The Prepare For Awesome Podcast

On today's show, we will be talking to Anna McAfee. This is an interview I did with Anna a few weeks ago and it was fairly long, so it is split into 2 parts. This is part 2. If you have not heard part 1, it is available in episode 012. Anna is one of the founders of the #LinkedInLocal movement which has caught on like a wildfire across the world which was first held in June 2017. Her focus in business is on community, she is a working mom with 2 children and is having a global impact. Episode 013 Show notes: http://vicwilliams.net/interview-with-anna-mcafee-part-2/ #LinkedInLocal #LinkedInLocalExeter #HomeBusiness #Motivation

On today's show, we will be talking to Anna McAfee. This is an interview I did with Anna a few weeks ago and it was fairly long, so it is split into 2 parts. The second part will be in episode 013. Anna is one of the founders of the #LinkedInLocal movement which has caught on like a wildfire across the world which was first held in June 2017. Her focus in business is on community, she is a working mom with 2 children and is having a global impact. Epiosde 012 Show notes: http://vicwilliams.net/interview-with-anna-mcafee-part-1/ #LinkedInLocal #LinkedInLocalExeter #HomeBusiness #Motivation

Nelson Mandela Said, 'There is no passion to be found in playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.'  And that is what Prepare for Awesome is all about.  Helping you to live the life you are capable of living.   In this episode of Prepare For Awesome, I share some ideas about imagination.  The fact is, you don't need more knowledge, wisdom or money.  You need more imagination.  Imagination can build a picture in your mind of a future that is much better than the present.  It can transport you further down the road to success than knowledge or wisdom ever can.   So don't ask for more knowledge, wisdom or money.  Ask of more imagination. COME SAY HI!  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professional-speaker-vic-williams-changeleadership Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/prepareforawesome/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vicwilliams11

Does living your dream really mean you need to drop everything and run off to a Caribbean island and sail wealthy pensioners around for the rest of your days while sipping cocktails every evening and being free from modern life? Does not knowing what your passion is specifically mean that you have some kind of deficiency in your life? Or is it just all a load of rubbish at worst and hype at best? On today's show, I want to talk with you about rule number 8 in being awesome everyday and that is to 'Live your Dream and Follow your Passion. In other words, to live a life worth living. Let me begin by dispelling a few myths.   Most motivational speakers, coaches, guru's of one sort or another, will encourage you to find and follow your passion, which in and of it's self is a good thing.  But its easy, they will say to you.  It's natural.  You will know in your heart what you are passionate about.   And if you don't know what that thing which is supposedly in your heart, your mind, your souls or some other part of your body, is you feel like a failure. The fact is that finding and knowing your passion is not necessarily easy to do nor is it the only thing you will ever do in your life.  Following it, is even more difficult. Episode 31 Show Notes:

What is self awareness and why is it important?  From the ancient Greeks to western psychology, the topic of self awareness has been a subject of intrigue and inquiry, particularly in the last century or so. But what is it and why is it important to you? Over the past few week, we have been speaking about  the 11 Most Common Rules to be Awesome Everyday and on today's show, I want to chat with you about number 7 and that is self-awareness. Now as I said at the top of the show, it is a topic which has been researched, inquired about and studied by philosophers, psychologists and other scientists for hundreds of years, but it's study has grown particularly in the past 100 years or so. Way back in the day, some of the Ancient Greeks followed the philosophy of know thyself.  Socrates and Plato, in particular, used the maxim extensively with Socrates teaching that 'the unexamined life is not worth living.' Benjamim Franklin wrote how difficult a task it is when he wrote in his 'Poor Richards Almanack', 'There are 3 things extremely hard, steel, a diamond and to know one's self.' And Stephen Covey wrote, 'Self-awareness is our capacity to stand apart from ourselves and examine our thinking, our motives, our history, our scripts, our actions and our habits and tendencies.' So as far back as I can find, people have been trying to understand themselves and that essentially is what self-awareness is. Episode 30 Show Notes:    

On today's show, we will be talking about the 6th rule in the most common rules to be awesome everyday and that is to work hard and smart. So over the past few weeks, I have covered 5 of these rules and I have had some great feed back from listeners, so please send me your comments on email.   So the 5 rules we have spoken about so far are: Firstly mindset.  There we chatted about changing from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.  That was back in episode 19.  The second of these rules we spoke about was that you should set the standard you will live by.  It is not other peoples right or responsibility to set your standards.  If you want to be the best you possibly can be, you must set your own standards. In episode 23, we chatted about ignoring the little men and women who try to hold you back from becoming all you can become and in the next session we spoke about rule number 4 and that is respecting the efforts of other people. And then in episodes 26 and 27 we spoke about failure.  What is its and how you can overcome it. So today I want to chat with you about the next of these rules and as I said earlier, that is working both hard and smart. Episode 29 Show notes: http://vicwilliams.net/6-in-the-most-common-rules-to-be-awesome-is-to-work-hard-and-work-smart/ #PrepareForAwesome #Rules #WorkHard #WorkSmart

On today's show, I'm not getting into that discussion, but rather we will be talking about the idea that nothing is permanent.  Not Y2K, not 1999 or 2000.  Not fear, failure, success.  Nothing lasts forever, except the is death. Now I know that are some people who will think I am being callous, but I'm not.  Let make it a bit clearer.  No words, attitudes, circumstances are permanent or last for ever. A Greek philosopher once said 'No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he is not the same man.' You see everything in life, from attitudes and actions, to the weather and circumstances are in constant motion.  People change their minds.  Governments change laws.  The wind changes direction.  Companies changes managers. All day every day, everything is changing. Now some people will say that it is scary to think like that, but for me it is empowering, because nothing is permanent.   You see if you think of it as scary, you may think there is nothing to live for, but if you think it is empowering, you know life is for living and that becomes exciting. What do I mean? Episode 28 Show Notes:   http://vicwilliams.net/nothing-lasts-for-ever-except-death/

On today's show, I want to pick up on the topic I spoke about last week and that is the big F word.  Failure, but today I want to look at what to do and how you can respond to failure.   So as we begin this new year, you like many other people may have reflected on last year.  What went well, what did not.  How you did according to your goals in all the various areas of life and business.   Now for some people, that look back can be good as you recognise that on the whole you did well and met most of your goals.  However, for other people you may look back at the disaster which was last year in horror and wonder how you will move forward or you may look back and see those things that did not go according to plan and failed. In the last episode of this podcast, I mentioned a quote by Winston Churchill.  'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,' and that brings me to a question from a listener to this channel which is a follow on from late week. Mike asked, 'Last year for me was a failure as I did not reach any of my goals and in some cases went backwards.  What can I do differently this year so that I reach the goals I want to reach?  Some one said I am reaching to high and should expect to fail, so I must lower my expectations.  Is that the right?  I will avoid disappointment that way.' The first thing to say is don't lower your expectations or your goals.  That only breeds mediocrity.   Episode 27 Show Notes:  http://vicwilliams.net/pfa-027-4-things-you-can-do-to-respond-to-failure/ #Failure #PrepareForAwesome #Motivation #Consistency #Inspiration #WinstonChurchill #Success #CharlesLindburgh  

On today's show, we will be talking about the big F word.  No not the F word you are thinking of.  We are going to talk about failure, why it can be a good thing as well as how and why you should embrace failure it. And I want to start with a quote ascribed to Winston Churchill.  As many of you know, Winston Churchill for all his faults, prejudices and failings, was a man who did not give up and seems always to have found a way of making things work out.  He was tenacious and had endurance.  Along with Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela, he is the man I have learned the most from about leadership and success than almost any other. And so to quote Winston Churchill,  'Success is not final, failure is not fatal:  it is the courage to continue that counts.' Now whether it is Churchill who actually said it does not matter, the facts of the quote are the important part to think about. The problem though is the word failure has for many years received a bad report.  I think it was Tiger Woods who epitomised the bad rap it has received when he said, 'Second is first loser.'  In other words, if you don't win, you are a loser.  A failure. I, however, think we need to look at failure differently and that is with the aforementioned quote in mind.  I think the capacity to fail is the most important qualities a human possesses as failure is what makes achievement possible.  With one very big condition thrown into the mix!   Failure must be accompanied by a learning experience otherwise it is just failure.  It must be accompanied by that ability to get up and keep moving with the attitude of, 'OK, so that did not work out.  What can I learn and how can I get better.' Episode 26 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/5-in-the-most-common-rules-to-be-awesome-is-to-embrace-failure/ #Failure #PrepareForAwesome #Motivation # Inspiration #WinstonChurchill #AbrahamLincoln #NelsonMandela

On today's show, I will be sharing an interview with you I did a few months back with Troy Stellingwerff. We had a great time chatting about life, business and motivation. Troy is a self employed building contractor who lives and works in Grand Bend Ontario Canada. I met Troy on LinkedIn through the many motivational post he puts up on the platform. He has grown a great network on LinkedIn and is fast becoming very influential. For me there are 4 key things to listen out for and I will pick on them at the end of the interview. I will put the link to Troy's LinkedIn page in the show notes if you want to connect with him. So I hope you get a lot out of this interview as Troy shares his ideas on motivation and encouragement. Episode 25 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/interview-with-troy-stellingwerff/ #PrepareForAwesome #Dream #Addvalue # BuildNetworks #BeNice

On today's show, we will be talking about respecting the efforts of other people. Recently, while in Dubai, I witnessed a something which I found profoundly disturbing. While checking into my hotel, which was a boutique type hotel rather than one of the big chains, I met some of the front office and reception staff. I met the general manager and one of the duty managers. All of whom were absolutely professional, but highly engaging. During my stay, they could not have been more helpful and friendly even when there were obvious pressures going on around them. However, while I was checking in, a couple walked in and from the get go they had an attitude. You know the kind of people. Those who think everyone is way beneath them and will never meet their lofty standards. They arrived in a chauffeur driven limo and did not let themselves out of the car. The poor driver had to get out to open one door and when he slipped on the smooth surface, he was given a piece of the womens mind, despite his obvious best efforts. But worse was to come. Episode 24 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/pfa-024-4-in-the-11-most-common-rules-to-be-awesome-is-respect-the-efforts-of-other-people/ #PrepareForAwesome #11Rules #Respect #Motive #Inspire #Empower #Podcast

So what do I mean by ignoring the little man? No matter what it is you want to do in life, whether personally or in business, you will always have people around you who are negative about you and what you are doing. You know, those people who will say things like, 'You can't do that' Or 'That market is already over traded and no-one will see you.' Or 'Who do you think you are that people will take notice of you?' That is the person I am talking about when I say the little man. The person who puts you down. The person who can't see themselves doing it, so can't see you doing it, whatever it is. They may be your family or your friends. They could be your colleagues at work. It may be your spouse or partner. There is no gender stereotype. They are just people who don't think you are capable of changing, of chasing your dream, of becoming more than you are, of reaching your financial goal. And they often want you and everyone else to know their opinion. I am fairly sure you know the people in your life right now that I am talking about. I can actually name them as I sharing this with you. And they are family. They are friends. They are people I know in business. But here's the thing. The little man is not just other people. No, you can be your own little man. The words you use to describe yourself. The thoughts you think about yourself. All of these things reveal the little man within you. Episode 23 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/3-in-the-11-most-common-rules-to-be-awesome-everyday-is-to-ignore-the-little-man/ #PrepareForAwesome #11Rules #Educate #Inspire #Motivate #Empower #Podcast

On today’s show, we will be talking to international speaker, trainer and consultant Jeremy Spiller. I had a really great time chatting with Jeremy and to be honest, we could probably have chatted until the next day. Jeremy shared some great ideas and thought with me and I really believe you will benefit massively from this podcast. We spoke about: - Never stop learning - Passion - Self-education - Finding the thing you love - Outsourcing for your business - The type of people you hang out - And so much more! Episode 022 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/interview-with-jeremy-spiller/ #PrepareForAwesome

The #2 in the 11 most common rules to be awesome every day is to raise your standards. Have you ever wondered what separates high achievers from everyone else? What separates the extraordinary from the ordinary? If you asked 100 people, you are likely to get 100 different answers. And their answers will range anywhere from self-belief and wearing the exact same style of clothing every day to living with a sense of urgency and being lucky. Often when answering the question about what separates ordinary from extraordinary, you will hear someone invariably suggest the catchphrase, 'giving a little extra' or 'doing a little extra' with an emphasis on the word extra. But there must be more to what separates high-achievers or extra-ordinary achievers from everyone else. Think of this. If you are into sport and say you are a soccer fan. What separates players like Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo? Or what separates quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Payton Manning or more recently Aaron Rodgers from the rest of the quarterbacks in the NLF? Equally, you could ask what separates Serena Williams, Steffi Graf or Martina Hingis from the other women's tennis players? Do they have more talent? Is it that they are more naturally gifted? Are they bigger or stronger or more skillful? In some cases yes and in many cases no. Some of these people are bigger and stronger and some of them have a little more natural talent then their fellow competitors, but I don't think that really is the answer. In all honesty, when you consider the very best high achievers in golf, cricket, rugby, football, tennis or soccer, the high achievers in law, accounting or engineering and in almost every field, it is not because they are stronger, smarter or more naturally gifted. It is not because they have been to the best schools, come from the best families or even have the most money. What I have noticed is that there is one overriding thing which separates the high achievers from everyone else and that is a constant drive to set and meet a high set of personal standards. You know, those expectations you have of yourself. The benchmark you set for yourself. Personal standards. Episode 021 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/2-in-the-11-most-common-rules-to-be-awesome-everyday-is-to-raise-your-standards/ #PrepareForAwesome #PersonalStandards #Mindset #Change #PersonalDevelopment #Motivation #WhatInspiresMe

In this episode I am talking with Clare Stirling of Made With Maturity, a Plymouth based web design and digital marketing agency, and Mark Godfrey, the award winning wedding and events hotel in Devon. I am talking with them about business, motivation and the reason why they do what they do. We also talk about an amazing networking group which Clare runs with her husband, Ben called the Cream Tea Club and Deer Parks involvement with the group's November addition. The Cream Tea Club is based around the Plymouth area, but does 1 out of area event a year. And this year it's at Deer Park. This show is not in anyway financially benefiting from this mention or discussion, but I have stayed at the hotel and it is amazing. It's a really fantastic venue, they have great food, stunning gardens and really all you need for a wedding and events venue. I have also seen the quality of work that Ben and Clare produce and it is the highest quality. Its innovative and you can see the level of care they take to make the websites they build extraordinary. Below are the links to Made With Maturity, Deer Park and The Cream Tea Club. https://www.creamteaclub.co.uk/business-networking-events/ https://www.madewithmaturity.com/ https://www.deerpark.co.uk/ Episode 020 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/interview-with-mark-godfrey-and-clare-stirling/ #LinkedInLocal #PrepareForAwesome

The #1 rule in the 11 most common rules to be awesome every day is that change begins with your mindset and that is what we will be talking about in today's episode of the Prepare For Awesome podcast. Mindset is a mental attitude which determines how you interpret and respond to situations you encounter. It is the preconceived ideas you have for the potential outcome in any given situation or set of actions. So, for example, if the government increase the tax rate on business, some people will see it as a disaster, while other people will see it as an opportunity to operate leaner and meaner. These differing viewpoints are due to conditioning and preconceptions, and that is due to a mindset. Another definition of mindset is a lens or frame through which the mind orientates us toward a particular set of circumstance, associations and expectations. You may have heard people say this person has a positive mindset or that person has a negative mindset. If you look at the results of their actions and the effect they have on those around them, you see a clear correlation to their way of thinking or mindset and the outcomes they achieve. Over the past 30 years or so a huge amount of research has been done regarding mindset, the mind, thoughts, etc with Professor Carol Dweck at the forefront of some of that research. Much of the research shows that generally in terms of ability, skill, product, service, etc, there is often very little difference between one entrepreneur, business person and another. The big differentiation between the massively successful entrepreneur and those who are not, between the great employee and the not so great employee, is mindset. The attitude toward everything which determines actions and results. Episode 018 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/number-1-in-the-11-most-common-rules-to-be-awesome-every-day-is-change-begins-with-your-mindset/ #PrepareForAwesome #Mindset #Change #PersonalDevelopment

On today's show, we will be talking about the 11 most important rules to be awesome everyday. I think we all need a bit of awesome from ourselves and from other people everyday, so this overview of these 11 things should get you going. I will be going into more detail on these 11 rules over the next few episodes of the Prepare For Awesome podcast. However, Awesomeness doesn't just happen. Awesomeness takes preparation, adaptation, work, energy and effort. What I am really saying is that if you want to be excellent in your work or business, remarkable in your relationships, impressive in your results, exciting in your life, that is, if you want to be AWESOME, you need to be continually and daily working on yourself. Daily working to develop better skills, better habits, better methods of doing stuff. Episode 018 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/the-11-most-common-rules-i-have-found-awesome-people-follow-and-how-you-to-can-be-awesome/ #PrepareForAwesome #Mindset #PersonalDevelopm

On today's show, I have an interview with Stephen Light. Stephen is a leadership expert, executive coach and team relationship coach. This is an interview I really enjoyed doing and we could have spoken for hours. I will put all of the links to Stephen's website details and LinkedIn page in the show notes so if you want to connect with him you can do that. Episode 017 Show notes: http://vicwilliams.net/interview-with-stephen-light/ #PrepareForAwesome #Leadership #StephenLight #Motivation #Neuroscience

On today's show, we will be talking about choices and how they impact on your future. Without becoming overly detailed, most people have a fair grasp of the concept of financial interest and how is works over time. What a lot of people don't know is there are 2 basic type of interest. Compound interest and simple interest. Now you may be asking yourself what does simple or compound interest has to do with personal development, choices and your future? As it turns out, a huge amount actually. You see, the choices you make in life have a compounding effect over time. Whether you make good or bad choices, the effects are never in a simple linear form. They are always compounded over time, which means their effect is much greater than you first may assume or think. Episode 016 Show Notes: http://vicwilliams.net/it-starts-with-a-choice-and-is-powered-by-the-ongoing-choices-you-make-everyday/ #PrepareForAwesome #Change #Choice #CompoundInterest

One of the most widely held myths is that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. The idea is that as you get older, you become more set in your ways, habits, thoughts, etc and you become too old to learn new skills or to change and become better today than you were yesterday. I have heard it so often in business and in life in general that it almost makes me ill just hearing it. You see the fact is, it is never to late to change. You are never to old to learn something new and become the best you could possibility become. Novelist and poet, Mary Anne Evans aka George Eliot, said, 'Its never too late to be what you might have been.' Episode 015 Show notes: http://vicwilliams.net/its-never-to-late-to-change/ #PrepareForAwesome #Change #SelfHelp #Success #PersonalDevelopment #Motivation #Life #Podcast #PersonalGrowth