One of my favorite and most admired authors is Steven Kotler.  Has authored  “Tomorrowland“, “Bold“, “The Rise of Superman” and “Abundance” just to name a few.  He is a prolific writer and author.

I recently had the pleasure to discuss with him his new book entitled “Stealing Fire-How Silicon Valley, the Navy Seals, and Mavericks Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work.” 

In our interview together we explore the revolution that is occurring in society today, and shortcuts that are being used to boost insight and inspiration which results in creating alters states of consciousness, thus improving personal performance. Steven and his co-author Jamie Wheal have spent four years investigating the leading edges of this revolution, from interviews with the Navy Seals, Green Berets and attending Burning Man they have compiled the stories and information in their new book “Stealing Fire”.

Steven states that this revolution is spreading into the mainstream, fueling a trillion dollar underground economy and forcing us to rethink how we can lead richer, more productive, more satisfying lives.  In our interview, we discuss recent advances in psychology, neurobiology, pharmacology, and technology are driving this phenomenon which allows us to move past myths, assumptions, and controversies and embrace peak performances as men and women.

As you will find out when you read “Stealing Fire” the quest to attain these alter states of consciousness have been going on since 415BC. To this day the rituals, techniques, and drugs used to attain these altered states of consciousness are changing and the effects are much more powerful.  I know you are going to love this interview with author Steven Kotler about his new book “Stealing Fire

To learn more about Steven please go click here to be directed to his website,  or you can learn about the book by clicking here.  Enjoy this amazing interview with a fascinating author and explorer of a new frontier.

 

I know that everyone in our busy world today is interested in finding ways to stay focused, and create a better quality of life for themselves and their families.  It seems as if we are all moving and working at a frenetic pace just to keep up with all of our demands in life.  So just what are some of the problems we are faced with?

In my recent interview with author Adam Gazzaley we speak about his new book entitled ” The Distracted Mind-Ancient Brains in a High Tech World“.  Adam has studied the brains of thousands of people in his neuroscience lab at UCSF.  His finding are that our brains are limited in their ability to pay attention. We don’t really multitask but rather switch rapidly between tasks. He says that distractions and interruptions, often technology related- referred to by Adam as “interference’ collide with our goal-setting abilities.

The fact is that we are all being distracted way too much, and we are moving between projects, tasks and goals and leaving much uncompleted which is not fulfilling.  It is having an impact on our mental psyche.

So what should we do? Adam recommends that we change our brains to fight distraction. He gives advice and application to such techniques as meditation, exercise and setting boundaries with the technology that we are attached too.  He does not suggest giving up our devices, but that we use them in a more balanced way.

If you want to learn more about Adam Gazzaley and his new book “The Distracted Mind” you can click here to be directed to his website at UCSF which will give you information about the research is is conducting at his neuroscience lab.  You can also watch a trailer video featuring Adam on a PBS documentary by clicking here.

I hope you enjoy this very informative interview with author Adam Gazzaley, about our “Distracted Minds”.

 

This is my second interview with author Andrew Holecek.  In our interview about his new book entitled “Dream Yoga-Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep“, Andrew and I speak about now only how to utilize lucid dream “dream yoga” to gain insights about your true self and your personal desires.

Andres states that there are three essential ingredients for lucid dreaming (1) strong motivation or intention, (2) good dream recall, and (3) practicing the induction techniques.

So just what are the induction techniques, (1) is something called the “state check” this is a questions that you pose throughout your waking day asking yourself “Is this a dream?”  “Am I dreaming?”, this is designed to bring awareness to your state of consciousness.  (2) is something called “dreamsigns”.  This is when we become sensitized to the out-of-the-ordinary dreamlike events that occur during the day and to use these events that occur as triggers to conduct a “stage check”.  (3) Something called “prospective memory”.  This is where you are remembering to do something in the future.  It’s almost an oxymoron, because memory is associated with the past and prospective is associated with the future.  An example of this is telling yourself that every time you get a text message you’ll remember to do a state check–another way to remind yourself to check in about your state of consciousness and awareness of what is happening around you.

Andrew’s new book “Dream Yoga” is filled with great instruction on how to develop a state of lucid dreaming.  If you are interested in learning more about lucid dreaming and how to practices techniques that will trigger your nightly deep dream states with great recall then I would recommend you obtaining a copy of “Dream Yoga“.  I also think that listening to our interview will provide you with a great overview of “Dream Yoga” and Andrew is truly one of the master instructors on this topic.

To learn more about “Dream Yoga“please visit Andrew’s website by clicking here, or  you can watch a great video that Andrew recorded about “Dream Yoga” by clicking this link.  

I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with author Andrew Holecek.

In all my years of conducting interviews with authors, I have probably never come across one like Dr. Larry Brilliant.  He is literally brilliant, authentic and someone who played a major role in eradicating a disease that was killing thousands of people.

In his new book “Sometime Brilliant-The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the Worst Disease in History” he tell his story with flair and humor.

In my interview with Larry we get to explore his history as a visionary physician and spiritual seeker.  Larry ended up in India under the guidance of guru named Neem Karoli Baba.  Neem Karoli Baba informed Larry that he would be involved in the work to help eradicate smallpox.  At the time over 43,000 people were affected by this horrible disease, and through Larry’s diligence, persistence and fortitude to bring the doctors and World Health Organization together they accomplished the goal and vision that his guru has envisioned.

Through “Sometimes Brilliant” you are on a journey with Larry and the cast of characters, which include Steve Jobs, Ram Dass, Dalai Lama and many others.  You learn about a man and a life well lived, and a contribution to the world that saved and has saved thousands of lives from the smallpox disease.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with a wonderful humanitarian and physician.  If you want to learn more about Dr. Larry Brilliant please click here to be directed to his website, or click here to be taken to his Facebook page.

 

My good friend Dr. Daniel Friedland MD has written a wonderful book entitled “Leading Well from Within” this book is for anyone who is seeking to leverage the stress in their lives and become a better leader in the process.

I know that many of you reading the blog entry are familiar with “conscious leadership” Daniel provides a platform through his book “Leading Well from Within” that gives the reader an entirely new perspective of what it is like to be a conscious leader.  There is a clear correlation between leadership effectiveness and business performance.  Daniel states that “to lead well from within you need to ensure you have the best driver in the driver’s seat to meet life’s demands”.   To become the best driver you need to understand that how your brain reacts to certain stimuli and conditions, and how you are able to learn to control your response is the secret of being a conscious leader.

The difference between being reactive versus being creative is knowing how to reduce and control your stress and removing your self-doubt, while increasing your inspiration.  All of this activity occurs in various areas of your brain, and you can learn how to modulate this through being mindful.  “Leading Well from Within” is the guidebook for any leader wanting to improve their responses to circumstances and events that if handled properly could become the turning point to improving their outlook about the situation, and the outlook of all those that depend upon a well centered and focused leader.

If you want to learn more about Dr. Daniel Friedland and his new book “Leading Well From Within” please click here to be directed to his website.  You can also connect with Daniel on his Facebook page by clicking here.

 

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“.