Hi guys, and welcome back to another episode of Change Wired Podcast. Let's get wired for change. I just came back from climbing Lance Hut in Cape Town, somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the edge of earth, which feels surprisingly very central and just an epic place to be. So if you've never been to Cape Town by timeout number one place to live in when we're talking about quality of life. So I came back with extra energy, so you're going to feel it throughout this episode.
Speaker 1Guys, my name is Angela Sharina. I'm your host, executive coach, leadership coach, culture transformation consultant, obsessed with behavioral science, no matter what I do. And on this podcast today we're going to talk about how to get more success in life, in business, when you're trying to improve your health or build better relationship, build better business and just grow in life faster, better, more productively, like feeling, really feeling that you are going somewhere in this life and you are not the same person as you were a year ago, several months ago, even yesterday. So the journey of self-exploration, development, growth You're going to learn how to do it better, and why you might get stuck and all of us get stuck so often, so frequently and how to get unstuck faster and better and maybe not get stuck ever anymore. Once you learn this system, once you learn how to approach your life, your business, your relationships, as experiments, as the map, the path that is unfolding in front of you as you go, like imagine fog and really thick fog, and while you're walking into it you don't really see much in front of you, behind you, anywhere. But once you start walking, you start seeing your path unfolding in front of you, behind you, anywhere. But once you start walking, you start seeing your path unfolding in front of you more and more and more and more the more you walk, and life is a lot more like fog, not like a walk on a sunny day when you see so clearly what's ahead of you. Life is more like fog when we don't get a full map. We might want to go oh, you know, there was a glimpse of this vision or that direction and that destination but we don't ever get to see the full map and sometimes we get the feeling this fooling, or feeling that is mirage, not true that we have a map, that we know how it should be unfolding, we know how the map looks, when in reality we actually don't, and it's more like a mirage. So how to navigate life where you don't know much and how? The sense or our feeling or perception that we know how the life should go, how it actually makes us get stuck in life and in business and in relationship and everywhere, is a stubbornness that we know and therefore we don't accept the things as they are, but instead we're stuck in our own minds and I promise you you're going to get a step-by-step solution and once you apply it to your life and to your business, things will start moving. Now I don't know where they're going to be moving Nobody really knows but they will start moving in the direction where you actually want to go. So let me explain.
I went for a hike this Friday morning as when I'm in Cape Town I usually do and on the way back I got to talk to this amazing individual His name is Sean and we started talking about you know what's been. We haven't seen each other for a few months and I told him. You know, the major thing that I took away from this trip back home to Russia is this realization about how life actually works. It works one step at a time and we never have a full map. It's more like oh, I see this treasure somewhere in that direction. I want to go there. I know what I want to do, what I want to build, and I have sort of sense, the future that I want to create. But whenever I get a full map and it's like again walking in the fog.
Speaker 1And to cut the long story short, she said well, how did you come to realize that? When did this switch or shift in beliefs happen? And I thought to myself you know, it didn't happen like a change of belief or mindset or some track of revelation or some God's inspiration. It was nothing like that. It actually was that I set an experiment and I decided to test it. What I kind of knew might be the case and I decided to test it.
Speaker 1And on one morning when I woke up and I'm like that probably was the worst decision in my life to come to Russia where I didn't know what would happen. I had this status that is undefined I'm not a citizen here or there and there might be taxes and I need to change passports I woke up in almost cold sweat in Russia and I'm like that might have been the worst decision in my life. I'd be just stuck here with no passport and just not knowing what to do with my life, moving forward for a while. But instead of that, I'm like you know. I believe that I can find a solution when I just dedicate myself to taking it as it comes, one step at a time, and I can figure it out. And by the end of this summer I'm going to be back to Cape Town climbing lion's hat again. And I said the experiment and because we are walking with you here, sean, it worked. And so now I'm a believer, not because my belief got stronger somehow, but because I said the experiment and it worked, just like it did many times ago.
Just this time, I consciously said this experiment out. I decided I'm going to figure it out, and I decided I'm going to take it one step at a time. And I decided that I'm going to let go of the rest, what I could not control, like what's going to happen in the tax office or in the passport office and all that stuff. I did not have any control of how those things would go, but I knew that. I believed that if I took one step at a time, there is a solution, because I wouldn't have this strong desire if there wasn't. So I decided to trust the universe do its part as well, and it worked. And here I want to jump into a business reality guys. Do you know Netflix? You probably watched it at least once. Netflix, you probably watched it at least once.
Speaker 1Mark Randolph, one of the co-founders of Netflix, has this saying don't fall in love with the solution, fall in love with the problem. So when they started Netflix, they wanted to create a different experience, delivering that kind of entertainment in a more convenient way for the consumer, for us, right For the entertained and Blockbuster. At the time they had this video rental stuff and it was a hustle and if you were late you had to pay these fees and all of that stuff. And they thought to themselves there gotta be a better way. They didn't think you know, we're going to create Netflix, the streaming stuff, and in the future we're going to dominate the whole industry. No, they just thought you know, there is a problem and I think it could be done better. And they fell in love with that problem and they keep delivering on that better and better and better. And again, they're not focused on delivering specific solution. They are very passionate and focused on solving this problem delivered entertainment in the most convenient, fast way possible for the consumer. For us, that is, and being an entrepreneur for a while and among entrepreneurs for us, that is, and being an entrepreneur for a while and among entrepreneurs, among startups, and also having in my network and coaching people who achieved success, who are sort of on the other side of entrepreneurial success.
Speaker 1I watched it again and again and again that people, entrepreneurs and business owners and leaders who succeed. They succeed because they also fall in love with the problem, with the destination, so to speak, and they let go of how it's going to unfold. They have some sort of plan, but they are fully prepared to abandon the plan once they land, so to speak, in reality, in real world, here and now, and the terrain changes and the plan that they have doesn't match this terrain, then they follow the terrain or the reality. They follow the problem. Navy SEALs have this saying when you have a map and you land and terrain is different basically the actual environment you follow the terrain, not the map, because the map is a fiction, terrain is reality, and so very often we focus so much not just on the destination, the goal, but also on how we focus on the solution, like it has to go exactly this step by step, and there has to be no problems in our way. I figured it all out. I read the best books and listened to the best experts and I asked my super duper friends in startup or entrepreneurial environment and we have all the solutions necessary. So we're just going to execute it flawlessly.
Speaker 1And if you've been alive, you know that's not how life unfolds. You always get stuff that you don't expect challenges, the problems, also the good stuff and everything and anything in between. And so people who actually move forward and iterate and grow and change things up and figure things out that work the most successful people subconsciously, sometimes consciously, like Mark Randolph, who writes about this all the time fall in love with the problem. They know that you want to have a destination, something in mind that you want to build, that you want to create, but how it's going to unfold, the solution, the path. You never get a full map, just like walking in the fog. And so, guys, the takeaway from today whether you are trying to get fitter, build certain relationship, romantic or business relationship, whether you're trying to build business to solve any problem or innovate, figure out what are you trying to do, what problem you're trying to solve, or just the vision, and actually, the more flexible your vision is as well, the easier it's going to be for you to adjust.
So, first step to navigate life and complex problems and business problems, and whenever you want to, you have a complex goals. That depends on many things that you don't control. So the first step is to define the vision, the problem where are you going? So you need to have a destination in order to make choices and filter out what works what doesn't. So you have a destination. Then the second step you have an insight. You read books, you talk to smart people, you learn from your own experience, your stuff that worked for you. So you have a bunch of insights. So you choose one, ideally like one with the simplest parameters you can track. So you choose an insight and you design an experiment.
Speaker 1Okay, this is what I'm going to do, this is what my thesis, how it's going to go, and this is my success criteria, this is my failure criteria. And in that amount of time, let's say in a week and two weeks, I decided on my client. I decided that this offer, I think, is going to really take off with them. So for the next week, I'm going to offer this to them and see if there is any good reaction. You see, the problem is a lot of entrepreneurs. When we decide to, let's say, get fitter and we think, well, this diet and exercise program will work, we fall in love with the how and we keep pushing it, even if it's not working. You're like I can't be on this diet or I can't do this exercise program. Guess what? You can change it and still achieve your goal and in fact, if you stick with things that don't work, you'll never reach a goal. So let's get back to the full plan how you approach life on or achieving complex goals in business and fitness, in relationships, anywhere.
Speaker 1But before we jump into the full map, the full solution, don't forget, guys, if you're learning something cool, interesting, something you want to discuss with other people, you want to put into practice. Nothing better than learning and applying with others. That keeps you accountable and keeps you learning more and improving. Other people are tremendous sources of knowledge. Sorry, I have a bit of something in my nose, but anyhow, before we jump into our full map, don't forget to share it so you get to learn with others, apply it better, get more ideas and have someone to keep you accountable, to apply it and do better, not what you usually do, right? So share this podcast episode with people Rate review. That really helps us to reach more people and make the world better. So be a part of the change, be that leader who delivers insight that help people to improve and move forward.
Speaker 1Then back to our full map. So the first thing you decide on your destination or, as Mark Randolph would say, fall in love with your problem Like this is where we're trying to go right would say, fall in love with your problem, like this is where we're trying to go right. Then you figure out a few insights based on your experience, based on what you learned from books, from people smarter than yourself. So you're also testing good things, not just random stuff. So it has more chance to work out. Okay, you have a bunch of insights you decided to choose based on your environment, based on your thinking, one or two to test Again let's say, business environment and you decide on one client, on one offer, and for the next week you're going to make as many offers as possible like this kind of offer, in many different ways to this specific audience, and for a week you're going to be testing that.
Speaker 1And then at the end of the week, you're going to look at the numbers and you're going to find, okay, this is what I heard, this is what I thought I would hear, and let's say it's a failure. And you're like, well, I didn't actually get good reply. So then you look at the numbers, you observe them as a scientist, and then you make a decision. Well, based on these numbers, based on these results, on the criteria that I had and on the assumptions that I had before, based on all of this data that I now have after testing it, does it make sense to continue or is it better to test something that has a much bigger chance to succeed, or at least you know something different that actually has a chance to succeed, versus this thing, this solution that I fell in love with, that nobody wants. Give you an example People want to lose weight, yes, and they often people who want to help them will say well, you just go on this diet.
The problem with that? People don't want to go on a diet. So, even if you have the best diet, people don't want it. So they have the problem that you think about, but they don't want your solution, and that's why fall in love with a problem. Figure out how can you help those people who don't want a diet to still achieve their goal of weight loss and better health, et cetera. And that's where testing and experimenting really helps. It helps you to help people in a way that they want to be helped, instead of trying to shovel to make them get your solution. Make them buy your solution even though they don't want it, even for free. And that's where you start struggling. You're like there is something wrong with my marketing. Maybe not. Maybe people just don't want your thing and they have the problem and they want to solve it, but they just don't want your solution. So in your interest is to actually try to figure out the solution that people actually want, instead of trying to change people, which is super, super hard. Guys, everyone knows changing people, changing yourself, is super hard, leave alone other people. So who do you think you are? God, or even for the God? I think it's quite difficult, but anyhow, you see what I'm talking about here.
Speaker 1The more you fall in love with the end destination, with the problem, not with how, not with solution the more you work as a scientist in real life and in business. You have the problem, you have the destination, where you want to arrive. You design a bunch of tasks and you run one test at a time and you get your insights and through testing and rapid experimenting that's what Lean Startup is also all about you observe and you find the solution and then now you try that solution again and if it works again, you now have a really good chance that this solution is something that can work in real life, not just in your head. And then you apply it and if it works consistently, you scale it and that's how you win. That's how you win in business. That's how anyone won in business ever. That's how you win in health and fitness. That's how you win in relationship. That's how you get unstuck and start growing consistently faster personally, professionally, in all the ways. You Get to decide the destination, but the map there you never decide. You never get a full map and it will always be different from what you think. So fall in love with the problem and test many solutions, as many as possible, until you find what actually works.
Speaker 1Fall in love with the problem, not with the solution from the co-founder of Netflix, mark Randolph, and you can see how the most longstanding companies. You know Meta used to be Facebook, it used to be in college and it used to be serving other people. They didn't know what they're going to do as a business and look at what they're now they're almost like doing a completely different thing. They are mostly Instagram, at least to my knowledge, because I'm an Instagram user, so you can see the most successful companies from Google. Whatever company you see which stood the test of time decades and decades and decades. They shifted and changed in so many different ways. Some core stayed the same, like usually, the mission, the purpose, what they're trying to do in the world, even though even that very often has to be reinvented to match the time, to match the terrain. Well, we can talk about different companies I'm not sure what you are into, but you see what I mean here.
So get the goal, get the insight, set up the test, run the experiments and move forward based on data that you get from real life, not falling in love with what's in your head and trying to push it on the world when people don't want to die. You know there is little you can do about that and that's it, guys. Hope you found this useful and are eager to apply it into your life. So over to you, dear leader, dear listener, a few problems that you're working on in your personal, professional life. Maybe even one how can you, for the next week, design an experiment to understand what is a better way to move forward there versus trying to push your agenda on real world, which, again, really works? You need to kind of go halfway, but the universe have to go halfway as well.
Speaker 1So what one experiment will you run in one of the challenges where you are stuck to figure out a better way? Experiment which one you're going to run, and again, have the destination what you're trying to achieve. Have a bunch of insights. Also, ai is here to help you brainstorm, set up the test and criteria of failure and success. Run the test for the predefined amount of time, then sit with the data and analyze how it worked, what didn't work, and then decide whether you need to run a different test or tweak this test and decide how you're gonna proceed, based on the learnings, not on your thinking.
Speaker 1And that's about it, guys. So apply it. Let me know how it worked. If I can help you in any other way, please reach out. Stay tuned for our upcoming episode on Monday with a guest from Google who has done amazing work on teaching the rest of the world how to run your life and business and your career, one experiment at a time, discovering your path versus being stuck in the past or some outdated ideas. So stay tuned for that and until next time, stay ready to be wired for change. Thank you, guys, and talk to you very soon.