Systematic Leader

Jonathan Horton is an Olympic Gymnast, author and keynote speaker. In this interview you’ll learn about how his parents harnessed his high energy to help him focus. You’ll also learn how Jon pivoted his speaking career into the corporate insurance industry because of Covid-19.

The energy that Jonathan brings to the conversation is amazing. If you have any questions about what you heard and want to go deeper just let me know.

Highlights:

• What Jonathan is grateful for.
• How he used ADHD to his advantage.
• What stressful event spurred his parents to put him in gymnastics.
• Did not have success for 10 years of his gymnastics career.
• Finding people that want to ride to the top with you.
• What do you go “all in” on?
• Not everyone finds things they are passionate about at a young age. It’s important to keep looking.
• Keeping yourself balanced so you don’t allow the rollercoaster ride to push you around.
• Understanding your why is important to finish a project.
• How to keep your foot on the gas pedal.
• Doing small incremental adjustments to keep growing.
• The story of how he won silver in the olympics on the high bar.
• The difficulty of working hard when you don’t see the progress that you expected.
• The importance of celebration to keep yourself on track.
• How he viewed his silver medal when he didn’t get the gold medal.
• How Covid-19 decimated his speaking career.
• How he adjusted his career and grew from the country shutting down.
• Pivoting his career to spend more time with his family.
• Reviewing your day to help yourself grow.
• What to do when you’ve had a bad day.
• How to find something that keeps you moving forward.
• Why thinking about how short our lives are can help us with motivation.
• How his faith has helped me stay focused on what matters.
• How people are similar to trees.
• The importance of having loving conversations instead of angry ones.
• Not taking things personally.
• Forgiveness is an underutilized tool.
• People are attracted to joyful people.
• Why we hire people we feel comfortable with.
• Cultivating our awareness around the use of our phones, so we create a balance.
• Great Book - Success Principles by Jack Canfield
• Amazing speaker - Jesse Itzler 
• Important question - How bad do you want it?
• Do what other people aren’t willing to do.

You can learn more about Jonathan Horton over at his website and his book on Amazon Falling Forward: How An Ordinary Kid Failed His Way to His Olympic Dream.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Brett Robinson is an entrepreneur, coach and mindset expert. In this interview you’ll learn about the Triple Battery Method and how he dealt with the murder of his grandparents. It’s a terrible and enlightening story that I think you’ll be fascinated by and how he learned to grow from the tough situation.

Highlights:

• What Brett does to get his mind right in the mornings.
• The science of gratitude and what it does from the hormonal perspective.
• The different facets of our emotions.
• The ying and yang of our emotions.
• Deepening your gratitude practice to help you retrain your brain.
• Shifting how we make choices.
• How to understand how you are out of alignment.
• FFA list - Creating a list that helps remind you what helps you feel awesome.
• Why other people can’t make you feel a certain way.
• Triple battery method.
• Awareness is the first step to making change.
• What actions you can change to shift out of a negative state.
• Analogy of dirt and water.
• Learning the different parts of the brain.
• Creating clarity in our lives.
• Coherence breathing and the health benefits.
• Learn Brett’s breaking technique. He shows us how to use a simple technique to help calm yourself when you are in a stressful situation.
• Failing forward.
• Every day is an opportunity. 
• Understanding your top core values.
• Why putting yourself first is not selfish.
• Blueprint that helps him feel awesome.
• What defines your future.
• How not to be a victim. 
• Empowering yourself to be your best self.
• How he dealt with the terrible death of his grandparents.
• Being 100% present.
• Becoming a stronger person, a more whole person after going through his tough time after his grandparents passed.
• Your past experiences do not define who you are and who you want to become.

You can learn more about Brett Robbo at his website and his podcast Your Life of Impact. Also if something in this episode helped you then let us know on social media. Tag us and let us know what helped.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Lisa Cherney is an entrepreneur, author, and podcaster who teaches people how to make a bigger impact in their business. In this interview you’ll learn how Lisa jumped from corporate America into owning her own business. She also explains how she has pivoted her business and is so much happier because she is more aligned with her work.

Highlights: 

• The permission to be ourselves comes from within.
• The importance of doing meditation to help center yourself.
• Where business owners get in their own way.
• What are the 12 commandments of business.
• Pausing before we make a choice to check in with ourselves.
• Learning to surrender to the higher power of her work.
• How Transcendental Meditation improved her life.
• Letting the universe to help her with the pivot in your business.
• Why she used the “F” word in the brand of her company’s name.
• Where our attention goes our energy flows.
• When you stop pushing so much good shit happens.
• The importance of allowing things to unfold.
• How she has been able to accept herself.
• The book Five Regrets of the Dying.
• How her mom’s cancer changed her life.
• How do we go after what we really want.
• Expressing yourself so other people tune in.
• How she gave herself permission to fly.
• A lot of judgement around her body and what it should look like.
• Being honest with ourselves and get real we begin to break down our inner walls.
• How I shared my journey with Lisa on the GFR podcast.
• Redefining what success means to us.
• Deepening her awareness.
• Understand what you are tolerating.

You can learn more about Lisa over at GFR website and GFR podcast. You can get the 12 commandments when you sign up for updates.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Jay Samit is a serial entrepreneur who has started and worked for billion dollar companies. His books, teachings and leadership style have changed so many lives. 

In this interview you’ll learn how you can do anything you want if you have the inspiration and the resilience to make it possible.

Highlights:

• When you help people they want to send you Love letters.
• How Jay mentored a young man and turned him into a self-made millionaire in one year.
• If you tell people that they are special and treat them special they will become special.
• Understanding that failing is a part of the process.
• Social media can hold us back because it’s smoke and mirrors.
• Failing your way forward.
• You either earn or learn.
• Obstacles are actually opportunities.
• How most billionaires failed before they succeeded.
• Why most people become complacent.
• Harnessing fear to do work that you love.
• Living a life of purpose.
• Biggest regret of retired people.
• Viewing the world differently is important to your success.
• Understanding your superpowers. The thing that makes you special.
• Michael Phelps superpower.
• Reid Hoffman’s superpower.
• The focus for CEO’s are wrong.
• Structure your deals to get an upside.
• Don’t wait for the world to understand what you are doing.
• Every day that you are not satisfied with your career or doing things you love then you are wasting your life.
• Your big fear should be wasting your time, not dying.
• Prioritize your fears.
• Why so many CEOs are deslyxic.
• Are you living life or are you just paying bills before you die?
• What are you doing today that your future self will thank you for.
• If you don’t have a plan then how do you get somewhere?

Jay Samit’s book Future Proofing You shows you the 12 truths to control your destiny. You can also check out his workbooks on his site to help them guide you in your career. 

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Stacey Shipman is the creator of Engage the Room. She helps people who want to be better connectors figure out how to shed their old beliefs and build meaningful connections. I enjoyed this interview because she wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable and dive deep into her struggles and how Covid-19 forced her to find a new direction in her business.

You’ll learn about how you can shed your fears and build a business that you love. It’s important to understand what you do well and how it solves other people’s problems. This is such an important part of a business that many people don’t really dig into before they start.

Highlights

• How Stacey started her entrepreneurial journey.
• The heart of business is creating connections.
• How leaning into her fears helped her grow her business.
• How to challenge the status quo.
• Becoming more creative and how it forced her to break through her uncomfortability.
• You have to be in enough pain to make changes.
• How Yoga, meditation and journaling has made a big impact on her journey.
• Coming back to our vision for our lives.
• Tapping into our curiosity to help us find creative solutions.
• Understanding that our emotions can help us make choices.
• Rebranding was scary, but necessary to grow her business.
• Not being afraid of the judgements of other people.
• Looking for problems to solve.
• Toastmasters was her entry point to mastering her fear of public speaking.
• When you step into what you are afraid of you build your courage muscle.
• Working with your inner voice to help you build courage.
• There is always an evolution in our careers.
• Not every idea needs to make money.
• Creating a business is such a rewarding journey.
• When we try to become something we are not, there is a huge amount of resistance.
• How to connect with people that you admire.

You can learn more about Stacey over on his website, Engage the Room, and her podcast.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Jonathan Dwoskin is a serial entrepreneur and business coach. One of the best parts of this interview is how honest he was with how he built his business and how he learned from his mistakes.

Highlights:

• We talk about his failures in business and how it’s influenced his career.
• What he learned from starting a business that he didn’t want to start.
• How he tunes into his gut instinct.
• How he chooses the relationships to help grow his career.
• Why he put his favorite things on his website.
• How he survived cancer and came out stronger on the other side.

You can learn more about Jon over on his website and his podcast.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Greg Storey is a designer through and through. He has owned his own studio and worked for some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. In this interview I love how honest Greg is with the audience. He shares how he dealt with a panic attack and what method he uses to help himself process the difficult moments in his life.

No matter where you grow up there are certain strengths and traits that you can utilize in your career. You’ll learn about how Greg uses his strengths to bring value wherever he goes. You can use many of these same tactics in your career as well.

Highlights:

• How the ability to draw as a kid affected his life.
• Art changed his life.
• Grew up in a small town in Alaska.
• Delivered papers as a kid and how it taught him the basics of design.
• The importance of looking to improve things in your career.
• How to see potential in a current frustration.
• Looking for opportunities in our team struggles.
• When you are stuck it’s because you aren’t looking for this.
• The problem about keeping your head down and powering through.
• The importance of asking questions on day one.
• Sometimes you just need to sit in the corner and watch.
• How good relationships can change your career.
• The world unlocks when you put yourself out there.
• Why we all have self doubt.
• The difference between preparing for success versus preparing for failure.
• Dealing with severe anxiety attacks.
• Trying to find ways to scale.
• Farnum Street is a powerful podcast around solving problems.
• The power of thinking of your career in five year increments.
• Ask yourself, “What’s the work I want to do when I’m 70?

You can learn more about Greg over at Brilliant Crank on LinkedIn. You can also learn more about Greg at his website Airbag Industries.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Jarrod Joplin is a VP of design for a fortune 100 company. In his leadership role he has learned a lot about building empathy for his employees and for his work. It’s not easy to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and really understand what is going on in their lives.

In this interview you’ll learn about how to be a better leader and how you can build your empathy toward others. It’s this skill that isn’t easy, but one that is sought after because it’s such a powerful way of connecting with employees, colleagues and our families.

Highlights:

• Enjoyed creating as a kid.
• Was made fun of for this creativity streak as a kid.
• Empathy is an underrated skill.
• Why empathy is so important to the design process.
• The importance of understanding people to help you build relationships.
• How we can acknowledge our humanity.
• Things can go south quickly.
• How to embrace failure as a leader.
• Seeking truth requires putting in the time.
• Learning to listen.
• Empowering others so they feel supported.
• We all have choices as leaders and we have to be careful of what we choose.
• We have to accept people for who they are, not who we want them to be.
• The worst thing a leader can do.
• We need to practice letting our guard down.
• We must understand that not every day is awesome and how this affects people.
• How to inspire others to be their best.
• Understanding that the people he leads can be grumpy and critical and these are positive traits.
• Getting in my own way as a leader.
• How cultivating open relationships to build trust.
• Feedback is the cornerstone of leadership.
• Clarity is so much harder to actually do as a leader.
• Book - Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

You can learn more about Jarrod Joplin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Stephen Warley helps people create businesses that allow them to live the life that they want. It’s this freedom that we all need to create for ourselves. In this interview you’ll learn some valuable ways to save yourself time as well as be happier while we work.

One of my favorite parts of this interview is how Stephen creates experiments to helps him test out ideas in his business and life. How he learns from each experiment and adjusts them to improve his process.

My son interrupts us in the middle of our interview. Stephen encouraged me to leave that part of the recording in, so I decided to leave it in to show you a little more about my life.

Highlights from the show:

• Being stuck in another country at the start of the pandemic.
• The importance of reflection in your career.
• The value of in person connection.
• Living at a breakneck pace causes many health issues.
• Creating your own experiments.
• My son interrupts us in the middle of our interview. :)
• Building self-awareness.
• Managing yourself is very important to your success.
• How not to worry about what other people think.
• Understand your most valuable and limited resource.
• Learn your natural rhythms.
• Your body is not meant to work 8 hours a day.
• There are infinite versions of work.
• What work helps you create the most energy?
• The four questions that will save you an hour a day.
• What lifestyle do you want?
• Looking at the things you want to change.
• Digital purge.

You can learn more about Stephen Warley over at Life Skills that Matter. You can also check out his podcast, it’s a great compliment to Dig to Fly.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out and I’ll do my best to get them on.

Bob Burg is a best-selling author of the Go-Giver series. It’s a series of books that share the secrets of being a giver first and how it can skyrocket your career.

In this interview you’ll see how Bob not only writes books about the giving mindset, but also how he lives it in his life. I love how he talked about other authors and his co-author in this interview. You can see his giving mindset in action throughout this interview.

I learned so much from this interview. It’s because of this interview that I’ve been reaching out to people on LinkedIn to do a free Dig to Fly session to help spread the word. I would like to offer up a free session to help you dig into your mental knots and loosen them. Do you have an issue at work or at home that keeps bouncing around your brain? I can help! Just share this episode on your favorite social media platform and use the hashtag #digtofly and you can earn a free session with me. The deadline will be two weeks from today.

Episode Highlights:

• Focus on creating value.
• How mentors play a role in your success.
• How to shift your mindset to helping others.
• A great salesperson makes it about the other person.
• How do we know if we are valued?
• Understanding our strengths.
• We all operate from our set of beliefs.
• How can you align with your values?
• Reviewing our belief systems.
• Many of us are living from a set of unconscious beliefs.
• Awareness is the first step to change how we build relationships.
• Understanding what we really need to improve.
• The hidden value that many of us ignore.
• How we can learn to build more internal awareness.
• Book - Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
• Bob’s evening routine.
• Book - Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather
• Why stories help us connect on a deeper level.
• His Co-author - John David Mann
• Be aware of the gap of where you are and where you want to be.
• Question your premises.

If you want to learn more about Bog Burg you can visit his website. You can also check out his best-selling book The Go_Giver or check him out on his podcast.

And as always if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing just reach out on Dig to Fly and I’ll do my best to get them on.