Fear is something that is immobilizing, it keeps us from spreading our wings and doing things that we might not otherwise do.  If you are an entrepreneur then you have to be a bit of a risk taker, and willing to be afraid.  You are venturing into unchartered waters and have to learn along the way.

I had the pleasure of doing this interview with Peter I Scott IV the author of a book entitled ” The Fearless Mindset-The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting Fit in Less Time, Double Your Income & Become Unstoppable“.   Sound great doesn’t it?  I am pleased to report that Peter is a thriving entrepreneur and he has had to face many major fears in his life.   He spoke with me about the irrational fears and the rational fears, and how many of our fears are irrational once you take a deeper look at how the fear manifest in our lives.  Take for instance the fear of speaking in front of a crowd of people.  It is reported that this is the #1 fear for many people.  Most people would rather do anything other than speak in from of a group of people.  Usually that fear comes from our insecurity and that we might look bad in the eyes of others, we won’t be enough.

So how would you replace that fear and displace it from your mind—know you are enough, that you are confident and secure in who and what you are.  Exude confidence and understand that most of the audience does not know as much about what you are going to speak about as you do.  Reaffirm this through positive self-talk.

Peter said that one of the most profound pieces of wisdom he ever learned was from psychologist Fritz Pearl.  Fritz Pearl said “Fear is excitement with breath”  The lesson here is to breath, your breath is so important to calming you down and grounding your body.  Peter recommends yoga, meditation or any practice that will help to center you and focus on your breath to overcome your fears.

If you want to learn more about Peter I Scott IV and is upcoming 3-day course please click here to be directed to the website.

If you want to sign up for Peter’s newsletter just click here.  I hope you enjoy this great interview with Peter I Scott IV the author of “The Fearless Mindset“.

 

I recently had the pleasure of conducting another interview with Richard Barrett about his new book entitled “The Metrics of Human Consciousness“.   In our interview we discuss the seven levels model of human consciousness that Richard developed to assist his clients in better understanding their employees as well as helping to move the organizational consciousness in a positive direction.

Richards seven levels are 1 ) Surviving-Satisfying your physiological needs 2) Conforming-Satisfying your needs for love and belonging. 3) Differentiating-Satisfying your need for respect and recognition. 4) Individuating-Satisfying your need for freedom and autonomy.  5) Self-actualizing-Satisfying your need to find meaning and purpose in life 6) Integrating-Satisfying your need to make a difference in the world.7) Serving-Fulfilling your destiny by caring for the well-being of humanity and or the planet.

Richard states that our level of consciousness changes as our values change.  He provides a really cool website where you can take a 5 minute assessment to measure your level of consciousness.  After you complete the assessment his organization sends you a report so you can see where your values lie on the human metrics of consciousness.

I hope you enjoy another great interview with Richard Barrett.  If you want to access the free-assessment please click here to be directed to the assessment page.  If you want to learn more about Richard Barrett and Values Centre please click here to be directed to his website.

 

I recently sat down to conduct an interview with author Mike Paton about his book entitled “Get A Grip” which is the companion to the bestselling book “Traction”  We discuss both books in this interview, because the content  of “Get A Grip compliments the content in “Traction”.

If you are like most entrepreneurs your daily life is filled with new challenges and opportunities.  It is not an easy job to juggle everything and keep your sanity.  I personally know because I am an entrepreneur and I have worked with hundreds of visionaries with similar challenges .  What I appreciate about “Get A Grip” is that the book provides the reader with tools and practices which if followed will make their life simpler and more efficient.

An important point that Mike Paton makes during our interview , is that many visionaries/entrepreneurs don’t have an integrator in their business.  So just what is an integrator?  This is someone who compliments the visionaries role by who’s role is to guide, direct the organization while seizing the opportunities.

The integrators role is to analyze the P&L, remove obstacles, work on legal and compliance issues and overall handle the daily operations of the business.  A visionary can not operate their business without an integrator.   Now while this may sound obvious to many of you reading this, believe me many businesses have not identified who the integrator is, or they don’t have one and this can lead to chaos.  The visionary is not the right person to be playing this kind of role, nor do they usually have the business acumen for the role of a integrator.

Mike spoke about the Six Key Components  and  the philosophy of EOS Worldwide the company behind both books.  Mike stated that “First is that there is a “Vision” shared by all in the organization, Second is that of “People” putting the right people in the right seats. Third, track the “Issues” keep an issues list. Forth, is Traction to keep momentum you need to have meetings that Mike refers to as “Rocks”, Fifth is Process that is the documentation followed by all.   Sixth and lastly is Data, keep a scorecard and measure the progress of the organization in the critical areas.”

If you are really interested in simplifying your business and being provided with great tools and techniques I highly recommend reading “Get A Grip” and “Traction” both great books on business growth and organization.

To learn more about the processes and tools discuss in “Get a Grip” please click here to be directed to the EOS Worldwide website.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with Mike Paton, author and EOS Worldwide Integrator.

 

This book is for anyone, it is a book for those who are willing to take charge of their destinies, beat the odds and create opportunity to pursue dreams on their own terms.

I recently sat down to conduct this podcast interview with Jonas Koffler one of three authors that makes up the team who wrote “Hustle-The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum.”  Hustle addresses the political, social and economic issues that plague the American citizen attempting to have more meaning and money in their lives.

Jonas states “The “American Dream” is not longer about advancement or the acquisition of material possessions–secure job, car, home, family or even social mobility–alone. It is about greater freedom and autonomy to choose one’s own path forward.  The American Dream is more of a DIY creative project than is has ever been, and hustle is the way to achieving it, surfacing one’s talents, capturing luck and opportunity, and leveraging skills and technology into a diversified portfolio of upward optionality.”

The authors definition of “hustle’ has been redefined to mean “Decisive movement toward a goal, however indirect, by which the motion itself manufactures luck, surfaces hidden opportunities, and charges our live with more money, meaning and momentum. “

If you want to change the trajectory of you life I highly recommend reading “Hustle” and listening to this interview.  You can also join the “Hustle’ generation by joining the authors on their quest.

Just click this link to take you to their book landing page.  I hope you enjoy my interview with Jonas Koffler one of the authors of “Hustle“.

 

Terri Sjodin is not only a great author, but is scrappy. I recently interviewed her for her new book entitled “Scrappy-A Little Book About Choosing to Play Big“. I am sure that most of you know what scrappy means, but just in case: scrappy is someone who is full of fighting spirit-synonymous with having moxie, being feisty, enthusiastic. So how many of you choose to play big when is comes to trying to meet someone new you really want to meet? Someone that might make a difference if you met them both personally and professionally? Terri’s book is loaded with amazingly courageous people with great stories about how they went the extra mile to meet that someone special, or did something out of the ordinary to capture the attention of their customers or investors.

Terri has three pillars of scrappiness: 1) Attitude 2) Strategy 3) Execution. I know it sounds simple, and it really is–it just takes lots of courage to act on the things in life that can make a significant difference. What is holding you back? Fear and Uncertainty? If so I encourage you to listen to my interview with Terri Sjodin and get yourself a copy of “Scrappy” you will be glad that you did, you just might break a cycle of belief that is holding you back. If you want to learn more about Terri and the book Scrappy just click here. Thanks for listening.

Bill Jensen is a returning guest to Inside Personal Growth.  This time he joins me to discuss a book he published sometime ago called The Simplicity Survival Handbook.  Simplicity is something that we all need a bit more of in our lives. We have become more inundated with complexity in our world as a result of the speed of transmission of information, and the devices that keep us tethered every minute.   We are spending more time on email, distracted by social media not to mention that the devices are “always on” which leads to us being so distracted that we are not paying attention to our most important relationship–our family.

Simplicity is the power to do less (of what does not matter), simplicity is the power to do more (of what does matter), states Jensen. Bill guides the reader on how to reduce email clutter, write shorter emails, go to fewer meetings, how to quickly communicate with anyone more effectively, how to leave shorter voicemails and much more.

If you are like most technology workers your day is filled with emails, voicemails, texts, meetings and attempting to put out fires and solve problems.  Now this is what you are probably paid to do, but what if you could shift some of those activities to more productive and creative endeavors?  Imagine the value you would bring to your organization, and how much better you would feel everyday.

I encourage you to listen to and implement some of the thirty-two techniques that Bill Jensen writes about in his book “The Simplicity Survival Handbook“.  You can learn more about Bill Jensen by clicking here to be directed to his website.  You can also watch a presentation on the Future of Work Bill did in 2015 by clicking here.

 

I really love business books that provide value to the reader, and this book “Rocket Fuel” is an easy to read book that is chalk full of value.

In my interview with author Mark C. Winter we explore one of the most important realizations by successful entrepreneurs and that if you want to develop a business it takes someone in the passenger seat, and that person is called an Integrator.  An “Integrator” compliments a “Visionary” and the right combination of these two people is imperative for the success of any business.

What you will learn by reading “Rocket Fuel” is that “Visionaries” have certain characteristics as do “Integrators”. When each person knows and plays their role in the organization you obtain “Rocket Fuel” as the book suggests.

Mark also discusses with me something he refers to as the “Accountability Chart”.  This is not just a normal organizational chart, the “Accountability Chart” helps you define the functions of the organization but to compliment that is defines the five (5) major roles of each of the people in the organization.  When you accomplish this task, it make everything much clearer and allows for leadership team to function with clear lines of communication.

What I appreciate most about “Rocket Fuel” and Mark C. Winters is the fact that all the techniques and tools outlined in the the book are tried and true tools.  Mark’s co-author Gino Wickman is the founder of EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System) out of Detroit Michigan.  EOS Worldwide provides the reader with amazing free resources as well as an opportunity to hire a business coach called an Implementer.

If you want to learn more about Rocket Fuel please click here to be directed to the book website, if you want to learn more about EOS Worldwide please click here to be directed to their website.  

I particularly enjoyed this animated YouTube Video titled “Why Entrepreneurial Companies Need a Visionary and an Integrator.”  I hope you enjoy my interview with Mark C. Winters.

 

If you are interested in your personal growth, you have to be interested in what makes you tick regarding setting goals.  Have you ever wondered why you achieve some goals, and others just seem like they are miles away and you may never get there?

There are obviously lots of physiological reasons for this , and in a recent interview with Edwin Locke Phd about his book “New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance” he unlocks many of the reasons from our personal motivations, to our values and the role of the subconscious mind. Edwin Locke PhD is the de facto resource when it comes to research on goal setting.  My interview with him was one of the most enlightening interviews of the over 575 interviews I have completed.

During our interview we covered topics regarding the commitment to our goals, the role that feedback plays in achievement of our goals and the simple truths about self-regulation in goal setting.  If you are at all interested in improving your game when it comes to setting and achieving goals then you will want to listen to my interview with Edwin Locke Phd.

You can learn more about Dr. Locke and his writings by clicking here to be directed to his website.  Please note the book is really a textbook and might be a bit heavy for casual reading, but if you are really into figuring out the pitfalls and “why” of goal setting them purchase the book.

 

I don’t think that there is an entrepreneur on the face of the planet that doesn’t understand the challenges of starting-up a new company. Most startups are faced with a myriad of issues, not to mention one of the biggest issues of finding capital to drive the new venture forward.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Hap Klopp the founder of North Face, about his new book entitled “Almost-12 Electric Months Chasing A Silicon Valley Dream“. Our interview is a must listen too for those who are in business, and especially if you might be seeking funding for your new venture. His book tells the story about the issues that a company by the name of “Ardica” in the Silicon Valley had in finding funds, and the dynamics of the personalities working in the business. Hap, was the marketing director and was on the board of directors of Ardica. It is a wonderfully told story about a group of very bright engineers attempting to revolutionize the energy business, and in the process finding obstacles at almost every intersection partially due to the disfunction of the organization and the other as a result of a cash burn rate that was exceeding income.

I hope you will take the time to listen to this great interview with Hap Klopp about his new book “Almost-12 Electric Months Chasing A Silicon Valley Dream.” If you want more information about Hap please click here to be linked to a great article from the Stanford Business School.  You can also learn more about Ardica by clicking here to visit their website.