Lega$y By Design with Terence L. Shigg

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• Terence L. Shigg

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Terence Shigg, founder of Legacy by Design, discusses his mission to inspire personal growth and autonomy. He emphasizes the importance of having a clear mission statement and the concept of "agency." Terence shares his background, including his 27-year career in the federal government and his transition to entrepreneurship. He introduces Reggie Brooks, a young entrepreneur, who highlights the importance of setting realistic goals and incremental progress. They stress the value of aligning reality with expectations and teaching entrepreneurial skills to the next generation. The podcast aims to provide tools and systems for personal and professional growth.

artbyisbl - Isabel Garcia on Instagram

Terence Shigg:

Hello. My name is Terence Shigg, and I am the founder and president of a company that I have named legacy by design. Legacy by design is designed to be a company that inspires people to grow into who they were designed to be. And this is episode number one. So you get to start here at the beginning and hear everything from the start and join the movement before it becomes a trend, I guess I would say, so you can be one of the early adopters, as Simon Sinek would say. With that said, I just want to first of all thank you for joining me here and let you know what this is all about. I came up with the mission statement about a year back, and that mission statement was to teach individuals and organizations how to develop and implement positive growth systems that create autonomy and harmony. And then it changed a little bit, and it became that lead to autonomy and agency. And that was a significant change for me, because I thought that the word agency means that you have some control over all of this, that you have a say so in all of this. And that was the beginning of me beginning. That was the beginning of me realizing how important it is to to not just have a mission statement for yourself and for your life, but to have a guide that gives you direction when you're trying to make decisions, when you're looking for encouragement, when you're trying to figure out, why Am I doing this? That mission statement stands out now. You see the picture if you're watching the video above me, that's a Black Swan. Shout out to Isabel. She's the artist that drew that for me. So if you looking for some artwork, Isabel Garcia, she's on Instagram, and I'll put it in the notes if you want to look her up. So I'm going to read you the definition of a black swan. A black swan person, there's a black swan event and there's a black swan person. A Black Swan person refers to an individual who is unique, rare and unexpected, embodying the principles of the Black Swan theory. This term can be used to describe someone with a rare talent, or to describe it describe a person whose life has been profoundly changed by a surprising and improbable event that was unforeseeable beforehand, and that's what legacy by design, was designed to be, to be an entity, an organization that would change people's lives, that would give people the opportunity to become what they truly wanted to be. I grew up in I wouldn't say we were poor, we were probably closer to middle class, the in between that middle class and poor, but we always had what we needed. My parents worked hard, worked well, were very good at what they did. My dad worked at a church for over 30 years, and he was the he was the janitor, the maintenance man, the security guard, the deacon, the counselor, the church father, everything that was, anything that was needed, the cook, the chef, he did it. And he did it because that was who he was, and out of the passion of his heart, and that was his calling. My mom worked for the federal government, for the Air Force, specifically, for well over 30 years, and she worked as a contract specialist. So a contract specialist is someone that when the government wants to go and buy something, they have to get bids on it. Well, the contract specialist is the one that has to go and get those bids and then give that to the people that make the decisions. And she did that. She's very professional. She did it very well. She was promoted over the years and retired from there. So growing up to me, it was the idea. Of providing for my family in a way that was stable, in a way that was secure, and working for the government was the perfect idea, perfect opportunity for that. Back in the day, when I was getting into my working years, the saying was, there's always work at the post office, and that was the the joke. But the reality of what of it was that we always wanted a job that we could be secure in, that we knew that we were going to get a check on a certain day and we'd have benefits. And that's the way things have been set up. And so made perfect sense. I fell right into that line, I am so. I worked for the federal government for 27 years. I worked in law enforcement. I was loyal. I got promoted. I was part of a union. I was president of a union. I was vice president of a national union. I also went back and got my degree, and my master's degree, became a licensed therapist, this little piece of paper over here, and also was the executive director of a nonprofit, and all of those things. And this was before I even had my mission statement. But I I learned over the years, the things that I was good at, the things that I really enjoyed, and I really enjoyed teaching people. I really enjoyed counseling and coaching people and allowing people to really flourish. And I tried to do that in every avenue and every opportunity that I have. I remember after I got my master's degree, and I got my license to practice as a therapist, and I was working in law enforcement. So I go to the powers that be, because I wasn't a supervisor. I was just one of the cogs and cogs in the wheel, so to speak, and I go to my supervisor's supervisor, so one of the the chiefs, and I asked him and say, hey, you know, I got this degree, I want to give back and help people. And he said, Oh, he listened to me, and I gave my spiel of, you know, how mental health is important and how we could do this, and I would be willing to help with people. And he looked at me as if I, you know, had three horns coming out of my head. And later on, I realized that every time I offered to do something, it was almost as if they were trying to figure out what my angle was, as if I was trying to get something from them, when in actuality, just part of my nature is, if I know something, if I can help, I feel an obligation to try and do that. And I don't think that that's what he was used to. So he listened to me, and after a while, he escorted me to another office with another gentleman, and had me talk to him who escorted me to another gentleman. Had me talk to him who escorted me back to the front door. Need to say nothing was done there. But that was my beginning to realize that everyone's not going to understand your calling. Everybody's not going to be a part of your tribe, and that's okay. But this idea of what makes you you and your values and your gift, and putting that in someone else's structure is very difficult unless you know who you are and what you're doing now. This took me 27 years to figure out, and I'm hoping by this podcast and some of the programs that I offer, I can speed that process up for you a little bit. And part of the lesson that I've learned over the years is that it the environment matters, but the awareness is way more important, meaning, knowing who you are, what your values are, why you do it, what your mission is, what your mission statement is, and that's what that's the place that I've gotten to now. So fast forward, I go through my career. I work for the Bureau of Prisons, which I always like into putting a puppy in with porcupines, because that was one of the most interesting jobs and most emotionally taxing jobs for me, especially for someone like myself, who is very compassionate and a problem solver, and then you put me in an environment where you're overrun by the emotions negative energy of other people, and then they give you an unsolvable problem. Meaning all these people are in jail, you can't do anything about it. So that was an interesting experience, but the one thing I did learn from there is how to better communicate with anybody from the richest person in the world to the poorest person in the world. And I hope as we go through these podcasts and as you are exposed to some of the programs that have developed, that that will be something that you'll learn too is how to better communicate and how to just be curious, curious about yourself, curious about others, curious about the world, and you will be surprised at how, how much that will help you function in the any environment that you're in, from my example of being a puppy with porcupines and in a prison, that's a lot of peace. But you know what I mean, to whatever job that you're doing. And these episodes, I'll also interview people. I'll interview some of the people that I'm mentoring and I'm teaching this episode number one, I have a special guest at the end that's Reggie Brooks. He is a young entrepreneur who is building enterprises, and we're working together to build a few more. So I will make sure that stay tuned for that and listen in, or make sure you listen in for that. But the overall purpose of this exercise, this movement, and I invite you to join the tribe. We'll be on YouTube and Facebook, and you'll hear about things throughout the the course of the the podcast. But I really want you to be able to enjoy your life. Mogul dot, who is a former executive with Google, who now works on his own, developing some things, but happiness is one of his things, and he gave a great description of of why people aren't happy. And the description, in a nutshell, was that our reality, our current experiences, are different than our expectations, and that difference causes friction, which causes unhappiness. And so the the solution, the way to fix that, for lack of a better term, is to have our reality and our expectations in line, and that's all within your control. Your reality is controlled by you, believe it or not, your expectations are controlled by you. And that's one of the frameworks I want you to discover as we go through this whole process of legacy by design is your sense of agency and control, and hopefully, if I do this right, it'll give you a little hope in recognizing that things aren't as bad as they seem, as bad As the world makes them out to to be, and as gloomy as they for, tell it to be, because if we start now building our legacy so that we could pass it on for generations to come, now we're impacting the future in the current place right now, and legacy by design is really here to foster those dreams, to get you to remember what you wanted To be before you became a realist before you stopped dreaming, before you believed everything the world was telling you is that you have to get a job and you have to have something stable, and you have to make sure that you can provide for your family and something that has insurance and something that's going to be around for years again, not telling you To quit your job, live on the street and sing Kumbaya, but I am hoping that I can convince you that life is more than a paycheck, that there's a way to do it without sacrificing that dream I have had a friend. And tutti Arturo. And he would tell me the story about him when he was growing up, and he would see his his mom getting dressed up to go out, and his mom would say a phrase to him, and the phrase was, vamos para Viejo. And the way that he explained it to me, and my limited knowledge of the language, is that means we're all getting older. That means enjoy your life now, because the future isn't guaranteed. That this is the way I interpret it. Anyway, feel free to send me a message if you know the phrase and what that means to you. I'm more than willing to learn, but vamos para Viejo. We're all getting older, so let's enjoy the time that we have now and be able to pass on more than just houses, more than just bank accounts and savings and stocks, but to really pass on a system of growth of happiness, of connection, of community, because that's what this is all about. We weren't meant to do this stuff by ourselves. Otherwise it'd be one person on the planet. But there's what, 5 billion now, I'm not sure I have to look that up, so stay tuned. Stay with us. We're going to give you some tools. We're going to give you some systems. We're going to give you some people that will give you the some examples to show you that it's not just me, it's not just you, that we're all in this together, and if we do this right, we all can grow, and we all can be successful and happy. So from the businessman to the first responder to the civilian to the dad, mom, middle aged, young man just trying to find his way. Join the tribe, because we're going to give you some value. We're going to give you valuable tools to improve your life. Another one of my sayings that you'll hear me repeat over and over again, along with my mission statement of those positive growth systems is, if you want to be successful, then create something of value that is in alignment with your values. Create something of value that is in alignment with your values. So for me, my mission statement is the teach is to show people how to grow. Is to spark that fire that has gone out and been stamped out by others in reality and legacy by design is designed to do that, to show you how to strive, not just survive, how to grow, so that you can pass on wisdom, not just money. Well. Thank you for being here for episode number one, and stay tuned for the interview with Reggie, and then every week, I'll put out a short thing just to touch bases with you and have some more interviews, and have some people and tools along the way to to help you and enrich You. All right, see you soon be well. Be blessed. Welcome back to legacy design. Legacy by design. I'm Terence Shigg, your host, and I'm here with today's guest, Mr. Reggie Brooks, good to see you. Reggie, great to see great. I know we've talked in I know who you are, and I know what you've done.

Unknown:

Fantastic human being.

Terence Shigg:

Damn good boxer, too. And a businessman, a businessman beyond his years, as far as I'm concerned, because he's got not only the book knowledge, but kind of the street knowledge, to know how to do things and get them done. So with that said, give us a little bit of your history and how you got started.

Reggie Brooks:

Okay, so, yeah, like, Like T said, Terence, I call him t we, you know, we got it like that. Like T said, We a box. I box. I do videography, I do photography. So I'm really kind of like a businessman when it comes to the aspect of you. Making money. But then as far as a businessman, as far as making money, making my money, make money itself, that's where T came in, and that's where we've been game planning and learning. So as far as now, I'm focused on creating new businesses that create autonomy, but then what I've already done is commercial real estate rentals, car rentals, help home rentals, and my videography and photography, that's really all about me. All right.

Terence Shigg:

With that comes the next question that I would think, and I think everybody, every entrepreneur, every business person, kind of goes through this phase of that sounds good for you, but how do I do that? So if somebody were to come to you and tell them, Oh, I can't do that. Reggie's a boxer. Reggie's in the real estate or t he, he does that whole counseling and coaching thing. I can't do that. What would you tell him?

Reggie Brooks:

I'm a firm believer that anybody can do anything that you want, anything, if God put it in your mind to think about doing it. It's already done. Just a version of you have not recreated, have not been created to do it yet. So here's an example. You see somebody hiking a mountain, three hot, three miles high, dude, I'm 400 pounds. I can never do that. But if you start off doing one mile a day, zero elevation, and then elevate to two miles a day, and then three miles a day with slightly raised elevation, by improving little by little, every single day, you can do anything that you Want. You'll become you'll become a person that won't allow yourself to fail.

Terence Shigg:

I like that. That's a great example. And one of the things I always like to remind people of is always remember that you've come a long way to even get to that point, to have that thought. So you're you've already improved, so your evidence is already there

Reggie Brooks:

exactly, and use that go,

Terence Shigg:

Okay, I've done some things because there's been something in your life that you've done that you're looking back right now going on, man, I know how I did that same thing. It's the same principle. You just supercharge it by recognizing it and using it going forward. And that's what we've really been talking about, is how to to magnify, not only our skills and gifts and abilities, but how to do it in such a way that we don't have to put in so much time. So time doesn't equal money, so that money can make money on its own, and you have more what is it? More assets and less liabilities? Correct?

Reggie Brooks:

Yeah. So yes, one of the things that T, T emphasizes is being able to make be prosperous, but enjoy your prosperity. Most people spend every day they want to make 500k a year, 300k a year, but have no time to spend that 300k that they're working so hard to make. Now our goal is to be able to be prosperous and be happy at the same time, and be happy with your family at the same time and your friends, and enjoy the time that you actually have. Instead of trading your time for money, use that money to enjoy your time, and the money makes it so,

Terence Shigg:

yes, yes, absolutely. Is there any like suggestions or anything that you would like to give to somebody thinking, I want to try that. I want to do that. What's like a first step? Is it a mindset? Is it an action? Is it call Reggie?

Reggie Brooks:

First thing I would say, slow down. Slow down and actually think about exactly what you want. It's an exercise that we did where T had us draw a circle. We had three triangles, and in each triangle, we know we have three squares, these squares, and in each square, it was something different. But in the end goal, we had our end goal, and then we had our feelings, and we had our thoughts and we had our actions Correct, correct our actions. And all of these are connected to our end goal. How are you feeling? How are these feelings going to. Prepare you for your goal. What are you doing? How are you doing? What how are your actions going to bring you closer to your goal? And in the process of this, what are you thinking? How are you feeling? What thoughts are coming through your head when you make this action after you do this? Is it positive? Did it do you feel like you made improvement? Or do you feel like it set you back? So first, slow down, figure out your goal and create a process to get straight to that goal. Don't make your goals too high. Some people, I want to make a million dollars this year, people that have never made a million dollars before. You can't expect yourself to just make a million dollars, and you've never done it before. Let me make $10,000 this year. How can $10 $10,000 turn to two to$20,000 how can 20,000 turn to 40,000 so some people may not move as slow, but slow down and actually decide on what you want and make a game plan to get to that specific goal, and then everything else is grass.

Terence Shigg:

And I like that, that idea, and especially the idea that figure out clearly what you are shooting for, figure out that goal. Because once you figure out the goal, then you can go, Okay, this is what I need to do to get to that goal. Okay, if this didn't work, then I need to do something else to get to that goal. And those are the things that that give you the motivation, give the encouragement, and give you the feedback honestly, that you need so that you can continue to get better. And that's what it's all about. And once you learn that process, now you can teach that process not only to the people in your group, but to your family. And I heard somebody talking the other day, and they were talking about how they became an entrepreneur, but as an entrepreneur now they're instilling that in their kids, and that's something that I'm starting to instill in my little one is, okay, you want the do you want to go on a trip? And you want to do this? Okay? Then we have to figure out a business so we can make money so we can do that. And that's a whole different animal than okay. You got to do chores and walk around the house and clean this up. But when they have agency in it and a part in its creation. It's a whole different thing.

Reggie Brooks:

I love that. I love that it's so rare for adults nowadays also it's so rare for adults nowadays to teach their kids the actual real life lessons, right? But it's also I can't blame too many adults, because some adults themselves don't understand, right? So, but that that's a blessing in itself. Like man, to be able to teach your daughter, to be able to have the knowledge in order to teach your family, your kids, the ones around you, all the knowledge you've taught me. We haven't said nothing about what teased up me. But man, I feel like I'm his son too,

Terence Shigg:

and that's that is truly what legacy by design, and that's why I truly built it. And as me and Reggie do more things together, I know that he's going to pass this on to other people, and that's how we start this thing. This thing is a movement. It's not just we're going to go out there and get ours. It's really about learning how to do it so that we can teach other people to do it, so that they can do it and pass it on to somebody else. And the mindset and the attitude are just as important as the outcome. I All right, I want to thank you for stepping by and hanging out with me for a little bit. You guys stay tuned. We got big things to come. You're gonna you're gonna see it. Big things. All right, brother, you.