10 - Dan Da Vinci: The Subtle Art of Hard Work
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
Release Date: 08/12/2016
22 - Murray D - How a Graceless Gringo Became a Salsa Sensation
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
I put time and effort into learning Salsa, but it didn't go anywhere. Why do some people learn dancing better and quicker than others? A few months back, I got to see my Scottish friend, Murray dancing with some of my female friends in a house party. They weren’t experienced Salsa dancer, and yet, he made them feel great and look great while he was doing it. Everything he did was smooth, effortless and graceful, and he was having a ball. And to top it off - 12 months before, he had no clue how to dance Salsa, let alone teach and lead a partner. Wow. This is exactly what I wanted when I...
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21 - Troy - The Accidental Entrepreneur and His Success Story
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
This is a very special interview for me - with one of my favourite people in the world, who had a big impact on my life. At age 35, Troy had been backpacking the world for 13 years, living in various countries and working odd jobs. And yet, with no affinity for computers or the internet, he ended up starting an online SEO marketing agency. 10 years later, the agency is serving 70 clients a month, with 3 full time staff. Even though the agency, its staff and clients are located in Melbourne, Troy recently relocated to the Sunshine coast - 2000km or so away. He still...
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20 - Four Big Lessons I've Learned From Unstagnate Guests
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
Unlike previous episodes, this episode is NOT an interview. It's also not me reading out an article that I wrote. Instead, I had some bullet points but mostly, I riffed into the microphone about what I thought were the most important elements I've noticed recurring in Unstagnate guests. If you're curious the elements were: 1. Finding Yourself 2. Having a strong "Why" 3. Taking Action Outside of Your Comfort Zone 4. Generosity and Sharing I was pretty excited and caffeinated when I recorded this. I thought it was just going to be an initial draft - but it came out pretty...
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19 - John McIntyre - How He Found His Passion in Music And Devoted His Life to It
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
Are you one of those people that get excited about doing something new only to cast it aside? Have you ever gone somewhere and found pure joy just in being there? Have you seen ‘signs,’ but you didn’t know where they would lead you? John McIntyre realizes self-growth is essential to building your life and your business. He went from being a teenager with no goals for career success to a successful marketing and musical entrepreneur who has a definitive plan for his future. In the past John never met a dream he could stick to, but he’s developed himself into someone who has focus and...
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18 - AJ Dunn - How 2 Non-Tech Founders Launched A Software Service
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
This week on the Unstagnate podcast, we’re doing something a bit different. Instead of focusing on self development, I’ll be focusing on how one small startup became less stagnant. Today’s guest is A.J. Dunn, co-founder of Abroaders – a company that helps people get cheap international travel for pennies on the dollar. AJ will talk about how him and his business partner Erik went from being old friends to business partners, and how they went from their first business to Abroaders. But more interestingly, how they turned Abroaders from a boutique company charging $500 for their...
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17 - Mars Dorian - How to Find your Authentic Voice and Regularly Create Great Art
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
Becoming a creative entrepreneur can be hard. You may have this intense passion to draw, paint, write, or create beautiful pieces of art… but finding your niche, finding your voice, and finding the right clients can be a big challenge. My guest on the show today is Mars Dorian, creative brand specialist, consultant, and author of three Sci-Fi books. Mars has an interesting story about his journey into finding his creative voice, capturing the audience he wanted to target, and building a successful creative business from virtually nothing. It all started with a Wacom tablet – a device...
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16 - Grant Weherley: Control Attention Deficit Disorder Without Medication
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
Many people around the world struggle with staying focused and concentrating on specific tasks throughout the day – especially boring, mundane tasks – but people with ADD and ADHD typically struggle a lot more than most people. My guest on the show today, Grant Weherley, founder of Monetize Your Expertise, is one of the thousands of business owners and entrepreneurs who struggle with symptoms of ADHD. At the age of 18, he was diagnosed with ADHD and has dedicated countless hours to figuring out how to manage his symptoms to lead a more productive life and career. On today’s...
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15 - Scott Brills: How to Live a Life of Travel and Adventure
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
Everyone says they want to travel the world, see new places, taste new foods, and experience new things, but most people consider this a pipedream – a thing they add to their bucket list but rarely ever set a clear plan to follow through. That’s not the case with today’s guest, Scott Brills. Scott is a traveling entrepreneur and philanthropist who has experienced more out of life and the world around him than most people ever dream about. Just this year, Scott has traveled to 15 countries, visiting – on average – approximately 30 countries every year. His passion in life is...
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14 - Michaela Chung: How To Be A Charismatic Introvert
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
In a predominantly extroverted culture, Introvert Expert Michaela Chung has always felt “a little different” compared to her peers while growing up. Throughout her childhood and early adulthood, she has tried to be more extroverted, but found that, at the end of the day, it left her feeling emotionally exhausted. While in college and taking a psychology course, she realized why putting herself “out there” seemed so hard, uncomfortable, and exhausting. She learned, after taking a personality test, that she was an introvert – and that being an introvert was okay! In...
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13 - Karsten Aichholz: Lessons from an Ex-Video Games Addict
Unstagnate: Live an Unconventional Life | Expand Your Comfort Zone | No-Nonsense Personal Growth
My guest on today’s show is entrepreneur Karsten Aichholz. Karsten is the founder of an online gaming business who helps casual gamers achieve maximum in-game results with less time investment. Growing up, Karsten has experienced the effects of online game addiction. During high school, he dedicated an average of 6 hours of online play time to games on top of going to school and completing his homework. Today, Karsten talks about the behaviors that can cause people to become addicted to digital habits, various triggers that are often associated with online game...
info_outlineToday on the show we’ve got Daniel DaVinci.
Besides having a really cool name, Dan is an inspiring guy who’s gone through some incredible changes in his life.
I met him a few years back when we were part of the same social circle of running friends. I was told that he used to be overweight - but I had a hard time imagining it - because he was so lean and trim.
He was a much better runner than me, so it was hard to believe he had only started running the previous year.
A few months ago, I saw him again after a few years and even though he still runs marathons, he didn’t look like a trim runner anymore - he packed on a ton of muscle and looks big and strong.
All these transformations are just a sample... Dan has been working hard at changing his life since he was a teenager.
He grew up in pretty extreme poverty, and yet without a formal secondary education has created a successful career for himself as an IT consultant.
So Dan’s a hard worker. I know that’s a cliche that gets tossed around, but he's is the real deal. I always wanted to hear Dan’s backstory and how he personally thinks about projects, self growth and challenges in life. Since Dan is a pretty private person, I only knew a bit - and I collected quite a bit from reading his answers to people’s questions he left on the popular Q&A site quora.com.
Either way, in this episode we chat about:
- The moment that changed his life and sent him on a fitness journey
- How he quit smoking, went for his first run and eventually ran his first marathon
- The incredible influence the people you surround yourself with have on your life
- Why he doesn’t like telling people what his goals are
- How he grew up in a shed with no plumbing or floor, and learned the lessons of hard work from working on a farm
- How - step by step - he managed to create a successful career for himself as an IT consultant without ever getting a formal university education
- Why he decided to run 12 marathon one year
- His two hacks to avoid running procrastination - the 60 second rule and “zombie mode"
Dan accepts no excuses from himself, and listening to his story was a great inspirational kick up the ass for me.
Enjoy this talk with Dan Da Vinci!
Connect with Daniel
Resources
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Letters from A Stoic by Seneca
The Obstacle is The Way by Ryan Holiday
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene