Cliches, turns of phrase and common expressions can all be poked fun at. We are happy to use them in lieu of finding our own, original words; but do they actually get the job done?

Benno Nelson joins this special guest-hosted episode to discuss words, phrases and their purposes in the context of this lovely little work from the turn of the 20th century.

The path to mastery includes many plateaus, short bursts of improvement and requires a lifetime of vision.

George Leonard teaches us to love the plateaus. He teaches us to develop the vision. We concentrate on steady improvement, understanding that there will be setbacks and frustrations. By enjoying the process, enjoying each practice, loving the minute details that are involved, we become masters.

Masters stay on the mat longer than anyone else. Masters enjoy drilling the fundamentals. Masters keep moving forward even without seeing the outward effects of improvement.

1. Lead from the inside out

2. Bench the Ego

3. Let each player discover his own destiny

4. The road to freedom

5. Turn the mundane into the sacred

6. One breath = One Mind

7. The key to success is compassion

8. Keep your eye on the spirit, not the scoreboard

9. Sometimes you have to pull out the big stick

10. When in doubt, do nothing

11. Forget the ring

Seneca was born in Spain, lived much of his life in Rome, and was the advisor to several emperors. He was exiled, fell deathly ill, brought back to advise again, and eventually died under Nero.

As one of the original stoic thinkers, his wisdom is timeless. His advice hasn't gone stale in the 2,000 years since it was written.

Seneca spent a lifetime working out the best ways to think, to live and to get meaning from life.

This episode deals with life, death, illness, boredom and acceptance.

• Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement
• Demonstrate respect for each person in the organization
• Be deeply committed to learning and teaching
• Be fair
• Demonstrate character
• Honor the direct connection between details and improvement, relentlessly seek the latter
• Show self-control, especially under pressure
• Demonstrate and prize loyalty
• Use positive language and have a positive attitude
• Take pride in my effort as an entity separate from the result of that effort
• Be willing to go the extra distance for the organization
• Deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation
• Promote internal communication that is both open and substantive
• Seek poise in myself and those I lead
• Put the team's welfare and priorities ahead of my own
• Maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high
• Make sacrifice and commitment the organization's trademark

Awaken the Giant Within is a step-by-step guide to changing your life for the better. We're all guilty of leaving our best inside of ourselves. So, what can we do to be better every day?

Tony lays out the fundamentals to progress, the tactics that will help you get there and the identifiers to look for when deciding whether or not you're headed in the right direction.

Emotional awareness is something we are not taught in school. We enter the workforce knowing how to read, write, and report on bodies of knowledge; but too often we lack the skills to manage our emotions in the heat of the problems we face. Good decisions require fare more than factual knowledge. They are made using self-knowledge and emotional mastery when they're needed most.

What is more important to a individual success? According to studies, 90% of high performers are also high in EQ. On the flip side, just 20% of low performers are high in EQ. The best part of EQ and why it is so impactful is that IQ is your ability to learn, but it will be the same at 15 as it will be at 50. EQ is something you can develop and grow over time.

Be Proactive

Begin With the End in Mind

Put First Things First

Think Win Win

Seek First to Understand, Then Be Understood

Synergize

Sharpen the Saw

Focus on increasing Production. Focus much more closely on increasing Production Capability.

Edward Bernays, the nephew of famed Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, was the first pioneer of the profession of Public Relations. He changed the minds of millions of people, without them even knowing.

Bernays convinced the American public to eat a breakfast of bacon and eggs. He helped change the minds of thousands of women towards the habit of cigarette smoking while working for a tobacco company. He was in the business of changing minds, and he was an expert.

To understand the crowd, one must understand the individual. Once you know your people, you're better able to influence their thinking and actions.

This episode is a high-level discussion about changing many minds at once.

Michael E. Gerber wrote this small business classic in the mid 90's, and popularized the idea of systematizing one's enterprise.

The trick lies not in working as hard as possible to make widgets 15 hours a day, according to Gerber, but instead the goal should be to hire and facilitate someone else's ability to make those amazing widgets. Doing that allows the owner to strategize from the business level instead of being immediately buried under a mountain of WORK.