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Developing a da Vinci Mindset (with Kenny Aronson) · The Daily Writer

0:08
SPEAKER_01: Welcome creative geniuses.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: This is episode 90 of the Born to Create podcast.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Kent Sanders, and this is the show where we explore the mindset, habits, and skills to help you make a bigger impact in your life and creative work.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: You can find previous episodes, my free ultimate toolkit for creative entrepreneurs, and much more at KentSanders.net.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we make creativity and personal growth more complicated than it needs to be.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: Even though there are countless systems, courses, books, and other resources to help us to reach our creative potential, it all begins with one very simple concept, and that is your mindset.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: If you think about it, your mind controls everything else in your life.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: And I'm thrilled today that my guest, Kenny Aronson, is here to help us to grow and develop our mindset.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: But it's not just any mindset we're talking about.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: Specifically, we're talking about a Da Vinci mindset.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: Kenny and I share a mutual admiration for the most creative person in history, and that, of course, is Leonardo da Vinci.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Buckle up because Kenny shares a boatload of great insights that'll help you become a better artist, creative, and leader.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: I'll share the conversation here in just a couple minutes, but first I want to encourage you to check out our Born to Create community.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: This is a Facebook group where we have a ton of fun interacting and encouraging each other to be the best version of ourselves.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: Just recently we were having some super interesting discussions about what books had really impacted us, what morning routines had helped us to become more successful, and tons of other ideas and tips for becoming a great artist and creative entrepreneur.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: So we have a lot of fun in this group, and I hope that you'll check it out by going to KentSanders.net slash Facebook Group.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: Now let's move on to our Ask Kent segment.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: And this is the part of the show where I answer your questions about creativity, mindset, habits, or writing.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: And today's question was sent in by Steve Sponsor.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: Steve writes Do you have any tips for getting into a creative state?
2:14
SPEAKER_01: If I'm buried in a work project or other non-creative task, how can I get out of that non-creative mode and start generating creative ideas?
2:23
SPEAKER_01: For example, when I finish one project that doesn't require creativity and I switch to a new project where I must be creative.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: So, Steve, this is a great question and something that I think a lot of us struggle with.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Even if you work in primarily a creative type role, let's say if you write novels or you do painting or artwork or something like that, you're still dealing with office work.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: You're dealing with emails, invoices, and other administrative stuff.
2:50
SPEAKER_01: So this is highly relevant to everyone whether or not you perceive that you work in a quote unquote creative job or a creative field.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: Now, as far as getting into a creative state, let me tell you what has really been working for me lately.
3:03
SPEAKER_01: So I've been reading through a really wonderful book called Atomic Habits by James Clear, which is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: And in this book, James Clear talks about how our environment gives our brains certain cues about habits.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: And this was a super fascinating part of the book.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: So let me share with you kind of my own experience.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: So I have a one room in our house is dedicated to my office space.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: And in this office space at my desk, I pay bills, I do writing and blog posts, I do my podcast, I watch Netflix, and pretty much anything else that requires a computer or a desk.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: So in other words, for years I have sent my brain a bunch of mixed signals.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: So when I have been sitting down at my computer all these years, my brain has not known whether it was supposed to be in budget and money mode, creative mode, entertainment mode, or whatever I was sitting down to do.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: And James explains in the book that when we do that, our our brains don't know how to process what we're doing.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: And for me, the the result of that is that I was blocked in my creativity.
4:09
SPEAKER_01: So in other words, I would be in this environment sitting here at this desk, which I'm actually sitting at right now.
4:15
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I would be sitting at my desk and my brain would would be thinking, well, should I create?
4:21
SPEAKER_01: Should I watch Netflix?
4:23
SPEAKER_01: Should I do the podcast?
4:24
SPEAKER_01: Should I pay bills?
4:25
SPEAKER_01: Should I answer emails?
4:26
SPEAKER_01: What should I be doing?
4:28
SPEAKER_01: So this concept of being in a specific environment I think is very helpful.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: And what I've done is I've started to spend more time in other settings depending on what task I'm doing.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: Recently I've been going to the local library and working on stuff that requires creativity.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: Specifically, I'm working on my next book, which is which is a parable, and it requires a lot of story planning and story structure and all that kind of stuff.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: It requires a lot of thinking, uh kind of in-depth story thinking, which I found that I can't really do if I'm sitting at the same desk that I use to produce my podcast and watch Netflix and pay bills and answer email and all those kinds of stuff.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: So what I do at the library is I go and I reserve a study room so I have a dedicated space totally to myself for a few hours.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: Something else that I do on a basically a daily basis is I go for a walk or for a run.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: That gets me out of the house and into a different environment.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: It helps clear my head and helps to release my creative thinking.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: My friend Vincent Puglisi has a great podcast called Total Life Freedom.
5:29
SPEAKER_01: And on a recent episode of that show, he talked about how he will sometimes take a legal pad to the library and spend several hours there just letting his mind come up with creative ideas and how sometimes those are his best ideas.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: And I love that because uh it just goes back to this idea of getting into a different environment so that we don't have those cues coming at us that normally come at us when we're in a familiar environment.
5:53
SPEAKER_01: Something else that I do frequently is that I use certain music to cue me to get into a certain state of mind.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: For example, whenever I'm working on my book, I always cue up a movie score playlist that I have on Spotify and that cues my brain to know that it's time to create and to start thinking in that mode.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: And I always start with a soundtrack to the Batman movie from 1989.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: And it starts out kind of low, you know, you have these low brass notes that they build and then it that just kind of builds and cascades from there.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: And what that does is it basically shifts my brain into creative mode and my my mind knows, okay, that's the cue, it's time to start thinking about this project and start thinking more creatively.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: So that's been what's working for me lately.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if this is helpful to you or not, but it's uh definitely helped me quite a bit.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: So I would say switch up your environment when you want to get into creative mode and maybe also try using certain music that helps you to think creatively.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: Give those ideas a shot and let me know how it goes.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: Steve, thanks for your question, and I'll be sending you an ebook, an audiobook version of the artist suitcase.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: And for everybody else who's listening, if you have a question about the creative life, habits, mindset, or productivity, you can submit it by going to KentSanders.net slash podcast and filling out the form there.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: Or you can just shoot me an email at Kent at KentSanders.net.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: If I use your question on the show, I will send you a free ebook and audiobook of the artist suitcase.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: Well, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, I'm really excited today to have Kenny Aronson on the show.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: Kenny is an entrepreneur, engineering student, and host of the Let's Talk Business Podcast.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: Kenny and I got to know each other earlier this year, and we soon found that we had a lot of mutual interest, including a love of learning, and of course, Leonardo da Vinci, who is my favorite artist of all time.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Kenny had me as a guest on his podcast a little while back, and now I am pleased to feature him on mine.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: In our conversation, Kenny shares a lot of great insights, including the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset, how to begin teaching others even if you don't see yourself as a teacher, Kenny's process for taking notes, and by the way, that's one of the most useful parts of this interview.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: The habit that has impacted Kenny the most recently and so much more.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: After the show's over, be sure and check out the show notes at KentSanders.net slash zero nine zero for episode ninety.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: All right, let's get into the conversation with Kenny Aronson.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, Kenny, welcome to the podcast.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm really glad to have you on.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: It's uh great to connect once again.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Kent.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm very glad to be here.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to speak with you today.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: So before we jump into some questions and that kind of stuff, I just want to say thanks for having me on your show a little while back.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: Um that show is already live, and I really enjoyed the chance to get to know you a bit and to chat on your show.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: So thanks for kind of returning the favor.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: We're sort of playing, you know, podcast back and forth here a little bit.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: You know what, Kent?
8:56
SPEAKER_00: I gotta say I'm glad to be here.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: I think the the episode that we recorded with you, I think it was like last month.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, time has really flown.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: I think it was a great episode.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: So it's my pleasure to be here, and I can't wait to speak with you today.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: So, can you talk a little bit about why you started your site, which is called DaVinciMind.net and how you got interested in personal growth.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm interested in the backstory of how all this came to be.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you know, back when I started it, and and I gotta say first, it's evolved over time with what I'm doing with it and kind of you know what my goal is with it is.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna kind of explain, you know, the steps that it's gone through in the journey.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: So it was back in July, I believe, which was uh probably about eight months ago, you know, time has really flown, like I said.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: But at the time I was super interested in a couple of different things.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: So the the first was creativity, the way that we create ideas and innovate in the world, and then also memory techniques, so learning by association and different things, such as that.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: And then what I think really put it together is I've always been interested in Leonardo da Vinci, the way that he learned and the way that he created.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think he's, you know, at least I personally label him as the the most creative person throughout history.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: So I've always been fascinated with the way he learned and the lessons that we can learn from him and what he does.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: So I put all these different things together into my my site called Da Vinci Mind.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: And my goal for this site originally was to teach people about memory techniques and how to better their lives.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: So for the first few months, that's really how it evolved, and it was more targeted to, you know, not anyone in specific, which was a mistake that I've made.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: And I tried to put together some trainings and things such as that, a lot of blog posts, and eventually this led to my podcast, the DaVinci Mindset Podcast, which was still built out of the same central theme of, you know, how do we become the best versions of ourselves to create innovations in the world?
10:48
SPEAKER_00: And the the podcast started as me just kind of doing monologues for every single episode.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I didn't enjoy that the most just speaking by myself.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: So I started to experiment with doing some guest interviews, and I found that to be a lot more enjoyable.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: And the content started to get a little bit more traction.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: So I started interviewing entrepreneurs and high achievers, people doing, you know, really cool things in the world, people doing research, you know, pretty much anyone from any walk of life I welcomed onto the show, such as yourself, Kent.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: And this really allowed me to get to know a lot of different people, get to know what they're doing in the world, and some of the things that set different types of people apart in the world.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: So eventually this led to another evolution of my site, kind of you know, more targeting like what I'm doing now is I my my site, like part of it is hosting the content from my podcast, just as a way for people to view it.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: But really, what I'm trying to move into now is creativity and innovation training for entrepreneurs.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: So that's more of what I'm doing now.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: So I still create content for general people from my podcast, and there's there's a couple of important parts for what I do.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: One part is the creativity training, because that's where the new ideas in your business or your career come from.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: And then there's memory and learning habits.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: So of course, learning and memory is important for achievement because the world is changing so quickly.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: So you have to learn even faster.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, the the third part of it is self-education.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: So after you graduate from, you know, whether it's high school, university, whichever formal education route you choose to go through, I think one of the most important determining factors for success and achievement is self-education.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: And not everyone is equally as equipped in self-education as the others.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: Some people have, you know, just by chance, habits that are very good for self-education, and other people don't.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't mean that they can't develop those habits.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: So that's really what I'm focusing on right now, is those three parts.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: And for my personal coaching and consulting services, I target those towards entrepreneurs and high performance individuals who are, you know, they they've they've got the drive to do great things and they want to take it to the next level.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: And then I do create a lot of content for my pop for my podcast and my content for you know everyone else pretty much.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: So whether they're new entrepreneurs, students, professionals, anyone else in the world.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I think is so fascinating is that both of us are engaged in the formal education system.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: And have found a lot of value in that, obviously.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: But there's also something about Da Vinci that is uh, I'm not gonna say it's anti-formal education, but you know, here was a guy who, as you're taught, you know, as you mentioned, really was into what we would call self-education, self-motivated, he explored things on his own.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: He it's not like he was going through some formal education system his whole life.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: How do we, you know, those of us who are engaged in formal education, how do we step outside of that of that system and begin to really embrace self-education?
13:51
SPEAKER_01: In other words, it's not some course that somebody has written, it's not just necessarily a book that we're reading.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: It's things that we're exploring on our own.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: How do you do you see that there's a conflict between those two things, or how do you reconcile formal education and the need for it and the value of it, but also this whole idea of self-education?
14:10
SPEAKER_01: I've asked about three questions there, so I'm probably totally confusing everybody.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Hey, it's all good.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: I understand.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: I do the same thing sometimes.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: But you know, Ken, I think that it's all about mindset.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: After you graduate from school, or even while you're still in school, which is pretty much what happened to me, do you have a mindset for growth?
14:28
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to learn more and do you want to achieve more?
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Because if people have fixed mindsets, if they don't really want to learn more and achieve more, then most people aren't really gonna go for self-education.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: And even when they go through formal education, most of the people who have a fixed mindset aren't gonna get a lot out of it.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: So it's all about your perspective.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, what do you want out of life?
14:47
SPEAKER_00: And then where does your education fit in?
14:49
SPEAKER_00: And in some of it's you know, positivity and growth, there's a lot of different things that go into it.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: But I also think that another part of it is realizing the enormous opportunity out there.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of people think that, you know, your your formal education will determine your outcome, but that's not always the case.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: And of course, it is super important, and self-education, if you like if you're good at self-education, it it really helps out your formal education.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: Like, if I wasn't good at educating myself throughout engineering school, I I would have been done horrible.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: I think that was one of the determining factors.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: And and that's really you know what I think allowed me to do well in these classes, and and I think the classes also helped me to really develop these habits because you know I gotta say I've had some professors who were definitely you know not the best.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: So I think that it's it's all about your mindset.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: I would say that's the most important thing.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: Just realizing the opportunity and then how this education fits into everything, and then also, you know, once you get the mindset in place, it's just about the habits.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, maybe you're not reading right now, maybe you're not growing, but that doesn't mean you can't develop new habits, which will help you to educate yourself.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: And then once you practice those consistently for a certain length of time, you know, it can be between 30 to 60 days, you start to, you know, do it without a second thought, and it and it starts to become um addictive.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: So let me probe your mind a little bit.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: Since you're in college right now, you're in that environment right now where you're going through curriculum, you're reading books, you're taking courses that other people have set up for you.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: So, in other words, it's things that you have to do to get the grade or the degree.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: And uh, for any college students listening to this, what advice would you give a college student who is taking classes or who have taken classes that they're not the best?
16:33
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the professor is not that great, maybe it's a subject you're not interested in at all.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: How can a college student change their mindset to get something out of that course, even if the teacher or the content is not something that they feel is that great?
16:47
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it's uh, you know, all about your perspective.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: And you might disagree with me on this, but I think it's okay to be a middle in the middle of the pack.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to go for the best grade in the class, especially if it's something you're not super interested in.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: You can still find, you know, some perspective on how this information might help you in the future, but you also need to make sure that if that's something you're not that interested in, you spend some time to still learn things that you're interested in.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: And that's gonna help you in the material that you're not interested in because you're still gonna be practicing those habits of learning efficiently and doing the educational habits that you need to have.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
17:26
SPEAKER_01: Oh, totally.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: It actually I I completely agree with you.
17:28
SPEAKER_01: I've actually told some of my students before that you know, the most important thing is not necessarily getting straight A's in everything.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: Because what I have found typically is that when you have students who make straight A's in every subject, that typically means that they're really good at school, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're good at coming up with new ideas.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: It sometimes means they're not good at being flexible or being self sort of uh self-motivated.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: So in many ways, formal education tends to measure and reward things that are related to being good at school.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't necessarily measure creativity, independent thinking, being flexible, being a self-starter, all those kinds of things.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: So that really, when it comes to entrepreneurship, those things are what's really critical, not just being a straight A student.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: And my my perspective has definitely shifted a lot over time.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Like in early college and late high school, I was always taught, and this comes from the school system and my parents as well, that you know, getting straight A's and being great in school is the most important thing.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: But I I don't agree with that anymore.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: I think it's much more important to, you know, at least get through it, get something out of it.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: But make sure you also have enough time to learn other skills, to learn real-world skills, learn how to communicate, learn how to market, learn how to build things and create things, learn how to follow your dreams and your passions.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: I think that's where you're gonna get skills and knowledge that will pay off much more in the long run.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I could not agree more.
18:54
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: I agree with that 100%.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: So, what would you say some of the best opportunities and the resources around us are where we can begin to educate ourselves, to grow our mindset?
19:06
SPEAKER_01: You know, if someone is not in a growth mindset kind of uh kind of world, how can they expand their mindset and begin to get motivated to really start to improve their own self-education?
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, Kent.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: You know, I I love this question because there's so many opportunities out there that I am passionate for.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: And there's a couple of things that we can potentially go through.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: I think one thing that's a great opportunity right now with the state of the internet and social media and all these different things and just kind of the world in general, is to just follow your dreams.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, whether it's to be an entrepreneur or to go down a different career path, there's nothing stopping you from doing that.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: And as a part of that, if you want to be an entrepreneur or go down a career, there are so many options for education.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: If you want to learn to be a programmer, you want to learn how to build applications, there's millions of resources that you can use.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: So, for instance, you could just search pretty much anything you want to learn on Google.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: And of course, you gotta be careful.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: You want to make sure you check the credentials.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: You don't want to learn about programming or or physics from some guy who has no idea what he's talking about.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: And and the good news is you'll find a lot of materials from world-class experts who will teach you amazing things.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: So you can look for online courses, you can learn, you can look for coaching, you can look for free videos, books, of course, books are a classic, and I think books are hugely important for you know developing that growth mindset.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: And I think the the best thing to develop that mindset is to just start consuming more content the way that you want to.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: Do you like podcasts?
20:34
SPEAKER_00: Do you like videos?
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Do you like listening to audiobooks, watching you know, courses, or learning in person?
20:39
SPEAKER_00: You know, find out the medium that works best for you.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't know, just start doing random stuff and see what you enjoy the most.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Like me, I'll always listen to podcasts.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: Like if I'm driving down the road or if I'm doing something I find to be boring that doesn't take much conscious effort, I'll listen to a podcast.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a great way to learn and grow.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: You can watch videos or courses.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense, Kent?
21:01
SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: I and I couldn't agree more.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: Just pick something and start listening to it.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think that there's a lot of people out there, and myself included, who, when you start listening to a podcast, you sort of feel obligated to listen to every episode.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: And I would say that's definitely not the case.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to read all of a book.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to go through all of an online course to get something out of it.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: Just sometimes it's okay to dip in and out of things and just take what's valuable.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: And that's better than not doing something at all.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: So sometimes you just gotta experiment and see what works for you.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: And you know, personally when I read books, I think it's like a lot like fishing.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: Like you're gonna find a lot of books out there that you know just plainly suck.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: So if you find a book and you don't like it, I think it's fine to take out bits and pieces of it or to find that one chapter that you really want to learn from.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you don't like the book, put it down and find another one.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: There's millions of books out there, and I'm sure there are and out of those millions, yeah, you'll find thousands of them that you will really enjoy and that will really help you to achieve.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Your goals.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: And then I think what's what's most important, and I know this really isn't the question, but it's just something that I think is important to get across, is you want to make sure that you're actually putting the knowledge and skills into action because knowledge is only potential power.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: You really got to put that into action in your whether it's in your business or your life or whatever area you're focusing on.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: And I think that is a really great point about knowledge is only valuable if you put it into practice.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: Because that, you know, especially in the entrepreneur community, there is a huge emphasis on reading, reading, reading, reading constantly, you know, listening to podcasts, watching videos and stuff.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: And I do see a little bit of the tendency in the entrepreneur community of taking in lots of information.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: I wish that I saw more emphasis on taking action and putting that information into practice because it doesn't really do a lot of good to read stuff if all that you ever do is just consume it, but you don't do anything with it.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate your emphasis on doing something with it, and and you're a great role model of that.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: You're a college student, yet you've developed a whole platform and you're doing all these cool things, and you're not waiting until somebody gives you permission to do it, you're just doing it and adding value to others, which I think is very cool.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk a little bit about the importance of teaching others.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: So we'll kind of flip this on its head.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: So uh, you know, again, you're in college, you're going through courses, you're going through a program of engineering, but yet you're also teaching others.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: What are some ways that sort of the the average everyday person, maybe they're not in college, maybe they're not going to grad school, or maybe they didn't even go to college to begin with.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: How can they begin to teach others and share what they know if they don't believe that they're a teacher?
23:43
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think that you know everyone has a role of being a teacher.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: You you you can let's say that you're reading a book, you learn something really new and interesting, and this is something that you you might already be doing for your classes, Kent, for when you're when you're teaching them is if you find something really interesting in your book, just share it with your students.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, share a little bit about what you're learning about and how it affects their lives.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: It's a really good way to spark things up and make it interesting.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: And then for anyone out there who, you know, everyone's of course not a professor or or a teacher by role, but just share it with people that you you find in your life.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, it could be people that you interact with on a daily basis, it could be on social media as well.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: If you learn about something super interesting in a book, and I and I and I'm actually kind of borrowing this from a guest on my podcast.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Before I actually came on here, I was recording an episode for my podcast, and he brought up a really interesting idea.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: And so what he does on a consistent basis is when he's learning something from books, which he he does a lot, he does a lot of self-development and personal development, he takes the the interesting information and he shares it with his you know his followers on social media.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: So that's a way of teaching.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: You can use social media leveraging other tools, then of course you can do it in person.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you're if you're going through education, it's also a very valuable tool.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: For many of my classes, this is what I've done to really get more out of it and and you know, learn a little bit more efficiently.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: Is if I don't understand something in the class, you know, I'll find a friend in the class and say, hey, you want to study?
25:08
SPEAKER_00: I'll try to teach you some stuff.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: And you know, and the the important thing is at this point I don't really know what's going on.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I'll just try to work through the problems and teach them, and then we we kind of figure it out as we go.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: So that's something you can you can practice for for pretty much anything you're learning in reality.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: Like if you're in business, you've got some coworkers, say you're in the marketing department, and you're saying and you're trying to learn about some new Facebook marketing strategies, you could say, Hey Jim, I've been learning about these really cool Facebook marketing strategies.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you something real quick.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: And then you just explain it to them, try to show them how it works.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And that's a really good way to solidify the knowledge in your mind and just you know reinforce the knowledge and and take your learning, I guess, quote to the next level and give you a little bit more mastery in that subject.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I hope you're enjoying the conversation and we'll get back to it in just a moment.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: But first I want to take a second to mention that this episode is brought to you by Audible.
26:00
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26:06
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26:14
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26:16
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26:18
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26:20
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26:28
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26:46
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26:49
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26:55
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26:57
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27:05
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27:07
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27:10
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27:13
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27:20
SPEAKER_01: All right, let's get back to the conversation.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: You know, that is so interesting.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: You talk about when you don't understand something in a class, you know, you approach a classmate or you do something to try and understand it better or to get clarity on that.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: It's really encouraging for me to hear you talk about that and put that into practice.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's really cool and a great lesson that we all can learn from.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you, Ken.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: I do definitely agree with you.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: Taking action is the most important principle, especially if you're an entrepreneur.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're not taking action, then what the heck is going to happen?
27:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can't expect a good results if you're not taking action.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: And I think the the more action you take, the better.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: And in some people fall into analysis paralysis, especially if they're they're perfectionists.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: They want everything to be perfect.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: But you know, if you wait for it to be perfect, if you wait until it's perfect, I guess that's a better way of saying it.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you just wait too long, and sometimes it's just too late.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: The opportunity is past.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: So I think just pulling the trigger, the faster you can pull the trigger, the better, and the and the more likelihood of your success that you're gonna find.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: And and of course, it's it's like a muscle.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: I I used to be you know more perfectionist and I was scared to do different things, but over time, after you know, trying new things consistently, I've gotten so much better at it and and I've and I've grown a lot, you know, especially in the last year.
28:37
SPEAKER_00: It's it's crazy how much I've learned, grown, and done.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: And I can't wait to see how much more that I grow.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the most exciting thing about you know growth mindset and always trying new things, is just thinking about the future and what potential opportunities await you.
28:53
SPEAKER_01: So part of growing, part of learning, part of putting yourself out there is the idea that sometimes you'll be criticized.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people are going to be a hater or they're going to try and knock you down a peg.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: How is it that we can help make feedback and constructive criticism our friend without taking it personally?
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: So I think that there's you know a big difference between people who are, quote, haters or constructive criticism.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Some people are just cynics and negative to be negative.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes these people you just gotta ignore them.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: And if you have someone like that in your life, then sometimes it's just bet best to cut them out because you know, I I personally think that life is too short.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: And of course, there are going to people be people who have constructive criticism.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: So if you can get something out of it, then I think that's a best case scenario.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: And I and I think some of your fans will give you the best criticism.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: You know, what what can you learn from them?
29:50
SPEAKER_00: How can you be better?
29:51
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a good way to, you know, just improve yourself because perception is reality.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the the way that we do things, we think it's one way, but people people see it as another.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: And that's something that's happened to me throughout some of the content that I've created.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's good to take some of that feedback and just go into the why of you know, why you get negative feedback.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: Just ask them questions and figure out why they think the way they do.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't agree more.
30:16
SPEAKER_01: You have to almost distance yourself emotionally from your own content.
30:20
SPEAKER_01: You know, you can't there's a sense in which you can't take yourself too seriously.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: You put your stuff out there, but you have to see what you create as its own separate entity, in that, hey, you can criticize that, let's make it better.
30:33
SPEAKER_01: You know, so many times we get our own sense of value and our own our own sense of self-identity from the stuff that we create, but you can't do that.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: You have to sort of let go and emotionally disconnect yourself from the stuff that you create.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: At least that's been my experience.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: It's super important.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: And you know, when when you first start making content, you know, everything's not gonna go the way you expected it to.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: Like looking back at the first videos that I started recording for YouTube and even in my first three podcast episodes, like sometimes I just cringe, and you know, I think there's just through experience, you'll get better over time and you'll figure out what works and what doesn't work.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: I think it's super important to do.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: But you know, again, it just comes back to pulling the trigger and doing it.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: You know, you just gotta do it.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: So one thing that that I know is important to you as you know, if people get on your site and they look through your various types of content and so forth, one thing that you that you mentioned from time to time is using notebooks or a note-taking system to help you with creativity and your memory.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: Is there any specific kind of notebook or system that you recommend?
31:40
SPEAKER_00: Yes, so there's uh a couple of things that I would recommend.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: I I definitely take notes for a lot of things, and I use a technique for taking notes called mind mapping.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, most people take notes linearly, so it just goes down the page page by page, and you use a lot of paper for that.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: With mind mapping, what the way it works is it's sort of like radio note taking.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: So you start with the central idea in the center and then you move outwards.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like a neural network.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: So it really helps you to understand the way that different things are connected, and then the way that I find it to be most valuable is you can visually recreate it in your memory.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: So if you put pictures with each word, for instance, like if I have a I I remember one of the words that I had on there was intergranular corrosion.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: So I clearly remember that.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: And the way I remembered that is because it was in the center, and then I have a I created kind of a picture on the paper and in my mind of kind of the way I visualize that, and then the different things that it was connected to.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: Like I had a branch for materials, so I had aluminum alloy, stainless steel, and and different things with the the material selection for that.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: And so the key to really make this work is to use a lot of color because the brain loves color.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: You get to activate uh a couple of more of the neurons in the right side of your brain, and then the the brain, you gotta have pictures.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: Pictures are super important as well.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: And then I also like to think of it geospatially, so thinking about the locations within the map.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: So you're using all these different thinking capabilities for the notes.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: But when you're just taking linear notes, you're not really doing a lot of that.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: And and some people might be different, but a lot of people when they go through that, they just think about it auditorily.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: And I find the the most effective practice for memory and learning is to use more thinking capabilities for the information that you're learning.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: So when I'm making a mind map, I try to think about each term visually, I try to connect them logically, and then the way I memorize it is I I think about it geospatially, so exactly where everything is on the Mac that I'm creating.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: So when you go to class, are you are you taking different colored markers with you or different colored highlighters?
33:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so there's a couple of things that I'm doing now.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: Before I did use regular notebooks and I brought a couple of different Sharpie pens with me.
33:51
SPEAKER_00: I love those things.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: I've got a couple of them here, and I use them for taking notes for my podcast.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: But what I've started doing more regularly for you know the things that I'm learning, whether it's in class or for my business, is I'm using my my tablet.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: So I have a pen that I use for it, and then I can take those notes on the computer without having to use any paper or any markers.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: And then the nice thing about using the computer for it is I I use OneNote so I can zoom in and out, so I can make really big maps for different subjects.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: And then I just have one map for each subject.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: And I'm still experimenting with it a little bit to see if to figure out what works best, but it's been pretty effective so far.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: So if you have a tablet, experiment with using that.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: And but that doesn't mean you you you don't have to use or you can't use regular notebooks and paper.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Either way, it's super effective.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: So it's all just up to your preference.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: So let me ask you about uh so I'm I'm hopping around different topics here, obviously, because you there's a lot of different things that I want to want to ask you about, and I love learning.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about uh reading for just a second.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people struggle with reading and making time to read and knowing what books to read.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: If you're a busy person, how do you make time to read?
35:01
SPEAKER_01: Especially like you know, somebody who they have a job, maybe they're in college, maybe they even have kids or you know, family or whatever.
35:09
SPEAKER_01: Any specific tactics you might suggest to somebody for making more time to read?
35:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think there's a couple of steps that I would take.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: First, you just have to understand if it's a priority for you.
35:21
SPEAKER_00: Like if you want to grow in your business or your life, you really got to make it a priority and you gotta find time to make it work.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: And and the way you can do that, a lot a lot of people say they're super busy, but if you examine your time spent on different things throughout the day, you know, how much time are you spending on Facebook?
35:34
SPEAKER_00: How much time are you are you sitting there, you know, just just going off into despair, staring into space or something like that?
35:41
SPEAKER_00: Well, when could you possibly fit some reading time into your day?
35:44
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I mean you could just start small, maybe five to ten minutes a day.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: I think that's a good thing to do.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: And then a second thing to do is just find books which really interest you.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, they could be fiction or nonfiction, you know.
35:55
SPEAKER_00: Personally, I I really only like nonfiction books because I I like reading things that have a direct or potential impact on my life and my future.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: And that's not to say that I don't like nonfiction books.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: I've read my my fair share of them, of course.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, uh every book has a lesson that you could potentially put into your life or take into your life.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: So just finding that time throughout the day, finding books that you really enjoy, and then just making it a priority, understanding how it fits in and just having the correct mindset.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it really is that simple.
36:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I couldn't agree more with everything you just said.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: It is so true.
36:30
SPEAKER_01: Because we tend to make excuses for things like, oh, I'm so busy, but then you know, I just spent three hours on Netflix, so obviously I'm not that busy or whatever it is.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk for a second as we kind of begin to wind this interview down.
36:42
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk for a second about your podcast.
36:44
SPEAKER_01: I love your show.
36:45
SPEAKER_01: I think you're doing a phenomenal job with it, but I'd like to explore your thinking a little bit with sort of the the behind the scenes of your show.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: How has your show helped you to connect with people and expand your audience and and help your business?
37:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I have definitely gone through a lot with the podcast, and it's still relatively new.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: I've only been doing it, oh, it's February now, so probably only about six months, actually.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: Actually, no, five months.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: And I just started doing interviews.
37:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: So I I've I think that I I only started doing interviews about three months ago.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: So I I just started doing the interviews and and I've I've had a wonderful opportunity to connect with people all over the world.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: And you know, finding those guests it's been really simple.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: I've just used Facebook groups, but it's been fantastic for networking and growing.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: And as for my business, I haven't really used it to you know, quote, grow my business yet, because my thinking is I want to wait until I get it to a certain point, a certain number of downloads, till I start using it to find clients for my business.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: And I I think that it'll be a good way to let it grow.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: But I I mean I'm not sure.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: I think that if I I could push more for finding potential clients for my business right now, but I think I just want to wait to let it grow for a bit and you know, kind of perfect what I'm doing right now.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: See, I love that that mindset because that really reflects what I try to do with this show as well.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: Is I'm not really using it to push anything business-wise or or whatever.
38:16
SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I may in the future, of course.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: However, for me, having a podcast is great because it gives you an excuse to connect with people, you know, to invite them on the show.
38:25
SPEAKER_01: You're giving them something of something of value, you're getting something of value, the listeners are getting something of value.
38:31
SPEAKER_01: So it's just a really great networking opportunity, I think.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: So that is probably the number one reason why I do a show is just the opportunity to connect with people in a format there that you wouldn't get to otherwise.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's been fantastic and just a learning opportunity because everyone has uh a lot of knowledge, a lot of skills and lessons to teach.
38:53
SPEAKER_00: And I find it fascinating.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Every time I talk to someone on Zoom on my podcast, I just love taking notes and learning from them.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: I've learned so much throughout the experience, and and I can't wait to see what I continue to learn in the future.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: So it's gonna be exciting.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I and just about my mindset with the podcast, like it wasn't always that way.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: When I first started the show, I would I I created this course, this training system, and I tried to promote it with that, and I didn't have many viewers, and of course, I didn't get any potential clients or sales from that.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: So I've sort of switched my my mode of thinking and my mindset, and I think it's a much better much better way to do things.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: So we've talked a lot about habits, you know, processes, mindset, ways of thinking, etc.
39:33
SPEAKER_01: If you had to boil it down to one habit that has really impacted your life over the past six months or year, what would that be?
39:41
SPEAKER_00: I would say the most important habit is to just do it.
39:44
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's nothing stopping you from actually reaching your success and your goals but yourself.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: And the sooner you can take action, the sooner you can know if you took the right action or not.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: And if you didn't take the right action, then you just got to take another action or pivot.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: So just doing those two things, I think, will be the most important things you can possibly practice in life.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: So what I may do, and I'm not actually gonna do this when I put this interview out there on my podcast, but I'm tempted to actually have what you just said on a repeating loop about 10 times for all the perfectionist creative people out there, because that is such a huge struggle is oh, I've got to wait to learn more, I've got to wait until I have this thing down pad, or to you know, until I could do it perfectly to actually take action.
40:27
SPEAKER_01: So I love love what you just said about just take action and then you can perfect it later on, but you just have to actually do something that is so key.
40:36
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I definitely agree.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: And I've fallen into that into that trap before of you know the perfectionist mentality.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: And it's something that a lot of people go through at times, and you know, I've kind of evolved.
40:47
SPEAKER_00: And you know, it comes with uh a little bit of a like I think perfectionism like it has its place.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: Like I think it's super important, and I think that might be one of one of my weaknesses is, but I think you know you gotta limit it.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: I think it's good to really think things through, make sure it's done correctly.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: But if you go too far and it stops you from taking action, then it starts to become a hindrance for your progress.
41:07
SPEAKER_01: See, what I find so fascinating is that you're an engineering student, and that tendency is seems in my mind to be completely the opposite of how most engineers or most like detailed, very systematic people would think.
41:22
SPEAKER_01: So it do you find that that's unusual among people who think like engineers, that this kind of impulse to take action and not sort of analysis by paralysis or paralysis by analysis?
41:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do think that it's it's pretty common between engineers because you you really want things to be done right.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: But when you get to the higher levels, especially for entrepreneurs, I mean engineers who get into entrepreneurship, I think this is where you know those type of people excel the most, is you know, having the high-level view and thinking at the high level for you know the way they want things done.
41:55
SPEAKER_00: And then of course there are lots of perfectionists out there, and typically they don't always make the best entrepreneurs if they don't get over that habit, but that doesn't mean they can't be great entrepreneurs.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: Of course, anyone can with the proper you know mindset and actions, but I think you just gotta make sure you're taking actions.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, most on engineers are definitely perfectionists, and and sometimes like especially if you're you're doing something that affects the lives of others, it's super important.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, if you're not perfectionist at the those things that you're doing, when you're putting lives at stake, I think, you know, that's really when you have to be perfectionist.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
42:31
SPEAKER_00: It all depends on what on what you're doing, of course.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: And you know, most engineers like that, and I think that it's good, but sometimes you just gotta you just gotta go with it and see if, like, for instance, if you're doing some calculations for a bridge or something, and and you're still just learning it, you know, just try to do it and figure out if you did it right and then pivot on that.
42:51
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks, Kenny.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you so much for taking the time to be on the show today.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: Um again, this is it's kind of fun.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: We're swapping podcast interviews, so I really appreciate that.
43:02
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I agree.
43:03
SPEAKER_00: And Kent, it was a great pleasure to be here today, and I hope that your listeners got a lot of value out of our interview today.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: All right, thank you, Kent.
43:15
SPEAKER_01: I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Kenny.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: Here are my three biggest takeaways.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: Number one, the importance of a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset.
43:26
SPEAKER_01: And this is really the crux of the whole discussion, I believe.
43:30
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about the impulse to grow instead of giving in to the impulse to stay stagnant.
43:37
SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing is that our natural state is to be stagnant and to be comfortable.
43:42
SPEAKER_01: If we want to grow, it has to be intentional.
43:44
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's really important to acknowledge that growth means being uncomfortable sometimes.
43:50
SPEAKER_01: If you think of your stretch routine, let's say, before you go for a run or before you do some type of exercise, that stretching isn't usually comfortable.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, stretching by definition is a very strong.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: Means that you're pulling on things more than they're used to being pulled on.
44:06
SPEAKER_01: So my question for you is what ways are you intentionally growing in your life?
44:11
SPEAKER_01: Kenny mentioned several ways, including reading, taking notes, and finding a way to hang around successful people.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: And to be totally honest with you, this is one of the big reasons why I have a podcast.
44:21
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and in spite of the fact that a podcast is time consuming and it's a lot of work and all that stuff, it is so worth it to me because I get to have people on my show and have conversations with them who are smarter than me, they have a lot of things to teach me, they help build my network and I can help serve them, and you know it's a win-win for everybody involved.
44:42
SPEAKER_01: That honestly is a major reason why I do a podcast and why I encourage people to consider doing a podcast, is because basically it gives you an excuse to talk to really cool people.
44:52
SPEAKER_01: So I definitely love podcasting as you can tell.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: Let's move on to takeaway number two.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: Take action on what you are learning.
45:00
SPEAKER_01: And this follows directly on the heels of the last point.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: It is really easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis.
45:07
SPEAKER_01: And I say this as a person who very easily gets paralyzed.
45:11
SPEAKER_01: I overthink things, I tend to look at all the options, and my first impulse is always to think, oh, I need more information on that.
45:18
SPEAKER_01: I need to do more research, I need to read more about that, or I need to somehow study that more before I make a decision because I don't want to make the wrong decision.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: So I've struggled with this a lot over the years.
45:29
SPEAKER_01: If you're an analytical person, I think introverts struggle with this many times as well.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: I just want to encourage you to take action on what you're learning, to test things out, see what's working, and then to make adjustments as you go.
45:41
SPEAKER_01: The key here is having people who can help you get unstuck.
45:44
SPEAKER_01: Me personally, I have two mastermind groups that I'm a part of, and I also pay to be a part of two online communities.
45:51
SPEAKER_01: One costs me 36 bucks a month, and the other costs me 40 bucks a month.
45:55
SPEAKER_01: Now that may sound like a good chunk of change, and it is, but I believe in my personal development so much that I would rather spend the money on that than spend it on something like, you know, eating out a whole bunch or on some kind of mindless entertainment or something like that.
46:10
SPEAKER_01: I believe in myself, and I want to invest in myself, and that's a pretty small price to pay for being around highly successful people.
46:18
SPEAKER_01: These people help me to take action and they pull me up whenever I'm getting stuck.
46:22
SPEAKER_01: So that is super valuable in my life.
46:25
SPEAKER_01: So take action on what you're learning.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: Your community is a huge part of that.
46:28
SPEAKER_01: Then finally, takeaway number three, teach what you're learning.
46:33
SPEAKER_01: You are a teacher, and I think it's important to accept that fact.
46:38
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to be a college professor like me.
46:40
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to be a public school teacher, you don't have to be a pastor or a writer or a counselor to be a teacher.
46:46
SPEAKER_01: The fact that you have you know that you're alive and breathing means that you have something to teach other people.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: I guarantee you have skills, you have knowledge, you have wisdom that other people need to benefit from.
47:00
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't teach it to them, it's gonna be lost.
47:03
SPEAKER_01: You have a certain perspective on life, you have a certain way of looking at things that the world needs to hear, no matter no matter what that perspective is.
47:10
SPEAKER_01: So I want to encourage you to share what you're learning.
47:13
SPEAKER_01: How can you share what you're learning in whatever way that you enjoy?
47:16
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about that.
47:18
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's through social media, maybe it's through a blog, or maybe it's through videos on Facebook Live, or maybe it's videos on Instagram or YouTube or whatever it is.
47:28
SPEAKER_01: However you enjoy sharing things, don't make it complicated and don't be perfect.
47:32
SPEAKER_01: Those are two things that I very easily can fall into.
47:35
SPEAKER_01: Trying to make everything complicated and trying to make everything perfect.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: Just leverage the platforms that are available to you, pick a couple of avenues, and get started.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: If nothing else, even if you want to get rid of all the social media stuff and don't want to share things that way, just meet up with a friend on some kind of regular basis and share what you're learning.
47:55
SPEAKER_01: Those are three takeaways from this conversation.
47:57
SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed having Kenny on the show, and I learned a ton.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: Those are my thoughts, but I'd love to hear what you think about this episode.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: You can do that a couple different ways.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: One is that you can go to KentSanders.net slash zero nine zero where you can leave a comment and also find the show notes and links that we've mentioned in this episode.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: If you'd like, you can also head over to Apple Podcast and leave a rating and a review, which I definitely appreciate.
48:22
SPEAKER_01: The more ratings and reviews that we have, the more people can discover the show.
48:25
SPEAKER_01: Of course, you can always shoot me an email at Kent at KentSanders.net if you'd like to share anything about the show with me.
48:32
SPEAKER_01: Well, I want to give Kenny Aronson a huge thanks for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share in this amazing conversation.
48:38
SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this episode, please let Kenny know by hitting him up on Twitter at KennyAaronson.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: And that's K-E-N-N-Y A-R-O-N-S-O-N.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: Finally, I want to thank you for tuning into this episode and spending some time with me.
48:54
SPEAKER_01: I truly and sincerely appreciate it.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: Make sure to check out my free ultimate toolkit for creative entrepreneurs, which is packed with 24 amazing resources to help you write and self-publish your book, unlock your creative genius, grow your business, and be more productive.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: You can find the free toolkit at kent sanders.net slash toolkit.
49:16
SPEAKER_01: Well, as we headed to the home stretch here, I want to share a quote with you from one of my favorite artists, Michelangelo, who said, If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.
49:29
SPEAKER_01: Wow, true words of wisdom there.
49:31
SPEAKER_01: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designed to make a difference.
49:36
SPEAKER_01: Now go create something awesome.