FLOW with Arman Assadi

Latest Episodes:

Mark Goulston | World Famous Psychiatrist on Depression, Suicide, & the Power of Hope Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Mark Goulston is originally a UCLA professor of psychiatry for over 25 years, and a former FBI and police hostage negotiation trainer. His expertise has been forged and proven in the crucible of real-life, high stakes situations.
Mark is an influencer who helps influencers become more influential, his unique background has made him an indispensable and sought after resource and change facilitator to Fortune 500 leaders, entrepreneurs, and educators across the nation.

Show notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage and provides a brief background on Mark, how they met, and the topic of today’s episode (0:00)
#Thankful 2021. What are you grateful for today? (2:03)
What connection looks like with your family, it’s not just about doing chores together (6:54)
Suicide prevention: How to know when your kid is not doing okay and how to get through to kids who say they are fine (11:02)
How to use Surgical Empathy to aid suicidal people or those in dark places (13:11)
How Mark's book “Why Cope When You Can Heal” can help health care workers win the war against PTSD (19:21)
The pros and cons of using psychedelics or MDMAs to heal from PTSD (25:19)
Dr. Goulston’s powerful style of helping people heal from PTSD without using any external treatment aid (28:34)
The degrees of trauma and why healing differs in various individuals (36:15)
The two graphics and two responses of looking back on our trauma (39:46)
How to support someone who is having suicidal thoughts so they feel safe to tell you how they really feel (44:35)
One of the most powerful experience Mark has ever had with a suicidal person (1:01:08)
Inspiring closing thoughts (1:09:07)

Resources/Links:

Mention of Mark Goulston
Mark’s Podcast
Mention of Chooselife
Teen mental health webinar
Why Cope When You Can Heal?
Rocky 3 beach scene
Chris Kolenda on My Wakeup Call
How You Became You
Surgical empathy to help suicidal people
Matthew Liberman on Saying the Words on How You Feel
TedX with Mark Goulston on The Most Important Conversation to Have with Your Kids

For access to all episodes, show notes, and more visit: armanassadi.com/podcast

***

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Drew Morisey on BLM, Finding the Center, and Crushing YouTube Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

I first met Drew Morisey through Clubhouse. We randomly found ourselves talking politics and I immediately noticed and respected how balanced and nuanced his views were. Since then I’ve really enjoyed connecting with Drew and believe he has some very valuable insights to share, so I’m excited to share this episode with you.
Drew is a viral content creator. His first company set out to innovate a new niche on YouTube (rap education) and succeeded. His second major venture introduced entertainment to the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. He is currently spearheading a social media/video team whose credits include Vice News, Kendrick Lamar, Black Eyed Peas, and many more.
Show Notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage and provides background on Drew, how they met, and the topic of today’s episode (0:00)
What influenced Drew’s choice to become a Manchester City Football Club fan (2:26)
Leadership in transition: thoughts on the new America (9:38)
Is Biden’s plan to ‘unite’ America a good or bad idea? (15:21)
What sparked Drew’s interest in socio-economic affairs (16:10)
The American PTSD culture about guns, their security, and those in power (21:27)
On Biden’s tenure: will things get better, will it get worse or is it going to be the same old? (23:15)
Spontaneous tech censorship and why the government may need to step in to protect rights (27:54)
Culture curling: what did BLM do right and did the government handle it currently? (40:20)
The impact of having smart discuss with people who do not attach emotions to controversial issues (52:43)
The idea of becoming a watcher of your thoughts instead of silencing them (55:55)
Drew shares some tips on the 80/20 of starting a YouTube channel today (57:24)
How to work with the YouTube algorithm (1:02:02)
The Do’s and Don’ts of starting your YouTube channel (1:03:34)
Final thoughts (1:07:44)

Resources/Links:

***
If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.
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For access to all episodes, show notes, and more visit: armanassadi.com/podcast

Tipsy Talk | Part 2: Ian Blair on Aliens, Skydiving, Psychedelics & Money Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

So...this Tipsy Talk was a bit different this time. It was cannabis-infused and I had an amazing time with my good friend Ian Blair.
Ian Blair is an entrepreneur, extreme sports junkie, adventurer, and car enthusiast. As CEO of BuildFire, he has grown the company to over 10 million users and developed more than 10,000 apps worldwide for organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses.

Show notes:

How Ian approaches skydiving (0:13)
Should you adhere to the dictates of society or your intuition? (10:04)
Why it’s necessary to self-reflect on the things that define you (16:31)
About functional fitness and how it can improve both your physical and mental well-being (17:17)
Some of the little things that keep Ian positive and happy (21:42)
Using affirmations to positively empower and change your identity (23:59)
Changing the myopic mindset that reinforces success is difficult to attain (29:23)
Subjective truth; why things are better during COVID vs pre-COVID (31:55)
Is there really such a thing as not being racist? (35:57)
The importance of processing the notion of death early and why you shouldn’t be afraid of it (39:29)
What is God and how can psychedelics help with understanding (44:31)
Inspiring closing thoughts (54:16)

Resources/Links:

FLOW on Ep. 1 - The Flow Manifesto
Arman’s Trainer – Physical Culturist Kyle Boggeman
Regular Exercise is Vital to Success
Why Identity Matters
Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho Cybernetics
Tony Robbins –The 3 Pillars of Success
The Patriots Winning Philosophy
The Power of Belief
Subjective & Objective Truth
What Does It All Mean?
Everyday Ways to Fight Racism
Why We Should Talk About Death
Michael Newton – Journey of Souls

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Tipsy Talk | Part 1: Ian Blair on Aliens, Skydiving, Psychedelics & Money Jan 26, 2021

Show notes

Show notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage and provides a brief background on Ian, how they met, and the topic of today’s episode
Aliens: Will the Coronavirus Bill really prompt the release of the unclassified information on UFOs? [3:13]
A glimpse at the other side of life with psychedelics [5:34]
What is the consciousness or awareness level of the aliens? [12:31]
The importance of Psychedelics as a meditative device [21:27]
Are these technology advanced aliens showing up intentionally? [24:12]
The alien crash theory; why the aliens are being intentionally unintentional [30:12]
How politics is slowly becoming a reality show and a fear feeding machine for the masses [34:38]
The smartest way to generate wealth [37:01]
Do you think it or do you do it? [45:56]
Conspiracy fact VS conspiracy theory; is the government telling you the truth about? [51:22]

Resources/Links:

***

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.

Text me directly at 619-825-2595

Follow and chat with me on:

For access to all episodes, show notes, and more visit: armanassadi.com/podcast

Critical Thinking: Understanding Trump Censorship Jan 19, 2021

Show notes

Over the past few weeks, there have been some very heated political tussles. From getting the election results to the refuting of the results, and now, Trump’s censorship. In this episode of I discuss whether Trump’s censorship was justifiable or the owners of these platforms are now warped? And if a privately-owned “public” company should be able to restrict freedom of speech?
Show notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage and provides the topic of today’s episode [0:10]
The 5 major issues caused by the banning of Trump on social platforms [04:04]
Who has the right to make free speech expensive [05:31]
Was banning Trump the right step to take? [8:19]
What free speech law did Trump break to justify his banning? [13:41]
Three benefits of the government holding major corporations to constitutional free speech laws [17:41]
Some of the smart solutions that could have been applied to the Trump quandary [22:33]
Why the decisions taken by social platforms are intellectually inconsistent [27:02]

Resources/Links:

Social Media Platforms: Public Forum or Private Space?
What are Network Effects?
Mention of George Floyd
Mention of the Capitol Hill Riot
Twitter - Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump
These Online Platforms have banned Trump
Mention of Incitement Act
Mention of Section 230
How Signal Became the Most Popular App in the World Overnight
Parler website appears to be back online
Mention of 1st Amendment
The Social Dilemma Film
Poland’s Pushes Law to Limit Censorship
Capitalism and Free Market Two Sides of the Same Coin?
The Split Over Freedom of Speech
Is it time for a Digital Bill of Rights?

For complete show notes and links to all resources mentioned head to assadi.me/criticalthinking

***

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.

Text me directly at 619-825-2595

Follow and chat with me on:

To work with me: armanassadi.com/consulting

For access to all episodes, show notes, and more visit:

Steve Little | The M&A Legend on How to Exit for Maximum Value Jan 12, 2021

Show notes

When it comes to scaling businesses and exiting, whether it be for himself or his clients, Steve Little is an absolute legend.
Steve is the founder and managing director of Zero Limits Ventures. He is an acclaimed serial entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and mergers and acquisitions expert well known for generating accelerated value growth and extraordinarily high acquisition value multiples for his companies and clients.
He sold his first company at age 15 for nearly $250,000 and never looked back. Since then he has raised more than $2B in startup and growth funding for a multitude of businesses acquiring and successfully integrating 9 companies in less than 12 months.

Show Notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage and provides background on Steve, how they met, and the topic of today’s episode. [00:12]
How the pandemic has affected businesses. [06:34]
Mergers, acquisitions and funding. [07:40]
How to create the right product that’s going to generate the highest valuation and profits? [13:20]
Increasing transaction value. [20:37]
Taking a company to $100mil by being strategic. [23:02]
The #1 reason capital acquisitions fail. [28:48]
Shortening the acquisition rate. [45:20]
Steve shares the story of how he sold his first company for $250,000 when he was 15 and how that started his entrepreneurial journey. [47:40]
Understanding the importance of having a value driver. [50:01]
Cultivating patience and learning how to use the waiting game to your advantage. [54:21]
Inspiring closing thoughts. [01:03:27]

Resources/links:

Learn more about Steve Little
Mention of Zero Limit Ventures
Mention of Glamnetic
Mention of Snapchat
Mention of Randomhouse

For complete show notes and links to all resources mentioned head to: http://assadi.me/stevelittle

***

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.

Text me directly at: 619-825-2595

Follow and chat with me on:

For show notes and more visit: armanassadi.com/podcast

To work with me: armanassadi.com/consulting

Tipsy Talk | New President, Bitcoin, and China Jan 05, 2021

Show notes

Tipsy Talk is back!
I think this is the best one yet, and the first with four of us. The great Nick Urbani and Eric Johanson are back from ep #17, and this time we also have the brilliant Stephen Cesaro from ep #32.

Show Notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage for Tipsy Talk, how it started and introduces the special guests who are joining today’s special episode. [00:11]
Bitcoin and betting on the election. [02:20]
The possibility of a Civil War type conflict. [04:29]
What if Trump chose to exit in a dignified way? [10:56]
Racism and free speech. [15:08]
Shifting from one political party to another. [23:07]
Is it smart to provide free healthcare and forgive student loans? [27:47]
America’s culture and values. [44:37]
The relationship between China and the US [49:46]
Was it a mistake for us to have opened trade with China? [01:02:00]
Why the US should get behind Libra, Facebook’s version of a stable coin [1:10:37]
The kind of threat China poses to the economy [1:19:43]
What does a protopian civilization look like on a collective and individualistic level? [01:28:59]
Debate on paper currency and digital currency [01:40:03]
Ethereum. [01:50:20]
What if you could own the data that links digital currency to the real world? [01:52:20]
The downside volatility of Bitcoin [1:58:22]
The world is shifting. [02:01:55]
Inspiring closing thoughts. [02:08:28]

Resources/Links:

Mention of Eric Weinstein
Mention of Jason Silva
Mention of John Perkins
Mention of Kevin Kelly
Mention of Nate Silver
Mention of Ray Dalio
Mention of Thomas Hall
Mention of Chainlink
Mention of Ethereum

***

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.

Text me directly at: 619-825-2595

Follow and chat with me on:

For show notes and more visit: armanassadi.com/podcast

To work with me: armanassadi.com/consulting

2020: What the Hell Happened...and What Do We Do Now? Dec 29, 2020

Show notes

One of my absolute favorite things each year is my end of year Annual Review and Planning process. I like to take a good 3-5 days to just sit, reflect, and appreciate the highs and lows of the year. I sit in gratitude and pick out my lessons learned. And then I start setting an intentional plan for the next one.

Needless to say, this was obviously a very different year. A glitch in the Matrix type of year, if you will. And I sense that things will not be getting easier or going back to normal. I have been thinking and deconstructing all of this and what is happening at an individual and collective level a lot this year, so I decided to bring it all together in one episode.

This might be my most important episode yet. It is the compilation of a wide variety of topics I have been exploring these past few years. And it goes without saying, my approach to the current issues we face socially, politically, economically, and even spiritually is not like those you will hear on the news or from your favorite influencer.

It is important to look at this all as objectively and rationally as we possibly can because I believe this journey has just begun in many ways and you and I have key roles to play.

We need to learn how to think critically and correctly—fast.

So have a listen/watch, absorb it all, and let me know what you think. I wish you a beautiful New Year and much peace and prosperity in 2021.

Show Notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage and lays out what he will be covering [00:11]
Why this is the craziest time to be alive [4:30]
The uncertainty of the economy and the burden of survival [13:29]
The war of ideologies and discussing what truth really is [19:16]
Why we may need a new system to evolve [25:35]
The definition of progress and evolution [31:30]

Resources/links:

Mention of Kevin Kelly
Mention of a quote by Terence McKenna
Mention of The History of Dubai
Mention of The Social Dilemma
Mention of Russell Brand
Mention of The Hunger Games in 2020

For complete show notes and links to all resources mentioned head to: http://assadi.me/2020

***

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.

Text me directly: 619-825-2595

Follow and chat with me on:

For show notes and more visit: armanassadi.com/podcast

To work with me: armanassadi.com/consulting

John Sherwin | Truth, Science & Hydration with the Co-founder of Hydrant Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

Talking to a science and biology expert from Oxford and successful entrepreneur about the pursuit of Truth was exhilarating and pretty much defines what this show is all about! :)
John Sherwin is the co-founder of Hydrant, a pioneering ecommerce brand committed to helping people maximize their daily hydration (about 75% of Americans are spending their days dehydrated).
Hydrant announced in May that it raised $5.7 million from investors in a Series A round, bringing its total funding to $8.8 million.

Show Notes:

Intro: Arman sets the stage and provides background on John, how they met, and the topic of today’s episode. [00:11]
Arman talks about the power of great marketing and why it matters. [4:56]
John talks about the challenges of being in the industry he’s in. [06:17]
Is it possible to innovate in a saturated market? [07:07]
Is truth subjective or absolute? [08:13]
The mental model behind scientific thinking and the importance of staying open to new information. [10:56]
How uncertainty can be the stable ground that leads to advances made in science. [17:26]
Learning to be aware of our cognitive biases. [24:40]
What are the benefits of being fully optimized when it comes to hydration intake? [28:47]
Most people don’t realize what it feels like to be properly hydrated. [30:33]
What it means to put function first. [44:29]
Creating a feedback loop and finding a way to educate the market on the science of the formulation behind Hydrant. [45:34]
Arman asks John about what keeps him up at night in relation to the business he’s running and what that’s like. [52:10]
Inspiring closing thoughts. [01:00:33]

Resources/links:

Learn more about John Sherwin
Mention of Hydrant
Mention of Cochrane Report

For complete show notes and links to all resources mentioned head to: http://assadi.me/johnsherwin

***

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.

Text me directly at: 619-825-2595

Follow and chat with me on:

To work with me: armanassadi.com/consulting

Is Happiness a Choice? Unpacking a Profound Question Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

Part of my journey in life is to learn, experiment, and share the ideas of what I’ve uncovered.
Happiness is a topic that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
First of all, let's define it. What is happiness?
And once we agree on that, how do we attain it?
Resources/links:

Mention of Gretchen Ruben
Mention of Epictetus
Mention of Tony Robbins
Mention of Jim Carrey
Mention of Flow Ep 8
Mention of Carl Jung

For complete show notes and links to all resources mentioned head to: armanassadi.com/podcast

***

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a short 17-second review on Apple Podcasts here. It means a lot to me and really supports the podcast.

Text me directly at: 619-825-2595

Follow and chat with me on:

For show notes and more visit: armanassadi.com/podcast

To work with me: armanassadi.com/consulting