This is a continuation of my conversation with Harry Duran. If you haven’t listened to the previous episode, please go back to Episode 40 to listen to the start of the conversation, which focuses on how cultivating an abundance mentality can help in one’s success journey. Sometimes that starts with investing in yourself and investing in others for personal growth, but without sounding too woo-woo, having that generosity of heart can also lead to more good things in the future. It also discusses how to experience growth outside one’s comfort zone. 

In this episode, Part II we dive into how to get into a zen mindset from meditation and being present. We also get into short form and local podcasting and more.Who is Harry?Harry Duran is Founder of FullCast, a full-service, done-for-you podcast production and marketing consultancy. He helps six-figure entrepreneurs amplify their authority and extend their reach through the power of podcasting.

As Host of the popular Podcast Junkies on iTunes for the past 3 years, Harry has had conversations with a wide array of interesting and engaging podcasters. Some of his most memorable guests have included Marc Maron, Executive Producer Brendan McDonald, Lea Thau, Host of Strangers, Helen Zaltzman, Host of The Allusionist, and Jordan Harbinger, Host of The Art of Charm, just to name a few.

Harry has given talks at podcasting conferences on the importance of finding your voice and the importance of long-term engagement with your podcast guests. Harry shares lessons learned from his first 25 interviews in his first book, Around the Podcast Campfire: Conversations with Engaging Podcasters.

As a consultant and coach, Harry empowers clients to augment their content marketing through the power of a podcast. As a speaker, Harry challenges leaders to understand the importance of finding their unique voice.Quotes from HarryI think it's that connection and I always tell people—when I've been starting to speak on stages—I just need to connect with one person. I don't care if there's ten people in the room or one thousand, and so far it's been happening. Like one person or two people would come up to me and be like, 'You know that one thing you said really resonated with me,' and I'm like, 'Done! I'm glad!' Just want to connect with one person because I think too often speakers feel the need to get the standing ovation or get everyone laughing at all their jokes and all that stuff but that just comes with time. Pick one or two people in the audience, make eye contact, have a real one-to-one so you still feel like you're talking to another human being (2:55)I was just aware that I was like making an effort to maintain a connection and it takes a little bit of work and I'm not saying it's something that should be hard but when you're conscious of it, you know, whatever you put your attention to—you know where attention goes, energy flows—that's where I started feeling that's important for me to do, so I was more aware of it during the conferences those few days. I'm like 'okay one real connection, one real conversation.' And then I realized I had a lot of meaningful conversations throughout the course of the week. (6:09)

On Starting a Meditation PracticeIt doesn't have to be a lot in the beginning, you know when people get stressed out, 'Oh, I don't have half an hour or 15 minutes' or 'I don't know what do.' Just take 5 minutes, you can't get it wrong.You literally just close your eyes and if all you do is think about paying your bills for the next 5 minutes, and then you open your eyes, that's fine...you'll keep getting better and better, just keep doing it. It's just one of those things that keeps getting better the more you do it. (9:12)On Starting a Podcast Don't overthink it. In the beginning, you're gonna have ideas that you might think are silly but there's nothing that says you can't record it and not do anything with it. A lot of times people are like,