Lessons Learned From 2022
Hello everyone and Happy December 31, 2022! It is time to say goodbye to a wild ride of a year in 2022! I know everyone is getting ready to celebrate with friends and family to ring in 2023 and even plan goals for the new year. As I always do, I like to write about lessons learned in the past year and share them with all of you in hopes that you will learn something and perhaps even be inspired to dream big and be amazing in 2023
All In
This theme is a theme that you will see dominate everything around me and everything I do moving forward. I am living and breathing it. I truly believe to get what you want out of life and succeed; you must be “all in” on everything. You must go all in. Many people are playing life by taking short cuts or living in fear, or even trying to hack their way to success. It’s funny that “all in” was sitting in front of me all this time. It is the name of our mortgage company we created. But in reality, “all in” is a way of life we all should strive to be at. “All in” requires hard work, discipline, dedication, overcoming all fears, never giving up, and playing life full out. You must put in the hard work every day. That requires discipline and dedication, and it requires overcoming your fears, never giving up so you can play full out. See what I just did there? Re-read the last three sentences. That is what it takes to be successful. That is the formula, and it is not some secret. Just put in the damn work! You got this
.Get It Done!
I could be more colorful in how I say that, but this is another theme I will be embracing. Get sh*t done! That’s better! We procrastinate, we wait until the last minute, we forgot, and we just do not want to do things. Whatever the reason holding us back, be it fear, laziness, perfectionism, arrogance, tired, pissed off, or whatever other reason, it does not matter. We need to get things done. When I feel any of those ways, I say the phrase “get it done” about 30 times. It rewires your mindset and puts you in a better state. When I have to work on a tough deal, I recite “get it done” many times. One past deal that was tough, I probably said “get it done” over 1,000 times. It put me in a better frame of mind, and got me through the tough time. We all have so many things we could be doing, getting in shape, repairing a relationship, starting a business, or fixing up your house. Whatever it is, just “get it done.” It won’t be perfect, it might not be pretty, but it will get done. After interviewing so many successful people, I have found that when they start something, they get it done. The successful entrepreneurs are like this way. They start and then tweak it along the way, knowing that it is a work in progress. I see many of you starting businesses and blowing money on top equipment or fancy furniture when you do not even have your doors open or clients coming in! Remember, its progress, then test and learn, tweak and keep going. Get it done!
Give Without Expectation Of A Return (Carefully Watch Your Mindset Here)
Years ago, I wrote an article about not being transactional, meaning, we as humans give something, and then we expect to get the same in return. I thought I was good about not worrying about getting something in return when I gave training or something of value to people. At times, I did care and wondered why someone would not return the favor. I discovered that I was living in the scarcity mindset, meaning that I felt if I gave so much more, I should get something back, even if it was a little. For example, I did a ton of social media training this past year. I would spend hours and hours with people. I got frustrated when I felt I tipped the scale of value and then I would not get a lead for a mortgage client or coaching client sent my way.
Believe it or not, when you think that way, you become transactional and un-authentic. It will show up in how you deliver your value. Trust me. What did I do? I went in with being authentic, the guy that wants to help see other people win. I trained more people than ever this past year on social media ads. I gave from the heart, and I never went in thinking I would get a lead or leads, or new business. I zeroed out my expectations. And guess what? The leads and new business started flowing. I received calls from people who said this person sent them to me. It was like magic. It was a beautiful thing. Things flowed and it felt right.
Some of you might say, well that is crazy, why spend so much time and not get anything. I will tell you, you will get a ton out of helping people. You will be doing one of our greatest things as a human. Deep down, we want to contribute and give in this world to make it better. You will get an amazing feeling when you see someone win or achieve success from you helping them out. And I guarantee you, that people remember that and will eventually send people your way. And its all because you were authentic and people resonated with you. Then now want to give back because you made them feel wonderful.
Stop Crapping On Other People
This whole notion where people are arguing with people, even screaming at people, and getting in their faces when they disagree with someone is childish behavior. It is like its your job to blast someone or cut them down with your voice when you disagree with what they say or even do. Just stop it. You look stupid. Now, of course, if you must defend yourself, then that is a whole different ballgame, especially if someone is coming at you or making strong accusations. The fact that people are chasing people down to yell at them is disgusting. It is a total reflection on you. We need to do more listening, real listening. We need to stop and think about our actions and how they impact other people. Just because someone has a different viewpoint or does something you do not like does not mean you need to scream at them. Just because someone cut you off in traffic and now you are “butt hurt” because of it does not mean you need to follow them, tailgate them, and then follow them to their place of destination and go after them. There is this neat thing where you can walk away from the situation, you actually do have the freedom to walk away. We need to do more walking away and chilling out. Period.
Hire Mentors And Coaches
Every coach needs a coach. We all need that perspective of looking outside in. I have several mentors and coaches who help me; some are paid, and some are free. For example, I have a social media mentor who I hired that spends $1,000,000 a year on social media ads. Why not learn from someone who is doing the things that you want to do. When I started talking to mentors and coaches, I saw my growth grow exponentially, and the right way. I have five mentors and coaches, all for different areas in my life. For example, I have a sales coach to help me get better at sales. Sales was an area I always struggled with. When I worked at credit card companies as a phone rep, we used to have to sell those garbage products to customers. I hated that. It didn’t feel right to me, and I got turned off with sales. I had to re-wire my mindset on sales. I have taken that negative experience and turned my sales game into a strength. Always be learning!
Technology – Stay On Top Of Trends
One thing I learned is that if you are first or at the beginning of something, you have a great chance of standing out. Many of you dislike social media and look at it as a bad thing. Like it or not, social media has eliminated the middle man and created a level playing field for everyone to grow a business or create something unique. I used to always be late to the party for new technology. Now, I get in when it happens and I get on a new social media platform, or I experiment with new technology right away so I can learn how it can benefit clients and partners.
I do believe technology is going to evolve so fast over the next three years that many people are going to get left behind. For example, ChatGPT is huge and it is going to chance the way we do business. You must stay on top of new technologies and implement them as you see fit. Remember, progress, not perfection. Read the news, Google new technologies and trends, and read up on it. Go talk to the companies that are creating this stuff and learn from them. By doing these things, is how I grew my social media presence by 30% this past year.
Stop Worrying About Other People Judging You
This one right here is the single most reason why many of you have not moved forward in where you want to go or what you want to do. Over the past year, I have coached so many people on putting video out or even audio, and many have not even begun that journey. You have to put yourself out there to get the success you want. There is no other way. I got over worrying about what other people thought years ago. It took a long time to get out of that habit, but it is so freeing to not care what other people say. I do not even get mad or stressed when I hear someone talk crap about me. Sure, once in a while something might sting, but 99% of the time, I laugh at the stupidity of it. When you level up and you put yourself out there, more criticism is coming your way. This past year, I went on my “all in” philosophy and trust me, when I put content out there, the haters came at me. You must realize that the people who criticize and hate on you are not really making it about you. It is a reflection of their lives and the feelings they have about themselves. Use me as an example of you want. I went through it and I am doing amazing. I can assure you that on the other side of that worrying is a level you only dream about and how freeing it is. So go all in and get it done!
Circle Of Friends
I have talked about this one before, but it is so true today. There is still so much negativity and bashing of people going on out there, that I believe many people have made it their full-time job to just go after people. You must eliminate the negative people around you. They will drag you down. I want to help them and I do try, but if they are stuck in their negative energy, it is on them. You cannot change people! You must move past the negative people. They will drag you down and down. If you are running a business, surround yourself with big time successful people. In my circle now, I have a mentor that runs several businesses and has created millions of dollars in wealth not just for himself but for others to have more freedom. If you surround yourself with people who have been there done that and are truly authentic, you will grow in that direction. Who you spend time with is who you become. Get better quality people around you.
Yours truly,
Joseph “JoeWoo” Rychalsky
