Mastering the Mindset
Mastering the Mindset
You Don’t Need a New Life — You Need Today
Most people don’t fail because they lack discipline — they fail because they try to change everything at once.
In this episode of Mastering the Mindset with Darius Dotch, we talk about the power of winning the day. Not next month. Not five years from now. Today. This episode breaks down why focusing too far ahead leads to overwhelm, procrastination, and burnout — and how real progress is built one day at a time.
You’ll learn how to simplify your goals, stop overthinking the future, show up for yourself even on low-energy days, and build momentum through small daily wins. If you’ve been feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with your progress, this episode will help you reset and move forward with clarity.
Losing myself and finding my strength came to the conclusion that I want it all. Feeling that pressure of tryna do better. I wanna reach heights, but too scared to fall. Too scared of failure, way more scared of feeling regret. I'm not even trying, that's terrifying. I understand that chasing my goals, I bury my clocks because it takes time. I gotta go. I already know. If I wanna grow, you reap what you sow. That be the case. Planting my seeds and water my base. Yeah, I make mistakes. Yeah, I know you grow in your garden, but watch for the snakes. The people that act like you're crazy, but trying this, they fall away. They don't think it's possible, I think it's possible. That is just hate. If they hate themselves, cause they on the shelf. Why you create a life that you love?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:A life that you love. Loving the fact to improving yourself. Decided that you would not settle. Decided that you got the drive to do it. The road got bumping your foot on the pedal. You go up a level, you turn up whenever. It's time for you to go put in that work. I know my work, huh? I know what ain't gonna be easy, yeah. I know it hurt, but thing is for sure. Yeah. Until it put me in this earth. Before I ride in that hearse, chasing my goals. I'm chasing my goals.
SPEAKER_00:Loving the fact to improving yourself.
SPEAKER_01:Alright, and welcome back to another episode. Like I always say, thank y'all so much for being here. If you are on YouTube, go ahead and like and subscribe to my channel. Like right now, just take the two seconds that it'll take to just like it and subscribe to it. Also, if you are listening from a podcast platform, go ahead and leave me a review. These things greatly help me out. And if you could be a monthly supporter of this show, it would also help me out a whole lot. You can choose a monthly amount, it can either be three, five, eight, or ten dollars a month, and you can cancel at any time. But why would you ever do that? But let's go ahead and get started. And before I start this episode, I want to say a couple of things. Um, so for those of you who don't know, I am located in the Twin Cities, uh, St. Paul, Minneapolis area, and Minnesota. And I'm not sure if you have been paying attention to what's going on in the news and what's happening in Minneapolis, but ICE is here and they have murdered a couple of people. They are basically wreaking havoc in my community. And it's come to my attention that depending on where you are, depending on what your news feed is and what your news is that you get where you are, you may be getting some misinformation about what's truly happening here. I just want to be clear that wherever you are, I know I have listeners that are not in America, that are not in Minnesota. What's happening here is not right. It is not anything that is um what's happening here, what ICE is doing, they are lawless, they are being barbaric, they are being bullies, and they are doing whatever they want to to innocent people who are just expressing their rights as Americans, their freedom of speech, their right to protest. And so a lot of people in my community are rightfully going through a lot of mental damage. Mental damage is happening in my community now. So I just wanted to get that off my chest and speak on that because I understand that I'm getting more and more listeners, new listeners than I used to have. And I'm I'm noticing that there are a lot of them are not from Minnesota, from my area. I just wanted to put that out there that as I'm making this podcast, I also have this on my mind, and it is heavy on my mind, heavy on my heart. And right now, man, this episode is really a getaway for me. You know, it's a moment where I can kind of shut my mind off, or at least try to, and come on here and talk mindset and speak to my community that I've curated and try and make a difference the best way I can during these crazy, crazy times. Alright. Now that I said that, let's go ahead and get to it. Okay, so we are back with another January 2026 New Year kickoff episode. My goal with these first episodes of the year is to kick it off right, to set us up for the best possible start of this new year. I know we all got the the goals and the new year's resolutions and the things we want to be better at and the things that we want to change, the things we want to stop doing. And for those of you that's new to this podcast, first of all, first of all, welcome. And second of all, notice how I say we a lot, that we have New Year's resolutions, we want to change things, we want to be better at things. The thing about this podcast is I'm on this journey with you. I don't get on this microphone and pretend to be something. This ain't the kind of podcast where I'm on this, where I'm I'm I'm already this rich person and famous person, this celebrity, and I'm telling you how to follow my plan and do it the way I did it, and you'll be successful. Nope, I'm on this journey with you. I'm implementing these things I talk about in my life, the things I suggest are the things that I'm doing right now, and I've seen growth in my life for the better. And it's helped me find success and happiness and helped me change the way I think for the better. And I want that for you. And this episode is one of those reminder episodes, one of those episodes where I say things that you probably already know, or at the very least, it makes sense cognitively to you already. Like it's knowledge you already understand, and this is not about to be rocket science, but things that just need to be said. So it's gonna be a good reminder and it's also gonna be really, really simple at the same time, but really important. Because when it comes down to it, we all want the success. We all want the things to be different for the better in some way or another. And unfortunately, we overcomplicate things. We do. We overcomplicate things way more than we need to. If we didn't have our own fears and the limiting beliefs and the stories we make up in our head and the imposter syndrome and the procrastination, everybody who made the decision to go after some kind of success, they would all have it. Everybody. We would have anything we wanted in life. And having that dream and that desire to want more, that is amazing. I'm glad you have that. But you know what is the most important thing? Figuring out how to just win today. That's it. Figure out how you win today, not tomorrow, not Thursday, not next month. Figure out how to just win today. Let's say, for example, you want to make this big, beautiful garden, and you want to have it looking so beautiful and all the best looking vegetables. Well, what you wouldn't try to do is build it all at once. You wouldn't plant the seeds at the same time, till be tilling the dirt, and at the same time be building a fence around it, and at the same time be spraying pesticide. No, you would do it one step at a time. One step at a time, one row at a time, one seed at a time. And you go one thing at a time, making sure each step you take and complete is looking as good as you can until eventually you look up and you got your garden. And that garden is the metaphor to your life. And each seed, each row, each step, that's today. The only day you can complete you can complete at a time is today. Just when today. And that's it. Not five years from now, not next month, just today. And the thing we need to get better at, and I found this to happen when people start to work on themselves or work on goals. So you say, okay, this is where I want to be five years from now, and then you focus on that version of you five years from now. And it is good to have that vision, to have that goal, but the problem happens when all when that's all you focus on. And then that vision of you starts to paralyze you. We start to get obsessed with it, and it starts to get overwhelming because you think about all the things you need to do to get there, all the steps you need to take to become that version of yourself. And then we sit there and we try to figure out how to take five years worth of steps at a time. And of course, that's impossible. So what happens is we end up not working, not knowing what to do next. Because it's impossible, right? Your brain can't figure that equation out. So we end up being paralyzed, your brain starts spiraling, and it kind of just shut down. And I know we've all been there done that, not just with a goal, but just in life. You ever had so much to get done, and you look at all the things on your list, and it's so much, and then you look up and you didn't do anything, you didn't get anything done, right? Been there done that, that's what focusing on too much on the future can do. Don't let the thought of all the things you need to get accomplished to get to your goal be the thing that actually holds you back. Instead, all I want you to focus on is to zoom in. Don't think macro, think macro. I'm gonna think micro. Don't think macro, think macro. Don't think macro, think micro. I don't want you to think about the habits you need to form. I don't want you to think about your purpose. I don't want you to think about that five-year version of you. All I want you to do is to focus on how you can show up for yourself today, how you can get up in the morning and set your compass on showing up for yourself and being the best version of yourself today. I don't care about tomorrow, because today you might need to take the kids to soccer, and that's a different version of yourself than what you need to be tomorrow. Tomorrow might be your long day at work. That's gonna require a different need. You'll have to show up for yourself in a different way that day. And what I'm not telling you to do is to not have your daily plan, to not have things uh that you work towards the small wins, you want to be checking off the list, right? That will eventually lead to you being successful, because you still need to put in work on your goals every day, but understand that you can only win the day, not next week. Like for me, my Mondays are usually my day off because I'm an actor and that's the normal day off for theater artists, so I make sure that I show off myself in a completely different way than I would on a let's say a Saturday. My Mondays get dedicated to making sure I maximize my off day with things I need to check off my list and to make sure I take care of myself mentally, that I do things that are therapeutic for me. I hit the gym, um, I do a little bit more of a deeper clean than I normally do on a daily basis, and cleaning with music or a podcast or sports talk, right? Drink my coffee, right? Knowing that my day is all to myself and I can plan it like I want to. That is therapeutic for me. And right now is what's um a sport that I do is called Rolle Ball, it's roller ball season, and we play on Monday nights. And let me tell you real quick about Rolle Ball. It's one of the most fun things I do. So it's a sport and it's a combination of lacrosse, basketball, and hockey and bumper cars. Lacrosse, basketball, and hockey in bumper cars. So you ride around with these lacrosse-shaped brackets and bumper cars, teams of five, and you shoot at the basket on other end of the court, and it is fun as hell. I'm also in a kickball league, I'm in a softball league, I just went snowmobiling for the first time the other day. I like to go to state parks and hike in nature. All things that I do to make sure I have some kind of balance in my life, things that help my mental, right? It ain't just all work and work and hustle and putting in extra hours. I show up for myself in more than one way. So again, the way I show up for myself on a Monday is different than let's say a Saturday when I'm in a show. And let's say I have this particular, let's say this particular theater has two shows on a Saturday, right? One at 2 p.m., another one at 7.30. Well, even though I still got goals and things I'm working on, I understand that on this day, the best way to show up for myself is to, yes, still take actions towards my goals, but to also understand that I can't allow myself to get burnt out. To understand that I done I done been here, done this when trying to do too much in the same day. I've done this before, I've been burnt out. So now I plan for how to handle these Saturdays, right? But again, I focus on that day. That day, not that month. And by doing this, by focusing on winning the day, what you're not doing is chasing this long-term goal. You ain't chasing this new life, you ain't chasing this five-year version of you and all the habits you need to form to make that person come true in five years from now. What's happening is you are becoming that version of yourself one day at a time. So when you go to bed at night, think about what your day needs to be tomorrow, or like me, I do mine in the morning. So get up, understand what your day needs to be for you to show up for yourself the best way you can on this day. And when you get up and you do your morning routine and you write out your to-do list or your plan for the day, and you look at what you got going on for the day, keep in mind what you need to do today, and to just to be able to just win the day, to be able to show up the best way you can and to focus on that. Let that be your focus for the day. How can I win the day? And your intentions for the day are probably gonna change a lot. Hell, it might change every day. Here, and it probably should. Think of this as your compass for the day. You figure out what all you gotta do for the day, you figure out what small wins you need to have to take actions towards your goal, you write out your plan, and you understand, okay, how do I need to show up? What do I need to do to win this day and be the best I can for myself for this day? So you might say, okay, today I have a lot on my plate. I got deadlines I need to make. Time is gonna be tight for me. So today, you know what? I need to make sure that I'm hyper focused on keeping my focus. I gotta make sure that no matter what, I don't let myself get distracted. Or you might say, okay, you know what? Today is my off day. I had a long ass week. Today I need to just make sure I do at least one thing that makes me happy. I need to think about myself today and to do something that I enjoy. Or you might say, okay, so today is the day that I'm gonna have to do something that I'm really uncomfortable doing. Let's say you have to lead a presentation and you ain't really comfortable in front of groups of people or in front of your peers at work, and you say, okay, today it's gonna be uncomfortable for me. So I need to remind myself that this won't kill me. That by me stepping outside my comfort zone and recognizing that that's all it is, it's just a comfort zone. I should just focus on putting one foot in front of the other, embracing the fact that I'm uncomfortable, that if I get up there and I say all the words, one word after another, eventually it will be over, and I can go sit my ass back down. But right now, I'm gonna show up for myself and do this thing scared, and let that be your focus for the day. And again, it just might be a different thing every day, but set that compass for your day, that compass of how you will show up for yourself. And the last thing I'm gonna say is this look, again, we got goals, we got the resolutions, we got the habits we want to make, we also have the habits we want to break. And the reality of it is, yes, you will mess up. You're gonna have days that you fall back into that habit that you are trying to correct. You will fall back into not showing up for yourself one day. You're gonna look up and say, God dogged, I done did that thing that I said I wasn't gonna do. Or God dogged, I didn't do that thing I told myself I was gonna do. Or I didn't check off all the things on my daily plan that I wanted to. These days are still gonna come, we're human. Nobody can set out on a goal to make different habits or chase after a goal and be a hundred percent successful every day. That ain't possible. And we have to be conscious of the fact that every day just won't be the same. Your tomorrow and the way you feel with whatever it is you're gonna be navigating, it's probably gonna be different. So the way you're showing for yourself, even on days that you have that misstep, those are so important. And this is why it's important to have that compass set for the day. So when you get to a point where you feel like, man, I'm tired as hell today, or man, I feel overwhelmed with all the things with all the things I have to get done. If your compass is set, you can have that little reminder for yourself that hey, today I'm focusing on just taking small steps. So no matter what, I'm just gonna take this small step in front of me. I'm just focusing on completing something towards my goal today. I'm not worrying about trying to finish 50 things. Today is the day I'm feeling overwhelmed, so I got my compass set on just making some kind of progress, any kind of progress. Because again, the reality of it is we will have those days. You will have days where you just ain't uh you just ain't at a hundred. Nobody can be at a hundred every day. Don't expect yourself to be able to be at a hundred all the time. Don't set yourself up with that feeling like you ain't, like you failed the day because you was only able to show up at 75. Max out that 75. Set your compass, understanding that you only got 75. Don't try and get that 100-level work done if you only got 75 in the tank. And what's gonna happen is you're gonna start to get momentum. You're gonna show up with that 75 some days, some days it's gonna be 90, some days it's gonna be 100, some days it's gonna be 99. And what's gonna happen is you're gonna realize that some of the things that used to be the hardest ain't that hard anymore. You're gonna realize that the hard part is damn near the baseline for you now. You're gonna build up the habit of showing up for yourself, and eventually over time, over time, please don't think that this is gonna happen in a week, but over time, showing up for yourself is gonna become the standard. And the days when you ain't at 100%, it's gonna be so much easier to use that compass and still win the day. Just win the day. Not next Tuesday, not next month, not next quarter, win the day. This day. And you keep stacking those days, and you win the next day and the next day. Even if you get even if you only add 50 in the tank, a win is still a win. And you keep stacking them days, and eventually you're gonna look back and see progress. Because no matter what, if you take even the smallest of steps, like the bare minimum, you're still gonna see progress. You still won't be in the same place you started because that will be impossible. Now, what I'm not telling you to do is to only do the bare minimum in 2026. I'm not telling you that. But what I am telling you is to expect the days where you won't be at 100. And to still focus on winning those days too. Because those days are still important. Just as important. Because those days help you build up your momentum, build up your momentum. And when you do have the 100% days, you're going to be flying. So that's what I got for you today. Thank y'all so much for being here. Like I always say, man, please share this on your social media or with a friend or family member who you think would um benefit from hearing this message. Please become a monthly supporter of the show. I left links in the description to do so. You can choose a monthly amount. It can either be three, five, eight, or ten dollars, and you can cancel it anytime. But while you ever do that, let's go ahead and get to this music. The song I got for y'all today is called Flight to Chicago. Let's ride out. Look, lately been counting my blessings. I promise to help with the stress and reflecting. But I got a show in Chicago. Just boarded a plane. The TSA Age just told me good luck. They'll never say that I don't work the hardest. I made it a promise to me that if they don't feel me, I make sure they hear me. And that's why I'm turning shit up. Ayy, up like Delta, up like jump man logos. I'm up to dumb. Ayy it's it too windy. I don't need the bean, I need me a shot to walk up. Ayy, I need to be doing the dig. I don't do it standard, I do it to luck. Postin' for pictures don't open at night. I damp them put out a cup. I'm open they watchin', but not cause I'm cockin'. I wanna see me and how I ain't stopping. If you wanna keep up with me, you better be hungry or you gon' be eating my dust. Up like Rodin's, up like rebounds, up like my turn, it's on me now. It's take three now. I won't be brown. Yeah, I told you, I'm turning it up. Up like a flight, up like a flight. Up like a flight, I'm turning up like a flight. I touched down, we turning up like a flight. Up like a flight to Chicago Yeah, took a flight to Chicago, yes, I like Chicago before you live. I think we might have a problem because we some babes, and you tryna talk to me like we some cuz. Over the year, I putin' my blood and my sweat and my tears. In public can fill up the whole navy beer. I'm keeping my head above water, even though shit was a flood. Up like the big leagues, oh five for a series. I'm pullin' my white socks, uh black nose bleeds that wrigley, she let me hit her home. Uh uh's to hold my lip up, but I can't promise to hold my tongue. Ayy, but I'm in Chicago for work, I'm too focused. I don't have the time to have fun. I'm in the city with niggas be flexin' and pull out the gun. Taking the high, yeah, wanna get highest I possibly can. I'm my top of blood. Say no, I'm taking it serious, and that's on period. Like that's a time of the mud. Don't act like I turn my back. I can't help but that I'm in the front. Up like a flight. Up like a flight. Up like a flight. I'm turning up like a flight. I touched down. We turning up like a flight. Up like a flight to Chicago.