Exploring the creativity of the human spirit with just five simple questions. Those questions give us a window to explore the journey and life story of people that look like they have it sorted.
Episodes
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
Scroll down for further details about today’s guest.
This morning I am making the most of this beautiful, sunny September weather (a rare blessing in the north of Scotland).
It has prompted me to finally clear out the garage which is something I have been putting off for months. I find myself stepping over ‘useful’ things that have been here a long time and as I started sifting through boxes that I haven’t opened in over 17 years I unearthed lots of ‘useful’ things.
This got me thinking about how we keep things or keep doing because we think they are useful. They may have been useful once, but are they still useful now?
My garage, like my office and my kitchen drawers are full of useful things that I haven’t used for years. Some I have even forgotten I have. The challenge is I hate putting useful things in the bin to be put into the ground, I have a thing about recycling and re-using so I end up holding on to loads of ‘useful’ things, old computer’s, folders, files, even battery chargers. The problem is I want it to be used, but haven’t quite worked out where.
So yesterday I started my Maria Condo thing. but instead of asking “does this bring me joy”, I was asking “will I ever use this, will I do anything useful with it”.
My computer is the same. It is cluttered with useful documents and files that I intend to do something with, and when I cleared out my father’s house after his death, that was the same. There were loads of tools and old tins of screws etc. that he never got round to doing anything with.
But it is not just the material objects we hang on to. There are things we do in our life, that we keep doing because we have always done them, because it was useful to do things that way at a certain point, but maybe it’s not useful to do them any more.
This reminded me of something Keith Blakemore-Nobel said in our last event. “When you’re young you’re told not to talk to strangers, but when you reach the age of 16+ not talking to strangers can be very restrictive in your life.
There are probably numerous things in our history, in our psyche in the way we do things that no longer apply, that are no longer useful.
So my suggestion is to reflect on what you have in your life that is no longer useful? Maybe it is time to replace “that could be useful” with “this is no longer useful to me”
So that is where clearing out the garage led me on this beautiful day. I hope you find some beauty where you are.
FOOTNOTE
I will be live on the Life Passion and Business Facebook page on Wednesday to tell you about a new event that goes live in the middle of November.
The next podcast is with Fear Strategist, Keith Blakemore-Noble and we will be discussing how he overcame his fears. Keith has published 3-4 books and his newest “The Masks We Wear”
It is nothing to do with Covid – he wrote it before all this began. The book is being launched on 26th September and will be available on Amazon at the exclusive price of just 79p (Link Here) and it comes with a package of loads of additional resources, so it is well worth ordering your copy before the price goes up.
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Scroll down for further details about today’s guest.
Networking has always been a natural human desire, and while there are some exceptions, most successful people like Matt Clark the Linkedin Rainmaker are those with expansive networks and connections.
To connect is part of the human condition; however, 2020 has been the year that redefined what it means to network, particularly in business.
As a long term user of social media channels, I have watched the pattern change over the last few months. At the beginning of the lockdown, many of the channels went quiet. However, since it became clear that COVID is going nowhere, my Linkedin channel has exploded with people looking to replace their networking options using this online tool.
Full marks for action but is it the right action when what they want is sales?
Sales for many people is a dirty word but the fact remains that everything we do in life is as the result of a sale of some sort. This week’s podcast is very relevant in a post COVID world as making sales will be key for many businesses returning to life after lockdown. So if you need to make sales and not be sleazy, this is worth a listen.
The Linkedin Rainmaker
My guest on the show is Matt Clark, known to many as the LinkedIn Rainmaker, he discovered from an early age that he loves to sell.
As a young 18 year old from South Africa living in the UK, he landed a door to door sales job. He was knocking on doors selling gas and electricity, but he had the spark and the zest for it, and was good at meeting the targets.
Regularly earning close to £1000 per week he knew he had found his role in life. It was big money for a young man, particularly as he came from a poor background; this job opened the opportunity for travel and discovery.
Are you familiar with Maslow and his hierarchy of needs? Once our basic needs are met, most people look towards self-improvement. Matt was no exception, he used his resources well.
Fast forward a few years and back in South Africa, he co-founded a telecom sales company at age 23 and grew that to more than 6M in sales in year 3. You guessed it; they did this with door to door sales.
But here is the thing, instead of enjoying this success he ended up completely burnt out. That business could not function without him; he was the sales kingpin, and they had built this business using a physical paper system, not a computer in sight..
Kelly Clark, Wesley Longueira, Matt Clark and Arthie MooreHe stopped knocking on the physical doors and worked out how he could do it virtually. This is the story of his journey into sales automation using online systems and networking skills. While it is about making sales, it is also about connecting with people and creating real relationships.
It is the story of how Matt went on to co-develop a flagship programme with his business partner, Wesley Longueira. Together they form the LinkedIn Rainmaker and have helped thousands of businesses in 26 countries grow exponentially.
They are now on a mission to reach 10k businesses worldwide and build a vibrant community of Rainmakers!
I hope you enjoy the conversation with Matt Clark.
If you would like to connect with Matt you can find him on Linkedin.
Send him a DM message to let him know that you heard him on this podcast.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mattclarksa
How would you answers these 5 questions and what do you think you would discover? Click here for the FREE 5 QUESTIONS WORKBOOK
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
It has been an interesting a week, if you follow my podcast or heard my personal shortcast last weekend you will know that I took my son to start his new life in university housing last week and I am starting my new life as an ’empty-nester’.
I have to say there have been a range of emotions passing through me: grief, joy, sadness and many more. Of course, I want my son to go off into the world and have a fantastic time, but that doesn’t change how I feel having lost my best friend.
It is the beginning of a fascinating journey, and has given me an insight into how estranged parents feel without access to their children or worse when parents literally lose a child. I haven’t lost mine, he is just 2 hours away, but he’s no longer in my daily life, and I’m having to readjust my day life and find new ways of being, filling the gap left behind.
COVID, the gift and curse, has given us an opportunity to be together at home every day for the last 6 months. I am so privileged to have had the opportunity to spend this unique time with my teenager.
His moving on has given me the chance to look at the idea of creating space around transitions, allowing space to be, so that new stuff can come in naturally.
In relationships, it is common for people to jump into a new relationship immediately, and is known as ‘rebound’ and I’m discovering that this rebound action could be applied to anything.
Recognising this, I have used this past week for slowing down and taking stock of what I want over the next period of my life. I joke about the idea that my son was an 18-year project that no longer needs my daily attention. Not true, he is texting daily, but that will slow over time.
The future looks bright. I’ve got lots of opportunities with the podcast, events and all sorts of projects in front of me. But I need to allow space and time to adjust, find my new daily rituals and breathe into the new life that I’m building.
My question to you this week is where are you allowing space and time to listen to the quiet opportunities that are looking to be born? I had an interesting catch-up chat with one of our guests from the last summit, Simon Jordan. He was saying that as entrepreneurs, we can make things happen, but the best results come when we allow things to flow. When we allow time and space for what is waiting to be born, things occurs in a state of natural flow rather than stress and struggle.
So I put this out to you: What are you giving time for, where are you making space so that you can reconnect with passion, excitement and joy?
Tickets for the last virtual summit are still available here.
How will you answers these 5 questions and what do you think you will discover?
Click here for the FREE 5 QUESTIONS WORKBOOK
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Scroll down for further details about today’s guest.
Over the last few weeks we decided to spring clean of the website and it is amazing what you find when you start digging into the archives.
Some of those early podcasts have great stories, that stand the test of time and of course being so early on in the life of this project they have not been seen by many people. With that in mind, I am returning this week to Martin Murray and the story of Rock Rose Gin.
Over the last 20 years the growth and interest in spirits in the UK has been enormous. First it was with the Whisky industry, then it was Vodka. I suspect the interest in Vodka came about because the younger generation didn’t like the alcohol their parents were drinking.
I remember when Hooch first went on sale. It was alcoholic lemonade, and was used in cocktails but never appreciated in it own right. Always being the poor cousin to Gin.
Part of the problem is that Gin was produced on a mass-production scale with the same flavour and taste. The shift came when the regulations were challenged and changed around the legal size of stills. Originally a still had to be 1800 litres which meant that the column for that still would be over 4 metres high and very much precluded small-scale production.
That law was challenged around 2009-2010 and it open the door of opportunity for craft distilling of Gin.
Martin Murray took the university route, went to look for work and discovered there was none in brewing and distilling, so ended up in the oil and gas industry. He remained there for many years until circumstances coincided with this change in the law that allowed him to start exploring the idea of opening a distillery, that is now home to the famous Rock Rose Gin.
This recorded interview was made March 2018 and since then Rock Rose Gin has grown and developed.
The company has won numerous awards for unique Gins, unique flavours and innovation. They are the first company to develop a completely recyclable gin pouch which can be posted, so it is now possible to buy Gin by mail, refill the your bottle and then return the pouch to them for recycling.
This is the story of Martin Murray, a man that has always been passionate about brewing and the drinks industry. It is his journey from a successful career in the oil and gas industry to rekindling his passion for brewing and distilling.
In our interview, you will hear about the choices he made and how it all began, the experiments, and ‘Holy Grass’. I hope you enjoy the conversation with Martin Murray.
Links from the programme:-
Rock Rose Gin is widely available in the UK and is exported to many countries.
The Distillery in Dunnet is open to the public, and you can connect with Martin through the website or his linkedin profile.
The Ted Talk mentioned can be found HERE
Monday Sep 07, 2020
Monday Sep 07, 2020
This has been a week of change for me, and indeed for everyone whether recognised or not. Change is happening all the time.
This week I am reflecting on my attitude to change, both in my relationship to the attachment / detachment aspects of parenting and in the broader life sense.
Where is it in your life that you are embracing change, and where are you resisting it and why is that?
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Some guests I find and some approach me, Tom Liebelt is the latter and I am so delighted he reach out to me. He is a genuine guy who just wants people to hear his message.
Tom was born in Poland during the Communist era when life was tough for those who were not members of the communist party or knew the right people. To make ends meet Tom’s Dad would smuggle alcohol banned films, VCR’s and other contraband across the border from Germany. As a young boy of 7, Tom had a vital roll to play in the smuggling operation. It was his job to distract the border guards from searching the car by screaming and crying and throwing a tantrum at the right moment.
He learned from a young age how to sell and negotiate business by getting haggled by Russian traders at the football stadium.
Life changed a lot when the family took an opportunity to move from Poland to the USA.
It was a change to escape communism, but life did not get easier. His parents took any job they could to survive, and he saw very little of them as they were always working.
By seeing their struggle as a young man, he never wanted a job, and it motivated him to keep moving.
At 16 he bought into a record shop, his love of music lead him into the industry as an engineer, a DJ and eventually a performer. He returned to his native Poland where he became one of the top Polish hip hop artists.
Moving on, he returned to America and opened a coffee shop, running it for a year.
Tom is one of those guys who sees an opportunity and makes it work.
He has published around 5000 Kindle books and has built a successful SEO. He has owned a coffee shop, a retail store, a record label, created and filmed a documentary and released two albums with five hits on top ten Polish radio.
Now living in Thailand, he has a thriving business employing a team of people creating and marketing online courses.
All of it was bootstrapped and done with zero outside funding.
As Tom says:
“If you can’t sell, then you’re not in business. Marketing and Sales are the backbone of a company.” – Tom Libelt
I hope you enjoy the conversation with Tom Liebelt
If you would like to get in touch with Tom you can find him on:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SBMPodcast/
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomlibelt/
Twitter https://twitter.com/TomLibelt
Or at his website https://smartbrandmarketing.com
All of these links can be found at Life Passion & Business on the podcast page at the bottom of the post along with more information about The 5 Questions Worksheet
www.LifePassionAndBusiness.com
Sunday Aug 30, 2020
Saturday Aug 29, 2020
Saturday Aug 29, 2020
Disclosure: This podcast may contain adult content.
This podcast was created and published in June 2018. However as Frankie was one of the speakers at our recent Reasons & Results summit, it felt like a good time to pull it out of the archives and give it a chance to heard again.
Frankie Fihn is a marketing connection that I met through Facebook, and whilst I did not know his full story, there was something in what he was saying that caught my attention. Like many of my connections, he seemed to have the ideal life of travel and exotic locations.
I went straight into this recording without any preconception, and I have to say it may trigger you as it touches on the use of an illegal substance Ayahuasca. Full disclaimer here as this is by no means an advocation of its use. However, it is a fascinating story.
Frankie Fihn is outwardly successful, he is a well-known speaker, entrepreneur and by his description a Master of the Mystical Arts. He operates a coaching and consulting business for lawyers and builds creative marketing systems. He has a laptop lifestyle allowing him to travel and experience the world with his partner.
However, since his exploration of life through Ayahuasca he looks at the world through a different lens. He calls himself a shaman and in his coaching he uses intuition and vibration to work with people on a different level.
The entrepreneurial lifestyle is often held up as a chalice, yet in reality it is difficult. Frankie supports clients to express and release fears, frustration and self-sabotage. He helps them bring more colour, vibrancy and meaningful connections into their lives, all while increasing their business and personal freedom.
It was a great conversation as you will hear Frankie had a real perspective on the big questions of success, passion, and the meaning of life.
I hope you enjoy the conversation with Frankie Fihn
You can Find Frankie here on Facebook
Sunday Aug 23, 2020
Sunday Aug 23, 2020
This podcast is recorded from a neighbours garden, where I am gathering fruit and vegetables (with permission of course) and I am reflecting on dreams.
What does it look like to live into your dreams?
Most of us have forgotten how to dream or have given up on them and it can feel quite hard to move towards dreams when this happens. Looking back on my father’s life, this appeared to be the way it was for him. In the time I knew him, he didn’t have any aspirations. He just got on with living without any plans to achieve anything new.
If we allow them to, the stresses, strains and challenges of life can get in the way, and it is only when we make a conscious choice to say “I want that” that we can start to build something new.
In reality having a dream, an aspiration or goal to achieve something can be quite easy when we just maintain a steady focus. With this in place we can look back years later and realise we have reached a destination.
16 years ago the dream for my wife and I was moving to Scotland and creating a life full of abundance, with the simple plan being to raise our son in a healthy way. Moving here was really exciting for a while and then we just got on with life. But the focus of having a good life was always there. Looking back I can see we have achieved that dream and life has been abundant for us, not necessarily in a financial way, but that wasn’t our goal.
Now my son is leaving for college and it is time to move towards the next big dream. This has coincided with discovering a passion for creating podcasts and virtual events. I am starting to move more fully into building this dream and having my wife come on board with it, feels really exciting, because now I have my playmate with me.
What are your dreams? Are you living them? Are you exploring new possibilities? Is there a plan?
Life Passion And Business : Reasons & Results Virtual Summit
Thursday Aug 20, 2020
Thursday Aug 20, 2020
Suzy Beaumont of ‘Change Your World’ is a sponsor for our upcoming Reasons & Results virtual event. Today I joined her in a zoom conversation on her Facebook page to promote the event and talk about the reasons for doing this and the results I hope to achieve by creating a platform for change.
Suzy and I have a tendency to bounce of each other, and in this interview we are ‘chewing over the crud’ and discussing the changes people are facing as we emerge from the lock-down and prepare for schools and colleges to re-open.
The event is Free to access and has some amazing deals for the upgrade to the VIP package that includes books and services from many of our speakers.
For more details about the event and to take advantage of Suzy’s 20% discount coupon (expires midnight – UK time – on 20th August 2020) and go direct to the Reasons & Results Event pages.
For more information about Suzy Beaumont and Change Your World visit her WEBSITE or go straight to her FaceBook page where you can also watch the live broadcast
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
The Energy is building on our forthcoming Reasons & Results Virtual Summit on 24-28 August 2020. Here is the link for more details:
https://reasons-or-results.heysummit.com/
It brings up the question of how we compare ourselves with others. This comes up in many areas of life. It is a topic that is particularly relevant for people on a personal development journey. The question is how do we compare ourselves with others, and is it really like-for-like?
When we look at Social Media profiles, biographies on websites, videos and the like, what we are actually seeing is the success models that are presented to the world in order to give the appearance that everything is perfect and wonderful.
It is important to be aware that all Social Media does is highlight the good bits and rarely shows the rough bits.
So are we really comparing like for like when we measure ourselves against the people we admire. Do we know the journey been on to reach a point where they can showcase their success to the world.
As an Entrepreneur growing a business, it is unrealistic to compare yourself with someone who has reached the top of their game.
Where the issue of comparison does become interesting is when two people meet at the start of a similar journey. Maybe they meet on a workshop or at a conference. Both are heading roughly in the same direction, with similar goals and aspirations. What happens when they reconnect years later.
One may now have reached the desired destination and created a success model that works for them, whereas the other hasn’t. What is the difference?
Often a project starts to fall apart because the person driving it has no clear vision or focus. When problems arise everything starts to crumble and they end up back at the beginning trying to build again from scratch.
The difference is when a person is working in their zone of genius, they have a passion and drive to overcome the things that would otherwise stop them.
Recognizing this is fundamental to success. Finding our purpose and passion for a project will bring it to success, and finding the right people to handle the things we are not so good at, ensures we can stay on track and everyone wins.
That was one of the initial thoughts that I had when I started planning our forthcoming Reasons & Results Virtual Summit on 24-28 August 2020. The event is very much about how we can be in alignment with our goals and looking at what we need to put in place in order to achieve success.
Thursday Aug 13, 2020
Thursday Aug 13, 2020
We are in Full-On Event mode this week and Gemma Ray is one of our speakers at the 'Reasons & Results' virtual summit.
Details here: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/reasons-and-results/
Meanwhile, if you want to discover Gemma Ray's New Books the Amazon Link is below
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stop-Procrastinating-Start-Living-Procrastination/dp/B0892HTJNL/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=gemma+ray&qid=1597349336&sr=8-1
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
Where the thought goes the energy flows. Where do we put our attention and how do we move forward?
When we focus on what we want – we get it. When we focus on what we don’t want, we get that too! So how do we move through the porridgy bits to get to the good stuff?
I’ve been noticing how the porridgy bits have been affecting me over the past few months, and discussing this with some of the coaches coming into our event at the end of this month, I have been able to move on with ease.
I am looking forward sharing their wisdom with everyone in our Reasons & Results 5 day virtual summit.
Reasons & Results will help you find your Reasons and work through the stumbling blocks the reach the Results you desire. I hope you will join us.
Sunday Aug 02, 2020
Sunday Aug 02, 2020
This programme was recorded in the outside studio... By my favourite river, so there will be a few wild noises.
Today is the launch of our Virtual Event Reasons and Results, it has been a journey stopped by the curse of perfection.
Why does it all have to be perfect when 80% is good enough.
Check out my thoughts and let me tell you about the new event.
The Link to get more details and claim your free ticket is here.
https://reasons-or-results.heysummit.com/
Friday Jul 31, 2020
Friday Jul 31, 2020
The links for Focus Coaching is at the Bottom of the
home page at https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/
Welcome to the second part of Patrick M Powers Story
You will get to hear how he build that largest business meetup group in Europe and how he plans to take that project globally.
Patrick's story is one that leads from despair to life-threatening illness to recovery, and beyond.
We touch on how to choose a good network marketing company.
Meditation, presence, NLP and some weird stuff
The problems of Social Media and the growth of Narsisem
The power of networking ( not so easy in a COVID world)
Patrick Powers has a fascinating story I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Connecting with Patrick
Patrick will be delighted to have your join his meetupgroup http://www.meetup.com/Entrepreneursinlondon
You can also connect with Patrick on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmpowers/
https://www.facebook.com/patrickmpowers
https://twitter.com/EntrepreneursIL
there is also the websites at