The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life, says neuroscientist and sleep expert, Matthew Walker.

Think you can survive on less than 7 or 8 hours of sleep per night? Think again. You’re more likely to be struck by lightning in your lifetime than to possess the ultra rare gene that allows you to sleep fewer than 7 hours without mental impairment, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

You can’t cheat your body on sleep. You’re only taking years off the end of your life.

Studies show you also can’t make up for lost sleep. If you’re shorting yourself on sleep in anticipation of “making it up on the weekend”, you’re doing irreparable damage. You can’t pay back sleep debts by getting extra hours in later.

Studies also show those who sleep five to six hours a night will on average eat between 200 to 300 extra calories each day, That’s 10 to 15 pounds of obese mass each year. It also tends to be more of the wrong kind of food, which we’ll talk more about in the show.

As a chronically under slept person, who for most of my 20s believed he could get by just fine on 5 or 6 hours of sleep, I am now adamant about sleeping no fewer than 8 hours each night. It’s practically become my religion.

You will never think about sleep the same way again after this episode.

This is by far the longest chapter yet! There’s just so much packed into one chapter.

Chapter 7: Organized Planning contains lists of dozens upon dozens of items on how to build practical plans, major attributes of leadership, and 10 major causes of failure (among many other lists).

One notable formula provided is the the “QQS” Formula which is:

Quality + Quantity + the proper Spirit of cooperation = Perfect salesmanship of service.

While we won’t be able to get to every list in this chapter, we will touch on a number of items from some of the following lists covered:

• How to Build Plans Which Will Be Practical
• The Major Attributes Of Leadership
• The 10 Major Causes Of Failure In Leadership
• Media Through Which Services May Be Marketed
• Information To Be Supplied In A Written “Brief”
• How To Get The Exact Position You Desire
• What Is Your “QQS” Rating?
• The Thirty Major Causes Of Failure. How Many Of These Are Holding You Back?
• Self-Analysis Questionnaire for Personal Inventory

This is a continuation (Part 2) of last week’s Coffee With Sean and Ben episode.

Last week, we covered three topics: Travel, Filmmaking, & Mastermind Groups.

Today, we answer a mixed bag of questions from members listening live:

• If you could be mentored for a day by one person who would that person be? (can be past or present).
• I know that the right advice at the right time is the wrong advice. But how do you know when the advice you’re being given falls into that category?
• Are there any rules of thumb for knowing when to give advice?
• Have you traveled anywhere cool lately/do you have any trips coming up?
• I wonder what you guys are listening to lately? I selfishly ask in order to glean some new things to experience.
• How did you two actually meet? We all know you were in a band together. How did that happen?
• What world/cultural event would you like to attend before you die?
• What are your personal long/medium/short term goals currently?
• Do you ever think you’ll stop podcasting?

This is a more casual version of our regular show. Normally, we stick pretty strictly to a pre-planned topic. Coffee With Sean and Ben is more casual.

If you’ve listened to the “Pre Show” that we stream to members, before we start the official show, it’s like that: fun and casual. It’s not unlike the coffee meetings Ben and I have together. We catch up with what’s going on in each other’s lives, share behind the scenes stuff, and have a good time.

With our topical shows, there’s not much time to share what’s going on or what’s on our minds. The “coffee” format gives us time to share more of what we’re thinking about as well as respond to things like listener feedback (should you send any).

Members listening live voted on the topics they wanted us to cover. As a result, we discussed the following topics:

• Travel
• Filmmaking
• Mastermind Groups

What will other people think? What if they say hurtful things?

Being on the receiving end of hate sucks. I’ve been there before. All of the things you know to be true (“It’s not you, it’s them!”) start to feel like trite, meaningless phrases. You feel empty inside and nothing seems to console.

Worse, because this experience you’ve had is so devastating, it can cause you to be cynical and fearful. Now, you expect the worst at every turn and can’t bring yourself to put yourself out there anymore. Or at least if you do, you hold back in subtle ways.

I received a comment recently from someone who admitted to being jaded and having an attitude of cynicism because of past negative experiences. They now expect the worst of everyone and expect people to be horrible.

Obviously, this is crippling. You can’t move forward in this state. You have to find a way to heal from the wound and learn to deal with negativity because it’s a part of success. Attempting to isolate yourself from it isn’t the solution.

Whether you’ve experienced hate before, are currently on the receiving end, or simply want to prepare yourself for the inevitable, this show will put you on the right track.

Hey, it’s Sean McCabe here with a solo show. It’s been a heck of a past couple weeks. All kinds of crazy stuff seemed to conspire to keep us from being able to record!

From power outages, to equipment failure, one thing after another fell through and we had to skip several recordings. We’ll be back soon with the Sean and Ryan Show! Ben and I also have several great episodes lined up for you. I explain a bit more in the episode. That’s part of why I’m doing a solo show today to make sure there’s a show for you.

I also have a topic for today: comparing. I know I shouldn’t do it, but I still catch myself comparing to others from time to time. I share my thoughts on why you shouldn’t compare to other people (and the one thing you should compare to).

I also talk about how I’m expanding the podcast by including occasional interviews. You may have heard the interview episode last week. I look forward to your feedback on this.

Finally, I share some thoughts on how I think the 2020 Sabbatical Year will go.

I recently read The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman and found it tremendously insightful. The book helped unlock new ideas for me as well as helped codify something I’ve done for a long time without ever having the words to describe it.

Today, I’m happy to be joined by best-selling author of The Alter Ego Effect, Todd Herman to go even deeper on the concepts discussed in the book. I had the privilege of meeting Todd in person a few years ago in New York City. His latest book teaches the methods he’s used to coach top athletes for many years.

Before you think “alter egos” may not be for you, Todd explains how you already use alter egos in your life—everyone does—you just may not be aware of it! Alter egos are incredibly powerful. We talk about how using a persona can help you do what you might otherwise feel like you aren’t capable of doing. We discuss certain methods for unlocking hidden potential by activating a persona.

We also discuss how to create your persona along with “activation” techniques for embodying that persona to increase your performance in business and in life.

If you still aren’t sure about the whole “alter ego” idea, Todd explains science now shows it’s people who see themselves as a single self have the most mental health issues. Yes, single self! He talks about why we should embrace the the many selves we actually are.

Be sure to listen through the second half of the episode when the discussion really opens up. You’ll learn how to overcome insecurity and combat imposter syndrome.

Today we’re talking about imagination. The book differentiates between “Synthetic Imagination” and “Creative Imagination”.

There are some amazing stories in this chapter about the value of ideas.

> Keep in mind as you follow these principles, that the entire story of how one may convert DESIRE into money cannot be told in one statement. The story will be complete, only when one has MASTERED, ASSIMILATED, and BEGUN TO MAKE USE of all the principles.

We’ll also discuss why desire alone is nebulous and of no value until it is made physical.

> Desire is only a thought, an impulse. It is nebulous and ephemeral. It is abstract, and of no value, until it has been transformed into its physical counterpart.

You must have a plan in place to carry out your desire. We’ll talk about a story in this chapter that highlights the importance of specifying the amount of TIME in which you will realize a desired result.

> Transformation of the intangible impulse, of DESIRE, into the tangible reality, of MONEY, calls for the use of a plan, or plans. These plans must be formed with the aid of the imagination, and mainly, with the synthetic faculty.

I believe in the saying, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

If I want to do great things (and I do), I need a team.

I didn’t always believe this. I used to have “superhero” syndrome and wanted to do everything myself. That wasn’t a good place to be. I learned that lesson, overcame my ego, and hired a team.

But in doing so, I made a lot of mistakes in what has been a decade-long correction process.

I went from no team to a team of 8 full-time people in little time. Every mistake I made was as a result of following [the right advice at the wrong time].

“Delegate! Hire people to do the things you’re not good at. Hire people to do the things you don’t like to do.”

I did that. I followed all of the advice. Only, I missed the biggest part that no one ever spoke about, and it became my downfall.

Here’s the problem: the advice about building a team comes from people who have built a team and forgotten what it’s like to not have a team. As a result, all of the advice becomes about the how instead of about the when—which is actually the single MOST important part of the equation for the solo entrepreneur. It’s just that the people giving advice about teams are so far removed from having no team, they’ve forgotten what it’s like and thus can’t give the right contextual advice.

That’s what we cover in today’s episode.