Podcast 19: The Art of Original Thinking with Jan Phillips

Jan PhillipsI first met Jan Phillips about eighteen months ago at a workshop that she was facilitating. The workshop was entitled “The Original Think” Seminar titled after her new book “The Art of Original Thinking: The Making of a Thought Leader“. I immediately fell in love with Jan and her philosophies about life. She is definitely an out of the box thinker. I love people who are continual learners and enjoy exploring new ways of seeing the world.

In her new book “The Art of Original Thinking: The Making of a Thought Leader“, Jan is a masterful storyteller as well as a visionary thinker testing how we think, and bringing greater awareness by asking us to explore deep personal questions about our assumptions. Jan does not waste anytime in her first chapter as she focuses on freeing ourselves from illusion. She states that illusions are false beliefs. They are notions and ideas that we have inherited from our culture, our families, and almost every institution which we’ve been associated. She states that to be thought leaders we need to be free and original thinkers, capable of focusing on how we are thinking as well as what we are thinking.

The premise of this book is to advance the evolution of thought, of human sensibility, of our own personal potential to be more than anyone ever said we could be. Its intention is to inspire thought leaders who are willing to be visible, vocal agents of evolutionary thinking for global good. The focus is the triple bottom line: People, Planet and Profits. A quote from the book from Paul Hawken, “Business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the changes necessary to reverse global environmental and social degradation”, is so accurate. I hope that this book and podcast will inspire you to take action, to question your thoughts and assumptions and create a future for yourself and others that is filled with hope, inspiration and positive change.

My podcast is a powerful interview with a fascinating woman who is on a mission to assist others in changing their thinking and create greater awareness. To become thought leaders requires that we liberate ourselves from the old modes of thinking so that we can release our imaginations and live more authentically. Jan’s book explores how you can release the past, embrace the present and create a better future. I highly recommend this wonderful book. I know that it will change your life, and the lives of everyone with who you working with and are in relationships with. If you would like to learn more about Jan and her workshops, CD’s, retreats and speaking engagements just click here.

 

Podcast 18: The Highest Goal with Dr. Michael Ray

Michael Ray Ph.DA good friend of mine, Craig Neal who is the founder of Heartland Circle a wonderful group that helps in the development of thought leaders, recommended that I give a few of his close friends a call to inform them about our new software Digital Seed. In the process, and by no accident, I started a dialogue with Dr. Michael Ray a fascinating professor at Stanford University. As I endeavored to find out more about Michael I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was the author of a book called “The Highest Goal: The Secret That Sustains You in Every Moment” of which I had just made a purchase of at Amazon. I had not read the book yet, but was intrigued by its title and content. As our dialogue ensued I not only got to learn more about the creativity course Michael has been teaching at Stanford, but I got to understand more about the authenticity of the person behind the course.

I found Michael to be an interesting man with deep soul and warm heart. I instantly found myself very comfortable as I spoke with him on the phone, and was able to take our dialogue deeper, delving into the spiritual aspects of his creativity course. I know you’ll find this podcast quite interesting as I interview Michael, a man with tremendous depth and insights into how we develop and evolve our creativity. We discuss the Heros’ Journey, defining your intentions and purpose, and becoming more compassionate in our relationships.

If you are wondering what this all has to do with creativity and why this kind of content would be taught in a business course at Stanford University, then just set back and relax and enjoy the journey and exploration into how to evolve your creativity from within. You will find that this podcast has two half hour segments. I was so interested in Michael’s message in our first interview that I asked him to do another podcast. It is not necessary to listen to these podcasts in any particular order, for you will receive tremendous benefits no matter where you start.

I would like to encourage you to visit Dr. Michael Ray’s web site for more information on his books, courses and lectures.

Podcast 16: Reclaiming your Goddess Sexuality with Dr. Linda Savage

Linda Savage Ph.DOne of my friends, Natalie Maisel, who is a wonderful yoga teacher I also interviewed, suggested that I interview Dr. Linda Savage. This normally would not have been a subject area that I would have had much interest or focus on, but after doing my podcast with Dr. Savage, I am very pleased that I listened to my friend. Dr. Savage is a fascinating author and licensed psychologist, marriage and family counselor and sex therapist with a totally unique approach to helping couples rekindle their sexual desires.

Dr. Savage is an expert in areas of the pleasure paradigm and how our society has focused more on the goal of creating pleasure between the sexes and less on creating heart centered sex where the experience is more spiritual. Dr. Savage speaks about energy psychology and the various chakra centers within our body and how shifting the focus on these chakra centers changes the ultimate sexual experience. Her book “Reclaiming Goddess Sexuality: The Power of the Feminine Way, ” presents a new view of female sexuality blending ancient wisdom with current clinical knowledge. It offers powerful new ways of understanding a woman’s sexuality, historically, biologically and spiritually. For any woman seeking to expand her sexual life and for any man wanting to bring greater pleasure to the woman he loves, this book offers invaluable insights.

I hope that after listening to this podcast that my listeners will come to appreciate their sexuality more fully and be willing to reframe how they look at sex and the role that it plays in their life, not just for the pleasure attained in the act of sex, but potentially how they might be more pleased by making the act more heart centered.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Savage and her workshops, books, lectures, retreats and CD’s please click here.

Podcast 15: The Myth of Male Power with Warren Farrell Ph.D

Warren Farrell Ph.DIn my interview with Dr. Warren Farrell, we explore the “The Myth of Male Power“. This podcast with Dr. Farrell was quite fascinating and provided me insight into an area that I had little knowledge or understanding of. His perspective really opened my eyes about the socialization of both the sexes. Dr. Farrell dialogs with me about the expectations of males in society and the roles we play in order to be successful with the opposite sex. He also provides a fascinating perspective on why he believes that neither sex has power over the other and that our power is only in our ability to control our own life.

Dr. Farrell tells a very interesting story about a woman who was attending one of his lectures and got up to tell her story about her brother who was the focus of her fathers attention and admiration. Her father who was a prominent physician so wanted her brother to become a physician just like him. The father paid more attention to her brother who had originally stated that he wanted to become a physician. Then one day he announced that he no longer had a desire to become a physician and the father was devastated. Jokingly, and to win her fathers approval and admiration she told her father that she would become a physician, but deep down inside she was really only doing it so that she could win her father’s approval. Interestingly enough, she followed through with her degree and become a physician. She now states that she is in her 40’s and is not happy with this chosen profession, and would like to change vocations.

Dr. Farrell was attempting to emphasize through this story that statistically men are usually the ones who take on the jobs out of a sense of obligation or family pressures. Without sounding sexist the statistics prove this fact and this story illustrates “The Myth of Male Power” and provides interesting insights into how our viewpoint and perspective about male power in society is probably distorted.

I hope that you will enjoy this podcast with Dr. Farrell and if you are interested in learning more about his research, workshops, lectures and CD’s, please click here for more information.

Podcast 14: Mind Fitness Frontier with Joel and Michelle Levey

Joel and Michelle LeveyIf you have not already figured it out, I usually have a meaningful connection with the people I interview for the blog podcasts from previous encounters I have had through my various journeys in life. There’s no exception to this rule with this latest podcast, for these guests are wonderful people and true mentors of mine.

I first encountered Dr’s Joel and Michelle Levey through a connection I made as a result of research I was conducting in the area of mindfulness and meditation in the workplace. I happen to stumble upon their web site at Wisdom at Work. I was totally fascinated by the work they were carrying out in the workplace and the results they had achieved with various organizations, groups and thousands of employees. I remember my first encounter with Joel was a phone call to their office to inquire about their book and the research they had conducted. My call was received with such a kind reception and open heart, that immediately I knew that not only did Joel and Michelle practice what they preached, but that they were the real deal.

I remember discussing a consulting case I was involved in with Qualcomm, and that the Levey’s work in the area of mindfulness and meditation just might be a perfect match. Qualcomm was experiencing internal challenges with their employees as a result of performance pressures and expectations from management. I worked with my contact at Qualcomm and he agreed that we should have the Levey’s come to San Diego and put on a presentation. The title of the workshop was “Resilience: a Tool Kit for Living and Working with Balance in Turbulent Times”, and it was a roaring success. The coordinator at Qualcomm called me almost everyday stating that so many people had signed up and that this workshop had topped any of his previous workshops. Within two days he had over 144 people registered and he was uncertain how he was going to facilitate the program because the room scheduled for the venue was not going to be able to house that many attendees. We ultimately had to re-schedule into two separate days along with a closed circuit live TV that was broadcast to all Qualcomm facilities.

The Levey’s book “Living in Balance: A Dynamic Approach for Creating Harmony & Wholeness in a Chaotic World” is the cornerstone for much of their work in the fields of meditation and mindfulness. They also have released a new book entitled” Luminous Mind: Meditation And Mind Fitness, which I can highly recommend as well.

I have learned a tremendous amount about mediation and mindfulness from Joel and Michelle and I am forever grateful for all of the wonderful times that I have spent with them in mediation retreats on the Orcas Islands in Washington’s Puget Sound. Each summer for the last six years my family and I have been attending the Levey’s mediation retreats at Camp Indralaya in the Orcas Islands and the experience has truly been blissful. I would strongly encourage the readers of my blog and listeners to my podcast to attend. If you are interested in going deeper into mediation or learning more about mindfulness, contact Joel and Michelle and sign up for one of their lovely retreats.

I have been so amazed at my own personal progress and transformation as a result of my years of mediation practice and my periodic work during the meditation retreats with Joel and Michelle, that we decided to create a course for the Digital Seed learning platform called “Mind Fitness.” If you would like to learn more about this Internet based learning module please visit the Digital Seed web site for a preview of the upcoming Mind Fitness Module. You will find the preview of the Digital Seed software and Mind Fitness module by pressing here.
I hope you enjoy this podcast with Dr’s Joel and Michelle Levey. It was a pleasure having the opportunity to interview them, for I learn something new each time we speak.