Lately I’ve been asked alot how I got to interview so many great experts.
If you’ve never heard of me before, I’ve interviewed over 30 gurus and experts in all areas including, bestselling authors, movie stars, investors, business owners, speakers and more from all over the world. The beautiful thing is, when I first started nobody had ever heard of me. So, how did I manage to score so many high profile interviewees?
I’ll share some of my insights with you in this article.
First, start by practising with one of your friends. Watch Oprah. Watch Barbara Walters. Or any other well respected interviewer you like, and see how they seamlessly carry on a flowing conversation without really knowing much about the topic at all!
Once you’re confident you can start the following process
STEP 1: Shortlist some people you’d like to start interviewing. Start small to begin and work your way up. Trying to get Bill Gates for your first interview is not going to happen!
STEP 2: Create a private interview invitation page, where you have either shot a personal video or audio introducing yourself and what you do.
STEP 3: Sell them what THEY will get as part of the interview. I’ve never paid for my interviews but I give them a fully edited copy of the interview with master rights once it’s done. All they have to do is spend the time to record it, and they don’t have to worry about editing, rendering, mixing etc. It’s a pretty good deal!
STEP 4: When contacting them, cite something personal you’ve noticed about them, their site, their message. Blanket invitations will get you nowhere fast!
STEP 5: As you build up some momentum, use the combined pulling power of the people you’ve interviewed as credibility. When people see you’ve interviewed best selling authors, property tycoons, well known business leaders, they often feel honoured to be asked and can’t wait to be interviewed!
STEP 6: Do your homework! Research their message, their last few blog posts and some of their products. Write out every question you think would be valuable to ask then shortlist. The better prepared you are, the more content you’ll be able to get out of them!
STEP 7: Have Fun! Be yourself and be relaxed. My best interviews have come when I pretended I was having a ‘cup of coffee’ with that person. My worst ones came when I was too ’structured’ and stayed reading my questions.
Some other things you need to know
* To protect yourself, always make sure you record the agreement/permission to record (before or after the interview), or get written permission.
* You can use the phone and record onto your computer from there, but I prefer using skype (pamela for pc and call recorder for mac) and I also have a backup line - my mobile (if my internet cuts out) which I can record directly onto my mac (with wiretap studio).
* My microphone of choice is the rode podcaster mic. It gives studio quality sound and a although its not cheap, if you are serious about creating some quality products, it retails for around $250-$300.
I’ll be sharing more tips and strategies in the future on this topic, plus some of my best interviews. So check back often!
Last weekend I was at a party and got round to meeting some of the esteemed guests there.
I got speaking to a store owner who owned one of Brisbane’s boutique cake shops. After pleasantries were exchanged, she asked me some of the things I did, and I ended up telling her about some of the incredible interviews with wealthy people I’ve done lately. I told her I’ve done close to 30 interviews now, from people ranging in net worth from $1 - $50 million dollars.
She was very interested and realised the scale of wisdom I’ve been priviledged to encounter. What came next really got me thinking:
“West, tell me one thing that you would say is the major distinction you’ve observed that distinguishes these people from the rest.”
I thought to myself: “Great question!!”
My answer surprised even me. And although I don’t think it’s the all encompassing answer, it certainly is right up there in my reflections of the key traits.
I explained that in today’s markets, regardless of the industry, you’re going to get bombarded with information overload. Massively so. And its dead easy to get lost in it and never get started. It’s even easier to convince yourself that while you’re consuming more information, you’re doing yourself a favour.
But here’s where you’re dead wrong.
Many people I interviewed were very strategic with their learning. Why? Because most of the time, they were on the playing field, PLAYING. Their lessons came not from a book, audio or dvd seminar, but from putting their ego on the line and testing it out in a real world scenario.
They would be LASER focused on their target, and not chop and change. And for the most part, they didn’t ‘accumulate’ masses of materials.
Hearing this come from my own mouth was a bit of a kick up the ass for myself; I only have to look at my library, DVD collections and hard drives to see the reams and reams of stuff I have, that I know I’ll NEVER EVER consume, not in this or in the next 10 lifetimes.
One millionaire said he says NO to everything except ONE project for 3-6 month periods. Gets exceptional results then moves on. Another finds an expert or successful person in that field and does what they do, not READS about what they do (big distinction).
So, the next time you signup for a seminar, email list or purchase a program, have a hard think about whether it’s deadly accurately related to your journey, and if not - DITCH it. Start taking action instead of the time you’d use to ‘learn’!
I’ll be sharing more insights about my interviews so please check back regularly.
Recently, I attended Tony Robbins last UPW event in sydney.
I wanted to share with you all the amazing lessons and reflections learnt from the event. It was truly life-changing!
Enjoy!
I’m totally pumped as I’ve just experienced Tony Robbins live. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t see Tony as a ‘motivator’ - he has helped me improve all aspects of my life ever since I started to listening to him on audio a few years ago. It became a life goal of mine to go see him live, and when an opportunity came up I bit the dust and threw a few thousand $$ on the table for a front row seat.
The first day included the FIREWALK. But here’s the thing - it’s not really about the firewalk. The firewalk is irrelevant. It represents a metaphor - getting into such a peak state that any obstacle in front of you doesn’t exist. If you’ve ever played sport at a high level or done anything where you’ve been totally in the zone, this would compare to the state Tony helps put you in before the walk. As we stormed out clapping in unison, chanting ‘YES, YES’ the whole crowd bonded and there was an atmosphere that I’ll never forget. Most of us had been totally starved for the whole day by now (Tony hadn’t given any breaks for 8 hours straight) dehydrated, emotionally smashed and beat up and many still coming to terms
with potential ending up with severe burns on their feet…. but everyone was so revved up and the collective energy was a rare occurence that I might only have felt on the most memorable of New Years celebrations when the clock struck midnight. By my calculations by nights end over 99% of the 5000 had done the walk, many 2 or 3 times. I saw elderly women aged 70+ do it and I also saw 10 and 11 year olds choose to conquer their inner demons. It was a liberating experience. Hell, after walking on fire, making a few bucks online doesn’t seem so daunting anymore.
So I just wanted to summarise the major things I got out of the workshop over the next few days. If you’ve listened to any of Tony’s programs before, the content would not be new. I had, but hearing Tony live is truly something I believe every human being who even has a moderate interest in improving themselves must experience. I believe he is one of the rare human beings who has even come close to realising his potential and fulfilled his calling here on earth.
I won’t regurgitate the content of the seminar as such - get any of Tony’s products and you can get a taste for how powerful the information is if you apply it. But I would like to comment on a few other things of note:
- I went to the seminar to create some powerful anchors and neuro associations to help me snap into a peak state when I need to. The trouble was, when i was trying to do this at home, I would always be worried about making too much noise or looking like an idiot to not only others but myself. There’s something about an immersive experience that cuts all those ties and lets you play the game full out. i create 5 POWER anchors - unique movements or gestures that i’ve linked to certain emotions. Trying them out this week, it was quite
freaky. For example when i squeeze my right hand into a fist my breathing rate increases automatically and I get a rush of adrenaline that just shoots me into state.
- I also went to gain better control of my emotions, and experience a richer interpretation of certain positive emotions. It’s quite sad that most people (including myself) go through life - surpressing certain emotions or only feeling small doses of emotions. think about it - life lived to its fullest shouldn’t be toned down, should it? It didn’t disappoint. I laughed until I cried, I jumped up and down in pure joy, I cried and at one point I almost threw up I felt so sick (this was on purpose - Tony made us associate massive pain to limiting beliefs we had).
Try and imagine what 5000 people going through the same process feels like. Powerful stuff.
- Another massive aha moment was this. People work their entire lives dedicated to making money. They sacrifice family, leisure time and their health just to make money. Why do people want money? To buy things, for freedom, to give to other people. Why do people want these things? Because of the FEELING or EMOTION they’ll get after achieving it NOT FOR THE THING ITSELF. People don’t really want pieces of paper with deceased notables on it. They want the feeling they can get by trading those pieces of paper. Now get this -
those feelings you desire ALREADY EXIST inside of you. All you need to do - is transport yourself back to a time when you felt that and re-live the emotion all over again. How about going into the future and experiencing, VIVIDLY that you had already attained what you desire. Feel like you would feel, move like you’d love, breathe like you’d breath - make it vivid enough and you WILL experience the emotions….without spending another cent! How cool is that!
- Finally, on health day, Tony shed some really interesting facts which has led to some positive lifestyle changes for me. He was talking about disease, and also gaining exponentially more energy to power through your day. I had heard conflicting reports about Tony’s philosophies, but in all seriousness the proof in the pudding is Tony’s own energy levels. ANYONE who can go from 9 in the morning till 1am on stage and not lose an iota of energy has more than enough credibility - that alone made me all ears. I speak on stage myself and after about two hours I find I am emotionally and physically starting to wain.
People’s bodies and lifestyles are generally way too acidic. Acid producing foods consume us and it leads to lethargy, disease and a shortened life. What we need is to ALKALISE the body more regularly. Major acidic foods include dairy and meats. Toxins like alcohol,caffeine, sugar, drugs and smoking are obviously highly poisonous and put the body in a distressed state. Major alkalising foods include fruits and vegetables, wheat grass, lemon in water and foods that have high water content. We also need to supplement with omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids as our cell walls are made of fats and most are deficient. Two more key things I implemented was to purchase a rebounder (mini trampoline) - and spend 5 minutes a day to stimulate the circulation of our lymphatic system which for most people is drastically understimulated, and finally retraining myself for deep, lower lung diaphragmatic breathing instead of chest and shoulder breaths like almost everybody does. The way to do this is make sure your belly really distends instead of your shoulder and chest rising. this ensures oxygen gets to your WHOLE lung and not just the top 1/3rd!!! Oxygen is THE most important requirement for your body, a few minutes without it and you’re dead. Don’t deprive yourself.
So there you have it, my major learnings and reflections.
I hope you can take away at least one learning and pply it onto your life!
Cheers to your wealth and health!
West
Ps I’ll leave you with a video I shot of Tony getting 5000 people into a powerful, energetic state! Enjoy!
There is another way to explain the mutual and symbiotic connection between your conscious and subconscious mind.
What grows in the latter (subconscious) comes from the seed the former (conscious mind) plants. If you plant weeds, you can’t expect beautiful flowers to grow. What you sow is what you harvest. The fertile soil of your subconscious doesn’t decide if what you are planting is right or wrong, good or bad, it just makes sure the seeds you plant bear fruit. Thoughts fall, like rain, into the fertile soil of your subconscious garden.
Like a real garden, you must pull out the weeds and remove the thorns that are sure to grow. Remember, if you don’t pull up the whole root, the weed will grow back!
When Athletes and Artists Achieve Their Top Results
Top athletes and artists know the state that helps them achieve top results. Psychologists call it a state of great enthusiasm or a state of altered consciousness. Athletes call it the zone..
It happens during the moments of your greatest pleasure; when you forget everything around you and allow yourself to go with the flow, get into the zone, contact your higher self, etc. Your conscious mind rests in the background and doesn’t give any instructions. It is interesting that champions have defined this state of ecstasy as the greatest reward, over glory, prestige or medals.
Looking at when such perfect performances happen, you will discover that they only happen when you.re not burdened with how you will perform. The routine of your experience carry you through. This heightened state will remain as long as you don’t think about the results. It happens all the time in sports someone who is not in the top ranking defeats everyone above them and wins the competition.
They continued anyway, knowing they had no chance to win, and thus freed their mind of all fears of defeat and delivered the best performance of their career.
