Ax & Yoke | Chopping Wood And Carrying Water

We often talk about the importance of starting things to learn what you should do next. We call it "putting the cart before the horse". It's a great recipe for getting off your couch and saying "Hell Yes" to the ideas and dreams in your head. But what should we do when we start things but can't seem to finish? We start behaving like the Mighty 4%. This is an elite group, because they're the ones who create the most value and they do it by doing one thing really well. They finish what they start.

This episode is a tribute to Chris Moore who passed away last week.  Chris was an inspiration to us and the creative work we do.  He taught us that "big growth comes when you begin boldly and keep at it."  

The Four Burner Theory challenges us to think about work life balance and what it takes to be successful.  It heats up a debate on what tradeoffs we make in order to operate at our highest level and leaves us asking if it's true, and if it's worth it?

If you’ve ever played video games as a kid, then you know the game designers hide secret shortcuts and cheat codes in the game for gamers to discover and use in order to beat the game.  Charlie Munger says we should be using 80-90 mental models to optimize our decision making.  These mental models are like the cheat codes of life and they’re more important than your circumstances in determining your destiny.  In this episode, we how discuss how leveraging the right mental models greatly improves one’s ability to operate at their highest level.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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