Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / Transformative Pillars of Personal Leadership

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Transformative Pillars of Personal Leadership · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

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Well, hello everyone and welcome to a special edition of Chatting with
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the Experts, where Chatting with the Experts is where I speak with
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women primarily from Africa, from the Caribbean, and in the diaspora.
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And these are professional women and successful entrepreneurs.
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Today's episode is special because I'm speaking with a man and he is from Africa,
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so he falls within that the parameters.
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So, today our title is Leader, Lead Yourself, and we will be unlocking
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the power of personal leadership.
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My guest who will be joining us in a few minutes is Dr. Michael Koku, and he's
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a physician and independent executive director, speaker, coach, and trainer
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with the Maxwell Leadership team.
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He's renowned for simplifying complex ideas into actionable insights
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and empowers leaders in business, education, healthcare and beyond
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through his impactful coaching and leadership development programs.
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I could say more about him, but like all of my guests, his bio is so impressive.
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So what I'll do is welcome him to the show.
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So welcome Dr. Koku to Chatting with the Experts.
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Dr. Michael Koku is a physician and Maxwell leadership team, speaker, coach,
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trainer, and independent executive director well known for his ability to
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encapsulate complex ideas and present them in concise, compelling fashion.
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He helps leaders to lead more effectively so they can improve their
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lives personally and professionally.
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He is the author of 11 books, including the Four Keys for Effective Leadership,
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the AREA Code and LIVE LIFE BIG.
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He is also the Chief Visionary Officer of the LAMP Global Community,
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the parent organization for WILL (Women in Leadership League), PEARL
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(Parents Empowered Academy for Right Leadership), YES (Youth Empowerment
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Society), and TBN (The Berean Network).
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Let us give a warm and cheerful welcome to Dr. Michael Koku.
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Wow.
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Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.
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Hi, Coach Paula.
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I'm so excited to be here.
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And how are you doing today?
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I am excellent.
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Thank you for saying yes to being on the show, and I'm especially excited
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because I have a copy of your post.
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Oh yes, you got it right.
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And so do I.
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Yep.
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Leader, Lead Yourself.
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You can see it also in my background.
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Yeah.
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My Zoom.
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It's in your background.
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Yeah.
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So, today we're gonna be talking about your book, about you, why you wrote it.
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But one thing that stood out for me is you said leadership starts with you.
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Yeah.
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It starts with me.
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So tell me a bit about that, because there's something else that
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you said earlier on off camera.
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I think it was where you said change is a choice.
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Yeah.
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That start with leadership starts with us as individuals.
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Can you elaborate on that?
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Yeah.
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Thank you so much.
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First of all, for the opportunity that you've given me, because
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this is not just a book.
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It's more than a book.
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It's more than a manual.
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It's a mirror.
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And this is a movement, you know, and because this book is a movement
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and that will shift people's mindset the way they see leadership.
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I remember when we having a global launch in June 21st, someone attended the
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global launch that we have for this book.
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And she said, until now, and this person, she is more than 60.
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She said until now she's from Detroit, you know Michigan, she's an African-American.
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She said she has never seen herself as a leader.
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Can you imagine?
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She thought to be a leader you need to have a ton of degrees, a ton of titles.
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She never knew until she came to the global launch, and I realized that.
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Everyone is a leader.
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I have this concept I call LIFE, Leadership Is For Everyone.
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So Leader, Lead Yourself is a call to action to everyone, including the
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old, the young, the male, the female.
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No one is left behind.
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So this book is a call to action for everyone on earth.
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Anyone that is I mean, even a little kid that is walking and that can learn,
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this is a mirror that can show them that this is how to lead myself because
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the crisis of our time is seeing people finding themself in leadership position
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and they have no clue on how to lead.
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You know, it's like someone, you know, driving a car.
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You don't drive a car because you grown and said, oh, I'm grown.
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I can drive a car.
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And maybe your cousin came to see you, your cousin, and happens to be
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18-year-old, maybe even 58-year-old.
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He has never driven a car before.
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Coach Paula, can you hand over your key?
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No.
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That's a disaster going somewhere to happen.
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That's how leadership is.
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So, but the good news is it's a learnable skill that we all can learn.
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So that's why I wrote the book.
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Yeah.
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It's a learnable skill that we all can learn.
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Learn.
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Yeah.
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And from listening to you, you said, you know, it's for everyone.
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It's for...
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It's for everyone.
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Yeah.
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Men, women, even young adults.
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Yeah.
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Hmm.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Alright.
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So, talking about that.
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So you talk about how personal leadership is a foundation for all leadership.
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Correct.
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Yeah.
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What do you mean by that, sir?
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Now when we talk about personal leadership, first of all, let's define
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personal leadership and there's a definition I like to share by Stephen
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Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and he also wrote
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another book called The Eight Habits.
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This is what Stephen Covey said, it's a personal leadership is the
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process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your
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life to be congruent with them.
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That means you putting your vision and values before you and putting your life
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in alignment with those vision and values.
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You know, and I mean, this is also very true, and it's there's
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another person, an English author and philosopher, Aldous Huxley.
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He said, there's one corner of the universe you can be certain of
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improving, and that is your own self.
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Say that again.
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I like that.
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That's, see, there's one corner of the universe you can be certain of
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improving and that is your own self.
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you, see, this is what personal leadership is all about.
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You know, personal leadership , it's more than a title, it's more than a position.
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This is a problem.
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A lot of people want to have influence over others.
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Influence should not begin with others.
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It should begin with what I call TECH.
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Yeah, I like acronyms so begin with TECH, T-E-C-H.
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So where influence begins should be over your time, over your emotions,
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over your character and habits.
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That is where influence begins.
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True influence does not begins with others.
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It begins with TECH, T-E-C-H, over your time, over your emotions,
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your character and your habits.
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Ooh.
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Because that is the beginning of influence, a pure influence, and this
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is it: to lead yourself first is the foundation of all leadership, because
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it involves you mastering your thoughts.
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It involve you discipline your behavior, aligning with your values and growing
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consistently so that when others follow you, they follow someone that
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is authentic because authenticity is the new influence in this 21st century.
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People are not looking for a perfect leader.
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They're looking for an authentic leader.
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Leaders that are grounded, guided, and growing.
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And also the time people just see, you know, someone would just say that, you
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know, there's a social media influencer, and it's true, they can have just
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like 21 million people following them.
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But their private life is so bad that, I mean, you just marvell at
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the kind of things that they do and they call themselves a leader.
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No, you not.
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You are not.
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And that's the thing about it, because if people can know that one question,
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one desire that everyone that you are leading, they're asking one desire
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that they have is leader lead yourself.
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That's what they're saying.
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That just lead yourself first.
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Because when you lead yourself well, you don't have any problem.
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In fact, I opened the book with a story about Mahatma Gandhi.
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There was a woman that came to Gandhi with her son and the
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woman after walk a long hours.
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It took him a long hour, a long walk to get to where Mahatma Gandhi lives.
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And she got there with the son.
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And because the son has been eating a lot of sugar and she talked to
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the son, the son wasn't listening.
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The son has sweet tooth, he continued to eat anything sugar.
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And when they go to Gandhi.
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He said, Bapu.
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The Bapu means father in India.
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Okay.
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He said, my son has been eating a lot of sugar.
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Please, can you tell him to stop eating sugar that is not good for his health?
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So Mahatma Gandhi looked at her and thought about it and said,
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please, can you bring your son back to me in the next two weeks?
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The woman was confused that she thought Gandhi will do something so well since
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he told her to come back in two weeks.
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So Gandhi went back home and, sorry, this, the woman went back home with the son and
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after to come the long distance again.
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And when she got to Gandhi and Gandhi, look at the son.
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He said son, stop eating sugar.
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It's not good for your health.
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And then the woman said, what you mean?
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This is why we have to come here after two weeks to cover the long distance.
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I say, why can't you say the same thing to him two weeks ago?
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So Gandhi, moved closer to the woman and whispered into her ear that two weeks ago.
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I'm still eating sugar like your son.
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Mm-hmm.
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So I can't say that to him.
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I have to stop eating sugar myself for me to say that.
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So what did Gandhi model?
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He modeled true personal leadership, which is integrity before instruction.
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That's what personal leadership is all about.
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It is moral integrity before instruction.
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He could have passed instructions, but there's no integrity to see,
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whenever there's an instruction without integrity, it leads to destruction.
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Mm-hmm.
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And that's what personal leadership is all about.
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You have to understand that Gandhi is the same person that
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said, an ounce of practice is better than the tons of preaching.
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You know, you can tell people what to do, but the question is, are you doing it?
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So this is what this book is all about.
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And to show leaders that listen, you can learn.
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So in this book, I share the 10 transformative pillars of personal
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leadership in a simple acronym leadership.
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That's what I want you to talk about.
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That's something, those 10 transformative pillars.
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Yeah.
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Let's go.
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Let's dive into that.
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Yeah, that's a good one.
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You see, but before I do that, I like to share a context.
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Okay.
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Because content without context does not bring true learning,
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because context shapes content.
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You know, Stephen Covey said, the context in which we live becomes the
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lens through which we see the world.
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So the key to successful leadership today is influence not authority.
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So, in giving these 10 pillars, first of all, let me share a context because Peter
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Singh also said, the meaning of any event is not determined by the event itself,
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but by the context in which it is placed.
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So this is the context.
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Are you a zero, a one, or a multiplier?
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Okay.
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Say that again.
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Are you a...
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Okay.
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Are you a zero?
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There are three kind of people in the world.
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So we have zero...
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Mm-hmm.
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One.
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Mm-hmm.
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And multiplier.
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This is a mathematical metaphor.
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Mm. I get it now.
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I get it.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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So, because if numbers could talk, they teach us one of the most
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important truths about people.
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So some people are zero.
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One thing about zero people is when you hang out with them,
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zero multiply by zero is zero.
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So these are people we called values eraser.
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They erase your value.
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So let's say you are somebody that is 50 or a hundred.
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And you coming alongside with zero.
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So zero multiplied by you, which is 50 or a hundred, goes back to zero.
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So they erase your value.
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Value eraser.
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So I call them value eraser.
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So they erase and erode your value.
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They bring you down to zero.
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So those are zero people.
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So some people are one.
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Oh, I mean, oh, well, I'm not zero.
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I'm this, I'm even thankful that I'm not zero.
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I'm one.
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So let's see what one looks like.
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Tell us.
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Now one people, I'm talking about the number one O-N-E.
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Mm-hmm.
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These are what we called the status quo keeper.
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Status quo.
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Okay.
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The status quo keeper, because any number multiplied by one is that number.
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Always one.
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So these are people that leave you unchanged.
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Oh.
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They leave you unchanged.
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The zero people, they cancel everything.
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They bring you down to zero.
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But one, they're status quo keeper.
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So one seems harmless They don't reduce you, but they don't grow you either.
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Any number multiplied by one equals the same number.
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So some people won't hurt you, but they won't help you grow either.
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Okay.
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So these, and there's a lot of ones.
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There's a lot of ones.
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Nothing good, nothing bad.
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Just normal.
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Status quo.
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So a lot of people are one.
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So now...
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Can, I guess?
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Can I get the multiplier now?
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Just based on...
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okay.
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Zero,
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people erases value a value erases.
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Yeah.
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They don't change you.
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In fact, they bring you down.
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They bring you down.
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No.
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They change you.
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Zero people change you.
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They change you to zero.
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They take you to zero.
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Okay.
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They change you for evil.
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They change you for bad.
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They change you for worst.
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Okay.
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Alright.
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Yeah.
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They
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leave you unchanged.
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They don't change you.
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They leave you unchanged.
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They don't add to you.
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They don't take out from you.
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Okay.
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So lemme guess the multiplier.
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They keep you at the same level.
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At the same level.
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Multipliers.
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Now bring us to the multipliers.
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Alright?
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So that's what I'm trying to guess.
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Yeah.
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So the multipliers are people we call the value amplifiers.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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The value amplifiers.
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Now the multiplier starts since we are talking about numbers,
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it's a metaphor of numbers.
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The multiplier starts from anything from two, so we have 2x
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multipliers, 3x, four x, five x, 10 x.
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A 1000x, you know, a million x. Oh boy.
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I'm loving it.
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A Million x, trillion x. So there's no limit.
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That's why the book is called Unlocking Your Power with Personal Leadership.
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So to unlock your power with personal leadership, you need to be a multiplier.
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So that means you are not in the zero conversation.
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You are not in the one conversation.
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Now, this is a different thing.
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Now let me give you an invitation to become a multiplier.
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Okay.
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So first of all, what does a multiplier look like?
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I said, like I said, the minimum you can be as a multiplier is two.
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So let's say you are two.
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So let's say I'm two, for example, coach Paula is five.
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So two multiply by five is 10.
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That's better.
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I mean, they don't leave you the same.
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They don't bring you down to zero, but they make you better.
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But guess what?
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You can have somebody that is five.
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What if someone that is five come alongside of you?
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That's five multipliable.
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Who you are before five times five is 25.
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What if you are 50?
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You find a multiplier that is a thousand, that is even much better.
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So that means by looking at this lens of life, you can decide
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to have a better view of life.
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Realizing there's no limit to unlocking your power to lead others.
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Unlocking your power means the power to lead others, the
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power to influence others.
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And this is what you can do with personal leadership.
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So multipliers, you know, and there's a quote by Albert Einstein.
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He said, try not to become a person of success, but rather
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try to become a person of value.
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So multipliers are people of value.
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That add value to others.
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So multipliers are people will lift you higher.
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They add wisdom to you.
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They multiply your energy, they elevate your vision, they stretch your potential.
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They're not just inspirational, they are transformational.
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So this is the special invitation to become a multiplier.
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You must unlock your power with personal leadership.
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And this is what this book is all about.
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Now let me unveil the 10 pillars now that we see the context now.
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Yeah.
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So because like I said, the good news about this Coach Paula, is
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this, you can choose what X you are.
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You can choose to be 2x.
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I said, why do you wanna choose to be 2x when you can be 10x?
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When you can be a 1000x?
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Yeah, you can be unlimited version of you.
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The world is looking for the you that is yet to emerge.
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And this is why through these 10 pillars, you can continuously unlock
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your power to lead and influence others positively with personal leadership.
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So these are the 10 pillars.
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Like I said, the acronym is LEADERSHIP.
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All my books are acronyms.
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Yes.
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If you know me now you know, interestingly, Coach Paula,
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I was looking at my Facebook memories and I realized that.
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A year ago I was on your podcast.
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Yes.
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You were.
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July 10th, for my tenth book.
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That's significant.
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Yes.
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It is!
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You know.
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Oh my word.
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I mean, just this morning I was looking at this was the book
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that we did the other time.
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Live Life Big.
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Yes, live.
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Yes.
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Live Life Big.
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You see what I'm saying?
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Yeah.
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And the good thing about that was it was the morning I came to your podcast that
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I actually got a framework for that book.
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I never had the framework.
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It was why preparing that I got the framework.
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So it was an acronym called DREAM.
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Yes.
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So we done with it.
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Now this one is LEADERSHIP.
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Leadership.
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So these are the 10 pillars of personal leadership.
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Like I said, this is a mirror.
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I look at this thing every morning.
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So we gonna go through the alphabet that spelled leadership together.
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So the first L is learn continuously.
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Learn continuously.
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Learn continuously.
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Right.
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Learn continuously.
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That's L. So the second one is E, Exercise self-discipline.
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Writing it down.
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Exercise self-discipline.
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Discipline.
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Mm-hmm.
21:53
Exercise self-discipline.
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Okay.
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And the third one, alphabet A is Act with accountability.
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Act with
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accountability.
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Act with accountability.
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Right.
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Then the fourth one is Demonstrate emotional intelligence.
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Demonstrate emotional intelligence.
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Intelligence.
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And the next alphabet is R, Reflect and realign regularly.
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Excuse me, I'm sorry.
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We left our E because I'm writing it down.
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Oh, sorry.
22:27
Sorry.
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Okay.
22:28
Okay.
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We have L learn continuously.
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Then the second one is E Exercise self.
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Self-discipline.
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Self discipline.
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Then the next one is A, Act with accountability.
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Then the next one is D,
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Demonstrate.
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Demonstrate emotional intelligence.
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Then the next one is E. Yeah, you're right.
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E, Embrace purpose and passion.
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Mm-hmm.
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Embrace purpose and passion.
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Loving it.
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Then followed by R.
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Mm-hmm.
22:54
Reflect and realign regularly.
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Reflect and realign regularly.
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Regularly.
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Mm-hmm.
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Then the next one is S.
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Mm-hmm.
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Set clear and stretching goals.
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Set clear and stretching goals.
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A.
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Then the next one is H, Harness your inner motivation.
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Harness your inner.
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Harness your inner motivation.
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Motivations.
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Okay.
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The next one is, I Inspire yourself first.
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Inspire yourself first and the last, but not the least is P,
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Persevere through challenges.
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Persevere through challenges.
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Challenges.
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Yeah.
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This is impressive.
23:44
One quick question before you expand on that.
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Did you come up with this yourself?
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Was this inspired by God?
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It's inspired by God, I tell you.
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You know,, like I told you, you know, one thing unique about me, I'm a personal fit.
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And I believe in Job 32 verse eight.
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There's a spirit in men and the inspiration of the Almighty
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giving them understanding.
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Amen.
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Because to be real with you, this book is a landmark book for me,
24:12
and I wrote my first two books when I was in medical school.
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Mm-hmm.
24:16
The first one came out in, and that was in November year 2000.
24:22
That's a small book, you know, like a booklet.
24:25
I still got it right here.
24:26
It's called Understanding Medical School.
24:28
That's good.
24:29
Yeah.
24:30
That was the first book.
24:31
You know, it was just a booklet.
24:32
That was in November...
24:34
Of 2000.
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Yeah.
24:36
Year 2000.
24:37
Then the second one came, you know, that was three years after, you know,
24:42
that was during my 30th birthday.
24:44
And that one is called Understanding Your Gift.
24:47
This one.
24:47
Understanding your gift.
24:48
Understanding your gift.
24:49
Yeah.
24:50
And I know my picture was a big, I thought that was really cool then,
24:53
you know, but I was like, really?
24:55
Was this really me?
24:58
Oh my gosh.
25:01
After those two books for 20 years, I never wrote a book.
25:08
And I wasn't really happy, and this is one of the reasons why this book is so,
25:12
so important to me because I lose that.
25:17
I don't really understand this personal leadership the way I do now.
25:21
Mm-hmm.
25:21
So I wasn't leading myself well, the way I ought to.
25:25
And we all get to that place because there are four different zones in life.
25:29
Coasting zone, comfort zone, and we have the challenge zone and the creative zone.
25:34
So I was in that comfort zone.
25:36
A comfort is a zone in which we comfortable, but it is actually
25:41
comfortability in mediocrity.
25:45
And you know, it's a place in which, I mean, nothing new, same old, same old.
25:53
There's no growth.
25:55
No growth.
25:56
Yes.
25:56
So I was there for 20 years.
25:59
I never wrote a single book, and that bothers me until two years ago when I
26:06
was about to clock 50 and I said, God, I don't want to live this way again.
26:13
So I made a commitment that year they wanna write 10 books.
26:19
Now watch this.
26:20
You've not written a book for 20 years, you now say you want
26:24
to write 10 books in one year.
26:27
That's what we call BHAG is what we call Bold Hairy Audacious Goal from
26:34
Jim Collins that wrote it from Good to Great and I finished that year not
26:39
writing 10, but I did five books, 2023.
26:44
Now, the second year, 2024, 4 new books came, and then
26:52
this year, this book, so this year is the 10th book.
26:57
So that means 10 books, 10 new books in less than two years.
27:01
And they're all here.
27:02
'cause I wrote it, the first one that I wrote.
27:04
This is the 2.0 for the other one of the Understanding Medical School.
27:08
This was written for medical student.
27:09
Okay.
27:10
So that's the 2.0 for their one.
27:12
Was that book number three?
27:14
Yes.
27:15
Okay.
27:15
That was book number three.
27:16
Yeah.
27:16
Yeah.
27:17
And these are other books that came.
27:18
Yeah, the Beautiful People.
27:20
I have another one.
27:21
Five Keys of Networking.
27:23
I have another one, Four Keys for Effective leadership.
27:27
Mm-hmm.
27:27
Yeah.
27:28
That one came.
27:28
Then this one, this understanding, you give the 2.0 for the
27:32
the second one that I wrote.
27:33
That one came then, then this one, the AREA Code on Servant Leadership.
27:39
Yes.
27:39
Yeah, we talked about that in last year on my podcast.
27:42
Yeah.
27:42
This is number 10.
27:43
And the one that we talk about.
27:44
Your...
27:45
Live Life Big.
27:46
Don't leave goals.
27:46
Yeah, Live Life Big.
27:47
Don't leave your dream.
27:48
Live your dream.
27:49
Yeah.
27:49
Don't leave.
27:49
Yeah.
27:50
And the one before, this one now is called the Mentorship Advantage.
27:55
Okay.
27:56
Yeah.
27:56
So this one came up then Thanksgiving last year, November last year.
28:00
Okay.
28:00
So before this one, eh, this number 12,
28:05
you need to buy all of it.
28:08
Yeah.
28:09
I mean, I have had so many authors on my show that now I'm at the point
28:14
I'm collecting everybody's at least one person, one book from each other.
28:18
Yeah.
28:19
That's awesome.
28:20
Now, like I said, so this book is a landmark book.
28:22
it is the 10th book in less than two years.
28:25
And people say, how do you do that?
28:26
And the answer is this personal leadership, because like I said, you
28:31
know, I dropped the ball in leading myself for 20 years, so I began to learn about
28:36
personal leadership, and this learning is something that just learning from other
28:41
leaders and all that and having more self-awareness and by divine inspiration,
28:47
and when these 10 pillars came, I was so excited because it gave that framework not
28:55
just for me to lead myself, but for me to boldly share with people that if you want
29:03
to lead yourself, this is how to do it.
29:05
And the good thing about this book, Coach Paula, is it's no theory.
29:09
It is all practical.
29:12
There's actionable steps.
29:14
Yeah.
29:14
Stories.
29:15
My personal story is in all of those templates.
29:18
Wow.
29:19
The process I have to go through, number one, the first
29:22
one is learning continuously.
29:25
Mm-hmm.
29:25
You know, this was initially challenging for me and I shared it in the book.
29:30
I'm someone that will take a book.
29:32
You know, I learned to read in medical school.
29:34
I love to read.
29:35
Even while reading my medical books, I learned to read other books.
29:38
I'm the kind of person that I'll be in a world grant, you know, before the
29:42
consultant come, I'm reading Zig Ziglar.
29:45
While my colleagues are, you know, reading something else or chatting away.
29:48
I'm reading Zig Ziglar.
29:51
You know, so I love to read, but along the way when I left school, like many of
29:55
us, we leave school we stopped reading.
29:56
You stopped learning
29:58
. Just flattening.
29:59
Yes.
29:59
So I get to a point and I became lazy with my reading.
30:03
I'm the kind of person that I hold a book.
30:06
I won't read it.
30:07
So my barber is from Vietnam.
30:09
So I was still with him yesterday and, okay, that was today and yesterday.
30:15
So he saw me with a book, the same book.
30:19
He's been seeing that book for a long time and he started asking
30:23
me, are used to reading this book.
30:24
Wow.
30:25
I felt guilty that, wow, this man, you were paid to cut my hair.
30:29
Not to remind me of my sin of not reading it, but he was used to wake my conscience.
30:37
Mm-hmm.
30:37
And to keep him quiet, I took another book.
30:41
So I didn't finish the book that I was holding.
30:44
I took a new one so that to keep him quiet, so he was quiet, but
30:48
my conscience now came alive.
30:51
And since then I said no, I can't live this way again.
30:53
So I began to learn this habit of reading.
30:58
And it was a process, and I shared this process in this book.
31:03
Ah.
31:03
Now how do you go from someone that was stuck?
31:06
And I know many of people that listen to me right now, you
31:09
know, I was stuck on reading.
31:11
I have the book in my hand, but I wasn't reading it.
31:15
But I share how I came out of that in this book.
31:19
Guess what, coach Paula, today, I'm reading 11 books every day.
31:22
How do you do that?
31:23
That's a question that has been on the tip of my tongue to ask.
31:27
Well, the thing I did that is I learned something from a great leader and I
31:33
modified the concept, and I call it SOAR.
31:37
So the SOAR concept, I've shared this concept with many people and, but I
31:42
share the concept inside this book.
31:44
That's a bonus that I put in this book.
31:45
So lemme quickly share with you 'cause you asked.
31:48
Now the SOAR is based on this context, like I said, it takes
31:52
context to understand content.
31:55
Yes.
31:55
Content without context does not bring understanding.
31:59
Mm-hmm.
32:00
So we have two nature inside of us.
32:02
We have the, hippopotamus.
32:04
And the eagle nature.
32:06
Mm-hmm.
32:07
So the hippopotamus is our lower self.
32:10
Mm-hmm.
32:11
The why, the eagle is our higher self, the highest version of ourself.
32:16
So the hippopotamus in us is what?
32:19
Like to wallow, like just becoming lazy.
32:22
In this book, I shared another bonus that I learned from Anthony Robbins about
32:27
seven things that laziness is costing you.
32:30
I shared it in this book.
32:33
Yeah.
32:34
But what I didn't share is how to overcome laziness.
32:37
But the good news about this is, that's SOAR concept is what help
32:42
us to connect to our higher self, the eagle in us 'cause eagles soar.
32:46
So this is it.
32:47
It is S-O-A-R.
32:49
So the S is whenever you wanna start a new habit.
32:54
For instance, your bad habit is not reading.
32:58
Let's say you want, you are the one that was stuck like me before.
33:00
I wish somebody have shared this with me before.
33:03
You are stuck and you want to start reading.
33:05
So that mean you wanna start a new habit of reading.
33:08
So the S means start small.
33:12
So let's say you pick up this book.
33:13
Now you want to start reading, you know you've not been reading.
33:16
You'll be stuck.
33:17
So start small.
33:18
So just commit to you, maybe you bought this new book on Amazon.
33:22
Yes.
33:23
And after buying the book, you said, okay, I'm gonna read
33:26
two pages of the book a day.
33:28
That's the starting small.
33:30
I wanna read one page.
33:32
So that's what it means to start small.
33:34
Just start small.
33:35
Mm-hmm.
33:36
So that's the S.
33:37
Mm-hmm.
33:37
So the O is make it obvious.
33:41
So what that means to make it obvious now.
33:44
You want to start reading this book, you want to make the book obvious.
33:48
That means you wanna put it somewhere you can see, because
33:51
we all need a visual reminders.
33:54
Yes.
33:54
So make it obvious.
33:56
Put the book somewhere you can see it for visual reminders.
34:00
All the books I'm reading, Coach Paula, they are within my vision.
34:04
Okay.
34:05
Yeah.
34:06
So that's the eight.
34:07
So make it obvious so that the book will remind you that you are, you've not read
34:10
me today, you are yet to read me today.
34:12
When are you gonna read me?
34:13
When are you gonna read me?
34:15
Those are visual reminders.
34:16
Mm-hmm.
34:17
So you make it obvious.
34:18
So that is the O. Then the third one is A. Make it automatic.
34:24
Automatic.
34:25
Now, how do you make an habit automatic?
34:27
A new habit, automatic.
34:29
Now there's something called habit pairing.
34:33
For you to make a new habit automatic, you need to pair it with something
34:39
with a habit that is already automatic.
34:42
Okay.
34:43
And every one of us has some habits that is already automatic.
34:47
And no matter where you live, no matter where you are, there are two kind
34:50
of habits that is already automatic.
34:52
One of them is eating and one of them is sleeping.
34:57
That means it doesn't matter how busy you are, you have time
35:00
to eat, you have time to sleep.
35:03
You need to pair this new habit with eating or sleeping.
35:07
So case in point, you can pair it up with before breakfast.
35:12
I'm gonna read two pages of this book.
35:15
So that means you're gonna write a statement, you're
35:17
gonna put it in a statement.
35:19
Before breakfast, i'm going to read one page or two page of this book.
35:26
So that is, you are pairing it with breakfast or before lunch.
35:31
I'm gonna read one page or two page or before bed that is pairing
35:36
it up with sleeping before bed.
35:39
That's why some people came up with.
35:41
For instance, if you're a person of faith, there's a new concept that people say,
35:44
no Bible, no breakfast, no bible, no bed.
35:48
That was the same concept.
35:50
So we call it habit pairing.
35:52
So you have to pair a new habit with something that is already
35:55
established, like sleeping or eating.
35:57
So the fourth one is R, make it realistic.
36:01
Make the new habit realistic.
36:03
So what that mean is this.
36:05
Don't say, I'm gonna finish this book in one week.
36:08
Don't forget, you just started reading.
36:10
But if you said, I'm gonna finish seven page in one week, that is realistic.
36:15
Mm-hmm.
36:15
Or 14 pages in one week, that is realistic.
36:19
So that is the principle that I used to do my reading.
36:23
So like I said, I'm reading 11 books every seven.
36:25
So what I do, I commit two hours.
36:29
10 minutes to those books.
36:31
So I have a primary book, one of our team leaders, I'm reading a book now.
36:35
I'll spend 30 minutes on this one.
36:37
Then the remaining book, I spend 10, 10 minutes on those books.
36:42
Ah, I love it.
36:44
So it's actionable.
36:45
It is realistic.
36:46
It's
36:46
Yes, realistic.
36:48
So my goal within.
36:50
Those 10 minutes is to finish two pages.
36:53
Uh-huh.
36:54
At times, I read three pages.
36:56
Guess what?
36:56
Coach Paula, I just finished a big book, the biggest book
37:00
I've ever read in my life.
37:01
It's called Team of Rivals.
37:04
Team of Rivals?
37:05
Yeah.
37:05
It's on Abraham Lincoln.
37:07
Okay.
37:08
The book is so big.
37:09
I just finished the book yesterday.
37:11
Wow.
37:12
It is close to 900 pages.
37:15
And you did it using the...
37:17
I was reading two pages per day and I learned the same
37:23
thing from Dr. John Maxwell.
37:24
That is how you read the book.
37:26
Do you know, for a long time I have the book in front of me.
37:29
I couldn't finish it.
37:30
I was like, how do I read this big book?
37:32
Coach Paula, all I need to read is two pages per day, close to 900 pages.
37:38
I just finished it yesterday.
37:40
And that's how I finished most of the books.
37:42
And since using this concept, I've finished a lot of books
37:48
and I keep buying books.
37:49
I just ordered that for two books today, two biographies today.
37:54
Dr Koku, I would love to continue talking with you.
37:58
You know, we have to open up the floor for audience, questions and
38:02
you know, people, I mean, they're hearing all of this and they're like,
38:04
how can I talk to this impressive...
38:07
Oh,
38:07
we just started.
38:09
I thought we just started.
38:11
I know.
38:12
I know.
38:14
So, I have a quick question, which is if people wanna get in touch with you, that's
38:20
gonna be the quick question because we wanted to talk with you in the audience.
38:25
Well, to get in touch with me and, , you can link up with me on LinkedIn.
38:29
On LinkedIn.
38:30
As Dr. Michael Koku.
38:32
Mm-hmm.
38:33
And then you can link up with me on Facebook as Michael Koku.
38:36
Okay.
38:37
Then my YouTube channel, Dr. Michael Koku and so I mean Instagram, Michael Koku.
38:44
Okay.
38:46
Yeah.
38:46
Really.
38:47
So that's the easiest way.
38:49
Easiest way.
38:50
So LinkedIn YouTube, Facebook and IG.
38:53
Yes.
38:54
Just search for either Dr. Michael Koku or Michael Koku.
38:57
Dr. Michael.
38:58
Yeah, yeah.
38:59
Dr. Michael Koku or Michael Koku.
39:00
Yeah.
39:01
I could talk with you forever.
39:03
I said last year that we had to do, no...
39:05
I thought we just started.
39:05
I tell you, I was just having fun, you know?
39:09
We have to continue this conversation in another episode because maybe that's
39:14
when you'll be writing your 11th.
39:16
That would be your 13th book actually, because you...
39:18
You know what?
39:19
My mentor warned me to slow down.
39:21
He said Michael, slow down.
39:24
Slow down.
39:25
So what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna write books, but I'm not publishing books.
39:28
The only book I'm gonna publish in November will be insightful quotes.
39:33
That's a book on quotation.
39:35
'Cause I have a I have a professional following called Thinker Island of more
39:39
than 255 professionals in the world.
39:42
So every day I share a minimum of five to seven insightful quotes.
39:47
And so I'll bring that one out before the year.
39:50
That'll be my 13th book.
39:51
Your 13th.
39:52
But new books will come out next year, so I'm on tour right now.
39:55
Okay.
39:56
Okay.
39:56
Okay.
39:57
Well it seems like I'm in sync with your, you know, your publishing
40:00
of book, so we will have to do another episode for your 13th book.
40:05
Yeah, no problem.
40:06
Before 2025 ends.
40:07
It's okay.
40:08
I'll be glad to.
40:10
And now to those of you who would like to be a guest on the show, you
40:15
know, I talk mainly with women, but I also talk to men as you can see.
40:20
Men of substance.
40:21
Yes.
40:22
Men.
40:22
Sometimes.
40:23
I always...
40:23
Men of substance.
40:26
Yeah.
40:26
But if you would like to be on the show, please reach out to me on my website,
40:31
which is chattingwiththeexperts.com
40:33
Mm-hmm.
40:33
I'm also on LinkedIn as Paulo Okonneh.
40:36
My IG handle is at chat_experts_podcast.
40:42
And I am on Facebook as Paula Okonneh.
40:45
I have a business page there too, but most times I'm more easily
40:50
accessible on my personal page.
40:52
And last but not the least, please subscribe to us on YouTube.
40:59
Yeah.
40:59
We have so much content out there with all amazing, amazing people
41:04
who are empowering, educating and inspiring women globally.
41:10
Dr. Koku, this has been awesome.
41:13
My pleasure.
41:14
And now let's open the floor for others to join us and ask you all the questions
41:19
that they have been wanting to ask.
41:21
Thank you.