Hey, what's up, guys?
Neal ReyesThis is your host, Neal Reyes.
Neal ReyesI want to tell you that today's episode is a banger.
Neal ReyesI'm going to be talking to you about something that I learned years ago within my life that you can apply.
Neal ReyesIt's a framework you can apply to any area in your life.
Neal ReyesAnd if you teach it to your employees, I believe you'll see changes and the most success you've ever had before.
Neal ReyesGet ready.
CaptainThis is your captain speaking.
Neal ReyesWe want to let you know we've been cleared for takeoff.
CaptainWe have clear skies today with no winds, so we are expecting a smooth and highly enjoyable flight.
CaptainHowever, should you experience some personal turbulence, don't worry as you've chosen the right airline.
CaptainAs we are trained in navigating unexpected bumps, our destination today is high performance and success.
CaptainSit back, relax, get hyped, or do whatever you do.
CaptainAs we too are pumped for today's flight.
CaptainWe understand you have options when you fly, and we are grateful that you have chosen to fly with us today.
CaptainWe recognize by choosing to fly, Neil Reyes, you are committed to growing personal development and reaching higher than you ever have before.
CaptainEnjoy today's flight.
CaptainBe blessed, and remember, the best is yet to come.
ChampionWhat's up?
Neal ReyesWhat's up, champion?
ChampionThis is your host, Neal Reyes, and I want to welcome you to the Executive Perspective.
ChampionFor years, I struggled to answer the question, what do you do for a living?
Neal ReyesWhy?
ChampionBecause most people who ask only expect to hear one thing.
ChampionI'm an executive with a deep level of understanding of business, operations, leadership, and technology.
ChampionI'm also the president and founder of a worldwide ministry and CEO of an executive coaching and consulting firm.
ChampionMy number one passion is people, and I receive significant gratitude in life from sowing into others and encouraging them as they grow to achieve their fullest potential.
ChampionIf you're a high performance individual like me, or you're simply ready to take your business leadership or inner potential to the next level, then strap in because I'm locked in and all in.
ChampionThis is the Executive Perspective.
Neal ReyesHey, what's up, champions?
Neal ReyesThis is your host, Neal Reyes, and I want to welcome you to today's episode.
Neal ReyesToday, I'm going to be teaching you about what I consider to be and have learned within my career.
Neal ReyesThe most effective way to measure excellence.
Neal ReyesAgain, this is what I refer to and I say the most effective way.
Neal ReyesAnother way I could say it is, this is the number one way to measure excellence.
Neal ReyesNow, some people might say, well, excellence, what are you talking about?
Neal ReyesYou know, I'm talking about excellence.
Neal ReyesIn anything you place your hand to excellence in any single thing you do.
Neal ReyesThis is something that the year showed me many, many, many years ago.
Neal ReyesIt's something that I've applied of as a level of measurement within my own life.
Neal ReyesI've done it with my kids, I've ingrained it and shown it to them.
Neal ReyesI show it to all my staff, any department or organization I ever run, I show it to them.
Neal ReyesThis is for me, if you get this deep down inside of you, it can help you be successful.
Neal ReyesYou know, I really believe that one of the fundamentals of success is consistency.
Neal ReyesConsistency is the key to success.
Neal ReyesAnd these principles that I'm going to show you today, I believe will place you on a pathway to be able to measure excellence within your life.
Neal ReyesIt'll help you, it'll help your staff, it'll help your employees, anybody you deal with, your family, no matter who it is.
Neal ReyesIn fact, I'm going to share some personal experiences with, with you as well of how I applied this even within my own life with one of my children.
Neal ReyesThis is what I consider.
Neal ReyesThere's four levels is what I'll start off with.
Neal ReyesAnd this is what I consider to be the most effective way to measure your progress or to measure whatever it is that you're doing.
Neal ReyesNow, I want us take a moment here to explain to you that when I'm teaching this to people, the number one thing to understand is that no matter what you do in life, whether if it's something with business, whether it fits with something a company you work in or a company you own, if it's you're going back to school, no matter what it is, the goal is never to strive for perfection.
Neal ReyesThe goal is to have progress over perfection.
Neal ReyesOne of the things I teach, the teams that I run and when I'm consulting, when I'm coaching with clients, no matter what it is, I tell them that anything that we do, anything that we decide is worth doing or needs done within life, we should be able to measure it so that we know if we're being successful.
Neal ReyesEspecially, and I'm going to say it again, especially when it comes to the business world.
Neal ReyesIf you're in business and you're an owner or you're an employee, you know, in previous videos we talked about the differences between an entrepreneur and an intrapreneur.
Neal ReyesIf you're an intrapreneur and you're working inside someone else's business and you're helping them to be successful, no matter what you place your hand to or do, you should Always be able to have a rule, or I say a rule, but a grading stick, so to speak, where you're able to measure your success.
Neal ReyesNow, something we may talk about in the future, you know the difference between things like sometimes you'll hear phrases like KPIs or OKRs.
Neal ReyesWe're not going to get into that today.
Neal ReyesBut this is a measuring tool or measuring system I'm about to show you that you can use in any area of your life.
Neal ReyesSo the four areas that we're going to talk about today, these are the four steps we have from the bottom to the top.
Neal ReyesIt's a four point system and it's so simple to follow.
Neal ReyesThe very lowest would be not enough.
Neal ReyesYou then have the next level.
Neal ReyesNumber two is just enough, number three is good enough.
Neal ReyesAnd number four, the highest is excellence.
Neal ReyesAnything you're doing in life, and I'm telling you it doesn't matter what it is, I've used this in my personal life when I'm working in the backyard building something.
Neal ReyesI've used this in organizations when we're trying to scale our business and make more money.
Neal ReyesI've used this when I'm helping clients and coaching them or consulting them or in my own efforts in my own business.
Neal ReyesBasically, it's a grading scale that you're able to use against yourself to measure your level of output or the desired outcome.
Neal ReyesYou know, anytime we have goals in life and we're striving to accomplish something, we should always be able to have a way to measure if it's successful or not.
Neal ReyesAnd this four point system that I'm getting ready to teach you about can be the key to your most successful year yet.
Neal ReyesI'm telling you, I learned this years ago.
Neal ReyesIt was something that the Lord showed me deep within my own personal life.
Neal ReyesAnd then I showed it to my oldest, which is my daughter Taylor.
Neal ReyesNow, Taylor's 23.
Neal ReyesNow.
Neal ReyesShe was nine years old when I showed her how to do this and it changed the course of her life.
Neal ReyesAnd then her brothers followed in her footsteps.
Neal ReyesI have three other sons, I have four children total.
Neal ReyesAnd her three brothers followed in her same footsteps.
Neal ReyesThis is something I've ingrained in my life and something my wife Katie has ingrained in hers.
Neal ReyesWe do it throughout the Reyes household and in every business I touch and every meeting I'm in and every decision I got to make for business and every task we pick up, every project we do, we.
Neal ReyesThey always go back and measure it based along this four point scale.
Neal ReyesIn fact, I taught this to My team so much within work that one year for my birthday, they blessed me with this beautiful canvas.
Neal ReyesAnd on this canvas that they blessed me with, it has my four levels that I'm teaching you today.
Neal ReyesIt's this beautiful picture, and in front of it there's these words in a fancy font, and at the bottom it says, not enough.
Neal ReyesNext one up, number two, just enough.
Neal ReyesThird one, good enough.
Neal ReyesAnd the fourth one at the very top, excellence.
Neal ReyesAnd so many times when we're in meetings, in my conference room that I use, I sit at the head of the table on one end, and right behind me, there's a Vibe board that I use.
Neal ReyesIt used to be a whiteboard, but now it's a Vibe board that I use.
Neal ReyesAnd then off to the side of the my vibe board is this canvas.
Neal ReyesAnd so many times, friend, for years I've done this with them.
Neal ReyesI'll be speaking with them, and they'll be talking to me about either at some a task that they're working on, a project, an initiative, something they're doing within the organization.
Neal ReyesAnd so many times they're talking to me.
Neal ReyesAnd as they do, I help them to be able to grade their level of effort, but also the level of effort of their employees.
Neal ReyesAnd as they're explaining that to me, no matter how good that thing might be or how I won't say bad, but maybe level of room for improvement we could do, you'll see me raise my hand over my shoulder and I point, and what am I pointing at?
Neal ReyesWell, you can't see it in this video or on this podcast, but right behind me is my canvas.
Neal ReyesAnd I ask them, what level of effort is that based on our board?
Neal ReyesAnd they'll tell me, and they sometimes when I first started doing this, they'd have to take a minute to think about and they think for a second and they'd be like, good enough and I'm back, okay.
Neal ReyesOr other times they'd say, that was excellence, boss.
Neal ReyesAnd I bet that sounds good.
Neal ReyesAnd what I'm doing is I'm not being hard on them, but I'm teaching them how to grade themselves and their people.
Neal ReyesAnd the more I ingrain this within their thought process, within their mindset.
Neal ReyesIt's like a framework that's with them at all times.
Neal ReyesThe more I ingrain it within their thinking, the more they'll repeat and ingrain it within their employees thinking.
Neal ReyesAnd then we have a culmination of effort where all of us are thinking on the same level of how to measure our efforts.
Neal ReyesAnd when I'm not in that conference room and these people are holding their meetings for their teams.
Neal ReyesThey sit at the head of the table where I sit and they're doing the same things with their employees.
Neal ReyesWe have glass windows on our conference room.
Neal ReyesAnd sometimes when I'm walking by and I look in there, I see them reaching over their shoulder, pointing up, and I know what they're pointing at.
Neal ReyesThey're pointing to my board and they're asking their people, what level of effort is that?
Neal ReyesWas that not enough, just enough, good enough or excellence?
Neal ReyesWhat I'm going to tell you is what I've come to learn and my time and management, just everything.
Neal ReyesExecutive leadership, just everything.
Neal ReyesMost people.
Neal ReyesI'm going to say this again.
Neal ReyesMost people within this world, on an average basis, they'll hover between not enough and just enough effort.
Neal ReyesAnd I'm telling you that's across the board.
Neal ReyesRemember I told you earlier that I'm a firm believer that consistency is the key to success.
Neal ReyesWell, this I'm telling you, as with all the businesses I've ran with, the teams I've led, with the consulting I've done, the coaching, I mean, just going through and through and through it.
Neal ReyesI'm going to tell you most people in life fall in between the effort zone of not enough to just enough.
Neal ReyesThey do just enough to get by.
Neal ReyesThey do just enough to get to work.
Neal ReyesThey do just enough during their workday, they do just enough within their marriage, they do just enough within their relationship, they do just enough with their children.
Neal ReyesThey do just enough and just about every area of their life.
Neal ReyesAnd usually what I find is people consistently are between the not enough zone and the just enough zone, meaning that there's many times in there they're really hovering at or just above not enough.
Neal ReyesAnd I will tell you that sometimes in life people operate below not enough.
Neal ReyesNow, I don't have a category for below that.
Neal ReyesIf it's not enough for me, it's not enough.
Neal ReyesYou might think of one, but for me it's a simple four point scale.
Neal ReyesAnd when I'm reviewing our people and we're doing annual reviews, I have them use this same scale to communicate with our people.
Neal ReyesYou know, we may have a scale from HR that we use like a five point system, but within our environment, I have them reiterate this to these people.
Neal ReyesWhat were their efforts throughout the year?
Neal ReyesWas it not enough?
Neal ReyesWas it just enough?
Neal ReyesWas it good enough or was it excellence?
Neal ReyesThis matters.
Neal ReyesI'm telling you.
Neal ReyesThis is a very important set of measurement that you can use.
Neal ReyesAnd some people might say, well, that kind of sounds harsh if you tell someone they're doing just enough.
Neal ReyesAnd maybe sobering, but I wouldn't call it harsh.
Neal ReyesBut as with anything within leadership, it's all based on your tone, how you deliver it as well.
Neal ReyesI mean, is there a way to deliver that and make it sound harsh?
Neal ReyesCertainly there is.
Neal ReyesBut there's also a way to do it in love and with respect and honor, where you can help that person become better.
Neal ReyesYou know, when we're using these measuring sticks within or this measuring system within our environment, it's never meant to berate somebody.
Neal ReyesIt's never meant to belittle them.
Neal ReyesIn fact, I'm huge, huge on giving praise to our employees.
Neal ReyesI believe praise should come frequently.
Neal ReyesIt should be genuine, and it should be often.
Neal ReyesAnd it should also be public.
Neal ReyesAnd that might be the most important one.
Neal ReyesYou know, it's important to acknowledge your people in front of others, acknowledging them in front of their peers, acknowledging them in front of other teams or departments.
Neal ReyesIt's so important.
Neal ReyesAnd if you ever, ever get the chance to see one of your employees out in public and you happen to see them and they're with their spouse or their children or their girlfriend or their boyfriend or whatever, you should always acknowledge them in front of their family.
Neal ReyesNow, you don't do it if it's not genuine, because they'll see through it or they'll know that, hey, he's puffing me up in front of my family.
Neal ReyesBut when I'm at work, it's like, that guy, don't even talk to me.
Neal ReyesBut if it's genuine and it's who you are, it's important to honor those people.
Neal ReyesI want to go ahead and share with you a story now of when I first explained this to my daughter Taylor, when she was nine years old.
Neal ReyesSo on this house that my wife and I used to have, it's a woodside, a home that we still live in previously, is what I should say.
Neal ReyesMy wife had decided that she wanted to have a little water feature in our backyard.
Neal ReyesAnd on this water feature, she wanted me to build, like, a little pond for her with some stones that water would trickle down.
Neal ReyesReal pretty.
Neal ReyesShe had a pretty design for it.
Neal ReyesAnd then she told me she wanted me to.
Neal ReyesShe wanted to be able to grow some climbing rose bushes.
Neal ReyesBehind it is a backdrop.
Neal ReyesAnd so I said okay, and asked her what she wanted.
Neal ReyesI had built her trellises and things like that before in our backyard to grow things of that nature.
Neal ReyesBut this time she had a design of a picket fence.
Neal ReyesI'm not sure where she saw it on probably Pinterest.
Neal ReyesWhen Pinterest first came out, it gave me so much work.
Neal ReyesI'm just joking, but, but sort of serious.
Neal ReyesBut anyways, when so she had this design and I said, all right.
Neal ReyesAnd so I bought the stuff I need to for the pond, put the rocks the right way, ran all the tubing, the water pumps, all that kind of stuff.
Neal ReyesAnd then I went and picked up this picket fence.
Neal ReyesNow, this picket fence, it was like a six or eight foot section of picket fence.
Neal ReyesAnd what I did, when it stands off the ground, it's not the kind that's like a six foot tall fence.
Neal ReyesIt only comes up a little above waist height.
Neal ReyesAnd so I go ahead and take the backyard.
Neal ReyesI do my measurements, I go ahead, I stain the picket fence, I do all, everything I needed to.
Neal ReyesAnd then I turn around and with the post hole digger, I dig two holes so I can drop the picket fence in it.
Neal ReyesOnce I got the picket fence to exactly the height I wanted, I mixed up some concrete and poured it in in each of both of the holes.
Neal ReyesAnd then at that point as it started to set, I'm adjusting the fence so that it's level.
Neal ReyesAnd around this time, it's almost sunset, and my daughter Taylor comes out.
Neal ReyesShe's nine years old at the time Taylor comes out and she says, dad, what are you working on?
Neal ReyesAnd so I explained to her what I was working on.
Neal ReyesBut what her real question was is she saw that I had a level in one of my hands.
Neal ReyesNow, I wasn't using a big level, but the level I have, it's maybe about 10 to 12 inches.
Neal ReyesIt's a smaller level.
Neal ReyesAnd she saw me putting it against the picket fence to make sure it was level.
Neal ReyesAnd so she inquired, she said, dad, what does that do?
Neal ReyesAnd I said, well, Miha, this is a level and what a level is designed to do.
Neal ReyesAnd I showed her how it worked.
Neal ReyesI said, you see this little air bubble?
Neal ReyesAnd well, when that little air bubble is between those two little lines, that tells you it's level.
Neal ReyesAnd that means it's even.
Neal ReyesBecause the last thing I want to do is build a fence for your mom and it be crooked and her staring at it every day.
Neal ReyesAnd I like it.
Neal ReyesAnd so she understood and she goes, can I help?
Neal ReyesAnd I said, sure.
Neal ReyesAnd I said, but here's what we got to do.
Neal ReyesYou got to measure it on both sides of the fence to make sure that it's even.
Neal ReyesYou Then have to measure it from front to back, so to speak, so that it's not tilted forward, it's not tilted backwards.
Neal ReyesThen you got to measure it across the top.
Neal ReyesThat ways it's even.
Neal ReyesSo, you know, I gave her like, maybe four or five different points of access for her to level.
Neal ReyesAnd I hand it to her, man, little Taylor goes to work.
Neal ReyesShe puts it on there.
Neal ReyesPop, pop, pop.
Neal ReyesI mean, she was done, I think, like in like 10 seconds, maybe not on that.
Neal ReyesProbably like seven seconds.
Neal ReyesShe said, okay, it's done.
Neal ReyesAnd I said, it's done.
Neal ReyesAnd I mean, she.
Neal ReyesShe had spent any time on this.
Neal ReyesI knew this thing wasn't.
Neal ReyesThis wasn't ready.
Neal ReyesAnd so I look at her, said, baby, what do you mean it's done?
Neal ReyesAnd she goes, yeah, it's done.
Neal ReyesAnd I said, miha, would you say that you did your very best on this?
Neal ReyesAnd she looked at it and thought.
Neal ReyesShe goes, well, it's good enough.
Neal ReyesWhen I heard that, I knew it was time for my Miha, my little daughter, to learn a lesson.
Neal ReyesI said, baby, I want to explain something to you.
Neal ReyesAfter we go to bed tonight and the sun goes down.
Neal ReyesIf the Maker almighty himself, if God almighty, decided to come to our backyard because he desired to go for a stroll during the cool of the night, because he knew what you were working on today and he decided he wanted to walk in our backyard, this is the maker himself, and he walked by your fence.
Neal ReyesWhat?
Neal ReyesHe turned around and look at it and be man.
Neal ReyesNow, that is excellence.
Neal ReyesOr would he look at it and go, taylor, Taylor, Taylor.
Neal ReyesBecause he knew it was only good enough.
Neal ReyesI said, baby, how we do things matters, and how you do some things is a reflection on how you do all things.
Neal ReyesIf God almighty comes down to our house tonight and he looks at that, is he going to acknowledge that as your best?
Neal ReyesNow, Miha, if that's your best, then I'm pleased with that.
Neal ReyesBut I want you to search down inside and you tell me, is that your best?
Neal ReyesNow, I want you to understand that as a parent, I wasn't asking her for my best.
Neal ReyesI was asking her for her best.
Neal ReyesNow, her best may exceed my best at some point in life, and maybe it already has.
Neal ReyesAnd maybe in different areas it is.
Neal ReyesI mean, if it's in the area of like, drawing, oh, she probably exceeded me far before, a long time ago.
Neal ReyesOr singing, she probably exceeded me long time ago.
Neal ReyesBut in that particular area now, my level of excellence was higher than hers because I had more experience with it.
Neal ReyesI was more experienced with the tools I was using and the craft I was doing.
Neal ReyesBut I wasn't asking for my level of excellence out of her.
Neal ReyesPay attention because this is speaks, this is heavy.
Neal ReyesWhen you're asking for excellence out of your people, you're not asking for your level of excellence out of them.
Neal ReyesYou're asking for their level of excellence.
Neal ReyesAnd so when I asked Taylor and if she would have told me that it was her excellence, I'd have been fine with that.
Neal ReyesBut I knew in my heart it wasn't.
Neal ReyesAnd she came to that same realization.
Neal ReyesShe thought about that thing for a minute and she grabbed that level out of my hand so fast and she goes and starts working on the fence and she's measuring, measuring, measuring.
Neal ReyesAnd now this thing that she took like 7 to 10 seconds to before.
Neal ReyesWe're out there for a while now she's measuring things and I'm watching her and I mean it looks like she's not even making adjustments anymore.
Neal ReyesRight when I'm getting ready to tell her like, how's that look?
Neal ReyesI mean she, she moves to another section and she's measuring, measure, measuring enough to where?
Neal ReyesRemember I said we started this thing when she came out the measuring of it when it was about to sunset.
Neal ReyesWell, it's getting dark on us now and she, and we need something to see.
Neal ReyesSo she goes, dad, can do you have a flashlight?
Neal ReyesAnd back then, and that's like I said, this had been a while I had a BlackBerry back then.
Neal ReyesYou know, iPhones are just coming out and androids around, but I had a BlackBerry and it was fancy spancy man, that thing had a flashlight on it.
Neal ReyesAnd so I turned the flashlight on and she's using my little flashlight for my BlackBerry.
Neal ReyesAnd she goes, she steps back from it and she looks and examines it and I'm getting ready to ask her, hey, is, are you good?
Neal ReyesAnd she goes back one more time, makes few more adjustments and she steps back, dad, that is my very, very, very best.
Neal ReyesAnd I said, okay sweetie, that sounds good to me.
Neal ReyesShe hands me back the level, she hands me back my BlackBerry and we went inside.
Neal ReyesI will tell you with everything in me.
Neal ReyesWith everything in me.
Neal ReyesI know.
Neal ReyesWith everything in me.
Neal ReyesI know that, I know that.
Neal ReyesI know that God almighty, the maker himself decided to walk through my backyard in the cool of the evening for a stroll.
Neal ReyesAnd I believe that when he walked through my yard that night, when he saw that fence, he came to examine the handiwork of a nine year old little girl who for the first time in her life understood the difference between not enough, just enough, good enough, and excellence.
Neal ReyesYou see, I didn't share the full story with you, but I took her through the same thing I've already shared in this video or this podcast, where I told her about those four different levels that most people operate.
Neal ReyesSome of the context I gave her, though, that I'm going to give you now is that most people who are the high achievers in life, I'm talking the high performers.
Neal ReyesThese are the high performers, the achievers, what some people call the ballers of life.
Neal ReyesThese are the people that when they're working on something, they're consistently in the good enough category.
Neal ReyesAnd they'll have little sparks or flashes of excellence, but they're good enough people.
Neal ReyesAnd those are the people who are often seen as the overachievers.
Neal ReyesThey're seen as the people who they place in the top levels of management.
Neal ReyesThey made me grow into senior management or executive management because these are the ballers of life.
Neal ReyesThese are the high performers.
Neal ReyesBut even these people.
Neal ReyesAnd understand, I'm not judging you because I don't know who you are, but you tuned into this podcast for a reason.
Neal ReyesAnd even if you just stumbled upon it, I believe God is bringing this like a spoken word to you because he's helping you to unlock your next level of greatness.
Neal ReyesMan, I feel that when I say that he's helping you connect to something new in this podcast so that you can connect with your next level of greatness.
Neal ReyesAnd what I explained to my daughter is that most of those people, they operate, remember, most people, average people, average between not enough and just enough.
Neal ReyesBut your high performers, your overachievers, your ballers in life, those guys are the good enough people with flashes of excellence.
Neal ReyesBut then there's a different breed of people out there, and there's not many of them, but there's a different breed of people that everything they set their hand to, they endeavor to make it their very, very, very best, their excellence.
Neal ReyesYou see, when I looked at that fence that Taylor helped me level that day, it was beautiful.
Neal ReyesBut if we went back today and now she's 23, she might be able to do it even better today.
Neal ReyesNow, some people might say, well, the ground might have settled down.
Neal ReyesI'm not talking about that.
Neal ReyesI'm just talking about just in general, her level of excellence has increased.
Neal ReyesYou know, if you followed me for any period of time and if you're just connecting with me, well, then I'm excited you're here.
Neal ReyesBut, you know, I started speaking on Camera many years ago.
Neal ReyesAnd I remember what my first studio I was recording in looked like.
Neal ReyesAnd I was so grateful to be able to have a place that I could turn on the camera, turn on some lights and do a recording.
Neal ReyesBut when I look at where I'm at now and the TV studio I'm at now, I'm in a TV studio where I'm recording this podcast now.
Neal ReyesThis is my fifth TV studio that I've had.
Neal ReyesWhen you're looking at me through the camera, if you're watching this on video, most of you are probably watching a pot or listening podcast.
Neal ReyesBut if you're watching this on video, and just real quick, if you want to see it on video, go to my website, Neil Reyes.com NeilRayes.com and on there, there's a section where you can watch our videos.
Neal ReyesBut if you're watching me on this, the background that's behind you, everything that's here, oh, we've grown, we've come up a little bit.
Neal ReyesWe've had our come up in this area.
Neal ReyesThis is something that we did.
Neal ReyesBut here's what I'm going to tell you.
Neal ReyesIf I were still recording videos the way when I first started, when I first started, I had bought this little Sony camera and I put it on this little tripod and I'd have to balance it just right because the tripod, fully extended, was like 8 inches.
Neal ReyesBut the Handycam that I was holding was so heavy.
Neal ReyesIt was a bit.
Neal ReyesA little one, but it was heavy enough that if I set it on there wrong, it would tip over and fall.
Neal ReyesSo I had to balance it just right with two legs extended on the tripod, one leg down so it balanced just right.
Neal ReyesI turn on my lights and at that point I had went to like Home Depot or Lowe's and bought those little aluminum shop lights you'd use on your car to check your oil at night.
Neal ReyesI turn those on and I get in front of start teaching.
Neal ReyesAnd I could only teach for a few minutes because those things were pumping so much heat.
Neal ReyesMan, I look like I just ran a marathon.
Neal ReyesAfter about 15 minutes, I had to turn those things off and cool back down.
Neal ReyesAnd you'd hear my dog in the other room walking.
Neal ReyesYou hear his nails on the, on the, on the laminate floors we had, or his collar.
Neal ReyesAnd you may still hear dogs on small because we're dog people.
Neal ReyesAnd when I'm here in the studio, I have my dogs with me.
Neal ReyesAnd so sometimes they come in.
Neal ReyesBut what I'm saying is, at that time When I was recording, when God looked at what I was doing, he didn't see mediocre.
Neal ReyesHe saw my very, very, very best.
Neal ReyesThat was my very, very, very best at that time, with the resources that I had and that I believe for it was my very best.
Neal ReyesBut if I were still doing videos that same way today and recording the same way today, what was once my excellence wouldn't be excellence anymore.
Neal ReyesIt might have slipped to adjust enough.
Neal ReyesOr for me, probably not enough.
Neal ReyesYou see, there's different levels in life that we grow at our excellence and as we grow in our excellence, it's so important, I'm going to say it again.
Neal ReyesIt's so important to grow what I refer to from glory to glory to glory.
Neal ReyesIn other words, it's your come up, it's how you grow as you develop, it's a development process for your teams.
Neal ReyesIt'll be the same way.
Neal ReyesIt's how you grow and it's how you develop.
Neal ReyesAnd once you've developed in this area and if you can train this to the people closest to you, and I'm going to tell you that the reason why this measuring system is so effective is because it's really no respecter of age and it's no respecter of title or position.
Neal ReyesThis level of measurement works for everybody.
Neal ReyesYou know, earlier I touched real briefly on terms like KPIs and OKRs and those are good.
Neal ReyesBut the thing about a KPI or an OKR in business as their position specific, I'm going to say that again, KPIs and OKRs are almost always position specific.
Neal ReyesBut this framework that I'm talking about today, this framework of excellence, this can be used across the board, regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of title.
Neal ReyesAnd something that you can use to measure your own efforts.
Neal ReyesAnd it's also something you can use to measure the effort of others.
Neal ReyesAnd where true success comes in within this framework is when you learn how to do it within your own life, live by it like it's second nature, and then you begin to train it to others almost like a train the trainer.
Neal ReyesAnd I will tell you that everyone I've taught this to has embraced it.
Neal ReyesEveryone I've talked to, they've appreciated it and they've grown towards it and they've liked it because it's something they can use in every area of their life.
Neal ReyesAnd it's something that makes doing their job or their responsibilities just a little bit easier.
Neal ReyesBecause what they shift from or they shift to is they're now measuring the quality of Outcomes, you know, whatever they set out to do, whether if it's a directive that's given to them or an initiative, or if it's something they're just doing on their own.
Neal ReyesAnd by being an initiator on their own, they.
Neal ReyesThis system gives them the ability to measure the quality of what they set their hand out to accomplish whatever outcome they were hoping for, whatever goal they were hoping for.
Neal ReyesThis allows them to measure the quality of that outcome.
Neal ReyesYou know, sometimes in life, people set a goal and they look back and the only measurement of success they have is, did we accomplish the goal?
Neal ReyesYes or no.
Neal ReyesOr they'll turn around and say, hey, maybe the goal is a certain amount of sales you have to hit.
Neal ReyesAnd then they turn around, they look back, they said, hey, we needed to hit this many sales within this time frame.
Neal ReyesDid we hit it?
Neal ReyesYes or no.
Neal ReyesOr maybe it's a project they're working on.
Neal ReyesMaybe they're working on building a new website, or maybe they're whirling out new benefits to the company.
Neal ReyesYou know, maybe they switch companies that they're using for benefits and now they're rolling out new, you know, medical and vision and dental and that kind of stuff.
Neal ReyesAnd as they're rolling that out, or maybe it's, you know, annual reviews and they're giving compensation increases or whatever it is.
Neal ReyesThis framework that I'm teaching you, it can be used to measure anything, I mean, anything.
Neal ReyesAnd remember your four basic things.
Neal ReyesOr I say four basic, but your four levels of measurement.
Neal ReyesAt the lowest, just not enough.
Neal ReyesI'm sorry, at the lowest, number one, not enough.
Neal ReyesNumber two, just enough.
Neal ReyesNumber three, good enough.
Neal ReyesAnd number four, at the highest, excellence.
Neal ReyesAnd I want you to understand something.
Neal ReyesIf you adopt this for your own framework, you're probably not going to hit excellence all the time.
Neal ReyesI don't want to paint an erroneous picture to you, but you at least have to understand where the mark is, you know, in closing, there was a time a while back, I remember I was doing, cranking out videos every night.
Neal ReyesAnd I remember I was recording, I would record them, but after my family would go to bed.
Neal ReyesSo, I mean, sometimes I was in the studio, like at 11:30 at night, finishing at 12:1 in the morning.
Neal ReyesAnd then I still in some cases had to go and edit it, produce it, or edit it, render it, load it, get it online so people could watch it the next day, because that was my level of effort.
Neal ReyesThere's better systems out there to do it in.
Neal ReyesI've learned them since then, praise God.
Neal ReyesI've learned them since then, but at that time, that was my best I was able to do.
Neal ReyesAnd I remember sitting there one night, it was about 1:30 in the morning.
Neal ReyesI just got done editing it.
Neal ReyesI'm looking at it.
Neal ReyesI caught something that I made a little bit of a mistake on.
Neal ReyesTo be fair, others who are watching it probably wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Neal ReyesBut sometimes when you're watching it, you could critique yourself a little harder.
Neal ReyesAnd I saw this, and I knew it was something I should fix.
Neal ReyesAnd I just.
Neal ReyesI'm like, all right, I'm gonna rate myself real quick.
Neal ReyesI guess that's okay.
Neal ReyesAnd then these words came out of my mouth.
Neal ReyesThat's good enough.
Neal ReyesOh, man.
Neal ReyesThe moment I heard that word, those phrase, it's good enough, I knew in my heart I wasn't ready to go to bed yet.
Neal ReyesI wasn't ready to hit the render button and go to bed and set my alarm to wake up a couple hours later so then I could load it online.
Neal ReyesNo, I knew.
Neal ReyesAnd that moment, I still had at least about another 40 minutes to an hour of work ahead of me because I had to go back and fix what I had caught.
Neal ReyesI made a mistake on.
Neal ReyesWhy?
Neal ReyesBecause it was my level of excellence.
Neal ReyesWhen the words came out of my mouth, it was good enough.
Neal ReyesI don't endeavor to be a good enough person.
Neal ReyesI don't endeavor to live by good enough standards.
Neal ReyesMe, Neil Reyes, I endeavor to live by excellence.
Neal ReyesAnd when I set my hand to something or I say I'm gonna do something, I endeavor to do it with excellence.
Neal ReyesBecause just like this story I shared with you about Taylor, where I was new in my heart, and I asked her if God Almighty, the maker himself, comes down to our backyard tonight after we go in and he decides to go for a little stroll in the cool of the night in our backyard, and he comes across your fence, is he gonna marvel at it or is he just gonna be like, baby, you could have done more?
Neal ReyesAnd I'm not trying to paint a picture of God, that he's harsh to people.
Neal ReyesGood.
Neal ReyesHe's not.
Neal ReyesAnd while this is not a Bible study, there are.
Neal ReyesThere are stories after stories within the Bible where he talks about where someone exhibited a different kind of faith.
Neal ReyesAnd he marveled at it.
Neal ReyesHe said, faith like this, I've not seen.
Neal ReyesWell, when I have him see the work of my hands that he sent me to do here on Earth, I want him to see a level of excellence he didn't see from others.
Neal ReyesIt was an uncommon type of excellence.
Neal ReyesAnd so when I'm working on that project and the words come out of my mouth, that's good enough.
Neal ReyesI knew in a moment I was gonna have to stay up longer.
Neal ReyesAnd you know what?
Neal ReyesI even said a prayer.
Neal ReyesLord, please help me get this done.
Neal ReyesI'm so tired.
Neal ReyesI want to go to bed.
Neal ReyesBut he helped me.
Neal ReyesHe sustained me.
Neal ReyesIt still took me a little over 40 minutes to get done, but he helped me.
Neal ReyesHe sustained me.
Neal ReyesHe gave me a second wind.
Neal ReyesAnd I know the reason why he did so was because he knew that it mattered to me.
Neal ReyesBecause even though others, when they looked at that, might have not known the difference, I knew what the difference was going to be.
Neal ReyesIt was a standard of excellence.
Neal ReyesIt was an integrity of my heart that I would know the difference.
Neal ReyesAnd while I wasn't after perfection, I was after progress.
Neal ReyesAnd I had already progressed to the place within making videos at that time that that video had I rendered in and published it in that moment and wouldn't had met the mark of excellence I had come to expect of myself.
Neal ReyesThe standards I built, but also what I believe, this level of excellence that both God and others saw in my work.
Neal ReyesGuys, I hope that this podcast has ministered to you today.
Neal ReyesI want to invite you to swing by our website where you can connect with all of our resources.
Neal ReyesYou can go to our website@neil Reyes.com and on that website there are links to our ministry, there's links to our leadership, there's links to our coaching.
Neal ReyesBut one of the most valuable links that's on there is the links to all of our media.
Neal ReyesWe have our podcast and we have our videos.
Neal ReyesAnd while we post those on social media and places like YouTube and others, the number one place to find out about everything Neil Ray is is@neil Reyes.com in fact, I'm going to tell you that even on our site, we post content that we don't even produce or post in other places.
Neal ReyesYou can only find it on our website.
Neal ReyesI want to invite you to check it out.
Neal ReyesI believe that there's something there that can help you tremendously, just like this podcast.
Neal ReyesI'm so grateful you stopped by and I want to thank you for taking time to grow with us.
Neal ReyesBe blessed.