Podcast 234: Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation with Anne Steiner

Anne SteinerI recently had the very good fortune of being introduced through a friend to Anne Steiner.  Anne is not an author, but is the director of the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation in Seattle, WA.

What is so interesting about my introduction to Anne, is that in the process of researching the Foundation for this podcast Anne offer to have me to take a very extensive aptitude test which revealed strong aptitudes in several areas of my life that corresponded with the writing and work that I do for my podcast and blog at Inside Personal Growth.

In my interview with Anne we discuss the importance of aptitude testing, and how it can be valuable in providing guidance with relation to career choices or changes.  Those that are fortunate enough to engage in this type of testing, I believe have a distinct advantage over others that do not take aptitude testing.

Just think back to the days when you were in High School or early in college, you know the time when you frequently wondered what you would do with the education you were getting.  I know that many of us also remember the long nights of studying, and wondering if we would ever use the stuff we were studying again.

If you are like most, an aptitude test would have been a wonderful gift of guidance.  It would have given us a glimpse into our own natural strength and abilities, and we could have spent more time developing these abilities vs. studying for that boring calculus class…sorry if I offended any of the engineering or math majors.

The Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation offers the most comprehensive aptitudes and knowledge testing of any organization in the industry, and they have been doing it the longest so their research on the finding is very accurate.

If you are in the middle of a career change, or a student that would like to know more about your natural aptitudes then I would highly recommend that you take these series of tests.  The results and guidance the you receive from the counselors as Johnson O’Connor is wonderful.  I wish that I would have taken the aptitude tests so much earlier in my career, for I know it would have made an impact on the choice of my vocation.

If you would like more information on the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, then click here to be directed to their website.

I hope you enjoy this interview with Anne Steiner the executive director of the Seattle, WA office for Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation.

Podcast 233: Meditations to Change Your Brain with Rick Hanson Ph.D.

Rick Hanson Ph.D.Hanson is a wonderful author, and expert in the field of neuroscience. I have interviewed Rick in a previous podcast #137 entitled Buddha’s Brain, I would recommend that you take a listen to this podcast as well.

In my interview with him we discuss a new CD release by Sounds True entitled ” Meditations to Change Your Brain“.

Much of our dialogue together revolves around practical techniques that one can practice to re-route the nuro pathways of the mind for improved creativity, greater focus and overall clarity of mind.

It is probably no surprise that meditation has been studied the most, and has proven to be the most powerful technique/practice to assist in creating joy, peace and life balance.  In this CD series Rick and his partner Richard Mendius MD discuss the topics of: steadying your mind, to tap the full creative power of your attention, taking in the good to maintain a positive emotional landscape, antidotes to stress, a conscious way to activate your body’s relaxation response, and healing painful experiences to free yourself from the charge of negative emotions.

As Rick states, “science has proven what contemplative traditions have taught for centuries: meditation holds a key to a life of balance, peace and joy.  Whether your’re discovering meditation for the first time or looking for a way to deepen an existing practice, with Rick’s new series entitled “Meditations to Change Your Brain” you have a full spectrum of techniques to make your brain your greatest ally on the path to personal fulfillment.

 

If you would like to take a deeper dive into Rick’s work, then I would highly recommend that you visit his website by clicking here.  He has a vast array of resources and most of them are free of charge.  Rich Hanson is truly one of the most knowledgeable authors that I have interviewed about the connection of neuroscience and how meditation effects our brain positively.  Enjoy this great interview with a wonderful author and thought leader in his field.

Podcast 232: The Productivity Epiphany with Vincent Harris

Vincent HarrisI recently interviewed Vincent Harris the author of a new Tremendous Life Book publication entitled “The Productivity Epiphany“.   In my interview with Vincent we discuss the many different topics addressed in this wonderful book, but most importantly we focus in on what keep us from being more productive.

As Vincent states in the forward to his new book ” It’s the greatest challenge we all face: getting ourselves to do things we want to do, but we can’t get past the inertia to build momentum…to actually do those things.  I think that all of us understands the inertia that frequently keep us from reaching our human potential, and in “The Productivity Epiphany” the author provides us with easy thought provoking ideas to have us shift our behavior and thoughts.   Vincent states “we are being invited to consider an alternative”, and I love this approach because he is not telling us to act or do something in a certain way.

In my dialogue with Vincent we discuss how we frequently make comparisons to self and other, and how in so doing we are incisively creating a no win situation.  You see if we constantly use comparisons to others there is always going to be someone who is better, stronger, has more money etc.  But when we make self-to-self comparisons we can look at how we are improving from month to month, year to year and this is a much better comparison to make in developing a positive mental attitude.

Vincent’s book is an easy read and complete with thought provoking stories and ideas to assist the reader in having more epiphanies about their work and life.  Albert Einstein once said that ” a problem cannot be solved on the same level that is exists.”  If you keep this statement in mind, then you are going to love reading Vincent’s book.  You will be taken on a journey of exploration that will shift your thoughts and ultimately behaviors associated with how you are approaching life and work as you know it today.

I hope you enjoy this interview with author Vincent Harris, and if you would like to learn more about his organization please click here to be directed to his website.

Podcast 230: Living as a River with Bodhipaksa

Bodhipaksa I had the distinct pleasure of recently interviewing Bodhipaksa who recently published a new book through Sounds True publishing entitled “Living as a River“.  In our interview together we discuss the constant change we are living in as well as our impermanence as human beings on this planet.

Something that Bodhipaksa points out is that sometimes the things we think will make us miserable actually make us happier.  He points out a study done at Kent State University where they studied a group of people who imagined the death of their partner, and they reported feeling more positive about their relationship and less troubled and annoyed by the quirks or odd behaviors that may have troubled them prior to this exercise.

The point Bodhipaksa is making by referencing this study is that we are all going to die at some point and our life here on this earth is impermanent and the sooner we realize this the sooner our perspective about how we live our life will shift for the better.

He speaks at length in his book “Living as a River” about letting go of our self-definitions to become more liberated and free.   In the Six-Element practice that Bodhipaksa teaches he challenges our assumptions about the body and the mind, the two things we take to be the locus of our core self.  We observe how everything that we identify with as being ourselves is in fact what comes from outside ourselves.  We note that everything we identify with as being ourselves will eventually no longer be part of ourselves. Because everything that constitutes us is in fact a process, rather that a thing or object, we realize that there is in fact nothing to grasp onto, any more than we could hold onto water flowing through our fingers-thus “Living  as a River”
Bodhipaksa’s book is very well written, and for anyone who is interested in learning how to let go of what we perceive as self, and be liberated to live a life with more joy, bliss, love and happiness.  Then you will want to read this book.  Bodhipaksa has a website that is full of resources.  I would recommend that you click here to gain access to this wonderfully rich resource.

Enjoy this interview with a great author and Buddhist teacher. If you would like to know more about Bodhipaksa, then go here.

Podcast 229: Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success with Don Green

Don GreenDon Green the executive director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation is a man with deep wisdom and knowledge about any aspect of Napoleon Hill.  In my second interview with Don we discuss one of Napoleon Hill’s book entitled ” Keys to Success”.   This book is a wonderfully easy read, and really carries the essence of Hill message by conveying the 17 principles of personal achievement.

I know many of you are going to say that you have heard it all.  That you know more than you want to know about personal growth and mastery.  Well that might be true, but this particular book provides the reader with the foundational principles—and they really do work if you work them.   One of the things that Napoleon Hill emphasized was a “definiteness of purpose“.  We know that this principle is fundmental to our success, and I don’t just mean monitory success.   You have to love what you do, and when you have that passion almost anything is possible.  If you are willing to toss your fears to the wind, and really live your life with purpose and passion your dreams are possible.  As I have said, don’t get to attached to the way your dreams manifest, just go with the flow and enjoy the journey for your “definiteness of purpose” will carry you a long way.

Napoleon Hill writes in the “Keys to Success” that faith is one awareness of belief in and harmonizing with the universal powers.  The key principle is faith and belief in something greater than yourself.  We are all aware that their is a power greater than us that resides in the universe, call is God, Universal Power whatever you like. The key is that you believe and have faith in something greater than yourself.  You might be saying how silly, of course I believe in a Universal Power—that is great but the larger issue is never to doubt that power.  Listen to your intuition, follow your heart and co-create with this wonderful energy.
I can’t say enough about a simple book, with so much wisdom “”Keys to Success” by Napoleon Hill.  Please if you would like more information about the Napoleon Hill Foundation then click here to be directed to their website.  Enjoy this wonderful interview with Don Green the executive director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

Podcast 227: Visions of a Universal Humanity with Barbara Marx Hubbard

Barbara Marx HubbardIf you have never heard Barbara Marx Hubbard speak, then treat yourself and take a listen to this wonderful podcast we just recorded about her new DVD entitled ” Visions of a Universal Humanity“.

Barbara and I have a very engaging dialogue about the new story for humanity. In the documentary DVD Barbara brings together some of the finest minds of our time including world renowned physicist Freeman Dyson, biologist Bruce Lipton and scolar Jean Houston and others who present cutting edge perspectives on humankind’s potential to create a positive future for Earth.

In a time when so many people are asking the question. “why on earth are we treating one another this way“, the insights from VISION’S brilliant luminaries give us a glimpse into a world where competition is replaced with cooperation and violence by compassion.  A world where artificial trees can create more oxygen than naturally occurring trees and where GOD is described as existing inside the universe rather than outside of it.

There is not doubt that our world is shifting, and that all of our institutions including our monetary, education, government are being tested. We are most likely going to see a reinvention of most of these system over the coming years, and as is articulated through the scientists and spiritual leaders interviewed in the movie the alternative viewpoint to doom and gloom Armageddon scenarios currently circulating is one an evolution of the consciousness of  individuals on the planet where co-creation and harmony pervade.  Biologists Bruce Lipton, states”we need a change in our beliefs” our old beliefs are not serving us any longer and it is time to awaken to new possibilities.

If there were every a documentary that will assist the viewer to awaken to their own personal possibilities, and have renewed hope for our humanity then you need to watch this documentary “VISIONS of a Universal Humanity“.
Barbara Marx Hubbard is sponsoring a no cost a program entitled “Three (3) Keys to Evolutionary Metamorphosis” staring October 14th and continuing for 14 weeks.  I would highly recommend that you click on this link and join in on this teleseminar to understand more how you realize your human potential and contribute to the evolution of our world in a very positive way.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with an amazing futurist, author and activist who is having an impact on the positive evolution of our planet–Barbara Marx Hubbard.

Podcast 226: Sound Healing Technologies with Mingtong Gu

Mingtong Gu

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to be introduced to Mingtong Gu, a Qigong master from the San Fransisco Bay area, who has has his training directly from the Grandmasters in China.  Mingtong is a very humble man, my intuition told me as we delved deeper into the interview, that he is extremely balanced, and has a very deep spiritual connection.  It is articulated through his voice and in the  deliberateness of the language he uses in explaining the concepts of Qigong.

Some of you might be aware of what Qigong is, but when you hear the amazing stories that Mingtong tells me about healing, as well as watch the video testimonials at his website,  it is a real testament to the practice of Qigong, this ancient form of connecting to the energies of the Universe.

Mingtong explains that as we go through the movements of Qigong and align our energy with that of the Universal source, we will experience personal healing at all levels.  Qigong can be used as a practice to balance our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energies for improved levels of  healing.

Qi (Chi) means “life energy” and gong means “cultivation and its benefits.” Qigong, an ancient technology and revitalized science of energy healing, has developed through more than 5000 years of Chinese history. Through gentle movement, visualization, sound, breathing and conscious intention, the ancient practice of Qigong energy healing dynamically restores the life energy and creative power within oneself. As the underlying causes of life’s challenges are released, you reconnect with the universal source and bring new and vital energy streams into the flow of life. With this practice, you amplify a web of positive changes for you, your loved ones, and planet Earth.

If like most people in our fast paced world of today, you are looking for a way to reconnect, slow down and revitalize your body, mind, and spirit, then utilizing the practice of Qigong would be a wonderful way to get started.

I recommend that you listen to and visit Mingtong’s website “The Chi Center“.  His website is loaded with video’s and will provide you with a deeper insight into the many benefits of Qigong.  Enjoy this wonderful interview with Mingtong Gu.

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