January 21

[PODCAST] 7 Step Blueprint for Success With Dr. Ron Eccles

In this podcast, Dr. Ron Eccles, author, motivational speaker and high-performance coach shares his 7 Step Blueprint for Success which helps you set and achieving goals that will elevate your life.

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Transcript:

Ted: Welcome everybody, it's Ted Prodromou! It's our first hangout of the new year, and I want to welcome a very special guest, Dr. Ron Eccles. I met Ron last year in Dallas, and now, also another event. It was in Los Angeles. We kept running into each other, and we formed this really good bond. I watched his presentation in Dallas and it just totally blew me away. I really want to introduce him, a good friend of mine too, now, Dr. Ron Eccles.

Dr. Eccles: Hey, Ted, it's an absolute honor and privilege to be here. I'm excited about just great things that are going to be happening in 2016 for you, for myself, and for everyone out there listening, right now.

Ted: Ron, tell me a little about your background. I know you have a very diverse background.

Dr. Eccles: It's one of those really interesting things. I go by, and I call it my stage name. It just reminds me of the old stereotypical strippers. On stage they had different names. I'm known as, “Dr. Ron, the Success Doctor.” The way that came about was a friend of mine, when I got up to speak on one of his national events, nicknamed me that, and it stuck. Now, I've hung onto it because it's a very specific purpose, and it really goes back in my history. If you were to ever know me in grade school, middle school, high school, I would have been voted, “The Least Likely Person to Ever Succeed.” I'm going to guess there's some people out there, probably can relate with that.

I'll say that I was very much a late bloomer. It wasn't until the 2nd year of college that things really began to kick in, as something tremendous happened in my life. I actually wound up with a horrible boss. I was working in between my semesters in college, and this guy really motivated me to get back into school, and work my rear-end off, and change the way things were going in my life. I was learning disabled, in so many ways. I have to say that was a journey moving from one position in life where I was mediocre at best, to where I was driven to be the most successful version of who I was designed to be.

That journey is what led me to here today. For more than 33 years, actually 34 years, now, I've been studying successful people, successful businesses and success principles. I started out doing it flat out, simply because I wanted to be more successful. It was all about “me,” in the beginning. During those three plus decades, I discovered that I had a passion and drive to help other people achieve more of what they are designed to achieve in life. That's what led me to my current career. For the past 10 years, I've been speaking around United States, and now into Canada, and this upcoming year, to speak into other countries.

I've been doing coaching, mentoring with people, both one-on-one and in groups. Right now, I spend more of my time in one-on-one because I find I get the best traction for people, when I'm able to concentrate and help them focus on growing their businesses, by growing the many different aspects of their lives. When I come on to speak in any stage, or on a session like this, where you as a friend, gets a chance to interview me, I always like to qualify why people should maybe tune in and listen. It's not because I'm the most successful person they'll ever meet. It's because I'm probably one of the most driven people, to understand what makes myself and other people successful, that they'll ever meet.

Ted: You're one of the most authentic people I've ever met. The minute I saw you on stage, and then we started talking afterwards, it's like, “Wow! This guy's powerful!”

Dr. Eccles: Thank you, I really appreciate that. One of the things I have had to learn to do … I'm getting ready to launch a radio show I'm going to be doing in the Christian space, called, “Unstoppable Christian.” When I did the interview, one of the things they said to me, “Ron, you sound like you're on stage. You have to tone it down and be more conversational, so you're speaking one-to-one.” That's my goal. Is to really just have a conversation with you, like there's 3 of us in a room: You, myself and the person listening to us, right now. They can benefit the most from it.

Ted: Awesome. Tell me about your 7 Steps, your 7 Step Blueprint for Success.

Dr. Eccles: Yeah, one of the things I discovered … What I'm going to share with everybody listening right now, is the very same step-by-step process that I take my elite clients through. Now, my elite clients are the ones that work with me one-on-one. They pay a monthly fee, and we are committed to either six months or one year together. During essentially, the first 6 months, we work on really developing this … It's 6 of the 7 steps, and you'll understand that in just a minute, but we really work on this exact process. Now, it might not be in the exact order because we have so many working parts.

What I wanted to do, is create something for the person out there who maybe can't afford someone like me at this point in their life, or maybe someone who's looking to just begin to get some momentum in their business or their life. This applies to everyone. What I'm going to do, is I'm going to jump over. I've created a couple of PowerPoint slides that'll make it easier because I'm a visual learner and an auditory learner … So for those people in here right now who are watching, or maybe some who are just listening, you'll have the best of both worlds. I'm going to jump over here, Ted, and I'm going to see if I can work this magic screen here. Let's see, we've got some tools.

Ted: If people have questions along the line, do you want to take them as we go, or save them for the end?

Dr. Eccles: You know what, let's take the questions as we go, if you feel it's appropriate. If it can wait until the end, let's wait until the end. I'd love to handle everyone's questions.

Ted: Okay. Everybody, if you have questions, just type in the chat window, and we'll get to them when it's appropriate.

Dr. Eccles: Okay. Now, the question is, “Ted, can you see my screen?”

Ted: Hit it and go into “slide show.”

Dr. Eccles: I did.

Ted: Then you want to share just the slide show window, not the other window.

Dr. Eccles: I think I did that.

Ted: Because we're seeing your whole PowerPoint, with the sidebar.

Dr. Eccles: Okay, give it a second because there's a little delay.

Ted:  Yep, seven seconds.

Dr. Eccles: Okay, did it pop up yet, just one slide?

Ted: We just have the PowerPoint still.

Dr. Eccles: Just the PowerPoint. All right, let me escape out of here, and we'll see if I can-

Ted: It's always the hardest part of the …

Dr. Eccles: Yeah, I'm hitting “play.”

Ted: There should be another window when you did the sharing.

Dr. Eccles: All right, let's just go back again, here. Let's …

Ted: You can do “stop sharing,” at the top of your screen, and then re-share.

Dr. Eccles: Okay, as you are presenting everyone, so …

Ted: Go back over that little bubble on the left side, the green box.

Dr. Eccles: Green box, and should I go to desktop?

Ted: You want to go to … There should be one window that has the slideshow playing.

Dr. Eccles: It's not-

Ted: You have to scroll down.

Dr. Eccles: Let's see. I only have one here, so it's desktop. Whoa!

Ted: Whoa, there we go.

Dr. Eccles: That was not the magic bullet I was looking for. Ladies and gentlemen, what you're watching now is an illusion. All right, how do I get out of here?

Ted: Do you have two screens?

Dr. Eccles: I only have one screen. See if I can pop out of there.

Ted: At the top you can do “stop sharing.”

Dr. Eccles: You're sharing to everyone. Let's see here. There we go.

Ted: This is like a Google …

Dr. Eccles: Yeah, it says “Show participants, hit microphone.” No, don't want to leave the call.

Ted: Hit that little green button, yeah.

Dr. Eccles: I'm hitting the green button here, and-

Ted: Connect.

Dr. Eccles: Okay, we're back. Phew! That was a tough one. Okay, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go through this … And thank God I wrote down … Are you still there, Ted?

Ted: I'm here!

Dr. Eccles: Did you lose me?

Ted: Nope, you're on.

Dr. Eccles: Okay, because it said it's logging me out of-

Ted: Whoop! Ron will be back in a moment, everybody. Sorry about that. It's always the biggest challenge with these things. I should have grabbed his slides and just run them for him. I'll do that next time, but … People on the call, go ahead and tell me where you're from, too. We'll talk to you. I see Carey, Charles, Stephen, and Doug and Steve. Here he comes. Ron's coming back.

Dr. Eccles: I'm back!

Ted: There you go.

Dr. Eccles: All right.

Ted: There we go.

Dr. Eccles: Let's see … Allow …

Ted: I was saying, I should have just go the slides from you, just in case. [crosstalk 00:09:31] process you missed.

Dr. Eccles: How's that? There you go. I'm going to hit “screen share” again here. We'll try it one more time. Now, if I go to desktop, that'll mess it up, so I don't want to do that.

Ted: Yeah, that desktop, that'll just be the PowerPoint window.

Dr. Eccles: Yeah. Okay, so I'm going to … You know what? It's not crucial. I wrote down the steps here, and I have them kind of committed to memory, so what I'll do is, I'll just talk through that. The audience is smart enough to figure things out, especially since I love to share with people, you'll be able to … I think one of the really important things, Ted, is that when you look in someone's face, you look in their eyes, you know whether they're full of crap, or not. I just don't know how to put it in any nicer way, but the reality of helping people, is that the person who is mentoring someone else, has to be really genuine.

Here's one of the things that I struggled with for years, when I was creating this business and speaking. Was, how do I separate myself from the pack? How do I become unique? One of the things that I discovered out there in the world of success coaches and speakers, in the venue that I'm at, is that there's a tremendous amount of non-congruity to what people say from the stage, and what they do in their lives. One of the things I am committed to in life, and that is, being the person I talk about all the time on the stage. In fact, I use a lot of references from my own life. I'll try to do that as much as I can, today.

Ted: That's a huge point. I see that so often. These people are saying one thing, and doing something completely different.

Dr. Eccles: Yeah. It was very disheartening to me to watch people from the stage, get to know these personalities, and then kind of hang out with them afterwards: See them in the gym, hear the conversations, watch what they do personally. What I say, isn't nearly as profound as what people watch me do. Again, as a father of 5 children, a husband, as a public servant who's out there in a very public place speaking to a lot of people, I just live by this rule. What you do in the dark, comes out in the light, every time. It may take a little while for some people, but it comes out. You've got to be really strong about how you walk and talk. You've got to make sure the two are congruent.

That's one of the things that I'm very committed to. I want people to keep that in mind because no matter what you decide, what you do for a living, how you live your life is going to say more about you, than what the words that come out of your mouth. Step one goes right to the core. I'm really about, when I coach people, I'm really about that 30,000 foot view. An airplane cruises up at 30,000, 32,000 feet. I spend a lot of time on planes like you do, travelling and speaking. Your view the world is quite different there, than it is on the ground. One of the things that I ask, and work with my clients … Here's the thing, it's not easy.

The first step is divided into two parts. Number one is, begin to figure out why you're on this planet. God put you here for a reason. It's called your purpose. What is your purpose in life? While there may be one or two purposes, but you're going to have an overall sense of why you're here. Rick Warren, a pastor, wrote a very popular book, became very wealthy from the book, called, “Purpose Driven Life.” It's a great book. It really helped me focus in on the really important things. No matter what your spiritual beliefs are, getting clear about what your purpose on this planet is … Here's why it's so important. When you're planning out 2016, you want to have the most successful year possible.

You should be looking at your goals in the perspective of your life. I find that's a real big differentiator. Most people looking one year ahead, two years ahead, three years ahead, when they're setting business goals. When they're setting their personal goals, typically they do it about a year. What I love to help people with, is to get them clear about: Look at the next year's goals in light of what your overall purpose in life is. If it serves your overall purpose, then you include it in your immediate one year, or even quarterly goals. Whatever they are, it must serve always, your purpose. If it's not congruent with your purpose, you don't do it, or you don't plan it.

Ted: I have a personal thing to say there because we've shifted now. Our kids are grown. For 25 years, our purpose was get the kids through school, get them successful in life. Now, it's back to just me and my wife. Our goals are totally different now.

Dr. Eccles: Yeah. Here's one thing I want … Couples who are listening, or if you are listening and you have a significant other in your life, it's okay to have different purposes. Sharing those purposes and supporting one another in those purposes, is really important. How I describe a purpose is, I project forward. Take yourself all the way to the last year of your life. For me, it's 105. I've picked 105. You look back and say, “Okay, I know my life is near the end. Have I lived my life according to the purpose in which I was put on this planet?” Then I work hard at fulfilling the purpose.

If we did, then we would have had a very successful life. We will leave no regrets behind because we really worked diligently at it. One of the keys that separates successful people from nonsuccessful people, is their ability to be proactive in life. Now, being proactive is incredibly important. In step one, you're being proactive by projecting yourself all the way forward. You're putting the context of saying, “Okay, I'm getting near the end of my life. Here's what my life means, and, did I live my purpose?” Then you back that all the way to today, and you plug that into your goals going on, right now.

Ted: Awesome.

Dr. Eccles: Now, I'm going to separate 2 things because this is all part of step one. Step one, includes figuring out what your purpose is. I get asked this question, I get approached on the stage, or when I get off the stage, all the time. They say, “Dr. Ron, how do you know what your purpose is? I don't know my purpose.” I would explain to them, number one, it begins by asking the question, “What is my purpose.” For me, I pray to God, and I ask God for my purpose in life. For other people, it might be different. Whatever it is, you begin asking the right question because in order to get the right answers, you've got to ask the right question.

Asking, “What is my purpose?” and then be willing to be open to receive it. Here's what I discovered. That the human brain has been designed to filter out those things which it considers to be unimportant, so it can focus on what is important. Now, that has been a protective mechanism built into us. Let's say 2000 years ago, you and I are in the same tribe, and you're walking through the jungles, and all of a sudden we come across another group that is coming in the opposite direction. We have to figure out very quickly, friend or enemy? Fight, run or celebrate? What are we doing here? You have to be listening and learning, and see.

Our protective mechanisms, of filtering things out that are unimportant, so we can pay attention to what is important, sometimes does not serve us in the best way. Here's why. We are missing opportunities. We are filtering out things that are crucial that we need. Once we open up the filters… When I begin to plug the right questions, and say, “What is my purpose?” Then begin to diligently seek what my purpose is, it'll be no time at all, because the brain now begins to open, and your heart begins to open. You begin to look at those things which differentiate you from everyone else, and why you are specifically here.

Now the second part of number one, is called, “Your why.” What is your “why.” Now there are many definitions today, of your “why.” I'm going to point back to Simon Sinek's book, “Start with Why.” It's a brilliant book. One of the best business books, that really helped me understand something. As a matter of fact, I believe this. That if you will understand, discover what your “why” is, and then learn how to express your “why” in your marketing, it allows you to be seen to the customer that's ideal for you, without them hearing all the other noises in the background. In other words, it drowns out all the other noise, so they only hear you.

That's how powerful, knowing your “why” is. Now your “why” I describe as this. The way I learned it, and I'm a board certified “why” coach. A “why” is an operating program. It's how your brain was developed and wired based upon your environment, early in life. It's a combination of your genetics and what you're naturally predisposed towards, and your experiences early in life. Let me give an example. My purpose in life, it is to contribute to a greater cause. To help other people achieve more of the success I believe that they deserve. I believe that it's built in there. They're just not bringing it out. They need help bringing it out.

Everyday I wake up, I have this passion, this drive to see other people achieve. It fulfills something in me. It fulfills something in me because when I was younger, I knew what it was like to be bullied, I knew what it was like to be picked on, I know what it's like not to be the sharpest tool in the shed, and kid in the school. I know what it's like to be an underachiever. I also know what it's like to be an overachiever because that's what I turned into. I love to achieve as much as possible. I believe, and I feel very grateful to be where I am at in life, and very humble to have what I have.

My goal is to help other people unlock their full potential. I'm driven by my “why.” It's the operating program that I come to. The way that I do that, is I developed a great skillset as a doctor, early on, for many years as a Doctor of Chiropractic, and with two subspecialties, and a third one, Orthopedics, neurology and sports injury. I was trained to always take things that are complicated and work them down to a diagnosis. Start with all the symptoms, get to the cause. I became very skilled at doing that. When I work with clients, it's very easy for me to talk to people, work with them on their business problems, their relationships, their finances, their health, and to figure out what's really going on, so we can get to the solutions that give them traction in life.

When somebody's able to operate in a way that helps them resonate with people … In other words, when I get up, instead of saying, “Hey, I'm the coach, and I do this, this, this and this,” give you all the technical details, I don't speak as clearly to people as if I turn around and say, “I wake up every day with this passion to help people become more of who they were designed to be. I believe that you were designed to be financially free, to have a leaner, more fit, healthier body, to have deep, loving relationships and a powerful spiritual walk. If you're looking for the type of coach in business that can help you achieve more in these areas, give me a call.” Now, that's speaking dramatically different than the average person does, today.

Ted: Ron, would you say, when you come from your “why” and your purpose, it's coming from your heart?

Dr. Eccles: Yeah.

Ted: So the connection is faster?

Dr. Eccles: It is, but there's a lot of people don't know what their “why” is. They don't understand what we just explained. Now, the people listening, do understand. It's understanding what your “why” is and discovering your “why.” Tapping into your purpose will make you authentic. The real person comes across, like you say, “From the heart.” When you come from your heart, and people understand why you do what you do, not what you do, or how you do it, that becomes secondary. It's important, but it's secondary. When they know why you do what you do, they buy into you. People always buy into you, before they'll ever buy your products or services.

Ted: From your experience, have you seen younger people they set goals, so they're kind of in their head, thinking, “I want more money. I want a house. I want a car.” Then as we mature, things kind of shift where we're focused on our “why” and our purpose?

Dr. Eccles: Yeah, there's no question. One of the things in life, and depending upon your age, listening to me right now, if you're really young, the more you will tap into learning from older individuals … I hate to say it, I'm one of those, now … Who experienced some life and have something really important … Their perspective, is so much different now. One of the things I learned, that I'm reading about, human influence, about neurology. I tie … Health, I'm just learning … I'm a consummate student all the time. One of the things I discovered neurologically, is that they have been able to show that when people are young … Let's say, in their 20s … Their capacity for learning …

Even teens and 20s … Their capacity for learning is so much greater than it is for guys like me, who are late 50s, 60s. What's really different, is that at my age, at the older ages here, our ability to make sense of what's coming in, of the information we are bringing in, and put it in better context, is way more developed than it is early on in life. Simply because we have way more experiences to filter it through, to make better decisions.

Ted: Great.

Dr. Eccles: There is a big difference. It's going from the warrior phase in life to more of the statesman in life. You're trying to figure out … In the beginning, you're trying to claw at everything: I'm going to get my career, my … I'm trying to find significance in life through what I can get, and my status. After you realize that's not as important, you're going to look to find out, my significance is more about what can I give back. That's the real dramatic shift that I see as I'm getting older, and most of the people in my demographic are experiencing. They're beginning to shift to, “Why am I here? What's it really all about? Am I living my purpose in my life?”

Ted: And, “What legacy do I want to leave?”

Dr. Eccles: Yes, yes. The sooner you figure that out, or at least, the sooner you begin to pay attention to it, the sooner you're going to begin to build real momentum. Now, I say I've got to move forward because I'm not going to get through all the steps, if I don't.

Ted: Okay.

Dr. Eccles: I will feel like I've disappointed the audience. Let me go to step two. This Step two, is one of the most crucial ones. I spend a lot of time with my clients on this. I want you to imagine for just a minute: Imagine if I blindfolded you, walked you into a middle of a field, spun you around 10 times, put a bow and arrow in your hand. Then I told you to grab the arrow, pull it back on the bow, and let it go, and hit the target 200 yards away. Now, you would say to yourself, and anybody thinking rationally, would say, “Well, that's absolutely ridiculous.” Unfortunately, when it comes to people's business, or let's say their finances, when it comes to their health, when it comes to their spiritual life, when it comes to relationships, they are going forward everyday just like that: Randomly shooting at it.

The problem is, unless you can see a target, it's very difficult to hit it. Really, Step two is about clarity. Getting clear about what it is you really want. Learned years ago, I was listening to Brian Tracy, and he talked about this guy, H.L. Hunt. Back in the late 1960s, H.L. Hunt was a businessman, owning about 200 businesses, and he was making $3-million. Now, that's a lot of money. What most people don't realize, he was making that in a day; $3-million a day. This guy was a very wealthy man, understood how to make money. He was being interviewed … He was older … And they said, “What makes people successful?”

He said, “I've only discovered in life, two things. Number one, you've got to get clear about what it is you want.” I think that's brilliant. That's step two of my process: Get clear about what it is you want. Number two … Sorry, in his first step, he said, also, “You've got to write it down.” I believe that everybody listening right now, you need to begin journaling, and you need to begin with a plan. I call a success plan, and you need to begin writing out what is it you want? What do you want your relationships to look like? What do you want your marriage? What do you want your relationship with your kids, with your parents, with other people, to look like? What do you want your finances to look like? What do you want your spiritual life to look like? Then, your overall health?

When you get clear about what it is you want, it makes it easier to get the things you want. I'll throw in another book here, for the people listening, “Psycho-Cybernetics, by Dr. Maxwell Maltz.” Dr. Maltz is absolutely brilliant. Dr. Maltz has written this book years ago. Dr. Maltz is dead now. This book inspires me over and over again. It's about how the human brain works, and how once you plug in the coordinates, the brain goes to work day and night trying to get the solution, and trying to get to the target. So train your brain to work for you, by getting clear about what it is you want. That's step two.

Step number three, now becomes the part where everybody's really excited about. It's about developing fundamentals. If you want to have a successful year, you want to have a successful life, number one, is you find out what your purpose and your “why” is. Number two, you get clear about what it is you want. Number three, you got to get some tools in your belt to get there. Things like, time mastery. The number one challenge to my clients … I belong to high-end masterminds where people pay $25,000, $30,000 a year, to belong to … And everyone says the same thing. Their number one challenge is, “How do I get more done in a day? How can I get more time to myself by getting more efficient in the use of our time?” I'm going to personalize it for all of us.

Things like willpower. I discovered willpower is the big enemy for a lot of people. They don't get the weight-loss, the health, the fit bodies. They don't get the finances. They don't get the relationships built. Simply because they lack the willpower to really make it happen. Let me give you a specific example. Did you ever have a fight with your wife or your husband, or someone like that? In the heat of high emotions, you say something you know is hurting them, and it becomes a weapon, but you can't take it back. Having willpower, and developing willpower, helps us to avoid these harmful times in our relationships. Willpower helps us overcome a whole lot, if we can develop it.

Things like, the formula for success. I teach this formula called, “[inaudible 00:29:06].” Essentially it means, control your influences, it'll change the way you think. Change the way you think, you'll change the way you act. Change the way you act, and you'll change your results. I could spent a half hour, just going through that one formula, but that's the nut and bolts of it. Reducing procrastination, I mean, procrastination is a really common element to many people. They don't get started on things that are really important or pertinent to getting things done. As a result, it winds up slipping through the cracks, and they wind up never getting it done.

One of the pieces of advice I have for that is, “Just get started.” The moment you have something to do, just get started doing it. That really helps out quite a bit. Eliminating clutter, that's a real big thing. Clutter is not just physical clutter, looking around you. It's not just having a pile of mess everywhere you go. That is a part of it, but the big key to, is emotional clutter and mental clutter. Clutter is defined as this: Anything you start and you do not finish, that should be finished, remains an open loop in your brain, in your emotions, and drains your energy, unnecessarily.

Too many business people that I know of, haven't closed the loops enough, and they take more and more on. Their frustration grows, their energy is drained, and they're not sure why they feel this tremendous sense of pressure in their lives. Simply, we work with them to declutter, by closing loops, not opening too many more loops. In other words, figuring out what's really important, and shifting off to someone else, the unimportant things that we can pay for someone else to do in our lives. That's one of the keys to success. There's a bunch more. I could spend probably hours talking about the different tools we need to have in our bag. But we need to develop some fundamental tools that will help get us more achievement in our lives.

Ted: That open loop is a powerful thing, boy. You just don't realize how much is going through your head, that you're worrying about.

Dr. Eccles: Yep, but if we just learn to close these loops, it really helps out. Let's go back. Step one, figure out your purpose and your “why.” Number two, get clear about what it is you want. Number three, develop some fundamentals. Get the tools you need to achieve what you want to achieve, this year. Then number four, is your action plan. You must have an action plan for four areas of your life. I call them, “My core four.” With all my clients, we actually go through in our weekly sessions, number one. This is your pillar number one. They can pick it, and choose any way they want. You can do the same. You go put them in a priority, that's according to how you feel is right.

1) Financial.
2) Your physical: Your body and health,
3) Your spiritual, and,
4) Your relationships.

I sat down years ago, and I tried to figure out all the areas of life that we spend, and we operate in, each and every day, and I boiled everything down to those four: Our finances, our health, our relationships and our spiritual life. If we work at creating an action plan … Because now we're clear about what it is we want, we create the action plan, and we work it backwards. We begin with the end in mind. Dr. Stephen Covey, and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, begin with the end in mind. Here's how much money I want to make this year. Let's work it back, and let's do, “What do I need to do to make that happen, month by month, week by week? Day by day, what actions do I need to take?”

“I want to build a more loving relationship with my spouse. What do I say? What do I do? What are the events I celebrate? What are the events we go to for maybe building our marriage? What is the action plans to get there?” You just take that into every area of your life. That's number four. Number five is metrics. Now that you have an action plan for these areas, how do you measure it? Let's give an example. Most of the people I know of, at the beginning of the year, say, “You know what? Over the holidays I packed on about seven pounds of just eating and celebrating, and I haven't lost the seven from the year before, the seven the year before that.”

“Now I'm 22-25. I was maybe 30 pounds overweight. How do I begin to unpack this mess and get healthier?” Number one, is you have to have metrics. You create a plan and say, “Okay, my goal in one year is to release 30 pounds of toxic body fat and regain energy and vitality in my life, so I can begin playing the things I like. I want to play sports now, I can do it without being exhausted, like I was. I want to spend more time with my kids. I want to be able to … ” Look, it comes down to this, and forgive me for … You'll have better sex. Guys especially are driven by that. You want to have better sex, have better health.

Here's the key. How do you do that? What are the metrics? Are you gong to be measuring everything by this scale, or are you going to be looking at maybe how your clothes fit. One of the things that I love to do, is look at body composition. In other words, you maybe start out at 210 pounds, and you only lose 10 pounds, but you might have lost 20 pounds of fat, and gained 10 pounds of muscle. There's an enormous difference there. The scale is not always the best metric, but it is a metric. I recommend people do it, because that'll keep them accountable, but there are better metrics.

What are your metrics? If you're looking to make money, how much money are you making, week by week, month by month, year by year? What are the metrics, or measurements you're going to put in place to see how you're doing? It helps you give yourself a report card as you're working towards your successes. Step number six … Now moving through pretty quick. I'm going to recap here in just a moment … Step number six, I love, because here's where most people don't do the right thing. I'm going to recommend that if they just shift a couple ideas around, they can do the right thing, and get greater traction in their success this year.

Number one, is you've got to figure out, what are your rewards, and what are you penalties? You can use takeaways. Whatever you want. If you don't like the word “penalty” you substitute it with whatever you want. I use penalties when it comes to my clients. My client says to me, “This week, here's what I'm going to do.” I say, “Okay …” Now, I might challenge them and say, “That's not enough.” Whatever it is, when we come to an agreement, “This is what you're going to do this week.” Okay, so now, if you don't get this done, you don't make this important call, you don't write this program, you don't do whatever it is, what are the penalties, if you don't get it achieved?

Sometimes, people will create pretty stiff penalties for themselves. The thing is, it's got to be serious enough to motivate you to get it done. Then, there's the other one: The reward. How will you reward yourself? A reward always has to be appropriate to what you achieve. Maybe at the end of a hard week and you've really got things going, you take your spouse out to a nice dinner. Let's say you lost five pounds that week by really working out hard, and cutting your calories. You don't go out and get a big ice cream sundae to reward yourself. That wouldn't be appropriate for it. Let's say you were able to save some money and make a little bit more money, and put an extra $500 in the bank, you don't go out and buy a new car. It's just not smart, if gaining financial traction is your goal.

It's about having the proper rewards and penalties put in place. I always encourage my clients: Reward yourself. You achieved something, reward, because it creates a feedback loop that's so critical. We love being stimulated by rewards. If we achieve, reward ourselves, we're incentivized to go out and achieve some more, so we can reward ourselves. We're human beings. That's the way it works. Reward yourself properly, and often.

Ted: I've never heard the penalty before. I've heard the rewards, but I … Keep them appropriate is huge because you like said…

Dr. Eccles: Yeah, it is.

Ted: You can lose five pounds and then go eat pizza and ice cream. That's not a good reward.

Dr. Eccles: I don't know how much of your audience is outside the US, but I can tell you, inside the US, people are just out of balance when it comes to that. They just go out and spend money when they're trying to get out of debt, or they'll eat something that's loaded with bad calories, when you're trying to release toxic body fat. Not good. Making appropriate decisions regarding your rewards and penalties, require some wisdom. I think you all know what I'm talking about.

Ted: Yeah.

Dr. Eccles: Let me go back real quick and let's just recap. Number one, is you've got to know your purpose and your “why,” step one. Number two, is you've got to get clear about what it is you want in life. Number three, you've got to develop some tools in order to get there properly. You've got to know all the different things that are going to help you achieve what you want this year. Number four, you've got to have an action plan. An action plan has to be broken up into four areas: What actions are you going to take to achieve better finances, better relationships, better health and a better spiritual walk?

Then, number six, we just talked about, is setting the right rewards and penalties. I'd rather be reward-focused than penalty-focused. I want to just go back there fore a second. What you focus on expands, so focus on achievement and rewards. Have the penalty in there, as a safeguard, to keep you from moving in a wrong direction, or not achieving it. I want to emphasize that. Step seven … This is a seven step process. Step seven, I said, really we're going to be unpacking six because Step seven is really, coaching. It's about getting mentoring in your life. Now, not everybody can afford to hire someone like me or for like you, but here's what I've discovered.

We all need accountability, and we need direction. We must have mentors and coaches in our lives. Every successful athlete, actor, professional on almost any level you can think of, hires and maintains successful coaching staff in their life, successful mentors. They are willing to invest into growing themselves on a regular basis, and improving themselves. Most successful people will hire multiple different types of professionals to help them achieve even more, to get to that next step. Getting the right mentoring, getting the right coaching and having the right accountability is the cement that holds it all …

I can tell you this: I work with people who I believe are very successful, but they don't have the success in a right balance. They don't have the right game-plan. They don't have the right motivation, and they don't have the right accountability, all the time. When someone like me comes in and works with them, it brings their life … Most of my clients already have … They're making money. However, they don't have everything else moving in the right direction, and they could be making way more money because I believe this with all my heart: Build a better you, you'll build a better business. Build a better you, you build a better life.

One of the things … My wife and I are working with a company out of Canada right now, one of my very good friends. We're launching business consulting and training here in the US, that's done pretty much by group situations, and it's called, “Make Your Mark.” One of the things he loves to say all the time, he says, “if you want to identify the greatest problem in your business, stick your hand straight up in the air, with one finger pointing up, and then turn it down, because that's where your problem is.” It is for most people. Most people get in their own way.

The biggest problem they have is between the six inches from ear to ear, and it needs to be addressed. When you have somebody on the outside looking in, who's skilled at sorting through all the symptoms, to get to the cause, it helps you gain traction, a lot faster.

Ted: Yeah, you need different perspectives. I totally agree with that. I've had a coach on and off for the last 20 years; different kinds of stages.

Dr. Eccles: Same for me, and I have accountability in my life with different groups. I belong to Masterminds. I'm going to a Mastermind this weekend, in St. Pete, not too far from me, and with a very high-end people. I love to hang around individuals who help me to play at a higher level.

Ted: Yeah.

Dr. Eccles: Okay, we've got seven steps in, and I did it in just about under 42 minutes from the time we launched, and that's including me falling off the air.

Ted: There you go. Awesome. That' great information. This is definitely the time to really strategize for the year. Everybody did the New Year's resolutions. You know how many, do you still do?

Dr. Eccles: I can tell you that most people, and I'm very adamant and very loving about it, but my experience tells me that 98% of the people out there who set goals, create resolutions before the month of January is up, they're pretty much off track, and it's not long before they've abandoned most of their goals. In order to get something you've never had, you've got to be willing to do something you've never done. One of the things in life that I'm really focused in on, is that no growth happens inside your comfort zone. You want to go out, you've got to get outside your comfort zone. Maybe it's getting to the gym, or you're buying a bicycle and getting out there.

Maybe it's hiring the right business coach, or getting the right social media person to take you from where you're at to where you want to be. Whatever it is, you must be willing to get outside your comfort zone if you want to have the growth this year, and any year, in life.

Ted: That is so true! We get into our little bubble and you think, “Oh, life is good,” Then you step out of that comfort zone, but things change very fast.

Dr. Eccles: They change rapidly. I use a metaphor when I'm on a stage all the time, and I stand still, and then I tell people everyday, “Picture a little circle around your feet, and then step sideways out of it.” Just get used to stepping outside your comfort zone. Here's one of the encouraging pieces of information. You don't have to have radical change, immediately. You don't have to go from where you're at right now, you want to lose 30 pounds, you don't have to stop eating for the next month. You just can begin to cut back. You can jump into it all out, or you can take it slow and progressively. Whatever fits you and works best.

I can tell you this: That most people, though, need accountability. They need coaching, and they need some type of reinforcement to help keep their head in the game and moving in the right direction.

Ted: For goals, do you say, write them out by hand. Some people say do it every day, write down your goals.

Dr. Eccles: Here's the thing. If you're going to really sit down and do it right, you've got to spend some time. You've got to get away. One of the things I recommend, is people get away for a weekend. Maybe it's going to a hotel, even in your own town, but getting somewhere where you can sit down, get undistracted from the typical environment you're normally in, and begin to project. Either by yourself, or with your significant other person in your life, begin to talk about, “Okay, what is it we want to achieve in our relationship this year? In our other relationships, with our kids, our parents, our friends? What do we want to achieve when it comes to our finances, our health, our spiritual lives?”

Begin getting clear about it. Then work it backwards and break it up, to, “What are the action steps we're going to be taking, and how often, how frequency …” In other words, just being to dial it in little by little until you really have a day-by-day plan. Then you have to reinforce the plan. In other words, you have it written out, so you can refer to it. Then I suggest, number one, is at, either the end of your work week or beginning … Let's say a Sunday, before most people begin their work week … Is to sit down, review your calendar, review your goals for the week. What did you not accomplish last week that you need to get done this week? What are the most … And people need to listen extremely carefully here …

What is the highest and best use of your time, your talent, your energy and your money? Only do those things. If you work on the lowest hanging fruit, the thing that brings you the most return on your invested time, on your invested money, on your invested talents, and your invested gifts, that's where you should be spending almost all your time.

Ted: How about visualization. I know the Psycho-Cybernetics book, that's all about visualizing your goals.

Dr. Eccles: Yeah, that's something that's really important. The human brain is so amazing. Especially being a doctor by background and speaking in this world, because the interconnection between how the mind works and how the body responds, and how we get results, is just nothing short of miraculous, every single day. One of the things that will help get you there faster is to learn how to create a vivid vision of what you want your relationships to look like, what you want your income to look like, what you want your spiritual life to look like, what you want your health to look like. That vivid vision is so crucial. Most people don't really understand the power, and I tell them this.

Have you ever had a nightmare? The answer is, everyone goes, “Yeah, of course I have.” When you woke up from your nightmare, what was going on inside your body? They said, “Well, I'm sweating, my heart was beating in my chest. I had this sense of anxiety and panic and fear, that I was overwhelmed with!” Again, was there a real imminent threat going on? The answer was, “No, there wasn't.” Your brain imagines something through a dream, and your body physiologically reacted to it. We all can relate with that. That is absolutely undeniable, a fact. Just see how it works in a different way: Imagine if you could create a vivid vision of what an empowered, loving relationship looks like.

What successful finances, having a lot of money in the bank, knowing you don't have the financial pressure to worry about, “Do I have enough money to pay the bills this month? Will I be able to retire comfortably?” Having a vivid picture of all the different four areas of your life, can set your physiology in the right mode, and when you are acting and behaving in a different way, you will achieve different results. Zig Ziglar is the first person that I'm aware of, that actually said this, but he was big into the formula of, “Be, do, have.” Not, “Have, do, be.”

The big difference is that most people who are out there … And I'll give you an example … Most people think, “Well, when I have a million dollars, then I'll do what millionaires do, and then I'll be a millionaire.” Successful people have learned this: No matter where you're at, if I learn to think in here … Now it doesn't mean I'm going to go out and spend money like a millionaire … But if I think and behave like millionaires, if I make financial decisions like a millionaire makes, if I think about money, and I think about value the way that millionaires think, then I will do what millionaires do. In time … Key … I will have what millionaires have.”

Now, I want to put that in context, because this becomes really encouraging to a lot of people. A lot of people say, “You know what, I don't want to be a millionaire. I don't want to be filthy rich, so to speak … Notice we use the word filthy, but it's really, “I want to be cleanly rich,” It's really funny because I was in Canada last week, and I … Day one, is a three day event. I said to the people in the audience, I said, “I want you to give me a gut reaction. Tell me what your gut says. On a 0-10 scale, 0 being the lowest, 10 being the highest, how wealthy are you?” It was instantly 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0. 5 was the highest number that I heard from the audience.

Ted: Wow!

Dr. Eccles: 200 people approximately, in this audience. That's one of your smaller events, right? I'm sitting there, and I'm listening … I'm sorry, standing there on the stage … I said, “Okay, I want everybody to close your eyes for a minute. Everybody close your eyes,” I said, “Did you wake up this morning?” Rhetorical question.

Ted: Yeah.

Dr. Eccles: “Were you in a comfortable home, or apartment? Was the heat on, or was it warm?” We were in Vancouver, Canada, so it was a little bit cooler there. “Did you have food to eat before you left and you came? Do you have food for lunch coming up this afternoon, and maybe dinner plans? Are you stressed and really worried about where your food's going to come from, for the rest of the week? Do you have transportation to get here today, either public or your own? Did you experience love from anybody in your life today? Do you have people that love you? Do you love other people?” I began taking them through a number of different things, and I said, “Now open your eyes.”

I said, “On 0-10 scale, how wealthy are you?” It was unanimous across the room. They all shouted out, “10!” I said, “Now let me ask you a question: “No more than two minutes have gone by. What changed?” What changed is their perspective on what wealth really is. To me, that's really important part because I want to make sure that everybody understands it. Again, I'm a driven person. I'm a very purpose-oriented person. In this point in my life, the wealth that I'm able to generate from the value I provide is put into context of, “I'm wisely putting away for my wife and my children … And now I have a first grandchild on the way …”

“Be able to provide something for them, and for my wife to make it comfortable if I pass before she does. She's 14 years younger, so chances are, I'll go first. To wisely provide, to be able to live a comfortable life, but be able to also impact other people's lives with what I've been blessed with. To be able to give away generously, and help other people.” I really believe wealth is in the context of what's important to the individual listening. Everyone that I'm aware of can be extraordinary wealth, right where you're at. You just have to shift the way you see things.

Ted: That's awesome. Great stuff. Do you have a checklist or a pdf with your steps?

Dr. Eccles: I do. If people will just write down … I have a couple of websites, but one here. If you go to DrRonEccles. I don't know if … Can you see my lower thirds now, or is it still there …

Ted: It's disappeared.

Dr. Eccles: It disappeared, okay. It's D-R-R-O-N-E-C-C-L-E-S, DrRonEccles.com. If you go to that website, there's a “7 Steps Success Blueprint. You just put your first name and your primary email address in there, and you get instant access to … What I've been talking about today is put in a' … It's put in a kind of a [inaudible 00:53:09] … It's a great to refer to it on a regular basis. It'll help keep- It's my free gift to everybody that goes there and just [inaudible 00:53:18] … I just, you know, I do not- [inaudible 00:53:24] … People bombard [inaudible 00:53:27] … If I'm guilty of anything, it's undercommunicating, and Ted, you've been one of my mentors, that I- …

You probably wouldn't be half as much as I- … Go about stuff because- … In areas where they can get it- … Voluntarily- … Email about something that might be great that I'm doing, or something that they should be looking at, or reading, or whatever. I try to bring value to people.

Ted: Okay. If people want to learn more about your coaching and your services, go to DrRonEccles.com.

Dr. Eccles: No, DrRonEccles.com, go there if you want to get the free pdf. If you want to find out, if you're thinking about, or you're looking for the right kind of coaching, and maybe we resonated. Now, I only take on no more than a dozen people a year. I do have a couple coaching slots available. I'd give people my email address. They can set up a complimentary session with me. I do about 30 minutes with them, just as an exploratory session. No pressure. I'm a no pressure kind of guy. I believe that if I can be of service, number one, be of service and feel I can really benefit somebody, I'll let them know.

If they feel that they're going to be coachable, because that's the real key, so I'll ask important questions. If that person's coachable, and we have a good fit, we'll agree to move forward. If not, we part friends, every time. Never a big hassle. Go to my email, drroneccles@gmail.com.

Ted: Dr. Ron Eccles.

Dr. Eccles: It's D-R-R-O-N-E-C-C-L-E-S @gmail.com. They can just drop me a line there, and inquire there.

Ted: Okay. Steve says, “He has to run, but thank you.” Doug said, “Thanks for a great live webinar.” Bill, from Seattle, says, “Hello,” a good friend of yours.

Dr. Eccles: Cool, yeah cool.

Ted: Thanks, this has been really great. I love your taste in books that are above your head, there. Thanks a lot for some …

Dr. Eccles: Yes, I had to make sure that I give it a [inaudible 00:55:26]. By the way, and I know I've already thanked you before, but thank you so much for being such a wonderful contributor when it comes to social media, particularly LinkedIn. Now, I'm going to give a little plug. It's an unsolicited … We did not talk about this. I've shifted over. I believe that without any question, in the last year, I've discovered that the most powerful place for business people to be, right now, without any doubt, is in LinkedIn. I think that is the most powerful place to do business for business people. That is it.

I can tell you, if you don't believe me, go to Facebook. Put something that's productive for people, some business advice, some great quote or something like that. See how many shares and likes you get. Then put a picture of an animal doing some silly trick. You'll see what Facebook is really about. People go to Facebook to have fun. It's not about business.

Ted: LinkedIn is our little secret, so don't tell everybody.

Dr. Eccles: Yeah. I discovered this over life, that there's the people in the world that are the action takers, the ones who are out there, called the shakers and movers, the ones that are getting things done, represent a minority. Most people are set in their comfort zones, and they don't want to change. When you want that change, then you see people like you and me.

Ted: Yeah. Great! Thanks for you time. This has been really excellent.

Dr. Eccles: Ted, thank you. It's been a pleasure being here. Thanks very much for giving me the opportunity to speak to you out there. I hope I've been able to help you in some way.

Ted: Great, thanks a lot! We'll talk soon!

Dr. Eccles: Thanks!


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7 step blueprint for success, Dr. Ron Eccles, goal setting, setting goals


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