Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan - Karim R. Ellis on How To GPS Your Success Episode 91

Episode Date: January 26, 2021

How did Karim Ellis, dynamic speaker, coach, and author, become the protégé of Les Brown? How did he take the blueprints that his mentor gave him and rise to the next level? Karim joins Heather toda...y to give insights into his story, his process, and his GPS to success. He details how to move forward with clarity, recalculate when faced with roadblocks, and visualize your goal. Karim also shares his tips and tricks to becoming a memorable and relatable speaker. If you feel lost on your road to success, listen to this episode.  About the Guest: Karim R. Ellis is the founder of Empowered Education, a company devoted to developing both organizations and individuals. A dynamic motivational speaker with 10 years experience in the arena of speaking, training, and coaching, Karim takes great pride in cultivating leaders and champions. His sole desire is to unlock an atmosphere of greatness in the lives of the people he connects with on a daily basis. When Karim Ellis teaches a topic or delivers a message, he makes sure that the room absolutely “gets it”. Finding Karim R. Ellis: Visit his website: http://karimellis.com/  Get a free preview of GPS My Success by emailing info@karimellis.com  For Creating Confidence listeners only, email info@karimellis.com for a free 20 minute coaching consultation Twitter: @KarimEllis Check out his Youtube channel: Karim R. Ellis To inquire about my coaching program opportunity visit https://mentorship.heathermonahan.com/  Review this podcast on Apple Podcast using this LINK and when you DM me the screen shot, I buy you my $299 video course as a thank you!  My book Confidence Creator is available now! get it right HERE If you are looking for more tips you can download my free E-book at my website and thank you! https://heathermonahan.com  *If you'd like to ask a question and be featured during the wrap up segment of Creating Confidence, contact Heather Monahan directly through her website and don’t forget to subscribe to the mailing list so you don’t skip a beat to all things Confidence Creating!   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:35 We've come at diversity and set you up for better tomorrow. That's a no-sweet journey. I'm ready for my close time. Hi and welcome back. I'm so grateful that you are back with me yet again this week. And if you are just joining us for the first time, thank you for being here and welcome. Okay, so a lot is happening.
Starting point is 00:00:55 A lot has happened in the last week that I want to get you up to speed on around my book. And it's kind of crazy. I heard a little over a week ago from Harper Cons leadership that they wanted me to cut 8,000 words out of my manuscript which I gotta tell you as an author is super sad it's your baby and you're having to crush the baby.
Starting point is 00:01:18 So that was hard to process. I had to sit on it for a couple of days before I could actually start looking at what I was going to do. But then I jumped in and figured, okay, these guys are experts. They know what they're doing. And I'm going to follow the direction and put the work in. So I am nearing my cut off. And I think that we're making this book better than ever. But I will tell you it's a hard pill to swallow to hear, hey, you over delivered by 8,000 words go ahead and cut those words out. I've
Starting point is 00:01:50 learned so much about the book business, not having experience working with a traditional publisher, and one of the things I want to share is don't go over your word count because publishers see that as money. Now take it back, back during the pandemic, when we were in the middle of quarantine, I'll never forget I got a call from HarperCollins leadership and they wanted to set up a meeting with me, my agent, and them. And the three of us got on a call. I didn't realize, but during quarantine, all of book sales, hardcover book sales in particular, nose-dived. And a lot of books are read on planes and trains and travel.
Starting point is 00:02:27 And those books were not being purchased. So book sales were plummeting. And the book industry was panicking. Of course, because who knew if it was a new trend, who knew how long it was going to go on for. So they wanted to cut costs. And they ended up on a call with me and my agent saying, hey Heather, we wanted to revisit your contract. And I said, sure, what's going on? And they explained, you know, we are looking out at the industry overall and seeing the decline in hardcover book sales. And we want to dial back our hardcover book sale commitments because the books aren't selling. So we want to jump on a call with you today to basically see if you be willing to let us go ahead and drop the hardcover from your contract and holy cow pump the brakes. Here's what I know. Number one, I have a contract,
Starting point is 00:03:19 right? So I'm thinking about that in my mind. It's stung that I couldn't see my agent because she's an LA and she's on the phone, but I can't see her, you know, to communicate directly with her. I'm new in this traditional publisher world. Well, I've written and published a book. I did that self-publishing, which is 100% different. So I'm sitting there, I was actually in my bedroom, in the middle of quarantine, not knowing what I'm doing. So I just had to trust my gut. And my gut said, no way. I need a hardcover. I had a hardcover of my self-published book. I'm not going to not have a hardcover
Starting point is 00:03:51 of my Harper Collins book. So I said, well, I hear your challenge and I empathize with you. That's very challenging. Who knows what this will look like a year from now? This is back last year. What I'm having the conversation. I said, who knows what the world will look like though a year from now, this is back last year, what I'm having the conversation. I said, who knows what the world will look like
Starting point is 00:04:07 though a year from now and my book's coming out. So hardcover sales could be exploding because everyone could be traveling everywhere and the pandemic's over. And are we not being a little hasty right now thinking of throwing hardcover book out entirely? And she said, I totally hear you, Heather. And we don't know you're right.
Starting point is 00:04:26 However, we as a company have made a decision that we wanna dial back hardcover offerings. So I said, I understand, however, the book you should not dial back, a hardcover offering is mine. And here's why. And so I just went into pitch mode and attempt to sell her on why my book will sell in hardcover. And I just went into pitch mode and attempt to sell her on why my book will sell in hard
Starting point is 00:04:46 cover. And I just started pitching. I said I have a huge LinkedIn following, which is a business following. It's where business gets done and business people purchase hard covers, not only for themselves, but as gifts. My book is coming out in November of 2021. It will be purchased as gifts. I just started going on this rant of all the reasons why my book
Starting point is 00:05:10 is a business book and business books are bought as hardcover. So I made this pitch in this presentation, not knowing if I was doing the right thing, but I had no one else to, I couldn't see my agent to say, hey, this is crazy, right? I just had to trust my gut and go all in. And there was silence on the phone for a moment.
Starting point is 00:05:29 And my agent spoke up and said, you know, Heather brings up some great points with Heather's business background and the business content in the book. I do support what Heather's saying that this is not the book to go ahead and next to Hardcover on silence again on the phone. And our contact said, okay, I hear you, I appreciate you giving me this insight. Would you mind following up with an email to me kind of outlying the reasons why you
Starting point is 00:05:58 feel committed to keeping a hardcover book sales high and ensuring us that you'll be able to deliver on that? Basically saying Heather, put in writing that you're committed to selling a significant amount of hardcover books that you're really all in on this. And at that point, I understood something. I'm not dealing with the ultimate decision maker, right, because you could tell this woman had been told, hey, try to get a hold of as many new authors as you can and try to get them to give up the idea of a hardcover to ensure that if hardcover book sales are down in 2021, we don't take a beating on the
Starting point is 00:06:32 printing costs, right? It's all business and it's all about bottom line. So in that moment, I'm recognizing this woman's caught in the middle. She and I are just establishing a working relationship and here she is. You know, I had just signed the contract a month or two before. Now she's having to come back to me to try to unwind a portion of it. She's in a tough spot.
Starting point is 00:06:50 So I realized I needed to help her sell through the idea that my book should remain intact exactly the way that we had contracted. So I said, no problem. Give me 24 hours and I'm gonna send you an email that will outline and highlight the commitments and why this book needs a hard cover and justifies the reasons.
Starting point is 00:07:11 And she said, oh gosh, thanks so much. So I took that next 24 hours to take snapshots of, so funny, I went back into my social media. And when you write a book proposal, you outline a why you section. Like why is this author? Why does this author need to have a deal with Harper Collins leadership? You know, why is this person going to be able to market this book? Because at the end of the day, everyone cares about sales. It's not all
Starting point is 00:07:36 about my amazing creative idea and story. No, sadly, that's not it. It's all about, does this person have a platform? Can this person monetize a book and can this person sell? That's what they care about. And so I went back to the original book proposal that Harper columns had to signed off on and signed me as a result of, and I was reading it, and it was super interesting. I thought, wow, my stats have grown immensely since I submitted this. I have so much, I hadn't even hit a million podcasts downloads at that point in time. And so I said, wow, my downloads have grown exponentially.
Starting point is 00:08:14 And then, oh, wow, they didn't know I was named top 40 US keynote speaker in 2020. Oh, wow, they didn't know my TEDx talk was promoted to TED and translated into six languages. Oh, wow, they didn't know my TEDx talk was promoted to TED and translated into six languages. Oh, wow, they didn't know that my LinkedIn platform had hit 18 or 19 million views in 2020, right? There was all of this exponential growth I could point to. And the great thing I had going for me was the baseline I was able to use was the book proposal. So they knew it was all factually based
Starting point is 00:08:45 and they had already had it. So I took snapshots of all the things that I just outlined for you, because I wanted to give her proof that, okay, not only do I say I have 18 million views on LinkedIn, here's the screenshot showing the data. Not only do I say that I won top 40 keynote speaker, here's the article and here's a portion I'm included in.
Starting point is 00:09:05 I'm number 25 and here's my TED Talk Now and etc. So I take snapshots and provide hot links for everything that I'm identifying as the reasons why I've grown so much more since I submitted the book proposal and essentially here's the proof to back it all up. So I send all of that in and basically arm her with a sales kit to say, here's why we need to keep Heather's book in hardcover format as well as the other formats, and we need to move on and look at other authors to cut. So I sent it to her, she sent me back holy cow, this helps so much. Thank you. And I hear anything for a little while, which was super stressful, but eventually I heard back, just FYI, Heather, we are keeping your hardcover intact. No worries, you know, moving on to other authors.
Starting point is 00:09:54 It was a good reminder for me. Number one, always trust your gut. Number two, you're always in sales mode, in an pitch mode, in any conversation, whether you know it or not, so you might as well be aware of that. But also number three, sometimes people, that woman didn't wanna cut my hardcover,
Starting point is 00:10:10 but I had to help prop her up so she could help me to ensure that somebody else didn't cut it. Right, so it's not necessarily, oh gosh, this person's being mean to me, or it's not personal, there was a business challenge at hand. It was about finances and expenses and I had to show her an arm her with a sales pitch that she could provide to somebody
Starting point is 00:10:33 else to ensure they didn't cut our hardcover. And in the end she's been amazing to work with and is so glad that we saved the hardcover and now the heat's on to sell that hardcover because I sure made a lot of commitments about it. So it's kind of funny what you go through suddenly and unexpectedly in different moments. But also great that my agents stood behind me and agreed that, you know, absolutely we needed to keep our hardcover. And we were totally on the same page. Okay. Fast forward to. Now we're in this book window where I've submitted a manuscript. They're coming back with changes. They want 8,000 words cut. Well, now we're in the title element, which
Starting point is 00:11:11 I named the book Leap Frogging Villains. I chose that name more than a year ago. I knew that was the name of my book. I wanted t-shirts, vades, and Leap Frogging Villains. It's actually one of the chapters for my first book, Confidence Creator. And I've always loved that and it just resonated with me. Well, when you sign with a publishing company, they ultimately have final say. I mean, the author has a pro, it's called author progative, right?
Starting point is 00:11:37 So they'll defer to you on some things, but you have to pick your battles. You don't wanna fight with your partner, right? And they're your partner. I mean, sometimes you have to, you have to hold your ground. You don't want to fight with your partner, right? And they're your partner. I mean, sometimes you have to. You have to hold your ground. Well, there's one thing I know, and that's data doesn't lie. So when my counterpart at Harper said,
Starting point is 00:11:53 hey, Heather, we're going to test the titles now. We're testing leapfrogging villains along with five other title names that we've come up with. We'll report back on what the data reveals. So we got that report back this week, and sadly, my title did not perform. So she knew I was going to be upset, and she sent me an email and said, hey, Heather, unfortunately, leapfrogging villains did not perform as well as you had hoped. However, another title performed unbelievably well, take a look at the numbers.
Starting point is 00:12:25 And one title outperformed everything by a landslide, and it was overcoming your villains, which is an adjustment from leap-rogging villains. It wouldn't have been my pick, but I do know this. Data doesn't lie, and my goal is to get this book into as many people's hands as I can, because it will change lives and empower people and teach people and help people. And I'm so excited for that. So I go back to my business mode and say, I respond to her. As you know, I'm
Starting point is 00:12:58 so bummed because I was ready to print those t-shirts. However, we've got to move forward with data. And I'm grateful that you guys tested. So let's move forward with overcoming your villains. So that's the title of the new book. I'm super excited for it. I can't wait for you to get this book into your hands. It's only a few months away and there's a lot of exciting stuff that's going to happen before the book comes out. But I just wanted to share that story as I'm learning so much as a rookie in the traditional publishing world. It's crazy how you get very little advanced notice on things, things happen very fast.
Starting point is 00:13:36 And then there's these valleys where you hear nothing and you wonder what the heck is going on. And then suddenly it's very, very active and busy. So a lot more for me to learn, I'm sure, but really hopeful that their expertise and the fact that they're so data-driven will just reveal a better book and better results for my second book. Okay, for my guest today, this is really interesting. As you know, I had the amazing less brown on last week and so grateful for him. He's such an inspirational and just magical person.
Starting point is 00:14:07 But through meeting less and working with less his team, they asked me, hey Heather, we want to see if you had any interest in interviewing Karim Ellis. And Karim is basically less brown's protege, less took him under his wing years ago and helped develop and mentor him personally, which I think is unbelievable that Cream had this opportunity. But what's really cool is I have the chance to sit down with Cream, get to know him.
Starting point is 00:14:37 And you know, not only is he a really uplifting guy and great guy, but you're going to love his new book, GPS Your Success, the concepts he walks through, not only as a very well-known public speaker, a founder of empowered education, you know, Cream's doing so much great work to help and empower others, but you're really gonna love the takeaways that he shares with us around GPS Your Success. So I want you to hold tight because we're going to be right back with cream. Hi and welcome back. I'm so excited for Kareem Ellis to be joining us this morning. Good morning, Kareem. Good morning Heather. How are you? Living in the COVID dream just like everyone else. All right, so let's cut to, I struggled when I went out
Starting point is 00:15:29 as an entrepreneur three years ago, finding a roadmap and anyone to share with me how to get into the speaking business, when I heard that Les Brown took you under his wing and became your mentor and you were his protege. I about fell over. How did that happen? Well, I'm glad you asked that question, right? That's the one question I get in so many people across the world.
Starting point is 00:15:53 How in the world did you get paired up with the world's greatest motivational speaker? And it's a philosophy that I call GPS my success. I don't believe in teaching anything that I don't live. I think we got too many people out there that play it fake. So I want to be 100% transparent. When I say GPS my success, that means that when I look at my life, I want to believe that my life is almost like a vision machine. And a GPS we all know is useless to we decide the first given in address. And so the question I have for you're trying today is we got to be clear about
Starting point is 00:16:23 what address we want to put inside our life GPS. So when it came to less brown, I knew less brown didn't live in Cincinnati, Ohio. There's no way the world is going to crash into him at an intersection or at a gas station or inside a local grocery store. And so the address I put in is I want this man to be my mentor. And so first of all, I have to figure out how in the world do I make it to him. So I have to travel from Cincinnati, Ohio all the way down to Atlanta, Georgia. And I make a decision to actually partake in a contest that he threw. He threw a contest for speakers. It was 13 of us. And I was one of the 13. I got on stage. I gave a very, very, very dynamic keynote. And that keynote was the thing that caught his attention. But it was all about number one, setting the address with intentionality and number two,
Starting point is 00:17:09 moving with clarity. I was very clear on the goal of why I wanted this man to be my mentor. And from there, we opened up a partnership, a friendship, and most importantly, a mentorship and my life has never been the same. It's never been the same. Yeah, so often I am asked, how did you get to where you are in the speaking business? How did you land this talk at that talk?
Starting point is 00:17:29 And what I found, and I had all those same questions as well three years ago, and I'll tell you, I've never seen anyone share the roadmap. I do the best that I can to share mine with everyone because I think everyone should have access to whatever it takes. However, now that the pandemic's hit, the speaking business is completely different. How has it affected your business? Well, it really has it.
Starting point is 00:17:51 Here's the thing. One of the things we talk about with the GPS success principle, we talk about the concept of recalculating, right? In other words, if I put an address inside my GPS, and I'm trying to get downtown, this is a 25-minute drive, I don't know what's going to happen on that journey. I don't know if I'm going to run into rush hour traffic. There may be an accident, the road may be out.
Starting point is 00:18:10 And the thing that's dynamic is this, the GPS doesn't give up on the journey. The GPS doesn't say, oh my god, it's a rope, lock ahead. We got to go back home. The GPS begins to recaculate a different route to get to the same destination. And so one of the things I learned about COVID-19, either you suffered through COVID-19
Starting point is 00:18:29 or you accelerated through COVID-19. So for most of us in the speaking business, we accelerated, we just simply had to be willing to recalculate the address in the GPS and find alternative routes to still get to that fantastic finish line. So a lot of us have been doing more online presentations. We've been using Zoom, we've been using Microsoft teams. So the journey hasn't changed. The way we've
Starting point is 00:18:50 used technology has been the recalculation. Not for me. I'll tell you, my experience in COVID-19 is people do not want to pay the same that they would pay for live and the calls that I get from meeting planners are now. We would like in 2022 to have you on site at that rate, but what can you do for a virtual rate for this year? So I don't know. For me, it's interesting. I speak more now. I typically now speak three to four times a week,
Starting point is 00:19:16 where before it was usually once a week. So I speak more now for less money, which is a broken business model in my opinion. I'm like, get me back to normal life again. Okay. So I can agree with that. A lot of event planners don't want to pay the same amount of money they're going to pay you for in-person presentation.
Starting point is 00:19:33 But the beautiful thing about virtual presentations, there's more leverage there is the way I see it. There's more leverage there. With me doing it virtually, I have a little bit more control over the outcome of who's going to actually tune into the presentation. So that means that I can take a hit on the feed, but can I somehow raise the amount of the price on the product and the services I'm offering, or also for a lot of people, this is a season of planting seed.
Starting point is 00:19:56 This is a season of planting seed. The problem with a lot of people I see is we want fruit, but we don't get fruit unless we plant the seed. So what I've chosen to look at is, we're going to take a hit. I'm fine with that. But strategically thinking, how much seed can I plant? Where I can turn some of these listeners and viewers into fruit down the road that may benefit or manifest in 2022,
Starting point is 00:20:17 in 2023, in 2027. So that's the way I'm choosing to look at it. But that's about the concept of recaculating. I look at money and say, OK, if this is the amount of money I want to get, I'm fine with not getting it directly from the vent planner, but can I be creative on how I get it? If my goal to get, you know, a 20 grand, can I split up, I'll get that 20 grand instead of getting it from the event planner? Can I split that up by now being creative on how I sprinkle that 20 grand out or 30 grand
Starting point is 00:20:42 out between all the attendees that may be there or the potential spin-offs to be an engagement. So that's me. That's me. National security experts are warning. Our aging power grid is more vulnerable than ever. January marked a third time at power station North Carolina was damaged by gunfire. Authorities are saying the attack raises a new level of threat. Authorities are now checking our grid for vulnerabilities.
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Starting point is 00:23:12 Take advantage of the special financing offer at NetSuite.com slash monahan. NetSuite.com slash monahan to get the visibility and control you need to weather any storm. NetSuite.com slash monahan. Sure, yeah, no, I definitely see that with with most speakers now. So tell me in regards to your keynote and becoming the speaker that was able to get less browns attention, what do you think it is about your speaking that you want to share with people to help them be better speakers? That's a great question.
Starting point is 00:23:45 So the first thing is this, be authentic, be you. We live in a world where everyone wants to be the copycat. And my goal in a room was never to be less brown. A lot of folks don't realize this, I'm 44 years old. I've been listening less brown since the age of eight. As a child growing up, my father driving back to four-thirds of his rental properties, what popping a cassette tape would either be a gym-ro full-fledged rental properties, what popping it could set take,
Starting point is 00:24:05 it would either be a gym-roan, zig-ziggler, or less brown. And so I've been less than and less all my life. So to jump into this day and age and have them as a personal mentor and a friend, that was the universe conspiring to put me in the right place and the right season. But what I tell people all the time, be you. When you got put here, you were an original fingerprint. Unless you came as a set of twins and triplets, there's only
Starting point is 00:24:28 one you. So be authentic to you own the story that created you when I look at you and look at your story and how you got here. There's only one you. There's no one else like you. So when you use your story, it gives you power, it gives you authority and it gives you your own personal signature. So for me, it was always about being the authentic, best version of Kareem Ray Ellis, no one else. If you can be you and tell your story and live your greatness, you'll never have a situation where you don't stand out.
Starting point is 00:24:56 You'll always stand out. What is the formula beyond just being authentic to be you? Do you believe in leading with story? Do you believe in a five-step process in the middle of the top with the clothes with an app? You know, I've seen a lot of different formulas. I know what works for me, but I'm interested to know what works for you. Okay, so what works for me is this. Number one, I am a story guy, and that's one of the reasons me and let me unless Jelsowell, I'm a story guy. So I believe in the same philosophy which is never give a story without a point.
Starting point is 00:25:24 So if I'm going to talk to someone, I'm going to give a So I believe in the same philosophy, which is never give a story without a point. So if I'm gonna talk to someone, I'm gonna give a story because the story's a thing that engages us. What I've learned from most people, most adults are nothing more than grown up kids. And as kids grown up, we love the great story. When you go to the movies, the movie is a great story. TV shows are great stories. So number one, I gotta take a look at the story,
Starting point is 00:25:43 called My Life, and figure out what are the highs and what are the lows that are very teachable moments. So I can talk about the time in 2015, I was a victim of gun violence, where young man pulled out a gun and shot me in my right kneecap, as I tried to intervene in the domestic dispute. But the story wasn't about me getting shot. The story is about the value of time, because as I sat in that hospital, there was a man next to me that fell off a ladder the wrong way and they said he's not going to make it. And as I'm thinking about the fact of me getting shot, I transitioned to the fact that he's losing his life.
Starting point is 00:26:13 And I think to myself, what happens if that man decides to pull the trigger one more time? One of the things that I wouldn't get done, one of the things I've been assigned to do while I'm on this planet that don't get taken care of because I thought I had more time in my life to just kind of mellow out and get things done in my own temple and pace. So I'm giving you a story very, very quickly, but now give you a powerful point to wrap it around. And then I can give you a breakdown of statistics, I can give you action steps of how to be more manageable with your time. So you would Steve, everything you've been put here and designed to do before your timer goes off.
Starting point is 00:26:47 Wow. Yeah, that's very powerful. One of the biggest, I guess, mistakes that I see with new speakers is they'll grasp the idea to be themselves. They'll grasp the idea that they have a few different personal stories, but it doesn't transition from there into those takeaways that the audience can then apply back to their life and lead that presentation with. Do you see that often with speakers as well? I do. And here's why most people mess up on it. When we tell stories from the stage,
Starting point is 00:27:15 we have to make sure the stories are 100% relatable. So I want you to think about a good story teller almost like a pastor. And I don't want to go into the spirit of religiosity because I know your tribe has, you know, everyone has different beliefs. But what I've learned is this, when a pastor gives a one hour message or sermon and has an altar call, what ends up happening is 30 people run down to the altar, wanting to change their life. One person is down to the altar because he's cheating on his wife. One person is down to the altar because he's cheating on his taxes. One person is down to the altar because he's cheating on his wife. One person is down to the altar because he's cheating on his taxes. One person is down to the altar because the neighbors dog keeps barking
Starting point is 00:27:48 and when no one's looking, he gave the dog a good heart kick. And notice something, the pastor didn't say if you kicked your neighbors dog, come down to the altar. If you're cheating on your wife, come down to the altar. If you're cheating on your taxes, come down to the altar. The best story tells us in the world know how to give a powerful story, but leave it so ambidextrous, so to speak, that everyone in the audience can relate the story to them personally. So it's almost like painting a picture, but painting a picture says you're a Broadway, that it captures everyone from the CEO to the person
Starting point is 00:28:21 that's working in the mail room, to the tech person. Everyone has to be able to take that message and make it relatable to them. So anytime I'm gonna give you a story or message from the stage, I'm gonna give you a broad picture. So that way folks in the room don't feel alienated. So when everyone has that alter-call moment, they feel like, he's talking directly to me.
Starting point is 00:28:39 I'm not talking directly to you. I'm talking to everyone in the room, but I'm giving you enough energy and room for you to take those words and apply them to your life personally. So that way I haven't left you out. I haven't left you out. And that's the one thing most speakers have a hard time doing. They have a hard time telling the story with such a broad enough reality that everyone
Starting point is 00:28:58 in the room feels like this person is talking directly to me. I got to get my life in order. I got to get down to the alter and change my life because this message was for me. It's not for you, it's for everyone. But the great storyteller knows how to tell it. It's such a way that everyone believes this is strictly for me. Do you think part of that is,
Starting point is 00:29:15 because this is something that I struggled with, especially when I first got into speaking, is I assumed I could speak because I had spoken in corporate America to any audience. I assumed I could speak to any audience. However, what I've learned is I can have a speaking agent with a particular audience, with a visceral effect, versus a very different audience with a pretty good effect.
Starting point is 00:29:35 So then I start questioning myself, should I niche down? Should I niche to this industry? And there's very different ways of thinking in regards to less obviously speaks to, you know, less obviously speaks to all industries globally, you know, beyond the U.S. there's many speakers that only niche to the U.S. that only niche to the pharmaceutical business. What are your thoughts on target audiences and owning a niche? Hmm. So when I first started this journey, I was, I was niche. A lot of folks don't realize
Starting point is 00:30:03 and I first started this journey. I was niche. A lot of folks don't realize, and I first started this journey, I was in a real estate world. That's how I recently stepped out of my nine to five that pursued my passion full of time. I used real estate as the means to transition over. But I knew when speaking to real estate folks, it was nothing against that crowd. And I still felt unfulfilled.
Starting point is 00:30:19 I was making money, I had crowd, I had audience, I had social media fall back, I had all that stuff going for myself, but I still felt unfulfilled because my calling was bigger than just the real estate world. Motivation carries everywhere. I don't know what country right now after the ravaging of COVID-19 that doesn't need motivation, inspiration and uplifting because COVID-19 didn't discriminate. It attacked people of all ages, races, colors, denominations. And so a lot of people need to hear
Starting point is 00:30:47 game-changing messages that change their life. So for me personally, I believe that you can niche, if that's for you, certain topics are niche topics. But for me, my vision was to impact the world. So I did not want to niche down. I did not want to niche down. Now, there are certain topics you happen to join. In other words, other words, real estate does not cure you, Everett. There's folks that don't care about real estate. I love my nine to five job. I love what I do.
Starting point is 00:31:12 I don't want to get in the houses. I don't want to flip houses. I don't want to do with tennis. So that's not an arena for me. My niche is going to keep me locked in. But for the goal of my life, the address put in my GPS, I want to impact as many people on this planet as possible before my timer runs out. So for me, it wasn't about niching or if I'm gonna niche it, it's motivation. My niche puts me all over the place. So I really think that's kind of a question
Starting point is 00:31:35 based on where you wanna go, where you wanna go. Since you do wanna reach as many people as possible and we know less has reached more people than any others we can think of, that's in our world right now. Do you follow his exact process? His steps? How do you emulate and or make that process your own? So one of the things he said to me is that he said that
Starting point is 00:31:55 and I'm not going to say this from an egotistical standpoint. This is a mentor, mentor, mentor conversation. The best mentors in the world will tell you, I want you to take the race farther. Okay, I want you to have the baton this past, I want you to, the baton gets past it. I want you to run farther and faster with it. And you should be able to do it because you have one thing I didn't have back in my day. He says you have technology. You have technology. Remember when let's start at this race, it was physically going city to city, location location with social media. We can be in a
Starting point is 00:32:23 million people's homes just like that, right? And so the idea for a mentee is to look at a mentor and say, this is the blueprint. Now you look at the blueprint and then you figure what your new enlightened mindset, how do I tweak it? How do I tweak it and twist it? Put new things in and take old things out and make it better to perform quicker faster
Starting point is 00:32:44 and take me farther. So the blueprint is already there. One of the most beautiful things about having a mentor is a mentor is what I call a warp zone. I'm going to date myself here because I know some people are familiar with video game technology. Some people aren't. And the video game Super Mario Brothers, it is full of warp zones that lets you skip boards and skip levels.
Starting point is 00:33:03 And a mentor is your warp zone. Less has been speaking for 50 years. He's spoken in over 51 countries. And like he likes to tell people, I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two. So if he knows a thing or two because he's seen a thing or two as a mentor, he can teach me a thing or two. But it's not for me to necessarily follow the blueprint step by step because times change. My job is to look at the blueprint and say, how do I tweak this and bring it up to a 2021 standpoint? So, what is the biggest takeaway or lesson that you've learned from less? Hmm. The biggest takeaway I learned from less, and this was a double teach of a moment.
Starting point is 00:33:36 I'm a strong believer in the power of your gifts and talents. I tell people that, you know, education is something that we learn over, you know, 12, 14, 18 years of our life, 20 years of our life, we go to college. We're always perpetually learning, but most of our education comes through our formal years from kindergarten up to 12 grade in college. But a lot of times we leave out our gifts and talents. You know, my favorite animal in the world to Cheetah, Cheetah is known for one at 70 miles per hour, but it's she does as born with that gift to 70 mile power speed. Doesn't need a college degree to do it. It's locked in this genetics. So let's me know that everyone on this planet
Starting point is 00:34:11 has a unique gift in town. And so when I land it less as a mentor back in Atlanta, the way I got him was I believe in something my mother taught me a long time ago is your gifts will make room for you and put you before powerful people. Now, notice she said your gifts are doing., I noticed she sent yo gifts to do it. She didn't say yo, handsome smile.
Starting point is 00:34:28 She didn't say that sexy bald head. She didn't say those six back abs. She sent yo gifts to make room for you. So when I got on that stage and caught less attention, it was me using my gifted communication storytelling, my creativity. That caught his eye open the door. So while I was happy to use that gift to get his attention, he threw one back at me.
Starting point is 00:34:46 He said, yes, yo, gift caught my attention. It made you stand out. But I was also looking at your character. He said, before I branch into my circle, I did my research on you, young man. I was Googling you. I was taking a look at your social media accounts to make sure that you were the same across the board.
Starting point is 00:35:02 Okay. The thing he taught me that was so deep that I'm going to share what you're trying today is this. He said, don't let your gifts and talents take you to a height that your character can't sustain you. He said, the world is full of first round draft pick, pro bowl, football players, quarterbacks, that never got their shot or opportunity
Starting point is 00:35:21 because their character landed them in jail. The world is full of politicians, the head of the ability to lead and change the world for the better, and they never got their opportunity because their character put them in a place where they got ousted out or they're sitting there in jail for a dumb decision that ruined their future. And so the thing he gave me was don't let your gift and talent
Starting point is 00:35:41 take you to a height that your character can't sustain you. And that was one of the most powerful things he said to me. It hit me here, but it also hit me here. because don't let your gift and talent take you to a height that your character can't sustain you. And that was one of the most powerful things he said to me. It hit me here, but it also hit me here. It's so funny, depending on what your own life experience is, when I listen to that, that's never something that I would think about what hearing you talk, I was thinking fear is the thing that would hold me back
Starting point is 00:36:00 versus the example you were giving that some people it's their character that might limit them, you know, regardless what it is everybody's got some hold back out there or potential hold back like you said and it's all up to us to manage it. A lot of people that I work with are very afraid and or nervous about getting into speaking yet maybe it's an obligation of their job or maybe it's a goal that they have and they wanna pursue in a new year. What do you say or how do you work with those people that have nerves around speaking? I'm laughing because a lot of people don't know this.
Starting point is 00:36:34 I'm very, very charismatic, obviously, as you can see, and I'm full of energy because I'm full of coffee. But I'm an introvert. And a lot of people go how in the world I grew up as an introvert. I was very, very talk how in the world, I grew up as an introvert. I was very, very talkative, but very, very shy around people who I didn't know.
Starting point is 00:36:49 And it's a reason why they say the number one fear on this planet is public speaking. That means there's more people that will rather face a firing squad or face death than get on a stage and speak. And so for that person, I've got to ask the most proper question I can ask you, what's your why?
Starting point is 00:37:04 What's your why? What's your why? What I find what most people, why this strong enough centers around our desire, anything you have right now is based on desire. Anything you have from the core outside to the house I'm sitting here living in, from the technology I'm talking to you on, to the beautiful wife I married last year,
Starting point is 00:37:22 everything centers around desire. And so when you have a strong enough desire about what you want, it's gonna overcome any half-out. So the first thing I'm gonna tell you is you gotta be clear about the desire of why you wanna speak. I was not a speaker by trade, I was a great communicator, I could run my mouth, but again, in front of a stage of a thousand,
Starting point is 00:37:38 two thousand, ten thousand people, the thought of it would just shake me up until I got center on my why, why do I want to do this? So that's the first thing I tell somebody, everything starts with why? Do you have a process, you know, I have a process that I go through, I leverage lavender, I wear blue or red, I write notes on my shoes, I have a playlist that I use that really puts me into a psychological mindset, it sets me up and gives
Starting point is 00:38:02 me momentum to really launch on to a stage with power. I do this exercise and I teach this exercise to everyone so that if it works for them to implement it, it really works very well for me to the point where if I do, if something goes wrong, a mic goes out, you know, I'm able to move right through it. What are your steps or your processes that you use or teach? Okay, so the first thing I do is I'm a visualization guy. You know, so when I talk about GPS, my success, again, I mean it clearly when I say GPS is a vision machine, the beautiful thing about a GPS is when I put an address in there. It will go so far as it show me an image of what the destination looks like because we're visual creatures. And so one of the things I do at least 30 minutes
Starting point is 00:38:41 before I get on stage, I shut everything down, I shut everyone out, and I'm meditating, visualized about the end result. I see that standing innovation. I see the folks being impacted. I see the folks giving rape testimonials at the end of it. I see the folks run up saying, man, I want to be coached or I want to learn from you. So I put that inside my mind first because again, thoughts are things. And a lot of people feel they're understanding that. Faults are always things.
Starting point is 00:39:05 So I look at the mind as the womb. And my job is to plant seed and then produce a result. And so that's my startup. My startup is literally just blocking everything out, shutting everything down and visualizing the result. And the beautiful thing about doing this, I don't have attachments. And what I mean by this, so many people go into it,
Starting point is 00:39:24 they go into life in general, and they're attached to an outcome. You can be attached to the outcome, but if you think the outcome has to come in a certain way, that's where the letdown comes in that. And so I can get on stage and have a keynote sweet and ready to go, but since I'm not attached to the outcome, that means I'm not attached to how I deliver the speech. There's been speeches midway through. I've switched the whole flow up and went a whole different route, but still got the standing ovation. But it's all because I visualize what I want to take place at the end of it.
Starting point is 00:39:52 And like that GPS, I'm willing to recaculate. If a microphone goes out, or if I got to engage with somebody, I'm still going to get the desired result because I'm not attached to the process necessarily how to get there. I just want to see the result, the visualization. So that's me, I'm a visualization guy.
Starting point is 00:40:07 Yeah, you brought up the mic going out. What I found is the majority of the time, something will go wrong. So it's almost beneficial to start. It's shocking to me whether at one speaking gauge when I had a New York a year ago, a woman passed out, hit a table that was full of glasses. And I mean, the shattering and the noise, and it was almost like a bomb going off. a woman passed out, hit a table that was full of glasses.
Starting point is 00:40:25 And I mean, the shattering and the noise, and it was almost like a bomb going off. And I was speaking, and so you have to find ways to integrate how do you, you know, do you stop? Do you make that part of your actual presentation? Do you ignore it? You know, there's so many different nuances that can occur that I believe come simply with practice, doing it wrong, thinking later, how can I do it?
Starting point is 00:40:47 How do you code yourself or work with people through those situations? Okay, so I'm a person that learns very, very quickly to you stage props. When I say stage props, I mean not just props you bring on stage, the audience is a stage prop. And a lot of speakers mis-the-magic of learning how to bring the audience into the presentation. I believe in 3D presentations where you are part of the presentation. In fact, about it, I don't think I've given the keynote where I have not included the audience in some way,
Starting point is 00:41:13 shape or form because the job of Eric Speakers to figure out how do I make myself memorable. Anyone can get on stage and just give a speech. But the speeches we remember the most are the ones that are most engaging, entertaining, and the ones that excel in our mindset. So I'm a person that's always been quick on my feet. So something like that takes place or transpires. I'm very quick to figure out how do I very subtly tie what just took place and to the message I'm given in real time.
Starting point is 00:41:38 Now for something where she's hurt, that, I mean, okay, I have to have empathy. I can't, I can't just bring her into the presentation without being empathetic, but I'll find some creative way to bring her into the presentation. If she's okay, I'm bringing her up on stage. There's some way I'm going to tie her in because something like that's embarrassing for that person as well. So I want to take that embarrassment out so that way she can still enjoy the presentation, but turn into a teachable moment. I think the best speakers in the world know how to be very captivating and quick on their feet. You have to in this day and age. So anyone that I coach and teach, I'm going to teach you how to turn the audience into a living stage prop, which makes your presentation 10 times more impactful and 10 times more measurable. If you're struggling with swelling in your legs, ankles or feet, you're going to want to listen
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Starting point is 00:43:24 out this podcast. The Millionaire University podcast is hosted by Justin and graduate rich, not broke. Trust me, you need to check out this podcast. The Millionaire University podcast is hosted by Justin and Tara Williams, who started their business from Square One and now have years of valuable experience. They hit lows and dug themselves out of debt, and want to share the lessons they've learned with aspiring entrepreneurs. You don't need a degree to succeed. Millionaire University will teach you everything you need to know. From specifics like how to start a software business without creating your own software,
Starting point is 00:43:50 to more broad topics, like eight businesses you can start tomorrow to make 10K a month. In each episode, you'll get insights from entrepreneurs and mentors who know what it takes to be successful. So don't wait. Now is the time to turn your business idea into a reality by listening to the Millionaire University podcast.
Starting point is 00:44:11 New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday. Find the Millionaire University on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. You know that fresh produce is the best produce. That's why at Crogr, we invest in local farmers to bring you seasonal picks that taste fresh from the farm good, like sweet corn, refreshing watermelon, and juicy peaches. So whether you're a delivery lover, a picker-upper, or you shop in store, your local produce always tastes 100% fresh.
Starting point is 00:44:45 Or you get a 100% refund guaranteed. Kruger, fresh for everyone. How have you been able to do that now with virtual? Because I know for me, many times when I'm depending on the platform, sometimes I can't see an audience, all I see is myself when I'm standing in front of the camera. And so, you know, some platforms you can see a few people, if you do a Zoom presentation, but it's been challenging because I can't see a face. I don't know how many people are there. There's no live back and forth. There's no messaging system. How do
Starting point is 00:45:17 you involve them when you're just in front of a black screen? And so that's a great question. So there's a keynote idea for the Kentucky governor's leadership on diversity. And that Zoom call had a little over, I want to say, not Zoom, they use Microsoft Teams. I think it hit close to like 1500 people on there, folks in government with Kentucky. And I did GPS, my success as a keynote. And the last part of the keynote, I turned it into a contest. The last part of the keynote, I turned it into a contest. The last part of the keynote, I turned it into a contest. And what I did is I talked about a buddy of mine
Starting point is 00:45:48 who got caught cheating on his wife. And I said, I pulled out a $100 bill and I said, I'm gonna cash out $100 to the person who can guess how this man got caught cheating on his wife. And I give them a second to do it. Now again, I can't see these people, but the beautiful thing about teams,
Starting point is 00:46:03 teams has a little thing where they can do a Q&A box. Zoom has a Q&A box. And so oftentimes what I can do is have a different monitor set up, so I can kind of look at it a little bit, so I can kind of cheat or have a tablet set up, so I can pay attention to it. And part of the engagement is calling people
Starting point is 00:46:16 out shouting them out. So Sarah said he had perfume, nope, Sarah, that's not it. John said that someone saw him out in public, no, John, that's not it. You know, Mike said that, and so I'm reading that stuff out and I'm acknowledging the audience and I'm making it fun
Starting point is 00:46:28 because now folks not only are getting recognized or being called out by the speaker, but they're competing vigorously over this $100. And then someone finally got it. They said, it is the GPS. And I said, God, come on. The whole presentation I gave you about the GPS, you got caught coming to the GPS.
Starting point is 00:46:44 That was very interesting. What the hell? I gave you the GPS you got caught up in the GPS So what what is up happening is this is they end up Engaging it's fun. It's memorable because no other no other speakers done this right every other speakers is giving Information and so we don't have conversation. We have dialogue whenever I speak. I don't want tonight show. I don't want to be up there giving the monologue. I want dialogue. I want folks to engage back and forth. And so that's where that creativity comes in at. So I think that if you're doing virtual,
Starting point is 00:47:12 you have to figure out in my keynote presentation, what were segue points that I can somehow engage the audience, get the audience to pull back in, are there a contest? Can I take this topic and pull people in for the event planner? Are there certain people you want me to shout out that are doing excellent jobs, rock and pull them instead of presentation just by mentioning their name?
Starting point is 00:47:31 And that situation there, two things took place. Number one, everyone engaged, so everyone's paying attention, right? And then the second thing is, because they paid attention so well, I gave them an option, you know, to follow me on social media and get access to a couple of chapters of the book, GPS, my success, and then move forward from there. But to see folks jump out there and we had a lease, I want to say 50 people leaping there saying, you know, giving me things they thought, only to find out they're wrong, they're wrong, they're wrong. It's a GPS guys, but it was fun, engaging, entertaining, and it's a presentation they'll never forget. And of course, event planners, like we're bringing you back. We're definitely bringing you
Starting point is 00:48:07 back. That was a great idea. Tell us a little bit about the book. Absolutely. So like I said before, GPS, my success is all about setting vision for your life. And I tell people that when a universe puts you here, I believe the universe puts you here with the purpose, you know, as less as taught me, you've been put here on purpose, with purpose by purpose for purpose, as the old as lessons taught me, you've been put here on purpose, with purpose, by purpose, for purpose, as the old folks say, baby, you just got knocked up with purpose. The
Starting point is 00:48:29 question being is, what are you supposed to give birth to? And so GPS, my success is that is that roadmap. It's it shows it goes through five core teachable principles. And number one is set in the address. Okay, you can't arrive at a destination if you first don't know where you want to go.
Starting point is 00:48:46 Number two, we got to move a clarity. A GPS gives us crystal clear instructions on how to get from where we are to where we want to be. The opposite of clarity is confusion. And what I saw happen in 2020 for a lot of people that want to get nonprofits off the ground, if they want to just have better health, overall get back in shape, if they wanted to grow
Starting point is 00:49:04 their business, a lot of folks didn't achieve it because they're a movement in the spirit of confusion versus clarity. So you miss out on opportunities when you don't know what you're supposed to look for. So we talk about how you can move with clarity versus confusion. The third principle is all about connections. And what I simply mean is this, when you give a GPS and address two things take place. Number one, that GPS pings the local cell phone tower, that tower then searches for a satellite now to space. And as long as I got that traffic, the connection going on, I can go anywhere that I put my address in.
Starting point is 00:49:37 Okay. The question being in 2021, who do I need to connect with? That's going to help me get to my finish line. Who are the coaches? Who are the mentors? What type of education should I be trying to gobble down in this season? What organization should I belong to?
Starting point is 00:49:49 That's gonna help me get to my finish line. So we talk about some of those things. You need to be actively searching for and be plugged into and be connected to, but the opposite of a connection is a dead zone. And we've all experienced a dead zone, right? That's the place where you're talking on your cell phone and all of a sudden the signal goes out.
Starting point is 00:50:05 You're on your tablet and you hit a dead zone and you lose your signal. And so we got asked for sales in 2021, what were the dead zones we faced in 2020? For some of us, it was the fact that COVID-19 was the humongous dead zone where goals and dreams out for them aside mine. For some of us, we had jobs that told us
Starting point is 00:50:21 we were non-essential, right? For some of us, it was health challenges. For some of us, the relationship issues, let's be real, 2020 took a toll on relationships across this country. I love you, you love me, but it's been a long time since we've been under the same room 24 hours a day. I'm used to being gone for eight hours
Starting point is 00:50:40 and seeing you for their main and four. So we got relationship challenges and obviously we got leadership challenges in this country. So we got a lot of dance zones. The goal is to identify those dance zones. So we don't get lost in the sauce. So to speak, we don't lose our way on the journey. And then the two more nuggets I'll give you
Starting point is 00:50:55 that are teachable moments out of that GPS philosophy is we told you early about recaculating that there's more than one way to get to the finish line. If I get lost along the way, my GPS doesn't cuss me out. My GPS doesn't call me names. Hey, stupid, turn around. Hey, stupid, you're going to wrong way. It just simply says recaculate, recaculating, recaculating.
Starting point is 00:51:16 I have to be willing to understand without attachments, there's more than one way to get to my finish line. And then last but not least, we talk about the power of checking the history log. And we talked about it early. We talked about my buddy who got caught cheating on his wife. He got caught cheating on his wife because she checked the history log. And she saw a bunch of addresses to five star restaurants
Starting point is 00:51:37 of nice dating locations. And a couple of hotels that she knows she had never been to. So she's one of one of these addresses inside our family GPS aside this vehicle. And so if I wanted to know where you've been spending your time at, all I gotta do is check your history log. It lets me know where you've been spending
Starting point is 00:51:54 the majority of your time at, where your focus goes, your energy flows. So if you wanna be dynamic and successful in 2021, we gotta be clear about checking our own history log to make sure we're going after addresses to get us to our destination versus spending our time chasing everybody else's goals and dreams. You're a fan of the secret. You know.
Starting point is 00:52:13 So many times in this interview that I've heard lines that immediately it takes me back to the movie. It's so funny. I was thinking this morning, I was on a call with somebody yesterday and they brought up John Assarath, who I've had on the show. And I thought, I need to revisit that movie again. I really like it. And this morning, I was thinking myself, oh, this weekend,
Starting point is 00:52:33 I'm going to watch the secret again. I haven't seen it in a while. And now this is just reminding me yet again, I need to watch in such a powerful movie. Absolutely. Shout out to Bob Proctor. He put his whole foot inside of that one. Yes, I love it. I love it. How did people work with you for coaching? How does that work? Absolutely. Shout out to Bob Proctor. He put his whole foot inside of that one. Yes.
Starting point is 00:52:49 How did people work with you for coaching? How does that work? Okay, so with the coaching program and I don't want to turn this through a sales fest. So what I'll do is this with your tribe. What I'll do is this. Number one, if they want to get access to a preview of the book, if they want to shoot me an email to info at kareemellis.com, this K-A-R-I-M-E-L-L-I-S, I'll give them access to the book. I'll give them access to a couple chapters from the book. So they can kind of divulge into it, get their foot into it, and understand the principles and philosophies of why it's so important to GPS your success is super important as day and age.
Starting point is 00:53:20 And then if they're interested in coaching for your tribe only, just your tribe, I've got to be careful. I say this. If they send an email, I'm going to give them a 20 minute consultation for free, just to start out to make sure that I'm a good fit for them. Because one of the things I do believe, I do believe that we have too many people out there that are so money hungry that they try to be a fit for everything. And I think that's absolutely deplorable in
Starting point is 00:53:45 his day and age, right? I believe that even with less brown be in my mentor, he had to be a good fit for me. And I had to be a good fit for him because not everybody's teachable, not everybody's coachable. And some people don't make good mentors, depending on your learning style, we've all been there with that one teacher in school where I'm a smart kid, but I just don't get your teaching style. I'm not dumb. Your teaching style doesn't work. So if they want to get a hold of me again, info at Careemellus.com, just for sending that email, I'm going to give them access to the book,
Starting point is 00:54:11 but at the same time, they'll also have the ability to sign up for free 20-minute consultation. If they're goal and desire is to be a better speaker, we can talk about that. If they're staying, listen, I need to GPS my success. 2020 has left me stuck, and I need to figure out how to create a roadmap to get those results.
Starting point is 00:54:28 That can be part of the consultation as well. Well, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for creating that offer for our team. We appreciate you and your positivity immensely, Greene. Yeah, thank you. It has been a pleasure, a privilege and an honor. Like I said before, I'm a tremendous fan of yours. So to get up and wake up with you and coffee,
Starting point is 00:54:46 you just made my whole day. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. All right guys, whole tape we're gonna be right back. I ask you to try to find your passion. Welcome back. I hope you loved hearing from Kareem and learning about your GPS. I love that concept.
Starting point is 00:55:03 And it just, it really landed with me that whole idea. So I hope you loved it as much as I did. Okay, couple of questions that I received on social media this week that I wanted to share with you. First one, hey Heather, you were skilled in the corporate world, which I wasn't. What if you don't have typical skills? I'm in your old boat, I'm 42, just lost my job,
Starting point is 00:55:22 but I'm an artist. I don't have the corporate type of skills that you had. I want to risk and follow my heart, but where do you begin? How do you know what you should try? Someone told you to write, but you had a story that others could find relatable. What are your suggestions? So this is interesting to me. I didn't know I should write.
Starting point is 00:55:41 You know, Elvis Durand said to me, oh, obviously you're writing a book and I just left on that and said, yeah, obviously I am. But I wasn't, I didn't know what I was gonna write about. I didn't know what was gonna work. And while you can sit there or anyone can sit there and say, well, you had these skills or you had this, I didn't know I had that, right? I knew I had success and value in corporate America, in sales leadership,
Starting point is 00:56:06 but I didn't know if it was going to be transferable to anything else. I didn't know if I was going to be able to succeed drive revenue. I didn't know any of these things. So where you're at right now, sister, I sat in that same boat. So it sounds like you've got skills around art and creativity. I would dive into that. All right, you know that's your strong suit. You need to be the one to find where you need to go. No one can tell you where you should go. The fact that Elpastor Anne said, how do you write a book? I could have very easily said, oh, no, I'm not.
Starting point is 00:56:38 You know, I decided to jump on that opportunity. So here I'm telling you, you need to be an artist. Start painting, start creating, start putting yourself out there, start going to museums and asking if you can work there, put yourself in the elements, start taking action. First of all, you have to believe that you have the ability to do it. That's the most important thing.
Starting point is 00:56:59 Believe it's possible. You have to put it out to the universe and you need to start taking action to make it happen. Spend time doing the thing if the thing is Painting spend time painting if the thing is working in museums You know start getting around the people that are already succeeding in that business that you want to succeed in and start taking Action against it now. I had no idea. I could write a book So just know that it wasn't wasn't that typical corporate America skills,
Starting point is 00:57:25 I didn't think typically could translate into becoming an author or a podcast host or a keynote speaker. I didn't even know any of that was possible for me, but I just kept taking action and that's how I found my way. Okay, hey Heather, I'm not sure if getting fired is what led directly to needing to step into uncertainty and take massive action. But what did stepping into that look like for you?
Starting point is 00:57:50 Did you know what you were taking action on? I'm in such a rut. If my boss wasn't rooting for me, I'd be fired based on lack of productivity, leaning on the normal struggles of overall life, virtual school, divorce, family issues. I know there's better on the other side of whatever I'm going through. I taste it for some reason, lacking the clarity of what actions to take. Focus on life first, work, personal health, question mark. There are so many questions, so many options.
Starting point is 00:58:16 What was curious if there was more granular action plan you took? Is there maybe a particular podcast of yours that can highlight this? So this is, you know, it just sounds like kind of being lost and down. Number one, when you're in those situations, and I've been in them, you know, I used to have a post at note on my computer, and it said, drink water, meditate, go for a walk, work out, hug your child, right? Like it was just like the most basic things that I knew if I slept more, if I drink more water, if I worked out more, if I hugged my child more, I would feel happier and better.
Starting point is 00:58:51 So I would start there, super basic. And that's for me, what worked for me, but you have to write down, what are those baseline things that you need? That oh my gosh, if I do these things and take care of my mental and physical health, I'll feel so much better. Because the minute that you start physically,
Starting point is 00:59:06 mentally feeling better, you can start tackling these other things. Then you can start saying, okay, I'm getting some momentum. I'm starting to feel physically better. That's helping me to feel optimistic. Then I would focus on gratitude every day when you wake up. What are three things I can feel grateful for? Then I would write out my New Year claims, and I've talked about this many times.
Starting point is 00:59:27 You know, I would write on a piece of paper. I am so thankful and grateful that my life is so amazing that I'm feeling so healthy and energetic and hopeful every day. I'm so grateful I just got promoted to blah, blah, blah. Like whatever it is that you want your life to look like, write it down as if it's already happening and read it every day and feel it and commit to it,
Starting point is 00:59:50 put it out to the universe. This is happening people. I'm coming for you. This is my year. Right, you need to start really believing in revisiting the messaging with frequency often times. So it becomes ingrained as part of the way that you think. When you wash your hands, state your claims.
Starting point is 01:00:07 Every time you're cleaning your house, go over and over in your mind, exactly what that new life looks like, and the fact that you're achieving it, the more you focus on the goal, the more the obstacles disappear, and the solutions appear. Right? So where your focus goes your energy flows This is all true and factual you're getting led around by life right now You need to lead your life where you want to go and that's a seismic seismic shift So I would start there taking care of yourself first make yourself a priority first, you know before you can do anything else Then as you start to feel better, I would practice gratitude every single day.
Starting point is 01:00:46 I would write down what your new life looks like. I would read that every day and I would start taking action steps to make those things happen. So it's raise your hand at work to say to your boss, hey, boss, I so appreciate your support. You're amazing. Here's what I need from you now. Start asking for what you want. Ask for help, right? Another way to feel great about yourself. Help others. Do charity work, you know, help a kid that's struggling with school. You'll really start to see your own value the more you help and assist others. Once you put yourself first, taking care of your health and start getting yourself going with building momentum, that's when you can start helping other people. They always say in an airplane crash, you put the mask on you first before you help everybody around you.
Starting point is 01:01:29 So that's really, really important when you're going through a very tough time. And then as wins come up, celebrate them. Share them with people that love you and rejoice the small wins, because small wins will start building momentum, which will ultimately take you to bigger wins. And listen, everyone's gonna have bad days.
Starting point is 01:01:47 We're living in a freaking global pandemic, right? Nobody's living their best life every day, but it's about enjoying the small wins and joys that you can find in any day and focusing on those. So you bring more of that into your life, while taking action, while putting your goals out there, and while taking chances and betting on you. I'm betting on me. I hope you are betting on you today. And if you haven't signed up for my free accountability partner program yet, go to HeatherMonahan.com.
Starting point is 01:02:17 For 30 days, you'll get an email from me every single day pushing you to be your best to bet on you and to go all in. So if you could please rate and review the show, hit subscribe because I want to see you next week and when you share the show on social, I will always repost when you tag me. Until next week, keep creating confidence. This episode is brought to you by the Yap Media Podcast Network. I'm Halataha, CEO of the award-winning digital media empire YAP Media, and host of YAP Young & Profiting Podcast, a number one entrepreneurship and self-improvement podcast where you can listen, learn, and profit. On Young & Profiting Podcast, I interview the
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