Alicia:

Hello, and welcome to Soul of a Leader podcasts, where we ignite soulful conversations with leaders. On today’s episode, Dr. Alicia is sitting with Sandy Li to discuss intentions and energy.

 

Eileen:

Hello, and welcome to Soul of a Leader. Today’s episode we have Sandy Li. Sandy has over 20 years of global business and finance experience as a C level executive with Fortune 500 corporations, private equity and Wall Street. She has extensive knowledge of markets, having worked in the United States, Canada and China with companies, including USG, Weir Minerals, National Material, and Loop Capital Markets. After college, Sandy successfully ran her own tech firm for five years. A leading hardware and software company in Southwest China. Sandy is currently leading the financial planning and analysis team for one of the leading MSO cannabis companies as a minority woman executive. During the COVID pandemic, Sandy has been leading people to stay mentally strong, physically healthy, and also coaching them on financial wellbeing. She’s a proud mother of two daughters living with her family in the Western suburbs of Chicago. Sandy holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, a master’s degree in finance from Southwestern University of finance and economics and a CPA certification. Welcome Sandy Li.

 

Alicia:

Welcome Sandy.

 

Sandy Li:

Thank you, Eileen. Thank you for having me.

 

Alicia:

We are so excited to have you.

 

Sandy Li:

Thank you, Alicia.

 

Alicia:

Absolutely. Eileen, that was a very impressive resume that Eileen read about you Ms Sandy Li. Is there anything you would like to add that you feel that may have been missed? It’s pretty impressive.

 

Sandy Li:

You covered everything. So one thing of course on my little bio that I am so grateful for being able to live and work in different countries, and glad to be, of course, here in the Chicago area here, United States.

 

Alicia:

Thank you.

 

Eileen:

Welcome. I’ve known Sandy for many years, so I’m a little bit biased here. And Sandy, we’ve been friends and I’m so proud of your success, so proud of your family and where you’re leading a group of women during this COVID-19 pandemic. So could you please share with us what ignited that? What ignited you to do that?

 

Sandy Li:

So thanks Eileen. So this idea came through COVID-19. And I had a small group, of course, always trying to influence the people and stay physically healthy and mental strong, all those. We got a small group later, I just thought, “Wow, why not we… Nobody really going out to the gym or people are more worried about this pandemic or not. So why not we just get together.” I start, of course, word by word. The group started building bigger, bigger, and of course we right now have over 130 people, but also partner with another both the alumni. We have thousands of people, I would say, and we met some people we don’t even know, all over the world. So what we did during this, of course, doing this is that lead the people, exercise and also really encourage your people to stay positive. And really focus on what we can focus. It really have you inspire so many people. And, I’m so happy to see that going strong and keep on going. So, that’s how we started, that’s where we’re at.

 

Alicia:

So one of the things I want to ask you, because that’s really kind of great to kind of gather people around, in such a time that we’re dealing with this COVID-19. So how would you describe your leadership style, and what it took to kind of put this together, the thought process behind it as a leader.

 

Sandy Li:

That’s a great question, Alicia. So the thoughts behind is that, I want to be able to leverage others as well. I only have a 24 hours, right? So, if I can inspire more people, help more people, it’s the popcorn effect. They go out to inspire other people. And give example that I have a closer friend in Canada, who I have been friends with for 20 years. And just this since last year, of course she started doing the exercise [inaudible 00:05:21] greater story. Has lost over 30 pounds.

 

Sandy Li:

And she is a big, big support of exercise, motivated others. She even has her YouTube channel. She leads people to work. And, this is just an example of that, 20 years, of course, she said, “I wish I could do this earlier.” But she’s the one who goes out, influence many, many other people. If we have more people like her, guess what? My job is done. So that’s kind of like a… I think it’s about a team, it’s about leverage, it’s about supporting one another, it’s about really walk the talk, set a great example.

 

Eileen:

So that is so true. As we talk about the COVID pandemic, they’re saying the virus is an R factor. R factor two. R factor means if someone touches it it could be two people or whatever. They’ve done research on the R factor of kindness, right? And the R factor of kindness is, if you see somebody doing an act of kindness, it is six times more, okay? So the emotions of kindness and giving back in everything is contagious, right? And in a good way, in a good way. So, when you were sharing about this wonderful group that you have, you said there’s thousands of people now that outreach and come to this, and the R factor is so big. Is there anything, when you’re rolling this out or hosting these seminars that gave you an aha moment, like, “Ah, I’m so glad I did this.” Or, “Ah, this is why I’m here. Or this is why it could be spiritually in and Alicia and I and all of us we’re very, believe in God. It could be like, just an aha moment. Do you have anything you’d like to share with us on that?

 

Sandy Li:

Absolutely. So again, when the group first started, I always kind of get… I’m a morning person. I’ll share my morning routine if we have time. But I would of course if you by exercise we cannot go to the gym. I do through YouTube or other source. I’ll post, I will share with the group. I’ll share, if there’s data calls or positivities I’ll share with the group. And later, of course, with Kathy who is a Chicago alumni, I mentioned her before, she has this regular [inaudible 00:08:18] to exercise. So West Star joined her group as an instructor, as a leader with her. And we do… Of course I do fitness, training, all those for other people. The people, normally we get probably about 200 people, but I don’t even know them, right?, So that’s an aha moment for me is that, I don’t have to be physically with people.

 

Alicia:

Nice.

 

Sandy Li:

But I can help people. But also so many people, they may not know exercise regularly before, now guess what? They become part of my life, something to look forward. Not only that about that, so help people not only physically but also mentally. Because a lot of people right now in this stage, so worry about the future or not. So we’re here to see, let’s all give love to others, right?. Let’s help one another. So that aha moment I really enjoyed. Even though, of course I don’t do that as frequently as I should be because I do work a lot, but I try to use whenever I have time.

 

Eileen:

Thank you so much. When you said love, my first thought was, love is the answer to everything. Love more, love more. So thank you, Sandy, for sharing that aha moment.

 

Alicia:

One of the things I like when you’re talking about that it’s, the mental health of individuals and people. And you don’t have to necessarily be there close to them but you know you’re helping them through some type of words of encouragement or programs, or just a collaboration whether it’s Zoom these days. So my question would be to you, what are some tips as a person who’s leading some of these programs and some of these exercise activities.

 

Alicia:

As a leader, when you think about others that are dealing with mental health, what tips do you want to give them? Or what do you encourage them to do to strengthen the weakness of the fear? Because a lot of it it’s fear-based, shame, guilt, whatever it is, anxiety. And so for me is, when I feel that happening to me, I take a moment away, go and pray, and sit and think about, “Okay, so why do I have this fear? Why is this keep coming up? Or why I’m I doing that?” So what tips do you give individuals that you’re working with, from a leadership perspective when you see that mental health is one of the most common issues today?

 

Sandy Li:

So I would address that question with a few points. One is control, what you can control. End of the day we talk about COVID-19, at the beginning of course. I travel until we have restrictions. I looked at these number at the beginning and later I stopped looking at the numbers. Because as a global citizen, what we can do is, to be a good citizen. And be responsible for what we should be responsible for. But within time, be positive. You can’t just see, well trust, trust the universe. I always think that you send the universe positive energy and guess what? If you try you’ll get it back. The same universe, right? How about this quote, Eileen talks about God always has a good plan, have a good faith, right? As you mentioned, Alicia, when we are really stressed, take a moment, I do meditation.

 

Sandy Li:

So I pray, I do all those. And another part is that, it is about good health. Health and including mental and a physical way? One thing is that, I think is that you can practice your brain, we exercise. I’ve been exercising since I was a little girl. I’ve been doing this for years and years, so this really served for me really well. But at the same time our mental, our brain needs regular exercise as well. So that’s what a morning routine is so important for me. I’m a morning person. Got up 4:35 before I… That’s my time, for 7:30 that’s my time. I really do a lot of things in the morning. Get myself going extra So that’s a big part, right? And if you’re free to do anything, as you mentioned in that is that write down.

 

Sandy Li:

I write down my notes, my thoughts, I listen to affirmation and chorus. I read all these before I start my day. That’s very well, because we, as I said before, you only can control what you can control, everything else is just your imagination. But I do encourage imagination and for positivity, right? So now that you imagined your fear, you worry about what you cannot control.

 

Alicia:

Yeah. And oftentimes people do. They worry about things that they can’t control. So I really liked that phrase because that’s to me some of the bottom line issue sometimes is, we’re worried about things that we don’t have control over. Or we worry about the outcome of something that, again, you still won’t have control of the outcome, or the fear of the outcome. Instead, most of the time I’ve noticed, even with me, go through it and then you’re going to figure out what, why was I doing all of this worrying for” And so I agree with that. I really like that.

 

Eileen:

And the energy it takes to, worry or con… Think about something that may not even happen, may attract it but also if you let it go, it may open other doors that you may not know about. And Sandy, when you meditate, there’s a quote that I use, listen and silent have the same words. right? So when you’re in silence, you could be listening to your own soul, to messages from God. And sometimes we move so fast in this world, that we don’t take the time to listen to who we are inside. And that’s what I liked, what I heard when you said, exercise your mind, by being silent and meditation and prayer, you are exercising your mind to be prepared.

 

Eileen:

So, thank you so much. So my next question is, is you’ve shared all this great wisdom on, helping people in this group. How has some of this foundation supported you in your career, your education, how you lead your family and how you lead your business, right? And where you lead now if you… I mean, that’s a big question, but just pick whichever you’d like to talk about.

 

Sandy Li:

So, I think a person is… I really like integrity, as a person. I’m trying to practice this, of course, at home, at work, with friends, and as a person in society as an individual as well. And, I think it’s a set of example we’ve heard the phrase a lot – walk the talk. Sometimes as a mom, we’ll of course, because they work so much I don’t really spend as much time. I should [inaudible 00:16:43] my children, but I do, if I do have time I want to be able to spend good quality time with them. So they see how I take care of myself, how hard I work. And how I spend, I could always have family and other friends as well. So I think to become [inaudible 00:17:06] become a product of the family. Fabulous. And I was the one course who is like, “Write down things.” Remember I have a professor [inaudible 00:17:21] from University of Chicago. She gave us a green pass, you’ll have it. And she always say, “If you don’t write it down, it won’t happen.”

 

Alicia:

Yes, yes.

 

Eileen:

So right.

 

Alicia:

Oh my gosh, ges. Write the vision down. You got to write it down [crosstalk 00:17:40]. I’m a writer, yes. I write things down. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Sandy Li:

This is of course at work, I do financial planning analysis for our organization. I am, yes, everybody say, I’m so good at numbers, but I think [inaudible 00:17:55] it’s a good, fundamental knowledge, your financial knowledge is important, but at the end of the day it is about how to really… Is about beyond the numbers. Business strategy, initiatives, how that are translated into numbers. As for a family, of course my two girls, I try to play this Ashley from work to home, has it been sort of successful. And every year, the last day on the 31st December, we’ll have a small group, about a couple of hours. We sit down. We talk about our goals we’ve made a year before, or in the middle of a year, we go through one by one for each individual. How do I achieve this? Have I achieved this or not?

 

Sandy Li:

Not just me, but all their input as well. And we go through one by one, by the end of the day we say, “Hey [inaudible 00:18:55] professional reveal, for firms to review at work.” And then we will leave time for us to see them, to talk about the next year goal. This goal not only of course everybody different stage of a life have different goals. And we’ll write done the goals. We’ll write down, we’ll talk about it and see, of course, most time we’re good. But, one thing is therefore [inaudible 00:19:24] this is private, but I want to share here with you. One year I put swimming among one of my goals. But I am pretty good at other sports except for swimming.

 

Sandy Li:

I have to be honest to this that I didn’t achieve the level of swimming I should be, but [inaudible 00:19:46] an example. So I think that, set up a good example, walk the talk and this plan and really have a process. So that’s how I lead the team. And, I know my girls of course they are my partners, my friends. I don’t really believe these are my kids, but the greater fall to have them.

 

Alicia:

I like how you outlined that. Discipline and walk the talk and integrity. And those are to me, some of the values that we’re going to ask you about. But one of the things I like about financial planning. I was telling someone a couple of weeks ago, someone called they was in the financial, “I said, here’s the thing that I noticed about people. People always want money, right? Always need more money, more money.” I said, “But when they get the money, they’re either afraid of it. They don’t know how to use it, and they don’t know how to strategize with it.” And so then when you get it, you don’t know what to do when you get it, you don’t know how to… It’s like we… Yes, it’s okay to spend some. So don’t get me wrong, everybody who’s listening, I loved it. You spend money. But then you got to be smart with money. You got to be strategic with the money. So talk a little bit about your industry. How do you help people be smart with money?

 

Sandy Li:

That’s a great question. Thank you for giving me this as a platform to talk about this. Financial education is a big piece, I have great passion about this. I think financial education should start very early on. So I do a talk. So of course, for my daughter’s high school. And they have an investment club or not. Of course, university speakers for them. Talk about different options of financial career in the future. But the fundamentals that, if you look at this, United States is of course, is leading in many ways in the world, but we’re still behind, financial education not to mention other countries. So what I wanted to do, have been doing, trying to do, of course with people is that start with the fundamentals, finance 101, right?

 

Sandy Li:

So we go to school, unless you have a major in finance, you’re not really being educated. You just have money handed to you. Here’s for you to plan to spend.

 

Alicia:

Yes. [crosstalk 00:22:22].

 

Sandy Li:

If you don’t, right? If you fail to plan… If you plan to fail, you fail to plan. So this is the same thing as a concept, right? So, give me an example from my home was that, I was very transparent with my kids. I will let them know how I allocated my assets and my investment. Why do this or not? And, talk about where I want to go, my goal, because I wanted them to learn from early on. So lock it to the girls that are into this at a very early age. So, the same thing for organization as well. We all have a different departments or not, but not every department, finance department. But when we do the budgeting and when we do the planning and people don’t know that, we have to really plan for how do they spend the money?

 

Sandy Li:

It’s all about opportunity, cost, right? It’s about your investment, return on your investment. It’s the more knowledge the better will be for the organization and personal as well. So again, I know we don’t have much time, but I can talk about this, of course as you know for a long time. But that’s another, is that I think I’m very passionate about financial education.

 

Alicia:

Yeah. I mean, it’s extremely important because it doesn’t matter… And I always tell people I mentor in my family. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, it’s what you do with the money that you have. If you’re not smart with the little, you’re definitely not going to be smart with more money. And so how do you deal with that, whether you have 500 or 5 million. So what you do with that 500 is a guarantee you’re going to do the same thing with the 500, which means not be smart, not know how to budget. And my little nephews here at nine, 11, for years they be like, “Auntie, you’re always on a budget.” Yes, I’m on a budget. I can tell you how much money I’m going to spend when I take them out. I would take them to the movies and then we get something to eat. And I say, “We can go in the store, you buy one thing. And it cannot be over a certain amount of money because I’m on a budget.” And they will laugh. Now they’re older, at least one of them. And I said, “Now you see what I mean about a budget.” Put yourself on a budget.

 

Sandy Li:

Absolutely. So discipline, right? It’s about discipline. So the same thing is for organization or personal as well. And people have to think about the future. And about a time of value with the money as well. So I do think that, the more knowledge you people have… And not just say, “Hey, I’m not saying that we should not buy coffee, Starbuck and everything. I’m not here to not encourage people spending by it all adds up. So it’s about planning, as you said, a budget and planning is a great topic.

 

Eileen:

Well, and Sandy, it kind of goes how you began our conversation today, with mental health, physical health and financial health, right? So it seems like you have like a three prong knowledge that you can share with others. How would you define financial health or living financially healthy? No matter how much money you make, it could be anything, but being healthy financially.

 

Alicia:

I love that. Yes.

 

Sandy Li:

Wow. Everybody has a different definition, right?

 

Alicia:

Yes, I love it.

 

Sandy Li:

What I think, look at the big picture. Big picture of course, is at as a individual. If we can’t take care of ourselves, everyone take care of herself. Guess what? The whole world, the whole nation will have a less of a burden, right? Because we all take care of ourself. And how do we build a financial wellbeing of health. And really, again, depends on individuals ago, we talked about a goal setting and how much money is enough, right? So everybody have a different goals, but at the end of the day, whatever goal we have, we should write down the goal, and also have a path to achieve the goal. If you don’t have a goal you don’t know where you’re going. Second, is that, if you have a goal, you don’t have the discipline, and then the goal of course won’t be accomplished, right?

 

Sandy Li:

So, I think at the end of the day, it’s not about how much money you’re going to accumulate. It’s about how much money you’re going to use that for? Is it back to purpose? So the purpose is that, of course, everybody has a different purpose in life. Financially so want for the purpose and for most of the people, either you want to be able to of course help your charity, help others. You want to be able to, of course, to live a comfortable life. Retirement comfortably and mostly important, not to add a burden to society and to your children, to your parents are not, but it’s simple like that, right? But all these need, of course, very careful planning. And people think about this, not just the financial, but also is holistic as well. Think about it, where you work you have W2, you have to pay a lot of tax. And we all have to do.

 

Sandy Li:

That’s  good that we have the tax that would support a lot of services or not, but can you think of smarter way to, of course, plan better and holistically. Different, of course, different access and location and but it needs knowledge, but the [inaudible 00:28:42], it’s not rocket science, but it’s the knowledge. The more knowledge that we have, we’re going to make a clear goal. Than we have upsets to the past as against the goal. And it’s not scary either, right? I’m so going to see you, more and more women, as you take control of your financial well being.

 

Alicia:

Yes. Yeah. That’s very important. I liked the part about when you write down the goals, you still need a path. And I laugh because you’re so right, because you can have goals but you don’t know how to execute them. If you don’t know which direction you’re going and it means nothing. It absolutely means nothing to where you want to take those goals and accomplish them. But I also want to add too, for me, like when I write goals I used to get so bent out of shape when I didn’t accomplish them. I’ve grown to say, well, what makes me think I can’t just put that on the list again, to try to achieve it. And then so I don’t. And I keep putting it on the list until I actually achieve the goal. At first, I had a hard time dealing with putting myself down, whatever that is, you go to that moment of being upset about it and beating yourself up. And something clicked one day you’re on a year ago. It’s like, so why can’t you just add it back on the list? I don’t know. That’s my aha moment. I’m just saying.

 

Eileen:

A do over. A do over. [crosstalk 00:30:14]. Do over.

 

Alicia:

Do over.

 

Eileen:

It’s like golf.

 

Alicia:

I’m telling you as an adult. I mean, this is more recent,  few years or whatever. And I’m just like. By golly, I’m just going to keep putting it on the list, and finally, certain things that I had kept putting on the list and this were financial stuff, I started achieving them. And then once I started achieving them, I’m like, “I know I can do it. Now, I’m going to do another one.” And it gets kind of… You get addicted to it in a sense. Because now you want to start being, “Okay, money doesn’t control me. I control the money.” Now you start to think like that and then you start to add more discipline. Because, quite frankly, we all liked it. And like I said, we’re not telling you not to go buy things, we’re just telling you to be smarter and not to be afraid of money.

 

Sandy Li:

Right. Right. And that’s a visualization, right? So we think about you, you’re absolutely right. You said, we should put bigger numbers and be aggressive, right? So, you probably read a book called The Secret, right?

 

Eileen:

Yes.

 

Sandy Li:

Again, so be aggressive towards a goal. You may not as… I encourage people to make 10 times of what you currently make now. Just think, visualize and our mind really cannot tell the difference between the current and the future. You practice for the future just like your current habit now. So I do my affirmation I will say I’m happy and grateful for the fact of that what I want to achieve. Visualize this, imagine that I’m currently having now, even though probably three, five years down the road, you might minus the current happiness. So that’s really powerful for me that, every day when I do my affirmation. So re-confirm I’m able to achieve it. That’s true. My brain can think about it that way.

 

Eileen:

Wow. That is just wonderful. Just wonderful. And so, one of the questions we always ask is, we have a deck of cards called the Value Cards on our website, soulofaleader.com. And we believe that values drive people, right? They’re the core of who you are. How would you explain your values, in words, and how do you live by them?

 

Sandy Li:

So, I talk about this one thing we touched base on was integrity. I think a person is a person, it doesn’t matter where you put him or her in, any situation. Another value I really value this is that, as I say, it’s about discipline. I gave an example that, of course I’ve been doing, of course, try to help people exercise. I mean, I started exercise. I’ve been exercising since I was a little girl, but I think I have not stopped doing that because of the discipline I have. I don’t know if it’s called a value or not, but another thing is to continue learning. Every day the more I learn, the more I find that I don’t know enough. Talk about cannabis, for example, right? I mean, you know how I get into cannabis space.

 

Eileen:

Yes. Well, and it’s a new industry. Tell us a little bit about that continuous learning and how you started it and how you landed in a brand new industry that is taking off. It had to be a part of the value of continuous learning.

 

Sandy Li:

So, this is really, I think a lot of times it’s about an open mind. Growth mind as well. It’s a mindset. So this is about, and I’ll think about two, three ago now. And, when the cannabis of course started getting called Grand Rash, whatever you call this term, right? So for me, of course, growing up in China, never even talk about drugs. It can be considered very… It’s a word that you don’t want to even talk about and not a human being associated with, anything to do with it. And then for me is about calculating a risk. This story… I want to share this story. It’s so funny that I have a neighbor. She’s the mother of a triplet, great friend of mine, one day she called, she said, “Cindy, come over here. I have some gummy bear about CBD.” I said, “What is a CBD?” Start talking about this. And I say, “Gosh, [inaudible 00:35:43], she’s doing this? That’s not right.”

 

Eileen:

And it’s legal.

 

Sandy Li:

Illegal, right? But as I talked to her about this, I started doing research on this.

 

Eileen:

I’m laughing because Sandy is like.

 

Sandy Li:

I know. And then I said, “Wow, tell me more.” Now we grab a coffee. We talk about this. It’s about that time, of course, in California, Colorado, pretty new or not. So later I just started doing research. I started learning about different companies who are not all this. Guess what? Fascinating. Fascinating. So I have made up my mind, take a big risk to enter into a cannabis. I’m proud to say today, probably I’m very fortunate, grateful to be one of the executives in a cannabis space as a woman leader.

 

Sandy Li:

And, I love space because of my big passion. Because we talk about this early on, talk about wellness health, all this. It’s really associated with well-being. Is this cannabis sucrose, everybody have a different opinion, but cannabis really helps a lot of people, to have a better life. If we’re managing it right. So, yeah. Every single day I’m really passionate about what we do as a company as well. And, we’re fortunate working with different leaders and take the company, of course, to the next level.

 

Eileen:

Isn’t that something though, that is from a neighbor saying, “Here’s a gummy.” A sweet candy, all right, sweet. And then it comes to this. And it’s so funny as I look at this industry because when I was younger it was illegal, right? And now it’s legal and now it’s almost like a consumer product good, like cereal. It’s in beer. It’s in seltzer water, it’s everywhere. It’s like [inaudible 00:38:12] corn syrup, but it’s so much better for you, right? So, and it’s a mind shift for many people, similar to what you said when you grew up in China about it’s a mind shift, because I look back and go, “Woo. I remember when people used to get high and stuff, and you look at them, and they’re like, munchies, munchies, munchies.” And you’re just like now you’re like, “Well, it’s health focused. It’s balanced. It helps people with depression. And it’s natural. A natural thing from mother earth.”

 

Alicia:

Mother earth, yep.

 

Eileen:

So, it’s a plant of God, right? I mean, I’m not saying everything on earth is good, but this one is helping people. So thank you for sharing that story. I really appreciate it.

 

Alicia:

I’m just going to say, so have you had any more of those gummies now?

 

Sandy Li:

So that’s just one thing about that, as I touched on that, it’s a growth mindset, continual learning. I felt like I’m just… So every day is just full of energy, talk about there’s so much I needed to learn. There are so many things we need to do. And so I’m sure those would be many, many new opportunities.

 

Alicia:

Yes. And, I like it that it’s con… I always say this, “Leave yourself open to be constantly learning.” And so you’re totally in a different industry. And so I’m sure you learn and the people, and so people are leading differently there. Their decisions are probably being made a little different from what you are normally accustomed to. And so that’s good because that’s growth. And quite frankly, you probably would get bored if you were still doing the same thing that you’ve been doing for 20 years. I know I [inaudible 00:40:09] but… So when we’re having fun with our guests, and we certainly are having fun with you, time really flies. How would you leave our listeners with some words of wisdom? And you said a lot of great words to us, but what are some words of wisdom?

 

Sandy Li:

If I may use just one phrase I always use myself and unto others, obviously, where is your intention? Where is your energy?

 

Eileen:

Wow. Where is your intention? Where’s your energy?

 

Alicia:

Your energy.

 

Eileen:

Tell us more.

 

Alicia:

Yes.

 

Sandy Li:

So we only have 24 hours a day and your intention is at where your energy is. And that’s why the morning routine is so important for me because I have a reset every day, what is my intention? So that I can stay focused. And if we think about it every single day, of course, think about a year, think about a life a long time, that you begin once you have a good intention, that you have a path to manage. So, I think a lot of people struggle with the intention and purpose of a life. And I don’t know why we’re here, but we’re here because as he said, “We are God’s plan. We have great intentions. We’re here for a different purpose. So I like to use that frame, always use that as your intention and of course, these are your energy.

 

Alicia:

Oh yeah. Oh my God. Yes, I’m lost for words, because I’m thinking about what you’re saying and I’m thinking about you’re so on point with it. I start my day with the intention of spirituality first, my connection, which sets the tone for my intention of what my day is going to be like. Because I started early with the intent to do that, to give me order and structure. And so you’re so right. Oh my God. I just never even thought about it like that though.

 

Sandy Li:

It’s such an impactful phrase.

 

Eileen:

And as you review it, you’re so right, we have 24 hours a day. We only have so many, gigabytes, kilowatts, whatever we want to say of energy before we have to sleep and recharge, be intentional about where you put it. And what kind of made me think when you said this, it goes back to those goals then, right? If you’re intentional and you write your goals down, health, wealth, learning, being, financial, all that. It’s like a circle, right? It’s a circle because you wake up your intention, you do that and you can focus on your goals and other things. So Sandy, that is simple, but so impactful.

 

Alicia:

Yes. I’m still at all because you just, you take a glimpse back. Like you said, that ties into your goals. So if I don’t have any goals you don’t even have no intention or where to know where to put the energy with the intent you have. And so naturally, out of that, I do have the goals or the plan for the day when I sit down at my desk. Because I’ve thought about it some more. And that’s where all my energy is being directed. To those goals, to my schedule. What I have. And like you said, Dr. Eileen says, it’s just we all have so many gigabytes in a day, and your span is like, “Okay, it’s getting shorter and shorter.” But when you’re more structured and disciplined, it helps you achieve those goals. It’s so impactful.

 

Eileen:

Thank you. Sandy Lee, for all your wisdom, your knowledge, your stories. This has been wonderful.

 

Alicia:

Oh my gosh. Yes.

 

Eileen:

And I’ve learned some new things, even though I’m your friend. So thank you so much.

 

Sandy Li:

Thank you Eileen, Alicia for having me [crosstalk 00:44:53].

 

Alicia:

It’s such a pleasure. You are all that and a bag of chips, as they say.

 

Eileen:

Thank you for joining us on Soul of a Leader podcast. We are igniting a new way of leading with your soul and interviewing ordinary people with extraordinary impact. Thank you for listening to the stories of our leaders who will help and guide you on your leadership journey. For more information on our podcast, please visit our website at wwwsoulofaleader.com. Thank you for listening.