Ep. 19: Career coach Alec Sorensen helps dreamers of biz ideas take action via habit-building

Chinatown 2.0

Alec Sorensen is a career coach who helps people take action on life-changing business ideas they've been putting off.

Alec is also a follower of the Mormon church, a Japan-living American at one point, a California-to-Texas transplant, among other things.

We discussed how he got into career coaching, his faith, cultural shocks in Japan, why he moved to Austin from the Bay Area, and more.

0:00 Intro

1:20 Alec as a Coach: His thoughts about the coaching industry, and how he uses habit building techniques to help people achieve their goals

12:18 Growing up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and thoughts on the Broadway show The Book of Mormon

20:26 Joseph Smith's controversy: His spiritual experience and his motives of starting the Mormon church

27:21 The question of polygamy: Does the current church endorse it, and the logic behind the practice

31:59 The Mormon church hierarchical order and how apostles are selected

35:39 Religion vs Crypto: They are both a commitment to fulfilling an unrealized vision

40:48 Alec's experience as a missionary in Romania

45:53 Missionary KPIs and follow-up of new converts

49:44 Alec's experience in Japan: Learning a new language, and living in a remote village

53:35 Chinese vs American parenting: Expectations of parents of their children, and why economic factors allow for more flexibility

58:44 Replaceability of the working class, China vs US

1:03:34 Japanese stereotypes that proved true during Alec's stay in Japan

1:11:38 Alec's experience as a crisis counselor for male rape survivors

1:18:46 Alec's opinion on microdosing and other mushrooming techniques used in counseling

1:19:28 Illegal drugs, coffee, tea and sodas: Why the church frowns on their use

1:21:57 Coaching: Why coaching, Insecurities, Working with clients to get them results

1:31:47 Decision to move to Austin: All the pros

1:38:08 How he gets clients from conducting pilots

1:48:30 Conversations in Austin vs conversations in the Bay Area

1:51:37 Cognitive dissonance: How some champions for change in the Bay Area are somehow ill-prepared to pivot when confronted by people of different opinions

1:54:43 Argument for the legitimacy of Russia's invasion

1:58:54 Outro

Chapters

1. Teaser (00:00:00)

2. INTRO (00:00:19)

3. Alec as a Coach: His thoughts about the coaching industry, and how he uses habit building techniques to help people achieve their goals (00:01:22)

4. Growing up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: The Book of Mormon, Being a practicing religious minority (00:12:20)

5. Alec's social anxiety when it comes to being in large groups of people (00:17:49)

6. Joseph Smith's controversy: His spiritual experience and his motives of starting the Mormon church (00:20:28)

7. The question of polygamy: Does the current church endorse it, and the logic behind the practice (00:27:23)

8. The Mormon church hierarchical order and how apostoles are selected (00:32:01)

9. Religion vs Crypto: They are both a commitment to fulfilling an realized vision (00:35:41)

10. Alec's experience as a missionary in Romania (00:40:50)

11. Missionary KPIs and follow-up of new converts (00:45:55)

12. Alec's experience in Japan: Learning a new language, and living in a remote village (00:49:46)

13. Chinese vs American parenting: Expectations of parents of their children, and why economic factors allow for more flexibility (00:53:37)

14. Replaceability of the working class, China vs US (00:58:46)

15. Japanese stereotypes that proved true during Alec's stay in Japan (01:03:36)

16. Alec's experience as a crisis counsellor for male rape survivors (01:11:40)

17. Alec's opinion on microdosing and other mushrooming techniques used in counseling (01:18:48)

18. Illegal drugs, coffee, tea and sodas: Why the church frowns on their use (01:19:30)

19. Coaching: Why coaching, Insecurities, Working with clients to get them results (01:21:59)

20. Decision to move to Austin: All the pros (01:31:49)

21. How he gets clients from conducting pilots (01:38:10)

22. Why the conversation is different in Austin compared to the Bay Area (01:48:32)

23. Cognitive dissonance: How the champions for change are ill prepared to pivot when confronted by people of different opinions (01:51:39)

24. Argument for the legitimacy of Russia's invasion (01:54:45)

25. Outro (01:58:56)