Church Boy to Millionaire Mindset
Take Control of Your Life, Starting Today With Doug Wood
I was able to catch up with my friend Doug Wood this week! He has gained success as an entrepreneur, transformational coach, and most recently — a best selling author. Doug is a straight shooter, and wouldn’t give anyone advice that he wouldn’t follow himself, that’s part of the reason I truly value any conversation I get to have with him.
For anyone meeting Doug, it doesn’t take long for them to realize he is a passionate individual. You can hear it in his voice, and for good reason — Doug wholeheartedly believes purpose is what fuels our success in life. He talks about how we have a hierarchy of needs. First, the most basic — necessities like food, shelter, and income. But once we can satisfy these needs without worry, we should start to look past the day-to-day and examine what we want our purpose in life to be.
Almost 10 years ago, this thought finally sunk in — what type of legacy was he leaving? Doug and his wife were struggling financially and physically. In debt, overweight, and unhappy — he knew they needed to make a change. So they started categorizing their lives and taking personal responsibility in each area.
“I woke up one day and realized that I’m tied down. If there is such an American dream, I’m not living it. I not only physically woke up from sleep, but I got up one day and said I am done living this. Why do I live where I live? Because I grew up here, or because of my family, or because I have a job that keeps me there. Why am I doing life with both hands tied behind my back? I want my freedom back, I want to be me.”
So Doug and his wife started working on their physical health, and now after 10 years they are living the “American dream.” Along the way, his purpose for life became clearer.
“People are most fulfilled when they are in pursuit of what matters most to them. What matters most to me is helping other people win, therefore, I’m winning.”
Through this life transformation, Doug learned not only a lot about himself but also those around him — and the human behaviors that lead to a status quo life.
“When I woke up and looked around, and I said I’m tired of talking about the good ole days with my friends. I’m tired of taking people’s advice from people who have given up on their goals or their dreams, or they’re also in debt and they’re trying to tell me how to live my life…. Why are people chirping at me who I thought they were in my corner? I just realized I was taking advice from people that were at a status quo. Ninety-seven percent of people live a status quo life, and they are okay with it. They may say they want more, but their habits don’t show it.”
Doug stresses that our habits outside the nine to five work hours are critical to achieving your goals and rising above a status quo lifestyle. How do you spend your evenings and weekends? Are you watching hours of Netflix and going out drinking? While these activities are not inherently bad or wrong — they do act as a distraction. Before you know it, life has passed us by and our dreams are still sitting on the shelf.
Doug challenges individuals to use their free time, their personal time, to add value to their own lives. In the evenings after work, start pursuing that master’s degree, launch that blog, draft that book, go for a two-mile run. We have a limited amount of available time, and to reach the goals we need to spend it adding value to our lives that move us closer to that endpoint.
Another important aspect of this personal investment is limiting negativity and toxicity in your life. Stay informed with what is going on in the world, but don’t be consumed by the around the clock news cycle. Surround yourself with people who encourage you and support your decisions — be wary of jealousy as it comes in multiple forms.
One action toward taking better control of your life starts with waking up earlier.
“Something that everyone can do today is immediately wake up earlier. I’m not talking about you single moms that are burning every candle at every end of the stick. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the other 98 percent of you who can get up earlier… I removed the television from my room and also no blue screen late at night or first thing in the morning. Your time is reserved for you… Make sure you consume things that edify you.”
Since Doug has achieved such great success over the last decade of his life, it would be easy for him to only showcase the glitz and the glam, but he also documents the struggles that come with it. I respect that. Social media has caused us to believe a lie that life is always beautiful. It’s not, it gets hard and ugly.
Doug doesn’t mince words. He is open and realistic about success. The hard work that comes with it, and the failures that he still endures. His book, Churchboy to Millionaire documents that success is achieved, but doesn’t erase the trials of life. Doug released his book over a year ago and has quickly become a bestseller on the Amazon marketplace. With 25 independent chapters, the book addresses a variety of topics that intertwine with our daily lives — providing actionable insights on how you can also take better control of your life course.
“My advice is to make a decision to do it today. If you made a decision in the past to get healthy, recommit to that decision and call Tori. Say I’m ready to take it to the next level. I need help. I need a coach. Do it right now. Stop making excuses… If an area of life is important to you, you need a coach in it. Everybody needs a coach.”
Be Unstoppable!
– Tori
