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December 28, 2020 25 mins

New Year's Resolutions don't work! It's proven time and time again. Occassionally you might get lucky but overall resolutions are simply a trail of disappointments. Paul Simkins, The Values Coach, talks about tools that leaders like you can use to become much more effective at achieving the things you want in the new year!

Plus, some great ideas for New Year's Eve party appetizers you can make on your smoker or grill! You can find all the recipes, and many more besides, on the Smoke and Ash Facebook group or by emailing paul@BoldlyLead.com.

You can get a copy of Paul's eBook 15 Innovative Ways to Show Employees You Care and Not Break the Bank by emailing him at paul@BoldlyLead.com.

Join the discussions at our Podcast Facebook group here.
Learn more about
Paul Simkins on his website.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Producer (00:00):
The tech leaders toolbox podcast is brought to

(00:02):
you by Paul Simkins and thebully LEAD program, focusing on
helping tech leaders like you,and the frustration of low
performing teams, and losingexcellent employees, so they can
increase productivity by 50%. Gohome on time, and sleep better
at nights.

Paul Simkins (00:22):
Hello, and welcome to the tech leaders toolbox. I'm
Paul Simkins. And we're herebecause how you lead today
determines how your teamsucceeds tomorrow. This is
Episode 49 of the podcast. Areyou making your New Year's
resolutions yet? Have you gottenthem all set? Well throw them

(00:43):
out. They don't work. And inthis episode, we're going to
talk about what works better.
Plus, I'll share some appetizersfor New Year's Eve you can do on
the smoker or the grill. Are youready? Let's go.

(01:03):
Well, here we are on the cusp ofcreating new year's resolutions.
Every year, we hastily come upwith them off the top of our
head because we're at a partysomewhere and somebody said, Oh,
so what's your resolutions? Sowe come up with some things off
the top of my head, our top ofour head, and we share them at
parties. And they're almostnever written down. And we know

(01:24):
how that usually goes, right?
Maybe you're one of those whoactually accomplishes the
resolutions, but the majority ofus don't. That's documented by
study after study it it justdoesn't work. And in fact, even
when we start out with goodintentions, right, we January 1,
and we're going you know this isthe year I'm going to eat right.

(01:46):
Oh, a donut. And then ever theregoes right they quickly fades
away. In fact, one of myfavorite memes is that the
shared a lot on the internet andit's one of my favorite. And it
talks about you know, I'm goingto open up a place called
resolutions. For the first twoweeks of the year it's going to
be a gym and then it turns intoa bar. Because that's what

(02:08):
happens a lot of times and Iactually have a membership at a
gym I go to Planet Fitness.
Absolutely love an unsolicitedunpaid commercial for Planet
Fitness. I absolutely love goingto Planet Fitness, no judgement,
I can go in is as I am be what Iam, dress how I want and get a

(02:29):
good workout in and just lovegoing to Planet Fitness for
that. But I go to Planet Fitnessevery year. And it happens year
in year out. The first two weeksof January, the parking lot is
absolutely packed. And thenfewer and fewer cars. In fact,

(02:50):
just yeah, this is week I wentto the gym this week. And there
was maybe 15 people in the gymwhen I went the numbers just
dwindle over time. So now, butwhat is significant about New
Year's Eve New Year's Day, isthat it is a symbolic
opportunity to start over. Andthat's great. You know, we all

(03:13):
we all want that opportunity tostart fresh. And that's that's
the promise that New Year's Evein New Year's Day offers us is
that opportunity to start overto start fresh. And that's great
in it. But I want you toremember though, that any time
is a good time to start over. Sodon't just just don't think you

(03:34):
know, when when things aren'tgoing the way you want later in
the year, don't think okay,well, next new year, I'll do a
different No, tomorrow. Startingtomorrow, things will change,
you always have an opportunityto start over. But New Year's
Day is just that amplified, it'ssymbolic. And that's okay. So

(03:55):
we're starting a new year and afresh start an opportunity. But
a fresh start requires more thanjust the resolve, we have to
actually have a plan, we have toknow where we are now. We have
to know where we want to go invery specific terms. And that's

(04:16):
critical. And we have to knowwhat we need to do to get there.
So in other words, it's not justenough to say I'm going to eat
better. Okay, better compared towhat better compared to what
you're doing now. What is itthat you're doing now that isn't
good? What is it that you'redoing now that is good for you?

(04:38):
So you have to know where youare now? Where do you want to
go? Okay, if I want to eatbetter, what does that pertain?
How does it what describeseating better, and making
smarter choices? Great, whatkinds of smarter choices you got
to be specific about that? Andthen what do we need to do to
get there there's got to be aplan of some kind, because
you're gonna run into such aones that are going to get in

(05:02):
the way of that. Sometimes it'sjust our own natural resistance.
Steven pressfield actually wrotea book about this. And it's a
great book. I can't remember thename of it. But if you look up
Steven pressfield, you'll seeall the books he wrote. And one
of the things he talks about ishow our biggest enemy is within
us. And it's called resistance.
It's the resistance to doingsomething different, and it gets

(05:26):
in our way. So it's likely thatduring the time period between
Christmas and New Year's Day,your business has slowed down a
bit. And even if it hasn't, youshould be able to set aside some
time during this week. And we'rein this week right now, as this
podcast is released. You want totry and make that about 48 hour,

(05:48):
four to eight hours if you can.
And set aside that time becauseagain, you got to know where you
are now, where do you want togo? What do you need to do to
get there.
So here's the five things you'regoing to do during this time,
leading up to New Year's Day.
And sometimes maybe even spendthe time on New Year's Day doing

(06:10):
this after you've recovered fromthe party the night before. So
the first thing you want to dois you want to reflect You got
it, you're going to make up twolists. One list is going to be
looking back at what youactually accomplished during the
year. And be generous withyourself, don't be stingy about
this. Because even if thingsdidn't go exactly as planned,

(06:32):
and even if it was a bigsurprise, that things got
accomplished, write it down.
Write down a list of things youactually accomplished during the
year. And then on your nextlist, you're going to list the
things you wish you hadaccomplished during the year on

(06:55):
this list, include things youplanned but didn't get done, and
opportunities that you missed.
The purpose of this is to firstsee that you actually got things
done, even if they weren'tnumerous. But you did get
something done. And then thepurpose of the next second list
is to see what you want or needto do to move forward. And you

(07:17):
know what, on those list ofthings you wish you had
accomplished? That whether theywere planned or unplanned, but
you didn't get them done.
opportunities you missed. Howmany of those Do you want to
carry forward? Are they stillimportant to you. So that's the
first thing you need to do isreflect back on your year. Then

(07:38):
the second thing is you're goingto create your target goals. So
a list of things you want toaccomplish in the next year.
Take a look at what's unfinishedfrom the past year. Is any of it
still relevant? If it didn't getdone? What got in the way? Is
that roadblock still there? Howwill you get around it? Don't

(08:00):
rush this part. Take your time,think it through. Think about
where you want to be in a year'stime. What do you want to be
proud of how you make thebiggest impact on others? What
will help you add more value toyour people. One of the things I

(08:21):
always like to use with this iswhat my one of my mentors, john
Maxwell says is, you know, whatmakes you cry? What makes you
sing? Think about those thingsas well. And so you want to sit
down what things do you want toaccomplish. And that leads into
the third thing, which is tomake a plan. So now that you
have your annual goals. And oneof the things you want to do, by

(08:44):
the way, is be very specificabout that. When you talk about
what you want to accomplish,very specific about what you
accomplish. If you say oh, Iwant to increase my profits,
wonderful, by how much? And veryspecifically by how much, you
know, or I want to increaseemployee engagement. Great. How

(09:06):
much do you want? Whatpercentage do you want employee
engagement to be at? How much doyou want to increase it? That
you'll say hey, I accomplishedsomething. Because it's hard to
say you accomplish something. Ifyou don't give it something to
measure by. So you want to bespecific about what it is you
want. You have to be specificabout when you want it done. And

(09:30):
I would advise most of the timewith your goals, by the way is
don't set them okay by December31. I want to if it needs to be
more along the lines of by March30. I will by June 30. I will by
July 15. I will very specificdates, shorter terms than a year

(09:55):
because what happens when we setthem out at a year. We started
thinking we have plenty of timeTo get it done, but you want a
sense of urgency. So that again,leading to setting those target
goals being very specific. Sothen we get into making our
plan. And that's creating ourroadmap. And part of that

(10:15):
roadmap means you have toinclude items that are at least
monthly, if not weeklyactivities that move you closer
to each of the goals. And insome cases, it may even be
something you daily do daily. Sofor example, if your goal is to
eat better, to eat healthier,make healthier choices, and to

(10:40):
increase a healthier lifestyleof food lifestyle, then, that's
something you got to do daily.
And you got to look at thatdaily, that's a daily activity,
that's part of the plan,planning that out, because it's
not going to happen randomly.
So if you want to trim down alittle lose a few inches off

(11:02):
your belly, more likely, weekly,and even daily activities you
need to do to get there. And onthat, by the way, this is
chasing down a little rabbit fora minute. I am proud of the fact
that in the last year and ahalf, I have lost 75 pounds,
quite proud of that. And here isone of the things I learned from
that. So if weight loss is oneof your goals, if you want to

(11:24):
trim that belly, the two thingsI am going to tell you about
that that you need to know isthat you cannot exercise your
way out of a belly. So exerciseis an important part of things.
But you can't rely on exercisealone to get rid of your belly.

(11:44):
You cannot exercise your way outof a belly. That's the one thing
one thing I learned in thesecond thing I learned is, you
also cannot exercise your wayout of a bad diet. So if you're
making poor eating choices, noamount of exercise is going to
make up for that. Don't letanybody tell you anything
different. You've got if youwant if your goal is weight

(12:09):
loss, or getting rid of thebelly or trimming down or
anything like that, you're goingto have to make changes in your
eating habits along withexercise, just a fact of life.
All right, back on track. Soagain, we're making our plan.
And again, you're gonna have toinclude what are going to be

(12:32):
weekly and perhaps even dailyactivities, to move you closer
to your goals. Determine theprice at what those precise
activities are, how often andhow long you need to do each of
them during the time. In otherwords, you're creating a
timeline of activities, rightmakes sense. Once you've got

(12:54):
that done, now the step four isyou're going to fill up your
calendar, your calendar is oneof the least used tools
underused tools that you have,add everything to your calendar.
And I mean, everything. Thesaying goes, What gets
scheduled, gets done. If part ofyour plan is that you need to do

(13:19):
daily exercise, block it out onthe calendar, this is my
exercise time. And only the endof the world is going to get in
the way of that block out timesfor each activity you need to do
to accomplish your goals. Thesecalendar items become daily
reminders to work on thosegoals. And you have set aside

(13:42):
time to do it, that you knowthat you're doing nothing else
but that for that period oftime. For me, one of my biggest
hurdles is that I have a veryerratic schedule and blocking
out the calendar helps Am Iperfect about it, not even

(14:02):
close. But I am much betterabout it. Because I block out my
calendar than I am if I justtried to fit it in whenever to
be very intentional aboutblocking out that calendar. Be
almost ruthless about the timeand and keeping your calendar as

(14:25):
well as you can. And finally,here's the tip that's going to
keep you from going insane asyou try and do all of this is be
what I call a one percenter.
Now, what does that mean? Thatmeans don't try to do it all at
once. You know if your goal isto lose 50 pounds, yeah, you're
not gonna lose 50 pounds in aweek. You're not gonna lose 50
pounds in a month. So don't tryto do it all at once. But do

(14:48):
what you need to do daily orweekly. Do it intentionally.
Focus on simply improvingyourself by one 1% a day. That's
what being a one percenter isall about. improving yourself by
1% a day. That doesn't soundlike much. But it's a

(15:11):
multiplier. Over time, thinkabout it. If I improved myself
tomorrow by 1%. And then thenext day, I improved myself
again by 1%. It compounds it's1% on 1%, on 1%. So after a
year's time of growing myself by1% a day, I haven't grown by

(15:37):
365%, which is pretty fabulous.
Right? Would you agree? So 365%says substantial. But actually,
since it compounds, it is much,much more than that.
Because it's 1% on 1%, on 1%,and I'm not a math major. So I'm

(15:59):
not even going to sit here andcalculate it out. And what if
somebody is really into math,calculate it out and send me it,
send it to me in an email, andI'll use it in the future. But
you're getting compounded growthout of that, just by 1% a day.
So that's your things. spendthis time this week, reflect on
where you've been thinking veryspecific terms of where you want

(16:24):
to go. And make up your plan ofdaily, weekly and monthly
activities to get there, put iton your calendar, and then focus
not on the end goal. But just onwhat you need to do today that
1% you need to do today to getbetter. A great year, a great
2021 is ahead of you. Andcertainly if you're like if your

(16:48):
2020 was like mine, youcertainly know it can get much,
much better. It's hard, gonna behard to get worse. So a great
years ahead of you. And ifyou're willing to take the time
to plan it out. This is yourtime. What are you gonna do?
We'll be back in a moment.

Producer (17:08):
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(17:29):
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Paul Simkins (17:37):
All right since we're here coming up on New
Year's Eve, real soon here andagain, I am a big fan of cooking
in general but I love outdoorcooking. I do use my smoker a
lot. I have a grill I use a lot.
Cook over open fire using Dutchovens. Any way you can cook
outdoors just about I've done itI've even actually dug a pit and
done a pit barbecue before. Thatwas pretty cool actually. And I

(18:01):
love it so much. I've actuallycreated a Facebook group called
smoke and ash. And on thesmoking dash Facebook group me
and all of my friends we gettogether. We share recipes, we
talk about cooking techniques,we talk about foods that we can
cook outdoors. We talk about ourcookers and all our gadgets and
all that a lot of us are gadgetguys. All of that is out there

(18:23):
and it's a great place for you.
Whether you're a neophytewhether you're brand new to
outdoor cooking, or whetheryou're an experienced outdoor
cooker, I invite you to come outand join us on this smokin dash
Facebook group. Now I also onthe show I like to share an
outdoor cooking recipe everyweek. And all these recipes by

(18:45):
the way are also available toyou out there on this smokin ash
Facebook group. This week what Ithought I do would be a
combination I want to share someideas. For some appetizers for
New Year's Eve. I don't know ifyour New Year's Eve is like
ours. We don't actually eat ameal on New Year's Eve. What we
do is we have like an appetizerdinner every we just eat

(19:06):
appetizers and just Munch andnibble all through the day all
through the evening until newyears until it hits midnight.
We'd have our champagne we sayHappy New Year. And then we all
go to bed. So we all haveappetizers and we like to do
that. So here's some appetizerideas that you can either cook
on the smoker or the grill thatwill be perfect for your New

(19:29):
Year's Eve and you have plentyof time to do these. Now the
first one I got this actuallyfrom a website called camping
for foodies calm, and I thoughtit was a great idea. It's called
stuffed baby bells. So you takethose small bell peppers that
they may this what they callsnacking peppers, their little

(19:51):
baby bell peppers, and you'regoing to do this in a Dutch
oven. And you basically maketake garlic and onion and some
different kinds Have cheeseslike cream cheese and cheddar
cheese and some other stuff tocreate a stuffing for these mini
peppers and then you basicallybake them in a Dutch oven. And
if you want the recipe for thatagain, you can go to camping for

(20:12):
foodies calm and get it thereand it's called stuffed baby
bells. So that's an idea foryou. This next one I got this
idea from one of my favoritecookbooks for outdoor cooking
called the geezer cookbook, andit's armadillo eggs. And this is
pretty cool. You're going totake jalapeno peppers. They say

(20:33):
either raw or pickled jalapenopeppers, cut off the stem and
you're going to DC the peppers.
Then you're going to mixtogether cream cheese, shredded
cheddar cheese, garlic powder,and onion powder. Mix it all
together. Then carefully filleach of the peppers with the
cheese mixture. Then you'regoing to mix together some

(20:54):
cooked bulk pork sausage that'sbeen drained and kind of dry.
This good mix and shreddedcheddar cheese and mix those
together you want somewhat of adry dough out of it and divide
that up and create patties aboutfour to five inches in diameter.
Place a stuffed pepper in thecenter of the patty, wrap the

(21:17):
dough around it and wrap itcompletely around it and seal it
and then take each pepper androll it and shake and bake
seasoning mix. And then fry thatin a cast iron skillet over
medium heat until thoroughlybrown or you can bake it in an
oven at 400 degrees for about 20to 30 minutes, and you'll really

(21:40):
like that.
Here's another idea calledsmoked spiced nuts, you've
probably had some kind of spicedor seasoned nuts before. This
works well with either pecanswalnuts or almonds. Get your
best results out of this. You'regoing to take a couple of egg
whites, not the oats, just theegg whites and beat them in a

(22:02):
bowl until they're frothy thanin another bowl. blend together
some paprika, salt, pepper,cinnamon, brown sugar, and
either cayenne pepper or a fewshots of hot sauce or add a few
shots a hot sauce to the eggs togive it a little spice. Add the
nuts to the egg whites and turnthem over and over in a bowl

(22:23):
until they're thoroughly coded.
Then add your spices to thatstirred all together again until
everything's really thoroughlycoated. And then lay out the
nuts and a glass baking dish oron a cooking mat. And you're
going to place it in your smokerat 250 degrees for about 30 to
45 minutes. And you will reallylike that it will have the smoky

(22:44):
flavor in the spices as wellterrific. Also, you can come out
the smoking ash Facebook groupand I have a recipe out there
for smoke nachos, which would beperfect for outdoor New Year's
Eve party. Also for smokedolives, that recipe also has
been covered on one of our showsand is in the smoking ash
Facebook group. And then alsosmoked roasted garlic and this

(23:07):
is pretty easy. You just take aboba big bold of elephant
garlic, rub it with olive oil,sprinkle some seasoning on it,
put it in your smoker for aboutan hour, when you take it out
all the Garnet gets nice andsoft, you can just squeeze it
out of its squeeze it out of itswrapping, and just squeeze it

(23:27):
onto a cracker or crostini. Andyou'll really really enjoy it.
All right, all of this is goingto be out on the smoking ash
Facebook group. So you can findthose recipes out there. As you
hear this, it will be available.
If you're not big Facebookperson, that's alright, just
send me an email to Paul atboldly lead.com. And I'll be

(23:49):
glad to send to these recipes toyou. All right, today, the right
here our last episode of theyear, we talked about what to do
instead of making resolutions,and that you needed to know
where you are now, where do youwant to go? And what do you need
to do to get there and take thesteps of reflecting on your

(24:09):
past, targeting your goals withspecific terms, making a plan,
putting it on your calendar, andthen focus on improving by 1% a
day. And for this end of theyear, I would ask a favor of you
if if you listen to the podcastregularly if we're adding value

(24:30):
to you. And you listen to us onan app like Apple podcast or
Google podcast or or whereveryou are, we're everywhere. We're
on Pandora, we're on Amazon, soforth, wherever it is you listen
to us. If you could please takethe time right now to leave us a
five star review so that otherswill find us as well. Or simply

(24:53):
share the podcast with yourfriends. Let them know we're
here so that we can reach otherpeople as well. With these
timeless values for how to carefor employees, how to how to
engage your employees more andalso a few cooking tips as well,
I would really appreciate it ifyou leave us a five star review
and share this with yourfriends. Well that's it for

(25:16):
2020. Folks, until next time, goout and be a leader. You were
meant to be
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