Maneesh Singh Sethi is an Internet entrepreneur and bestselling author. He is also the editor-and-chief of Hack the System and the CEO of Pavlok. He has already authored 4 books and has worked in diverse fields like marketing, information technology, and psychology.
In his blog, Hack the System, he provides consummate guides to hacking productivity, languages, habit, exercise, and business. The chairman and chief executive officer of Behavioral Technology Group, Inc. is also best known as the genius behind the behavior modification wristband Pavlok.
Designed with habit research and the latest science, Pavlok is a behavioural training device that makes use of aversive conditioning. Aversive conditioning is primarily behavior training that uses negative association and stimuli in order to reaffirm a particular action as undesirable.
Maneesh has been travelling the world since 2008 and has founded several companies. The Stanford University graduate has also lectured at conferences and universities around the world. Through his personal coaching and online marketing master class, he has successfully guided countless students to become expert lifestyle designers.
Maneesh has been featured on Zenhabit, Four Hour Workweek Blog, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, and many others. His passions include film, writing, and music.
The Episode
This week’s episode talks about what Pavlok is and how it works, how negative reinforcement can be a good thing in the long term, and the power of making bets.
Maneesh also shares how they used the negative plus positive reinforcement loop, the formula that creates consistent explosive growth in both yourself and your business, and what his ultimate life goal is.
On creating successful habit change, Maneesh has this to say, “To make a habit change, there’s only one variable which matters and that’s consistency, it’s number of days in a row in which you do a behavior.”
Scott Keyes is the founder and CEO of Scott’s Cheap Flights. In 2013, he found a flight deal he just can’t pass out on—a $130 roundtrip from New York City to Milan. When he returned home, his friends and colleagues asked him to let them know the next time he finds a great deal. In a nutshell, that’s how Scott’s Cheap Flights came about.
Scott’s Cheap Flights aims to enable people to travel and see and experience the world. Unlike automated flight deals and alerts sent out by way of affiliated links, they leverage their team of human flight experts and innovative software to provide meticulously-vetted and high quality deals that are worth their members’ time and money.
To date, Scott’s Cheap Flights has around 1.6 million members (and growing each day!). The total amount of airfare their deals have helped members save is already at a whopping $100 million! Scott’s Cheap Flights is ran by a remote team with members situated in many parts of the world. Undoubtedly, they are making people's travel dreams attainable, one deal at a time!
So far, Scott has visited a total of 46 countries. He lists Oaxaca, Mexico as his favourite destination. He runs Scott’s Cheap Flights with co-founder and COO, Brian Kidwell.
This week’s episode talks about how Scott’s Cheap Flights work, the key things people who want to find cheap flights should do, and the premise of what he does today.
Scott also shares what the 24-hour rule is, the holy grail of the cheap flights world, and the cheapest time to book a flight.
On finding the best flight deals, Scott has this to say, “The better the deal is, the shorter it’s going to last. So finding about them early and being able to book early is really really key.”
Casey Fenton is the founder of the largest trust experiment of all time—CouchSurfing. CouchSurfing is a hospitality and social networking service that gives its 15 million members access to offer hospitality and lodging, arrange homestays, and join events like the “Couch Crashes.”
CouchSurfing was first conceived in 1999, when Casey was just 21 years old. On April 2, 2003, CouchSurfing International Inc. was formed and was listed as a New Hampshire nonprofit organisation. The CouchSurfing site was launched on June 12, 2004 with the help of Sebastien Le Tuan, Leonardo Silveira, and CouchSurfing co-founder, Dan Hoffer. Casey was also the executive director of CouchSurfing until 2012. He also served as founding chairman of the board.
Casey, who has dedicated his life to understanding how to build cooperative trust systems is also the CEO and founder of Upstock, a privately held company which he founded in 2015. Based in San Francisco, California, the company helps businesses accomplish big goals by helping employees believe and think like entrepreneurs. The company also combines true and vetted elements of $1M+ Fortune 1000 equity plans.
The keynote and TEDx speaker has also worked as director of Internet strategy for Tony Knowles, the governor of Alaska. From 2002 to 2004, he also worked as legislative aide for the Alaska State House Minority Leader. After exiting as CEO of CouchSurfing, Casey became part of multiple startups like Wonder App and Upstock.
This week’s episode talks about the reason Casey chose the term couch surfing and how the whole idea for the project came about, what led him to the path of hacking his ego, and what diversity mindset is.
Casey also shares why he thinks diversity is important to survival, his take on trust, and how to do self-talk right.
As far as the biggest ego hack there is, Casey has this to say, “For social cohesion, people become what you tell them they are.”
Ryan and Samantha Looney are avid travelers and the brilliant couple behind “Our Travel Passport.” Samantha also functions as the brand’s creative director while Ryan is the director of marketing and cinematographer. Shortly after they got married, Ryan and Samantha began traveling the world and fell in love with it. From their earlier travels, they realized they want to make travel a priority and would like to share their trips and experiences with their friends and loved ones back home. Essentially, that’s how “Our Travel Passport” came to be.
After traveling to more than 20 countries together, Samantha and Ryan turned “Our Travel Passport” into a content creation firm that produces video and photo content in exotic destinations the world over. They also conduct online workshops for those who would like to create epic videos, take amazing travel photos, and scale their social media platforms.
The couple also uses their blog, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media channels to motivate and inspire others to see the world, appreciate different cultures, and spend more time on travel adventures with family and friends.
This week’s episode talks about the strategies Ryan and Samantha used to reach out to potential clients, how they were able to establish trust with their audience, and what they did to get people to connect and engage with them.
Ryan and Samantha also shares the reason why they chose to focus on videography and photography, what their mission is, and what their recommendations are to those who would like to travel and still stay on top of their finances.
For those who would like to travel, Samantha has this to say, “It’s not scary going out into the world and it’s actually you know, you create a better environment and earth and world for everyone when you are exploring and meeting new people and having new experiences.”