Matt Javit - Contact via www.passportjoy.com

Matt Javit is another Funky Thinker who opted out of the rat race to do something more fulfilling.

Since February 2017, he has travelled the world full time with his wife.

My old boss used to say that there were only TWO constants in life - people always have to eat and have their hair cut.

Matt has spotted the cultural impact of men going to have their hair cut.

Think about it - when you go for a hair cut - the barber wraps a cape/smock thing around you.

No fiddling on a phone - your hands are tethered.

You just gotta sit there and take in what is happening around you.

So Matt documents this in his YouTube series - world barber shop adventures.

A sample episode is below.

We also discussed the mechanics of getting things done when you don't speak the language.

Clue - money is important - as is politeness and respect.

David Blaine is the person Matt would most want to be stuck in a lift with.

A sample video is below and no I don't know how he did it either - do you?

Plus the classic story of a random fan giving public enemy a lift to their own gig

A quick trip round the rights and wrongs of free calling apps (Matt prefers phone call over text) and sports teams that play in blue and that is Funky Thinkers episode 113.

Dave Blum - Contact via www.drclue.com

Hands up anyone who has been on one of those corporate team building sessions.

Now keep your hands up if you wanted to strangle your fellow team members at the end of the session...

Not so with Funky Thinker 112 - Dave Blum.

Dave runs team building events as scavenger hunts. Anywhere in the world. Solving puzzles, riddles and more. Better than planning to build a dam wall with a few old newspapers and some sticky tape. right?

Also cropped up - trail running & change of lifestyle generally.

Dave would like to get stuck in a lift (or elevator) with Gene Wilder. (Willy Wonka, Blazing saddles and a whole stack more).

Bruce Springsteen cropped up - I think for the first time - as did Elvis Costello - definitely the first time and definitely definitive 1977 cool.

Laura Bautista - Contact via FaceBook

 Laura is a wellness coach.

We talked about moving from where you know and grew up to another part of the country.

Plus the pros and cons of doing this when you don't know anybody...

Meditation cropped up (again) as did the power of personal attention when sending a text vs calling someone on the phone or visiting face to face.

See the insight video for a quick peek at this.

Drinking (water) - Aim to drink half your bodyweight in ounces.

Example - If you weight 150 pounds - you need to drink 75 ounces in water every day. That's almost 4 pints - everyday.

HIP HOP has developed a bit of a bad reputation.

Laura named some people I embarrassingly never heard of. But we agreed that without knowing what goes into someones lifestyle and upbringing - it is pretty hard to make a judgement on what they are saying.

The old "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" thing springs to mind.

We talked about internal vs external validations - Clue - If you are one of those people who worry about what other people think about you - you need to listen to this episode.

The big insight from this duologue was Laura's instinctive observation about when to use text versus when to use the phone or face to face.

If you are short for time - and you do nothing else on this page - you should watch the video below.

Heather Vickery - Contact via https://vickeryandco.com/

Heather Vickery is a success coach and podcast host.

No video insight on this one - but we talked a lot about parenting, single parenting and nature vs nurture.

Heather recommended a book called "Nurture shock" which I have linked to

The "T" word - Trump cropped up and we talked about him for longer than is usual.

Plus - a story about the first person that Barack Obama told that he won the election.

Imagine being THAT PERSON. You hadn't seen it on the news or TV or whatever. BARACK OBAMA tells you that he has won the election and wants a picture with YOU.

Note - this person wasn't Heather - the story is included to GET YOU THINKING about possibilities - about insights and circumstances that you wouldn't normally get.

Bizarrely, The Police - rock group cropped up again. Sting, Stuart Copeland and Andy Summers.

If you have never heard or seen The Police - have a look at one of the coolest intro's to a song ever.

Lisa- Marie PLatske - Contact via https://upsidethinking.com/

Lisa-Marie Platske put a bit of a fly in the oitment as far as the carefully prepared questions go.

As I have said before - although they may look flippant and easy. They are harder than they appear.

Lisa-Marie blasted a whole - port side - through the desert Island question.

If you are pushed for time - be sure to watch the insight video below. It will give you the skinny.

Will children born today have better or worse lives than their parents?

The answer - it depends - opportunity is everywhere. You just have to know where to look.

Lisa-Marie shared with us how her life flashed before her in a market square in Ethiopia.

What would you do if you thought you were going to die? (Maybe I should start to include that as a question). What do you think?

Lisa-Marie came up with a new phrase - "Connection is the new currency" which we are adding to the Funky Thinkers stable.

John Clark - Connect via LinkedIn

Jon Clark came on my radar because he had set up a movement for the independence of northern england.

This didn't crop up on the call - but he did share off mic. that he wasn't sure where to take it or what to do with it.

BUT movement for the independence of northern england as an acronym of MINE. I suspect that his intention is to do a slow burning online campaign.

We did talk about being known and more famous in Australia (or somewhere else in the world) than you are in your hometown.

Of course, with the internet - this is entirely possible - even desirable...

The inner game of Tennis - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inner-Game-Tennis-ultimate-performance/dp/1447288505  - is the bible of all modern sports psychology.

Much the same as Funky Thinker Ronan reckons that Psycho-Cybernetics is the bible on which all self help books are based on.

I still haven't read it yet - Psycho-Cybernetics - I have too big a pile of Tony Robbins books to get through first... (joke)

Why do people say "like" all the time?

We (John and myself) agree that it is a combination of a mental clearing the throat and a verbal tick - transferred to and from similar people you hang out with.

Joel Wohl - Contact via https://www.linkedin.com/in/askjoel/

Joel pointed out that everything is newer in the US versus the UK.

New Jersey vs Jersey, New England vs England.

You get the idea.

Initially I asked Joel his views on LinkedIn videos - for it is this which first brought him onto my radar.

You can watch the insight video below to get a taster.

Children grew up much simpler way back when.

You didn't have to call ahead to make sure that someone was free - you just took a ball or a bat and went round.

If Joel was stranded on a desert island, he would just do what the DHL advert does and get everything brought in. The ad is below.

Easy - forget all this survival nonsense. Maybe that is the real takeaway of the question - that no where in the world is uncontactable nowadays.

George Clooney or Brad Pitt would play Joel in a film. The George Clooney advert I refer to is below.

Connect with Joel on LinkedIn

Ada Cheng - Contact via http://www.renegadeadacheng.com/

Ada Cheng is a former University Professor and lecturer turned speaker and story teller.

On the show, I have a rule of no swearing, no politics and no religion and funnily enough, in answer to the question

"What makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it?"

Ada's response was - "swearing, politics and religion"

Nice easy one there then...

Ada sang along to Phil Collins - No jacket required - sample below.

And on a more serious theme, a story of out and out discrimination she experienced - you will have to listen to the full episode to find out what it was.

Ada would like to be stuck in a lift (elevator) with Patti Smith, Elton John and David Bowie.

Dana Pharant - contact via www.danapharant.com

Dana Pharant would make a terrible employee...

She said so herself...

The T word (Trump) cropped up again - followed by a general discussion about victim thinking.

Concrete sequential thinking cropped up again.
 Concrete sequential thinking is the way that normalites survive life.

They focus on the block of 6 x 6 concrete that is in front of their eyes.

See the insight video below about showing employees how to do something so well that they want to do it like that FOREVER...

Dana would sing along to Madonna as a teenager. As someone who has reinvented herself numerous times - Madonna is a bit of a Funky Thinker.

Lucinda Bakken White - Contact via http://authenticwildness.com/

Lucinda Bakken White bought the American dream. One of external validation of accomplishments and decided to get a refund.

We now know this as the trauma of conspicuous consumption.

That is - buying stuff to impress other people (remember - social media didn't exist in the 1980's).

We now know (or at least the show does after carrying out over 100 duologue episodes that the trauma of conspicuous consumption is a short term fix - doomed to end in unhappyness, guilt, rage, debt and/or all of the above.

Botswana cropped up for the first time - as did the Kalahari desert. Plus - next time you are out - use ALL your five senses...