Mastering Your Life: The CEO Approach to Uncertainty and Decision Making (Episode 140)

Have you ever considered yourself as the CEO of your own life? Brace yourself as I, Dr. Jason Wiggins, share the magic of thinking like a CEO and navigating life's curveballs. Drawing from a heart-to-heart discussion with my young son's 'what ifs' and contingency planning, we explore how even at a tender age, we start grappling with life's uncertainties, proving that we indeed are CEOs of our own lives. 

In this riveting episode, I share five critical strategies to embrace your inner CEO. From focusing on what's within your control, preparing for inevitable change, to being rational in decision-making and understanding how today's decisions shape your tomorrow, I break down these strategies using practical examples like job applications. Finally, I leave you with a powerful reminder that better days are always on the horizon. So, buckle up and let's sail through this journey of becoming the CEOs of our lives together.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Hello friends, welcome to the Gen Z and Millennial Expert podcast. My name is Dr Jason Wiggins and, for those that are listening on the podcast, this is episode 140, and welcome to those that are listening on YouTube currently. So thank you very much. Before I get into today's topic, which is expecting the unexpected think like a CEO, I want to briefly talk about a conversation I had with my son last night as he was trick-or-treating, which is in the states of something we do as a holiday to basically get candy, dress up and let the kids have some fun. But my son kept on saying what if this happens? What if that happens? And this is a periodic conversation that he'll ask these questions here and there, and one of the things that I always tell him is control the controllables. Remember, try to identify things that you can control, don't worry about the things you can't. And that goes for the focus of anybody, even for a seven-year-old. He's starting to worry about a contingency plan if something happens or it doesn't happen, and the what ifs that's surrounded. So that telling conversation right there from a gen alpha. It tells you right there that this is something that we start thinking on early on within our years. So that leads me to the topic today Expecting the unexpected. This can go for anything. Think of sports teams that you didn't think were gonna do well and did well. Marriages that you thought were not gonna do well they did well. Anything that you could figure out. Or dream of what if this happened, but it didn't. So that's why let's talk about what it is to think like a CEO, as a Gen Z, a millennial, and that is expecting the unexpected.

Speaker 1: 2:30

Think like a CEO, because this sounds cliche, but we are all CEOs. We guide ourselves within our daily lives while we look to the future and try to strategize what we can do, and that is exactly what a CEO does. And there's a very good quote by Heraclitus there is nothing permanent except change, and that is vital. Think of this again there is nothing permanent except change. And when you look at that and you think about that, it goes into that fight or flight type of method that is, do you run towards a building that is burning or do you run away? And there is no right or wrong answer. We are all wired to go one way or the other. And then if you're just kind of in the middle and you're not sure what to do, then that would be a bigger concern. Do you either run towards the burning building to help save people or do you go? I'm going to run out, I'm going to call 911, or emergency services, and that's how I'll help out. Again, there's no right or wrong answer, but we also have to understand, as Gen Z and Millennials and the other generations for that matter we have to make a decision, and that decision can be strategic, which leads me back to my initial title. Think like a CEO, and so knowing that everything we do has some sort of strategy that could determine our future outcome. That's how a CEO is.

Speaker 1: 4:25

So let's go with two examples. What is a CEO? A CEO is a chief executive officer that oversees the strategic vision and mission of an organization, and his goal is to lead the organization into continued growth and profitability for the future. And that is the same thing that we are doing as Gen Z and Millennials we are leading ourselves to determine the best outcome that we can, moving forward. Is that mean we're going to get married? Are we going to have kids? Are we going to have a profession that we love? Are we going to do something that's within our passion? Maybe money isn't our biggest focus, but it's also important that we have to realize that, as human beings, things are not as always structured as we would like. Things are not in a nice little gift wrapped present with a nice bow. We tear the bow, we slowly take off the present wrapping and we find whatever it is that we expect to be in there. Well, when you open a package, typically it's not always what you expect. And that is the same thing about our life, our life goals, the professions, the choices we make.

Speaker 1: 5:50

So today I'm going to talk about five types of aspects or conditions that are important to being Someone that expects the unexpected and thinks like a CEO. The number one is Focus on what you can control. Be prepared what does that mean? Be prepared means there's always going to be Change, as Heraklet has talked about earlier. There is nothing permanent except for change. Therefore, we have to look at what we can control. These are the controllables. This is what I know that I can control. This is the decision that I make now will determine my outcome five minutes from now or five years from now. Let's look at that at a deeper focus.

Speaker 1: 6:45

Be prepared what does that mean? Be prepared can be so many different things, but being prepared is the aspect that the work you put in will determine what you can expect, and Life will throw you curveballs or it will throw you Barriers to overcome. But if you condition yourself to be prepared, then that condition alone will put you in a better place when an expect unexpected occurrence does happen. Let's utilize a job application, for example, if you're trying to find a different type of job or an occupation and you're going on to these websites and you're trying to find a job, you want to apply for the job, but you also want to put yourself in the best position by utilizing key words within that job. Providing a cover letter, following up those are the things you can control to hopefully have a better desired outcome. But if you choose to just go ahead and send the resume the application has is and you don't do the legwork, then that application is likely not going to have the keywords that get through the the processing of the application and overall it won't do you any good. So that's why it is be prepared but focus on the controllables.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Number two Be rational in your decision-making. Being rational means you want to not only always stick with your heart, think with your cognitive inner self, meaning think with your brain. I know that sounds cliche, but the reality is, as we are human beings, we are emotionally driven and we make decisions that Sometimes affect their outcome that could be extremely Wrong and when we do that, we are really being critical of a situation that could be something of a Disadvantages type of scenario in the future. That's why be rational in your decisions and think about this If you write an email to your boss that one day could come back to bite, you write that email but Do not send it. Go ahead and delete it, but get it off your chest to make you feel better. So be rational in your decision making, because when you do that, you are going to likely put yourself in a better place and you don't make those mistakes. And remember, with all of the technology that we have available, from the iPhones to the video, your actions something that you do could come back to haunt you. If you put something on Twitter formally, notice Twitter, now it's X, or Instagram or Facebook that could permanently reflect on your career moving forward. So, again, think before you act. So be rational in your decisions.

Speaker 1: 9:56

Number three keep in mind that the decision you make today could determine your future outcome. And that just goes above being rational. That goes about being precise in what you're doing. Make sure that the path that you pay for yourself is going to be the outcome that you desire. I know we may be in our early teens or early 20s, or even, in our professional career, 30 and 40, depending where you are as a Gen Z and millennial, but there is a way to ensure that whatever steps you take now do not come to bite you in the future, and that is why make keep in mind the decisions you make today will affect your future outcomes. If you're looking to transition out of the job, think about this. If you transition out of that job, is it going to be your best case scenario in five years, or are you going to job hop? What are you going to do to make sure that you are putting your professional accountability as a major driver for you, because your professional stance today could be a different outcome in five years. So make sure that whatever decision you make today, you can determine your future outcome by improving it.

Speaker 1: 11:20

Number four there are always better days to come. Things may be really down right now. Things may not be going well for you, but remember things will get better. Take the necessary steps to dig yourself out of that hole and remember somebody always has it worse than you. We are human beings and when we're human beings, we have the opportunity to improve our life. I've been in those situations where things weren't going well for me. I had a relationship breakdown, I was highly in debt, I was, I was at a place where it was very, very dark and this was before I finished my PhD with a mounting, surmounting debt, a place that I lived in that was extremely expensive, and I had to take all those necessary steps to dig myself out of my hole. Be financially accountable, be academically accountable. Answer to myself and remember that my scenario today is not going to dictate my scenario tomorrow, and that is why you have to look at the days that are coming ahead of you. We will become better tomorrow than we are today if we take those steps.

Speaker 1: 12:48

And number five it goes back to our title, but it's very, very important for today's conversation and that is think like a CEO, you and you alone are the individual that runs that body of yours, that makes those decisions of yours. We are all accountable for our actions that we take to be successful. If you are not successful today, or you are not where you want to be today, then you and you alone can change the trajectory of your decision making of where you want to go, the steps you need to take. How are you going to take them? With all of the available content that we have available on all the information that you need to find about whatever situation you're involved in and how to get out, there is the necessary help. But we have to be accountable, and that goes back to what Heraclitus said there is nothing permanent except for change. I can guarantee you that tomorrow will not be the same as today. Your future outcome five years from now will not be the same today. You have to take risk. You have to take those challenges head on, face them, and we talked about that burning building. Are you going to run towards that burning building or are you going to run away? That is the fight or flight method.

Speaker 1: 14:29

It's about transforming yourself to overcome what is when you expect the unexpected. And so, again, to talk about be prepared. Focus on what you can control was number one of how to overcome expecting the unexpected. Number two be rational in your decision making capabilities. Number three keep in mind that the decisions you make today will likely be the determination of your future outcome. Number four there are always better days ahead. Somebody always has it worse. And number five think like a CEO. When you think like a CEO, you and your actions are the one that has to be accountable for what you want.

Speaker 1: 15:29

Today is a new day. Tomorrow is a new day. If there's something that you want as a Gen Z and millennial, and don't rely on everybody else to help you to get there, you can utilize those resources. But we have control of our own outcomes in most case scenarios. But you do have to expect the unexpected. You do have to expect the curve balls to be thrown at you, because they will. Everything happens for a reason, but if you look with your glass half full, you expect the unexpected to happen. You expect change. You embrace change. Good things will come. So again, I want to thank everybody for listening today, for watching on the YouTube channel, and I appreciate you. And again, my name is Dr Jason Wiggins. I am your Gen Z and millennial expert and I am here to help. So feel free to reach out to me via email If you would like. My email is JasonWigginsprofessionalatgmailcom. Again, that's JasonWigginsprofessionalatgmailcom. So, thank you, take care and we'll talk to you the next episode. Bye, bye.