Season 2, Episode 03: Goals Setting 2022

Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast. With your host, Coach Beezy. 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, this is Coach Bizzy again. Earlier, the previous episode, we watched two of Dr. Martin Luther King's speeches, probably the most famous, "I Have a Dream," and another one that I shared that really changed my life. I was maybe 9 or 10 years old when I first heard it, about life's The Blueprint. I'm going to unpack it just a little bit here, and then we're going to be talking about goals for 2022. I hope that 2022 is the best year you've ever had. So to get started, wherever you are watching from, if you are live right now on LinkedIn, please type into the comments. And if you also have a question for me, please go ahead and type into the comments as well. So I have a dream. This is really what I think about that speech when it relates to leadership and success. First and foremost, when we talk about leadership, you need to be able to lead yourself, right? I think you can't really help anybody else unless you help yourself first. I think that is exactly where you need to start. You need to be successful in order for you to be able to help other people. So in my mind, when I think think about success, it's kind of selfish at the beginning because you need to make sure all of your basic needs are met first and foremost. It's almost like when you are on an airplane, right? Before you take off, they tell you, hey, if there is some type of emergency, take the oxygen mask and use it for yourself first. Make sure you are okay, and then you can take care of your children or passengers are untrue. So, serve yourself first before you serve everyone else. I think that is true in life. However, after you've achieved a certain level of success, I think it is your duty to help as many people as you can achieve their goal, live their dream, realize their dream. I think that's where you really go from being successful to becoming significant. When you help other people achieve their own dream. And I really believe that's what we should all aspire to. And also, one thing about dreams, I believe you need to write those down. So for 2022, all of your goals— most people have had resolutions for the year, and unfortunately for most people, by the third week of the month of January, which is about now, most people have given up on their resolution and they're gonna give up until next year. But I really want you to pick up wherever you left off, and if you fall, that's okay, get back up and do it again, right? I think you should be very clear about what you want to accomplish in 2022. What are your goals? What are your dreams? And one thing about dreams is they give you a sense of possibility, right? You may have maybe never seen anybody that looks like you achieve this certain level of success you are trying before, but in reality you may not even know how to get started, where to start, is that even possible? But I think in your mind, in your imagination, you can pretty much do whatever you want, right? Dreaming is completely free, so it doesn't cost you anything. So you can think of a better world than the world of today. You can see beyond the limitation of today and see what is possible. What would you really like to accomplish in 2022? And The thing for me is that one of the first things you need to do is to write it down. You have to write it down. It needs to go on paper, whether you use your phone, your iPad, or a piece of paper, a calendar or something, but write it down. And I think it's extremely important to write your goals down because what it does is it goes from the realm of the mind, of the imagination, to the physical world. Right? You have a piece of paper, you have an iPhone or an iPad, you have something that you can actually touch and see with your physical eyes, right? And I think that translation is extremely important in increasing the chances of you achieving whatever your goals are. And another thing about a dream as well, when you listen to the dream of Martin Luther King, is he couldn't do it by himself. It's a dream so big, so huge, that one person couldn't do it. You really have to interact with other people, you have to collaborate with other people, you have to form a team, you have to partner with somebody else in order to make it a reality. And I believe if your dreams for 2022 are so small that you can do it all by yourself, maybe you need to dream again, right? Think of a dream, of a goal that is so big that you can't do it by yourself, you're gonna have to work with somebody else. Some of us, you know, we have a life partner, a spouse, or a mastermind group or people, friends, and that we just rely on that are gonna help us, keep us accountable, and also help us achieve those dreams because they are bigger than just one person. All right, so think about what you really want to do for 2022 and write it down, write it down. And I would say your goals, you shouldn't have more than 5 goals. 3 to 5, I think, is really what you should have for this year. And I believe everybody should have a goal in at least one of these 3 areas, maybe more, but at least one of these 3. Number 1, I believe, relationship and family. Think about what you're gonna do about developing your relationship with your loved ones, spouse, children, friends, partners, colleagues, And I think in life, in order for you to be happy, you really need to have great relationship with the people you care about. Set up time in your schedule to spend time with people you say you love, right? For some of us, the only time we talk to some of our family members, maybe once a year during Christmas or the holiday, and maybe you want to spend 30 minutes every, every month calling your parents, your brothers, just your siblings, or whoever in your life you believe is important to you, and making sure that you carve time out of your very, very busy schedule to spend with them. I think that is important. So one of your goals, I think, should have to do with relationship. Now, another category I believe has to do with health and fitness, right? Having energy and being able to get up in the morning being full of energy and being able to go after your dreams. There was a time in my life where I had a lot of back issues and it was very difficult for me to get out of bed. And I must tell you there was nothing more important in life during those moments than having good health, right? So I'm very, very grateful for the good health I have today because if I am healthy, I'm gonna be able to make money, I'm gonna be able to go after my dream, I'm gonna be able to realize my purpose. But if I'm not healthy, if I don't have any strength, I don't have any energy, then I can't really do nothing, right? So I think you need to have a goal about health and fitness. And usually health and fitness is critically important, but it's not urgent, right? It's not like somebody calling you on the phone and you have to pick it up now, or some very urgent email, or some fires you have to put out in the office. But it's extremely, extremely important because without it nothing else makes sense. So have a goal about relationships, have a goal about health and fitness, take time to exercise, you know, 3 times a week, eat healthy, do whatever you need to do in order to have high energy and be healthy. Because you only get this one body, this is your temple. Without this body, you can't do absolutely nothing in this world. So take care of yourself, it's very, very important. If you have to wake up earlier or go to bed later or sleep more and watch less TV, whatever you have to do, have, you know, a good night's sleep. Most doctors, I think, recommend 8 hours every day. Eat well and exercise. Do what you need to do in order to be healthy, to be fit. Very, very important. And I think at least one more goal you should have in 2022 has to do with your career, with finances. And when you're thinking about making more money this year, don't just say, I want to be wealthy, I want to be rich. I want to make more money. How much more money do you want to make? I think you need to have a specific number, right? And then say, you know, I would like to make this specific amount of money or more. I like to say or more because if you don't say or more, it seems to me like you could have the opportunity to do a lot more, but because you are limited to, let's say, $100,000, that's really all you are going to make. And for some people, subconsciously, they feel like this is such a great amount of money that if they make a penny beyond that, they start to get rid of that money unconsciously, right? Because they're like, no, I cannot be that wealthy, I cannot be that successful. So in their blueprint, in their mind, there is something that is preventing them from really enjoying the wealth and prosperity that they really deserve. Because again, it's not just about you, right? You may have a house, you may have a car, you may have everything you need and be satisfied, but what about the people around you? I believe 2022 is really the year for us to be a blessing to our local community. In my life so far, I think I've given away 3 vehicles, and I remember the time where I didn't have any money. I was a very poor student at the University of Alabama. I couldn't pay my tuition, didn't even know where my next meal would come from. It's a very, very dark place to be, But I've come through all of that, and today I feel like I've pretty much accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish for me. And sometimes, you know, the question I've asked myself is, how much is enough, right? How many houses are you going to need to have? How many cars? How many boats? Like, how much is enough? When are you going to start thinking about everybody else around you? And again, I believe we really get to be successful so we can become significant. And you really achieve significance by helping everybody else around you achieve their own dream, right? And I think that is a very, very good goal to have. Anyway, so having a financial goal, a goal with your career, what type of promotion you would like to have, right? It's great to work hard and you have to be hardworking, but don't be working hard on things that do not matter, right? You need to focus your energy on doing the things that you need to do that are going to bring you closer to where you want to be, right? And I think for 2022, that is going to be extremely, extremely helpful to you. So back to the second speech from Dr. Martin Luther King I shared in the previous episode about the blueprint. This speech really changed my life. Again, I was 8, 9, 10 years old when I first heard this speech. So it talks about having a blueprint for life And number 1, it says, is the principle of somebodyness, right? You have to believe that you are enough, you are worthy. Yes, you can be wealthy, you deserve to be wealthy, you deserve to be successful, you can do it. Even if there is nobody else in your circle of influence, there is no one who looks like you that's ever succeeded at whatever it is that you are planning to do, you need to believe that you can. It is possible. That's a very, very important belief. You have to believe in yourself. You have to know that you can do it, even if nobody else thinks that you can. You can. So, and many times in life, I feel like it doesn't really matter what other people think about you, whether it's your parents, your siblings, your cousin, or people you work for. It doesn't matter what they think. What is important is what do you think of yourself. That is the most important thing, that's the most important thought. What do you think of you? Are you a winner or are you a quitter? Are you a success or are you a disappointment and a failure? It's really up to you and it's very important that you believe that you can do whatever it is that you set your mind to do. All right, so I think that principle is great and it doesn't matter again if you're Black, a woman, or whatever the excuses that people choose these days to justify the temporary state in life, you are not going to be a victim. You are going to be a victor. You're going to find a way to do it, being determined to be a success regardless of your past or whatever disadvantages you may have in life. You can do it and you will. No excuses. That is really one thing I've learned a lot since I've joined the U.S. Navy, right? I joined the Navy in 2004. It's been almost 18 years now. And one thing in the military service, we don't have excuses. We receive orders and then we go ahead and we accomplish the mission. No excuses. We just get stuff done. And that's how you should feel about your life. But number 2, Dr. King talked about the determination to achieve excellence, and excellence is one of my core values. I believe excellence is so important. Whatever you do, do it very, very, very, very well. And I think that is a great secret for success, because if you are mediocre, you just do average, well, you are not going to be in the top 5, 3, 10% of experts in your field, right? You're gonna get average pay. But if you are excellent, you're gonna get excellent pay. You can already differentiate yourself from the crowd by being excellent. One example Dr. King chose was Being a street sweeper, right, set out to do a good job and do that job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn couldn't do it any better. Get some pride in what you do. Wow, do something so well. And this is the other thing, many times people really want you to kind of focus on your weaknesses, right? They tell you about your strengths and your weaknesses and want you to work on your weaknesses so that they are not so weak and they can become strong. But I think that is a big waste of time, and I think you really need to focus on your strength. Everybody has a strength, and the greatest people in the world, people who are celebrated, the greatest leaders, if you think of them, you're going to think of one and only one thing that really made them who they became. They were not good at everything, but they were good at something, and that one something is really what gave them a seat at the table. That is why they became great people, that's why they are world-renowned, they became famous, and many of them became wealthy, because they worked on their strength, they were the very, very best at whatever it is that they set their mind to do and to be. And I think that should be the same for you in 2022. Think about your strength, what is your highest strength, and make it even stronger. Work on your strength, do something so well, like Dr. King says, that there would be nobody who's alive nobody who died, and no one who is not born yet that could do any better than you. Excellence. Whatever you do, do it in such a way that it is excellent. And if you can be excellent in any field in life, I'm telling you, wealth will follow you, people will follow you. You are going to become an expert in whatever field you set your mind to if you become excellent. And for most people, it takes about, what, 10,000 hours to become skilled at anything. That's on average about 5 years or so. So whatever you don't know today, just set up your mind, okay, 5 years from now I want to become the best at this, whether it's sales, cybersecurity, computer technology, whatever it is. If you set your mind to it and start working very, very hard at becoming one of the best in that field, in 5 years' time you should become one of the top 10% expert in that field. And anybody who's an expert now, you can be sure when they first started, they were not an expert in anything. They didn't know anything. They didn't know whatever it was they knew today about the field they got into, whether it's real estate, banking, computer, or medicine. It doesn't matter. When we all start, we start being novice, novices, right? We don't know anything and we are learning. But again, after 10,000 hours, 5 years or so, you can become an expert. So whatever you do, do it very, very well. Be dedicated to your vision, right? You have a dream, you have a vision of who you want to become, and then you need to work out your life in such a way that you focus all of your resources in becoming better and better and better until you achieve excellence. So, uh, Dr. King says, if it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures. Think, think about that. The excellency of the work. Do it with such pride that when people see you sweeping the street, they think about the great work that Michelangelo did with his painting. Sweep street like Beethoven composed music. I am a musician, and there are very, very few musicians, really geniuses like Beethoven or Mozart, but these people really took great pride in their craft. Right? So whatever you do, do it extremely, extremely well. Sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera, and sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well." Even God and the angels will have to stop and say, "Wow!" What an excellent street sweeper! And that's really what you need to become in 2022, an excellent person in whatever field you have decided to get into, whether it's marketing, whether it's computer science, technology, cybersecurity, medicine, whatever it is that you decide to do, entrepreneurship, be the best entrepreneur you can be, be the best salesperson you can be, that in your city, that you may be known, that you may have the reputation of being the very, very, very, very best. I think you really owe that to yourself, and that's a great, great secret for success. And even if you cannot be at the very top, he says, if you can't be a pine on top of the hill, be a scrub in the valley, but be the best little scrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree, right? Everybody has very specific, unique talents, but be the very best at whatever it is you set your mind to. Be the best of whatever you are. That is such a great, great, great, great lesson. I cannot overemphasize that. And then for number 3 is the commitment to eternal principles. What I really love at the very, very end, right, it says, if you cannot fly, you need to run. This is the thing in life. You are going to be disappointed. In 2022, you are going to be disappointed. You are a human being and you are going to fail. Failure is perfectly normal. I have a coin here in my collection, let's see if I can find it, one that says that success and failure are two sides of the same coin, right? On one side it says success, on the other side it says failure. And failing is not bad as long as you learn from failing. And when you fall, you need to get yourself back up. Fall down, that's fine, and you will fail, but get yourself back up and keep working, keep learning, keep growing, develop that skill of excellence. Let excellence be your core value. Don't give up, not ever, ever, ever, ever give up. And many times the difference between those who succeed and those who don't is the fact that those who don't succeed just give up, and sometimes they give up when they are so close to reaching their goal. So you have to set your mindset: I am not going to give up, I have this dream, I have this vision, and I'm gonna go for it in 2022. I am all in, right? So if you can fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving. You have to keep moving. I think part of the secret of success is this compound effect, right? It doesn't happen overnight. It's what you do every single day. Every day, do something that's going to get you closer to your 3 to 5 goals for 2022. Frequently review your goal at least once a month, once a quarter, and then at the end of the year to see, okay, these were my 3 to 5 goals for 2022, have I accomplished them? Just having something to track. Dr. Maxwell, who is one of my mentors, said, you know, whatever you measure, you will accomplish, and that is so true. If you measure something, let's say you want to lose weight, okay, this is my weight today, I weigh 215 pounds, okay, and my goal is to be 190 pounds, if you keep measuring yourself at least once a week or even every day, you kind of gonna see whether you are going into the right direction, like your weight is going down, or you're going into the wrong direction and your weight is going up, and then you need to make adjustment, maybe eat less, exercise more, but do something because you are going into the wrong direction. It's like when you are flying, right? You want to fly from San Francisco to New York. Well, first you need to know that you are in San Francisco, and then you need to have a goal of where you want to be. Now, if you find yourself in Hawaii or in Paris, you definitely went the wrong direction. So always adjust and making sure that you are going, reaching toward your goal. But whatever you do, even when you fail, it's okay. You are a human being. And people do fail, but get back up and go after it again. If you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving. That's again, it's a very, very important principle of success. Never give up and always move forward to accomplish your goals in 2022. I hope that this has been very helpful to you. Before I close, I want to make sure nobody else had a question. For me about what we talked about, setting goals in 2022. I'm going to take a minute here to look at all of the comments and see if anybody had a question for me. No, so far so good. All right, so if you have any question, just make sure to email me and let me know. But again, in summary, for 2022, I think you should have a dream, a vision of what you would like to be at the end of the year, what you would like to achieve. And you're gonna need to work hard to achieve it. But make sure that your dream, your vision is not so small that you can do it by yourself. Make sure you're gonna need to partner with somebody. You're gonna need to work with the team. Because you are not strong in everything, but make sure to focus on your strength, but then partner with people who are strong in areas where, where you are weak. Make sure to write down your goals, 3 to 5 goals, right, in at least 3 areas. One has to do with relationship, one has to do with your health and fitness, and one has to do with your career and your financial goal for 2022. And once you've got that, go ahead and work out. You have to know like Dr. King says, that you are worthy of it, that you can do it. You have to have self-confidence. You have to know that it is possible, right? With a little bit of help and, uh, really, I'm being, uh, tenacious, right? You can do it. It is possible. You can do it. Have that belief in yourself. And number 2, like Dr. King says, try to develop that skill of excellence. Be the very, very, very best at whatever it is that you do. Every day improve, improve. So you don't really want to have a sudden change that's like, you know, a huge change overnight, but it's like a very, very small change every single day. With time it will accumulate, right? And when it does, all of a sudden you are going to become excellent. Again, perfection— I don't think perfection is possible at all. Nobody can be perfect. Perfection is not of this world, but excellence is. I will not be perfect, but I can be excellent and I want to aspire to become excellent. Whatever it is that I do, whether it's playing the piano, singing, giving speeches, inspiring people, or running a business, or being a cybersecurity expert, whatever it is that you set your mind to, decide to be the very, very best at that one thing. And then number 3, never, ever, ever give up. Until next time, this is Coach Bizzy. Thank you so much for your time. And I look forward to interacting with you and being a blessing to you in 2022. Bye.

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