The Pat Flynn Show

Scott Iardella, host of the Rdella Training podcast, joins me to share lessons learned in business and life from starting and growing one of the top fitness podcasts on iTunes.  Mentioned article:  http://rdellatraining.com/how-to-become-an-unstoppable-learning-machine-10-strategies-for-constant-growth

Generalism is about focusing on breadth as much as depth of skill. In other words, becoming better than most people, at most things, even if you aren't the best at any one. In this episode, I want to explain the philosophy generalism as it pertains to my upcoming book, why it matters, and how to apply it. 

A short talk on reasonable exercise selection with Aleks Salkin

In this episode, I advance the argument that faith is not only not incompatible with reason, but the ultimate place where reason leads. In future episodes, I'll discuss the practical application of faith through meditation and prayer for increasing happiness, meaningfulness, productivity, and joy. Books mentioned: 5 Proofs of the Existence of God, Ed Feser:  http://amzn.to/2BnKcCf The Soul's Upwar...

Aleks is back and we decided to give advice to our younger selves. We're often asked what we'd do different if we were starting gall over again, either in fitness, business--or heck--life!

Dorie Clark, author of Entrepreneurial You, joins me to discuss generalism, branding, and building multiple income streams. 

Som's back, and in this episode we talk about the importance of studying philosophy, for both pragmatic and existential reasons. We also give a bit of background on each other's personal schools of thought. Interesting episode, if I do say!

Rain Bennett, two time Emmy-nominated filmmaker, joins me to discuss the power of fitness culture, and the positive impact he's seen fitness make on so many people's lives. 

In this episode I talk about the skill of fitness, and why daily practice can offer better/quicker results, but also why you don't HAVE to train everyday to get results. This is an important conversation and will give you further insight into my approach to programming for general physical preparedness. 

Dr Tim Jennings, psychiatrist and master-pharmacologist, joins me to discuss an interesting theory: Were our brains shaped by God in such a way that having a spiritual practice is just as essential to our health as exercise and proper eating?  Dr. Tim says yes, and makes the case from the perspective of neuroscience, and how science confirms the merit of Scripture. 

Aleks Salkin joins me again as we discuss a few of our favorite books in fitness, business, philosophy, writing, spirituality, and more. 

Tom Woods, Harvard educated historian, joins me to discuss how he went from teacher to business owner, by mastering the channel of email marketing.

Aleks Salkin joins me again to talk program design. Our mission: To discuss creativity and style within exercise and variable selection. In other words, to make an exercise routine altogether practical, effective, and FUN. 

Jon Reed is a professional communicator with 20 years of writing and video experience. In this episode, we discuss video marketing - in particular, what to keep in mind when conceiving and shooting your video, and how to make sure you're producing an effective, engaging video for your social media audience.

Aleks Salkin joins me again to discuss the creative process.  Aleks is like me in the sense he used his background in writing as a foundation for his fitness career. So we thought it'd be fruitful to discuss the nature of creativity--where it comes from, how to cultivate it.  Because whether you're writing or designing workouts, creativity is a skill that can be developed, so long as you come at i...

In my episode with John Bair on depression and anxiety, I mentioned a meditation practice that made all the difference for me, and ultimately led to my full emotional recovery. That mention led to a flood of emails asking what exactly this meditation practice is. So I'll do the best I can to describe this form meditation (which is a literal meditation on the mind itself) in this episode, and walk...

I often say a good generalist is just a short term specialist. But what does that mean? Such is the topic for today's episode, as I lay out the generalist approach for getting more things done and increasing efficiency in everything from exercising to building a business.  The secret, I would say, is in short term specialization, or learning to surge in one (maybe two) directions at a time, while...

"Standards," says Dan John, "help clarify the conversation. They expose gaps." Dan John is back again, this time to discuss why we need standards, in everything from lifting to reading, and more. We have a fun with this episode, going at the topic of standards through Dan John's lists of favorite books, movies, and albums--why these works meant to him, what he got out of them, and how they shaped...

In this episode, I play back an interview where I was asked about generalism--what it is, and how to develop it. In this talk with Dr. T, I unpack this philosophy of mine, while giving examples of how it applies to fitness, business, creativity, and life.  I also make the case of why generalist (being better than most people, at most things) > specialist (being the best at only one) in almost ever...

As much as I have loved all my podcast episodes, this one may be the most important.  John Bair, strength coach, and business owner, joins me to discuss subjects that aren't talked about--or at least not talked about enough: Depression, anxiety, and so on. This episode starts out on somber ground, as John and I open up about our struggles with (him) depression and (me) anxiety, but soon turns into...

Alwyn Cosgrove, co-author of The New Rules of Lifting, fought stage-four cancer twice, and won. He's also created one of the world's most successful gyms and fitness communities, Results Fitness. (Oh, and he's a Tae Kwon Do guy, like me. So, that's cool.) I brought Alywn on to ask him how he did it. From launching a successful (and, at the time, controversial) book franchise that made people think...

Steph Gaudreau, strength coach, owner of Stupid Easy Paleo, joins me to discuss all the ways she's made herself impervious to life's onslaught. From weight lifting, meditation, Jiu Jitsu, and entrepreneurship, Steph is a yet another fine example of an expert-generalist. She's great at everything she does, because she's committed herself to being in process. From high school chemistry teacher to on...

Andy Morgan, owner of RippedBody.com, loves living in Japan. He's also fortunate enough to have established a successful online coaching business to fund his adventures.  I brought Andy on to talk about the success he's had, and lessons learned, in building a business based around virtual coaching for people interested in getting in shape. We also talk a lot about the amazing weirdness that is lif...

This episode argues the core of my philosophy of generalism--the theme of the podcast itself, and the thesis of my upcoming book. That argument is this: Forget being the best in the world. Instead, focus on getting good to great--or at least fairly competent--at a variety of different skills, then learn to combine those skills to form a competitive advantage and creative spirit. In this episode, J...

Gary Lachman, former bassist of the band Blondie, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joins me for an eclectic conversation on the history and mystery of consciousness. Part of what I love about podcasting is getting to talk to people like Gary on topics that we ultimately have no true understanding of--consciousness being one of them. There are, of course, theories. There have always been t...