Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Dr. Jeff Spencer: Ultimate Goal Setting for Entrepreneurs | Leadership | YAPClassic
Fri, 06 Jun 2025
Dr. Jeff Spencer, fueled by resilience and drive, rose from a childhood marked by poverty and parental neglect to achieve his dream of becoming an Olympic cyclist. He defied the odds through mentorship and relentless discipline, ultimately becoming one of the most sought-after performance coaches for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and elite athletes. In this episode, Jeff shares his Champion’s Blueprint framework for setting R.I.G.H.T. goals, mastering focus and preparation, identifying blind spots, and executing like a high performer through all five stages of goal achievement. In this episode, Hala and Dr. Jeff will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:56) Becoming an Olympian Against All Odds (06:59) How Mentorship Fuels Elite Performance (10:38) Why Champions Need a “Corner Man” (15:47) Why Success Is Both a Path and a Process (19:27) Aligning Goals with Mind, Body, and Soul (22:16) The R.I.G.H.T. Goal-Setting Framework (29:33) Spotting Risks and Blind Spots in Goals (39:47) How Legacy Drives Long-Term Performance (50:58) Taking Inventory of Your Resources (56:00) The Stages of Goal Achievement Dr. Jeff Spencer is an Olympic cyclist turned elite performance coach, author, and international speaker. With a career spanning decades, he has coached luminaries including Tiger Woods, Richard Branson, U2, Dave Asprey, and dozens of top CEOs to accomplish their most ambitious goals. Known as “The Cornerman,” Jeff specializes in helping champions and high performers achieve clarity, resilience, and legacy-driven success. His proprietary method, the Champion’s Blueprint, offers a proven model for goal achievement and long-term fulfillment. Sponsored By: Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/profiting. Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com/PROFITING Mercury - Streamline your banking and finances in one place. Learn more at mercury.com/profiting OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first 6 months at OpenPhone.com/profiting. Bilt - Start paying rent through Bilt and take advantage of your Neighborhood Benefits by going to joinbilt.com/profiting. Airbnb - Find a co-host at airbnb.com/host Boulevard - Get 10% off your first year at joinblvd.com/profiting when you book a demo Resources Mentioned: Jeff’s Book: Turn It Up!, https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Up-Perform-Lifetime-Paperback/dp/B002BN10CG Jeff’s Website: https://www.drjeffspencer.com/ Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap Youtube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services - yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship podcast, Business, Business podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal development, Starting a business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side hustle, Startup, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth mindset, Networking, Time Management, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Leadership Skills, Strategic Planning, Mindset, Time Management, Team Building.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic of this episode?
Today's episode of Yap is sponsored in part by Airbnb, OpenPhone, Shopify, Mercury, Built, Indeed, and Boulevard. Hosting on Airbnb has never been easier with Airbnb's new co-host network. Find yourself a co-host at airbnb.com slash host. OpenPhone is the number one business phone system. Build stronger customer relationships and respond faster with shared numbers, AI, and automations.
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Chapter 2: How did Dr. Jeff Spencer become an Olympian?
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Maybe you wanna launch a course or a mastermind and teach your expertise. If this sounds like you, then I invite you to join an exclusive webinar presented by Teachable. Slay your six-figure sales funnels. The webinar will cover everything from branding and crafting your offer to building a six-figure sales funnel. And I personally will be conducting this special 90-minute session.
This is something that would cost thousands of dollars if I sold it in a course, but you get it for free thanks to Teachable. I'll teach you how to create content that not only connects you with your audience, but also works behind the scenes to bring in steady income, even when you're not online. I learned what works from real experience.
Chapter 3: What role does mentorship play in achieving success?
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If you want the link easily, check out the show notes. But again, it's yapmedia.com slash event to register and learn everything you need to get started as a creator entrepreneur. Young improfiters, most people set goals but never achieve them because they're chasing the wrong ones or following the wrong process.
In this YAP classic, I sat down with Dr. Jeff Spencer, who's a former Olympic cyclist who beat the odds overcoming a troubled childhood to become a coach to some of the world's top performers like Tiger Woods, U2, Richard Branson, and Dave Asprey. Jeff's success isn't just inspiring, it's strategic.
He developed a system called the Champion's Blueprint, which outlines exactly how to set goals that align with your mind, body, and soul, and then execute them with world-class focus and consistency.
Chapter 4: Why do champions need a corner man?
In this episode, Jeff unpacks his right goal framework, reveals how to avoid goal-killing blind spots, and explains the five stages that every top performer moves through on their way to what he calls the winner's circle. If you're ready to go from intention to execution and show up like a champion, this episode will give you the roadmap.
Without further delay, let's dive in with the legendary Dr. Jeff Spencer. Take us back to your teenage years. What were you like? How did you stay on track with your lofty goal? And what inspiring stories can you share about accomplishing your Olympic goals?
Well, first and foremost, I got the self-start gene. I don't need any motivation whatsoever. I just get up and I make things happen. And I show up every day and I faithfully execute the one or two things that have to go right to move me forward. And that's the way that I've always done it. And it's always served me really well. So that would be first and foremost.
The other side of this as well is that I had three amazing angels in my life that made up for the lack of mentorship that I got at home because my father was virtually a non-entity as was my mother. They certainly didn't get in my way, but they were not there to support me. So I was really lucky.
I had an amazing cycling coach that actually chose me to be able to train with his group of Olympic champions and world champions. And I was like 11 and they were like in their mid to late twenties. I mean, they were the top of the pile. And he said, winning is a learned skill, and I want to teach you that skill.
And I want you to be around the conversation you need to listen to now so you know exactly what it's like. And if you have it within you to be able to become this, then our conversation will awaken something that's already within you to be able to make that happen, which it did 10 years later.
I just had amazing mentorship, and I had people say the right thing at the right time to naturally harness my abilities to be able to manifest that first and foremost goal of mine.
That's super cool. Why do you think they saw so much potential in you? I mean, you were just 11 years old. Did you have great natural ability? Was it just your mindset? Why did they take a liking to you, you think?
I think it was everything, actually, because I was a self-starter. I'd show up on time. I didn't need to be told anything. I would always show up well-prepared. I would work really hard. I would ask really good questions. I was always respectful of the opportunities in front of me. And, you know, also I did have the physical ability to do this.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of aligning goals with mind, body, and soul?
You know, there has to be a blend of mentality, being able to stand in front of leadership, to be able to take constructive criticism and advice, to be a student of the discipline, all of those things I naturally had. And that endeared them to me to be able to share with me what the secrets that they used to become the standout performers that they were.
And I deeply appreciate their acknowledgement of that within me.
Yeah. So something that I want to touch on is the fact that you grew up pretty poor and that must have been difficult when you were trying to accomplish this goal, because I could imagine that it costs money to fly places. It costs money to stay at hotels if you're competing. So talk to us about how you kind of scrapped through, even though you didn't have the financial means.
Chapter 6: What is the R.I.G.H.T. goal-setting framework?
Well, I never saw that as a limitation. I actually saw that as a opportunity and a strength because I saw the other people put way too much confidence in their equipment. You know, staying in the best hotels, you don't need a fourth season to become an Olympian. You can sleep anywhere. You just have to decide you're going to show up and get the job done.
So I actually felt that I had a huge advantage in not having the financial means to do what other people did. I was able to find a way forward. And because of my natural ability verve and my natural enthusiasm, people were really willing to be able to support me in ways that I couldn't support myself.
Yeah. So I read that you actually had two mentors when you were growing up. So the first one was your cycling mentor, and he helped you become an Olympian. And you also had a second mentor, which was sort of like a Renaissance man that you met when you were 18. So tell us about the later mentor that you met who was more of a Renaissance man and what he taught you.
Well, I met him through a very interesting series of coincidences. Ha ha. I think it was very deliberate and it was providence actually. And he chose me. I was an athlete. First and foremost, I had Olympic ambitions. I was well on my way to becoming an Olympian and he chose me to be his apprentice because he developed a whole new type of art glass sculptor, but he hadn't found anybody that he
felt that could be trusted with supporting him and creating his masterpieces, but he chose me. And it wasn't because of my artistic ability, but I did have a lot of artistic ability because my father and my mother were both extraordinarily creative. But the most important thing that that mentor showed me, he was 76 and I was 18 at the time. So it was a very unlikely pairing.
But during our lunches and during our breaks, what he would do, he would read poetry to me. He would read the great philosophers. He would share with me classical music. He said, I need to fill you up on these other aspects of life. And he was correct because I had the ability to be able to absorb that.
And because he brought the heart and soul to my athletic prowess, I now had these two other things. assets that just made me a better performer in every way possible. So that was the incredible brilliance and opportunity that he brought to me, the finer points in life that I certainly did not have access to otherwise.
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Chapter 7: How can we spot risks and blind spots in our goals?
Yeah, well, that's super inspiring. So today you are one of the most prominent mentors in the world. So you've coached greats like Tiger Woods, Richard Branson, and you've been lovingly dubbed the corner man. So I'd love to understand how you got that name and tell us a bit about the work that you do with your clients.
Well, I didn't actually choose that word. The word chose me through what other people said about me. And the genesis of that is the Rocky movie. And Rocky was someone that had talent, had ambition, had capacity to be able to become the perennial champion of the world, but he couldn't take himself there. And there's all sorts of different advisors.
You have coaches, like when I work with YouTube, Bono had his voice coach, but the voice coach didn't know about the rest of his life. So it was like, well, I hope the rest of your life doesn't get in the way of my voice coaching because I know I can do my part well, but I don't know about the rest of it. And so it's very similar also with mentors.
You can have like a life mentor, you can have a business mentor, but they don't know about a certain percentage of your life. And to me, what... Rocky had was the old guy Mickey in his corner that had seen everything and it helped people in many different areas become their own champions.
And that's what I and why people call me the corner man because of my experience, my age, where I've been, what I've accomplished. There's nothing that I have not seen in life and there's nothing that I haven't participated in or guided people through at the highest level of performance. And so therefore, I
I have a basic competency in virtually everything, so I can meet people exactly where they are. And because of that totality, I can select what has to go right when to be able to get the most progress with the least of time and effort and expense to move as quickly as possible towards any and every ambition that a person has.
And that's why they call me the corner man, because it's the rarest of all advisory species.
Hmm. I love that. I love that nickname. And so you were really big at like coaching sports people, I think at first, and then you moved into business. I guess my question is, what is the crossover between what you learned as an Olympian and business, which is what you focus on a lot now?
Well, I mean, you have to be your own champion of both of those. In becoming your own champion, it's a presence of being. It's not a technical difference. So whether it's locker room or boardroom, there are technical differences, but yet the
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Chapter 8: How does legacy drive long-term performance?
But I can tell you about you, the leader of your own life, CEO of You, Inc., what it is that you need to do and how you need to show up to be able to manifest the things that have to go right for you to be able to evolve into and demonstrate and manifest your talents and create the legacy that you're capable of creating.
Yeah. So one of the questions that I have for you is, do you look for certain qualities in your clients? Like you were just mentioning how you were a self-starter since you were young. I am the same way. You know, there's different personality types. There's people that need like accountability and there's people who can self-start.
100%.
You have to be coachable. You have to show up on time. That has to be your natural set point. You need to be able to do things that are unconventional. You have to learn to transcend your fear and the beliefs that you have that are no longer serving you well. You have to be a really great teammate. You have to be fearless about investing in yourself and your bigger future.
And you have to have a certain amount of innate talent as well. And you have to be able to hold reality as preeminent rather than trying to tell yourself the stories that you want to hear. You need to be able to look at what reality really is.
And with all of those elements that I just described to you there, if a person has those, then it's only a matter of time before they manifest whatever the goals that they have for themselves.
Yeah, I totally agree. So I want to switch gears a bit. I read that your dad was a genius that died homeless on the streets of New York City. And the last time you ever saw him was when you were 13 years old. So you guys obviously had a totally different type of life and made different decisions and choices.
So talk to us about your father and what example that he like, what did you learn from his story? And how did you then apply that in your life?
Well, I mean, it's always a tragedy when you have a genius that can't manifest their genius and lives the life of desperation and dies really being a statistic and an example of what you should never be and what you should never emulate. I mean, that's tragic in and of itself and certainly a great loss to me as well. But the real take home from this is that he was missing two things.
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