You Will Be Rewarded in Public for What You Do in Private.

Most people want the spotlight…
But very few are willing to commit to the discipline and consistency required when nobody is watching.

In this episode, we break down the real truth about discipline and consistency—and why the work you do in private is what ultimately creates public success. If you’ve been struggling with how to stay consistent, feeling like your effort isn’t paying off, or questioning your path, this message will hit you differently.

This is about more than motivation. This is about building real discipline, developing daily habits for success, and understanding why consistency beats motivation every single time.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why discipline and consistency matter more than motivation
• How to stay consistent when no one is watching
• The truth about delayed gratification and long-term success
• How your daily habits for success shape your future
• Why hard work goes unnoticed at first—but always pays off

If you’re serious about personal development, building a success mindset, and learning how to stay disciplined when it’s hard, this episode will challenge you to a higher standard.

Because one day…
The same discipline and consistency that felt invisible…
Will become undeniable.

Stay focused. Stay disciplined. And trust the process.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Mindset Academy. This is the place where your excuses they come to die and your potential finally wakes up. I'm your host, Terrence Fagan, and I'm here to help you break your limits, level up your mindset, and actually live the life you keep on talking about. Look around here, we do not do fluffy motivation, we do real talk, proven tools, and a powerful conversation with people who've been through it and came out winning. So I want you to buckle up because we're diving into the psychology, the grind, and the glory of becoming your best self. This is the Mindset Academy. Class is officially in touching. Ah, here we are. Another day, another opportunity to become great when the lights are off, everyone asleep, but yet you remain working, you remain grinding, you remain determined to have the life and the dreams and the goals and the aspirations that a champion, a warrior, someone who may have the King's disease. If you don't know what the King's disease is basically the idea of never really taking a day off, never really having the time to just not do anything. But what I want to talk to you about tonight is something that is really, really serious. Something that should pull at your heart if you want to be great, if you want to be a champion, if you want to be all that you can be like the Marines, this is something I need you to listen up to because a lot of people got it twisted. And I'm gonna just say this and I'm gonna leave it here and we're gonna keep rolling. But if you want to be rewarded in public, it's what you do in private that matters. So let me say that again in a different way. You will be rewarded in public for what you do in private. Everybody wants the spotlight. Everybody wants to talk about the spotlight. But nobody wants to talk about the darkness. Everybody wants the stage, the applause, the success, the recognition. But the truth is, your life is not built when everybody is watching. Oh man, it's grand and glorious when the lights are on and you can perform at your best. But what were you doing in those nights when it was cold, it was rainy, it was lonely, nobody was there. You had to peel yourself up off the ground. You had to peel yourself out of that comfortable seek sheltered, seek sheeted bed. You had to do that. See, listen, man, this thing is built in the mornings when nobody sees you, the nights when nobody is clapping, the workouts, nobody is recording, the prayer, nobody hears. The discipline that nobody celebrates. Right now it's 12:31 a.m. on a Friday night. I could be anywhere, I could be at the club, I could be in my bed, I could be anywhere, but guess what? I'm working on the craft, the thing that I know that I want to be great at. But see this, there are people right now laughing at my consistency because they can't see the reward yet. But guess what? I got tunnel vision, I can see it. It's right there, it's right there. One day, the lights will come on, and people will call me lucky. And for a life that I built right now, but for you that are listening, oh, you know it takes work. You know I've been grinding. Yeah, could I grind harder? Yeah, hell yeah. Could I go further? Oh, hell yeah. But that's the plot, and that's the joy in it all. That's what I'm doing it for. See, the world is only gonna see the results, and that's the thing. People are gonna always celebrate the outcome, but they're gonna ignore the preparation. But the journey, the joy is in the preparation, the journey. Everyone sees champions, NBA champions, NFL champions, NHL, W NBA, actors, musicians, those winning Grammys and Emmys. Everybody sees the champions, but nobody sees the practice. Everybody wants the transformation photos, nobody wants the lonely, boring process. Society is only going to reward the visible success, but ignore the invisible sacrifice. I'm gonna say that again because that means a lot. Society rewards the visible success, but is going to ignore the invisible sacrifice. And what are you doing right now to sacrifice? Are you doing enough? Are you doing enough? Honestly, ask yourself that because that will determine how far you'll go. Are you sacrificing enough? Sometimes the hardest part of growth, man, is nobody's gonna understand why you are changing, why you're doing the things that you're doing, man. I'm gonna give you an example. I went to the movies with my wife tonight. Actually, tonight, I went to go see Michael. And I told her, I'm restricting my diet, I'm not drinking, I'm fasting. She tried to give me some popcorn. I'm like, nah, I'm straight. One kernel of popcorn. She's like, just eat the popcorn. I'm like, no, I'm not doing it because I'm focused, I'm locked in. People are gonna judge you, man. No matter who it is, people are going to judge your season of preparation because they can't see your future. They can't see it. I see the future for what I want. The reward in public is gonna come from the process of me doing this in private. Me being strict on myself. And for a long time, I haven't been strict on myself, but I know and I've seen it. The goal is right there. The journey is right there. I just have to take a step into the journey. You have to take a step into the journey. Most people are gonna quit because nobody is applauding them in the beginning. So many of us want to see the plots, applauds in the beginning. So many of us want to reap the harvest when we're in the planting and germination season. It don't happen like that. You have to wait, you have to work, you have to grind, you have to be patient, you have to endure, endure the process. Everybody wants the mic, but nobody wants the reps. People watch one motivational video and they think, My life is changed. Nah, bruh. The big thing about motivation is that you gotta get hit in the mouth. You gotta stay up those late hours and get up early. My alarm's going off by 5 a.m. The challenge for me tomorrow is am I gonna get up and do what I said I'm gonna do? The thing is that the gym don't open until 7. So what am I gonna do? Get up, drink some coffee, stretch, and get ready for the workout. See, that's the difference. A lot of people, as I said, they'll watch a motivational video tonight and they'll wake up and they'll hit snooze because it's not built in them. It's not built in them. They'll buy a planner and never open it. Guess what? I got a planner on my desk and I journal in it every day. My affirmations. I am, I will, I am, I am this, this, and that. I don't want to tell y'all what's in my journal, but I'm telling you, you need to do that. You know, the big thing that I always see is that it's new year, new me. Then nine days later, nine months in, where were they? Where are they? And I get it, I've been like that too. I've been like that plenty of times, but that's why I come on here to tell you is that it's not about it's not about setting new year's resolutions, it's not about watching motivational videos, it's not about buying a planner, it's about execution. It's about execution day in and day out, day in and day out. You eat bad shit, but yet you want a new body. Nah, see, it don't work like that. It don't work like that, man. People want a six-pack and they get tired after eating one salad. No, you gotta eat the same damn thing for a whole two years straight. And that's how you get the glory in public of saying, Man, you worked hard for that. Some people don't want success, they just want to have the lifestyle of success, they want to have the aesthetics of success. That's a big thing nowadays. They want to look like they're successful, but what about the real growth? Real growth is repetitive, it's boring, it's quiet, it's quiet right now where I'm at. It ain't nobody around me, man. But yet I'm getting better, yet I'm getting stronger, yet I'm getting fitter, yet I'm getting to the point of where my dreams and my goals will materialize. Because why? I'm working when I'm tired. I could have gone to sleep, but why sleep, man? This opportunity is right here. Private habits create public realities, man. Every day, your daily private actions are gonna always shape your future identity. Let me break this down real quick. Let's talk about that. What you repeatedly do, or what you repeatedly think, you become. You become who you repeatedly say you want to be and do. What you see and what you put into your subconscious is what you're gonna be. So, what do you want to put in your brain? Create those small habits and they'll compound over the days, over the weeks, over the months, but nobody sees the discipline until the results show up. But you, you're forward thinking, you can see the future. What are you gonna do right now, daily, that's gonna shape your life? Reading daily. I read 30 minutes a day. No matter what it is, I'm reading 30 minutes a day. I'm consistently at the gym, getting stronger, getting fitter, removing the old man that I used to be. I'm practicing my speaking, I'm practicing recording, I'm recording Rails, I'm recording YouTube videos on a weekly basis. I'm recording content that probably is not gonna get a lot of views, but guess what? You keep working, you keep grinding, you keep building, eventually, it all compounds. Your skills get better. You're saving money quietly. Nobody's watching you say that money on that crypto that may explode in the next couple years. And then they're gonna say, Wow, how did you do it? Well, hey man, I was doing this quietly. I wasn't showing off, I wasn't bragging. It's about working on yourself emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Those three things, if you can bust it down to just those three three, those three things, emotionally, spiritual, and physical, man, you'll crush life. So your private routine is always gonna predict what your future looks like. What you do, the Bible even says it, what you do in the dark will come to light. The life you want is hiding inside your daily habits, and champions are built in rooms where nobody enters. Are you a champion? Look around you. Tell yourself you're a champion. But you gotta know that nobody is gonna help you. Nobody is coming to save you. Nobody wants you to win better than they're gonna win. So you're not gonna get a lot of help. Hell man, if you got one person in your corner and they applauding you when you do something, man, hey, take it as a win. But as you keep going, you're just consistent, man. That's when life gets good. That's when life starts to take the turn of becoming a champion. But it's lonely. It's a lonely season. This is a very, very lonely season. In the private season, it often is going to feel painful, dog. And it's because there's no validation yet. We all want instant gratification, we all want love, we all are urgently, eagerly wanting to have the applause. I love hearing congratulations. I love hearing way to go. I love seeing it all manifest. But it's really about those private seasons because that's when you get to know yourself. I seen something today on Instagram when it was like, look, everybody that goes to the gym, we all are experiencing the weights in a different manner. We all have different strengths, we all have different personalities, even though that's a 30-pound dumbbell, we all are experiencing it in a different way. What you do in your private sessions, what you do when you are building and you're you're crafting and you're you're building your skills, that's when it's gonna feel painful because nobody's gonna applaud you. Your friends are not gonna understand your focus, bro. A lot I got one friend that I could talk to about what I'm doing, podcasting, posting videos on YouTube, because he sees the vision. But other than that, nobody else sees the vision, man. Nobody else sees the vision. But the big thing about it is that a lot of times, even though I'm doing this, I feel like I'm behind. I feel like I'm behind the A-ball. I feel like I'm running and catching, chasing my goals. And the hard work is really showing little visibility. It's not really showing a lot of visibility towards the payoff, but I know that I'm constantly chipping away. I know I'm chipping away at that brick wall. I know I'm chipping away at that tree. Posting content, man. It's like almost like pulling teeth because it's like I know that I'm working on the thing that I'm working on. This is the thing that um Myron, Myron Golden always says, he says, the thing that you are working on will continuously work on you until you have figured it out, until you have mastered it. When you mastered it, it's no longer working on you. You work it. Building, man, building this while working, building this dream, building this identity of becoming this multimillionaire speaker, multi-millionaire business coach, man. It's it's it's a long process and there's been a lot of up and downs. But guess what? I'm here for the journey. I'm here because I know that the grass is greener, the grass is greener where I'm where I'm headed to. And there's a version of me, and there's a version of you that's being built. You, the ones that actually want it. All right. So let me reframe that. If you actually want it, and you're grinding, and you're building right now, a lot of people are not gonna see that, and you have to be okay with it. But sometimes God will isolate you before he elevates you. God will isolate you before he elevates you and puts you on that pedestal in front of everyone else. You're crying over the process. Stop crying. Your future is thanking you for not quitting. Imagine what it's gonna look like in the end when you're driving at Rolls Royce. You got that paddock, you got that M, that black card in your wallet. That's all you need. You don't even need the ID. The cops stop you, you just pull out the black card. Like, hey, man, I'll buy you, nigga. Nah, but seriously, man, see what it look like at the end. Stop crying over the process. Stop crying over the things that you don't have right now. This is where it's time for you to shut up and put up. Man, there's been so many times where I just doubted myself, man. I doubt myself. Even to this day, I'm a mindset coach and I doubt myself sometimes. It happens. And that's just that little, I sort of like to call it a little bitch inside. It's a little bitch inside your brain that's stopping you from going that extra mile. And it says, Man, nobody believes in you. Just go ahead and quit. Why did you even put the logo back up on the wall when you've been dormant with this business for years? Nah, man. I see a vision. This is the vision I've had in my brain forever. Nobody's gonna understand it. Nobody until I make it full grown, until I walk into that office where it's lit up, until all the people that work for me have on chains or have on a merchandise of what this is. And a lot of people might think I'm delusional. But a lot of businesses, multi-million dollar businesses, have been built in garages just like this. Have been built off one idea. Why can't you? Why can't I? We can do it. You can do it. What does it take? It takes working in private when no one else is around, when no one else wants to see you grind, when no one else really cares about your goals, when no one else knows what you're doing. And what you do when nobody is watching is gonna always define you. That's where character is built. It's built in private. What is your character? Who are you when no one is watching you? Do you have integrity? Do you have discipline? Are you keeping the promise to yourself? Are you doing the work without getting an applause? That's what it's about. Do the work without the applause. So let me give you some steps that you can use today, right now, to really move forward and continue to build your character right here in private. So, number one, I want you to create some non-negotiables. Kobe said he had a non-negotiable with himself that the plan and the workout and everything about his plan for the offseason was a go, and he could not redirect from that program. So again, create non-negotiables. Wake up on time, workout, reading, journaling, prayer, meditation. So this is my thing. My alarm goes off at 5. I've typically been rolling out of the bed about 5, 5:30. I'm waking up, I'm doing my morning routine as far as showering and brushing teeth, and I'm getting straight to my journaling. Um, first off, not even before I get to journaling, I get to the prayer. I want to give God that time. Thank you, Lord. Read the scripture, read a devotion, say my prayer, spend time with God, and just acknowledge God. Then I go right into my journal and write in my affirmations. I am this, I am that. I'm thankful, Lord. I'm so happy and grateful that money comes to me in increasing quantities through multiple sources on a continuous basis. Dollars want me. I am the best speaker, I am a multimillionaire, I am all of these things. And then right after that, I get into some reading, about 30 minutes, and then I get to my workout, and I'm on throughout the day, be doing a daddy, being an employee, being all these great things, and you know, living up to the legacy. But again, creating non-negotiables, these are the things that I cannot move from. Number two is that you gotta stop performing. Don't announce everything. This is my thing. I announced about me, you know, getting a PhD, me applying for USC. And unfortunately, I heard some bad news today. I didn't get in, but you know, that doesn't stop the show. You keep going, you keep you keep building, you build quietly. So that's the two things. Stop performing, don't announce every single thing, and also build it quietly, right? Until people start to see the progress, build it quietly. But more importantly, track your progress, focus on some type of way to be able to track your progress and focus on consistency and not perfection. Consistency is more important than perfection. You'll get perfect, you'll get better. Nothing'll ever be perfect, you'll get better. Better as you go, you'll get things right as you go. And then, number four, you need to build the identity. Become the person that can do the work automatically. You have to be the type of person who does the work no matter what or how he feels. How do you feel? It doesn't matter how you feel. Do the work. Discipline is all about self-respect, man, and action. You don't rise in public if you're lazy in private. Let me say that again. You don't rise in public if you're lazy in private. You cannot be lazy in private and expect to be the best when your opportunity comes. When my opportunity comes, I will be the best. Why? Because I am working in private. Your habits are always going to expose your priorities, bro. So what are your priorities? Are you willing to sacrifice and are you willing to work? Are you willing to go the extra mile? Because one day, the invisible work is going to become visible and it's going to show whether you've been working or not. The business is going to grow. The body is going to transform. Opportunities are going to come. The speaking gigs are going to happen. The audience is going to grow and the confidence is going to change. But more importantly, is that people will see the win or people are going to see you lose. But they'll never fully understand the sacrifice that you made if you're a winner. Oh, but they'll see the sacrifices that you made if you're a loser. They'll say he didn't work hard enough. Oh, they didn't go hard enough. They didn't shine hard enough. So which one will you choose? You want people to see your wins. But realize this overnight success is usually years of unseen work. I've been working and doing this for years, and I still don't feel like I'm at the top performance of where I can be. Man, the world is going to celebrate what I consistently create. And if I consistently, if I consistency, if I consistently create, I'll be great. I will eventually be there. But the private sacrifices are what matters. See, the private sacrifices are introducing me to my future. And your private sacrifices are introducing you to your futures. So, how do you stay consistent when nobody really cares? Let's talk about that real quick. And I think this is really practical advice. This is stuff you already know, but I'm gonna just put it in terms for you. So, how do you stay consistent when nobody cares? One is you have to fall in love with the process, you have to be obsessed. Two, you need to stop wanting to have immediate results. Stop trying to look for immediate results, it's not gonna happen. If you've eaten bad for two years straight and you go to work out for two weeks, you ain't gonna see no difference, dog. Stop waiting for those results. Stop so start waiting for results. Those are to come. Number three, keep promises to yourself. If you keep promises to yourself, you'll get there. Number four, focus on becoming and not proving. And five, remember why you started. Why did you start out on this journey? Why did you do it? But realize this you can't depend on the motivation, man, for a life. It's gonna require the discipline. So you need to be disciplined in these last five areas that I told you about. Let's go over it again just in case you forgot, or you can just rewind it. But I'm gonna tell you again anyway. Fall in love with the process, stop needing immediate results, keep promises to yourself, focus on becoming and not providing. I mean, not proving, excuse me. And then five is remember why you started. Remember this consistency is gonna feel small until it changes everything. You got to keep going long enough, far enough, for your life to introduce you to your efforts, and they'll introduce you. You just have to be willing to work. So one day the door will open. One day, people doubted you. They'll ask, How did you do it? One day your family, they're gonna thank you for working and sacrificing and making the choices that you need to make right now. One day, the same work that you felt as being invisible will become undeniable. But hear me clearly, you cannot live publicly undisciplined and expect privately for it to be meaningful. So, keep working, keep building, keep becoming, because the work you do in private will eventually reward you in public. I'm gonna leave y'all with that. And y'all have a great day. And always, always follow me on Instagram at terrence.x.fagan, or you can watch me on YouTube and I have plenty of links on there if you want to learn more about the coaching, changing your identity, and becoming a man or the woman that you've always wanted to be. I'm doing it, I'm in the process, I'm transforming, I'm in a journey. Come join along in this journey with me. Let's have a good one. Peace.