Narrator: Welcome to the Coach Amina Z podcast, where it’s all about getting clarity, confidence, and tools you need to crystallize your big dreams so you can lead a smarter and larger life. Now your host, Coach Amina Z.
Coach Amina Z: Some time ago, I took a decision not to allow myself be held back by my doubts, fears or insecurities. I’ve had so many other breakthroughs so a result, and this is why I’m super excited to be kicking off this podcast with an intriguing topic. The one thing to do to take that next bold step. To help me talk about what you need to do, to take that next bold step, please welcome my co-host and my hubby, Coach Zaid.
Coach Zaid: Hey.
Coach Amina Z: Yeah, yeah.
Coach Zaid: You know, there are many instances of people getting to a crossroads in life. Sometimes it is not a crossroad in that sense, but your back is up against a wall, or worse still, you find yourself paralyzed by indecision.
Coach Amina Z: And at that moment, the one thing on your mind is what should I do? What move should I make, what is the next big step?
Coach Zaid: And truly, this could be applicable to a business situation, or relationship, or change of vocation, or job, or start in life again after a major emotional, physical, or sexual upheaval.
Coach Amina Z: Sometimes it may be nothing dramatic, but simply a gut-wrenching feeling that you’re not where you should be in life. You know you can be better, do better, and you’re battling with that. And you were wondering what is the next step to take?
Coach Zaid: Let’s explore some things which hold us back. There’s a common myth out there you can easily fall prey to. It is the belief your issues or situation are so peculiar nobody has ever gone through such before. Consequently, you build a fence around your challenges, and refuse to entertain new idea or thoughts which could help you in moving forward.
Coach Amina Z: And slowly, these walls you have built to protect yourself can imprison you and stop you from moving forward.
Coach Zaid: So Coach, what do you think are some of those limiting factors which keep us behind our walls?
Coach Amina Z: Well, I think it’s natural for us to want to play it safe with life. We spend our daily life within a comfort zone. The moment we encounter any difficulties or barriers, we chicken out.
Coach Zaid: That’s right.
Coach Amina Z: Yeah.
Coach Zaid: Not until you learn to look within you, and take personal responsibility are you going to express any freedom beyond your walls. The process begins with the person you see in the mirror, you.
Coach Amina Z: And the one thing you need to do to take that bold step today is to learn how to lead yourself. On Coach Amina Z TV, we explored the concept of potential. Let’s do the same here, shall we?
Coach Zaid: Yes. Let’s do it.
Coach Amina Z: Okay.
Coach Zaid: Research is the fine potential as the skill and the will to develop and perform at a higher level in future.
Coach Amina Z: Yeah. We often say we can see someone’s potential. Oh, she has a lot of potential. You know, he can make it in life, or in high school, what’s that … they go least likely to succeed, and then the best one, the one who … yeah.
Coach Zaid: Very true.
Coach Amina Z: So, what are they seeing? Why are they saying that? You see. With all of that potential, is not tangible. But there is something that can crystallize potential. It is called leadership.
Coach Zaid: Leadership is defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization. Think of sports then with coaches, or corporations with CEOs. They are the people charged with getting results, leading their group towards success.
Coach Amina Z: And but what happens when that organization isn’t producing as much as they should? Or isn’t achieving success, what do they do then?
Coach Zaid: They may retrain their people, or just processes, but most of the time they change leadership. What they are saying in effect is, let’s get a stronger leader so that we can be more effective.
Coach Amina Z: How does this apply when we speak of your own potential? Well, leadership is first of all personal. I’m talking about what we all know as self leadership. Your leadership ability determines your level of effectiveness. Simply put, if you’re not a good self leader, you will not be effective in reaching your own potential.
Coach Zaid: This one resolve is what will help you crystallize your potential. I could easily give you a list of bold dreamers who made the decision to get good at leading themselves. Ted Turner, CNN. The Williams sisters, tennis. Oprah, media. And the list goes on. In this current world, it is easy to feel overworked, over extended, and overwhelmed.
Coach Amina Z: Yeah, and this leads to misplaced priorities, and procrastinating on anything from awkward conversations, to avoiding certain tasks. Nothing kills your motivation faster than putting off what you should do at the right time. Take a look at the time on your wristwatch, or on your phone. The current time is what that time always tells you. It’s just to tell you now that your time to take action is now.
Coach Zaid: Somehow we know this, don’t we?
Coach Amina Z: Yes.
Coach Zaid: We all have the same 24 hours, like everyone just mentioned just now. But for some reason, some use their time better than others.
Coach Amina Z: Some call it good time management, but I’d like you to think of it rather as self leadership.
Coach Zaid: Oh yes, self leadership determines how effective you will be in life, and how much of your potential you will unleash. Your leadership ability determines your level of effectiveness, so if you want to be more effective, then you have to raise your lead on your leadership ability.
Coach Amina Z: Yeah, and if you raise your leadership ability, which will help you become better at leading yourself, it will in turn help you accomplish even more. You will start to see that you are more consistent, procrastination is no longer a friend. You start to unleash more and more of your potential.
Coach Zaid: How, you may ask, can I do this? How can I raise my leadership lead? There are a number of things you can do to raise your lead. We will mention five.
Coach Amina Z: Yeah. Number one, value experience with reflection. To be able to do this, you need to find a time in the day that is good for you, and commit to that time. So, perhaps it’s early in the morning, or at the end of a busy day. Just think through and you will find the perfect time in the day. Or perhaps you want it to be once a week. Most important thing is to find time to do this.
Coach Zaid: Grab your coffee if you’re like me, head onto the man cave, and do some good reflection.
Coach Amina Z: The man cave, right?
Coach Zaid: Yes, the man cave. Yes, reflect on the things you did right. The things you did wrong. Those things that were profitable that you should definitely repeat, and the ones you shouldn’t.
Coach Amina Z: Tip number two, invest in training. This is so important. I can’t even stress it enough. What took a wise person 20 years to figure out can take you two hours to learn. If you’re willing, that is, to invest in learning from them.
Coach Zaid: Find a mentor, get a good coach, join a mastermind group, it’s very difficult to stretch or raise that lead if you have only yourself to follow.
Coach Amina Z: Tip number three. Do something beyond yourself. Get out of your comfort zone. Not your strength zone. Always stay in your strength zone. But by all means do this, kick yourself out of that comfort zone.
Coach Zaid: We have given a ton of examples earlier, but let me add one excellent one. Milton Hershey. He used to work in a chocolatier, wanted to start doing chocolates, started his own factory in his mother’s house. He failed four times because he couldn’t get the ingredients right.
Coach Amina Z: Oh, okay.
Coach Zaid: But let’s fast forward to this generation. Most of us love Hershey chocolates.
Coach Amina Z: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative). That’s right. Oh my gosh. I love that example. Powerful. Growing beyond your present capacities, starts by being yourself. As in he knew that’s what he wanted to do, right?
Coach Zaid: Yes, he did.
Coach Amina Z: Okay, and he went for it. So, you need to start by being yourself. You can’t live your life being somebody else. That way you will never ever find you, your true authentic self you will not find when you’re trying to be somebody else. This way, you get to know yourself, and discover more and more of who you are. As a result, you will get more passionate about life, and clarify your priorities. Now, growing beyond your present capacity continues by learning from others who can do more than you can do. So, I stress here again. Seek out experts, and admirable leaders, and ask them for advice and mentorship. The fastest way to get better is to hang around with better people. Which leads us to the next tip. Tip number four. Reflect on who has been an inspiration in your life. Think about the people in your life that have inspired you.
Coach Amina Z: What characteristics make them inspiring? Write these down, and follow their lead.
Coach Zaid: Someone who has inspired me was your late dad.
Coach Amina Z: Really?
Coach Zaid: Yes, it was. Because what I learned from him all those years was more about character, integrity, everything he did was so, so I don’t even know how to explain it. But I caught that from him.
Coach Amina Z: Okay. My father had integrity.
Coach Zaid: Yes.
Coach Amina Z: Yeah, and I like the word you … okay. I didn’t know you would say that. That got me.
Coach Zaid: Sorry.
Coach Amina Z: Okay. May his soul rest in peace.
Coach Zaid: Amen.
Coach Amina Z: Okay. Wow, wow, wow. Where were we? Yeah, you used the word, you said caught. Leadership is more caught than taught. So yes you can teach it, you can learn it though trainings, you can get better in leadership, but the fastest way is when you actually observe or stay around people who are good leaders, because it’s contagious. Simply put.
Coach Zaid: Very true.
Coach Amina Z: Tip number five, make a stop doing list. Rather than focusing on writing a to-do list, how about this. Think of that one thing you never, ever want to see yourself repeat ever again. Now, write it down and never do it again. Let’s do this. Let me repeat that. Take a piece of paper, and a pen. Okay, if you driving and you’re listening to this, then just make a mental note. We’re gonna be silent for a few seconds, just think about it. What is that one thing you want to stop doing? Because you know that when you stop doing this one thing, your life will be better off. So, have you thought about it? All right.
Coach Amina Z: So, Coach Z, over to you.
Coach Zaid: So, one thing I definitely had to stop doing was sitting down under a tree.
Coach Amina Z: Okay. I remember that tree.
Coach Zaid: Yes. I had to stop because it took me away from my family. All the times would I have sat down to think about a new business project, a new business plan, I was under that same place all day, all night. I had to put it on my stop doing list, so I could spend more time with my wife and my kids, make plans for the future.
Coach Amina Z: Yay. That was a long time ago, and we are happy that that era and that chapter ended. Okay. Let’s see what can I say? I had to stop telling myself and others too, that I am not a morning person. I function best at night when everyone else is asleep, that’s when I work best. In fact, I used to call my hubby a chicken, because he went to bed early. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Coach Zaid: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Coach Amina Z: Oh yes, my hubby wakes up at 4:00 AM every single day. I’d be like, “Who does that?” I couldn’t even understand how that was even a possibility. And so, one day I had to face this squarely during one of my days of reflection. Hey, see why reflection is good for you? I realized it was just another lame excuse that allowed me to stay in my comfort zone. So, I started to do something beyond myself. I started to make an effort to get up much earlier. And what would you know? I found more hours where they were hiding. I completed more projects, and I was happier. And now, it’s my lifestyle.
Coach Zaid: If you diligently follow these tips, you will literally feel yourself stretching and growing. And the more your lead is raised, the more effective you become.
Coach Amina Z: We just wanted to create this episode for you to give you a little bit of a framework. When it comes to planning, when it comes to routine, when it comes to creating open time for yourself to reflect, and when it comes to motivation, all those things combined, especially when you have your big goals in mind, makes this first episode a great start to set you up for success this 2019.
Coach Zaid: We wanted to create a structure for you, so that we could make this show yes, easily digestible, or something to remember.
Coach Amina Z: Well, and I hope that you will remember all of the tips that we give along the way. As this episode finishes though, we would like you to consider all five tips mentioned, and start to take action now. Perhaps even start adding a little bit more into your morning and nightly routine. Allow for some open time for yourself, as we said earlier, so you can have some room for creativity, and some breathing room in between the other busy things that you may already do. Sometimes we get so into the grind of everything that we forget to step back and remember well, why are we doing this in the first place? When you remember why, you are going to be more motivated to keep going even if it’s hard. Even if it’s difficult.
Narrator: This episode is brought to you by Coach Amina Z TV.
Coach Amina Z: Real quick, before you go. You may have watched the TV version of this week episodes on Coach Amina Z TV. If you haven’t, I will highly recommend watching it. Really, really interesting unique episode. The storyline will have you cracking up.
Coach Amina Z: For sure. All right, so thank you so much for listening to the Coach Amina Z podcast. I appreciate you all so much. I’m not going to ask you to do anything more except subscribe I fu haven’t already, because we’ve got a lot more great episodes coming your way. And I cannot wait to go on your success journey with you this year. Have a great day, everybody. Thank you so much.
Coach Zaid: Bye.
Coach Amina Z: Bye-bye.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Coach Amina Z podcast at www.coachaminaz.com.
Leave a Comment