My Audacious Transformation Show: Recent Episodes
Vic Williams
My Audacious Transformation Show is a podcast for people who want to transform their life from Zero to Audacious.
In this episode, I am in conversation with Bethan Russell, director and shareholder of Silver Roots in Plymouth.
Originally from North Yorkshire, Bethan and a few friends started Silver Roots House Plants after circumstances brought them together and they found they shared a passion for house plants. Together they launched their business during the Pandemic and have seen it grow from there.
Bethan is also neurodiverse and shares her business and life experiences. We also spoke candidly about the impact of her neurodiversity on her business and how she deals with these things daily.
We did get into what eco-friendly house plants are, why she is so passionate about them and what the future looks like for her and her business.
Again, this is another conversation I know you will learn a lot from.
You can contact Bethan for more information about house plants via her website https://silverroots.co.uk/
This is episode 13 and in this episode, I am in conversation with Christina Wilkins, Founder of Brand Biscuit Studio. Christina is a dynamic, visionary and brand strategist who is dyslexic and has ADHD. And she is an amazingly talent business women and I consider her to be a real friend.
Prior to this recording, I spent time with Christina talking through many of the things she does, how she does them and most importantly, why she does them. These have been fascinating and enlightening conversations, and many of these things we touch on in this episode.
I have visited her studio and it is unlike many of the other marketing-type studios I have ever visited previously and again we chat through some of these things in this episode.
I know you will find her invigorating, inspirational and very articulate.
Episode 12 and in this episode I am in conversation with best selling author John Williams.
"How do you advise people to break the rules? What is your custom answer when they say they're going to break the rules or want to break the rules?
I think it's in people already. Some people are naturally fairly conventional people and some people are not.
And most people have a creative or entrepreneurial drive have something of a, of an unconventional part to them. And that's probably what this.
The idea is for this next book, it's about taking that part of you. It's different. It might be newer diversity, which you talk about, or it might be a different take on the world or some painful experience you've been through that's fueling you to be ambitious and making that.
Part of what you do, and so you, I'm really just encouraging people to be themselves because that's where the weirdness comes from. I quote in, in F work, Brian Eno, and he says, ........"
This is an except from our conversation.
We spoke at length about dyslexia, ADHD and John's perspective on both. We spoke about leadership in business and how these affect business and so much more
It was a fascinating conversation from which I know you will learn a whole bunch.
You can connect with John on LinkedIn via the link.
This is John's website and where you can find out more about John and get his books. Just follow this link.
As always, please leave a 5 star rating on Apple podcast or whatever rating you feel is appropriate.
I trust you have a great day and look forward to seeing you on the next episode.
We are back after a few weeks off and in this episode, I am in conversation with Chris Pearse and it is the first in a series of interviews I have done.
Chris is the author of 'The Broken CEO', a coach and leadership expert.
Our conversation was interesting and rich in diversity.
Here is an excerpt from that conversation:
'.....I suppose the key criteria is can they do the job? Yeah. And are you doing all in your power to, because leadership is about creating an environment. It's not about telling people what to do. It's, it's about creating an environment in which people can thrive rather, like a gardener, tends a garden.
By believing very often what other people are telling us or have told us as little children that, we have no choice or we are, we do not have the influence that we think we need. That's not to say that we can turn situations on their heads. We're not talking about that at all, but we are talking about how you as an individual respond to very challenging situations.'
I know you will get massive value from this conversation.
In today's episode, which is episode 10 and in this episode, I want to talk about dyslexia, ADHD and unblocking your self-sabotage.
In this episode, you will learn:
- What dyslexia and ADHD are
- What they not
- The truth about self-sabotage
- Recognising the patterns of self-sabotage
- Breaking those patterns
- Unblocking the causes of those patterns
- What the future looks like for you
Most people know dyslexia as a reading and spelling disability or disorder and know ADHD as a condition which affects people's behaviour.
The fact is thought that there is so much more to these conditions than what most people think or believe.
Neither dyslexia nor ADHD has anything to do with intelligence, competence, ability or skill.
They are often found together, and there is no cure for either.
Having said that, they are very different from each other, although some of the symptoms overlap.
It is my belief that every day is a great day to be alive and a great day to live with empowered intention.
It is my mission and hope that through these podcasts, I and the guests I have on, will educate, motivate and empower you to life an extraordinary and Audacious Life.
As far back as I can remember, I have been fascinated by how the brain and nervous system work and how that impacts our daily lives and our businesses.
I am also fascinated by motivation, personal empowerment and personal transformation.
As a dyslexic and a person with ADHD I want to know how, I want to know why I do things very differently, why I think differently, see the world differently, why there are some things I am not good at and other things I am great at.
In today's episode, which is episode 9 and in this episode, I want to share with you why there has been no podcast for 3 week as well as what the podcast will look like from next week's episode.
So the past few weeks have been really challenging, since firstly the death of the Queen, which I decided we would not do a podcast that week out of respect, then since the following week I have been mentally dealing with the death of a friend while trying to hold my business together and keep things working.
There have been my own networking events to attend and put a smiling face on for, interviews to do and put a smiling face on for, clients to see and put a smiling face on for. You get the picture.
Do your thoughts serve you or are they your master?
Many people would have heard the name WIlliam James and probably think of him as the father of American philosophy. You may also know him for the many quotes ascribed to him including 'If you change your mind, you change your life.'
But few would recognise him as a man who was plagued for most of his life by depression, thoughts of suicide and the occasional bout of a crisis of meaning.
He was tone deaf, and suffered from various ailments, including eye, back and stomach issues.
After graduating as a medical doctor in 1869, he descended into a period of what he called soul-sickness, probably what we today call depression, which took him 3 years to overcome.
He suffered panic attacks and hallucinations during this time, as he had on many other occasions throughout his life, but there came a day in 1870, while an essay by a French philosopher in which he discovers the idea of free will in thought.
That is, instead of him being subservient to his thoughts, they can be subservient to him.
He discovers this definition of free will. 'The sustaining of a thought because I choose to when I might have other thoughts.'
Ok, so I know you are probably thinking, 'Oh no, not another podcast about self-talk.'
And yes, you would be right.
We are going to have that conversation.
Why?
Because it is the most important conversation you can have with anyone.
And the consequences of not having this conversation and applying the lessons in the conversation can and generally are devastating, at minimum, to you and your business.
This conversation about the words you use is highly relevant to everyone.
No one is excluded from the effects, but dyslexics, people with ADHD and other neurodiverse conditions are particularly susceptible and need to have this reinforced regularly.
I want to share 2 stories with you to illustrate the effects of your words.
But first, whether you acknowledge the fact or not, you are in constant conversation with yourself, all day, every day.
Now I know many people joke, and we have all heard the phrase, 'Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness and answering is the second.'
And many people poo-pooed the idea of what has been called self-talk.
But despite all of that, the fact remains that you and I and everyone else have an ongoing, 1-to-1 conversation with ourselves all the time.
And generally, that conversation is with ourselves is about... Yes, you guessed it ourselves.
Dream, passion, purpose.
On Wednesday 28th August 1963, just 15 days after I was born, Martin Luther King shared his dream with over 250000 people in Washington and that dream reverberated around the world.
'I have a dream,' he said and he was not talking about the thing that happens somewhere between when you go to sleep and when you wake up.
His dream was a vision.
Something he saw and believed even though it was not at that time a reality.
And the story behind how he came to share this dream in that speech on that day is incredible.
He had not intended to use those phrases in the speech and was advised not to use them as, in the words of one of his advisors, they were 'trite, cliche and used too many times' in the past.
And although it is likely he had practised them before the speech, they were not in the typed-up text which was on the podium that day.
His speech was going well-ish, but not his normal knock-out, Baptist preacher stuff. Behind him was his favourite gospel singer who, as he was winding up, twice call out to him, 'Tell them about the dream,' and then the magic happened.
That thing, deep within his soul, that dream, that passion, that purpose, came out and slapped them right in the lips.
And the world changed forever. History was made as that thing which he saw came out with all his Baptist preacher teaching and preaching style.
You see this wasn't a speech to black people. It wasn't a speech to white people, nor was it a political speech.
It was a speech about a future which could be so different from the present and that is what a dream is all about.
Your story has huge value.
It is easy for people who have overcome drug addiction, swam the English Channel, climbed Everest, sailed around the world single-handed or skied across the Arctic to be inspirational, but most people on they will never do that sort of thing.
Most of us generally live ordinary lives and most people, sadly feel they don't have a story to share.
Often when I have said to someone that their story is important the answer I generally get is something like, 'I'm just a housewife, who would want to hear about boring life.'
Or 'So many other people run more exciting businesses that people want to hear from. My story is not worth hearing about.
And right there is the big mistake.
Just because it is something you do every day, does not mean that your story will not be inspirational to someone.
It is also important to recognise that all of the days in your past are the only things which have got you to where you are right now.
All of the good and all of the bad. Every day that you have lived is your story and it has got you here.
You may have heard of a little self-help book written way back in 1903 by James Allen called 'As a man thinketh.'
It was described by Allen as 'A book that will help you help yourself.'
He wrote in the foreword of the book, 'its objective being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that "They themselves are the makers of themselves" by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage.'
And this is the beginning of change and transformation, thinking.
This is what we will be talking about in this episode. Thinking!
Today we are going to talk about it ideas of speed, brains and agility.
What the heck am I on about?
What do they have to do with business or personal transformation?
So you may remember the story I related in last week's episode.
It was the story of a conversation with an old man while I was servicing his car way back in the 1980's.
And one of the things he said I would need for success in life and in business was this idea of speed, brains and agility.
It took me many years to work it out and to understand what he was on about and then assimilate it into my life. To work out how these things could work for me as a bloke with dyslexia and ADHD.
All of this and more is in today's episode.
Many people have asked me why Audacious is part of the name of my business and why this podcast is called The Audacious Transformation Show.
In this episode, I share the story of how the name came about and what it means to me and why.
Contrary to popular belief, audacious does not refer to arrogance but rather to boldness, inventiveness, innovation and being unconstrained by past ideas and failures.
This is the introduction and episode 1 of my new podcast: My Audacious Transformation Show.
As it is the introduction, we talk about what to expect from the upcoming episodes and create a little detail around one of the key concepts we will discuss: Live, Love, Laugh.
What does it mean to live, to love and to laugh?
How do these things benefit you?
It is too late at the end of your life to ask yourself key questions about life. Too late to ask questions about the things you may regret doing or not doing. Too late to ask questions about purpose and passion.
It is far better too ask those important questions while you still have time to do something about it.
So there are 3 questions I will challenge you to ask yourself every day, and I will explain why those questions are important.