Are you shy? Do you lack self-confidence, motivation, and a belief in yourself?

If so, I feel your pain. I was a seriously shy kid who was afraid of basically everything, but especially other people. But through persistent effort and little acts of courage, I have significantly overcome the shyness of my youth and even unleashed a fair bit of charisma. If I can go from a painfully shy kid to a podcast host, you certainly can become more self-confident and create more of the life you desire.

Listen in as I, Duff McDuffee, talk with John Wesley, founder of popular personal development blog PickTheBrain.com and another formerly shy guy, about getting started with personal development.

In this conversation, you will learn…

• What book John Wesley recommends for getting started in developing yourself.
• The key reframe for getting over shyness and social anxiety.
• How little acts of courage add up to build a solid belief in yourself and your abilities.
• How to save two birds with one bird sanctuary through the use of “multiple positives.”
• Why the 9-5 office worker may become a thing of the past, and how this benefits your career goals.
• Why you need a compelling vision for your future if you are lacking self-confidence and motivation.

Listen to the end for a tip from the very insightful Charles Gilkey of ProductiveFlourishing.com.

If you like this episode, please share the love by Digging it, giving it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, or bookmark it on del.icio.us. Thanks!

Also, subscribe free to get updates automatically by email, iTunes, or RSS (what is RSS?).

Stuff we talked about:

- PickTheBrain.com, the classy self-development blog founded by this week’s guest
- Steve Pavlina’s blog, the blog that launched a thousand blogs
- The Magic of Thinking Big, an excellent book for newbies to self-development, a classic
- Overcoming shyness article, a popular post from PickTheBrain
- Multiple positives article, a great concept and solid post
- The 9-5 office worker as a thing of the past? I think so too, in fact it already is for me!
- The Four Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris’ controversial book, filled with strange ideas that might forever turn you into an anti-9to5′er
- WordPress, the wonderful free and open-source blog software that this blog and many others are powered by

John Wesley

Duff McDuffee

Are you confusing upgrading your computer with upgrading your life?

Maybe not, but are you really asking the tough questions of life, or are you finding yourself installing another FireFox plugin, hoping it will somehow ease that sense of angst and anxiety you are feeling about your life? Isn’t it time you sunk a little deeper and got real with yourself?

This week I (Duff) talk with Clay Collins, writer at TheGrowingLife.com, about truly hacking your life by asking the tough questions and living creatively.

This is part 2 of 2. Check out part 1 here.

In this second part of the conversation, we talk about…

• Why computer hacks probably shouldn’t be considered “life” hacks…and what should.
• Why “if there’s a path, it’s not your path,” and how to find yours!
• How no Firefox add-on is going to help you ask the tough questions of what life’s about.
• Why there’s no “there” there in doing things that are “going to lead to somewhere.”
• Why you should never affirm “everything I touch turns to gold” or risk ending up like King Midas!
• The many forms of lifestyle design, and why only a custom design will do.
• Why if you are truly lifehacking, you might appear flaky for a while, but eventually you will work out the bugs.

Listen in to the end for a tip from Charles Gilkey of productiveflourishing.com, a professor of Philosophy and a smart, insightful guy with whom I had the pleasure of chatting recently. I recommend you check out his blog.

If you like this episode, please share the love by Digging it, giving it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, or bookmark it on del.icio.us. Thanks!

Stuff we talked about:

- The Growing Life, Clay’s kickass blog
- The Life Hack Misnomer, an article on Clay’s blog that goes more in depth into the “lifehack” language, and where it goes wrong
- Philosopher’s Notes, Brian Johnson’s cool personal development book summary service (PDF’s and MP3 audio). Tell Brian that Duff sent you.
- The Cult of Abundance, Goal Autoimmune Disorder, & Abundance 2.0, a killer blog post from Clay, complete with videos from YouTube.
- Vagabonding, a book and a lifestyle for living and traveling on the cheap.
- The Future of Success, an audiobook I recently listened to. Robert Reich is a freakin’ genius. I need to read more Economics.

Clay Collins

Duff McDuffee

Are you truly thinking for yourself, about what makes you come alive, or are you blindly following the advice of personal development experts?

Listen in as host Duff McDuffee talks with with Clay Collins, blogger at TheGrowingLife.com, about how to truly find your own way in life.

Listen in to the end for a tip to live your life from the inside-out from Charles Gilkey of productiveflourishing.com, a wonderfully philosophical blog on productivity and personal development I recommend you check out.

In this first part of the conversation, you will learn…

• Why becoming an early riser might be bad for your health and your success!
• How sleep deprivation could be harming your cognitive performance without you knowing it.
• Why R-directed creative thinking might become more important than L-directed linear thinking in the near future.
• Why you shouldn’t ask what you can do for the world, but instead what makes you come alive.
• What you should do if you’re feeling out of control, bored, and stuck (hint: it’s not get organized!).
• What’s lacking about most talk on the web about productivity.
• Why you may want to think about your values in words other than “productivity.”

If you like this episode, please share the love by Digging it, giving it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, or bookmark it on del.icio.us. Thanks!

This is part 1 of 2. Subscribe free to get next week’s update delivered by email, iTunes, or RSS.

Resources:

- The Disruptive Thinker Transport
- The Growing Life
- Why getting up early might be harmful
- A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
- Five Ways Productivity Can Turn You Into a Real Nutjob

Clay Collins

Duff McDuffee

What are you here to do? If you don’t know, it might be because you’re weighed down by details of life and work.

Listen in as host Duff McDuffee and Executive Producer Ryan Oelke talk with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, about mastering the mundane to allow your spirit to soar.

In this final part of the conversation, you will learn…

• Why “if you go to the beach to get a tan and you don’t get a tan, you’re unproductive.”
• What the advantages of working from the bottom-up are instead of starting with visioning and working down.
• Why if you are here on the planet to do something, and you aren’t doing it, you are going to feel strange.
• Some highlights from David’s next book, due in December of 2008, on the deeper principles behind the principles of GTD.
• How to accept current reality, so it doesn’t own you.
• What about GTD changes and what stays the same when applied in a group or relationship.

Also, David answers a question from Dustin Wax of Lifehack.org about what David still has to learn.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, or bookmark it on del.icio.us. Thanks!

This is part 3 of 3. Listen to part 1 and part 2 from the previous two weeks for more great conversation with David Allen.

Resources:

- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
- Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life
- Making it All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life
- David Allen Company

David Allen

Duff McDuffee

Ryan Oelke

When you are working, does time disappear? It may be hard to imagine. But it is possible to get everything off your mind so that you can be more here, right now. GTD provides a systematic practice for doing just that.

On this episode, host Duff McDuffee and Executive Producer Ryan Oelke talk with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity about handling mechanical things mechanically, so that you can free your focus for creative work.

In this conversation, you will learn…

• What to ask yourself if your someday/maybe list gets out of control.
• Why your lists are totally your responsibility and totally in your control.
• The importance of flexibility and appropriate fit in your application of GTD.
• How potential meaning overload (and not “information overload”) is the cause of a great deal of stress.
• What Bit Literacy and the digital age mean for Getting Things Done.
• Why David Allen wirelessly emails his wife when sitting right next to her.
• What we are really seeking from “simplicity” and how to achieve it.

Also in this interview, David answers questions from Mark Hurst (author of Bit Literacy) and Leo Babauta (blogger at ZenHabits.net).

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, or bookmark it on del.icio.us. Thanks!

This is part 2 of 3. Listen to next week’s episode for part 3, and last week’s for part 1.

Resources:

- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
- Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life
- Making it All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life
- David Allen Company

David Allen

Duff McDuffee

Ryan Oelke

Are you busy? Of course you are! But are you calm and focused while doing things? Do you even think this is possible?

On this episode, host Duff McDuffee and Executive Producer Ryan Oelke talk with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity about learning the martial art of knowledge work.

We ask David some questions that many people have about the GTD methodology, including covering common problems people have with implementing it. If you are familiar with the basics of GTD, you may find this interview especially helpful in answering some of your burning questions.

In this conversation, you will learn…

• Why you can only feel good about what you’re not doing when you know what it is.
• Why simply listing every commitment you have will help you if you tend to overcommit to things.
• How to get started, or get back on the GTD wagon if you’ve fallen off.
• Why it’s so important to build the extended mind, outside of your head.
• Why priority lists are fine, as long as you are willing to rewrite them every 5 minutes!
• Why David does his weekly review sometimes 1 or 2 times every day.
• What kinds of mental flexibility are required for mastering the martial art of work and life.
• Whether starting with GTD by doing it all at once or gradually is better for you.
• Why the biggest challenge of GTD is getting over the good feelings that come from doing it.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, or bookmark it on del.icio.us. Thanks!

This is part 1 of 3. After you’re done with this one, listen to part 2, and part 3.

And thanks to Clay Collins of The Growing Life: Alternative Productivity, Anti-Hacks for Living for the PowerUp tip of the week.

Resources:

- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
- Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life
- Making it All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life
- David Allen Company

David Allen

Duff McDuffee

Ryan Oelke

Do you think you are “doing just fine” with your clutter? You might not be considering what it really costs you in terms of the energy it is sapping from what you really want to be doing.

This week we continue our talk with Erin Doland of Unclutterer.com and RealSimple.com about the costs and benefits of clearing the clutter.

In this conversation, you will learn…

• Which books to definitely get rid of first, and which to hold on to.
• Two sexy ebook readers worth considering.
• Why you might find it important to not have a job that makes you want to poke your eye out with a hot metal pipe.
• How being aware of the cost of clutter and procrastination can help you to live the life you desire.
• How uncluttering and mindfulness of the Earth’s limited resources are interconnected.
• What uncluttering is all about—living the life you want, doing more of what is most important to you.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, or bookmark it on del.icio.us. Thanks!

Listen to last week’s episode for part 1.

Resources:

- Unclutterer.com
- Amazon Kindle
- Sony PRS-500 eBook reader

Erin Doland

Duff McDuffee

How do we get rid of clutter and live a simpler, organized, more conscious life?

This week we talk with Erin Doland of Unclutterer.com and RealSimple.com about cutting the crap to make room for more of what you love.

In this conversation, you will learn…

• How clutter doesn’t always start out as clutter.
• Why if you are in a constant state of disorganization now, you absolutely can change.
• What exactly to start on to begin uncluttering your life.
• Why getting a storage unit is almost always a bad idea.
• The machine that will finally give you a paperless office.
• A simple way to clear out kitchen clutter.
• Why uncluttering is really just about finding what makes you happy and what really matters to you.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, bookmark it on del.icio.us, and email it to someone who might benefit. Thanks for spreading the word about Precision Change!

Listen in next week for part 2.

Resources:

- Unclutterer.com
- Fujitsu ScanSnap on Unclutterer
- Freedom Filer on Unclutterer

Erin Doland

Duff McDuffee

Chances are you haven’t had a single course in the most important subject in your life: love. Why not make it a study and realize the power of opening up?

In part 2 of this discussion with Brian Johnson of PhilosophersNotes.com (summaries of personal development books “for the busy self-actualizer”) Duff and Brian chat about some of the surprising findings of the relationship gurus:

• The 5:1 ratio, and why it is critical to having a successful relationship.
• How the vocabulary of selfishness is correlated to increased heart attacks!
• How your actions in difficult conversations determine what you are really committed to.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, bookmark it on del.icio.us, and/or email it to someone who might benefit. Thanks for spreading the word about Precision Change!

Resources:

- Philosopher’s Notes
- Think Arete
- Love by Leo Buscaglia
- Gay and Katie Hendricks

Brian Johnson

Duff McDuffee

Are you dreaming big enough? And are you backing up your dreams with consistent, daily action?

How do we cut through our limiting beliefs to free our vision while also recognizing and accepting our real limitations?

On this episode, Duff talks with Brian Johnson of PhilosophersNotes.com, a service that provides useful summaries of personal development books “for the busy self-actualizer.”

In this high-energy conversation with two personal development geeks, you will learn…

• How to integrate the magical and the mundane in your hero’s journey.
• Why if there’s a clear path for your life, it’s not your path!
• Why “feeling the fear and doing it anyway” is all important for developing the fearlessness of a spiritual warrior.
• Why it’s important to “love the plateau” in your self-development.
• How to have a truly successful life, one day at a time, by cultivating this simple (but not easy!) daily habit.
• Why you should never check email first thing in the morning if you want to have a great day.
• Why doubts and fears never completely go away if you are living at your edge…no matter how many personal development books or blogs you’ve read.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, bookmark it on del.icio.us, and email it to someone who might benefit. Thanks for spreading the word about Precision Change!

Listen in next week for part 2 of this dialogue with Brian Johnson.

Resources:

- Gaia Community
- Think Arete
- Philosophers Notes
- Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
- Mastery
- Getting Things Done
- The Science of Getting Rich
- The Secret
- Dan Millman’s blog
- Joseph Cambell’s “The Power of Myth”
- The Man Who Tapped the Secrets of the Universe
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (audio)
- The 4-Hour Workweek

Brian Johnson

Duff McDuffee

Are you a personal finance n00b?

Never fear. There are some simple steps you can take towards getting out of debt that worked for J.D. Roth, personal finance blogger at Get Rich Slowly, and that will work for you too.

On this episode you will learn…

• Why tracking every penny you spend is a fundamental habit for money mastery
• How to get yourself to save $1000 in an emergency fund
• How to cut monthly expenses while having more fun
• Where to cut back your expenses in a way that will work for you
• How J.D. gambled his IRA on a stock and lost, and what you can learn from his mistake
• A simple strategy for long-term investing

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, bookmark it on del.icio.us, and email it to someone who might benefit. Thanks for spreading the word!

Resources:

- Get Rich Slowly

J.D. Roth

Duff McDuffee

Do you feel like you are never going to pay off all your debts? Are your finances a constant source of stress in your life?

Learn more about how to pay off your debts and have more control in your life as J.D. Roth, personal finance blogger at Get Rich Slowly, tells us about:

• How to get rich slowly by spending less and earning more.
• How to increase your net worth.
• How to pay off your debts with the “debt snowball method.”
• How striving for perfection can be dangerous.
• How debt repayment is about psychology and not math.
• How mastering other parts of your life can parallel mastering your personal finances.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, bookmark it on del.icio.us, and email it to someone who might benefit. Thanks for spreading the word!

Resources:

- Get Rich Slowly

J.D. Roth

Duff McDuffee

Are you overwhelmed by information? Do you have 1000’s of emails sitting in your inbox right now, many unread, all nagging at you to do something about them? Have you declared email bankruptcy, hoping that “if it’s important, they’ll write back?”

You are just minutes away from a permanent and responsible solution…and it has nothing to do with getting a Blackberry or the latest upgrade of Microsoft Outlook.

According to Mark Hurst, author of Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload, the digital age has created both new opportunities and new problems with these things he calls “bits.”

In this interview, listen to Mark teach you…

• How to “let the bits go” in a world of infinite bits, and why this is vitally important to your productivity.
• How the inbox was not designed to be a filing system and an address book and a to-do list and a calendar.
• How to get your email inbox and to-do list to zero—today and every day—even with exponentially increasing incoming messages.
• How to procrastinate more effectively by deferring things into the future as far as possible.
• Why you need a simple to-do list, and how to get it to 0 so you experience the feeling of being done.
• How mastering bits gives you time to actually do your work, and enjoy your life more when you’re not working.
• Why you may have failed with David Allen’s complex Getting Things Done method, and what to do instead.
• The power of bit levers, and why you are typing far more than you need to if you aren’t using one.

Take responsibility for your relationship to the digital world by listening to this interview now. After you do, go achieve inbox emptiness and then come back and comment about it below! We’d love to hear how it works for you.

If you like this episode, please Digg it, give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon, bookmark it on del.icio.us, and email it to someone who might benefit. Thanks for spreading the word!

Additional Resources:

- Mark’s online to-do program GooToDo
- Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
- Getting Things Done
- ActiveWords (bit lever for Windows)
- TypeIt4Me (bit lever for Mac)
- TextExpander (bit lever for Mac)
- Mark Hurst’s Customer and User Experience company Good Experience
- The Interview with Gina Trapani

Mark Hurst

Duff McDuffee

This is the pilot episode of Precision Change, a weekly podcast about technologies of transformation—from personal productivity to personal power, lifehacks to life mastery, GTD to NLP, and other acronyms you’ve never heard of.

Next week will be the first real episode, so subscribe now so you won’t miss anything.

Why “precision change”? Well, a lot of self-help books and audio are pretty cheesy. We’re wanting to give you the strategies and information that work, now with 1000% less hype!

On this show we’ll be talking with prominent personal development authors, speakers, and bloggers about how to thrive in the digital age, live your life with purpose, improve the quality of your relationships, get and stay healthy, optimize your personal finances, and other ways to obsess about your personal development.

Every week we’ll bring you with free tips and tricks for inspiring your personal development in playful, courageous, and integrated ways…with a geeky edge, because frankly, we’re geeks, and the geeks shall inherit the earth, right? I mean, look at Bill Gates.

Subscribe to our iTunes feed for this show on the left side of this page to get the latest episodes automatically.

Give us your feedback by adding your comments to the episode pages by clicking on the title of the show. We’d love to hear from you!

Enjoy the show!

Duff McDuffee