In this week's episode, you'll hear all the secrets to becoming a peak performer in both your personal and professional life. Alex is going to be giving you all the tools you need to set goals for yourself, manage each and every one of your days, and combat the inner voices that might be saying: "you can't do it."
Do you ever wonder how the most successful people manage their day to day lives to set themselves up for big wins? There are steps to follow in order to become a peak performer, and on today’s episode of No Bullshit with Alex Willis, you’ll be guided on how best to incorporate some of these steps into your own life.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. And as the race goes on, more and more people fall to the wayside while the most committed and disciplined lead the pack, living the best lives they can. Regardless of how you feel about your life now or up to this point, Alex is here to tell you that you have full control over what comes next. This week, you’ll hear what it takes in order to shift your routines, mentally and physically, in order to best prioritize the things you want most.
What to look out for in today’s episode:
In our second segment, The Level, you will hear all about “The Pareto Principle,” AKA the 80/20 rule. While Alex will dive in more, it essentially means that 80% of all outcomes result from 20% of all causes for a given event. This is important to understand when prioritizing where to focus your energy most.
Tune into our next segment, The Foundation, to go back to the basics when trying to create new, healthy routines. Alex will show his own virtuous cycle that he follows each day, and challenge you to think about what your ideal one might look like. Remember to be a little selfish by intentionally carving out time each day for yourself, we all need it.
Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts as well as the YouTube channel to watch full video episodes and be notified as soon as the next episode is live.
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[00:00:00] Alex: Hey, my friends. Welcome back to the level where we are talking about the habits of peak performers, how to develop a dangerous mindset. In our first segment, we went over the power of knowing what you want. Understanding the why you want it, understanding the power of discipline that you need to have with yourself and refusing to negotiate with yourself in this segment.
[00:00:30] Alex: Oh man, I'm excited because we're going to have you understand how to master time. Understand this, my friends. Truth be told, I thought this was crazy, but you can really make time stand still as crazy as that sounds, you can do, and I know some of you're like, Willis, give me the magic potion. What is it?
[00:00:47] Alex: How do I do it? What do I do? Well, we're gonna talk about it right here in this the level. And so the first thing you have to understand is this thing called Peros principle. Simply put, it's called the 80 20 rule. The 80 20 rule. Now, if you've never heard of it, phenomenal rule, my friends, I may explain it to you.
[00:01:04] Alex: So, so what is 80 20 rule? Well, here's the deal. The 80 20 rule states this, that 20% of your activities are the most effective at producing 80% of the results you want in your life. Hear me out on that. 20% of the activities are most effective for producing 80% of the results you want in your life. Let me give you a simple example.
[00:01:24] Alex: Understand this, you wear 20% of the clothes in your closet 80% of the time. Now, you may have a luxurious wardrobe and everything in there, but damn it, you wear those kki pants at least twice a week. Guaranteed. Guaranteed, right? Why? Because the 80 20 rule, think about it from this standpoint, from a construction standpoint, my friends, 20% of your clients that you have at your company, they carry 80% of your revenue.
[00:01:51] Alex: If you lost that top 20%, you would be shitting bricks. Trust me, my friends. Think about it from a punch list standpoint. Oftentimes it's only about 20% of errors and defects that make up 80% of that punch list. So if that's the case, if the 80 20 rule works, and trust me, my friends, it works. It works in clothing and revenue and defects in punch lists, you need to really begin to identify what are the 20% of activities that you need to focus on that give you 80% of the results you want in your life.
[00:02:23] Alex: So understand, I began to create a to-do list for myself. Making a to-do list of those 20% of activities that give me everything I need to really be effective here at Leadership Surge. Right. It's focusing on things like this podcast. It's creating content, right? It's, it's really making sure my team and my staff, which I have an amazing team.
[00:02:43] Alex: I mean, I have this lady by the name of Allison Davis. Oh man. Amazing. Making sure Alison Davis is rockstar status. I have another lady by the name of Sine Howard who is phenomenal, right? Uh, Nick, Evan, I mean, you name it. People on our team phenomenal. So my job as a leader is to make sure they have everything that they need so that they can be rock stars themselves.
[00:03:02] Alex: Now, do I have other small things that I need to do? Yes. But by focusing on the top 20%, it makes my life a lot easier and it kind of slows time down because it gives me the 80% of the results I want. So if you're watching, if you're listening, I need you to pause right now and think about that 20%.
[00:03:21] Alex: What's the 20% of job tasks that, Hey, listen, if I do these things, Alex, it cuts down the stress in my life. So I want you to think about it from that angle. I also want you to think about it at home. What's the 20% of things you need to do to connect and engage with your family at home? Right? Because understand my friends, you work a shit load, so I'm not gonna be able to change that.
[00:03:40] Alex: But well, what we can do is make you more intentional with your time so that you can really begin to make major impact. But to do that, as we mentioned in the first segment, you have to identify what you want and then identify the 20% that's going to give you the 80% of what you want and focus on those tasks first, right?
[00:04:02] Alex: By doing that, it makes you a rock star and it helps you do what we like to call the have it all lifestyle. So at trainees, I constantly ask people, is it possible to have it all? And people say, hell no, Willis. And I say, yes, it is my friends. It is possible to have it all. Now, understand this, I'm the wild, crazy guy who hires all kinds of coaches, goes on all kinds of experience to understand how to master this thing of leadership in life, to pull it all together in different places.
[00:04:29] Alex: And I worked with a wow, crazy, crazy coach by the name of Garrett White. And this guy is, A maniac. Trust me. I mean he is, he is. Alex Willis jacked up on steroids. Check him out if you want, but I mean, you better have your, your hard hat on. You better be ready for that cuz it is crazy. But he taught me this cool principle of have it all life and the have it all lifestyle is based on four things my friends.
[00:04:53] Alex: Garrett referred to these four things as the four bees. The four bees, right? Body balance being and business. And if I could begin to focus on these four bees, it makes me a rockstar and I can really begin to tune in and have it all right. It tied everything together is going back to identify exactly what I want, what?
[00:05:13] Alex: Well, so one of the four Bs, like I said, body balance, being in business. Now understand most of us in construction, We spent all of our damn time in that fourth box of business, right? Think about that. We spent all of our time in that fourth box of business, about 80% of our time. In those other three boxes of being, of balance and of body, we let those just kind of go by the wayside.
[00:05:36] Alex: Please understand, it's my friends. Oftentimes, we're not showing up our best self to the job site or to the to, to the job because those other three boxes are sucking the life out of you. So Garrett taught me something called reverse engineering your life. He challenged me to think differently. I'm challenging you to think differently and understand this.
[00:05:55] Alex: Peak performers think differently. Well, what do they do? Well, they reverse engineer their life and they focus on the other things. They focus on body, they focus on balance, and they focus on being understanding that business is the easiest box of all of them. It happens. My friends, please understand that even from a standpoint of bouncing back.
[00:06:14] Alex: All of these balls of all four of them. The business ball is a rubber ball that bounces. You can drop that ball. Think about it. Have you ever been laid off before? Have you been fired before, ever been without work? Most of us have. And what happened? You bounced back over time, eh? It wasn't comfortable for a while, but you bounced back.
[00:06:34] Alex: But think about this. If you let your body go too bad, mental health, physical health, that shit doesn't bounce back, man. If you go too far, key relationships with your family. Kids, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, partner. You say the wrong thing. You do the wrong thing, you not show up enough. That shit does not bounce back.
[00:06:51] Alex: That's a glass ball. That breaks being, being connected to a higher power, knowing your purpose in life. That doesn't bounce back as you get older and you neglect that. So when you begin to focus on the other three, It makes you a rock star when you show up to work because you fill those other boxes. Now, understand this.
[00:07:11] Alex: Oftentimes when people hear me say that, they say, Alex, that's too much damn work. I think I know what you're saying, but you gotta go back to what we talked about earlier, the 80 20 rule. So you begin to identify, Hey, what's the 20% that I need to do in each area that helps me get 80% of the results that I want?
[00:07:27] Alex: But it starts with actually making goals for yourself in each area. Oftentimes we have business goals. We have goals on the job site of knowing what we need to do, when we need to get it done by, but we have no family goals. We have no body goals. We have no being goals. When you can begin to do those things in those areas, my friends, you begin to become a rockstar.
[00:07:48] Alex: Why? Because research shows that we are happiest when we're pursuing gold. Everybody. No one's happy being a cat dog, living the cat, dog. Like eat shit, sleep. Wake up and do it again. No, no, no. When we're pursuing goals and we're checking things off our list and we're progressing and getting better in life, we show up in every area of our life better.
[00:08:11] Alex: Alright, so what do I mean by that? These four bees, body balance, being in business. I wanna challenge you to set goals, but here's what I need you to do. Take a time out first before you even set a goal, because most of you listen to the podcast now. If you're like Alex, which I know you are, you are what I like to call high producers.
[00:08:29] Alex: You make shit happen. That's how you got to where you are right now, my friends, right? You do it and you run through brick walls to make it happen. But here's the challenge. You're what I like to call Alex included at times Home Run hitters. Home run hitters. Right now for my baseball fans who are out there right now, that was my first love before football.
[00:08:46] Alex: But for my baseball fans who are out there right now, if you are in the record, books for home runs in the mlb. What are you usually also in the record books for? I know what you're thinking. Steroids, right? Steroids, yeah, they're Steroids is right. But usually also steroids and strikeouts. Strikeouts, right.
[00:09:02] Alex: So usually if you look at that top 10 list, you have people in the record books for hitting home runs, but also strikeouts. And oftentimes we're swinging for the fence on every goal that we set. So I wanna challenge you to challenge your thinking a little bit, to adjust it just a little bit. And instead of being a home run hitter, I wanna ask you my friend, What would it look like?
[00:09:22] Alex: Just hit him Single. Just hit him. Singles, right? I mean, think about it. Think about it. If you keep hitting singles, you keep getting people on base, you keep scoring runs. If you're scoring enough runs, you win the game. Right? Now, I understand hitting singles. It's not sexy. I get it, but you're winning. And remember we talked about it in another podcast.
[00:09:47] Alex: Listen, you're like a head coach. Your job is to win, baby win. So you wanna win in every area of your life with your family, with your help business, and with your purpose and passion. And so to do that, I challenge you to hit singles. So what does a single look like? Well, it looks like this. It's setting short term goals, first and foremost, habits of the elite.
[00:10:11] Alex: They understand this. Don't set long-term goals. Only. Now, long-term goals are important, but our mind research shows that our mind can only fathom about a 90 day window and stay focused without quitting and giving up. So in each of those areas, I wanna challenge you to h create a single or single goal hitting singles, something small that you target that you're going to do in the next 90 days, right?
[00:10:40] Alex: So lemme give you an example. Uh, you may say, uh, Bonnie, Bonnie may be one of the areas you said, you know what, I'm gonna increase working out, so I'm gonna start working out and don't, don't hit a home run. Home Run is a guy, when we were talking and training and the guy hadn't been working out in five years, and I told him to set a goal.
[00:10:57] Alex: He's like, yeah, man, I'm gonna go to the gym seven days a week, two hours a day. I'm like, dude, bullshit dude. Come on man. You trying to hit a damn grand slam here homie. What are you doing right? I'm like, dude, dial that back, bro. Dial that back. You haven't been to the gym in five years, that's not happening.
[00:11:12] Alex: That's a guarantee. Set yourself up for failure. What I challenge him to do is say, Hey, listen. What would it look like to say, Hey, listen, I'm going to work out two times a week, right? Anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes, two times a week, right? Understanding what that look like. Hitting singles. Hitting singles for Alex, a single for Alex in the balance category is this.
[00:11:35] Alex: Hear me out, my friends. I have an amazing wife, an amazing wife. Uh, but we don't get a chance to go on day night often, right? So a single for Alex is in the 90 day period, go on eight amazing dates with Sabrina, eight amazing dates with Sabrina. Now understand, for you, you may say, well, damn, Alex, that's button right?
[00:11:55] Alex: That's a bunt, right? And I get it. But understand, I am focusing on hitting singles, being consistent and doing things in an amazing way. And so for me, that's focusing in on that and it's me looking at my 90 day calendar saying, okay, dude. How do you figure it out? How do you fit it in so that you can really begin to hit singles and have it all, even in the area of marriage?
[00:12:15] Alex: Right. So that as I'm a leadership coach and things are going well with business, I'm also keeping focused in on that. Right. To do amazing things with Sabrina, we did one which was gun tactical training. Oh man. Me and my wife went shooting AK 40 sevens, handguns. Oh man. All kind of tactical training. It was awesome.
[00:12:33] Alex: An amazing date. But understand it's hitting singles, small goals that still fulfill me. So I wanna challenge you each of those areas, go into those things, hit small, small goals, and by doing that, my friends, it will help you be phenomenal in your life because you're focusing in on your body and you've created a 90 day goal there.
[00:12:54] Alex: You're focusing in on your family and your friends. You created a 90 day goal there. You're focusing on your being purpose and what you wanna do, things you're passionate about, so that you show up excited. And then last but not least, you're focusing on business, right? By doing those things there, you create what we call the have it all lifestyle, simply because you've identified what you want, you've identified the 20% that gives you 80% of those results.
[00:13:22] Alex: You set yourself up in such a way that you begin to hit singles. And you're not swinging for the damn fence. You really begin to do, to understand the power of not negotiating with yourself because you've created attainable goals in bite size chunks that you can actually do. So think about that my friend.
[00:13:43] Alex: Not only would you be a rockstar at work, but a rockstar at home. And if we're being honest, most of us, the reason we work as hard as we do, the reason we do the shit that we do is because of those people at home. But oftentimes because we haven't set the goals, because we haven't understood what to do, right, and put the leverage on ourselves, we come home like a wrecking ball at times, destroying what we're ultimately trying to build.
[00:14:08] Alex: So understand Biden readjusting our focus, and this is something that peak performers understand. They understand that in order for them to reach the goals that they want in life, everything in life, everything must be shifting and going in the exact same direction. So they can have momentum and force to accomplish all the things that they want to do at work, at home, and Health and life.
[00:14:30] Alex: So when I have all of those things, body balance, being in business, going in the same direction, giving me power, giving me strength. Motivation, man, I show up in the world as my best self and a phenomenal leader. So that's what we're challenging you to do. So in the next segment, my friends, the foundation, we're gonna give you the foundational rules of how you make this shit happen.
[00:14:53] Alex: Right, because understand we've talked about identifying what you want. We talked about putting the leverage of the why. We talked about understanding and identifying that 20% and how to have this habit, all lifestyle. But there is something even more basic and more foundational that you have to do in order to show up.
[00:15:11] Alex: As your best self so that you can be a rockstar at work and at home. And man, it's gonna surprise you what we say in that next segment. So I wanna challenge you tune into the next segment of the foundation when we talk about the real foundational principles to make this shit happen. See you soon, my friend.
[00:15:29] Alex: Hey my friends. I want to thank you for tuning in. I wanna challenge you to make sure you check out the next segment, and I wanna remind you to subscribe to our podcast.