This podcast is the second in my series with author Ari Weinzweig the author of “Building A Great Business”.

In my previous interview with Ari we spoke about ” Managing Ourselves” where we discuss everything from visioning to the 12 Tips of More Effective Self-Management.

In this interview Ari weI focus on the 12 Natural Laws of Building A Great Business. One thing that Ari knows for certain is that a strong inspiring and strategically vision leads the way to greatness—especially if you write it down. Ari teaches a great technique for writing your vision. He calls it the “hot pen’ technique. Pick up your pen and just keep writing 15, 20, 30 minutes whatever it takes to articulate your vision in word pictures that you can see and believe your vision manifesting.

He also has a tip that you need to “give your customers a really compelling reason to buy from you”. Now while this seems obvious— when was the last time you had a bad meal at a restaurant and failed to tell anyone, but you said to your spouse we will never recommend or go back to that establishment. It happens all the time, and because the restaurant not only served a subpar meal, but your service was most likely lacking you had no reason to do business with them again. The combination is a disaster in the food service business.

I encourage you to listen to and learn from one of the wisest men in the food service business speak with me about 12 Natural Laws that when applied to both your personal and business life they can transform an organization and the people that work within the organizations.

If you want to learn more about Ari and his trilogy of books please click here, or if you want to learn about his training company Zing Train please click here to get information about the various training programs.

Enjoy this great interview with a wonderfully engaging author, businessman and civic leader Ari Weinzweig.

 

 

Michael HollaufI have recently been doing podcasts with organization and authors that have productivity tools that I believe are excellent personal growth and mastery applications.  I was introduced to Michael Hollauf the founder of MindMeister through Gerald Aquila the founder of FireTask, and we speak in this podcast  about an amazing cloud based application for mind mapping that he developed with his team called MindMeister.  This application is  so popular that within less than 6 years his user base has grown to over 1.6 million users.

If you are not familiar with mind mapping, it was made popular by British psychologist Tony Buzan.  What is important to remember about mind mapping is that it allows our non-linear brains that normally  think randomly to be able to capture the wonderful ideas, thoughts and inspirations on paper or the computer in a visual map.

Mind Mapping and the use of computer technology over the last 10 years had really excelled, and the cloud based application that Michael and his team has developed is a wonderful example of a collaborative cloud based application that makes the job of capturing ideas and thoughts with a team of people a snap.

A mind map starts usually with one central word or idea, then branches out from this initial concept. The branches then turn into sub-branches and you continue to develop the mind map as your thoughts flow and are recorded onto the mind map. It is like a cognitive map of sorts.  I have links to some of the samples that MindMeister clients have shared just to give you an idea of what is possible using the MindMeister cloud based application. Just click here for a few examples.

The practical tools that would not be available using paper vs a cloud based system are that you can link notes, hypertext links to website, video, graphics, pictures almost anything that will help you in developing your brainstorming session and making it more comprehensive in nature.   The best part about MindMeister is the ability to share your ideas with others on a team and publish your map for their feedback.

If you are in business or a student, then utilizing a cloud based mind mapping software is a wonderfully practical tool.  I highly recommend the MindMeister cloud based system.  If you want more information or would like to watch a few training videos about how to use the system please click here.  You can also download a 30 day free trial by clicking here.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with the founder of MindMeister Michael Hollauf.

Dean DrawbaughI recently had the privileged of interviewing author Dean Drawbaugh.  Dean has a great new easy to read book entitled “The Art of Making Things Happen In Your Life“.   The essence of this book is to provide the reader with self-assessment and reflections on ways to manifest their desired outcomes and goals.   At the end of each chapter Dean provides thought provoking questions and short assessment as a tool to assist the reader in determining where they are now,  and what they can do to change the current situation for a more positive outcome .

I love the story that Dean tells in the book and in our interview about the two wolves that live inside of us.   One evening a warrior in a remote village began to prepare his son to face life as an adult with the inevitable afflictions and adversities he would face.  The warrior told his son that all challenges ultimately are fought first between the two wolves inside him.  One is the wolf of fear which takes control of emotions and masquerades as lies, regret, feelings of inferiority, self-pity, envy and anger.  The other wolf is faith, consisting of trust, hope, joy, peace, humility, power and love.  The son thought about the scenario for a few minutes–of the two wolves battling against each other in his mind.  He asked, “Which one wins, Dad?” The wise father simply said, “The one you feed.”
How true this story is, and what a great way to illustrate a point.  We are what we think about, and if we can change our thinking we can change what we become.  Dean’s book “The Art of Making Things Happen In Your Life” is truly about observing what is happening now, and with some shifts in our thinking and our actions creating a better life.

I highly recommend this great little book, packed with practical advice on how to make things happen in your life.  If you would like to learn more about Dean Drawbaugh you can click here to be directed to his website.

I hope you enjoy this interview with author Dean Drawbaugh.