
Coach Bizzy Zinga breaks down the 3 A's for New Year's resolutions: Ascertain your 3-5 SMART goals aligned with your core values, Ask for mentors and partners, and Action through daily execution and accountability. He uses the pig-vs-chicken metaphor to show the difference between commitment and involvement, and emphasizes 1% daily improvement and the 10,000-hour rule for mastery.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Hi, I'm John Maxwell. When the top companies in the world are looking for trainers, speakers, and coaches, there's one name that stands above the rest, and that's Maxwell Leadership. Our certified team members have gotten proven results for companies all over the globe, and our reputation, I'm proud to say, is second to none. Some of our members have risen to the top of their profession, including the one you're going to meet today. I proudly introduce you to my friend Bob Fabien Zinga.
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.
Hello everyone. Hey everyone, this is Bob Fabien Zinga, Coach Bizzy. Thank you so much for being here. This is our very first show for 2023. So welcome to 2023. I'm going to talk to you briefly about the 3 A's of New Year's resolution. And before I get started, can you please let me know where you are watching from? And if you have any question for me, please type it in the comments. I really do appreciate that. So where are you watching me from? What city? What town? Thank you so much. So, hold on, I think I misspelled that here. Let me see if I can fix that, just a second. Let's say, let me just do it again. Okay, so I'm asking, where are you watching from? Please add it in the comment. And I really do appreciate that. Here we go. All right, thank you so much, Chris Brown. I see you from Portland. And if you have any question for me, again, just type it in the comments. So I'm gonna try to be short today. I'm not talking about the 3 years of New Year's resolution. Like most people in this country and around the world, when the new year comes, everybody wants to set goals and decide what they really want to accomplish. So I believe you can do it by using this little system system I've used for quite a few years. So my first A is ascertain, right? You really need to think about your goals. What are your goals for the year? What do you really, really want to be committed to? It's not just a good idea. It's not just something that's going to— you're gonna aspire to, but something that you are fully, fully committed to. And thank you so much. I see Brent Bernard coming to us from Davidson, Michigan. Again, if you have any question, please let me know. But when you think about the goals you are going to accomplish this year, I really think there should be no more than 5, okay? 3 to 5 goals, that's all you need. I don't think you need more than that. Otherwise, you have way too many goals and you won't be able to accomplish all of them. Really think about something that is meaningful to you, something you are going to commit to. Come hell or high water, you are gonna get that done. Okay, that is what you need to think about. And why do you want to accomplish those goals? Why are those goals important to you? And the reason why I think it's important to come out with that in the first place before you even know what the goals are is because no matter what your goals are, it's gonna take a long time and you're gonna get discouraged, right? There's gonna be time where you don't want to get out of bed, you don't want to do whatever it is that you know you should, you should do. But because you have a great reason why they need to be done, you are gonna find the motivation and you're gonna get it done no matter what, whether you feel like it or not, right? I really believe that is what distinguishes people who are successful and those who are not. People who are successful are just as lazy as everybody else, but they get to do what they need to do when they need to do it, whether they feel like it or not. That's one great definition of success. So having your why, ascertaining what your goals are, and being fully committed to it, right? I know in, uh, Agile software development, when we talked about sprint cycle, we usually have chickens and pigs. A chicken is not very committed to the project because as a chicken, all I can do is just provide you an egg for your breakfast. I provide an egg. I'm still alive. I still have some plans, some goals, some hope. I still have a future. But the pig is going to provide ham, therefore sacrifice their life for the project. What I want you to get to, I want you to become a PIG for 2023. What are the 3 to 5 goals that you are going to commit yourself to? Come hell or high water, these goals will get accomplished no matter what. I am committed. Okay, very, very important, because if you don't have that commitment, then we're just wasting our time, right? By this time, right, the 21st, by the end of the first month of January, most people give up on all of their goals. But if you are committed, you are going to stand strong no matter what, okay? So ascertain, that's the first A, you need to ascertain what are your goals, what do you want to commit yourself to, which goals align with your own personal core values. And generally speaking, I usually have, like I say, I set 3 to 5 goals and usually one of my goals has to do with my health. I learned this the hard way, I think it was maybe 5, 6 years ago, I was having some issues with my back where I could hardly get out of bed, right? And when you have issues with your health, guess what? Health becomes the most important thing in your life. Nothing else matters, whether it's money or whatever it is, it absolutely has no significance when you are sick, when you don't have the energy to get out of bed to accomplish your purpose. So health has always been one of my primary goals. This year I am going to be healthy. I am going to eat healthy. I am going to exercise. I'm going to do everything I can do to keep this body healthy, to keep my energy high so I can accomplish that which I was born for. So I think, think about having a health goal. I believe that's very important. And another goal that's important, I think, is also relationship. Sometimes we kind of neglect that, but just like me, right, we've gone through the pandemic.. And during the pandemic, most people didn't really think much about, you know, money, career, and all of that. With so many people dying in this country and around the world, some people had a lot of regret, you know, I wish I'd spend more time with my mother, my cousin, my children, or whoever it might be. So I think you should have a relational goal for the year, improve your relationship with your significant other, your spouse, your wife, your husband, whomever, your children, your close friends. There needs to be a relationship goal because I believe relationship is really what makes us happy. You can have all of the success in the world, all of the money in the world, that's not gonna bring happiness, but when you can share that with somebody else, I think that really brings a lot of joy. So have a goal about your fitness, have a goal about your relationship, and finally have a goal about your finances as well, and whatever other goals you need, but again, no more than 5, okay? So you need to ascertain where you are and where you want to be, what you want to do, right? And I do believe everything happens for a reason, and you may be here, but it doesn't mean that's where your life ends, right? You can decide what your future is going to be, right? So I think that is very, very, very important. Think about it. So the second A In the 3 A's of New Year's resolution is— so one is ascertain and two is ask. I feel like in life, if you have a goal that is important, you are not going to be able to accomplish it by yourself. If you can do it all by yourself, then maybe your goal is too small. And of course, right, it has to be a SMART goal, right? It has to be specific, it has to be measurable, you need to have a timetable to it. But, but it is to be a goal that's going to require more than just you, right? Whether it's going to school, finally earning your master's degree, or, or whatever it is, or trying to work on the IT certification, or learning a new task or skills for for work or reading so many books a year, whatever your goal is, I think it's important that you ask help from the people who may be able to help you accomplish it. Don't be too proud, don't be too arrogant. When I look over my life, I've been able to accomplish quite a few things, but I really believe that most of what I've been able to do as a leader, as a husband, or as an employee, or an entrepreneur has really been because of the other people I had to engage with, come into a partnership with in order to accomplish those goals, right? So ask for help when you need to, ask for an introduction, right? If you do not ask, then you will never receive, but if you ask, there is a good chance you are going to receive. And I can tell you right now, most people who are very successful in life They really love to help people, but they're not gonna help you if you don't ask, right? So be in a position where you can ask clearly, this is my goal, this is what I want to do, and I need help. Would you please help me? Would you please partner with me? And I think the great majority of people are gonna be very, very glad to do that for you. And then the last A is taking action, right? A is for action. And in action, you also need to be accountable for result. So you need to have an accountable partner. I think that is very, very, very important. Somebody who's going to say, yes, you are accountable to me for whatever goal you have set for the year. Because again, we are all human beings. Sometimes we get lazy and sometimes we are not motivated enough. And it's really good to have an accountable partner, someone who's going to hold your feet to the fire and say, hey, you said you are going to accomplish this, and I expect you to do exactly what you promised. Because you can have great ideas, you can have great dreams, but that really doesn't mean anything unless, unless you put your goals into action, right? Unless you take the actions that you need today, next week, next month in order to accomplish your goal within the end of the year. There is something I really love about goal setting. It's really wonderful. I think there is a miracle that happens when you have an idea and then you translate that idea, right, from the world of ideas into the physical world. So when you write down a goal, you are taking that mental picture that you have and you turn it into a physical artifact, right? And I think there is a translation that happens that increases your chances of making that goal a reality in your life, because just having it in your head, I think, is definitely not good enough. So really, after this podcast today, I really would like for you to take the time to please think about your goals and write them down. And thanks so much. I see Brent Bernard from Davidson, Michigan. And again, if you have any question for me about anything goal setting or anything else, please type them in the comment. Thank you. Thank you so much. So Very, very important for you to have your goals not just in your head, but write those goals down. And I think really something miraculous happens when you write it down on paper or on your iPad or your computer or your smartphone. And when you write the goals down, also break it down into smaller steps, right? You may not be able to, for example, lose 40 pounds at once. That's too much. But maybe you can lose 1 pound a week, right? Just something that is may be manageable. So break down your goals into smaller chunks. And then I think one of the secrets of success is for you to do something every single day toward the achievement of your goal, even if it's very, very small, right? One thing I think about, you don't get overweight overnight, right? You may be eating cheeseburger or junk food or whatever it is. No, I'm thinking if most people, let's say they went to McDonald's or whatever your favorite junk food place is, and you eat junk food, whatever it is, let's say a cheeseburger. If everybody, the second they ate the cheeseburger, gained like 20 pounds right there on the spot, I can tell you nobody will ever eat junk food again. But what happened is nothing changes. You look exactly the same you were prior to eating the burger, and then you do it again and again and again, day after day, and that kind of accumulates, and before you know it you've gained 5, 10, 15 pounds, you are overweight. And I think the same way it takes time, the same way you're gonna be able to reach your goal. You don't have to be in a hurry. It's not a race, right? What this is, is a marathon, not a sprint. So it's gonna take time, but you need to be focused. You need to know exactly what you want, and you need to do something about it every single day. Don't compare yourself with somebody else. Compare yourself with who you were yesterday. Today you want to be, even if it's just, you know, 1% or 2% better than you were yesterday. And every single day, get better and better and better and better. And before you know it, you are going to achieve and exceed your goals, right? My mentors once told me it takes about, what, 10,000 hours to become an expert in anything. So if you are going to learn something new, you want to become an expert, That's about 10,000 hours. If you're doing it full-time, that's about 5 years or so. Within 5 years, you can become an expert in whatever field of your choosing, whether it's space, technology, cybersecurity, business administration, whatever it is. 5 years is really all it takes to become an expert. But the thing is, you have to start today. So you have to do something today, do it tomorrow, do it the day after tomorrow, every single day until you achieve your goal, right? One of my mentors told me, for example, no, 2 years from now, I'm gonna be 2 years older, but I could earn my master's if I wanted to. It takes about 2 years or so to earn a master's in any field, right? So we are in 2023, which means in 2025 I could have a master's in cybersecurity, a master's in business administration, a master's in science, a master's in engineering, or I could just be 2 years older and not have a master's at all. The choice is mine. Am I going to register for the class, and am I going to take the classes and do my homework every single day until it is done. So it is possible, but are you going to do it? Are you committed to it, right? Are you the chicken or are you a pig? Are you like, oh yeah, it's gonna be nice if it happens, or like, no, I am committed, it is going to happen and I'm gonna make it happen? That's really the mindset you need to have, being committed to your goals, being committed to your dreams. Again, the 3 A's of goal setting I said, one is to ascertain, really know what your goals are and why you want to achieve those goals. And again, I think you should have one related to health, healthcare, and fitness. That's probably the most important thing in life, just being alive, but also having a quality of life where you can accomplish whatever your goals and your purpose in life is. And number 2, have a goal about your relationships with your family, with your close friends, your significant others. Your community, your tribe, developing those relationships, it takes, it takes work and you need to plan for it, otherwise it's not going to happen. Your relationship with your children or whatever it might be. And then number 3, your goals that has to do with your finances, your career and everything else. But you do need to plan it and then you need to execute on your goal. And as you are executing on your goal, sometimes you may not get the result you want, and then you can change your plan. But it's always better to be doing something than to be doing nothing at all. And as you do something, you are gonna see the results you are creating, and you can adjust and get better results. So after you ascertain what your goal should be, I believe number 2 is to ask. You need to ask for help, right? Don't be arrogant, be humble, and ask for people around you that who are going to help you achieve whatever it is that you are trying to do. And thanks again, Brent says, "It's time to be a pig," and that is so true. And I really think that's one big thing that really differentiates those who are very successful and those who are not, right? Because those who are not very successful, you ask anybody in the world today, whether in Africa, where I was born, in underdeveloped country, or in the most prosperous country in the world, like in the US, everybody wants what is best in life. Everybody, they want a better job, they want to make more money, they want to have an education, and so forth and so on. But the only people who actually get those things done are people who are fully, fully committed to it. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get it done. That's the mindset that's going to get you there. Just having the desire for it, everybody has a desire, but not everybody makes it happen because you have to be a pig. You are willing to give your life for something that you believe in. That really makes a big, big, big difference. Another story I remember one of my mentors told me, it was during a war time, a captain of a ship went to enemy's land, so they were on a frigate back then, and what he did with his men is he decided to torch his frigate. So the boat was on fire and there was no way for them to get out of the island unless they fought and won the battle. So there is only one way out, either we are going to fight and win and live, or we are going to die here. We are not going to retreat. We don't have option B. Option B does not exist. It's option A and option A alone. That's really the mindset you need to have in order to be successful in life, in my opinion. Right, you need to get there. This is it or nothing, right? So get in that mindset, ascertain what your goals should be, ask for help, and then number 3, most important thing, is to take action. And take action every single day. You're not gonna lose, like I say, 30 or 40 pounds in one day, but you can lose, no, uh, some of your weight every single day. You may be able to lose a pound or two every single week, and before you know it, at the end of the year, you've achieved your goal of losing whatever the amount is. So it's step by step, little by little, and usually when you do that You don't see significant changes within a day, within a week, or within a month, but eventually after 90 days, after 60 days, after 180 days, you are going to see some significant changes. But it happens in very, very small steps. Same thing with your money too, right? I believe you should save at least 10% of your income for yourself, for your future, for your retirement. 10%. So 90% of your money you can spend on whatever you need, what you need to live on. But 10% doesn't belong to you, it's not yours to spend, you have to keep that money. And if you did that since the time you started working as a teenager or a young adult, 10% only, I believe by the time you retire you are going to be at least a millionaire, because there is an accumulation that takes place, right? The compound effect. I believe Einstein says that was the 8th wonder in the world. I believe somebody said if you invest, invested 1 cent every single day since the time Jesus was alive, like 2,000 years ago, today you would own all of the money that is in circulation in the world today. Again, very, very little amount, but being very persistent, doing it day after day after day, week after week after week, month after month after month, and eventually you are going to achieve your goal. There is really no magic, there is really no secret. It's you working hard every single day, doing something that brings you closer to where you want to be. And with you taking action, and I really believe action is everything, you need to take action and have somebody else you are going to be accountable to, whether it's your best friend, your spouse, your significant other, but somebody you want to make yourself accountable to for your result. This way they can challenge you, they can tell you, okay, this is what you said you were going to do, did you actually do it? And when I do this with my mastermind, it's really great because You know, we have a meeting once every 2 weeks or so, and I know exactly what I need to accomplish over the next 2 weeks, and I don't want to get to that mastermind meeting without me having accomplished what I said I was going to do. And sometimes that really motivates me, even 2 or 3 days before our meeting, for me to really get myself together and do what I said I was going to do, whether I feel like it or not, just get it done, because I know in a couple of days I'm gonna meet some friends or someone who's going to ask me about my progress, right? So if you have a mentor, definitely use that relationship. And if you don't, you need to find a mentor. Find someone who's been where you are trying to be, someone who can provide you kind of like a shortcut. Yes, I've been where you are, and I know exactly how to get to where you are trying to be because that's where I am now. And that is, I believe, a master key for success. Find people who think like you, people who've been where you want to be and people who are willing to help you and people you are going to be accountable to. That's really going to make a very, very, very big difference. So if you have any questions, please type them in the comments, but really this is exactly what I wanted to share with you today, right? The 3 A's of New Year's resolution. Again, I think the key The word there is resolution. You have to be resolute, right? This is it, I'm going to do it or else, right? It kind of reminds me of Patrick Henry, one of our forefathers here in the US. He was like, you know, give me liberty or give me death, right? If I cannot live as a free man, I'd rather die than stay alive. That's really the type of mindset you need to have for you to accomplish all of your goals. This is something you are going to do no matter what. And if you have that attitude and you are willing to do whatever it takes, even if you don't feel like it sometimes, I believe you are going to be a great success. So I'm gonna take just a second to see if there is anybody else that has a question for me on the comment. And thank you so much for about half a dozen of you that are watching me live now. This podcast will be available on all major podcast platforms in the next hour or so, and I really do appreciate your time. And again, if you only get one thing out of this quick podcast is you absolutely have to make up your mind what you want and why you want it, and then no excuses, you just have to get it done. And if you do, I believe by the end of 2023, you would have accomplished your 3 to 5 goals, and hopefully you are going to be able to mentor other other people around, around you as well. So until next time, this is Coach Bizy, and thank you so much for making the time to listen to me today. I'll see you on the next podcast.
Thank you for listening to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach Bizy. If you like what you heard, please subscribe to our 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.
More from Bob

S250:E4🎙️LIVE 🇺🇸America 250: President Barack Obama Leadership, Service, and the Power of Hope

S5:E157🎙️ LIVE with CMD CMSgt Dennis L. Fritz, USAF (Ret.)(Multi Tracks Audio)

S5:E156🎙️ LIVE 🇪🇸 Leadership Lessons from the FIFA World Cup 2026 Champions (Multi Tracks Audio)

S250:E3🎙️ LIVE Leadership Lessons from America’s First Documented Family of African Descent 🇺🇸📖






