Everyone who's ever tried to become more productive has heard of the 80/20 rule.  What's surprising is how few people actually understand it's real value and even if they do understand it, fail to use it often enough.  In this episode, Zack and Jeff talk about the 80/20 rule and this guy name Pareto who discovered it in 1896.

Our phones have removed the need to think and wonder anymore because we have the world of information at our fingertips.  This week we discuss the value of returning to wonder and contemplation.

It's the little things that matter most in life and it turns out celebrating those moments can improve your life.

Do we own our thoughts and feelings?  In this episode, we discuss the concept of the Monkey Mind and try to understand how to keep it under control.

Leading people can be a really tough job.  Most people are surprised to learn when they get their first employee, how instead of their life getting easier, everything just got a lot harder.  The most difficult thing is often figuring out what motivates your new employee.  Wouldn't it be nice to have someone explain what drives people in a simple and memorable way?  Dan Pink’s book titled Drive, will arm you with powerful insights to make the most of your leadership opportunity.   In this...

Motivation, Ability and Opportunity are the generally accepted ingredients to success in life.  In Adam Grants book, Give and Take, he proposes that there is a 4th and often overlooked ingredient, which is your reciprocity style.  Who are most successful in the workplace, the Takers, Matchers or Givers?  The answer may surprise you.

If you asked me what is the single greatest habit to start right now? It is to read more books.  In this episode, I provide some suggestions on how to make time for reading, how to read a book in a way to get the most out of it, and provide some ideas on books you might find interesting.   A special thanks to Criteria for sharing their song "Prevent the World" with our show.

Fifty-Two episodes of the A&Y Project complete. In this episode, we talk about what e've learned from our own journey over the last year. How you can put the cart before the horse on your projects?

in the 1993 Movie "My Life" staring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman, Keaton's character learns he's dying of terminal cancer.  His children are too young to learn much from their dad, so he decides to record the fatherly wisdom he won't be around to share.  As a movie, it's hilarious, touching and sad all at the same time.  It's stuck with me ever sense and it inspired me share the three greatest lessons I have learned over my lifetime.

Let's face it, rejection hurts.   The person who rejects us the most is often the little voice in our own heads. Many of us don't apply for the dream job, ask for a raise, or negotiate because of the fear of rejection. In this episode, we share some stories of people who asked “why not?” and faced their fears to live the life they really want.

When we think of Improv we often think of the TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway" or the famous Chicago Improv comedy club "Second City" which is credited with producing comedians Steve Carell, Tina Fey, and Steven Colbert.  What we don't typically think about is how Improv can teach us to be more skillful at life.  In this episode, we introduce the three fundamental rules of improv and provide simple actions you can take to be better at everything.

Why do we focus so much on getting better and operating at a higher level?  In this episode we deconstruct the why behind self improvement and it's less about the self than you might think.

What's the point of going it alone?  We all need help reaching our goals and what better way to do it by starting a Mastermind group to support each other.  We started one last December and have been amazed by the results from it.  

Many people stress over investing in stocks, bonds, and real estate?  Warren Buffet says the best investment you can make is in yourself and I couldn't agree more.  Just because you're out of school doesn't mean you're done learning.  It actually means you're finally free to study anything you want. Thanks to the internet there's an online course, webinar or seminar to teach you just about anything your heart desires.  Get out there and learn something new!

We often say there are only two things you can control, your attitude and your effort.  Well, technically there’s one more thing you can control and it’s your breath.  Breath is the new frontier for improving performance. It’s easy to do with a little practice and it can be done anywhere and anytime. We learned all of this from my mentor Mark Divine. In this episode, we teach you how to box breath. You will learn: How to manage stress and performance anxiety How to increase your sense of...

Every once and a while I come across something that's really awesome and inspiring. It was certainly the case when I watched Simon Sinek's talk. I was surprised to learn there's a chemistry aspect to great leadership.  In this episode, we deconstruct how hormones make us feel and can help us become better leaders and drive deeper connections with our tribe. You will learn: About the trust hormone Why testosterone is important for leadership The importance of how we perceive stress 

How we talk to ourselves is more important than you think. Is there a voice in your head discouraging you from trying new things?  Is it criticizing and judging your ideas before you can share them with the world? If yes, then congratulations on being a perfectly evolved human. We're biased to filter the world through a negative lens because it was safer to do so back when we hunted with rocks and sticks.   Today's world is relative safe and this negative bias is holding us back from...

We know we should be working on the most important things in our lives but somehow we just don't feel like doing it.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  We thought this would a great topic to discuss and hopefully make ourselves and you more aware of the struggle and possibly some ideas that will help you overcome it next time.

One of the first influencers in the area of going back to basics via the caveman is Mark Sisson.  He has a great blog www.marksdailyapple.com that has had a big impact on our lives and is the perfect place to start as you develop self-mastery in 2016.  In this episode, we cover the second half of the 10 Laws of the the Mark's Primal Blueprint. You will learn: About the importance of sleep Why it's important to get enough sunlight How to avoid mistakes  

One of the first influencers in the area of going back to basics via the caveman is Mark Sisson.  He has a great blog www.marksdailyapple.com that has had a big impact on our lives and is the perfect place to start as you develop self-mastery in 2016.  In this episode we cover the first 5 Laws of the the Mark's Primal Blueprint. You will learn: How to get back to basics with your diet What are the most effective activities to include in your exercise program Identify poisons you should...

We all know those mentally strong people who never seem to break or give up.  They seem to have a leg up on the rest of us when it comes to dealing with tough times.  I don't know about you, but I want to be one of those unbreakable people.   In this episode, we discuss Amy Morin's widely distributed article that breaks down 13 things mentally strong people don't do.  It surprisingly simple list of things we can all stop doing to some degree or another. 

Did you you know Ben Franklin popularized the use of the Pros and Cons list in 1772?  You probably won't need your bifocals to see that a lot of research and development on how to make better decisions has been done over the 243 years since Franklin first used it.   In this episode we share some of the latest methods we learned from reading the book Decisive: How To Make Better Choices In Life And Work by Chip and Dan Heath.

To truly operate at your highest level you will have to develop mastery in the areas of the physical, mental, emotional, intuition and spiritual.  Jeff recently attended the annual Unbeatable Mind Retreat in Carlsbad, CA.  There he learned from the leaders in breath control, fitness, nutrition and brain science.  In this episode, he shares just a few of the insights he gained from the experience.

It's that time of year again when people lose their minds and start fighting over doorbuster deals at the old Walmart.  In this episode, they guys ask if it's time to follow the outdoor sports coop REI's lead and #optoutside?   A special thanks to the band Bazile Mills for sharing their song with us and to Chisel Creative Studio for designing our artwork. http://www.bazilemillsmusic.com   http://www.chiselcs.com

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