Optimized Geek | Reboot Your Life

Sometimes here in the West, we can get so caught up in new ideas, we overlook traditional practices that have been around for centuries. My guest for this episode is Dennis Notten, a yoga meditation teacher, healer and a student of indigenous medicine from the Amazon and other parts of South America. Dennis has spent an extensive amount of time in the Amazon learning healing techniques from tribes like the Yawanawá in Brazil. He’s on a mission to bring some of these powerful methods to a broader audience in the West and beyond. We’ll be discussing plant medicine and in particular Ayahuasca, which comes from the Amazon rain forest. It’s important to recognize that when we refer to plant medicine in this episode, it does not mean medicine, drug or supplement in the Western sense. Neither Dennis nor I are suggesting that Ayahuasca or the Ayahuasca vine be used to treat or cure physical diseases or other physical conditions. In other words, please do not construe any of this episode’s discussion as medical advice

One of the more powerful books I’ve ever read is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It was first published over 80 years ago. Since then, it’s sold over 70 million copies worldwide. It truly is timeless and has changed many people’s lives, mine included. Many millionaires and billionaires have credited the book as a primary reason for their success. Among them is our guest for this episode, John Shin. John is not only a wildly successful entrepreneur but also a motivational speaker, philanthropist, movie producer and author of the brand-new book How Rich Asians Think. Just so you can appreciate the scale of what John has built, I’ll share with you that John commands a sales force of nearly 6,800 agents. Whether you’ve read or haven’t read Think and Grow Rich, keep reading because you are in for a treat to learn how an amazing book has changed an amazing person’s life and can change yours too.

On an average workday, how long do you spend sitting in front of a computer? Does your office have artificial lights? Do you microwave a meal for dinner and then sit down in front of the TV? Although we spend most of our time in environments filled with electromagnetic fields or EMFs, we rarely think about this kind of radiation exposure, but what effect are all these devices having on our bodies? There’s growing evidence that our lifestyles could be causing adverse effects like headaches, ringing in the ears, lack of energy, weight gain or worse. One of the few people exploring this phenomenon is Jason Bawden-Smith. Jason was a successful entrepreneur until he was struck down by twenty chronic illnesses. He healed himself and now he’s on a mission to help others via his books and talks. On this episode, Jason will reveal how he beat his own illnesses and how you can detoxify your environment and develop a healthy relationship to technology. It’s essential reading for anyone who’s ever wondered if their cell

The idea of hiring a remote workforce is highly appealing, especially if you’re a solo entrepreneur or a small business owner. What’s not to like? You get access to a flexible team without the pesky overheads of a traditional business, like office space and payroll tax. In reality, managing a remote team is trickier than it sounds. First off, it can be hard to find and retain top tier talents. Secondly, you might have other obstacles like work delays due to time zones or cultural differences that might affect internal communication. My guest for this episode number 191 is someone who understands these struggles. Nathan Hirsch is the Cofounder of FreeeUp, a company that connects businesses with professionals in eCommerce, digital marketing, development and much more. Stay tuned as we reveal the secrets to hiring and managing world-class talent, implementing systems to keep your remote business running smoothly and much more. If you’ve ever considered hiring freelancers, this episode is going to provide massive

The best way to become a millionaire is to think like a millionaire, but you won’t learn that thing at school. Where do you learn it? Interviewing millionaires is a great place to start and that’s exactly what my guest did. Jaime Masters is the host of the Eventual Millionaire Podcast where she’s interviewed over 400 self-made millionaires, myself included. She does this to find out what makes them different, the work habits they swear by and the real secrets to their success. Jaime has applied many of these lessons to her own work as a top-rated business coach who has been featured in Yahoo!, Inc., Entrepreneur and Business Insider. She’s also a self-professed tech geek and even has a sword collection in her home. Who wants to be a millionaire? If you do, then I advise you to stay tuned as Jaime and I reveal some truly powerful wealth-building strategies that will help you join the Seven Figure Club.

Many of us start a business to escape the 9 to 5 grind and take control of our lives, but too often the business ends up controlling us. We find ourselves trapped in a role we didn’t envision for ourselves. We spent hours of each day on email and various mundane tasks with no time left over to work on longer-term goals. We work in the business when we should be working on the business. If your business seems like a never-ending slog, then you’ll definitely want to hear from my guest for this episode, Mandi Ellefson. She is the Founder and CEO of Hands-Off CEO. She not only teaches business owners how to free 20% to 50% of their work week, she shows them how to boost profits at the same time. Many of her clients have added five figures to their net profit every month and even stepped away from day-to-day operations entirely to focus on growth. This is a powerful episode for business owners and aspiring business owners. Stay tuned as we discuss everything from finding the right talent to scaling strategies that

Most of us spend our whole lives working. We don’t think too much about what will happen to us or our families when we stop. One in three Americans has nothing saved for retirement, while most of us don’t even think about investing in life insurance. My guest is Dr. Tom McFie. As a practicing doctor, he oversaw his patient’s physical health for many years. Now, he provides advice on their financial health. Tom is the author of Prescription for Wealth, Winning Your Financial Game and Retirement Curveball. He’s also the Founder of Life Benefits, a company that offers advice on life insurance, debt management, and retirement planning. Stop worrying and start doing. Tune in as I talk with Tom about getting your financial life in order. He’ll even reveal the amazing trick to becoming your own bank, which you may recall we dove into in my interview of Ray Poteet, episode number 32.

Getting old is one of those certainties like death and taxes that most people just accept. A few tried to fight it with plastic surgery or biohacking but for everyone else, it’s an inevitability. What if aging is not a certainty and instead a disease with a cure? My guest for this episode is one of the top scientists in the world on extreme life extension. He’s not willing to accept small advances in this area. He has absolutely driven to getting humanity to longevity escape velocity where for every year we live, we get an extra year added on to our lifespan due to advances in medical technologies. His name is Dr. Aubrey de Grey. I first met him over a decade ago at the Foresight Institute, one of their events. He’s been working on this problem for much longer than that. While the Fountain of Youth is still ways off, Aubrey’s team has made some promising breakthroughs and incredible discoveries about why and how our bodies age. He’ll reveal the seven hallmarks of aging and the latest research on the intervent

When you run a business or household for that matter, it’s easy for things to descend into chaos. That’s always been true but with all the distractions available to us now, it’s far easier for us to get bogged down with information overload and shiny objects syndrome. This isn’t a minor issue. If you don’t get a handle on chaos in your business or in your life, it can quickly escalate into serious problems. My guest for this episode is productivity expert, Charles Byrd. He is an Evernote-certified influencer and a coach who teaches top CEOs how to tune out the noise and become more focused and productive. If your inbox is overflowing, your Google Drive is filled with incoherent notes and your desk is littered with scribbled Post-its, Charles might just change your life. In this conversation, we’ll reveal an amazing Power Trifecta for getting organize and the secret to finding your five-second superpower, as well as how to get off slack and start getting stuff done.   I got to experience Charles’ brilliance fi

Imagine you’re on the phone with a kidnapper. Your goal is to get them to release their hostage as soon as possible. It’s a life or death situation. If you say one wrong thing, it could quickly escalate and you’ll have a disaster on your hands. My guest for this episode is Chris Voss. As an FBI Hostage Negotiator for over 24 years, he’s been in that exact situation dozens of times. You don’t operate in that kind of high-pressure environment without coming away with powerful insights on human nature and human psychology. When Chris decided to share his wisdom in a book, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, it was bound to be a hit. He is also the CEO of The Black Swan Group, a company that provides negotiation training for businesses, individuals and even law enforcement. The negotiation strategies that Chris has developed don’t just work in hostage situations, they’re applicable to business deals, sales and even internal communications. His methodology focuses on uncovering

Our brains can hold only so much information. If you're an ambitious person like me, you probably have so many projects and ideas on the go that some things just get forgotten. It's almost like you need a second brain to keep track of everything. You might be surprised to know that you can now build a second brain. I'm not talking about some kind of AI Robot. I'm talking about an innovative system that acts like an extension of your mind. Tiago Forte is the founder of Forte Labs and a writer, speaker, and teacher who is obsessed with the future of work. He’s used his background in design and technology to create a system for entrepreneurs and creatives to keep track of their ideas using Evernote. It's so effective, he's dubbed it the second brain. If you ever wished you could learn faster, work quicker, or better manage all your ideas and projects, then you'll definitely want to build a second brain. On this episode, Tiago and I will be discussing everything from productivity apps to note-taking skills and ho

Unfortunately, tax time is upon us again. Before you take a visit to your accountant though, you're going to want to listen to this episode number 183. It might save you some money. As you probably know, the tax system has had quite a bit of shakeup 2018. A lot of people still don't know how the new tax rules will affect them. My guest isn't just a tax expert, she literally wrote the book on the new tax plan. Diane Kennedy is a New York Times bestselling author and she's going to talk about her new book, Taxmageddon 2018: How to Brace for the Trump Tax Plan. If you don't want to get slugged with a hefty tax bill, Diane is going to be revealing some amazing tax secrets about LLCs, cryptocurrency, tax credits and more. To maximize your refund, you'll also want to check out the excellent episode I did with Mike Packman, episode number 168 on Outside-The-Box Tax Strategies. Search for Mike Packman on the Get Yourself Optimized website or in your favorite podcast app.

It takes work to be your best self and reach your full potential in life. It’s tempting to make excuses when things get tough. Sometimes you might even think about giving up. Then you meet someone who has achieved greatness despite incredible odds, and all your little excuses pale into insignificance. Dr. Sean Stephenson is one of those people. Sean was born with a rare bone disorder that stunted his growth. The doctors did not expect him to survive at birth. By the time he was eighteen, he had fractured his bones over 200 times. Despite this, Sean overcame the challenges to become an incredible speaker, inspiring millions, appearing on Oprah, and sharing the stage with US presidents and the Dalai Lama. Sean is not just a motivational speaker. He’s one of those rare people who has become a guiding light for what’s possible. On this episode, join us as we talk about everything, from the benefits of having entrepreneurial parents to self-care and attracting wealth. Sean will also reveal how a three-foot tall ma

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average person now holds ten different jobs before the age of 40. With the rise of AI and rapid technological change, this number is likely to increase in the future. The question is how can you future proof yourself in your chosen field while avoiding self-sabotaging behavior that can derail your career or get you laid off? Our guest is Carter Cast. Carter has reinvented himself several times, starting out as marketing manager at PepsiCo, moving on to become CEO of Walmart.com, and later as a venture capitalist and professor. In his work life, he has been forced to confront some hard truths which he documented in his book, The Right and Wrong Stuff: How Careers Are Made and Unmade. Carter's formula for avoiding career disaster involves knowing yourself and your weaknesses, becoming more agile, and learning to control risky behaviors. As our work lives inevitably become less certain and more intellectually demanding, Carter's insights are essential for anyone w

This episode is an important episode and it probably affects people you care deeply about, including yourself. After all, we've all been through some sort of childhood trauma. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. As pervasive as domestic violence is, it's never okay. The victims aren't just those who were directly targeted by the perpetrators. The collateral damage always includes the kids even if their exposure was as a witness only. This is called childhood domestic violence or CDV. Our guest is Brian F. Martin, a successful entrepreneur who's been involved with many high profile brands in the executive level including Adweek where I'm a regular contributor, Pfizer, and Walmart. He's also a passionate advocate for children who've been affected by domestic violence. He founded an amazing nonprofit, the Childhood Domestic Violence Association, and shared his own harrowing story of growing up with domestic violence in the powerful book, Invincible. The foreword of that book was written by Tony Ro

If you run a business, you've probably considered switching to a remote workforce, and why not? There are plenty of proven benefits for both you and your employees. That's not to say there aren't some challenges. For one, it can be difficult to keep track of what your team is working on, how many hours they've worked, and if they're staying focused. My guest for this episode is Rob Rawson, a serial entrepreneur with employees and over nine different countries. That's not the only reason he's an expert in outsourcing. Rob also created Time Doctor, a time tracking program that helps your workforce easily keep track of their hours and optimize their productivity. It's so good I even use it myself for my own team. If you have an outsourced workforce or you're thinking about heading down that route, today's episode is a must-listen as we reveal the secrets of going remote and getting the most out of your employees when they're working from home. You’ll never want to see an office cubicle again.

You already know that your body needs regular exercise to stay fit and healthy. What about your brain? Poor diet and lifestyle choices can make your mind flabby, lethargic and prone to disease. In order to keep your mind sharp, you need a workout routine, and maybe even a personal brain trainer. Dr. Andrew Hill’s Peak Performance Institute provides just that. Using quantitative EEG or qEEG, brain mapping and neurofeedback, Dr. Hill assesses your mental abilities and then devices a unique coaching program to help you reach peak mental performance. I got to experience this brain mapping and brain training firsthand and I was so impressed, I’m going to be making his program a major part of my 2019. My amazing wife, Orion, has already experienced some great results with the program. She had Dr. Hill as a guest on her podcast, Stellar Life, episode number 141. I poached her guest for this very show, with her permission of course. I’m taking a leap here but I have a hunch you’d like to improve your focus, mood or

Tragically, we seem to be facing an epidemic and brain diseases from autism, Alzheimer's, dyslexia, and attention deficit disorder. This didn't use to be the case. Is it environmental toxins, vaccines, some epigenetic trigger? One thing we can all agree on is that treating these disorders like ADD, ADHD, autism, Asperger’s and so on with drugs from the big pharma is not ideal. What if there was another way? According to my guest for this episode, Wynford Dore, these and many other learning difficulties like dyslexia can be treated by personalized training that gets to the root of the problem rather than focusing on the symptoms. Wynford is a serial entrepreneur whose latest business sold in 2011 for a nine-figure sum, but that isn't what lights him up. He wants to change the world one brain at a time. His ventures include the withZING Brain Development Program and a world-renowned private school in England.   While Wynford’s work has primarily been on children with learning disabilities, many of his discoveri

Productivity is something a lot of people dabble in. Maybe you have bought a book on the topic or tried the Pomodoro Technique or even downloaded an app to help keep you on the straight and narrow. My guest for this episode is someone who did not dabble but went all in. Chris Bailey turned down lucrative job offers and spent a year conducting rigorous experiments to find out what works and what doesn’t. He documented it all in a blog that eventually became a book, The Productivity Project, which is a must own for anyone interested in the topic. It includes interviews with experts like David Allen and Charles Duhigg. His latest book, Hyperfocus, looks at how to manage your attention in a world that is filled with distractions. It is a great read with some powerful insights. One of the more alarming arguments he makes is that distraction doesn’t just affect productivity. It affects our memory, our creativity, and ultimately it makes our lives less meaningful. Join us as we take a deep dive into productivity and

Do you feel like you have a secret identity? Maybe we all have a superman or woman inside us waiting for the right moment to leap out and save the day. My guest for this episode, Dr. Chris Zaino, certainly believes that. He's the creator of the "I Am Hero" movement where he helps people shed their complacency and tap their inner superhero to win heroic victories in their lives. Dr. Zaino is also a speaker, entrepreneur, author, and former Mr. America and Mr. Universe. In his late twenties, he became a hero himself when he defied a terminal disease, which inspired him to get his doctorate and found a wellness clinic that would expand worldwide to help thousands of patients. If you're interested in changing your mindset, looking after your long-term health, or unleashing your inner hero, stick around for some hero-sized insights from Dr. Zaino.