Proadvisor Coach Podcast

Embark on a captivating journey with our podcast as we explore the nuances of intentional choices, commemorate sobriety milestones, and delve into the transformative process of rewiring for joy and alignment. Join us in unraveling the tapestry of life, where decisions act as threads weaving success and harmonizing the contrasts that make our existence truly fulfilling.

Dive into a thought-provoking podcast episode where we discuss the transformative power of perspective in shaping success. Join us as we explore the art of making impactful decisions and the value of creating space in your schedule for strategic thinking and reflection. Discover the game-changing concept of 10x leaps – removing the 80% that doesn't contribute significantly to your goals, allowing room for exponential growth and positive transformations.

Gratitude is the seasoning that flavors our journey—reflecting on the unconventional recipe of working less, strategizing more, and embracing the courageous shift in belief systems. This Thanksgiving, we savor the transformative energy of stepping outside the box, grateful for the continuous commitment to growth and the unexpected blessings that follow.

When you are at your best, are you laughing?

What does laughing do to you?  Why does it feel good?

Did you laugh today?

Procrastination, Apathy, depression, distraction, laziness, hesitation…

These can be beasts!

How can you overcome?  Tune in to find out

Greg is a financial service professional with over 50 years of experience.

He started his career in commercial lending and earned a CPA certificate while at a national CPA firm. He also served as managing partner of a FINRA Member firm in Minneapolis engaged in M&A and private placement transactions for 3 years. Over the past 15 years, Greg has been a Registered Rep with several FINRA Member firms, which led to joining Rainmaker Securities.

28 years Greg has held C level positions in banks, bank holding companies, airlines, chemical companies, insurance, and real estate and fleet finance entities. He has served as Chairman of boards of directors of public and private companies and has successfully managed over $1.5 Billion in buy-side and sell-side transactions and numerous private equity placements.

Greg is effective in business turn-arounds, recapitalizations, and management restructurings and has led numerous mergers, acquisitions, debt placements and equity capital placements.  He also wrote the Amazon #1 Best-Seller No Locked Doors (master the keys to transform problem into possibilities).

Greg and his wife Kate have been married 50 years. They have four grandkids (Ava, Cooper, Everett and Sebastian), affectionately known as the 4 ACES.

I ask Greg about competence and confidence, what motivates him now 50 years into his professional career, the importance of learning from mistakes, how his grandkids bolster his value of curiosity, his secret to being married (to the same person) for over 50 years, and so much more!

Thank you, Greg, for coming on the pod. 

Clarity is power.

Clarity allows us to get to a specific outcome we are desiring.

 It’s the difference between reflecting on opportunities by asking “would this be great?” vs. “does this thing lead me to what I have pre-defined as my ideal outcome?”

So how do we know what we want the most?  It’s a decision!

Knowing what you want AND knowing what you don’t want… these are decisions.

Coach Nick talks about optimizing for making decisions, not making the “right” decision.  Watch the whole episode for a new perspective on making decisions as a business owner, as a leader, as someone who wants something!

Are you a single producer?

Do you lead people?

Do you notice your energy levels during your activities?  When are they at their highest?  Their lowest?

A great reminder during this week’s conversation are the 4 Levels of Leadership:

 1. Leading Self

2. Leading Another (1:1)

3. Leading a Group

4. Leading while you’re not there

A good check-in on where you are in your progress of leadership is how you feel. 

Do you have overwhelm?

Are you overcommitted?

Are you leaving results unattended too?

Do you feel guilty about saying no?  Saying yes?

This week’s episode is an Awareness Episode.  Where are you… which turns into what could you do about it.

1. The Fool’s Choice (being honest vs. keeping a friend)

2. Projection Dissolving

How often do you come across someone difficult? Or find it difficult to have a productive conversation with a specific individual?

Do you want another option when you find yourself:

1. Thinking too much about someone…?

2. Placating them…?

3. Trying to convince them of your viewpoint…?

These are all signs that you’ve given your energy to this person, and you’ve made them stronger and more powerful than they really are.

Wouldn’t it be great to have tools you could use to both get what you want in your communication?

The coaches model what this looks like using real-life references on this week’s episode.

What if you were so clear on your IDEAL FUTURE that you knew the path to get there?

How good can you think up the future you want to live in?

One can say the level *above* proactivity is bending reality… seeing the future so clearly that you proactively move towards it. 

Don’t just play the game.  Don’t just succeed in the game.  Don’t just write the rules for the game.  Create a different game.

The coaches kick off this week’s conversation talking about diet – what are you eating and how does that connect with your overall health?

What they identify is a 70-20-10 rule… the equation to being healthy.

Of course, they circle around to make the analogy to business... what is the 70-20-10 rule for your business?

What should be taking up 70% of your focus?  And what other 2 concepts are a MUST when you think about dedicating the remaining 20% and 10% of your time?

And finally, SYSTEMATIZING comes up… the best practices for leveraging SYSTEMS in your business and in your life so you can show up and hit the ball out of the park with things you are already great at.

Are You a Different Person Depending on Who You're With?

Hmmm this is a good one…

The coaches get into discussions about authenticity this week, and the concept of integrating our natural selves with our work and other aspects of our lives.

Are you aware of this for yourself?  Do you act differently depending on who you’re with?  Is it a strength to be fluid in our personality?  A weakness?

How do you think about these things?

The coaches incorporate this into a secondary conversation about time… and about a higher purpose.  Enjoy!

Coach Jon Zieve is back!  And we’re jumping right into a very important topic today – approaching emotionally charged conversations, particularly around the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Throwback to episode #99 “Crucial Conversations” where Coaches Jon and Josh reference the book “Crucial Conversations; Tools for Talking When Stakes are High” by Grenny-Patterson-McMillan-Switzler-Gregory and discuss hot-button topics like gun control and abortion.  Consider this episode - #157 – as take 2 on another emotionally charged conversation.

What we coaches ask you to pay particular attention to in this episode is not so much the content of the conversation – although that’s extremely important too – but the way in which we interact with each other, particularly when we diverge on our opinions and viewpoints.

What you’ll notice is – and this is framed in the beginning of the episode –that our focus in the conversation is NOT to convince the other person of our own viewpoints (not a “winnable” game).  What we focus on is trying to hear and understand each other at a deeper level (quite often by asking questions), and attempting to articulate our viewpoint so that we our understood at a deeper level (a “winnable” game). 

What if we all agreed to approach these conversations with an intention to understand each other better vs. trying to prove we are right?!

Think about that the next time you enter into an emotionally charged conversation – let us know how it goes!  We’d love to hear from you.

Sophie Coulthard is the co-founder of AxioGrow, a platform that helps companies to identify, nurture and grow human potential throughout the entire career journey.

At the heart of the platform is a quick, online assessment based on a value-science called Axiology.  Having developed a keen interest in Axiology, Sophie joined the board of The Hartman Institute to support their efforts in 'changing the world for the better' through Axiological theory and application.

Sophie also hosts leadership and wellbeing workshops, and has a particular interest in how wellbeing impacts on work performance.  Outside of work, she's found a passion in dog training and can often be found in Wimbledon Common with her dog Billy or discovering new brunch spots with her fiancé.

Maybe you’ve heard the terms “Easy->Hard” and “Hard->Easy”.

This is the concept that making the easy decision now will make your life harder later; and vice versa… making the hard decision now will make your life easier later.

Is delayed gratification worth the squeeze? Is it worth the sacrifice?

We coaches take a fresh perspective on this concept with our conversation this week. Must we frame delayed gratification as a sacrifice?

“Don’t let your brain stop solving for the optimal; we can have multiple things at once.”

Do you ever think about seasons of your business?

Those times where you need a “blitz” – this might be Spring.  You are planting seeds and on the hunt for growth.

You have experienced overwhelm and it’s time to say ‘no more’; time to slow down.  You have entered Winter.  A time for repair.  A time for reflection.

Perhaps the greatest value of knowing the seasons of your business is prepping for the season that’s coming.

If I know I am about to enter Summer – a season of ‘MASSIVE ACTION’ – perhaps I can prepare by blocking my calendar with more “ME TIME” knowing I will need to balance my high-action days with recovery and repair time for myself.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

So how do we do that?

 If we don’t actively “program” what our mind thinks about, it’s scary to think about what the mind defaults to.

Fear.  Doubt.  Uncertainty.  What if…

These are the symptoms of being in survival mode.

When you’re in survival mode, you cannot be in creator mode.

 This is where the power of questions come in.

What questions are you asking yourself daily?  Are you not aware?  Perhaps you might explore what your default questioning is… and then decide if there is a better question you want to be asking yourself.

The beautiful thing is your mind will answer whatever question you ask.  THIS is the power of questions. 

We may not need better answers.  We may only need to ask better questions!

Simple answer = simplify.

The #1 problem facing successful people today is the Tyranny of the Urgent.

The more capable we prove ourselves to be, the more opportunities there are… and the more that is demanded of us.

So what do we do – what’s the solution?

As soon as we find the ceiling of complexity, we must rediscover the floor of simplicity!

We say “rediscover” because it is a cyclical process.  What are the tangible and actionable things that will take our business to the next level?

These answers change with time.  To get back to SIMPLICITY is a superpower.  Stress goes away.  Doesn’t that sound nice?

Episode 150 is here!  Another #truthseekers milestone.

To celebrate, we coaches discuss perhaps our most powerful tool in our toolbox:  our FOCUS.

You can’t be grateful and mad… you can’t be 2 things at once.

So what does that say about how powerful our attention is?

It’s been said that our limitations can be summed into 2 things.  Either:

1. Weakness of attention or

2. Poverty of imagination

So how can we work on our focus (aka our attention)?  Tune in to hear the discussion!

Change with the change, or create your own change.

Do you achieve so that you may live comfortably?

Is there a point in time you’re trying to get to?  A certain monetary goal you’ve set for yourself?  A certain place where you feel you can rest once you arrive?

What happens when you arrive?  What next?

We explore this concept on this week’s episode!

When I feel my best, what actually am I doing?!

You could make the argument that every emotion is always present, always accessible.  One minute you could feel bliss, and the next moment extreme frustration.

So what makes us feel specific emotions in a given moment?

Perhaps we feel the emotions that we practice the most!  It’s the old adage, what you focus on is what you get.

So which ones are you practicing feeling?  Are you preparing the correct ways for the emotions you want to feel?

Today’s conversation is for those seeking a new perspective when analyzing their emotions.

Enjoy –

When things don’t seem to go your way, what do you do?

Is there such a thing as toxic positivity?  Do you pretend that things are ok?

We felt it was important to reflect on these questions.  These are the crucial moments that make or break how people deal with “non-ideal” circumstances in their lives.

And let’s not forget about Coach Nick’s 3 Levels of Energy and the role they play when we think about our days:

1. Rest
2. Reflection
3. Execution

Everything starts with being honest with oneself.  This episode explores how to do that.

Feel free to leave a comment to share your own methods of self-reflection!

We are getting closer to another #truthseekers milestone… episode #150!

 I am reminded of a passage from Prentice Mulford’s “Thoughts are Things”, originally published in 1889.

"If but 2 people were to meet at regular intervals and talk of health, strength and vigor of body and mind, at the same time opening their minds to receive of the Supreme the best idea as to the ways and meanings for securing these blessings, they would attract to them a thought current of such idea. 

If these 2 people or more kept up these conversations on these subjects at a regular time and place, and found pleasure in such communings, and they were not forced or stilted; if they could carry them on without controversy, and enter into them without preconceived idea, and not allow any shade of tattle or tale-bearing, or censure of others to drift into their talk, they would be astonished at the year's end at the beneficial results to mind and body. 

Because in so doing and coming together with a silent demand of the Supreme to get the best idea, they would attract to them a current of life-giving force."

Is it work/life BALANCE or is it work/life INTEGRATION?

Might the secret to happiness be hiding work in your play, and vice versa?

You might think you are limited in your ability to tap into this principal.  If that feels like you, we invite you to watch this episode.  Enjoy!

We wander into and out of feeling great.

What are some secrets to feeling great? 

How simple can we make it?

Where does fun come into play in our daily lives?

Check out this week’s Coach’s Corner as we reduce it to the ridiculous!

The power of learning!

As a Talent Development Consultant, ERIKA WEED works with organizations to find efficiencies that make their talent happier and more successful.

As an Executive Leadership Coach, ERIKA supports my clients in their work to learn about themselves. As a facilitator, I support groups as they learn about how to function together.

And as a doctoral candidate, ERIKA is working to better understand the truth about leadership, effectiveness, and achieving goals. 

Her goal is to create a more inclusive model of leadership, in order to better understand the most effective leadership characteristics in the context of real organizations, as well as how to more fully integrate healthy work and life styles.

If you’re moving forward, you’re happy.

What might it look like if you had a “luxurious” work day? 

We know that high performers have way more breaks that regular performers.  What nugget of information is hidden in how you pace your day?

Today we coaches talk about how to gauge success, and what it feels like on a daily basis.

Today’s conversation discusses:

The intricacies of the way we feel during our everyday interactions.

Let us not ignore them.  Enjoy!

“I got into coaching because I was concerned I’d forget the power of personal development” ~ Coach Nick

When you talk about personal development on a podcast every week for more than 2 years, I wonder what the 137th conversation would sound like? 

Check it out here…

Are you where you want to be?  In business?  In life?

We have accepted the responsibility of owning all the results in our lives.

At one point, victim mentality played a role.  I am here because _______ (insert external forces aka excuses).

Now that we have moved to the point of acceptance and responsibility, what am I actually capable of changing?

What internal work can I do to influence the external results I’ve got?

How intimidating… and how EMPOWERING at the same time!

Let’s dive deeper…

Once you commit to internal work, how does that show up?

Coach Josh references episode# 133 _ “Heart of a Lion” in this week’s episode of #truthseekers.  That’s a good kick-off point to today’s conversation.

And when prioritizing the Internal over External, what exactly does that mean for your External World?  What actually happens?

The coaches give a few real-life examples so that you might think about how this applies to your life.  Enjoy!

Mike Skrypnek understands that healing our past traumas and reforming our subconscious patterns allows us to realize our unlimited worth.  He will show you ways to gain the insight needed to develop the awareness to overcome limits keeping you from your own personal or professional happiness and success.

Mike is an interantionl bst seller of 9 books, keynote speaker, podcast host, men’s mental health advocate, and sought after business strategist who has shared his insights and wisdom with thousands of passionate and purpose-driven entrepreneurs, business leaders, and executives.   

His recently released book, Unlimited Worth – Lessons of Healing From Childhood Trauma; Finding Happiness, Love, & Success For Male Leaders, is available on Amazon.

Mike lives, loves, and adventures with his wife Sherri and their 2 young adult children, Madison and Coen, in the beautiful sea to sky corridor of British Columbia, Canada.  You can find them skiing, snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking, paddle boarding, and more in the mountains, and on the rivers and oceans just minutes from home in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

We all have an example where we felt UNSTOPPABLE!

…where we couldn’t be touched; where we were on top of the world; where our energy was bursting at the seams!

How does that happen?!  Can we repeat it?  And can we LIVEin that place more often?

Why not…

The coaches have a secret to share; they give credit to Phil Stutz’s popular Netflix documentary called “Stutz”, and his and Barry Michels’s book called “The Tools”.

The coaches talk through an example of integrating energy that had been lost… and the feeling that energy creates… see if you can feelit during today’s conversation.

Pushing yourself into places of vulnerability = the quickest way to grow.

Passive aggressiveness may be an indicator that you are burying, or tip-toeing around, something you feel strongly about.

How might we be rewarded by a more direct way of addressing something that bothers us?

We coaches discuss this further because things that don’t get addressed only build up and explode later.

Our conversation addresses how to deal with these situations right away… and how to embody our true authentic selves in the process.

Decisions do not = certainty.  They are value proposition trade-offs.

Everything we do is made up.

We get to decide what we are searching for.  And we can’t pursue anything until we make up what that thing is – define it.

Limitless possibilities.

If you don’t define exactly what it is, you are guaranteed to not get there.

It takes courage to define it; to go on the Hero’s Journey.

And it’s going to be miserable.  It’s going to take sacrifices.  You might not get it.

But the opposite doesn’t even bear thinking about.

Think about that…

Creating things (content, concepts, etc) is an evolutionary process.

Ideas will build on top of each other.  And there is one underlying truth:

I have to start somewhere.

Starting with something simple means I can do it over and over again.

And at a certain point, it becomes natural to stack.  To build on top.  To create new concepts with the once-new-concepts-now-growing-stale I started with.

Stack stack stack… will it be a smooth process?  What sort of resistance might reveal itself in this process?

“If you’ve got to drop the thing you’re holding up to lift something else up, then you’re almost back to square 1.”

Check out the full episode to see how the coaches navigate barriers like these on their paths of creation.

Sharpening the saw = practicing what we do well, in a manner that challenges what we believe to be true.

Coach Nick’s 3 ways to sharpen the solve:

1. Record what you are doing (for yourself to review)
   1. We pick up different things when we can see ourselves
   2. We notice opportunities to do things differently
2. Get feedback
   1. Oftentimes we are scared of feedback
   2. Feedback is a gift, whatever way you cut it
3. Journal
   1. Write stuff down
   2. You’ll surprise yourself with the content behind the content      taking up your headspace (your inner voice that keeps repeating the same       things – write it down to get it out)

Tune in to our full episode to hear Coach Josh’s 3 ways to sharpen the saw, and the ensuing conversation.

How do you think about setting goals?

What are the “right” goals to set?

On this week’s episode of #truthseekers, we coaches talk about having a well-balanced approach to goal creation.

I, Coach Josh, entered the coaching world 3 years ago so that I could make an impact using my natural abilities, while at the same time living a lifestyle I enjoy.

It dawned on me that I hadn’t yet set any “lifestyle goals” since beginning my career as a business coach.

Much like connecting ONE spoke on a wheel, or ONE side of a canvas on a trampoline, I was left wondering what to do with my empty time since my only goal was business-related.

My new perspective is thinking it terms of counter-balancing my goals.  If I have a hustle/grind goal such as making income, what “time” goal can I set for myself that will balance out my busyness.

I can apply the same principal my relationships, emotions, health, etc.

What about you?  What is something new you might try with your goals this year?

Are you 100% bought in to the commitments in your life?

Maybe in some areas; maybe not in others…?

Today’s episode of #truthseekers explores the concept of COMMITMENT…

We wonder how many instances show up daily where we simply run through the motions.

Is that acceptable to you?

What if you replaced those instances with things that you ARE totally bought into?

What difference would that make in your life?

What prevents you from following through with this intention?

We talk about it here…

What ARE the 3 biggest problems?!?!

1. Doing the same old thing
2. Thinking iterative, instead of exponential
3. Leading vs. Management

Some key questions to reflect on these 3 problems

1. What are the things you have been doing consistently in your      business that you haven’t been aware of?
2. We tend to think in a linear fashion… by thinking exponential, it      allows us to ask questions like, “how might I grow 100% this year?”
3. Are you pushing processes onto people, rather than LEADING      PEOPLE THROUGH?

This episode discusses:

1. How are you complicit in the things you say you don’t want
2. How to not worry about the HOW
3. We tend to think of people as a homogenous group where they all      receive information and instruction the same

Emotions = clues.

The way we feel about certain things are blinking light, green-flag indicators on where our lives are seeking evolution.

If we continually experience the same emotions and react the same way, we remain stuck in our patterns.

We know it’s difficult to see our own patterns, BECAUSE WE’RE IN THEM.

So what does that leave?  That leaves our emotions.

Do you feel your emotions?  Are you ignoring them?  Resisting?  Do you carve out space and time in your day to check in?

Once you feel your emotions, you can understand why they are there.  And now it’s time to level up – to transcend your patterns.

This week’s episode dives in more deeply.  We hope you enjoy!

A year in review.  Let’s explore how far we’ve come… how have you used coaching in 2022?

In 2022, how much have you:

•          Moved away from painful patterns, people and situations?

•          Moved towards a more desirable future, personally and professionally?

•          Experienced accelerated and much greater results in your life and career?

•          Grown and reached your fullest personal potential?

•          Experienced greater clarity, balance, joy and fulfillment?

In 2022, how much have you:

•          Taken yourself more seriously?

•          Taken more effective and focused actions immediately?

•          Stopped putting up with what is dragging you down?

•          Created momentum so it's easier to get results?

•          Set better goals?

We coaches look at 2022 in review, take a look at some of our favorite coaching principals, and we highlight the most impactful benefits from coaching this past year.

See you in the new year!

121 _ How to Rethink Metrics and Reinforce Our Purpose w/ RC Olsen

A construct in place in the grand majority of businesses is how important metrics and numbers are.

Are they THE MOST IMPORTANT thing?  Or are they an indicator that our influence is being made?

Notice the difference between “I have to make $150,000 in income this year” vs. “I will create $150k-worth of impact in alignment with my purpose”.

What is it about the first statement that has the ability to make some people cringe?  What if our mindset was rewired to think about it in terms of the 2nd statement?

We talk about this with this week’s #truthseekers guest RC Olsen, an expert in start-ups and growing businesses.

“The great shortcomings of the human race is our inability to understand exponential functions.”

If you’re anything like us #truthseekers, you are constantly seeking ways to improve – to get that edge!

Something happens as we upgrade… we run into more limiters.  So what do we do?

If we do nothing, we become comfortable with the results we are getting.  Unacceptable.

The more momentum we create with our progress, the easier it is to keep going.  And now we are talking exponential returns…

I ask Coach Nick, isn’t the point of making progress to enjoy it?  To be comfortable?

Enjoy the beginning of Coach Nick’s response here, and click on the link for the full episode to hear the conversation that ensues.

Being present in the moment.  Why are so many people adopting this mentality nowadays?  It might be helpful to first define the opposite…

NOT being mindful (or present) means your mind drifts to another area of your life.  It means you’re not focused on what you’re doing, what’s in front of you.  You’d rather be doing something else.

When you’re present, your attention goes 100% to the task at hand.  Your capacity to fulfill a goal or achieve a result is exponentially increased in proportion to your ability to remain focused on one thing over a duration of time.

This week’s #truthseekers guest Mike Hartman, a Stanley Cup winner for the New York Rangers who played ~500 professional ice hockey games and who also represented the United States on national teams, walks us through his mindfulness process.  There are 3 phases:

1. Mental toughness and mindset
2. The physical (having a ritual)
3. The nutrition

We coaches are excited to share the rest of our conversation with you.  What’s Mike’s Gold Paint Theory?  What does Mike define as the “definition of life”?  What’s the first thing Mike does in the morning?

Check out the full conversation!