The Kevin Miller Podcast

Why would renowned associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University Cal Newport shun social media and keep ultra tight tight restrictions on his own technology usage? Because he desires to master his life, peace and productivity and he knows the limiting power of unleashed electronics in his life. Imagine waking up and immediately eating a donut. Getting ready for work and having a breakfast of...donuts. On the way to work, have a donut. As a matter of fact, you just keep a dozen with you at all times and rarely let 15-20 minutes go by without at least having a bite. I mean, what harm is there in just a bite here and there? But by day’s end you never had enough room in your belly to get any good nutrition in and you feel a bit woozy from all the sugar and carbs, even as you sneak a couple bites as your head hits the pillow and you try to get some sleep, which is disturbed by the days intake of junk. Or constant spending of your money? We all know we must budget our nutritional intake and financial expenses. We know we can’t binge on anything continuously. But in a short amount of time, our electronics and devices have crept in and many of us find ourselves on a near non-stop diet. What is it doing to us? This is our topic today. As I mentioned, Cal Newport is an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University and the author of six books, including his most recent, Digital Minimalism - Choosing a focused life in a noisy world. Two of his books, Deep Work “Rules for focused success in a distracted world” and So Good They Can't Ignore You are books I’ve heard so many world influencers reference. It was the testimony of Michael Hyatt that prompted me to do this interview with Cal. You won't find Cal on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, but you can often find him at home with his family in Washington, DC, or writing essays for his popular website calnewport.com. Gratefully, he took time to have an in depth conversation with us. We all need to hear this message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Ziglar Show, I’m your host, Kevin Miller and this is our Q&A show. Every week I post a personal development question on my facebook page at agentkmiller to hear the real-world testimonies of people’s journeys to change and grow. In this episode our topic is around an age old cliche’. We hear a short story and message from Zig Ziglar that wraps up with him stating a core value for humanity is “How fast you get up after being knocked down”. I think I can safely assume everyone has heard this. If you’ve ever played football, I can guarantee it! But do we take it to heart? Here’s the deal and point of this episode, if nothing hard happens to you, you aren’t stretching yourself more, you’re playing it safe. That’s your choice. But if you ARE striving, you will have some trials. Things that don’t work out for you. And you may very well be victimized, that can happen to anyone. The point isn’t staying in a bubble. It’s going out and at some point, getting your bubble burst. So the value, the valor, goes to how you...recover. Do you get back up? Do you do it with hope and faith instead of bitterness and cynicism? Do you allow the trial to strengthen or weaken you? So from Zig’s message I posted this question:“What is a failure you’ve had or valley you were in or trauma you’ve recovered from that you are proud of and better for? And what was the catalyst for your overcoming?" We heard about recoveries from abuse, financial valleys, infertility, death of loved ones and more. I’m joined by Michelle Prince to talk through the comments. We also addressed some big issues in regards to why some people bounce back and others don’t, and we get into muddy water with the concept of God being in control and having a plan... I think you’ll find this an affirming message. Hey, I have a favor to ask, and something to offer in return. It helps me when you share The Ziglar Show with others on social media, and when you leave a review wherever you access your podcasts. But this takes your time. So what can I offer you? You tell me. Seriously. Share the show or write a review, then send it to me at kmiller@awarebc.com and...tell me how I can help you. Answer a question? Give some guidance? Help you find a resource? You tell me. As Zig says, we’ll help each other get what the other wants.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In citing what he most wanted to impart the Ziglar audience, David Meltzer replied, “I want to challenge the audience to build a habit machine.” David was our guest in show 699 titled, “How to make decisions with confidence” and I started off the show fawning over the fact he was one of the main consultants for the movie Jerry Maguire. His new book is, Game-Time Decision Making: High-Scoring Business Strategies from the Biggest Names in Sports. In this show of course we walked through his personal habits. Highlights for me...David cited he spent much of his life with the perspective of family and work coming first, but now feels his personal, physical wellness must comes first because without that, he can’t serve his family or his work well. Thus he spends an hour per day on his health. The last year and a half have seen his greatest growth in relationships after he started some habits of consistent communication, which you’ll hear more about. Being a student of his calendar is a big aid for his mental peace and wellness. He is shameless in making money a priority, as with it he can shop for the things he needs to do what he wants and needs to. In regards to that he views his primary vocation doing activities he gets paid for. He believes our culture has a happiness problem and a big personal focus is learning to love all that he is doing. You will gain much from this show. Again, get David’s book, Game-Time Decision Making: High-Scoring Business Strategies from the Biggest Names in Sports, wherever you buy books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your health. How is it? In our series here giving focus to our bodies and minds which are the vehicles for all the goals and efforts, we went to the Ziglar audience to find out what they are dealing with. And...it’s quite a lot. A lot of tough issues. Dr. Randy James was our guest in show 695 and I asked him to come back and talk through the comments and so many issues. What you will hear is a common thread of addressing our foundation instead of always trying to zero in on the ailment that is manifesting. Which means the overall message here gives us all hope and tangible methods we can all address.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most powerful successes in our lives come as the result of making decisions. And yes, that includes some bad decisions that help us get to the good ones. But to achieving anything of value comes by the hands of decision making. Yet how often have you heard guidance on just exactly how to go about making decisions confidently? It’s a void. Until now. In this episode I bring you David Meltzer. David has done a lot of things, but this is what initially peaked my interest in him -  David was CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment not only served as creative and technical consultants for the movie Jerry Maguire, but Leigh Steinberg is literally who Tom Cruise played in the movie. As far as entrepreneurialism and decision making in-the-moment goes and the real gravity of it, Jerry Maguire is a veritable playbook. David’s new book is, Game-Time Decision Making: High-Scoring Business Strategies from the Biggest Names in Sports. A primary premise of the book is learning to be prepared to make decisions in the moment with confidence, clarity, balance, and focus. Dave is the CEO of Sports 1 Marketing, a firm he co-founded with Hall of Fame Quarterback Warren Moon. You football fans will remember Warren as the star quarterback for a decade with the Houston Oilers. David is a Forbes “Top 10 Keynote Speaker“, award-winning humanitarian, and two-time national best-selling author. This was a really rich and heart to heart conversation friends. I encourage you to check David’s book out wherever you get books, Game-Time Decision Making: High-Scoring Business Strategies from the Biggest Names in Sports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We continue to hear it and we can’t hear it enough - we are the sum of our daily habits and rituals. In this episode we talk with Dr. Randy James whose main interview with us was show #695 titled, “Do you want to be well(er)? Here is how”, where we discussed how to get optimal performance out of ourselves so our bodies and minds are fully functioning. This is our habits show and you’ll hear how some core routines for Randy and with his family are as he says, “the anchors for his life.” Much of his family time is centered around meals and sports, good sleep is his primary focal point for his personal health and his personal time is often made up of sports,  reading (often on a treadmill), and a good meal, movie and wine. Connect with him here: Clinic - TrueLifeMedicine.com, new podcast - truelifeshow.com and the alternative health insurance - TrueLifeProtect.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“No fear!” Said the psychopath. The rest of us are human and have fear. The question is, do we recognize it so we can “Do It Scared” as Ruth Soukup’s book is titled? Our main show with Ruth is #691 and was flat out profound. From it I did more than just ask a question, I asked people this, “Will you do this quick fear assessment and report what you find doitscared.com/assessment.” Well...you guys did. Over 30k people have taken Ruth’s fear assessment. We added 50 more. People took the assessment and commented on Facebook about their results. What a conversation! I’m here to say it’s the most valuable and eye-opening assessment or profile I’ve taken in...as long as I can remember. We categorized all the results and I asked Ruth to come back and read through everyone’s comments with me. The big value, the takeaway, is understanding where you have fear and where it’s manifesting in your life. Overall we found people saying the assessment nailed them, and how they are working to deal with their fear. But the discussion with Ruth added dramatic insight into how we are all unique and even amidst the categories of fear Ruth outlines, we can still be very different people. Again, the point is understanding your fear propensity and learning how to...do it scared. And achieve what you desire in the face of it, maybe until you don’t even recognize it anymore! So, get ready for a free, master coaching session with Ruth, on fear.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your greatest desire is the ability to do what you want and need to do. At the end of the day, nothing really matters if you are not well, in mind, body and soul. Those you desire to serve are not getting your best. Would you accept a million dollars in cash today but give 50% of your wellness away? Of course not. Yet we often find ourselves pursuing careers, businesses, family and all progress in our lives at the sake of our overall wellness. The hard charging business exec or business owner or parent often doesn’t take time for personal wellness, they are busy making millions and raising families! They’ll deal with themselves later. That is until they find themselves in enough pain or lacking in their performance to an unacceptable degree. However, when we finally DO try to address our wellness, getting results from any effort seems to be more complex and elusive than ever. Those who attempt it so often just give up at some point. More and more in our culture we are accepting minimized body, mind and soul as normal. This is tragic and it’s robbing our lives and the world from our full glory. God’s full glory in us. Well friends, there actually is a strategy I can offer you that will help. Dramatically. A framework.  I’ve been involved with it for over four years now. It’s not a black and white, cookie cutter, specific answer. But a framework. Let me put it this way, no matter what type of house you want to build and live in, you must have a solid foundation that will support the structure, right. The makeup of foundations for homes are basically the same no matter what type of home you want to build. So what is the primary foundation for your...wellness? Our guest today is Dr. Randy James. Randy is a medical doctor, but far from the norm. His father, also an MD, was one of the early pioneers of what today we call Functional Medicine. Randy served as a doctor in the Air Force before starting in family practice in the states. From there he ultimately founded a new type of medical practice that focuses on the whole person, and their goals. This is not a promotion for his practice, True Life Medicine, up in Colorado. It’s a relatively small practice that acts as his personal lab as he works with a finite amount of people. His bigger goal is to bring the framework to as many people as he can, and this is what we are doing today.Let me stress again here, our point is to equip you to get the most out of yourself. To be running on all cylinders. So that...you can achieve the things you desire in life. This is a special show folks, and I’ll start with three disclosures: 1. Randy is the doctor for people you know like Dan Miller and Tom Ziglar (and some other celebrities I can’t divulge). 2. He and I are business partners and best friends, and 3. In this show we are officially launching our new show, the True Life Show podcast, and a new business that is a massively, revolutionary alternative to health insurance. We’ll talk about it briefly during the end of the show, but...you’ll hear ads as well. The clinic you’ll hear us reference is at TrueLifeMedicine.com. The show is at truelifeshow.com and the alternative health insurance is at TrueLifeProtect.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wouldn’t you like to know, really know, how to build a healthy self-image? We have a seven and a half minute message from Zig Ziglar, an excerpt from an on stage presentation, where he runs through some of his top advice. Then, we posted this question to the Ziglar audience, "If someone asked your advice on how to build a healthy self image, what are three things you would offer?" This may be our most significant compilation of real-world insight and counsel...to date. Truly astounding and heartfelt. Zig’s son and CEO of Ziglar, Tom Ziglar, joined me to talk through your comments. For those who hear Zig’s message and wish they could hear more of it, it was taken from the CD and DVD set, Strategies For Success - Blueprint for Achievement. Go to Ziglar.com and visit the online store. I just went on a 2,000 mile road trip with my family and along with great discussions and music, we took time every leg of the trip to listen to one of the CDs in the set. I grew up on this stuff and having my family do so as well is one of the best investments I can make. Plus, I can’t hear it enough. You need more than a reminder here...this is training. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices