This conversation with Michael Doyle (former colleague at Red Hat) explores what we found in Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday and reflect it back on ourselves. Conversation Highlights & References Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday Extended bibliography Primary sections: Aspire, Success, and Failure Relationship between our values and our ego Is ego ever a positive thing? Marie Forleo’s interview with Ryan Holiday What does your ego look like to you/how does it show up? Doing and working over being and having Abstract: The Art of Design (Netflix series) The Rocket Launch approach to getting out of bed Blue Collar productivity as described by Steve Chandler How ego appears as excuses when we fail Setting ego aside to embrace new perspectives or ideas Ego and it’s relationship to how much money you need Pleasure versus happiness How the little things add up to big success Create your own definition of success Your personal values Write or print out a list Rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how well you are honoring them The Five Minute Journal by Intelligent Design Useful way to measure success Ongoing retrospectives Ego aides us in overestimating our abilities and defeating discipline What’s a small daily practice to help you build mastery? Learning from failure instead of making excuses Hate versus love Connect with Michael Doyle Website Twitter Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Photo supplied by Michael Doyle All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 73: Exploring the Ego with Michael Doyle appeared first on John Poelstra.
Carolyn Campbell explains the fascinating journey she’s on to understand rural America by listening to the people she’s sent to by others. I met Carolyn as my first coach several years ago. Highlights Carolyn has been on a mission to deeply listen to people in rural America for the past two years Hearing their stories and learning from them instead of trying to immediately help Her project as a result of a community dinner that didn’t happen In her travels she met over 2,000 people and formally interviewed 500 37,000 miles in nine months 8,000 miles of the total was in Mississippi alone Carolyn set out on her trip with the intention of not having an agenda Other people chose where she would go next Similar to the way coaching is about connecting to clients without an agenda Not a trip to push a political agenda It was about digging into social issues Going into communities to discover what the social issues really are out there Determine if the media is painting a clear and accurate picture She wanted to know for herself What are the real economics of an area? What really goes on there? Is the world is as divided as it seems? Primary goals were listening, watching and connecting One goal of the trip was to challenge her own judgements about things and places Find out if she could challenge her own assumptions and sit with people who were fundamentally different than her The first choice of where she should go was given to high school students. They had to provide: Why a particular place was important Questions to ask people The types of people they wanted her to talk to How Carolyn’s van for her first trip materialized 24 hours after deciding she couldn’t take her current car Zack Yeager from Cascade Campers came to the rescue Where the term stranger-talking came from and how it can make the world a better place People in small towns always notice who you are even if you don’t think they do The time a man helped her get clear about what she was up to “If you are here to judge you’ll only last a day, but if you are here to listen we will tell you everything you want to know.” Carolyn had a general rule that she would not debate or disagree people… instead she would just ask more questions, particularly when she really disagreed internally Three Levels of Listening What do I believe about what’s being said or how does it affect me? Hearing the words the person is saying and really taking them in Taking in the words … hearing the words and taking into account the energy of the space, their body language and everything Asking another question when you don’t agree with someone instead of going to judgement (being curious) Bringing deep curiosity takes us deeper and deeper in a way that judgement can’t Historically “help” in the rural communities Carolyn visited made the situation worse It takes approximately eight years for local people to trust outsiders Tourism as an industry does not pay as well as original industry in those places did Sometimes we are called to something at a level we don’t know (and in doing so we find out) The critical importance of getting a greater understanding of “other” People in rural America are used to living along side people they don’t agree with Carolyn believes that the
Here are a few things I’ve learned in the past few months. Mentioned Restarting is the key to success Showing up as best you can even when you don’t feel at your best Mindset as a recurring theme in a lot of books I read (and mostly did not finish) Shift Your Mind Shift Your World by Steve Chandler Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt The Serving Mindset by Farnoosh Brock (Interview on Productivityist Podcast) The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha The Path to Personal Power by Napoleon Hill Financial Freedom School Know your financial numbers How much money you need to live every month How any months of cash you have (cash on hand divided by the amount you need each month) How much money you need to retire Reducing junk and clutter to manage stress Establishing a new daily habits around exercise paralleling the success I’ve had with the Five-Minute Journal and meditation Atomic Habits by James Clear Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 71: Latest Learnings & Challenges appeared first on John Poelstra.
This deep conversation with Michael Marvosh explores meaning and life lessons with prompts from nature and our own life experiences. Mentioned in This Episode ConvertKit Conference (where John & Michael met) Stephen Warley of Life Skills That Matter Mike Vardy of Productivityist Michael’s podcast called Deadman’s Forest The exploration of existence and meaning Being intentional about sharing what he has learned from his life instead of letting those things die with him Everyone has unique wisdom and experiences Recording process and open air recording studio Giant trees along the coast of Northern California Stout Grove at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park The enormity of the trees how perspective is somewhat hard to come by A similar feeling of awe that you’d feel walking into a huge cathedral Makes you think of things bigger than yourself Gaining the perspective and the value of realizing that we are not the center of things–feeling that bigger thing Michael shares about his vision fast ceremony and the shape it took Following the ideas about who you are or what you might do Acting on them and finding meaning through that action Life is a series of “transitions”–our modern day society doesn’t do a lot to mark or celebrate these events Committing to a future version of ourselves Crossing the threshold Often the first step forward towards what we really want or changing is committing–even when things aren’t 100% clear. More “knowing” comes from committing People who struggle to achieve a particular skill are often better teachers of it compared to people who naturally succeed–struggle can be an advantage (John borrows this from Steve Chandler) The Story of You (And How to Create a New One) by Steve Chandler Embracing mindsets that take us in productive directions At Michael’s request John shares some of the biggest lessons from his life so far: Grappling with Christianity Figuring out what I want to do and what I’m good at Compassion and empathy with grappling Embracing the tensions and unresolved questions of life Accepting and leaning more into who John is Getting to the bottom of what’s true for John and what he really believes L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland–“honest answers to honest questions” Being satisfied with imperfection Resources School of Lost Borders facilitated Michael’s vision fast ceremony Reach out to Michael if you’d like to have a conversation with him (use the form at the bottom of the page) Dead Man’s Forest podcast The Trees are Big More about Stout Grove in this 2019 article from the Oregonian: Dip your toes into Calif
Here’s a short riff on a section from Time Warrior by Steve Chandler about alleged “time management” problems. Highlights Time Warrior: How to defeat procrastination, people-pleasing, self-doubt, over-commitment, broken promises and chaos by Steve Chandler “Time management” is a misnomer When people say they have difficulty managing their time there’s usually something deeper going on Most people have no problem managing their time to be on a commercial airplane when it leaves When we have a mission we are committed to we rarely have problems “managing time” well What is your mission your overarching purpose? What are you committed to? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 69: Do You Have a Time or Mission Problem? appeared first on John Poelstra.
Vinod Jain works as a technology and management consultant in Northern Virginia. In this conversation we explore how get got to where he is today and the personal journey he is on. Conversation Highlights Bigger Game Live put on by Rick Tamlyn Being a “creator” instead of a “consumer” “Express and receive” The pros/cons of enthusiastic optimism We all have the potential for a great future in our lives Look around and see what you can harness in your surroundings There’s tremendous learning we can have in difficulties, challenges and obstacles Being influenced by what we don’t have Vinod’s attraction to becoming a coach Being aware of and managing the inner critic Ego as an obstacle to our growth Vinod’s connection to Jainism Be aware of your energy levels and how to generate joy Meditation and Journaling Self-time and time in nature Books Mentioned Origin by Dan Brown The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenburg Connect with Vinod Jain on LinkedIn Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 68: Getting to Know Vinod Jain appeared first on John Poelstra.
Here’s what happened and what I learned in October 2018, a couple of which were the culmination of how the year started. Highlights & References A big month of changes: beginnings and endings Post-it tracking and prioritization system was in full force I officially left Red Hat IBM made a $34 billion offer for Red Hat Offense vs. Defense / Creating vs. controlling by Tim Hildred Ending my co-working space I started a new role at with the Capital One Money Coaching Team The challenges of new daily routines and leaving the house to go to work Morning routine Coffee Reading Time Warrior by Steve Chandler Wealth Warrior by Steve Chandler Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill The Path to Personal Power by Napoleon Hill Meditation / Insight Timer App 5 Minute Journal Journaling Walking Writing out the negative narrative I was telling myself Spotting inconsistencies Creating a list of all the things I can do to counter-act that which I fear Making conscious choices to avoid context switching Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 67: October 2018–Changes, Beginnings, Endings and More appeared first on John Poelstra.
It’s easy to get off track and lose focus. Here are some of the ways I have been attempting to sharpen my focus and execution. Highlights Time Warrior: How to defeat procrastination, people-pleasing, self-doubt, over-commitment, broken promises and chaos by Steve Chandler Creating vs. Managing Advanced Client Systems (ACS) program hosted by Steve Chandler The Prosperous Coach: Increase Income and Impact for You and Your Clients by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin Three primary leaks I’m seeing steal my focus Email News Social Media Where do you waste time across a day? Being conscious and intentional about the things I work on Choosing “now” or “not now” Once an email is open it has to be dealt with You don’t leave your physical mail opened in your mailbox The power of turning the email preview pane window off Saves all kinds of distractions Easier to delete junk Thunderbird for email Move tasks that are living in your inbox to your task management system Managing all my tasks in Trello Subscribe to the board (to get notifications) Set due dates on important cards– email comes and I don’t delete it until I’ve dealt with the card Setting up simple website blocking with entries to /etc/hosts Inspired by Greg DeKoenigsberg in episode 54 Using podcasts listening to get the news without the distractions The Daily Wall Street Journal NPR hourly news summary Scaling back social media noise Cleaning up my follower list on Twitter Turning off notification for Facebook group postings (reduces email) LinkedIn I would love to see more personal stuff here and less boring corporate blog posts about the latest product release My archiving strategy and space saving with Dropbox De-cluttering computer files Daisy Disk to find large files Be on the lookout for leaks in your own life What can you do to plug the leaks and focus your time on things that matter? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 66: Plugging Leaks to Focus and Execute appeared first on John Poelstra.
Stephani Roy McCallum is a leader who helps people have difficult conversations. In this conversation she navigates a deeper of understanding of what leadership really is and how to be an effective leader. Conversation Highlights Bigger Game Live put on by Rick Tamlyn Leadership is needed to move forward after a conflict has been resolved Taking complete ownership is necessary, however to be fully effective you have to go somewhere (lead) “Leadership is an inside job” — Rick Tamlyn Leadership is available to everyone Leaders inspire others to take action towards positive change To lead you must stand for something and lead from it Personal leadership often starts with a “reckoning” What do I stand for? Who am I? Questioning the status quo Self-awareness is key to becoming a leader Stephani’s own reckonings Publicly Personally The different faces and forms of empathy The path to courage and being brave is owning your fears, short-comings and inadequacies and being honest about them The combination of bravery and vulnerability creates connection which then encourages others to take action A vision isn’t anything unless it’s tied to the essence of who you are The interplay between our thoughts and feelings and notion that each can originate in either direction Leaders inspire and empower others to make positive change because the believe in something and lead from that Stephani’s real world examples of leading courageous public conversations How to have difficult personal conversations The stories we tell ourselves and how unproductive they can be The value of telling a new story The power of combining a new story with choosing A productive story is not necessarily the opposite of the unproductive version Learn More About Stephani Roy McCallum and Leadership Website: https://www.bravelylead.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bravelylead/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedheadSteph Blog: https://medium.com/@RedheadSteph Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephani.roy.mccallum/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephani-roy-mccallum-b627646/ Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 65: Leading From Within with Stephani Roy McCallum appeared first on John Poelstra.
Here’s a recap of the things that happened in September 2018 and what I learned from them. Highlights & References Public accountability and my system for doing the monthly recap worked Great books by Steve Chandler The Story of You (And How to Create a New One) Time Warrior: How to defeat procrastination, people-pleasing, self-doubt, over-commitment, broken promises and chaos Blue Collar productivity The solution to procrastination is starting The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler & Rich Litvin Rich Litvin’s website Color coding your calendar to show you how much time you are spending on important activities that drive your business What’s that one thing you might want to do on a regular basis that would strengthen a particular skill to propel you forward? A very busy period of on-boarding new clients and doing client sessions The Wheel of Life (CTI coaching tool) Slowing down Consciously working on one thing during a time block Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 64: September 2018 Learnings appeared first on John Poelstra.