Posted on

441: The 4 Key Components to Taking Smart Notes

by

When it comes to effective note-taking—or what I like to call note-making—most of us have never been properly trained.

Jeff Brown

In today’s episode, I walk through the four key components you need to understand in order to turn your useless notes of the past into your smart notes of the future.

Simply put…

If you want to improve retention and comprehension of the content you consume for learning and growth…

If you want to be the go-to person for ideas and insights when everyone else gets stuck…

If you’d like to see the outputs that result from your content consumption efforts lead to new connections, well-deserved promotions, and opportunities that were previously out of reach…

…then your notes—your Personal Knowledge Management system—is the difference maker…the one thing that, all else being equal, will give you the edge…a crystal clear advantage.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about the keys to effective note-taking. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Continue Reading »
Posted on

440: A New Approach to Making Business Personal with Vincent Pugliese

by

Today’s guest first visited the show back in Episode #223. I also invited to speak at my online conference back in 2019 called the Boss-Free Virtual Summit.

vincent pugliese

His name is Vincent Pugliese and, over the years, he’s gone from professional sports photographer to staring his own business and, now, to sharing what he’s learned in the trenches with others.

Vincent’s new book is called The Wealth of Connection: A New Approach to Making Business Personal.

So if you feel like you did everything right—got the degree, the knowledge, experience, business plan, the optimized website. But then, why don’t more people want what you have to offer? Why don’t more people care about it?

In this refreshing look at business fundamentals, Vincent argues that before you set about gaining the knowledge and experience need to create something people want to buy, you must become the person that people want to know.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Vincent and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Continue Reading »
Posted on

439: How to Future-Proof Your Business with Jonathan Brill

by

My guest today says that, at this moment, rogue waves are forming under your business. Emerging technologies, changing demographics, the data economy, automation, and other trends―the undercurrents of radical, systemic change―are crashing into each other.

jonathan brill

When they converge, they’ll produce sea changes that sink companies and wash away entire industries overnight. If your competitor can’t ride out the next wave and you can, you win.

That guest I’m alluding to is Jonathan Brill, and he’s written a book called Rogue Waves: Future-Proof Your Business to Survive & Profit From Radical Change.

In it, he shows you how to prepare your business to survive and thrive through the most radical upheavals.

His book has been called a must-read survival guide that provides the predictive tools you need to take advantage of randomness, turn chaos into profit, and set your company on the course for long-term success.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Jonathan and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Continue Reading »
Posted on

438: How to Engage Your Employees and Drive Organizational Excellence with Patrick Veroneau

by

Some might say it’s a publisher’s dream. Others might suggest it’s a technique that is overused. When it comes to an author’s use of acronyms to help illustrate their methods, I am an absolute fan.

Patrick Veroneau

In the book featured on the podcast today, there are no fewer than four (maybe even five) acronyms used to describe the author’s ideas. And in my view, every single one is a winner.

Why? Because they help make the concepts stick. And if they stick, then it means we’re much more likely to put them into practice.

And isn’t that the point of reading a book in the first place?

My guest today is Patrick Veroneau, and he’s written a book called The Leadership Bridge: How to Engage Your Employees and Drive Organizational Excellence.

Patrick believes that leaders who align their leadership behaviors to satisfy the needs of their employees will build cultures that are both engaging and profitable.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Patrick and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Continue Reading »
Posted on

437: Got Years of Notes Scattered All Over the Place? Let’s Fix That!

by

When it comes to effective note-taking, the kind that leads to breakthroughs, to new ideas, being able to remember where you stored a specific thought, connecting new ideas to existing ideas and more, understanding your note-taking archetype, or style, is a key first step.

Jeff Brown

I first learned about note-taking archetypes from Anne-Laure Le Cunff over at NESS Labs.

In their simplest form, they are:

  • Architect
  • Gardener
  • Librarian
  • Student

An Architect likes structure, and the ability to—I would assert—majorly customize their note-taking environment. They may even want something they can build from the ground up. For them, the app Notion is a great choice.

Gardeners (like myself), enjoy allowing their notes to breathe a bit more, giving them the opportunity to go wherever they may; to take on a life of their own, perhaps. We Gardeners thrive on serendipity when it comes to our note-taking. Our app(s) of choice tend to be either Roam Research or Obsidian (my personal favorite).

Then there are the Librarians, arguably the largest consortium of note-takers. Librarians tend to thrive on order and hierarchies. They often relish the typical folder structures we see as a part of most digital organizational systems. Many in this group tend to prefer the popular Evernote app.

All of us play the role of Student on occasion, maybe because we are one, maybe out of necessity, we don’t favor a particular style, we just want easy, the info we’re capturing will only be used temporarily, etc. Depending on the computer ecosystem you’re in the most, you might leverage Apple Notes (iOS), Google Keep (Android), or an app like Drafts.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about note-taking styles and the best apps suited for each. I’d love to hear from you and learn about which note-taking style you most identify with.

Join in on our chat below

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Continue Reading »