1370: Ignite Your Inner Drive: Simple Habits for Massive Personal Growth with Property Manager and Advisor Jamie Mallek

Robert Plank 0:01 Hey, we're here. We're back on the podcast with Jamie Mallek, who is the author of Ignite your inner drive, which will take you on a transformative expedition towards personal growth and profound achievement. Now her book has captivating narratives, evidence based strategies and actionable insights to help you identify your goals, overcome obstacles and harness the power of thinking. And the thing about Jamie is that she is a 35 year old real estate professional. She owns a plumbing company with her husband, and she has this passion for helping others developing resilience, grit and a strong mindset to empower you to overcome challenges and achieve other goals. So if you're someone who has big dreams, but you're scared and you need to do better, perform better, think better, and deal with all the stuff life hits you, then Jamie is the exact person we should be speaking with. So Jamie, glad to be speaking with you.

Jamie Mallek 0:56 Yes. Thank you so much for having me on.

Robert Plank 0:59 super happy to have you. And so tell me about yourself. What has you excited? What are you all about?

Jamie Mallek 1:04 Yeah, so, oh my gosh, there's so many things happening right now, particularly in business. We're going into some new adventures with our plumbing business, and so I'm just learning more and more every day about the business of the business, and that is getting me excited in itself, and it's very unknown to me, so it's kind of making me get out of my comfort zone, which is something that I've just fallen in love with doing, because it helps me to grow so much. And then also, you know, of course, this book has just got me so excited. I've been on this podcast campaign, and my true passion is really just to help impact other people and to add value to others. And you know, we were talking before about I just, I truly believe that God turns your past pain into your purpose. And so I feel there's so many things that I've overcome in my past that now I can help others go through what I've already overcome.

Robert Plank 1:56 I like it. You have the data, you have the feedback, so put it to help someone else. Maybe everyone makes their own mistakes, but hopefully they'll make less mistakes because of what you've learned from just what you've had to go through. And so to make sure that we we know just right off the bat who you are, what you're all about, you have this book ignite your inner drive, a guide to mindset and motivation transformation. So at any point, if you say, Oh my gosh. What Jamie just said is so valuable, so helpful. You can go to Amazon and search Jamie Mallek, that's last name, M, A, L, L, E, K, and pick up the book, and just to plug a few things, like, you say you have this plumbing company. Like, what area is it located? And if someone says, I have a plumbing problem, like, what could their problem be? And how do they contact you and your business?

Jamie Mallek 2:40 Sure? Yeah. We're located in Northern California, Brentwood. Our office number is 925-240-0565, or they can also go to our website, precision plumbing, cc.com and then we can help you there.

Robert Plank 2:55 Super, great precision plumbing, cc com, and people are multi layered, multi faceted, right? You have the plumbing business, you have real estate now you have this sort of mindset. And so who's this book for? What is the problem being solved?

Jamie Mallek 3:11 The book is for somebody who feels like they're stuck in this negative spiral and they can't overcome it. Um, you know, this just goes back to when I first started within the plumbing business with my husband. I didn't know anything about business. I didn't know anything about plumbing, and it was very, very challenging for me, and so I had to really dive into self development and learn these skills to overcome the negative mindset that I felt like I was drowning in. And so it's for the person who wants to be better than what they're feeling right now, and they know that they can, but they don't know how to do so, you know, it teaches you about how to set up goals for yourself and and just celebrating your journey along the way. So I think if this book is really for anybody who wants to do better for themselves,

Robert Plank 3:58 wonderful. And so you mentioned a very interesting before picture that I think we can all relate to, right? But the negativity, the pessimism, the negative self talk, the procrastination, all this bad stuff, right? We all have hopes and dreams, but we we just let those voices get to us. We tell ourselves all these excuses, right? I'm not smart enough. I don't have the time, I don't have the money, I can't do this. I can't do that, but there are people that have way less resources than you and me, who've accomplished way more than we have. And so just to give us an idea of your starting point, and this the negativity that we can all relate to. Like, what were you thinking those years ago, when before the plumbing business, or as the plumbing business was getting started? Just like, what was holding you back?

Jamie Mallek 4:40 Yeah, it's great question. So I have learned that I deal with a lot of like rejection from my past. I was very shy growing up, and so I have a hard time when I don't feel like I know what exactly what I'm doing. I feel like I don't do it right in and then I feel like it down on myself with rejection I get in my head. It so badly, and so I'll just talk negatively to myself, and I'll listen to all the thoughts that are instantly put in my head. But I learned that it's important for us to start talking to ourself rather than listen to ourself. You know, our brains are wired to keep us protected, so not every thought that is going to come through your mind is something that's actually going to be of service to you. So you really need to pay attention to what we're thinking about, because your thoughts are ultimately your feelings are going to follow your thoughts, and your behavior follows your feelings. So it's really important to understand what you're thinking about and pay attention to your mindset.

Robert Plank 5:36 Oh, I like that. So, so if I'm understanding you right, there's like your your your thoughts and then your feelings and your behavior. Did I get that right? Yes, that's correct, okay. And so, so we need to, instead of listening to all these thoughts and taking in all the stuff and maybe getting caught in a loop, we need to begin taking control, and, you know, talking to ourselves better and being this positive change and force. And so how did you bust out of that cycle? What did you do to set these goals, to think better, to do better?

Jamie Mallek 6:07 Yes, so I put a few practices in place, actually, one of them being that. I just remember it was so, so simple and silly, but it was so impactful for me. I put a rubber band around my wrist. And so every time I recognized a negative thought in my head, I would snap band on my wrist, and this created an awareness. So whenever that negative thought came in my mind, I would instantly like force myself to change it into something like whether it was something positive or gratitude. And so doing that practice really helped me get into habit. I also just felt like sticky notes of, you know, I am with a blank underscore, so it would remind me to say my I am statements and get me into different place. And also just praying, you know, just reminding myself to pray through everything and worship through the challenging times, really helped me through it. Also

Robert Plank 6:58 very nice. So it sounds like you interrupted the pattern, right? You snap through a van. You say, hey, you know it's, it's tough at first, I'm sure to break these bad habits. It's, it's no different than, you know, biting your nails or or picking your nose or something, right? But we need to wake up and do something different, because if we just keep letting these things slide, if we keep telling ourselves all this head trash, then we'll just get more of those same results. So it's time for a different, better way of thinking. And so I'm already proud of you, Jamie, for what you've done and for doing the they are kind of cheesy, corny affirmations, and I am statement. But who cares, right? If it works, if it gets you there, right, if praying puts you in a better mindset, then heck, more power to you. And so getting our mind right is so important. And then there's that next step of, okay, now I need to change my actions, right? I need to focus on what's important and get to to learning and creating. And I understand that your book gets into goals, and goals can be a scary word, right? And sometimes you think people maybe don't understand them or don't apply them properly. So what's your take about goals?

Jamie Mallek 8:02 Yeah, so I think that we need to ultimately have, like, larger goals are great. We want the big picture, but sometimes that can be overwhelming. So if we're able to break them down into smaller chunks to help us know that we can actually, like, it's it's reachable. You know, it may be a little take a little more, but it's within my reach. I can make it happen and make those smaller chunks good milestones to ultimately reach the bigger goal. That's something that's always worked for me. And just just, you know, celebrate those wins also when you hit those smaller milestones, and that will motivate you to keep going.

Robert Plank 8:36 I like it, yeah. The reward yourself. What a concept, right? If good things happen, then they give that back to yourself, so that you way, you'll be motivated to do more of the good stuff. And to give us an idea of the small, easy wins, you have a good example, like when you were on your way up and getting this plumbing business figured out. Was there, like any memory that comes to mind about a small win and a small reward?

Jamie Mallek 8:59 Hmm, let's see. You know, there's so many, I think, but even recently, I went through it, an experience where I had lost my hard drive recently, and so I just lost a bunch of my books. And so it was an open it easily could have just, you know, broke down about the whole thing and just went under my dad, and wanted to cry, you know, but instead, I just, like, picked myself up and realized, listen like, this is an opportunity, actually, to learn. And so I made it my goal, um, I went in over this weekend, and I made it my goal within this certain time frame, to do x, y, z. And so once I was able to do that, then I could take a break and relax and, um, it really, it motivated me to keep going, and I actually got through everything. I learned so many new things, and so I'm still doing these things, like, whether it's something like that that's a smaller goal, like in place, I consider that even a win, you know, like you said, to be able to get through those things, and it helps me grow in the meantime,

Robert Plank 9:59 I like it. So you turn a bad into a good. You say, What can I learn from this? How can this be an okay situation in the end? And so we've all dealt with many adversities in life, right? And failures and just bad things happening. So is there anything in particular that you think like you have really struggled with and overcome?

Jamie Mallek 10:18 You know, the biggest thing, like I mentioned earlier, was rejection, and something that I just learned about that actually not, not that long ago, that I had been dealing with these rejection strongholds. It's a generational thing, and so learning how to heal from it, and not to allow other people to influence how I'm feeling, because I'm ultimately in control of my own reactions and and I don't want to allow I don't want others to I'm sorry. I don't want to allow others to influence me. I want to be the one to influence the room. So I really learned how to take control of my feelings, and it's still something that I'm working on every day. I'm not perfect, you know, but it's something I feel I do have more control over. Becoming aware of what's happening and how you're reacting to things is huge, because then you can change your behavior to it.

Robert Plank 11:05 Oh, yeah, I agree that that emotional intelligence, as the kids say, right? That it's if you're kind of untrained in it, someone can say one little thing, right? Someone cuts you off in traffic, someone says one little rude thing, and it sticks with you for many years. It ruins your whole day, and they've long forgotten about you, but it still sticks with you, and that's no way to live. And so no one necessarily said it would be easy, but we need to change these reactions and change these habits and so, so not to get too negative there. But you know, some people, they they say bad things, they do bad things. So is there any, maybe self help, motivational advice out there that you think is like really bad or maybe disagree with somewhat.

Jamie Mallek 11:44 That's a good question. Um, I know that. I know there is I'm trying to think off the top of my head, you know, I think we we need to give ourselves some more grace and not be so hard on ourselves. You know, nobody's perfect, and I think that there's so much comparison out there that we're looking at people who are in completely different stages than we are, but thinking we're not good enough. And so I think that people need to start just like, looking within the thought themselves, and just see like, how they can be doing better. I'm not sure of what advice is out there that isn't very that it doesn't align with my my beliefs, but I know, I know there is some, I'm sure there is, and that's

Robert Plank 12:35 okay, but you still bring up an important point, that it's so easy to compare yourself to others, and I mean, and in so many different ways, right? Oh, that person, they're the the same age as me, or they had similar upbringing, or they had similar opportunities, or similar career path, and how are they so far ahead of where I'm at? And and it's, it's probably easier said than done, isn't it to say, well, you know, don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to your past self. And so what would you say to someone who says, Okay, I struggle with that comparison trap, and I've heard all the advice, but, like, I still just can't help but sliding into these bad thought patterns. How do I overcome that bad habit of all the all this, this envy, comparison, not having enough grace?

Jamie Mallek 13:19 Yeah. So I would say two things actually. Number one, if you can't turn that into inspiration to help, like, catapult you towards your goals, then just completely remove yourself out of it. You know, take yourself out of that environment. Stop scrolling on social media, stop looking at the things that are actually harming you, because that it, I mean, it becomes a habit, and then your brain just starts to follow that. So just remove yourself completely from that environment.

Robert Plank 13:44 That's great advice. It is so simple. Just you get yourself out of it, right? It's like, if you're if there's loud music playing and it's really getting to you, Well then turn the music off. Go somewhere else and get into something better. And so as far as us like picking up new habits, like, do you think that we should do more, like, positive thinking, more exercise, be out in nature, be around nice people. I mean, probably all the above. But like, what do you think is a good, maybe success habit that we should be picking up, that you really like,

Jamie Mallek 14:15 I think giving yourself enough space to actually think this is something that I just recently recognized that I love podcasts. I love my audio books. I've always got something on and going in my ears, and I realized I'm not giving myself enough time to just be with my own thoughts recently and just be quiet and actually reflect. And I think that's huge. It's really helped me. It's actually kind of calmed, calm my any anxiety that I've been feeling or any stress, and it's helping giving me give clarity to my thoughts and my goals and what I'm trying to do. And so I would really just encourage anybody to allow themselves some space, whether it's 30 minutes or 45 minutes, even it can make a huge impact. And if you can do that on a nature. Or walk outside, that's even better. But yes, like you mentioned, exercise, eating healthy, all of those things have a major impact.

Robert Plank 15:07 Okay, so take care of yourself. What you're saying, what's really important is to find a way to be okay with the nothingness, right, with the void, which is always, especially in this day and age, it's so tough, right? With the text messaging and the app and the tiktoks, but it's like we're so stuck on that that's for sure, a contributing factor to why we are so miserable, right? You get just stuck in the same habits and loops, and you're not productive, and you get distracted, and you're kind of just in that misery area. We need to break through and get through that uncomfortableness. And so many people out there, they have these big dreams and goals that we're talking about, but they're scared for a number of reasons. So what advice would you give to someone like that? If someone says, you know, I have big dreams, but I'm scared, not sure what to do, what's the Jamie advice?

Jamie Mallek 15:54 I would say, do it. Scared. Do it anyways. You know, you have two choices to either do it scared or not do it and resent it and regret it later in life, you know, so life has happens where you're going to run into things that are unknown, but that's opportunity for growth, and so we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable, because otherwise we're going to we can't live in fear and just let that hold us back from never wanting to even take action, or take, you know, one step forward. So we need to just do it anyways, because you'll learn. Once you do take that first step, it's actually not as bad as we always think, like we make it so much worse in our minds, but just do it scared. You'll learn. You'll grow. You won't be perfect on it, but that's the point. It's it's going to grow you, it's going to develop you, and it'll help you to learn the skills that you need to for the next thing that you've got on your goal list,

Robert Plank 16:47 I like it. Just do it scared, and the alternative is to regret later in life, and that's just a real shame. We need to pursue those dreams. And so as far as how far you've come, what you've accomplished, you know you're big on becoming aware of your thoughts and like, transferring the bad into the good. And so what's that built up into? Like you mentioned, a little bit about the real estate and the plumbing. But what is your life look like today? What have you accomplished?

Jamie Mallek 17:12 So today I've accomplished. I do feel like I have a good influence on my audience, my current audience, as far as you know, mindset and positive thinking and even how God has changed my life so much so that's been the I to me. That's an accomplishment. That's success for me, if I can lead anybody to Jesus, that's the ultimate goal. But in a business, you know, we're growing the plumbing business, we're helping customers, and we're growing bigger out here in Brentwood, and we've really been working on our culture inside the business, which really ripple ripples of it's a ripple effect out into the customer base, into Brentwood, and so we want everybody to have a great experience. And I think that that's it's really going in the direction that we're intentionally trying to do. So that's exciting for us. And there's a lot going on with the real estate also, which we're we've got a lot of Salon suites, and so those are getting filled and that's very exciting. I also have a lot of other books that I do want to write very badly. I just, I'm focusing on the plumbing business right now, so that's later down the line, but there's, there's a lot going on at the moment, just so much learning that I have been taking in the last few months. And it's really I'm excited to put it to use.

Robert Plank 18:30 Very cool, you're on a rocket ship here, and you're so much more to accomplish, right? So much more to do, and the rewarding work effort and teaching others. And I'm already proud of you, of what you've done and what you're yet to do, and we're talking here with Miss Jamie Malik. That's j, A M, i e, M, a L, L, E, K. You can search on Amazon, find that book ignite your inner drive, a guide to mindset and motivation transformation. Get the book. It's excellent. It's $0 sometimes, sometimes 99 cents on Kindle, you're going to love it. You can read it instantly. And as far as some next steps, is that where someone should go, just go on Amazon and search for Ignite your inner drive, exactly. All right. Well, fantastic. We'll get it. And if you're someone who wants a life filled with purpose, passion and boundless potential, then this is the most important book you're ever going to read this week. It'll help you in sculpting those captivating goals, conquering hurdles with resilience and flourishing in a garden of positivity. But before I let you go Miss Jamie, as people are going to get that book called Ignite your inner drive, it's time for the scarier part of the show, where I try to put you on the spot and I ask you for a fun quote or lesson that has served you in life or in business. So what do you have for a fun quote or lesson?

Jamie Mallek 19:47 Yeah, so something that I tell myself all the time is this quote I can do hard things, just like I have repeated it over and over when I know that I'm encountering something new or encountering something unknown. Or I know that's just going to be very difficult, and it really helps me get into that state where I'm like, okay, I can do hard things. They can do hard things, like I've done things before that are challenging. And so that one little sentence for me has really helped me. And so I just pray that it helps somebody else, if they can just start repeating that before they enter something new that they know that's going to be difficult, I'll give that one

Robert Plank 20:23 for a spin myself. I can do hard things, and it's, it's underrated, right? This idea of affirmations and self assurance. I can do hard things. You don't whatever stress you're going into, you've done way harder than that. So I can do hard things. And we'll think about that as we just go through life and we pursue these things when we deal with the conflict and the stress that happens. But we can rise above that. We can accomplish what we set out to especially with this amazing book called Ignite your inner drive, a guide to mindset and motivation transformation. We'll have the link in the show notes. It's written by Miss Jamie Malik. It's on Amazon, wherever the books are sold, as the kids say, and go and get it. It's your roadmap to a future where success is not merely a destination, but a way of life. You're going to love it. And thank you, Jamie, I love this conversation. I learned a lot, had a lot of fun. Thanks for being here.

Jamie Mallek 21:12 Likewise. Thank you so much, Robert.