As a leader, how can you be immensely present in the moment with people, both at work and in your personal life and in any situation?

In my insightful and humorous discussion with Shawn Hunter we discuss his book Out Think: How Innovative Leaders Drive Exceptional Outcomes and the wisdom gleaned from interviewing hundreds of thought leaders and executives from all walks of life.

Shawn not only writes about this topic as an author, but has also had to live it as an entrepreneur who has built and sold a company which was acquired by Skillsoft. He has interviewed so many successful people that he can see patterns of success and achievement that might take us 100 – 200 books and years to learn.

In this interview ideas come fast and you will surely want to capture them. Take notes. Shawn shares numerous anecdotes and stories throughout the interview and every one of them will present a teaching moment for you. Here are 10 of the highlights:

1. One of the best questions to ask yourself this coming year “What am I capable of becoming in a year?”
2. The impact of Energizers and De-energizers in a company and what to do about them.
3. The importance of strategic storytelling for a business.
4. Does happiness precede success, or do we have to be happy first to be successful?
5. Lack vs Surplus mentality - Wanting what you have vs wanting what you don’t have.
6. What is the difference between a person who is creative vs innovative vs inventive. The buzz word is that people have to be more creative. Well what does this mean vs innovative?
7. Why as a leader you need to be Immensely present in the moment with people and in situations. Examples of how leaders do this.
8. How to scale and grow leadership.
9. An expectation of excellence - This is an honor, it’s a gift. When you believe that those around you have the capacity to do their best, automatically they start performing to match that expectation.
10. As a Leader and Manager, how do you create the right conditions for people you lead to have a sense of “flow” and sense of “excellence” in performing their work?

Shawn is an author and the Executive Producer & Vice President for Leadership Development Channel at Skillsoft. He has been interviewing and writing about amazing leaders from around the globe for over ten years. Skillsoft provides cloud-based solutions for customers worldwide, who range from global enterprises, government and education customers to mid-sized and small businesses. He originally co-founded Targeted Learning Corporation with his father Hal Hunter, Ph.D., which was acquired by Skillsoft in February 2007. He has a degree in Political Science and Government from St. Andrews Presbyterian College.

As quoted from Shawn’s website eloquently , “We’ve entered a new era. Call it the age of imagination, ideation, conceptualization, creativity, innovation – take your pick. Creativity, mental flexibility, and collaboration have displaced one-dimensional intelligence and isolated determination as core ingredients of competitive advantage. Creative people who can bring innovation to the world are our greatest capital now and with the right leadership and inspiration, creativity and execution can be nurtured in everyone. In any field, expertise is not only expected – it is given. Success for workers and companies centers on being nimble, creative and having the initiative to bring unique solutions to unexpected problems. "

Books

Out Think: How Innovative Leaders Drive Exceptional Outcomes

New Book: Transform. Behaviors Mind-sets as a leader you need to make up. Available for sale Fall of 2016.

Huffington Post Article: Signs of an Impending Bozo Explosion

How to get in touch with Shawn
ShawnHunter.com

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

Resources Mentioned

Dan Coil – The Talent Code

Theresa Amabile

ProgressPrinciple.com

Shawn Achor - The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance

Shawn Achor - Before Happiness

Stephen Kotler "flow"

Angela Duckworth and the Research on 'Grit'

Bob Sutton – Energizers and De-Energizer research PhD Stanford

Scott Eblin – Overworked and Overwhelmed - The Mindfulness Alternative

Douglas Conant TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments

Timberland Company Story

Skillsoft

Mindscaling.com

Summarized Show Notes

• Very unique quotes throughout the book that Shawn collected
• Innovation comes from mashing up – putting different disparate ideas together to make new values and combinatory thinking
• Difference between creativity, innovation and invention.
• Coach people to do little small micro changes. Large changes take small incremental progress over time. To coach someone to become more innovative – you coach people to be more creative – you conceptually create. Then you recognize where you take action.
• Sense of wellbeing and contribution at work– comes from your intrinsic motivation. Sense of meaningful, incremental progress in your work.
• The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor- start with lack of something or feeling good about what you’ve achieved.
• Happiness comes from the success you have enjoyed and what you have achieved; as if our own competence creates confidence. Big fan of gratitude thinking and journaling, and competence in your work, it creates a higher level of confidence. Practice, hard work, tenacity.
• Does happiness precede success, or do we have to be happy first to be successful? Happiness precedes success. The notion of the impostor syndrome, notion that you feel like you are a fraud and you will be revealed as an impostor. You don’t deserve the bonus, job etc. Maya Angelou was afflicted with deep sense of self doubt that she was a fraud. Kate Winslet is another example. The more success you enjoy – the more you are surrounded with more successful people which compounds the problem which brings in more self-doubt. The key to the problem is to stop comparing - it is a form of self-sabotage. When you let go, you find more self-satisfaction in what you are doing
• If you assume the very best in yourself, capabilities and deservedness - then by extension - you do this with other people, that they have the best intentions.
• An expectation of excellence: when you believe that those around you have the capacity to do excellent work, they automatically start performing to match that expectation. That can get you over your head. Ability and challenge - there is an intersection where the challenge and skill meet, this sweet spot known as flow. The key with finding flow is very personal.
• Shawn speaks about effort and grit and the way of coaxing out creativity and performance. Evidence based theory – Angela Duckworth. When you tell someone that they are brilliant. They will get that heroic status. They will adopt of status of brilliance. Inversely when you give people this status they also believe it is hard work that got them there and not their brilliance. They will choose for themselves harder challenges because of the reward system. To build in natural growth. IF they think they are naturally brilliant they will choose tasks within their sweet spot and will be less likely to be challenging themselves.
• Matthew May - innovation workshop session - importance of transparency. To create a sense of transparency in the organization. During the workshop - game where you have to have the right balance of ingredients for a trip to the moon. There is actually a correct answer for the equation for the game. Unbeknownst to anyone else, he took the most junior member of the team at table and he gave them the key code to answer the puzzle. They could do anything to say that they had the answer without saying they had the correct answer. No one got it right, everyone lost.As a leader, or manager or boss - can you induce a sense of flow into someone else? No, but you can create the conditions for it. You can create the challenge and the circumstance. Push people outside of the comfort zone if it’s within the scope of their capacity.
• Energizers and de-energizers in a company. Different people energy in a work environment. What does it mean to be fully engaged and present in a team? Power disparities in a workplace. When someone is newly elevated to a position of power. When someone leaves with you - do they leave confused, depressed, angry, annoyed. Or do you leave provoked to the point of encouragement, poised? These type of people tend to be talent attractors. In war for talent - you will never hear anyone say that they will stay irrespective of relationship with their boss. The Boss is the direct relation to their relationship with the company.
• Whomever you are speaking with or interacting with, to give someone the gift of your time is a honor and an obligation. Leadership presence requires that you are present.
• Scott Elbin - Mindfulness and bringing this back into the workplace.
• Book by Douglas Conant (CEO of Campbell’s soup), absolutely practices what he preaches. In a room full of people he will be so patient and so thoughtful with every individual in the room.
• Scaling leadership is by taking the time and being immensely present in the moment. How do you accomplish this from a practical point of view? It’s a conscientious choice. Stand up, close your computer - intentionally remove the distraction. The mere presence of a smartphone between us - distracts you. The anticipation - distracts your mind from the immediacy of the conversation. Be as present as you can.
• The idea of a Digital Sabbath - starting Friday evening - until Sunday evening, turning everything off. Spend time together with your family. Control the technology and don’t let the technology control you.
• What am I capable of becoming in a year? Aspiration. Envisioning clearly and with as much detail as possible is critically important to motivating you. Paint it with as much detail as you can.
• Shawn’s recommendation - strategic stories. Stories with a purpose. Within many organizations, there’s a story where in the telling of the story conveys the value of the organization.
• Story of Timberland’s annual conference - they choose cities with economic distress where they can provide some pro-social value and community building. Story of when they went to New Orleans after Katrina is inspiring.
• Push forward. You deserve to be where you are in your life and take the next step.

This episode is sponsored by the CIO Scoreboard, reducing the complexity of your IT Security initiatives.

All methods of how to access the show are below:

• Listen on iTunes (for iPhones etc.)
• Listen to it on Stitcher (This is for Android Phone Users. Download the Stitcher app here)
• Stream it on Libsyn
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• Subscribe to my RSS Feed here
• LinkedIn Blog Post

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Bill Murphy is a world renowned IT Security Expert dedicated to your success as an IT Business Leader. You can find him online through LinkedIn and Twitter. Subscribe to weekly podcast updates and information about CIO Mastermind Discussion Topics here.

Today I am interviewing Eric Kaufmann. I asked Eric on the show to discuss his book Leadership as a Hero’s Journey – The Four Virtues for Transforming Uncertainty and Anxiety into Results and to share practical ideas and tools that deepen a leader’s ability to be efficient, effective and deliberate; a leader whom people are drawn to follow.

Eric’s journey contains 13 years of leadership consulting, management at Fortune 100 firms, degrees in business and psychology and a quarter century of Zen practice. He has also given a TED talk called Transformation Myths and Legends.

I am so glad to have Eric on the show because he gives a massively important message to us regarding ‘comfort’. As a leader you must explore your comforts with personal relationships, business relationships, and the results you are getting in every area of your life.

Are you ‘leaning into’ the problems and discomforts in your business and personal life? Or are you running away from or avoiding them?

The Western World can make us soft as men and women because we get mesmerized by external ‘things’ and ‘results’ and we forget that our results could be better if we got the INSIDE right first and this would drive the external results we so crave.

In my conversation with Eric we explore his work with Executives who are tackling their lives as a Hero would.

The Hero’s Journey (as popularized by Joseph Campbell) has three parts:

1. Leaving the familiar in order to seek a valuable prize
2. Encountering challenges and risks that demand personal sacrifices
3. Sharing and teaching what you learn back with fellow men and women

The Hero’s journey as Eric describes it takes enormous courage and the resilience to deal with fear, discomfort, and uncertainty in new ways that you may not have considered before.

The segments of the modern day hero are developed in the following areas:

• Focus – What are you creating?
• Courage – What are you avoiding?
• Grit – How do you sustain in the face of discouragement and fatigue?
• Faith – What are you yielding to versus remaining rigid?

Please enjoy my conversation with visionary thought leader and executive coach Eric Kaufmann. There are additional resources and summarized show notes below.

Books

Leadership is a Hero’s Journey? What Does it Take to Evolve Into a Great Leader? - RedZone

Videos

3 steps toward Leadership as a Hero's Journey

Your FEAR and How it Manifests in your Behavior

Why Great Leaders Break the Rules

Leadership begins at the end of YOUR comfort zone

Motivation is a Drug

Keynote Speaker Video

Introduction to Sagatica Consulting

TEDx Talk Transformation Myths and Method

Blogs

Motivation - A Drug for Lazy Leaders

What EXACTLY is Coaching?

Eric's Recommended Books

Leadership is a Hero’s Journey? What Does it Take to Evolve Into a Great Leader? - RedZone

Getting in touch with Eric

LinkedIn

Twitter

www.Sagatica.com

Summarized Show Notes:

• How do you answer the question of what do you do for work 00:29
• Works 1:1 with executives, 1 to few, facilitate leadership groups, 1 to Many – Leadership development training. [04:27]
• Eric’s book titled Leadership as a Hero’s Journey: 4 Virtues for Transforming Uncertainty and Anxiety into Results. It uses the metaphor of a hero’s journey – what was the origin of the title of the book? [05:30]
• Joseph Campbell’s influence – what is common to all human beings, and fundamentally true to all human beings across the globe, the power of myth, the [05:50]
• MONOMYTH – the singular structure of a story that informs all stories and the hero’s journey as the underlying narrative of the story. [06:06]
• How do you introduce this concept of a journey of life, from a business point of view? [7:20]
• Joseph Campbell introduced 10 phases to the story but Eric focuses on three basic components [07:44]
• We live in a different world and we don’t need to be a traditional hero. How do you translate being a hero in a modern day world into something you can grasp? [09:44]
• When people think of a “Hero” it’s almost always is Superman or Batman. This is not right. Hero is an Ordinary Human being that has to face the challenge, fear and uncertainty and adapt. [10:16]
• Brains and bodies were not trained to handle discomfort – natural aversion to discomfort. [11:59]
• We have really lowered our competence to replace comfort with safety. [13:01]
• We have to realize that there are going to be discomforts and one of the greatest contributions we can make, is to be graceful and present in the face of discomfort because it opens the door to being exploratory. Discomfort of being wrong, rejected and ignored – learning to reside in that with grace is a superhuman power [13:58]
• Eric’s definition of courage is defined as walking towards what you would rather run away from. Embracing it rather than rejecting it. [19:07]
• Why is “what are you are creating?” an important question? [19:50]
• No organization doesn’t have an emphasis on planning and strategy. We should have a focal point - something that gives meaning to our struggles and strife. We recognize at the organizational level that there is meaning to the struggle. Goals, objectives and strategy are therefore set. But if you don’t realize that you do this on a personal level then you are mistaken. [22:20]
• Always creating something and engaged in a goal pursuit, whether consciously and unconsciously. But what are the unspoken goals and objectives that we have in our head. [23:30]
• From a point of safety - you are operating from an operational rather than strategic side of business. [25:10]
• What am I avoiding? Specific career objectives and other domains in their life. With courage, would you apply “What am I avoiding” to all domains? [27:10]
• Practically impossible to navigate the journey of leadership without consistently staring into the taunting face of failure. The voice of failure is huge. [28:19]
• Example of a Marketing vs. Sales meeting in which this grip of fear was getting in their way – using data to hide the fact that they were anxious and scared, rather than working together, working against one another. Had to get underneath that mask of professionalism to discover what was really going on [29:49]
• Fearlessness is a marketing ploy. Fear is built into the physical structure of our brain. Fearlessness is not the objective. Fear is the physical reaction to the perception of threat. Fear is the underlying chassis of our brain. [30:58]
• The issue is cultivating courage. The ability to walk towards what you are afraid of. Embracing it, naming it and moving towards it. [31:47]
• How would you coach business leader’s that want to start looking at mindfulness and meditation [33:20]
• Eric started a formal meditation practice in 1986. Also goes to silence retreats twice a year. How is it effective for a leader? The point of meditation is to sharpen the mind and to broaden the heart. [34:07]
• If you are a leader and you can develop the ability to pay attention to something, on purpose, without judgment. This is a powerful contribution as a leader to have that amount of clarity and speed of decision. Competitive advantage. [35:47]
• Individually tackling stilling and sharpening the mind. [37:06]
• Thirteen seconds is the span of time that most people would take two full deep breaths. In that span you can pause. Create a space between the stimulus and the response. Rather than being at the animal level of reaction you become at the human level of analysis and application. Pause long enough to bring back your conscious self [37:21]
• If you want to cultivate that more skilfully - do it for ten minutes, and just observe the nature of your breath. It sounds simple, and the ability to be still and observe your breath - it teaches the mind and the body to be attentive on purpose. Imagine if you go into a meeting and you can sit and be more attentive. [40:15]
• Literally a chemical and neurological shift that happens for people who do this consistently. [41:16]
• What you want from leaders is knowing that they are bringing their best self. [41:39]
• Concept of the observer - a small version of you dispassionately noticing what's going on. Can access this almost like a bodycam, it is recording without emotion, just picking up the data. We can access that. It takes practice but it’s immediately accessible. It’s not as dramatically dimensional as my emotional self. Better decisions arise from that. This can be activated through meditation. [43:29]

This episode is sponsored by the CIO Scoreboard, reducing the complexity of your IT Security initiatives. Sign up for a demo here.

All methods of how to access the show are below:

• Listen on iTunes (for iPhones etc.)
• Listen to it on Stitcher (This is for Android Phone Users. Download the Stitcher app here)
• Stream it on Libsyn
• Listen to it on Soundcloud (This is for listening via PC/Mac Browser)
• Please subscribe here to Bill Murphy’s Redzone Podcast on iTunes
• Subscribe to my RSS Feed here
• LinkedIn blog post

Leave a podcast review here

How do I leave a review?

This episode is sponsored by the CIO Scoreboard, reducing the complexity of your IT Security initiatives. Sign up for a demo here.

Bill Murphy is a world renowned IT Security Expert dedicated to your success as an IT Business Leader. You can find him online through LinkedIn and Twitter. Subscribe to weekly podcast updates and information about CIO Mastermind Discussion Topics here.

Introduction

In this ground-breaking interview with Tony McFarland, we discuss how companies and regulators interpret and understand current legislation on how to monitor and manage the risks that companies face that can potentially harm the business, and even affect shareholders. We discuss the concept of a material breach and how to define corporate obligations to material breach and disclosure.

I loved my discussion with Tony McFarland. Tony is an attorney and one of the best in the United States at understanding the fast moving and ever evolving Data Security and Privacy Law landscape. Tony has a very unique perspective from the top (CEO and Board) as it relates to the CIO’s requirement to answer questions from the top that have not been asked before.

We also discuss how current decisions and precedents on the Safe Harbor rule will affect the way companies across the Atlantic will have to justify the protections used, and required for data transfers.

Biography

Tony is a partner at Bass Berry and Sims PLC, with more than 30 years of experience working with leaders at public and private companies, particularly those in the financial services and healthcare industries, in complex individual and class action business litigation and situations. He has experience in Data Security and Privacy matters including electronic information security best practices, data retention and data management. He is also the Chairman of the firm’s Technology Committee and chair-elect of the Lex Mundi Knowledge Management Subcommittee. He is a co-author of Bloomberg BNA Banking Practice Portfolio Series No. 401, Securities Law for Banks.

We discussed legal impacts of the following:

• The Rise of the CISCO – the Chief Information Security and Compliance Officer (my favorite)
• The SEC and what are the considerations of disclosing an IT Security Breach.
• Safe Harbor and the EU – If you have offices in Europe you will find the discussion very, very interesting
• Trends in Privacy – “the right to be forgotten vs the public’s right to know”. The First Amendment vs Europe’s perspective. We had a fascinating conversation about Data Privacy. Here is a link to the Spokeo Supreme Court case that is highly relevant and important in the US privacy debate.
• The Top Questions a Board and CEO need to ask a CIO or CISO
  1. “Do we have a data breach response plan?”
  2. They need to ask themselves, “Do we have someone capable of handling this area?”
  3. “Is this person getting the support they need?”
• Top 4 elements of a Board presentation
  1. Memorable
  2. Concise
  3. Succinct
  4. Understandable

Tony’s Published Work and Articles

Top CIOs and CISOs can learn a good deal by reading Tony’s published work in the following areas:

• EU and Safe Harbor -Doing Business in Europe and the EU-US Safe Harbor
• A Board’s Governance responsibility – Cybersecurity Top Supervisory Priority Data Security: A Board Responsibility?
• Board responsibility to Cyber Security
  • What are best questions a Board or CEO can ask about cyber security?
  • Data Security Wellness: Breach prep, diagnosis and treatment
  • Outsourced Third Parties – Not forgotten
• Tony’s SEC comments here regarding Cyber Breach Disclosure - The Morning Risk Report: Cybersecurity Disclosures are Risky - WSJ
• Top 10 Questions Banking Leaders Should Be Asking About Cybersecurity
• FCC enters data security arena, ups the ante in federal enforcement
• Doing business in Europe and the invalidation of the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor: is your business impacted?
• Data Breaches Drive Retailers To Update Payment Systems

Summarized Show Notes

• The ability and knowledge to understand and follow the developments in the entire field which runs across many regulatory fields and to understand the way the technology works so you can provide counsel to the CEO, CISO, CIO to the risk and what is an acceptable level of risk, particularly taking into the potential risk of a company. You have to make judgement calls. [06:25]
• SEC said all filings - have to disclose if companies knew of a breach or had knowledge of a breach. What do public companies have to be aware of with the SEC moving forward [09:10]
• Breach disclosure of large corporations seemed to be catastrophic. But number of breaches have increased. [10:20]
• Judgement call area. Guidance: try to stay within the range of what other companies do. There is a range of acceptable disclosures. You don’t want to be outside the norm [11:19]
• Meaning of Material in material breach – meaning, e.g. if you have company that has 200-300 employees and member of management is on a flight and loses a laptop with sensitive information and that could use material. [12:10]
• Inconsistency in responses of various regulators.[13:23]
• Concerned with brand impact and relationship with client than the dollars you are out of pocket to remedy the breach and especially difficulty with public companies because they are under obligations to material advance and disclosure. This could affect the share price. [15:55]
• Is the dialogue about IF you get breached, or WHEN you get breached? [17:20]
• You have to always plan as if you are going to be breached. From technology, process, procedure standpoint, the convention of wisdom, there are only two types of companies, those who have been breached and know it, and those who have been breached and who don’t know it. [17:38]
• Insurance cover - what do you see happening in insurance arena on cyber security? [18:41]
• Now insurance companies are more sophisticated with cyber liability insurance and more being purchased now, especially for amount of retention of deductable for catastrophic losses [20:22]
• European Court of Justice - case decided - brought issue the safe harbor framework relied on by UK and US companies to pass confidential information from EU to US. [21:26]
• Safe Harbor rule - get out of jail free card – a mechanism whereby if companies show they were operating within in the safe harbor compliance framework
• Scope of personal data in EU is much broader than in the US covers medical history and data. [23:00]
• EU has adopted some rules which have ‘The Right to be Forgotten’. European citizens can apply through Google to remove URLs to remove those pages and Google balances this with the individuals rights to privacy with the public right to know and there is also an appeal process through a local data protection agency on this. This does NOT happen in the US. Due to privacy according to the 1st Amendment - the public’s right to know clashes with the right to be forgotten - clashes due to guiding principles. [31:37]
• The right to be that invasive in privacy didn’t exist 200 hundred years ago – from a lawyer’s perspective, how do you balance the right of the individual to privacy with the public's right to know. [33:23]
• Do you rely on precedence for law decisions? Ideally, but practically NO. State laws and provincial laws, and either can apply. Lawyers say there is no guiding law. Try to best guide someone through the absence of rules or conflicting rules. Advise clients to act consistently.
• Clear communication with the Board - Boards can’t deflect issues on Cyber Security. What you’re your observations with IT leader’s communication with Board and vice versa? [38:06]
• 10 years ago CIO, CISO positions were rare except in larger companies. Prefers the term Data security rather than cyber security. Predecessors of CIO or CISO were more of an IT manager. [38:33]
• Not much history for CIO or CISO to know how best to present technical information to the Board and for the Board to know how to receive the information. [40:01]
• Extremely difficult situation – the communication needed is inadequate. It needs to be clear, concise, succinct, understandable and memorable. [40:50]
• The CIO/CISO needs to convey to the board the different high level points that company has prepared and has planned its security and knows how to respond to a breach [41:54]
• Board is capable of asking the right questions that are valid and useful for the business. But how are they being trained to ask questions in an area that are highly undefined? [42:20]
• The SEC wants to see that the breach response is documented [44:15]
• Top questions for a Board to ask their CIO/CISO [45:55]
• Are Boards suffering from Ivory Tower Syndrome (ITS)? [48:40]
• From the viewpoint of the SEC, someone needs to check if the information was right. If the Board are not capable of assessing the answer, then it’s more of a pro forma exercise, than check on adequacy of Cyber Security issues. [51:00]
• Being an Eagle Scout - what has this given to Tony’s career. Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave and reverent. As a Business Litigation lawyer, it’s similar – we’re known for knowing a little about a lot of things, but not a lot about anything [51:28]
• Larger companies underestimate the importance of having a CIO and a CISO. Can’t think of data security without thinking of compliance and can’t focus on compliance aspects without taking into the commitment to data security. These two positions might eventually merge. Suggesting the term CISCO. [53:33]

This episode is sponsored by the CIO Scoreboard, reducing the complexity of your IT Security initiatives. Sign up for a demo here.

All methods of how to access the show are below:

• Listen on iTunes (for iPhones etc.)
• Listen to it on Stitcher (This is for Android Phone Users. Download the Stitcher app here)
• Stream it on Libsyn
• Listen to it on Soundcloud (This is for listening via PC/Mac Browser)
• Please subscribe here to Bill Murphy’s Redzone Podcast on iTunes
• Subscribe to my RSS Feed here
• LinkedIn blog post

Leave a podcast review here

How do I leave a review?

This episode is sponsored by the CIO Scoreboard, reducing the complexity of your IT Security initiatives. Sign up for a demo here.

Bill Murphy is a world renowned IT Security Expert dedicated to your success as an IT Business Leader. You can find him online through LinkedIn and Twitter. Subscribe to weekly podcast updates and information about CIO Mastermind Discussion Topics here.

In this phenomenal interview with The Iceman Wim Hof we discuss what I believe may be the edge and frontier of human potential. By studying Wim, who has achieved 21 Guinness World Records, scientists are building a knowledge base of what is possible for humans. As Wim trains others to do what he does, then he becomes less of an ‘outlier’ and ‘anomaly’.

This is why I asked him to talk with me. I am interested in learning how he accomplishes his feats so that I can apply his methods to my own life. My hope is that you will be able to take pieces of this interview and do the same with yourself, family, and business. We discuss:

• Raising Kids
• Teaching others to handle adversity - The science of the body mind connection – Cold Exposure and Breathing
• Proof - Scientific findings and research
• His vision for teaching kids how to control their health, strength, and happiness (mood)
• Adjusting Mood (happiness) - The link between breath and mood state
• Eliminating depression
• The science behind his extraordinary feats
• His mission and vision for kids
• The benefits of cold immersion and breathing
• His favorite Guinness World Record
• His favorite experiment (performed on himself) to date

The Beginning of the Iceman

By the time Wim reached his teenage years, he was already running barefoot through the snow, comfortably. This was the beginning of a large series of confrontations with the cold, where every single time, limits were tested, and the outside world was stunned. Wim Hof is able to perform exceptionally, almost unnaturally, on what he is focused on during extreme situations. Due to our comfortable lifestyle today we are far removed from our natural body functions.

We breathe much more shallow which means that our body is not optimally supplied with oxygen. According to Wim, it’s not complicated at all: "What I am capable of, everybody can learn".

Control over your inner nature

Wim has taught himself how to control his heart rate, breathing and blood circulation. All this is regulated by the autonomic nervous system. Science says that the autonomic nervous system is a part of the body you just can´t control, yet Wim can, by steering his hypothalamus (an area in the brain which regulates the body temperature). While the body temperature of an untrained person drops dangerously after exposing it to extreme cold, Wim is able to retain his core temperature around 37 degrees Celsius, constantly. Even after 1 hour and 52 minutes sitting in ice, Wim’s core temperature stays the same. Scientists around the world are baffled by this exceptional capability.

21 Guinness World Records

He has accomplished 21 Guinness World Records with the most exceptional and unique performances. Here is a sampling of those:

• Ice Endurance feat, which is set at 1 hour and 52 minutes
• Running a marathon above the Arctic Circle in shorts (the video of this is extraordinary)
• Running half a marathon barefoot above the Arctic Circle in only shorts
• Officially swam under ice for 66 meters, unofficially swam under ice for 120 meters with one breath
• Free climbing
• Hanging on one finger at an altitude of 2,000 meters
• Climbing the highest mountains on earth in only shorts (like Everest and Kilimanjaro)
• Full marathon in Namib desert without water consumption

Teaching Others and Scientific Proof

In order to squelch ‘naysayers’, Wim has embarked on a journey to prove his capabilities and also to teach others to do what he does.

He proved this in what I think is his landmark study where he trained 12 people to do a remarkable experiment highlighted below. The experiment (also referenced below in the science section) is called “Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune system response in humans” done by Dr. Pikkers and Kox, where Wim trained subjects influenced the autonomic nervous and immune system (video from the doctors).

Scientific Research

• Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans
• The influence of concentration meditation on autonomic nervous system and the innate immune response
• Can meditation influence the Autonomic Nervous System
• Biology now - Chapter 22 Wim Hof and the endocrine immune system
  

Teaching Others - Resources from this episode:

Free Online Course

10 Week Course

Wim Hof Method Explained in Detail

VICE Documentary featuring Wim

Reference Sites for Wim Hof
Ice Man website
Wikipedia
Four Hour Work Week Interview
Vice Video Link
Hypothermics Site
The Clymb Site

Social Media for Wim Hof
Twitter Link
You Tube
Face Book
LinkedIn
Instagram

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Becoming Iceman

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Summarized Show Notes:

• How are we able to tap into different response systems such as the autonomic systems and nervous systems, and show (for the first time) that we are able to produce more adrenaline – as if someone is doing their first bungee jump.
• How to tap into the Endocrine systems (controlling mood and hormones), and the Immune systems (controlling disease). With these techniques you are able to control the mood and the hormones, and tap into the endocrine systems. [8:50]
• 230 million prescriptions filled out in the US alone for antidepressants, more than £3 Billion – and covers a complete spectrum – from light stress, and mild to severe depression. A combination of breathing and cold – and how it gets applied. [9:23]
• Free course on the website – method consists of 3 lymphs - gradual cold triggers the vascular system. Second is breathing which brings about better oxygenation of the blood. And the 3rd are mind-set. This allows you to tap into the physiology of the endocrine systems which control the mood and hormones. Now you WILL feel that you have the power to intervene. Take a cold shower after a hot one. Breathe better. Thus you will be able to control the PH level bringing out to the natural system where it should be. Then you feel you have a sense of control and this affects your mindset. [10:03]
• Learning, when going consciously into the body. If you are compare this to a situation of danger, your body is taking over. When you are in dangerous situations, and the body takes over, and you use the cold shower, it takes you to the breadth of your being. And it trains you to take control and have power over yourself. So when you are in a difficult situation, you are more able to control it. That is comfort, and it builds confidence. This is just to trigger and awaken the deeper physiology of yourself and learn some breathing. [13:06]
• How this was founded on an internal belief, but then moved to science. A lot of world feats to gain attention. [15:12]
• Wim’s favorite experiment in an ice bath [16:10]
• Injecting endotoxins (E-coli bacteria) results in complete suppression of the cytokines and the inflammatory markers in the autonomic nervous system. [17:54]
• Interest from Harvard Medical School starting studies with them. We have seen indications for possible healthcare solutions via a natural method. Able to tap into so much more power from within and tackle and prevent disease. Able to help people with arthritis, Crohn’s, etc. [20:44]
• We found a way to reset the body and bring it to its natural state [23:03]
• The parasympathetic nervous system, you get from doing mindfulness for a long time. During the day, consciously, deeper breathing – so you are in control. Shallowness in breathing patterns results in less oxygen in the cell and the cell is more acidic. We are able to store a whole lot more oxygen. [24:01]
• If you are able to do this the cell is able to regenerate in peaceful level. Not when it is stress mode. The Neocortex, the upper layer of our brain, the daily live, action, and it takes energy. But if you know how to tap into the limbic system which this technique does. You get into the paralimbic system – to get more [25:44]
• Only when we have more scientific proof can we help illnesses such as depression, arthritis, Crohn's, daily life. We need to have more confidence to tackle what life is all about. Peace and action. Our deeper parts of our being requires nature and we are now able to tap into this. [27:51]
• Kids are the real goal. If we want to change the world, can’t have kids alienated from their inner physiology. If we love our kids, we want them strong, happy and healthy. We show that we are able to make people strong. [29:17]
• Every morning, rise and do breathing exercises at 4 am. Tremendous peace and power. Rejuvenating and rehabilitating. Raising kids, being more of a child than themselves. On a deeper level, being busy, believing, believing, understanding, realizing. Breathing and Cold training. Never get sick and my kids never get sick. If something is wrong with me, - I change it. [31:50]
• A possible solution for the food problem in the world. I am able to generate more cell activity, by thinking only. We need to do more studies, because these are BIG issues. We eat too much. Food is equivalent to energy. Food you need to process, but with breathing you do not need to process it all the time. It doesn’t use a lot of energy. [34:50]
• Permanent change comes from insight. If the body doesn’t have the correct PH then you lose the mind body connection. Health, happiness….Strength! You have to deal with this consciously. Because of our behavior, we have lost this connection within. Right Consciousness. We have to compensate for the non-stimulative behavior. We have become conditioned, with the de-conditioned. [37:12]
• The right information is motivational [39:10]
• Of the 20 plus Guinness World Records which is the most meaningful? – Going under a meter of ice, deck and having to swim 50 m underneath. The day before, did rehearsal. I forgot to wear goggles. And I passed the hole. I tried to find the hole. I ended up swimming 130 meters underneath the ice deck. I never felt the agony to drown. Because of the breathing that I do to raise the PH levels. To cause the body to withdraw within. I lost my fear of dying there. So peaceful. [41:03]
• We lost our connection with nature. We get disease. We get sick. Everybody is capable, is able to reconnect to the natural state of our physiology and be happy natural and healthy and control it. [45:39]
• Connect with discomfort. Innate immune response. We are able to tap it. Enabling us to increase the quality of daily life. [46:25]