Podcast 619: Stealing Fire with Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal

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.

 

Podcast 618: The Distracted Mind-Ancient Brains In A High Tech World with Adam Gazzaley

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”.

 

Podcast 616: Dream Yoga with Andrew Holecek

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.

Podcast 611: The Mind Diet with Maggie Moon

We are all aware of the aging baby boomer population–thousands are turning 65 every day, and the numbers of the aging is not going to diminish.  The sad statistic is that a hugh portion of this population has the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.  People’s cognitive abilities are diminishing at alarming rates, and it has been proven that this can be reversed by our diet.

In my interview with nutritionist Maggie Moon and the author of a new book entitled ” The Mind Diet” we discuss the food to eat and the foods to avoid to help prevent from early onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. You will not be surprised to learn that a good portion of the diet is green leafy vegetables and fruits and nuts.   That is not to say you can not eat fish, chicken and meat but in much smaller portions that the American diet consumes this protein today.

The Mind Diet has been proven to reduce hypertension and heart disease as well.   During our interview Maggie discussed the correct food groups and the foods to avoid.  We also get into the menus and recipes that she recommends.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with an expert in the Mind Diet.

To get more information and connect with Maggie please click here to visit her website, or click here to be linked to her Twitter, or here to be directed to her Facebook page.

As they say you are what you eat, and you really want to pay attention to what Maggie has to say about the Mind Diet.

 

Podcast 605: The Innovator’s Mindset with George Couros

I happen to have been in the Amazon Bookstore in La Jolla, CA.  Yes, literally they have a bookstore.  I intuitively got a hunch about this book that was on an endcap display.  The author is George Couros and the title of the book is “The Innovator’s Mindset-Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity”   I knew when I saw the book that I needed to interview the author, so I reached out to George and he gracefully accepted my invitation.

George is an educator with a passion for helping teachers transform their classrooms into creativity and innovation think tanks.  George believes that we need to prepare our kids for jobs that don’t yet exist, and with that mission he became the Division Principal of Innovative Thinking and Learning.

George understand that we need to shift the young minds from that of a fixed mindset to that of a growth mindset, then to that of the innovator’s mindset.  The innovator’s mindset take the growth mindset a step further by focusing on using one’s ability to learn to play the piano but to create music.  The innovator’s mindset can be defined as the belief that the abilities, intelligence, and the talents are developed so that they lead to the creation of new and better ideas.

This book has not only been written for educators, but for anyone who is attempting to create a culture of innovation and creativity.  I highly recommend reading George’s book “The Innovator’s Mindset“.  If you want to learn more about George and his passions please visit his website by clicking here.  I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with George Couros the author of “The Innovator’s Mindset“.

 

Podcast 601: Leading Well From Within with Dr. Daniel Friedland MD

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.

 

Podcast 596: Leave the Grind Behind with Justin Gesso

In my recent interview with Justin Gesso we discuss his new book entitled “Leave the Grind Behind“.  How many of you wish you could get out of the daily grind, the 8-5 routine?

That is exactly where Justin was a few year ago, and he found the secrets to find a way out of the grind, and making a better life for himself and his family.

In our interview together we discuss the grinder mindset and what is required to achieve your new success.  So what’s the positive definition of “grind?” “Grinder,” of course. Don’t confuse “the grind” I’m telling you to ditch with “the Grinder” I want you to become. Being a Grinder means you grind hard for your personal purpose and goals, not for someone else’s.

To leave the grind behind, make no mistake, you need to grind. You need to grind hard. You’re just doing it for yourself, and let me tell you—you’ll love it. As a Grinder, you spend your one, short life building your legacy and your unique imprint on this world.”

If you are interested in “Leaving the Grind Behind” then you will want to read Justin new book.  You will also want to take advantage of some of the very informative and articles, blogs and articles at his website.  He also has what he refers to at the “grinder quiz” which will inform you about if you are a “cog” or a “grinder”

I encourage you to visit Justin’s book website by clicking here, or visit him on Facebook by clicking here.

 

Podcast 595: The Fearless Mindset-The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting Fit In Less Time, Double Your Income & Become Unstoppable with Peter Scott IV

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“.

 

Podcast 573: Start Here: Master the Lifelong Habit of Wellbeing with Nate Klemp

Once in awhile you run across a book that can change the course of your life, and “Start Here” certainly has the ability to do just that.

I recently had the honor of interviewing Nate Klemp, PhD the co-author of a new book entitled “Start Here” and we had a lively discussion about the book and the practices that are incorporated into the book and hopefully become part of the readers daily routine.

We start our interview off by discussing the “happiness set point”, yes we all have one and we have the opportunity to re-set our happiness set point as Nate explains in our interview.  The key to resetting our set point is understanding the three set point forces.  The first one is “judgement” and is the mind’s tendency to divide the inner and outer world into categories–good/bad, right/wrong, like/dislike.  The second one is “attachement“. Is it the mind’s tendency to approach or cling to pleasurable thoughts, beliefs, or sensations.  And the third is “resistance“.  This is the mind’s tendency to fight or flee from painful sensations, experiences, or situations.   These three set point forces can certainly be monitored, managed and can have an amazing effect on your level of happiness.

The foundation of well being revolves around three stages, train, be and do.  These three stages make up the foundation of the Life-XT program that is outlined in “Start Here”.  The training stage consists of meditation, movement and inquiry. The “Be” stage consists of presence, gratitude and compassion; and the “Do” stage consists of engagement, relationship, and contribution.  While these words don’t do justice to explaining the entire Life-XT program it does provide you with the elements included in the program.  If you want to learn more please click here to be directed to the website for Life-XT.  You can also click here to be directed to the Facebook page for the book.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with author Nate Klemp, PhD about his new book “Start Here-A Groundbreaking Science-Based Program for Emotional Fitness.”

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