The Kevin Miller Podcast

The mere claim to have a formula for any aspect of success initially strikes me wrong, but to a degree, anything can be boiled down to the core ingredients. The difference in my opinion is this formula is less like a cooking recipe you just easily mix and bake and is more like an intense formulaic math equation you must work out. But Steven Kotler does in fact do a masterful job of deducing peak performance down into its essence and from it you can see where you need to give focus and attention and...work. Steven is a New York Times-bestselling author, an award-winning journalist and the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. He is literally one of the world’s leading experts on human performance. He’s authored nine bestsellers out of thirteen books total, The Future is Faster Than You Think, Stealing Fire, The Rise of Superman, and Bold and Abundance. His work has been nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes and translated into over 40 languages. His new book is The Art of Impossible and as of the initial publication of this episode there are eight days to go before it’s available and it’s already in the top 5,000 books in Amazon. You can go preorder now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I kick us off with a one and a half minute clip from Zig Ziglar where he zeroes in on the myth that we should all just love everything about our work. In truth this is a tremendously frustrating issue for many people and a very real question is...just what I posted to my listeners. I asked, “If you have any frustrations with your work, do you feel you need to change the circumstances or just need to change your attitude?” Zig Ziglar was the king of adjusting your attitude to the positive because it makes everything better. But it does not mean that it’s all you should do. There are times when the circumstances themselves are limiting to you being fulfilled in our work and able to bring all you can to the table. So we talked in and around this issue and I believe it will give you great food for thought in regards to your own challenging work circumstances and whether and attitude change is in order, or you really would be best to change the circumstances. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the end of this episode, Matthew thanked me as many of my guests do, for giving focus to this incredibly important, foundational aspect of overall success...the personal habits, and in the last 30 seconds of the show said, "I think personal strategy is so much more important than business strategy, and it's the reason why most people fail in business and life or end up successful and have lost their family along the way.” Which is an understatement to say the least. But it is exactly why I started doing these Habits shows with guests years ago. It reminds me of how so often in the action adventure movies I watch with my kids, a main character ends up hanging by their fingertips on a ledge at a climactic point. And I always point out as I take my parental teaching moment, “To be able to do that, they must be doing their pull ups, every day!” But that is the point. When you see someone respond in a healthy, strong fashion instead of reacting in an unhealthy fashion, it’s not happenstance, but the result of working out that ability...every day. Being Superman and leaping tall buildings in a single bound comes from taking a few steps every day. You can get the first chapter of Matthew Pollard’s new book, The Introvert’s Edge To Networking, at theintrovertsedge.com/networking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are few leaders and influencers in the personal development, self-help, and health and wellness space who don’t cite journaling as a daily habit for success. From this I know a lot of people who try to journal because they think they should, but aren’t finding much value in it. I wanted to draw this out with the question I posted, then have someone give us insight. I started journaling around age 18 but simply wrote down the day's events every night. I went many years not journaling at all before resuming it and using it as somewhat of a prayer tool, and today do a lot of thoughts and feelings. Which should YOU do? Of course the answer is...it depends. Jess Ekstrom was my recent guest in episodes 845 and 847. She’s the renowned founder of Headbands of Hope but recently launched Bright Pages, an online, guided journaling platform. Of course we talk about Bright Pages and if you go to brightpages.com and sign up using code ZIGLAR she’s giving us all a free month, but the meat of the show is me throwing questions from you listeners to her and letting her address them so you can understand how to get true value from your journaling efforts, or possibly get inspired to start!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Pollard first wrote "The Introvert's Edge: How the Quiet and Shy Can Outsell Anyone," as it was his life story, an introvert who initially failed miserably at sales. He taught himself to succeed and he did so to a dramatic degree. But it wasn’t by becoming something he was not, but by leveraging his natural strengths. I was sent his second book that is coming out currently, "The Introvert’s Edge To Networking: Work The Room, Leverage Social Media, and Develop Powerful Connections." It caught my attention because I am an absolutely introvert, and I do not...like traditional “networking”. In this discussion you’ll hear why introverts don’t just have a chance to shine with sales and networking, but we actually have an edge, and not by becoming extroverts. I brought Matthew on because I think this is sorely needed information that will empower so, so many of you. And yes, extroverts will do well to listen to this episode. They will actually do well to do just that...listen. More. You can get the first chapter of The Introvert’s Edge To Networking at theintrovertsedge.com/networking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of course as the New Year is upon us we have many people making resolutions and thinking of goals, but this was a simple question to discern what is most on our hearts to make better in our life. As Tom Ziglar has shared, far more people relate to solving a problem rather than having a goal, which points to a reality of behavioral psychology, that we react and respond more readily to pain than desire. Hearing the variety of submissions I think will help raise your own awareness of what is most on your heart to make better in your life and open your eyes, ears, and heart to feelings you may not be fully cognizant of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jess Ekstrom is the renowned founder of Headbands of Hope and was my guest in episode 845 where we talked about the strategy of optimism. This is my habits show she began by citing coffee as her first priority habit of the day which will endear her to many of you as it did me! But then she hit on something very close to home for me, in saying she’s come to realize the value of seeking calm and clarity before she lets her day get rolling. She often wakes with anxiety and angst in the morning with so many thoughts swimming in her head and used to try and address it by doing things, but knows that doesn't calm her. So even unplugging for 10 minutes to focus on breathing, then making sense of her thoughts by writing them down because then they don't seem so scary. She shares how long she went with her goal to get to zero, cross everything off the to do list and be calm, but says, “I've never been at zero." I'll always be getting there, there's never an arrival. I think right there, so many of you will resonate as I did and will want to hear more from Jess. On the note of morning writing, I highly encourage you to visit brightpages.com, her new online, guided journal. Sign up and use code ZIGLAR and she’s giving us all a free month. Her book, Chasing The Bright Side - Embrace Optimism, Activate Your Purpose, and Write Your Own Story was the muse of our first show together and you can find it wherever you get books.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I know a lot of you would love to have great counsel and personal guidance, for your businesses and business ideas, but time and money and who to trust is an issue. Again, I asked, “If you were given $10,000 to spend on business coaching, what are the top one to three issues you would want wise counsel on?” Tom Ziglar joined me to talk through your comments and it was really insightful to hear the areas people wanted help with most. We gave a good bit our guidance and resources and as business coaching is a key service Tom and Ziglar provide, we sourced that, but as you’ll soon hear, the main offering was to help you find the best solution, whether Ziglar provides it or not. Tom even gave out his email address! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Optimism isn’t a mood, it’s a strategy,” quipped Jess Ekstrom in our talk. This is a very candid walk through an amazing amount of mistakes and corrections that led Jess to found the wildly successful company, Headbands of Hope. A favorite part of the discussion for me was Jess sharing how some of her earlier business endeavors were easier to embark on because she didn’t have the “wisdom” to think about it too much, and today as the successful and aware business woman she’s more prone to analyze and question too much, something I believe is a pitfall of aware and intelligent people. This show will massively bolster your confidence in trying things, and will, as the title says, give you a strategy of optimism as a primary methodology. Jess has recently launched an online, guided journal that I’m excited about, at brightpages.com. Sign up and use code ZIGLAR for a free month. Her book, “Chasing The Bright Side” is an inspiring romp through her story of ups and downs and purpose and success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I listened to a clip from Zig Ziglar about how he works at his goals and it got me to thinking about where we do and don’t generally work at personal growth. We may set goals but do we really work on them daily, like a task? If I want to get faster on my mountain bike, I work out. I go on rides, short, long, slow, hard. I am consistent. I track my progress. Am I this diligent with my goals? With what I say is most important in my life? So I posted this question on Facebook, “If I snooped through your home, office, and car, what evidence would I find of you pursuing personal growth?” And honestly I had it in mind to wonder, is there enough evidence to convict you of? I just posted the question moments ago and I see Facebook notifications dinging my computer. I think it will be an interesting show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices