Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #109 with a special episode where I want to take a minute to thank anyone who has ever downloaded an episode or come on a guest to the podcast. Without you (the listener) or our guest speakers, there is no podcast, and there would be no chance that we would have hit our milestone of surpassing 50,000 downloads since our launch in June 2019.

I want to take a minute to share why hitting 50,000 downloads is such a big deal and why we couldn’t have done this on our own. It took a year and 8 months to attain this goal (that I’ve had my eye on since last summer) and if you are not a podcaster, these numbers don’t have as much meaning as those out there who create and release content and wonder—will anyone actually find what I have just created interesting, helpful and meaningful?

When starting anything new, you are building something out of nothing, and the only way to do this is to have a vision of where you are going. For me, it started with “I hope I can get 100 people to listen to this podcast. That would be incredible!” Our first month we had 27 downloads (probably my good friends and family—thank you!), month 2 was 204 downloads, month 3, 248, then 396, jumping up to 1,648 in December 2019. What’s crazy is that if I look back to February 2020, or this time last year, our monthly numbers started to hit the thousands each month, but we were still just at 7,800 downloads in total. I’ve included a graph in the show notes so  you can see these results. If you are listening on iTunes, go over to Podbean to see these graphs. https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/ 

So, How Did We Go From 7,800 Downloads to 51,800 Downloads in Just One Year?

When we launched the podcast, we did one episode a week, except for the beginning of the Pandemic last summer, we released 3 episodes in a week a couple of times, just due to the fact that we had extra time, most people we wanted to interview were available, and we knew the more episodes we released, the higher the downloads, which is exactly how the numbers increased so quickly.  If we want quantum leap results, it takes effort, focus, persistence and hard work.  There’s actually a formula that I learned in the late 1990s when I was given Price Pritchett’s book “You Squared: A High Velocity Formula for Multiplying your Personal Effectiveness in Quantum Leaps.”[i] Who doesn’t want to achieve exponential improvement in their performance, or multiply their personal effectiveness?

“You don’t have to be content with improving things incrementally or gradually—You Squared implies an explosive jump in your personal performance that puts you far beyond the next logical step.” (Price Pritchett)

So of course, I was looking for that exponential leap with our numbers, and not sure what the secret was. Since I always have the You Squared book on my desk, one day I looked up Pritchett and contacted his offices to see if I could have him on the podcast to discover what I was missing and share it with our listeners at the same time. He isn’t doing interviews anymore, but I will have one of his team members on this year and we will dive deeper into the principles of his book.

The tips I’m going to share with you on this episode today are for anyone who is building something from nothing. You might have an idea in the back of your head, and aren’t sure where to begin, or you’ve been given a new sales territory, and you just can’t see how you will accomplish your goal. Whatever it is that you are looking to do, there are some secrets to achieving your goals, and I highly recommend reading Pritchett’s book, You Squared to begin with.

Here’s Some Tips for Accelerating Your Rate of Achievement, and they all involve a shift in your mental mindset.

Tip #1 Learn from Those Who Have Already Paved the Path

Seek out those who have risen to the top, and model what they are doing. They had to have started where you are at some point. Whatever you are doing, there is always someone who has gone before you, and achieved your goal with ease. How did they do it? Ask them, and then be prepared to do exactly what they say.

I watched other podcasters to see how they hit this milestone, and I remember that Lewis Howes, the host of one of the top podcasts, The School of Greatness, said something along the lines of “to get more downloads, I knew I had to release more episodes.”[ii]

Since its launch in January 2013, the School of Greatness podcast has grown rapidly to be one of the top-ranked Business and Self-Development podcasts in iTunes. It regularly appears in the Top 50 of all iTunes podcasts, and has over 150 million downloads.

He said “I built up my podcast through consistently providing quality valuable content and constantly being open to my own growth without being attached to the end result. In the early stages of the podcast, I was only doing one episode per week, and then I started adding two episodes, and then I added in my 5 Minute Fridays, and then I added video. This was a slow and gradual growth and has taken years to get to where I am today.”[iii]  Lewis Howes describes what it took for the Quantum Leap results he has achieved.

So How Did This Work?

Lewis Howes suggested doing 3 episodes/week to improve his downloads. To move away from releasing just one episode a week, we did try 3 episodes in a week but that almost killed me. My life was 100% focused on each guest, preparing and editing, but I did it because I was given access to high level speakers and didn’t want to miss that opportunity. Other projects were put aside, and it was an incredible learning opportunity, but I couldn’t sustain this level on my own.

I was reminded of something I heard Brendon Burchard, the author of the book High Performance Habits talk about with how “High performers have mastered the art of prolific quality output (PQO). They produce more high-quality output than their peers over the long term, and that is how they become more effective, better known, more remembered. They aim their attention and consistent efforts toward PQO and minimize any distractions (including opportunities) that would steal them away from their craft” (Burchard, 2017)[iv]

To release more than one interview a week would compromise the quality of the work I’m doing (unless I decide to outsource some of it, which I haven’t done yet).  So, I’m sticking to one interview a week, and will be adding Brain Fact Fridays, which will be short brain tips, to reinforce the strategies offered within the interviews.  Stay tuned, as we will begin Brain Fact Fridays next week.

Who Can You Learn From? If there is someone that you know in your field who has a track record of success, look them up, and contact them. With 100% certainty, I can tell you that they will answer any questions that you might have for them. Ask them what they did to achieve their high levels of success, write it down, and follow what they did. You might have to adjust, like I did, but you will find your rhythm, and what works for you, once you begin to implement the ideas you are given. Just remember to take the advice they give you and try it.

“If you want to accelerate your rate of achievement rapidly, you must search out and vigorously employ new behaviors.” (Pritchett, Page 7)

Tip #2 Act As if Your Success is Certain—Expect It.

“If you doubt something, doubt your limits.” (Pritchett).

When starting something new, it’s normal, I think, to wonder if you will attain success with what you are doing. Just keep doing the work, and day by day, you will begin to see small wins that stack up, building your belief system. When you have true belief and faith that you will accomplish your goal, something inside you shifts. I have launched quite a few ideas that never took off, or never reached the heights I was hoping for. Even with all the belief in the world, some things just don’t work.

But when something begins to turn the corner, and the momentum builds, you will see it. Never look back to the doubts, fears and uncertainty that you might have had at the beginning.  Even if it completely shocks you, just hold that belief.

So How Did This Work?

When I saw the numbers going up last summer around the time we were doing 3 podcasts each week, I remember feeling shocked, but also thinking “it’s about time.” The belief started to come, and it never left at that point.

Do you believe in what you are doing? How can you strengthen your belief? What do you say to someone who tells you what you are trying to do is impossible, or that past results have proven it will fail?

Tip #3 The How is Not Important, You Just Need to Know What You Want

“A quantum leap is the unexpected that comes to you with sudden grace. You can open yourself to such a breakthrough, you can even invite it, but you can’t make it happen by struggling harder.” (Pritchett, page 17)

I always remember my mentor, Bob Proctor[v] talking about forgetting about “how” I was going to attain my goal but focus on what I wanted. I remember saying “But Bob, how am I going to do that?” and he would look at me and say, “You don’t need to know how” and I would be left standing there, puzzled.

Lewis Howes mentioned it when he said he remained focused on his growth. Just keep learning, working, moving, and growing, and putting one foot forward. Ideas and opportunities will come your way that you might have never seen or expected before.

So How Did This Work?

When our numbers started to accelerate, it was like a perfect storm of activity. I had just interviewed my mentored, Bob Proctor, and he offered to send out my podcast to his entire database. That really helped. Then Podbean (our podcast host) featured our podcast on the front page of their app, and we went from 32 followers to almost 4,000. This means that every time we upload an episode, 4,000 people are notified. Then we were contacted by Corwin Press, with 8 authors who they thought would be a great fit for the podcast. These authors all led me to other opportunities outside of the podcast, and the list can go on.

If you are crystal clear on where you are going, the way will be shown to you. It might not look like the pathway you expect, but with faith and belief, it will come to you, and when your quantum leap appears, it won’t shock you, because you saw it all along.

To close out this episode, I want to say thank you again to our past and future guests and listeners. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to provide this content, and that you are finding value with this podcast, from whatever part of the world you are in.  As I watch the statistics of who is listening where, I have to give a shout-out to the top 4 countries who tune into the podcast: The United States (where I live) Australia (where I have many friends), Canada (where I grew up) and the UK (where I was born).  We are proud to be showing up in the TOP 100 charts on iTunes all over the world in the Education (how-to) Category[vi] currently #55 in the US and #34 in Great Britain[vii] among other countries. Thank you for listening. 

Stay tuned for episode #110 with Dr. Caroline Leaf on her new book, Cleaning Up the Mental Mess (coming on Monday March 1st) the day before the release of her new book on Amazon, and I hope you find Brain Fact Fridays useful. See you next week!

RESOURCES:

10 Best Social and Emotional Learning Podcasts to Follow in 2021 https://blog.feedspot.com/social_emotional_learning_podcasts/   

10 Trending SEL Podcasts for District Leaders and Educators https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/10-trending-sel-podcasts 

REFERENCES:

[i] Price Pritchett, Ph. D “You Squared” (Feb. 2012)  https://www.amazon.com/You-Velocity-Multiplying-Personal-Effectiveness/dp/0944002048/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18FQLA0V3NW9Y&dchild=1&keywords=you+squared+price+pritchett&qid=1614386412&sprefix=you+squared%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-2

[ii] Lewis Howes School of Greatness Podcast https://lewishowes.com/sogpodcast/

[iii] Lewis Howes on Building his Podcast School of Greatness https://observer.com/2017/10/how-lewis-howes-got-to-40m-podcast-downloads-bestseller-list-ellens-couch-robert-greene/amp/

[iv] High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard Published Sept.19, 2017  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072N6MQ5V/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

[v] Neuroscience Meet Social and Emotional Learning EPISODE #66 with the Legendary Bob Proctor https://www.achieveit360.com/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on-social-and-emotional-learning-where-it-all-started/

[vi] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast #55 on iTunes (Education Category-How-To) in the US https://chartable.com/charts/itunes/us-how-to-podcasts

[vii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast #34 in Great Britain https://chartable.com/charts/itunes/gb-how-to-podcasts