by Mark Bradford | Feb 23, 2025 | Podcasts
I have a new book coming out. it’s my 10th, and it’s based on my take on the pleasure principle and what I believe is a layer just above it. It’s what allows us to accomplish things that others do not. It’s what prevents us from doing things...
by Mark Bradford | Feb 9, 2025 | Podcasts
(and how it might help you tell your own story) Telling a story in an unfamiliar medium with constraints you’re not accustomed to is a common theme in business. You may be the best story teller in your circle/medium/genre but if you need to tell your story...
by Mark Bradford | Feb 2, 2025 | Podcasts
Q&A and the answer (That’s so meta) Have you ever helped a friend who has a question or a conundrum, and the answer was so obvious to you that you easily spelled it out for them? You felt pretty smart. You noticed at some point that when you’ve had...
by Mark Bradford | Jan 26, 2025 | Podcasts
A tale of disconnected happiness or Benign Violation Theory. Allow me to tell you a tale of disconnected happiness. Perhaps you can relate? Helpful related (or referenced) episodes: The holy Grail of positivity bias Throwing away the container Benign Violation Theory...
by Mark Bradford | Jan 19, 2025 | Podcasts
Modes What mode are you in right now? You may intuitively know exactly what I’m talking about. Ever interrupt a conversation and the person changes their conversation style/demeanor? That’s an example of someone switching modes. Are modes just putting a...
by Mark Bradford | Jan 12, 2025 | Conversation, Podcasts
Meet Manuel Rendon, certified polymer science inventor and CEO of Timeplast, Inc. My first interview episode of 2025. Manuel joins the ranks of Scott Adams, the late John McAfee and others. 4d matter In the world of plastics, everything pretty much repels water. But...
by Mark Bradford | Jan 5, 2025 | Podcasts
Welcome to 2025. As with last year, we are selecting the most helpful and useful episodes of the previous year. Of course I feel that all of the episodes are useful and helpful. Each one has a use, a point, and a tangible takeaway. Each one is a unique perspective on...
by Mark Bradford | Dec 29, 2024 | Podcasts
Resolutions—what works and what doesn’t and why. It’s really important that you don’t repeat the same things that didn’t work last time. You want to make this time to be different. Levels As we mentioned in the Labels episode, we like to label...
by Mark Bradford | Dec 15, 2024 | Podcasts
This is a separate article that goes with this podcast episode. it is not a transcript but rather an alternate summary of what the episode is about. NOTE: Depression, and worse (the meaning of “throwing away the container”) is a delicate subject. The truth...
by Mark Bradford | Dec 8, 2024 | Podcasts
Guess who has this one? 🙂 NOTE: As I’ve said before, these thirteen ‘states of being’ are not being looked at as an ‘ailment’ or a ‘disease’ or a disadvantage. Just as there are upsides to what some would consider a...
by Mark Bradford | Dec 4, 2024 | Podcasts
Social Media and You If you’re on social media, whether it’s the Boomers Gone Wild of Facebook, the Graphic (in many ways) Instagram, the Millennial-Controlled Tiktok or the ‘business-oriented’ Linkedin, you will see the kind of posts I’m...
by Mark Bradford | Nov 27, 2024 | Podcasts
Exotic Cars When people purchase exotic cars, they are sometimes hit with something called deferred maintenance. As with many car buyers, they see the value of purchasing a car used. The positive of that is that they get a car they want at a dramatically reduced...
by Mark Bradford | Nov 17, 2024 | Podcasts
A new formula Here’s an interesting concept for you, just when you thought you understood that life is made of three things: Time, Energy and Resources. But after ll, this is alchemy. Time, Energy and Resources Alchemy for Life™ has always been about life being...
by Mark Bradford | Nov 10, 2024 | Podcasts
What is Positivity? You may think that ‘positivity’ doesn’t belong with such states of being as OCD, Anxiety, ADHD and the others featured in this 13-part series, but I think it does because it is markedly different than the average person....
by Mark Bradford | Nov 3, 2024 | Podcasts
Forced Emergency Responders and “Love Bombing.” Emergency Responders and the 2:00am call for a wooden spoon When we think of emergency responders, we think of paramedics and ambulances and firefighters and police. If you make widgets, no one is going to...
by Mark Bradford | Oct 27, 2024 | Podcasts
What is OCD? Do I have OCD? OCD stands for obsessive-compulsive disorder. It shares a symptom with ADHD in which you can be caught in a repetitive loop because of anxiety and stimulus. But it is different than ADHD. The reality of OCD The reality of OCD often...
by Mark Bradford | Oct 20, 2024 | Podcasts
Toddlers with chainsaws Are chainsaws bad? No. Should toddlers use them? No. We use chainsaws to perform a task, we don’t give them to toddlers because it is dangerous to do so and the toddlers don’t understand the balance of danger and functionality....
by Mark Bradford | Oct 13, 2024 | Podcasts
ADHD – Also known as Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. What is ADHD? Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. People with ADHD typically struggle with finding it difficult to focus. They are easily distracted in pursuit of stimulus. Sometimes the...
by Mark Bradford | Oct 9, 2024 | Podcasts
Anxiety – The feeling of stress, the activation of a fight-or-flight mode. Anxiety for some can be a fairly dull but constant sensation of having to attend to a problem—a nagging feeling that you need to take care of something. This can be from the demands of...
by Mark Bradford | Oct 1, 2024 | Podcasts
Gamification, Iconization and Tangibility Those are some crazy words. They’re fun and I like saying them. But what do they mean? My history I have always enjoyed looking at things as a system. It was only relatively recently that I realized that was what I was...
by Mark Bradford | Sep 22, 2024 | Podcasts
Are you creative? No matter what your job, career or calling is, no matter what hobbies you have or do not, you have creativity. What if we treat it as a separate skill? What happens then? You’ll be amazed. Join our free community at patreon to talk about it....
by Mark Bradford | Sep 15, 2024 | Podcasts
“I see systems” This is something I have said for a very long time. Once I learned that this was one of my core directives it all made sense. But what does that mean, and how can that help you? Let’s talk about the systems in your life. If you...
by Mark Bradford | Sep 8, 2024 | Podcasts
😎 NOTE: The members of the AFL Patreon Community heard this episode last week. They get them a week early. You can too. Join it for free! What is ADHD actually? The term ADHD gets thrown around a lot. People use it for everything to describe an actual condition in...
by Mark Bradford | Aug 31, 2024 | Podcasts
It’s time. After all these episodes, books, coaching, and articles, it’s time to approach this differently and give us a better way to connect with each other. We both deserve it. https://alchemyfor.life/podcasts/patreon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
by Mark Bradford | Aug 25, 2024 | Podcasts
I guarantee you will have a great day if you do this. And you might get a huge laugh out of it as well. Believe it or not this episode touches on and doubt, more experimental, psychology, and the holy Grail of positivity bias. All because your friend wants you to help...
by Mark Bradford | Aug 18, 2024 | Podcasts
A New Genre You are now part of the birth of a new genre—engagement fiction. I know it’s new because I just made it up. If you’re a type a personality*, then you probably enjoy your brain being fully engaged for your work. But when it comes time for play,...
by Mark Bradford | Aug 11, 2024 | Podcasts
You’re probably selfish for a good reason. If not, your definition of selfishness is what’s stopping you from taking care of yourself properly. This is not about self-care and self-love. It’s about something entirely different....
by Mark Bradford | Aug 4, 2024 | Podcasts
You might be giving too much power to something in your life, just because you gave it a LABEL. See labels for more on labels in: If you use them you’ll get smarter (or dumber) https://alchemyfor.life/podcasts/news.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe:...
by Mark Bradford | Jul 27, 2024 | Podcasts
How much real estate do you own? A fascinating way to look at one of The Big Three…. https://alchemyfor.life/podcasts/re.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe:...
by Mark Bradford | Jul 22, 2024 | Podcasts
Phrases and mantras We all have phrases we can readily repeat. Some of us have important phrases that have made an impact on us. Some of us (like me) even have a mantra we live by. The most impactful Doing an inventory, I came up with three phrases that have had the...
by Mark Bradford | Jul 15, 2024 | Podcasts
Have you ever been stood up? The origin of the term has many folksy definitions. I encourage you to look it up as many are sort of saucy, But we recognize this meaning someone did not show up as planned for a meeting, and usually includes them not reaching out or...
by Mark Bradford | Jul 7, 2024 | Podcasts
The right and the wrong way to approach a networking event Most of my episodes are about experimental psychology, how to deal with and manage time, energy and resources, or a unique concept I’d like you to consider. Sometimes the episode is a purely...
by Mark Bradford | Jul 2, 2024 | Podcasts
Advice Who doesn’t like giving advice? Who doesn’t like receiving it? Wait, put your hands down, that was rhetorical. In all seriousness sometimes we need to ask for advice (we can’t all be in a bubble) and we are lucky that someone values our wisdom...
by Mark Bradford | Jun 24, 2024 | Podcasts
The olden days of voice only In the olden days when people wanted to collaborate they would jump on a conference call vs. jumping on a video call. It was extremely common to have a number of calls during any given week, and the larger the business the more conference...
by Mark Bradford | Jun 18, 2024 | Podcasts
Sometimes you get the chance to see something from two perspectives. Sometimes both perspectives come from the same person. Sometimes that person is you. The fun part Here’s a quick 10-minute episode on how and why this happens, and how you can use it not only...
by Mark Bradford | Jun 14, 2024 | Podcasts
Remember the How Do You Have Time For This? episode? If not, check it out. I talked about how more than once I’ve been asked “How do you have time for that” when I chat about books, speaking, podcasts, projects, etc. And my answer to them is always...
by Mark Bradford | Jun 7, 2024 | Podcasts
Parasympathetic Nervous System The network of nerves that creates the system that’s known for the ‘rest and digest’ feelings is the parasympathetic nervous system. This system is what aids in digestion, slows your heart rate and give you general...
by Mark Bradford | May 28, 2024 | Podcasts
Stroke support Group Recently, I sat in on a stroke support group. The group was for both the individuals who experienced strokes as well as their caretakers/family members. I had the blessing of the admin staff to do so. Was it uncomfortable? Yes did I feel out of...
by Mark Bradford | May 26, 2024 | Podcasts
Knowing your strengths Do you know your strengths some people do and some people don’t. If you do know your strengths, there is something about them. You may not realize and that’s the subject of this podcast. Stretching too far Sometimes when we approach...
by Mark Bradford | May 11, 2024 | Podcasts
What is an iteration? An iteration is an updated version of something built upon its previous version. But, and iteration can also be another separate version. Examples of iterations When someone bakes a cake, they can create a cake that has chocolate filling, vanilla...
