On this episode of Rhodes to Success, I interview Cathi Hargaden, who is an internationally acclaimed expert in the ancient art of Feng Shui. Cathi has over twenty years experience in consulting and teaching Feng Shui and has worked with more than one thousand clients around the world. She is the host of the Feng Shui Mastery podcast and has helped clients increase revenue, reduce stress, resolve conflicts, and build health. During this episode, we discuss the five elements, the importance of balance, how to Feng Shui your office for wealth and success, and the importance of color.

 

Main Questions Asked:

-       What is Feng Shui, and what does it mean?

-       What is the tangible application of fire in our environment?

-       Is there an assessment or quiz people can take to figure out their elements?

-       How can we Feng Shui our offices to make us wealthy and successful?

-       What are your thoughts on the color of the walls?

 

Key Lessons Learned:

What is Feng Shui?

-       Feng Shui is a 4,000-year-old Chinese spiritual philosophy for Taoism that has been a secret form of knowledge not available to the masses.

-       It is all about what to change in your life and when to change it.

-       This has to do predominantly with your environment and involves the understanding of movement, change, and the five elements. 

-       Feng Shui is symbolic. Through the use of color, aroma, or shape changes can be brought.

 

The Five Elements

-       Fire: Dynamic and taking action.

-       Water: Deep and emotional.

-       Wood: Austere and rigid or adaptable.

-       Metal: Discipline and clarity.

-       Earth: Still and calm. 

-       Each element has extremes to them, which are Yin and Yang.

-       Yin and Yang are opposites such as male/female, up/down, and black/white.

 

Fire

-       This is an element needed for those in the area of entrepreneurship and business.

-       One way to bring this element in to an environment is by using images of action.

 

Earth

-       This is epitomized by ceramic pots, which are about receptivity.

-       If you have so much going on inside of you, then how is it possible for anything new to come into your life?

 

Wood

-       This element can be represented through the use of plants or in images such as a picture of a tree.

 

Water

-       Water is synonymous with money and wealth.

-       The flow can be brought into a room with fish tanks or fountains.

 

Metal

-       We have an overuse in the west, as it has a lot to do with the mind and intellect.

-       Our heads are activated but don’t know when to shut off.

 

Having Balance

-       Your environment can mean the difference between aspiration and failure.

-       Feng Shui is all about balance, so if people have too much action (fire), then they will burn out.

-       Having too much earth means that people will be fixed and not able to move forward.

 

How to Feng Shui Your Office

-       If you are the director off the company, then you need to sit diagonally opposite of where the door is. This is called the power point of the room.

-       Ensure you have a wall behind you (not a window). On the wall, have a picture that is strong and has a supporting energy.

-       On the wall in front of you add an inspirational picture that feeds subliminal images of why you are doing what you do (ex. nature, people, or a vacation destination). It can also be a feeling of harmony or health.

 

Choosing A Wall Color

-       There needs to be a sense of space and neutrality, but you also have the ability to put color on the wall in the form of pictures.

-       The colors in the Google logo are of the elements: Yellow- earth, Blue- water, Red - fire, Green - wood. 

-       Red and orange of fire get people going; yellow calms people; blue helps people move and flow.

 

Subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio!

 

The music in today's episode was written by The Danger Os and produced by Nick Palmer. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/thedangerosmakemusic 

 

Links to Resources Mentioned

Feng Shui Mastery Podcast

Feng Shui Mastery

 

 

On this episode of Rhodes to Success, I interview Dr. Tracey Marks, who is the author of Master Your Sleep: Proven Methods Simplified. She is a psychiatrist with eighteen years experience and helps women jump off the hamster wheel and manage life so it can actually be enjoyed. Dr. Tracey is the creator of Beyond Burnout: A Resource for Working Moms website and the Beyond Burnout Working Moms podcast. During this episode, we discuss how to quiet your mind, nurture your body, revitalize relationships, and enrich your soul.

 

Main Questions Asked:

-       Talk about Beyond Burnout and how you help working moms.

-       Is meditation something you have to do when you are alone?

-       How do you help moms compartmentalize?

 

Key Lessons Learned:

-       Lifestyle management are the things you are doing and things you can change about the way you think, eat, sleep that make a huge difference in how you feel, perform, and function.

-       The point is that the answer can’t be ‘just quit your job;’ it is ‘how do you do all the things you have to do better?’

-       Tracey’s focus is helping working moms perform better by addressing four main areas.

 

Mind, Body, & Soul

1. Quiet Your Mind

-       This is about being in the moment and blocking out your ‘to do list’ and all the other things you have to do.

-       When your mind is trying to manage everything, it creates more stress and angst.

-       There are many types of meditation. It’s about thinking intently about something specific.

-       Compartmentalize your thinking and focus on what is happening in the moment.

-       You often can’t see the result until you do it.

-       Take one day where you ‘chunk out’ your tasks and thoughts, and see what you get done.

 

 

2. How to Nurture Your Body

-       Sleep and diet are the two biggest nuances that can make a difference.

-       You have to have a routine when it comes to sleep, so ensure to set a regular bedtime.

-       Tracey suggests that our day should be conceptualized with everything leading to bedtime, so you should start with the end in mind.

-       What you do in the daytime matters as to what you do in the nighttime.

-       When it comes to food, if you put in junk, your body won’t treat you well.

-       Strive to have most of your meals in line with a diet that works for your body.

-       To get a clean diet, start with eliminating sugar and hydrogenated oils.

 

3. Revitalizing Relationships (Interacting With Others)

-       Relationships are the currency of today. This is the only thing that really matters.

-       Your life is all about the people, so it’s about the modulation of what you are doing and nurturing the relationships.

 

4. Enriching Your Soul

-       This is about how you feel towards yourself and ways to enhance those feelings.

-       Losing the victim mindset and not wallowing in failures.

-       The way you think is affected by what you say and the things you hear other people say.

-       It is possible to get rid of negative thinking by infusing positivity.

 

Subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio!

 

The music in today's episode was written by The Danger Os and produced by Nick Palmer. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/thedangerosmakemusic 

 

Links to Resources Mentioned

Master Your Sleep

Beyond Burnout: A Resource for Working Moms

Beyond Burnout Working Moms Podcast

Batched Inbox

Preventing Entrepreneurial Fatigue (previous podcast)

Marks Psychiatry

 

 

On this episode of Rhodes to Success, I interview Todd Tresidder, who has been a serial entrepreneur since childhood. He went on to build his own wealth as a hedge fund investment manager before retiring at age 35 to teach others. Today Todd provides advanced investment retirement planning education at Financial Mentor.com, showing you what works and what doesn’t based on a depth of proven experience. He is the author of five financial planning books, including How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?, Don’t Hire a Financial Coach, and Variable Annuity Pros and Cons. During the show, we discuss unconventional insights into wealth building.

 

“Happiness is connected to goal-oriented activity that is grounded in your personal values.”

 

Main Questions Asked:

-       Talk about your website and all the content and resources you provide.

-       Share your experience of getting interviewed and how that has impacted your business.

-       Explain what is unconventional about your coaching and viewpoints.

-       What is financial freedom?

-       What do you recommend to people in their 20s and 30s for getting their financial house in order?

 

Key Lessons Learned:

-       Todd’s business started with him wondering if he could help ordinary people achieve extraordinary financial results.

-       Coaching is a ‘trust sale,’ as people will establish trust via your content such as podcasting and blogs.  

 

Podcast Guest Interviews

-       The podcast interview is like a guest post on steroids.

-       The relationship as a podcast guest is deep, as you are an implied expert.

-       There is a relationship with the host, and the audience is listening to your voice for 30 minutes as opposed to scanning a post for 30 seconds.

 

Being Unconventional

-       If you want a path of personal growth, there is no better one than building wealth. The development you have to go through to achieve the goal is huge.

-       When you pursue wealth and financial independence, it is reflecting your value on freedom.

 

Financial Freedom

-       Freedom isn’t about having more stuff. The more stuff you have, the more it ties you down.

-       Most people are vague around their definition of financial freedom.

-       Todd’s definition of financial freedom is when cash flow exceeds expenses.

-       The millionaire myth is: “When I have a million dollars, I’ll be financially independent.”

-       If you want to never work again, it takes a lot more than a million dollars.

-       Happiness is connected to goal-oriented activity that is grounded in your personal values.

-       It’s not about having enough cash flow to last you the rest of your life; it’s about having enough to bridge you to your next achievement.

-       Generally, everything costs twice as much and takes twice as long as planned.

-       Most entrepreneurs are people who don’t picture themselves stopping working.

 

Birth – School – Work – Fulfillment – Death

-       In the fulfillment phase, you don’t have to make a lot of money. You just have to make enough to pay your bills and allow your wealth to compound in the background over time.

-       You don’t need a lot of money if it doesn’t have to support you over a long period of time.

-       Rather than building a life you want to retire from, why not build a life so meaningful and satisfying that you never want to retire from it.

 

Three Paths to Wealth

-       Paper assets – Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

-       Real estate – Direct ownership.

-       Business entrepreneurship – Owning your own business. 

 

Getting Your Financial House in Order

-       Base savings.

-       Owning home.

-       Pay down the debt.

-       Basic acquisitions for a comfortable life.

-       Monthly expenses in a structure.

-       Figure out how to leverage what you bring in and what you pay out so it’s not all your time that go into it.

-       Plot your residual income against expenses until the business carries it.

 

Subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio!

 

The music in today's episode was written by The Danger Os and produced by Nick Palmer. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/thedangerosmakemusic 

 

Links to Resources Mentioned

Financial Mentor

Eventual Millionaire

HARO

On this episode of Rhodes to Success, I interview Dave Sanderson, who is an inspirational survivor, author, and nationally sought out speaker. When US Airways Flight 1549, or ‘The Miracle on the Hudson,’ ditched into the Hudson River in January 2009, Dave Sanderson knew he was exactly where he was supposed to be; the last passenger off the back of the plane on that fateful day. He was largely responsible for the wellbeing and safety of others. During the show, Dave and I discuss leadership and communication.

 

Main Questions Asked:

-       Who was Dave Sanderson before The Miracle on the Hudson?

-       Share about how you connected with Tony Robbins.

-       What did you like about sales?

-       How has your view of leadership changed since the day when you were the last person off the plane?

-       How did you build this new business for yourself?

-       What are some of your communication tips?

-       Talk about how you help people and your upcoming webinar.

 

Key Lessons Learned:

-       Put yourself around a peer group of people you want to be like, and it will elevate you and raise your standards.

-       Immediate gratification is a pipe dream. You have to put the time in to get your outcome.

-       The most successful people are those who started with nothing and had to grow.

 

Leadership

-       When you are in a crisis situation, you realize that the people who you didn’t think were leaders all of a sudden are those who step up.

-       People who step up and focus on the outcome are the ones that become leaders.

-       Leadership is about people taking direction and/or giving action so people can survive or thrive.

-       When leaders stand up, they give certainty and direction.

-       When leadership steps up, you have to use skills you’ve learned, employ them, and give direction.

-       The people with the most uncertainty will go to the people with the most certainty in any situation.

 

Building A New Business

-       First it was about the story, and then it translated into the lessons from that day.

-       Dave started speaking for free at churches and started working his way up. He has now spoken more than 650 times.

 

Communication Tips

-       Sensory accuracy is being able to use all the different modalities you have including auditory, kinesthetic, visual, and factory.

-       It is important to understand your own communication as well as how someone communicates back to you.

-       Everyone has a story that will impact someone else’s life.

-       To the right person, you are exactly what they need to hear.

 

Subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio!

 

The music in today's episode was written by The Danger Os and produced by Nick Palmer. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/thedangerosmakemusic 

 

Links to Resources Mentioned

Dave Sanderson

Webinar Link