On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how I’ve learned more about the Seven Decisions since writing The Traveler ’ s Gift. I am kind of shocked that, at some point, most of the stuff I talked about in the Seven Decisions seminars were things I learned after writing The Traveler ’ s Gift . At first I thought of the concept of the principles like a rock, but now I think of it more like an onion. You can know how to use a principle, and change the world with it! But there are othe...
May 30, 2015•17 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to influence your level of belief. I think everyone struggles with belief in themselves at one point or another; a strong belief is something you must constantly maintain. Having a great level of belief is so powerful. When you are working with belief, you will become so much more effective in whatever you are working on or struggling with. You have to remember that every choice you’ll ever make is totally determined by what you think a...
May 23, 2015•23 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on determining your kid count, and why you shouldn’t let fear be the deciding factor. Some people grow up and they’re dying to have kids. Polly and I were not like that, and we got married kind of late. Several years went by where one of us would say, “Are we going to have kids?” and the other would say, “Yeah…sometime.” Polly finally said, “If we’re going to have kids, we need to have them now.” Austin was born when I was 40, and only then di...
May 16, 2015•20 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on the boats I’ve had to burn in my life. When I read about something that happened in history, I try to figure out how it applies to us today. I always loved the story of Cortez “burning the boats” because it’s relevant to almost everybody’s life. To inspire his men to conquer Mexico, Cortez ordered his boats to be burned so they had no choice but to fight and win. Everyone has either done it or will need to do it at some point. Sometimes we ...
May 09, 2015•25 min
On this week's episode, we have Austin back in the studio with us to talk about his business, Sporty Citrus. This business has taken off in a way that I don’t think we could have imagined a few years ago. It’s amazing what Austin is able to grow in pots—he grows grapefruit, satsumas, oranges, Meyer lemons, and a lot more. If Austin is running behind or has a really big job, I’ll help with the trimming or will drive him around. Apparently I don’t get paid very often, and I haven’t been able to ge...
May 02, 2015•25 min
Several weeks ago, we mentioned SportyCitrus.com and the response was overwhelming. We brought Andy’s son, Austin, into the studio today to answer questions about how he started his company and what he is working toward for its future. Here are some excerpts... How did this business start? Sporty Citrus began after a hurricane blew away our house and all our trees when I was young. We wanted to replant trees that actually did something useful, so we planted a couple citrus trees. I really liked ...
Apr 25, 2015•24 min
On this week’s episode, I talk about how parents can train their kids to tell good stories in a conversational setting. The most important thing when telling a story is to be interesting . Don’t be boring! Make sure that you speak correctly. The way someone talks can get in the way of a listener’s mental process when having a conversation. Around our house, people get points for being clever or witty. We read witty things, and when somebody discovers something clever, we share it with one anothe...
Apr 18, 2015•22 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question asking if the teen years are too late to get kids to start reading. I am dealing with this every day with adults. I was 23 when Jones found me under the pier and gave me biographies. Nobody ever told me, “Let me tell you why you want to read this.” We’ve all heard that experience is the best teacher, but I think somebody else’s experience is the best teacher. This is why reading biographies is so important. While living under the pier, I went ...
Apr 11, 2015•20 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to get your kids to take your advice. Kids tend to listen to somebody else before they listen to their parents. There are tons of adults who have quit learning and thinking years ago. If you want your kids to listen, you better make sure you are a person worth listening to. If we want kids to be open to our advice and seek wise counsel, we must be wise counsel. Wise counsel includes the timing of when you say things and how you say them...
Apr 04, 2015•28 min
On this week’s episode, I talk about the business that my son, Austin, started based on lessons he learned in the garden. I often ask people what they would do with their lives if money were no object, and then what value that activity has for other people. These are the kinds of things that Austin, my oldest son, has heard me talk about at the house over the years. Around 10 years ago a hurricane wiped out all the trees at our house. Austin was just a little boy then, but when we were figuring ...
Mar 28, 2015•36 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question about balancing the items in your life and how to know when you’ve taken on too much. Before we get into this week’s episode I wanted to say a few things about my new children’s’ book Henry Hodges Needs a Friend. I’m excited about this book because it’s my first rhyming book. The artist Colleen Madden did such a fantastic job the illustrations. I’m also excited because I finally got dedicate a book to a lady who has been so important to our fa...
Mar 21, 2015•31 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to handle the pressure of people watching and looking up to you. People watching you and looking up to you are two different things. When it comes to people looking up to me, I don’t think about that at all. While I know it’s probably true, everybody has people who are looking up to them. I think the people that become hyperaware that people are looking up to them somehow become people we don’t want to look up to. I talk to a lot of lea...
Mar 14, 2015•26 min
On this week’s episode, we sit down again with Jerry Jenkins to talk about and the surprising backstory behind New York Times Bestseller , The Matheny Manifesto. Baseball is my favorite sport probably because I wanted to be a baseball player. One of my earliest breaks in writing was when my boss came into my office and said, “Would you want to help write a biography with Hank Aaron? I don’t really know that much about football...” People hear that I’ve written for Nolan Ryan, Walter Payton, Joe...
Mar 07, 2015•21 min
On this week’s episode, we’re honored to have special guest Jerry Jenkins with us to share his proven writing process. Give us a snapshot of your journey that got you into writing. I played on a state championship little league team. I was hurt my freshman year in high school playing football and decided to be a sports writer so I could stay close to the games. We’re a bad example to great writers because we can’t identify the different parts of a sentence but composition was something that came...
Feb 28, 2015•27 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to get your kids to read. It’s extremely important that you get your child to read. I understand when people say they don’t like to read. I’m more of an outdoor kind of guy so I have to make myself read. When we look at the massive benefits of reading, then it doesn’t really matter whether you like to read or not. The statistics about reading show that people who read make more money, have a lower divorce rate, have fewer problems with ...
Feb 21, 2015•18 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how teens’ social media accounts affect their life and their employability. You’ve heard me talk about how we’re misinformed about change. There are two things that have to be there with every single change. What’s in it for me? Proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It is critical that you understand how change occurs. The guidelines for social media are going to be different for different people. Knowing that, what we do want is the best for ev...
Feb 14, 2015•26 min
On this week’s episode, I talk about the myths that keep us living in fear, and how to stop anxiety from ruling our lives. The key to unlocking our confidence is examining our fear. If you could put people on a scale and see the level of fear in their lives, I am convinced smart people would be on the higher end of the scale. Smarter people have bigger imaginations, and possibly more opportunities for fear. If you know what fear is, you can determine the effect it has on your life. Fear is nothi...
Feb 07, 2015•20 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to teach a child to tell a good story in a conversational setting. The ability to tell a great story is extremely valuable in all phases of life. When we train ourselves to tell a good story, we become more engaging to our peers, to authority figures, and to people we are in authority over. Being well liked by people can lead to a great number of additional opportunities. So we not only need to train our children to tell great stories, ...
Jan 31, 2015•18 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a question on how to help a child when they’re having a tough time making friends. How can you help when they say, “No one wants to be my friend?” It’s a focusing process. Our thinking is at the foundation of everything. It determines our choices, and everything about us. When people are disgruntled or depressed, they’re thinking more about themselves. They aren’t thinking about whom they can serve and help. If you’re child is sad or scared about making friends o...
Jan 23, 2015•26 min
On this week’s episode, I address a listener question on the questions I ask when first going into a consulting situation. There are a couple things I’m looking for when deciding if I’ll take on a client. They have to be somebody that I like and connect with. They must have a great level of belief in their company or team. You have to ask the questions that will lead you to their level of belief. I rarely ask, “What are your goals?” because people will lie or tell you what they think you want to...
Jan 17, 2015•21 min
On this week’s episode, I discuss whether transparency helps or hurts your leadership potential. I’m in a period of learning a ton right now. When it comes to my boys, I want them to understand that I’m still struggling to be wise in my choices and thinking everyday. We’ve heard leaders promise to be transparent and we see varying degrees of their choice to pulling that off. If you declare your intention to be transparent and you’re obviously not, then that hurts your leadership. Other than that...
Jan 10, 2015•27 min
On this week’s episode, I discuss the little-known benefit of the hard times in our lives—and how my greatest struggles led me to my most important realizations. During the time I was living under the pier and reading biographies, I was graphing out in my mind what had worked to make these people turn out like they did. I was at a point in my life when I had a tough time with, “Is there more?” I thought, were these people born this way, or was it something they did? What did they do and how long...
Jan 03, 2015•19 min
In previous episodes, I’ve talked about how you can only achieve the level of success that you truly believe. This week, I’ll tell you how you can expand this level of belief. When you have an expanded level of belief in yourself, it allows you a different level of belief in others. Money is a very easy way to provide a gauge. I’ve found that if you can expand your level of belief in other areas, your money goes up—largely because you have become more valuable to other people. Sometimes people a...
Dec 27, 2014•17 min
On this week’s episode, I talk about passion, procrastination, and how they will shape your future. I believe passion is a lot like momentum. •When you have momentum, you perform better than normal. •You produce at a level far beyond what you normally would if we measured you. •When you lack momentum, you produce at a lower level than normal. •People don’t generally stay on a level playing field. They either have momentum or they don’t. I see people who have amazing abilities and opportunities b...
Dec 20, 2014•23 min
On this week’s episode, David Loy has several holiday related questions for Andy, Listen in to hear Andy’s answers to: What is your favorite Christmas carol? Who is the most unique family member from your childhood? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving and New Years food? What’s your favorite indoor and outdoor holiday activities? Do you own any tacky pieces of holiday clothing? What’s your favorite tradition from when you were a kid? What’s the topper on your tree? What is your favorite gift you’v...
Dec 13, 2014•27 min
In this episode, I talk about selfishness, and how it can keep you and everyone around you from growing. One of the top three most important things Jones ever told me was, “Most people live their entire lives and never understand that you can’t always believe everything you think.” I received a call a few months ago from a company that lost one of their executives to another company offering more money, and it was a big problem. The company let him go because they wouldn’t match the offer for a ...
Dec 06, 2014•22 min
On this week’s episode, I discuss when to eliminate negative people from your life. We hear that we need to eliminate negative people from our lives. Yet, if we know that we are consistently negative, we certainly hope everybody is not eliminating us. What if Jones eliminated negative people from his life? He would have certainly eliminated me. But Jones didn’t have to consider dropping me from his life. He had moved so far beyond where I was that I had no influence on him at all. His challenge ...
Nov 29, 2014•29 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on staying positive day in and day out. We’ve talked about this a lot but I really believe that our thinking is the foundation of everything that we become. It’s what we accomplish. It’s who we are. It’s the family we raise. It’s the society in which we live. Frankly, I’m not always positive. It’s something that I want to be, but I don’t want to be an idiot. I want to be positive because I’ve figured out the version of the truth that I want to...
Nov 22, 2014•21 min
On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on the difference between discipline and punishment. Before getting into that I have a quick story: A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to head out of town and Polly asked, “Have you seen Carver?” Now he’s a huge standard black poodle, and it’s unusual not to see him for a few hours. As I’m about to leave, Polly says that they found him. He was under the garage with Skippy, our outdoor cat. It turns out the cat was sick, and Carver been under...
Nov 15, 2014•29 min
On this week’s episode, I discuss money and the influence it should have on your parenting style. How does the amount of money you have (or don’t have) affect your parenting style? Obviously both can create issues and both have to do with the thinking of the parents. If you have more money, there are more places you can go or vacation, but that stuff isn’t necessary under the umbrella of “parenting.” Our goal is to raise kids who become great adults. I’ve seen situations where having a lot of mo...
Nov 08, 2014•25 min
