Do you ever feel like you haven’t reached your potential? All of us have felt this way at one time in our lives! In this episode, Jimmy and Lori share practical and effective strategies to develop and continue exponential progress in your personal growth.
Episode Keys
- The importance of seeking educational opportunities that are different than your typical learning experiences.
- Why you must focus on personal growth to gain satisfaction in life.
- How you can accomplish significant personal growth through a mentor relationship.
- Why you should adopt a mindset of longevity in life!
- Where to find answers to the challenges you face in life no matter the age or situation you find yourself.
Podcast Transcription
JW:
Good morning. It is Monday once again. I tell you, Monday funday. Yes, you heard me right. Monday to me is nothing more than a Friday from the previous week they got left behind. Hey, good morning folks. This is Jimmy Williams, your co-host for Live a Life By Design. You know, it’s a beautiful Monday. This time of year in the great state of Oklahoma, we have beautiful things happening like four inch rains, lightning storms, tornadoes, just those kinds of things to wake you up on a Monday to tackle the week. If you can overcome those kind of elements out in the weather, you know, the inclement stuff. If you can overcome that folks, life is much simpler. I promise you the rest of the week, but I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my time this week than with all of you. You people are so gracious, very kind.
JW:
They listeners all across the globe still at about 56 countries. I don’t know who dropped off. We must have lost someone in the north pole. I’m not sure what happened to Santa, but at 56 countries. Last week I mentioned you that my co-host Lori Few is always here with me and does such a great job. Keeping me out of trouble was unable to join us here on the podcast because of something very important and vital she had to accomplish in her life. She said, and I do recall it had to be washing her hair was the story I made up. Now. I don’t know she’s here this morning. I’m gonna greet her in just a moment. But I, I, I think I may have been a little misleading to you. So I want Lori to set this straight. So to prove the hostess of the mostess is here. Let’s hear a loud rockus applause for my friend, Lori Few. Good morning!
LF:
Whoo! Good morning, everybody! Happy Monday, Jimmy and all of our wonderful listeners and subscribers out there on the planet. And as you mentioned, it was a difficult choice last week when I was absent from the podcast, but I was not in fact washing my hair. I was actually watching paint dry. No, no, no. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I’m kidding.
JW:
You know, folks are so honest. It hurts right in the heart, man just goes right for the
LF:
Right. No, I had a previous engagement and I could not be with you all. And I’m a terrible liar. So, and, and watching paint dry is probably not the most exhilarating excuse or missing the podcast. But you know, my, my attention is back in the right place this morning, we’re focusing, we’re getting reentered and we’re gonna talk about something really, really, really great this morning to help everybody focus on their Monday motivation. And what we’re gonna talk about is one of my favorite topics. We’re gonna talk about personal growth and Jimmy being the master with numbers and words, the way he is, he even included the word exponential, exponential personal growth. That’s what we’re gonna talk about this morning. So to me, personal growth is a 27 targeted goal, 365 days a year. Well, maybe three I’ll take C as a professional. I mean, come on one day, right? I mean, you did mention Santa, we lost Santa from the north pole and it made me think about Christmas.
JW:
I think you reaching out to him this way is gonna getting back on here. I’m telling you back to 57 countries.
LF:
We have to get that north pole. Yes, but as a professional, as a mother, as a wife and a community leader, I mean, all aspects of my life require continual personal growth. And I think that’s true for everybody in individually in a, in a personal setting, in a company setting in a community setting. And we’re always growing in different ways. So Kimmy, I wanna know what your first tip for exponential personal growth is for the audience this morning. And I know you’ve probably got something really good.
JW:
Oh, I’ve got something very practical, but yet it’s gonna be fun. And people go, oh yeah, fun. What’s he gonna bring up this fun? That’s gonna help me grow as a person. But, but Laura, you’re absolutely right. So I use the word exponential in front of growth because to me it motivates me not, you know, you can grow and you can grow as a person, but you know, when you see you’re on a marathon here and you’re trying to get to 26.2 miles and you’re just growing, but not exponentially. Yeah. You may get a half a mile here, a quarter mile there. You’re not really moving the needle in ways that you have potential DC. We were designed to accomplish greatness as humans. That’s my belief. I really believe we were wired to do so. It is though up to us to take that potential and it become a reality. So the one thing I do in all honesty is I love to watch Ted talks. Now, Lori, do you ever watch Ted talks?
LF:
No. I love Ted talks. Yeah.
JW:
That app is almost worn out on my iPhone. I tell you, I love Ted talks, right? So, you know, I get in the car, the Bluetooth kicks in and I’m gonna go, Hey, you know, I’ve got all these different topical areas of Ted talks. I wanna listen to one. Well, this one gentleman that came on to Ted talk short, you know, they’re very short, pithy talks and they have some great stuff in them. The guy, the guy’s name’s Dan Butner and Dan gave his presentation of only 19 minutes long on how to live to be 100 plus. Now, Lori, let me explain why that intrigued me in the title alone. See, keep in mind you want to get a title. That’s sort of graph somebody’s attention, right? I know you don’t know this about me, but I’m kind of a planner kind of an OCD planner a little bit. Did you know that?
LF:
No, I would’ve never guessed ever.
JW:
Yeah. You know what? I work it out before I go to work. If you know what I’m saying, I like to get the day started on paper before I started in my physical being. So, so here I go, I switch on my Ted talks and I am looking to get something intriguing. And here this pops up how to live would be a hundred plus. I said, Hey, Jimmy, as I talk to myself from time to time, which is not really bad, it’s only bad Lori, if you answer back. Huh. But anyway, yes. So I said to myself, that sounds intriguing. And as I listened to it, I realized, Hey, this guy’s on target with what I said I would do to my life. When I joined strategic coach, I’m on to live to be 124 years of age. Now, Lori, that’s a specific yeah. Specific age.
LF:
No, 124.
JW:
Yeah. So I figure with the way I work out and you know, maybe some good gene help and also medical advancements. I think I can get there now. What if I only get to 121, Lori? Is that, is that sound like I failed?
LF:
No, because you will have outlived everyone else.
JW:
Correct. So if I ask, actually keep the mindset. So I’m 57 years young, so I’m not even midlife crisis yet you with me. So a hundred, you know, 124 divide by two, right? 62. Okay. I’m not even midlife crisis, Lori. I am at that perfect optimum age to continue to grow as a person 57.
LF:
Okay. Wow. That was a lot of math, really fast on a Monday. Wow.
JW:
Well, I’m all about the numbers, you know me. So, so I did, as I’m listening to this, he’s talking about how it’s not just about the diet. It’s not just about the workout, the mobility. It’s not about the mind being challenged on a creative basis on a daily daily routine. He’s talking about also the fact that as humans, we technically are not made to live in longevity. Now that intrigued me. So I had to do some more reading. Now, folks, I gotta be honest with you. You can go down a rabbit hole real quick with some of this stuff probably, but I looked up another book that helped me understand. Okay, well, what does he mean were not built to do that you realize in old Testament times now I know people say, well, years were different in terms of time than they are now, but MATHUSLA lived to be 800 plus years old. That’s a long time. Wow. Now keep in mind the
LF:
Rep that’s way.
JW:
Wow. Yeah, there were probably only 80 people on the planet though. Right? So…
LF:
Well, that’s true.
JW:
Yeah. This was old Testament times. But anyway, my point to this was, is I listened to this guy and he has over 4 million views of his Ted talk presentation. So it’s obviously something that a lot of us have an interest in on the planet and I listened more and more about it. And I thought to myself, okay, what are some things I can implement from his short talk that might motivate me to grow a little bit more in my challenge, mentally, physically, spiritually in all aspects. Because if the body can grow, the mind must grow with it is my thinking. Pardon? Pun mine grow with
LF:
Thinking. No, I, I was just, you know, I was just thinking, it’s very profound that you say that. I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s really true. What I mean, if you, if you dissect that very sentence, say, say that sentence again.
JW:
So if I grow mentally, spiritually, and physically, if the mind grows, it must think it’s gonna grow. Know how did I say that? Yeah.
LF:
Well, but just in thinking of terms in that and like wrapping your mind around the fact that if you grow in all those areas, you are essentially giving yourself longevity in a mindset. And that that’s profound to me. I mean, that’s something that we could all take a little, you know, we talk a lot on this podcast about if you don’t take anything, you take one little nugget here or there. I mean, I, I think that is probably the most important thing so far from me
JW:
Right now. Think about this too, Lori. So let’s ask ourselves, what’s so important about living to be 124 or 110 or 130, whatever the number may be. What’s important about that to me is, is that your mindset is, you’re not as old as you think when the world’s telling you, well, the old metropolitan life table for insurance says, you gotta die. If you’re a man at 82 women live to be 85. So if you act like that and you think like that, then you’re going to what you’re being, that you’re being old. And I wanna keep the mindset that I’m always young, many times I get people that go, Hey, how old are you? And I’ll say, how old do you think I am? And I’m not bragging here. But a lot of these people look at me cuz they know my personality and they go, oh wow man, you gotta be probably, ah, maybe a little high about 45, 47. And I go, thank you. May I hug you now? But anyway…
LF:
And you’re my best
JW:
Friend. Yeah. You’re my, what is your address? Christmas card is on its way. Right? Dude. Here we go. So my point to this is, is I want people to listen to those things that motivate you in a powerfully positive manner that it doesn’t take the world saying of well when you’re 80 year old. Nope. When you are at the age of 124, you can officially say I have reached my peak. That’s my thinking. So until then, I’m still climbing the mountain top. If you will. The Mon block of the Swiss Alps, right. I wanna be as high as I can get in that midlife. So Lori, what’s a tip for your exponential personal growth?
LF:
Well, I, I think from a personal perspective, about eight or nine years ago, I felt like I was at the top of my personal, I, I probably would say, I felt like I was at the top of my personal growth chart. And I thought that I was invincible. I had a great career. I had a great personal life. I had a great community involvement. I mean, I just felt like I was the top of my game personally. I, I loved going to work every day and I just thought that this is it. I could do this every day. I’m on top of things and this was the pinnacle and it didn’t take very long for tragedy to strike. And I lost my mentor and I know we talk a lot on this podcast about mentors and how important they are that when losing my mentor was the reason I really believe that I had had such exponential personal growth.
LF:
I had that person to invest in me every single day and we were a team and we worked like synchronously together. I could finish her sentences. She could read my mind by just having my facial expressions. And when I lost her, when she passed, I really took a, a bad, deep, personal back backwards mindset in, in terms of personal growth. I lost my zest to do the job that I absolutely loved doing because I’d no longer had that key piece of the puzzle. It took me a long time to come outta that. It took me growing and knowing that I could take everything that she had given me and been with everything that we’d been through together and everything that she had mentored me through and taught me, I could take that on my own. And so my personal growth, I felt like my journey kind of started over.
LF:
I was naive to think that I was already there. You know, I was at the pinnacle. I was at the top. I, I didn’t need more personal growth. And you know, just when you think that in your mindset, you know, wham, the universe slams that door in your face and says, no, just kidding. We’re gonna start completely over. So I really had to work and talk myself mentally every day. Okay, we can do this. What’s the one thing, what’s the one piece. What’s the one thing that I’m missing that I can implement in my work life, in my personal life. And I really had to go through that struggle of knowing that I felt like I was lost, but in all actuality, when I turned around, I had everything that I needed to continue that personal growth. I just had to believe in myself to apply it in a different way, in a different setting, with a different, you know, framework and a different set of people.
LF:
So I, I feel like through struggle and tragedy, I actually got better. And I am able to see that now looking back where I didn’t know that before. And so I would say to people that are out there listening that even though circumstances change and people, people change, you still have the ability to continue to grow. Even if you don’t think you can, you just have to give yourself enough to say yes, I can do this. And it may be small in steps. You know, we’re talking math this morning, so we’re talking exponential, but it may be incremental that you get there, but that personal growth is still there. It just comes in a different form, a different setting and a different format, if you will.
JW:
So, you know, and another thing about the, the lady she is speaking today was a dear friend of our family as well. And our daughters she had two daughters herself and, and our, her younger daughter and our older daughter was the same age and had had a lot of fun together in life. But I will say this, that the lady she’s speaking of was an outstanding person, but she was an extremely talented lawyer and judge in our local area. And I saw her at a sorority event during parents weekend with her older daughter at university of Oklahoma. And so I saw her as she was coming out of the sorority house and she had, of course been through some treatments and lost all of her hair, was wearing a very nice bandana over her head to, to look, look very nice that day as beautiful can be, you know?
JW:
And I will tell you the first thing that struck me when you start talking was the way she helped you grow, I think is how she helped a lot of us grow. Is she learned to find courage at times where courage couldn’t be found. She was just smiling. I know she didn’t feel well. She was just talking. I know she didn’t want to talk. You know, so I didn’t ever belabor her, but I’m saying at that point, I realized after talking with her, I said, you know, this is one wonderful lady, very talented, but she’s helping all the rest of us grow. Even through the time of which she’s now, you know, passed. She is still helping us grow and find good things to talk about. To me, that is exponential. It’s not just the growth itself. It’s that the fact that we’re still taking lessons learned from her or her guidance and utilized it in our own personal lives. That’s the exponential part of it. It’s not a one day.
LF:
And I could, yeah, I couldn’t agree more because now I find myself, I, I take those lessons and I do my best to try to impart those upon other people. I, I absolutely think that every day, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t use some type of, you know, lesson or story or I, I just can, I can remember her saying to me that whenever you have an interaction with someone that that one interaction might be the most important interaction that they have all day long and you never know what that impact is gonna be, and it can be positive. It can be negative, but it’s all about how you perceive it. And it’s all about how you approach it. And I’ve literally used that every single day. And I think I always will. And I always tell people the same thing. It’s, it’s not what you expect it to be always. But if you can turn that into something positive and impart that upon somebody else, then that’s what we’re here to do. And I mean, who knows, Jimmy, maybe, maybe I’ll be 124 and still imparting wisdom upon people.
JW:
I think you’re gonna be 142 Lori.
LF:
No, not 142!
JW:
I will say this though, the whole point about this exponential growth through those types of tragedy, you know, it, it’s not something we enjoy, but it’s a part of life and here’s the beauty I think of this whole, if you, if you gotta find it, you know, I always try to look for the good. Now I know that sounds corny for a lot of you, but sometimes, you know, you look and you go, Hey nine 11 happened. How, how can I find something good outta that in our country? The Merl bombing of, you know, April the, the 19th of 2020 excuse me, 1995. How does, how did we find good in that? But there are some good things. Think about those first responders, how inspiring that was to go crawling through that rubble. That was very, very, very, very shaky. They could have been killed themselves, trying to get people, you know, it wasn’t stabilized and you see ’em carrying this little baby out, you know, it’s just battered and bloody and bruised. And man, that’s just inspiring stuff. And to me, folks, if you’re gonna grow, it’s that seed of courage. It has to be watered and cultivated and, and you have to put some more water to it and you have to give it some sunshine. In other words, courage doesn’t come just because you want to be brave. There’s a big difference between Wery courage. So,
LF:
Absolutely. I agree
JW:
That seed of courage is what I think our good friend planted in all of us that knew her real well. And we always wanna honor her with that. So,
LF:
OK, Jimmy. So we talked about the first tip and now we’ve talked about Ted talks. Let’s talk about a second tip. I know you have one.
JW:
I’m gonna give one more. This is one of my favorite tips, and I know you guys are tired of hearing me read, just say this, but reading to me is exponential growth. Here’s why there’s gotta be a book on about any instance of life you’re going through. I don’t care what phase you’re in. I don’t care what age you are. I don’t care what situation you find yourself at work at home at church in the community. There’s someone I assure you has written a book on how you might be able to help yourself out of that situation and not just out of it, but out of it in a very positive manner. So on this podcast, several, several weeks ago, we talked about a great book that I have just worn out on my shelf. I have it dog geared. I have tabs on pages I wanna reflect on in that kind of stuff.
JW:
And it’s the old Stephen, a Covey traditional book. The best time I’ve ever had is reading this book because I gained so much from it. It’s like reading the Bible, Lori. Now I’m not saying it’s the Bible. What I’m saying as a Christian, my Bible to me, I can read the same passage four times at four different places in my life. And I get four different answers. Now that’s crazy, but that’s how it works for me. So I read his book again a few weeks ago, and it’s the book, the seven habits of highly effective people. It didn’t just say, you know, the seven habits of effective people, highly effective. That means people making an impact and exponential impact on those around them. You know, the one thing I love about reading this book is I pick out a couple of habits. You know, these are the seven habits I picked out one of the first three, which are those inside habits.
JW:
If you will, of transformation, those, those personal victories, if they call ’em in the book and it was called the one I that I picked out after I’ve read the book four times now, by the way this is the one I read. And the, the way I look at it is the first three habits. I wanna start with the end in mind. Now, before I ever start my day, I have it planned out on paper. Now don’t laugh. I’m a journaler, I’m a planner. I have to use paper. Now I know there’s gonna come a day. People are gonna say, you’re killing the rain force waves, quit writing on paper, but until they do, I’m gonna write on paper lawyers. It’s just something about paper. I love technology. There’s just something about that. Mop Blanc pin on that nice, good paper and that journal. And I don’t know, it’s just me. So I start that day. And how is that growing for me? It’s that I don’t waste valuable mental or physical energy or spiritual energy until I know where my destination is. Same as getting in your car. Now I know where men and us men don’t ever use a map, cuz that would be a sign of weakness to our spouse or our significant other.
LF:
Maps are okay.
JW:
Maps are sold yesterday, Lori. OK. For a minute. Just try. OK. But no, my point I’m making is, is I use books. I use reading to help me grow in areas that I do admittedly, and you’re gonna laugh, Lori, but you’re gonna be shocked. I hope you don’t fall backwards where I have weakness. I mean, I just, I know I’m just a human and you know, Superman had one weakness and I have at least, you know, maybe a hundred, but anyway my point here is our entire team read this book a few months ago, we have a book of the quarter reading club. So we have a book of the quarter club. Every quarter, we read a book and the team gets together and we share our thoughts, our ideas, what do we gain from that? What do we grow from that book? And this book was so remarkable to everyone on the team. Not just me, everybody came up with different growth measures out of this book that helped him be so productive the next, the next quarter. And, and forward, we have been so much more efficient, so much more kind, so much more productive. It is uncanny so much more creative since we read this book. Now that’s all from one book.
LF:
Well, but I think that’s important because it’s the interpretation. And so it it’s all about how they see it. And when people read things and they make notes and they, they say to themselves, oh, okay, I totally get it. But then when you sit around the room and you talk to the same people that read the, the same book, the outcome is different. The perception is different. And if we’re ever going to truly understand our work circles or our friend circles, or even our family, it’s, it’s all about interpreting that perspective in a different way and, and being completely okay with being honest about, oh, well I didn’t see it that way. Explain to me why you saw it that way. That’s what creates that open dialogue, which then turns into growth.
JW:
You know, you’re absolutely right. I will say there’s some other books in my library and I’ve got quite a, quite a library. I have books at the office books at my personal library at home. There’s a book called think and grow rich. I recommend to literally every person in college that comes up and talks to me and asks for some mentorship, which I enjoy doing. I love mentoring these younger professionals, but they ask me what book. If I only had one book I’ll say, look, think, and grow rich. And they look at me funny and they go, you know, I gotta be honest with you. I don’t know how that would work. And I said, well, first you gotta think it, you gotta ink it and then you go realize it. So I always said in Napoleon hill, great author, great motivator, great positive personality.
JW:
But I said he should have made his book titled think and work to grow rich. Cause just thinking about it. Doesn’t do a whole lot, right? You, you gotta start there and the younger people of today, and I hope this comes across, as I intended are so much more powerfully creative than I was at the age of 22 to 25 back in the day. Right? So before the two thousands ever came along, I mean, I, I was not nearly as creative and I thought I was pretty well on top of my game. As you said earlier, I was really motivated. I did all the right things, do the right people, married the right woman. I mean, whatever it takes, but I will tell you, meeting the kids we see today, the young people, the professionals today, I feel that they are going to really blow the top off of everything. We have accomplished Lori. And that’s what I love about giving them a little bit of mentorship. Now they exponentially take that and just compound it, man. And they just make things happen in the real world.
LF:
Well, and I, I couldn’t agree with you more, you know, people wanna talk negatively about the current generation or the, or the youth, especially coming out of COVID. You know, I I’ve had multiple conversations with young people, you know, what’s the one thing that you could tell me as an adult. What’s the one thing I need to know. And they always respond with don’t limit our expectations, know that we’re capable, know that we can do great things, know that we think outside the box and know that we deserve a seat at the table. Just, you know, because we’re young and people don’t necessarily agree with us, but give us an opportunity to explain their minds stink in a million miles a minute. It’s, it’s amazing to me, the creativity and, and out thinking outside the box. And so multifaceted, I am excited. I know. And I’m probably I’m the middle age now.
JW:
29 is middle age folks.
LF:
I’m not ready for that, but it is so important. And when we talk about growth that, Hey, they are just, they’re knocking it out of the park. And I I’m so excited. I, I love working with young people. They get me excited. They give me such a different perspective. I have had my attitude changed and shifted and what I thought I was solid, stuck in my ways. And just talking to some of these young people, I’m like, wow, I had never thought about it like that. And, and they’re right. I, I, I love it. I, I almost crave it. Like I, I, the young people probably run for me because I’m like that crazy middle-aged woman. Now that’s like, come let me pick your brain.
JW:
You wanna blow Lori’s mind today. Folks get a millennial that’s carrying coffee. That’ll really blow her mind. Cause she loves both of those.
LF:
That’s like my, my magical mythical creature is like a millennial coffee drinking millennial.
JW:
That’s it. That’s it. Folks. You heard it right here. You know, I’m gonna give ’em a bonus, Lori. I know we didn’t talk about this, but I’m gonna give ’em a bonus today. The bonus tip is this. If you really wanna grow exponentially, hire millennials and gen Zs for your team, we have a couple on our team and I didn’t even have this one hire. Even on the org chart, didn’t think I needed this person. There was something about her when she came in and I met her and this is Ashley, our marketing director. Now she just has gone from new hire to director of marketing with such creativity, such great talent and just such a team player. They really pushed me as the leader to go, okay, show us what’s next. You know, come on, big guy, give us an opportunity to sell. So I’m really getting, sometimes they take me out of my comfort zone instead of me taking them out of theirs. And that’s really exponential growth if you ask me
LF:
Well, and I think that’s the challenge for this week. I, I thinking about this, my was one direction, the challenge for this week, but you say that, you know, getting our comfort zone zone in, in terms of growth, I mean, it’s exciting. Like I’m excited about it this week. Try to get out of your comfort zone and do something for personal growth. It can be financial, it can be personal. It can be professional. It could be, I don’t know, working out, do something, make it fun. Think outside the box. And if you need a little extra person to kind of guide you along, don’t be afraid. Ask questions, engage with people, get outside your comfort zone because that’s where the growth happens. If we’ve listened and learned anything this morning, that’s where the real growth is gonna happen. And so that’s the challenge for this week.
JW:
Well, Lori, I’m glad you said that, cuz I’m gonna do something this week to get me outta my comfort zone. You know, it’s almost swim season here. It’s getting a little warmer and everything. And I’m thinking about going out and looking for that leopard skin thong speedo I’ve always wanted.
LF:
Listen, you are funny.
JW:
Not only would that take, not only would that take me outta my comfort zone, most everyone around me would be uncomfortable as well. I feel, Hey folks, thanks for joining us this Monday, we take you from very serious to wacky in about 2.1 seconds, but that’s what we like. Cuz we are living life by design and for you, that’s all Lori and I want for you the biggest, best and boldest person you can be to make our planet what it needs to be, which is peaceful and productive for everyone. Thank you for joining us, Lori, thank you once again for joining me this week and we look forward to another episode of Live a Life By Design next week. Have a good week!
