Episode 21: The Millionaires Day Off Conference Call with Tyler Caison

Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If you need to develop into a better leader, this podcast is for you. If you want to achieve a greater level of success, this podcast is for you. His mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell, said it best: everything rises and falls on leadership. We hope to inspire you today and provide you with an insight that has the potential to positively impact the trajectory of your life. Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast.

YouTube, it's Tyler here again with The Millionaire's Day Off. Today we talk with Coach Bob Fabien Zinga, or Coach BZ for short. Dude has done more things than I can count. He is a personal coach on the John Maxwell team. He's an author. He writes articles for Forbes magazine. He does a podcast. He just has achieved a lot of things in his life. So I'm super excited to have this conversation with him today. I think it's going to be very beneficial for us and beneficial for me as a person to have this conversation with him. And, you know, we're just going to learn a lot. So, hope you guys enjoy the video and we'll catch you at the end.

Great, great, great. I really love what you're doing on YouTube. I think it is really great. Investing $100 and trying to make a million. That's what America is all about, isn't it?

Yeah, man. I just, you know, I found myself just like on my days off, I was just like watching Netflix and like doing things that weren't productive. I'm like, surely there's Is there something else I could be doing that is better productive? And then, you know, you just kind of run into like just not knowing a whole lot of people who do stuff like this. And so I just like went on YouTube, started looking for people, and just started emailing people.

I'm like, hey, do you want to be on the podcast?

You want to be on the podcast? And so I'm so thankful that you said yes and you graciously gave me your time. I really appreciate that.

No problem. You actually remind me, there is a show, I don't know if you've seen it, uh, I think it's called Billionaire Under Grant Cardone is one of the guys there. He only has $100 and in 90 days he has to build a business worth at least a million. It's pretty, pretty great show to watch. But anyway, yeah, that's really kind of cool.

Yeah, I think it's almost like a, like a hidden, hidden influence of the channel is that show. I watched it and it was really interesting.

Oh, wonderful.

Yeah, well, uh, well, Bob, uh, I want to kind of just get started, man. You do so much stuff and there's so many things. You have so many accolades that build up your career, but the one that really sticks out to me is joining the John Maxwell team. Which I know is, it's a, it's a, it's a journey to get through. Can you kind of take me through that journey and kind of what your big key takeaways were from that journey?

Yeah, actually, Dr. John Maxwell. So I've been reading his books since I was at least 17 years old. Right. Uh, so he's been a mentor of mine from afar. Right. And I have a lot of mentors, uh, like that, people I like to follow, thought leaders in their field. I read their books, their tapes, their cassette. I listened to the cassette when we used to have cassette back in the days. Now everything is pretty much digital. And when I actually got to meet him in person, it was in 2007 or 2008. He came to my church. I was living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and I used to go to a church, Church of the Island in Birmingham. And John Maxwell happened to be one of the board members of that church. So every year he would come and he He preached a sermon that day about today matters. That literally changed my life. Basically, the summary of that sermon was, you know, there is something that you do today that is going to affect your tomorrow. Kind of like you were saying, many people might be spending their time watching other people be creative, watching Netflix, playing games, or whatever it is, and that doesn't really add anything to their own personal goals, right? But there is something you can do today that's going to take you closer to your own personal goal, your own personal achievement, and what you do today does matter because it's going to impact and advance your future. That's something— it was only about 30-45 minutes, completely changed my life. So, and then fast forward, I moved to California, and about 2 years ago, I was looking for some type of leadership development program. As you have been in the Navy since, what, 2004, 17 years now, and in the Navy, leadership is like, you know, the primary thing. That's really what they teach us about, like, all the time. And John Maxwell is definitely one of those thought leaders that we are— they recommend us to read a lot. There is him and some others. So he definitely had a lot of street cred with me. So just having the opportunity to be mentored by him and be certified by him, that was just like, almost like a surreal moment. And so, he has a great team of faculty that mentors almost every single day. John himself is on the mentoring call at least once every single month. So, basically, this idea is to equip leaders, coaches, speakers, trainers, and teachers, and really give them all of the tools and the information they need so that they can be successful. Many of them decide to have their own businesses, and others just do it for personal and professional growth. Like this year, I wasn't able to go, but last month, John Maxwell and a dozen of his team members, they went to the Dominican Republic for like a week where they already spoke to the leaders in that country from sport arena, politics, entertainment, religious arena. I mean, pretty much across the board, trying to develop leaders in that nation. And eventually I think, no, change the entire nation. But anyway, I got on the waiting list too late. So right now I am already on the list for the next time he's going. I think it's Papua New Guinea next year. I'm gonna make sure I am there with him. But it's just amazing what he does. I know he's what, in his late 60s now, almost 70s, I think. He's been around for a very, very long time, has been preaching and teaching about leadership looks like forever, but yeah, it's definitely a journey worth traveling. So I would definitely encourage anyone, even if you don't want to start a business or be like a public speaker or anything like that, it's really insightful and I think valuable what you're going to learn for your own personal and professional development as well.

That's awesome. Yeah, my dad passed that class a couple years back, and so he's certified.

Oh, nice.

He does all that stuff too. And so So there was always already that connection between us. Um, you know, a lot of—

yeah, that is really good because I believe he has the biggest coaching, uh, program in the world. It's almost more than 40,000 people now that are in the program, and he started only like 10 years ago. Yeah, we just celebrated 10 years, which is pretty, pretty amazing.

Yeah, no, that's insane. So, you know, I think a big thing when you think of leadership is like you fall to your habits, right? If you've read Atomic Habits, it's like the key thing they preach. What do you consider to be your key habits to your success and all that you've done?

I think there are a few. I've been studying success since I was 17 years old, right? Seriously. Because when I was 17, I came to this country. I did have a little bit of money. Sorry. But only enough to last for a year. So I was like, I'm going to figure out how to be successful in America where I don't know anybody, I don't have any connection, I'm really going to need to develop as a leader. So even back then, intuitively, I kind of knew there were 3 things I needed to be very, very good at. One of them was leadership, the other one was technology. It was like, you know, in the mid-'90s, the internet was just starting, and I just saw that in the future, this internet, this computer thing is going to be one of the most crucial skills anybody will ever need to have regardless of their job or position. And then number 3 was business. I felt like my mother was an entrepreneur, my father too, and I felt like really creating and managing a business, having some type of business skills, no matter what you do, even if you decide to be an employee for the rest of your life, is going to be a very important skill. So I kind of resolved to do whatever I needed to do to be good at these three areas: leadership, technology, and business. So I feel like some of the habits that have contributed to my success so far, I think one, one of the main ones is trying to figure out what is really, really important to you. Right, prioritization. Like, one of the— although John Maxwell wrote the best-selling book, 21 Laws of Leadership, I believe it's law number 17, the law of prioritization. I think that is the most important law of them all, to me anyway, because what it says is everything you do doesn't have the same priority. There is something that you should focus your time, your energy on, that is going to get you 80% closer to your goal, right? I believe in the Pareto principle, the 80/20 rule. So most people, they spend 80% of the time on only getting ahead 20% toward their goal. What you need to do is the opposite. You want to spend 20% of your time on the task that is going to take you 80% of where you want to go. So one, I think one of the primary skills I I still try to own better and better and better is what is the best use of my time right now? Based on my goals, I'm very clear about what I want to do, what I want to achieve. What do I need to do right now, today, in order to get closer to that? What is the highest priority function for me at this moment? Again, for a lot of people, they spend time watching other people's work, they play games, they watch Netflix or whatever. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, but when you spend the majority of your waking moments doing that, making somebody else rich, wealthy, and not working on your own plan for your own wealth, for your own family, I think there might be a problem. Another one of my mentors told me, success and failure in life is really dependent on what you do with the remaining 8 hours. Everybody gets 24 hours a day. Most people sleep for 8 hours, most people work for 8 hours. Now what you do with the remaining 8 hours is what's going to determine if you are successful or not, and what are you doing with that time? How are you investing that time? Again, back to a sermon John Maxwell taught back in 2007, 2008, today matters. What you do with the time today has great significance in your future. What are you going to do with it? So I think that is probably the single most important habit I've learned to improve and hone and do as well as I can is figuring out what is important to me right now, What is my highest value task? I want to work on the one task that's going to get me 80% toward my goal and not waste my time on the one task that's only going to take me 20-30% to where I want to go. And that task might be easy, it might even be pleasurable, but it's not going to help me get where I want to be. Brian Tracy, another one of my mentors, says, "Eat that frog," right? Eat that frog first. So the most difficult thing that you have to do, the most important one, that's the one you need to do and tackle. And once you do that, then your life will be easier. Instead of you doing very easy, simple tasks now, that's not gonna get you anywhere. People who are successful don't focus on pleasure, pleasurable activity. They really focus on task activity, tasks that are gonna get them closer to their goal. They are goal-focused, whatever it takes. Doing what you need to do, when you need to do it, whether you feel like it. Or not. That is really, I think, one of the key secrets for success. And maybe in addition to that, I will add persistence as well. And actually, tomorrow morning, about this time on my podcast, I will be speaking about the importance of persistence. That is one thing I think that has helped me a lot throughout my career, because 9 times out of 10, you want to do something, you want to start something, people are always going to say no, no, can't do it, no, no, you are not allowed. But you have to be persistent and know that No, no, that's exactly what I want. What do I need to do in order to change your no into a yes, or at least from a no to a maybe, right? Because the good majority of people I've seen, they start something, they start the business, they start the program, they want to lose weight or whatever it is, as soon as they get a little bit of an obstacle, of a challenge, they just give up. And if you give up, there's no way you can succeed, right? If you are not in the ring, you cannot win. If you don't throw the basketball, there is no way you're gonna be able to score. So you at least have to be in the arena. You have to be there, you have to do something because at least then you have a chance to succeed. You may have a chance to fail too, but at least you have a chance to succeed. So you have to be persistent. That persistence I think is a master key of success. Now, one quick example with my military career. After 9/11, I knew I needed to join the military. At the time, my wife, a US citizen, I had the baby on the way. She would be a US citizen as well, but I wasn't. I talked to everybody, to the Army, to the Navy, to the Air Force, to the Coast Guard, all of them. And I'm like, okay, I need to join, I need to— they're like, no, you're not a citizen, you don't have a green card, no, you cannot join. Okay, I'm like, I'll be back. So 3 years later, I finally got my green card and then I came back. I said, okay, you guys said I needed to get this piece of paper to join the military. Here I am now, how do I sign up? And they're like, okay, wait a minute, you have a degree. Maybe you can become an officer. So are you a U.S. citizen too? I'm like, no, not yet. Like, no, you can't be a U.S. citizen, but yeah, you can definitely enlist. So I signed up, and I think a year and a half later I became a U.S. citizen. I went back to the same recruiter, okay, I told you I'll be back, I am now a U.S. citizen, here are my papers, how do I become an officer? So just being persistent. And then it's almost like they have to get rid of you, right? They said the squeaky wheel gets the, uh, the grease first, but Just making up your mind, you will not be denied. You don't take no for an answer and going after what you know in your heart you are called to do, you are passionate about, and don't let anyone or anything say no. Yeah, I think that really, really helps.

What do you think, like, now that you brought up your, your military and all that, what do you think is the biggest thing you took from military to civilian life to help you succeed in the business technology and, you know, all those worlds?

I think probably the most important thing in the military is leadership, leadership and discipline, right? I remember when I went to boot camp, the first couple of days I really, really hated it a lot. I went to Great Lakes, many of my peers called Great Mistake. It was horrible. They pretty much cut you off from the world. You don't get access to the news, you can't talk to your wife, to your kids, nothing. It's like you're completely cut off from the entire world. You have no idea what is going on in the real world. They could have been a terrorist attack or a war, you wouldn't know anything about it. And it was very, very difficult. They made us walk everywhere. Firstly, they shaved my head, they took away my precious hair and gave me uniform. Everybody was exactly the same. I mean, it was quite an experience. But through all of that though, since boot camp, for example, I've been waking up at 5:30 every morning regardless of which time zone I am in. 5:30 It's like I have an alarm in my brain. I just wake up every single morning, including weekends, right? And that I think has been very, very helpful in what I do in the civilian world, because for example, in Silicon Valley, most people, they don't start to work until about 9:00, 9:30, 10:00 AM. That's when they kind of come into the office. When we used to work in the office prior to the pandemic, I would be at the office like at 7:00, 7:30 in the morning. So I would have like 2, 3 hours of work uninterrupted. Nobody was there, just me. I was able to do so much work in those couple of hours more than I would like for the rest of the day when everybody would be there and then interrupt me like every 10-15 minutes where I couldn't really concentrate. So just the ability to be disciplined, to wake up early, to continue to try to remain fit, right? Because health and fitness is one of those things that is very, very important, but it's not urgent, right? Nobody feels the need to just be healthy and exercise and do all of those things, but It's something you have to be disciplined to do because in the long term it has a lot of great effect on your, on your life, your creativity, or your health and so forth. So yeah, I think what I really got from the military is the discipline and then the leadership, being able to influence people, work on a team, and being able to accomplish the mission as a group. And I've been able to really use those skills everywhere I have been since.

That's awesome. Um, so I think, you know, you talk about your like personal coaching. What is, what does a personal coaching plan look like for you? Is it more the public speaking? Do you do one-on-ones? What's really kind of your, your process and procedure when it comes to your personal coaching stuff?

Well, I, I believe everybody needs a coach, right? I used to have a mentor used to say everybody at some point needs therapy. And, and I, and I really think today, uh, people need a coach to kind of help them focus. Like myself, I have coaches too, right? One big thing it does is it really brings accountability, right? You need to be accountable to someone because, again, think about it, it's gonna be the first of the year soon, right? In a couple of months and people are gonna say, oh, this year I wanna lose 50 pounds, I wanna exercise, I want to be able to swim and do all of those things. Usually they do it for maybe a week, two, maybe three at most, and then they just drop off the face of the earth. They stop doing what whatever they said they were going to do. And I think part of the reason is because they are not accountable to anyone. There is nobody there to be in their face and say, hey, what did you do last week? You said you were gonna do this, this is the plan you have, did you actually achieve it? Actually, even in my own personal life, sometimes there are certain things I know I need to do, but I don't actually get to do them until it's close to me to meet with my coach, and then I make sure to do them so I can give my coach the good news, hey, I did, what I said I was going to do, which is the progress I have made, because I would be looking like a fool to show up and, okay, I knew I was supposed to do that, but I decided to watch Netflix instead or play games. I am very sorry, but no, I don't care much about my own life and my own plan, so I didn't get to do anything. So for that reason alone, I think it is definitely worth it to have a coach or an accountability partner. Throughout my entire life, really, my attitude has been, if you learn something, it's your responsibility to teach something. So I've been mentored, I have a lot of mentors today, and I've been mentoring a lot of people too, in the military, in the IP community, in the technology field, in cybersecurity, in Silicon Valley, and I even have people reaching out to me on LinkedIn from all around the world, they just want to get into this cyber security field, which is, I believe, the field of the future. But they have so many obstacles in order to get into the field, and they just need the help. So I have been coaching and mentoring a lot of people like that. So I do have a few people that I coach and mentor personally, but that's also part of the reason why I decided to start the Leadership and Success podcast in order to kind of share my knowledge, my experience to as many people as possible. On LinkedIn, for example, about 36,000-37,000 people follow me there, and the good majority of them are definitely success-driven, very ambitious people in the military, the IT field, and also higher education. And yeah, I feel like anything I can do to kind of give back to the community because I have received so much help. And, uh, when I really, really needed it, I think that is definitely worth the effort.

Yeah, you got to tell your personal coach, yes, I folded that laundry today.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah, that's awesome, man. So I'm gonna put you in my shoes for a second, Coach BZ. So I give you $100, I tell you to make it into a million dollars. Just go straight to Silicon Valley and invest in an app. What's your game plan?

Well, that is quite challenging, but the good thing is in America, really anything is possible. That is really what I love about America, right? It's the only country in the world with a dream, the American dream. I lived in Africa, I lived in Europe, I've traveled all around the world. I've never been in any country with a dream. America, that's it. That's the one and only country in the world with a dream. In this country, You can have absolutely nothing or just $100 to your name and you can turn it into a million. It's definitely possible. Many, many people have done it before us, right? So I think the other great thing in this country is anybody can pretty much start a business, right? The government isn't going to get in your way. For $100 or less, you can get the business license and start selling something or whatever. So what I would probably do Maybe start some type of online marketing business. That might be one of the easiest things to do if you want to grow money quickly and get clients and help them out, you know, with your knowledge. I feel like we really live in the knowledge economy right now. For my own example, I think it was in 1997, the internet again was just brand new.. And back then, people would just want to be able to get online, to have a website. So, I was like, okay, I'm gonna learn how to create those websites. So, I became a web designer. I taught myself how to do it. I was like a sophomore in college, and then I started doing websites for free for like my church and some of the professors I was doing research for. And what that did is, even though I did it for free and they didn't pay me any money, it helped my reputation, right? It gave me credibility. Now I could go to clients and say, okay, here is an example of the website I have designed and developed and that I maintain. And then I started creating websites for small businesses around town, for lawyers, car salespeople, and so forth. And then I started charging like $1,000. That was back in '97. Back then, that was quite a lot of money, $1,000 per website. So it pretty much cost me nothing if it was like maybe $35 or so for a license, and within a year, right, I was making like $10,000-$12,000 just creating websites. And then the following year, I was okay, this is great, right? But the problem is when I create the website, they give me $1,000 one time, I eat the $1,000, and I don't have any more money. It is gone. I don't get any residual income whatsoever. Then I need to find another client and sell more. So therefore, I decided to now have some type of subscription where not only I create the site for you, but I'm gonna maintain it for you and update it for a fee every single month. So basically, kind of like being a lawyer, right? You are pretty much putting me on a container. If there is anything, I will take care of it. If unfortunately, if no, I don't have anything to do, everything is perfectly fine, then I just keep your money. You are paying me because if you need me, I am going to show up. So I started doing that and I did that for about 10 years or so and then when I moved to California, I had to stop my business. But that is definitely something that showed me how to learn more about business, you know, and even at some point I was hiring consultants to help me out because it was too much work that I couldn't do because I did have my own full-time job too. But just know how to deal with people, how to really provide excellent customer service, right? Customer comes first, kind of like with Amazon, they're pretty much obsessed with customers over there. And I think if you're gonna add a business, you definitely need marketing and sales, right? Those are like, I believe, the lifeblood of any business. You need to have new clients and you need to have more sales, you know, for your services and your product in order for your business to survive. So I think even if you start just a very small business, you can really learn a lot of those skills. And then at one point, I also became a reseller for Microsoft, right? I was selling a lot of their product and their software to my client. I became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and then a Microsoft Certified Small Business Administrator. So just trying to think of ways to add value. To me, that is really what the secret of success is. You need to have a product, a service that is needed, that has— there needs to be a need for it in the market, right? And at the beginning, you may have to give it away for free, just enough so that you get people who are going to recommend you. Because to me, word of mouth was the best advertising I ever had. When you really build your reputation, and then people are going to be willing to pay you what you are worth. And then, trying to really satisfy your clients, going above and beyond their expectation. Not just selling them something because you want to make a quick buck, but selling them something that they're going to use, that is going to benefit them, and then kind of develop a lifelong relationship with those people. And I think that's just gonna be wonderful for you in the future. So again, it's gonna take time, it's not gonna happen overnight. Now, Grant Cardone is one of my Mentor Stu has been teaching me about marketing. He was able to turn $100 into a multi-million-dollar business in just 90 days, but that is pushing it. I think, you know, for most people, it's probably going to take 2, 3, 4, 5 years to get there, but it is definitely possible. Yes, it is possible. I think you have to be persistent, you have to be consistent, and you really have to develop a plan, have a product or service that is going to serve your customer. I think Zig Ziglar is the one who said, right, if you serve enough people to give them what they want, you will always get what you want because they will in turn take care of you. Yeah.

Bob, you have a lot of knowledge when it comes to what other people say, so I'm assuming you're an avid, you know, a very high learning reader. What are you reading right now? What's really piquing your interest?

Oh yeah, so many books. I think I've read more than 2,000 books now since I was 17 years old. And the other kind of strange thing, because I am a scientist by training, right? I have a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and biology and almost earned a PhD in microbiology. Many people in the science field, they really enjoy reading science fiction, but I can't. I can't spend time reading science fiction. I feel like it's a big waste of my time. Since I was 17 years old, I would really focus on what do I need to learn now? Whether it's technology skills or business management, whether it's leadership and things like that, things that are practical that I can read and I can actually apply and use and improve my life like now, right? Those are the type of books I've been reading. Right now I am rereading the 21 Laws of Leadership by my mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell. I think it's really the best book on leadership I have I also read a book by my new mentor, Shelly Ashambu. I don't know if you've heard of her, but she's a Silicon Valley legend. She was a CEO for multiple tech companies, and before that, she was a VP at IBM, and she's now on the board of directors of 3 or 4 different tech companies, and now she's really trying to give back to the community. She wrote a book, Unapologetically Ambitious. I highly, highly recommend that book. It's about her life and the leadership principle, success principle she had used to get to where she has been. And sometimes I read like 2 or 3 books at the same time. Another one I love to read is Brian Tracy. He's based in San Diego. I've been following him again since I was about 17. Years old. I met him a couple of times, great, great guy. I am in his mentorship program as well. And another great book I just read again is The Compound Effect by one of my mentors, Darren Hardy. I guess he's based now in San Diego and in Miami. Great, great guy. He used to be the editor of the Success Magazine. This guy, he doesn't waste time. He really he goes straight to the essence of success. He removes all of the fluff and all of the nonsense and just tells you exactly what you need to do to go from point A to point B. Really, really, I love being mentored by him. And there are many, many, many, many others. I definitely love to read any books that is practical about leadership, running businesses, gaining technology skills, and achieving a higher level of success.

Gotcha. It also said on your, your Indeed page you're an author. What have you written?

Well, so far I have written a whole bunch of articles, most of them with Forbes magazine on Forbes.com. I am a member of the Forbes Technology Council. I've been since October of last year, so it's been over a year now. And I have also written for the Strixus magazine, which is a magazine for executives and by executives. I've written for the U.S. Naval Institute a couple of times and also for the United States Cybersecurity Magazine. And prior to all of that, when I was in college, I had written an honor thesis as well. I was in the honors program for the University of Alabama, and I had written like a dissertation for my work in the physical— organic physical chemistry lab. But yeah, and I am actually planning to write my first book all by myself and looking for the right opportunity. But before I do that, I would probably go offer a book with one of my mentors. It looks like Brian Tracy is working on something. I might be a co-author with him. That's gonna be pretty surreal, but I am looking into those opportunities now.

Okay, awesome, man. Well, we got one more question for you, then I'll let you go. I'm sure you're a busy, busy man. So, you know, what's really next for Bob? What's going, you know, what's going on in your life? What are you trying, you know, what's promotable in your life right now?

I have really accomplished a lot of the things I set out to accomplish like 17, 20 years ago. It's pretty amazing how life happens, but no, one of my mentors says, "No, anything worth having, it takes time and effort." One of my own dreams, when I went to boot camp, that was in 2005, I had decided that either I will become a senior enlisted leader, which is chief or above in the Navy, or a senior officer, which is commander or above. So I became a commander April of this year. And even back then, one of my dream was to become a commanding officer. That's like the highest level job anybody can have in the Navy. And I just got selected yesterday to become a commanding officer for an information warfare unit starting next year. So I am very, very happy and humble about what I've been able to accomplish in 17, 18 years, right? Another one of my dreams was to eventually move to Silicon Valley where technology magic happens, and I've been here since what, 2014 now, 7 years. Another one of my long-time dream was to eventually, you know, move into my dream home. When my wife and I got married, we were so poor, the only thing we could afford back then, we lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was like a mobile home. I don't think they're very popular here in California, but that was that's all we could afford. I remember almost every other weekend I would take her and drive her to one of the best areas of downtown. The Yacht Club was one of those places, like million-dollar homes in Taxco. And I was like, you know, one day I'm gonna get you one of these houses or something similar. Just a dream. But anyway, that dream became real for us about 2 years ago. So I really feel like I have achieved a lot of the things I wanted. One thing my mentor, John Maxwell says, right, is if you test significance, success will never satisfy again. I think at the beginning you really want to do everything you can for you to be successful, for you to take care of all of your needs, right, make sure you are paying for your house, the utilities, and food, and transportation, and clothing, and so forth. But after a while, once you get your first boat, like the second boat's not gonna do anything for you. Once you get a mansion, No, a second mention isn't gonna do anything for you. You need to get to a point where it's now time to kind of give back to the community, help somebody else achieve their dream. And I think that's where you separate those who are very successful to those who become significant. And I guess that's really what I would like to focus the rest of my life doing, helping other people achieve their own dream. I know, especially in this country, in America, anything, is possible. If an immigrant from Africa with a strange accent who can barely speak English can achieve everything I've been able to achieve so far, I think anybody can. If I can do it, anybody can. Sometimes you just have to be persistent. You need to be clear about what you want, and you need to develop skills and yourself in such a way that you really provide value to the market, right? It's not about you, but it's about what you can provide to the market, right? I think somebody else told me In America, the only color that really matters is green, right? The color of the, of dollars. So if you can do something for someone, solve their problem, provide them a service, they will be very happy to pay you for it. When I first started, I was making minimum wage. I think it was $4.75 an hour. That's all I made. When I started working full-time, I was making like $16,000, $17,000 a year. That is all I could afford to make because that's all the skills I had. It was the type of problem I was solving. Today, I'm solving much, much bigger problem, making a lot more than that, but I had to start somewhere.. It's kind of like you have this ladder, you have to start at the bottom, but eventually you work your way up. Same thing with the Navy, I started as an E-1, Seaman Recruit, that's the lowest rank in the entire military. Everybody outranked me, everyone, and today I am a senior officer, I am an O-5, and now in most rooms I go to, I am the ranking senior officer. So it is a journey, start wherever you are, add value, and I think you need to take care of your family, take care of your of your own self, but at a certain point you need to start giving back to the community and just help people who are trying to achieve something significant so they can also make an impact in their own community. And that's what I would like really to focus my time on. That's why I am so happy to be associated with John Maxwell. For example, I couldn't go on this past trip to Dominican Republic, but next year I will definitely go to Papua New Guinea and trying to really transform an entire nation. I mean, that's gonna be something extremely rewarding that you were, you were there and you helped the leaders of that nation and get their act straight and kind of help their entire country. That's really the type of work I would like to spend the rest of my life doing.

Awesome, Bob. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, my friend. We'll definitely be in touch. Have a great afternoon, my friend.

Good. Thank you. Thank you so much, Charu, and keep up the good work.

Yeah, you too, buddy.

Bye.

Such a cool conversation with Coach BZ. I mean, dude just killed it, man. Thank him so much again for his time. I really appreciate that. You know, do comment, like, and subscribe. It really helps this video out. Thank y'all so much for watching, and we'll catch you in the next one.

Peace.

Thank you for listening to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If you like what you heard, please subscribe to our channel. Channels and come back for more wisdom nuggets on how you may develop into a better leader and achieve greater levels of success. Leadership is the most critical skill. The world will always need leaders to lead others, deploy the next disruptive technology, or execute a business strategy. You may as well decide on counting yourself among the 21st century leaders. See you right here next time on the Leadership and Success Podcast with Coach BZ.