Episode 336

An Inside Out Approach To Freedom & Fulfillment | DFS 336

Get all the inside secrets and tools you need to help you develop your intuitive and leadership skills so you are on the path to the highest level of success with ease. Dominiece Clifton embarked on an entrepreneurial journey that she wants to share with the world!

In this episode you will learn:

  • Goal Attainment - repetition
  • Accountability - tick it off!
  • Tell people!

Who is Dominiece Clifton?

Dominiece Clifton’s work lies at the intersection of connection, community, and change, as she empowers individuals and organizations to prioritize mindfulness and healing so that they can live more aligned and fulfilling lives. She is a somatic practitioner who promotes an integrated approach to healing through the use of yoga, meditation, breathwork, and sound healing. Dom is the founder of Move And Still, Nourish Wellness Collective, and hosts The School of Healing podcast. Her book Hold Space to Heal is available now. A girl momma of two, Yara & Zuri are her greatest joy.


IG:

https://www.instagram.com/dominiecerclifton/


LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiece-r-clifton-288b20b3/


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Buy your copy of the the Best Selling Book, 12 Minutes to Success on Amazon:  https://a.co/d/beBleiW  


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Are you ready to tiptoe into your intuition and tap into your soul’s message? Let’s talk 


Listen in as Jennifer Takagi, founder of Takagi Consulting, 5X time Amazon.Com Best Selling-Author, Certified Soul Care Coach, Certified Jack Canfield Success Principle Trainer, Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst and Facilitator of the DISC Behavioral Profiles, Certified Change Style Indicator Facilitator, Law of Attraction Practitioner, and Certified Coaching Specialist - leadership entrepreneur, speaker and trainer, shares the lessons she’s learned along the way.  Each episode is designed to give you the tools, ideas, and inspiration to lead with integrity. Humor is a big part of Jennifer’s life, so expect a few puns and possibly some sarcasm.  Tune in for a motivational guest, a story or tips to take you even closer to that success you’ve been coveting.  Please share the episodes that inspired you the most and be sure to leave a comment.  


Official Website: http://www.takagiconsulting.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifertakagi/

Facebook: facebook.com/takagiconsulting


I look forward to connecting with you soon,  Jennifer


Jennifer Takagi

Speaker, Trainer, Author, Catalyst for Healing


PS: We would love to hear from you! For questions, coaching, or to book interviews, please email my team at Jennifer@takagiconsulting.com

Transcript
Jennifer Takagi:

Welcome to Destin for success. I'm your

Jennifer Takagi:

host, Jennifer Takagi, and today I have a new friend to introduce

Jennifer Takagi:

you to dominice Clifton, and Dominique is coming to us from

Jennifer Takagi:

Baltimore, and I just love your title, Inside Out approach to

Jennifer Takagi:

success with the 4% formula for consistency. I love that. I want

Jennifer Takagi:

to hear more. How did you get on this path? Discover this and

Jennifer Takagi:

like, how can we do it?

Deminiece Clifton:

Well, thank you for jumping right in, and

Deminiece Clifton:

thank you for your energy. I'm already loving the vibes here

Deminiece Clifton:

today, and I know we're going to have a wonderful conversation.

Deminiece Clifton:

So thanks for having me. Yes. So, huh, this formula. So it

Deminiece Clifton:

just became a formula very recently. I'll be transparent,

Deminiece Clifton:

but it's been something that I've been doing for myself for

Deminiece Clifton:

the last four and a half years now, which I'm really proud of.

Deminiece Clifton:

And I stumbled upon it, I will say, through a meditation. And

Deminiece Clifton:

so let's see, back in March of 2020, right around the time that

Deminiece Clifton:

COVID was just kind of kicking off, and we were getting the

Deminiece Clifton:

whispers of it, and, you know, we were watching the news every

Deminiece Clifton:

day to see what was, what was going to happen as the world was

Deminiece Clifton:

going through this major shift externally, I would say that I

Deminiece Clifton:

was going through a major shift internally, so within my

Deminiece Clifton:

household and within my myself, personally, I was on the verge

Deminiece Clifton:

of my marriage, you Know, not working out well, we've since

Deminiece Clifton:

separated, but we were, like, really having a hard time. Then

Deminiece Clifton:

I had a newborn, so she was about three months old, and I

Deminiece Clifton:

had a three year old, so times were fun, and I had just a few

Deminiece Clifton:

months before COVID. Quit my job, my full time, nine to five,

Deminiece Clifton:

and my original plan, after advocating for you know better

Deminiece Clifton:

maternity benefits, was I'm just going to quit this job and stay

Deminiece Clifton:

out for six months, take an extended maternity leave, and

Deminiece Clifton:

then I'll go back to work, and then COVID happened, and we all

Deminiece Clifton:

know how the world shifted, and people were getting laid off,

Deminiece Clifton:

and so it wasn't an ideal time to be going back to work. So you

Deminiece Clifton:

can say that things were a little bit chaotic in my life,

Deminiece Clifton:

and the only thing I knew to do at that time was to be still. I

Deminiece Clifton:

didn't know. I didn't have any other answers. I couldn't figure

Deminiece Clifton:

out how to get out of this wormhole I dug myself into. And

Deminiece Clifton:

so I just started meditating. And one day, after a few weeks

Deminiece Clifton:

of meditating, I got this whisper that said, every day for

Deminiece Clifton:

the next 90 days, focus on your mind, your body and your spirit.

Deminiece Clifton:

And I can't explain it, but I was really excited about the

Deminiece Clifton:

download. It was something new. It felt like a challenge. You

Deminiece Clifton:

know, at that point I was very inconsistent, and so it was. It

Deminiece Clifton:

was a hard challenge, but I jumped right in. I jumped right

Deminiece Clifton:

in either that same day or the next day with this daily mind,

Deminiece Clifton:

body, spirit practice. And Jennifer, at the end of that 90

Deminiece Clifton:

days, I was completely transformed. I felt like I had a

Deminiece Clifton:

woke, awaken from a fog that I had been in my entire life, and

Deminiece Clifton:

I didn't even know I was, like, living that way. It's like,

Deminiece Clifton:

we're on autopilot and we're asleep, and we don't know it

Deminiece Clifton:

until we awaken. And that's what it was for me. So it was coming

Deminiece Clifton:

out of that, and it was almost like, Huh? And I wanted, I want

Deminiece Clifton:

everyone to know, go ahead. I

Jennifer Takagi:

love that. I interviewed someone recently,

Jennifer Takagi:

and she said, prayer is talking to God, meditating is listening

Jennifer Takagi:

Yes. And so as as I, you know, was pondering that episode, and

Jennifer Takagi:

what she had to say there, it was like, there's that scripture

Jennifer Takagi:

Be still and know that I am God. So I, like, I got a little

Jennifer Takagi:

goosebump going there. That was beautiful. So if, if we're not

Jennifer Takagi:

quiet, yeah, we can't hear. Mm, hmm, so, ah, okay, I'm sorry. I

Jennifer Takagi:

just have to swear that. No, no, no, please.

Deminiece Clifton:

And I had not been quiet up until this point

Deminiece Clifton:

like I was not. I was, you know, very inconsistent with

Deminiece Clifton:

everything. And so I will say that those first couple of weeks

Deminiece Clifton:

when I started, like, it was really hard to do this thing

Deminiece Clifton:

every day because I had not done anything well, but yeah, I came

Deminiece Clifton:

out of it, and I was just clear. And I actually started on my

Deminiece Clifton:

entrepreneurial journey in the coaching world, because I wanted

Deminiece Clifton:

everyone to, like, feel this. I was like, everyone needs to be

Deminiece Clifton:

doing this. Everyone needs to know and that was my

Deminiece Clifton:

introduction to entrepreneurship, to stepping

Deminiece Clifton:

into my role as a nutrition and wellness coach. And so that

Deminiece Clifton:

process, I still do that daily process. Now it's been four and

Deminiece Clifton:

a half years, I have daily accountability, so I'm checking

Deminiece Clifton:

in with myself daily, and I'll talk a little bit about, like,

Deminiece Clifton:

some of the shifts that I saw. So I talked about feeling alive.

Deminiece Clifton:

I lost about 15 pounds, which was big for me, because I've

Deminiece Clifton:

struggled with my weight for most of my life. But that wasn't

Deminiece Clifton:

even the biggest shift. The biggest shift was this mental

Deminiece Clifton:

clarity, right? Just like being clear about who I was, it was

Deminiece Clifton:

being aware of my thoughts and my beliefs and all of these

Deminiece Clifton:

limiting beliefs that I held for so long, I was able to start

Deminiece Clifton:

seeing those. And then I think it was that last piece that you

Deminiece Clifton:

talked about hearing from God, like hearing from spirit,

Deminiece Clifton:

feeling very connected to this higher power after feeling

Deminiece Clifton:

disconnected for a really long time. And so when I talk about

Deminiece Clifton:

some of the benefits of this practice, of course, like I was

Deminiece Clifton:

moving my body daily, and so I was releasing stress daily,

Deminiece Clifton:

which is why I continue to do it, because it's a daily stress

Deminiece Clifton:

relief reliever. And so it's. That physical and mental

Deminiece Clifton:

component of, like, mental health, right? I again, like I

Deminiece Clifton:

was putting positive things into my mind every day with this

Deminiece Clifton:

mindset piece. And so I was listening to motivational videos

Deminiece Clifton:

and listening to podcasts such as this. So I was learning a

Deminiece Clifton:

ton. I started to learn about the subconscious mind and the

Deminiece Clifton:

way that we process things. And, you know, I was seeing the way

Deminiece Clifton:

that I've been holding myself back. And then again, that

Deminiece Clifton:

slowing down piece, it took me out of survival and that fear

Deminiece Clifton:

state that I had existed in for so long, and it gave me clarity

Deminiece Clifton:

to hear from my intuition clearly. And so that shifted

Deminiece Clifton:

everything for me. It was able to help me to really align with

Deminiece Clifton:

my higher self. And so those are some of the, I would say, major

Deminiece Clifton:

benefits of this daily practice, this 4% formula.

Jennifer Takagi:

I love that and and again, your intuition,

Jennifer Takagi:

you've gotta be still, right? You gotta be still to hear that

Jennifer Takagi:

inner voice of what you should do so your practice, which I'm

Jennifer Takagi:

hoping you're going to share a little more about. But how long

Jennifer Takagi:

does it take? What's my what's my agreement? Good

Deminiece Clifton:

question. So this is the fun part. So 4%

Deminiece Clifton:

right? So, okay, let me back up. I talked about mind, body,

Deminiece Clifton:

spirit, 15 minutes of daily mindset work so that could be

Deminiece Clifton:

listening to podcasts, you know, anything motivational that could

Deminiece Clifton:

be while you're in your car driving to wherever you're

Deminiece Clifton:

going. It doesn't have to be like sitting and doing. I'm

Deminiece Clifton:

always with my clients. I'm always like, how do we find ways

Deminiece Clifton:

for this to work with your lifestyle, recognizing that

Deminiece Clifton:

we're all very busy. It could be while you're in the shower,

Deminiece Clifton:

while you're getting dressed, just 15 minutes of being very

Deminiece Clifton:

intentional about what what you're putting into your mind

Deminiece Clifton:

and also being intentional about what you're consuming. And so

Deminiece Clifton:

being in being mindful of scrolling social media or maybe

Deminiece Clifton:

the gossip that's around you, like all of those things that

Deminiece Clifton:

you take in on a daily basis, sometimes we're not aware of. So

Deminiece Clifton:

15 minutes of mindset, 15 minutes of spiritual work, or

Deminiece Clifton:

soul work, and so that's, again, the being still, maybe getting

Deminiece Clifton:

out in nature, maybe doing some journaling. 15 minutes of that

Deminiece Clifton:

could be meditation, if that's your thing. And then 30 minutes

Deminiece Clifton:

of daily movement, moving your body. And that's any way that

Deminiece Clifton:

feels good to you. So it doesn't have to be going to the gym and

Deminiece Clifton:

like, you know, doing that sort of thing. It could be swimming,

Deminiece Clifton:

Zumba dancing, like I've done, you know, dancing with my

Deminiece Clifton:

daughters in the living room. And counted that as my my

Deminiece Clifton:

physical movement, going for a walk, so literally, doing

Deminiece Clifton:

whatever feels good to your body. Now, that comes up to one

Deminiece Clifton:

hour, right? For the folks that were adding as I was talking and

Deminiece Clifton:

I sat back, I told you that I've been doing this for four and a

Deminiece Clifton:

half years, but very recently, it became a formula. I sat back,

Deminiece Clifton:

and I was like, Okay, so that's one hour and there are 24 hours

Deminiece Clifton:

in a day. And then I did the math, and I said, Well, how

Deminiece Clifton:

much? What percentage right of 24 hours is just one hour, and

Deminiece Clifton:

it's only 4% and so that's where this formula comes from. So

Deminiece Clifton:

we're really asking folks to dedicate 4% of their entire day,

Deminiece Clifton:

their entire 24 hours, to nourishing and nurturing all the

Deminiece Clifton:

parts of themselves. And you can get creative about what this

Deminiece Clifton:

looks like. And when you do it, it doesn't have to all be done

Deminiece Clifton:

right back together in one hour. You can break it up. I always

Deminiece Clifton:

break it up. I never do everything together. And if

Deminiece Clifton:

you're going for a walk, you can put on 15 minutes of mindset and

Deminiece Clifton:

like, you know, or 30 minutes. If you're doing a 30 minute walk

Deminiece Clifton:

and you've done two things at one time, so there's fun ways to

Deminiece Clifton:

go about hitting your daily targets.

Jennifer Takagi:

I love that, because there people talk a lot

Jennifer Takagi:

about your morning routine, and that is, and my morning routine

Jennifer Takagi:

is, I mean, I've been really bad lately because I love I cook and

Jennifer Takagi:

I bake a lot, and I get caught up in the Facebook reels of all

Jennifer Takagi:

the food videos. It's typically not the trash talk, although,

Jennifer Takagi:

you know, I've had my moments of that, but a lot of it is food

Jennifer Takagi:

type things and so, but usually I wake up, my feet hit the

Jennifer Takagi:

floor, and I'm, I'm off to the races. And then you hear people

Jennifer Takagi:

say, Oh no, before you do anything, you need to drink this

Jennifer Takagi:

much water and do this, and do this and do this. And I'm like,

Jennifer Takagi:

holy crap, bully. Now it's like noon, and I've, I've done

Jennifer Takagi:

nothing. So I love that we have 215 minute increments and then a

Jennifer Takagi:

30 minute exercise of some sort, because I could do that. I don't

Jennifer Takagi:

know if you know this about me, but I'm the 12 minute success

Jennifer Takagi:

coach, because in a four hour increment, 5% of that is 12

Jennifer Takagi:

minutes. So like, we've got all these things going on together

Jennifer Takagi:

that we can make happen. So I love that we can do 4% is one

Jennifer Takagi:

hour, and we can scatter it through the day. That's Yes,

Deminiece Clifton:

yes. And I always tell my clients, like,

Deminiece Clifton:

get creative about what it looks like. Again, I work with a lot

Deminiece Clifton:

of moms, like women who are holding a lot of roles and

Deminiece Clifton:

responsibilities. And so an hour, right? That can be a lot

Deminiece Clifton:

of time for some folks, if your schedule is already full. And so

Deminiece Clifton:

I recognize that, and I want to honor that. And so 15 minutes of

Deminiece Clifton:

mindset, for example, could be while you're loading the

Deminiece Clifton:

dishwasher, just like putting something in and being

Deminiece Clifton:

intentional. I listen to things in the shower sometimes. And so

Deminiece Clifton:

again, when I'm driving, instead of listening to music, or, you

Deminiece Clifton:

know, a song, it's like, I'm just going to, you know, pop

Deminiece Clifton:

something on. That's motivation for for 15 minutes. And so I

Deminiece Clifton:

definitely encourage Katie. Creative about how you spend

Deminiece Clifton:

that time. And then the other thing I will say there is that

Deminiece Clifton:

for the person that's thinking, geez, I don't have an hour, I

Deminiece Clifton:

have two things to say there. The first one is, if you feel

Deminiece Clifton:

like you just don't have an hour, then just cut that in half

Deminiece Clifton:

and start with 30 minutes. So literally, just half everything

Deminiece Clifton:

and start with 30 minutes, right? What's going to happen,

Deminiece Clifton:

though, and I feel really confident about sharing this, is

Deminiece Clifton:

that once you start this daily practice, you're going to start

Deminiece Clifton:

to feel better. You're going to start to feel more alive, more

Deminiece Clifton:

awakened, and you're going to want to continue to do this. And

Deminiece Clifton:

you'll begin to find more time in your day as it becomes

Deminiece Clifton:

something of value for you. So if you're just like, Nope, don't

Deminiece Clifton:

have an hour, start with 30 minutes, right? So have

Deminiece Clifton:

everything, and then go that way. And then the last thing

Deminiece Clifton:

I'll say, too, is that we also have to be mindful of how we are

Deminiece Clifton:

spending our time. And so really, we we make time for the

Deminiece Clifton:

things that we value. And so sometimes that might be our jobs

Deminiece Clifton:

or our businesses, that might be our children or, you know, all

Deminiece Clifton:

of their extracurricular activities, or our partners, our

Deminiece Clifton:

families, like we have all of these things on our schedules.

Deminiece Clifton:

And then most of the time, especially as women, it's like,

Deminiece Clifton:

well, if there's any time left in my day, then in my day, then

Deminiece Clifton:

I'll give that to myself. And we give ourselves those last drops

Deminiece Clifton:

of our day, usually. And my thing is, we have to be at the

Deminiece Clifton:

top of that pyramid and really value ourselves. And so start

Deminiece Clifton:

looking at where you're spending your time, even if a lot of that

Deminiece Clifton:

time gets sucked into social media, because we know that,

Deminiece Clifton:

like, five minutes on Instagram is like an hour of real life, it

Deminiece Clifton:

goes by so fast and so just be intentional about how you're

Deminiece Clifton:

currently spending your time, and look at what you're

Deminiece Clifton:

currently valuing and where you can squeeze a little bit more

Deminiece Clifton:

time in for yourself.

Jennifer Takagi:

Like that just dovetails in beautifully with

Jennifer Takagi:

let you know my message that I preach is just carve out 12

Jennifer Takagi:

minutes and focus on one thing for 12 minutes, because we don't

Jennifer Takagi:

do that. And so like one client said to me, I didn't know her.

Jennifer Takagi:

She actually just heard me talk about this on a summit, and she

Jennifer Takagi:

said, I just thought that was kind of hooey. And I was looking

Jennifer Takagi:

at my office, it was a disaster. And I thought, Okay, I'm going

Jennifer Takagi:

to start in this one little corner. And she spent 12 minutes

Jennifer Takagi:

and got that little corner organized, and she walked out,

Jennifer Takagi:

it was her home office, and she walked out, and she thought that

Jennifer Takagi:

was stupid. Like, that was so stupid. And she left, and she

Jennifer Takagi:

came back the next day, and she was like, wow, that corner looks

Jennifer Takagi:

really good. I'm going to build in another 12 minutes a day and

Jennifer Takagi:

do a little bit more. Did it take her a couple of weeks to

Jennifer Takagi:

get her office cleaned out absolutely, but she was making

Jennifer Takagi:

progress every day. So I love this. If I can't do 15 minutes

Jennifer Takagi:

of mindfulness, I can do seven and a half and get started. It's

Jennifer Takagi:

the Getting Started part, and then you look up and it's been

Jennifer Takagi:

30 minutes, not seven. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Deminiece Clifton:

So being being clever about how we find

Deminiece Clifton:

that time, I agree, is super important. But those little

Deminiece Clifton:

small chunks, whether it's cleaning out your office or

Deminiece Clifton:

being intentional about, you know, pouring into yourself,

Deminiece Clifton:

those little chunks of time, make a huge difference in how we

Deminiece Clifton:

feel. Oh

Jennifer Takagi:

yeah, it just changes everything. Oh my gosh.

Jennifer Takagi:

This is lovely.

Deminiece Clifton:

Thank you. It's changed my life. It's one

Deminiece Clifton:

of those things where, once I got to a point where it was

Deminiece Clifton:

like, I want to share this out with people. It's like, it's

Deminiece Clifton:

hard to voice just the amount of benefits that I've gotten from

Deminiece Clifton:

this. There are two important components, I would say, of this

Deminiece Clifton:

4% formula. The first one is when it comes to goal

Deminiece Clifton:

attainment, right? Anytime you think about a goal, there's two

Deminiece Clifton:

things that really help you achieve a goal. The first one is

Deminiece Clifton:

repetition, so doing something over and over, you begin to

Deminiece Clifton:

build a habit the more that you do it. And so this is a daily

Deminiece Clifton:

practice where you are also being accountable to checking

Deminiece Clifton:

off that you're doing this every day to make sure that you're

Deminiece Clifton:

hitting your targets. And the second thing is accountability.

Deminiece Clifton:

And so that can either be checking in with someone, but I

Deminiece Clifton:

found it really easy. I have a little like a calendar, a

Deminiece Clifton:

monthly calendar, that I print out, and I just tick these

Deminiece Clifton:

things off. And this, this sheet, I switch it out every

Deminiece Clifton:

month. It's been hanging on my refrigerator for four and a half

Deminiece Clifton:

years. But what, what I found when I was doing research about

Deminiece Clifton:

goal attainment is that when you have some sort of

Deminiece Clifton:

accountability, whether it's self accountability, and some

Deminiece Clifton:

sort of sheet or something that you take, or if you have someone

Deminiece Clifton:

that you check in with, it increases your odds of goal

Deminiece Clifton:

attainment or achievement by 40% by just having some sort of

Deminiece Clifton:

system in place where you actually hold yourself

Deminiece Clifton:

accountable and check in and so by repeating this daily, by

Deminiece Clifton:

having some sort of accountability system, you are

Deminiece Clifton:

building such solid goals and structures in your life and how

Deminiece Clifton:

we do one thing is how we do everything. So once you learn to

Deminiece Clifton:

be consistent here, you then apply that same sort of practice

Deminiece Clifton:

and structure to your business or your career, and you'll find

Deminiece Clifton:

that you start to show up as a different version of yourself in

Deminiece Clifton:

all the areas of your life, not just this one part of your life,

Deminiece Clifton:

your soul care, practice, right? And so that's what I found to be

Deminiece Clifton:

really beautiful. I'm much more consistent as an entrepreneur

Deminiece Clifton:

and a business owner because of this daily practice that I've

Deminiece Clifton:

built over the last four and a half years.

Jennifer Takagi:

I love that, and on that accountability

Jennifer Takagi:

piece, I have colleagues and friends who are like, Oh, I hate

Jennifer Takagi:

accountability. That's stupid. You have to be accountable to

Jennifer Takagi:

yourself, which is true that when you share with somebody

Jennifer Takagi:

else. Else. It just elevates it. Oh, yeah, I quit smoking years

Jennifer Takagi:

ago, and I had quit 40,000 times in 40,000 different ways, and I

Jennifer Takagi:

ended up taking the drug Chantix. And I know there's a

Jennifer Takagi:

lot of controversy around it, but I'm just going to say for

Jennifer Takagi:

me, that is the only way I quit smoking like that, was it? The

Jennifer Takagi:

interesting thing about that was I had two choices when I

Jennifer Takagi:

enrolled in the program and got the prescription. I could have

Jennifer Takagi:

an accountability phone call, or I could receive an email. And I

Jennifer Takagi:

thought, I want a phone call, because at work, I get a

Jennifer Takagi:

bazillion emails. I don't, I don't need any more emails. So I

Jennifer Takagi:

signed up for a call at seven o'clock in the evening. And

Jennifer Takagi:

every night, my phone would ring and I would answer it in this,

Jennifer Takagi:

you know, computer automated voice would say, Hello, this is

Jennifer Takagi:

Chantix. We're calling to reach Jennifer press one, if this is

Jennifer Takagi:

Jennifer, two, if it's not, so I would obviously press one, and

Jennifer Takagi:

they'd say, welcome, Jennifer. Have you taken your Chantix

Jennifer Takagi:

since our last check in call? Press one for yes, two for No,

Jennifer Takagi:

yes, I did. Have you smoked since our last check in? Press

Jennifer Takagi:

one for yes, two for no. I never wanted to press one on that

Jennifer Takagi:

answer and that, like, that was a solid difference. I knew other

Jennifer Takagi:

people who took it after I quit, they're like, oh my gosh, if she

Jennifer Takagi:

can quit, I can quit. I'm going to go get that too. But they got

Jennifer Takagi:

the emails, and they would open the email and it would say, Oh,

Jennifer Takagi:

good job. You know, good for you. Whatever you read it, you

Jennifer Takagi:

move on. But it's a passive, yeah, um, interaction there.

Jennifer Takagi:

And, like I say, that truly is the only way I quit the drug.

Jennifer Takagi:

And getting that phone call, and they called me for a year, it

Jennifer Takagi:

was every day for so many weeks, and then it was twice a week for

Jennifer Takagi:

so many weeks, and then once a week for so many weeks, and then

Jennifer Takagi:

it was once a month till the end. But that accountability,

Jennifer Takagi:

accountability piece before I quit smoking, which that was in

Jennifer Takagi:

March of 2007 actually, I would have, I would have completely

Jennifer Takagi:

poo pooed accountability. So whomever's listening and you're

Jennifer Takagi:

thinking, I'm not really into that accountability piece. Take

Jennifer Takagi:

it from us like it matters a lot. Yeah,

Deminiece Clifton:

and thank you for sharing that. I love that

Deminiece Clifton:

story, and I think it also reinforces that. Another

Deminiece Clifton:

beautiful thing about accountability is that it builds

Deminiece Clifton:

momentum. So when you when you hit a streak of doing something,

Deminiece Clifton:

you're like, just like you said. You're like, I don't want to hit

Deminiece Clifton:

one, right? When I am seeing on my calendar visibly every day

Deminiece Clifton:

that I'm doing these things. And now, don't get me wrong, like

Deminiece Clifton:

I'm human. So there might be a day where it's two out of the

Deminiece Clifton:

three and not all three, right? I want to, like, be very honest

Deminiece Clifton:

about that. I haven't been every single day for the last four

Deminiece Clifton:

years hitting all three. But if I haven't, I have a rule, never

Deminiece Clifton:

miss twice. And so let's just say I didn't do my physical

Deminiece Clifton:

movement today. My never miss twice rule means I make sure I

Deminiece Clifton:

prioritize it for the next day. But seeing me like, there's

Deminiece Clifton:

something about like, getting my my purple marker, right? I've

Deminiece Clifton:

been using the same purple marker for the last few years,

Deminiece Clifton:

getting this purple marker and, like, checking these things off,

Deminiece Clifton:

ticking it off, it like it there's a dopamine brush there.

Deminiece Clifton:

Of like, Yeah, I did this thing, and I think it would be the same

Deminiece Clifton:

for you. Of like, there's a response to that mentally right?

Deminiece Clifton:

Our brains have a response to us doing this thing and doing it

Deminiece Clifton:

well, and it makes us want to continue to do it, to stay on

Deminiece Clifton:

this winning streak. And so that becomes another piece of this

Deminiece Clifton:

accountability. It's like you can have some it doesn't have to

Deminiece Clifton:

be a big, huge system that you put into place, but you want to

Deminiece Clifton:

have something where, whether it's with this 4% formula, or

Deminiece Clifton:

whatever you're doing, that you're doing that you're

Deminiece Clifton:

assessing it as frequently as possible, especially if it's

Deminiece Clifton:

something that you're starting out with. I always, I love the

Deminiece Clifton:

way that you said they tapered off, like, start daily and then

Deminiece Clifton:

see if you can kind of wean from there. The other thing is

Deminiece Clifton:

telling people, right, we are okay with not keeping our words

Deminiece Clifton:

to ourselves and letting ourselves down. It's like, how

Deminiece Clifton:

many times, like you said you quit smoking, 40,000 times

Deminiece Clifton:

before you actually quit? Yeah, how many times have we set a

Deminiece Clifton:

goal, right? And so we're going to do something, and then we

Deminiece Clifton:

don't feel like it, or whatever the case, there's something that

Deminiece Clifton:

comes up, some excuse comes up, and we give up. When you tell

Deminiece Clifton:

other people you care about what people around you think, right?

Deminiece Clifton:

The more people you tell, even more pressure. And so I like

Deminiece Clifton:

that little bit of stretch when you tell someone else or tell

Deminiece Clifton:

others, because, again, it's going to hold you accountable

Deminiece Clifton:

and make you more likely. And so if you're if it comes to any

Deminiece Clifton:

sort of goal attainment, and it's a goal you actually want to

Deminiece Clifton:

achieve, whether it's financial, business, weight loss, whatever,

Deminiece Clifton:

you know, quitting smoking, sharing it out, telling other

Deminiece Clifton:

people, or having some sort of accountability system is really

Deminiece Clifton:

going to be one of those markers that make the difference between

Deminiece Clifton:

the success or not,

Jennifer Takagi:

yes. And when you say you're going to do

Jennifer Takagi:

something and you don't do it, it is telling your subconscious

Jennifer Takagi:

she is not a woman who keeps her word yes, this does not matter

Jennifer Takagi:

to her. Things don't matter. It Like It permeates. Mm. And so

Jennifer Takagi:

then when you're like, Man, I really need to do this. You

Jennifer Takagi:

don't have your own internal support system there, so you've

Jennifer Takagi:

got to build it up. And building it up with other people can help

Jennifer Takagi:

strengthen that muscle, because you gotta, gotta make it happen.

Jennifer Takagi:

Oh my gosh, this is awesome.

Deminiece Clifton:

Thank you so much. What other questions do

Deminiece Clifton:

you have for me? I can talk all day about this.

Jennifer Takagi:

I know I Me too, me too, but dang, we have

Jennifer Takagi:

other things we have to do too. So how do people work with you?

Jennifer Takagi:

Do you work one on one? Do you have a group? Do you have a

Jennifer Takagi:

like? Tell us

Deminiece Clifton:

how? Yeah. Thank you. So I am just jumping

Deminiece Clifton:

back into well, so I was, I think I shared when I first

Deminiece Clifton:

started, like, this was my introduction into coaching

Deminiece Clifton:

because of this process changing my life. And so I was a coach,

Deminiece Clifton:

you know, a nutrition and wellness coach, couple of years

Deminiece Clifton:

ago, and I burned myself out. This was before the before 12%

Deminiece Clifton:

was really a major part of my life. And so I learned, I've

Deminiece Clifton:

learned so much since then about stress management and things of

Deminiece Clifton:

that nature. But stepping back into coaching, I've made a lot

Deminiece Clifton:

of mistakes over the last couple of years as an entrepreneur.

Deminiece Clifton:

I've learned a lot over the last couple of years, and so I'm

Deminiece Clifton:

taking all I have, taken all that I've learned, and my own,

Deminiece Clifton:

you know, lessons from from those setbacks, and I have

Deminiece Clifton:

stepped into my role as a business coach. And feels really

Deminiece Clifton:

good to be here. I you know, this mind, body, spirit piece

Deminiece Clifton:

that we talked about today is such an important part of being

Deminiece Clifton:

an entrepreneur, because I think it's important for us to to

Deminiece Clifton:

personally sustain ourselves, so that we can show up as the best

Deminiece Clifton:

version of ourselves professionally. And so this

Deminiece Clifton:

foundation is really weaved into my business coaching program.

Deminiece Clifton:

There's a lot of self discovery, because I think it's important

Deminiece Clifton:

for us to know who we are, so that we build businesses that

Deminiece Clifton:

are aligned to who we are. And so I offer a 12 week, one to one

Deminiece Clifton:

coaching program for women that are either aspiring

Deminiece Clifton:

entrepreneurs, so maybe they haven't even dipped their toe in

Deminiece Clifton:

yet, and they want to get started. Or maybe you are a

Deminiece Clifton:

current entrepreneur, maybe in the earlier stage of

Deminiece Clifton:

entrepreneurship, but you're not feeling like the business that

Deminiece Clifton:

you're in is aligned. So you're not feeling fulfilled and happy

Deminiece Clifton:

in that role. If any of that sounds like you, and you've been

Deminiece Clifton:

thinking about maybe investing yourself, hiring a coach to help

Deminiece Clifton:

you out, to hold you accountable. My program

Deminiece Clifton:

transformation University is a great place to start, and I

Deminiece Clifton:

would love to support you. If you want to learn more, you can

Deminiece Clifton:

visit my website, which is Dom, our clifton.com to learn more

Deminiece Clifton:

and to connect with me.

Jennifer Takagi:

Oh my gosh, this has been awesome, Dom.

Jennifer Takagi:

Thank you so much for all your insights as we wrap this up

Jennifer Takagi:

final words for the audience.

Deminiece Clifton:

I would say that oftentimes, when it comes

Deminiece Clifton:

to doing something right, especially when we've tried

Deminiece Clifton:

before, maybe and it hasn't worked, there's always this self

Deminiece Clifton:

talk in this chatter about if we're going to be able to do it

Deminiece Clifton:

or not. And so my biggest takeaway today would be to start

Deminiece Clifton:

small and build and so whatever it is that you're doing right,

Deminiece Clifton:

whether you set out 12 minutes to start that thing that you've

Deminiece Clifton:

been thinking about, or you take that 30 minute chunk of time

Deminiece Clifton:

that we've talked about and really begin to pour into

Deminiece Clifton:

nurturing yourself. Start small, start with something that's

Deminiece Clifton:

attainable, and allow yourself to build. As high achievers, we

Deminiece Clifton:

can put so much pressure on ourselves to try to do things

Deminiece Clifton:

and to do them a certain way, but wherever you are, just start

Deminiece Clifton:

small. Take baby steps, bite that elephant, one bite at a

Deminiece Clifton:

time, and then allow yourself to build from there.

Jennifer Takagi:

Oh my gosh. I love this. Thank you for your

Jennifer Takagi:

time and your thank

Deminiece Clifton:

you for having me. It's been such a

Deminiece Clifton:

beautiful conversation.

Jennifer Takagi:

Thank you. I'm Jennifer Takagi with destin for

Jennifer Takagi:

success, and I look forward to connecting with you soon. Bye.

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About the Podcast

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Destined For Success
Destined For Success With Jennifer Takagi

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Jennifer Takagi


I am Jennifer Takagi, an Executive Leadership + Communication Coach who teaches leaders how to play well at work so they can drive better performance from people they lead, increase profitability and create a purposeful workplace where people want to come and play—productively.