Ian Filippini Interview

Ian Filippini is a travel writer based out of Santa Barbara. Filippini has recently launched a series of digital travel publications where he lends his years of travel experience and extensive knowledge of Santa Barbara. When he’s not traveling, Filippini is an active member of the Santa Barbara business community and enjoys trying new cuisines.

Hi Ian, thanks for your time today. I love to travel myself, I love seeing how other cultures live, I love the food and the art... what is it about traveling that really appeals to you? What motivates you to get out and explore?

There are several things that I like about traveling. When I travel it is a new experience every time, even if I go to a place I have been before. Also, when I travel it is as if I am on a trip of self-discovery. I learn something new about myself every time I leave home. Traveling to another location allows me to see different cultures and to learn new languages. Whenever I travel, I try new foods and see things I have never seen before. Above all, traveling away from home gives me a chance to just go out and party.

I am motivated to travel and explore by the prospect of breaking the everyday routine. I like to get out of work and home and see and try new things. Particularly, I like to see and do things that are once in a lifetime experiences. Traveling to locations away from home will almost ensure that you get to enjoy sights and activities that you would never enjoy at home. It is my self-assessment that I have something of wanderlust. In my opinion, it is never good for someone to stay in the same place too long. The human spirit needs new and different experiences.

I particularly love your restaurant reviews... what do you look for in a great dining experience?

When I dine out the quality of a restaurant’s beef is what tells me everything about a location. In my opinion, how good the meat is everything. Steak and potato is the first thing I look for at almost any restaurant that I visit. When the meat is good, everything else falls into line. For example, when the steak is cooked well and tastes good; I can ensure that the appetizers, deserts, and sides will all be excellent. The quality of the food also transcends to the cleanliness of the establishment and how good the service staff treats customers.

What is it about Santa Barbara that really appeals to you?

Santa Barbara offers vacation territory like no other. When you go to Santa Barbara, the “American Rivera”, the main attractions are the beach, the food, and the wine. Also, it is a good place to go shop and have a spa day.

I've actually never been to Santa Barbara myself, but I'd love to now. I'm really adventurous... what is the one thing I should definitely, absolutely check out in Santa Barbara?

For the ideal day in Santa Barbara, purchase some of the local wine, grown and bottled less than 50 miles from where you’ll drink it. Then, grab your favorite snacks that you combine with wine. After you’ve got your provisions, head to the beach and spend a day in the sun while eating, drinking, and enjoying the view of the Pacific.

Thanks so much for your time Ian, it's been an absolute pleasure!

Interview with The Crazy Mind

Just a quick little interview with The Crazy Mind.

Full interview is linked here : http://www.thecrazymind.com/2017/01/australian-ninja-warrior.html

Interview with Pro Media Mag

I was interviewed by Pro Media Mag to help increase the profile of the new website Australian Ninja Warrior... it was a good interview and can be found here:

http://www.pmlngroup.com/get-ready-for-australian-ninja-warrior-with-adam-waring/

www.aussieninjawarrior.com.au

Super quick post!

I've sold www.australianninjawarrior.com.au to Channel 9, and now have to pretty much start all over again with www.aussieninjawarrior.com.au.  Still it's really exciting, and I can't wait to see what happens in 2017!

Bring on all the good times Australian Ninja Warrior!

Interview with Marilyn Cortez

Hi everyone!

This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Marilyn Cortez. 

Adam: Hi Marilyn, thank you so much for giving us some of your time!  I hear you’re quite busy with your career (actor, producer, AND stuntwoman) but I’m actually super interested in all the other things you get up to when you’re not working.  How long have you been doing Shaolin Kungfu?

Marilyn: Kung-Fu I have doing it for about 10 years. I had the best martial arts teacher anyone can find, he invested a lot of time with me and taught me various styles including Capoeira. Those teachers do not come around often. I competed in several tournaments. I always had an interest in Martial Arts, but back home all I could do was Shotokan-Do, I did that style for a few years. Until I moved to the United States and here, I found all sorts of Martial Arts style. I don’t compete anymore but I do make sure I practice my forms so I don’t forget!

Adam: Haha, don't forget!  Your teacher sounds incredible! I did Kung Fu myself for a while and loved it… it probably made me the fittest I’ve ever been but is it true that you also do Crossfit and Boxing as well?  That’s incredible.

Marilyn: Yes, Boxing, I have always been a fan of boxing since I was a little girl. One of my favourite boxers is Roberto Duran (Hands of Stone), I learned how to jump rope because of him. Crossfit I find it very challenging but it is one of those workout where I can achieve a great exercise in a short time. I try to mix it up as much as possible.

Adam: Israel and Turkey are a couple of your favourite places to visit… have you been to Istanbul?  I spent a week there and can’t wait to go back.  I can’t think of many cities that has had such a rich, interesting, and conflict-heavy history, I found that really fascinating.  What do you love about traveling?  Do you have plans to travel anywhere special in 2017?

Marilyn: I love to travel. I have been traveling for 20 years. Yes, I was in Istanbul. I remember going to a market and having the best shrimp ever. I love meeting the local people and learning their culture. I can tell you, for example; in the countries that I have been what my favourite food there was. In Israel, I ate lamb for the first time in my life, and I had loved lamb since then. In France, I had the best bread and crepes. In Finland, I remember having the best salmon soup and Egypt some sort of rice mixed with stuff, I do not know what that stuff  was but it was good. And I could keep going but the list would  be long very long. In summary what I love about traveling is the food, the people I meet , the culture and history of those countries. Yes, I think my next trip God willing would be to Australia, which I have never been and possibly Antarctica.

Adam: Haha, that's great.  Food is obviously a big part of a nation's culture.  I'm Australian and I haven't even seen enough of Australia, it's so big.  I've had a few friends go to Antarctica, and tourism might be restricted in future to protect that environment... might need to get onto it soon.

Obviously, your fans are well-versed in your movie credits, but is there anything you’d like to share with us about your hobbies, and how you spend your time when you’re not on set? 

Marilyn: When I am not on set, I love to catch up on reading. I love reading books . And I love going to the movies. I love  spending time with my dogs: Bruno and Rambo. At the moment, I am trying to learn Hebrew so I would put some time into that when I am not on set. I like to go running, it clears my mind, if I am having a stressful day, running will make it a lot better.

Adam: Thanks again for spending time with us Marilyn, it was such a pleasure!

Interview by Obstacle Racers Australia.

I was very excited to be approached by Obstacle Racers Australia to do a little article on little ol me. While I've enjoyed the articles and interviews I've done in the past, this one is really very much in the field I'm interested in.  They're really close to my own blog/website in their intention, they want to spread the obstacle course love... just like me.

Here is the link to their article:
Aussie Ninja by Obstacle Racers Australia

Hope you like it!

Marcus the Motivator

Marcus the Motivator has written an extremely helpful and unsurprisingly motivating book on how to be successful and keep your actions firmly aligned with your goals.  Excited about his new book, we sought to interview him to find out more and Marcus was extremely generous with his time!

Have you always been motivated yourself, or did something happen to shake you up and give you purpose?

I have always found myself quite motivated, I would always be pushing myself to be competitive at different sports whilst growing up, but it wasn’t until a close friend hit a rough patch and I was able to help him through those tough times that I realised that motivating people was my thing. When I started I wasn’t very good at it either, but I had a natural instinct and talent for it and after a lot of repetition and practice things started to really click. I just love the feeling of being able to help people and assist them to become their better self.

That's great!  I have to admit that helping someone else grow is even more exciting than actually growing yourself sometimes.  How did you find the book writing process? How did you keep your own motivation up while locking yourself away to produce "The Pinnacle of Motivation"?

I guess for me writing the book was just a matter of keep writing no matter what, even if I couldn’t think of something good to write, I would write anyway, I wrote a lot and ended up getting rid of maybe 90% of it but the 10% I did keep would become the book and I find this process works best for me, if I don’t feel like writing I do it anyway, if I don’t know what to write I do it anyway, even if what I write makes no sense I keep going, because I know at some point I will hit that magical point where everything is flowing and something magical comes out, sometimes it truly feels like an out of body experience, almost like somebody else is writing it for me.

That's incredible!  You've almost written 9 books to get to the essence of one great one!

Can you tell us one of your hardest case? Who did you struggle to inspire?

I guess a great example is a video testimonial I have from a man named Andrew, someone who came to me in a great time of need who I am proud to now call a friend. Andrew was referred to me by a mutual friend, Andrew was in desperate trouble having gambled away a significant amount of money but the problem with that was as we discovered that gambling was his true calling, being a mathematical genius he is able to spot patterns and find amazing situations where it’s not really gambling because he knows it’s going to work. So when someone’s biggest obstacle is also their biggest advantage it becomes difficult, as an example if someone has a drinking problem well you can help them stop drinking but this case was completely different. Andrew had reached the point where he was just being silly and self-destructive, he basically knew bets would lose and would bet on them anyway instead of doing what a normal person in that situation would do which is bet on what they know is a high likelihood of winning. It took a lot of work and I had to take him in living with me so that I could fully immerse him to positivity and we implemented various plans including punishment vs reward system for positive reinforcements of winning bets etc. Long story short he’s now extremely successful and I am truly proud of who he is now, there’s quite an in depth testimonial on my Facebook page where Andrew gives his side of it.

Marcus, that's hugely generous of you.  I feel like all of us get into bad patterns, that we know aren't good for us but do anyway... How could a normal person maintain enthusiasm and motivation during the less fun moments of working towards their goals?

By reading my book haha I have actually specifically created chapters around different situations and scenarios in life where people need motivation. The book works on its own from start to finish which I encourage people to read the first time, but there are various chapters designed to refer back to at different stages of life. When things are going bad, it’s very rare that absolutely everything is going bad, sometimes it’s important to take a step back and focus on everything that is going right, understand that we can’t always change what happens to us we can change how we feel about it and most negatives bring with them positives even if it doesn’t seem that way and trying to find the positive out of the negative. Obviously it’s much more detailed than this but these are the basics and at my events and in my book I cover how you can do this even when you absolutely do not want to or feel like it and also how to prepare for these situations because you can guarantee bad stuff will happen in your life and if you’re prepared in advance its much easier to deal with it using autopilot instincts vs dealing with it unprepared as it happens.

Where can readers find you?

Website: www.marcusthemotivator.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marcusthemotivator