Your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert-Your host: Dr. Jason Wiggins
I focus on the motivational aspects with a high emphasize on motivating Gen Z and Millennials (GEN X will also find great value) and the employers who employ them for continuous improvement. This podcast focuses on motivating Gen Z and Millennials to empower to overcome obstacles within our everyday lived experiences. I have a passion for educating, speaking and guiding Gen Z and Millennials to achieve great things. Gen Z and Millennials have experienced so much in a short amount of time as the world continue to move faster. Self-Awareness and belief in our abilities provide a strong foundation for health, happiness and prosperity in a world that offers continuous challenges.
This is a motivational series for Gen Z and Millennials and those who aspire to do great things, while interested in understanding these two great generations and how we can aspire to be better because of the value of motivating through life experiences.
Life is hard, but when we challenge others or ourselves to be successful, then the world demonstrates the value of those who put in the effort. My hope is that each listener will find value and then share that value with others. I am a change leader that is passionate about life transformations and taking our passion and motivation to the next level. YOU CAN DO IT! Remembers Dreams without Goals are just Dreams.
Your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert-Your host: Dr. Jason Wiggins
Being a Can-Do, not a Can-Notter (Episode 161)
What distinguishes can-doers from can-notters? Join me, Dr. Jason Wiggins, as I unpack the profound impact of character and resilience on our lives. You’ll learn how the power of character is a unifying force across generations—whether you're Gen Z or a Baby Boomer—and discover how personal experiences, like my own childhood struggles and the guidance of a supportive coach, can be transformed into opportunities for growth. I’ll share how the perception of negative experiences is key to overcoming adversity and achieving success, making this episode a must-listen for anyone looking to turn their challenges into stepping stones.
From the pain of being bullied to the triumph of building resilience, I’ll take you on a deeply personal journey of setting goals, creating actionable plans, and harnessing the "snowball effect" to achieve financial stability and personal growth. We’ll explore the critical importance of maintaining a positive mindset and a glass-half-full outlook as you push through life's challenges. To underscore my message, I'll share how my pursuit of a doctorate exemplifies the power of determination and strategic planning, and how these principles can inspire future generations. Tune in for insights that will empower you to elevate your own legacy and legacy of those around you.
Hello friends, welcome to your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert Podcast. I am your host, my name is Dr Jason Wiggins and I am extremely, extremely grateful to be here today. It is an amazing day in San Diego, where I reside, and it was one of those things where you just feel compelled to do a podcast about something that you're so passionate about. Well, this podcast is for Gen Z and Millennials and, most importantly, this is also utilized with baby boomers and Generation Alpha, just to name a few. Why? Because we all hold one very simple truth in common, and that truth is we all have blood that runs through our veins. We all have the same color blood that runs through our veins. We all have the same color blood that runs through our brains. The only thing that is different about each and every one of us, from generation to generation alike, is the character that is behind each and every person, and that is what today's podcast is about.
Speaker 1:It is about the can-dos versus the can-nots. We're going to talk about can-doers and the can-notters. That is correct. The can-notters is not a word, it is a fictitiousitious made up. But what is not fictitious and what is not made up is the key compelling difference between the two. It is about the ones that will arise to the occasion. And then it's the other ones that sit there and look at you and say it's your fault, no, it's your fault. No, as they point finger down the line, it's your fault. But what they don't do is look in the mirror and point that finger right back. Why? Because it's much easier to point the blame on someone else for our own discretions, for our own lack of effort, for our own lack of achievement. That is why, as Gen Z's, millennials, generation Alphas, baby Boomers, generation X, all of these great generations have something in common, and that is the commonality of character. Character is what makes up each and every single one of us. How was that character built? What were the dynamics that were developed over time within our character? Were the dynamics that were developed over time within our character? Who were the key inspirational individuals or lack thereof? Inspiration of key individuals within our life?
Speaker 1:I can share with you that, through all of my personal trials and tribulations, there is not one person, one individual, that has made a negative impact on my life. Why is that? Because every single person that stands in front of you, that has a effect on you, that has a pulse that has affected you in one way or the another has made a key impact on your life, on my life and on every single life around here. Yes, there could be a negative impact of how somebody perceives the message, but it's how you take that message and either make yourself stronger or make yourself go down to your knees and wallow and cry in mediocrity and say it's your fault. It's your fault, it's your fault, but the reality is. The reality is that, at the end of the day, the only one that has a control of your life, my life, their life, is the person that is in the body of the one that is experiencing life. That is the big difference. And how do we take that information that can be negative and utilize it in a positive way? It goes back to the same simple aspect of the morality and the character of that individual. So meaning, when people have provided negative feedback, when they have had negative transgressions towards you, when you have had things go wrong in your life, when you have had to overcome obstacles all of these type of effects affect each and every one of our lives about how we can move forward, and what's interesting is the biggest crisis that you might perceive in your life at one time is only a potential crisis that never happened, meaning sometimes we worry about things that we have no control of, that have no effect on our life, that don't even happen. That is why, going back to the opening today, we talk about the can-dos and the can-nots and the factors of character that impact on if we can do it or not, and that's why I say everybody has had an impact in your life and it's the perception of you me, how we let that impact us. I was talking to a young lady the other day and I mentioned I said there is not one person in my life that has ever made a negative impact, that has ever had a negative experience with why? Because every person that we have that has an impact on us or has communicated with us in a negative connotation or a positive direction. It's all about how we perceive that message and take that message and impact our own life by improving our overall well-being. I can tell you firsthand that I would not possibly be where I am today without all the impacts in my life. Every single person I've ever met if it's girlfriend, friend, enemy, whatever it may have been my wife, my child Hunter. All of those things, all those impacts in my life, all of my family, my friends they have all impacted me in a way that has made me who I am today. The reason why that I get a chance to talk to you on your generation, your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert podcast, is because of these great experiences that I've had, starting with my parents, the great foundation they set for me.
Speaker 1:Yes, it was a struggle. Yes, we didn't have a lot of food, we didn't have a lot of things to do. We didn't have a lot of food, we didn't have a lot of things to do, I didn't have a lot of toys, but we survived. We moved forward in the 70s and the 80s and then I had the opportunity to play for a wonderful coach who had a great impact on my life. He believed that I could be somebody that could impact our team.
Speaker 1:As a football player. I was small, I was not very fast, but guess what? It was about the impact I could make on the field. It was about the desire to never quit. It was about the desire to be the best you can be. Was I the best athlete? The best you can be? Was I the best athlete? Absolutely not. But did I try as hard on every play as I could to be the very best person I could be?
Speaker 1:Yes, and how do you get to that point? A lot of it is internal, and that's where the can and cannot come. It's about the internal motivation. It's about that drive. It's about the ability to really see I want to be better than what I can be. And what does that mean? It means, if you're not 150 pounds but you want to play like a 300 pound football player, well, physically can you do it? No, but mentally, can you give it your very best effort? Absolutely, and that is why I would much rather have a team of all can-doers that are willing to put maximum effort into being a great. Have the ability to do as well as they can on the field to impact the game, and that's about impacting life. Do as well as they can on the field to impact the game, and that's about impacting life. And the impact of life is how can I be the best individual? Within my school? By doing my schoolwork, within my work, within my college, within being a family person? All of these things guess what we have complete and 100% control of. We have the ability.
Speaker 1:Yes, sometimes we do have circumstances that we have that affect us, that there's nothing we can do about it. And you know what it's about? The perception, the mind frame that I understand this situation is really bad, the mind frame that I understand this situation is really bad, but I can either make this the best situation possible or I can dwell on it and go. What am I going to do? This is my downfall. This is where I am weak. Well, guess what? The weak can survive if they have that strength to push them up from the ground. Push them up to look that fear in their eye, that weakness in their eye, and go. I can do this, I have the ability.
Speaker 1:And if you're motivated by movies, music videos, inspirational speakers, your own past experiences, your ability to take on more opportunities, well then do it. Why? Because that is the difference between can-dos and can-nots. There's a lot of inspirational movies out there. You know I definitely like to reference sporting movies. For Rudy, for example, it's about an undersized person that has a lot of heart and ends up being a great not even a great college football player Barely getting on the field football player, but he played for Notre Dame. He was a walk-on for Notre Dame, got beat up every single practice and he still got back up after every single play. Remember, it's not about how hard you get knocked down. It's about how many times you keep getting up after you get knocked down, and that's what life offers. It's about how many times you keep getting up after you get knocked down, and that's what life offers. Life offers the ability to always get back up and that is why, no matter how hard you fall, it's about keep getting up, keep moving forward, and that is how the can-dos separate themselves from the can-nots.
Speaker 1:Now I go back to the character that we are. Well, guess what the character is about? What encompasses your mind, your body, your spirituality, your ability to be scholarly? All of these things will impact you in your life, and having key inspirational individuals in your life definitely will help, but it's about making sure that you can focus on how to be successful during the times that are tough. We're all going to counter times where we want to just go in a ball and sleep the whole day and not worry about it, and you know what? Sometimes that may be the best thing to do. Crisis is is always going to happen. There's always going to be situations where you may not be able to get back up right away, but sometimes. But the key is to get back up All these inspirational movies that I talk about Rudy, my All-American.
Speaker 1:It's about a player who gave everything he could, day in and day out, from the time he was a child to the time he played college football and then they discovered a cancer tumor in his bone. Well, guess what? He had to be positive throughout all of these transgressions and he gave everything he had. So there is a one day this is guaranteed One day we will leave this earth, 100% guaranteed. But when you leave this earth, did you leave it in a better place? Did you give everything you could do to get where you wanted to be? Did you meet your goals? Did you not get to your goals because of circumstances? Did you not meet your goals because you gave up? Did you not meet your goals because you were scared, because you let all of these obstacles get in front of you and not be able to overcome them? Well, guess what? We all have the opportunity, the opportunity to be better, no matter where you live, no matter where you're listening to this podcast. I'm really hoping that each and every episode that you've listened to, there's over 150. I hope you've realized that I can do something. I can be better. I can be. I can make a major impact in people's lives and that is why I'm hoping if I touch just one person out there within the podcast land that's listened to this.
Speaker 1:I grew up with nothing. I grew up suffering. I grew up as the smallest kid, and what did I say? Well, you know what? I can't be small. Well, wait a minute, how can you not be small?
Speaker 1:Well, I remember going into my eighth grade year and I was the smallest kid in school. I got picked on, I got beat up. I had a smart mouth. I was like what am I going to do different? I cannot live my life being fearful because of who I am, who I want to be. And even at that age, going into your eighth grade year, you don't know what you want to be, what is going to symbolize how you turn out in life.
Speaker 1:Well then I decided you know what? I'm going to go into my eighth grade year, I'm going to start working out, start lifting weights and make myself feel better, look stronger and maybe I'm somebody that is not going to be picked on anymore. Well, guess what? I went into my eighth grade year and I was, I was, I was, I was the strongest person in eighth grade. Why? Because I worked out really, really hard in the weight room with, with, with high schoolers that summer, and so I started thinking about what can I do different? I have to overcome the body that I have. But the only way I can overcome the body that I have is by demonstrating the character, the fight in me about being a can do it, and that's why I say anybody can do it. You hear that cliche. Anybody can do it if you set your mind to it. Well, it's not cliche, it's true. Yes, there are obstacles. Yes, there are things you have to do to sometimes overcome that.
Speaker 1:You can be in financial crisis and go how am I going to overcome this? I've got credit cards. I've got bills. Well, you know what? How do you do it? How do you eat an elephant? Well, you eat an elephant, one bite at a time, and that's the same thing that you do during financial distress. You pay one credit card off at a time, you snowball. Everybody's heard of David Ramsey. Well, if you like him or not, it doesn't matter. But the one thing he does say it's about the snowball effect and that's basically, as you pay off one bill, you have more money to pay off another and then, all of a sudden, eventually you paid off all your credit cards and now you're being able to save, start that rainy day fund and continue to become more financially viable.
Speaker 1:That is the same thing about being more mentally viable, physically viable. It's about taking those steps and moving up and moving further, further, further. It's always about taking one step forward. You look at sports teams. They might have winning streaks, but then they take steps backwards. Why? Because they take their foot off the gas. Don't ever take your foot off the gas. If you take your foot off the gas, the only thing you're doing is stopping progress. And again, that is the difference between the can-dos and the can-nots.
Speaker 1:So, every generation if that's Gen Z, that's millennials, generation Alpha, generation X, baby boomers even if you fall towards the older, elderly, traditionalist well, guess what? You can still make an impact, regardless of the age, regardless of where you stand financially, physically, mentally we could all make a difference. And how do we do that? We make a positive difference by looking inside, taking that positive nature, going back to all of those people that have had an impact on our life and think about how they impacted you, how you took that negative and positive and made it into a positive forward motion that allows you to be successful. Stop stop blaming anybody and everybody else.
Speaker 1:Let's go back, look in the mirror and say I have control. I have control in my life. There is nothing that I can't do, and I've always tried to keep that mindset. Yes, I will be very specific and very honest. I am a glass half full type of person. Why? You either have a choice. You can either be glass half full and really go. You know what. I can do this. I can have a positive outlook or you can be a glass half empty and go.
Speaker 1:Oh, you know what. This is going to be too tough. This is going to be too challenging. I don't know if I can do this. You know what? Maybe I just need to take a break. Maybe I just need to do something else. No, you don't need to do something else. No, you don't need to take a break. What you need to do is start setting the guidelines, the priorities, the aspects that you want to achieve, and then, once you put it on paper. How are you going to make those achievements? Those achievements do not happen unless you write them down and they have a course of action. And then, most importantly, between the can-dos and the can-nots, the main difference is taking that information that you wrote down, taking that game plan and implementing into action. How do you do that? Utilizing the resources that you have. Well, if you don't have all the resources that you need to achieve your goal, then take back that plan and go to achieve your goal. Then take back that plan and go. Okay, this is how I'm going to create an avenue, a way to get the resources that are needed for me to get to my plan and then overcome my plan.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you from a personal perspective. When I was working towards my doctorate degree, when I was working towards my doctorate degree, I wanted to quit. So so, so many times, and I just kept on saying to myself if I quit, I will regret this. I did not surpass the goal that I had in my life that I did not create an opportunity to have my son be better by knowing that his dad created a path of success and the ability for him to also achieve more. It's about setting a legacy and moving forward. But how do you do that? You make an impact. How do you make an impact? You do it by looking at yourself and realizing I've got to be better, I've got to create. Now let's keep in mind that all the times I wanted to quit and trust me, there were so many I just kept on saying you have to persevere.
Speaker 1:You are almost over the hump and then, when you get over, you get to the top of the hill. You have to go down. Well, when you're going down, you're riding that wave, you're going that down. So, when you're taking your steps, you're doing your research, you're doing your documentation, your literature review, all of these things that it takes to have a successful dissertation. By adding new foundations, new research that has not existed, you're adding scholarly aspects to the academy. You're doing all of those important things. But it's about the journey, it's about getting there, it's about the results, and that's why I like to always say we can do anything. We can do anything if we implement the plan of action.
Speaker 1:So, as you're listening to this today and you're just maybe shaking your head going, you know what this guy's? Just a bunch of baloney. He speaks baloney. Well, I can tell you I don't even like baloney. You know what it may be baloney, but I can tell you, the only thing I can share is my experiences, and the only thing that I can do to help others is by sharing my experiences, sharing my desire to want to help others be better.
Speaker 1:I enjoy teaching, I enjoy being a leader, I enjoy setting the foundation of success for others. I recently taken on a dissertation individual that's working towards his doctoral degree and I took this individual on because I want to see him succeed. But guess what? He will only succeed if he puts in the work you have to put in the work to get where you want to be, and that's very, very low compensation. So I'm not doing it for the compensation. It's about seeing somebody reach their maximum potential and that's what I believe.
Speaker 1:Each and every person that is listening to this podcast has, that ability. That's why the character that you have, that you've created, this whole body of work that's been created over time because of all the people that have had an impact in your life Friends, family, foes, teachers, administrators, work colleagues, work bosses, books, videos, podcasts, you name it. All of that is now what has made you who you are and what can make you who you want to become? Who do you want to become? Ask yourself that right now. Who do you want to come become? If it's financially successful, is it spiritual success? Is it family success? Is it career success? Whatever that answer is, it's not going to happen by luck.
Speaker 1:Yes, there are some aspects in life that are lucky. You can also get struck by lightning. You can win the lottery. All of these can happen, but the one thing that is almost guaranteed to happen is happiness. Happiness when you reach your goals. And then, when you reach those goals, take what you've learned, pass it on and help others, because when you leave this earth, the only thing you have is the impact that you can make on other people. How can you make their life better, how can you be an important role model and make an impact? Because once you're gone, then it's about the makeup of the individual, from all the experiences where you might have been a pivotal piece within that makeup. But I would encourage each and every one of you to be a positive, pivot, pivotal aspect of each individual.
Speaker 1:So let's go back to, let's talk about what was the focus of today's podcast. It was the difference between the can's do's and the can not. It was the difference between the can's do's and the can not. I hope that every single person listening to this, if you are a can doer, then keep moving forward. Keep moving forward when you get knocked down. It's not about how hard you get knocked down, it's about how many times you keep getting back up and moving forward.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're a can not and you're listening to this, then I really, really inspire you to want to change, to want to take the step forward. That step forward is about you making changes. Changes are tough, changes are hard. You could be changing the people within your inner circle. You could be changing your financial habits. You could be changing your career goals. You could be changing all those important negative things that are keeping you from reaching your goal.
Speaker 1:I'm inspired to help. I'm inspired to motivate. I'm inspired to make. I'm inspired to motivate. I'm inspired to make a difference. Why? Because there's nothing else that's more important when we leave this earth than the impact that we made, why we were here. So, again, I hope everybody has been inspired.
Speaker 1:I hope everybody is going to take this information and say I'm going to be better, I'm going to make these changes. I'm going to do it. Because? Why? Because I want to do it. I want to be somebody that has a successful life, that is happy and that, right there is, the number one focus that you should have is being happy. If you're not happy, then what's going to get you to the place where you can be happy? If success is your happy point, then let's get there together. If it's family, if it's friends, then make those amends to get where you want to be. It's not about financial success. It's about being happy. Some of the most miserable people in this world are those that have so much financial gain but they're not happy.
Speaker 1:So, again, I want to thank everybody for your listenership. Listen to the 150 plus episodes, because a lot of them are about making each and every person experience and about moving forward and being successful in life. It's about learning, about being better as Gen Z and millennials, but these also impact all the other generations Generation Alpha, Generation X, baby Boomers. We all have blood red running through our veins, so let's be kind, let's be helpful and let's move forward. So I want to thank everybody today. Thank you for listenership. I could I ask you to check out my website, gen z and millennial expertcom and you know, provide any feedback that you would like and I'm happy to continue making podcasts to inspire and cultivate your continued success. Again, my name is Dr Jason Wiggins. I am your motivational and Gen Z and Millennial Expert. Take care, talk to you soon and keep moving forward. Take care, talk to you soon and keep moving forward. Bye-bye.
