Such a fun episode this week with Colin Guinn, one half of the winning duo from season 31 of The Amazing Race (the interview with Christie, his wife will be released in a few weeks)! We talk a little bit about the race, but mostly we explore Colin’s nerdy tech side through his business pursuits, specifically with drones.

Colin is a serial entrepreneur and high tech product development expert. He’s currently the founder of Guinn Partners, an autonomous robotics and emerging technology consultancy and investor. Prior to this, he founded Austin startup Hangar Technology, after serving as Chief Revenue Officer at 3D Robotics and founder/CEO of DJI North America. Colin has developed, invented, and/or patented some of the most popular drones in the world, including the DJI Phantom, Zenmuse Gimbal systems, the 3DR Solo, and several others.

Colin is one of the most interviewed experts on robotics and drone technology in the world, and provides product development guidance to startups and Fortune 500 companies alike. He has testified on the subject of commercial drones in a congressional hearing, has been featured at premier industry conferences, and in countless top-rated publications and newscasts, including 60 Minutes, CNN, Techcrunch, Forbes, and Fast Company. During his career developing drones, Colin has had the opportunity to teach many of the world’s greatest technologists, artists and filmmakers about drones; including Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Stephen Spielberg, Michael Bay, Carlos Slim, and countless others.

In This Episode We Discuss:

How The Amazing Race led to the launch of Colin’s drone for television use

Colin’s time as CEO of DJI and how he developed the Phantom drone

Gaining new perspectives of who we are through flying drones

How drones could potentially increase safety for big wave surfers

How technology can help us live more sustainably

How a manifestation/meditation practice helped Colin & Christie win The Amazing Race 31

Thought Experiment:

One of Colin’s main pieces of advice for anyone looking to improve their lives was to introduce a meditation practice, even as short as 5 minutes out of the 1440 minutes we have in a day. Kristi & I both know that as simple as that sounds, it can be difficult in practice. Which is why we want to offer a few ways to start meditating that don’t require sitting completely still with perfect posture, cross-legged & without thought.

Most new meditators believe that the goal is to have “no thoughts,” which is a tall order considering we have about 60,000 thoughts in a day. But really, the goal is stop attaching to them, to not get sucked down a rabbit hole of unproductive, exhausting thinking. Our invitation to you, is to commit to 60 seconds of focused breathing.

Feel the breath as it moves in through your nostrils filling your lungs & belly, pay attention to how instantly calming it is, and observe your mind. If you notice yourself drifting, then bring your attention back to your breath. Don’t judge or berate yourself for being human and having a thought. Just let the thought continue floating along in the sky like a cloud. Your goal is simply to allow the thoughts to pass through, to notice them without latching onto them.

You can also do this while on a hike or simple bike ride in nature. You can do this in yoga - one of my personal favorite ways to bring a meditation practice into my life. You don’t have to be still in order to meditate. And if you have any questions for how to get started reach out to us on Instagram or leave a comment below!

Resources:

Read Joe Dispenza’s Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon

Sign up for Colin & Christie’s FREE relationship course: Igniting the Flame!