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This week on Build Your Utopia, we had an incredible guest in Darieth Chisolm. Her story is truly inspirational.

Ben and Josh were both incredibly impacted by her story.

More people should take chances like Darieth in improving their lives and creating more time with their loved ones. Love is what makes the world worth living.

At the end of the day, the people that you love are the most important attributes of every man and woman's life.

Both Ben and Josh share stories were they called their own shots.

Ben, for example when he was younger, was thinking about joining the military while he was in high school.

The recruiter kept stressing with him that you need to study and go to these pre-ASVAB classes. Ben refused.

Ben also stated that he was going to score very well. He called his shot.

When he took the ASVAB, he scored amongst the top of testers. The recruiter had nothing more to say.

Josh called his shot when he decided in January of 2013 to start his own company. He didn't know what he was in for at the time.

All he knew is that there was opportunity and he believed in himself. The rest is history and now ICE Accelerate Marketing Automation Services is now a leading Infusionsoft Certified Consultancy.

In addition, Ben and Josh also discuss how challenges drive them. Ben is bored in his role and has just about mastered it at a local Fortune 100 company.

Josh is constantly being challenged in business and although it is stressful at times, he loves the challenges his business presents to him.

Build Your Utopia has been magnetic with audiences so far! The show has had over 1200 downloads in less than 30 days, which is amazing. This is all thanks to you.

The podcast has not been easy at times. Josh and Ben both share some of their own personal challenges that they deal with every week in running a thriving Podcast.

Thanks goodness for Automated Processes from ICE Accelerate!

Which brings to light just how easy it is, especially with automation driven by software like Infusionsoft, to start up a business now.

For our followers, we challenge you to think outside of the box and take advantage of the opportunities in front of you. Listen to the end of the episode to find out some resources that can unlock this goal for yourself.

The barriers to start a business have dropped monumentally in today's digital age.

On a closing note, all of our successful guests up to this point have talked about having Gratitude. During this week as you spend it with your loved ones, chowing down on Thanksgiving dishes, remember everything that you are thankful for.

Not only is this food for the soul but it also fuels the positivity that you create for yourself, giving you your best energy to accomplish wonders.

Utopian Quote of the Show

"Pen and paper is where the genesis of a business comes in." - Josh Marsden

Thanks for listening in. If you haven't yet, go subscribe to our show in iTunes Stitcher.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 011_Im_Calling_My_Own_Shot.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Today's episode is on of tremendous heart, commitment, and drive from Darieth Chisolm.

Darieth is a truly inspirational guests. She had a successful job working in broadcasting but decided that she had sacrificed far too much time to her career, missing out on her only son's activities, and quit.

She was able to match her income with hard work produced success in Wrap It, a network marketing company. After that accomplishment, she decided to start up her own company, write a book, and start up a podcast called Hustle and Heart TV.

It was through the love for her son and her purpose that has propelled her from success to success.

Josh, as an entrepreneur, can relate to Darieth as a father to his 5 year old son who serves as his #1 motivator to stay the course and overcome the many challenges of entrepreneurship.

Josh and Darieth are both great examples of what's possible right now in entrepreneurship. Twenty years ago, it wasn't possible to start up a business with minimal (if any) overhead or to run a company virtually from anywhere!

Now it is and as a Utopian, you have a chance to do this, just as much as anyone else. The barriers of entry towards running a business has dropped significantly in the past 5+ years.

Both Darieth and Josh agree that one of the hardest challenges is turning the "switch off" when you work from home and run a business. Darieth even turns an alarm clock on to remind her to step away and turn her "switch off".

Darieth leans on reading, meditation, and fitness as hobbies in her life that helps her maintain a work-life balance.

This is an incredibly, impactful episode of a truly inspirational story.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Utopian Quote of the Show

"If you get caught up on being perfect, sometimes you never get out of the gate." -Darieth Chisolm 

Direct download: 010_Interview_with_Darieth_Chisolm_of_Hustle_And_Heart_TV.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

In episode 9 of Build Your Utopia, Josh and Ben dive in by discussing this past week in their personal lives.

Ben and Josh both were at a wonderful wedding of Ben's sister-in-law.

They both had a blast and had heaps of praise on how the wedding was conducted. Josh in particular really loved the levity of the wedding vs. some of the other stiffer weddings out there, notably Catholic weddings. (Josh is Christian, no knock on Catholicism)

This past week was filled with another rock-solid, valuable guest for Utopians, Brandon Epstein of Entrepreneur Fitness.

During this episode, Ben and Josh discuss how the episode impacted them and discuss several of the takeaways from that episode. (If you haven't listened to it, go here)

Brandon was great, because he was relatable. Ben and Josh both stumbled out of the gates a bit in their early 20s, like Brandon.

Brandon's belief in getting into a "flow state" is a challenging subject for both Ben and Josh. Ben, in particular, reflects in this episode on how hard it is for him to get himself into a "flow state" where he can perform his best.

However, both can attest that in today's digital age, there are far too many Weapons of Mass Distraction (coined by a movie in the 90s of the same name and a phrase frequently used by John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire)

In discussing getting into a "flow state", Ben and Josh both share how each gets into their own "flow states".

Ben counts on sleep as the #1 factor that gets him into a "flow state".

Josh counts on a combination of steady dieting, the right foods, exercise, and sleep as his factors.

Going off on a tangent, Josh shares with Utopians his diet while Ben breaks it down and is humored at how crazy it is. (4-5 protein shakes a day!)

Diet tip (we are not certified dieticians): Drink 2 glasses of water immediately upon waking up. Option: Try a glass of water with 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and a spoon full of honey.

You will be surprised to find out that Wendy's burgers is part of a lunch option for Josh.. listen to the episode to find out more.

During this episode, you will hear other tips from Josh that will help you heighten your alert and focus when you wake up.

Finally, Ben and Josh also talk about what drinking alcohol responsibly REALLY means when it comes to getting into a "flow state".

The key: Greasy Pizza or Mexican Food at 3 AM before you go to bed.

Thanks for listening in! Please leave your comments below.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 009_I_Dont_Know_When_My_Next_Meal_Is_Coming.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Brandon Epstein is our honored guest on episode 8 of Build Your Utopia.

Brandon is a leader in work performance optimization by optimizing emotional and health in his clients. He does this with his specialty in helping people get into a "flow state". He's also the CEO of Entrepreneur Fitness, is a former collegiate athlete, and former fitness model.

In college is where he learned how to unlock certain "flow states" to help perform your best in different scenarios.

The core principle of "flow" is mind body actualization – this is when your thoughts, your spirit and your mindset are all in complete harmony with your movements, your biology and your physiology.  He uses this consistently and effectively to make positive impacts on his client's emotional and personal health. This allows his clients to optimize their minds and body in unison so they can be their best.

(If you want to learn more about a flow state, go read Brandon's article on his blog about flow states here)

Brandon wasn't always focused on positive outlets to accomplish his best performance. At one point, he was what he calls a "sicko" drinking coffee all the time and chewing tobacco constantly!

His unhealthy addictions led him to a crash, as you can imagine. It was at this low point that he turned to chinese medicine and valuable books in the marketplace that turned around the path that he was on.

Starting in business has had it's share of challenges for Brandon. Just over 6 months ago, Brandon didn't know anything about internet marketing! Luckily, he's had a valuable mentor in Jamie Tardy of Eventual Millionaire.

With a niche focus, hard work, focus, incredible self-confidence, and by maintaining a strong work-life balance, Brandon has been able to be very successful.

This topic had a strong impact on Josh and Ben in this episode. For example, Josh shares with the audience how fitness goals led him to overwhelming himself and not optimizing his emotional, physical, and mental health. Ben shares how he was overwhelmed by volunteering for too many responsibilities at work.

Finally, Brandon's 3 impactful takeaways for Utopians are:

  • Define your values and decide exactly what is important to you.
  • Write down 3-5 values that you want to define yourself by.
  • Be true to yourself.

This is a great episode with highly valuable content that you won't want to miss.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 008_Interview_with_Brandon_Epstein_of_Entrepreneur_Fitness.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

In this episode of Build Your Utopia, Ben and Josh discuss this week's episode and review the stellar reviews received on iTunes.

Earlier this week, Matt Maszczak of Balance is Bunk was on the show. This episode (listen to it here) did a great job of shining a light on what it is like to be an entrepreneur and how challenging it is to keep a work-life balance.

Ben, in particular, really had an affinity for Matt's story (and sort of had a bromance with him since they both have an audio engineering background).

Ben and Josh spoke about how Matt stated that life never stays in perfect balance. Also, they discussed how the balance of life is either seen as a pendulum or a scale.

Here is what they were trying to break down, there are people that swing back and forth to extremes from working like a madman (or woman) one second to going to the extremes of enjoying life the next. These are people that look at work-life balance as a pendulum.

Then, there are people that look at work-life balance as a scale and try to keep everything at a minimum, rarely, if ever, going to the extremes mentioned above.

Ben and Josh both agree that they look more at the work-life balance challenge as a pendulum, although their ideas of going "full tilt" for fun are very different.

There were several other important (cough, cough) topics that were brought up in the episode:

  • Chicken wings
  • Interstellar
  • The bent iPhone epidemic
  • The movie theater experience
  • The dangers of kayaking

These topics were discussed in very fascinating (cough, cough) detail.

There were also some deep, critical topics discussed in this episode as well:

  • The American dream of going to college and the epidemic of student loan debt
  • When the right time is to release your entrepreneurial creation into the wild

Ben and Josh also discuss the stellar reviews received on iTunes from the first 10 days of the show. If you are reading this and have left a review, thank you for leaving us such awesome reviews.

If you haven't left us a review, head over to iTunes or Stitcher and let us know what you think.

Finally, some closing thoughts.

Here at Build Your Utopia, we believe that sometimes you have to go "full tilt" to hit your goals. It happens. To achieve something great, you must go the extra mile. However, don't let that happen all the time. With that said, in this episode Josh asks Ben how the entrepreneurial responsibilities have impacted his work-life balance so far. You will be surprised by his response, even with the late nights until 1:30 AM or 3:30 AM working on the show.

Thanks again for following the show and listening! If you haven't subscribed to the show, do it now so you never miss an episode. You can subscribe via email to the right or text at the top.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 007_Is_Balance_a_Pendulum_or_a_set_of_Scales.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

On this episode of Build Your Utopia, we are delighted to talk to Matt Maszczak of Balance Is Bunk.

This is an exciting episode as Matt has an opposite view (although not completely contradictory) to finding a balance between work and life.

As an individual with extensive background in audio, sales, and construction, why would Matt leave that behind and start his own company debunking balance?

Matt, Josh, and Ben discuss how hard it is to start something new. How do you know when your project is done before you present it to the world? Do you keep woking on it until it is perfect, or do you get out to the world when it is functional?

Why would you want to purposefully unbalance your life? Can unbalance also help you build your utopia?

Matt, Josh, and Ben talk about the other ways you can be successful. The path of high school to college to job to spouse to house to kids to sending the kids to school isn't the only path you can take. Mike Rowe WORKS is a great example of an alternate path.

Matt has taken an impactful lessen from Napoleon Hill's book, Outwitting the Devil. Check out that book and the other's Matt referenced in this episode:

  • Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success, read on iBooks or Amazon
  • The Compound Effect, read on iBooks or Amazon
  • Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World, read on iBooks or Amazon

Turn your ear to Matt's interview for some great insight into living life on your own terms and check out Balance Is Bunk to get more of his point of view.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Utopian Quote of the Show

"Time is the currency we lack most in this world, and it's what I want to be rich in" - Matt Maszczak

Direct download: 006_Interview_with_Matt_Maszczak.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:50am EDT

In this episode of Build Your Utopia, Ben Thompson and Josh Marsden review this week's valuable content from John Allen Mollenhauer, an expert in Superfoods and Life Performance Optimization.

This week's episode was very, very powerful.  If you haven't listened to it, listen to it here.

During this episode, we discuss the long list of take-ways from that episode and how we personally feel about some of the wisdom dropped in John's interview.

To start, we discussed how hard it is to juggle life when you run a business. As you may know, Josh Marsden, Co-Host of Build Your Utopia, runs ICE Accelerate Marketing Automation Services, a full featured digital marketing agency.

Josh started his entrepreneurial journey in late 2012 and discusses how lonely the journey can be at times. If you have any interest in being an entrepreneur, prepare yourself for how alone it can feel at times.

However, to quote John's interview "It's our true nature to move forward and not rest." Therefore, it's in our DNA to endure challenges. Loneliness is just one of the many challenges that you face as an entrepreneur.

John's personal utopia this week was also very impactful and humbling. Josh and Ben both agree that it's about what you have, not what you want, and appreciating it. Hilariously, this led to a comparison of cars between Josh and Ben that you'll have to listen to that ends with a personal story from Josh on how he ended up purchasing a BMW. (If you want to get the best deal possible on a car, the secret is in the episode.)

Next, Josh and Ben break down John's discussion on Performance Addiction. To both hosts, suffering from performance addiction can easily landslid into being negative because of the use of negative-reinforced motivations.

Finally, both hosts discuss how the launch of Build Your Utopia went. If you have any interest in starting up a podcast, don't miss it. You'll learn from our mistakes!

Thank you for stopping by Build Your Utopia, being a loyal follower, and listening to our show. Our next guest, Matt Maszczak of Balance is Bunk, who offers a startling, conflicting view on a work-life balance. Stay Tuned!

Please click here to stop by iTunes, subscribe, and leave a review for our show.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: BYU_005.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Today on Build Your Utopia, we had the honor of having John Allen Mollenhauer as our first guest.

 

For those of you that do not know about John, you are in for a real treat. John is a expert in every definition of the word in Superfoods and Life Optimization.

 

By definition, Superfoods are nutrient-rich foods that are considered to be beneficial for both health and well-being. John is a great advocate of following a plant-based diet with 80% plants. However, he wasn't always this way.

 

A former bodybuilder, at one point he was quite the opposite as you can imagine. His current philosophy came from years of abuse on his own body with high protein, highly-supplemented diets that led him to a path of discovery, research, education, and enlightenment.

 

This new found purpose led him to creating Nutrient Rich, a leader in Superfood Nutrition with a breadth of fantastic Superfood products.

 

John didn't stop there. He also co-wrote The Curse of the Capable with Dr. Arthur Ciaramicoli, a former instructor at Harvard specializing in clinical psychology.

You can check out the book yourself here as well as others mentioned in the episode:

 

The Curse of the Capable, read in iBooks or Amazon

Performance Addiction, read in iBooks or Amazon

The Pleasure Trap, read in iBooks or Amazon

 

Finally, John is also the founder of a leading online program focused on helping others optimize their lifestyles and manage their stress levels through Performance Lifestyle. With Performance Lifestyle, he has been able to bring together leaders in psychology, nutrition, fitness, and more in an online community devoted to helping people just like you achieve and maintain proper work-life balance leading to optimal performance in all areas of life.

 

John is a truly brilliant leader in this space.

 

You are going to love learning about:

  1. Humanities true nature and how it hurts you in today's lifestyle
  2. Performance addiction and how society today has produced this epidemic
  3. How to use your emotions as a guidance system to maintain your work-life balance
  4. And more!

I know you are going to enjoy this episode just as much as we did.

 

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Utopian Quote of the Show

"Live an ideal life, not an idealistic life." - John Allen Mollenhauer 

Direct download: 004_Interview_with_John_Allen_Mollenhauer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am EDT

In today’s episode, we put our co-host Josh Marsden on the hot seat!

You will find out what Josh’s personal Utopia is that he is aiming for, what makes him happy, and why.

Like many single hard-working entrepreneurs, Josh is looking for that one person that makes him feel complete.

The challenge is finding that one person when you are trying to run a successful company, it takes so much time!

Josh loves two Benjamins, for good reasons.

Find out what shaped Build Your Utopia’s other half in his early years and the struggles that he saw as a child that molded him to be a money-motivated, success-driven, Type A, hard working, ambitious man.

As hard as it was for Josh to share this, he speaks about some of the the fights he saw as a child, how his relationship with his father impacts him today, and what he wants for his son, Benjamin.

What you will find here are several examples of how Josh takes negatives throughout his life and turns them into positives.

When college didn’t work out the first time, he partied.. POSITIVE.

When Josh didn’t have money, he took out credit cards… POSITIVE.

When early adulthood didn’t go as planned.. the military came calling… POSITIVE.

Which positives are actual positives? Find out in this episode.

Finally, if you need a private PLUS college loan, just sign your mother’s name on the loan application. It works..

Turn off the switch of insanity from being plugged into your business or goals, relax, and listen to this show.

On a closing note, having too many goals.. can be overwhelming.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Utopian Quote of the Show

“We all have subjective eyes to a realistic lens” - Josh Marsden

Direct download: 003_Interview_with_Josh_Marsden.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am EDT

Why would a successful, top representative at a Fortune 100 company want to start Build Your Utopia, a podcast about identifying and crushing your goals while maintaining your work-life balance?

Ben Thompson, co-host of Build Your Utopia, is this guy.

Call him the "no" man.. just kidding. He's just not the typically, politically-charged, "yes" man, that you find throughout most corporate crypts.. I mean settings.

What does Ben love? What keeps him happy?

In this episode all this is shared and more.

During this first interview led episode, Ben shares with Utopians what his personal Utopia is. Does he want to live on a beach? Drink mojitos all day? What is Ben's personal Utopia?

Find out about Ben's background that led to his current Utopia with his lovely wife, Tahnee.

This is the same interview structure that you can expect in our future episodes with some truly remarkable people that we have coming on the show.

Finally, find out what you should be looking for in love. Not that we are love doctors...

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

P.S. We recommend the TX-875...

Utopian Quote of the Show

"Happiness is a frame of mind" - Josh Marsden

Direct download: 002_Interview_with_Ben_Thompson.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am EDT

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