Kuda Biza  0:00  
There are three important days in any life in your life my life, you know anybody you know and the days are the day you're born because your your your your now are gracing us with your presence on Earth. The day you find out your purpose, right the day you find out why we're talking about the importance of that first step of this method. But the third day is each day you act on your why

kevin edwards  0:26  
you are listening to the really this podcast where leaders keep it real. I'm your host Kevin Edwards, and that was Khuda Baeza, the co founder of none believable and now author of the spear method, five steps to bounce success and fulfillment, who helps you discover your purpose and act on it every single day. In this episode, Visa shares the obstacles he had to overcome to attend school in the United States, how to confirm what makes you unique, and that the key in life is to marry success with fulfillment. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, let's give a warm real leaders welcome for the real Kuda, Baeza enjoy it. Here we go. In 5432, and one and welcome, everyone to this episode of the real leaders podcast. I'm your host, Kevin Edwards. Joining us today is co founder of none believable and the author of the spear method. five simple steps to balance success and fulfillment. Could it be that could it be the How you doing?

Kuda Biza  1:41  
I'm doing great. So Kevin, you need to know about the the SPEAR method. You know, dance, so, you know, whenever you see me do it, it's about the SPEAR method.

kevin edwards  1:53  
Hey, you know, that's I can get that dance going on. We can start that here in San Diego. I've seen that a few times. I'm saying Come here. Make sure they got their form, right. Make sure they got their aim. 

Kuda Biza  2:02  
And it goes on with any beat. So any beat you're good to go. 

kevin edwards  2:06  
Yeah, that's good. And it's it started it originated in Zimbabwe, right? Is that right?

Kuda Biza  2:12  
Yeah, it originated in, in Zimbabwe in my mind. And now it's manifested into a dance into a book and so many different things.

kevin edwards  2:20  
I love it. I love it. Well, Kuda, one of the quotes and you know, just for folks listening to this Kuda sent me his book back in November and and I got a chance to kind of go through it a lot of these books I get sent and you know, I'll read halfway through it. Make sure I tell the podcast guests Hey, read through your book did a good job this one Kuda I'm gonna be honest with you. I read all the way through. didn't take long at all. It was a great read. And it's about the SPEAR method, seeking your why planning, executing, achieving, and then repeating those steps. But there's a quote in that quote from Abraham Lincoln, he says, Give me six hours to chop a tree. And I'm going to spend the first four sharpening the axe. So the spear method Kuda the first question today is how long did it take you to sharpen the blade? How did you do it? What did you do?

Kuda Biza  3:15  
Yeah, so I think the true answer is it obviously took me my lifetime right to really understand and, and manifest this pyramid. But it was really four to five years, where I really spent a lot of time thinking about this framework, and ultimately turning it into a book that I've now shared. So the trigger point was, you know, in 2015, when my sister passed away, and I flew back to Zimbabwe, she had been suddenly, you know, bitten by a dog with rabies. And in a matter of days, she went from, you know, her normal self life is normal, and she's in the hospital fighting for her life. And then obviously, she passed away. So when I was at her Memorial, that's when I started asking questions, you know, like, was she happy? Was she fulfilled? You know, did she get to accomplish all the things that she wanted to in her life? And then it made me really think about my own life and my own direction. And an epiphany hit me right at that moment, which was, I was obviously spending a lot of time chasing success, right? You know, I was I was in corporate America at the time, working on a, on a big initiative, managing a very big ecommerce business and really driving a lot of growth. But I was, you know, not really paying attention to some of the things that I knew would give me fulfillment. So I started on this journey of really understanding how can you balance the two, right? How can you balance success and fulfillment because the stories we hear every day, have miserable billionaires, right? People who have all the success in the world but they're not happy. But I think the ultimate failure in life is when you achieve success, but you don't get any fulfillment. And Tony Robbins came up with that code to say, you know, success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. So in my mind, I was like, Hey, I'm probably not the only one who's struggling with this issue. Some people might not even recognize that it's something that they're not looking at. But if I could go on a journey and really discover what would it take for you to then achieve both success and fulfillment, and then turn it into a book and share it with the world, I think I might be able to inspire millions of people not only to become successful, but to attain fulfillment.

kevin edwards  5:41  
Got it. Now, we had a guest on the show who was a positive psychologist CUDA, and I think what you're saying, right, there is like, his definition of happiness was like, success working toward fulfillment. So like, as you continue to strive toward fulfillment and and working toward that that's what happiness is, I guess. So those kind of correlate in that sense. What's happiness to you? And how do when did you realize what you're doing is most fulfilling for people listening to this?

Kuda Biza  6:13  
Yeah. So happiness for me, has really been framed by the experiences that, you know, I experienced growing up in Zimbabwe in the US and all the other travels that I've had. And it's really to make a difference in other people's lives. So whenever I'm making a difference, and and impacting people's lives in a positive way, I become happy. So it's coming from that sense of gratitude, where not only am I gracious of what I have, but I'm applying the skills, the knowledge, the resources that I have to make a difference in other people's lives. Because I'm not blind to the fact that I've been blessed right to to come from where I am to be where I am today. It definitely takes a lot of grace and blessing upon that. So how can I also be a blessing to mankind, and when when I do that every single day, it gives me happiness. And it's really shaped, you know, a lot of the things that I do now, even in my professional career, so early I had mentioned I was you know, working in a big fortune 500 company, I decided to quit that job, and start working on unbelievable, because although I could be successful in the corporate world, which you know, at that time I was, I wanted to be successful in an area where I knew I was being fulfilled in the work that we do. So with none believable, as an example, we donate a meal for every cookie that we sell. So every single thing that I'm doing to chase success gives me fulfillment, because the more cookies we sell, the more people we feed, right. So the more lives we change, we change so And for me personally, that gives me happiness, knowing that I'm using my talents, my knowledge and my skills, to make other people's lives a better life, for them to experience. So here, we are seeking our why, let's, let's help people understand how to identify those areas that you need to work on to have that joy through this improvement. Yeah, so one of the things I discovered with the spear method was that there are five steps for you to achieve balance, success and fulfillment. And the first step is seeking your purpose seeking your why, you know, your calling in life, because if you're living your life, but you're living someone else's calling, you're never going to be fulfilled. Because the thing that will give you fulfillment, is you pursuing your purpose. So that is the first critical step in the SPEAR that because think of life as a journey, right? You have to get to a specific destination. But if you're living your life, when you don't even know what destination you need to to go to you, you're never going to be happy regardless of where you arrive at. Because, you know, you didn't have that set destination in the beginning. So it's super important for you to take the time to actually understand, hey, what is my purpose? What is my calling? And what is my Why? And you know, for a lot of people this this is a journey that is maybe tough, right? It's like, Hey, I don't know my purpose. I don't know how to find my purpose. And in the book, I provide a couple of steps on how you could do it. One of the methods that I talked about, it was a method that was actually taught to me where you send out an email to five people that know you really well and you ask them one question, which is what makes me unique, because usually you would find that your life's purpose is really found in a unique gift that you have. So I did the same thing and when I started Getting the responses, I started seeing some commonality in all the responses. So I was able to quickly then see like, okay, I really think that this is my purpose. And then I started digging deeper into it and found that, okay, this is my purpose. And for for some, you know, it's easier than others, right? Because you might have really good self awareness, and you really know yourself really well. So you might not have to go through a deeper exercise like others have to. But I think that's the first critical step, you really need to know your why. Because that really then gives you the purpose that you're you're trying to pursue in your life.

kevin edwards  10:39  
That's what I knew this book had me hooked is I read that, that note that your mentor had passed on to you to reach out to those five different people, I just sent some text messages out what makes me unique, five different people different stages in my life. And beforehand, I had written down what I thought was my values and my skills. And when I got that feedback back, I was able to see where they aligned. And my why had never become clear, never become clear in my life. That's great. Once I understood that I go, Oh, my gosh, the doors have now opened and the focus becomes so much more clear to me. Now, setting a plan with a clear destination now is much easier. So maybe talk about the plan aspect of this. And I'd love to share kind of my takes and feedback from the book. But how does one plan to execute and prepare for this journey?

Kuda Biza  11:38  
Yeah, so one of the things that I learned in life, you know, when especially when I was in college, because I double majored in aviation and in business, in business, we would learn every business needs to have a business plan. in aviation school in the flight program, we would hear every flight needs to have a flight plan. So for me, I quickly deduced every life has to have a plan. Now, a couple of things that I just want to touch on, before we go into the meat of your question is that we need to demystify the whole notion that plans are static. A lot of people feel that, okay, you just create a plan once. And then that's it. No plans are actually dynamic. So think about any team that's, that's playing, right? So let's take football, for example. It could be the Super Bowl final, right. And as you're playing the game, you might start off first quarter with the plan of like, Hey, we're gonna just be throwing balls and you know, taking it to receivers. But as the game changes, you might change your plan to say like, Okay, now let's just run the ball, you know, maybe let's play heavy defense and whatnot. But the goal, the destination of winning, the Super Bowl doesn't change. But as you go through quarter after quarter, the plan on how you're going to get there, change it. So it's very dynamic with with the plan. Now, how do you create a plan? there? There's so many ways you you could do that. The first one is reverse engineering, right? So if someone else who who's very successful, and there's also achieved fulfillment that you know, it could be famous person or someone close to you has achieved what you're trying to achieve. Just go learn, what is it that they did, and try to reverse engineer that process, right. In the book, I talked about James Jones, who won three basketball rings in the NBA two, with the Miami Heat and one with Cleveland Cavaliers he came from a city in Miami where there are no professional basketball players, like everybody in his neighborhood was playing football, but he wanted to play basketball. And the thing that he did was he looked at other players in the NBA, that fit his style of play and kind of like look like him in terms of physique. And he started reverse engineering. What is it that they did that got them there, and then he just, you know, created a plan based on that, obviously, he made some tweaks based on his own uniqueness. But at least he had the framework of what he needed to do to become a professional basketball player, which inevitably happened, right. So if you don't really know how to get there, reverse engineering is a good place to start. You can also work with a mentor. Right? So if you're in business, you get an advisor, and mentors can really help you think through some of the things that you don't know and also help you avoid mistakes that you probably would have made as you're going through it. And then if you don't have that, you know, Google can be your best friend right now. You know, we're living in an age that gives us an advantage more than any other age in history, right? We have access to so much information right at the tip of our fingers. So you know, there's so many ways where you can create a plan but but the important thing that you want to do is You want to create a plan? Because some people might take the effort in understanding their purpose, but never take that step to actually sit down to say like, Okay, how am I going to achieve this? You know, over the next 90 days, one year, 10 years or whatever?

kevin edwards  15:16  
Right? That's that that's the next step in the SPEAR method, and probably the most difficult one that not everyone takes. So separates a lot of the the doers from, you know, maybe the watchers, the people on the sideline. How did you, let's say, take for an example, like with an unbelievable, you say, okay, fulfillments may be lacking in my life, there's an area I want to work on and focus on to this business with a social responsibility to bring me more fulfillment. You have the Why not? Yet you figured out the plan? How did you take that first step or series of steps to execute something as big as launching another business?

Kuda Biza  15:59  
Yes, so one of the things about taking action is making sure that you feed your faith and stop your fear. Whenever you embark on accomplishing something big. There is an element of fear that usually approaches anybody. Well, humans, right? So for non believer, for example, as we were planning what we're planning on doing, we said, hey, what if we could feed 1 million people in two years? Right? And it's like 1 million people? How are we going to do that? So obviously, if you've never done that before, there's a little bit of fear that strikes you. But if you feed your faith and starve your fear, you now get into a mindset where you can start really thinking like, okay, let's break this down. So yes, it's 1 million in two years. But if we were to start thinking about, okay, how many people do we need to feed in the first 30 days in the first 90 days, and you start breaking it down into smaller chunks, it starts becoming attainable. In Africa, we like to say, the way you eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Right? If you try to eat the whole elephant at once, you're not gonna finish it, it won't even fit in your mouth. But if you you know, one bite at a time, before you know it over a period of time, the whole elephant is gone. Right? So that's the first key thing about execution is like, yes, understand the big, hairy, audacious goal, but break it down into small milestones that get you there. So let me give you an example. So let's say you want to lose 100 pounds, if you're always thinking about, oh, I want to lose 100 pounds or lose 100 pounds, it might paralyze you from even taking action to actually go to the gym. But if you then say like, okay, I want to lose 100 pounds in a year. So in four quarters, I want to lose 100 pounds, it means that I need to lose 25 pounds per quarter, right. And then if you even divide that by three, you need to lose about eight pounds a month. So now instead of you focusing on I want to lose 100 pounds focus on in 30 days, I need to lose eight pounds. So now by just reframing what that goal needs to be, it changes. It takes away that fear factor. And now you can actually wake up and go and execute. Because now you you have a shorter milestone that you want to arrive at. And then once you hit that eight, you focus on the next date, and then you focus on the next date. But the key thing about achieving the result is you need to be consistent and taking action. So this is where the eighth wonder of the world comes into play. And what is the eighth wonder of the world, the eighth wonder of the world is compound interest. So a lot of people think about compound interest when it comes to finance. But compound interest actually works in action taking as well, because the more small consistent action steps you take every day, if you just do it consistently, over time, it will have an exponential growth, because you've been consistent. So if you go to the gym, every single day, you're working out you're eating right, you might not see the fat drop today. But over time, if you look 30 days later, there's that compound effect. So that's key in the formula, right? You just don't want to, you know, eat a salad one day and think like, Oh, I'm gonna miraculously lose the eight pounds.

kevin edwards  19:40  
You're gonna have to do it every single day for a consistent period of time. And then you'll start seeing the results. It all adds up. They all add Exactly. And in that chapter. Compound interest was definitely the thing that after you've overcome the fear, it begins to Be a little bit easier, or just you're more adjusted to it. But really just taking that first step, I felt this book provided me, you know, simplicity around overcoming that initial fear, whether it was reaching out to, you know, that ex girlfriend you don't want to reach out to and it was reaching out to a family member, a brother that you know, you just you don't want to reach out to whether it was going out and surfing a seven foot wave and just getting absolutely demolished and feeling like you're literally about to die being held under for 20 seconds is pretty gnarly. I came out with a different percent, you know, perception of fear after that. And and it's it really is just a mind game. And people get in that mind game and I'm happy, I can share that after reading this book. I feel like a new man. So I really do appreciate that now, execution, the compound interest things. When it was that first reached out to the family member to ride the wave, riding the wave seemed to be a lot easier. After I'd done overcoming the fear after those small little points, right, like you had mentioned. Now achievement, taking the action. There. There is a little bit in there about persistence. And this was about your journey coming out of Zimbabwe. And I don't think we touched enough on that in this episode. Would you mind sharing with our audience, kind of where you come from and and your desire to get to the United States and have an education there?

Kuda Biza  21:37  
Yeah. So what happened when I was growing up? Is that you've you've heard the adage that says curiosity, killed the cat, right? But in my case, curiosity awakened the lion. So what what I mean by that is that when I was about 10 years old, I was curious, because I saw these kids my age when going to school. So each morning, I'll pass them by. And, you know, I was just curious, like, are they homeschooled? Like, what's going on? How come they don't have to deal with like all of this, because I would walk two miles each way, you know, to to get to school. Sometimes I'll take the bus coming home, but usually I've walked two miles. So one day, I decided to just go over to their house, and just talk to them, and just see like, Hey, guys, like, why is it that you don't go to school. So I learned that they were not going to school, and they were not getting an education because their parents had passed away. And they didn't have any money to pay for their education, public education in Zimbabwe, and a lot of the developing countries is, unfortunately is not free. So for me, I was just like you don't want if the people in Zimbabwe can really do something to make a difference. I need to make something of myself. And I think the best way to do it is let me leave to go to America, become super successful, and then leverage that success to make a difference. But there was a problem. I came from a lower middle class family, right. We were a single income household, my parents had five kids. So you know, just to feed the family and just take care of us. That was all you know, my dad could do. Now, later on paying for an American education and whatnot. It was a little bit too much. But it was a dream that I passionately held, right. That was the big elephant that I had. And I had to figure out a way to do it. My parents were like, hey, if you want to go to America, figure it out. So after high school, when I when I graduated, I had to become resourceful, because I didn't have the resources. everybody around me would tell me the narrative of like a CUDA, you're wasting your time. Things like this don't happen to people like us. We don't have the money. You can't afford, you know, $40,000 a year in tuition, like, you know, unless if you get a full ride, there's no way this is going to happen. But it was because they were feeding their fear. Right. I wanted to feed my faith and starve the fear that everybody had. And the first thing I did is I broke the goal down like, okay, I want to go to America. What do I need to execute on in order for me to get there? And the first thing was like, I need to take my SAT. I need to apply for this, you know, for the schools. But I didn't have internet. So what did I do? Instead of looking at the lack of resource not having internet, I decided to become resourceful. So I went to an internet cafe and I looked for a job that was like, Hey, I'll work for you guys. But I'll work night shift. Because you guys don't have a night shift. Let's open up more revenue for you guys, because I wanted to sleep in the internet cafe once I lock up and then use the internet. So that's what I did. So I would work from 6pm to 11pm 11pm would lock it all up, out, stay inside. And from 11pm to 6am, I'll be on the internet, I'll be studying for my SATs. I'll be, you know, applying to colleges and whatnot. So that's how I was able to get the resource that I need, which was the internet. By being resourceful. Again, it was execution. So every day I was executing on it. And each day, I was getting closer and closer and closer to my goal. 

The interesting thing that happened now, Kevin is that my parents had asked me to apply to another school as a backup in Zimbabwe. And then the school gave me a place they accepted me. And the funding was all figured out. So now I came to a point. And this is where this is why I talk about having clarity on your why is super important. Because now I had this opportunity to go study engineering in Zimbabwe. But I knew that my purpose my life's calling was to be in America, right? So I don't like to negotiate with my goals. So I was like, there's no negotiation here, guys, I'm turning this down. In order for me to pursue my calling, everybody thought I was, you know, I was on drugs, I was crazy. Because for them, it was a no brainer. It's like, Hey, you have, you have a place here, you can go to university in Zimbabwe, forget about the American dream. I'm like, No, I'm gonna forget about this path of least resistance. And I'm gonna stay on course, because this is my calling. This is my purpose. And I have a plan to do that. So anyway, it took me two years, from that day, that I declined that opportunity to when I finally got on a plane to come to America for school. So I ended up being accepted at linear University in Boca Raton, in the aviation and business program, they gave me a dean scholarship. So it wasn't everything. It was 50% of what I needed. But luckily, someone who had been paying close attention to my journey with seeing all the sacrifices that I've made, went out and took a loan, and paid for my freshman year. And they said, like, hey, CUDA, we'll get you in for your freshman year. But you're gonna need to figure out your sophomore, junior and senior year, but we've seen how much this means to you. But more importantly, we're willing to invest in you because we know that if we invest in you, when investing in so many other people, because you're going to use this opportunity to provide opportunities for others. So the section in achieve, right, which is the fourth step in the spear method really focuses on a mindset, which is your attitude will determine your altitude. So sometimes when you set out to achieve something, maybe you're only gonna achieve 20%. But does that mean that you give up or you continue pushing until you hit 100%. So you know, it's super important for you to just have that laser focus in just continuing to execute until you achieve your desired result. And sometimes it might mean that you might need to collaborate with others, you might need to get other people to come in and help you. And I talk about different, you know, ways where I've been able to achieve certain goals through collaboration in the book. But I think the key thing, though, here is that you should always have a winning mindset, that should be part of your attitude. Because once you have that within you where you can reach in terms of altitude is going to be really, really high.

kevin edwards  28:46  
I want you to share that story because it's such an inspiring one. And you know, no matter what obstacles you faced, you know, those obstacles became the way whatever comes in the way becomes the way and another thing for me was I was reading this book on a Sunday during that chapter, my neighbor I walked upstairs, and I said, Hey, Shelly. Hey, y'all Happy Sunday? How you doing? She's like, Happy Sunday. He's like, Kevin, every day feels like a Monday. Why do you think so many people what, maybe what are people missing the most about this COVID right now and there's a narrative out there. We're gonna wait till the vaccine, what you know, put your life on hold wait till they What are people missing during this time?

Kuda Biza  29:30  
 They're missing out on a lot. Like, for me, I've used the opportunity to grow. Why? You know, I did a calculation the day COVID hit, and there was lockdown. I calculated the amount of time I was gonna get back because of the life changes that were going to happen and time is the most important resource. So for me personally, I've gained 40 hours per week that I could use To pursue my goals, how did I get that through lack of commute? Because I would, My office is in Manhattan, I live in New Jersey takes me an hour on the train to get to the office and an hour back. So it's two hours on a train. But now these two hours and now productive versus passive times, right? So before I used to listen to a podcast, or read the book, or whatever, but now I can actually work and do stuff and be productive. So for me, it was like, Oh, my God, I have literally created another work week, within the same amount of time. So sometimes it's all about your perspective, right? Like, how are you looking at, you know, the current situation, if you're always looking at it from a victim perspective, you miss out on the gold? So for me, the first thing I immediately did was like, Okay, how can I actually work on leveraging this time to produce something with a value? And what ended up coming out of this was this, because I used that time to actually work on refining my book, get a head on schedule, and launch it on time. So right now, I think for for people who are looking at it and say like, Oh, we miss the good old times, bah, bah, bah, when that thing is gonna get back to normal? Well, what if this is the new normal, right? So you need to always have that willingness to adapt to be flexible, and be liquid, right? Like, like a liquid, it fits into any container, you put it in. So like, let's say water, right? It will fit in within the shape, if it was a different shape, it will also fit in. So I think that the way we need to think about ourselves in life is that one thing that's guaranteed in life is change. That's the only guarantee in life. So as if you know that things are always constantly going to change, you need to approach life with with that type of flexibility. So that when something disruptive, like what just happened with COVID, you're able to react to it in a much more positive way. So what am I saying? I'm saying life will always deal you a hand. And sometimes it might not be the hand that you like, and sometimes it might be, but irregardless of the hand that you're dealt with, you're going to need to figure out a way to not only survive, but to thrive in any given environment.

kevin edwards  32:35  
CUDA, another thing I was thinking about was like, how does one stop themselves from like relapsing, and going back to this, like, I found myself one day, gosh, you know, I'd achieved all this progress, you know, these last two weeks, and then I had one bad day, and that one bad day made me feel like I was a loser, like I like I'm gonna give up like it, even though it was just such a little things such as maybe not getting up on time and working out in the morning, like, I'd set that goal for, it made me put so much more pressure on myself to do that. Like, how does one stop themselves from going back to their old selves and making sure that they're trying to continuously strive for this fulfillment.

Kuda Biza  33:22  
So the well onto this, Kevin is I'll tell you what I do. And hopefully you can, you know, extract from that and apply it to yourself. So what I do is, I always remind myself every single day of my goals. So one, one business that I started with my wife, it's a it's a personal development brand called This is my era, we have a 90 day planner. And each morning, part of my morning routine, and in the book, I talk about my morning routine in the spin method I talked about my morning routine, is I look at my goals. And I plan my day. Once I know, you know, once I remind myself and re energize myself with my goals. The other thing that I do is, you know, self talk. That is the that's the conversation we have the most right, you talk to yourself more than you talk to anybody else, because your mind is talking to yourself and things like that. So you need to control that narrative. Interesting. Because if you're telling yourself like, Oh, I'm a loser, oh, I'm good for nothing. I'm an idiot. You know, you're sinking that into your subconscious, right? And, you know, when situations come, they're always gonna be like, well, I'm a loser and you miss out on the opportunity, right? So one of the things that I do so that I don't fall back to, you know, the person I don't want to be, is I have a routine where I just have positive affirmations that I always tell myself and it's all about reprogramming. mean your subconscious so that the program that's playing is an empowering program? Right? So, yes, you know, one day, I might not wake up at 4am, like I usually do, I'm not hard on myself because I Oh, you lose a, you know, you know, you're worthless, or whatever it happens, I was tired or something happened. But I remind myself of my true identity who I am. And I play that program of positive affirmations so that I'm reinforcing positive behavior. So I quickly get back on track, right, so that I'm not stuck in that rut for too long. So that's the other thing that I do is I make sure that I have a routine that always empowers not disempower me to make sure that I always get back on track. And then the other thing, too, is I read, right, when you read other people's stories, especially very successful people, it normalizes the equation, right? Because sometimes when you think of like, Oh, you know, this person was achieved all of this, you might think, like, they're super humans, or whatever. But when you start reading their stories and understanding some of the struggles that they've gone through, you'll be like, oh, wow, like, you know, this person overcome this, and was able to achieve this. So it's another positive reminder to just say, like, at the end of the day, we're humans, but one of the things that I've learned is that our habits determine our destiny. So yes, you might, you know, not do what you want to do every day. But if you stick with the habit that's positive, the destination where you're gonna write that is going to be a much positive place than if you don't. So for example, if you have this arm, you know, and I, I'm just going to use a working example, because it you know, people can relate to this. But if you have, it's all working out running, your destination is most likely going to be a six pack. But if your habits are, you know, going to McDonald's, eating junk food, being a couch potato and not doing anything, you're probably going to have a different destination, probably in the hospital diabetes or something like that, because of the habits that you have. So to answer your question, in a nutshell, is that have positive habits that will enable you to get you to the destination that you want to get to, so that when you hit that occasional hump, you're not stuck there. Because the positive habits that you have every day will take you and pull you to that Northstar.

kevin edwards  37:50  
It sounds so simple, but you know, there's got to be people out there. Alright, CUDA, bro. Easy for you to say, bro, like, look at you man. Like, you know, what would you say those people who, you know, are maybe struggling with those 10,000 thoughts per day, and are have never had a role model or influence in their life that have gone through those habits. I know, being around, you know, successful basketball coaches, you know, growing up, and then in college, some professional athletes that really had a major influence on my habits. What about those people who have never been around others who have a habitual process in their life?

Kuda Biza  38:36  
Well, what I'll say to them is, you can do it number one, right? what life is really, Kevin, it's a series of choices.  The beauty about this day and age, which I touched on earlier is that you can get mentors online. What do I mean by that? You can just follow someone on social media and just read that positive content. So you make the choice do you want to be just following an Instagram you know influencer, who's just posting pictures of you know them doing like, you know, crazy stuff or some people who are really posting content where you can learn. I'll give you an example. I follow a businessman called strive masiyiwa. His is Zimbabwe. businessman, he's done a lot of impact. And he's my role model. I've had the pleasure of meeting him once, but I haven't I don't have a personal relationship with him yet where he's my mentor, right. But I read his blog post, I read his his post on on his Facebook. And I've learned so much about business about strategy about life, that, you know, he's my virtual mentor. So the answer I would tell that person is that, hey, the resources are there, just think outside of the box. So just take yourself out of the rut that you're in, and just take small actions every single day that gets you to where you need to be, but do it consistently. So don't just be inspired after this podcast, read one article, and then do nothing, you won't see the change. But if you then do it, you know, every single day becomes a routine, you schedule it on your calendar, right? Then you start seeing the changes. So the changes that you want to see in your life, the first thing I'll tell you is look at your calendar. And make sure you assign and give each single time slot a name, I'm going to be reading from 6am to 630. That's my schedule, right, my phone is off, I'm not doing anything, because if I don't schedule it my calendar, it will never become a habit, right? From 5am, to five to 5:45am. In the gym, I'm working out. So for me, it becomes easier to stay on course, because everything is scheduled in my calendar even time for me to like hang out and you know, relax. So working on your calendar is something that I would say, and I just want to give a shout out to Leah Mackenzie from Portland, Oregon, who says that she's really excited about this podcast. I'm excited about you listening, Leah. So thank you so much for for tuning in.

kevin edwards  42:05  
CUDA, you mentioned that, you know, God and that that answer, you know, like, what role has religion or spirituality faith played in your existence and your overcoming in your progress?

Kuda Biza  42:22  
For me, it's, it's a big one, you know, and, you know, I'm a Christian. And my father was a was a preacher when I was growing up. So I grew up in a very Christian family. And, for me, it's it's really been super foundational in everything that I do. So, you know, it's, it's played a very big role, and it continues to, and, you know, part of it, it has really helped me face the fears, right? Because there's this that superpower that I'm always saying, like, Hey, you know, he's gonna help me. But, you know, for people that have different religions, or like faith perspectives, and it's fine, we're all humans at the same time. But for me personally, religion has played a huge role in my life. And and it continues to,

kevin edwards  43:20  
would you say it helps you maybe even staying grounded as well. I mean, once you do all these amazing feats, it's got to play some role in the ego in some way, shape, or form.

Kuda Biza  43:31  
It humble.

kevin edwards  43:32  
So yes, speak about being humble, staying grounded. How does one do that?

Kuda Biza  43:37  
Well, I when I think of some of the things that have happened in my life, right? I've you quickly come to the realization that, yes, of course, I might have a role to play in this. But there was something bigger, right for from my perspective. So let's talk about the example that I shared about me coming to America. So remember, I turned down that opportunity. I had the 50% scholarship to come to the US. If I didn't get that other 50% there was no way I was going to get a visa, I knew I was going to come here. But somehow someone you know, guarded in their heart to go and take a loan. Think about it. They went and took a loan on my behalf to pay for what I needed. Now, you know, I didn't like go on bended knees or like doing it, like they just knew what I was doing. And they were like, Hey, you know what, let's do it for this guy. And I can tell you stories and stories like that where, you know, things have just happened. I'll tell you one right now. So while I was working on building crock pot cuisine, it was a meal delivery business under the crock pot brand. We had launched it we had acquired 1000s of subscribers into, you know, our funnel, but the business ones wasn't as big as we had hoped it to be. So I was actually given an ultimatum from senior management that hey, CUDA, if you don't figure this out in the next, like, 30 to 60 days, we're gonna have to cut this, this project, and you probably have to work on other things. And I remember that day or so down, because it's like a baby, right? Like someone telling you like, Hey, we're gonna sacrifice your baby. And something just said, Go back to your alma mater, to Lin. They have a CEO speaker series, just go there. And you know, you know, just just have a different viable, whatever. So I get there. And the gentleman that I met, who was speaking there, his name was, his name is Stephen crane, he started a couple of frozen food businesses. And I'm just listening to him like, Oh, my God, this is the guy I need to talk to. Right. He's, he's kind of like in the food space, he has a lot of experience. And I didn't even know that he was speaking there. Long story short, I ended up connecting with him after the meeting. And he introduces me to Omaha Steaks, I ended up doing a deal with Omaha Steaks, you know, and it's just like events like that way. Like you can't really explain like, you know, I've never gone to these like speaker series, even you know, it's crazy. Well, you know, when I was still in school, and as if it was mandatory, but this one time when I needed this one person that would connect me to this big company that would then transform the entire initiative. Like, how would you explain that? You know, people have different, you know, explanations, they can say karma and whatnot. For me, I I see it as grace, right? It's just grace from from from the men above, that then opens up these doors for me. And then when people look at it, it's like, oh, look at this amazing thing that you created. Was it really me? Or I'm just a vessel who has just an obedient stood to actually say like, Okay, let me go to this place. Let me meet this person. Let me follow up. And ultimately, this amazing, great feat happened. So

kevin edwards  47:18  
it's an interesting way to look at things I think, do you think people deep down like really understand and know like, what they need to do? Like, for instance, when you had your why, and you had the choice between going to just that the technology College in Zimbabwe, versus going to the states and get garden, you gave your father a call? And you said, Dad, I'm going to go too fast? And then you started talking about it. And then you, you may I don't know, you can tell the story. But I remember you reading like, you hung up the phone, you went back and said, I'm not going to this. So like, do you believe people really when it comes down to it, understand what they need to do?

Kuda Biza  48:00  
I think to some extent, in the hearts of hearts, we all know what the right thing is, like you you hear a lot of people saying follow your gut. What does that mean? Right? It means some way somehow there's that inner you that really knows what, what your North Star is. So to talk about the scene you're talking about, it kind of like reminds me off The Wolf of Wall Street, right? When he went to say to his folks like, Hey, I'm gonna quit, I'm no longer gonna do this. And then he goes, like, I'm not going anywhere. So it was it was literally the same thing with me, right, where I called my parents. And it was me trying to say like, Hey, I'm gonna follow this Zimbabwean University thing, because I'd actually gone to the school to register. And while I was there, I was like, you know, is this really what I need to do? So then I end up calling my dad and I'm telling him like, yeah, you know, everything is good, everything is well. And then it just kind of like, it's like CUDA. This is your moment, you have to do it. It's now or never, right? And it was kind of like an interesting thing, which is, imagine in that moment, if I was not bold enough to quit. If I had stayed in Zimbabwe, right, we probably wouldn't be on this podcast, right? Or I probably wouldn't have been able to achieve some of the things that I've achieved. Like for instance, we've we've sent hundreds of children to school in Africa. through some of the initiatives that we've done. We fed hundreds of 1000s of people meals through unbelievable. None of that would have been possible if in that moment, if I had had cold feet, but they say that Fortune favors the bold and in that moment, I was bold enough to be all chips in put everything on the table and I was like, you know Dad, in fact, I'm coming home, this is not what I'm supposed to be doing, I need to be focusing on figuring out a way on how I need to make, make it work for me to come to America. So I'm coming home tonight. I can imagine his reaction when he hears me say it like, but credit to my dad, you know, he was like, quiet for a little bit. And then it was like CUDA, if that's what you want to do, Mom and Dad support, you come home, let's figure this out. And I went back on the train and, and two years later, I was on my way to America.

kevin edwards  50:40  
Let's talk about moms and dads right now for a second, while while we're on this topic, we talked about fear and like seeing the elephant, but you know, often, you know, piece by piece by by by one bite at a time. Is it more difficult for mothers and fathers people who are now in a more secure position to to take a larger risk? Like is it more difficult for people further in their careers? You just mentioned I might not be here today? Is it more difficult for those people to make a change to in their lives and pursue something different in their career toward fulfillment? Or is that just another maybe an excuse in a light term? to not take it risk?

Kuda Biza  51:26  
Well, I think, Kevin, to be fair, I think we need to first understand what is it right? That what is the risk that they they want to take, but you know, naturally, one would be inclined that when you have more things at stake, right, it's going to take a lot for you to take a risk. So for example, I'm not a parent yet. So there are certain risks that I can take, because it's really my wife and I that, you know, we just need to consider like, Okay, what does it mean for us, but when we have kids, right, it's now more at stake were responsible for another life, we might not be willing to take, you know, aggressive risks, because, you know, it's not really about us anymore, right? It's about this individual, or these individuals that we have to look after. So I think any risk that you need to take, you have to assess it against the return, and also against the impact of like, hey, if things don't work, right, because yes, you know, at some point in time, you know, this is the thing that you need to go, but if it doesn't work, you know, you could be homeless, and your kids can experience, you know, a totally different life. Because Because of that risk, that might, you know, stop people from from from doing it. So, it's, you know, the way I like to look at it is like, the sooner you actually start working on pursuing your purpose, the much easier it is down the road, because you don't have to deviate costs anymore, right? So if you wait until your 40s, to now start working on your purpose, number one, you don't have that much time to actually, you know, work on it anymore, right? Do you if you use kind of like life expectancy as as a timeline, because now instead of you having like 40 years to work on it, now you only have like, you know, 25 years to work on it or something. But also, number two, you know, there are more people involved in your decision making, if you have two kids, four kids, whatever. Now you have to understand, you know, your role as a parent, and how that plays into their dreams, right? Because then maybe, you know, that the reason why you wouldn't pursue it is to make sure that you set them up for success. And as parents, those are some decisions that you have to make. So you know, I do agree with the thinking that as you get older, it becomes more difficult because now you have more variables, that you need to consider that when you're younger, you can take a little bit more risks. But it doesn't mean that as you get older, don't take any risks, you should do an assessment, and really see what's good for you and your situation, before you actually take that action.

kevin edwards  54:11  
And I think it's what you said earlier to it's like just that it's that perception of kind of where you are in terms of taking that risk. So like, you know, someone who starts a podcast when they're young, like like myself, you know, I felt that I didn't have any experience whatsoever. And that's what made it so difficult for people maybe listeners say, Oh, I want to start a podcast, you have all that experience. It's just kind of how you perceive and look at that. So maybe it's different for different types of strategies and obstacles that people that people face. But all this to say is we've gone through seeking our why we've gone through planning, executing, achieving the last step of the spear method is repeat. How does one repeat what do you mean by that and are you going to repeat another book.

Kuda Biza  54:58  
So let's start with the Part, your best book is your next book. That's something that an author with 15 books told me. So I wouldn't rule out another book. It's not confirmed yet, but I wouldn't rule it out. To talk about the repeat phase. I'll ask you a question. How are you staying alive right now?

kevin edwards  55:27  
How am I staying alive right now?

Kuda Biza  55:31  
Just because you're breathing, right? Yeah, you have to you have to take another breath, right? For you to stay alive if you stopped breathing right now, regardless of whatever, but if you literally stopped breathing, right now, I can guarantee you what the outcome will be 10 minutes from now, if you stopped breathing, I've

kevin edwards  55:49  
been taking a Wim Hof breathing exercises. So

Kuda Biza  55:55  
let's say like an hour from now, right, because I'm not sure if we will get you to an hour. But the key point I'm trying to say there is that you cannot survive. You know, on your last breath, you can say like, oh, because I took a breath 15 minutes ago, I don't need to breathe again. So is the same thing with you know, pursuing your purpose, right? You can say like, oh, because I exercised, or I did this, you know, a week ago, I don't need to work on this anymore. You have to continuously plan, execute, achieve, plan, execute, and achieve, you know, in order for you to get to your to your purpose. So the beauty is in the journey, and you have to continue taking the journey, you're gonna see a lot of amazing landmarks and milestones you're going to achieve. But the important thing is stay on course, right? celebrate the milestone you'll hit but you know, don't do it for years and years. You're just celebrating a success, right? I graduated more than 10 years ago, right? Should I still be going out celebrating that I graduated with my bachelor's degree? No, I have to move on. Right, I have to focus on other goals, I have to take another breath in order for me to survive. So that's the whole thinking around repeat, right? It's repeat the things that took you to get to your milestone, right. Remember, the way you're going to eat an entire elephant is one bite at a time. So when you take that bite, chew it digested, and repeat the process, take the next bite to digest, and so forth and so forth. Because that's the only way you're going to eat the elephant. So the whole repeat stages is really centered around that notion, the elephant is your purpose. But plan execute achieve at the bytes that you're taking. So in order for you to then eat the entire elephant, you have to repeat that process of, you know, eating one bite at a time.

kevin edwards  57:57  
Cool. Let's wrap this up. Last Words, pieces of advice for people listening to this out there who want to make a change in their life? What would you say to them?

Kuda Biza  58:07  
So two things. So the first thing is that there are three important days in any life in your life, my life, you know, anybody you know, and the days are the day you're born. Because you're you're you're you're now gracing us with your presence on Earth, the day you find out your purpose, right, the day you find out why we're talking about the importance of that first step of the spear method. But the third day, is each day you act on your why. So just make sure that every single day, you're taking some action in achieving your y. So the three days in life, the three most important days in life are the day you're born the day find out why and each day you act on your y. And the second thing is Do not be afraid to not only dream big, but to actually take the action to achieve those big dreams. When I was in Zimbabwe and dreaming about coming to America, it was the impossible dream. People would literally would tell me that, hey, what you're trying to do, it's impossible. It doesn't happen to us. But because I was crazy enough to have that as a dream number one, but also number two, even crazier to actually take the action to do it. That's why I'm here today. I could have easily just said like, yeah, you know what, you guys you're right. Why am I even wasting time having this crazy dream? Let me be practical, let me be realistic, you know, and I would probably be living a totally different life. An interesting story I'll share with you real quick is that I went to Zimbabwe, I left Zimbabwe in 2000. And in 2005. And I didn't get to go back home until like 2012. So it took me about seven years before I went back home. So the whole time I was in college, I never went back home because I just didn't have the money to do that. When I went back home seven years later, my friends are quote unquote, the friends we used to tell me like, hey, what you're trying to do is impossible. You're crazy, don't do it. I went back and they were sitting at the same stoop, doing the same things that I left them seven years ago doing. The only difference that had happened was that they just become older. So dream big, and be bold enough to take action to achieve those dreams. Because if you don't take action, you will be at the same stoop doing the same thing 710 15 years from now, so that would be the piece of advice out share.

kevin edwards  1:00:50  
Get the posit more action seems like those old friends were building up on that compound interest CUDA. Hey, thank you for sending the book my friend. It was amazing read I had such a great time devouring these 176 pages. We're gonna have you stick around for some questions after this show. If we have any guests again, folks, just enter in the chat box could have your questions for after the show. But for CUDA, Baeza, um, Kevin Edwards asked me to go out there, act on your why every day and always folks. Keep it real. Nice. Good. Thank you. And thank you good people for hanging on to this episode of the real leaders podcast with CUDA Baeza. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Three things if you want to attend any of these live episodes, go online to realtors.com slash podcast, go to live events, and RSVP for an upcoming episode. To leave a review. Let us know what you think and how we can improve the show. Three, folks, make sure you're subscribed to be notified with all these amazing episodes. With really there's because folks, there's more to come. Thanks for tuning into this episode. And always folks, keep it real

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