Mere Mortals Conversations

Trent Mason is a certified executive coach and enterprise agilist, an individual who leverages systems thinking and strengths based approaches to foster a lean/agile culture, valuing people, relationships, collaboration and continuous improvement.In his own words:"My practice is best described as a humanistic approach to agile. I focus on coaching ‘the self’ and how we make conscious choices to create the right environment and conditions for performance. At a system level, it’s about agile for the context in which you operate, empathy for circumstance and history, and using strength-based approaches to agile evolutions."In this conversation we started off with Trent's origins in engineering and flying as a pilot, his transition to working at the intersection with business and IT, how he now helps organisations foster an Agile mindset and topped it off with his routines, meaningful books and the art of keeping stats on yourself!As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!Timeline:0:00 - Introduction1:15 - What got Trent into flying4:01 - Choosing his path6:00 - Noticing the issue with business miscommunication10:05 - From traditional to Agile14:40 - Trent's current goal21:15 - Do businesses know they need help?23:10 - The shift in weight25:40 - Calisthenics28:30 - General Life34:32 - Favourite Books and a Challenge to the mind40:32 - Trent's Mantra and goalsTrent's Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trent-mason-356621103/About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

Did you know that Australian prostitutes are more educated than the general population? In this themed episode Juan and I discuss the topic of 'Prostitution'. We start off with the definition which is actually pretty broad and includes most kind of sex work, not just prostitution as the selling of sex for payment. There are some pretty interesting worldwide and local statistics as well as some funny points from history about the 'oldest profession in the world'.After the preliminaries we get into the more serious topic of the ethics, laws and overall benefits/detriments of sex work. Unfortunately there does seem to be a big divide between the liberal ideal of freedom to use one's body however one wants (voluntary prostitution) and the more real world effects of sex trafficking and forced circumstances (involuntary prostitution). To end off the convo we have a chat about some personal experiences and the ridiculous 'Operation Midnight Climax' that was part of the MK Ultra experiments.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!Timeline:0:00 - Ahhhhhhhhh Intro1:23 - Definition3:38 - History of prostitution7:41 - Some facts & stats13:37 - Potential benefits beyond mere pleasure21:17 - Two ends of the spectrum: voluntary & involuntary26:45 - The stigma of sex31:13 - Laws and the legality of prostitution37:11 - Bad effects of making something illegal39:04 - Other topics that are taboo43:17 - Prostitution in Latin America48:41 - A brothel in Orange51:33 - Operation Midnight Climax54:18 - Mere Mortal Moments56:44 - Kyrin will sell himself for more views!About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

Is it possible to cultivate the skill of determination? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: the increasing ease to be unknowingly not-truthful, gamma waves from meditation, whether it is worth practicing determination to be able to use it whenever, Ross Edgley swimming around Great Britain, people who take it to the absolute extreme, when will the Mere Mortals be at the physical prime of their lives and learning the fundamentals to be able to do the cool tricks.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!Timeline:0:00 - Intro1:31 - Who is telling the truth?3:05 - Good feelings and baselining7:18 - The skill of determination in any context13:30 - Ross Edgley & taking it to the extreme21:29 - The prime of our lives25:12 - Mere Mortal Moments30:44 - Be stubborn Mere Mortal listenersSupport the show

The power to question is the basis of all human progress. Start being curious about the world around you, through conversations and about your own thinking.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

How much damage can one eager American do in an obscure Wikipedia language? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: the recent lockdown in Brisbane, the story of the Scots Wikipedia scandal and why you can't reference Wikipedia, Kyrin's new Space Jam shirt, feeling comfortable in extravagant fashion, why there is no middle of fashion, spending extra money on something you love and being lied to as a kid.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!Timeline:0:00 - The Brisbane Lockdown1:23 - Mere Mortal Moments6:45 - Scots Wikipedia scandal10:46 - Why can't I reference Wikipedia?16:53 - The Space Jam shirt22:17 - In the middle of fashion26:08 - Spending 10x or 100x more on something34:13 - A Snizzlepop & bird flying through a kid's stomachAbout Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

Gary Waldon is the author of the book 'Sort Your Sh!t Out' and a transformational change specialist. Coming across his CV I remarked to myself that he has been doing career hopping before it was cool. Some of his previous jobs include: topless waiter, gym instructor, bank teller, teacher, lecturer, consultant and all around entrepreneur. Quite the list of areas and he is full of wisdom from the experiences gained across them!In this conversation we start off with his book and some questions related to the self-help genre. Gary gives some great advice for learning how to introspect and take responsibility for your own problems. We then move onto the topic of sharing personal stories and experiences from one's own life (and potentially from friends/family) in a digital world. At the end I ask Gary some questions related to his career, sources of information, books and goals. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!Timeline:0:00 - Introduction1:09 - Writing the book 'Sort Your Sh!t Out'4:45 - Figuring out your problems13:15 - Naming your 'Bob'18:49 - The difference between 'shit' and 'stuff'23:30 - Creating an alternative persona26:48 - How to decide what to share online?33:40 - Meta skills from career hopping before it was cool41:09 - Which people do you let into your life?47:56 - Referencing inside a book53:06 - Gary's Mere Mortal Moment54:20 - Books leading to implementable change57:27 - Gary's working goal and associated challenge1:00:35 - The ability to move on and adapt1:03:22 - Where to find 'Sort Your Sh!t Out'Sort Your Sh!t Out:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-waldon-aa000819Weblink: https://www.sortyourshitoutbook.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sysobook/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sort-your-shit-out-112924396893518About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

Can a person/people be brainwashed into liking the cruel exercise of authority? In this themed episode Juan and I discuss the topic of 'Oppression'. The convo begins with a tightening of the definition before discussing whether this topic has ever been a personal concern for ourselves. We then go over some examples from history and ask some hypotheticals related to the psychology of people under an oppressive regime.The second half of the podcast centres around how the word is used in a modern context. We talk about the Oppression Olympics (very popular phrase of Gad Saad) and 'concept creep', the gradual change of a word over time that distorts it's original meaning. Two books were also referenced in our discussion: the classic 1984 by George Orwell and The Coddling of The American Mind by Greg Lukianoff & ‎Jonathan Haidt. We finish off finally with our MMM's before saluting our lone fan in North Korea.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!P.S. The Mere Mortals don't condone the pony oppression by the evil racist frogs as evidenced throughout this video.Timeline:0:00 - Intro & definition1:31 - The difference between oppressive and repressive4:48 - Have we ever been oppressed?8:33 - Is it possible to be oppressed without realising it?13:55 - Is it possible to enjoy the oppression?18:22 - How useful is it as a word?22:34 - Coddling of the American Mind book27:30 - The Oppression Olympics31:33 - Dystopian future in 198435:07 - Concept creep37:59 - Mere Mortal Moments40:11 - Shoutout to our North Korean fanAbout Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

How is Juan planning on becoming an eminent human being? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: the joys one can get from the process of setting and achieving goals, knowing when and where to communicate your goals to others, changing your value system, creating a daily tracking system for oneself, when measuring your own progress becomes detrimental, how to get better at storytelling and whether we would prepare if required to give a graduation speech.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!Timeline:0:00 - Intro & MMM announcement1:15 - I love goal setting!6:02 - Changes to the eminent human being categories11:28 - Trailer interruption16:56 - Jim Collins spreadsheet21:08 - The downsides of daily tracking27:32 - Getting better at story telling32:26 - Would you prepare for a speech at a graduation?33:41 - Mere Mortal Moments35:31 - A blaze of information: the Mere MortalsAbout Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

Being Naive enough doesn't have to be a bad thing always, just enough that it lets you get started in a pursuit most others might not consider.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Meanderings, Interviews & Themed Podcast.Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_mediaFacebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

Maybe it is better to use duct tape for shoes instead of running barefoot? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: why a witches hat is the optimal shade protection, virtual reality so good that you wouldn't want to leave, people who are so optimistic that you can't stand being around them, the human characteristic of wanting to break something just to see what happens, why animals might actually be boring as all hell, the pointlessness of knowing lots of languages and the potential pain that comes from running barefoot.As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!Timeline:0:00 - The witch is back1:19 - Mere Mortal Moments5:19 - Better VR: that which makes more good or eliminates the bad?7:35 - Annoyingly optimistic people9:39 - Flipping tables in the utopia12:18 - Would you rather speak all language fluently or speak to animals16:15 - The use of knowing many languages19:49 - Duct tape on your feet as shoes24:57 - View the Mere Mortals from a distanceSupport the show