Moving Forward is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Zephan Blaxberg is the founder of ZMB Media, host of the hit podcast series, Year of Purpose and author of the best selling book, Life Re-Scripted. Zephan is now coaching individuals from all walks of life; from 20-somethings to 60 year olds, helping them re-script their lives and achieve their life and professional goals. In today’s episode, you will learn how Zephan re-scripted his own life with a can-do and do now attitude and how you can do the same to move forward.
Successes at a glance:
Founder of ZMB Media, a highly successful video production and media company (as seen on CBS News, ABC, NBC, Fox, Netflix’s House of Cards).
Host and creator of the hit podcast series, Year of Purpose (front page of iTunes upon launch), 58,000+ listeners and growing.
Author of the best selling book, Life Re-Scripted.
Highly sought after coach, with a unique approach based on his own Life Re-Scripted program.
How Zephan gets inspired to conquer the day:
For Zephan, motivation comes from physical activity and inspiring media. As Zephan was launching his podcast and starting up multiple projects, he got into rowing to build up his strength. For mental stimulation, Zephan discovered YouTube videos that had great music and inspirational movie quotes. Watching and listening to these video helped Zephan create an epic inner “movie soundtrack” to keep him motivated and moving forward. For the big picture, Zephan stays motivated by reminding himself of what he is “fighting for.” He does this by communicating it: shouting it out and sharing on social media. In turn, these social affirmations have caused others to reach out to let him. As a result of his work, individuals from around the world have reached out to Zephan, letting him know how much of an impact his work is having on them. As Zephan puts it, when you knock over a domino, it has the ability to knock over another domino that is 50% larger than it. Moving Forward listeners, take Zephan’s story to heart and push over that first domino. Start by inspiring yourself with physical activity and great media, then share your spark with others so they can do the same. Create your own domino effect that will keep you on track and moving forward.
Setback or failure that led to pivot and shift:
For Zephan, starting a freelance video business meant giving up the expectation of a steady, bi-weekly paycheck. Rather, as a budding entrepreneur, Zephan had several months of building with no income. At that point, he asked the question that all entrepreneurs ask themselves at one time or another, whether this would work. Zephan had taken some big risks: hiring a $11,000 coach (when he didn’t have $11,000) and spending money on business cards, a website and more. As Zephan poignantly shares, it wasn’t so much that he failed but that he felt a growing fear that he was “going to fail.” Looking back, what Zephan has learned and what has caused him to reframe failure is the idea that, “when you release your need to control what is going on in your life, the world opens up and gives you what you need.” Instead of sitting there and wishing for change, he reaffirmed why he was doing this in the first place. This in turn allowed him to shift his perspective and see the opportunities that would open up for him. To illustrate: Zephan had weeks where there was no work and hence no money coming in. By reaffirming why he was doing this in the first place and that he wasn’t going to stop doing this, an opportunity arose shortly after for him to work with a paying client. Zephan can’t provide an exact “how to” or “step-by-step” manual because each individual and aspiration is different but what he does share is that to pursue your passion or purpose, you must have an open mind to get you thru those times where you will be tested and challenged. Moving Forward listeners, are you facing a “fear of failure” from trying something? Or perhaps you’ve taken that first step and you’re now hitting what seems like a domino that just won’t budge? Step back and reaffirm why you’re doing what your passion or purpose is in the first place. Let go of what is outside of your control and if necessary, go back to basics so you can see new opportunities and move forward.
Knowledge Bursts:
Resource or cultural experience that inspired Zephan to move forward:
Into the Wild (blu ray | instant video): the true story of Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) who left college to see the world. This story inspired Zephan with the simple yet poignant lesson of seeing what’s out there and just being.
Adapted from the book, Into the Wild (paperback | Kindle) by Jon Krakauer.
Life Re-Scripted by Zephan Blaxberg: read all about Zephan’s story and how he was able to re-script his life into one that he loves.
Gary Keller and Jay Papasan’s The One Thing (paperback | Kindle): where Zephan got the brilliant domino image, noted above. This book is a primer on how to focus by pairing down the non-essentials so you can achieve results.
How Zephan stays organized and manages his time:
Zephan uses his calendar as a to-do list. Specifically, Zephan itemizes and rearranges tasks and appointments based on time estimates. This calendar hack allows Zephan to find those pockets of space where he can incorporate other priorities. This also allows Zephan to change things up as he lives by the philosophy that you will not be successful if you just focus on one thing.
Favorite app / website / resource or productivity hack:
Apple and Google calendars.
Binaural Beats (iPhone | iPad | Google Play): sound waves (theta, delta) that your device can play to stimulate parts of your brain to facilitate certain tasks or goals (e.g. being creative, falling asleep, etc.).
Support the Podcast:
The Corporate Cliches Adult Coloring Book: makes the perfect stocking stuffer or white elephant gift.
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Try out Amazon Prime (affiliate link).
Zephan’s Advice for you to Move Forward:
Keep a running calendar (paper and pen, not on your device) and use it to keep track of where you are and what you’re doing. Do this for a week and review at week’s end to see where your time is going and more importantly, where it’s being wasted. Are you using your time to start a new project, launch a business, discover a hobby or spend it with someone important? Or are you bingeing the latest episode of your favorite TV show on Netflix? Identify those points of wasted time and start moving away from those activities that are no longer serving you. From there you can start adding things to your schedule that you enjoy. As you prioritize your time smartly, you will find the world opening up as it sends you you opportunities to keep doing the things you want to keep doing. Listeners, this is a great scheduling and prioritizing hack that you can start doing today that will guide you to make the necessary changes so you can move forward.
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