March 17, 2025 • 14 mins
Are you tired of taking a backseat while watching others succeed? Do you feel invisible in meetings or overlooked for opportunities despite your capabilities? This deeply personal episode tackles the powerful truth that perception creates reality – especially when it comes to how others view your potential and value.
Drawing from my own struggles through my twenties and thirties searching for relevance and direction, I share the exact eight-step framework that transformed how others perceived me. This isn't just theory – it's a practical roadmap forged through trial and error that finally helped me find my platform for success in leadership and management.
We explore honest self-assessment, the courage required to seek genuine feedback, and the immediate small changes that create momentum. You'll discover how volunteering for challenging projects nobody else wants instantly increases your visibility, and why cross-functional opportunities put you in front of fresh eyes who haven't formed negative perceptions of you yet. Most importantly, you'll learn how to effectively promote yourself without appearing arrogant, build a network of advocates who champion your success, and develop a personal brand that authentically showcases your strengths.
For Gen Z and Millennials who've faced unprecedented challenges – from pandemic disruptions to technological revolutions and social media pressures – managing perception becomes even more critical in shaping your future opportunities. Don't let negative perceptions become your limiting reality. Listen now to discover how small shifts in how others see you can dramatically change your trajectory toward the relevance and success you deserve.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello friends, welcome to your Motivational Gen
Z and Millennial Expert Podcast.
I am your host, my name is DrJason Wiggins and it is great to
be here today.
Thank you everybody for stayingtuned in and I look forward to
a great show today.
This podcast is for Gen Z's andMillennials and those that are
(00:22):
looking for a better way in lifeto reach your goals, be
successful and reach out toother people to provide help to
them.
So let's go ahead and get ourheads right and get started.
Today's episode is aboutperception.
Is reality the steps for howothers see you.
(00:43):
The key thing about this is howis the perception of what
others see you important?
Well, we're going to talk aboutsteps that others can help
provide you with the bestbaseline to be the best you that
you can be.
Now let's look at it in adifferent perspective.
(01:03):
Are you sick and tired of notbeing relevant, always in the
background, not being able to doand see the success that
everybody else is, becauseyou're taking a backseat?
A back seat?
(01:28):
How do you do and move forwardwith this?
How do you shift yourperception?
Shifting your perception andproviding a clear path to having
a positive perception is thekey to identifying how you are
noted as being a person ofrelevance.
So imagine somebody sees youand they think that person never
(01:52):
seems to amount to anything,and that's the last thing that
we want to feel as people withinour community, parents, career
and those important aspects ofour life.
So let's start taking steps toprovide a good baseline of
(02:13):
providing a platform for success.
Let's talk about some of theexamples of what people may
think about us.
A lot of this is relevant tonot only our personal life but
our career.
Some examples could be thatperson has no backbone.
(02:33):
They don't stand up for whatthey believe.
Another one could be they don'tspeak up or they're shy, they
don't seem to have a voice, theyhave a bad attitude or they
don't really add value to theirposition at work or in the
(02:54):
community.
We have to shift thatperception.
As we noted at the beginning oftoday's discussion, perception
is a reality and these are thefollowing steps that will help
you get to where you want to be.
And remember it is all aboutcontinuing to work on yourself.
(03:21):
Try to find a platform thatprovides a win-win type of
attitude for you and think aboutthis.
I like to kind of think aboutyou know, relevancy and how I
struggled growing up, trying tofind a platform that worked for
me.
(03:41):
There were so many earlieryears my 20s, 30s I didn't know
where my place was withinsociety.
I didn't understand what Ishould be doing, moving forward.
I just knew that I was positive, I really wanted to succeed,
but I didn't have a roadmap andthat is where I started looking
(04:05):
at things that were important tome, people that are important
to me, and then I foundsomething that I was passionate
about.
I was passionate aboutmanagement, leadership, and
those are the paradigms fromStephen Covey that really
demonstrated my desire to moveforward.
And so now, as individuals, wehave to figure out what is the
(04:30):
best way that we can continue toimprove, how we can continue to
promote ourselves and reallydesire the type of work ethic
that we need to be successful.
So, number one, about the stepsfor on how others see you,
(04:51):
observe how your behavioraffects others.
Start being honest withyourself, and that's where I had
to realize what were myshortcomings, what were my
strong suits and where could Imake a positive impact to
continuing to improve and thatbehavior.
(05:13):
Look at that behavior thataffects those around you.
That is where you have to behonest with yourself.
Number two when it comes to thesteps for how others see you,
ask for feedback.
Remember the feedback that youmay get may be hard to hear and
(05:34):
it will also take a significantamount of courage that you may
need to be able to ask thosetough questions.
But that positive feedback isgoing to really demonstrate your
shortcomings, your strengthsand really help you become an
all-around better individual,co-worker, leader.
(05:58):
Number three Make behavioralchanges immediately.
So once you get that feedback,once you observe the behaviors
and how they affect others,start taking those changes and
look at how you can make thosechanges immediately.
Try to make small steps.
(06:19):
You know, just to makeimprovement.
Small steps of improvement willget you to those small wins.
Number four once you've startedmaking those changes, show your
visibility.
Up your visibility.
Start volunteering on unusualprojects or volunteer community
(06:45):
work and try to pick those toughjobs, those tough projects that
nobody else wants, because thenit shows you have the courage
and you're willing to try to dosomething where everybody's eye
is on you.
You just upped your visibilityof how people will perceive you.
(07:05):
So maybe they had negativeperceptions of you before about
maybe they don't add value totheir work, maybe they have a
bad attitude.
Well, people see you in yourwork because you're doing a
difficult project they may ormay not want to do.
This will up your visibility.
Number five seekcross-functional opportunities.
(07:26):
Identify opportunities whereyou may work with other people
you're not familiar with, or youmay find people you've never
worked with or you don't know,and then they get a perception
of you that may be differentthan what others used to have a
perception of you.
Number six, my absolutefavorite promote yourself.
(07:52):
People want to talk positivelyabout you if you give them the
opportunity.
It's about sharing yourwillingness to demonstrate that
you can promote yourself, thatyou are a winner, that you
transcend all of those positiveaspects that maybe people didn't
understand or see, or maybeit's so subtle changes you have
(08:16):
done in the past.
Let people talk positivelyabout you, positively about you.
Let them understand that youhave the desire to succeed.
(08:37):
Number seven identify advocates.
Have friends, bosses, clients,vendors.
Have them say good things aboutyou and have your back.
If you get more individualslooking after you, demonstrating
your success and really helpingyou with a good word, then
that's just another positiveperception of you.
And finally, one of myfavorites, number eight promote
(08:58):
your personal brand.
There is nobody again nobodythat could promote a better
brand than you.
Why?
Because you know yourself, youknow your limitations, you know
your strengths, you know whereyou have opportunities to
continue to improve, and thatright there is.
The most important aspect iscontinual improvement.
(09:23):
So promote your personal brand.
Show why you can make such animpact, and here's four big
concerns you should never lethappen to you as well.
We talked about how to improvethe perception of others on you.
Now don't let these certainthings take you away from what's
(09:46):
important.
Don't let your feelings be yourguide.
Always try to be an activelistener.
If you're an inactive listener,it shows you don't care about
what the other person is saying.
You only care about what's init for you.
The other one is Make sure youdon't shy away from
(10:07):
self-development.
Self-development is the key toyour success and those around
you.
And here's a big do Schedulecheck-ins with your
accountability partner, somebodythat you trust Maybe it's a
mentor Just to demonstrate someof the improvements you made,
(10:28):
how you've have you madesignificant impact on
demonstrating that you can be apositive, a vital and added
value.
Good attitude, type of not onlyfriend companion employee leader
, friend companion, employeeleader these are what's going to
(10:51):
help impact your future, yourcontinual promotional
opportunities.
Maybe you're a business leaderor you own your own business.
People will see you in adifferent light if you're able
to demonstrate those eight keysteps for you to see how people
(11:11):
evaluate you and then, at thesame time, continuing to promote
yourself.
So, as gen z and millennials,you've kind of always had the,
the target against your backsince you've been in the
workforce or you've haddifficult times that you've had
to overcome.
I mean, talk about COVID, talkabout all the work challenges,
(11:35):
the finding work, the continualtechnological revolution, having
to deal with negative socialmedia impacts All of these
negative type of perceptions canhave a lasting effect on you as
a companion, friend, leader,employee, volunteer, whatever it
(11:59):
may be.
Those are points that you haveto realize that in this world we
live in, our outlook ofourselves not only matters to us
, but it matters to social media, it matters to all the type of
spreading of where we are andwhat we do.
(12:21):
It's all out there.
That is why they have negativereputation type of softwares to
improve your reputation, toprove your online references,
whatever it may be.
So keep in mind that movingforward, you friends to social
your personal lives.
(13:14):
So I want to thank everybodytoday for the opportunity to
talk about and discuss howperception is reality and how
these steps can help you and allthe people around you have a
better perception of you, whichwill lead you into promotional
opportunities and just feelinglike you are more relevant and
(13:39):
you can promote yourself and bemore successful.
So I want to thank everybody.
Please continue to like, share,hit the notification bell if
you're listening on YouTube orwatching on YouTube or listening
on any of the favorite podcastplatforms.
We appreciate you.
Thank you, take care, talk toyou soon.
(14:03):
Bye-bye.
Hello friends, welcome to your Motivational Gen
Z and Millennial Expert Podcast.
I am your host, my name is DrJason Wiggins and it is great to
be here today.
Thank you everybody for stayingtuned in and I look forward to
a great show today.
This podcast is for Gen Z's andMillennials and those that are
(00:22):
looking for a better way in lifeto reach your goals, be
successful and reach out toother people to provide help to
them.
So let's go ahead and get ourheads right and get started.
Today's episode is aboutperception.
Is reality the steps for howothers see you.
(00:43):
The key thing about this is howis the perception of what
others see you important?
Well, we're going to talk aboutsteps that others can help
provide you with the bestbaseline to be the best you that
you can be.
Now let's look at it in adifferent perspective.
(01:03):
Are you sick and tired of notbeing relevant, always in the
background, not being able to doand see the success that
everybody else is, becauseyou're taking a backseat?
A back seat?
(01:28):
How do you do and move forwardwith this?
How do you shift yourperception?
Shifting your perception andproviding a clear path to having
a positive perception is thekey to identifying how you are
noted as being a person ofrelevance.
So imagine somebody sees youand they think that person never
(01:52):
seems to amount to anything,and that's the last thing that
we want to feel as people withinour community, parents, career
and those important aspects ofour life.
So let's start taking steps toprovide a good baseline of
(02:13):
providing a platform for success.
Let's talk about some of theexamples of what people may
think about us.
A lot of this is relevant tonot only our personal life but
our career.
Some examples could be thatperson has no backbone.
(02:33):
They don't stand up for whatthey believe.
Another one could be they don'tspeak up or they're shy, they
don't seem to have a voice, theyhave a bad attitude or they
don't really add value to theirposition at work or in the
(02:54):
community.
We have to shift thatperception.
As we noted at the beginning oftoday's discussion, perception
is a reality and these are thefollowing steps that will help
you get to where you want to be.
And remember it is all aboutcontinuing to work on yourself.
(03:21):
Try to find a platform thatprovides a win-win type of
attitude for you and think aboutthis.
I like to kind of think aboutyou know, relevancy and how I
struggled growing up, trying tofind a platform that worked for
me.
(03:41):
There were so many earlieryears my 20s, 30s I didn't know
where my place was withinsociety.
I didn't understand what Ishould be doing, moving forward.
I just knew that I was positive, I really wanted to succeed,
but I didn't have a roadmap andthat is where I started looking
(04:05):
at things that were important tome, people that are important
to me, and then I foundsomething that I was passionate
about.
I was passionate aboutmanagement, leadership, and
those are the paradigms fromStephen Covey that really
demonstrated my desire to moveforward.
And so now, as individuals, wehave to figure out what is the
(04:30):
best way that we can continue toimprove, how we can continue to
promote ourselves and reallydesire the type of work ethic
that we need to be successful.
So, number one, about the stepsfor on how others see you,
(04:51):
observe how your behavioraffects others.
Start being honest withyourself, and that's where I had
to realize what were myshortcomings, what were my
strong suits and where could Imake a positive impact to
continuing to improve and thatbehavior.
(05:13):
Look at that behavior thataffects those around you.
That is where you have to behonest with yourself.
Number two when it comes to thesteps for how others see you,
ask for feedback.
Remember the feedback that youmay get may be hard to hear and
(05:34):
it will also take a significantamount of courage that you may
need to be able to ask thosetough questions.
But that positive feedback isgoing to really demonstrate your
shortcomings, your strengthsand really help you become an
all-around better individual,co-worker, leader.
(05:58):
Number three Make behavioralchanges immediately.
So once you get that feedback,once you observe the behaviors
and how they affect others,start taking those changes and
look at how you can make thosechanges immediately.
Try to make small steps.
(06:19):
You know, just to makeimprovement.
Small steps of improvement willget you to those small wins.
Number four once you've startedmaking those changes, show your
visibility.
Up your visibility.
Start volunteering on unusualprojects or volunteer community
(06:45):
work and try to pick those toughjobs, those tough projects that
nobody else wants, because thenit shows you have the courage
and you're willing to try to dosomething where everybody's eye
is on you.
You just upped your visibilityof how people will perceive you.
(07:05):
So maybe they had negativeperceptions of you before about
maybe they don't add value totheir work, maybe they have a
bad attitude.
Well, people see you in yourwork because you're doing a
difficult project they may ormay not want to do.
This will up your visibility.
Number five seekcross-functional opportunities.
(07:26):
Identify opportunities whereyou may work with other people
you're not familiar with, or youmay find people you've never
worked with or you don't know,and then they get a perception
of you that may be differentthan what others used to have a
perception of you.
Number six, my absolutefavorite promote yourself.
(07:52):
People want to talk positivelyabout you if you give them the
opportunity.
It's about sharing yourwillingness to demonstrate that
you can promote yourself, thatyou are a winner, that you
transcend all of those positiveaspects that maybe people didn't
understand or see, or maybeit's so subtle changes you have
(08:16):
done in the past.
Let people talk positivelyabout you, positively about you.
Let them understand that youhave the desire to succeed.
(08:37):
Number seven identify advocates.
Have friends, bosses, clients,vendors.
Have them say good things aboutyou and have your back.
If you get more individualslooking after you, demonstrating
your success and really helpingyou with a good word, then
that's just another positiveperception of you.
And finally, one of myfavorites, number eight promote
(08:58):
your personal brand.
There is nobody again nobodythat could promote a better
brand than you.
Why?
Because you know yourself, youknow your limitations, you know
your strengths, you know whereyou have opportunities to
continue to improve, and thatright there is.
The most important aspect iscontinual improvement.
(09:23):
So promote your personal brand.
Show why you can make such animpact, and here's four big
concerns you should never lethappen to you as well.
We talked about how to improvethe perception of others on you.
Now don't let these certainthings take you away from what's
(09:46):
important.
Don't let your feelings be yourguide.
Always try to be an activelistener.
If you're an inactive listener,it shows you don't care about
what the other person is saying.
You only care about what's init for you.
The other one is Make sure youdon't shy away from
(10:07):
self-development.
Self-development is the key toyour success and those around
you.
And here's a big do Schedulecheck-ins with your
accountability partner, somebodythat you trust Maybe it's a
mentor Just to demonstrate someof the improvements you made,
(10:28):
how you've have you madesignificant impact on
demonstrating that you can be apositive, a vital and added
value.
Good attitude, type of not onlyfriend companion employee leader
, friend companion, employeeleader these are what's going to
(10:51):
help impact your future, yourcontinual promotional
opportunities.
Maybe you're a business leaderor you own your own business.
People will see you in adifferent light if you're able
to demonstrate those eight keysteps for you to see how people
(11:11):
evaluate you and then, at thesame time, continuing to promote
yourself.
So, as gen z and millennials,you've kind of always had the,
the target against your backsince you've been in the
workforce or you've haddifficult times that you've had
to overcome.
I mean, talk about COVID, talkabout all the work challenges,
(11:35):
the finding work, the continualtechnological revolution, having
to deal with negative socialmedia impacts All of these
negative type of perceptions canhave a lasting effect on you as
a companion, friend, leader,employee, volunteer, whatever it
(11:59):
may be.
Those are points that you haveto realize that in this world we
live in, our outlook ofourselves not only matters to us
, but it matters to social media, it matters to all the type of
spreading of where we are andwhat we do.
(12:21):
It's all out there.
That is why they have negativereputation type of softwares to
improve your reputation, toprove your online references,
whatever it may be.
So keep in mind that movingforward, you friends to social
your personal lives.
(13:14):
So I want to thank everybodytoday for the opportunity to
talk about and discuss howperception is reality and how
these steps can help you and allthe people around you have a
better perception of you, whichwill lead you into promotional
opportunities and just feelinglike you are more relevant and
(13:39):
you can promote yourself and bemore successful.
So I want to thank everybody.
Please continue to like, share,hit the notification bell if
you're listening on YouTube orwatching on YouTube or listening
on any of the favorite podcastplatforms.
We appreciate you.
Thank you, take care, talk toyou soon.
(14:03):
Bye-bye.
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