Ep. 040 — The Secret Determiner of Success & How to Use it to Your Advantage

December 1, 2025

Hosted by Roddy Galbraith

A Maxwell Leadership Podcast Network production

Weekly highlights from The Speaker’s Edge — a Maxwell Leadership Podcast Network production hosted by Roddy Galbraith. Learn how to communicate with clarity, confidence, and impact — in business, on stage, and in life.

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This Week’s Big Idea

Clarity about what you want creates order in your life. When you set a clear intention—your “north star”—your daily actions stop scattering in every direction and start lining up toward one outcome. That alignment is what accelerates growth (and makes you a more effective speaker).

Key Takeaways

• Goals don’t just help you achieve something — they pull you into growth because you must become the kind of person who can reach them.

• Without goals, we default to emotion-led days (“I feel like…”), which creates scattered progress.

• A clear goal creates order + efficiency: more of what you do starts pointing the same direction.

• You don’t need to overhaul everything: a few acts of self-discipline daily compound over time.

• If you don’t know your “purpose” yet, don’t freeze—set goals while you discover it through action.

• Don’t measure life as “win/lose.” Ask: “Did I do my best?” If you’re growing, think in time horizons.

Quote of the Week

“Never underestimate the compounding effect of consistency.”

Resources & Practice

• Write your “north star” in one sentence.
  At the end of this quarter, I want to be the kind of speaker who…

• Pick 1 goal → 3 behaviors.
  Example: “Become a clearer communicator” → (a) outline before speaking, (b) one big idea per talk, (c) practice a 2-minute recap weekly.

• Run the “24-hour rule.”
  Celebrate wins for 24 hours. Sulk on failures for 24 hours. Then get back up and keep going—growth makes the timeline work in your favor.

Get the companion guide here > MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge

Full Transcript (Ep. 040  — The Secret Determiner of Success & How to Use it to Your Advantage)
Released: December 1, 2025

This transcript was auto-generated. It may contain minor errors.

Hey guys, welcome back to the Speaker’s Edge podcast. The podcast specifically designed to help you to learn from some of the world's very best speakers and communicators so you can learn to master your message and inspire your audience every single time you speak. I'm your host for this podcast, Roddy Galbraith, and I'm thrilled that you've chosen to join us today. I think we've got a great message for you today. We're going to be talking about the importance of setting your intention, setting clear goals and objectives as a speaker so that you can grow much more quickly. But before we get to that, if you haven't downloaded the companion resources, go to MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge. And if you enjoy the episode, if you enjoy the show, we would love it if you rate and review the show. Thank you. All right, so last week we were talking about Jim Rohn's simple formula for success, amongst other things. The formula for success, he said, is very simple. It's just a few acts of self-discipline practiced daily over a reasonable period of time. Very simple, very easy to understand, easy to do, easy not to do. But he said the formula for failure is just a few errors in judgment practiced daily over a reasonable period of time. And the important thing is the acts of self-discipline of course we need to be very intentional with whereas it feels like the errors in judgment just happen on their own. So that was what we talked about last week. In this episode, I want to talk about why would we make those acts of self-discipline. Why would we go through the effort of doing something that is difficult or or time consuming or uses a lot of energy or is frustrating? Why would we do that? Why would we step forward into growth? Why would we intentionally climb that staircase? Well, because there's something at the top of the staircase that we want. That's the key to it, isn't it? There's a goal. There's something that we would like. There's something that we desire. there's something that we need, we have to have, and so we're prepared to exert effort in order to try and get it. And so a goal, if it's if it's a good goal for us, then it's going to entice us into growth. If it's something that we don't already have, something that we don't yet know how to get, then it's going to cause us to grow. So it's going to pull us forward into growth. And so a goal like that, when it when it's something that we want, it changes the things that we do. It changes us on that journey so that the goal actually introduces more order into our lives as like a magnetic pull. And so more and more of the things that we're doing line up with achieving that particular goal. If there wasn't a goal, then we would just do whatever we felt like doing that day. I feel like taking the dogs to a rock. If we feel like taking the dogs to walk, we'll probably take the dogs to walk. I don't feel like taking the dogs to a rock. I feel like putting my feet up and laying back and watching TV. If we feel like watching TV, if we feel like kicking back and relaxing, then we're probably going to do that. So, we're driven without a clear goal. We're very often driven by our emotions. We're driven by our feelings. I feel like doing this. I want to do that. I'm scared of that. I want to avoid that. This makes me feel like that. And so, we're driven by our feelings rather than consciously choosing what's important. So, goals introduce order. If we're just driven by our emotions, then those emotions could take us off in all different directions. I feel like stopping now. I feel like doing this. I feel like going in this direction. I feel like going in this direction. And so those emotions are erratic somewhat. There's no they're not all lining up. Whereas if it's a a something that we've chosen, a goal that we want, then more and more of our actions and our feelings and our thinking, they're all aligned with that goal. if it's something that's important to us. Picture it this way. Every day, if our actions are just driven by what we feel like doing, then they're literally going to be like arrows pointing in all kinds of different directions. So, imagine a a sheet of paper and you're drawing an arrow pointing up and down and to the left and to the right and halfway up to this corner, that corner. If you've got 30 different arrows representing 30 actions that you've taken in a day and they're all pointing in different directions, it's easy to see that that doesn't really add up to much order, does it? In fact, it's the opposite of that. It's going in all kinds of different directions. But if we had a clear goal in the top right hand corner of the page, something that we wanted, then some of the the actions that were obviously taking us in a different direction, we might stop doing those. And some of the things that are taking us in uh downwards or upwards, we we'd stop those. And some of the things that are sort of going in that direction, maybe they would line up a little more and take us closer to that. And if we followed that goal for a reasonable period of time, then more and more of our activities would be in alignment with achieving that goal. And so those arrows, it would be like they're all like they're all pointing towards that that new north star, if you like, the thing that we want. And so all of those arrows that were going in different directions on the page would now line up and be pointing to the top right hand corner. They'd be pointing to the star like they were needles on a compass being pulled in that direction because of the thing that we've said is important to us. So a goal introduces order. A clear goal introduces order into our day. and more and more of our actions, more and more of our feelings, more and more of our thoughts are in alignment with that goal if it's something that's important to us. Without that, we have confusion. All the arrows going in different directions. But with the goal, we have order. So goals introduce order. And that order can be for five minutes, an hour, half a day, a day, two days, three days, 10 days, a month, 12 months, a year, 5 years, for a season of time, or for a lifetime. So you can see the importance of goals for efficiency. If more and more of our actions are aligned with the goal, we become much more efficient. See, the truth is, everyone gets the same 24 hours in the day, don't they? Every single day. We all get 24 hours and we're all using it for something. None of us are saving it for later. We're using it for something. We might be using it to sleep. We might be using it to to get a massage. We might be using it to sit on the beach. Or we might be using it to go to the gym or do something that's important to us. Working on some project that's important to us. We all get 24 hours a day. And we're all using it for something. If we want different results, then we're going to have to change some of the things that we're doing, aren't we? And that means not doing some of those things and doing some other things that are going to help take us in that direction. Remember that great quote from Jim Rohn? He said just a few acts of self-discipline. So we don't need to change everything we're doing. Just a few acts of self-discipline is going to make a difference if we stick at it and do it every day over a reasonable period of time. If you got up every morning 20 minutes early and went for a 20 minute walk, that over a reasonable period of time is going to add up to a big difference, isn't it? If you did it once, it's not going to make any difference. If you did it once a month, it's not going to make that much difference. But if you did it every day and you stuck at it for a reasonable period of time, then gradually you're going to begin to change. So, we don't need to change everything. We need to pick the things that we need to change based on what it is that we want. And the key here is that goals introduce order into our lives. And the bigger the goal, the longer it takes to achieve, the more order it introduces into our lives. A friend of ours uh back in England, she wanted to be a vet from as young as she could remember. And so she went to vet school and she qualified and she became a vet. She came over to England. She got a job as a vet. And she was as happy as can be living her dream until she got into her 40s. And then she suddenly woke up one day and said, "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't this is not for me. I don't want to see any more animals. I don't want to be a vet." When when I say vet, I mean veterinarian. In England, we say vet for veterinarian. So she wanted to be a veterinarian. Then she didn't. And so she stopped being a veterinarian and she went into a sales role and then she was very happy doing that. So that was her purpose. That was her dream for a season, for half a lifetime, let's say. For the second half of her lifetime, she wanted to do something else. Now, you can see that for the first half of her lifetime, because she was focused on doing that, all of her actions, well, not all of them, but many of her actions were lined up with that achieving that particular goal. And she was doing some things that would take her in a different direction, but largely that was important to her. So, a great deal of her life was aligned with achieving that particular goal. Then she changed her mind and then she chose something else. And then the second part of her life was aligned with achieving that. So there was a lot of order in one direction for the first 40 years and then after that alignment in a different direction. So we can see the goals introduce order and if it's a goal just for a day that might take us in this direction towards let's say the left and then the next day we pick a different goal that takes us in the direction to the right and the next day we pick a different goal which takes us up and the next day we pick one that takes us down. There's order in each day but it's limited to each day. If we zoom out and look what we've achieved throughout the week, we can see we were going in this direction on Monday and this direction on Tuesday and up in this direction on Wednesday and down in this direction on Thursday. And so there is order, but it's limited to the day. If we look at it at the week level, it looks a little bit more chaotic. Now, that's okay if you don't have big goals. Setting little goals like that is great. Setting little goals will still introduce order to your life, but it's shorter order, less order. If you immediately set another goal, then it doesn't matter. You're you're introducing order in a different direction. So, it's okay to go after different things. And I think a lot of people stress about finding their purpose. And that's a good principle to keep in mind. If you feel like, well, as soon as I find my purpose, then everything's going to be all right. The trouble is, I don't know what it is yet. So, I'm just going to sit here and wait for it to plop into my lap, then that's not very productive. But if you think, I'm not sure what my purpose is, so I'm going to set goals and I'm going to achieve things while I'm waiting to discover what my purpose is, then you're much more likely to find it. So, I think we've got to set goals and take action. Mark Twain famously said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why." Isn't that good? The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. Because if you know why you're here, what it is you're supposed to be doing, if you feel like you've got that, then that introduces a lifetime of order into your life, doesn't it? Because it's a big goal. It's more of a compass bearing. It's not something that you're going to achieve. It's a direction that you're going to head and you're going to keep going in. And you're never going to get there, but you're going to keep getting better and better and better and making more and more progress. and your whole life is going to line up with that purpose. When you've got a clear purpose, decision making takes care of itself because you've already decided what's important. I want this. And if there's something else that's going to take you in a different direction, then you let it go. I don't need that. I want this. And so you let go of doing that and you do something that's going to take you in the direction of your purpose because you've already decided that that's important. So it really makes things a lot easier in many ways. So a purpose makes decision-making much simpler. It introduces more order and you become much more efficient. I always recommend when people are working on a signature story, pick one story and focus in that area. Reinvent yourselves in as an expert in that area as we said last week because this same principle applies. It's a lot easier to get good at one thing if you're focusing on one thing rather than going off in lots of different directions. So a purpose, a signature story, a singular focus over a reasonable period of time introduces a great deal of order into our life. In fact, there was a study uh conducted by Dr. Edward Banfield where he said the single most accurate predictor of success is having a long-time perspective. So the further you look into the future, the further you set goals into the future, that was the single most accurate predictor of success in his study over a long period of time. So if you can answer this simple question, what is it you want? Then it makes an enormous difference to the efficiency of your life. If you know what it is you want, what you're prepared to give to get it, why you want it, you know how important it is to you, it's going to introduce a great deal of order into your life and you're going to be much more successful in all likelihood. Now, some people when you talk about finding your purpose and the two most important days, the day you were born and the day you realize why. Some people find this very stressful because they have no idea why they were born. They don't know what their purpose is and so they feel like they're missing out. They're missing the secret to life. So what do you do in that situation? Well, Peter Drucker had some fabulous advice if that's you. He said, "Realize this. Only musicians, mathematicians, and a few early maturing people, their numbers very limited, know from an early age what they want to be." Isn't that great? Only musicians, mathematicians, and a few early maturing people, their numbers very limited, know from an early age what they want to be. Well, what about the rest of us then? Well, he said, "The rest of us have to find out." And that's the secret, I think, to finding your purpose. You got to discover what it is, not by sitting there and waiting for it to plop in your lap, but going out and trying all kinds of different things, making a glorious mess as you discover what you like and what you don't like, what you enjoy doing and what you hate doing. And then you're much more likely to discover what you would consider to be your purpose. And if you don't, set goals in the meantime. Set goals in the meantime. Now, as you go out and do this, as you go out and make a mess, as I said, you're going to make mistakes, and that's okay. Even Michelangelo, many of you, I'm sure, have heard of Michelangelo and the wonderful statue of David that created and several other statues. It's a marvelous piece of work. It's a it's we're still talking about it all these years later. So, obviously, it's very, very impressive. In fact, he had 14 statues that he finished that were really, really impressive. But what people don't talk about is the 30 that he didn't finish. The 30 unfinished statues of Michelangelo. Now that means if you think about it 14 out of 44, so 30 it's like two-thirds of the time he gave up and one-third of the time he stuck at it. So that means that while he was working there came a point where even Michelangelo said, you know what, this is not working. I'm giving up on this. I'm I'm going to park this and I'm going to come back to it later. So his hit rate was one out of three. So if we make the odd mistake on the way to greatness, then I think we're in good company. We just need to keep going, keep moving forwards. We're learning and discovering and taking the next step. Michelangelo said that if people only knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all. He's telling us, begging us to understand that he wasn't born with these skills. He worked really really hard. What is the working really really hard? I think it's taking those few acts of self-discipline every day. Just a few acts of self-discipline practice daily over a reasonable period of time. Now John says if you want to try and find what your purpose is then maybe start with your interests. Start with what you're interested in. What is it that you're interested in? Because your interests will probably lead you to your gifts. We tend to be interested in things that we're gifted at. Now, not everything that we're interested in are we going to be gifted at, but some of the things if you look at what you're interested in, it may lead you towards your gifts. And then if you focus on your gifts and your talents, then that may lead to your passion. And if you stick with what you're passionate about, again, not everything you're passionate about, but one or two things, key areas maybe of your passion may lead you to your purpose. Isn't that great? So, it gives us like a road map. Start with what you're interested in. Let it lead you to your gifts and talents. Let that lead you to your passion and let that lead you to your purpose. And you don't need to be in a rush. Life can be a glorious experiment while we're finding out what it is. And we set off like based on what we know at the time Buckminster Fuller said how often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else. So you think you need to go in this direction and you set off in that direction and then you realize you know what I don't want to go in this direction. I need to go in this direction. But if you sat at home waiting for that knowledge before you started, you'd still be sitting there. How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else. So the formula for success just a few acts of self-discipline practice daily over a reasonable period of time. The formula for failure just a few errors in judgment practice daily over a reasonable period of time. What's an act of self-discipline? I think it's trying different things with speaking working on different stories. Working on different topics, working with different audiences. What's error in judgment? Not doing those things. Sitting watching TV waiting to become a better speaker. We need to make the acts of self-discipline in order to get the growth. And if we stick at it, then amazing things happen. John says, "Never underestimate the compounding effect of consistency." Money compounds if you invest it. Well, so do our efforts over time. They compound and to the point where we wouldn't even recognize ourselves in just a short period of time later. So, we want to really get in the habit of doing that. Albert E. Gray said that successful people have a habit of doing the things that failures don't want to do. And so that raises the question, well, why do successful people want to do those things? Well, they don't want to do them either, but they do them because they know it's important. They do them until they become a habit, and then they don't need to think about them anymore. So, successful people have the habit of doing things failures don't want to do. Why do why do successful people want to do them? They don't, but they do them until it becomes a habit. then they don't need to think about it anymore. They just do it because that's what they do. Remember, habits are things that we do without any conscious awareness. We do them without thinking. So, it looks like they come very naturally to us. So, as we develop in any area really, but particularly with our speaking, we're going to enjoy some successes and we're going to enjoy some failures. When we enjoy successes, we can celebrate. But John says just for 24 hours, mind you, then get back up and get on it. And if we experience some failures, we can sit down and complain and gripe and doubt whether it's ever going to work and are we cut out for this and are we good enough? Maybe I am actually an imposter. Who am I trying to kid? Just for 24 hours, then you get back up and get on it. And actually, we learn way more from our failures than we do our successes, don't we? And actually, we need both of them. We need both success and failure that they're more like two sides of the same coin rather than opposites. We learn from our failures and we enjoy the successes. So success and failure, they're not really opposites at all. They're integrated in what we might call life. L I f life. Success and failure. Winston Churchill said that success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm. We can only do that if we understand that both success and failure are good for us as long as we keep going. As long as we stick at it for a reasonable period of time. So when something happens, we can ask ourselves three different questions. Number one might be did I win? Am I success? Did I win? Or did I fail? Am I a failure? Or I think the best question, not did you win, not did you fail, but did you do your best? Did you do your best? Because if you did your best, you can't grow faster than that. And if you're growing, it's just a matter of time. The only guarantee that tomorrow is going to be better is if we're growing today. The things that worry us today, the things that we struggle with today, we won't struggle with as long as we're growing. Tomorrow, we'll be free of them. Now, we'll have bigger problems to deal with as we grow, but that's that's for tomorrow. Today, we've just got to do our best. Did you do your best? That's a great question to ask ourselves, isn't it? Not did I win or did I lose, but did I do my best? Because we can't do more than that. John Maxwell says to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice that gift. And we do not want to sacrifice our gifts, do we? So speaking or anything else, we can do it. We can move forwards. We can keep growing. We can keep growing to greatness. Just a few acts of self-discipline practiced daily over a reasonable period of time will keep getting better and better and better. And if we're growing, it's just a matter of time. All right, so before we wrap up, you've heard me talk about the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team on each of these episodes. We would love it if you check it out if you're interested in developing your speaking. It really is a no-brainer. There's around 60,000 coaches in over 168 countries around the world. Now, I've been working with John on the the Maxwell method of speaking since 2010. If you're interested in developing your speaking, there's nothing like this. So, just go to MaxwellLeadership.com/Speak. Jump on a call with a program advisor and find out about the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team. It could be one of the best phone calls you've ever made. All right, so don't forget to download the companion resources for this week. Then go to MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge. And remember, communication is one of the best skills that you can develop. It is a learnable skill. It's definitely worth learning. Learn to master your message and inspire your audience every single time you speak. I'll see you next week. Thanks for listening today. Take care. Lots of love. Bye-bye. God bless.