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mental focus

Increasing Mental Focus – 4 Simple Steps that Can Change Your Life

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Last Week I talked about how you can get more life satisfaction. There’s multiple reasons why someone would want more life satisfaction. With that post, I simply jumped into the how to of getting it started.

In today’s topic, we’re going to dive a little deeper into two of the 4 tactics mentioned in the previous post. Specifically, long term goals and having a growth mindset.

Here’s the thing, while you’re pursuing a long term goal, you’re going to grow as a person. There’s no doubt about it.

However, to do that growing AND achieve those goals, you’re going to have to put in a ton of work.

And to get that work done, you’re going to have to focus.

We All Make Choices

If you’re like me and many people I know, you probably have a busy life. For the most part, going to work takes up a ton of our time. If you have kids, that’s another layer of stuff you gotta do. And if you have extended family – there’s even more stuff you got to manage time for. And let’s not forget all the social things we might be a part of. Gaming, sports groups, you name it.


With all these things that we have to do on a daily basis, it’s hard to imagine how anyone has ever successfully done anything meaningful in their life after entering the workforce.

Seriously, who has the time?

Here’s the answer: You do.

“But how?”, you might be wondering.

We all have time. Everyone has 24 hours a day. Everyone has always had and always will have 24 hours a day.

We all make choices in how we’re going to spend our 24 hours.

Here’s a few that I’ve had to make in the past:

  • Go to a workplace that requires us to be there 7, 8, or even more hours per day.
  • Go to school and do the homework for the classes.
  • Be part of a sports team.
  • Go to the gym.
  • Keep working on that character in that video game.
  • Watch or hear that particular show so we have something to talk with people about.
  • Have friends or family that wants to hang out when we’re not doing work.
  • Sleep.

Many of these choices are things that “busy” people are probably already doing most (if not all) of. However, just because we’re busy doesn’t necessarily mean we’re being productive. And it sure as hell doesn’t mean we’re being satisfied by our lives. I could and will argue that many of these above choices can be distractions.

Most of our Satisfaction in Life Comes from Mental Focus in Working Towards Something

Outside of hanging out with friends and family, there are few things that give us all satisfaction.

Sure you might get some temporary satisfaction in playing games, watching shows, or getting that paycheck from your job. But again, I could argue those things are possibly examples of time that could be used more productively. Especially, if a person is interested in building a more satisfied life.

It’s not that we haven’t used mental focus before. You might have previously focused in school, sports, military… and even, believe it or not, playing video games.

Many would say that video game players are lazy – but they are as dedicated to their craft. Just as much as those who are focused on getting their degree, throwing a ball, or knowing what to do during an emergency situation.

Here’s Cam’s take on it:

In all four of these examples, we feel satisfied because we feel that the work that we’re performing is being put towards building something.

If it doesn’t require mental focus or we don’t feel like we’re building something, then there’s a good chance we’re not going to get satisfaction from the time, resources, or work we spend on a given activity.

Increasing Mental Focus:

So, how do we spend more of our time utilizing our mental focus towards building we care about?

1. Prepare for Prolonged Focus

The first part of being able to successfully focus on something we want to do is give ourselves the ability to actually focus.

If you’re the type of person runs on caffeine all day and doesn’t do much physical activity – that needs to change. You don’t want your body having to rely on caffeine to perform day in and day out – which can happen.

Also, stay hydrated. Personally, this is one that I struggle with myself. I know I don’t drink enough water. Having grown up on all kinds of sodas, juices, and other sugary drinks, I’ve never been able to make drinking water a part of my routine. So if you’re like me, make sure that you’re figuring out other ways of getting your water in. For me, I’ve become a tea-aholic!

One other way to prepare for prolonged focus is by making sure you get plenty of sleep. Seriously.

7 or 8 hours is what we should be shooting for. That means if you’re planning on getting up at 5 or 6 in the morning, you’ll be wanting to go to bed at 9 or 10pm at the latest.

2. Choose Your Most Important Tasks

Once you are rested up and have something to drink near you, you’ll be ready to get going. But before we do, we need to make sure we’re aware of the tasks that we want to do that particular day.

I’ve talked about how important it is to properly plan the tasks you want to get done that week and month. When it comes to doing something in a particular day, all we want to do is 1 to 3 things.

For example, I keep it simple by focusing on writing on Monday, podcast editing on Tuesday and podcast publishing on Wednesday. The rest of the time is committed to marketing, meetings, and specifically on Thursday and Friday, I try to learn and utilize new skills and systems to help with the other days.

3. Clear Space for Focused Work by Getting Rid of Distractions

Distractions come in all sizes. Having a dead end or uninteresting job, playing videogames or watching TV for 4 or more hours a day, or endlessly scrolling through social media or answering emails are examples of distractions.

The difference between distractions and other activities is that distractions are activities that aren’t helping you reach your goals or enriching your life.

If you’re having problems figuring out what the distractions in your life are, then think about the things you do that others would consider a waste of time or you personally feel is “a grind”.

Your job might literally drain you and stress you out. This might grounds to look for another job.

If you feel like you have to play video games “like a job”, then figure out something else to spend your time on. Maybe you feel like you have to be on all the social media platforms that your friends are on. If this is the case, then just pick one and let them know they can actually call you if they need something.

The goal with this step is to make sure we are not being interrupted when we actually sit down and do activities that are meaningful. If you need more help with distractions, here’s a post for more info.

If you want to start small but have some really drastic changes in this department, here are three things you can do today:

  1. Don’t multitask. No one can multitask and if they say they can, they’re still living in the year 2000.
  2. Turn off notifications on your phone and computer
  3. Do not connect to social media or other things until your main tasks are done.
  4. Don’t leave email going all day. Check it twice – preferably mid-morning and before you’re done for the day. DO NOT check it first thing!

4. Get in the Zone – Your Zone

Being busy is something that many of us have grown up believing is the key to success. And the truth is that, being busy is often times a sign that a person isn’t in control of their lives. The busier someone is or seems to be, the more they’re probably at the call of someone else.

So the goal, believe it or not, is to not for you to appear busy all the time. Instead it’s to actually be doing something when you’re wanting to do it and committing to that action. This will get you “in the Zone” or “in flow”. When you’re in flow, you won’t have to worry about others perceiving you as being busy because you will be and the more times you get there, the longer you’ll be able to stay there.

Being in flow for long periods of time is called Deep Work or Slow Working. Interestingly, this type of work yields better results in the long run.

If you’re not used to doing work for a long period of time, shoot for at least a half an hour sprint. And then work your way up to longer periods of time. The goal is to train your mind like a muscle. Ideally you’ll be able to spend enough time in a deep work mode that you’ll be able to finish the task at hand before you need a break.

However, you need to take breaks from time to time. So make sure you do take that lunch hour and walk around for a few minutes every hour or so.

If your current job prevents you from going into the zone on a regular basis, you might want to consider finding another job. I personally believe that being able to be in flow is a vital part of having job satisfaction.

If you’ve never had a job that will allow you to get there, then that might be a sign that it’s time for you to start your own business. This will give you a way to do something you like to do in a way that you will like doing it.

Ending Thoughts

I hope that this post gives you a clearer sense of what focus and subsequently, your work life, should be like. If you believe that you’re not being able to clearly focus on your job or in your business, then it might definitely be time to change some things up.

Lack of focus will cause you unneeded stress. Period. With so many options and opportunities in the world today, it’s just not smart to strap yourself to a particular group of coworkers or a paycheck with a particular name on it.

That might have been expected with the Baby Boomers, but even they know that things are changing quickly. (For a great discussion on this topic, check out my discussion with Dr. Joe Albano)

Your goal is to not look at a job as “working for” a particular company. It’s to look at a job as “working with” them. If you can’t find the partnership you seek in your current industry, you owe it to yourself to find that partnership elsewhere – even if it means starting your own business.

Word of advice: Don’t expect for your current company to change for you. Just because you might be starting to find your own goals in life, doesn’t mean your current place of employment agrees with those goals.

You might have to move. But that’s ok, because you don’t want to work at a place you’re not appreciated.

If you find yourself looking for a new job, do your due diligence when you’re interviewing and find out if the position truly works for you along with the goals and culture of the company that you’ll be working with.

sandra bellamy

Sandra Bellamy: How to Embrace Your Quirky to Be Your Own Authentic Self (AoL 050)

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Society in general teaches us to not only care what other people think, but that we have to conform to those thoughts. For many people, that’s not a problem. But for us creatives it can be really hard. And often times we find ourselves asking two questions:

Am I living the life that I’ve seen for myself? And “Who am I going to live my life for?”

The answer to those two questions often times leads to the formation of one’s own passion based business.

In fact, that’s what happened to today’s guest, Sandra Bellamy.

Not only did Sandra come to this realization back in 2012, but she’s made it her mission to help other people figure out for themselves that they’re connected to a Matrix that has no interest in their personal desires. She calls it “Embracing Your Quirky”.

The truth is that once we unplug, we have to start believing in ourselves and take a big leap of faith – because no one else is going to on our behalf.

In this chat, we talk about how she learned to embrace her quirky, how you can do so in your daily life, and we also dive a bit into her experiences as a writer and why she believes that anyone can be a writer.

It’s a practical and exceptionally helpful episode. Enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How can someone tell if they’re not embracing who they are enough? 22:23
  • Why she loves “the lifestyle of a teenager” to empower how she see’s herself. 23:14
  • How someone can “embrace their own quirky” more. 26:30
  • What are some of the experiences that she’s had working with others. 30:06
  • Why she has a wide spread of book topics and where each one came from. 34:42
  • How she’s able to write so much and why she believes that anyone can be a writer. 46:39
  • What she’s looking forward to in the not too distant future. 51:38
  • What are three thought leaders she recommends to other people the most. 54:13
  • One thing that’s under $100 that has changed her life. 55:15
  • One gift she likes giving others. 55:50
  • 3 truths that she would share with others. 56:06
  • Something she believed when she was 24 but now thinks is bogus. 58:00
  • When she thinks of the word success, who comes to mind and why? 1:00:31
  • … and MUCH more!

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

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Stop Worrying, Start Living:

5 Lessons from Launching a Amazon Kindle Book:

Free Book and Review Opportunity from Red Door Publishing:

Andy Harrington’s story of how Tony Robbins Changed his Life:

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!

escaping the rat race

Escaping the Rat Race by Achieving Financial Security

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Our General Education on Money

Growing up, many of us were never taught about money and really where it comes from or really how to generate more of it. The only thing we were taught about it was that if we had enough we could buy something with it.

Later, when we got older, we’d find out that we could actually get paid to do jobs here and there, say like yard mowing. We learned that if we saved that money we earned, we’d be able to put it all together and get something we really wanted.

The older we got, though, the more expensive the things we wanted became. In high school for me, it was cars, gifts, and, apparel. The list continued to get longer and longer.

As we got older, we learned that if we could manage to get a college degree, we would be qualified to get higher paying jobs.

Oh, and if we wanted or needed something right now that we could use a credit card and then pay back the credit company back all at once or over time. The sooner we paid the companies back (monthly is best), the sooner that our credit went up. The higher our credit the more a company would risk on us to buy larger purchases – including houses. This is where mortgages come from.

Retail Therapy is an Addiction.

Obviously, the more expensive our tastes, the more money we need to support it. Even more so, the more that we want or feel we need something new – the sooner that we’re going to pay for it.

Doing this over and over just for the hell of buying things is definitely a thing. Why? Because there is a rush in buying something. And just like any other rush, it can get addictive.

There’s tons of people who don’t know when they’re getting out of control in their spending. Part of this can be put on the shoulders of not having a real education about money growing up. However, there’s another part. A part that is a little deeper and a little darker.

That part that is so common with other addictions. We’re using that addiction to fill a void in our life. The thing about voids is that we usually try to fill them with things that are detrimental to other aspects of our lives. “Retail Therapy” is really no different than gambling. Just throwing money out there on things that have no relevance in where we actually exist in life.

Righting the Ship

Hopefully you’re the type of person who can see where things are going wrong in your life. If you feel that you don’t have money to do what you really want to do with your life or you simply have a ton of stuff, but you still feel empty – then I want you to keep reading.

In a nutshell, what I’ve already talked about here is the extent of what I learned about money before I started educating myself on the matter. It came from what was taught to me at school and from what I learned from people in my life.

What I found is that life is actually NOT about going to work and getting paid the market value of what I’m worth. It’s not just about buying things that you need and what hoping that this new thing might make you happy.

What it is about is giving yourself as many options as possible to do things that fulfill you. And, as I’ve mentioned before, Financial Freedom is a big part of opening up those options.

Achieving Financial Security

So, the first step to reaching Financial Freedom is by first obtaining Financial Security. In this video, Tony Robbins discusses what that means.

 

So let’s say that finding Financial Security sounds like a good place to start? How would you get there?

Sure, you could seek out more of Tony’s info (and I recommend it), but I think the biggest name that’s out there in today’s world is Dave Ramsey. He’s on national radio and his main focus is to help people learn how to get achieve financial security.

Laila swears by Dave and his methods and I have to say that I appreciate the advice that he gives when I get the opportunity to hear him.

So here’s a really good video I found where Dave explains his steps his famous framework called The 7 Baby Steps.

For Maria and myself, this has been a good place to be at. Many people in our lives believe that we’re poor because we don’t spend our money on anything and everything. However, we know that eventually we’ll be able to do rather well on what we’ve invested in during the past 5 years.

Reaching for Financial Independence

After you’ve bought your home and have everything covered by Dave Ramsey’s method, you need to start thinking about the next level. Let’s bring in Tony again here so that we can see the next step.


Maria and I are working to be fully in this zone with our next house. We have a few more debts to knock out before we get there, but we believe we’ll be able to get there within the next year or two.

But really our secret has been to keep re-investing money into other baskets and not spending money from building our financial security phase.

Another step for us to start reaching financial independence was taken by me when I started focusing on New Inceptions. One of the things I heard in LTD back when was that you shouldn’t do something that you believe will never get you to your destination. Whether that’s more financially focused or purpose driven, you have to do something that will yield you the results that you really want. Not doing so will either drive you insane or send you into a constant depression.

Don’t do that to yourself!

Escaping the Rat Race – What Financial Freedom Looks Like

I know a few people who are already at this level. What’s interesting to me is that they’re as busy as the rest of us, but they live their lives in a world where they’re choosing what they want to do.

Mark Nathan is one of those people. And if you listen to his chat in session 22 of the AoL Podcast, you find out that just because you’re free – that you don’t actually want to sit on a beach somewhere. Check out that interview here.

My thinking is that once you’re used to working at peak level, you can’t stop. At this point, you’ve more than likely found meaning in your life and you know how to leverage your skill set. Stopping would probably yield insanity.
Chances are you’ve definitely built a business around this so it can’t ever be taken from you.

Oh, if you’re interested in finding some more of that Tony Robbins course, check out more of it here.

Your Turn:

I’d love to hear how your guys’ plans are going. Do you follow Dave Ramsey? If not, who do you follow for your financial advice? I’d love to hear one or two tips that you’ve learned on your quest in getting out of the rat race and reaching financial freedom.

personal freedom

5 Obstacles in Achieving True Personal Freedom

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No matter who you are or what you’re doing, those of us who are leading (or trying to lead) passion filled lives and businesses are doing so because we feel that we can be ourselves better than what a boss can prescribe for us. We’re trying to gain our Personal Independence, or as most call it, Personal Freedom. Most people don’t like being bossed around, right? (Obviously there’s an exception. But I have yet to meet that person…!)

Until you have personal freedom, you’re always going to have that as a possibility in your life.

In the last post, I spoke of 4 common problems that people have when trying to start a business. These problems are part of a larger list of obstacles that I want to point out in today’s post. Without overcoming these obstacles through actively working on them, or simply through understanding them, a person can never have true Personal Freedom.

Health

The first thing everyone should be able to maintain at an optimum level is their health – both physical and mental. This is the first level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Due to this, many of us who are thinking about building a business take this part for granted. However, ignoring it can have a very negative impact on everything else we do.

In fact, if a person doesn’t have their sanity or the energy to do the activities that need to be done in a certain day, then they won’t get very far.

For many people this is a daily struggle. These people are living a Caged Life. Combined with the potential of not having shelter (the second level of Maslow’s), these folks might not ever think about starting their own business.

That said, one good thing that comes from having to struggle daily is a natural tenacity for “Hustle”. And, ironically, that’s an important ingredient to building a business.

Community

The third level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is Love and Belonging. Once we have ourselves taken care of, we naturally want to start reaching out to others. Our need to engage with others is part of what it means to be human. We want to feel connected to people who are interested in the same things we are. I like to think of this as a need for us to feel that we have social proof. That we’re not alone.

As mentioned in the 6 Cornerstones eBook, a tribe is a very good thing to have when we’re aiming for higher success – it gives us support for when the going gets tough!

If this is done with authenticity, it gives us a feeling of esteem (Maslow’s fourth level) because we know that people appreciate the true us!

Once we have our health and know our role in our community, you could say that we’re experiencing a Comfortable Life. Life is good, but it’s not great. And funny enough, it’s been said numerous times that Good is, in fact, the enemy of Great. It’s really hard to give up Comfortable for what’s coming next…

Knowledge and Skills

On the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is Self Actualization. This is where we start realizing who we are. That we do have passions, particular strengths, and know where we fit in life. It’s when we have this understanding, that we can master our knowledge and build other skills that will supplement what we already know about ourselves and how we interact with the world.

Because we can always keep learning about ourselves and the world around us, this journey never ends. And if you were looking for a label for someone that’s here…  this is called living a Charged Life.

As a side note, our current school system doesn’t work in our favor when it comes to this obstacle. In fact, it makes it worse. Formal education makes us great soldiers who fit like cogs in a larger machine (society) where we don’t question if we’re in the right place.

So to be free in our knowledge and skill building, we typically have to go outside of the formal school system because it isn’t in their best interest to teach us about who we are as individuals.

One way of gaining more knowledge is by actively going out there and seeing it for yourself. That’s why so many millennials would rather have experiences than having things.

Financial

This factor and the next are not necessarily ascending levels like the past three are. But it’s something that I need to discuss in further detail because they’re not discussed hardly at all in formal education in a way that everyone can understand.

As you probably know, the better our finances are, the more options we have in life. What do I mean by this? In our current world, having financial freedom is what gets rid of living a life where you have a boss giving you orders all the time. Obviously, you can buy more expensive things, travel and see the world, but another benefit of having your finances taken care of is that YOU have the ability to help others out in times of need. Have a family member or friend who’s struggling? You don’t have to think twice about helping them out.

What’s interesting is that financial freedom isn’t really as far away as you might think. In fact, it’s  up to you to determine what that means. To me, I think it’s about living the life you want to live while staying within your means. If your cost of living is lower than what your business (or other income) earns you, then you can technically call yourself financially independent.

The whole point of opting for a business versus having a job is becoming financially free. When you’re financially free, you don’t answer for anyone other than yourself and potential clients – but that’s the same even if you have a job.

Just remember, if you don’t tell yourself what to do, the world will gladly put someone next to you will. There’s leaders and followers. Make yourself a leader.

(Just a note: I watched The Wolf of Wall Street over the weekend. Really interesting movie if you can stomach lots of skin, drug use, and swearing. I found it incredible in how quickly he was able to capitalize on penny stocks and quickly start his own firm. In case you already saw it, here’s a list of other movies you can check out as well if you want to learn more about what being an entrepreneur is all about.)

Government – Know the Rules

We should have a clear understanding of how the rules work in our country so that we can know how we can play the game of life within the rules that are set up.

In other words, I like to think of a government as being the entity that makes the rules for it’s people. Which is true, right?

If you think of great sports players, they know how to use the rules to their advantage when needed.

Take Peyton Manning, for example. One of the best, if not the best player that ever played the quarterback position in football.

Up until the past couple of years when they changed the rule, occasionally, he’d hurry his team up to the ball and take the snap as quickly as possible. Why? Because he wanted to get the other team sleeping with too many people on the field.

The other team would get penalized which would in turn gain him a few additional yards… getting him closer to his goal.

Knowing little ins and outs of how the rules work, can really help your game.

Action Steps

So, that about does it! On that last note, if you do have any feedback you’d love to send my way, please do. I’d love to hear it!

As for this post, I wanted to dedicate some time to open up about what personal freedom is all about and let you in on my brain a little bit. These topics are important to me, and I hope you find that they’re cool with you too. My hope is that maybe what I’ve said here will help you prepare for what’s coming… not just in your business (because again I believe it’s the only way to have Financial Freedom) but also help you navigate the waters of life in general.

Supplemental: My Perspective on the Current Political Scene

If you’re not following me on Facebook, you’re missing out on some good postings recently. Currently, the election cycle is in full swing and as many of you know, I’m what many might call a Conservative Libertarian.

In my mind, the simple description of a Conservative Libertarian who believes that the government is in charge of the basics for everyone. These basics are expressed through the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. These are the rulebooks for our government. They say what the government CAN’T do.

Somehow, people have gotten this perspective that they’re about what the government CAN do, which is why they might also think that the rules are out of date. However, when you change the rulebook and what it can do, you’re changing how the game is played.

People generally don’t understand the rules – and again, it’s at the fault of “Formal Education”.

Where Things Stand Currently

Currently, many people rely on the government for one program or another. Typically these are the same people who are stuck in the first few levels of hierarchy of needs. They don’t see past tomorrow because they can’t. So why should they care about what comes after it?

While these programs seem like they’re doing good, they’re actually weakening us as a country. Why would anyone work for something if they’re going to get it for free? Principle? Sure. But for how long?

The problem is that there’s so many people out there that don’t care that what they rely on to get to the next day is coming off the hard work of others. It’s not even that they don’t care. It’s that they’re indifferent to it. They don’t know how things work.

As more and more people take “advantage” of these programs or rely on the government to make big decisions for the people and make everything easier, the more those who have made working for government a career gain more power. Not just power for themselves, but power over you, the individual. This is called Progressivism.

Currently, we have two people who, in their personal history, have shown that they are Statists. A Statist is someone who believes that the state should control either economic and/or social policy to some degree.

One is from Big Money and the other is from Big Government. Many people don’t realize that Big Money folk pay Government members to make legislation that will help them out. The more that these people make laws together, the more the little guy (you and I) get pushed out.

A Growing Oligarchy

As we continue to ask the government for favors because we “deserve it”, we move closer and closer to what’s called an oligarchy. (Here’s one of most referenced videos that describes what that is and more.) The more favors they provide, the more people that need to be in control of those favors. The larger the government (or ruling class) gets.

If the United States ever becomes an oligarchy, we will have became the opposite of what the country was originally founded on. A place where we can never have the opportunity for Personal Freedom. It won’t matter how much you tried to do what you wanted, at this point you have a society which has a specific purpose for you, and you’re going to do that specific job.

So this is why I harp on politics as much as I do. Right now I realize how much we have to lose if the rules are changed completely. While I’m fairly new to this whole personal freedom chase myself, I want to at least have a shot.

With the government adding more and more rules in how people function together, it gets harder and harder for EVERYONE to be more and achieve more in life.

AoL 039: Overcoming Obstacles in Life, Building a Church, and Pursuing Passion in Life and Business with Brawn Lide

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The road to success is often not very clear. That’s one of the reasons I’m in favor of having a roadmap for your business. For many, however, even having a roadmap isn’t enough. Sometimes, an entrepreneur’s situation is so unique, that they simply have no idea where to begin. Or other times, the journey might be going smoothly, it’s just that it isn’t going fast enough for the goals that they have.

For me, my major problem was getting over my paralysis by analysis. I’m glad I finally started focusing on building New Inceptions last year. I’ve gotten a ton of experience and I’m definitely looking to ever larger opportunities.

For this session’s guest, however, even though things seem to have been going his way, he didn’t have a very long runway. In fact, when he first started his coaching business, he was mainly going on Faith that things would work out. Besides paying for his coaching training with his tax return that could have been used elsewhere (like supporting his 5 kids), he also committed to a mentorship program that almost cost nearly as much as the training itself.

When I met Brawn as my roommate at the John Maxwell Team training event, he would tell you that he was “hurtin'”. A big reason for that was that he had been a full time church planter for a couple of years at that time. What income he did have was coming from being involved as a math teacher for homeschooled kids.

Through all of this (and a little more), he’s been able to persevere and is now not only a full time JMT coach, speaker, and trainer, but a successful one.

In this session, we’ll learn why he left his stable job as a mechanical engineer to become the church planter, how he was able to grow that church from 23 to 350 members, and why he took a sales job during the time that he was building his coaching business.

If you or someone you know thinks life might be too complex to leave their comfort zone, I’d strongly urge you to listen to this chat. Brawn’s story is truly inspirational and is probably one of the best stories that I’ve heard thus far about overcoming obstacles in life. I’d especially listen if you need that extra kick in the pants to leave your comfort zone or you need help being honestly truthful with where you are in life.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How Brawn decided that he was going to go from a stable income as a Mechanical Engineer to being a church planter. (7:20)
  • What kind of struggles he had when he was trying to shed his label of Engineer (13:27)
  • How Brawn was able to be a full time volunteer for four years of his life with a family by helping with home school teaching. (17:48)
  • How he was able to help grow his church attendance from 23 to 350. (22:12)
  • What the John Maxwell Team, and JMT Mentorship program has meant to Brawn. (25:07)
  • What Brawn would tell someone if they found themselves having to suddenly lead from a position where they never saw themselves in. (31:43)
  • Why he went into sales when he wasn’t able to achieve his financial goals with his coaching business. (37:01)
  • How he was able to focus on his sales job, his business, and his family during this period in his career. (42:26)
  • What were some keys that lead to his success in speaking and coaching (44:35)
  • How Brawn was able to build his business outside of networking. (47:31)
  • What he likes the most about being a professional speaker and coach (51:58)
  • What are projects he sees himself doing in the next 5 years. (55:39)
  • If he had money to buy commercial space on TV, what would the message be? (1:01:06)
  • What purchase of $100 or less has most affected his life? (1:01:50)
  • What are 3 truths he’d want to share with others (1:03:00)
  • If someone wants to get out of their day job that they don’t find fulfilling? (1:08:06)
  • … and MUCH more!

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

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Brawn on what he does:

Brawn’s first interaction with John Maxwell:

Getting into Mechanical Engineering Wasn’t Easy:

John Maxwell and Brawn on what the word “Potential” means:

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!

AoL 038: Yoga, How to Measure Creativity, and Being a Better Human with David Rachford

/by

Being in business for yourself has many different labels. Solopreneur, Expert, Entrepreneur… the list goes on. Many times we’ve found out that these particular names might not necessarily mean anything other than you have a passion for what you do and you happen to make income doing it.

Most of us go the long way of doing that. Going to school for one thing and then making our business from something else.

I frequently ask myself, could I have learned what I know today about online business without going to school? Would I have been able to help people they way I do today?

While I think that I might have been able to shortcut the process, the truth of the matter is simply this: I wouldn’t have the experience to be able to help people at the LEVEL that I help people today.

The same goes for today’s guest, David Rachford.

David started his career in the military after being an athlete for years in several sports. After getting out of the military, he went to college to become an accountant. Growing tired of that world in 10 years, he found himself at a position that he could do something that utilized those accounting skills, but at the same time, he didn’t want to make that his whole career.

That’s where his interest in teaching others about Yoga and starting the Better Human Show came from.

In this session, we’ll learn exactly how a kid who was too husky to be in youth football started playing all kinds of sports, How his yoga journey started, how he “measures creativity”, and why he started doing his podcast.

Listen to this episode if you’ve ever found yourself bouncing from one thing in your career to the next, thinking about starting a business, or you’re simply curious in what it takes to sit with “strong determination” like monks do in meditation.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What kind of sports David played growing up despite being too big to play football. (10:04)
  • How David got into Meditation, Yoga, and eventually learned how to sit in “strong determination”. (13:48)
  • David’s advice to someone who says they get migraines when meditating. (20:42)
  • Why he left the accounting world after doing it for 10 years. (22:50)
  • How Dave measures creativity. (26:22)
  • Why Dave focuses on established entrepreneurs for his ideal clients (29:00)
  • How the Better Human show came into being. (34:38)
  • Which talks on his podcast have stuck in his mind the most. (38:18)
  • What’s an occurring theme that he’s gotten from his guests. (42:20)
  • David’s thoughts on falling back on a safe job (45:07)
  • What purchase $100 or less has most affected David’s life. (50:43)
  • What are three truths that he wants to share with others (53:10)
  • Who are David’s three favorite teachers (56:55)
  • What Dave recommends in spreading your message into the world (1:03:34)
  • … and MUCH more!

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

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Installing a Retargeting Pixel on Your Website:

https://www.facebook.com/rachford/videos/1550197105273045/

Travel Yoga Poses on KKFX News:

Couple Yoga Poses on KKFX News:

David’s Norwegian Lundehund, Nikolina checking out a T-Rex!

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!

Daniel Postma

AoL 035: A Mission of Exploration – How Daniel Postma Became a Serial Entrepreneur by Age 20

/by

The current education system is broken. It’s hard to deny it. With college professors suggesting that students aren’t ready for college, and employers saying that graduates aren’t ready for the real world, there’s really too much evidence that something has to be done.

For me personally, I did what I was supposed to do. Go to school. Get good grades. Graduate.

What didn’t happen for me was the “Get a Good Job” part.

I would say that it’s partly my fault. By the time I was finally looking for a job, I wasn’t really interested in being another cog in the machine. In fact, I knew that I wanted to work at a startup.

However, most startups that I spoke with seemed like they were fish out of water. They approached entrepreneurship like a job. They didn’t have much of a reason why that they were doing it. They just knew that they were good at what they did. Maybe it was because it’s what they did before the recession of 2008. Maybe it’s because they thought they could make more money on their own.

Whatever the reason was, it didn’t seem to be working.

I think a big part of that was that the school system that most of us have grown up with program us to be followers. However, we need new leaders more so than ever. Be it in government or in the private sector. One way to get there currently is to homeschool students. Another way is to be mentored by people that are already leading.

Today’s guest, Daniel Postma has done both. Which means he’s well on his way to be one of tomorrow’s leaders.

 

In this session, we’ll learn all about homeschooling and find out how he was able to acquire the mentorship he’s had in his life. We’ll see what his time as an of apprentice of Dane Maxwell did for him. And we’ll also discuss how he got into the business of medical massage therapy.

 

If you’re interested to know more about homeschooling, experiential learning, or simply need some guidance in what you should do after you graduate, I think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How being homeschooled has been a big help in who he is today. (9:07)
  • What homeschooling looks like from the inside. (10:51)
  • Why his parents opted for homeschooling him. (14:47)
  • How he believes homeschooling prepares students. (16:37)
  • Why Daniel chose not to go to college. (22:57)
  • What’s his thoughts on different kinds of education (25:17)
  • What kind of mentorship he’s had in his life (30:01)
  • His experience as Dane Maxwell’s apprentice for a month (34:11)
  • When Daniel knew he wanted to start his first business (39:59)
  • Why Daniel enrolled in The Foundation even though at that point it was icing on the cake (41:54)
  • How he’d reach out to others to get out of their comfort zone (43:56)
  • How he got into Medical Massage Therapy (46:48)
  • How his family has been able to help him with business (44:55)
  • Why Daniel’s superpower is being able to utilize everyone’s strengths in his life (52:35)
  • What he’d tell the younger versions of himself. (58:08)
  • …and MUCH more.

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

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

What to do After College (NSFW) – Gary V.:

What Daniel Got out of Being Around Dane Maxwell in 3 Minutes:

Daniel and Terril Interview Clay Green:

Daniel Singing in Snow… Winter in April:

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!