 The day has come! On Self-Improvement is officially live!
At the bottom of this post are links to where the book can be ordered. If you make the purchase, please let me know in the comments or by message so I can thank you personally! If you are here after reading the book and looking for the free printable PDFs from the Self-Improvement Companion journal, you can head to this Page. On Self-Improvement provides the tools and mindset to help you make progress so that you can live a more fulfilling life. It explains the power of focusing on progress and helps you set goals, develop principles, track habits, and more. I hope that this book resonates with you, but more that it helps you in some way. Thank you to all who supported this book in its development – from proofreaders, to editors, to beta readers, to the cover and interior designers, and to those who gave words of encouragement through the process. We’ve done it and now it’s to the readers. 😊 You can order your copy from any of these sites: Amazon (eBook and Print) Barnes & Noble (Print) Walmart (Print)
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 Recently, I’ve been getting a good amount of requests to either assist with starting projects or to give input on how to get started. Mostly, people ask me about books but I’ve been asked to help with producing board games as well. I figured I would share some of the tricks that help me or give a bit of insight into my process in case it helps you with yours… #1 – Spend some serious time just thinking about the idea itself and the different routes you could go. Surprise, surprise – the creative process starts in your head. And before you invest significant time and efforts, it’s beneficial to take time to really think about the project you’re thinking of starting, the different routes you can go, and if you’re really passionate enough to follow through, even if it takes longer than you’re anticipating or ends up failing. I suggest doing this when you have time to yourself – whether you’re out for a walk or run or have some time to yourself one morning. The more time and opportunities you take to do this, the more confident you’ll be in your idea and the more likely you’ll actually get started. #2 – Get started, but don’t rush it.Most people, including myself, are shortsighted when it comes to big projects. They strive to publish their final product in one year. It’s not a bad thing to have ambitious goals but you should be okay with the fact that it might take MUCH longer. A creative project takes research, planning, constructing, reconstructing, and more research, and more planning, on and on and on. It’s not a straightforward process but it should be fun. The more time you spend exploring different ideas and making your project better, the happier you’ll be with the end result. Enjoy the process – don’t rush it. #3 – Research things that are similar to the project you want to start. This should wait until you have your idea down pat, and you feel like you’re ready to get started. If you’ve already started the process, that’s okay too. More than likely, the project you’re planning has already been done in some way, shape, or form. Do some research and find similar projects that ended up being successful at some level. Really get to know them, find what you like and don’t like about them. It’s most important to focus on things that relate to your project because it will help you through the process and help give you a framework to get started. Way down the road, it will help you too when you’re thinking of how to market your project. Finding projects that are similar but that you dislike can be just as helpful; you learn what you don’t want to do and how your product will be different. When you’re doing this, look for projects that are similar but different too – things you can take inspiration from. An easy example for me and with writing is that you can find writing styles you like that aren’t even in the same genre as the book you’re writing but could work. Before you get started with your project, I recommend finding at least 3-5 things in this category and getting to know them well enough to help get inspired for your work. As you go through the process, it’s helpful to continue finding more. Well, if you’re feeling ambitious and thinking of starting a project, I hope you’ve found this helpful. If you have any questions on this topic or really anything else, feel free to reach out to me via email at [email protected].
Thank you for reading and best of luck with your project/idea!  Click this image to head over to the Amazon Page. On Self-Improvement is much different from my first book. Rather than studying experts of a specific subject, I decided to focus on the general topic of self-improvement and how focusing on daily progress ends up paying dividends. Among other things, this book will teach you:
On Self-Improvement will be available just about anywhere but the best place to get a copy will be Amazon. It will be available in print and in eBook.   I'm excited to announce a project I've been working on that's officially published! The Self-Improvement Companion Journal was made to assist you with setting goals, tracking habits, reflecting, and planning as you progress through a year's time. The core of the journal is it's weekly goal and habit-tracker worksheet and writing prompt (seen below) but there are also 4 quarterly assessments to assist with setting long-term goals and lined sheets in the back of the journal for open-journaling. After much working, testing, and refining, it is now available on Amazon in paperback and hardcover! Click the link below to view it on Amazon and order your copy today!   Media (Books, Podcasts, Etc.), Other 5-minute read In this post, you'll learn about the 7 traits Danny Meyer looks for when he is hiring. I share this not to improve your interview or hiring skills but because of how these traits which make people "exceptional" are mostly related to a focus on self-improvement. I'm also sharing for the simple fact that I found this topic interesting so I thought others might as well. I'll be honest - when I saw the title of Danny Meyer's podcast episode on The Tim Ferriss Show and for the first few minutes of listening, I wasn't sure if it would be worth the time. The title is #665 - Danny Meyer, Founder of Shake Shack - How to Win, The Art of The Graceful "No," Overcoming Setbacks, The 6 Traits of Exceptional People, The 4 Quadrants of Performance, Lessons from Hospitality Excellence, and More. It's almost a "too good to be true" title and starting off without knowing Danny Meyer, I was a bit skeptical to start, thinking he was just a CEO who thinks he knows all and sells his advice to self-help junkies. To my surprise and gladly so, I was mistaken. Danny is certainly experienced - he is the founder of Shake Shack as well as the founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, a restaurant group currently operating a dozen different restaurants in New York City. From listening to this episode, you learn that Danny really cares about slow growth while putting his employees first and having a strong focus on hospitality. He states that the hospitality business is "a virtuous cycle where one input leads to something even better. So if you want to have really happy customers, they shouldn't be the input. You should have really happy employees, which I think leads to a greater chance you're going to have really happy customers" and then states how this in the end leads to happy investors. His perspective makes the whole episode worth listening to but in this short post, I want to share the part the stuck out most to me and that is Danny's 7 traits that he looks for in his employees that makes them extraordinary. And they are: 1. Kind EyesThis was glossed over in the podcast with not much added context but I think it comes with more than just the eyes. Someone's overall energy (whether they are friendly, fun, etc.) comes through their appearance and so, especially in the business of hospitality where first impressions are very important, you can see why he would look for this. 2. CuriosityMost workplaces would agree, that they don't want to hire someone who is a know-it-all. Confidence is one thing but you need to be willing to learn first. Danny's big question he asks himself when interviewing is if the individual sees themselves as a finished product or if they are going to take opportunities to learn and improve. 3. EmpathyIn interviews, Danny scales the empathy of future employees by asking the question: On a scale from 1-10, tell me how lucky you are. An employee in hospitality should likely answer this question by going into how much they care about how they make others feel through their work. This is another trait that would be key to the restaurant business especially but in any business, it's good to be aware of how others are affected by things on an emotional level. Despite how much of a business operates on work, logic, and rationality, people by nature are emotional beings and this will always play a large factor. 4. Work EthicThe questions I have gotten in interviews that relate to this are ones that prompt you to explain a project where you had to go above and beyond and the outcome of doing so. Work ethic I'm sure is a difficult one to see in an interview conversation but it is an obvious essential. If you aren't willing to work hard to deliver a good product, why would someone want to hire you? 5. Self-awarenessDanny's question for this in interviews is: What is the single biggest misconception people have about you? There are many things that could be asked to test self-awareness - really any question on personality or asking about areas they've noticed they needed to improve on but this is certainly a more creative question than that typical, "What is your biggest weakness," question that nobody likes (especially if they're interviewing for a job they have no experience in). From my little time as a manger, I can't speak with too much authority but I believe being able to reflect so that you can know where you can improve and how others see you in your role is really what seems to make a good employee a great one in the long run. 6. Integrity/TrustThis is another trait which Danny has a specific question for: What is something that happened to you before the age of 12 that has changed your life forever? This question is a clever one for integrity/trust but it forces a deep, authentic answer because it is likely unexpected and would be something personal they're willing to share with others. I would think this trait is probably one of the toughest to gauge in an interview because (for me, at least) it can take a while to know to know how much you can trust someone, even after working with them for a while. But it is certainly essential. 7. Love to WinThis trait was added during the episode of The Tim Ferriss Podcast mentioned above and he stated this is the only thing missing from his other 6 which are tried-and-true in his business. He describes how their are 3 types of winners:
The 3rd type seems to be the winners that he's looking for because he states: “…I know that I want to be the best and I can’t do it by myself so I’ve got to stock my team with people who look at every day as an opportunity – not for perfection because I think perfection is stupid, it’s impossible, it’s a recipe for unhappiness – but I do look for people who look at every day as an opportunity to honor whatever they did yesterday and figure out how to do it a little bit better today, that’s the journey of success.” In ConclusionI personally would say the 7th trait didn't need to be added because it is a culmination of the others. No matter what your career is, most of these traits are ones that are beneficial for all of us to work on. #2, 4, 5, and 6 are traits I can see all workplaces having in their top 10, the others I see as best in the hospitality business - they're still beneficial for all but may not make the top 10. Those same traits (#2, 4, 5, and 6) all relate to self-improvement since working on them benefits us, no matter who you are. As Danny says, "I don't want know-it-alls, I want learn-it alls." Don't ever lost curiosity or stop learning. Curiosity is also the trait that Walter Isaacson seems to arrive at most when comparing the exceptional people he has written about (Steve Jobs, Leondardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, etc.). In order to make real progress, you have to work hard and stay disciplined. It's very easy for us to fall back to things that are comforting but it's important we stay focused. This is why work ethic is key. Self-awareness is all about reflection and so is self-improvement. We need to take the time to take note of where we can use improvement before doing the work. Most people just don't take the time to reflect; I can't blame them because most people are overwhelmed by career and/or family matters. And integrity/trust you build by keeping your promises and being there for the support of others, even when they don't know it. Great things can't be accomplished alone, they require a team, so if you want to work with people you can trust, you have to able to show that they can trust you as well. That's why I wanted to share these traits here - not for hiring purposes but so we can focus on what traits are most valuable in our own lives and reflect on what we can do to be better. Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear if you have any comments; drop them below. If you're not already subscribed but would like to be, head over to the Contact Page, provide your email, and you'll receive updates from me when new posts are up and news on other projects I'm working on!
I realize it has been a bit since I've posted last -- I've been working on a much bigger writing project and making pretty good progress (hint, hint).  Motivation 5-minute read None of us are perfect. We all have vices that we escape to in order to distract us from things that are stressful in our lives. Maybe it's something serious like drugs, gambling, or porn. Or maybe it's something less serious but you've realized you spend way too much time on like your phone, video games, or TV. Maybe it's something that's not serious yet but you know that it's better to stay away from - for instance, we all know someone who abuses alcohol to a point where it has damaged parts of their lives in a serious way. One of the hardest things for us to do is to be and stay disciplined; to ignore impulses that seem harmless in the moment but we know add up to trouble. This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately because this year I have a strong focus on being more disciplined all-around. Last year, research was my major focus so in the time I would normally spend in the gym, I would spend that time reading. I realize now, I could have planned this out better and forced myself to just listen to audiobooks or podcasts in times that I was in the gym so I could still reach my goal for research while staying disciplined. But when I wasn't doing research, I found it was far too easy to get sucked into playing video games or spending time on my phone. This year I've been pushing myself and, even though we're only a couple weeks in, my habits have improved ten-fold and it's because I keep away from my phone and video games and instead spend that time working out or writing. I feel amazing and I see it in the goals I set for myself each week that I've been getting far more accomplished. Let me share with you some tactics that have resonated with me from books that I've read and that have been helping me stay disciplined. I think that you will find them empowering and hopefully they will help you reach your current goals if they resonate with you as well... 1. James Clear's Identity Based HabitsJames Clear, author of the Atomic Habits (a book that released over 4 years ago that still remains at the top of the charts in Self-Help on Amazon and I'm sure will remain there for a very long time) states that, "The key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first."1,2 Clear's outlook is that we essentially are the summation of our habits - and that's a tough thing to argue. With identity-based habits, he's saying that if we want to change our habits, we should have the mindset that we want to change who we are in a positive way. For instance, if we want to quit smoking, the best mindset we can have is, "I'm not a smoker," so that if someone asks you to smoke, that can be your response and you relieve yourself from the pressure and impulse to continue that unhealthy habit and lifestyle. This is a very powerful tool and is a great way to start when you want to set goals for yourself - by envisioning the person you strive to be. As I stated earlier, I decided I want to be more disciplined so I engineered my goals for this year around that. 2. Richard Thaler's Commitment DevicesRichard Thaler is a Nobel-Prize-winner for his work in behavioral economics and this tactic is from his wildly popular book titled Nudge. Commitment devices are tools used to keep us on-track for our goals.3 Thaler's most popular example of this is taken from when he used to have dinner parties. He stated that while they were waiting and talking before dinner, they would commonly have drinks and after a certain number of times, he decided to move snacks into a different room for this period of time. No one there, especially Thaler, wanted them to ruin their appetite and by moving the snacks out of sight and to a place they'd have to walk to, he realized this helped tremendously. We can all use commitment devices to help us reach our goals and there are countless examples. One that should be obvious is with the food you keep in your house - if you leave the grocery store without the foods you "can't help but eat," you're helping yourself tremendously because it won't even be an option for you unless you take the time to go all the way back. Another easy example is that if you keep healthy foods like fruits and veggies out where you see them regularly rather than tucked away in your fridge, you're also far more likely to eat those foods more often. A commitment device that I've been using so far this year that keeps me off from my phone is by keeping it in the bedroom when I am home. There are times I need it to pay bills or make a call but most of the time, the only purpose it serves is a distraction if it's within reach. This certainly has helped me be productive while I'm home. 3. Mike Matthews' Ten-Minute WaitMike Matthews is a fitness author as well as CEO and founder of the supplement company Legion Athletics, Inc. His flagship books, Bigger Leaner Stronger for men and Thinner Leaner Stronger for women has helped me and hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of others with programming their fitness routines and learning the basics of lifting.4,5 In his book, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation, Matthews advises that when we want to do something like scroll through our phones or watch TV, we should simply distract ourselves with a task that pushes us in a positive direction instead.6 He states: "You can also institute a mandatory ten-minute wait before allowing yourself to indulge in an undesirable activity... Decide to do whatever you're dreading for just ten minutes, and once they're up, allow yourself to stop. Chances are you'll want to keep going!" (p. 59) It's interesting how simple of a tactic this is, yet how true and helpful! I haven't forced myself to do ten minutes because it doesn't usually even take me one minute! Once I start moving in a different direction, I get wrapped up in that task and completely forget about the bad habit I was distracting myself from. One thing that helps with this is scheduling out your day so that you accomplish the things you want to. If you do it right, you'll find that you won't have time to fool around for hours in-between tasks. In ConclusionSmall distractions can quickly turn into bad habits that will eventually catch up to you. What's keeping you from reaching your goals or being the person you strive to be? If you have a journal and you know there is something you want to work on, I recommend writing out your response to that question. If you don't, I recommend the free website/app that I've been using recently, Penzu. Once you've done that, consider these tactics given by James Clear, Richard Thaler, and Mike Matthews to help you stay true to that. We all can make the conscious decision on how we want to spend our day. If you use these tools, they can truly help you stay focused and spend your time wisely. I wish you the best on your current list of goals and with getting rid of those bad habits. If you have any questions or comments, please comment below. Thank you for taking the time to read. References
 This episode is much different than the first four – it is an update on what I’ve been working on recently and where I see this podcast and other works of mine progressing. This being the first Progress Update, I cover what I’ve done since the release of my first book and how it led me to this podcast. You’ll learn a lot about the purpose behind this podcast and the type of information I intend to share. I discuss why I’m currently researching books on the topics like free will, the power of choice, and the psychology of decision-making. I plan to provide more Progress Updates periodically in the future so I can give some insight on what books I intend to read and other content I intend to cover in the upcoming episodes. Click this link to have a listen! If you have any feedback, positive or negative, please leave a comment. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my Contact Page to be the first to know when new episodes are live. Episode 5 Full Transcript
This episode cover's Carl Jung's Modern Man in Search of a Soul, a book that guides psychotherapists on how to treat patients as well as individuals on how to improve their spiritual sense and mental health. Jung was one of the founders of analytical psychology, along with Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler but much of his work was overshadowed since Jung showed some disagreement with Freud's work. Jung has had a major influence on personality typing, being the creator of the words introvert and extrovert as well as being the #1 influence of the extremely popular Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (today's most trusted personality test), which was discussed in Episode 2. In this episode, we'll learn about his view on the importance of dreams, spirituality, religion, and the unconscious mind. Through helping thousands of patients who needed mental help, Jung has a very unique and educational perspective on these topics. Click this link to have a listen! If you've listened to multiple episodes, I hope you are noticing that the writing and production for episodes is improving! This is a new project for me but I am enjoying the challenge. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, please leave a comment. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my Contact Page to be the first to know when new episodes are live. Episode 4 Full Transcript
Episode 3 covers the life of Benjamin Franklin after reading Walter Isaacson's book title Benjamin Franklin - An American Life. I share some of his core principles and the major influence he had on American culture and also discuss the author's background and other writings from Franklin himself. You’ll get to know about his background as a printer/businessman, a scientist/inventor, and in American politics/diplomacy and hopefully will find some principles you can take away to improve your work ethic, creativity, and/or relationships. Click this link to have a listen! If you have any feedback (good or bad), I'd love to hear it in the comments below. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my Contact Page to be the first to know when new episodes are live. Episode 3 Full Transcript
Episode 2 discusses the value that can be found from taking the Meyers Briggs Personality Assessment as well as reading Do What You Are. Whether you are between jobs or not, knowing your personality type helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses so you know what roles you are best suited for and what areas you need to work on most. I break down the differences in personality types so that you may be able to figure out your type while listening and with a figure provided on my website, you’ll also be able to figure out your biggest strengths and weaknesses. Click this link to have a listen! Below are the figures mentioned in the episode - as images as well as downloadable PDFs.  Figure1  Figure2 Figures Mentioned in Episode
Episode 2 Full Transcript
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