Most people are stacking up regrets because they're missing opportunities they were too hesitant to take.

Fred Joyal grew 1-800-DENTIST from a single phone number into a billion-dollar referral business over 30 years. But it was only when he looked back at his own journey from shy and underconfident to genuinely bold that he realized boldness is the real superpower, and it is a skill anyone can learn.

In this episode of Get Yourself Optimized, Fred breaks down exactly what it takes to build boldness systematically, market a book in today's digital-first world, and stop letting other people's opinions run your life.

What we unpacked together:

• Why boldness is a skill, not a trait, and how to build it one action at a time

• The real needle movers for book marketing in a world with three and a half million podcasts

• Why digital and audio versions of your book are the only formats that are actually growing

• How to use one-star reviews on competitor books as free competitive intelligence

• The one mindset shift that bold people share: other people's opinions of me are none of my business

If you've ever held back when you should have stepped up, in business, in relationships, or in life, this episode is your nudge.

🎧 Listen now

What if dying felt like waking up from a bad dream?

Rosemary Thornton, author, journalist, and near-death experiencer, describes her death not with fear, but with relief. After losing her husband to suicide, receiving a Stage 2 cancer diagnosis, and bleeding to death on an operating table, she found herself floating through a velvety blackness, giggling, grateful, and completely at peace.

And then she came back—healed.

In this week's episode of Get Yourself Optimized, Rosemary shares what she saw, heard, and felt during her temporary death experience, including:

• The three words that summed up her entire experience of heaven

• How a seven-foot angel appeared in her church pew and told her to write her book

• What happened to her Stage 2 cancer after she returned from the other side

• Why does she call it a 'temporary death experience'—not a near-death experience

• The simple prayers and daily habits that have kept her grounded ever since

This isn't a story about dying. It's a story about coming home.

The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at www.getyourselfoptimized.com/559

Most people hate selling because they've been taught to do it wrong.

The moment you label yourself the same as everyone else in your market, you become a brown box — and brown boxes compete on price. But when you reframe your positioning, build buying energy before the call, and guide your prospect to sell themselves, the whole game changes.

In this episode of Get Yourself Optimized, I sat down with Steve Brossman — sales positioning strategist, author of nine bestsellers, and creator of the Backpocket Guide to Self-Selling Secrets — who breaks down exactly why most knowledge professionals freeze when it comes to asking for money, and what to do instead.

What we unpacked together:

• Why your perceived position predicts your profits — and how to stop being a brown box

• The three levels of influence: imposed, collaborative, and self — and why self is the only one that lasts

• How to build so much buying energy that prospects ask YOU what the next steps are

• Why 'discovery calls' kill your close rate — and what to replace them with

• The neuroscience of annotation: why writing on your screen mid-call boosts engagement and action by up to 500%

If you sell your knowledge, your expertise, or your services and you've ever felt awkward asking for the money — this one's for you.

🎧 Listen now
https://www.getyourselfoptimized.com/558

🎁 Grab your free Backpocket Guide: stevebrossman.com/selfsell