In this episode of the GUTS podcast, I had the privilege of speaking with Tom Ziglar on the topic of leadership.

Tom is the author of the book, 10 Leadership Virtues for Disruptive Times, which we dig into during our talk.

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• T. Rex managers vs. Coach Leaders
• We’ll discuss two of Tom’s leadership virtues, Kindness and Selflessness
  • Why they are so important?
  • And how we can cultivate and incorporate these virtues into daily life?
• Zig Ziglar’s most important lesson

Here’s a brief excerpt of our conversation. you can listen to the entire podcast episode right here on the Cuppa SEO Website, or on Apple Podcasts.

“And so, a coach leader asks each person on their team, hey, what’s your why? What’s your purpose for being here? When you do well on the job, what does that mean in the rest of your life? And so a coach leader, asking these questions, we’ll dig in, and find out what it is that that motivates and inspires and drives someone — what’s the bigger reason for the job rather than you know, other than just paying the bills?

And so if I’m a team member, and I’ve got a leader who helps me see that my purpose in life can not only be fulfilled at work by doing a good job, but by being fulfilled overall — like, the better I do on my job, the faster I get my dream — then all of a sudden, I’m moving towards my purpose, which means I’m not going to deal with depression. And if my life is balanced, then I’ve got that solid foundation. And then the third one is what we were talking about on results versus growth. People said that 37%, the reason they quit was lack of motivation. So what’s the antidote to that? It’s goals and growth.

If somebody is growing every day, and they’re getting closer to their goals on a regular basis, then that creates internal motivation.

And the way that a coach leader works with their people in this scenario, is they ask them very simply, hey, you know, where do you want to be in a year? Do you want to make more money here next year? You do? Well, great. What are you going to do to develop yourself so that you can demonstrate tangible progress that will allow you to make more money? And so the coach leader asks that question, and then all of a sudden the team member starts having to take ownership and they start having to think about how they’re going to improve themselves. And of course, the coach leader helps them.

And the big key here is that with all the disruption that we’re in, we know that the intensity and frequency of disruption is going up — all we’ve got to do is read the headlines. It’s not just the pandemic, it’s inflation. It’s the global uncertainty, it’s politics, it’s all these things hitting us at the same time.

But if you’re growing, if you’re leading a team and helping them grow, then you’re ready for the disruption.”

Connect with Tom on social, or go to Ziglar.com for great resources, books and more.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thezigziglar/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheZigZiglar
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zigl…
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ziglarlife
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZigZiglar

Thanks for visiting, and stay well!

The post GUTS Podcast Highlight: An Interview with Tom Ziglar on Leadership appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

In this episode of the Getting Under the Surface (GUTS) podcast, we’ll be diving into part two of our conversation about trauma with Mark Brady, Ph.D.

Mark is a transpersonal neurobiologist, neuroscience educator, and recent throat cancer survivor. He’s also the prize-winning author of a number of books, magazine articles and academic papers and has published The Flowering Brain blog regularly for 14 years.

In part one of the series, we talked about trauma and disease, how to heal from trauma and how to heal emotional trauma — so be sure to check it out if you haven’t given it a listen yet.

Some of these trauma topics are also discussed in this episode, along with:

• Stress hormones and how they affect the brain
• Is there such a thing as the compulsion to repeat trauma
• Healthy ways to deal with trauma
• Does the “suck it up” attitude cause trauma on top of trauma?
• Solutions-focused therapy vs. traditional “talk” therapies
• Trauma, grief and acceptance

Listen to the full episode HERE.

EXCERPT FROM THE EPISODE …
“So I think I mentioned earlier that for 25 years, I volunteered as a grief counselor. And we initiated the second program in the country for grieving children. And one of the things we discovered was, the kids would come in with their parents once a week. The parents would go to their own group, and the kids would be with us, and they would come in sit in a circle.

For the first five minutes, they say who the person was that died, and what they died of. And once we went around the circle and did that, and they didn’t have to, but it was safe enough that by and large mostly they all did it.

After that, we would put them into activities that were primarily focused on the right brain, like our sand tray, painting — all right brain activities. And we had this room called the Steam Room, which is a room that was carpeted on all the walls and the floor, and the kids would go in. There was a punching bag in there, and there were a ton of pillows in there. And each week, the kids would be dying to see who could be the first cohort of kids that could get to use that steam room — because that’s where they all wanted to go.

And they would get in there, and they would wrestle, and they would throw pillows, and they would punch the bag, and climb up on the bag and jump off it into the pile of pillows. And my belief, based on this experience, is that what they were doing is — in this initial 5-minute circle — where we asked them to say who died and what they died from … they were activating neural networks that were recalling that the death (and in a number of cases it was a traumatic death). And then they were going into this program in the steam room … metabolizing the stress hormones associated with that loss by physically moving.”

RELEVANT LINKS

• Visit The Flowering Brain @ https://thefloweringbrain.wordpress.com
• Mark Brady, Ph.D. books: https://amzn.to/3Lbhh4x
• The Anatomy of an Upset, by Mark Brady, Ph.D.
• Trauma & Chronic Illness, by Veronique Mead, MD, MA

The post Tackling Trauma — An Interview with Mark Brady, Ph.D, Part 2 appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

As you may have guessed, today’s topic is brain-centric, and it’s an important one … trauma

OUR DISCUSSION INCLUDES:

• How to identify and deal with trauma in healthy ways
• Trauma and disease
• How we can help children deal with, and overcome, trauma
• How movement, mindfulness and meditation positively affect the brain
• Metabolizing the stress hormone
• Becoming more aware of, and moving past, our childhood trauma

Listen to the full episode HERE.

EXCERPT FROM THE EPISODE …

Mark: So moving the body is a is a is a powerful way to help metabolize stress hormones associated with trauma.

A number of years ago, Christmas Eve, my wife and I are getting ready to go to bed. And all of a sudden there’s this loud knock at our door. And who’s this? I go the door, the dog starts barking and I open the door … cautiously.

I look out and there’s a guy there. And he’s wide eyed. And he says, “Did you know that your chimney is on fire?”

I didn’t. And so I looked. Up until I actually went up and looked, I was relatively calm. But then I saw these eight foot giant flames shooting up off the roof. And my stress hormones just went through the roof. So great that I couldn’t think, I basically froze. And suddenly, then I could hear myself in a little child’s voice. I said, “What should I do?” And the guy who knocked on my door said, “Well, you should probably call 911. And see if you can use your hose.”

And it’s winter, right … And so I go the first hose bib, turn it on, it’s frozen. I go the next one, it’s frozen, I’m racing around the house, right? I go the one that we keep outside there, we put the water for the dogs, and it’s working.

So immediately I run it, grab a ladder, and jump up and climb up on the roof on the ladder, and I take one squirt with the hose and that immediately knocked down the flames. And as soon as I saw that, I could feel my stress hormones just going down again, I knew the house wasn’t gonna burn down. It’s gonna be okay.

Joey: Mark, that’s some story, I can see it. And I could identify with it also — that moment, where it’s literally just a moment where it’s almost like a switch gets flipped, right? We could be completely fine. And then it’s like our brain stops working.

It’s funny that you mentioned water. I look what you call the stress hormones like it’s a raging river. Like at any moment, an external source can cause a flood or an internal source. Just internal anxiety, fear, worry, thoughts, thoughts, emotion. And I look at it like it’s it’s like a river. And even when the river is raging, you know, the question is, am I drowning in it? Which, for a moment, you were when you’re when your chimney was on fire — or are we making space so we can observe it? It doesn’t mean it’s not happening, it doesn’t mean we’re not experiencing something traumatic or intense. It just means that we are still able to
identify what’s going on and kind of process it, and make room for thought. Instead of panic.

Mark: Yeah, that’s right. We can’t really think well, when stress hormones are doing their thing. And basically what they do is they sever what’s called the binding proteins that keep the cells connected. High levels of stress hormones just sever them, they just run through the network and cut all the connections.

So you can’t think.

With the fire, once I realized that we’re not going to lose the house, we’re not going to lose all our possessions. It’s going to be fine. Everything came back online. And that’s that this is a key piece. That’s how fast cells in the brain connect and disconnect.

Listen to the full episode HERE.

—

MORE ABOUT MARK BRADY, Ph.D.
Mark is a transpersonal neurobiologist, neuroscience educator, and recent throat cancer survivor. He spent 10 years at The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, one of the nation’s premier think tanks (according to him: “stalking behavioral scientists in their natural habitat, undercover as the maintenance man!”). He is also the prize-winning author of a number of books, magazine articles and academic papers and has published The Flowering Brain blog regularly for 14 years.

RELEVANT LINKS

Visit The Flowering Brain blog
Mark Brady, Ph.D. books
The Anatomy of an Upset, by Mark Brady, Ph.D.
Trauma & Chronic Illness, by Veronique Mead, MD, MA

The post Tackling Trauma — An Interview with Mark Brady, Ph.D, Part 1 appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Today, we’re sharing some insights from my recent conversation with Camille Gerrick. Camille is a neurodivergent artist living in Charlottesville, Virginia. And while her narcolepsy and ADHD present challenges to running a business and doing all the normal things grownups are supposed to do, she prefers to think of these conditions as her artistic superpowers.

What does it mean when someone is neurodivergent?
Being neurodivergent or neurodiverse means that the brain is wired differently from everyone else’s. Some conditions that might fall under this spectrum of neurodiversity are ADHD, autism, and dyslexia. When you think about neurodiversity, it’s important to acknowledge that just because that brain is different, it doesn’t mean that it’s any less than a neurotypical brain. Instead, it’s more about focusing on the strengths that neurodiversity will bring to the situation. For example, people with ADHD may be notoriously bad with time management, but they can also be very passionate and driven. And when we’re interested in something, we can spend hours on it and not even realize it—thinking of our differences as strengths. 

You grew up as a kid in the 80s and 90s; how has that affected your art style?
I remember having a lot of really obnoxious outfits like these crazy patterns with squiggles and triangles and loud colors. The big scrunchies, the side ponytails, and I guess I just never really grew out of that, to be honest. Colors just make me happy. When I was a kid in elementary school, Lisa Frank was a big deal, and everybody had the folders with the cute rainbow animals and the trapper keeper for all their school stuff. And I just never grew out of that phase. Maybe it’s childish, but it’s fun. And it’s harmless.

I just started reading the Aesthetics Of Joy by a designer named Ingrid Fetell Lee. The premise of the book is that we’ve been taught through ancient traditions that the source of joy lies within us. But, a growing body of research is starting to support the idea that tangible objects can also spark that feeling of joy. In the book, Ingrid embarks on this study to find out what things spark joy, and color was one of her findings.

How did you get started?
It always sounds cheesy to say; I’ve been creative since I was a child. But there’s really not a time I can remember not being enamored with drawing or painting or the creative process. Growing up, we had this little kids’ table with chairs that had pockets on the back full of all our crayons and markers. I remember sitting at that table and coloring away. My dad is a writer and a musician, and my mom is a teacher, so it’s just something we grew up with, being encouraged to be creative. My mom was very anti-TV as well so that probably helped, if we can’t watch TV,  maybe we’ll make something. 

As a kid, I was always given craft special interest books like learning calligraphy or origami with a dollar bill, and oftentimes, they came with all the supplies you need to do what was in the book. Specifically, there was one book about macrame friendship bracelets, and I latched on to that book; I learned how to do all these different knots. I actually started my first business when I was in elementary school, selling macrame friendship bracelets on the playground. I would take my little box of embroidery thread and pull custom colors for people to make them custom color friendship bracelets during recess. Around this time, my grandfather, who owned his own landscaping business in South Florida – landscaping was a big deal – started having conversations with me about charging for my products. He’d say you need to think about how much it costs you to make it and make sure that you charge the right amount so that you’re not losing money. And then you need to decide what percentage of what you make you’re going to invest back into materials or growing the business and what percentage do you want to save. So from a very young age, those conversations about entrepreneurship were had through my grandfather.

You’ve mentioned throughout your story (you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out more) that you also cope with chronic issues like pain; how do you do art while dealing with those issues?
Yeah, I have a lot of chronic pain from when I was in the military and art helps me cope with that. With art, I get into that flow state where your sense of time, like physical sensations from your body, kind of cease to exist, and you’re 100% in the moment, focused on what you’re drawing or creating. I need that in my life on a very regular basis. It helps me feel sane. It’s something that takes my mind off these health issues – it’s a mental escape from really anything adulty in life.

Where You Can Find Camille:

• Website: www.camilovescolor.com
• Facebook: camillegerrick
• Instagram: @cami.loves.color
• TikTok: @cami.loves.color
• LinkedIn: camille-gerrick

This podcast and all past episodes are available to listen to now. You can also subscribe to Get Under The Surface podcasts on all major platforms (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.).

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I’m excited to share that this week my new podcast launched!

It’s called, Getting Under the Surface (GUTS), and it’s about digging into the connection between mindfulness, marketing, self-care and relationships — including the relationship you have with yourself.

In the first episode, I share how this podcast started manifesting over four years ago, and how my wife’s health issues caused me to take a deep look at how (poorly) I was practicing self care.

We’ll also discuss some of the topics you can expect to be tackled on the show, including resistance, acceptance, trauma, fear, awareness, and self perception. Taking it one step further, episodes will also cover how our personal experiences affect our professional life.

Whether you’re a parent who runs their own business, a leader who is strapped for time, or someone who is struggling or overwhelmed, you are not alone. The goal of this podcast is to provide a safe space for diving into mindfulness, meditation, marketing and professional life (which is all part of the ball of wax of your existence), self care, and relationships — including the relationship you have with yourself.

This podcast (and forthcoming program) debunks the “work/life balance” myth, and helps each of us look at life more holistically.
 
The podcast is available on all major platforms (although some may still be in the approval process), and you can listen here right now.

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And although being aware of and addressing challenges is important — if it becomes all consuming, then we are lost.

Why?

Because once we start “swimming” in the river of our challenges (AKA problems), it’s just too easy to drown in them.

I’ve learned a couple of things about this I’d like to share:

1. It’s much better to observe the river, than to go swimming in the rough water. AND, it’s also OK to feel what we’re feeling while we’re the observer on the shoreline. Being aware of our feelings and thoughts doesn’t make them go away — but it can diminish their impact.
2. Being grateful is incredibly important. It may sound like a cliché, but it’s true. I’ve often thought to myself, “how can I be grateful when so many things are challenging?” Then I realized that being grateful doesn’t mean that we just forget about, or ignore, the challenges — but instead, we make space for gratitude to exist along with the struggle. In other words, it’s OK to be grateful for one thing and upset about another at the same time, just as it’s OK to feel something deeply and also observe yourself feeling what you’re feeling instead of drowning in it.

Why are we talking about this on a web design blog?

Because how we’re doing emotionally and cognitively has a DIRECT EFFECT on how well we run our business and our marketing efforts. it has a direct effect on the health of our relationships — and how well we make decisions.

Whether it’s work, parenting, relationships, or simply living our lives, I have found the practices mentioned above to be invaluable — I hope you find them helpful, too!

The post Observing the River appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Topics discussed in the interview include:

1. Why design and illustration — what prompted you to choose this field?
2. As a creative, what did your journey look like from HS, to college, to the professional world?
3. How did you get into over 90 retail stores across North America?
4. So obviously, you’re an artist AND a business owner. How do these two different facets of you co-exist — and how does one affect the other?
5. What is the biggest challenge you have faced (either professionally, personally) and how did you handle it?

One of the happy surprises that came out of the interview was a discussion about trauma, healing and self care — which is an incredibly important topic for business owners that doesn’t get enough attention.

I hope you enjoy this week’s edition of Five Questions With.

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And the latest story that caught my attention (I bet it caught yours, too), was about Simone Biles pulling out of the gymnastics floor competition at the Olympics because the pressure was affecting her mental health.

This got me thinking about small business owners and the constant stress we are under on a daily basis. When things are going good, and cash flow is healthy, the consensus of the business owners I’ve spoken with is that stress levels diminish. And this is normal. As one of my mentors, Zig Ziglar, used to say, “money is important, it’s almost on the same level as breathing.”

So when there are cash flow problems, it’s natural for the mind to enter fight-or-flight mode, and for anxiety and worry to rise. Sure, there may not be a lion chasing us, but as Zig mentioned: for the small business owner, actually for most mortals, money is a necessary element of survival.

Now, add the stress of running a business, a pandemic, family responsibilities, and the general chaos that occurs in our world — and it’s easy to see why one’s mental health could feel pretty down and out.

This raises an important question …

How do you care for your mental health as a small business owner?

When you  can’t — or feel like you can’t — stop working because you are the breadwinner for your family, and your clients/customers are depending on you?

I don’t know what the short- and long-term repercussions are for Simone for dropping out of that particular Olympic competition. Will she lose sponsors? Will she struggle financially because of it? Only time will tell. I believe she did the right thing, and set a positive example for the rest of us.

But here’s the thing, no matter what the result of her decision — “pushing through” and not addressing one’s mental health is not the right answer. Because, honestly, if we don’t validate our mental health as something important, who will?

Yes, you might feel that you simply “can’t stop” because of the stress of obligation and worry. Yet, stopping, and being able to come back to “fight another day,” is a much better option than falling apart.

To be candid, I’m writing about this because I’ve experienced a higher-than-usual amount of stress over the past few years — and I’ve been at the crossroads of pushing through, vs. taking care.

My wife got hit pretty hard with fibromyalgia a few years ago and it turned everything upside down. Work and home life needed a big revision, and fast. Luckily, at work I have a FABULOUS TEAM, so delegating more tasks to competent, caring individuals meant that my web design firm was just fine.

But I was spread thin. Cooking, cleaning, shopping, running a business, being a dad, caring for my wife, ALL had a direct effect on my mental health. And I soon realized that if I didn’t care for myself — if I didn’t make self care a top priority, I might not survive, let alone be good to anyone.

So, what did I do?

I got my self-care act together. I stopped drinking, as I didn’t want alcohol to become a coping mechanism for the stress I was under — there was no way I was going to set that kind of example for my kids.

I started meditating and exercising on a daily basis, joined a men’s group, and sought counsel with a trained therapist to help me work through the emotions and trauma of my wife’s illness — so I could handle “the new normal” in healthy ways. I also started talking with close friends more, which helped with a sense of community.

I share this, not to sound like a big shot, but hopefully to empower you to make self care a priority for yourself. It’s important to your long-term success as an human being, and a small business owner.

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Is a do-it-yourself mentality holding you back?

This is something only you can answer — as there are many variables a business owner faces, which contribute to whether or not doing it yourself, or getting someone to do it for you, is the best idea.

I think it’s most important to simply ask yourself the question and contemplate it a bit.

Is there someone on your team who can do a task or a project just about as good as you, or maybe even better?

Even if you may be the best person in the world for a task, do you have the time to do it? If not, it’s probably time to find someone who can do it for you — or hand off other tasks to free up your time so you can do that one task that only YOU can do.

After nearly eight years in business, this is still an important question I ask myself regularly.

The latest task is marketing and publicizing my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing. Although there are marketing strategies I’m really good at, that do well, I don’t have the time to do them consistently. Plus, I don’t have the relationships or the experience in the author/book market niche to be as effective as someone who does … so I’m interviewing people now to take this off my plate.

The DIY philosophy doesn’t work for me in this case, so holding onto it is only holding me back.

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