Mastering the Mindset
Mastering the Mindset
How To Be Successful in 2025
We all have the New Years Resolutions. We all have the goals set. They are big and they should be. Your plan is to make 2025 the best year possible. One of the mistakes we often make is we don't realize what it actually takes to make those goals come true. We don't realize that a change has to be made at the most basic level of who we are as a person and the small actions we take. We want to focus on the BIG things and the BIG goals, but we actually need to start with the small. Let's dive in. We need to hear this one.
Become a supporter!
Listen To My Music!
YouTube Channel
Make a one time donation?
VENMO
PAYPAL
CASH APP
What's up everybody and thank you for listening to Mastering the Mindset. My name is Darius Dodge and I'm an actor, hip-hop artist and fitness and life coach, and I'm here to personally help you train and improve your mindset so that you can, one, become the best version of yourself mentally and, two, gain focus and motivation to be able to take action and achieve the success in life that you want and deserve. Before we get started, please like and subscribe to my channel and at the end of this episode, if you liked it, please share it with a friend or a loved one or someone who would benefit from hearing this message. I'm so glad you're here and I'm ready to go on this journey with you, and that journey begins now. All right, and welcome back to another episode. Thank you so much for being here. Like I always say, if you are on YouTube, please go ahead and like and subscribe to my channel. If you are on a podcast platform, please leave a review. These things greatly help me out. Also, it will help me out if you could become a weekly or not weekly a monthly supporter of the show. You get to choose the amount. It can either be three, five, eight or ten dollars. It really helps me keep this thing going and, again, greatly appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Let's go ahead and dive in today. I'm glad y'all are here. I think this is going to be one you really need to hear, especially since I know we all have our New Year's resolutions kicked off and we're working towards being better in 2025. We got goals to achieve, we got things to accomplish, and I love that for you, for us, and today we're going to talk about how to be better in 2025, how to strive for greatness, not just in our goals and resolutions, but in several areas of life what you do, what you say, you say who you are, your thoughts, how to be great overall, and when I say great, I obviously don't mean perfect. Like I always say, there is no such thing as being perfect, and if you think that you're a perfectionist and that's one of the things that's holding you back join the club, welcome.
Speaker 1:I bet most of the folks who listen to this podcast would say that they're perfectionists. But our perfectionism, this need for that thing to be just right, for it to be perfect, is just a mask covering up a fear, a fear or a limiting belief. You say perfectionism when, in reality, you're afraid to put something out there for the world to see and they won't think it's any good. Or maybe you don't feel like you're good, or maybe they won't feel like you're good enough or that you're qualified enough to be doing it, or you're afraid of other people's opinions, afraid of folks not liking you. That's what's truly behind your perfectionism. So, not that.
Speaker 1:Anyway. I'm talking about striving to do the best, to be the best, and all the things you do in 2025 and all the things that you yourself can control. Because we can't control the weather, we can't control traffic, we can't control what the economy does, we can't control the stock market wars, who the president is, we can't control other people, and we wish we could control a lot of these things, but because if we could, it would take away uncertainty and to the brain, uncertainty is seen as a threat. The unknown is seen as a threat. Anxiety and fear is tied to the brain. Uncertainty is seen as a threat. The unknown is seen as a threat. Anxiety and fear is tied to the unknown. But what we can control you want to take a guess your thoughts. We can control our thoughts or, better yet, we could be better at controlling our thoughts. And I'm just touch on this briefly because I feel like I say this damn near every episode. But it's important, it really is. But, like I always say, you can't control your first thought, but you can't control your second thought and if you notice you don't like that first thought, you have the power to control that second thought and you have the power to start becoming aware of those thoughts that you don't want to be having. Ask yourself is this happening to me or for me?
Speaker 1:One of the things that I'm working on, changing my thoughts around, is electronics and computers and the internet and cell phones. And let me tell you what I mean, because I know that probably sounds like I'm paranoid about the government or something like that, but I can't tell you or even express to you how much things go wrong when I'm working on things, when I'm editing something, when I'm recording a video, when I'm uploading something, when I'm working on things, when I'm editing something, when I'm recording a video, when I'm uploading something, when I'm literally simply just trying to make a post on social media, things go wrong or don't work or glitch or mess up or freeze so damn much. I have lost full episodes because I started recording and for some reason that I have no explanation for my phone just stopped recording, just stopped. Never did it before, but just stopped. Had to record the whole thing all over again. Or I'll be trying to upload a video and it goes the slowest I have ever seen. It go Like over two hours just to get all the way to 99 percent uploaded, to tell me it's the wrong format, things like that.
Speaker 1:But imagine it happening so much that you feel like it's a guarantee that something is going to go wrong. And it's so frustrating and for a long time I'm thinking like man what is it? Is this the devil working against me? Is this God testing my faith? Am I not supposed to be doing this? What is it? So much anger and frustration around that? And lately I'm working on changing my mindset around that. I'm working on thinking different. Instead of saying all this stuff keeps happening to me, I'm telling myself all this is happening for me, that I'm meant to push through challenging things. I'm meant to have to figure things out on the fly. It's supposed to frustrate me. I'm supposed to go through all this now. So, as I elevate, as I make it to that next level, mistakes and problems are going to have higher stakes and I'm going to need to have a stronger mindset to be able to face challenges that come with bigger consequences. I'm telling myself that these things are necessary and that nothing great is ever easy, because I'm truly striving for greatness and I believe I will elevate to a bigger level. I am elevated to bigger levels. So again, all of this is happening for me. I just got to tell my mouth that, because I definitely don't keep it PG when I'm pissed off. But I have that power to change that.
Speaker 1:Second thought, that second word same thing with the way we talk to ourselves. If you find yourself talking really negative to yourself, okay, you said it Couldn't control it. But what you say next is what you can control. You can become aware of the negative things you say and start to speak more lovingly and more positive to yourself. So we can work on getting better at controlling that. Second thought we also are in control of the actions we take or the actions we don't take. We're in control and every action we take is getting us closer to or further away from that life we want. We have the control to change them. Is what you're doing right now getting you closer or further away from your goals and sitting and doing nothing that is action. You're sitting. You're watching TV still actions.
Speaker 1:Also, another thing we can control is how we speak to other people. You got a short fuse with folks and you end up giving a piece of your mind or you cuss them out or you talk bad to them. Yep, you've been this way for a long time. Maybe you get it from your mama or your daddy, maybe from growing up around certain people. But from here moving forward is something you can change, something you have control over. So the way we talk to ourselves, the actions we take or don't take, the way we talk to other people, also the way we treat people, these are things we can control. And these things are things I mean when I say we should be striving for greatness in constantly trying to get better and be better and I know the initial thought behind this might be to think about the big things, right, but really greatness when it boils down to it, it comes down to the small things. The small things are actually what add up to the big things.
Speaker 1:Are you waking up right away when your alarm goes off? Do you make sure to check off all the things that your daily plan, your to do list? Do you wake up and sit around on your phone for 40 minutes before you take actions towards your goals? Do you wake up and not make the bed? Do you have a morning routine?
Speaker 1:One of the things I've been challenging myself on is if I know I have something to get done, things I got to work on, stuff to check off on my to-do list and I just don't feel like doing it when you know you got things to do. You know you got things to do like go to the gym or write an email or clean the kitchen little things and big things when you just do not feel like doing it right now. I know you know what I'm feeling. I'm challenging myself to beat that feeling, to say you know what you expected. This. This is your brain pushing back, your brain wanting you to stay in your comfort zone. Your brain wants you to do nothing right now because that's what's comfortable. Your brain is telling you that you are too tired for this, when in reality, you did way more than this before. In reality, this ain't even that hard. Get it done, and I'm working on pushing through that because I know that's what builds discipline. That's what's going to be a momentum, because, think about it, if I push myself to take action when I don't feel like it and I still get it done, imagine what happens when I actually do feel like doing it. When I actually do feel like doing it, when I actually do have the motivation, that momentum is going to be built and I can ride that momentum Again.
Speaker 1:The small things in 2025, the small things matter because they compile over time, over years, and they lead to those big things, to the kind of person you want to become, to the habits you form, to the actions you take. The way you do one thing is how you do everything. Let me say it again the way you do one thing is how you do everything, and I can give you examples of myself, and I'm definitely not proud of these examples, but hey, I always keep it real with y'all and this is an area that I've definitely grown in and how I used to be a long time ago. But I used to have this thing where I would just ignore stuff and not deal with it, not acknowledge it, not talk about it, and I think that in the back of my subconscious, I just hope that the problem just went away. For example, the first time I got toe, toe toenail fungus and I say first because I used to play sports and share showers for football and at the gym and I didn't know about wearing flip flops in the shower. Back then it wasn't a thing, or at least it wasn't a thing that I saw. But had a toenail fungus, wasn't even sure what it was, saw the toenail change color and I just ignored it. I just let it get worse and worse and kept on keeping on, keep on, kept on, keeping on like it was just fine. Same thing with my teeth. I had a cavity. I felt the tooth changing, felt the pain started to get worse as time went on, but for whatever reason, I just ignored it. And honestly I don't know what that was.
Speaker 1:Immaturity maybe Is it a man thing where we just ignore our problems with our bodies and health? No idea. But I did it. Same thing with my car back then. Back then I could only afford cheap cars off Craigslist because I had bad credit, so it wasn't nobody going to give me no loan. And I would see the check engine light come on. I would feel the car drive different, I would see the oil stain where I park and I just didn't do anything about it, just ignored it. That wasn't good, obviously ruined the car that way, had to leave it on the side of the road because the engine locked up on me Couldn't drive it again.
Speaker 1:Not proud of any of that, but the way you do one thing is the way you do everything. Yes, making the bed right after you wake up. It's a small thing, but it's a small win for you by you doing this small thing, even though you don't feel like doing it, but you do it anyway. If you can do the little things, it makes you better at doing the big things. How are you doing those little things? What are the things you need to be better at? What small things should you be improving? And I know you got them. We all do, and the irony of it is we're really good at doing things for other people, for our job, but when it comes to ourselves, we tend to not give ourselves our best.
Speaker 1:Nobody's looking right. Unless somebody came in your home, they won't know that you didn't make your bed. They won't know that you didn't check off all the things on your daily plan, that you left those four dishes in the sink when it would have took you just two minutes to wash it. That you said you was going to work on that thing after work and you said that you would and you didn't. That you started working on that goal yesterday and you got distracted and only worked on it for 30 minutes. Nobody sees that, and I think this is the perfect time to think about all this, because it is the new year. How many times have you started a new year's resolution and you didn't finish it? How many times have you said you was going to lose weight and hit the gym and you ended up falling off? Or you said you were going to read one book a month and you fell off? Or you were going to be better at waking up early? Or you were going to meditate, you were going to invest in yourself, you were going to pick up this project, you were going to learn more.
Speaker 1:It's the little things that if you just focus on them and make sure that you do them and you strive for greatness while you're doing them, the more you do them, the more your subconscious will see, your brain and your confidence will see, it'll see you doing the things you said you were going to do and you'll have a better belief in yourself that when you set out to do the big things, like a new year's resolution, your subconscious will have seen you doing it and continue to show up for yourself, that you won't allow yourself to fall off because you haven't been falling off with the little things. You built up that habit of following through. You built the habit of showing up for yourself. Think about that friend and I feel like we all got that friend.
Speaker 1:But you go, do you go to do something? Or you invite them to things and every time you invite them, they cancel. Or you invite them to things and every time you invite them, they cancel. Or you invite them and they don't show up, and this happens over and over again. And you invite them and they end up not being there. Well, after a while you're going to stop inviting them or, if you do invite them, you're going to expect them to not show up. Same thing in your subconscious If you continue to not follow through with yourself, you won't expect yourself to follow through and your subconscious is either going to make you feel like you won't do it or you end up self-sabotaging yourself. Build up that trust in yourself Again.
Speaker 1:I'm not telling you to be perfect, but to strive to be better, to try and be great. So before I go, I got a question for you and I really want you to answer this. When I say greatness or striving for better, if all the things I just said were that you showing up for yourself, taking a small actions, you doing all the little things, if I ask you on a scale of one to 10, where you at what? Would you say Okay, now ask yourself, what is it costing you in your life by not being higher? Did you say you were at like a six, six and a half? What is it costing you by not being at eight and a half? What levels aren't you hitting? What is the future missing out on? Right, because you keep coming up short of all the little things. What is your family missing out on? What is the world missing out on? The little things add up. How are you showing up for yourself? How can you be better? What actions can you take and what are things you can't control, to make sure you are striving for greatness? And I know you got those resolutions. We all do and I'm glad you do have them.
Speaker 1:But before I end this episode, let me give you a stat, and it ain't a good one 88% of people who set New Year's resolutions fail, and not just fail, but they fail before the end of January. 88% of them fail before the end of January. That was a study done by Baylor College of Medicine, and they even note that a lot of people call the second Friday in January Quitter's Day because that's when most folks are most likely to give up on them resolutions. But the fact that you are listening to this kind of podcast means that you probably won't give up that quick, but the chance of you failing is still high. So remind yourself of this that 88 percent of people who set resolutions will fail. Will you be a part of that 88%? So that's what I got for you today. Again, thank you all for being here.
Speaker 1:We're going to ride out right now. Again, it would be greatly appreciated if you became a monthly subscriber, monthly supporter. You get to choose the amount. It can either be $3, $5, $8, or $10, and you can cancel at any time and it would be greatly appreciated. But let's go ahead and get to this music.
Speaker 1:The song we're ending on is Peak. Let's ride out. You know, sometimes you gotta remind yourself as you're climbing up to take a second and look down and see how far you came, enjoy the view and keep going. Uh, they telling me I got it. They tell me I'm the hottest. I don't even rap about money, drugs or violence. I'll be being honest, you know I'm still. I got it.
Speaker 1:She telling me I'm fly got me feeling like a pilot. She kept it first class and she sat by the pilot. I can't even front here. I told her I like the spirit and dealt her my phone number and now she be flying diamond and I'm feeling so excited because I'm going to get it popping. They done, let me in the gutter.
Speaker 1:I'm feeling so accomplished. I'm feeling like I'm closer to my peak. Feel like I'm closer to until I'm gone. Feel like when I'm alone, I'm in my zone and I feel like. Feel like I really should pick up a phone sometimes. I just need to be on my own. I need to call my daddy. I should call my auntie rip, my mama. That ain't how she raised me. I work so damn hard. The competition looking lazy. I work so damn hard. The competition better chase me. Okay, let's get it started.
Speaker 1:When it to rap, it's like playing a game of tag. I'm on this mic yelling, not it. I can't be touched. They whisper criticism can't be much. They probably jealous cause they can't keep up, mad cause they can't be us. I wish somebody would say that. I wish somebody would say that's whack, cause that? Go in the fire, get it.
Speaker 1:And speaking of Outro Music, we gon' celebrate, pour my cup, cheers to being overlooked, to being overbooked, but won't give up cause I got close, but I ain't close enough. It's time to hold my nuts and I got coconuts. I put my feelings on the page. They already read me like an open book. I should be endorsed by my feelings cause I wear them on my sleeve. So take a look at me and tell me what you see, cause I look in the mirror and I see a fucking tree started as a mustard seed. Oh yeah, and please excuse my long toast, I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast Not on Google Maps, but I know I'm getting close. I'm closer to my P. I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast Not on Google Maps, but I know I'm getting close. I'm closer to my P's. I'm closer to my P's. Outro Music.