Most would never guess the biggest secrets to verbal communication … learning to listen and observe.  This means our biggest hindrance is often our own mouths … from overuse! This week, we look once more at techniques to help us better observe and listen to people around us. Click to Listen “Listen & Observe” Show Notes […]

The post #088 – Listen & Observe (Like Switch Pt 10) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

For most of my life, I wasn’t assertive enough at work (I’m usually assertive enough in my personal life, but even there, I’m not always assertive enough). I was scared to death to speak in public. I’d often allow others to walk all over me, often ending in disastrous work situations. I was usually willing […]

The post #030 – Assertiveness Pt 1: Introduction [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Wow … 17 episodes on assertiveness!!  As we finish up this series on assertiveness, I thought it would be good to summarize what we have discussed for 17 episodes.  This episode is a bit longer than other episodes (one hour and 21 minutes, so be forewarned!). In this episode, we first go through a brief […]

The post #047 – Essential Assertiveness Skills (Assertiveness Pt 18) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? Do you sometimes feel overworked and underutilized? Do you feel motion sickness instead of momentum? Does your day sometimes get hijacked by someone else’s agenda? Have you ever said “yes” simply to please and then resented it? If you answered yes to any of these, the way […]

The post #051 – Essentialism Introduction (Essentialism Pt 1) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

There is a continual battle in our lives for time … between the best and the good … between the journey and the destination … between where you are heading and how fast you are going. In this episode of First Things I share on the battle between the Compass and the Clock. Click to […]

The post #003 – The Battle Between the Compass and the Clock – Why Direction is More Important than Speed [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

What exactly is assertiveness?  What is the difference between assertiveness vs aggressiveness?  What about passivity or being passive-aggressive? Many people believe that assertive and aggressive behavior means the same thing. The first step in managing difficult people at work is to clear up this confusion.  What is the difference in assertiveness vs aggressiveness? Click to […]

The post #031 – Assertiveness vs Aggressiveness (Assertiveness Pt 2) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference. Every so often a truly groundbreaking idea comes along. This is one. Mindset explains: Why brains and talent don’t bring success How they can stand in the […]

The post #074 – Mindset Intro (Mindset Pt 1) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

We can implement certain “attraction laws” into place that will better enable deeper friendships.  Last week, we discussed one such law … the law of similarity. This week, we look into the various attraction laws and how to practically implement them into our lives. Click to Listen “Attraction Laws” Show Notes Law of Reciprocity: When […]

The post #087 – Attraction Laws (Like Switch Pt 9) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

In our pursuit of balancing the compass and the clock … the important vs the urgent … there is a need to understand how to process the urgent matters.  Urgent matters force themselves on us constantly. Urgent matters can so force themselves on us, that they can be a “tyrant” in our lives.  There is little […]

The post #004 – Slaves to the Tyranny of the Urgent: The Constant Battle Between the Important and the Urgent appeared first on First Things.

Defining procrastination properly is a vital step to overcome it.  Procrastination is a habit you develop to cope with anxiety about starting or completing a task. … tasks that are boring or overwhelming. We begin a multi-week study on procrastination, inspired by The Now Habit by Neil Fiore.  Your first step toward breaking the procrastination […]

The post #018 – The Now Habit Pt 1: Defining Procrastination [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Need a happiness project? Or a prescription for happiness? Looking to understand what happiness even means? Or more importantly how you can actualize a happiness project in your life? In this podcast, I speak on the topic of happiness.  A “happiness project” to give you ways to see your life differently.  Hopefully it will be […]

The post #006 – A Happiness Project & Prescription: 10 Steps Toward Greater Joy and Passion [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

We introduced the concept of “mindsets” in our last episode. I always like to get the author’s perspective on their topic.   In this episode, we listen to a speech that Carol gave on the topic of mindset. Click to Listen “Carol Dweck on Mindsets” Show Notes “Carol Dweck on Mindsets” Episode Resources Resources on Mindset: […]

The post #075 – Carol Dweck on Mindset (Mindset Pt 2) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Ever feel stuck in life?  Perhaps you might feel that you have no traction in your life, that you are just spinning your wheels.  Or perhaps you see negative emotions which dominate your life, and quickly react to the smallest of incidents. In this episode of First Things, we dive into the issue of feeling […]

The post #008 – Stuck: Emotional Health by Unthawing Frozen Emotions and Moving Forward with Traction [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

In a recent blog post, I detailed some steps that people can take to take their learning and studying to the next level. It generated some interest, so I thought this would make for a good podcast as well. If you are attempting to learn something new, or have children in school, I believe the […]

The post #005 – Unleashing the Lion in Your Brain: More Efficient Ways to Study and Learn [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

We begin a new study this week on “The Like Switch” by Jack Schafer and Marvin Karlins. This week we look at the “Friendship Formula” as discussed in Chp 1. The Friendship Formula is rather simple:  Friendship = Proximity + Frequency + Duration + Intensity. In this episode, we discuss each of these aspects in […]

The post #079 – Friendship Formula (Like Switch Pt 1) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Not everything in life is important … just a few … the vital few.  Most of what exists in the universe – our actions, and all other forces, resources, and ideas – has little value and yields little result.  On the other hand, a few things work fantastically well and have tremendous impact. We have […]

The post #054 – Vital Few (Essentialism Pt 4) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Have you ever thought about why we procrastinate? What is behind this? What is the motivation? Is it just a matter about us being lazy … or is there something more than that happening? Many of us use our performance as “mirrors”.  Instead of them being an expression of who we are … an expression […]

The post #019 – Why We Procrastinate (The Now Habit Pt 2) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve. – Napoleon Hill In a previous episode, we talked about the overall aspects of Stinking Thinking.  How does Stinking Thinking apply to the topic of Assertiveness?  What are some examples of stinking thinking that can thwart our attempts to develop an assertive style of communication? […]

The post #034 – Stinking Thinking (Assertiveness Pt 5) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Do you have difficulty saying “no”? Not sure you know the difference between an “aggressive no” and an “assertive no”?  Are you always trying to be nice to others at the expense of yourself? Well, you’re not alone. In the past, I was not good at saying “no”, because I didn’t want to hurt the […]

The post #043 – Assertive No (Assertiveness Pt 14) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Choice, this is the very first pillar … the first mindset we need to embrace Essentialism.  It is the ability to choose that makes us human. We often think of choice as a thing. But a choice is not a thing. Our options may be things, but a choice—a choice is an action. Click to […]

The post #053 – Choice (Essentialism Pt 3) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.