Where Our Belief Systems Come From
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the episode about belief systems in the context of the fires in Southern California Remember…Jim is a California native still living in the Bay Area and Mark has lived in Florida since 1990 Two very different perspectives and responses to natural disasters! Jim says it’s personal because he has friends and family in the fire zone He brings in our tag line and framework. He says we’ll try and find some good in all of it. He cites our 5 areas with focus on worldview Jim share some of his preparation for the episode. He asks Mark to read the definition of “belief...
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The Post Election Paradigm Shift
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces Episode 1 of Season 4 with the topic of a paradigm shift. A shift in the way the country is moving with the election of Donald Trump and the push back against “woke” Jim introduces the wheel and worldview as a likely connection to the topic. He believes the shift is well on it’s way and we can see and hear evidence of it as more people open up post election Jim has some examples and topics he wants to discuss The first one is COVID What did covid change - communication Second is BLM/DEI. Neither were sustainable Third is The 2024 election 4th is Artificial Intelligence...
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AI...What The Hell Do We Know?
Imperfect Mens Club
We recorded this Dec 23, 2024. We decided to sneak one in during Christmas week and when we connected for the pre game, neither of us had any ideas about what might make a good topic Then we shared a couple of real "what just happened" stories and AI was a common theme. So we decided to share our genius I didn't edit or listen to this episode for the first time in 3 years. I think it'll be good Learn how to make fun of yourself and recognize how little you know Mark & Jim
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Planning For What's Next - What Would Jim Rohn Do?
Imperfect Mens Club
Hey all. We began with a New Years, year-end, goal setting theme within the context of some JIm Rohn quotes What we ended up with is an in depth reflection on Jim Rohn's wisdom and how much of it might be very helpful as we plan for what's next ---------------- Mark leads with year-end, new year and goal setting as topics. The context is the wisdom of Jim Rohn. Our Jim loves Rohn and brought some quotes as foundations for our episode Jim says it’s the past, present and future approach He reflects on being in sales and the goal setting and metrics of sales Jim shares his opinion of Jim Rohn...
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Know Thyself - The Magic Of Self Awareness
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic of self awareness. He shares that their “pregame” discussion was very self reflective. He suggests that the time of year, as well as some other personal events from Jim’s life and Mark’s have the guys a bit mired in self reflection and self awareness Mark reads a couple of quotes Jim brought to the recording. One secular (Stoic) and one Biblical (Thomas) Jim shares some context for his quotes and shares his position on self awareness and what’s going on in his life Jim reflects on yesterday being the 5 year anniversary of his father’s death. He says to...
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The Holidays - More People More Problems
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the episode and frames it around the holidays, the challenges therein and the notion that “the more people the more problems” Jim says the topic is timely and he connects it to our flywheel of life…all starting with the self. He shares his opinion on the more people topic and heightened emotions Mark adds New Years and all the prep before the holidays. He cites the pressure the woman are under Jim laughs about being through 50 of these. He says it means more, the younger you are…we’ve seen this movie Mark talks about the evolution from childhood to present holiday...
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Life Is One Big 80/20 Rule
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the episode with some context about where today's topic came from Jim had a speech to give last week and on the drive he teed up our last episode about writng a letter to your 21 year old self In that episode we mentioned the 80/20 rule, aka, The Pareto Principle He talked about how he wove it into his speech and how it resonate with the audience Then the guys broke down the history of the rule and how universal it's application became over time Both guys gave examples of it in their lives with an emphasis on work/business/productivity Then Jim went over the multitude of other...
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A Letter To Your 21 Year Old Self
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the episode and reflects on the “pregame” discussion with Jim. Jim is giving a speech in a few days to a group or around 60 to 80 college students at San Jose State in the dept of Design and construction and he wants to give them career advice and life advice to help them with the transition from school to life Jim brings the wheel into play and shares some context for his upcoming talk. Who the audience is and the topics to be discussed Jim expands upon the idea of the letter he recommends students write or could write to be read later in life Jim starts to talk about the...
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The Election - What Happened And What Do We Do Now?
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark starts off introducing the topic which revolves around the presidential election of 2024. What do we do now? Jim and Mark are more interested in addresing what actually happened, why it may have happened and what we might expect to happen next What do we do now? We went back and forth about the blue team and red team. No judgement It's not what happens to you, it's how you respond... We talked about elitism and messaging. How the blue team continued the division and condescension We discussed how diverse the turnout was from the red team (ironically) We left on an optimistic note. The...
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How Simple Words Can Influence Effective Persuasion
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic of communication and within that general topic, the subtopic of persuasion. He then emphasizes the value of having a framework. He puts our framework in perspective Jim chimes in about the idea of having a framework and emphasizes the IMC framework Jim shares his 5 W’s framework and how helpful it has been for him in a variety of projects. How it adds perspective for both parties He shares the value of effective people being clear Jim asks Mark about his framework Mark shares his childhood influences around communication and then his framework What do you say? How...
info_outlineMark introduces the topic of self identity in the context of how people feel their story about who they are and what they do
Jim chimes in with a story about the event he attended that generated our topic for today
At the event they did a “speed dating” like exercise where one of the questions was “what do you do?”
Cool story. Jim found that changed his answer as he learned by practicing with 40 or 50 people
He identified as a podcaster and found that people were very interested in his podcasting story
His other favorite question was “what is the best advice you’ve ever received?”
“Water your own grass”. Grass always looks greener…
Mark liked it because it makes you think
Jim also found that when asked, most people were happy doing what they were doing
Mark has found otherwise in his recruiting and staffing career
Both guys suspect it might be circumstantial
Mark talks about his perspective based on his staffing experience
Mark reflects on asking yourself that question…what do you do and then says most people struggle with answering and provide little to no context
Jim shares the wrinkle that everyone was on the clock. They had 5 minutes to answer…speed dating…
Jim proposes that he and Mark try the exercise on themselves. Both guys struggle and have fun with the exercise. What do you do for money…or just what do you do
Mark talks about being asked for a bio and the fear and confusion that request drums up
Jim shares that he has begun to identify as a “podcaster”. “It’s part of who I am”
Both guys agree that podcasting has made them better at everything else they do
Jim talks about what he does as projects. I do projects
Mark describes himself as a teacher, coach, agent
Jim asks Mark what he does and Mark answers and the guys go back and forth
Jim likes the word “agent” and feels that everyone needs an agent
Mark says objectivity is critical in being an effective agent
Jim says it also depends on who is asking the question
Mark likes the speed dating concept. Time is ticking
Mark begins all of his consulting with “what do you do”. He likes “what does that mean”. He tells his story about helping his girlfriends daughter
Mark thinks people don’t practice their story because we think it’s our story and we can obviously tell their own story. Jim brings up the value of having an agent again
Mark thinks anybody you can trust can be helpful, but Jim thinks we should stay away from friends and family
Mark says it’s critical to be paying someone for advice because skin in the game makes a difference
Both guys also think context is critical
Mark shares his technique for crafting a good story in three parts. The long story (interview), the elevator pitch and the tag line
Jim shares that he gravitated to the word “inventor”. I’m an inventor…
Jim critiques Mark’s response and Mark shares the evolution of his story identity
Professional development is where he arrived
Jim shares his story/identity evolution
Mark also likes the idea of putting people on the clock when crafting their story
Jim shares the judgement he felt at the start and gained confidence as he practiced
Jim makes a great point about the importance of how people introduce you to strangers. How would describe me to others?
Mark loves the speed dating idea to kick off a networking event
Mark recommends crafting and polishing your story for everyone
He recommends shooting for clarity
Jim talks about his father and his professional story. Mark does the same and talks about their generation how they were discouraged to brag about themselves
Jim says we live in a different time now where everyone seems to be building a brand
Mark talks about the self doubt monster pops up
Mark ends with a suggestion about focusing on clarity and recording yourself
Jim says get comfortable with your words and certainty. It’s not a one man job