Lifelong learner passionate about innovation and exploring the unknown.
Arizona
Joined October 2008
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Ever felt like paralyzing fear is holding you back from achieving your dreams? I know I have, but it doesn't have to stay that way.
For most of my life, I was running from fear, fighting fear, and hiding from fear. Sound familiar?
But then, I got fed up. I was tired of running, hiding, and fighting.
I decided to confront fear, but instead of fighting, I stopped and listened to what my fear was trying to tell me.
That's when I realized something powerful: fear can actually be your friend.
Fear is there to help, to tell you what could harm you, it's a survival tool.
My first day of kindergarten was terrifying. I didn’t understand English and felt completely alone.
Fear motivated me to look for anyone who could help me.
In that sea of solitude, I saw a friendly smile on my teacher’s face.
A comforting hug showed me that support can come from unexpected places.
By my senior year of high school, I had straight D's and F's and had failed several classes.
I was scared of not graduating. I needed to pass every class in order to get my high-school diploma.
The fear of disappointing my grandma made me focus on my schoolwork.
That year, for the first time in my life, I got straight A's and graduated.
In my professional life, fear kept me from achieving the level of success I wanted.
I would get nervous before speaking with customers and business partners.
I was terrified to present in front of co-workers and business leaders. But then I decided to confront the fear.
I started speaking in public, joined Toastmasters, and hired a speaking coach to help me along the way.
After facing my fear consistently week after week for years, and practicing my craft, I now teach workshops on how to overcome your fear of public speaking.
None of this was possible for me until I confronted my fear directly and listened to it. Behind that fear was a desire to speak and be heard.
Do you want to become friends with fear? Do this!
Practical Steps to Befriend Fear:
Identify Your Fear: Take a moment right now. What is it that scares you? Write it down.
Understand Your Fear: Why does this fear exist? What is it trying to protect you from?
Confront Your Fear: Think of small steps you can take to face this fear. Just like I did with Toastmasters, find a way to expose yourself to the fear in a safe environment.
Reflect on Wins: Celebrate small victories. Find early wins to fuel your confidence and keep you going.
Visualize Success: Close your eyes. Picture yourself overcoming this fear. Feel the excitement of success.
Take five minutes today. Write down one fear.
Break it into small steps you can take to face it. Commit to one action this week.
By befriending fear and understanding its role, you can harness its power to drive you forward.
Fear can be your guide, not your enemy.
I recently spoke about this on Pam Slim's podcast, The Widest Net.
If you want to hear more about my journey and get inspired, check out the episode here:
open.spotify.com/episode/5bf…
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All you have to do is RETWEET this AND FOLLOW us for your chance to win!
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An email from Coach Sommer I revisit often:
Hi Tim,
Patience. Far too soon to expect strength improvements. Strength improvements [for a movement like this] take a minimum of 6 weeks. Any perceived improvements prior to that are simply the result of improved synaptic facilitation. In plain English, the central nervous system simply became more efficient at that particular movement with practice. This is, however, not to be confused with actual strength gains.
Dealing with the temporary frustration of not making progress is an integral part of the path towards excellence. In fact, it is essential and something that every single elite athlete has had to learn to deal with. If the pursuit of excellence was easy, everyone would do it.
In fact, this impatience in dealing with frustration is the primary reason that most people fail to achieve their goals. Unreasonable expectations timewise, resulting in unnecessary frustration, due to a perceived feeling of failure. Achieving the extraordinary is not a linear process.
The secret is to show up, do the work, and go home.
A blue collar work ethic married to indomitable will. It is literally that simple. Nothing interferes. Nothing can sway you from your purpose. Once the decision is made, simply refuse to budge. Refuse to compromise.
And accept that quality long-term results require quality long-term focus. No emotion. No drama. No beating yourself up over small bumps in the road. Learn to enjoy and appreciate the process. This is especially important because you are going to spend far more time on the actual journey than with those all too brief moments of triumph at the end.
Certainly celebrate the moments of triumph when they occur. More importantly, learn from defeats when they happen. In fact, if you are not encountering defeat on a fairly regular basis, you are not trying hard enough. And absolutely refuse to accept less than your best.
Throw out a timeline. It will take what it takes.
If the commitment is to a long-term goal and not to a series of smaller intermediate goals, then only one decision needs to be made and adhered to. Clear, simple, straightforward. Much easier to maintain than having to make small decision after small decision to stay the course when dealing with each step along the way. This provides far too many opportunities to inadvertently drift from your chosen goal. The single decision is one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox.
HUGO 🔮 retweeted
The fastest way to improve your life:
Distance yourself from anyone who spends time putting down others.
Hashtags are such a powerful tool for increasing your visibility and engagement on social media, but knowing how to use them strategically can make all the difference.
Here are a few key takeaways that I found super valuable:
#️⃣#️⃣#️⃣ Understand the Types of Hashtags
🟢 Branded Hashtags: These are unique to your brand and help promote your business. Use them consistently to build brand awareness (e.g. #LataForum).
🟢 Community Hashtags: Connect with a specific community or interest group (e.g., #DadCommunity). These help you tap into conversations and engage with like-minded users.
🟢 Campaign Hashtags: These are specific to marketing campaigns and can drive engagement for particular events or promotions (e.g., #SummerSale2024). Use them to track the performance of your campaigns and encourage user participation.
📊 Research and Trend Analysis:
🟢 Use tools discover trending and relevant hashtags in your niche.
🟢 Keep an eye on popular hashtags within your industry to stay current and engage with trending topics. This can increase your content's discoverability and relevance.
⚖️ Balance and Moderation:
🟢 Avoid the extremes of too few or too many hashtags. Our experience with clients has show that around 5-10 hashtags can be effective on Instagram, while Twitter and Facebook perform better with 1-2 hashtags.
🟢 The right balance can help you reach your target audience without overwhelming them or appearing spammy.
➡⬆️⬅️➡️ Placement Matters:
🟢 On Instagram, placing hashtags in the first comment or the end of your caption keeps your post looking clean while still benefiting from the hashtag’s reach.
🟢 On platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, incorporate hashtags naturally within your text for better engagement and readability.
🗝️ Consistency is Key:
🟢 Maintain a consistent hashtag strategy to reinforce your brand identity and make it easier for followers to find and engage with your content.
🟢 Regularly review and update your hashtag list to ensure it remains relevant and effective. Consistency helps build familiarity and trust with your audience.
blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-us…
HUGO 🔮 retweeted
"You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, some time in your life."
ㅤ
– Victor Hugo (often mistakenly attributed to Churchill)
You know it’s true love when you can enjoy dates in the car eating a sandwich and watching Kendrick diss Drake on repeat.
Ever stumbled upon an old note and felt like it transported you back in time?
That happened to me recently when I found a note from 2021 in my journal. It was during the COVID lockdowns, and those were some tough times.
Back then, I was using work as an escape, a way to avoid taking care of my health and neglecting the relationships that truly matter, like with my wife and three boys.
Sound familiar?
I was juggling a full-time corporate job while also building my marketing business. It felt like I was constantly running on fumes. I gained weight, my wife and I stopped going on dates, and I’d get frustrated anytime my kids wanted my attention. I was growing my business, but my life felt drained.
I wrote about feeling resistance whenever I buried myself in work. The term "workaholic" gets thrown around like a badge of honor, but let me tell you, it’s not pretty. I saw firsthand how damaging it can be.
Journaling on this reminded me that I don’t always need to stay busy.
Sometimes, we need to take a step back, breathe, and prioritize what truly matters.
For me, that meant adding running, yoga and meditation to my fitness routine.
Doing this made me more aware of my health and the food I was putting into my body, and I started eating better, with little difficulties.
It also meant spending intentional time with my kids playing board games and enjoying time together and going on dates with my wife, Crystal, every week.
It also meant spending intentional time with my kids playing board games and enjoying time together and going on dates with my wife, Crystal, every week.
Fast forward to today I’ve made some big changes:
Learned to set boundaries,
Prioritize my well-being
Nurture the relationships that mean the most to me.
I feel more balanced, healthier, and deeply connected with my family.
Do you feel overwhelmed by the constant hustle?
Are you struggling to balance your business, a full-time job, and family life?
It’s tough, right?
One of the game-changers for me was discovering marketing automation. If you haven't heard of it, marketing automation refers to software and tools that automate repetitive marketing tasks.
This includes things like sending out email campaigns, posting on social media, and managing customer follow-ups.
Implementing these tools not only helped me grow my business but also saved me precious time and energy.
I was able to focus on what truly matters – my health and my family.
Can you relate?
Know that you’re not alone in this journey. It's okay to pause, take a deep breath, and prioritize what really counts. Your health and your relationships are priceless.
What if being constantly busy is just another form of laziness?
Think about it – are we avoiding the hard work of truly living by burying ourselves in tasks?
What if I told you that being a "workaholic" is actually a failure, not an achievement?
It’s time to rethink what we celebrate in our entrepreneurial journeys.
Specialize and focus on what you’re best at and most passionate about.
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft and Steve Ballmer was a hired gun who was the CEO.
Bill Gates has a net worth of: $135.2 billion
Steve Ballmer has a net worth of: $135.6 billion
How could this be when Ballmer only owned 8% of Microsoft while Gates had 45%.
The big lesson here is that diversification is a great way to keep your wealth.
Concentrated bets are a great way to grow your net worth.
Gates sold a large chunk of his shares over the years and diversified his portfolio.
He also donated a large chunk of his net worth and lost some due to a divorce... nevertheless, he would have been the first trillionaire if he had kept all his shares.
Ballmer bleeds Microsoft. He believed it would be best to keep his Microsoft shares instead of diversifying into things he didn't believe in as much.
People may tell you to diversify, but if you truly understand something and understand it better than most things, it may be safer for you to keep your concentrated bet.
The real reason you're not accomplishing your goals is because of your habits.
When I first started kindergarten, I was terrified. I didn't speak English and struggled to communicate in class.
I was eventually held back in the second grade, and my teachers told my mom I had a learning disability. These early challenges shaped my mindset, instilling a fear of inadequacy that followed me for years.
I rarely spoke up in class and during a high school speech I blacked out completely.
I feared speaking up in front of coworkers when I started my career.
I avoided asking for promotions during leadership reviews.
I struggled to share ideas in front of coworkers.
I feared confronting angry customers.
This fear kept me stuck in an unfulfilling job for years, reinforcing the habit of avoiding challenges.
Eventually, I decided to overcome my fear:
1️⃣ I joined Toastmasters
2️⃣ I hired a speaking coach
3️⃣ I Entered speaking contests
4️⃣ I built a habit of embracing my fear public speaking.
The fear of public speaking had kept me feeling small for so long, and these changes transformed my life.
Each small victory built my confidence and shattered the habits that had held me back. I even developed a public speaking workshop to teach students how to speak with confidence.
Recently, my colleague Serban and I spoke to students at @YearUp about building empowering habits and staying consistent.
The feedback that @YearUpAZ provided was incredible, with students appreciating the resources, realness, and connection to our stories.
Witnessing their transformations reminded me of the power of habits—not just in overcoming fears, but in achieving any goal.
These experiences showed me just how crucial habits are in our lives. They help us not only overcome fears but also achieve our goals.
Here are some tips for building better habits that can make a real difference.
🟢 Start Small: Focus on small, manageable changes. Celebrate each victory, no matter how minor.
🟢 Stay Consistent: Consistency is key. Even small daily actions can lead to significant results over time.
🟢 Reflect and Adjust: Regularly assess your progress and be willing to adapt your approach.
🟢 Seek Support: Join communities or groups that encourage growth, like Toastmasters or workshops.
🟢 Visualize Success: Picture yourself achieving your goals. This mental rehearsal can help reinforce positive habits.
Habits are powerful. They can be the chains that hold you back or the fuel that propels you forward.
Look at your current habits. What’s holding you back?
What new habits do you need to build to achieve your dreams?
#HabitBuilding #PersonalGrowth #GoalSetting #PublicSpeaking #TransformationJourney #LifeSkills #Motivation #SelfImprovement
ALT Public Speaking Workshop
Trying to reach everyone on social media is like shouting into the void.
I’ve learned that if you're trying to grow your brand by creating content on social media, it's crucial to define your audience in narrow segments.
For example, let’s say you're a parenting coach. Instead of just targeting "parents," narrow it down to "parents of toddlers aged 2-4 who are struggling with sleep training." This kind of specificity really hits home because it speaks directly to their unique needs and challenges.
Think about it: a parent dealing with a 2-year-old who wakes up five times a night is facing a very different situation than a parent of a 12-year-old struggling to find something fun to keep the entertained.
By focusing on the narrower segment, you can create content that offers precise solutions, such as bedtime routines, calming techniques, or specific sleep schedules tailored to toddlers.
Your advice becomes highly relevant and valuable to those parents, making them more likely to engage with your content and see you as an expert who truly understands their struggles.
Keep your demographic segments in 5-year increments and address specific psychographics separately when possible.
These segments can change and evolve over time as you gain insights, but they should remain narrow.
By doing this, your content becomes more specialized, focused, and connects deeply with your audience, making it incredibly relatable to different groups of people.
When parents of toddlers come across your posts, they’ll feel like you’re speaking directly to them, which increases engagement and trust.
Have you tried narrowing down your audience segments?
How To Improve Your Communication - Seek First to Understand Then to be Understood teapawt.net/i/broadcasts/1YqJDgkpy…
Have you ever wondered why some teams work so well together, even if they don't have the best individual talents?
Some of the most talented individuals can actually be a liability in a team setting.
I’ve been reading this amazing book called "The Creative Act: A Way of Being" by Rick Rubin.
It’s crazy how a book on creativity can give such deep insights into everyday life, especially about communication and teamwork.
Rubin really drives home this point: the synergy of a group is just as important, if not more, than the talent of any one person.
It's something I've been thinking about a lot, especially when we talk about giving and receiving feedback.
Remember Terrell Owens? He was an amazing wide receiver, but man, his attitude and clashes with teammates caused so many issues.
Even with his talent, he often ended up being more of a problem than a solution for his teams. His actions led to suspensions, fines, and even getting booted from teams.
It’s a perfect example of how even the best players can mess things up if they disrupt the team’s flow.
When we’re giving feedback, we’ve got to focus on the work, not the person.
Saying stuff like, "I don't like it" just doesn’t help.
It’s better to be specific, like saying something feels a bit long or dry.
This way, it’s all about the work and not a personal attack, which keeps things constructive and keeps everyone collaborating.
And receiving feedback? That’s another challenge.
We’ve got to put our egos aside.
If someone’s feedback stings or isn’t clear, just ask for more details. And it helps to repeat what you heard to make sure you got it right.
Rubin’s so spot-on, taking feedback personally can stop everything, but good communication keeps things moving.
His quote really hit me:
"The synergy of the group is as important, if not more important, than the talent of the individual."
It's such a powerful reminder for all our teamwork.
What do you think?
Do you agree that the wrong person can destroy a team’s potential, no matter how talented they are?
I'm 40 years old. I started my first corporate tech job right out of high school and married my high-school sweetheart.
Over the years, I started a family, gained weight, became morbidly obese, and accumulated $25,000 in credit card debt.
I found myself depressed and living in a homemade spare bedroom in the backyard of my in-laws' house when I finally decided it was time to make a change.
My wife @cvasquez3955 and I started a marketing business as a side hustle and used the money from that business to pay off the credit card debt and save for a down payment.
I lost over 100 pounds, paid off all of our credit card debt, and bought a house for my family to grow in.
Most notably, I was able to do something I’ve dreamed of for decades: save enough to walk away from my 22-year career in the corporate software industry to run my business full-time.
I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and share a bit about my journey and what brought me here.
Who Am I?
I am an entrepreneur with a passion for helping others achieve their goals and realize their full potential.
In my 22 years of consulting, implementing, and supporting software solutions for Fortune 100 clients, I have had the opportunity to work with incredible entrepreneurs and organizations, learning and growing every step of the way.
I’m the Founder of Team 212, a community dedicated to lifelong learning and personal growth.
I host a weekly live podcast streamed on X called “Make Success a Habit”
The podcast is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and business leaders achieve success in all areas of life.
I love technology, video games, comic books, and personal development.
I grew up struggling in school and was held back in the 2nd grade.
I had D’s and F’s and almost failed high school until I decided to take my education into my own hands and started the journey of self-learning.
That year, I got straight A’s and graduated high school with a full-time corporate job in Fintech right out of high school.
I love spending time with my kids, teaching them something new every day.
I consider myself a lifelong learner who’s passionate about exploring the unknown parts of the universe.
My Journey with Accountability
In 2020, I joined my first accountability group and started setting bigger goals.
We did weekly and daily check-ins, and we supported each other every step of the way.
We even met in person each quarter for a friendly race.
I loved the small group we had built, but I knew that more people needed what we had.
In 2021, my wife Crystal and I decided to expand the accountability group into a larger community, so we started Team 212.
Team 212 is an accountability community dedicated to lifelong learning and personal growth.
We believe that each individual can accomplish their greatest goals in less time while having more fun along the way with support and accountability from others dedicated to personal growth.
The reason we believe this is because we’ve seen it happen firsthand, time after time, for members of Team 212.
After almost three years of building our community while working a full-time job, raising three kids, and being a supportive partner to my wife, I realized that in order for the community to thrive, I needed to invest more of my time, attention, and mental energy into it.
This realization led me to a pivotal moment.
I looked at myself in the mirror and asked, “What’s the next right move?”
Reflecting on my career and the challenges I had faced—managing a demanding workload, balancing personal and professional life—I knew it was time for a change.
These experiences had taught me the importance of resilience, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
That’s when I decided to walk away from my 22-year career in the corporate software industry to run my business full-time and fully commit to growing Team 212.
Why I Started Team 212
I founded Team 212 because I wanted to create a supportive and motivating environment where growth-minded people could come together to share their experiences, challenges, and successes.
After experiencing firsthand the power of accountability and community in my own life, I realized how transformative it could be for others.
Our journey began with a small accountability group.
We supported each other through weekly and daily check-ins and even met in person each quarter for a friendly race.
The friendships and support we experienced were incredible.
I knew there were more people out there who needed what we had.
My wife Crystal and I decided to expand this concept into a larger community.
Team 212 was born.
Our community is built on the belief that with the right support and accountability, we can achieve our greatest goals and enjoy the journey along the way.
Whether it's losing weight, paying off debt, advancing your career, or simply finding balance in life, Team 212 is here to help you every step of the way.
Thank you for reading my story.
Here’s the truth: most people never achieve their goals because they lack the right support and accountability.
Don’t be one of them.
Follow me if you’re serious about transforming your life and willing to challenge the status quo.
Building Healthy Habits for Balance and Excellence in all areas of life! Want to get healthy, deepen your relationships, boost your business smarts, and connect with your inner self? teapawt.net/i/broadcasts/1YpKkwwEa…
You can download the habit tracker and challenge guide here: myteam212.com/c4-challenge-h…