Goals DO Come True with Doug Bennett

Doug talks with Dan Leonardi, who went from Pepsi truck driver to corporate executive after quitting college. The career strategist and founder of Leonardi Personal Development worked at companies like Pepsi, Kellogg's, and ConAgra. He built a 35-unit condo complex to pay for his sons' college education and shares his approach to creating your own luck. At 68, Dan has released his book "Be the CEO of Your Life" and teaches students how to bridge theory with practical application. He explains the 70-20-10 rule that shows why relationships and experiences matter more than education and reveals how inverting traditional leadership structures can turn around struggling teams. KEY TAKEAWAYS • Create your own luck, success comes from taking action to create opportunities. Dan built a 35-unit condo complex to turn his sons' college expenses into profit. • The 70-20-10 Rule is something Dan follows and advocates for, only 10% of career success comes from education, 20% from relationships, and 70% from experiences. Most people graduate thinking they're done, but they're only at the 10-yard line with 90 yards of life still to play. • Life is three stages, ages 20-30 are for building knowledge through relationships and experiences. 30-40 is when you create financial wealth. 40+ is the compounding phase where everything comes together. • Dan shares how you can transform teams by putting customers and associates first, with leaders serving to remove obstacles rather than commanding from above. • Surround yourself with people who give energy and help others succeed, not those who drain energy and create obstacles. Your advisors should be positive and supportive. • Dan believes that whilst Academic education provides a foundation, success comes from applying knowledge to real situations. Listen to experienced professionals and learn from every interaction. • Successful people want to share their knowledge with younger generations. Don't be intimidated to ask questions, one conversation can change your trajectory and costs nothing. • Be the CEO of your own life! Take ownership of your path while treating parents and mentors as your board of directors. You make decisions, but surround yourself with wise advisors. BEST MOMENTS "If someone says to me, 'Hey, you're the luckiest guy in the world,' I would take it perhaps as an insult, because if you're just lucky, that implies I did nothing to create that luck." "90% of my learning came from two things. It was relationships and experiences." "Don't look at anybody else. Don't care about what everybody else is doing. You are the CEO of life of your life." "The three worst letters in the dictionary, when they're combined, it's bad. And it's EGO." ABOUT THE GUEST Dan Leonardi Career Strategist, Personal Development Coach & Founder of Leonardi Personal Development https://www.leonardipersonaldevelopment.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/danleonardi/ VALUABLE RESOURCES Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/ Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/ Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here: https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success BOOKS: Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/ Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

Join Doug as he speaks with Australian leadership expert Jonno White, author of "Step Up or Step Out,". Discover why only 8% of people actually write down their goals, learn the zone of genius approach to goal setting and uncover the secret to creating workplace cultures so compelling that employees would move cities to work there. With honesty about his own goal setting struggles and his experiences from building a 10k copy bestselling book, Jonno shares advice that turn ordinary teams into high-performing powerhouses. KEY TAKEAWAYS * Goals transform everything instantly, just like adding goalposts and teams turns a casual park kickabout into an intense, exciting game, adding clear goals and structure transforms any activity from mundane to meaningful and engaging. * Zone of genius goal setting uses assessments like CliftonStrengths and Working Genius to understand your natural abilities, then set stretch goals specifically aligned with what energises you rather than what drains you. * Only 8% of people write goals down! Despite overwhelming evidence of effectiveness, the vast majority fail to harness this simple practice, often due to lack of belief in the process or themselves. * Start with easy wins to build momentum. Begin goal setting with achievable but challenging targets that provide dopamine hits and build subconscious belief in the process before attempting bigger, more audacious goals. * "What's most important right now?" creates team focus. Patrick Lencioni's single question helps teams establish one rallying cry priority that eliminates politics and dysfunction, similar to how emergency situations naturally align everyone's efforts. * Personal, Professional, Financial (PPF) conversations unlock potential, an annual one-on-one sessions where leaders learn about employees' personal goals, professional aspirations, and financial targets enable next-level support and engagement. * Difficult conversations require frameworks and the "Step Up or Step Out" methodology provides a structured approach to handling challenging team members while preserving relationships and maintaining performance standards. * Workplace culture should be magnetic. The ultimate business goal is creating an environment so compelling that top talent would relocate their entire family just to be part of that businesses mission and culture. BEST MOMENTS "All we changed was really created goals, and yet we turned a kick around in the park into an enjoyable, exciting game."  "I really specialise in helping leaders to build the type of workplace culture that employees would move cities to work at."  "Every time you do something for your child as they grow older, you're actually stealing the self-esteem from them that they could have had from doing that themselves  "You can be trolling through the dump, if you do it in the right way... you can turn that into a meaningful, unforgettable experience."  "There's only 8% of the global population that write their goals down or actually have goals, which is a crazy small amount."  ABOUT THE GUEST  consultclarity.org [http://consultclarity.org/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonno-white-983486136/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonno-white-983486136/] https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/leadership-conversations-with-jonno-white-podcast/id1593825558 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/leadership-conversations-with-jonno-white-podcast/id1593825558] VALUABLE RESOURCES Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/ [http://dougbennett.co.uk/] Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk [doug@dougbennett.co.uk] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug [https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug] Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/ [https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/] Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here: https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success [https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success] BOOKS: Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z [https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z] Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/ [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/] Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

Athena Brownson, a former professional skier who competed for 14 years before becoming a top Denver realtor speaks to Doug in this episode. Athena talks about the challenges she faced after multiple surgeries and becoming chronically ill from lyme disease. She shares why the goal-setting techniques that made her an elite athlete became her lifeline through chronic illness and her approach in real estate. Doug and Athena also explore morning routines, Athena’s "greatness tracker" system, and how she transforms nervous energy into excitement. Athena and Doug give actionable strategies for approaching goals, especially when facing adversity.   KEY TAKEAWAYS * Tough coaching taught Athena consequences and accountability. Her coaches ensured there would be consequences if she wasn't following instructions or skiing to her fullest potential, teaching her resilience and showing up. * Lyme disease took Athena from athletic peak to chronic pain, she was diagnosed eight and a half years ago, going from top athlete to barely getting out of bed with 10 out of 10 pain. * Athena writes goals in present tense daily as part of her morning routine. She learned to write "I am healing, I am healthy, I am full of energy" even when those things weren't true, creating neural pathways in her brain. * Athena created a greatness tracker system for weekly accountability, she prints out weekly action items including face to face meetings, phone calls, notes, open houses, events, plus health goals like gym visits and clean eating. * Visualisation has always helped Athena achieve her goals. If she could visualise landing a trick she'd never tried in her head, she knew she could land it in real life; now she visualises sales and happy clients. * Real estate requires the same mentality Athena had as an athlete, she believes you need "a little bit of psychosis" to succeed in real estate, the same type athletes have. * Goal setting prevents Athena from going on disability despite chronic illnesses, most people in her position go on bed rest and disability, but if she did that she'd be so depressed it would be game over for he. * Athena views manifestation as consistent goal-writing by hand, writing goals by hand tells your brain what's important and helps recognise opportunities, making manifestation practical. BEST MOMENTS "I've pretty much been setting goals since I came out of the womb, even if it was unintentional."  "Half of the feat of reaching a goal is the simple act of showing up."  "If I could visualise, if I could close my eyes, visualise myself landing a trick that I had never tried before, but I landed it in my head, I knew that I could land it in real life."  "I reckon we could get rid of a certain amount of mental illness if we could get more people to be goal oriented."  "When you're in the midst of adversity, it's actually the most important time to create goals and to create those actionable steps, because that is what is going to keep your mind engaged in a positive manner."  ABOUT THE GUEST Athena Brownson: Former Pro Skier Turned Top Denver Realtor, Defying Limits in Life and Real Estate. Something like this! https://athenabrownsonrealtor.com/ [https://athenabrownsonrealtor.com/]https://www.linkedin.com/in/athenabrownsonrealtor/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/athenabrownsonrealtor/]https://www.facebook.com/AthenaBrownsonRealtor/ [https://www.facebook.com/AthenaBrownsonRealtor/] VALUABLE RESOURCES Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/ [http://dougbennett.co.uk/] Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk [doug@dougbennett.co.uk] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug [https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug] Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/ [https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/] Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here: https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success [https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success] BOOKS: Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z [https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z] Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/ [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/] Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

Doug has an inspiring conversation with Life Alchemist Nikola Howard, about turning personal struggles into business success. After dealing with her mother's death, chronic health conditions including polycystic ovaries and endometriosis, and years of business uncertainty, Nikola has created her mission: helping women with chronic conditions build sustainable businesses without burnout. From her award-winning HOPE protocol for nutrition to her new FLOW formula for business, Nikola shares her advice for goal setting, energy management and the power of being specific.   KEY TAKEAWAYS * Nikola shifted from being the UK's leading low-carb expert to serving women with chronic conditions in business after realising her most loyal clients shared these two characteristics and needed specialised support. * Nikola sold her property to go all-in on her mission after years of managing her mother's illness and death. * The HOPE protocol for nutrition, PATH for mindset work, and FLOW formula for sustainable business practices tailored to chronic conditions are three interconnected systems Nikola has created. * Rejecting the 9-to-5 model, Nikola schedules high-energy tasks after 2 PM when she's naturally most productive. She works as a night owl and designs her business around energy patterns. * Nikola has won 26 awards with her lifestyle approach, focusing on permanent change rather than temporary diets, emphasising adult choice and eliminating shame-based language around food decisions. * She resisted goal setting for years, believing goals would trap her, Nikola only embraced them when she realised they're actually requests to the universe, not restrictions. * Her business model prioritises collaboration over competition, incorporating feminine energies of cooperation and win-win outcomes rather than traditional masculine hustle culture that leads to burnout. * Nikola's currently beta-testing her signature program and discovering it's more comprehensive than initially planned, requiring six months rather than nine weeks to properly serve her clients. BEST MOMENTS "The mind is like a puppy and it will run around all over the place. And our job as the thing in charge of our mind's puppy is picking up the puppy and bringing it back to where the focus is." "When you ask the universe what you want, it will give it to you. Might take a while. Sometimes it delivers sideways, but it will always manifest itself." "You can never be too specific. Would be my one goal setting tip." "We always, always overestimate what we are able to do in a year and seriously underestimate what we can achieve in five." "Never be scared of having a goal. Because when you have it, it can happen. But if you don't have it, you are just gonna wander along in your life on autopilot and things will happen to you rather than be caused by you." ABOUT THE GUEST Nikola Howard, Life Alchemist https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikola-howard/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikola-howard/]https://bsky.app/profile/nikolahoward.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/nikolahoward.bsky.social%0b%0b]https://nikolahoward.uk/securitysix [https://nikolahoward.uk/securitysix] VALUABLE RESOURCES Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/ [http://dougbennett.co.uk/] Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk [doug@dougbennett.co.uk] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug [https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug] Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/ [https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/] Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here: https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success [https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success] BOOKS: Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z [https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z] Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/ [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/] Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

Doug is joined by Neil Harvey, a compulsive creator who went from being a naval officer to Airbnb superhost, earning hundreds of thousands! Neil reveals the two simple habits that have created his success. From accidentally becoming a concert pianist to hosting 2,000+ strangers without incident, Neil's stories prove that adding value to others creates incredible opportunities. Doug and Neil also explore the universe's mysterious ways of rewarding kindness and the power of being very specific with your goals.  KEY TAKEAWAYS * Neil attributes his ‘luck’ or success to two things: adding value for others whenever you can and exchanging contact details with anyone you meet. * It costs nothing to be kind and you don’t know when this kindness might come back to you. * Neil’s big audacious goal is to create a training programme that can help others do what he does. He wants to share his knowledge and help those struggling financially to have the belief and confidence to get started in what he does.  BEST MOMENTS “Always be very, very specific with what you wish for. In other words, how you set your goals.” “ I put it down to two habits. One is always try to add value to others whenever you can. However you can, wherever you can without any expectation of reward. And the second habit was exchange contact details with everybody you ever know." “ Just do these things, you know, be kind, be nice, give a little bit extra. It doesn't cost anything and you never know where it's gonna come back to you.”  ”It's about goals coming true. We are all empowered to help other people achieve their goals and when we do that without expectation of reward, reciprocity kicks in.” ABOUT THE GUEST Neil Harvey @SuperhostNeil https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-airbnb-superhost/id1733701622 [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-airbnb-superhost/id1733701622] VALUABLE RESOURCES Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/ [http://dougbennett.co.uk/] Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk [doug@dougbennett.co.uk] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug [https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug] Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/ [https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/] Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here: https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success [https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success] BOOKS: Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z [https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z] Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/ [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/] Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.