Dr. Mooreland is a best-Selling Author of the book Genius-Potential & Founder of Will Moreland International. He is America’s #1 Leadership Life Trainer who has been featured on ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, Forbes magazine to name a few. Best-selling author & world re-known motivational speaker Les Brown says “he is the absolute personification of greatness”.
Show Notes:
What’s your story?
I’m originally from Compton, California; it was known as a pretty bad place. Back in the 80s when I grew up there it was known as the worst city in America. They literally called it a war zone. We were surrounded by gangs, drug dealers, etc. I was raised by a single mother. I met my father when I was 7 years old and he was serving time in a California State penitentiary. He got there because he was one of California’s biggest drug dealers at the time. Fortunately, your start doesn’t have to determine your finish.
I did get in trouble but I encountered what I called a disruptor. All throughout our lives, we will find people come into our lives to disrupt us if we are going the wrong way. My first disruptor was a California State Judge. He said, “young man you are going nowhere fast and I’m going to give you an opportunity to transform your life”.
When did you decide to change?
The military sent me to Germany. I began to experience a lot of firsts – the first time being away from home, the first time being in another city, the first time being in another country. Even though I was 8,000 miles away physically, mentally I was still in Compton, California. I ended getting in trouble again where I met my second disruptor. He told me, “young man you’re getting ready to mess up your life but I’m not going to kick you out, I’m going to allow you to come work for me and I’m going to mentor you”.
One of the first things he asked me was, “What are you going to do with this opportunity?” That was the very first time anyone ever posed that question to me. Where did I see myself going? Where did I want to be in life? He sat me down and made me think about my life. I grew up in an environment where I didn’t think I would make it to my 18th birthday. I didn’t think beyond my 18th birthday. I never thought about my future and this Sergeant Major, Sergeant Melvin Babbs, made me started to think about my future.
What’s your mission?
My mission is simple, it is to help as many serious entrepreneurs gain clarity and how to help them live their best lives. Our company provides strategy & solutions to help them create their best lives.
Using a CAR to get to where you want to go
When we think about Clarity, Action, Result, one of the first things we have to ask ourselves is, “What does my future look like?” We have to realize that each and every one of us lives in 3 dimensions, our past, present and future. When we look at these 3 dimensions, we have to ask, “ What is my reality for my future?” “What do I want to look like?” What happens to most of us is that we begin to look at our past which is always with us. When we begin to talk about our future we often go back to the past to look for qualifications meaning, wow, “Can I really do this?” We gave to get clear on our past. What part of our past support this new future that you want.
I learnt from my past that women are strong…this is the aspect of my past that I brought into my present. It was an advantage for me. I learnt how to make a dollar go really far. I learnt how to sacrifice and learnt how to go without for a long time.
I also recognized that I will make mistakes and so I have to bring accountability into my life. Accountability is what we called coaches and mentors and people to help us along the way. Once I decided what my future was going to be, I say, “Who do I need in my life that can mentor me, that can help me along the way. I started finding examples of individuals. Early on these mentors were books, cassette tapes back then, recordings till I could actuality find physical mentors.
Results, that tell the story. Are you progressing are you not? I check my results every 90 days. Am I accomplishing what I set out to accomplish?
When did your journey as an entrepreneur began?
I was in the military and once I finally got this clarity I had a decision to make. Was I going to continue in the military or was I going to start my company? For me it was very clear, it was time to leave the military and start my company. In January 2002, I started my company after leaving the army in September 2001.
What has been your worst moment as an entrepreneur?
I have made bad decisions. I was excited about moving into this new office space which I didn’t negotiate very well to begin with. I paid too much for this facility and it put a strain on the company for a long time. I signed an 18-month lease for an enormous amount of money without a plan on how to pay it off. I was so excited about getting into our own building, having our own office space. I didn’t learn the art of negotiation.
What is the one thing you would say to prospective entrepreneurs as a definite must before they leave their job to start a business?
It would be to create a CAR. Get clear, how are you going to replace your income. “How are you going to replace your insurance?” “How is it going to impact your family?” “What exactly are you going to be doing?” Then you want to have accountability, talk to people, ask questions, listen to shows such as this. A lot of time we move out of passion. But passion will dry up very fast if you don’t have any profits. You haven’t earned it until it crosses your checking account. Until you see cash in hand, don’t count it.
How do you bounce back from a bad decision?
One of the things I do is to take a step back…it is perspective. I look at the mistake that was made. I ask myself, “Did anyone die?” Sometimes I need to go to my mentor, get some accountability and ask some questions on how we get out of this. One of the easiest things is that I’m doing what I love. Because I’m doing what I love it’s easy for me to bounce back. A lot of people aren’t doing what the love and so when they make mistakes or fail, they use it as get-out-of-jail card. When I make mistakes, I learn from it and get back in the game.
What is your definition of success?
Success is so subjective to everybody. I narrow it down to two words and it’s “enjoying life.” But as a caveat to that, enjoying life means you really have to get clarity. So many of us have been told what success is, we’ve read the magazines and movies and we get in pursuit of things that we don’t want. If you really get clarity, there’s only a few things that you need in life to be successful. I love being around my families and friends; the ability to travel, if I want to go out to a restaurant I can do that. But above that, there’s a lot of stuff that I really want to do. I love the ability to go out and shop every day if I want to but I’m not shopping every day, I’m working every day. When you really peel back the onion and ask yourself what do you really want, and get clarity on it, that’s success!
When I move back to the US from Europe, the ability to work from the comfort of our home was fulfilling for me. We saved thousands of dollars by working from home.
Final words
Invest some time to create the life and business you love and be proud of. This is our life, this is a dress rehearsal. Let’s make the best of it.
Main Take-Aways:
- You haven’t earned it until it hits your checking account.
- Invest time to create the life and business you really want.
- Build a CAR to take you to your goal; get CLARITY, have ACCOUNTABILITY and check your RESULTS.
Resources to #PeakYourPerformance:
