There is only one person in life that is controllable and responsible for your growth. You. Let’s discuss how important it is for you to take ownership for success.
In this LiveTime with Alec, you will find out:
- If you are taking ownership
- What it means to take ownership
- How impactful it has been for Alec and for you when the ball is in your court
- How much you really have control of…
Episode Transcribe
Hey, what’s up, everybody?
Happy 2020.
I think a lot of you guys are getting a little notifications right now that somebody else is live. Video 101. I’m not doing another hundred video series. But I will be doing some more live stuff.So excited to be with you guys today and goofing around on this live stream. I know a lot of you had just great New Years and you’re kicking it off and starting off a brand new 2020. And I see all of the resolutions coming in, man. It is awesome. So many people out there making New Year’s resolutions. Hold on, we got to do this and this. There we go. And bear with me for a second. I got to share it for my Facebook people that are there live with me there on Facebook.Um, really fun to be back here with you guys to talk about what’s going on right now in 2020. And man, we got a lot to talk about. So hold on. I got to share this. We’re live on Facebook. We’re live on LinkedIn and we’re live on YouTube. So it’s really fun for me right now to be with you guys. So give me one more second and get the shared. We’ll get going and rocking.All right. So fun topic today. For those of you that watched my 100th video, you may be aware that I am doing a hundred videos in a hundred days. I did that last year. I’m not doing that again. That was a terrible decision. If you want to do that, just DM me and we can talk about like, not find out to do that, but the reason I did it for those of you that are curious is I wanted people to get out on social media a lot more because it is the place that business and life and all this stuff’s going to happen. And if you’re not doing it, I think you’re screwed. I honestly think it’s going to be really hard for you to earn business in the future because influence and the things that it creates are just unparalleled. And it’s important … by the way, how’s the mic?
If you’re listening live, can you give me a comment real quick and throw, let me know how the microphone is. I’ll probably screw it up. That’s why I’m worried. I don’t want to screw it up. So we’ll see. So yeah. Please throw me a comment, let me know how the sound is.
So today, to kick off the new year with all these resolutions happening, it’s so crucial to talk about ownership. And I have a couple of stories to share with you that I think are impactful. I think are real. And I think they kind of set the stage for it’s really helped my career personally, but I know will help yours. I just know it because it’s one of those things that is, in my opinion, self evident, but we’ve got to be focused on it to make it happen.So, first guys, high school. Let’s talk about high school. Because I think that defines for me, so many things. And I think probably, if we’re honest, high school has defined for a lot of you guys, like key characteristics and like mindsets and worldviews that you guys have in your head about like how you handle your life. So let’s talk about high school. I’ve had a very specific ownership oriented story that happened to me on high school basketball my junior year. And you see, I was starting point guard my junior year. And so I was nervous and we were running a play and my best buddy, who was a power forward, I don’t know what you call him. Amazing athlete. We had a backdoor cut. And if you know what basketball is, that means you come out, you fake like you’re going to receive the ball, and then you cut backdoor. And then defend then over commits and you pass behind the guy. It’s awesome. You guys have seen it. If you’re basketball, you know what I’m talking about.
Well, we had a deal. We had a code. And the code was, if you’re going to cut back door, you put your fist out when you come out. That was the rule because otherwise, I don’t know. We have to feel each other’s aura, I guess. But that’s the rule. You hold your fist out like this as you cut out and then that knows, you’re telling me you’re going to fake it. You’re a cut back door.Well, my homeboy, Kevin, he didn’t put the fist out. You didn’t put the fist out. I was watching. Didn’t do it. And so he cut that door and I just passed the ball where he was supposed to be and he wasn’t there anymore because he ran back door and that was the end of that. So ball went sailing out of bounds and the good thing this was a practice. But of course, when you pass the ball to nobody, to air and it just sails out of bounds, everyone kind of stops and looks and it’s like, “huh. That’s not the best pass I’ve ever seen”. And it’s true. It wasn’t. So the team huddled up and I yelled at him. I yelled at my buddy. I’m like, “Kevin, you didn’t do the fist man. You didn’t do the fist. And it’s your fault”.
The coach called a huddle. Everybody came in. I’m looking at Kevin like you’re going to get it now, bro. You’re going to get it right now. He’s going to tell you what’s up. No, no he did not tell him what’s up. He just looked at me. And everyone’s looking at me and I’m looking at Kevin. He looked at me and he’s like, “Who threw the ball out of bounds?”. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. I immediately start to just dodge it. I’m like, well you know the fist. You have to hold the fist out. And if you don’t hold the fist out and he’s like, “Who threw the ball out of bounds?”. Me. Me. I did. I threw it out of bounds.Good.You got it. Yeah, yeah I got it. All right. Run it back.That to me was such a defining moment in my life, Coach [Orus 00:05:22], God bless you. That absolutely changed my perspective on ownership. You see, it didn’t matter that Kevin didn’t hold the fist out. It did not matter. What mattered was I threw the ball out of bounds.What a great story translating into our lives, right? I didn’t get the results I wanted in 2020. Who had the ball? And it wasn’t my fault. The market was this or the refi got this and my fulfillment did this and who had the ball?Man, that’s helped me in my entire life. And sometimes I don’t want to have the ball. I don’t want to be responsible. I get it. I don’t want to be responsible for somebody else’s failure. The funder didn’t fund. [inaudible 00:06:05] Doesn’t matter. And if we’re looking at 2020 and our goals and our excitement and the new year, man, the best part about it all guys, is that you have the ball.
Here’s how this translated for me going forward. I had my first job in the mortgage industry. I was a receptionist in a strip mall making 90 bucks a loan, basically doing HELOCs. That was my real first job. Yeah. I was in shipping and stuff’s part time in college, but my first job, strip mall, 90 bucks a loan, killing it. Right next to Whole Foods. So they come in with the groceries and I give them whatever I give them.I remember I hated the office. I hated it. It was gross. I was like why is everything so gross here right now? And there was no art on the wall. I mean, this is in 2004. 2004. And so the boxes and the kitchen, oh my God, the kitchen was a disaster. Like it was insane how gross the kitchen was. And if you know what I’m talking about, you know what I’m talking about. Because if you have kitchens right now, no [inaudible 00:07:10] for them, it’s amazing.One day, I had two epiphanies. The first was, I would always work eight to five because that was my shift. That was my deal. 8:15 to 5:15, whatever you get it. And that was so I would show up and I would go 8:15 to 5:15 there we go. And I realized that one moment that I actually don’t have to leave at 5:15. .For a dumb kid who’s like this is my job. I was like, I don’t have to leave. And so I decided that I could stay later and I looked at the office and I said, well, I don’t like the way this place looks. And then I realized I could change that. I know! I know this sounds stupid, but it was another defining moment where I realized I had all the time in the day. All of them. Every hour. Same as you. All 24, in your pocket. You got 24. Just like me. And I could use them any way I wanted. I didn’t have to leave at five. I could stay later. And I didn’t like the office. I could change it. So I did. I went out and bought like those motivational posters. Like the Eagle excellence. You know what I’m talking about, where it’s got like, I don’t know the mountain and like the kitty hanging on the branch. Like oh whatever it was.I don’t remember what it was, but I bought a bunch of those. I put them up around the thing. I went into the bathroom, I cleaned it out. I went into the kitchen. I cleaned up the kitchen. I cleaned up the fridge. I started running the fridge. Like I’m throwing away things on Thursdays. And I changed my environment. I owned my environment. And this is a little thing, but it’s not. It’s a microcosm to everything. Look around you right now. What in your life at your office with your … What are you unhappy about? Change it. You physically, you personally change it. No one else is going to change it. You know no one’s going to change it because no one’s changed it.Ownership, personal responsibility are probably the key themes in most of the successful people’s lives you see around you. They have taken ownership. They have chosen to be responsible for all the stuff. All of it. Their results, their lack of results, everything. One of the coolest things for me on the hundred videos in a hundred days was listening. I made a comment in one of them to be a student of your own execution. What are the results happening around you that you should be listening to? And so I keep looking over here because there’s comments and I’m watching you guys to see if any new ones come in and you’re not commenting. So that means I should keep talking. But if you comment that I can respond. That’s how that works. But if you want me to clarify anything, just throw a comment in there.But man being a student of your own results. If you’re not getting, if no one’s listening to your videos, if no one’s commenting, if no one’s engaging, if it’s not building up, if you’re making a hundred pieces of content no one’s listening, it’s either the wrong content, the wrong format. You got to change something. You got to pay attention to the results.So when you look back at 2019, did you get what you wanted? If you didn’t, what are you going to do about it? Guys, it’s in your court. You have the ball. And that is also the biggest opportunity and the biggest thing that causes your sadness, right? Because if it’s your fault that you didn’t get what you wanted in 2019, and then you can start getting into a place of shame and you beat yourself up. And that’s not healthy either. That doesn’t work either. You can’t be in that head space. But you do have to be in the space of it’s my responsibility to change going forward.If it’s not your responsibility to change it going forward, then you will always be a victim to somebody else and to the results of something else. Did you get that? If it’s not your responsibility to change it, then you’re always going to be a victim to somebody else’s actions, behaviors, your company, your boss, the market. Who cares?You have the ball. You got to own it if you throw it out of bounds. I don’t know how else to preach it, but this has saved my career. This has saved my happiness. This concept has saved my productivity, my everything that I can attribute my success to is really about ownership. That’s it. That’s really what it is.Hi Stacy. Thanks for the wave. She’s over there on Facebook.So my encouragement for you guys, as I wrap down today on this live, the ball’s in your court. You give me the ball! Scott, I love that. Yeah. Give me the ball.The ball is in your court and that’s the greatest blessing in the world. That’s the greatest opportunity in the world, because if that’s true, then we can actually change it and we don’t have to be a victim to everybody else and we get to have the life we want. It doesn’t mean it’s not hard. Doesn’t mean it’s not hard. It doesn’t mean there’s not frustration. It doesn’t mean there’s not people that want to roadblock you or have their own agenda or get in your way. It doesn’t mean that it’s easy. But doesn’t mean that’s possible. Which gives us hope and excitement and all that fun stuff. So if you’re looking at 2020, man ownership, ownership, ownership, ownership on every result, because I’m telling you that’s true across everything.Your relationships in life with your spouse. How many times did you choose to go on a date? I probably should do some more. Give me a high five. You know what I’m talking about. How about your health? I’m pretty sure I didn’t put that food in your mouth. You know what I’m saying? Like, and there was nobody else there, but he like, “Eat this”. Okay. I got to own that too.And then your work life. It’s like, well, what do I got to own there? And that, to me, is the greatest truth that can empower our 2020, our success. It could be the cornerstone of our success in 2020 is the amount of ownership we take on the results we’re having in our own life. You know what I’m saying?I appreciate you guys. Thanks for all of you that hung out with me on the hundred videos in a hundred days. We’re on live once a week. And get excited. The podcast is launching next week and then we’ve got some really fun stuff to talk about. So I will see you guys later. Have a great day.