Feeding Curiosity

Andy Vasily is a leading educator who has taught at International Baccalaureate schools in 5 different countries over the past 18 years. He completed his teaching training in education and psychology at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.

He is also an international educational consultant and founder of the award-winning blog www.pyppewithandy.com. Andy previously worked as a Child-Youth Counsellor at a young offender’s facility in Windsor, Ontario, and it was through this experience that he first realized the stumbling blocks and injustices that many of these young people faced in their daily experience. As a direct result of seeing a need for change, he pursued a full-time career as an educator.

Show Notes:

(00:04:21) How Saudi Arabia is Changing 

(00:06:04) How To Become A Citizen The World

(00:07:48) Andy's Hometown and How He Traveled

(00:11:09) Following What's Important To You

(00:15:12) Professional Football Tryout

(00:18:19) Resolutions and Long Term Thinking

(00:21:41) Frameworking and Eisenhower Decision Matrix

(00:25:38) The Three Shot Journal 

(00:29:20) What Gets Measured Gets Managed

(00:30:49) Data Has No Emotion

(00:32:41) Prioritizing Daily Recovery

(00:34:45) Being Present

(00:38:03) Do More vs Be More

(00:39:31) With Knowledge, Comes Responsibility

(00:43:16) Searching Inside One's Self

(00:44:51) Experiences Not Gifts

(00:49:46) Having Gratitude For Time Spent With Those That Matter Most

(00:52:48) We Need To Connect

(00:54:07) Andy's Professional Background

(00:57:00) Creating A Program For Movement Not Sport 

(01:00:37) Fitting the Program Into the Community

(01:02:55) Gardening In PE

(01:05:41) How Andy's Career Has Evolved

(01:07:08) Erich's Educational Background

(01:09:23) Andy's Important Mentors

(01:12:12) Gratitude and Connecting with Others

(01:15:04) Being Sucked Into Our Devices

For transcripts and related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/andy-vasily

Travis Morris is known as “The Hype the Hype Man of the Valley” at Fresno State. He is a Business Marketing major and percussionist at Fresno State University. At a young age, Travis realized he wanted to be an entrepreneur in some form while still in high school. While viewing them as failures, he also took valuable lessons from those experiences and continues to apply them to this day. The energy and passion he brings to what fuels him are unrivaled. Travis understands everything he's doing is part of the journey to learn and grow. The major through-line for Travis is music, he started playing saxophone in sixth grade and would later switch the cymbals. Travis aims to make a positive impact on others like music has changed his. 

Show Notes: 

(00:04:05) Introduction

(00:04:40)  What was Travis' Original Instrument? 

(00:07:25) Cymbals Being His First Choice 

(00:09:52) First Step of Being An Entrepreneur 

(00:12:27) Taking The Road Less Traveled 

(00:13:41) Looking At Failure 

(00:15:41) You're Only Going To Be 20 For So Long 

(00:18:21) Boogie Mode (00:20:19) What is authenticity? 

(00:23:05) Learning From His Parents 

(00:25:11) Do People Wonder How You Get This Done? 

(00:27:10) Making Time For Yourself 

(00:30:32) Not Paying Attention to Negativity 

(00:33:05) Advice to Others 

(00:35:02) How Do You Confront Negative Self Talk? 

(00:37:30) Mentors or People He Looked Up Too? 

(00:39:06) Being Impacted By Performance 

(00:41:30) What Is Travis Working On? 

(00:43:36) How Do You Get New Information? 

(00:45:27) Mr. Ford 

(00:48:09) Lifting Other People Up 

(00:50:07) When You Feel Unfocused What Do You Do? 

(00:50:54) Where Does His Vulnerability Come From? 

(00:55:13) How Would You Recommend Someone Find Themselves? 

(00:59:31) Visualization - Fixed vs Growth Mindset 

(01:00:51) What Well In 2019 

For transcripts and related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast

Brit Parla is a Chicago-based visual artist. Her main artistic mediums include, but aren't limited to, abstract fluid painting, drawing, and graphic design. Her goal is to continually create original and innovative works of art that evoke a sense of wonder and interconnections in others. Brit's artistic style influences are the science of color theory, Mother Nature, street art, abstract impressionism, as well as the art of the 1960s counterculture movement. You can find Brit showcasing her work at various venues and art exhibitions around Chicago.

Show Notes

(00:04:06) Where The Interest In Art Begin?

(00:05:29) How Acrylic Pouring Entered the Picture

(00:06:27) Saying Yes To Things That Interest You

(00:07:34) Does Creating Give You A Sense Of Ownership?

(00:08:38) Community Building

(00:09:53) Why Push Your Way To The Top When You Can Bring Others With You?

(00:12:39) Learning From Others Within The Same Space

(00:13:31) Supporting Local Artists

(00:15:40) You Have To Try And To Put Yourself Out There

(00:16:55) How Do You Get Past The Fear?

(00:17:53) Dealing With Artist's Block

(00:19:26) Cleaning Your Space

(00:20:32) Leaving Projects Unfinished

(00:22:18) Knowing When To Quit and Repurposing The Rejects

(00:23:55) How Do People View Your Art?

(00:25:32) Having A Fixed View

(00:26:51) Understanding What You Can Control

(00:27:45) Getting Into Flow

(00:29:20) Going Part-Time Employment

(00:32:08) Having A Creative Space

(00:33:41) The Space for Creating Is Also The Space for Relaxing

(00:35:01) How To Turn On The Focus

(00:37:43) Tash Sultana and Creating

(00:39:30) Listening To An Album From Start To Finish

(00:40:26) Giving The Story Behind The Art

(00:41:33) Expanding Beyond Painting

(00:42:51) Making Use Of The Rejects And Waste

(00:44:32) Passion Is Contagious and Social Media

(00:46:11) Restoring The Coffee Table

(00:48:39) One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure

(00:49:11) Dream Goal For Functional Art?

(00:50:19) Mural Paintings

(00:52:05) Physical Routines Or Overall Wellness

(00:54:28) Plants and Nature

(00:57:24) Getting Stuck Working For Too Long

(00:59:19) Creativity and Introspection

(01:01:30) Working Solo And Going To A Bar

(01:04:55) The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

(01:06:13) Morning Pages

(01:06:57) Artist Dates

(01:08:08) Other Books Recommendations

(01:10:56) What went well in 2019?

For transcripts and related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/brit-parla

Zach White is Founder and Coach at OACO, the Oasis of Courage. The business was born out of his passion for helping people push past their fears and find the edge of possibility in life, business, and career. It doesn't matter how successful or how stuck you may feel today - everyone needs a great Coach. Zach will challenge you to go further, much further, than you would ever go alone. In 2019, OACO launched a new program called the Lifestyle Engineering Blueprint, specifically for engineers and technical professionals, to accelerate your career while designing a life you love.

Show Notes:

(00:04:38) Zach's Current Focus

(00:08:16) When Did Zach's Interest In Engineering Start?

(00:10:05) The Engineer Mindset

(00:13:38) Taking Technology For Granted

(00:17:24) Entering The Real World After College

(00:18:23) Where Pushing With A Single-Minded Focus Left Zach

(00:22:22) Being Comes Before Doing

(00:25:08) A Warning To "Smart" People

(00:31:10) Building An Awareness Of Your Feelings In This Moment

(00:39:27) Thinking In Spectrums: Mindfulness to Meditation

(00:41:23) Practice Thinking About Just One Thing

(00:43:31) Cultivating Presence

(00:45:41) Separating Yourself From Screens

(00:53:36) The Power Of Habit

(00:56:52) Eisenhower Decision Matrix Or Stephen Covey Time Management Quadrants

(00:58:15) Being Able To Discriminate What's Important to You

(01:04:44) Cultivating Self-Awareness: Look To Your Heroes

(01:06:23) Only Two Limited Resources: Time And Energy

(01:07:22) The Purpose of Vision

(01:09:31) The Power Of Zach's Vision

(01:13:45) Allowing Technical People Express Themselves Fully

(01:19:11) Don't Be Vulnerable Because It's Popular

(01:21:26) Building Cultures and Elevating The Individual

(01:22:50) Potential Left On The Table

(01:23:36) Prioritizing Recovery For The Individual

(01:26:05) Organizing Human Capital

(01:27:38) Recommended Books

(01:30:27) Be Decisive

For transcripts and related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/zach-white#notes

In today's podcast, it's going to be a short format style podcast. As you all know, if you're a long-time listener of the show, I love books! I think to learn in long-form shows the effort needed to absorb quality information. A book is an investment of time and investment to reflect on what you’ve learned. A book is a window into how another person’s mind and how they view that premise. With that, let us jump into my most impactful books of 2019.

For transcripts go, and related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/booksof2019

In this episode, we are joined by many returning guests, Joe Jackowski, Nick Buegel, and Jordan Criss. As this is a Friendsgiving episode, we recorded before we had our yearly get together. We cover a wide area of topics where we try to get an update on what everyone has been working on, but we quickly dive into deeper waters. We start our conversation in Jordan's recent exploration into Aaron Sorkin. From there, we have a broader dialogue on how fame and power affect people. We then ask the question of what is Art - using Kanye West as an example. The discussion on Art then turns toward a discussion on self-expression and vulnerability. One of the last topics we talk about the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. Then we finally close with what Nick and Joe have currently working on.

For transcripts go and related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/friendsgiving-2019

— MARCUS AURELIUS ANDERSON

Anderson Marcus Aurelius Anderson is the bestselling author of "The Gift of Adversity," International Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker, Host of the #1 New and Noteworthy "Epic Achiever" Podcast, and Mindset Coach to CEO's, Leaders, and Entrepreneurs. While preparing to deploy with the U.S. Army, Marcus suffered a severe spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down. In an instant, he went from preparing for war on the battlefield to war within his own body and mind. After dying on the operating table twice, the surgeons saved his life but told him he'd never walk again. Having no other option, Marcus started doing some brutally honest soul searching, looking for the lesson to be learned from his injury. Once he started seeing his Adversity as a gift instead of a curse, something miraculous began to happen... 

Show Notes:

(00:05:04) Introduction And Marcus' Background

(00:06:14) Ric Elias - Podcast with Peter Attia and TED Talk

(00:07:09) Being Baked into Martial Art, Zen, Taoism, Buddhism, and Stoicism

(00:09:15) The Gravity of Marcus Aurelius and Being Worthy Of It

(00:13:50) Limited Capacity To Prioritize

(00:15:14) Why Marcus Choose to Join the Military

(00:24:57) Being Older and Joining the Military and Coping With The Stress

(00:26:02) How People Looked At Marcus In Boot Camp

(00:29:21) Marcus' Philosophy

(00:30:17) Most People Don't Execute: This is why Gary Vee gives you is secret to success.

(00:31:44) The People Who We Idolize Today All Started With Nothing

(00:32:15) Be 1% Percent Better Everyday

(00:35:53) Waking Up And Realizing He Can't Move

(00:39:03) Hearing That He May Not Walk Again

(00:40:10) Waking Up After Surgery

(00:42:04) Coming to Terms With Being Paralyzed

(00:42:32) Anger and Lashing Out

(00:44:01) Turning Back to Philosophy and Rejecting It At First

(00:45:05) Memento Mori 

(00:45:52) What Would Hope To Accomplish?

(00:46:37) The Power of Gratitude

(00:49:02) Finding Something To Be Grateful For

(00:51:07) Getting the First Feeling Back

(00:52:15) Start with What Pisses You Off

(00:53:10) Between Stimulus and Response

(00:55:09) What Was The Internal Dialogue Like?

(00:55:40) Don't Over Sharpen The Blade

(00:57:00) You Need To Have Multiple Gears As A Leader

(00:59:16) Don't Fall Into The Tips And Tricks Trap

(01:00:30) Continue to Grow

(01:04:34) Humble Beginnings

(01:05:29) Putting Yourself Out There

(01:07:30) Training the Body Also Trains The Mind

(01:09:16) You Have To Be Before You Become

(01:10:36) Renaissance Man and Samurai

(01:12:00) Favorite Or Most Gifted Books

(01:15:54) Advice For A College-Aged Person

(01:18:54) What Are You Searching For

For show notes, related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/marcus-aurelius-anderson

“As we drove home, the exhaustion set in. I had never been so tired or thankful for a shower in my life. Here I was yet again smashing assumptions I had of myself. What got me there was a commitment to do them. I gave myself a target and made sure I hit the mark.”

Listen on your favorite platform: Anchor | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher | RSS

In today's episode, we are back again with our How To Train Your Mind series covering movement or how to move well. This may seem counterintuitive to some. How does moving the body help people train their minds? As with many aspects of training the mind, being able to move well allows you to build awareness of the body and by extension, the mind when you're not in a training environment. From my own experience, I've found that as a beginner, there is resistance when training your body is not accustomed to the movements. As you gain experience, the act of movement can become more internal in the sense of how nuanced the feeling of that movement is. A movement practice also becomes a place that you can push yourself to failure that is, for the most part, safe. For me, moving well allows me to become comfortable with failure at a personal level but still be able to try again.

Let zoom out and look at how movement as been disincentivized in our daily routines.

Much of our time in the developed world, we are stuck in stationary positions at work sitting at your desk, sitting in meetings, sitting in your car. The s-word has been reported as being analogous to smoking in the plethora of adverse health impacts and have continued to increase.

By limiting exposure to a broader range of movement, we have lost an essential awareness of our bodies. "Get out of your head and into the body," is one quote that shows why movement is so vital. In the modern world, being stationary allow our minds to wander and at its worst, ruminate, but when you start moving your mind as no choice but to be connected to where your body is. Movement is one of the best ways we have to pattern interrupt and even a gateway to other aspects of training the mind. From my journey, which we will be examining for the majority of this podcast, movement has been a significant catalyst in allowing me to explore all areas when it comes to mindset.

For the full written episode head to feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/movement

Listen on your favorite platform: Anchor | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher | RSS

My Thanksgiving was unorthodox this year, with my mom having to work and other family matters that have been weighing on me over the last few months. In this short bonus episode, I hit record and let my thoughts come out in regards to holidays and relationships.  This episode is raw, emotional, and vulnerable.

In this episode, we are joined by Brian Kluska. Brian grew up in Blairstown, NJ, and received a B.A. in Mass Media and Communications from Mount Saint Mary College. Brian worked for ten years as Videographer and Video Editor for production companies. Projects spanned from corporate commercials, interviews and deposition, long and short-form comedy, and even a product highlight video for U.S. Senate Appropriation Committee.

For show notes, related links go to https://feedingcuriosity.net/podcast/brian-kluska