Season 2, Episode 13: Resilience with coach BZ

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 Coach Bizy coming to you from Silicon Valley. I am very glad to be with you right now. If you are watching, looks like about a dozen of you guys, please let me know in the comments where you are watching from, what city and state. And today we're going to be talking about resilience. I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now. I feel like in order for us to lead and to be successful, we need to become resilient leaders, right? We need to be able to continue to work on our mission and our vision even when things don't look like they are going to work out. And I think in order for you to be resilient, there are a couple of things. First, I think you need to have an attitude of gratefulness. I think you need to be grateful for where you are today. You may not be where you want to be, but you probably are not where you used to be, right? There's been some progress, and I think you, you need to acknowledge that, right? I am working toward the goal. I haven't achieved that goal yet, but on my way there, I've already had a couple of milestones, and I think those need to be celebrated, and you need to be grateful and thankful for what you have, because I can guarantee that there are hundreds of people who would like to be in your shoes right now, right? Sometimes even when I talk to my children, they don't always get everything they, they want, but I try to make sure they get everything they, they need. But no, if you are an American kid today, a teenager, compared to the world population, right, people living in third world country, like, you know, the country I am originally from, you are so much far ahead. You have so much more than, you know, I would say, uh, 90+ percent of the world. And I think that's something you really should be very grateful for, right? I am thankful and grateful to live in such a wonderful country and enjoy all of the freedoms that we have here. So I think that is, uh, important. Just take a minute pause and think about all of your blessings and everything you've got. Even in America, there are people who are completely homeless, right? They don't even have a place to stay, right? And you have a place to stay. You may not own a mansion, you may not own a house, but maybe you are paying for an apartment, right? So that's something to be grateful for. I think you really have to have that attitude of gratefulness, thankfulness, just being thankful for all of the blessings you have right now. And I believe that's gonna help you be more resilient, right? Last couple of years, like since, what, March 2020 when the global pandemic started, I've really discovered how resilient the human spirit is, right? We've gone through a lot, and right now people are talking about recession and all of that, but I think no matter what you are facing today, you can get through it. But I believe one very important key is to be grateful. Be grateful for your job. You may not even like what you are doing. You may not like your employer. People you used to like, used to work with, may no longer be working for your company any longer. But at least you have a job and at least you are getting paid, right? Many people today don't have any jobs. They've been laid off and they're still seeking employment. So be thankful for that. If you have a significant other, a wife, a husband, children, be grateful for those relationships, right? If you have true friends, those friends that stand closer than a brother at times, be grateful for those relationships. So I cannot say, I cannot overemphasize the importance of being grateful because sometimes, you know, you may be trying and trying, you really want to be successful and you really want to achieve those goals, but you have so many obstacles coming your way and you feel down. I understand that. And you are not gonna win every single battle, but you will win the war, right? But I think you need to pause and say, I am thankful. And thanks so much. I see Arjen watching all the way from Holland, and Paolo from San Salvador, and Will Smith from Charlotte, North Carolina. Please let me know, for those who are watching, one thing you are grateful for. I really believe this is important in becoming resilient. I think one thing I'm really, really grateful for is my family, right, my wife and my two children. When I get down, I just have to spend time with my loved ones and I really get reinvigorated, right, I get inspired all over again. If you can click on the comment what you are grateful for. Now, another key when I think about resilience is You need to have a support network, right? So I've already mentioned my, my wife. She's probably the number one person in my support network right now. But I think every person needs to have somebody they can really talk to, someone who can listen to you and give you advice, right? I think you need to have mentors, you need to have coaches, you need to have friends, you need to have a network of people who believe in you and who are going to support you. So when you fall down, they're going to help you get back up again. I think in life, the issue is not getting down. I think everybody will eventually fall down, but I think the key is when you fall down to get back up each and every time. Get back up again. It is not over until it is over. It is not over until you say it is over. So yes, you failed, you didn't do well, you didn't achieve your goal, or you're looking for a job right now and everybody's saying no to you. That's okay, it is temporary. Don't believe that this one defeat in this area of your life actually is going to define you, because it doesn't. Success and failure, I believe, really are two sides of the same coin. I have this coin here in my office. On one side it says "success" and on the other side it says "failure." And I think if you are going to be a leader, if you're going to be successful, you're going to have to experience failure, probably more times than you experience success, right? And I don't really believe there is such a thing as overnight success. That just doesn't exist. I think people who are extremely successful have gone through a lot of failures, right? And, uh, it's important to have that support network that is going to help you heal and help you get, uh, re-engage again, right? Help you get back up and keep walking toward the fulfillment of your life, uh, mission and achieving those goals that are very important to you. So number 1, be grateful, have an attitude of gratefulness. And number 2, I think you absolutely have to have a support net, network. And hopefully, you know, your loved ones, significant others are part of that network. And hopefully, you have some coaches or mentors you can reach out to, and you have some friends, right? People who really love you no matter what, and who are not afraid to tell you the truth when you mess up. I think that is very, very important for you to have a successful life and for you to be more resilient, right? Because you're gonna face adversity, that's just a given, right? What happens, I believe, happens to us all, but what's important is how do you react to it, how do you come back. Somebody once says, right, a setback is nothing but a setup for a comeback. So whenever you have a setback, you have to think, okay, that's temporary, I'm gonna get through it, let me get back up again and let's go through this. All right, so the first thing I wanted to mention is, um, it's probably a good idea to have a, or build a personal board of advisors or a mastermind. I have a mastermind that I attend every 2 weeks or so, people who are like-minded and people I get advice from. Whenever anybody in the mastermind has an issue, we can talk about it, no judgment, you just share what is in your heart and people can look at it a different way or give you a different perspective. Having mentors, having coaches, having people you really, really trust who can really speak into your life, I think is important. Like even now, there are a couple of my mentors, when I get a a job offer, I'm about to make a very significant decision in my life, of course I talk to my wife, but I also like to hear a couple of other people, what do they think, how is this going to kind of fit into what I believe is my life's purpose. But really having those relationships of people who can encourage you, I think that is key. And again, for the dozen of you that are online now, if you can Tap in the comment what person is in your mastermind or in a support network, someone who you really go to, who gives you great advice and kind of speak life back into you when you get down. I appreciate that. And then I think to be a resilient leader, you should stop reacting, right? I think the majority of the world reacts to what happens. There is a stimulus and something happens to people and then they just react. They don't even think, they just automatically react. And I think as a leader, you need to stop that. I think you need to pause, you need to reflect, and you need to respond, right? You need to give a response, not a reaction. And you need to think about, okay, this just happened, what is the best response based on what I know right now? Don't say anything, don't do anything, think about everything that has happened, look at everything related to whatever the situation might be, and then formulate a logical response. What is the best way for you to react? How should you present yourself in this situation? And then you execute. And I believe that is a very important key when it comes to resilience and being successful in the long run, right? I think the majority of people they just react to whatever happens to them, it's automatic, they don't even think about it and sometimes it is not the right reaction. One thing I try to do in my life is I try to minimize the times when I have to go back and think about, okay, I should have said this better and now I need to apologize. If you do something wrong, you say the wrong thing, yes, you have to say you are sorry, but I try I am very active in my life trying to minimize the times when I have to apologize for something I did. So I'd rather do something, the right thing, the first time than to have to mess up and then have to go back and do it all over again. And I think an important thing is to really take a pause and really think about what you're about to do, what your strategy is, and then making the right decision for you at the time based on the information you know. And then if you, as you know more, as you have more knowledge and experience, then make better decisions, right? But as a leader, I think it's really crucial for you from time to time to just pause and say, okay, what is the best thing for me to do knowing what I know now? I may have made the decision a few weeks ago or a few months ago, even a couple of years ago, but based on everything that has changed now, what should be my response, what should be the best decision going forward, right? So I think that is very important. Spencer, thank you so much for chiming into the discussion. Spencer says, "Need to know your EQ to be a resilient leader," and that is exactly right. In Silicon Valley, where I live, IQ is extremely important, right? Almost everybody here is super, super smart. You wouldn't be in the IT world in Silicon Valley if you didn't have a high IQ, but what's even more important in my opinion is the EQ, the emotional intelligence. And Spencer, can you let us know also where you are watching from, please? And when I'm talking about taking a pause and reflecting, I think that's really part of emotional intelligence, because to me emotional intelligence really has two main parts. One is being self-aware, right? You are aware of yourself, your emotion, your feeling, but then The other part is also being aware of other people, people around you, right? And being self-aware, I think, necessitates for you to take a pause and reflect about what is happening, who you are, what your goals are, and then what your decision should be, what you and only you should decide. Now, earlier I say you need to have a supportive network, you need to have a mastermind, you need to reach out to some coaches or mentors, and that is all great. But ultimately, though, you are the person who's going to make the decision. This is your life, right? It's not somebody else's life. People can speak into your life, they can give you advice, they can tell you what you should do, but ultimately you and only you make the decision, right? So I think it takes a lot of courage, restraint, and deliberation too, but it's important to take a pause. Talking about taking a pause, I think another way you can look at it is to also take time off. I know prior to the pandemic, the culture for most Silicon Valley companies I've worked for was to work, work, work, work. We work 50, 60 hours a week, working all the time, even on weekends, even on vacation, taking your work computer with you and doing work when you're supposed to be on personal time off. I think that is wrong. In order for you to be resilient, I believe you absolutely need to have some downtime. You need to take time off, you need to sleep at least 6 to 8 hours every single day and take your weekends completely off. Don't do any work, focus on your family, your hobbies. I love to read or play music or whatever it is that relaxes you, do that, right? And don't do work, right? You need to take time off, otherwise you are going to get sick. You're gonna be overworked, you're gonna be burned out. But when you take time off, then it's time for you to rejuvenate, to refresh, and then you can get back to work, right? In my opinion, there is always much, much more work to do than there is time and resources to get it done, right? So whatever you're working on today, it's Friday, it's still gonna be there for you on Monday. Don't worry about it, take time off. You need to learn to really set boundaries and to set limits., right? That's very, very, very important. I think one thing that really did it for me, uh, I believe it was in 2014 or 2015, I was actually on vacation with my family. We went to Disneyland in Southern California, and I was actually walking down, uh, was it Magic Kingdom Main Street, Disneyland? And I actually had my computer in my hand, and I was still doing work while I was there with my wife and my two kids, and they were experiencing the wonder of the Magic Kingdom. That's just not acceptable. So I am urging you leaders, yes, I know you are a workaholic, probably not as bad as I used to be, but when you take time off, it's personal time off. Take time off, I think you should disconnect your phone, disconnect your computer, and just spend the time with your family, relax, and really do things for your own emotional health too, right? And I think that's also, I'm being part of the emotional intelligence, being aware of yourself, of your limit, and knowing when to plug off. And when you plug off, you really, really, really should plug off. And then, no, when you get back to work, you can get back at it. I think that is important. And Spencer also said that there are 7 habits also supposed to help you with defining your habit. I'm assuming, Spencer, you are talking about The 7 Habits by Stephen Covey. I think I have that book here somewhere in my library. That's definitely a great resource, a great book to read. But really, in my experience, success is learnable, right? It is a skill. You may not be very successful right now, but you can become, right? If you spend time with people who are successful in the field you are trying to become successful in, I think you can really learn from them, even if you don't know them personally. You know, you can read their books, listen to their podcasts, and really learn by reading whatever articles they are writing all over social media or the internet, and really get some insight into what made them successful. Why? Because the truth is, all of the experts today, no matter what the field is, when they first started, they were novice, right? They didn't know anything about the field they became an expert in. I think on average they say it takes about, what, 10,000 hours or so to become an expert in the field. That's about 5 years or so. So I think if you have a plan, if you get started now, eventually 10,000 hours from now, 5 years from now, you will become expert in whatever field you choose. But I'm saying all of this to say that Success leaves clues, and it's really about your personal habit, what you do every single day. It's not something that you do just one time and you become an overnight success. It's something that you do day after day after day after day, and usually the first time you do the right thing in the right sequence, you don't really see much, right? Nothing really changes, right? One example I like to choose, we have an epidemic of obesity in this country, people eating, you know, fast food, junk food, and not being able to manage their proper weight, which causes a lot of trouble. But if, you know, I'm just going to take one example. If you eat a burger, right, fast food, not very healthy, with fries or whatnot, you're not gonna gain 5 pounds on the spot, right? If that happened, people would stop eating junk food, right? If you eat donuts or whatever your favorite junk food is, I'm not particularly against any one vendor or company, but let's say it is a donut. So you eat a donut, you're not gonna gain 5 or 10 pounds as soon as you eat the donut. Actually, you're gonna experience absolutely no changes whatsoever. Looks like you still have the same weight you had the day before. However, if you keep doing this day after day after day, it is going to accumulate, and before you know it, you are going to gain a lot of weight. So I think that's the same way success principles, that's exactly how they work. You do something, but you don't see results right away. You have to be consistent in what you do, and eventually it's going to accumulate, and then you're going to see the result. If you just decide you want to eat healthy and you want to exercise, your first exercise session, you're not gonna lose any weight at all. You are burning calories, but it's all invisible to you. You have to keep doing it over and over and over again, and after days, weeks, months, then you're gonna start seeing the result if you don't give up, right? So I think you need to be consistent towards the pursuit of your goal. That consistency is extremely important, and that's a habit you can learn, right? One of my mentors told me successful people do not enjoy doing what makes them successful, just like everybody else. Pretty much every human being is lazy, that is just the bottom line. But he told me that successful people do what they need to do when they need to do it, whether they feel like it or not. The big difference between those who are successful and those who are not successful is the people who are successful, they still get to do it even though they don't want to do it. For example, working out every morning, or whatever it might be, or focusing, managing your time in such a way that you focus on the 20% of the problems, of the tasks that are going to get you 80% toward the accomplishment of this goal. I'm referencing to the Pareto Principle, right, the 80/20% rule. Instead of just adding your energy, right, spares, and doing all kinds of things, being busy, all the time busy, busy, busy, but not actually having anything to show for it. Thinking about your work and focusing on those few things that are actually going to get you closer to your goal, right? The 80/20 rule. 20% of what you do will get you 80% toward that goal, whereas the majority of people, they spend time working on the 80% of the task that only gets them 20% toward the achievement of of their goal. So being consistent, having those habits, and doing things that you need to do whether you feel like it or not is going to be a great skill, I think, to have a great habit in order for you to be resilient and successful, right? So, and being consistent, I think, is a very, very important key. This is what I am going to do, this is what I've decided to do, this is what I want to go from point A to point B and this is my path in order to get there and whether I feel like it or not I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna force myself to get up one hour earlier, I'm gonna force myself to go to bed one hour later, I'm gonna force myself not to waste time just being on the internet, social media, Facebook or whatever or watching TV. Maybe there is time for that but there's gonna be like a time limit, maybe only 30 minutes a day and not 4 or 5 hours for an entire day, right? I'm gonna force myself to work out. It's a decision that you make, right? And it's, again, it's great to have that supporting group, these people who are going to support you and love you and really help you do the right thing and hold you accountable, right? This is another reason why I love working with coaches, because when you have a coach, they really hold you accountable. It's like, okay, this is the plan, this is what we're gonna do next week, we're gonna have a call 2 weeks from now and you need to tell me about your successes, what you have actually accomplished. And in my opinion, in my experience, people usually tend to do things not just for themselves but because they're gonna be held accountable by a third party, then they tend to actually get it done before that meeting in 1 week, a couple of days, or 2 weeks because somebody's gonna ask them, okay, what did you do and what did you learn? That's sometimes that is enough to really motivate people to do the right thing, right? So hold yourself accountable, but you have to be consistent, consistent toward the pursuit of your goal. Now, as you are becoming more resilient and you are pursuing your goal, another thing I think that's important is you need to get out of your comfort zone, right? I think the problem for most people is they love where they are, they are very comfortable. It may not be where they want to be, but they are comfortable and they love that comfort. Therefore, they don't want to take a step outside of that comfort bubble, right? Sometimes people will say, well, I want to make a lot more money, but they don't want to do what it takes to make more money or what it takes to learn new skills, right? They may say, okay, I really hate my my job and they would be there complaining, complaining, complaining, but at the end of the day they're still gonna go to that job and still do the same thing that's not gonna take them any higher than where they are because they are comfortable, right? And to be successful you do have to get outside of your comfort zone. You have to learn something new. You have to do something today that you didn't do yesterday because what you did yesterday got you to where you are, but if you want to get somewhere else you have to do something that you've never done, right?. And you have to have that open mind and have that courage to learn a new skill, go back to school if you have to, read books, or do whatever it is you need to do in order to get the skills that are going to take you to the next level. And you need to be comfortable being in a situation where you do not have any guarantee, right? Because success is not guaranteed. You have to take risk, right? And I believe the more risk you take— and remember, I talk about success and failure, failure being a part of success. I think the more you fail and the faster you fail, the more successful you are going to be. I think people who are extremely successful have tried so many things, they failed so much that eventually they really didn't have a choice but to succeed because they've tried every other way that didn't work, therefore they eventually found the right way. I believe Thomas Edison, right? They say he tries, what, 10,000 times? Before he was able to find the right formula for the light bulb, which means he failed more than 9,999 times, but eventually he found success. So I think that is important, being consistent and being completely outside of your comfort zone. That's, that's really where I believe you grow and you learn, when you are outside of your comfort zone, when you're doing something you've never done before. And usually when you do that, you are not going to be very good. Your work is not going to be excellent at first. You are going to have to learn. Earlier I mentioned why it takes about, what, 10,000 hours or 5 years on average to become an expert. So when you start something brand new, you don't know anything and you are learning. Actually, you are going to suck at it, to be fine. And what happened to most people is when they try something new, they get outside of their comfort zone, they try it, it doesn't look good, they suck at it, and then they just stop, right? They quit., but that's not you. Because you are a resilient leader, you're gonna do it over and over and over and over again until you build that muscle, you become stronger, and you become excellent at whatever it is you've decided to do. So I think that's going to help you be a resilient leader. Another thing I have in my note is don't give up. Don't give up. I like to think of the Energizer Bunny, right? It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.. I think that's really in its essence what resilience is. Yes, you got a good beating today, things didn't go your way, you know, you applied for 100 jobs and you got 97 nos and not even an interview or whatever, that's okay, that's okay, just don't give up, do it again, do it again tomorrow, do it again next week, do it again, apply again, right? Do not give up because once you give up, that's it, you are done. You are finished. I believe not even God can help you when you give up because you're telling yourself, I am done, this is not for me, and I give up right now. But what needs to happen is you need to continue going at it, right? Look at it from a different way, go through it, go above it, go under it, find a way. And I think people who are successful and resilient, they have set up in their mind— initially I talked about having an attitude of thankfulness, but it's also having an attitude that there is a way, right? If I have a problem, that means that there is already a solution to it. I may not know what the solution is, but I'm going to figure that out. And I think that really, the way you look at things, is going to help you be successful. When you believe that there is a solution that's just waiting for you to discover it, you have greater chances of succeeding than someone who says, okay, this is just a big problem, I don't know how to solve it, and I just give up. Successful people just don't give up. My godfather used to say, winners don't Winners don't quit and quitters don't win. And I think that is true. So you have to be persistent, consistent, get outside of your comfort zone, and don't give up. And even if you fall down, you need to get back up again and keep going at it. Another thing I thought about is to be resilient is you have to develop a capacity for endurance. One way I learned endurance is when I joined the US Navy back in 2004. For the first time, right, I went through a physical readiness test where they make you do push-ups, run, and all of that. But basically, if you are not very active physically, the only way for you to get through boot camp or maybe physical readiness test is to endure some level of pain, right? Yeah, it's gonna be awful a little bit, especially when you are not a runner, you spend most of your time just sitting down in the office, you don't even walk much and stuff, and you start running like a mile and a half, you're gonna feel like your heart is going to just, you know, burst out of your chest, right? But if you give up, if you stop, you fail, right? So if you can just endure that pain, that uncomfort, just okay, you don't feel so good, but just keep going at it, before you know it, you're gonna pass through the finish line and you are gonna pass your test. Let's say a physical example of that. But I think in life in general, you need to enlarge your capacity for endurance, right? You need to be able to go through pain and not break apart, right? If you have to, you can stop, you can rest. We talk about having downtime, recharging, taking time off, but after that's done, get back at it again, right? Work on your ability, your capacity for endurance. And I think the people who win at the end are those who endure. Sometimes even in a fight, right, you can have someone who's very, very strong and you have an underdog who really doesn't have a chance, but just because they want to win so much and they have that capacity for enduring pain, their psychological capacity, right, their psychological fitness is going to allow them to overcome and win the fight, even though physically speaking, they really didn't, didn't have a chance, right? So I think there is definitely a mental side to success and to resilience. And I think sometimes what we cannot see can have a huge impact on what we do and the result we have, right? Your endurance, your faith, right? Your attitude, the way you look at things. Your perspective, I think, many times has a lot more to do with your success than the things that people can actually see, right? Because there are people who don't have any money, for example, but all they have is great ideas and the desire to succeed. And usually that is enough to get them on their way, and eventually people are going to support them and they will find the resources, right, to be able to accomplish their goal. But first, they have a vision, right? So another thing kind of related to that is also having a sense of purpose. You need to feel like your life, you are here for something and you have something to accomplish, right? I think if you have a purpose to your life, no matter what is happening to you right now, the challenges you are having and the temporary setback, you can kind of reset your mind and say, okay, that is fine, today was not a great day, but I still have a purpose and I'm gonna get back on this road because I have something to accomplish. Now, especially for many people like me who are in the military, especially when you go to war and things like that, no, but the truth is some people go to war and they never come back, but in my experience, people who've been in very, very difficult situations, life-threatening situations. In my experience, those who tend to come back home are the people who have set up their mind, you know, I have a purpose, I have to see my wife, I have to see my kids back. They keep that mental image in their head in such a way that they have something to live for. Like, I've read, you know, stories of prisoners of war being mistreated far, far, far away from home. Their life is at risk almost every single day, but those who had the will to continue to live, it's because they really had a purpose. They had somebody they had to see, they had somewhere they had to be, and they didn't allow whatever it is that they were facing at the moment to kind of, you know, takes that away from them. So they still add that flame, that passion, that yes, I have something to do, my time hasn't come yet. And again, all of that is really mental, but I think it's important if you're going to be resilient for you to have this sense of purpose. You have something to do, you have something to accomplish, right? And you are not done yet. And you may not know the way, you may not know how or when, but she knows that she knows that she knows that she knows. That you are going to find a way. And I think that is important, having a long-term perspective, right? Not just working for today, no, for 5 minutes from now, but having a goal that is more than 6 months away, right? A couple of years away, 5 years away. So I think that is very important to have a long-term goal. So that you are going to manage your time in such a way that you do something every single day that is going to get you closer to that goal. So you may have a temporary setback, but that's okay. Again, you get back up on that road again toward the accomplishment of your long-term goal. I think for the majority of young people, we kind of live in a microwave society. I think people like to have things right here and right now. They are We don't have any patience whatsoever, but I think if you're gonna build something that is really great, something that is worth it, it is going to take time. And you need to have that endurance, you need to have that long-term perspective, and every single day work toward the accomplishment of that goal. And the last thing I am going to mention is for you to be resilient, you need to develop salesmanship. I think every successful people, every successful leader needs to be a salesman too, right? Even when I was coming up, I learned about sales, right? Even when I was in school, part-time I was doing some sales as well, but then I kind of realized that sales skills is not just for you to sell a product or services, right? At one point I was running my own business and looking for clients and that kind of thing. But I think the sales skills are important just for you as an individual too. Like, even when you apply for a job or you have a resume, that is really being a salesman. But what you're doing is you are selling yourself, your skills, your experience, because you're saying, okay, you people have a problem, and if you hire me, I have the skills, the experience, in order to be a solution to whatever challenges you are facing. So I think Salesmanship is very, very important in life. If you are afraid to speak to people and to really be able to use data to convince whoever you are talking to, to see things a different way, I think you need to start learning on your salesmanship, right? You don't have to be a car salesman or anything like that, but knowing the process and having the skills to be able to sell, I think is important. And the other thing I learned when I was in sales is being able to take no, right? It looks like the majority of people, once you say no to them, they just break and they flounder. But successful salesmen, at least, they are so used to listening to hearing the word no, no, I'm not gonna buy, no, no. And then they try, okay, if you're not gonna buy now, maybe you're gonna buy later. No, what is in the way? What is preventing you from making a buying decision right now? Being able to take no, but being able to provide an alternative way of looking at things. I think that is important in life. Okay, one quick example. When I first came to this country, I think it was in 1997, I was really looking for a job. I think I applied for like hundreds and hundreds of job everywhere on campus. I know, like, keep hearing this, no, no, no, can't hire you, you don't have the experience, right? Kind of like, what is it called, the catch, catch-22, right? It's like, okay, we won't give you the job because you don't have the experience, but then I cannot get the experience unless I have the job, right? So I think if you're gonna be resilient, when people say no to you, don't just give up and say, okay, I am done. It's okay, that's fine, you say no, but I'm gonna go somewhere else and I'm gonna see if I can turn that no into at least a maybe and eventually a yes. I remember, I think it was Colonel Sanders who did KFC, which became a wonderful success story, but everywhere he tried to sell his recipe for frying chicken, everybody said no, no, no, no, no, until somebody eventually said yes. When you look at the life of people who are extremely successful, this almost happens over and over again. They've been said no, people Like the woman who wrote the Harry Potter book, right? I don't know how many publishers she went to, but the great majority of them said, no, no, we can't publish this, just give up, you weren't born to be writing books. But she was very persistent, right? She was resilient. She didn't take no for an answer. And eventually, now she's a billionaire, right? She's done things that nobody has ever done in the world. But what I'm saying is, to be resilient, you need to be able to accept a no. When people say no, don't just take it at face value. Don't give up, but you need to continue working toward the achievement of your goal, because it is possible. Somebody's going to do it, and it may as well be you. So X company may have said no, but guess what? You need to go to Y company, to Z company, and then go to A company, to B company. So there is somebody else out there who has a solution of the opportunity you are seeking. Just because somebody says no doesn't mean it's the end of the world. And I think having salesmanship, having sales skills will help you with that, right? Not just taking no, but finding a way to get to yes, being determined to succeed and finding a way to that success. All right, that is all I am going to talk about now. I think we've been in for almost 40 minutes now. If anybody that is still watching has any question, please type them in the, in the comment. And I see Daniel, thank you so much for being here, long, long time no see from Silicon Valley. If you have any question, type them in the question box, not just about resilience, but just about anything I'm gonna say, if I can answer it or point you to a resource that would have the right answer. But thanks again for spending this morning with me. I'm gonna recap really quickly. Today I talked about resilience, and I think an important portion of resilience is attitude, right? The attitude of being grateful for what you already have, but also the attitude of knowing that there is room for you, right? You will not be denied. You are going to find a way to become successful no matter what. No matter what comes at you, there is a way for you to go from where you are to where you need to be. I think that sense of purpose— I talked about having a supporting network, building a personal board of advisors, a mastermind, people you can go to for advice. But ultimately, you make the final decision And also, it's important to take a pause. Don't just be reacting, but be responding. Take a moment, think about your strategy, think about what you are going to do as a response, and then execute on that. It's also on doing things that you should do when you should do them, whether you feel like it or not. But I think a long-term perspective— what I'm doing today, it really means something. I am working toward a goal, right? Being consistent, not giving up, developing a capacity for endurance, having a sense of purpose, long-term perspective, and I also say developing salesmanship, right? Being used to hearing the word "no" and not giving up just because somebody said no. If one person says no, somebody else is going to say yes. So keep working at it over and over again. Until you succeed. Okay, until next time, this is Coach BZ, and thank you so much for joining me.

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