Mark brings in the topic in the context of our Wheel. The concept of focusing one only one thing until you momentum and can diversify with only the cash flow from that one thing. Simplicity

Jim brings up the idea of focus and how that is bolstered with simplicity. He expands on our wheel and the five areas of life and the center of the wheel, the self

Jim and Mark share their experience with the mainstream news. Both guys share that they have tried life with it and without it…and the impact is real. It’s a massive distraction

Jim brings in self alignment in the context of being self aligned toward that one thing

Jim shares the definition of self alignment. Mark talks about his “one thing” routine

Mark reads the definition of self awareness

Jim marvels at the simplicity of it and Mark agrees. Mark brings in Jim’s idea of doing “reps”. Mark shares where his most recent “One thing” focus came from…a level of dissatisfaction with his state of mind and productivity. He shares how impactful it’s been by just stopping the consumption of the news..for three day!

Jim brings up the well being part of our wheel. He thinks it’s about being in control of your own thoughts. It’s alignment. When you watch news, you give away control of your own thoughts

Mark brings up the notion of opening up email first thing in the morning. You give away control to other people’s definition of urgent or important

Mark reads the definition of self alignment

The definition includes the words harmony and coherence

Jim cites self connection as being a quantum physics idea not a mindset. He tries to start his day with breathing and breath work can align and connect, removing friction. It’s another” reps” idea

Mark says it’s all about what you let into your “self”…all of it

The guys bring up Wim Hof and the idea that it’s also about letting things “out”. Keep in mind, this is an exercise that can be done in minutes

Mark shares his morning routine, specifically his journaling prompts

Jim shares how his variety of projects pulls away from the “one thing idea”. Much harder as an entrepreneur. Mark agrees

The idea of comparison and how structure is the hardest part of working alone

Mark reads the definition of self connection. Everything is connected

Marks issue is how hard it is to stop paying attention to so many different things.

The guys compare how challenging it is today versus when they started their careers regarding human connection. Mark talks about how his kids can multitask, but how this distraction might be the cause of an upswing in depression and mental health. They wonder what the cause really is and where this is going

Mark talks about how online bullies punch…and those same people would not do so face to face

He thinks this invisibility is not good. Humans have constraints face to face, but not online. Jim brings back up the importance of the 5 sense

Mark thinks the handshake is gone and he thinks this is a big deal…all five sense

Is this difference bad or do we simply take this for granted. Mark is pushing back toward face to face communication because people are craving it

Is human interaction in support of your “one thing”? Jim says connectivity is done at the local level. We can’t connect nationally, but we can locally. Mark says he hasn’t tapped in to the local market. Mark lives where he didn’t grow up. Jim’s connections are mostly childhood local relationships. A very different dynamic. Mark does give Jim credit for traveling…local connections, but also exposure to other cultures…a bug deal

Mark introduces the topic of self identity

The guys joke about their lack of Biblical knowledge around God’s statement to Moses “I am who I am”

Jim refers to a podcast he heard that mentioned the we’re never ready and you just have to face your fears

Mark reflects on his career and how he speaks with everyone he helps about their self identity. It’s the most important part of his work. You have to be able to tell your own story. He thinks most people cannot tell their own story. Jim agrees

Mark reads the definition of self identity

Mark reflects on the 1000’s of people he’s helped and shares that most people who are in career transition are burdened by other emotions that make self reflection harder. Shame, self doubt, etc…

The concept of an agent comes up and both guys see great value in using a qualified agent for self reflection

Jim tells his story about a young rugby player who is lost after finishing his professional rugby career. He has tried to help and isn’t sure if the kid will follow his lead or even come back for more coaching. He’s 27 now and has no experience that he can articulate. Jim believes that the skills it takes to be a professional athlete are transferable

Mark offers his opinion on how he might help this kid, including building up his self esteem and how to overcome fear

Before “Who you want to be”, “Who are you”

Mark reflects on his techniques with helping people looking for something else. Jim shares more about this young man. No car, no network…

Mark tells his story about anxiety/fear before his most recent webinar that same morning. He thinks we all have to overcome fear

Jim’s quote. “I’d rather die trying…than not try at all”

Mark shares some of his inner work. He thinks people avoid the inner work because it’s too hard

Jim says this inner work energizes you

Another quote “people seek out the truth”. Then Jim uses Trump as an example. We are drawn to people who you think are filled with truth

Mark suggests that this kid just needs to get started

Jim brings up the instability and anxiety in the world

Mark reflects on his profession and self reflection. Then he expresses how hard the noise is in the world and Jim agrees. The news and the noise makes us anxious

Another quote from Jim. “We are all actors in this world. He or she that plays the best role wins”

Mark ends with his position on acting in the face of fear

He then tells his tory about the toxic manager

He says you can’t let people treat you poorly. “You promote what you accept”

Jim shares the importance of self awareness

Last quote “All comparison leads to misery”

Mark shares his opinions on comparison and how to respond to a disrespectful person

Mark introduces the topic of reinventing yourself in the context of a personal brand. Both guys have been working on their brands. Jim is finishing up a formal effort with his brand

Mark puts his career up as a reinvention experience

Jim shares his view of how stories and brands have evolved over time and explains why he has made his recent investment of time and money working out his brand and messaging.

Contextually he explains this journey as one with three parts. The past, present and future. He talks about the work and the advisor he hired. He brings our 5 key areas of life framework

Mark brings up his method of developing his client relationships and the piece of that work that is their STORY. He says people can tell you what they do, but they struggle with who they are. He calls it self awareness and self assessment. He thinks most people don’t do this work because it’s hard

Jim shares his opinion on the value of using frameworks. He is following the structure of the LinkedIn profile and he begins to share the progress he’s making with his profile and all the messaging he has updated

Mark suggests pretending you’re going on an interview and have that conversation with yourself. Both guys share their opinions on their LinkedIn profiles starting with the headline.

Mark comments on the power of the visual imagery. Picture, smile, background, etc…. Jim agrees. Mark then says he looks for “what can this person do for me?” Mark shares more of his methodology and going “5 levels deep”.

He shares how emotional these conversations can be. Jim continues to share details of his profile updates. Both guys talk about how podcasting should be advertised and promoted more in their profiles. Mark asks Jim why he decided to invest time and money now

Jim tried it on his own and he needed the objectivity and accountability of a third party. He’s very happy with his deal and shares a bit about how they work together.

One of his biggest challenges is the number of different things he does. Jim talks about the power of words. Common language. Mark talks about his frame of reference and the importance of authenticity, being concise and being clear.

He tells about how hard this story messaging exercise is. Jim says the branding exercise also supports volunteer work as well as income driving work. Jim then shares his “about” section.

Both guys talk about the reality that this is a living piece of content, to be polished with some consistency over time.

Mark talks more about the integration of personal development with his professional self. Jim shares this as being one of the driving factors of starting the podcast. He shares more about his ideal prospects and how he is, for the first time, talking about how his dyslexic brain works to his advantage.

Mark talks more about his work. This idea that people limit and restrict themselves and his work is all about taking people deeper into areas that are less obvious to them. Frameworks and differentiation.

More self awareness talk and the framework. Mark repeats his fondness for clarity and authenticity. The guys disagree a bit about who to seek advice from. Mark adds context to his response.

He shares his “superpower” exercise and recommends it to everyone

“You cannot kill a thought. It needs to die of old age or natural causes”

Mark introduces the topic of worldview and the different belief systems we all have…and where we get them

Jim adds the influence of the political distress specifically in LA and brings in the flywheel

Mark clarifies the politics of it all and both guys laugh at how everything is about politics

Jim says most of us don’t like to have our belief systems challenged, but agree it’s important to do so

Mark reads Jim’s 5w’s assessment…What, why, where, when and who

Jim brings up self awareness and Mark agrees that self awareness is important

Mark talks a bit about how we acquire our belief systems

Jim shares his stories about two recent conversations he had with people with different world views and although they disagreed, they got along

Both guys think most of us want the same things. We are all humans first

After Mark jumps in, Jim continues to share his stories. One woman fro NJ and a great friend from his childhood

The woman is passionate about her work, which Jim admires

Mark says when he goes out in the world, everyone is nice to him

Jim appreciated both of their positions

Mark shares the importance of context. Context resolves a great deal of miscommunication

Mark shares his story about travel regarding world view and how valuable that cross cultural experience is

Jim totally agrees and shares his favorite quote “You cannot kill a thought. It needs to die of old age or natural causes”

He adds the context of the military leader who shared this quote. 18 to 23 year old males with no hope are the biggest danger in the world

Cultural and religious thoughts in particular

Jim cites the progressive movement as one that is possibly dying

“We kill our leaders. Be good enough to be killed”

If you put yourself out there, they’ll come after you

Mark brings in his position on presumption about others

Jim takes us around the wheel and goes deep into the worldview portion of our wheel

Both guys like the idea of revisiting their sources of worldview and the view itself and reevaluate things

Jim brings up victimhood. Both guys are repelled by victimhood

Bitter or better

They also value self deprecation. Mark mentions the idea of some of these thoughts are not conscious

How the tough stuff makes you durable

Jim brings up the LA riots and both guys have disdain for the “leaders” in CA

Mark likes our current presidents worldview - not a politician

Mark brings up the police and the law being enforced and them being respected

Both guys see this system as broken, but the Mayor and Governor are the problem

Mark talks about history and understanding history to predict the future

Mark emphasizes the power of self reflection regarding worldview

Jim goes back to his stories. He got into a discussion about homelessness because they were in San Francisco. They started out in disagreement and ended up mostly in agreement. A big part of this problem is the lack of enforcement of existing laws

Mark shares his opinion about the word “compassion” and it’s misuse

The bad behavior was tolerated for long enough to become and expectation

Jim shreds the leadership of California and questions how they have stayed in power. Who keeps electing them

The guys talk about the differences between living in Florida versus California

Then they wrap up with voting and the notion of how things might look in a few weeks

Jim and Mark are both glass half full guys and think the system will hold up

Mark introduces the topic by reading the definition and symptoms

As much as the guys believe it to be real, it’s also funny

Jim asks Mark what “Psychic pathology” means and he takes a shot

Jim shares his opinion about friends and family that seem to struggle with this

Jim talks about his mom. She exhibits physical manifestations

Mark thinks this physical reaction indicates a pretty severe condition

Jim calls it impulsive

Mark calls Trump insensitive and crass. He’s a fighter and not a politician

Mark talks about one friend who is very smart, but can’t remain objective when Trump’s name comes up

Both guys say they’ve never seen anything like it

Neither guy feels that he’s a bad guy. He’s not treated fairly in their opinion

Neither guy is interested in defending Trump

Mark says if you can’t talk about this guy without losing your shit…it’s likely some form of mental illness

Both guys are more interested in issues than personality

Jim shares another story about his mom and common ground. He also doesn’t tell people who he voted for

He also shares his daughter’s experience and some friends

Mark says people are more nuanced. Liking one issue doesn’t necessarily put you in any other groups, but people do assume and presume

Mark asked Jim’s opinion on what the political climate is like living in California

Mark shares his opinion on living in Florida

Mark shares his experience wearing a Trump shirt

Both guys are entertained by people with TDS

Jim says, in CA people take immediate positions. Red team or blue team

He shares his recent encounter with a woman who got emotional when she discovered Jim’s friend was a Trump guy. She mellowed a bit after getting into the discussion. She expressed pride in being an “American”

The woman brought up the pending law in Texas about hanging up the 10 Commandments in public schools

Jim’s position is against it and Mark disagrees

Mark shares his view of how nuanced this woman was after getting deeper into the discussion

People aren’t as obvious as they might seem to be

Both guys respect people with strong positions. That stand for something and have some humor and self deprecation. Jim has no time for the passive aggressive people who get lost in emotion. He seeks common ground

Mark reminds people that Trump behaves on purpose. It’s a strategy that people with TDS don’t even understand

Jim’s friend asked her where she was from and she dug into being an American

The discussion became more interesting after a few drinks

Mark cites this an another example of why we can’t assume things about people and their beliefs

Mark feels that Trump has repositioned the US as a strong nation

Jim explains the political landscape of different areas of CA. Red and blue areas

Jim voted more against the blue team than he did for the red team. He feels his vote didn’t matter, but he also believes in voting. His was a “protest” vote

The guys introduce the 10 Commandments topic that this woman asked about

Jim agreed with the woman. No religion in the school

Mark disagrees. He feels that the US was founded on Judeo Christian values so putting the Commandments in schools is OK. It’s different than teaching religion

Both guys add context to their positions. They agree to disagree go deeper into their respective positions

Mark shares the 10 Commandments and each guy gives his thoughts about each and some of the hypocrisy around sins

Mark feels like the TDS people hold Trump to a higher standard than others

Mark share the last 7 Commandments and suggests they would provide for a good life without the religious flavor

Mark feels that Christianity can’t be watered down

Mark shares his position on his faith and his awareness that other people might push their beliefs on others

He shares his opinion on Notre Dame’s celebration of Pride month and his response

He shares his response about the difference between “accepting” others and “promoting” others

Mark introduces the topic and frames it in the context of his recent experience with having a plumber show up at his home to do some work

He shares how gratitude plays a part in the discussion. He expresses a concern that the topic is so rich that staying on topic might be tough

Jim reflects on the story Mark has already told him

Jim expands on the “Showing up” concept

Jim shares his perspective having been a tradesman and having gone into many homes and being treated poorly, more often than not. He applauds Marks treatment of the plumber

Jim expands on the notion of appreciation and gives his opinion on how Mark’s behavior influenced the outcome

Jim emphasizes the importance of appreciation. Then he connects the topic to the wheel and the 5 areas of life

Mark shares the story. He felt vulnerable. The problem was he didn’t have water coming into his home. Mark tells his side about showing up too. He was very impressed with the plumber who showed up and shared all the details about what he liked about the experience.

Jim steps in and shared his perspective from being a tradesman as well. He emphasized how Marks behavior was unique. Mark jokes about some trade experiences with his ex wife. Jim resets the discussion as Mark gets distracted with the emotion of the experience. Mark shares more of the story. Jim continues to play the role of tradesman and adds more context and appreciation about how unique Mark’s experience actually was

Jim enthusiastically shares his view of Mark’s experience. Mark acknowledges his skepticism prior to arrival but also shares how he didn’t let his skepticism prejudge

Jim brings up the skilled labor “crisis” as another angle on this story and shares his opinion about that…strong feelings

Jim thinks the trades are at risk for a number of reasons. Then he brings up the race component of this. Jimmy was black and Jim speculates that other clients may disrespect him because of his race.

Mark jokes about the race topic. He also thinks people respond better to being treated well

Jim brings up the credit that he feels the home warranty company deserves too. Mark shares the history of deciding to take on the home warranty when bought the home in 2007 and how that relationship has evolved

Jim asks Mark to “write Jimmy’s review”. Mark shares what he’s already done and both guys talk about what else Mark could/should do for Jimmy.

Jim wants more details from Mark. Marks goes deeper about the whole experience

Mark brings back up the notion of modeling and reminds Jim to share his story about ending his own trade career. Why he stopped

Mark reminds us that all the great behavior is available to all of us. Anyone can behave well

Jim shares stories about his childhood, his dad and the phrase “I can’t” while raking leaves on a Saturday morning and going to the dump

Jim feels that experience shaped him

Mark had a similar experience with his dad

Jim then shares more about the evolution of his career and some other childhood formative moments….pay the electric bill or get your own place:)

Then Jim tells the story of ending his trade career and why. Girls, suits and meeting his wife

Mark starts to wrap up and says Jim’s dad was right…you can

Jim credits his dad for what he did - modeling - less about what he said

Mark says he takes offense at people who don’t show up…because it’s so easy

Jim tells Mark again how much he appreciate shim and Mark returns the praise

Mark introduces the topic of disingenuous people. Both guys have had recent experiences with people who were being disingenuous. Mark asks whether he thinks people are born this way or do become this way based on environment or circumstance.

Jim says he’s been using that word more often lately

Mark reads the legal definition of the word

Jim shares his definition. He clarifies the nuance of this activity being intentional

Mark says there are different levels of it, but that some people are just stupid

Jim shares his recent encounter with a disingenuous neighbor

Deception from the get go. Jim says this guy isn’t dumb…he’s just a dick

Mark shares something he used to tell his kids to help them get to the truth. “Look at what people do and then what they say. When those are the same, you’ll find truth”

Mark brings up his ex wife as an example

Then the guys bring up justice

Jim…”it’s not what you say, it’s what you do”.

His neighbor said, “I thought we were friends? Mark reacts aggressively to that behavior

Jim says this guy was many things…deceptive, delusional and dishonest. He took the high road even as this guy dug his hole deeper, but he did tell him “you might want to get back on your meds”

Mark loves that line

Jim decided to let the guy keep revealing himself, but he continued to hold him accountable

Mark thinks people who pretend to be dumb might be worse and he alludes to our current political landscape

Mark brings up the trend of not asking follow-up questions. Then the guys go to Trump as an example and talk about his behavior. Also the contrast between Biden and Trump. Mark recognizes that many people feel Trump is a liar. Mark calls him an embellisher. A master embellisher who does so with a very specific intention to move people

Mark says disingenuous people behave in 3 distinct ways. Raise their voice, change the topic or walkaway. People who are genuine will welcome follow-up questions

Jim shares more words that he looked up based on this experience

Cowards, clowns and characters

Both guys feel that there are a lot of cowards in the world. Jim asks him to read the definition of coward

Mark shares his frustration with people who are afraid to speak up about problems at work

Jim is a big fan of his AI tool - Gemini. They joke about “her”

Mark says Biden is also a clown. He reads the definition and they laugh about how clownish Biden is

Mark talks about doing nothing. Either not taking a stance or watching bad things happen and not interveneing

Jim talks about the Biden group and the lack of integrity

Jim asks Mark…how can you tell what the truth is

Mark brings up Bernie Sanders and gives him credit for speaking from the heart. He doesn’t use notes

Jim shares his thoughts about Kamala Harris and Mark replies with more Trump authenticity and how good he is at holding people accountable Both guys speak highly of Trumps cabinet members

Jim says “news does not get reported it gets created”. Jim shares a story about a high school football coach who got run out because of a bullshit race issue. When the reporters came, she couldn’t get anyone to bite on race…so they didn’t run the story. They spent all the time and money wasted because they couldn’t create the story they wanted

Mark shares how he watches both sides of the news every so often just to see how the left is distorting. He says this in the context of his girlfriend’s kids. They watch channels that distort facts

Characters - Mark reads the definition

Jim thinks the media is now full of characters. Putting on the show

Jim asks about justice. Will we get any. He has stopped waiting

Mark feels that he needs to leave this alone. It’s affecting his mental health

Jim believes in Karma

Mark brings up the topic of communication in the context of self talk and self reflection

Then he shares a framework Jim brought that he uses for communication. The triple A method

Assumptions/Agreement/Action

Mark is a fan

Jim brings up a favorite quote of his - “The most important conversation you’ll ever have is the conversation you have with yourself”…and that’s a crazy person

Mark shares his self talk routine

Jim - simply…you have to turn the channel

He shares how his mind works. He finds or creates tools to help him. That’s where this AAA framework came from. He uses it to make meetings and conversation brief and productive. He does it out of respect and courtesy. It encourages personal accountability

Jim jokes that everything he just said doesn’t apply to women:). Joking aside, both guys see big differences, but believe them to be compliments

Mark sees the conversation being about personal responsibility as they talk about Stoicism

Jim distinguishes between different types of conversations and different times in our lives

Clarity, transparency and efficiency are all served by the framework

Mark shares the saying on his t-shirt - “What do you mean by that?”

Mark shares his appreciation for frameworks…specifically Jim’s AAA framework

Mark says a lot of people don’t like to be held accountable

Jim shares a visual rendering of his framework and offers some explanation of how the framework works. Mark chimes in in agreement

Mark shares his experience with people who are scared to speak up. Most people don’t like candor and confrontation. It makes them afraid

Jim clarifies his opinion of women as being better than men at many things

Jim also clarifies that his framework is not for more personal conversations. It’s a business framework

Mark shares his story about taking meeting notes in his sales meeting. How 10 people handed in 10 different sets of notes

Jim thinks AI tools will help with this. Transcripts. Word for word. He explains how he might use them to bring in. His framework on command. Prompts and percentages of time that people talk during the conversation

Mark shares how he started handing out transcripts of meeting notes. He was surprised at how reticent people were to be held to what they said by the transcript

Mark shares his stories about how he handled this before AI

Jim clarifies that his framework is to be used before, during and after conversations. Not just before.

Then Jim brings up our wheel to add context to our topic. He has redone it for his use in an upcoming speech. And because we haven’t updated it in a while. He reflects on all the selfs…agent, respect…

Both guys express their appreciation for the wheel. Their framework

Jims goes over the wheel in detail

Mark shares his opinion that he changes the way he communicates depending on what life area he’s in

Mark goes into detail about the difference between how Jim’s brain works versus Mark.

Jim continues to analyze how the wheel works and gets into ideology and politics as well as other levels outward on the wheel. He goes into details about the profession category. The differences between employed people and self employed people. Whose money are we playing with. Not a criticism. An observation

Both guys share their father’s perspective on this

Mark shares the power of “WHY” and “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT”

The value is in the follow up question. Clarity and context