Goal Building and Strengthening Mindset

Muhammad. I am the CEO and founder and main creative strategist behind Focused Media Group. Focus Media Group with a PH, and it's a play on the word photography. In 2018, um, the vision was downloaded to me in regards to, uh, starting this marketing agency. So I have been a photographer, a social media marketer, and just an all-around creative literally for the past 10 years now. And one thing that's always helped me to helped me to make sure that I beat imposter syndrome, helped me to make sure that I, um, start my year off right and not get distracted by any distractions, is by having mindfulness and keeping goals in the forefront. Now, we all hear about vision boards, we all hear about New Year's resolutions, we all hear about word of the year. But I think the one thing that's super important is to keep these same words, same goals in the forefront throughout the entire year. 9 out of 10 times, people are always trying to just, you know, make it through the first 90 days, right, of gym, of dating, of starting a new business, starting a new podcast, and then just stopping, right? This is 2022. And what we're going to do is we're not going to stop. It won't stop, right? I love music. I love— if you know Sevin, S-E-V-Y-N, I have that song in my mind when I say that it won't stop. We're going to be focused on our personal and our professional goals. We're going to be focused on our mindset all 2022. So the hashtag that you use that when we're talking about this on social media is that Phocus 2022, Phocus with a PH. Now, today's agenda is basically briefly talking about vision boarding, briefly talking about SMART goals, but mainly talking about mindfulness and morning routines. Now, for me, that's what works the most as far as how do I really keep my mind sharp, right? I've been an entrepreneur for about 10 years now, and a little personal backstory, I'm also a cancer survivor. So, you know, cancer survivor, you know, means that my mindset has to be more in tip-top shape than others. So with that being said, I think I want to make this conversation that focused. So I got several different devices going on. So this call is being recorded. So sorry if I do sound distracted, but that's what's going on with me. All right. So basically, um, all right, hold on, let me see. No people going on. I think we're good. Okay, I think we're good to go. All right. So 2022, uh, for me, that's my 30th year of life. I'm so excited to really celebrate it. And I think what's super important as well for, um, setting your goals is Have that word of the year. What is your word of the year going to be? And this is the word that you can put it on your phone, you can put it on your wallpaper, you can tell somebody, you can text it to yourself, you can write it down. But your word of the year is literally that word for when the going gets tough that you still remember exactly what it is. that you want to do. So for me, my word of the year is abundance. And with the word abundance, it can mean anything. It can mean financial abundance, spiritual abundance, abundance in love, abundance in business. You narrow it down however you want to do. Um, and what I'm referring to next, be sure to take mental notes about this. Uh, listen to the replay, do whatever you need to do to take mental notes about this, because what I'm also doing is reading off this vision board checklist that has been shared within the community. Um, that's super helpful with setting your goals. Even if you are not a vision board person, even if you do not want to grab some old magazines and scissors and glue and poster board and literally print out pictures, there's so many digital options out there, especially through Canva, C-A-N-V-A. So, uh, you can create, you know, your favorite celebrities, your entrepreneurs you're inspired by, the places that you see people travel to on Instagram. Save that, make a collection out of it, keep Do whatever you need to do to have your goals in the forefront as reminders. All right. So you write down the word of the year, whatever that word of the year is going to be for you. The easiest way to think of the word of the year is by looking at what didn't work in 2021, what didn't work in the years prior. Right. And that's what you can build upon. So don't, you know, put the past as— don't stay in the past and don't put the past completely away. Use it as a stepping stone, stepping stone to your year of success. So basically, my word of the year is abundant because I feel like, you know, there were so many things changing, so many things happening last year. Although I will admit, we've been in this panorama for 2 years, right? So there's nothing wrong with bringing stuff over from last year because if you feel like you didn't accomplish much last year, that's okay. Bring it on over to next year, but only Only the positive things, only the things that will elevate you and take you to the next level and help you to step outside of your comfort zone. So my word of the year is abundance. What am I going to do with this abundance? So I think I narrowed it down to 3 things, and these are the 3 things that I want. I do want financial abundance. I do want spiritual abundance. I do want abundance in the impact that I make in the women that I serve through Focus Media Group, through my podcast, through whatever my creative means is that I want to do. So with this abundance, I would like more spiritual abundance. I would like more abundance with impact, and I would like more financial abundance. Okay, the next part that we're going to talk about when it comes to setting the goals are 10 things that bring you joy. Now, when it comes to bringing you joy, think about these things that— actually, let me bring up an example. I've been heavily Wanted to do therapy. I have been doing therapy. 2021, one of the good things that I did get to do is get back to therapy. It'd be my first time really finding a therapist that really understands me in a few years, because it's just like dating. You got to find someone that really just gets you, right? So in therapy, the last session on New Year's Eve of all days, she asked me, what are the things that I do to validate myself? Right. So I had to think about that for a second, but then when I did, I remembered the thing that always keeps me going when the going gets tough is music playlists. I nicknamed myself DJ Busy Bee when I was growing up, right? I was one of those who made mixtapes and mixed CDs. And I now I make playlists, you know, on Spotify, for example. So music. Is one of those things that keeps me going when the going gets tough. And what I want to do is I want to— part of my brain, I'm a creative brain, so I tend to hop around. I'm neurodivergent, so I tend to hop around. But what I want to talk about now is kind of hop over to the morning routine. This is still on the lines of mindfulness, and it's still on the lines of how can you continue to build your personal and/or business goals. Right, so we're going to talk about morning routine. Now they say the key to success is how you start off your day, right? So it's super important to do your best to be as consistent as possible. So this is going to add on to the list of the things that bring you joy. And how do I explain it? The things that bring you joy, but also When you're thinking about the things that bring you joy, you're also thinking about the things that can add to that visual vision board for yourself, right? So now I'm going to talk about how I, on average, spend a good morning. Pardon me, let me get something to drink real quick. All right. So on average, I start my day off with prayer. I am a very marginalized woman. I am Black, I am Muslim, I am disabled with invisible disabilities. So starting my day with prayer, just simply waking up with the thought of I'm grateful for the waking of another day, right? Another thing that I do is I do not, or strive not to, check my phone and/or my social media and/or my email. and/or my TikTok and/or my YouTube in the morning, because you cannot control what you see. Although the algorithm does its best to try to show you more of what you like, you may have been looking at something that you did not want to see, you know, last, right? So you don't want to start off that energy in the morning. So what I love to do, like I said, I love music, right? So I do have a playlist that will, you know, that's like an empowerment playlist that I can wake up to feel good. Another method is looking at affirmations. I love to use cards. There's a small pack of affirmation cards that I use from a small Black-owned business called Notiq, N-O-T-I-Q, and there's like 30 small-sized cards and they have like 4 or so affirmations on each of them. And so I literally shuffle it around, and it's— at first, when I first got the pack as a gift, I, you know, read it in order, but then I realized that Not everything's going to resonate with you. The same thing about this conversation. Not everything that I do for my morning routine is going to resonate with you. So do you, boo, right? So I pick and choose which affirmation card, you know, feels good. And so since I do want financial abundance, one of the affirmations, one of the 4, some of the 4 affirmations on one of the cards is, I am a woman of wealth. I am a high-income earner. I am financially stable. I am empowered to give. Or you can switch it up with, I am growing in wealth. You know, whatever speaks to you, right? Speaking of words, words are super powerful, right? That's why we're going back with saying, be careful how you start off your morning. Be careful what you say to yourself, whether it's out loud or to your partner if you have one, or to your family member, or to your phone. Be careful what you say in your mind because your mind is super, super, super powerful. Think about all the times that your goals have come into fruition, come, you know, happen. How do you think that happened? Your mind. You were so focused on that goal, right? So make sure that you are starting off with positive, positive words. And speaking of words, another way to kind of let your creative juices flow is if you have a little notebook. I recommend writing because, for example, as Eric Baidu, you know, once said, is that power to pen is super, super powerful. Paper to pen to paper— sorry, pen to paper is super, super powerful. So utilize that as often as you can. Again, Notiq. I love this brand, and I'm probably, you know, talking about it a little too much, but I can give you a code if you want to. check them out. But Notique also has like notebooks and planners. They're vegan, they're leather-free, and the proceeds go towards, you know, an underdeveloped country. But they have, you know, the notebook that I have is a to-do list, partially a to-do list, and the back part of it is notes. So it's a little bit of both. You can have your to-do list, you can have your notes. So I say write down the thoughts. A lot of times Your best ideas come when? When you're sleeping late at night or in the shower, right? So make sure that you have your notepad handy because the thoughts that are coming to your mind, believe it or not, when you, when you're going through the tough times, you don't think about it like this. But those are the visions that will help you to become a millionaire or whatever your purpose is in life, whether it's monetary or in value. Those are the things, the visions that will help you to become the person that you're meant to be. So make sure you write Write down those thoughts. Yes, you can use your phone. Yes, you can use your Notes app, but only if you're really, really good and really disciplined enough to turn off your notifications and not check any other app and go straight to that note-taking app. All right. Speaking of to-do lists, I just wanted to share this on the lines of mindfulness, and then we'll hop back over to the 10 things that bring you joy. For me, I try not to overwhelm myself. Again, I'm neurodivergent, so I need sticky notes, I need small squares, so I can put no more than 10 things on my to-do list. When I'm able to check off 10 things on my to-do list, those are small ones, no matter how small, even if it's as small as go take a shower today or go wash your hair today. Make sure that you have 10 things on your to-do list that you know you can accomplish, because I think often what happens is that work In our personal life tend to confuse us and overwhelm us, and to the point where we just get overwhelmed. And so if you have a to-do list of 10 things, I then break it down by hour if I can. Let me do one task per hour. Now, for me, I'm an entrepreneur, so I kind of need to organize my day like that. So that works for me as far as, you know, organization and keeping a clear mind. Okay, so moving back over to the vision board checklist, when we're talking about the 10 things that bring you joy, think about— make this a journaling prompt if you wish— but think about the things you have done on your best days. Did you wake up with no alarm? Did you wake up and eat your favorite food, or did you get it made for you? Did you get it delivered or catered? Were you watching a movie? Did you have to go to work that day? Were you consulting with other people? What were those 10 things that you were doing? So write those things out on the 10 things that bring you joy, but also try to write it out in a way that is something that you can visualize. So for example, I want to— in my, in my perfect day, I visualize going out for a drive. Let's say I imagine myself living in a house that's not necessarily in the city, it's kind of more of a suburban world, and I envision myself going for a drive in my brand new luxury car, um, with my favorite R&B music blasting. Be as specific as you can, okay? And use those things, um, on your vision board. If you can find an image on Google, Canva, Instagram, Pinterest, do that. All right, the next part of, um, The vision boarding is setting those goals. So I kind of help you out a little bit, but when we're setting goals, we need to set them as SMART goals. SMART goals, it's an acronym. If you're not familiar with it, it's an acronym and it stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Now, time-based, I'm kind of Iffy about that one because I'm gonna start from the bottom and go up. So time-based as part of a goal is when do you want to set this goal, when do you want to achieve this goal. Now for me, I'm kind of iffy because I'm also a God girl, right? I'm very, very strong in my faith, you know, as a Muslim woman. So I know that God is in control. We can set our goals, we can, you know, make up our mind, but only God knows best. So what I try to do is I simply— I will either write my goals in future tense. Hold on, let me take this for a while. I will write my goals in future tense, or I will put it in a full sentence to be as specific as possible. So let's say one of my goals is to help 200 minority-owned businesses to grow their personal brands. So in order to really do that, by a certain time, I would start off with having monthly meetings and encouraging new— having new members join our community. Every single month and encourage those members to invite 3 new members, right? So I'm kind of, you know, I gave you a month, right? I gave you a month timeframe of, you know, one office hour every single month. Every single month, encourage those members to invite 3 more people. So every 3, every month, you know, let's break it down even more to a week, 3 people per week. But by the end of the year, that's my goal. to help 200 minority-owned businesses by the end of the year to grow their personal brand, right? So then, you know, break it down also to relevant. Relevant is something that can make it easy for you to digest as far as why am I doing this, right? When you have those moments of why me, when you have those moments of imposter syndrome creeping in, you then know how to make it relevant. So helping 200 women would allow me to fulfill my purpose in life and be more impactful, since one of my goals is to be abundantly impactful this year, right? Going up to attainable is— I kind of, I think I kind of talked about that, but attainable is how will you do that? What is the very, very first step you need to do? So for me, the very, very first step for me to reach 200 women is to talk to 200 women. I need to talk to you all on Clubhouse. I need to talk to you all on all the social media networks and email lists. You know, I need to talk to you all on my podcast. So that's really what I need to do. I need to tell people that I want to help 200 minority-owned businesses to build their personal brand, right? Measurable. So measurable is, you know, once again, similar to timely as far as how will you be able to measure how often, you know, you're working toward that goal. So for me, when I'm trying to build a community of 200 women, I know that once a month I'm going to be— once a month I'm going to be looking forward to welcoming 3 new members to the private community. Right. And then specific. So I think that's kind of the good thing about going backwards from starting at the T and going back to the S is that I was very, very specific on I want to help 200 minority-owned businesses to grow their personal brand by the end of 2022. Right? So this is, this is for me for a business goal. You can do the same thing for a personal goal. All right. Okay. Now let's see what else we got. All right, so we talked about the SMART goals, we talked about the vision board and how to make that, the platform to use. To make your vision come true and to keep— how— okay, that's what we'll talk about, how to keep it in the forefront, how to keep your visions in the forefront in an instant that you forget. Taking a sip of water again, hold on just a minute. Okay. So what has worked for me when it comes to being more mindful of the goal that I have set Um, it's by keeping it in front of you. I'm one of those girls that has notebooks upon notebooks upon notebooks. Again, I'll bring up Notiq. If you go to notiq.com, you can use promo code Legacy. Um, now it's not necessarily for the planners, I'll say that, but this is actually very helpful as far as being more mindful. But if you use— if you go to notiq.com and use promo code Legacy when you're checking out, you'll get $5 off. They have this water bottle that is like a— it depends on how much water you want. You can have like a 16-ounce water bottle or even bigger, and all of them have affirmation kind of at every ounce. You have affirmation. So personally, another good way to really stay mindful is to stay hydrated. I feel like the easiest thing that gets overlooked, especially for me as a cancer survivor, is water. Your body is made of water, so you need water to really stay alive and stay healthy. How have I been able to survive cancer for 30 years? Staying hydrated. You can use that water bottle, and then they also will come with— there's a combo, a bundle that will come with those affirmation cards, those pocket-sized affirmation cards that I was telling you about. So if you use promo code Legacy and you look for affirmation, just go to notiq.com and search for affirmation, and then you'll get— use promo code Legacy, you'll get a discount off of that. So I write down my goals anywhere and everywhere possible. I'm starting to use more sticky notes and hang them up in a corner of a wall that nobody who you feel would bring negative energy to your vision can see, right? So put that somewhere. If you need to put it in a book and put it in a drawer and put it in a safe Safe box, whatever you need to do to do that, but keep it in a way that you know where it is. Don't, don't do anything like out of sight, out of mind, right? Just keep it where you go too often. Put it in your work bag, put it in your nightstand. Another thing that I've done is I have, you know, when I made my digital vision board, I've made it as my wallpaper on my phone and/or on my laptop wallpaper. I've also changed some passwords. If I want to reach, you know, with my financial goals, I will actually put that as my phone passwords. How effective has it been? I haven't reached them yet, but again, it reminds me of where I'm going. There's an affirmation that I made for myself that I actually made it my screensaver. It is, I am a highly Paid and highly sought-after photographer, educator, and speaker. That's my screensaver. So when I walk away from my computer, the first thing I see is that, right? Um, what else have I done? Say it every day. Say it to yourself every single day. That works. Um, okay. So I think we are coming to it, and I hope this was super, super, super helpful. Now, before you go, I have a special offer for you. Um, I have been an entrepreneur for about 10 years now, and, uh, 6 out of those 10 years I have been digitally an entrepreneur. I understand the importance of community, and in 2022, um, I am officially starting a community called, uh, Focus Creatives, and it's going to be on a platform called Circle. And Circle is, is literally all the ones that you currently use. It's Facebook groups, it's Reddit, it's Slack, it's Mighty Networks, um, and it's all in one. And because I know that your network— your net worth is your network, um, I value relationships. I am an intuitive intuitive networker, and you never really know who will be in a community. So this community is for you if you resonate with building your personal brand, if you are a creative at heart and you really want to take that creative project to the next level, out of your head and onto, you know, social media or whatever platform you know is good for you. And this community is for you if you are looking for that kind of integrity and almost hand-holding to help you to achieve those goals. It's a completely— it's a 99% free community, and all you have to do is sign up to the email list. So be sure to sign up, and I think I left the link. I'm not sure if it'll show, but if you sign up for our email list— I'm going to read it very, very, very slowly, but also be sure to go to the link in my bio and we should have it there. But Visit eepurl.com/dyvn1. I know it's random, but I had to put something together. But make sure you use that for signing up to the community. And when you sign up to the community, you'll get immediate access. I highly recommend you create your profile because this community is also like a membership directory. So if you are looking for that creative, aside from us at Focus Media Group, Because we are the brand strategist, the creative strategist, creative director to help you to make your social media and your brand look good. If you need the other aspects such as copywriting, such as sales, such as more wellness talk and more productivity talk, we're going to have all those women in there in the same community for you. So once again, the link to join is E-E-P-U-R-L dot com forward slash D as in dog, Y as in yellow, V as in Victor, capital N as in Nancy, capital U as in unicorn, and the number 1. And I can't wait to see you. If you choose to also, there's, there's, you know, a small paid portion. If you choose to also become a paid member, this is where you will exclusively get access to the team members at Focus Media Group, entirely women, and we all collectively have over 20 years of experience. Um, and we will have office hours with you to learn Literally help you to build your business. We've all been digital entrepreneurs since MySpace days, since AOL chatroom days, so we know our thing, and we want to help you to do that. Whether you're in the great resignation or you want to level up your side hustle, we want to help you to be able to do that. So I hope you enjoy this conversation. Be sure to check me out on social media. Check out Focus Media Group, focus with a PH, and we will try to be in Nick. room once a month, but we are focused on the office hours, um, the first 2 days of the month, and unless something happens with life, we will do it the last 2 days of the month. Thank you so much for listening.