Life Passion and Business

This week my shortcast reflection is about the importance of seizing the moment and making the best of the journey. But more than that, it is about why this is so important now. 

Back in the 1950’s men retired at 65 and had a few years pottering in the garden before keeling over after a lifetime of hard work. But life expectancy in the first world has increased significantly since then.

The interesting fact is that most of us will outlive our working years by decades. If we want that life to be interesting, meaningful and useful it is going to take some planning.

So, how will you or I stay relevant in a world that is constantly changing?

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/

Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

Claudia Goetzelmann has a knack for seeking out the hidden beauty in people and in situations, even in death. She also has an implicit trust that life will support her. How does she use this to express her passion? Through photography, and coaching women through midlife transitions.

If you listened to my shortcast a couple of weeks ago, you will know that I danced with the idea of going into photography when I left school. I allowed myself to be persuaded that this was not a good idea and my life took a very different path.

Claudia’s passion for photography started a lot earlier in life. At just four years old she started taking pictures with a little Kodak camera which is still a treasured family possession. Maybe it was this long romance with photography that eventually gave her the courage to follow her dream career, even though she was strongly advised against it by her German parents.

Full overview of this podcast along with Claudia’s website and social links are all available at:

http://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/claudia-goetzelmann-living-photography

Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.

There is a lot to gain from listening to other people’s stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.

For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support For Podcasters:

Running a podcast is fun, but it takes time and dedication. Whenever you enjoy a podcast please share your appreciation with comments, likes, shares and reviews. It helps other listeners find good content and supports the content creators and their guests.

Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion

This week’s shortcast explores the question “Who am I?” and is a follow up to last week’s conversation around passion and work.  

If you tune in regularly, you will be familiar with the conversation about bringing your passion to the work that you do. Last week I pondered the question about the need for this and came to my own conclusion. 

It fits with the idea that no matter what we do in life, our passion and mission will always find a way out. It gets expressed because that is who we are and may be what we are here to do.

But what does a job look like if you are not clear about your mission or your purpose? And how do you discover what you are really passionate about when you are not sure? 

I have been there and on some level I was resisting my calling for years. And yet when I took the time to do the work and answer the above questions I discovered that I had been following my passion and bringing it into my work all along.

This week I will take you on my journey of discovery and reveal the tools that I found most beneficial. I will share what I discovered and of course there is the usual invitation for you to take this voyage of discovery for yourself.

Here are the links I mention in this shortcast:

The 16 personalities test:  https://16personalities.com

The Spark-E-Type test:  https://sparketype.com/sparketest/

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/

Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

Miriam Ismail exudes passion for life and always has. She credits her optimistic outlook to her mother and says she has always had the capacity to see the positive side of things, even when they are challenging.

Through our conversation you will discover how she has combined her passion and zest for life with her desire to enable others to excel in their own purpose and ‘mission’ in life.

I asked Miriam what she wanted to share with my viewers and she responded with the three things she wants to share with you.

The first is to know that we are energy beings having a human experience and we are here on a mission. Once we know and understand this our whole perspective changes.

She recommends treating time efficiently and wisely and she also suggests focusing on learning and evolving in whatever topic you are aligned with. 

Miriam believes these three things offer the ultimate step to having a fulfilling life. She believes this is because everything we learn takes us further into life and that is where we will learn what our true calling and ‘mission’ in life is.

Although we come at life from different backgrounds and perspectives there is a lot of alignment in what Miriam and I want for our clients. If you would like to learn more about Miriam and her eclectic approach to alternative therapies you will find all the links to her website and social channels at:

http://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/miriam-ismail-passion-for-life

Through this link you will also have access to the coaching and other resources I offer.

Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.

There is a lot to gain from listening to other people’s stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.

For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support For Podcasters:

Running a podcast is fun, but it takes time and dedication. Whenever you enjoy a podcast please share your appreciation with comments, likes, shares and reviews. It helps other listeners find good content and supports the content creators and their guests.

Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion

Are you passionate about your work?
Do you think passion is required to do a job well?
Should we even be considering chasing passion in a career?
Or should we save passion for our hobbies? 

This exploration comes out of my conversation with this week’s podcast guest Shaahin Cheyene. On the programme he says that he is not passionate about what he does, and that he does not encourage people to follow their passion in their work. 

I had mixed views about this, so decided to explore it in the shortcast by reviewing my own career. In this show I share my personal experiences and what I have learned from others.

Having revealed what I have discovered, I then offer some suggestions and exercises for you to explore your own passion and how it manifests in your work and hobbies.

The exercises are also available in writing on the website page:

http://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/is-passion-required-shortcast

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Other Events and Resources: www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Audience Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/audience-survey/
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

This week's conversation with Shaahin Cheyene is a classic true life Rags to Riches story. From poor beginnings, Shaahin made more money before he was 20 than most of us could make in many lifetimes. So, although this podcast isn't about building financial wealth, I was intrigued to find out what motivates someone to get out of bed each morning when they don't need to.

Faking his ID, Shaahin found work and lived rough in abandoned buildings or cars. That is where he discovered the Rave Scene and loved it. It fitted his life style, plus there were people making lots of money. This was the era of MDMA or Ecstasy and it was the drug dealers who ran the scene and accumulated wealth.

A life of crime was not what he was looking for, but it did get him thinking about the possibility of making something like Ecstasy that was not illegal.

“I was Foolish enough to not know I could fail”

That naive faith did the trick and Shaahin was successful in developing the first legal Herbal Ecstasy. With equal blind faith, he managed to persuade the drug dealers to believe in him and within just a few years the product was available in 30,000 stores across the USA. Shaahin was not even 20 years old when his company hit $1Billion in sales.

Shaahin Cheyene's story is about making it big early in life and not stopping there. He went on to create more world-changing inventions; the first mind-enhancing Nootropics and early work with Vaping systems. He holds patents on numerous ideas and inventions and has also written 4 books. His latest entitled ‘Billion’ came out last month.

I hope you enjoy this lively exchange with Shaahin Cheyene and that you find inspiration from his story.

The ‘Amazon Mastery’ course is available via his website and there is a video on his home page where you can access the course by clicking the orange button in the top right corner. 

His new book ‘Billion’ covers the full story of his amazing life journey and he has a YouTube channel and his own podcast ‘Hack and Grow Rich”.

All these links, along with other useful links and the full text for this podcast are available at:-

http://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/shaahin-cheyene-rags-to-riches

Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.

There is a lot to gain from listening to other people’s stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.

For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support For Podcasters:

Running a podcast is fun, but it takes time and dedication. Whenever you enjoy a podcast please share your appreciation with comments, likes, shares and reviews. It helps other listeners find good content and supports the content creators and their guests.

Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion

Is grind and punishment your thing, or do you prefer something a little more gentle?

Grind and punishment is not some strange S&M kink, but it could be as damaging. This week I am exploring the other side of getting stuff done. The grueling push that can be addictive or even a form of self punishment.

I’m talking about pulling the all-nighter, sucking up the pain, pushing through and wearing that achievement like a badge of commitment to the cause.

For some it works, and there’s a whole culture and industry built around this idea that success, achievement and progress requires self sacrifice. So if that’s your thing and you thrive on it, good for you. I’m not here to tell you it’s wrong.

But it’s not for everyone. In fact for some it’s a point of shame and in this show I will explore some of the hidden messages around this mindset. Personally, I spent a long time trying to discover why I was different and feeling like a failure. What I discovered is there is another way. It’s kinder, less grueling and very effective.

So if grind and punishment is not your thing, some of the tips I offer might be the alternative you are looking for.

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

Events and Resources: www.lifepassionandbusiness.com
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Audience Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/audience-survey/
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

This week I am with Steve Gerein, a musician, entrepreneur, dream follower and co-founder of SongShop an online platform dedicated to bringing musicians and songwriters together.

Our conversation is testament to the benefits of coming to personal development work early and the recognition that we are in charge of what we get out of life and how we feel about it. 

As mentioned in my shortcast on Sunday, Steve is one of my younger guests who are taking the information that is readily available and running with it. There really is no excuse any more, Personal Development is mainstream and everything you need to know is available online.

I hope you enjoy this conversation and take inspiration from it.

Full Text for this post along with Steve’s website and social links are all available at:

http://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/steve-gerein-songshop

Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.

There is a lot to gain from listening to other people’s stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.

For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support For Podcasters:

Running a podcast is fun, but it takes time and dedication. Whenever you enjoy a podcast please share your appreciation with comments, likes, shares and reviews. It helps other listeners find good content and supports the content creators and their guests.

Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion

Welcome to another Sunday reflection.  Today’s topic is about excuses or, to be more precise, the lack of.

My guest on the next podcast is Steven Gerein. He’s just one of the many amazing young people I am having conversations with. These are people in their 20’s and 30’s who have already made the choice to step away from the success model and forge a path of their own and their stories are always worth listening to. (Links below).

But what has occurred to me this week, is how much life has changed since I was their age.

In my youth friends stepped out from the norm to go backpacking across the Andes or took a trip to India and other remote places before settling down to the expected career path. 

The thing is these exciting trips into the unknown were much more serious back then. Thanks to the internet, today it is much easier to plan ahead and have a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips whenever you need it. In my youth communication was restricted to letter writing or landline phone calls. So making an urgent link back home was a challenge. You were very much on your own. 

This also applied to stepping out of the norm to follow the path of personal development. Finding books and speakers required a challenging search and daring to talk about it with friends and colleagues meant being thought of as weird or going insane. Even now, only 10% of the world actively look to change their life, the other 90% are happy to take life as it comes.

So you, my friend, listening to this are probably one of the 10% and you are more privileged than ever before. In this conversation I talk more about the opportunities available to you. Everything you need is out there for the taking.

Links to the guests I mention in this conversation are available on the website:
http://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/no-excuses-shortcast

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

Events and Resources: www.lifepassionandbusiness.com
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Audience Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/audience-survey/
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

Our conversation today is about dysfunctional relationships. It’s about self sabotage and living with faulty relationship models that lead to unhealthy connections. It is why the world is filled with so many psychopaths and narcissists. But bear with me, this story does have a happy ending.

Growing up John Kenny had no idea what he wanted to be or do. He wandered from one thing to another until he finally had the wake up call he needed. What he discovered was he had spent his whole life dating his Dad, and ended up marrying his Mum!

Today John is a relationship coach, fusing together his life experience, counselling, coaching and NLP skills to create his own coaching model (IRC) for relationships. He is passionate about this work, it feeds his soul.

I enjoyed this conversation with John Kenny and we did well to contain it within the time, I hope you discover something useful by it 

My full text for this post along with John Kenny’s website and social links are all available at:

www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/john-kenny-dysfunctional-relationships

Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.

There is a lot to gain from listening to other people’s stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.

For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support For Podcasters:

Running a podcast is fun, but it takes time and dedication. Whenever you enjoy a podcast please share your appreciation with comments, likes, shares and reviews. It helps other listeners find good content and supports the content creators and their guests.

Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion

This week’s topic, ‘Perks or Purpose?’ is prompted by I post I came across in LinkedIn about companies who are loosing staff at an alarming rate.

It’s a phenomenon that is being noticed by large organizations across the world who are employing some of the best in their industry. They offer incentives such as free lunches, ping-pong tables, beer on tap and all sorts of other wild perks that are aimed at luring people in and keeping them. In the past this seemed to work and yet now they are noticing it isn’t.

They are calling this phenomenon The Great Resignation and these companies are really surprised that people are actually looking for something more than salary and perks. I have to admit this makes me chuckle, because I don’t see this as a great surprise at all!

Given that we have just spent the last 18 months, mostly working from home with the threat of a global pandemic hanging over our heads, it seems really obvious to me that people would start questioning what they are doing and what makes life worthwhile. It’s something that comes up time and time again in the podcast and it’s something that hits many people when they reach a certain stage in life (better known as midlife crisis). When people are hit by a shifting moment they re-evaluate.

So what does make life worthwhile and how do we re-evaluate what we want? I hope you’ll listen in for my thoughts on this and some tips on how to move forward.

For links to the original report, the LinkedIn post and a list of Values visit:

https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/perks-or-purpose-shortcast/

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

Events and Resources: www.lifepassionandbusiness.com
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Audience Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/audience-survey/
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

At 16 Rich Morley was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, by 30 he was medically retired and living on benefits, today he is fully recovered and supporting others to turn their own lives around. How did he do it? Through the healing power of Tai chi.

This remarkable story is a lesson in never giving up, even when the medical profession has given up on you. It is about discovering what is possible beyond medical intervention. And it is about harnessing the power of belief to turn your life around.

As our conversation unfold you will gain an insight into the history and power of Tai chi both as an aid to healing and as a martial art practice.

If you would like more information about Rich Morley you will find access to his website and social links along with my full text for this podcast at:

www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/rich-morley-the-healing-power-of-tai-chi

Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.

There is a lot to gain from listening to other people’s stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.

For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support For Podcasters:

Running a podcast is fun, but it takes time and dedication. Whenever you enjoy a podcast please share your appreciation with comments, likes, shares and reviews. It helps other listeners find good content and supports the content creators and their guests.

Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion

“You become what you believe”  is a quote from Oprah Winfrey. 

The full quote is actually “You become what you believe, not what you think or what you want.” The reason it prompts this week’s podcast topic is because it is the question posed to viewers of a recent Netflix box set I have been watching.

Despite contrary belief, I do still enjoy a good box set on Netflix. So over the last couple of weeks my wife and I have been following Messiah. It’s the story of a man who is professed as being a Messiah and gains international recognition for performing miracles. The Oprah quote is carved into the table of a diner where one of the characters is sitting, and is the point in question for viewers to take away and ponder for themselves.

The reason I bring this up is because it ties in well with last week’s conversation with Nate Rifkin and the forthcoming conversation with Rich Morley that will be released on Wednesday. It is something that comes up time and time again in the podcast and in personal development. In researching this, I also notice that it is even raised in the bible: Matthew 9:29-30

This shortcast explores the power of belief and offers suggestions for changing our lives through changing our beliefs.

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

Events and Resources: www.lifepassionandbusiness.com
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Audience Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/audience-survey/
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

Have you ever had one of those moments when facing reality makes you want to reach for the vodka? If the answer is Yes then you may understand how today’s guest Nate Rifkin felt when a regular morning routine of Energy drinks combined with Vodka was preferable to facing the self hatred, career failure and loneliness of his life.

His turning point came whilst practicing Taoist meditation whilst standing on a street corner in a silly costume. Six years later, Nate is now happily married, a published author and is using his natural talents to develop a successful career.

What Nate Rifkin brings to this show is the clarity and freedom he discovered from facing the truth of his situation and using the path of inner change to empower him to take the small daily steps required to walk the path of outer change.

Full Text for this post along with my Guest’s website and social links are all available at:

www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/nate-rifkin-reality-or-vodka

Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.

There is a lot to gain from listening to other people’s stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.

For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com

Support For Podcasters:

Running a podcast is fun, but it takes time and dedication. Whenever you enjoy a podcast please share your appreciation with comments, likes, shares and reviews. It helps other listeners find good content and supports the content creators and their guests.

Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion

My conversation today is about the power of journaling and the importance of approval and validation.

As you may already know, I have a morning routine that includes writing. For me, this takes the form of asking questions and seeing what comes back. Recently I have been thinking about the Podcast and the direction it is going, and there was one question that came up and stopped me in my tracks:

Are you looking for approval?

The reflexive answer that came was:

I am looking to have meaning, to be of value to others in the world. So yes, I am looking for validation that I have a purpose here.

From this I suddenly realized how powerful validation is for all of us and how this connects back to seeking approval. It also demonstrates why I recommend journaling as a tool for accessing the deeper questions that can otherwise be left unrecognized and unexplored.

I hope you find my reflections and explorations helpful in your own journey and that you will consider validating what you learn from it.

Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interview with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer.

Events and Resources: www.lifepassionandbusiness.com
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Audience Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/audience-survey/
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/