The John Poelstra Show

Here’s what I’ve been up to from August to November 2019 and what I’m learning. Highlights & References Capital One Cafe in Portland, Oregon What I’ve been up to the past few months My 6,800 mile road trip The power of de-cluttering and getting rid of stuff Telling more of my story in two interviews Own Your Clarity with John Poelstra (video) by Anthony Ongaro at Break the Twitch How I Came to Coaching and How it Works hosted by Vinod Jain The power of free writing to get to the bottom of things 100% responsibility Getting sick and tired of being sick and tired and what I’m doing about it The power of Ho’oponopono to reduce self-judgement and judgement of others My book fast Parting challenge What are you sick and tired of being sick and tired of? What if you were 100% responsible for those things? What are you going to do about it starting now? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 83: Slowing Down, Saying No and Taking Full Responsibility appeared first on John Poelstra.

Vinod Jain leads this conversation where I share the path that led me to coaching, what I believe about certain things, and how coaching works. Conversation Highlights More about Vinod Jain (Episode #68) A typical day for John Money Coaching at Capital One Early influences and career path Getting clear on personal beliefs and ultimately personal ownership Early career dissatisfaction and overseas travel Seeing a theme of meaning and seeking more of it through coaching Ending unnecessary suffering The importance of reading Getting into podcasting Untangling Christianity podcast 100 podcasts/blog posts idea The path of following different interests The power of genuine curiosity and deep listening Leading From Within with Stephani Roy McCallum (Episode #65) John’s first coach Carolyn Campbell (Episode #72) Personal insights that come from speaking out loud Coaching the person instead of the problem Resonance as an indicator Holding a perspective that other people are creative, resourceful and whole and what that brings What’s the formula to good coaching? Making money vs. serving Letting go of attachment to outcome Does everyone need a coach? Can you coach yourself? Setting the coaching agenda Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 82: How I Came to Coaching and How it Works appeared first on John Poelstra.

I don’t have a typical work week. However, here’s one I chronicled and reflected on with Mike Vardy as an experiment for his podcast. This is a rebroadcast of 5 Days with John Poelstra which originally aired as Episode #250 on Mike Vardy’s podcast (which I produce): The Productivityist Podcast Detailed episode notes Theme Your Way to Greater Productivity with Mike Vardy (46) — an earlier exploration of Mike’s theme based productivity approach. Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 81: Five Days of My Own (Un)Productivity appeared first on John Poelstra.

Yann Toutant believes companies can be more innovative by creating and working as remote teams. Our conversation explores Yann’s journey and what he’s learning. Highlights Yann Youtant is the CEO of Econocom The main drive for a remote team is innovation Working remote helps you turn the cruise control of your life off Four steps of the remote ladder Be remote in your own office–don’t work from the same desk every day Forces you to digitize everything (no paper) Changes perspectives, neighbors, etc. Be remote within your ecosystem Suppliers, customers business partners Work from their offices Embrace the unique energy of different offices and cultures Work from a co-working space Meet other entreprenuers Take advantage of community vibe Intentionally not at home where you are isolated When traveling for holidays stay one or more weeks longer Find local partners or co-working space Remote does not mean “no structure” Maximum solo focus in a day is two hours Spend the rest of the day collaborating with others Creating silent spaces Managers tend to find remote work more challenging than individual contributors Worrying that their people aren’t working because they cannot see them Redefining the meaning of trust–losing control Providing a safe place to make mistakes Losing control can lead to new discoveries Yann’s Atlantic crossing in a sailboat and the unique way he got the approval of his board Talking to the heart and not the head Setting aside what people will think Living and thinking more from our hearts The challenges and joys of being a CEO The unexpected benefits of remote work Why do we have grass in your yards? Connect with Yann Toutant Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yann-toutant/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/YannTOUTANT Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 80: Working Remote on Purpose with Yann Toutant appeared first on John Poelstra.

Here are some different ways to prepare and think about your next job interview–as the interviewer or the interviewee. Highlights Block out time to do deep preparation Get clear about the unique strengths and combinations you bring Have a few prepared stories and examples that demonstrate your accomplishments and skills Get clear on your core values Determine how your values would be honored in the new job Be them in the interview Are you running to something or running away from something else? Figure out your “must haves” for you and red flags ahead of time Make the job interview process is a two-way street Put your best foot forward if you have a video interview Get a good camera — Logitech C920 Put the camera at least at eye level–best to have it pointing slightly down at you Practice talking to the camera instead of talking to the screen Make sure you have earbuds or something that sounds good Pick a good place to do the call from with a pleasant background Webcam Glam: 3 Easy Tricks To Look Polished On Video Chats Seth Godin takes things to the next level with his Zoom setup Yes, hiding “self view” definitely reduces exhaustion Consider what you need to do to get into the best mental state Go for a walk Meditate Put some buffers in your schedule Select times of the day when you bring your best energy Get a good night of sleep Remember the interview is looking to hire the awesomeness you bring, not the collective output of your previous team Get your self-awareness dialed in “Everyone likes working with me except when I _______________.” “As a ______________, people experience me as __________________.” Tim Ferriss interview with Stanley McChrystal In the stories you share about your experience, try to demonstrate How deep you go What you accomplished How you got there Your thought process Avoid getting lost in your own story Have questions for the interviewer Use to determine if you are a fit Gather information on what they are looking for in the role Always have questions even if you ask the same questions to multiple people Asking the same question to multiple interviewers can yield interesting results Job Interview Resources 10 Impressive Questions to Ask in a Job Interview How to succeed at Red Hat What to Expect from DoorDash’s Technical Interview Questions not to ask at the interview What to look for that you might want to avoid Salary Negotiation Resources Kate Dixon‘s list of articles Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued How To Answer “What Was Your Last Salary?” An interview coach says there’s a right way to answer the dreaded salary history question Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 79: Preparing For Your Next Job Interview appeared first on John Poelstra.

Alexis Monville, Michael Doyle and I talk about working effectively with remote teams when meeting in person isn’t possible. This topic came up as we collaborated on version two of Alexis’ book Changing Your Team From the Inside. Highlights Taking individual initiative How to build remote teams when you cannot meet in person As individuals we can do something Choosing (or not) to work together Learning about others to learn about yourself Using prompts to break the ice and get to know each other Ways to intentionally form remote teams Daily investments Pairing people up and then creating larger feedback loop with the team Thinking of the remote experience first (as opposed to the collocated team) Good audio and video make a difference A good meeting facilitator aides in making sure everyone has a voice Level the playing field by having everyone at the meeting in a unique physical location Your own mindset is an important place to start The importance of celebrations and appreciation Forming culture and traditions Coffee and water cooler time The affects of AI (artificial intelligence) on remote teams Having a mission and vision–raison d’etre Picking tools to manage and capture common goals Changing Your Team From the Inside Learn more about Changing Your Team From the Inside. Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 78: Building and Leading Effective Remote Teams appeared first on John Poelstra.

This episode explores the book A Second Chance by Catherine Hoke, my interest in law enforcement and the complexities of incarceration. Highlights & References Marketing Over Coffee podcast My WSCO Citizen’s Academy experience 13th (documentary on Netflix about over incarceration and it’s roots) The difference between jail and prison Ear Hustle podcast (what it’s like to be incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in California) Brad Feld’s experiences at San Quentin with Defy Ventures Understanding Privilege – My Experience in Prison Book: A Second Chance The Story of You (And How to Create a New One) by Steve Chandler Several quotes and reflections from A Second Chance: For You, For Me, And For The Rest Of Us by Catherine Hoke What if you were judged for the rest of your life based on the worst thing you’ve ever done? Meaning comes from service The power of writing down your limiting beliefs How Do I Get Rid of the Fear by Seth Godin Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison by Shaka Senghor Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 77: Second Chances appeared first on John Poelstra.

This riff explores the power of thoughts on feelings and how asking better questions yields better thoughts. Highlights Considering the idea that our thoughts create our feelings The Life Coach School Podcast John Prendergast on the Coaches Rising Podcast (highly recommended)–Opening to Inner Knowing In Touch: How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself by John Prendergast (quoting from pages 33 and 34) The power of the negative stories we tell ourselves and how to free ourselves–go for the opposite Is a story true or is it serving you? What’s the story you tell about yourself that holds you back? What could be easy? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 76: How to Create Thoughts and Feelings That Serve You appeared first on John Poelstra.

Michael Doyle is back (Ego is the Enemy episode) to interview John on the importance of values. John also leads Michael through a process of deeper values exploration and clarification in a live coaching session. Values Discussion Highlights Our values Clarify decision making Aid life satisfaction Act as an internal GPS Each person has different values They are not “right” or “wrong” People sharing the same values usually prioritize them differently Misalignment of values causes conflict Values are core to who we are and rarely change dramatically over our lifetime Sometimes our ego gets in the way Things that anger or frustrate you are often The opposites of what you really you value Un-honored values Different approaches to finding values Blank sheet of paper Reviewing a list of values from the internet Considering simple actions that you always take Characteristics of people that you respect or feel naturally drawn to Things people normally say about you Reflecting on things you are obsessed by Card sorting exercise Free online assessments Intrinsic Values Test Life Values Inventory Personal Values Clarifying and refining our values can be a lifelong process Don’t be frustrated if you can’t do it overnight Coaching and working with another person speeds things up John coaches Michael through the process of discovering and clarifying his own values Want Help Discovering Your Own Values? Reach out to me and I”ll lead you through the same process. See the bottom of this page to reach me. More About Values How To Find A Job That Aligns With Your Values from FastCompany Living Into Our Values by Brene Brown: Podcast Worksheet Let Your Values Drive Your Choices by James Clear If you have a list of values and want an easy way to rank them, paste them into Rank: Anything Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 75: Live Coaching: Why Your Values Matter and How to Find Them appeared first on John Poelstra.

Kate Dixon has an extensive human resources background in employee relations and compensation. Her true passion is coaching and leadership development. This conversation explores her discovery of gratitude journaling, all the benefits it has provided and the impact it’s had on John. Conversation Highlights The origins of Kate’s gratitude journaling challenge The mindshift that comes from being thankful for little things Habit stacking when you have an established streak The importance of celebration Being really clear about when you are going to do your gratitude journal or particular habit each day Kate’s weekly review practice each Friday afternoon How to overcome being a celebration-challenged person (like John) Practicing gratitude in corporate environments without being cheesy Proactive gratitude Considering what negative or challenging situation can teach us Sleeping better as a result of meditation and gratitude journaling Always be capturing (Kate likes Evernote for this) How to create a habit around celebration Learn More About Kate Dixon Kate’s Website Kate’s Newsletter sign-up The Mind-Blowing Power of the Gratitude Journal You’re Keeping a Gratitude Journal…Now What? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source: Kate Dixon All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 74: Creating an Unbroken Chain of Gratitude with Kate Dixon appeared first on John Poelstra.

This conversation with Michael Doyle (former colleague at Red Hat) explores what we found in Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday and reflect it back on ourselves. Conversation Highlights & References Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday Extended bibliography Primary sections: Aspire, Success, and Failure Relationship between our values and our ego Is ego ever a positive thing? Marie Forleo’s interview with Ryan Holiday What does your ego look like to you/how does it show up? Doing and working over being and having Abstract: The Art of Design (Netflix series) The Rocket Launch approach to getting out of bed Blue Collar productivity as described by Steve Chandler How ego appears as excuses when we fail Setting ego aside to embrace new perspectives or ideas Ego and it’s relationship to how much money you need Pleasure versus happiness How the little things add up to big success Create your own definition of success Your personal values Write or print out a list Rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how well you are honoring them The Five Minute Journal by Intelligent Design Useful way to measure success Ongoing retrospectives Ego aides us in overestimating our abilities and defeating discipline What’s a small daily practice to help you build mastery? Learning from failure instead of making excuses Hate versus love Connect with Michael Doyle Website Twitter Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Photo supplied by Michael Doyle All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 73: Exploring the Ego with Michael Doyle appeared first on John Poelstra.

Carolyn Campbell explains the fascinating journey she’s on to understand rural America by listening to the people she’s sent to by others. I met Carolyn as my first coach several years ago. Highlights Carolyn has been on a mission to deeply listen to people in rural America for the past two years Hearing their stories and learning from them instead of trying to immediately help Her project as a result of a community dinner that didn’t happen In her travels she met over 2,000 people and formally interviewed 500 37,000 miles in nine months 8,000 miles of the total was in Mississippi alone Carolyn set out on her trip with the intention of not having an agenda Other people chose where she would go next Similar to the way coaching is about connecting to clients without an agenda Not a trip to push a political agenda It was about digging into social issues Going into communities to discover what the social issues really are out there Determine if the media is painting a clear and accurate picture She wanted to know for herself What are the real economics of an area? What really goes on there? Is the world is as divided as it seems? Primary goals were listening, watching and connecting One goal of the trip was to challenge her own judgements about things and places Find out if she could challenge her own assumptions and sit with people who were fundamentally different than her The first choice of where she should go was given to high school students. They had to provide: Why a particular place was important Questions to ask people The types of people they wanted her to talk to How Carolyn’s van for her first trip materialized 24 hours after deciding she couldn’t take her current car Zack Yeager from Cascade Campers came to the rescue Where the term stranger-talking came from and how it can make the world a better place People in small towns always notice who you are even if you don’t think they do The time a man helped her get clear about what she was up to “If you are here to judge you’ll only last a day, but if you are here to listen we will tell you everything you want to know.” Carolyn had a general rule that she would not debate or disagree people… instead she would just ask more questions, particularly when she really disagreed internally Three Levels of Listening What do I believe about what’s being said or how does it affect me? Hearing the words the person is saying and really taking them in Taking in the words … hearing the words and taking into account the energy of the space, their body language and everything Asking another question when you don’t agree with someone instead of going to judgement (being curious) Bringing deep curiosity takes us deeper and deeper in a way that judgement can’t Historically “help” in the rural communities Carolyn visited made the situation worse It takes approximately eight years for local people to trust outsiders Tourism as an industry does not pay as well as original industry in those places did Sometimes we are called to something at a level we don’t know (and in doing so we find out) The critical importance of getting a greater understanding of “other” People in rural America are used to living along side people they don’t agree with Carolyn believes that the next frontier of coaching is helping communities to heal Changing the “either/or” nature of the world that is so familiar yet unhelpful What’s Next? Carolyn is working on several goals at the same time Raising money to go back on the road again Figuring out how to get more of the voices of the people she met heard Getting to know the people in rural communities better so she can get coaches invested More About Carolyn and Her Work Looking For America Today Carolyn on Instagram Newsletter & updates by email Other Mentions The lobster fishing story (or “not using the bathroom for 16 hours”) The Tidewater Hotel in Vinalhaven, Maine Main Street America has been helping to revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Strong Towns is an international movement that’s dedicated to making communities across the United States and Canada financially strong and resilient. How to Make Cities more Walkable by Jeff Speck Rural Urbanism Rural Urbanism (in China) Orange Jello Salad with Carrots Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Photos provided by Carolyn Campbell All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 72: Stranger-Talking Across America with Carolyn Campbell appeared first on John Poelstra.

Here are a few things I’ve learned in the past few months. Mentioned Restarting is the key to success Showing up as best you can even when you don’t feel at your best Mindset as a recurring theme in a lot of books I read (and mostly did not finish) Shift Your Mind Shift Your World by Steve Chandler Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt The Serving Mindset by Farnoosh Brock (Interview on Productivityist Podcast) The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha The Path to Personal Power by Napoleon Hill Financial Freedom School Know your financial numbers How much money you need to live every month How any months of cash you have (cash on hand divided by the amount you need each month) How much money you need to retire Reducing junk and clutter to manage stress Establishing a new daily habits around exercise paralleling the success I’ve had with the Five-Minute Journal and meditation Atomic Habits by James Clear Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 71: Latest Learnings & Challenges appeared first on John Poelstra.

This deep conversation with Michael Marvosh explores meaning and life lessons with prompts from nature and our own life experiences. Mentioned in This Episode ConvertKit Conference (where John & Michael met) Stephen Warley of Life Skills That Matter Mike Vardy of Productivityist Michael’s podcast called Deadman’s Forest The exploration of existence and meaning Being intentional about sharing what he has learned from his life instead of letting those things die with him Everyone has unique wisdom and experiences Recording process and open air recording studio Giant trees along the coast of Northern California Stout Grove at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park The enormity of the trees how perspective is somewhat hard to come by A similar feeling of awe that you’d feel walking into a huge cathedral Makes you think of things bigger than yourself Gaining the perspective and the value of realizing that we are not the center of things–feeling that bigger thing Michael shares about his vision fast ceremony and the shape it took Following the ideas about who you are or what you might do Acting on them and finding meaning through that action Life is a series of “transitions”–our modern day society doesn’t do a lot to mark or celebrate these events Committing to a future version of ourselves Crossing the threshold Often the first step forward towards what we really want or changing is committing–even when things aren’t 100% clear. More “knowing” comes from committing People who struggle to achieve a particular skill are often better teachers of it compared to people who naturally succeed–struggle can be an advantage (John borrows this from Steve Chandler) The Story of You (And How to Create a New One) by Steve Chandler Embracing mindsets that take us in productive directions At Michael’s request John shares some of the biggest lessons from his life so far: Grappling with Christianity Figuring out what I want to do and what I’m good at Compassion and empathy with grappling Embracing the tensions and unresolved questions of life Accepting and leaning more into who John is Getting to the bottom of what’s true for John and what he really believes L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland–“honest answers to honest questions” Being satisfied with imperfection Resources School of Lost Borders facilitated Michael’s vision fast ceremony Reach out to Michael if you’d like to have a conversation with him (use the form at the bottom of the page) Dead Man’s Forest podcast The Trees are Big More about Stout Grove in this 2019 article from the Oregonian: Dip your toes into California’s redwoods at the incredible Stout Grove trail Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All photos provided by Michael Marvosh All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 70: Walking in Dead Man’s Forest with Michael Marvosh appeared first on John Poelstra.

Here’s a short riff on a section from Time Warrior by Steve Chandler about alleged “time management” problems.   Highlights Time Warrior: How to defeat procrastination, people-pleasing, self-doubt, over-commitment, broken promises and chaos by Steve Chandler “Time management” is a misnomer When people say they have difficulty managing their time there’s usually something deeper going on Most people have no problem managing their time to be on a commercial airplane when it leaves When we have a mission we are committed to we rarely have problems “managing time” well What is your mission your overarching purpose? What are you committed to? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 69: Do You Have a Time or Mission Problem? appeared first on John Poelstra.

Vinod Jain works as a technology and management consultant in Northern Virginia. In this conversation we explore how get got to where he is today and the personal journey he is on. Conversation Highlights Bigger Game Live put on by Rick Tamlyn Being a “creator” instead of a “consumer” “Express and receive” The pros/cons of enthusiastic optimism We all have the potential for a great future in our lives Look around and see what you can harness in your surroundings There’s tremendous learning we can have in difficulties, challenges and obstacles Being influenced by what we don’t have Vinod’s attraction to becoming a coach Being aware of and managing the inner critic Ego as an obstacle to our growth Vinod’s connection to Jainism Be aware of your energy levels and how to generate joy Meditation and Journaling Self-time and time in nature Books Mentioned Origin by Dan Brown The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenburg Connect with Vinod Jain on LinkedIn Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 68: Getting to Know Vinod Jain appeared first on John Poelstra.

Here’s what happened and what I learned in October 2018, a couple of which were the culmination of how the year started. Highlights & References A big month of changes: beginnings and endings Post-it tracking and prioritization system was in full force I officially left Red Hat IBM made a $34 billion offer for Red Hat Offense vs. Defense / Creating vs. controlling by Tim Hildred Ending my co-working space I started a new role at with the Capital One Money Coaching Team The challenges of new daily routines and leaving the house to go to work Morning routine Coffee Reading Time Warrior by Steve Chandler Wealth Warrior by Steve Chandler Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill The Path to Personal Power by Napoleon Hill Meditation / Insight Timer App 5 Minute Journal Journaling Walking Writing out the negative narrative I was telling myself Spotting inconsistencies Creating a list of all the things I can do to counter-act that which I fear Making conscious choices to avoid context switching Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 67: October 2018–Changes, Beginnings, Endings and More appeared first on John Poelstra.

It’s easy to get off track and lose focus. Here are some of the ways I have been attempting to sharpen my focus and execution. Highlights Time Warrior: How to defeat procrastination, people-pleasing, self-doubt, over-commitment, broken promises and chaos by Steve Chandler Creating vs. Managing Advanced Client Systems (ACS) program hosted by Steve Chandler The Prosperous Coach: Increase Income and Impact for You and Your Clients by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin Three primary leaks I’m seeing steal my focus Email News Social Media Where do you waste time across a day? Being conscious and intentional about the things I work on Choosing “now” or “not now” Once an email is open it has to be dealt with You don’t leave your physical mail opened in your mailbox The power of turning the email preview pane window off Saves all kinds of distractions Easier to delete junk Thunderbird for email Move tasks that are living in your inbox to your task management system Managing all my tasks in Trello Subscribe to the board (to get notifications) Set due dates on important cards– email comes and I don’t delete it until I’ve dealt with the card Setting up simple website blocking with entries to /etc/hosts Inspired by Greg DeKoenigsberg in episode 54 Using podcasts listening to get the news without the distractions The Daily Wall Street Journal NPR hourly news summary Scaling back social media noise Cleaning up my follower list on Twitter Turning off notification for Facebook group postings (reduces email) LinkedIn I would love to see more personal stuff here and less boring corporate blog posts about the latest product release My archiving strategy and space saving with Dropbox De-cluttering computer files Daisy Disk to find large files Be on the lookout for leaks in your own life What can you do to plug the leaks and focus your time on things that matter? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 66: Plugging Leaks to Focus and Execute appeared first on John Poelstra.

Stephani Roy McCallum is a leader who helps people have difficult conversations. In this conversation she navigates a deeper of understanding of what leadership really is and how to be an effective leader. Conversation Highlights Bigger Game Live put on by Rick Tamlyn Leadership is needed to move forward after a conflict has been resolved Taking complete ownership is necessary, however to be fully effective you have to go somewhere (lead) “Leadership is an inside job” — Rick Tamlyn Leadership is available to everyone Leaders inspire others to take action towards positive change To lead you must stand for something and lead from it Personal leadership often starts with a “reckoning” What do I stand for? Who am I? Questioning the status quo Self-awareness is key to becoming a leader Stephani’s own reckonings Publicly Personally The different faces and forms of empathy The path to courage and being brave is owning your fears, short-comings and inadequacies and being honest about them The combination of bravery and vulnerability creates connection which then encourages others to take action A vision isn’t anything unless it’s tied to the essence of who you are The interplay between our thoughts and feelings and notion that each can originate in either direction Leaders inspire and empower others to make positive change because the believe in something and lead from that Stephani’s real world examples of leading courageous public conversations How to have difficult personal conversations The stories we tell ourselves and how unproductive they can be The value of telling a new story The power of combining a new story with choosing A productive story is not necessarily the opposite of the unproductive version Learn More About Stephani Roy McCallum and Leadership Website: https://www.bravelylead.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bravelylead/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedheadSteph Blog: https://medium.com/@RedheadSteph Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephani.roy.mccallum/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephani-roy-mccallum-b627646/ Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 65: Leading From Within with Stephani Roy McCallum appeared first on John Poelstra.

Here’s a recap of the things that happened in September 2018 and what I learned from them. Highlights & References Public accountability and my system for doing the monthly recap worked Great books by Steve Chandler The Story of You (And How to Create a New One) Time Warrior: How to defeat procrastination, people-pleasing, self-doubt, over-commitment, broken promises and chaos Blue Collar productivity The solution to procrastination is starting The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler & Rich Litvin Rich Litvin’s website Color coding your calendar to show you how much time you are spending on important activities that drive your business What’s that one thing you might want to do on a regular basis that would strengthen a particular skill to propel you forward? A very busy period of on-boarding new clients and doing client sessions The Wheel of Life (CTI coaching tool) Slowing down Consciously working on one thing during a time block Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 64: September 2018 Learnings appeared first on John Poelstra.

Alexis Monville from the Red Hat Engineering Leadership team joins me to talk about his experiences leading, developing and changing teams. He’s also the author of a new book: Changing Your Team From The Inside. Conversation Highlights Alexis helps engineering teams at Red Hat be more efficient in systematic ways Alexis’ passion for open source software development and how it ties into his work Team members often know something needs to change, but they rarely think it’s them that needs to change Teams are often really good at “resisting” so being told to change by an outside party rarely works Using “visioning” in retrospectives Positive ways to turn retrospective discussions into real change The importance of assigning specific owners to a new team processes or responsibilities The value of checklists How to engage people in games or activities they don’t want to participate in The importance of believing in what you are doing as a leader The tension between what people want and what they think is possible How large a team can be and still effectively change The percentage of times large scale change works vs. fails Every member of the team is responsible for changing things Asking “how?” instead of “why?” leads to more progress Addressing the “dysfunctions of teams” in remote (geographically disbursed) contexts Helping people come together as a team vs. a “group of individuals” Getting personal with each other The value of empathy Success using empathy maps Helps to create a three dimensional avatar or persona A very constructive way to draw out disparity across a team’s perspectives Waterfall software development Our natural inclination to think in terms that are too black and white (polarization) Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday and how it relates to changing teams from the inside Creating better self-awareness for ourselves Not getting in the way of our own progress Self-awareness is a very key aspect to initiating change Start enacting change now with small experiments Alexis’ parting challenge Pick one thing Start and do something now to invest in yourself or your team Suggested Books The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) by Chade-Meng Tan Changing Your Team From The Inside by Alexis Monville Contact Alexis Monville Linkedin: Alexis Monville Twitter: @alexismonville Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 63: Changing Teams From the Inside with Alexis Monville appeared first on John Poelstra.

Summer 2018 was a busy time with lots of trips, continuous learning and new ways to grow. Highlights & Links The importance of systems to maintain consistency No Excuses My process for creating solo episodes Always keep the recording running and fix it later “John, how are you going to fix this process in the future so that these monthly recaps really happen?” Repeating cards in Trello What’s my “why”? What values am I honoring? Attending Conferences Bigger Game Live with Rick Tamlyn Met up with Anthony and Amy Ongaro of Break the Twitch Conversation with Nancy Jamieson about Manifesting Meditation challenge — Insight Timer App Craft and Commerce by Convertkit Shanté Cofield — The Movement Maestro Amber Dugger — Improve Your Relationship with Money Casey Neistat / Creating your own board of advisors Dave Stuart Jr — Experiential Learning Creating an unbreakable chain of daily habits Meditation Daily journaling with the Five Minute Journal Teaching PUGS Podcasting Jumpstart Course PUGS Workshop Development course is recommended Pursuing additional coaching opportunities at Red Hat Presenting to my previous team Pushing the envelope Getting positive and negative feedback Building a business and expanding your reach will likely result in doing things that some people don’t like Are you really trying hard enough if everyone likes your stuff? Fully putting yourself out there has a higher chance of connecting with people and getting negative feedback Being out the lookout for and knowing the signs of when you need to push through or take a break Response rates are slower in the summer Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 62: Summer 2018 Learnings appeared first on John Poelstra.

Enjoy this wide ranging conversation with author, singer, business owner and entrepreneur, Kathy Jorsch.     Conversation Highlights John and Kathy met via Rick Tamlyn’s VIP Mastermind in January 2018 What it’s like to write a novel Different businesses Kathy has started and run Love of tennis The power of talking to yourself in the first person High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard The value of truly listening to yourself The things on Kathy’s vision board and what they possibly mean The importance of travel and getting beyond the places you already know Kathy’s advice to start changing your life Create your own vision board Journal   Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 61: Getting to Know Kathy Jorsch appeared first on John Poelstra.

It’s easy to get stuck in the past, and yet there’s not much it gives us. Here’s an encouragement to live in the present and look to the future.     Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 60: Setting a Present and Future Focus appeared first on John Poelstra.

In this conversation with Dave Stuart Jr we explore teaching, experiential learning, leadership and so much more. Dave is a 9th grade teacher who writes a popular blog and authors books about being an effective teacher. His latest book is called These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most (and you should buy it today).   Conversation Highlights There’s more to life than just being a teacher–investing your entire life into being a teacher is not sustainable Dave figured out ways to be in an effective teacher within a regular work schedule How Dave got into blogging and eventually became a published author Solving a problem you have yourself helps you solve it for others Investing in things that are timeless Time, practice, persistence and grit Most teachers do not make it past five years because of burn out This creates a deficit of experienced teachers Success as a teacher is not doing everything, it is providing a solid learning experience for the students enabling long term flourishing While it’s important to “own all your stuff” you also have to “lead” yourself and others somewhere too Dictating vs. facilitating vs. leading in a particular direction Experiential learning makes stuff stick in a way that “sit and git” doesn’t “Parenting is teaching someone to do life” Teaching kids how to argue well by being earnest and amicable Kids can’t Google what they believe–they have to figure it out Belief under girds motivation People who believe in our abilities are more likely to benefit from the experience of learning from us Positive ways to teach kids public speaking Find ways to encourage and help the teachers you know John’s Favorite Terms From Dave “Sit and get” “Turn and talk” “Think, pair, share” Affinity, opportunity and ability More about Dave Stuart Jr Dave Stuart Jr.com Get Dave’s new book These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 59: Better Ways of Learning with Dave Stuart Jr appeared first on John Poelstra.

This short riff considers what it might look like to live a life of “no excuses.” This idea was inspired by a story about Navy SEAL training combined with thoughts I had while writing out a list of things I believe involving ownership.   Links My manifesto How to not make excuses and take extreme ownership with Kylon and Teliah Gienger on the Successful Dropout Podcast Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons     The post 58: No Excuses appeared first on John Poelstra.

At Bigger Game Live I sat down for a conversation with Nancy Jamieson. We explore her interest in podcasting by sitting down to do just that. Over the course of our conversation we cover a variety of topics about her experiences and what she believes about how life works.   Highlights Approaching people from a heartfelt space Bigger Game Live put on by Rick Tamlyn and his team Envisioning your future needs being met Manifestation–creating from a place of awareness Re-framing Being aware of what we are paying attention to Choosing how you want to show up How to read the energy of a room More about Nancy Jamieson Life Force Fulfillment Anam Cara Coaching & Consulting, LLC LinkedIn Facebook Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 57: Manifesting with Nancy Jamieson appeared first on John Poelstra.

Tina Robinson is back to delve into the often murky topic of figuring out what we want. Together we share some ways to get clearer.   Discussion Notes Money is often an immediate answer and yet it doesn’t truly describe what we want Ask yourself what you believe money will give you as a way to push things deeper What does money represent to you? Freedom Security Safety The ability to play Take care of others and be of service Something else Tina’s Trader Joe’s Meltdown Moment The tension of listing out all the things you don’t want You may get more of those things you don’t want You might be doing that to avoid the harder question of getting really clear about what you DO want Do you tell yourself you are not allowed to have certain things? What or How instead of Why Writing without constraints or filters is the fastest way to get in touch with what’s going inside you The importance of making lists and building a muscle around it via James Altucher Choose Yourself (a bargain at $0.99!) Strengthening the muscle of “What I want” Practice honoring your intuition Listening the way our bodies inform us Listening to your “heart” vs. your “head” Manifesting Here are a few ways ways to figure out what you want Make a wild list of things… free write! Imagine what success looks like in a particular situation (instead of dwelling on all the things that aren’t working) Create a matrix with the left column listing skills that you are good at and across the top each, your professional experiences for the past 5-10 years) Match them up… when were you happiest? Look for roles where you were using the most of your strengths How were you feeling? what made you feel that way? leads to “What I want is to be able to use these _____ skills more.” What did you like to do when you were 12 years old? Look for ways to weave those things into your work–you probably still love them Getting clear on what you want makes it easier to weave those things into your annual goals or personal development plans at work John’s best career advancements happened when he was really really clear about what he wanted to do next He looked for ways to those things Instead of looking for what was available and deciding if I was a fit Are you struggling to identify what you want because you are afraid you might get it (fear of success)? Kids are extremely clear about what they want.. what would it look like to approach what you want from a child’s perspective? Do the 5 whats/whys exercise (wikipedia) Go for a walk with a voice recorder and just talk out about the things that pop into your mind or the things you see More on the topic of “figuring out what you want” See the previous episode: What Do You Want? (21) Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 56: Figuring Out What You Want with Tina Robinson appeared first on John Poelstra.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been learning by doing, living more from my heart than my head, and learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Next month I’m teaching an in-person class on how to create a podcast in Portland, Oregon, and I hope you’ll join me.   Highlights and Resources Mentioned Kyle Cease — Free 2 hour movie I Hope I Screw This Up by Kyle Ceases Zoom John’s upcoming in-person podcasting course: PUGS Podcasting Jumpstart in Portland, Oregon Success is what you define it to be Commitment, not courage is the key to driving learning and new thing forward Building bigger muscles to fight the gremlins and spot their cycles so as not to take them so seriously Learning to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable CTI Coach Training Emphasizing my podcasting services more and finding out what people need–glad to talk with you too My challenge to you: be with the comfortable feelings, observe them and don’t push them away–they won’t last as long as you think. Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 55: Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable appeared first on John Poelstra.

Long time Red Hat colleague Greg DeKoenigsberg and I talk about managing our time–how we get off track and how we fight against letting it happen.   Red Hat and Open Source Software In today’s world of “work” where we sit in a chair and look at a screen, it’s really easy to waste time Being on the lookout for those “tells” that give you an early-warning indicator that you’re on the path to wasting time “Fake fortification” Anxiety about our work and tasks to be completed Anxiety vs. procrastination vs. being in Flow Flow often happens when we are engaged in meaningful work Figuring out ways to get into flow states Being able to see the bigger picture of tedious work will give us Breaking things into smaller, achievable tasks Reduce the amount of time you spend comparing yourself others Accept that completing a particular task might take you six hours to complete because you break it into chunks compared to someone else that it comes naturally to Building habits around putting structures into place that protect us from doing stupid things with our time Working in time blocks (Pomodoros) was a game changer for Greg Holding back because we question whether it’s “worth it” or the best use of our time John & Greg’s geeky hacks for trying to stay focused Having your smartphone nearby is a distraction The compound affect of doing things over and over again The pros/cons of negative rewards Resources Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday LifeFlow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Tilt365 character strengths assessment (John is certified in this tool and happy to go over it with you) Pomodoro technique Sand Timers for measuring work blocks and Pomodoros Thank You For Being Late by Thomas Friedman Bullet Journaling Official Bullet Journal getting started page Lifehacker dot journaling overview Ryan McRae’s excellent resource guide to Bullet Journaling HBR: Having Your Smartphone Nearby Takes a Toll on Your Thinking Forest App Self Control website blocker for Mac Wait But Why Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 54: Each Day Counts with Greg DeKoenigsberg appeared first on John Poelstra.

In this episode I share the experience of following an inkling I had and the ways I was rewarded. I also share a simple process for capturing your beliefs.   Highlights One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization by Dee Hock Dee Hock’s Twitter feed is full of wisdom My version of “drunk dialing” Self-management and living in the moment applies to good coaching and most areas of life Stephen Warley at Life Skills That Matter Stephen’s Beliefs If you are are a solopreneuer people are likely “buying you” The importance of being clear about what you believe Clarity on our own beliefs builds resonance with others Have you ever deeply respected another person that didn’t really stand for anything? Steps to creating your own beliefs statement Commit to the process Distraction free Water and snacks Set period of time with a timer Start an empty document with “I believe …” written at the top Gather books and resources that inform you Look at what’s underneath things that frustrate you Write (without a filter) for a set amount of time Group and distill the things you’ve written down I’d love to see your beliefs if you’ d like to share them. Send them to me! John’s Beliefs Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 53: Follow Your Inklings & Capture Your Beliefs appeared first on John Poelstra.

Ryan McRae helps adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) live more effectively. Ryan explains how ADHD affects his life, how he deals with it, and the benefits he’s found from having it. He also explains how he helps people live above it. Conversation Notes ADHD comes in three flavors 1) Inattentive 2) Hyperactive 3) Inattentive & Hyperactive (known as “combined”) The importance of going to a clinician to get a professional diagnosis Different ways ADHD can be managed The advantages and blessings of ADHD Ryan’s favorite information collection tool is Evernote Ryan’s favorite newsletter is Recomendo Give yourself some kindness and grace Shame and condemnation is the dark side of ADHD Shameful people are not productive. Shameful people are not creative Ryan loves having a Field Notes notebook and a pen for capture in the moment It avoids the distraction barrier of using your phone in front of other people The importance of capturing thoughts in the moment instead of putting it off Quickly and efficiently in whatever form works Voice memo, mind maps, Evernote, etc. Make sure you have one single capture place Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 52: Understanding ADHD with Ryan McRae appeared first on John Poelstra.

Join me in this riff about email handling and getting your important work into the world.   Episode Takeaways Stop the flood of email and regain your sanity by putting your email client in “offline mode” Deal with what you have Turn it back on when you’re ready The world will not stop spinning or come to an end if you don’t check your email for an hour or two Disable all notifications for new messages Set the interval that your client checks for mail to never or a high number… you’ll go looking for new messages soon enough Disable email on your phone for the weekend and see how it feels Over a week, take note of the number of times an instant reply was truly required Push against the norms and see what you can get away with Is it a negative voice or gremlin that’s telling you that you must check your email? Harness that level of clarity you have first thing in the day If you wake up with something negative rattling around in your head, write about it. Don’t worry about complete sentences Avoid checking and reading the news first thing How many of the things you read about can you really respond to or do anything about them? Does it matter if you find out about it later? How often are you responding to email out of fear of something going wrong or “really bad will happen” versus a conscious activity We train people over time how we will respond to to email This creates an expectation that we will continue in the same way Create a definition of “what really bad” would be for you to get in “trouble” and then reflect on the chances of it happening You probably have a track record and history and “deposits in the bank” that mean you can probably afford to goof up How much your email checking habit is an ego thing? Are you solving everyone else’s problems and avoiding your own by mowing through your email? Set a timer and a fixed period of time… preferably a kitchen timer or sand timer (NOT your iDistractor) Experiment with the notion of intentional imperfection and see what you learn Deep Work by Cal Newport on the importance of focusing and going deep when we work Put your thoughts and learnings out into the world! Even if it feels scary Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 51: Email is Overrated appeared first on John Poelstra.

In this episode I read a letter I wrote to myself encouraging me to keep showing up while calling out the things I to need stop doing. I encourage you to write your own Dear John letter and break up with the unhelpful parts of your brain and share it with me. It’s more powerful than it sounds.   Notes Listen to the episode to hear what I wrote Wikipedia’s explanation of a Dear John letter Write your own letter to yourself You might be shocked at how helpful and powerful it is to do Rick Tamlyn (mastermind facilitator, author, speaker, coach) Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 50: How to Break Up with the Unhelpful Parts of Your Brain appeared first on John Poelstra.

John and Tina Robinson, CEO of WorkJoy, LLC, explore the notion of “coping” and nuances of what it means as it relates to handling situations or problems in our lives. Tina is saving the world by transforming how we think and feel about “work.” Sign-up to join John at a virtual live event to discuss this topic more and be coached around something you’re coping with. Coaching is a powerful mechanism to engage change in people’s lives When coaching isn’t working, client and coach have a responsibility to name it and take a time-out How would you define the notion of “coping?” Coping has positive and negative sides The importance of the client’s definition of a term and not the coach’s–get curious! What are you choosing? Not being at choice is often an indicator of something that needs to be explored Take an extreme imaginary perspective that your situation has turned out amazing and work backwards from there to figure out what some constructive steps might be Using personal values or life purpose as a way to explore what’s important and discover ways to rise above the situation and make it positive Acknowledging and appreciating personal preferences without judgement Getting unstuck requires an internal or external change Internal = mindset External = environment or circumstances If we aren’t willing to make an internal or external change we will be stuck Gradual changes or nudges might be the best approach vs. a radical transformation Sometimes self-care is an important first step Coaching is more than a “Jedi mind trick” and everyone should consider it, says Tina About Tina Robinson Tina’s background and experience WorkJoy Coaching Attend John’s Upcoming Live Discussion On May 15, 2018, at 11 a.m. pacific (2 p.m. eastern) time we’re meeting on Zoom to discuss what “coping” means to you Bring a real situation you’d like to be coached by John on Sign-up Now There will be no recording or replays due to the personal nature of this event Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 49: Is Coping a Cop-out? with Tina Robinson appeared first on John Poelstra.

Enjoy this conversation with Josh Bressers, product security at Elastic and former colleague at Red Hat. Josh answers my questions about password management, general computer security and what matters (or doesn’t) in today’s predominantly online world.   Discussion Highlights How John and Josh met at Red Hat Reliving the old days of testing and releasing security updates Considering overall return on investment (ROI) of your approach to security How do we know that these password managers are really secure? We can’t know with complete certainty What happens if your password manager is compromised and how you would recover? Ultimately you can’t control where your data is stored when you enter “the cloud” Lastpass and 1Password appear to be the leading solutions Backup schemes and philosophies Understanding two factor authentication and its benefits Duo Security “Good enough” vs. “perfect” security Yubikey 4 (two-factor authentication token) You have to draw a line somewhere when you plan around all of the “what if” scenarios of something going bad or getting compromised Making decisions in a way that results in a “hard yes” How becoming a product manager opened Josh’s eyes to the downside of complexity and the importance of practicality Josh’s preference for locked down devices like the iPhone, iPad and Google Chrome Books Dropbox is not secure as some people think Learn More about Josh Bressers @joshbressers on Twitter Josh Bressers’ website Open Source Security Podcast LinkedIn Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 48: Practical Password Security with Josh Bressers appeared first on John Poelstra.

Here’s a riff on what I’ve been learning since the last update and my challenge to consider different perspectives around the notion of time.   Highlights Learning can come from anything, including things that don’t happen Bouncing between lots of different tasks and projects is tiring and unsatisfying Decluttering pro-tip: take everything out of a particular close and only return the stuff that is staying Taking the whole week of spring off was just what I needed Are you “creating” or “reacting” ? Creating is better You can’t do both at the same time Reacting is exhausting The collective power of a group of people to give input into your life and business from the mastermind format Embracing the ups and downs (being with them) instead of trying to make them go away as quickly as possible Removing and avoiding personal judgment Staying out of the comparison game to other people Going for a walk and giving your brain a problem to solve on that walk Inspired by Deep Work by Cal Newport Three important topics that came from my walk Relationships Business building Time & Rest Missing conviction and commitment to my revenue goal for 2018 I’m having an upcoming Zoom call for people that want “more” from their life or business Get on my list to be notified about it Doubling down on theming my work What does it mean if there’s something you want, but you aren’t consistently working to get it? Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 47: Expanding Perspectives Around Time appeared first on John Poelstra.

Mike Vardy from The Productivityist shares practical details about his approach to planning and managing the things he wants to accomplish through the use of themes, modes and energy levels.   Discussion Highlights John’s dislike for overly complex plans and the wasted time it takes to manage them Planning has value, to a point “In preparing for battle I’ve also found that plans are useless and planning is indispensable” — Dwight Eisenhower The difference between “complicated” and “complex” plans Finding the “Getting Things Done” (GTD) methodology to be too rigid and not “human” enough Giving each day a theme that reflects the rhythms and constraints of your life Selecting tasks and projects based on your energy level and daily theme vs. looking at your list of things to do and just picking something You still have to have discipline when following your feelings or energy level Frameworks foster freedom “working by project” vs. theme or task Life doesn’t have an “off season” New years resolutions don’t work If you’re going to plan something for a whole year, make it something small that you can do everyday like journaling or meditating Theming provides a way to funnel or filter your focus. Theming is a much better guide to what you should do next after a meeting ends instead of checking your email Themes may overlap between business and personal Other times separate themes may make more sense Mike catalogs a variety of different theme ideas In environments where theming doesn’t work consider modes instead Mike finds that the best way to avoid restarting is daily journaling Practical steps to getting started with theming Look out three weeks on your calendar and look for certainties or patterns of what happens on certain days Don’t define a day as “free” Try a horizontal theme like reading every day for 30 minutes Add a “mode” to each task The year is both long and short–breaking it down into smaller chunks is valuable Work in the ways that work best for you–not what others say should work best for you Books & Resources The Now Year Action Plan course by Mike Vardy The Productivityist Podcast hosted by Mike Vardy and produced by John Poelstra The Road to Character by David Brooks Lessons In Manliness: Benjamin Franklin’s Pursuit of the Virtuous Life from the Art of Manliness Three Words for the Year via Chris Brogan The Night Owl Action Plan by Mike Vardy Mike Vardy on Twitter Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 46: Theme Your Way to Greater Productivity with Mike Vardy appeared first on John Poelstra.

Getting off track happens in just about every area of life. It’s inevitable that things are going to get off track and not go as planned. The key to overall success is how you get going again when you have a setback. Here are some ideas to get you restarted.   This quote from Michael Hyatt’s podcast episode “How to Develop More Discipline” has always stuck with me. Nothing is more important than consistently restarting. That’s really the measure of success. Not the fact that you start and you have a linear progression towards a goal and achieve it without any setbacks. That almost never happens to anyone who sets out to accomplish something big. It’s just part of the process that you are going to encounter adversity. At the end of the day it’s not really about what you accomplish, but it’s what you are becoming. It takes adversity to shape our character Ways to Recover and Restart Allow time for thrash and whatever… it’s inefficient and that’s okay Tune up your todo list Think of the easiest thing you can do and do it Clean your office or workspace Just start on something and do it even if you aren’t sure if you have enough time Initiate a challenge Other Resources The Productivity Planner by Intelligent Design Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 45: Restarting is Key to Long Term Success appeared first on John Poelstra.

This conversation with Ron Renaud (coach, author, podcaster, and trainer) explores the topics of truth, freedom, personal growth, taking responsibility and more. Topics Discussed Tough love for the purpose of growth Being faithful to the role you are in Clarity and truth as guideposts to helping people grow Speaking the hard truth and being willing to accept it The law of compensation Are you creating “more heaven” or “more hell” in the world? Cleaning up and taking responsibility for the messes we create Internal and external freedom Natural rights and responsibilities Combatting the notion of “not having enough time” When will enough by enough? Get really clear on what your roles are–write them out Making the world better starts with you cleaning up your own act and working on yourself Consciously choosing “no” Chris Brogan’s “Going on a Media Diet“ Books and Suggested Resources Jordan Peterson’s books 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson How to stay on course Avoid making the “exceptions” the “rules” of our lives Victim vs. responsible Ways to be on the lookout for a”victim mindset” creeping in “I have a good reason to make an exception now” Keeping the agreements we make with ourselves “It’s his fault” “It should be different” Meet & Listen to Ron Renaud Podcast: Uncompromised Talk Website: RonRenaud.com Facebook: RonRenaudCoach Twitter: @Ron_Renaud Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 44: Seeking Truth and Living Uncompromised with Ron Renaud appeared first on John Poelstra.

In February I learned to embrace the emotional roller coaster of building your own business. I was surprised how quickly a “low” could turn into a “high” and then back into a “low.” Highlights I am dropping the “experiment” label from what I’m up to–I’m all in on this business building thing Loving the ability to focus 100% on personal development work What I did in February Continuing to work with my existing clients and look for new ones Continuing to coach through A Social Ignition as a coach to an entrepreneurial program in a local prison Reading: A Second Chance: For You, For Me, And For The Rest Of Us by Catherine Hoke Gifted to me by John Wall from Marketing Over Coffee Finalized my messaging which filtered into several web page updates and my new offering What I Learned The benefits of a break and the ability to focus–I’m getting getting clearer and clear on what I’m up to The Entrepreneurial emotional roller coaster is all too real Expect the emotional highs to be high and the lows to be low Expect those emotions to change rapidly The benefits of blowing off a whole day and getting out of town to reset Cooper Spur Mountain Resort — A great affordable place to ski on the backside of Mount Hood, particularly if you buy the family pass WAAM — Excellent Auto and Airplane museum in Hood River, Oregon Could there be a way to get away at least one a month or every other month? Things often take longer than they appear, but if you keep showing up, over time you’ll accomplish more than you think you can Follow those “inklings” and get on the phone with people, even if you aren’t sure what you want to talk about How to Move Forward When Visibility is Limited (042) — turns out it’s good advice Just about anything can inform you–going for a walk with the recorder rolling to capture your thoughts Feedback (positive and negative) is a gift Speak to what isn’t working Being bold with your coach can take things to the next level Review of Monthly Themes January – Start Lay the foundation and let’s get rolling Administration & Creation Getting the house in order February – Messaging Continue foundation work Heavy focus on messaging and what I’m about Wrote and published my manifesto Really fun to share with people–struck a chord with some Interviewed various people that I could hire to upgrade my website The time for doing it all myself is over I came to the conclusion that what I really need is a designer Finished coaching offers/packages Much easier having gotten clear on message and what I’m offering Providing as “packages” not “month to month” or “hourly” Started updating web pages March – Promote Finish web page updates Polish my new coaching/consulting/mentoring offering Promote my message and enhance my presence on social platforms April – We’ll see Theme is less clear Could be that we iterate through the previous loop (foundation –> message –> promote) Drive traffic to established landing pages Build mailing list and create some type of incentive to sign up for my list If you are interested in doing work together, it all starts with a conversation to find out what you’re up to and how I might help. We’ll talk about a real situation you want to improve so you get a sense of what it’s like to work with me. Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 43: Riding the Roller Coaster of February appeared first on John Poelstra.

How do you move forward when you aren’t sure what to do next? How do you escape the trap of continuing to need more information before you make your next move? You move.   Highlights It’s tempting to want 100% clarity before taking action and yet that clarity often only comes by taking action The benefits of perspective from other people Coach Mentor Someone that’s not you Deep planning can be a huge procrastination trap because there is no way to 100% know the future and unexpected things come up 99% of the time (that’s a made up statistic) Strange to hear from a project manager Overly-detailed plans can be a waste of time I’ve rarely (never?) created a WBS (work breakdown structure) for a project I’ve never managed a project to a Gantt chart Planning is one of the best, sneakiest procrastination tools of all The story of how John got into podcasting, met Stephen Warley of Life Skills That Matter and produced other podcasts When you have an inkling Start moving Make it small Define success in small ways Give it time to grow Keep showing up on a consistent basis Even if you doubt it’s quality Even if you aren’t sure where it’s going Clarity comes as you iterate and following the inklings before you Work in Themes Mike Vardy has a whole methodology around theming–look for him in a future podcast If you are working towards a larger goal, consider theming your: Days Weeks Months Year Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 42: How to Move Forward When Visibility is Limited appeared first on John Poelstra.

Here’s what I learned, experienced and accomplished in month #1 of “The Experiment.” Accomplishments, Experiences & Learning A lot of this getting started / setup stuff takes a lot longer than you think Meeting lots of people virtually and in person takes lots of time Use Trello as a CRM to keep track of the people I talk to, topics, next date to contact, etc. Getting lots of foundational things done—different kinds of insurance, estate planning, etc. Recorded four new episodes for this podcast to establish continuity Going forward my goal is to publish an episode at least every other week It takes time and experimentation to determine what the right volunteer situations are and if the return-on-investment has the right mix Mastermind meeting in Los Angeles with Rick Tamlyn was fantastic Personal ownership is going to be a big theme of the work I’m doing—see my new manifesto about what I believe Personal development, human potential and personal ownership is the focus of my work while downplaying the term “coaching” I went away with a ton of things to work out and ways to build out the things I’m working on Overwhelm and chaos are positive contributors to learning Resources supporting these ideas Order out of Chaos–Learning to Embrace Uncertainty by Mel Schwartz One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization by Dee Hock I may reinvest in the podcasting space with a pivot towards more consulting around getting started and establishing workflows for high volume production I got really clear about what I believe by writing down 100+ things that I believe Turned that into a page on my website Will also filter into the various offerings I provide Also continuing to wrap up my certification as a coach for Tilt365.com (completed!) It takes a lot of time to get started, but you just have to do it and get started Sometimes that means simply sitting down and grinding it out Zoom is a pretty solid video meeting platform and I’m using it for a lot of meetings people like to complain about them all seems better than BlueJeans and Google+ Theming my weeks and months is going to become incredibly important to prioritize and avoid overwhelm Be sure to check out a future episode I’m doing with Mike Vardy You can’t do this stuff in a vacuum and to maximize my time and efforts I’ve hired a new coach It’s a conscious mixture of consulting, business development, mentoring and coaching Helping me stay focused and accountable It’s expensive which I’m as a motivator and means of accountability I made a conscious decision to STOP attending free online training courses and webinars and get things done instead! When it’s time to double down on learning in the future I will For now, I know what to do. I simply need to do it! I have the best energy, concentration and insights at the start of the day The best deep work happens first thing Putting more boundaries around my time to make sure the right things are getting done at the right times. Changed up my coaching schedule Moving more meetings and networking calls to the afternoon when cognition isn’t as great Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 41: What I Learned in Month #1 of The Experiment appeared first on John Poelstra.

This episode explores the balance between honoring people and expanding professional opportunities in the context of networking. It was sparked by Laura Dreyer’s comment on a previous blog post about valuing people for who they are and not what they do. I also share my best advice for approaching networking events if you dread or dislike them.   Ideas Take a “both and” perspective and approach Go with a plan and a specific mindset Set your own minimum success criteria Meet a certain number of people Stay for a certain amount of time Have a childlike curiosity–figure out what that other person is really about Listen with your whole being–check out “What is Good Listening? (014)“ Bring business cards–make your own for your side-hustle Vistaprint Moo Cards Topics and Resources Venture capitalist Brad Feld describes his experiences at an entrepreneurship program in a prison This inspired my own volunteer coaching work at a prison Vanessa Van Edwards gives interesting advice on social situations and reading other people Website Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People Magnet Networking events by Bassam Tarazi Icebreaker Questions by Claire Lew (not mentioned in the episode) Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 40: How to Make Networking Humane appeared first on John Poelstra.

Learn how saving more money isn’t always the answer and what’s possible when you look at something as an experiment. Stephen Warley also explains his belief that the nature of work is changing.   Stephen Warley runs a community and weekly podcast called Life Skills That Matter. He believes work as we know it is changing. Stephen is on a mission to spread that message and help people prepare for it. Important Highlights and Takeaways Self-employment is a more natural way of being human and being 100% yourself Trying self-employment for a year will teach you more than you ever imagined Working for yourself makes you more attractive to future employers should you decide that self-employment is not for you Working for yourself is a shift in self-identity The hardest question you’ll ever answer for yourself is “What do I want?” The industrial revolution let us put off thinking about and getting clear about what we really want Technology we have created is now forcing us to answer it What we really want will translate into the work we do If you are feeling overwhelmed by a big project or a dream you have, write out a recipe for you what you think is involved: What are all the ingredients you think you need? What do do you think the steps are? Who can you ask for help? What’s the smallest next step you can take (even if it feels too small)? You are self-employed the minute you decide to work on your own terms Make calendar appointments with yourself–YOU are your most important customer Be aware of past failings or disappointments you may be interpreting the future with Looking at John’s next step as an “experiment” opened up so many new possibilities because there could be no “failure” This is the future of work Increasing uncertainty will require continuous iteration Self-reflection becomes an important part of this process as well Each week Stephen checks in with himself (self-reflection) to evaluate what is working and what is not working If experiencing a series of negative thoughts, write them all out and get clear on what’s going on Being stuck is a positive thing It doesn’t mean something is wrong with you Acknowledge it as a sign that something needs to change If You’re at a Company How can you start showing up now as an entrepreneur or consultant at your company now? How could that change your mindset and the way you approach your work? Get really clear on how much money you (not anyone else) need each month to live “Your Number” is your number–it’s person specific Provides freedom and clarity by breaking fears down into real numbers This helps dictate how many customers you need or what your projected monthly income needs to be You might be surprised to learn that the amount you need is much less than you assumed Tuning your resume is the wrong first step in the job search process. Instead: Get really clear and define the type of work you want to do and are passionate about Find companies doing the kind of work you want to do Tailor your resume to those desires Resources You Need a Budget (YNAB) – Excellent personal financial management and planning software Mr. Money Mustache Lifestyle Financial Calculator – figure out how much money you really need each month Life Skills That Matter podcast – learn the life skills you need to work for yourself and get encouragement from the stories of others Security & Uncertainty – money doesn’t solve it Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 39: Are You Ready for the Changing Nature of Work? with Stephen Warley appeared first on John Poelstra.

  Today John and Alene Gabriel talk about how she quit her corporate job to go out on her own as a coach and how John is pursuing a similar, but different path.   Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source Music licensed under Creative Commons The post 38: Taking a Break & Experimenting with Self-Employment appeared first on John Poelstra.

This episodes looks at how I use Trello to manage my tasks and todos. Resources Mentioned Using images to restore or recenter you Sustaining Your Peak and Avoiding Burnouts with Brad Stulberg podcast interview with Pete Mockaitis Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success (affiliate) by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness Reflections on the Book Peak Performance (028) by John Poelstra Enable Your Board of Advisors & Fight Your Inner Critics (032) by John Poelstra Kanban Task Tracking That’s Not Overwhelming or Depressing (023)   Music Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 37: How I Use Trello to Manage Tasks and Todos appeared first on John Poelstra.

If you want to have the best coaching session possible, prepare an agenda in advance. Not sure what to put on your agenda? Here are some ideas.   Prompts to help clarify your coaching agenda What are you tolerating in your life? What are you avoiding? What’s not getting done? Is there a commitment you are not meeting? Where would you like to have more impact? Is there a relationship you are unsatisfied with or that you’d like to be better? Are there gremlins or inner critics holding you back? How are things going related to the desired outcomes that brought you to coaching? Resources Mentioned Tilt 365 Strengths Assessment Enable Your Board of Advisors & Fight Your Inner Critics (032) Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 36: Get More From Your Coaching Session With an Agenda appeared first on John Poelstra.

You’re thinking about holding and facilitating a meeting. Here are some questions to determine if it is a good idea and how to plan for success.   Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 35: Questions to Ask About Meetings You Want to Hold appeared first on John Poelstra.

Asking one question is more powerful than asking three. Creating a new blog post is often better than polishing an old one. This episode is a good example. I’m not convinced I presented the material as well as I could have. I could continue to edit or re-record, but I’m erring on the side of “shipping.” Let me know if that was a good idea. Resources Mentioned Feedly RSS reader Unread iOS RSS reader Sweetsetup website — excellent guides to the best Apple apps and applications Credits Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Original photo source All songs licensed under Creative Commons The post 34: Create New Instead of Revising Old appeared first on John Poelstra.