Well, welcome back to Inside Personal Growth. This is Greg Voisen, the host of Inside Personal Growth. And Raphael and you want to pronounce your last name? I do not want to get it wrong.
Raphael Poirot
00:00:14:10 - 00:00:38:11
Speaker 1
Hello. Okay, We had a gentleman run for president for Perot here in the United States. So Rafael Perot is joining us, as he said this morning from cold Chicago. And all my listeners know me. But they don't know you, Rafael. And we're going to be speaking about this wonderful book that he has. This is the hardback edition being La la.

00:00:38:11 - 00:00:50:12
Speaker 1
And if you haven't noticed from his accent, he is French and that the subtitle is Achieve your Goals and Transform into Your Best Life. A great book. Well, good morning to you.

00:00:50:22 - 00:00:52:17
Speaker 2
Good morning, Greg. How are you? Great to be here.

00:00:52:23 - 00:01:24:16
Speaker 1
Well, it's great to have you here. And I want to let the listeners know a little bit about you before we dive into the book and the questions and really give them some insights here. He's he's really a very interesting man is in is not your typical personal development coach, let's put it that way. I had 25 years experience guiding individuals, teams and organizations through what he calls breakthrough growth.

00:01:24:19 - 00:01:57:09
Speaker 1
He's learned that people who succeed aren't always the smartest or the most connected. They're the ones who show up, adapt and keep moving forward as an engineer by training and a coach by calling. Rafael has managed everything from small business operations to billion dollar portfolio shows, but his real passion lies in helping people unlock their potential and step into what he calls their ooh la la moment.

00:01:58:12 - 00:02:32:23
Speaker 1
And that breakthrough state where your hard work pays off, momentum builds, and you're finally thriving. And I believe me, when I've been doing this show 19 years or so, and personal growth is really, really something that people have to be continual learners. That's why we bring these books to you so that you will be a continual learner. This new book, Ooh la la Achieve your goals and transform into your best Self is much more than motivational fluff.

00:02:33:12 - 00:03:07:15
Speaker 1
It's practical, A flight manual for anyone standing at the edge of something big. And he's been there before. So drawing from deep expertise in change management, leadership, development and coaching, Rafael has created a clear, actionable roadmap that takes you from you that place of desires. Action that sucks stuckness through ooh la where you're taking action but still figuring things out all the way to ooh la la where you're operating at your full potential.

00:03:08:01 - 00:03:30:08
Speaker 1
Well, it's a pleasure having you on INSIGHT, Personal growth. And for all my listeners, the website that you're going to go to is Rafael Perot dot com, Rafael Perot dot com. And that's going to be in the show notes It's a beautiful Web site, by the way. There you can learn about him the book highlights and learn more.

00:03:30:12 - 00:04:04:23
Speaker 1
So you know I'd always curious. There's so many authors that write books and you always wonder why sometimes because it's usually a personal thing. They're like, okay, there's a tell us why you wrote this book, why you think it's important that people know about Ooh la la, because you had this personal experience. And what makes this book, in your estimation, different from all of the other personal growth books out there that have been written?

00:04:06:16 - 00:04:47:20
Speaker 2
That's a great question. And again, thanks for having me. I mean, I really want the book because I I've seen through coaching so many people are getting stuck on their journey to achieving their goals. They have an idea, but they don't really know how to get from idea to execution to getting results. And so I thought that, you know, being who La Abuela lives are definitely my brand, and I thought I would bring a framework inspired by leadership, inspired by change management and and coaching, which has been my background and really distill that information for people so that it can be easier for them to achieve their goals.

00:04:48:04 - 00:05:11:04
Speaker 2
And what I found is that when you achieve your goals, that you're actually transforming into your best self along the way. And so that's what really inspired me. I was doing it through coaching. I figured I can share more share, spread the message for people to be also, ooh la la la la along the way. And so that's really what inspired me to do it, to write that book.

00:05:11:05 - 00:05:41:11
Speaker 1
Well, and I love the term. Ooh la la la. Ooh is where a lot of people get stuck. You know, it's like, oh, mistake. Oh, what's going on? But your book is structured around three distinct phrases. One is awareness. One is readiness and adoption. So in the 25 years that you've been coaching, consulting, what have you observed about people who skip any of those phases sprayed?

00:05:42:12 - 00:06:17:07
Speaker 1
What happens when someone tries to jump straight to action without proper awareness or readiness? Now there's I want to make us comment here, as many of my listeners know, on LinkedIn is a very big area for us where we attract listeners and Richard Branson posts there a lot. Now there's a man who's been through a lot and he wrote a letter to his younger self and his wife recently passed after being married, I think 45 or 47 years or whatever it was.

00:06:17:22 - 00:06:50:00
Speaker 1
And he's actually giving people insights into what it is like to be an entrepreneur to go for your goals. And he wrote this letter. And, you know, a lot of people may not know this, but he's extremely dyslexic. He was he had lots of problems. And he is revealing a lot about himself. And I think that's something that in these three phases, because you're writing this book to the person who isn't like this big executive, it's anybody, right?

00:06:50:01 - 00:07:01:06
Speaker 1
It's anybody striving to reach their goals. So let's talk about if they skip a step, what do you think the challenge is, are when you skip a step?

00:07:02:01 - 00:07:17:21
Speaker 2
Yeah. And if you don't mind, Greg, I'd love to go back to maybe the origin story of Ooh la la. Just to give her a bit more context before we dive into the step. So. Ooh, la la. You know, started when I first came to America. People realizing I'm French, like you said with my accent. That's easy, right?

00:07:17:21 - 00:07:36:16
Speaker 2
They would say, Oh, you're French. Ooh la la. And at first I didn't really, you know, it was more of an amusing phrase on anything else. But then employees, when I say working, you know, corporations starting to use it as a mark of excellence. And so they would say instead of saying, did I do a good job, they would say, Oh, is it ooh la la.

00:07:37:03 - 00:07:54:13
Speaker 2
And so I would start giving away some ooh la la, as if it was something really well done. But then if it was not quite there, I would say, you know, it's all LA you on the way. Oh like if it's ooh. Meaning you, you know, we're pretty far from where we need to be. So that started to become a mark of excellence.

00:07:54:13 - 00:08:18:18
Speaker 2
And then what I found out when I was starting to do business coaching is that it really mirrored the phases of transformation that you are seeing are a bit earlier, Right? Oh, is that phase of dissatisfaction? I know that something needs to change. You'll either be transitional where I'm starting to take action, but I'm not necessarily seeing the results of my action or I'm still lacking confidence.

00:08:19:08 - 00:08:44:12
Speaker 2
And then, ooh la la, you're really in flow. You're really like executing on all cylinders. So that gives you the two la la, you know, framework, if you will. And I realized that people were not necessarily not achieving your goals because of lack of talent, but they were maybe uncertain how to navigate these phases from where they are now to where they want to go.

00:08:44:19 - 00:08:55:19
Speaker 2
And so that will allow a roadmap that's in the book is really to provide that structured roadmap to navigate that uncertainty, trying to achieve goals. Does that make sense?

00:08:56:01 - 00:09:16:14
Speaker 1
Yeah, I think you have to look at it in uncertainty is a is an issue, but even more importantly is knowing what goals you want to go for. Look, if you work inside a company and they have a mission statement and a purpose statement, you have your own and there's got to be alignment. Right. And you know this because you worked in big corporations and you would see it.

00:09:17:01 - 00:09:37:05
Speaker 1
And sometimes there's a misfit for people, right? And then there are other times when you have to learn to work as a team to strengthen those skills, to be able to reach those goals together. And you coach so many people over the years that we're working in big teams, right? That's what you did.

00:09:38:11 - 00:10:07:11
Speaker 2
Exactly. And you know, that ties to your question about awareness, readiness and adoption. So what I did is because I had these or frameworks in change management coaching leadership, but ooh la la Roadmap is inspired by that awareness, readiness and adoption that we use in large organization when they are going on their largest transformation project. Now what I find is to your point, people maybe want to skip some phases or go a bit too fast and jump into execution.

00:10:07:23 - 00:10:43:14
Speaker 2
What happens then? So take awareness, right? Awareness is really where you start defining your purpose, your why, your vision, right where you want to go right, and really establishing that solid commitment, right, to go a long way. And so if you try to maybe skip that step, what happens many times is that you're not going to have those solid foundation to carry you all the way or if your purpose is not fully aligned with your own values, you're building something that really belongs to somebody else.

00:10:43:14 - 00:10:56:01
Speaker 2
Definition of success. And sooner than later, you're going to. Probably what I find people is that they give up a lot sooner because they realize they're climbing the wrong ladder of success but not really aligned to them.

00:10:56:18 - 00:10:57:00
Speaker 1
Right.

00:10:58:02 - 00:11:22:23
Speaker 2
Readiness. So readiness finger a like you know, in the book I take the analogy of astronauts that's going on its mission. Right. And so readiness is like equipping your rockets. Right. So you have the right plans to actually see your journey through to your goals. It's the planning. A lot of people don't want to spend time or being disciplined enough to really plan your way to your goals.

00:11:22:23 - 00:11:56:10
Speaker 2
But it's also some important questions about who's going to be on the journey with me, who's going to support me. Right. And maybe what kind of a skills or attitude should I be upgrading before I go on my journey or along my journey so I can be very successful? And so if you skip that readiness phase, what happens too is that you are unnecessarily building a lot of potential obstacle that's going to going on your way or not being fully ready to actually face was obstacles.

00:11:56:17 - 00:11:57:01
Speaker 1
Right.

00:11:58:17 - 00:12:24:17
Speaker 2
And then we get to adoption, sort of people might jump into the execution phase. However, what I find too, is that a lot of people may be actually stuck in awareness and readiness a little bit too long, waiting for that perfect moment to actually execute. And so, in fact, like in this analysis, paralysis and wait for that perfect moment before actually executing So that's why I take people on this journey of awareness.

00:12:24:17 - 00:12:39:09
Speaker 2
Readiness. Adoption is actually a you can go fast in the wrong direction or you can really move intentionally into the right direction. And that's why I try to help people and guide them along the way to avoid some of those mistakes.

00:12:40:02 - 00:13:03:03
Speaker 1
Well, I think what you do is so important and and, you know, I can actually kind of visualize you with your clients, whether they're entrepreneurs or they work inside of a company. You know, we all wrestle with achieving our goals and our aspirations and and having a plan behind them and sticking to that plan and all the kind of things that it takes.

00:13:03:03 - 00:13:33:03
Speaker 1
I think the perseverance to reach that goal right. And, you know, you open the book with a powerful story about Michelle. She was the store manager who saw leadership potential. You saw leadership potential in before it. She saw it herself. You know, in today's world of constant external validation through the social media, the likes, how do you help people distinguish between discovering their authentic power, which we were just talking about?

00:13:33:10 - 00:13:54:24
Speaker 1
This would be their purpose and their own mission and seek versus versus seeking approval from others. And I think that's what I go back to this thing with Richard Branson. He said he never was seeking the approval from other people. He was always kind of standing on his own and he and he knew that right from the beginning.

00:13:55:02 - 00:14:15:24
Speaker 1
He had all these challenges learning, but he was a risk taker. And now they want to talk about that a bit, because when you coach people to reach their goals, you you you know, do you want them to reach just a little bit beyond what the goal is that they can reach? Or do you want them to actually kind of go into the comfort?

00:14:15:24 - 00:14:21:07
Speaker 1
Because I think this comfort is where people grow hoodie.

00:14:22:02 - 00:14:38:12
Speaker 2
And I know if you bring the story of Michelle, the store manager, you know, it was one of those lollipop moments for me. I don't know if you heard of that, where you know, somebody will tell you something about super impactful for you, but they may not remember just a couple of days later, but for you, it's really meaningful.

00:14:38:12 - 00:15:01:20
Speaker 2
And the reason it was meaningful for me is because she really helped clear the noise and reflect to me what was already there, what I call about. But inner power, you know, sometimes there's a lot of noise or like maybe sometimes, you know, power is buried inside because self-doubt or the experiences that maybe you have that muddies your clarity.

00:15:02:01 - 00:15:27:14
Speaker 2
And so it's really about reconnecting people to their own signals, right, instead of listening to the noise out there. You mentioned social media, the likes. It's so easy to be distracted by maybe what other people want to see in you compared to what's really there. And so there's maybe some some key questions that I ask people. Three ways we need to go about it.

00:15:27:14 - 00:15:49:21
Speaker 2
One is to really like, observe yourself. Right? So when I say what I mean by that is what's what's your strength? What's really like gets you going all like mix, mix time, disappear because you're in flow. What challenges really excites you rather than, you know, drain you? So it starts to give you some clues to your inner power.

00:15:50:22 - 00:16:13:02
Speaker 2
However, sometimes it's so difficult to do because our greatest abilities are sometimes the hardest to spots because it comes natural to us, right? So I would encourage people to consult with their mission, with our mission control right window analogy of the of the rocket ships. So it's like.

00:16:13:13 - 00:16:34:22
Speaker 1
You said this a two times now and you said the noise. And I think for people to find that intuitive spot where they're listening to a higher power rate, it's like, look what you did. You worked for corporations all your life and broke out and did this. This wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Rafael and I commend you on that.

00:16:34:22 - 00:17:02:20
Speaker 1
And it takes a lot of courage and the point is, is that at some point you basically had to listen to a higher calling, a higher, you know, this this we cover spiritual stuff here. So whatever you people want to call it, the reality is you have to be in touch with that and there's no way you can get in touch with it until you calm down, slow down, get rid of the noise and actually listen.

00:17:03:04 - 00:17:14:02
Speaker 1
Great. And when you do, the signal is so strong coming from mission control that it's telling you to do this. Would you say that that's an accurate assessment?

00:17:14:17 - 00:17:36:01
Speaker 2
Definitely, yeah. And and giving you that space, Right. Listening like you're saying, you're right on. So you can listen to yourself. You can really ask some of those probing questions to your mission control, like maybe your colleague, your friends, your partners. Also, you can experiment, right? Do something a bit outside of your comfort zone. That's what you're mentioning earlier.

00:17:36:12 - 00:18:05:01
Speaker 2
It again, always data, always these. I'm going to point back to your inner power and allows you to be aligned. You know, those external validation is it's the likes, right. I think that inner power is really the alignment and I think that's maybe a self reflecting question that people can ask themselves is that if nobody claps, is this still going to matter?

00:18:05:06 - 00:18:17:17
Speaker 2
Right? When you think about your inner power and it's a good test to think about, you know, maybe if I don't need the like, so forget the likes, but still something that I'm really excited about. That's a good cue about you on your way to to finding your inner power.

00:18:17:17 - 00:18:45:18
Speaker 1
Well, you have this you have the book is it's got some models in it, right? And there's this C model in practice and you call this point A current reality, B vision point C constraints. I think that holds true for anybody going for a goal. What's my vision? What's my goal? How am I going to get there? What's my reality and what what's holding me back?

00:18:46:06 - 00:19:16:15
Speaker 1
So it's deceptively simple, but it's really profoundly effective. Could you walk us through a real life example from your coaching practice where somebody was stuck because they'd confused these three points or skipped one of them entirely and how did you create clarity around this for the person and module? This changed trajectory for them so that they could make that change anyway.

00:19:16:15 - 00:19:43:02
Speaker 2
Great. The ABC model was very simple and that's exactly why it's powerful. However, it needs to. It works when we have precision in it, right? So most people can be vague about the point. A What's my current reality? Sometime by fear of digging a little bit too much into, okay, this is where I stand. And sometimes there's some things to to overcome and space or point B right?

00:19:43:02 - 00:20:05:01
Speaker 2
We might romanticize it a little bit because it's like, Oh, this is my goal. This is where I want to go. But again, not being precise enough, what's going to happen is that we're trying to get the gap between point A and point B, and so if it's fuzzy, it's going to become very impossible or very difficult to navigate and understand how to get from A to B.

00:20:05:01 - 00:20:29:13
Speaker 2
And so an example is a clown that I work with. She wanted to continue to grow our business and she said a point was like, you know, I want more freedom. So that was not very precise. But when we clarified it, freedom for her meant she didn't want to depend entirely on a business, to depend entirely on her right.

00:20:30:01 - 00:20:55:02
Speaker 2
And so when we clarified a point, a role realized that she was very exhausted, very tired, she was trying to do everything yourself. Now, the real breakthrough came when we worked on point C points. She's like obstacles along the way, right? At first you don't really want to spend too much time in it. Like many people, she was just thinking of like, okay, we're was just going to be a list of problems.

00:20:55:02 - 00:21:18:01
Speaker 2
You know, I may not know what's going to happen along the way, but we, we when we explored it the right way, she starting to see it as an invitation for creativity instead of just risk management. It was like, what can I do to help me along the way? And almost like a design input to to her plan.

00:21:18:12 - 00:21:42:10
Speaker 2
And so constraints were on time and energy, right on time, energy spending to the business. So that led to some very powerful questions along the lines of what should you be doing in your business? What should you be delegating? Right? Sometimes these are some simple questions, but if you spend enough time on it, you can really get to some very good solutions.

00:21:43:17 - 00:21:44:04
Speaker 2
And that's why.

00:21:44:09 - 00:22:15:00
Speaker 1
I like the fact that you bring up managing energy, because one of the things that anybody has a challenge with because, look, we all can say we have the same amount of energy, but the reality is managing energy properly to be able to achieve your goal without going to burnout, Right, is really, truly quite a trick. And what I mean by that is and you've said this now four times, managing energy, energy, energy.

00:22:15:11 - 00:22:40:16
Speaker 1
And I think that's so important for people to hear because when you're in the zone, right, you're reaching for something and hopefully it's not too far out of your expertise. So that you're uncomfortable that you can't reach it. Right. I always remember the chart where it showed up. The middle of the graph was where you wanted to kind of stay in the zone.

00:22:40:16 - 00:23:05:08
Speaker 1
But if you went to the left of that graph and you really someone gave you a task that was just something way out of your comfort zone to be able to do you really burnt out versus something where you could reach a little bit and still do that and you feel accomplished, right? So speak with us a little bit about because this whole thing in this question is really managing energy.

00:23:06:08 - 00:23:27:20
Speaker 2
Exactly. Actually, in the book, I use the as of manager analogy, and it's kind of like the gears or the space suit that you're going to use. Right. So back to the analogy of astronauts, you should be in the zone where you're using a space suit, right? But this like really full of and so it starts at the bottom with slippers, right?

00:23:27:20 - 00:23:48:00
Speaker 2
So if you're wearing slippers, that's not the kind of activities you want to be on. You're not going to go very far in space with that. You have your standard gear. That's kind of the activities that should probably be, you know, dedicated or offshored. Then you have your secondhand years, your secondhand gear is the kind of activities that you used to do.

00:23:48:09 - 00:24:09:04
Speaker 2
You kind of grew out of it. It's time to really let go and maybe delegate to an assistant, somebody else in your business that can take care of that. So you can focus on those space suits, Right. Activities. These are the ones that you it's your higher value activities. How strange activities that's going to really be meaningful in your business.

00:24:09:04 - 00:24:24:07
Speaker 2
And that's what led, you know, that entrepreneur that I work with focusing on those activities that she should be really spending a lot more time on and figuring out what she should be dedicated to. Again, protect her energy on what's going to be most valuable for a business.

00:24:24:16 - 00:24:55:19
Speaker 1
I love your analogy. There it was. It was good From the slippers to the space suit in and managing energy. So look, you like to help people architect their future and I love your four step architecture exercise for envisioning the future. I think the key is to live in the now, but reach for that future point. Because to stay focused you have to be here and now.

00:24:56:06 - 00:25:26:10
Speaker 1
So many personal development books tell people to visualize success, but your approach is a little more tangible and detailed. What's the neuroscience and or the psychology behind the why this detailed visualization actually works? One And how do you help people who struggle to see beyond their current limitations? Now, I want to stop here for a second and add something.

00:25:27:09 - 00:25:59:20
Speaker 1
Some people are really good at visualizing and some people aren't. Okay? It's and you're trying to help the people that are listening right now who've always had a challenge visualizing that future. No matter how many affirmations they wrote, no matter how many things they see, they just couldn't see it in their mind's eye. What do you do, Rafael, to really help bring the vivid picture of the future for the individuals who are having challenges.

00:26:01:06 - 00:26:25:09
Speaker 2
That utility. Right. Greg saying that most visualizing is a size, maybe a vague or doesn't give you a lot of instructions on how to do this properly. And so you're not going to go into the details enough or bring the emotional component to it right. The brain doesn't really respond to vague but really responsible to lived experiences. Right.

00:26:25:14 - 00:26:46:06
Speaker 2
And so how do we start creating this in your mind for something? But you haven't done just yet? So that's why I came up with the architect exercise. And maybe because my daughter wants to go into civil engineering, I figure, you know how to do something that's like architect related, but it's really four simple steps that helps with creating meaning, right?

00:26:46:06 - 00:27:19:17
Speaker 2
So it starts with the foundation first. And the foundation are like your non-negotiable. What should be in your business? Maybe it's more freedom, spending more time with family, or maybe it's a revenue goal or what's the critical aspect that needs to be a non-negotiable? And on top of that foundation, then you build a structure. So think of a structure like the different areas in your life professional career, family, spiritual relationships, what needs to be true in those areas of life in your future?

00:27:20:22 - 00:27:38:01
Speaker 2
And then you dig into the details. So the details, it's like, where am I going to put the couch? What does the kitchen look like? If you think about like a house that you're building, right? So same thing for you is what does my daily routine is gonna look like? Who am I going to talk to every day?

00:27:38:01 - 00:28:09:03
Speaker 2
What are my interactions going to look like? And so it's really start building that more precise picture. And then the last step is embodiment or really stepping into that vision. I kind of like see this as a, you know, putting your VR goggles. Yeah. And really stepping into it and really visualizing it's your self. Now that's usually hard to do yourself because one, you're usually not going to push yourself enough with some of the detailed questions.

00:28:09:03 - 00:28:37:02
Speaker 2
Too many crystalize it. And two, you may not necessarily ask yourself some of those emotional questions. Try to bring the emotional attachment to your vision. And so this is where this is, where a guided exercise, which is where somebody like like me as a coach or the coach that you may have already can be very useful to, as was pointed questions, really dig deeper into that vision and ask you emotional state questions.

00:28:37:06 - 00:29:03:09
Speaker 2
Then what happens is that your brain stop believing in that destination being real, it becomes more familiar and less scary. And so you automatically going to start naturally. Your behaviors want to start getting or putting together some of the actions to get you to your goals. Right? And another thing happens is that now that you.

00:29:03:19 - 00:29:43:22
Speaker 1
If you don't mind me, but that visualization process of the subconscious mind is so powerful that Rafael's talking about. So from a neuroscience and psychological standpoint, the times I've had the breakthroughs and my listeners understand this, I work with a hypnotherapy test, I have a doctor that is a hypnotherapist, and when he walks me through and you do the work with your subconscious, you really realize how strong that subconscious is to actually help you create that reality.

00:29:44:08 - 00:30:14:01
Speaker 1
Whether it's through a surgery, you're going through or it's something that you want to visualize a good outcome for, you know, anything in life. Right? And I can tell you that the affirmations, statements that you create, I don't care if he is Claude or Chad or any of these, whatever you want to use, you can create as many visualization statements as you want and then record them in your voice and literally listen to them over and over again.

00:30:14:01 - 00:30:37:02
Speaker 1
And that's what I do. So I think for our listeners, it would help them to create that future they want. And one of the things that you do really well throughout this book, and I want to check in with you on this is you have this the ooh la la scale throughout the book as a constant, you know, check in tool.

00:30:37:13 - 00:30:55:17
Speaker 1
So for people listening and they pick up your book and they say, oh, okay, I got I'm in. Oh, but I'm not in LA LA yet. When should they be checking? How often should they be checking And what is this this check in on the ooh la la scale.

00:30:55:17 - 00:31:21:00
Speaker 2
Yeah. Great question. And the checking is not, is not a grading system. It's more about navigation instruments that you have along the way. So it's like a compass. And so it's really to understand or help you reorient when needed. So I really encourage people to check in whenever feels something feels off, not to score themselves, but to ask themselves, where am I right now?

00:31:22:07 - 00:31:48:05
Speaker 2
And in the roadmap that I use, well, you know, mindset and planning and navigating your journey. So all the different frameworks I use the tools scale against that to better understand where you are. An example I use in the book is the veto and victim response, right? That's part of the mindset and really helps you understand how do you respond to adversity.

00:31:48:15 - 00:32:15:03
Speaker 2
And so when challenges hit, right, we sometimes dip into the victim mode. That's kind of like complaining about it. Maybe I'm in denial and that's the that's the ooh phase, right? I shouldn't be there, but at least I recognize that maybe I might fall into that. And then to scale up, you know, it is without judging so much and awareness then helps you get into the other phase, which is the realization that I need to start taking accountability.

00:32:15:15 - 00:32:38:19
Speaker 2
And then you get into ooh la la, which is where you're choosing responsibility, ownership, you're learning, right? And so the scale is really to be used to recognize this sooner, and it helps build the habits so I can go back into ooh la la a lot faster. Right? You're not meant to stay in la la forever. I wish we did, but we all humans, we all imperfect.

00:32:38:19 - 00:32:45:15
Speaker 2
Right? So it's a good way to use. Okay. Where am I right now? Ooh, I'm dipping into. Ooh. I need to go back into ooh la la.

00:32:46:11 - 00:33:08:23
Speaker 1
When you talk about this in page 88, the Finding Your X Factor, the three question test. Mm. And you call Alex's X Factor. You use an example here, choosing what matters most. What are these three X Factor questions that people should be asking themselves to find their X factor?

00:33:09:19 - 00:33:33:12
Speaker 2
Yeah. So the X factor is tied to you. Maybe your flight dashboard rides part of the leading and lagging indicators. People love to measure lagging indicators. You know, that's like some of the more impressive stats, like, Hey, this is my revenue, the number of clients, the number of likes. But sometimes we shy away from measuring was leading indicators like the X factor of what's actually going to create that momentum.

00:33:33:23 - 00:34:03:23
Speaker 2
And so I give you example in the book and I give a lot of reference of me writing the book and how would I use this framework. So the X Factor for me was to put two right words on a page every day, right? That was my X factor. Now it's in simple because of course you read a book you need to write, but when you start on a project like this, with so many of activities, that could be a lot more exciting and fun, like, you know, I should be designing my cover of the book, right?

00:34:03:23 - 00:34:23:23
Speaker 2
I can spend a lot more time in outlining and think about all the stories, and the writing comes later because it's not as sexy or fun, right? And so but then if you don't do it, no book, right? So some of the free questions, simple questions to ask yourself is, one, what's the one action that is going to truly move the needle?

00:34:23:23 - 00:34:43:16
Speaker 2
Right? For me, if I don't write on paper, no book is going to be created, then if you put it a bit more, you can ask in other ways. If you skip that X factor, does everything else fall apart? In my case, yes. You know, if I don't do the cover design right now, it's not so much of a big deal.

00:34:43:21 - 00:34:47:15
Speaker 2
But if I don't put words on paper, no book is going to be created.

00:34:47:20 - 00:34:48:03
Speaker 1
Right.

00:34:48:19 - 00:35:07:06
Speaker 2
Right. And the final question, once you have a sense of what that X factor is going to be like, you know, if you're writing a book, it's writing. If you're coaching, you need to be in front of people and start coaching. You're doing podcasting, right? Greg Like if you're not having meetings that you're recording like we're doing today, you're not going to have a podcast, right?

00:35:07:15 - 00:35:12:06
Speaker 2
You spend time researching mikes and all these things, but I'm going to solve your problem.

00:35:13:21 - 00:35:45:12
Speaker 1
Does what's switches these talking about the distractions And one of those things, you know, you have a great page 148 for the listeners he has the lift off are you in the driver's seat? And I think one of the things that should be talked about, again are the seven forms of leverage, okay? And leverage is really, really important for people to include others to reach their goals.

00:35:45:12 - 00:36:12:20
Speaker 1
So it's people's energy, it's knowledge, it's money and success, it's failures, ideas, it's contacts. So for somebody who's reading your book right now, who or is going to pick the book up, who feels like they're doing everything alone, right? And I think that's a lot of people today, they this loneliness epidemic is really, truly an issue. Okay. Where should they start?

00:36:12:20 - 00:36:39:15
Speaker 1
What form of leverage typically provides the fastest return on investment for somebody just beginning this transformation? Because this is it's a big issue today. People trying to do stuff alone and, you know, with the tools we have, I think people think that, oh yeah, I can do that on my own. I got a I.

00:36:39:15 - 00:37:03:24
Speaker 2
That's so true. And if that's why most of the people feel stuck is again, we're trying to do everything by themselves. And so I guess the two, the main one that I would recommend is the people's knowledge and people's energy. I say people knowledge because you can see of years, right? Asks Someone who's already walked your path, they can save a lot of potential problems that they had.

00:37:03:24 - 00:37:24:00
Speaker 2
They can share insights about what took well from them, what didn't, and you can learn a lot from them. So it's understanding who's been there, who's done that, can I create a connection with them and better understand where they've been. Then number two is other people's energy. So I say that because your time is probably your most important assets.

00:37:24:12 - 00:37:43:17
Speaker 2
And so the moment you free yourself from of course, low value tasks like we talked about earlier, right. Who else can help you, who can help you on this journey? And so you go from trying to think, what do I need to do to who else can help me do this? And probably better than I can do myself.

00:37:45:03 - 00:38:03:11
Speaker 2
And so what's important is fastest leverage, in my opinion, is using somebody who's already been there and finding somebody who's walked a path and use their knowledge and potential energy or recommendations for who can help you do this and help you along the way.

00:38:04:08 - 00:38:25:16
Speaker 1
Well, you just gave a perfect example yourself in your own transformation of using the Google and writing the book. You just said, Hey, look, I can get distracted and do the cover. But no, I've got to write words on the page. And I know when I have I have three books out there now. When I was writing books, it required that I time blocked.

00:38:25:16 - 00:38:56:07
Speaker 1
I said, okay, I'm going to sit down for 3 hours today and I'm going to write. And if nothing comes up, but I'm still going to sit there, I'm basically going to basically sit in and meditate first and then allow the words to flow through. And I think frequently writing is this thing about accessing this higher source, and that's a very, very important thing that you just revealed to people about your own experience with law and your own transformation, with writing this book.

00:38:56:16 - 00:39:30:07
Speaker 1
Was the dedication you made to writing it, to getting it out there right now. One of the things that you talk about in comes from your corporate days is this case for change. The from two statements, there are typically corporate change management kind of things. How do you adapt it for individuals who are reading this book and to transform themselves and is writing it down so critical versus just kind of thinking about it?

00:39:31:15 - 00:39:54:15
Speaker 2
You know, we talked earlier about awareness, the purpose, the vision. Right. Has to be very crystal clear. I think the case for change is a great way to help cement this and make it, again, a non-negotiable for you to just keep moving forward. Large organization, use it to understand, you know, where they're going from to what they're going to do for you as an individual.

00:39:54:15 - 00:40:22:17
Speaker 2
The reason I want to use it is that you have create your own personal manifesto, if you will, about your journey. What am I moving away from that is currently creating that discomfort? That's your from right. And what am I moving towards too? Which is what I want to achieve. And so every time you feel like you want to give up, maybe you end up and you're asking yourself some questions, right?

00:40:23:07 - 00:40:45:15
Speaker 2
Rereading, moving from this. This is the things that I don't really like right now that's really giving me discomfort and this is where I'm going. I'm going to be able to have this impact in the life of others. For example, you really need more than just a vision statement. It really shows you where that transformation is going to look for you right from where you are today to where you're going to to go to.

00:40:46:01 - 00:41:19:04
Speaker 1
When so many. Why excuse me, but why do so many change management projects in corporations fail? It's a very, very high failure rate and a very low success rate. And then why do you think it fails for individuals? Because, you know, look, a lot of people would like to change. They're saying, well, I want to lose weight or I want to go to the gym regularly or I want to save money for my kid's education or, you know, look, there's a thousands of goals we could put out there.

00:41:19:11 - 00:41:36:16
Speaker 1
And those are all about change, a change of a habit change of a behavior, change of a mindset to be able to get to where it is. Why do you believe that in teams and corporations it fails? And why do you believe in individuals? These fails after all these years of doing this work?

00:41:37:03 - 00:42:04:21
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think it's the same answer as one word, and I'd say alignment. And so incorporation is the misalignment with leaders between leaders and a transformation. So sometimes that case for change or that vision is kind of underplayed in organization. Yeah, of course, this is what we're going to do. Makes sense. We assume alignment, but then when we get closer to actually execution, this is where all the concerns are, right?

00:42:04:21 - 00:42:30:09
Speaker 2
We finally realize, Oh wow, it's getting real here. And then that misalignment or not really digging deeper into what makes sense for everybody starts to create a concern on the back end. So same thing with individuals. Now you're not we have like a bunch of different leaders across different functions. It's alignment with you on goals, alignment between understanding where you are currently and where you're going.

00:42:31:01 - 00:42:57:18
Speaker 2
And usually it ties with, you know, you you might I mentioned like some of the fears that people have. Sure, people have some fear of failure, but I think more importantly is the feel of success is because being successful changes you. It changes every bit of your identity. Right. New relationships, new expectations, new ways of doing things. And if you're not fully aligned about this is my current identity.

00:42:57:18 - 00:43:16:23
Speaker 2
This is what I'm going to become along the way. That's why I focus on that transformation rather than just go to achievement. You're transforming into somebody a different version of yourself and you have to be comfortable with that. Otherwise, any resistance obstacle along the way is going to let you go back to where you are today. That makes sense.

00:43:17:03 - 00:43:44:17
Speaker 1
And I want to mention you does make a lot of sense. And I want to mention that as you were talking about, the criteria for which you choose to measure success is important. So what I want to say here is success doesn't always mean making more money. It is is it measured? You need to choose carefully what the success criteria are.

00:43:45:03 - 00:44:09:03
Speaker 1
So in other words, if you're doing better for the world or you're helping people, or you're working for a nonprofit or you're or you're somebody who works in a hospital and you're helping people heal, whatever it may be, but you're not making millions of dollars doing it, Don't put yourself down for that. That actually is a huge contribution for you and society.

00:44:09:03 - 00:44:34:05
Speaker 1
And I think where you have to get your wins is from the internal, not the external, the internal fulfillment you get from what it is that you give. The internal fulfillment you get from what you give is really the key to all of this. And with that, I want to kind of some this interview up with this question.

00:44:35:12 - 00:45:07:05
Speaker 1
You know, this book shows a little man being launched with his suit. And this is a perfect launch moment myth. You're very clear that people will never feel 100% ready before launching. That's the fears. Okay. For the listeners who are waiting for the perfect moment to start their business to write their book or make life change, what would you say to them right now?

00:45:08:03 - 00:45:33:23
Speaker 1
Today is January 20th. To say that this is actually the perfect day to begin. From from Rafael's standpoint, look, one of those days you woke up, you said, Yeah, I've got to write this book. I got to get going. I got to start. You mean you could probably go back to that day that you sat down with pad and tensor in front of your computer or whatever you did and started to write this book.

00:45:34:08 - 00:45:59:08
Speaker 1
And then you questioned afterwards, Oh, my gosh, after the third or fourth day. Oh, am I doing the right thing? Is this Oh, my gosh, I got a long way to go. I don't get it. So what would you say, Rafael? Because you're very encouraging guy to all the men and women and people that are listening today to say, hey, this is the perfect day.

00:45:59:08 - 00:46:24:00
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think it's simple Answer is today's the perfect day. You people wait for perfect moments. But those moments are in the future. That imaginary. And you need reality, which is today. And what you find is that you don't stop because you have all the answers lined up. Yes, there's some planning involved, but you want to help anticipate some obstacles, but you're not going to get everything perfect.

00:46:24:00 - 00:46:47:19
Speaker 2
And so you realize that the you start that's why you need to start today, because then the answers will find you. You know where I started to write the book? That was November 16, 2024. I wrote it in the book and I had written 2000 words in a row. I was so excited. Right. But as you start and start taking action, this is where answers are going to come to you.

00:46:47:19 - 00:47:08:07
Speaker 2
You're going to realize, you know what? I was going to go in this direction. I'm changing this and that because it fits better. You can't plan that ahead. And so, yes, adjustment will happen midflight, but it's very hard to correct a plane or a spaceship, Right. That never leaves the ground. So you have to give the ground first and then trust that the answers would find you.

00:47:09:10 - 00:47:32:09
Speaker 1
And that's so true. And I think trusting, it's just like in mission control. The people on the ground were ready for you to take off. Right. And you're being supported everywhere to complete this mission to get to the moon and return is your mission right? Let's say that's what it is. The reality is all the support systems are in place.

00:47:32:09 - 00:47:52:21
Speaker 1
And if you feel that, then you should launch. You can't just keep checking boxes at some point you have to to launch. And it doesn't mean that you're that your mission is going to also be a success. They can be failures the way and I think you need to be prepared to know that they're there. But that's what builds your strength.

00:47:54:05 - 00:48:02:24
Speaker 1
And it's really about getting up after that mission failed and keeping going afterwards. That's really, really important. Would you say that's true?

00:48:03:19 - 00:48:07:00
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I said exactly.

00:48:07:00 - 00:48:36:19
Speaker 1
So, Rafael, it's been a pleasure having you on Inside Personal Growth today. For all of my listeners, here's a book you can see my bookmark in it. There it is, B la La by Rafael Peralta. And it's achieve your goals and transform into your best self and you know I'll say the the little charts and graphs and things that he's got in here are just so very graphic in nature to help.

00:48:37:01 - 00:48:56:12
Speaker 1
I mean, you can probably just look at one of them and it'll give you all kinds of ideas. So I would say go through the book. He's also got it certain areas where they're grayed out versus it just being white Pages. It's a very well-designed book. Go get a copy on Amazon. You can go to his website, learn more about him.

00:48:56:12 - 00:49:07:08
Speaker 1
The book highlights, you can buy your copy there. You can go directly to the show notes below and pick up a copy through Amazon. Any last parting words now?

00:49:07:08 - 00:49:18:15
Speaker 2
Thank you so much, Greg. It's a pleasure to be here. I'd say to people out there, just don't hesitate, you know, get excited about your vision and get started. So Bula LA, that's my parting words.

00:49:19:04 - 00:49:30:06
Speaker 1
And I'll say, Ooh la la to everyone out there today. Ooh la la. Go for it and get a copy of this book. Now, Mr. to you, thank you so much for everything that you've done.

00:49:31:00 - 00:49:31:22
Speaker 2
Thank you so much, Greg.