Prolific Living » The Daily Interaction

Welcome back to Episode #11 of The Daily Interaction podcast. Today's topic is all about tapping into your motivation and creating motivating interactions while among others, and some thoughts on the essence of motivation itself. Where do you get your motivation? How do you tap into the inner source of it deep inside you? The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. Where is the one true source of your motivation and what to do if this source is lying dormant and quiet, even for the ambitious and driven ones among you. 2. Our ideas of success versus our true inner desire and drive and how that comes to manifest itself in our life. 3. The story of my own struggle with motivation during my corporate career and how I finally found out the root cause of my problems. 4. What is the one thing that is worse than failure and how to tap into your truest source of motivation for yourself? 5. Shameless self-promotion, Motivation: From Goals to Greatness, and why you have a moral obligation to tell the world about your art and your genius, albeit in a considerate and sincere way. 6. Why cleaning my house, while making me miserable, and getting a cleaning lady were both completely my choices, and how you can look at the same problem with different options. 7. What is the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to motivation? 8. Why you should never give up on inner peace, not for 10 million dollars. Your thoughts on the show: So have you been listening to the podcasts? How do you like them? What would you like me to do differently? What topics you want really want to hear about in The Daily Interaction? Share your thoughts in the comments or via email at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com. Thank you for listening!

Welcome back to Episode #10 of The Daily Interaction podcast. The weekly interaction today is about learning to argue smart in your relationships. How do you cultivate fair, effective and kind arguments rather than try, without success, to eliminate natural disagreements that are bound to come up between two human beings? That is our topic this week, tune in and listen, because I bring you heaps of experience. I knew I'd put the door slamming and stomping away acts to a good use someday! The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. Why it is so important to learn to argue smart with your loved ones and why you should not eliminate disagreements from your relationships but learn how to work through them. 2. Two of the largest mistakes I learned with my husband and how shifting these around has changed my entire approach and outcomes to arguments. 3. How to ask a question differently to avoid an argument, why incorporating kindness in your words and phrases can change the outcome altogether, and a big lesson from my awesome grandmother. 4. Why we do the same thing that annoys and frustrates us to our loved ones, and why recognizing something in yourself is so so difficult, and what to do about it. 5. How to catch yourself before you cross that invisible line in the relationship from love to frustration and what one thing to do differently so you master the next disagreement with tact and poise. 6. The number one irony of all arguments, a secret to which I confess on the air no less, and my one single advice to you on having smart arguments. 7. What to do instead of changing someone so that you get astounding results and how it's all in the way that you deliver your message. 8. The paper on the fridge technique that we used, the most practical and effective technique to smart arguing! 9. What kind of assumptions are you making during your arguments? And how to turn this around to make for an effective conversation rather than a disturbing argument. 10. The greatest news of all and why choosing your own path is the most empowering thing you need to remember not just during arguments but all the time. Your thoughts on the show: Any thoughts, feedback and questions most welcome and tell me also what topics you want to hear about in The Daily Interaction via email at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show. Thank you for listening!

Welcome back to Episode #9 of The Daily Interaction podcast. The weekly interaction today is not about an exchange with a person but rather with a feeling. I am thinking of calling these the self-series, where the interaction focuses our own emotions and finding ways to "interact" with them through analysis, conversation, acceptance, and grace. In this episode, I talk about smart and savvy ways to interact with our fears, especially the irrational ones that impede us from reaching our goals and our greatness. Yeah, those. The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. Why you perform your best in all your interactions when you first understand yourself and therefore your emotions. 2. How to treat an emotion or feeling as an entity and have a conversation with it, and thus, make it an interaction! 3. Listen to me read one of the best passages on fear from Life of Pi by Yann Martel (a brilliant read). 4. Can you list your top fears in life or are they masked with other feelings? 5. Admitting my stupid, irrational fear of harmless, cute frogs and how I plan to face this fear and having a conversation around this. 6. How to have a conversation with that awful fear of failure and how to think through the possible outcome, and why it's important to think about what you could be missing out on. 7. The single best outcome of having the conversations with fear and then facing that fear, whatever it may be for you. 8. How not carrying fear with you feels incredibly liberating and why you would not know this without experiencing it. 9. How to sit with the resistance and the fear, thanks to Seth Godin's Linchpin. 10. The underlying reasons on why we feel irrational fears, how to break it down and my one challenge for you. Your thoughts on the show: Any thoughts, feedback and questions most welcome and tell me also what topics you want to hear about in The Daily Interaction via email at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show. Thank you for listening!

Welcome back to Episode #8 of The Daily Interaction podcast. Today's topic is around memorable dialogues that we can create on the road. Just back from London and writing this from Toronto, I am fueled with energy from traveling. In this episode, I talk about making your interactions memorable and even unforgettable with the people that you meet along the way during your travels. Why and how you can make the encounters on the road count! Watch out, this one is packed with interactions from travel stories. The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. First story: How my grandmother communicates with the world around her in either Farsi or French, regardless of what the other person speaks and how language barrier melts in some basic human connections. 2. Second story: Thinking back to the Sydney Opera House memory in 2005, and how it is still fresh in my mind 6 years later. 3. Third story: What do the 9 of hearts, a hamburger place, and a Scottish father playing golf in South Carolina have in common? And how small a world it really is! 4. Fourth story: The Ahava store experience, a dialogue that was beyond a sales transaction and the sad story on why they need to close down their London store. 5. Fifth story: Learning all about the Balinese culture, religion, rituals, beliefs and lifestyle from our fabulous driver, Deva, in Bali, Indonesia and how that answered the question of the perfect harmony between man and Mother Nature in that paradise. 6. Sixth story: How a 4-year friendship came out of a plane conversation with my eccentric Scottish friend. 7. Seventh story: On meeting Kilo, the dog, and a policeman at London's Paddington station. 8. In short, travel, and embrace interactions during your time on the road. If you want to overcome your travel fears and anxieties, I have just the travel guide for you. Your thoughts on the show: If you have thoughts and questions or what topics you want to hear about in The Daily Interaction, email me at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show. Thank you for listening!

Welcome back to Episode #7 of The Daily Interaction podcast. Today's topic is about interacting with the world around you when you are not feeling well. What do you do? Do you hide? Do you pretend? Do you lash out? In return, how should you interact with others when they are not feeling well or when they are just not on their best behavior or manners. This is very fitting as I am just coming off a 3-day persistent headache and in reflection, I learned a lot about how our feelings and our moods affect our interactions and in reflection, I learned a lot about how our feelings and our moods affect our interactions. Episode 7: The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. What to do when you have an emotional mood swing of frustration, anger, impatience, what should do when they start to affect your daily interactions with the world? And the strange phenomena on why some people never take a day off. 2. How taking a day off or taking some time out for yourself during this time will indeed help re-group you. 3. Why it is best not to share the details of your frustrations and emotional "drama" with co-workers and peers and the people around you. 4. A story of how I managed the cubicle conversation drama in my previous job and step-by-step instructions on how you can professionally put an end those unwelcome conversations about personal matters with your co-workers. 5. A quote and lesson from Melody Fletcher about how you can manage those interactions when your friends are not feeling well and bringing you their world of problems and worry. 6. A closing thought on managing stress and outsmarting it in the end. Correction: I mentioned in this post that Aileen and I are launching our podcast, Smart, Opinionated and Fabulous, on September 7th. That is now scheduled to Sept 14th. Makes for more anticipation, no? :) Your thoughts on the show: If you have thoughts and questions or what topics you want to hear about in The Daily Interaction, email me at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show.

Welcome back to Episode #6 of The Daily Interaction podcast. Today's episode is around a type of interaction that raises the heart-rate and makes us break into a sweat in not such a good way and that is the discomfort and anxiety around asking for what you want. Is it easy? Is it fun? Is it dreadful? Do you even do it and do it well? This can apply to things you want in your relationships, your encounters with strangers or your conversations with your boss and peers. I chose two specific and useful examples to share with you after giving you a nice warm-up! Ready? Episode 6: The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Wanna podcast like a pro? Take Cliff's Podcasting A-Z course on Sept12th? Listen to my interview on his page, & use the code PROLIFIC for $100 discount! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. I share my beliefs on why we struggle so much with asking for what we want in life? Why is it so hard to work up the courage to ask for what we want? 2. First example: Asking for a raise in a corporate environment. Here, I go into extreme detail and tell you my step-by-step top notch secrets on how to effectively ask for a raise, how to have the difficult conversations, why you matter to the company more than you think, how you should see yourself, and most of all, how to build up the self-confidence to go through this process. 3. Second example: Negotiating with an artist and how to ask the right questions during the interaction in order to get the price that you want to pay. I tell you what matters most to an artist, what to never do in a negotiation with an artist, and how to make the artist feel during this process. Plus, I share my story from a killer negotiation with a sweet old man and his gorgeous wood work in New Zealand. Enjoy and muster the courage to ask for - and therefore, receive - what you want in life. Your thoughts on the show: If you have thoughts and questions or what topics you want to hear about in The Daily Interaction, email me at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show.

Welcome back to Episode #5 of The Daily Interaction podcast. Inspired by an unsolicited, inaccurate criticism that I received about my blog, I am devoting this podcast to my best practices on handling constructive feedback and harsh criticism in your life. If you are putting yourself out there, doing something you believe in and making a difference, no doubt you will at some point be criticized and attacked and how you handle those situations will determine your success later in life! Episode 5: The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Wanna podcast like a pro? Take Cliff's Podcasting A-Z course on Sept12th? Listen to my testimonial on his page, & use the code PROLIFIC for $100 discount! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. The quote from Twitter on why it helps to remember what others think of you is generally none of your business. 2. What is the difference between good constructive feedback and harsh uncalled-for criticism and how to distinguish between the two. 3. My experience with the unsolicited and uncalled-for criticism from a misguided soul toward me and my blog and why this type of thing will happen to you when you put yourself out there in the world. 4. Proof that my mom knew me best at the age of 20, and only had my best interest at heart with her feedback about my boyfriend even though it took me such a long time to see it. 5. How to have faith that your loved ones and your caring peers and business partners are most likely giving you constructive feedback, rather than criticism and how to take the feedback. 6. What to do when you get unsolicited, uncalled-for criticism, what are the motives of those who give such a feedback and what situations would justify a response in order to protect yourself. 7. How I ended up handling this harsh criticism that was directed at me and why I think it was a justified response. Plus why I think Gary Vaynerchuck rocks on how he handles each and every negative Amazon review about his book. 8. Sharing the closing of one of my favorite episodes from the Raymond Show in how Marie's sculpture gives those of us who are trying to make our mark in this world a great, unforgettable lesson. By the way, after helping my father-in-law recover from a computer virus, I've noticed that few people run an antivirus program on their PC. Are you kidding me? Unless you are protected within the walls of Internet Heaven, please install one! Your thoughts on the show: If you have thoughts and questions or what topics you want to hear about in The Daily Interaction, email me at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show.

Welcome back to Episode #4 of The Daily Interaction podcast. A lighter yet ideal topic for today: why and how to have fun in your interactions. I first define fun for us because fun can be misunderstood a great deal. Are you a fun person? How can you be heaps of fun while remaining professional and polished? At the start of the show, I gladly recognize three of the many commenters who have left feedback for this show and will continue to thank my amazing listeners - you - on the show as well as integrate your thoughts into the format over time so please keep them coming in. Now, about being fun, here's the wrap-up. Episode 4: The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Wanna podcast like a pro? Take Cliff's Podcasting A-Z course on Sept12th? Listen to my testimonial on his page, & use the code PROLIFIC for $100 discount! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. Why practical jokes are not the best way or even a good way to define fun, and the story of an awful practical joke my immature co-workers played on me years ago. 2. Why jokes in general should be outside the scope of a professional fun setting. 3. How to be fun with making both you and the recipient of your message look and feel good and how to connect with each other in the process, and why self-deprecating humor is a great safe and funny outlet for fun. 4. Why the best way to have fun is being yourself in your interactions and letting your uniqueness come through. 5. The real reason I make a longer drive to the post office that is further from my house, and how to create an experience in an interaction that makes you memorable. 6. In the end, what is the one thing that matters in your every interaction - you must listen to hear this one! - and why you should absolutely strive to do this every single time you interact with your world. Your thoughts on the show: If you have thoughts and questions or what topics you want to hear about in the Daily Interaction, email me at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show.

Welcome back to Episode #3 of The Daily Interaction podcast. In this episode, I shine a huge light on respect in our daily interactions, how to show it, expect it and receive it in return. This can be both in person and in our virtual communications. Respect may seem simple and obvious on the surface but it is a devilishly complex aspect of our daily communications. How do we show respect to everyone? How do we ensure that our good intentions are perceived as such by those with whom we interact in our world and what are some smart ways you can manage those "delicate" situations where respect is concerned? Episode 3: The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Wanna podcast like a pro? Take Cliff's Podcasting A-Z course on Sept12th? Listen to my testimonial on his page, & use the code PROLIFIC for $100 discount! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. My unforgettable lesson in respect form the Irish couple with whom we were good friends while living in Turkey in the 1980s. 2. The truth about listening and how you can get yourself in the mode of true listening in all your conversations. 3. What to do when you are the recipient of disrespect from others and my sour experience at a recent conference with a very popular person. Oh and how to never lose your human touch in case of [extreme] popularity. 4. What to do when someone simply does not reply to your precious email communications and my super tricks on how to make this work in your favor. 5. How to handle disrespect when it is from someone important in your life's circle, someone in a high-up place with power and authority. How to keep the relationship but set the right expectations and especially demand respect. 6. And a touch on my favorite topic: punctuality. How to handle people who do not respect your time and why punctuality matters, still and to this day in our world. And why you need to watch the Birdcage - yes, it's relevant. Your thoughts on the show: If you have thoughts and questions or what topics you want to hear about in the Daily Interaction., email me at tdi[a]prolificliving[dot]com and I will incorporate them in the show.

Welcome back to Episode #2 of The Daily Interaction podcast. In this episode, I picked a topic to which we can all relate: having clarity in our communications and interactions. In today's show, I focus on the interactions and communications that happen to us in person and how we can recognize the clarity - or lack thereof - in those times and refine them over time. Episode 2: The iTunes Page: Subscribe & download! RSS Feed: Follow the Feed! Wanna podcast like a pro? Take Cliff's Podcasting A-Z course on Sept12th? Listen to my testimonial on his page, & use the code PROLIFIC for $100 discount! Your Weekly Friday Show Notes: 1. My personal story on how I thought I was going deaf, but how that awakening shone a clarifying light on my social interactions whilst amongst others. 2. Why and how lack of clarity in your interactions can cost you in many ways in both your personal and business relationships. This one comes loaded with examples! 3. Taking the Edgar Allen Poe test, with the Raven no less. Yes, I give you a short reading of two stanzas from the Raven to prove a good point. 4. Why we should never make the listener or the recipient of our message work so hard to understand us. 5. What are some common things that make us mere human beings go off the scale and risk clarity in our interactions. 6. What are some things you can do - quick and easy and with a huge return - to make sure that your next personal interaction is crystal clear. News alert: The Daily Interaction is in iTunes now! Here's our official podcast page. It took exactly 48 hours. Very impressed by their speed of approval. So you can now put it on your iPod or listening device if you subscribe, which of course you will, what am I saying! I should say thank you for listening. Friday Format: This is going to be our Friday formats going forward on the blog. You will have a new podcast episode here and on iTunes plus a short little blog post, such as this one, containing the show notes along the podcast. Your thoughts on the show: I am looking into setting up a voice line for the show to get your thoughts and questions in and incorporate them but the comments are a great place for you to tell me what topics you want to hear in the Daily Interaction.

What does an intense desire to connect with your readers, a passion to share a message and a lot of heavy-duty audio equipment bring you? It brings you Prolific Living Media, which is going to be the home for all things media here - videos, audio - and we are kicking it off by launching our first official podcast for you: The Daily Interaction. What is Podcasting and Why Do It? First, before the why, let me answer the what as in: What is podcasting? Quite possible you may not have heard of it. Wikipedia has a term for Podcasting, and I quote this part: "Podcasting is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through a web syndication."  I admit I did not know "episodically" was a word but apparently it is, thanks to podcasters! Wanna podcast like a pro? Take Cliff's Podcasting A-Z course on Sept12th? Listen to my testimonial on his page, & use the code PROLIFIC for $100 discount! Podcasting is different from blogging, even though we are both creating content for others to consume. Podcasters do blog and bloggers do podcast so we do have overlaps. The reason I wanted to get into podcasting is to learn and use another medium, one that is much richer and arguably more powerful (if used well) than the written form. I feel this amazing connection when I listen to podcasts myself and I have to admit, long before I started blogging, I wanted to start podcasting. But it got pushed off, just as things often do in life, until now. Podcasts are often free and generally reside in the iTunes store under the podcast category. There are thousands upon thousands of podcasts today in any subject under the sun and yet, there is room to grow and expand and find listening ears and podcasters find those listeners because when you have something to say and a deep desire to share it with passion, someone will listen and take value away. It is the new form of radio except that anyone with a dream to do it can actually do it now! The barrier to entry is entirely up to you as the individual, one of the many reasons today's technological advancements are one of the best expressions of our desire to express ourselves. Now, after two months of heavy duty preparation, I am seeing this dream come to fruition. I am excited to be launching first of many podcasts, brought to you with love and purpose by Prolific Living Media. That would be the team of me, my husband, the producer and the main guy behind the scenes (except when he is in the scene! Hint: see the travel podcast section!), and my younger brother, the overall adviser to the whole operation. How to Get Into Podcasting? You really can get going with the bare minimum. Podcasting does not have to be expensive. If you want to really invest some time and effort and money into doing podcasting right, I have one reference and that would be the podcasting expert, Cliff Ravenscraft. I came across Cliff on Twitter months ago and then met him in person in New York at Blogworld. We connected instantly. I had already started listening to his Podcast AnswerMan show where he talks about the art and science of podcasting and it was not long before he got me all excited about podcasting once again and soon, my husband and I signed up for his 5-week course, which is almost over at the time of this writing. He has helped us tremendously in getting the podcast off the ground. His devotion to the students during the 5-week period is the core of what adds the value to this course. What you don't know can hurt you but with Cliff, you learn it and are much better off knowing it, trust me! I must say that the investment in the equipment and the course were not small and even the financially conservative part of me believes 100% that the value is real and solid. So much so that I am now a proud affiliate for this same course which is coming up again in September. If you are thinking,