My goal is to walk for one hour per day for 365 days, or in a one year period. If I miss a day, it has to be made up. At the same time I will listen to at least one podcast and then shoot a 60 - 90 second video sharing one take away point from the podcast.
This is why it's called a mental and physical challenge. Yes I will be learning from the podcasts, but I'm also learning organisational skills, planning and how to record and edit my videos.
It's a WIN:WIN for everyone.
When you meet someone for the first time you need to make it memorable, and just giving them a business card is not good enough. Seth gives a few really good examples on the podcast.
To be connected to ‘your market’ you only need to create a following of about 2000 people, that’s all you need. Too often people spend four years writing a book and then they want to start a blog to connect with people. Seth says you would be better blogging for four years, building a following over that period of time, and then writing your book.
HOUR 115: The Charged Life with Brendon Burchard - Plan An EXTRAORDINARY 2017 (dated 14/12/16).
Usually his podcast recordings are short (8 - 12 minutes), but this one is an hour plus, and it’s a recording from his monthly mentoring sessions, so it’s very cool episode to listen to.
Todays takeaway points on this glorious Christmas Day.
SMART Goals are fine on a short term basis, but sometimes you need to have some really dumb goals that are really outlandish, and for you to achieve them you’d really have to stretch yourself. Sometimes smart goals are way too safe.
Your goals need to be PROGRESSIVE goals, meaning one goal progressively leads onto another. Each goal is a stepping stone towards another goal.
You must use your diary, not just to wrote in the date of your goal, but to also record at least FIVE CHECK POINTS along the way to make sure you’re on track. If goals, check points and allocated time is not scheduled into your diary…they will simply never happen.
HOUR 114: Operation Self Reset podcast, hosted by Jake Nawrocki, Episode dated 21/12/16 The Power Of Routine with Wilson Lawrence.
A lot of what I’m listening to at the moment is really setting me up well for 2017.
Here are todays takeaway points:
You need to set up a really awesome morning routine. You’ve got to turn off all the noise and give yourself some silent time. Your goal is to not be distracted by technology and you have the power to control this.
When we sleep our brain is recharged, therefore first thing in the morning our brain is ready to do some important work. Checking emails, catching up on Facebook and Linkedin is not important work, it can be distracting and it can drag you into someone else’s agenda for the day.
Mornings should be used for planning and prioritising you day. You need to learn the importance of Time Blocking and once you master this it is much easier to say NO to people, and tell them why.
Finally, thank you to my Seacret friends Shannean and Woody for my new hat Drive Your Dream.
HOUR 113: The Creative Success Show with Tanner Gers, Episode 23: The Dream Business Coach Jim Palmer.
I met Jim Palmer in Nashville in 2013 at the Top Practices Summit and he’s a very wise man. His latest book, DECIDE: The Ultimate Success Trigger is discussed throughout this podcast.
Jim is often asked, ‘when’s the best time to start something new’, and his answer was simple. Right NOW is the best time to get started.
This leads me onto my takeaway points:.
If you start something right now, even without all the necessary knowledge or skills, you will get better over time. If you want to write a book, just start. Yes, you may make a few grammatical errors, but that’s part of learning the craft. If you’re uncomfortable in front of a video camera, you’ll only improve by getting in front of the camera.
Jim gave a really good example about learning how to reverse his big twin engine boat properly, without making a fool of himself. He read books, watched Youtube videos, etc, but it wasn’t until he got the boat in the water and actually did it, that he could master this new skill.
Repetition is the key. If you do something enough times, you can only improve, but first you have to get started. If you wait until everything is perfect…it never will be.
You have to DECIDE you really want something, and then you have to pull the trigger and get started. . No successful person ever achieved greatness without first making the decision they wanted it.
HOUR 112: UFC UNFILTERED - Episode 53: Cody Garbrandt. The hosts are comedian Jim Norton and UFC legend Matt Serra.
Cody Garbrandt is an up and coming young fighter and he’s taking on the current champ Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title.
During the interview Cody mentioned that he thought Dominick Cruz may not be as focused as he use to be due to media, family and other business commitments, which leads me onto todays takeaway point.
If you’ve been in business for some time and you’ve had quite a lot of success along the way, are you still doing the day-to-day activities that made you a success, or have you started to lose focus and relax a little? Have you become a little complacent? Just becasue you were number one last year, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be number one next year.
There’s no doubting you may still be a success, but while your concentration has been elsewhere, has a competitor come into the marketplace, and are they doing all the things you use to do?
HOUR 111: Vroom Vroom Veer podcast with Jeff Smith. Episode date: 12/Dec/16 BE BOLD with Mary Bicknell.
Mary Bicknell is a very funny, entertaining and highly intelligent lady. She’s the Author of How To Have A Better Love Life, a Cognitive Behaviourist, Psychotherapist, NLP Coach, and the list goes on. I could listen to her speak all day.
She gives a lot of examples of her own life and mistakes she made along the way, which leads onto today’s takeaway point.
To BE BOLD you have to start taking action on the things you really want to do, and the things that you know will make you a better person. You have to stop hiding behind relationships, booze, and sometimes the security of a safe job. Stepping out of your security is how you will find yourself.
One more thing: Be present and in the moment with your children. Stop using work, etc as an excuse to ignore them when they speak. I didn’t mention this in the video, but it was a point that really resonated with me, and I had the opportunity to apply this three times today with my twelve year old daughter and I felt awesome. Thank you Mary!
HOUR 110: High Performance: The Podcast for Real Estate Agents featuring Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips and the episode was called ACCOUNTABILITY. On their website it is episode 77.
Why am I listening to a real estate podcast when i’m obviously not a real estate agent? Well…I think it’s important to learn from other industries, even if it has nothing to do with your own, becasue you’ll always pick up some tips.
Here are todays takeaway points:
You can be accountable to yourself, but it works better if you have an accountability partner, or even better still an accountability group.
Before you get to accountability, you first need to set some goal, you need to be aiming towards something, otherwise what are you being accountable for?
You need to be aware of specific numbers in your business. This is the only way you’ll know how your business and individuals are performing.
HOUR 109: Persistence Podcast with Robyn Hartung , Episode 4: Manage Your expectations with Emma Dunford and Jonathan David.
Here are my takeaway points:
Firstly, if you want to turn your passion for creativity into a business, you may not take the world by storm initially…it may take time to turn it into a profitable business.
My second takeaway was understanding how brave creative people are. When they create something, they are putting their emotions on the line and there’s no where to hide.
If you’re a creative person and you’re thinking of putting everything on the line for your creativity…listen to this podcast before making a decision.
Robyn’s business Website: https://noje.biz/ This website will make you very hungry - Their mission is to send you on a sensory adventure. CHECK IT OUT!!!
This podcast episode is edited and adapted from Assuming Responsibilities by Douglas Fairbanks.
Here are my three important takeaway points.
Fear or Courage is learnt at a very early age, so it’s important for us, as adults, to be mindful of how our words and actions impact our children.
If you exercise in the morning you mentally set yourself up for a great day. If you exercise in the afternoon, you mentally set yourself up for a great evening and you will also sleep much better. If you don’t have time to exercise…MAKE TIME, because you will function better.
You need to read, or if you do not like reading, listen to podcasts and audio-books, becasue you need to be constantly feeding your mind positive, inspirational information.
HOUR 107: The Small Business Big Marketing Show with Timbo Reid, Episode #327: How to Make A Viral Video with David Christison.
I learnt so much from this podcast. I always thought that a viral video was something that happened by pure accident, but now I know this is not always the case, as some big companies pay a ton of money to create viral videos and the goal is to make them look real.
Sometimes they are promoting a product, the business, or maybe even a movie.
Here is todays takeaway point:
David Christison said to create a viral video can be quite expensive, so most small business should be focusing on creating a video that is highly sharable, and if you want to know what is a highly shareable video looks like, just look at the top videos on Facebook and Instagram, and use these for inspiration.
Just like my own videos, if I get 100 likes I’m pretty impressed, but if more of my friends LIKED and SHARED my videos, I would get a lot more traction (Views), but that’s life.
Hour 106: ELEVATING Beyond with Mark Minard, Episode #133: Your History Is Not Your Destiny.
In this podcast Mark Minard interviews David Mike, author of DISHONOR - One Soldier’s Journey From Desertion To Redemption.
David Mike was a soldier, became a drug dealer, went a-wall from the army and eventually ended up in military prison. After prison he could have sat around and felt sorry for himself, but instead he chose to use his mistakes and personal story to educate and inspire others, and this leads onto today’s takeaway point.
You need to share your story with others.
Don’t be afraid of past mistakes, instead use them as learning opportunities. You may even feel embarrassed by some of your past decisions and actions, and you may have even created a little mess in your life, becasue of some poor judgement, but if you share your honest story with others you could be helping them avoid similar mistakes.
Hour 105: The Business Over Breakfast Show with Bree James and Andrew Griffiths, Episode #9: Old School Marketing. This is a locally produced podcast and I do happen to know both presenters quite well.
I must admit I’m still a fan of some old school marketing, however it has to be the right format, used the right way, and targeted towards the right people for it to work.
Bree James interviewed Mario Calanna from Calanna Pharmacy Group, another Cairns local, and Mario said he still finds sponsorship works well for his business. They sponsor local sporting teams and also the Calanna Junior Speaking Competition. Sponsorship is about giving back to the community that supports you, and it’s a big part of developing long-term relationships.
Today’s takeaway point: If you’re business is in a slump, go back and review you’re past marketing activities. Have you stopped doing something becasue you got too busy, or found a cheaper, faster alternative? Faster and cheaper doesn’t always mean more effective.
For example, old school paper newsletters still work, but yes they are time consuming and more expensive to produce, however their open rate will far exceed any eNewsletter you produce. THINK ABOUT IT.
HOUR 104: Open For Business podcast. Episode #5: How To Make It In America.
In America 13% of the population are immigrants, however if you look at the top 500 companies in America, it’s quite disproportional, 40% are owned by immigrants or the children of immigrants.
Which begs the question WHY, and leads me onto my takeaway point.
When immigrants arrived in America (or Australia) they were prepared to take on any type of work to get food on the table, however after a period of time they realised that if they have to mop floors, they may as well do it for themselves…and this is the start of their entrepreneurial spirit.
In addition to this, most immigrants start their entrepreneurial journey on a lean budget, therefore they learn the discipline and respect of money, and this is information is past onto their children.
This is why many immigrants, who start their own business, will have children that follow their path and eventually work for themselves and create their own paths.
HOUR 103: Mountain Mantras Podcast with Kathryn Kemp Guylay, Episode 39: Learn The Way That Success Works with author, Joan Posivy.
If you’re looking for some inspiration that will get our head in the right space, so you can hit 2017 with a BANG, then this podcast could be exactly what you need.
Here are three quick tips of advice:
DREAM BIG: There’s no point dreaming small.
Your perception really determines your reality.
Think of your goals like planting seeds in a garden. You won’t see much change in the first 24 hours, but if you’re patient, you will see things grow over time. So if you nurture you’re goals, like seeds in a garden, they will grow and become a reality. Just give it time.
Here’s the biggest takeaway:
No matter how often you say, “I want to be rich, or I want to make a lot of money”, it will never become a reality if you have limiting or negative beliefs and values around money.
For example, if you think money is the root of all evil, this limiting belief is going to hold you back. You need to understand that all money does is amplify a persons true character, so if you’re a nice person, don’t be concerned about making a lot of money, because it will not change you, it will just amplify your nice nature even further.
HOUR 102: The Charge Life with Brendon Burchard - ‘How to Get People To Change’ (4/12/16)
Forcing others to change is a losing battle, however being aware of the process of change can help you influence them, which leads onto todays takeaway point.
AWARENESS: No one can change until they become aware that change may be needed. If you have a concern with someones actions or attitude, you cannot get change by force, pointing the finger, or by telling them they’re wrong, instead you must show kindness in your approach.
“Sometimes the greatest tool for change is kindness”
Once someone becomes aware that change is needed, it’s really important for you to show them alternative paths required to make the change permanent.
HOUR 101 - The Ziglar Show: Inspiring Your True Performance - Ep 192 Overcoming Fear (dated 20/4/16)
Instead of Zig giving you five or seven steps on how to overcome fear, he tells a story of a lady who was terrified of public speaking, however she was eventually in a situation where she had to do it.
Todays takeaway points:
If you have really good values and character, this will come out when you do public speaking and even if you’re a little nervous, you will still receive positive comments, becasue you presentation or speech will feel real.
In contrast to this, if you’re an arsehole with poor values, this will come out in your presentations and will make it hard for you to become a good public speaker.
Ziglar quote I really wanted to share: “If you do more now than what you’re paid for, later you will be paid far more for what you do”.
HOUR 100: The Savvy Dentist Podcast with Dr. Jesse Green - Episode 39: How to Rock Your Social Strategy with Gina Lednyak.
PLEASE NOTE: You don’t need to be a dentist to appreciate this podcast…it’s called the savvy dentist podcast because the host is a very savvy dentist and savvy business person, so believe me you’ll enjoy this podcast series.
Todays Takeaway Points:
Most small business fail with social media for two reasons:
They do not have a social media strategy / plan. Once a month they need to set aside three to four hours and use this time to plan out what they’re going to post for the month, instead of posting in a hurry without thought. You need to think about the purpose of your business and what it is you want to achieve from your social media posts.
They do not have a have plan for their content. Your content needs to be engaging. If you only post educational, it will get boring. It needs to be a combination of education, humour and what is happen in your community.
When you combine a well thought out strategy with engaging content, you are going to have far greater success with your social media.
You may even consider setting up content pillars and listing items of interest under education, humour etc.
HOUR 99: Marketing Over Coffee with Christopher Penn and John Wall - Episode Title: ROBOT STORE.
If you’re a bit of a tech fan, you’ll love this episode. I particularly enjoyed what they think will be the top 7 trends for 2017.
Todays takeaway points:
Stop worrying about SEO and trying to overuse key words in your website posts, instead just write good content and write it in a similar language to how a person speaks and searches. This is going to be even ore important in 2017, however friends Rem Jackson and Tom Foster have been saying this for the past few years.
Facebook advertising should be a big part of your marketing campaign. Facebook dominates the social media world and will continue to do so in 2017.
Website content versus Facebook content: There’s been a big trend for businesses to use Facebook as their number one source of sharing content to their customers, however this is a dangerous path to take, because you do not own the page, however you do own your website and therefore you own and control all the content. So your website should be your mothership for all your content and Facebook should be used as a marketing arm from your website.
HOUR 98: HBR Ideacast podcast with Sarah Green Carmichael - Episode 553: Handling Stress In The Moment with Amy Gallo.
This is one slick, professionally produced podcast from the Harvard Business Review that I know everyone will enjoy.
My brother-in-law, Stephen Pozzebon, joined me today for my hour walk / podcast review and these are the takeaway points we’d like to share.
When someone asks you to do X…don’t overthink what they are asking of you. Don’t read anything more into the conversation. What they say and what you hear, and interpret, can add to your stress, so be aware of this.
If you’re given a deadline for a particular task, ask them directly, ‘When do you really need this done by’? You may be surprised that their initial deadline is actually flexible and this could give you a few extra days and also eliminate a stressful situation.
Change your environment: If you’re in a stressful situation at work, it may be a good idea to remove yourself from that environment and go and have a coffee at your favourite coffee shop (or another happy place). Sometimes having a mindless chat with someone outside of work can be exactly what you need to diffuse a potentially stressful situation and reset your mindset.
HOUR 97: The KickAss Life podcast with David Wood - Episode 323: What Does Home Mean To You (Sir Richard Branson)
Takeaway one: When Richard Branson started Virgin Records he didn’t limit himself to one type of music, instead he listened to what the market wanted, which is why he produced records for very diverse bands, from the Sex Pistols to Mike Oldfield. In business you need to do the same, stay relevant and stay in tune with what people want, and make sure you give it to them.
Takeaway two: (From Christine) Richard Branson’s favourite place is his home on Necker Island. During a large tropical storm it was hit by lightening and it was completely burnt down. Fortunately he was uninjured and his family were safe, and he could have used this as an excuse to leave the island for good, but instead he pulled out a huge piece of paper the following day and started planning the rebuild. He took positive steps immediately and didn’t wallow in the negatives.
You need to watch the video and hear what Christine said about her own challenges with goal setting.
HOUR 96: The Charged Life with Brendon Burchard - Episode date 24/11/16: What To Do When You Feel Lost.
Has a recent situation made you do some soul searching? There can be many reason for feeling lost, and when this happens you need to take action ASAP to overcome this feeling.
Today I was joined by my wife Christine Franklin and together we’re sharing one takeaway point each. You’ll need to listen to the podcast to hear more.
Takeaway one: When you feel lost you need to engage with positive friends, family members, a mentor or a coach. The natural reaction is to disengage when you feel lost, but you need to reach out to people you know and talk about your concerns, regardless of what caused this feeling.
Takeaway two: Reading inspirational books will always help, especially reading classics from Zig Ziglar and Og Mandino. If you don’t have a favourite author to turn to, ask a positive friend or family member to recommend one for you.
HOUR 95: Freedom FastTrack Podcast with Chris Duncan - EP 2: Mr. Goodlife (Farokh Sarmad) - STOP OVERTHINKING.
Todays Takeaway Points:
Stop overthinking if you should or should not have an Instagram account….The answer is simple, YOU SHOULD.
Unlike Newspapers, Radio and Television advertising, Instagram gives you the chance to show your customers inside your business, something other advertising mediums cannot do. And best of all it can be done fast.
And if think your customers are too old for Instagram…Think again, because while you’re thinking you’re customers are sitting at home reading the newspaper, they’re sending Emoji poo’s to their friends, so yes, they are on social media.
HOUR 94: Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch - podcast date 16/11/16 How To Rock Your Personal Brand On Linkedin with Viveka von Rosen.
Viveka is also the author of a book titled 101 Ways To Rock Your Personal Brand, on Linkedin.
It’s important to note that most Linkedin profiles will appear when someone ‘Googles You’, so you want to make sure you’re making a good first impression.
If you use Linkedin or want to use it more professionally, I recommend listening to this podcast and also obtaining a copy of Viveka’s book.
Here are my takeaway points:
Make sure your banner reflects you and your personal brand.
Make sure the image of you is clear and professional
Make sure you only use your first name and last name in the correct areas.
Use the summary section to tell people about who you are, your experience and why people should work for you. Don’t use it as a big SALES PITCH. Also you can add a testimonial in the summary area (cool idea)
Add good content and articles, because a lot of content added on Linkedin is rubbish. Plus you can repurpose an article used on Linkedin without Google punishing you.
Advertising can be effective if you’re targeting specific focused groups of 1000+, using location, age, industry etc. Great for promoting a book or an event. Can be very expensive if you want to reach everyone or large numbers of people.
There is a lot more information in the podcast and I’m looking forward to reading the Viveka’s book.
HOUR 93: The Ask Gary Fee Show / podcast - dated 18/11/16 Self Awareness (Chapter 17 from his Audiobook)
Gary is fully self-aware that his comments and opinions attract a lot of people, however he is aware that those same comments and opinion also repel some people, however he honestly believes that by being himself he helps far more people than the ones he repels.
Takeaway One: Be yourself, however be aware of who you are.
A good technique to learn more about who you are is to privately ask five or ten people, that know you really well, to give you honest feedback about who they think you are, both positive and negative, but do it individually, not in a group setting. Tell them you want honest feedback, no matter how brutal it is.
A lady asked Gary how should she give a presentation, sales pitch, to a company and Gary said this was a perfect example of someone not knowing who they are or having any self-awareness of their best communication skills.
Some people can do a power point presentation really well, whereas others suck at it, so maybe an audio or video presentation would be best. Gary himself prefers talking unscripted. If you give him a script to follow and read, he loses part of who he is, but let him answer questions off the cuff, and he totally dominates, and he knows this. This is true self-awareness.
Takeaway Two: We all need to work harder at becoming more self-aware in all aspects of our life…especially around communication.
HOUR 92: MOUNTAIN MANTRAS Podcast - Wellness and Life Lessons with Kathryn Kemp Guylay. Episode 32 - BEE Happy (and escape the 9 - 5 rut) with Amy Hager.
Amy Hagar is a beekeeper, nutritionalist, author and business coach and the first tip I wanted to share was a simple nutritional tip.
When you go to eat something (eg Fruit versus Chips) ask yourself, “Is this going to help me, or is it going to harm me”. The logic behind this questions is very simple.
She then discussed three tips for busy entrepreneurs:
Tip One: No matter how busy you get try to maintain a health routine in regards to your diet and exercise, becasue it’s so easy to overlook their importance.
Tip Two: Set boundaries in regards to your work and non-work life. It very easy to check emails at 10pm or take your laptop on holidays, becasue you can, but once again it’s not healthy for you. You need to switch off and you can only do this by setting boundaries.
Tip Three: Stay socially connected. When you’re busy it’s very easy to stop attending networking events, and other gatherings with friends and family, because you’re busy, but isolating yourself is not the healthy answer. You need to stay connected with people.
Both Kathryn and Amy are best selling authors in the areas of wellness, nutrition, business and life, so check them out on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com
HOUR 91: Persistence Podcast with Robyn Hartung, interviewing Zoe Stathis-Sandor of Zoe’s Dog Training, Episode 3: - TAKE RISKS
This particular podcast had plenty of twists and turns, which made the interview really exciting. Before I get to my takeaway points I’d like to share something Robyn said at the start of the interview.
A business owner working 80 hours per week for themselves, instead of 40 hour per week for someone else, still feels like they have FREEDOM…and I couldn’t agree more.
Takeaway point one: When you take on the risk of starting your own business, you need to understand that your partner is also taking on the same risk, and this can cause problems in your relationship, especially if this is not what they signed up for, so you need to be aware of this.
Takeaway point two: The word RISK has such a negative vibe surrounding it, whereas it shouldn’t be this way, instead the word risk should give you the feeling of excitement. Risk is a good thing.
I didn’t mention this on the video, but I thought it was worth sharing. Zoe and her husband both have their own businesses and each month they put their heads together and focus in on one of their businesses, whichever one needs the most attention and this concentrated focus, from both of them, pays huge dividends.
Hour 90: BOND APPETITE podcast with Ronsley Vaz - Episode 184: Awaken The Entrepreneur Within with The E-Myth Legend Michael E Gerber.
WOW, what an amazing guy and at 80 years of age he has more energy than the average 20 something.
Here’s my first takeaway: Ronsley asked him what’s his definition of an entrepreneur? He said that an entrepreneur is actually made up of four different people, within the one person, and each plays their part in the entrepreneurial journey.
The Dreamer has the dream
The Thinker has the vision
The Storyteller has the purpose
The Leader has the mission.
My second takeaway point: He discussed the importance of systems and documenting everything you do. Define what it is you do and then test and validate it. Implement and validate again. Once you have everything documented and all your processes are working perfectly, then you can employ someone else… and only then.
He used Chiropractic as an example. Often a Chiropractor will employ another Chiropractor too early in their business development, and since there are no systems in place, the employed Chiropractor will start doing things their own way. Over time you end up with two Chiropractors running their own business, their own way, under the one business banner.
Eventually the employed Chiropractor will leave, take their patients, and work for themselves.
Michael E Gerber’s new book is called BEYOND THE E-MYTH. I think the release date is the 7th of December 2016.
