119 – Goodbye (for Now), 2016 Reflections, and Looking Ahead to 2017

Weirdness and Success, fake news, Facebook warriors, and reflections on 2016.

The first half of the show starts with a new rule of thumb, the weirder you are at the start of your career the less likely you are to succeed and the weirder you are later in your career, the more likely you are to be successful.

In the second half, since it’s the end of the year, TK and Isaac are looking back and looking ahead. From big growth at Praxis, to family developments, and TK growing his hair out, a lot has happened in the past year.

Finally, the podcast news, the show will be on hiatus until at least the end of January. 

Topics Covered:

  • The correlation between time, weirdness, and success
  • Facebook warriors
  • Fake news
  • Merit beliefs vs. crony beliefs
  • Your power to change the past
  • Reflection’s on 2016
  • Looking forward to 2017
  • Learning to love the process and creating your structure in your life
  • Setting your sights high and acting like you’ve been there before

Links:

Recommendations:

If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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Rules of Ascendancy: Learn to the Task, Not the Test

I’m going to describe three types of people.  I call them average, elite, and ascendant.  One of the differences between the three is how they approach learning.

Pain, prestige, or purpose?

Average people learn what they need to avoid pain.  Elite people learn what they need to get the grade, ace the test, win the award, gain certification, impress people, and obtain honors.  Ascendant people don’t care about accolades or awards or tests or stickers or stars.  They learn exactly what’s needed to solve a problem that matters to them, exactly when it’s needed.  No more, no less.  No sooner, no later.

If you want to be average, avoid pain and learn like a lab rat.  If you want to be elite, bulk up on tons of just-in-case knowledge so you’ll never look dumb and you can chase prestige and external validation.  If you want to be ascendant – the best of the best creators, dreamers, doers, and rebels – find meaningful challenges and projects, pursue them, and learn what you need to complete them.

Tasks vs. tests

Mitchell Earl built a horrible website.  He got an ‘A’ for it.

The website sucked because Mitchell didn’t particularly want or need a website at the time.  It also sucked for the same reasons it helped him ace the computer class in which he built it.  He spent the semester on it.  It met all of the specific course requirements – hyperlinks, number of pages, content, layout – and followed the recommended steps.  It was meant to be a digital resume of sorts, but it was ugly and useless in the real world.  In fact, Mitchell didn’t use it after the class, as it would have lowered rather than raised his professional value.

Oh, and he didn’t remember any of the techniques he used to build the site once the class was over.

A few years later Mitchell was in Praxis and eager to improve his writing, build an audience, signal his value, and discover meaningful work for his entrepreneurial tendencies.  He wanted a good website.  So he built one in a few weeks.  He took some tips from the Praxis community, ignored others, picked up a few new skills via YouTube, and put together a great site.  To this day he can tell you how to integrate WordPress with opt-in forms, customize themes, improve SEO, get hosting setup, and a lot more.  (He used those skills to build a new website for his business partner, where he now works.)

When he had a specific task that was meaningful to him based on his own desires, Mitchell built a vastly superior product in far less time and retained specific skills that he had to pick up to do it.  He only learned exactly what the task demanded, not what the test required.  This made the learning faster, more intense, more fun, and more useful.

Just-in-time vs. just-in-case

My son is really into video games, art, design, and entertainment media.  He’s a creator.  Having learned myself the slow, hard way how important marketing and sales skills are to creators, I’m always trying to impart bits of wisdom to him.  He might need it when he decides to sell his creations some day!

He ignores me.

There’s nothing in his daily experience that demands the advice I supply.  It’s just an old guy giving him insight without any current context.  That’s exactly how I felt in college marketing classes.  There were all these words and charts and concepts and case studies that really didn’t mean anything for me.  Sure, someday when I’m trying to promote a product, “Target Market” will be important.  Yet when that day actually came, the classroom cramming did nothing for me anyway.  I aced my classes but had to learn from scratch how to market when I needed it to survive.  Any sooner and the info was worse than useless.  I developed a bias against what would later be important concepts because I despised being forced to chase grades by memorizing stuff that didn’t help me achieve my goals.

When it matters, once is enough

The entire modern education apparatus is built on just-in-case learning.  Better know how to multiply fractions, just in case you find yourself tasked with preparing a report on some data someday.  Better know when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, just in case…well I’m not really sure there even is a case for that one unless you want to be a guest on Jeopardy.  Otherwise Google it.

I talked to a bright young guy (an executive at a growing startup) who sent me a financial report to proof a few months ago.  I noticed a mistake.  He calculated the percentage increase from month to month incorrectly.  I pointed it out and sent a four-step explanation I found on Google, he laughed about forgetting, said thanks, fixed it and never had that problem again.

Yet how many hours had he been forced to sit in a classroom doing a unit on percentages?  And for what?  When he needed the knowledge – prior to an important board meeting – he found it fast.

Oh, and my son learned more about marketing in one evening of playing Mario Maker than I did from all those classes.

Real learning is hard but sneaky

I played a lot of LEGO as a kid.  My kids do now.  It’s a pastime full of pain, anguish, and maniacal, “Just one more minute I’m almost done”‘s late into the night.

When you have a vision for a build and you must – must – find a way to solve it with imperfect pieces, your brain is stretched and your creativity awakened.  It’s hard work that can even take a physical toll (ever bent over digging through a bin of plastic blocks for an hour?).  It’s frustrating.  But it’s deeply meaningful and fun.  You’re on nobody else’s timeline.  If I asked my kids if they were learning anything while playing they would laugh.

Yet I’m totally convinced, just like me, they’re learning more from LEGO than they would if I made them do algebra instead.

Real learning happens when you’re absorbed in solving a real problem, one that matters to you.  It took a complete abandonment of lessons and a deep personal interest in Calvin & Hobbes for my son to learn to read.  The same pattern can be spotted in all real learning.

Knowledge is overrated

Knowing a bunch of stuff isn’t that valuable.  Knowing what you need to know to solve a problem, reach a goal, or become a better version of yourself is hugely valuable.  Often this requires first figuring out what’s non-essential and ignoring it.  Conscious ignorance is hugely valuable.  What you don’t waste time or energy worrying about — what you don’t memorize just for prestige or fear of embarrassment — are what determine how much room you have left to learn what does matter.  (This is also why I advocate completely ignoring the news.)

Don’t be prepared, be hungry

It’s not about what you know, or even who you know.  It’s about what will improve your life, how to learn it, how much of it to learn, and when.

Goals and dreams are better than grades and information.  Meaningful tasks and challenges are better than memorized facts and textbooks.  Go do some cool stuff and go be what you want to be.  When you need to learn to take the next step, you will.  And it will be better than any arbitrary data-cram for any class.

Average people can learn the basics when shoved.  Elite people can learn that plus a bunch of other stuff that’s meaningful to others, not them.  Ascendant people discover who they are, who they want to be, and learn what it takes to close the gap between the two.

This is part of a series on the difference between average, elite, and ascendant.

Rules of Ascendancy: What it Means to Ascend

I’m going to describe three types of people.  I call them average, elite, and ascendant.  Average is good.  It’s not a bad thing to be average.  It won’t ruin you and you can have a good life.  Elite is great.  You can do things few do and achieve a lot, including a place in history.  Ascendancy is something else altogether.  Ascendant people are better than great, whether or not the world knows it.

Average people don’t try to change the world. Elite people try to be recognized for changing the world. Ascendant people work every single day to become a superior version of themselves and inevitably change the world as a result.

Average seeks safety, primarily motivated by pain avoidance.  Elite seeks social esteem, primarily motivated by prestige and external validation.  Ascendant seeks something no one else can give; the self-actualization and restless contentment of a life lived fully alive and in pursuit of whatever their ‘it’ is.

The point is not to condemn being average or elite, but to describe three different approaches to a variety of situations in hope that we can learn what it takes to ascend when and where we are willing.  In reality, no one is ever fully average, elite, or ascendant.  We’re more or less these categories in different areas of life.

You may be ascendant in your business, hobby, fitness, or family life while being average or elite in other areas.  Striving for ascendancy in more areas of life is a ceaseless and difficult journey.

I settle for average in a number of areas.  I love music, but I haven’t ever mustered the will to go beyond average.  I play it safe, keep music to myself, and avoid embarrassment or failure.  I find myself fighting the elite plateau in many things – writing included – where a certain type of success or praise begins to draw me away from genuine growth and progress.  The formula for likes and clicks and fans is a powerful draw for any creator.

Ascent is hard.  Really hard.

It’s probably easier to go from average to ascendant than it is to go from elite to ascendant.  Average and elite both share characteristics with ascendancy, but the shared characteristics of average and ascendant are in some ways more fundamental.  Elite and ascendant share drive, hard work, and risk-taking.  Average and ascendant share unpretentiousness, inward focus, and a higher degree of self-awareness.

More importantly, elite is valuable and rare, and therefore the move to ascendancy is more costly.  Prestige is very hard to give up.  Good reputations can be both a propellant and a tether.  This is what Jesus meant when he talked about a rich man reaching the kingdom of God being harder than a camel passing through the eye of a needle.  He didn’t mean riches were bad, nor did he say it was impossible.  The lesson was simple: when you have more to lose, you’ll have a harder time ascending.

I’ll explore the average, elite, and ascendant approaches to a number of situations.  Most are from personal observation of people through the Praxis program and my own life experiences.  There is a truly unique approach to life that only the rarest remnant – the best of the best, better than great – have.  That’s what I wish to capture, describe, and constantly move towards.

It’s up to you if and when you wish to pursue ascendancy for yourself.  The cost is great, but the reward is greater.

This is part of a series on the difference between average, elite, and ascendant.

118-How to Motivate People: Talk Less, Do More.

This week’s episodes kicks off with a question:

“Hey Isaac, I know somebody who is close to me and has no motivation to do anything valuable and is just sucked into video games. I want nothing more than to help this person find their passion and to unlock some ambition that I know is there, but I’m not sure how to do it. Do you have any advice for helping unlock those doors for people?”

How do you motivate others? Should you even try?

TK and Isaac discuss challenges and traps involved with attempting to influence people around you before jumping into thoughts on Jesus and politics and self-discipline.

Topics Covered:

  • How do you motivate people in your life
  • Why are so many people ashamed of their desires
  • Jesus and politics
  • Freeing yourself from the myth of political authority
  • Self-discipline mush be selfish and why you need to stop obey imagined authorities
  • Figuring out what you really want

Links:

If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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117 – How to Create Social Change: Isaac on The Social Change Podcast

What causes social change?

Is it the “right politicians getting elected? Investment in non-profits? Or entrepreneurs creating experiences that change beliefs?

Isaac was recently interviewed on The Social Change Podcast about his theory of social change. He covers his intellectual evolution about how social change happens, from politics, to non-profit, to founding Praxis.

Learn why politics is not the way to create a better world and how Praxis contributes to Isaac’s mission of making people free.

Topics Covered:

  • Why politicians aren’t ideological
  • Public choice theory
  • The beliefs of the masses are changed through experiences
  • Uber as an example of social change
  • Actions are more important than opinions
  • How Praxis helps create a freer world

Links:


This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.


If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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116 – The Roundabout Approach to Relationships

Relationships (or the lack of) cause a lot of stress for a lot of people. Young people especially tend to think that finding the right partner will solve their problems, so they dedicate a massive amount of time, energy, and attention in the attempt to attract members of the opposite sex.

And it doesn’t work.

The desperate approach leaves them with the same problems or worse, spending all their time with people they don’t like.

What if the solution is to focus on something else entirely?

This is the idea we explore today on the podcast.

Topics Covered:

  • Christmas music
  • How young people respond to relationship problems, the victim vs. the aspirational player.
  • The antagonistic view of relationships with employers and romantic partners
  • Why being unimportant is liberating
  • The paradox of trying to be attractive
  • Never be desperate
  • Learning from heartbreak
  • Promises make relationship fragile
  • How to stay in your Zone of Power

Links:


This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.


If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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115 – Abbey Lovett on The Praxis Experience

Abbey Lovett joins the show to discuss her lessons learned from the Praxis experience. Abbey is an entrepreneur, podcast host, and current Praxis participant currently in the third month of the program.

She shares her highlights so far, from the support of the Praxis community to the challenges she’s faced in the curriculum.

In the second half of the episode, TK and Isaac talk about greatness, concretely defining goals, and putting truth above comfort in relationships.

Covered this episode:

  • Abby’s experience since starting Praxis and joining the community
  • The challenge of blogging for thirty days straight (Praxis month two)
  • The value of challenging yourself to do anything valuable
  • Being a people pleaser, but putting yourself first
  • Why TK thinks “being great” is a terrible goal
  • The difference between happy and unhappy people
  • The Inner Game of Tennis
  • Self-one vs. self-two, or the balance between conscious and unconscious mind in the pursuit of achievement
  • Bringing unconscious processes into conscious awareness
  • Why saying no to people is actually more polite
  • Commitment to truth over unity
  • Disagreeing while being respectful

Links:

Recommendations:


This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.


If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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114 – Stop Arguing for Your Limitations

TK has transcended Fridays.

This is the first edition of the new format of the podcast. Monday episodes with TK, featuring deep dives into philosophy, education, tech, and personal development.

This week is all about reframing limitations and selling your strengths.

Why do so many people argue for their limitations?

In the face of opportunities, people start talking about their weakness or why they aren’t the person for the job. They don’t even get started before they tell you why you won’t want to hire them.

What motivates people to argue for their limitations and how can you do a better job of selling your strengths?

Get the answer plus:

  • Favorite basketball movies
  • Cubs win the World Series & Passive aggressive church league softball prayers
  • Don’t argue for your limitations
  • Why job posting requirements are always flexible
  • People want to be sold
  • People are debating implications, but they think they’re debating facts
  • The power of turning statements into questions
  • How TK learned coaching from Columbo
  • Applying your Socratic method to yourself
  • Modern day challenges don’t mean life was better in the past
  • Why we find ourselves fighting for things we don’t actually want
  • Follow your dreams, but let your dreams follow you
  • TK’s audition for a Nascar commercial & when will he go back to acting?
  • How can you get around limitations and unmet requirements during your job search?

Recommendations:


This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.


If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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113 – Steve Patterson on Math, Infinity, and the Knowability of Truth

Steve Patterson is a rationalist philosopher and intellectual entrepreneur working outside of academia. He is the host of Patterson in Pursuit, a podcast featuring deep conversations with top thinkers in logic, mathematics, quantum physics and other areas.

He is also the author of What’s The Big Deal About Bitcoin and the forthcoming book Square One: The Foundations of Knowledge.

Steve has been traveling around the world interviewing experts on everything from quantum physics to Christian theology, searching for answers to the questions most often cited by supporters of mystical, post-modern, and other worldviews that propose truth is ultimately unknowable.

We discuss academia, and how math and infinity relate to objective truth.

Notes:
– Why the pursuit of truth in any area begins with the basics
– Why do people contradict the basic laws of logic?
– Are most philosophical debates really about language?
– The state of academia
– The incentives for academics
– What the church and academia have in common
– Philosophical problems with modern mathematics: Zeno’s paradox and infinity
– The metaphysics of numbers
– Concepts and Platonism
– What are the implications of math’s infinite set?
– How math is used to support irrationalism
– Why objective truth exists

Check out previous episodes with Steve Patterson:

Links:


This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.


If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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112 – Matt Needham Talks Social Change

Matt Needham

Matt Needham is the host of the Social Change Podcast and Senior Director of Leadership Development at Students For Liberty.

Matt’s passion is advancing individual liberty. His search for ways to make the world a freer place led him to his work at Students For Liberty and also led to his interest in deeply understanding social change.

The Social Change Podcast was born the desire to learn more about how people are changing the world. Matt digs deep into theories of social change with actual practitioners; the people taking action to reshape the world.

The episode cover a wide range of topics:

  • Why did Matt start his podcast
  • How to use a podcast as a learning tool
  • Why non-profits need a clear theory of social change
  • How can non-profits balance activities that are good for fundraising and the activities that are good for achieving the desired outcomes
  • Discovering libertarian ideas
  • Building a career advancing liberty
  • Why Matt chose not to go to law school
  • Lessons learned from starting a podcast
  • The Hayekian theory of social change
  • Entrepreneurial opportunities from social issues
  • Practical tips for starting a podcast

Links:

——————————
This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.
___________

If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.t

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111 – FwTK: How to Be More Skeptical, Reprogram Your Mind, and More (Cubs win!)

Harry Caray has his say and we jump into simplicity, radicalism, The Cubs, discontentment, B.S., affirmations, NLP, hypnotherapy, changing modalities, long showers, Chuck Norris, and killing Buddha.

This was a great show.

Recommendations: A Hitcher’s Guide to the Galaxy, Winning the Inner Game, Essentials of NLP: with 150 Techniques


This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.


If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Chuck Grimmett snuck me this rare photo of TK during the episode, PJ pants and all…

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110 – Isaac Talks C.S. Lewis and Liberty on the Free Cities Podcast

C.S. Lewic Classical Liberal

C.S. Lewis is most well known as the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, but with 74 books and numerous essays, he has covered a massive spectrum of topics. His influence extends through a number of disciplines including political philosophy.

Isaac recently joined Anthony Caprio on the Free Cities Podcast to discuss Lewis and how his ideas fit with classical liberalism.

The conversation covers C.S. Lewis’ background, his major intellectual influences, how his ideas fit well into classical liberal thought, and a lot more.

Topics Covered:

  • C.S. Lewis’ biography
  • Why Lewis’ ideas fit into the liberty movement
  • How C.S. Lewis can prime you for the ideas of Ludwig Von Mises
  • Lewis’ intellectual influences
  • How Lewis showed a skepticism of power and central planning
  • “If Ayn Rand were a Christian she would be C.S. Lewis.”
  • How Lewis unknowingly practiced Rational Choice Theory
  • The connection between Murray Rothbard and C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis Books Recommendations:

  • The Great Divorce
  • Screwtape Proposes a Toast
  • Till We Have Faces
  • The Chronicles of Narnia
  • The Space Trilogy – That Hideous Strength

Links:


This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.

If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.


If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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109 – FwTK: Listener Questions on Tons of Stuff

After a little rap by TK, we hit this week’s “Facebook Warriors” segment hard, covering the weird smugness of aversion to learning on the job for free instead of paying to not learn in a classroom.

Then we take questions.  Tons of questions.  The NBA, hip hop, books, Neil deGrasse Tyson, movies, impostor syndrome, homeschooling, logical consistency, and lots more.

Recommendations: The X Files, The Lost Room, Stranger Things.

If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

108 – Implementer or Visionary (or why accountants can do cool stuff too!) with Derek Carter

Derek Carter Ceterus

Derek Carter was racing along the path to partnership at a large accounting firm. He had an accounting degree and years of experience busting his ass, taking on more responsibility and leading within the organization. He was managing people and working with autonomy in a large organization.

But his former colleague, Levi Morehouse, kept trying to sell him on leaving. They had worked together before Levi started Ceterus and had been pushing for Derek to join ever since. Eventually, Derek decided to make the leap into the startup world.

He’s now the COO of Ceterus, one of the most innovative and fastest growing accounting startups in the country.

Derek shares his backstory, from how he chose to pursue accounting, to deciding to leave his good job at a big firm to join a startup.

Derek is an outstanding example of an implementer joining with a visionary to make big things happen. If you’re working in a traditional role and excited by the possibility of working with a startup, there’s a ton of wisdom for you in this episode.

Covered in this episode:

  • Learning competitiveness from baseball
  • Deciding to pursue an accounting degree
  • What made Northwood University great
  • What are the common characteristics of accountants
  • Why sales skills are necessary to progress as a public firm accountant
  • Derek’s experience starting his career at a large public accounting firm
  • The disconnect between auditing classes in college and auditing reality
  • How did Derek become convinced to leave his stable job to join Ceterus
  • Making the switch from a large established company to a startup
  • What does Derek look for when hiring for Ceterus
  • The decision-making process behind seeking outside investment for Ceterus
  • Advice for implementers who want to work in cool fields, but don’t want to be visionaries
  • Current Opportunities at Ceterus

Links:

If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.

All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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