The Growth Guide: Self-Improvement | Greatness | Impact | Creators | FI |

Steve Adcock quit his job after achieving financial independence at 35 and writes about the habits millionaires use to build wealth and get into the best shape of their lives. As a regular contributor to The Ladders, CBS MarketWatch, and CNBC, Steve maintains a rare and exclusive voice as a career expert, consistently offering actionable counseling to thousands of readers who want to level up their lives, careers, and freedom. Steve lives in a 100% off-grid solar home in the middle of the Arizona desert and writes on his own website at MillionaireHabits.us.

Steve joined us today to talk about his book, ‘Millionaire Habits: How to Achieve Financial Independence, Retire Early, and Make a Difference by Focusing on Yourself First.’

In this episode, Steve provides insights that will empower you to negotiate for fair compensation, strategically plan for retirement, and advance your career through smart decision-making and effective communication.

Steve dives into the importance of self-advocacy, leadership growth, financial independence retire early (FIRE) strategies, and the role of emotional intelligence in career advancement. Get ready to learn key financial and career tactics that will propel you towards your own path to success.

[06.06] Getting rich – Getting rich is not about hopes and dreams, it’s about the step-by-step journey you are willing to take.

[11.52] Freedom – We talk about the importance of the freedom to make money.

[15.01] Wealth-building timeline – Steve explains the six steps of a wealth-building timeline.

[24.13] Entrepreneurship – Entrepreneurship or not, you are always working for somebody.

[28.50] Saying yes to things – Steve explains why it is important to say ‘yes’early in your career.

[34.50] Asking for money – Don’t be afraid to demand money. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you are worth.

[38.41] Growing income list – Steve explains how we can grow our income list.

[47.27] Pay yourself first – The beauty of paying yourself first.

[56.22] Believing – We talk about the power of believing in your goal.

Resources

Connect with Steve

Website - https://millionairehabits.us

Twitter - twitter.com/SteveOnSpeed

Instagram - instagram.com/millionairehbts/

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/steveallenadcock/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjLY9e6l8AIQ9iXjUz9xUTg

Millionaire Habits: How to Achieve Financial Independence, Retire Early, and Make a Difference by Focusing on Yourself First

by Steve Adcock

Most of us believe that leadership is not for everyone. Also, very often, we doubt our ability to lead. My guest today challenges these perceptions about leadership through his most recent book. He demonstrates how to harness this doubt, uncertainty, and insecurity to develop into the extraordinary leader you were born to be. He has decades of experience leading organizations and teams. He is the CEO of Concord Leadership Group. His failures and successes compelled him to study leadership for over three decades, culminating in completing a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership and certification as a Franklin Covey Coach. Marc Pitman, a CEO, author, personal & organization leadership expert, coach certification provider, leadership keynote speaker, joins with today's episode of pursuit of learning to share his million worth wisdom and experience on leadership.

Starting the conversation, he highlights the significance of focusing on our strengths rather than on what we lack. Also, he describes how his frustration with people not knowing about executive coaching ended up with his recent book - The Surprising Gift of Doubt: Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You Are Meant to Be. Besides his recent publication, he is also the author of Ask Without Fear!, which you can find in several languages, including Dutch, Polish, Spanish, and Mandarin.

Marc assists leaders in leading their teams more effectively and with less stress by combining his ongoing education with his own experience. He is also the executive director of TheNonprofitAcademy.com and a former member of Rogare's Advisory Panel; a prestigious international think tank focused on fundraising. We discuss our own experiences with the evolution of leadership and the various forms of leadership during the chat. Throughout the interview, he brings up various topics from his works. Most importantly, he discusses the issue of using predefined templates in coaching rather than developing individualized ways to solve problems. Apart from that, Marc divides leadership into four quadrants and provides an in-depth explanation of each component in a mind-blowing manner.

In the latter part of the conversation, we talk about numerous personal assessments, their validity, and the takeaways. Marc's knowledge and enthusiasm captivate audiences worldwide, both in person and through online presentations. As a result, he has garnered attention from various media outlets, including The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Real Simple, SUCCESS Magazine, NBC, Al Jazeera, and Fox News.

Resources:

Connect with Marc: ConcordLeadershipGroup.com/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marcapitman/

Instagram: @marcpitman

Twitter: @marcapitman

Mentioned in the episode:

The Surprising Gift of Doubt: Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You Are Meant to Be: goodreads.com/book/show/56953397-the-surprising-gift-of-doubt?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Qv57DpA0Cl&rank=1

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America: goodreads.com/book/show/32191706-the-color-of-law?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=J19bcVl6st&rank=1

Podcast: By the book: bythebookpod.com/

Podcast: From founder to CEO: fromfoundertoceo.com/podcasts/

A loved one being diagnosed with a severe illness is one of the most horrendous experiences we may have to face. And eventually, losing someone you care about is even more devastating. These sorts of experiences turn our whole world upside down, and they sometimes decide heavily influence where we’re headed in our life. Our guest today is someone who has endured the devastating effects of a loved one going through a terminal illness and the grief of losing him. Rachel Engstrom, Certified Health Education Specialist and the author of the book “Wife, Widow, Now What?” joins us today to share her experiences that inspired her book.

We start the conversation with the story of how Rachel met Grayson in the year 2000 when she was 19. Three years later, Rached proposed to him, and soon after, they got married and were on the way to building their new life together. It wasn’t long before Rachel and Grayson saw signs of trouble. We talk about the acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosis of Grayson and how the emotions that come with the news influenced Rachel and Grayson’s lives.

According to Rachel, one of the first challenges they faced was dealing with a plethora of new information, acronyms, and unfamiliar medical concepts related to Grayson’s condition. She shares with us some of the methods she used to try to understand and be educated about Grayson’s condition. While Grayson was under treatment, Rachel had to figure out lots of things in her life, including taking care of Grayson, maintaining finances, keeping her job, and taking care of herself. We dive deep into how she managed all these overwhelming tasks and some useful tips for caregivers.

After a long battle against the illness, eventually, Rachel had to say goodbye to Grayson. She talks about what that fateful day felt like, how her life, her relationships with her peers, her life trajectory, and how she looks at the world changed after Grayson was gone. Wrapping up the episode, we talk about the current chapter of Rachel’s life and the work she does to help other people who are fighting cancer.

One of the concepts Rachel focuses on in her book is widow logistics. We dive deep into this concept of managing the logistical aspect of a loved one passing away and figuring out life after the demise of a loved one.

Resources:

Rachel’s Book:
amazon.com/gp/product/B08K6477RL/

Connect with Rachel:
linkedin.com/in/rachel-engstrom-4579988a

Mentioned in the episode:

https://www.caringbridge.org/

Financial literacy is one of the life skills many of us have a hard time developing and don’t pay attention to. When it comes to moms, managing money can easily become a headache as they already have a lot on their plates. And with all the tech quirks of modern society, such as influence social media, it can be even harder to make savvy financial decisions. That’s why we decided to have a deep conversation with someone who specializes in helping moms develop their money management skills. Catherine Alford, the author of ‘Mom’s Got Money: A Millennial Mom’s Guide to Managing Money Like a Boss,’ joins us on the podcast today to share her wisdom with our listeners.

I am super motivated by all of the moms who I haven’t reached yet who I haven’t helped yet, says Catherine. We start the conversation by talking about what motivates her and the experiences that inspired her and led her to write her book. Catherine mentions that she had to face 28 rejections over a period of four and a half years before finally getting her book published. We talk about how she was able to stay strong and push through all these obstacles until she reached her goal and advice she has for people who are facing rejections while pursuing their goals.

Getting into the core concepts Catherine covers in her book, we talk about the mindset we generally have towards money, how emotional labor affects our lives, and how to develop a growth mindset. We also dive into some of the money management concepts, including net worth, goal setting for families, family budget meetings, eliminating high-interest debt, cash flow management, and developing a wealth mindset. Wrapping up the episode, Catherine shares a story of how maintaining an emergency fund helper her with an unexpected disaster and some tips and tricks for deciding how much you should allocate for an emergency fund.

Connect with Catherine

Website: catherinealford.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catherine-alford-8b983049/

Mentioned in the Episode

The Prosperous Coach: Increase Income and Impact for You and Your Clients
by Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler :
amazon.com/Prosperous-Coach-Increase-Income-Clients-ebook/dp/B00CLLACTA

Existential Kink: Unmask Your Shadow and Embrace Your Power by Carolyn Elliott:
amazon.com/Existential-Kink-Unmask-Embrace-getting-ebook/dp/B07XMG4BWN

Writing is a skill, and like any other skill, we get better at that when we practice it more. As writers, we should think about what we say. First, however, it is mandatory to think about how we say it. Likewise, we may not have a clear idea of how to be a writer, although many of us want it at some point in our lives. That is why we decided to have a deep conversation with someone who specializes in writing. Paulette Perhach, the author of "Welcome to the Writer's Life: How to Design Your Writing Craft, Writing Business, Writing Practice, and Reading Practice," joins us on the podcast today to share her wisdom with our listeners.

Other than being an excellent writer, Paulette Perhach is a writing coach and entrepreneur. She has worked for publications such as Health and Coastal Living, and by now, she has her work in even in New York Times. In 2013 a nationally recognized writing center in Seattle, Hugo house, awarded her the Made at Hugo House fellowship. She also won the title as one of BlogHer's Voices of the Year in 2016 for her work.

Staring the conversation by talking about the factors that motivate Paulette these days, she continues expressing her views about the role of money in life. During the conversation, she shares her experience of becoming a writer from scratch with a proper balance between earning and passion. Of course, we need to make money to live. But, on the other hand, we need to give our souls time to heal. Highlighting those points, she explains the necessity of balancing our earnings with our passion.

A successful writer is not just born. It is a process of hard work and persistence. Most importantly, it is not smooth and easy to continue. Paulette dives deeply into these facts. She shares tips and tricks to awake the writers within ourselves. We talk about the habits and rituals we can embed in our life to become successful writers. Writing is not easy as it sounds. Creating characters that people love and maintaining proper dialogues between them needs much work. Paulette dives deeply into the way to do it while sharing her experiences as examples.

In the latter part of the conversation, we talk about sources for writing and the ways to benefit from them. Finally, wrapping up the episode, we discuss the importance of social media profiles to a writer and the tips and tricks to have a better social media presence.

Resources

Connect with Paulette:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pauletteperhach/

Instagram: instagram.com/paulettejperhach/

Facebook: facebook.com/pauletteisawriter

Mentioned in the episode:

A Very Important Meeting: averyimportantmeeting.com/

Welcome to the Writer's Life: How to Design Your Writing Craft, Writing Business, Writing Practice, and Reading Practice: goodreads.com/book/show/39711925-welcome-to-the-writer-s-life

From Monk to Money Manager: A Former Monk's Financial Guide to Becoming a Little Bit Wealthy---and Why That's Okay: goodreads.com/book/show/44597551-from-monk-to-money-manager?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=rpFTE119Vr&rank=1

Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence: goodreads.com/book/show/13126099-wired-for-story?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=SRxY5T1cXk&rank=