The Derek Loudermilk Show

This year, in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, we did a four-day AdventureQuest business retreat. This was joined by existing clients and podcast listeners to name a few. We had a great crew and the weather was perfect. There were many lessons learned and we learned from all the things we did.

"The wisdom is in the group". That was the mantra I repeated over and over. There was a specialness around coaching and being with a group.

There is a sacredness of bringing people together in a retreat, especially considering that the time of everyone is valuable, so we had to make the most out of the time that we had. As a leader, I had to show up with that specialness in mind. I had to be excellent. I had a great team and the events turned out really great. Part of the things we did were caving and rock climbing.

During the first day, we went caving. Most people had not done any wild cave tour in their lives yet, so it was a challenge. People had to crawk through muddy water. There were salamanders and bats camping out in silence. There were a lot of interesting formations. So far, it was outside the people's norms at it really leveld things up. People were giving themselves permission to be dirty.

One of the unforgettable events during the trip was when we were all packed in one vehicle, so we had a lot of drive time together. We were able to do some coaching, ask questions, and we basically got to know each other on this drive. The extra bonus time forced the group to bond, and it was amazing.

For the retreat itself, we had a great space for everyone. The business workshops were done in the back porch which was overlooking a river and a golf course which had a really natural setting. It was such a natural setting which was perfect for coaching.

The point was to get the team to a natural setting where they can connect with nature and at the same time, reconnect with themselves. This not only gets entrepreneurs in a natural setting, but also opens up a lot of new ways of thinking.

We were staying that the StoneBridge Resort, Branson, Missouri - a hotbed for country music and shows of all types. We did three story go-karting, and mini golf. We went to a great farm to table restaurant, run by the local college.

One thing that didn't go as planned however, was food poisoning. Two of us had food poisoning, including me. So if you run events, always leave rooms for changes of plans in case something like this happens. You'll always do what is best for the group and be ready to make decisions on the fly.

As for me, it was hard to bring my energy back up because of the food poisoning. The group went for a hike and solo forest meditation for an hour while I was there laying down, moaning in pain.

The business workshops were in multiple sessions which went longer than expected. We got half as much done so  I had planned, which was fine. Next time, we will reduce the schedule and allow more time for the sessions to unfold. People got really engaged and involved in helping each other, that was why the time took longer than planned. Always use the wisdom of the group.

In the coaching sessions, we learned techniques such as mind-mapping, networking, accelerated learning, and  working on our mind set, exploring life development areas. Surprisingly, spirituality came up frequently.

On the last day, the team went rock climbing. We started on an easier route because no one in the group had done outdoor climbing before. We spent the day coming up with analogies for how running a business is like rock climbing: In business, you try everything to get to the top. There are no rules. You can try whatever you want to get to where you are going. There were also a lot of encouragement from people on the ground. As in business, encouragement from peers is important. If you try a difficult move, you might fall. In rock climbing, you get caught, but in business,

“It's about your vibrations.”

Today's guests on the Art of Adventure podcast are Kit and Rosie Volcano. This is Part Two of a two-part interview with the Volcanos ( Click here for Episode 1). In this episode, they will take us to an adventure through their yoga, retreats, and coaching business.
Kit and Rosie Volcano started out as yoga studio owners and over time, realized that what they were doing as teachers worked well with coaching. And so, they got coaching training and then became coaches themselves. They now take people on epic adventures in coaching, letting people be themselves, to epic locations on volcanoes around the world. After all, Volcano is their last name!
What if business was a fun, easy, and playful experiment? They run their business in such way that it becomes an extension of their lives.
In this episode, Kit and Rosie shares the story of how a video and their passion for travel made themm decide to move to Scotland for six months and start their forest yoga adventure. Since then, they have taught and coached people they have met from their travels, and saw people make insane transformations in their lives. They help people find the disconnect and what keeps them from making their ideas happen.
What you'll learn on this episode:


* Transmuting pain and intensity into pleasure
* Identifying your inner critic
* Giving inner your inner critic a name
* Forest yoga
* Examine life in a different way
* Importance of experience
* How yoga and coaching relate

Continue the Adventure (Resources from this episode):
Kit and Rosie Volcano
The Little Volcano on Facebook
The Little Volcano on Instagram - @thelittlevolcano
Rosie Volcano on Instagram - @rosievolcanoyoga
Kit Volcano on Instagram - @butchofwands
Quotes
“In tune your vibrations to what you really want.”
“Giving your inner critic a name.”
“Magic comes in taking a deep breath, and saying yes... I choose to make my life feel good right now.”
“I choose to be in faith that there are other options, other emotions, a wealth of something magical that I can access.”
“Move towards that which is feels that most in line with the vibrations that you want.”
“Constantly making little conscious decisions throughout the day based on how it feels in your body.”
“It's about your vibrations.”
“It's about believing so much you don't doubt it.”

You might also like these episodes:
AOA 038 | Les Leventhal | From Drug Addicted Porn Star to World Famous Yoga Teacher
AOA 113 | Jenny Blake | The Pivot Method For Career Change
AOA 119 | Garrison Cohen | Brave And Bold Relationships
AOA 126 | Rock Thomas | Abundance and Adventure
AOA 066 | Dale Thomas Vaughn | Purposeful Masculinity

“Be with the changes, experience it.” - Kit Volcano

Today's guests on the Art of Adventure podcast are Kit and Rosie Volcano. This is Part One of a two-part interview with the Volcanos. This episode is a bit different as we get to explore gender, personal identity, sexuality, relationships – topics which do not normally fall in the Art of Adventure, but in reality, is really still all about adventure!
Kit is a transgender man. He says that being in a body sometimes feels weird. He is now in an adventure with gender and sees where it goes. He shares that he has feminine parts that he love but leans more on the direction of being masculine. On the other hand, Rosie has not considered transitioning. She played with gender when growing up and made sure she would be as tough as any boy should be. She enjoys exploring masculine roles but also enjoy looking and presenting as a woman. As a kid, Rosie never pretended to be different and was open to express who she really was, as her family was very accepting of her.
Kit and Rosie started out as a lesbian couple, until Kit's transition.The couple is always asked about their relationship and the transition that they have gone through. They share that they have been married for five years, and have known each other for a decade. The couple does yoga, coaching, and yoga retreats on volcanoes! They empower people to live courageously through their coaching and transformative bodywork.
In this episode, be drawn by the zest and openness of the couple. Join them in their adventure in exploring gender and sexuality. Kit and Rosie shares about the transition and says that everyone comes at it from different angles. There are always challenges and struggles and these make a person stronger and resilient. If there are no challenges, one would have no strength to become who he is today. One can't shelter people from the world, but no matter how hard the struggle, on the other side, there is always something beautiful. As the couple emphasizes, what lies on the other side is always something better.
What you'll learn on this episode:


* Gender adventure
* Personal identity and relationships
* Sexuality
* History of the couple
* Kit's transition
* The couple's transition
* What it is like being in a transgender relationship

 Quotes: 
“Be with the changes, experience it.” - Kit Volcano
“Our relationships evolve.” - Rosie Volcano
“We are constantly in a state of growth and change.” - Rosie Volcano
“Accept each other fully no matter where we are at life.” - Rosie Volcano
"Society is desiring this major shift, there is something new that comes out of that." - Kit Volcano
"Because of social media, you have an instant support network." - Rosie Volcano
"This is giving people options in living their authentic self." - Rosie Volcano


Continue the Adventure (Resources from this episode):

Kit and Rosie Volcano
You might also like these episodes:
AOA 036| Judy Robinett | How To Be A Power Connector
AOA 119 | Garrison Cohen | Brave And Bold Relationships

AOA 126 | Rock Thomas | Abundance and Adventure
AOA 066 | Dale Thomas Vaughn | Purposeful Masculinity

Would you go Cave Diving?

When you are at the turn-around point of a cave dive, you are farther away from help than the astronauts on the International Space Station! So it is dangerous, yes, but also exciting!  There are very few people who ever get to see deep underground in a water filled cave. Here are eight of the things I learned from my cavern diving course.


* Trust is Key. Trusting your buddy, your air supply, your line out of the cave, your and your skills are what allow you to survive
* Cave Diving opens up news ways of thinking. In a normal cave, you explore by walking and crawling around on the floor. In cave diving, if you want to swim up to the ceiling, you can. If you want to go through a narrow hole or passageway, just float through. Sometimes you can simply change your orientation in the water and a problem looks completely different. Because you don’t have daylight to guide you, where you point your light directs the information you get and your focus.
* There are not as many rules as you might think. The number one rule is to come back alive. I thought that I had to hold on to my line the entire time, but when I asked, I realized I could leave the line, as long as I could return. The dive can be as long as you want, as long as it is within your air limits and all buddies are still good. You can explore a small area as much as you want, if you find it interesting – you don’t have to keep moving.
* “Task loading” can lead to mistakes. While learning to cave dive, you need to learn several new skills at the same time: Running a life line, using lights to signal, buoyancy control, keeping your gear streamlined, and managing air supply to name a few. Its so easy to start kicking up silt from the bottom of the cave why you are trying to concentrate on tying off your safety line, then you start to use too much air and you loose your buddy-a sequence of small annoyances can add up quickly.
* Progressive mastery gives you confidence. To fully explore caves miles underground, you need five levels of certification and dozens of training dives. Because the sport is so complex and dangerous (people die), you need to be slowly collect the skills you need to succeed.
* Have the right trainers and partners. Our dive instructor is well known around the world as one of the most skilled instructors. By being trained by him, we can piggyback off his good reputation. You can get subtle constructive criticism to improve your skills much faster.
* There are always going to be people that push the limits. We encountered a team of divers that had recently completed a 17-hour dive, and extended the mapping of an existing cave system by several hundred feet, and hundreds of feet below ground. To do this, they needed 13 hours of decompression time in order to avoid getting the bends.
* Stories are the second best way to learn. The entire training weekend, I would ask the more experienced divers and instructors what they had done in various situations. Hearing how they handled things taught me nearly as much as going in to the cave to practice skills.

"If we get together and we help build each other's 'star power', everybody wins." - Scot McKay



Today's guest on the Art of Adventure podcast is known as the number one dating coach in America, an entrepreneur, and champion BMX racer.

Scot McKay has taken his family all over the world, including traveling with his kids, to over a hundred countries. He brings his kids to different places to introduce them to their culture, their food, and even their political diversity. He believes that he has to show to them that these places are safe and not like how they are negatively portrayed by media.

He has a knack for adventure, and that his family has caught up with him. In fact, his five-year-old daughter is already at expert level in BMX racing! He wanted to introduce their children to a life of adventure very early. He thinks that adventure can evolve over time but it never gets out of your system.

In this very interesting episode, Scot shares his story as a dating coach, and his venture into this career, along with his wife, Emily. He also shares how he decides on what to let his kids do, and how much risk he is willing to let them take on. He also shares how he became a top podcaster in the world and didn't even know it!

What you will learn on this episode:

* Scot's business
* How he built his business on outsourcing
* How to repurpose content
* What his team looks like
* How he has grown and promoted his work over the years
* Values and beliefs on how you can put people at ease
* Concept of “co-opetition”
* Deciding on what's risky or not for your kids



 

Quotes:

“When something grabs you... I don't think it really ever gets out of your blood.” - Scot McKay

“Adventure can evolve over time.” - Scot McKay

"You have to find your like-minded people" - Scot McKay

"It's important to show your personal side to people." - Scot McKay

"You can't burn the candle on both sides." - Scot McKay

"Never underestimate the value of providing good content." - Scot McKay

"I'm very good at repurposing." - Scot McKay

"I irregularly produce just about everything, I am not on a hard schedule." - Scot McKay
"Compassion is masculine." - Scot McKay



Continue the Adventure (Resources from this episode):

Mountaintop podcast
Deserve What You Want


You might also like these episodes:
AOA 119 | Garrison Cohen | Brave And Bold Relationships
AOA 126 | Rock Thomas | Abundance and Adventure
AOA 066 | Dale Thomas Vaughn | Purposeful Masculinity
AOA 091 | Jiro Taylor | Flow State Collective
AOA 036| Judy Robinett | How To Be A Power Connector
AOA 083 | John Corcoran | Turn Your Relationships Into Revenue

“A polymath needs time available to play and fail.” - Patricia Parkinson



Today's guest on the Art of Adventure podcast is an entrepreneur mentor, global nomad, and a polymath who believes that people naturally have lots of interests and they can specialize in more than one thing deeply.

Patricia Parkinson is a polymath, and she actually had it tattooed on her forearm! She says that polymaths specifically have this amazing ability to synthesize very complex information into simple concepts and communicate that in ways that bring people together to elaborate on that idea or concept.

She is a person who possesses knowledge in multiple fields and explores a variety of interests and forms of expression. She advocates on the idea that one does not need to narrow down and specialize in one thing because it's not gonna hinder one's career.

In this very interesting episode, she shares her high school experience as a journalist where she played a role in every field of the discipline. This gave her the profound appreciation of everything. It gave her a more intimate understanding of everyone's work. She was also inspired by her grandmother, who was good in a lot of things. Here, she also introduces the Octopus Model approach of goal-setting.

What you will learn on this episode:

* What is a polymath?
* Advantage of polymaths over specialists
* Valuable contributions of polymaths
* Her careers as a polymath
* The Octopus Model of branding
* Example of bridging disciplines
* Sequential vs simultaneous goal-setting
* Concept of integration
* How to approach branding yourself
* How to use storytelling in different mediums
* Importance of plan and schedule
* How to invent or manage your own role

Quotes:

“I came to a point where I didn't compromise what I was doing, I just needed a better way of communicating that to other people.” - Patricia Parkinson

“You teach what you need to learn.” - Patricia Parkinson

“It doesn't mean that we are putting up lesser energy, we are doing less things. It's just about being intentional on how we pursue our interests.” - Patricia Parkinson

“The more goals that you do, the more that you will be satisfied in a short period of time.” - Patricia Parkinson

“I try to set goals in a realistic timeframe.” - Patricia Parkinson

“The polarization of careers is more common than we credit.” - Patricia Parkinson

“It's important to know when to learn something, and to unlearn something.” - Patricia Parkinson

“Human nature is intrinsically polymathic.” - Patricia Parkinson

“Doing less does not equal more focus.” - Patricia Parkinson

“It is totally okay to have a generalized approach to life.” - Patricia Parkinson


Continue the Adventure (Resources from this episode):
http://www.patriciaparkinson.com



You may also like these episodes:
AOA 031 | Shane Snow | Smartcuts and Storytelling
AOA 026 | Bruce Kasanoff | Ghostwriter
AOA 036| Judy Robinett | How To Be A Power Connector
AOA 062 | Jason Zook | Exercise Your Creative Muscle To Make Millions

Do you want to supercharge your health, energy, focus, stamina, and resilience? Superfoods might be the answer for you , especially if you are a busy traveler, entrepreneur, or digital nomad.

I've been traveling full time for four years and I always bring along my pantry of key superfoods and supplements to maximize my health and energy. I recently asked hundreds of digital nomads and full time travelers to name their top superfoods and supplements that they always travel with.  Here are the results in order of most popular:

* Magnesium. When I fly back to Bali from the US, people always have me bring them some magnesium powder. Magnesium is an essential mineral that supports regular blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure and is required for producing and storing energy. In many places, you might not get enough magnesium from your diet because of magnesium poor growing conditions
* Green Superfood Powder. This is like getting all your veggies at once! Great if you are traveling and don't have access to fresh vegetables or fruits. I always drink some of this the first few days after I fly to a new continent. A good blend will have several green superfoods in it like moringa, wheat grass, and spirulina.
* Chia Seeds. Great source of Omega 3 and 6, they are great for hydrating.  I started adding these to my sports drinks after hearing about the Tarahumara indian runners using chia drinks in Born to Run. We have found that this is pretty easy to find in many countries, you might not need to carry more than a small package with you in your luggage.
* Fish Oil. Other travelers preferred krill oil. Fish oil has wide ranging cardiovascular and neurological benefits.
* Coconut Oil. Coconut oil has medium chain triglycerides, which are great for brain health. Concentrated MCT oil is on of the key ingredients in Bulletproof coffee. It's also great for cooking with, and we sometimes use it as baby lotion.
* Nut Butter. Personally, I'm a big fan of Justin's Almond Butter Packets. When I used to work as a food microbiologist, we tested his products and they were awesome!
* Cacao Powder. Literally the superfood of the gods. In the Mayan tradition, cacao (chocolate) was money, and only the spiritual leaders and rulers were allowed to drink it. So many important antioxidant and trace minerals. This is my number one brain food
* Maca Powder. Another ancient South American superfood, used by Incan warriors. I'm a big fan of Black Maca, the best version for athletes - muscle building, stamina, and focus. In general, Maca is useful for endocrine health (which in turn enhances libido). Tastes pretty good when added to smoothies.
* Ashwagandha. A root that has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for millennia, I found that this was super strong for me.  I add a teaspoon to smoothies in conjunction with maca and experienced a ton of "fire in my belly".
* Shilajit. This was one that I was less familiar with. Shilajit is basically organic resin that seeps from rocks in the Himalayas. You add only a very small amount to your water and it gives you a steady "internal fire". Takes some getting used to with the taste, but now I like it.

Bonus! I personally travel with these superfoods:

* Pine Pollen. The only superfood with testosterone (not just precursors) in it,

“Being more real as a podcaster, I think, has helped me tap more into my authenticity as a person.” – Tony Wrighton



Today’s guest on the Art of Adventure podcast is a health and personal development expert who believes that a person’s well-being greatly influences his life, his career, and his future.

Tony Wrighton is the man behind Zestology podcast, the radio show about living with energy, vitality, and motivation. He has joined the show before on Episode 104: Zestology: How To Get More Energy - and he's here with us again to bring another inspiring conversation about inner growth and personal development. If you haven't listened to his interview, I highly recommend you do so.

This is an interesting episode filled with experiences, lessons, and tips on how to bring progress into your life. He talks about health, energy, meditation, ketosis, and a lot more on the mind, body, and spirit. He also talks about his own day to day behavior that will bring inspiration to all of us.

 

What you will learn on this episode:

* What he learned from his guests on podcasts and TV interviews
* How he maintained his energy
* Meditations that work
* Effects of Ketosis
* What are ketones
* How his career evolved through podcasting
* When to say “Yes” or “No”
* Benefits of getting out for a holiday
* Difference between a podcast and a TV interview
* How he prepares for his interviews
* Sleep cycle

Quotes:

“You need so little to have a great time.” – Tony Wrighton

“I’ve never really embarked on any job that I wasn’t excited about.” – Tony Wrighton

"Money is a byproduct of excitement"– Tony Wrighton

“Saying yes to lesser things is important.” – Tony Wrighton


Continue the Adventure (Resources from this episode):
TonyWrighton.com

Zestology podcast

Derek's Episode on Zestology Podcast (Part I)

Derek's Episode on Zestology Podcast (Part II)



 

You might also like these episodes:
Melissa Stangl | Consciousness, Psychedelics, Ayahuasca, Plant Medicines, and Spontaneous Healing
AOA 108 | Robin Farmanfarmaian | How Health Care Technology Empowers Consumers
AOA 091 | Jiro Taylor | Flow State Collective
AOA 088 | Derek Sivers | Turning Observations Into Action
AOA 016 | Fostering Grit And Joyful Learning With Tom Hoerr, Ph.D.
AOA 077 | Mario “The Magician” Marchese | How To Make Your Own Magic
AOA 040 | Erica Dhawan | Get Big Things Done With Connectional Intelligence

“The more I’m willing to take the adventure, the more I grow.” – Kavit Haria



Today’s guest on the Art of Adventure podcast is a business genius whose adventure is to help people build and grow their online businesses.

Kavit Haria is the Founder and Director of Insider Internet Success which helps coaches, consultants, and experts build an automated and profitable online business. They believe that entrepreneurs have the power to change the world.

He has acquired his knowledge from his 10-year experience in building online businesses. Connecting with his spirituality, he was able to mold himself and take control of his emotions. This brought him the idea that emotions are a big part of entrepreneurship which he will explain during the episode.

If you want to build your online business, Kavit and his team will help you find the best strategies, best model to use, and the best way to funnel people in order to grow your business. Their programme, Automated Business System (ABS), will show you how to market and grow your business to 100k in the 1st year.

Visit their website and avail of the FREE 30-minute strategy session with their Business Startup Coach to discuss how they can help you optimize, scale, and grow your online business.

What you will learn on this episode:

* Greatest experiences of his life
* Spiritual Master
* What he discovered with himself
* Controlling emotions as entrepreneurs
* The whole process of the ABS
* Benefits from taking his program
* Creating and pitching partnerships
* How his thinking evolved because of ABS
* What is the purpose of ABS
* Tips on how to be more productive
* How to 10x your thinking



Quotes:

“Emotions are such a big part of entrepreneurship.” – Kavit Haria

“It’s about what impact do you want to make in the world.” – Kavit Haria

“What matters the most is not to do everything, but to pick a few things and do them really well.” – Kavit Haria

“Your job is to make something in your customer's life easier” – Kavit Haria

"Spend most of your time listening to your client's challenges"



 
Continue the Adventure (Resources from this episode):
Insider Internet Success

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn



You might also like these episodes:
AOA 132 | Tom Hunt | Building A Virtual Marketplace
AOA 092 | Budi Voogt | Marketing Your Music
AOA 141 | Tom Edwards | The HitchHiker’s Guide To Ecommerce
AOA 021 | Chris Taylor | Actionable Books and Deliberate Decision Making
AOA 096 | Monty Hooke | Increase Your Leverage With A Virtual Team

Do you want to experience the world's famous beer festival? The Oktoberfest is one of the largest festivals in the world for about 7 million attendees. It is a 16-day to 18-day celebration running from mid September to the first weekend in October held in Munich, Germany annually.

I was lucky enough to witness this superb celebration about food, music, and lots of beer. I was able to enjoy the festival fully and I will share with you today all the stuff I learned that will help you maximize the fun!

This is a 5-minute Friday episode where I give you the 7 lessons I learned from my experience in Oktoberfest last week.

* Celebration is sooo important.  Basically Oktoberfest is like a giant Thanksgiving – it’s about the food and music as much as it is about the beer. Celebrations are all the more important because it is so common to focus on the negative, in fact our neurology is wired that way. I see with my entrepreneur peers all the time – even if they accomplish ten amazing things on their to do list, they focus on the one little thing they didn’t get done. Celebrating helps us be grateful, it brings people together, it gives us something to look forward to, helps us be more interesting to others, and it helps us demarcate one step of our lives to the next.
* Minimalism is scary and liberating. As an eagle scout I learned to " be prepared". I hardly ever leave the house without a backpack, water bottle, snacks, sunscreen, and a jacket, but all I took to Oktoberfest was my wallet and phone (my mates even carried the house keys and train pass). I felt naked but so light and free at the same time! It also highlighted that minimalism is a privilege of people with money. You see homeless people pushing grocery carts or post depression era hoarders because, “you never know when you might need something”.
* Conformity is a strong force. Probably 75 % of people at Oktoberfest are wearing the traditional outfits: Lederhosen and Dirndl and it looks really good. I wasn’t planning on buying anything because I don’t need any more stuff, but I spent so much time wishing I had that outfit, that I broke down and bought a traditional Bavarian hat.
* Drinking is a lifehack to get into flow states. Why do so many people like drinking? Because it forces you to live in the now, and brings you quickly into a flow state, like surfing or doing art. Call it escapism, but if you can model your focus on the present moment in your sober life, you won't need to escape from anything.
* It pays to be early. For pretty much everything in life, being early. Early adopter, early investor, early supporter, etc. At Oktoberfest, we woke up at the ungodly hour of 6 AM on a Sunday to be the first in the gate to be the first to get a table, so we could have a permanent spot in the middle of the best tent.
* Experiences are more valuable than things. Why has Oktoberfest continued for over 200 years? Why is it on everyone’s bucket list (including mine)? Because it is one of the most amazing experiences in the world! Oktoberfest started as a wedding celebration and people loved it so much that it kept going all these years. Creating an amazing experience for people is also not replicable by robots, artificial intelligence, or outsourcing (so it is a great way to get rich!)
* Maximize your adventure by planning less and asking the locals. On our second day, we met some people in line at the gate who gave us the scoop on “Gay Sunday” at a certain tent. This tradition has been running for 45 years and was definitely the most interesting and fun tent we could have attended at the whole event.