What will the next 10 years of your life look like? If you don't know, that's okay! This interview will give you the strategies that will empower you to design your life, on your terms.
I had the pleasure of interviewing my good friend, Darren Jacklin, on the topic of how to design the next 10 years of your life. Darren is a world-class speaker, entrepreneur, corporate trainer, investor, and philanthropist.
Over the last 22 years, he has personally trained and mentored over 1 million people in over 46 countries. Known as the “Mega Manifestor,” Darren teaches people how they can achieve whatever it is that they desire in life.
His story is an inspirational one. He is living proof that you are not defined by your life circumstances. He has come back from rock bottom, leveled up his life, and achieved massive success.
In his book, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, Bill Burnett says, “It doesn’t matter where you come from, where you think you are going, what job or career you have had or think you should have. You are not too late, and you’re not too early.”
Are you ready to learn from Darren Jacklin how to design the next 10 years of your life? This is an interview that you don't want to miss.
Watch the video below:
(Click here to watch on YouTube)
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Are you ready to start living every day with confidence, passion, and unstoppable energy? CLICK HERE for instant access to my free Morning Ritual Mastery cheatsheet!
What will the next 10 years of your life look like?
In our interview together, Darren Jacklin shares some empowering strategies for how you can design the next 10 years of your life.
Can you please share a little bit about yourself and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a small town in northern Saskatchewan with a population of fewer than 20,000 people. I failed grade one, was diagnosed as having a learning disability and was put on a drug called, “Ritalin.” As a result, through grades 1-12, I was put into special education classes.
I knew that I had been misdiagnosed, so as I got older, I started to use that label to my advantage. All throughout school, I struggled academically with low self-esteem. By the time that I got into grade 11, I was told that I probably wouldn't graduate from high school. They labeled me as a “throw-away kid”, which affected my self-esteem even worse.
I barely passed high school, left my hometown, moved to Vernon and I soon realized that I had no purpose, so I attempted suicide multiple times. I used to visualize and pre-meditate suicide scenarios and practice driving my car to 140 miles/hour. I wanted to ‘do it right’ because if I didn't, I knew that I could be disabled. My last ditch attempt at committing suicide ended with me missing a telephone pole and going directly to an outreach facility, where I started to receive counseling.
That facility ended up referring me to a Dale Carnegie program. I didn't know who he was at the time. I ended up enrolling in the program for 12 weeks and it transformed my life. Out of that program, I met some very positive people who suggested that I start going to a Toastmasters club.
That started my career off, and then from there, I invested in a company, and I made a bunch of money in a bunch of different businesses. Unfortunately, one of those investments changed my life in a negative way. I was the co-signer of all of the loans and lines of credit for a startup company that ended up crashing.
My partners in the company weren't paying the bills, and because I was the co-signer, the collection calls were coming by mail, but I wasn't receiving them. After 120 days, the bank sent the bailiff out to repossess my car, and soon enough, I had everything taken away from me. I found myself homeless and living on the streets.
During the day I would sleep in an apple orchard and then I would go into the city, hang out in the library, and pursue the business section. I figured that's where I would get the knowledge that would allow me to turn my life around, and it did.
I know that one thing that has made a big difference in your life has been goal setting. What is your process for planning out your life?
I've learned that if I don't have a plan, I get easily distracted, which creates more stress and anxiety in my life. If I know where I'm going, then I have direction, focus, and a sense of purpose. I work in 10-year increments of time, and then I reverse engineer from the 10th year back to the first year. It's a process that I go through for designing the next 10 years of my life.
A great exercise that you can do is sit down, think about your life, and ask yourself, “If I could have it all, what would that look like?” Write down 50 things that you want to achieve, or habits that you want to create. Of those 50 things, what are some things that you want to stop doing? How can you leverage your time and hire other people to do things that, to you, are considered lower priority activities?
Then you look at your list of 50 things and say, “Of this list, what can I achieve within 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and 10 years?” Put a number beside each thing that you want to achieve. From there, write down how many 1-year goals you have, and so on. Out of your 10-year plan, what are your top 4 one-year goals?
Lastly, ask yourself, “Who do I need to become in order to achieve the goals that I desire?” Success is not something that we go out into the world to pursue. It is about the person we become in the process.
When you are at rock bottom, what is it that gives you the confidence to know, in 10-years time, you will have the power to transform your life for the better?
Because I grew up in an environment where I felt invisible, my drive has always been to prove that I am good enough. All of my accomplishments, to-date, have been to do just that. I knew that if I could turn my life around and do the hard work to increase my self-worth and confidence, that I could pay it forward.
I know what it's like to be considered the stupid kid who isn't going to amount to anything in life. When I was at rock bottom, one day I made the decision to change my life and stop being a victim. I knew that I needed to be responsible. Nobody was coming to rescue me. I knew that I had to rescue myself and stop living from a place of scarcity.
This reminds me of a time when I was pitching someone on something, and all of a sudden he looked at me and said, “Stop, you need to learn something. Successful people do not like being sold to. We like to be educated and informed.” At that moment, I realized that I was coming from a place of desperation, lack and scarcity, instead of abundance and prosperity.
A gentleman once told me that I could become a very successful corporate trainer and professional speaker but that there was one thing that I had to learn….that prescription before diagnosis is called, “malpractice.” So many people in society do this. You need to listen and ask questions before you prescribe and diagnose anything to anyone.
Would you mind sharing what you do as part of your morning ritual, and why it's so important to you?
I always say to myself, “If I was a fly on the wall, how would I observe the first 3 hours of my day?” My morning ritual is non-negotiable. It's right up there with breathing. If I don't do it, it will throw me off my game. I'm an early riser, so I like to be up around 4:35 am because there are no distractions. The first thing that I do when I wake up is I look around the room that I'm in and I pick a spot on the wall.
I'll focus on that spot in order to ground myself and feel present in my body. Doing so prevents my mind chatter from taking over. Then I do a gratitude exercise and give thanks to all of the organs in my body, because my health is one of my top priorities in life, followed by taking a freezing cold shower for 2-3 minutes.
In my shower, I laminated a sheet that includes my top 10 promises to myself. I read those out loud to myself while I'm showering, as well as a list of 120 affirmations. When I get out of the shower, I write and read out loud my top 10 personal promises to myself.
With regards to planning out my day, I have daily project tracking sheets, so I take a look at the top 10 highest priority activities that I’m going to work on during the day or that I'm going to delegate. I may not get all 10 accomplished, but the point is that I'm making progress towards them. Because I am an entrepreneur, I am always focusing on activities that are revenue producing or income generating.
I then read 10 pages of a book, do my morning questions, like, “What am I most grateful for in my life today” or “Who do I love and who loves me?”, and then I think about someone who has recently come into my life who is struggling, and I may say a prayer for them or just send them love and gratitude.
One of your greatest skills is networking and building relationships. What is your mindset and process when it comes to networking with inspirational people?
When I walk into a room I look for the most influential person. The first thing that I do is acknowledge someone and pay them a compliment for the work that they've done. I thank them for their generosity or contribution to some sort of cause that they've been a part of.
And then I always ask them, “Would it be okay if I ask you a personal question?” And then from there, I say, “I knew we just met, but what would be the best way for me to contribute and add value to your life?” The #1 response that I get is, “I don't know.” By being a go-giver instead of a go-getter, I immediately establish rapport and trust with people.
When I meet someone, I collect as much information as I can – birthday, wedding anniversary, important events in their lives, and I put that information into my phone. Also, I will do research on Google, start building a profile and study the people that I want to know.
When I'm attending an event and I know that there is someone influential there that I want to meet, I will call the hotel ahead of time and try to get a room in close proximity to that person. After meeting them at the event, I may invite them out for lunch or dinner. I also try to find out who that person’s assistant or publicist is, which allows me to learn more about them.
What are some last words of inspiration that you would give to someone who is looking to change their life?
Your environment is stronger than your willpower. If you want to change your life, you need to attract the right people into your life. I used to hang out with 4 financially broke friends and I was the fifth. As soon as I changed my inner circle and found friends that were more disciplined, focused, reliable, and more successful than myself, my entire life changed.
I hope my interview with Darren Jacklin has inspired you to design the next 10 years of your life, on your terms.
If you want to learn more about Darren Jacklin, check out his website or follow The Darren Jacklin Show on YouTube, where he talks more in-depth about how to design the next 10 years of your life!
What do you want the next 10 years of your life to look like? Once you’ve answered that question, start taking action to design your life, and make it your reality. In the words of George Eliot, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” You alone are the designer of your destiny. Make the next 10 years of your life count.
Are you ready to start living every day with confidence, passion, and unstoppable energy? CLICK HERE for instant access to my free Morning Ritual Mastery cheatsheet!