Personal Development

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Today is 11.11.11. Too bad I couldn’t have set it up so today’s episode would be number 111. I obviously should work on my long-term strategy better.

Let’s talk about coaching and providing meaningful help to others. Trusted advisor isn’t just some marketing malarky, it’s real-world relationship building.

I’m also going to share with you the first BulaNetwork production. Well, it’s the first real production of this new media company I’m now running.

I’ll end today’s show with two T’s – tornadoes and thanksgiving!

Some links to things mentioned in today’s show:

• The Dan Patrick Show
• David Meerman Scott’s post about coaching
• Steve Farber
• Tommy Spaulding
• Bar Code Radio, the first real Bula Network production
• Text Expander, a great keystroke short cut Mac program
• Google Analytics and other tracking resources
• What do you think of the new tagline, A New Media Company Operated By A Business Builder?
• Storm Chasers, the TV show
• Reed Timmer, an extreme meteorologist based in Norman, Oklahoma
• Reed’s Tweets are often very informative
• I hope whatever dark clouds exist in your life have a silver lining

I know I didn’t get around to discussing 2012 projections and planning. We’ll do that in an upcoming show. Many business people have inquired about what process might be most helpful. I decided that really needs to be a single episode fully devoted to those ideas. Look for that episode to come down the stream in the next few weeks! In the meantime, do you have a process you find especially useful? I’d love to hear about it.

Subscribe to the podcast.

Thanks for listening,

 

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Steve Jobs was accomplished in the art of practicing the reality distortion field. I’m guessing it was an art. It’s not a science. Come to think of it, it’s not even real, or is it?

Today’s show is about something that one listener suggested, but quite a few others had encouraged in the past. For some reason I kept stalling to tackle the subject because frankly – I thought there was quite a bit of talk about it out here on the interwebs.

MINDSET

The importance of the topic didn’t escape me. But neither did the volume of discussions about it, including podcasts, videos, books and blog posts. I figured there surely must be enough content about this to satisfy the interest of most people. Perhaps I was wrong though. Maybe my own cognitive bias was hampering my own content creation.

This is exactly what happens when you ask your audience what they want though. They sometimes tell you. Among the most suggested topics, this was among the top ones listed. Mindset, self-talk, paradigm…these were among the ways listeners defined the topic.

Today’s show is about 45 minutes long. I hope it provokes some thought and creativity. Hey, it might even rile you up a bit, but I doubt it.

I welcome your feedback. Send me a Tweet, or leave me some voicemail.

Mentioned in today’s show:

• Plato’s allegory of the cave
• False Evidence Appearing Real (F.E.A.R.)
• Mindset as defined by Wikipedia
• Cognitive distortion as defined by Wikipedia
• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
• The Secret (a load of crock)
• The Law of Attraction (another load of crock)

Thanks,

P.S. Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals. Good-bye, Tony La Russa!

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For a few weeks I’ve been thinking about the subject of helping, coaching, consulting, mentoring and advising. Many people hammer those of us in the “helping” businesses because they think we’re frauds and fakes. Some are, but that’s true of most professions.

I’ve postponed talking about it, but this morning serendipity kicked me in the butt and compelled me to record today’s episode. The serendipity arrived in the form of another podcast.

EndingTheGrind.com is a site and podcast done by Steve. He interviewed Penelope Trunk for his show and not too many minutes into the show, things took a turn that Steve wasn’t expecting. He got some career advice from Ms. Trunk that I relished hearing, even though others felt uncomfortable with the conversation.

It was profitable confrontation. I saw it for what I think it was – honest, blunt help!

My first thought was, “Steve’s lucky. She’s taking the time to really give him a dose of medicine that may change his life.”

Steve posts that he had reached out to Marcus Sheridan, TheSalesLion.com, for advice about the interview. After hearing the interview, I agreed with Marcus.

From the comments and Tweets it appears others may have felt Penelope was rude, hateful and angry. I didn’t see it or hear it that way, but I certainly could relate to the clear frustration she experienced. She saw things quite clearly. Steve didn’t. It made her crazy. I know that feeling.

We all need help. There are times in our lives when we all need a kick in the butt.

It’s ridiculous to claim that only people who have no challenges are capable of helping others. The doctor who gets sick needs the care (help) of another doctor. The barber has to get his hair cut (unless he shaves his head like all the cool kids do). The dentist must go to the dentist.

Helping people is an honorable thing to do, whether people get paid to do it or not. Penelope didn’t give Steve advice because he paid for it, even though he joked about her sending him a bill. No, she had an opportunity to pass on some wisdom, as she saw it, and she took it. Steve didn’t see it at the time, but I suspect he’s coming around by now.

It was great to hear, even if my audio snobbery lamented the audio quality of the podcast. It was compelling. It was powerful. All the while I was thinking, “Steve, this can change your life if you let it.” I hope he uses it to climb higher. And I don’t even know Steve, but I know enough to suspect he’ll embrace it. I hope so.

I hope you’ve got people in your life who are willing to confront you in order to help you. I do. And I’m thankful for all of them.

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I know two guys who suffered major setbacks in their careers. Their lives were turned upside down financially.

Both men took different, but similar paths toward simplicity. The practical realities of their situations dictated monumental changes in their lifestyles.

The big houses. Gone. The imported fancy cars. Gone. High dollar toys and lake houses. Gone.

Their families. Intact. Their friends. Mostly intact.

I think of them often…and a few others like them. And I smile.

Listen and I’ll tell you why.

A late addition to this episode because it just seems fitting, and because I love his music.