Young and Profiting with Hala Taha (Entrepreneurship, Sales, Marketing)
Dr. Jeff Spencer, Ultimate Goal Setting to Win Big | Human Behavior | YAPClassic
Fri, 20 Dec 2024
At seven years old, Dr. Jeff Spencer made a promise to himself to become an Olympian. Despite struggling financially, he achieved that dream at 21, representing the USA in cycling at the 1972 Olympics. But that was just the beginning. Today, Jeff is one of the most sought-after performance coaches in the world, having mentored icons like Tiger Woods, Sir Richard Branson, and Bono. In this episode, Hala and Jeff chat about why success is both a path and a process, what a R.I.G.H.T goal is, the importance of knowing our blind spots, the stages of performance, and the Champion’s Blueprint. In this episode, Hala and Jeff will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:10) From Tragedy To Triumph (06:20) What Makes High Achievers Different (14:40) Aligning Mind, Body, and Soul with the Right Goals (18:30) Spotting Risks and Avoiding Failure (34:20) Why Your Impact Starts Now (40:10) How Adopting His Daughter Transformed His Life (51:40) Preparing With What You Have (58:15) Performance Stages of Success (01:02:10) Secrets to Profiting And Winning Big Dr. Jeff Spencer is a former Olympian, team member of eight Tours de France, renowned chiropractor, international lecturer, and Life Coach. Jeff is one of the world’s leading experts on elite performance and has worked with athletes, leaders, and CEOs including Tiger Woods, Richard Branson, Vice Admiral David H. Buss, and many others. Jeff is also an author of several books including, Turn It Up! How to Perform at Your Best for a Lifetime. Connect with Dr. Jeff: Jeff’s Website: https://www.drjeffspencer.com Sponsored By: Rakuten - Start all your shopping at rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today Airbnb - Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/host Mint Mobile - To get a new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/profiting Found - Try Found for FREE at found.com/profiting Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at youngandprofiting.co/shopify Indeed - Get a $75 job credit at indeed.com/profiting Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap Youtube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new All Show Keywords: Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship podcast, Business, Business podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal development, Starting a business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side hustle, Startup, mental health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth mindset. Human Behavior & Psychology Psychology, Mindset, Habits, Positivity, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Human Nature, Human Psychology, Critical Thinking, Robert Greene, Chris Voss, Robert Cialdini Career & Entrepreneurship Success, Entrepreneurship, Productivity
Chapter 1: What inspired Dr. Jeff Spencer to become an Olympian?
Chapter 2: What are the characteristics of high achievers?
And I do want to get into the tools and the ticks tricks of the trade that you use to help winners get to the top and stay on top. But before we do that, I did want to learn more about your personal journey. So let's go back to when you were seven years old. You had a natural talent for riding a bike and you knew you were going to be an Olympian.
And by age 11, you made a deal with yourself that you would work for the next 10 years to accomplish the goal of being an Olympic cyclist. You ended up achieving your goal at age 21 when you competed in the 1972 Olympics, but it was totally against all the odds because you grew up pretty poor and most Olympic athletes have financial support to fund their dreams.
So take us back to your teenage years. What were you like? How did you stay on track with your lofty goal? And what inspiring stories can you share about accomplishing your Olympic goals?
Well, first and foremost, I got the self-start gene. I don't need any motivation whatsoever. I just get up and I make things happen and I show up every day and I faithfully execute the one or two things that have to go right to move me forward. And that's the way that I've always done it. And it's always served me really well.
So that would be, you know, first and foremost, you know, the other side of this as well is that, you know, I had three amazing angels in my life that made up for the lack of mentorship that I got at home because my father was virtually a non-entity as was my mother. They certainly didn't get in my way, but they were not there to support me.
So I was really lucky I had an amazing cycling coach that actually chose me. to be able to train with his group of Olympic champions and world champions. And I was like 11 and they were like in their mid to late 20s. I mean, they were the top of the pile. And he said, you know, winning is a learned skill and I want to teach you that skill.
And I want you to be around the conversation you need to listen to now so you know exactly what it's like. And if you have it within you to be able to become this, then our conversation will awaken something that's already within you to be able to make that happen. which it did 10 years later.
I just had amazing mentorship and I had people say the right thing at the right time to naturally harness my abilities to be able to manifest that first and foremost goal of mine.
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Chapter 3: How can we align our mind, body, and soul with our goals?
That's super cool. Why do you think they saw so much potential in you? I mean, you were just 11 years old. Did you have great natural ability? Was it just your mindset? Why did they take a liking to you, you think?
I think it was everything, actually, because I was a self-starter. I'd show up on time. I didn't need to be told anything. I would always show up well-prepared. I would work really hard. I would ask really good questions. I was always respectful of the opportunities in front of me. And, you know, also I did have the physical ability to do this.
You know, there has to be a blend of mentality, being able to stand in front of leadership, to be able to take constructive criticism and advice, to be a student of the discipline, all of those things I naturally had. And that endeared them to me to be able to share with me what the secrets that they used to become the standout performers that they were.
And I deeply appreciate their acknowledgement of that within me.
Chapter 4: What are the risks to consider when setting goals?
Yeah. So something that I want to touch on is the fact that you grew up pretty poor and that must have been difficult when you were trying to accomplish this goal, because I could imagine that it costs money to fly places. It costs money to stay at hotels if you're competing. So talk to us about how you kind of scrapped through, even though you didn't have the financial means.
Well, I never saw that as a limitation. I actually saw that as an opportunity and a strength because I saw the other people put way too much confidence in their equipment. You know, staying in the best hotels, you don't need a fourth season to become an Olympian. You can sleep anywhere. You just have to decide you're going to show up and get the job done.
So I actually felt that I had a huge advantage in not having the financial means to do what other people did, I was able to find a way forward. And because of my natural verve and my natural enthusiasm, people were really willing to be able to support me in ways that I couldn't support myself.
Yeah. So I read that you actually had two mentors when you were growing up. So the first one was your cycling mentor, and he helped you become an Olympian. And you also had a second mentor, which was sort of like a Renaissance man that you met when you were 18. So tell us about the later mentor that you met who was more of a Renaissance man and what he taught you.
Well, I met him through a very interesting series of coincidences. Ha ha. I think it was very deliberate and it was providence actually. And he chose me. I was an athlete. Um, first and foremost, I had Olympic ambitions. I was well on my way to becoming an Olympian.
And he chose me to be his apprentice because he developed a whole new type of art glass sculptor, but he hadn't found anybody that he felt that could be trusted with supporting him and creating his masterpieces, but he chose me. And it wasn't because of my artistic ability, but I did have a lot of artistic ability because my father And my mother were both extraordinarily creative.
But the most important thing that that mentor showed me, he was 76 and I was 18 at the time. So it's a very unlikely pairing. But during our lunches and during our breaks, what he would do, he would read poetry to me. He would read the great philosophers. He would share with me classical music. He said, I need to fill you up on these other aspects of life.
And he was correct because I had the ability to be able to absorb that. And because he brought the heart and soul to my athletic prowess, I now had these two other assets that just made me a better performer in every way possible. So that was the incredible brilliance and opportunity that he brought to me, the finer points in life that I certainly did not have access to otherwise.
Yeah, well, that's super inspiring. So today you are one of the most prominent mentors in the world. So you've coached greats like Tiger Woods, Richard Branson, and you've been lovingly dubbed the corner man. So I'd love to understand how you got that name and tell us a bit about the work that you do with your clients.
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Chapter 5: How does personal transformation impact success?
Yeah, I totally agree. So I want to switch gears a bit. I read that your dad was a genius that died homeless on the streets of New York City. And the last time you ever saw him was when you were 13 years old. So you guys obviously had a totally different type of life and made different decisions and choices.
So talk to us about your father and what example that he like, what did you learn from his story? And how did you then apply that in your life?
Well, I mean, it's always a tragedy when you have a genius that can't manifest their genius and lives the life of desperation and dies really being a statistic and an example of what you should never be and what you should never emulate. I mean, that's tragic in and of itself and certainly a great loss to me as well. But the real take home from this is that he was missing two things.
Number one, he did not have a roadmap that showed him where he was and what that meant and what to do to be able to move forward towards next. And if we don't have that roadmap and we don't have the second part of this, the sound counsel that can help us interpret the reality of what it is that we're facing and considering, because a lot of the things that we believe to be true aren't.
and we can't make them take us to where we want to get to. By design, they can't do that inherently anyhow.
So therefore, two things, there has to be sound counsel in your life that can help shortcut your learning curve to eliminate the risk of succumbing to preventable problems, but also having a state of readiness to recognize and seize opportunities that could exponentially catapult us towards our bigger future.
And then there also, again, there needs to be a roadmap that can identify where we are in process so that we don't misinterpret things as being something that they're not. So, for example, in any highly aspirational goal, there's always a segment in the pursuit of that goal I call the daily grind. It's going to be hard. It's going to be really hard. You may actually find yourself wanting to quit.
And you may actually unfortunately talk yourself into it one step before you have your breakthrough. But if we think that there's not supposed to be hard because it means that there's something wrong with us, that we couldn't make right decisions, or we chose it on the other side, that's complete mythology.
But we wouldn't know that unless we had someone that really knew what the process was, because
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Chapter 6: What is the Champion's Blueprint for success?
Chapter 7: What does it mean to have the right goals?
And I want you to be around the conversation you need to listen to now so you know exactly what it's like. And if you have it within you to be able to become this, then our conversation will awaken something that's already within you to be able to make that happen. which it did 10 years later.
I just had amazing mentorship and I had people say the right thing at the right time to naturally harness my abilities to be able to manifest that first and foremost goal of mine.
That's super cool. Why do you think they saw so much potential in you? I mean, you were just 11 years old. Did you have great natural ability? Was it just your mindset? Why did they take a liking to you, you think?
I think it was everything, actually, because I was a self-starter. I'd show up on time. I didn't need to be told anything. I would always show up well-prepared. I would work really hard. I would ask really good questions. I was always respectful of the opportunities in front of me. And, you know, also I did have the physical ability to do this.
You know, there has to be a blend of mentality, being able to stand in front of leadership, to be able to take constructive criticism and advice, to be a student of the discipline, all of those things I naturally had. And that endeared them to me to be able to share with me what the secrets that they used to become the standout performers that they were.
And I deeply appreciate their acknowledgement of that within me.
Yeah. So something that I want to touch on is the fact that you grew up pretty poor and that must have been difficult when you were trying to accomplish this goal, because I could imagine that it costs money to fly places. It costs money to stay at hotels if you're competing. So talk to us about how you kind of scrapped through, even though you didn't have the financial means.
Well, I never saw that as a limitation. I actually saw that as an opportunity and a strength because I saw the other people put way too much confidence in their equipment. You know, staying in the best hotels, you don't need a fourth season to become an Olympian. You can sleep anywhere. You just have to decide you're going to show up and get the job done.
So I actually felt that I had a huge advantage in not having the financial means to do what other people did, I was able to find a way forward. And because of my natural verve and my natural enthusiasm, people were really willing to be able to support me in ways that I couldn't support myself.
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Chapter 8: How can we prepare effectively to achieve our goals?
So I thought this would be a great place to start. Why is success both a path and a process?
Well, it's actually, it's to learn behavior. And all of the prolific achievers of history have always taught us what to do when, if we're a good observer of what that is. And many times what they're suggesting is contrarian to pop culture. So for example, in pop culture, it's like, well, just get started, fail fast. Well, I'm not so sure you want to do that.
I think there needs to be a basis of readiness that's appropriate. that reduces the risk of a premature stall because, I mean, if you fail too fast too early, you may think you're not capable of doing it. It's just that you were too quick to make a judgment on something that wasn't true.
So I really feel like there's so much mythology that surrounds the conversation of really how is it that we get from concept of greatness and manifestation to the actual three-dimensional manifestation of what's actually possible. And so the champion's golden rule is do the homework and the test is easy, meaning that first you prepare and then you perform.
A lot of people think, most people are dismal about their preparation. They start way too fast, way too unprepared. That sets themselves up for unnecessary failure or lack of confidence in self. So I feel first and foremost, we have to recognize the fact that Anytime we have an ambition of any sort, the first thing you always want to make sure that you do is prepare well. Don't kid yourself.
Make sure that the way that I see it, what history has revealed, is that there's five important steps that we should go through to make sure that we're properly prepared before we even start pursuing the goal, which would be the second half of that.
Yeah. It's, it's funny. I'm smiling because what you said reminded me of what up and coming podcasters often tell me. I'll talk to them and they'll say, oh, well, I don't study for interviews. I just wing it. And I'm always thinking like, how, like, how do you think that that's going to go? Like, you're obviously not going to be successful if you don't prepare. Yeah.
I'm just like, well, no wonder you have 10 downloads.
You know, it's again, that's part of the mythology of this. I that surround our decision-making in terms of achievement. I mean, I think it's one of the most important disservices ever to listen to some of the advice out there because it can't possibly take you from where you are to where you want to get to. Just don't say it.
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