isn’t), what would you be doing as a career? Are you currently at your job because it pays the bills? If so, it might be time to consider a change.

And finally, since we measure true success by the fulfillment we get out of what we put our effort into (and not through the view of others), are there any specific ways you can measure your current fulfillment – whether it’s in your work or through making yourself a better person?

Personally, knowing how many people I’ve helped live a better life helps gives me fulfillment.

Perhaps you can measure your success through that scale?

Or maybe, you can track your success based on something completely different – such as how well you can play an instrument or how much you’ve improved your health over time. Heck, maybe it’s something like how well you can speak a language.

 

uncertain future

Dave Sanderson – Moments Matter: Why Being Certain about an Uncertain Future is Necessary to Your Success (AoL 120)

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It’s been said that real leaders step up in challenging moments. In fact, that’s one trait that professional sports players have to possess in order to win close games. Even us creatives need to be able to give clients what they need when they need it. We also need to be able to do well under fire during negotiations as well.

Unfortunately, life can be a little more complicated than playing games and making business deals. In today’s world, we’ve become all too familiar with crisis. And those that can help cope with these traumatic times, can quite possibly save lives.

That’s exactly what today’s guest, Dave Sanderson did.

In this interview with Dave, we find out what he’s learned from the Miracle on the Hudson and how he’s using that to empower people around the world.

Enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • Who was Dave before the “Miracle on the Hudson”? 8:37
  • How does a sales guy become the head of security for someone like Tony Robbins? 9:54
  • Where did Dave get the skill set to handle the plane crash? 11:47
  • How did the plane crash affect him emotionally? 13:34
  • What made Dave that he should write a book after the event? 15:05
  • How does the lesson Dave learned on the Hudson about leadership translate to everyday entrepreneurs? 17:38
  • What are a few common traits that Dave sees in successful people he meets around the world? 20:30
  • How can someone “do the right thing” when they’re not a decision maker in an organization? 24:09
  • How did Dave finally get over his fear when it came to doing his own thing? 27:18
  • What kind of individuals is Dave currently working with who deal with PTSD? 30:15
  • What’s he looking forward to in the future? 5:05
  • 3 Influencers who have helped get to where he’s at today? 36:52
  • What’s the best advice that he’s ever received? 37:26
  • What’s something that more people should be talking about? 37:49
  • How can people be a difference maker in their community? 38:23

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

KMTV “The Morning Blend” Interview

Tony Robbins Giving Props to Dave

Dave’s TEDx talk

Titania Jordan Interview

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

multipotentialite

Are you a Multipotentialite? – What to Do if You Have More Than One Passion

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I remember when I was first starting New Inceptions, I wanted it to cover a ton of things. In fact, I thought I’d talk about all the big picture topics that we think about in the back of our mind, but really don’t know who to go to and trust to find out answers.

In a way, I still do that, but not in the way that I first set out to do. I’ve stuck with what I know and because of that, the New Inceptions brand has become less about expressing my thoughts on a given subject and more on focusing outward in helping other people become influencers themselves. I’ve gone from wanting to be a talking head to focusing more on what others need help with.

How did this transformation occur?

Well, the short of it is that I realized that there were experts out there that were better situated to talk about a certain topic than I was. Some of the things that I’d want to bring up on the blog were, in fact, topics that others could actually help people better at.

As I realized this, I started discussing and writing more and more about topics that I knew plenty about. But I never was able to limit the focus of the blog or show to just one thing – one topic. In fact, I’d say it was more of a theme.

 

Are You a Multipotentialite?

It was about this time that I had gotten started with Fizzle and one of the hosts of the show passed along an idea.

Choose a topic and stick with it.

In fact, there’s a whole course in there in how to do that.

But what I soon found out is that I’m never going to be someone who can focus on one thing. Believe me, I tried. For about a year, I focused mainly on business building. But I’m no Pat Flynn.

The truth is that I’ve always been someone that’s bounced around from topic to topic.

Maybe you can relate?

Perhaps that’s why you’ve found this site. Maybe, just maybe, you’re having problems breaking your thoughts down into one topic that you’ll be able to discuss on a regular basis.

If so, then, like me, you’re what’s called a multipotentialite. It’s a term that I think Emilie Wapnik first coined for her TEDx talk in 2015:

Does this Sound Like You?

After watching that presentation of Emilie’s – how do you feel? Maybe a little confused? Maybe just downright furious.

It’s completely understandable.

I mean, a lot of popular business influencers say that we need to pick out one topic – but Emilie strongly disagrees with that. I agree with her that some of us aren’t wired to be specialists. Now that I think about it, it’s one reason I had problems doing research – and a reason why I might have trouble getting a PhD.

In fact, what I think that us multipotentialites need to do is search for themes in the things that we’re interested in. It’ll be through these themes in our passions, that we’ll discover our purpose and later preferred processes. When we know these aspects of ourselves, then we’ll be able to tell if we’re on the right path – for us.

 

Action Steps

If you’re struggling to get a business started or starting your own brand, maybe pursuing this idea of having a theme of passions might be helpful. In the next few weeks, I’ll be releasing a new resource that will help you connect the dots.

Until then, here’s my recommendation. Start thinking about times when you’ve been fulfilled by the work you’ve done. Doesn’t matter if it was for yourself or others. Can you make that into a career? How?

Have any ideas that you’re not 100% sure about? Drop a comment below.

How to be a Good Interviewer

Michael O’Neal – Don’t Make It About Your Podcast Gear! – Learning How to be a Great Interviewer (AoL 119)

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When it comes to podcasting, you can get geek out about equipment and marketing tactics all day long. However, what separates the good from the great is, especially when you have an interview based show, is the content.

When you have an interview based show, this means that you should have a good feel for interviewing.

For me, I’ve listened to a number of interviewers styles since I first started: Larry King, Tim Ferriss, Cal Fussman, and Lewis Howes are some of the folks that I’ve tried to emulate.

Another is this session’s guest, Michael O’Neal.

According to Michael, when he first started the Solopreneur Podcast, he wasn’t sure how to help people get better at interviews. It was just something he was naturally good at. But, over time, he’s been able to deconstruct his ability and help hundreds of interviewers get better at their craft.

In this session, we’ll learn about what we can expect from his course as well as some new tips he learned recently at Podfest.

Enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How’d Michael end up as a Steelers fan? 9:16
  • What was his experience like being a cohost with Hines Ward? 11:19
  • How’d he realize that he was unemployable? 14:28
  • What was the attraction to podcasting that got Michael started with it? 22:17
  • What’s his process in connecting with influencers and producing the podcast? 25:48
  • Has Michael seen a drop in his Google Analytics since shortening his show notes? What are a few things he learned at
  • Podfest 2018? 28:22
  • What can someone expect from his course “The Art of the Interview”? 32:02
  • Who are three influencers that have helped launch him to where he’s at today? 42:54
  • How does Michael say no to all the opportunities he receives these days? 43:18
  • Something he’s been learning about recently that he’s excited about? 44:44
  • What’s his least favorite social custom? 45:27
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 45:45

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

 

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Michael starts Hand & Foot Combination Practice

Michael on drums at IGNITE 2016

Solopreneur Hour #377 with Pat Flynn

Solopreneur Hour #338 with Hines Ward

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

supply vs demand

Supply Vs Demand: Equal Factors in Innovation?

/by

Back when I was actually studying entrepreneurship in school… I studied a lot of theory based stuff. But hey, that’s what you do in school – study theory!

One of the things that really opened my eyes about how politics plays a role in the economy was learning about John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich August Hayek. They were two prominent economists of the Great Depression era with sharply contrasting views. The arguments they had in the 1930s are revived whenever we have a global financial crisis (or every 10 years).

Keynes suggests that more spending is the answer to reviving an economy, while Hayek believes that artificially pumping the gas on the economy yields worse busts. He believed that stimulus packages were nothing more interference in a naturally occuring rhythm. 

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of Stimulus Act of 2008. Recently, the Trump administration has been talking a bit about tariffs and trade wars. If any of it imposed, we might see some wild fluctuations in the stock market. So maybe it’s a good time to bring this subject up again?

On August 28th, 2011, I posted this piece about the Keynes and Hayek. If you look at the entrepreneurial space using both of their perspectives, then you can come out ahead regardless of what the government stimulates. Or, on a larger scale, you can see how companies like today’s Tesla create a market which other companies can support in the future. 

I have a chameleon personality by any definition of the phrase. Every source that hints to what my personality should be suggests that I have a gift in seeing the world in a balanced manner. Every personality test I’ve taken has jumped around with a result. When I took the Myers-Briggs test, one day I’d be an introvert – another day I’d test as an extrovert.

Heck, forget the sun sign of when I was born – the planets and moons were in alignment for me being a well balanced person too!

Missing out?

Funny enough, most people don’t have a chameleon personality. While mine is no means perfect (most of the time I’m too busy trying to please everyone!) most people are biased in one perspective or another and don’t consider the other side of the coin. The problem with this is that they’re probably missing opportunities.

Remember true intelligence can be defined by the ability to understand two conflicting points of view and make your own decision. So… QUESTION EVERYTHING!!

Case in point: I recently viewed a couple of videos regarding the current economy and two conflicting ways in how to solve it. Most people will see the problems in the economy from one perspective or another and thus the solution is as simple as doing what “is right” to one point of view.

Part 2:

 

Personally what I get from both of these videos and their perspectives is that demand (Keynes perspective) is just as important as innovation and providing the right supply (Hayek) to the economy. Without demand, income doesn’t exist. Without innovation and supply, then no one will buy anything because there’s nothing to buy. It’s a yin and yang sort of deal. Too much of one might give us results we don’t want. For examples, government subsidies have saved many farmers. However, because we’ve relied on it as much as we have, the soy and corn industries have a stranglehold on modern agriculture.

A More Practical Example

If you see both sides of the deal like what I’m talking about, you’ll realize that you can make your cake and eat it too.

One group of smart entrepreneurs are those that are marketing green technologies. Whether you believe Al Gore or not, there is a lot of interest in being green. Part of being green is producing Earth friendly fuels. So those that are building businesses in the green fuel sector are not only good for the environment, but they’re also smart in that they’re cashing in on a GREAT opportunity!!

Not only are they going the Keynes route by being supplemented by the government, but they’re also practicing a bit of the Hayek route in that cars with engines that can utilize the fuel will be created soon.

Action Steps

So now that you see these two perspectives, how can you use this knowledge in your own business? Is there a pool of money you can tap into before you start actual work? It doesn’t have to be government reliant. Maybe working with a nonprofit and doing their ads? (As an example, Google gives grants to nonprofits.)

Then, once that space is created, how might you be able to capitalize on it?