In Inglewood California, Christopher Mercier, President and Design Principal of (fer) studio builds award-winning Contemporary Iconic Architecture designed by a process whereby the final form is a result of a unique and collaborative design research method entitled Form Environment Research - or (fer) studio for short. FER's approach is to produce a unique iconic form that offers each client a strong personalized visual identity arising from exceptional care for their aims.

Christopher Mercier is a specialist in the human-environment relationship and uses the "environment" as a tool to help do a lot with a little. In today's interview, we'll speak with him to discuss the opportunities for building these "environments" to do the heavy lifting for us. After the interview, we'll hear a segment from one of our webinars about building these kinds of environments to help us influence others to meet our ambitious aims.

Asking for Help with Moira Clay

What are you working on? Are you busy being busy? Many of us can end a day wondering what we've accomplished, yet know we were quite active. How do we know we're working on the right thing? In today's interview, we address how slowing down to speed up, accurate thinking, and asking for help can produce satisfaction and balance across many conditions of life.

Moira Clay Ph.D. is regarded as one of Australia’s foremost experts in the niche area of health and medical research strategic management. Her sole focus is helping research organizations drive better health outcomes through world-class research. She has been a vigorous advocate for researchers for close to 20 years, with extensive senior executive experience in funding bodies and medical research institutes in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. She was President of two peak bodies – the Australian Society for Medical Research (2003) and the Australasian Research Management Society (2013) – leading significant public, political and scientific advocacy initiatives. She has worked closely with Federal and State Governments for over 20 years. She holds an Adjunct Position as Professor with the University of Western Australia.

The Bankruptcy of Magical Thinking with Kristen Moeller

Kristen Moeller is literary agent, author, and speaker who lives in the mountains of Colorado. Her career includes an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing and executive publisher for Persona Publishing. She is now an agent at Waterside Productions, the literary home of Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch, Jean Houston and other luminaries. She has authored three non-fiction books, two of which include a foreword by legendary Chicken Soup for the Soul author Jack Canfield. A three-time TEDx speaker, Kristen has appeared on NPR, ABC, NBC, Fox News, and been featured in publications such as the New York Times and the Huffington Post. She even had a brief stint on TLC network’s Tiny House Nation after losing her dream home and all her worldly possessions in a devastating wildfire in 2012.

Today's episode focuses on the subject accurate thinking vs. magical thinking. Kristen shares her views about the bankruptcy of magical thinking and how quickly life can turn around when just a little accurate thinking is brought to objective situations like money and business.

For those unfamiliar, magical thinking is a term often used in anthropology or psychology. It denotes the belief that one's thoughts by themselves can bring about effects in the world - or that perhaps 'thinking something' corresponds with doing it.

If you study the evolution of modern western thought, Magical Thinking appears to have been born of modern mysticism, pseudo-science and psychological studies which claim that confident belief in one's vision (or one's self) produces real-world effects. The occasional coincidence of belief and effect further confounds the error.

In the 2006 self-help book by Rhonda Byrne - The Secret, (based on an earlier film of the same name) extolling the law of attraction, claimed that thoughts can change the world directly - that people and their thoughts are both made from ""pure energy"", and that through the process of ""like energy attracting like energy"" a person can improve their own health, wealth, and personal relationships. The book has sold 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages.

In this episode, we'll hear more about Kristen's own lessons on the subject - and - finish out the episode with a small bit of our Primer on the Transactional Approach.

We all think we know more than we actually do. Do you know how paper is made? How does a toilet work? How about a pen? Our species has produced sophisticated technologies, cities, and accomplishments, but most of us don’t honestly know how these things work. How can we aspire to so much despite understanding so little? Perhaps genius is instead found in the ways we co-opt the intelligence of the social ecology: Our collaborative minds enable us to aspire to great things.

In the 2017 book The Knowledge Illusion, cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that we survive—and thrive—despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a vibrant community of knowledge, continually drawing on information and expertise stored in the community with which we transact.

Cory Shepherd, president and financial advisor of Sound Financial Group, is a case study in our mantra: Dreams come true in groups. We can accomplish our loftiest aims when immersed amongst an ecology of resourceful, intelligent, and ambitious mentors and peers. Previously, Cory was convinced that as long as he thought positively and worked hard, everything would turn out. Now, he has moved away from laborious work to harness the knowledge and power of the group. In our Guru Talk, we'll hear Co-Founder Kirkland Tibbels address how what we know is expanded by membership in groups that help us meet our aims.

We all think we know more than we actually do. Do you know how paper is made? How does a toilet work? How about a pen? Our species has produced sophisticated technologies, cities, and accomplishments, but most of us don’t honestly know how these things work. How can we aspire to so much despite understanding so little? Perhaps genius is instead found in the ways we co-opt the intelligence of the social ecology: Our collaborative minds enable us to aspire to great things.

In the 2017 book The Knowledge Illusion, cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that we survive—and thrive—despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a vibrant community of knowledge, continually drawing on information and expertise stored in the community with which we transact.

Cory Shepherd, president and financial advisor of Sound Financial Group, is a case study in our mantra: Dreams come true in groups. We can accomplish our loftiest aims when immersed amongst an ecology of resourceful, intelligent, and ambitious mentors and peers. Previously, Cory was convinced that as long as he thought positively and worked hard, everything would turn out. Now, he has moved away from laborious work to harness the knowledge and power of the group. In our Guru Talk, we'll hear Co-Founder Kirkland Tibbels address how what we know is expanded by membership in groups that help us meet our aims.

Swimming in possibilities and excitement might be more detrimental than we think. As a biological ‘exchange animal,’ our moods and transactions are inextricably linked. We read or mimic the moods of others faster than we recognize their words. We’ve all learned the hard way that a text or email can’t include the wordless cues like mood, body language, appearance, inflection, and more. Might we sometimes produce moods that are inappropriate for transacting?

John Severson, of Severson Compass & Associates, a Los Angeles-based travel and venue company, offers a case study in the dangers of being oriented around too many possibilities.

In today’s Guru Talk, you’ll hear Co-Founder Kirkland Tibbels discuss how appropriate moods are not always positive moods—and how a little too much excitement might be dangerous.

Swimming in possibilities and excitement might be more detrimental than we think. As a biological ‘exchange animal,’ our moods and transactions are inextricably linked. We read or mimic the moods of others faster than we recognize their words. We’ve all learned the hard way that a text or email can’t include the wordless cues like mood, body language, appearance, inflection, and more. Might we sometimes produce moods that are inappropriate for transacting?

John Severson, of Severson Compass & Associates, a Los Angeles-based travel and venue company, offers a case study in the dangers of being oriented around too many possibilities.

In today’s Guru Talk, you’ll hear Co-Founder Kirkland Tibbels discuss how appropriate moods are not always positive moods—and how a little too much excitement might be dangerous.

Jenn Oliver, Senior Director of Service for the Academic Division at the University of Virginia, has learned a valuable lesson about what we refer to as "putting the mask on first." Before her study with Influence Ecology, primarily, other people's needs informed her plans. Her work was oriented only around doing for others, leaving her overwhelmed and aimless. Like many people, she was waiting for others to notice her value and reward her accordingly. She now takes care of herself and her aims first before assisting others. She's learned to decline requests, respect her own aims, and spend time on what matters to her personally and professionally. Her interview demonstrates how she has expanded her value while gaining more time, more money, and more focus.

In our Guru Talk, Co-Founder Kirkland Tibbels teaches about the willingness to decline and how doing so produces more authority—and freedom.