Achieving “Impossible” Goals One Day at a Time with Heather Younkman, Tribal Member Benefit Administrator at NHBP

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So we talked about the impact the Dream Manager Program is having within their organization, why it's important, and how they're planning to expand. Enjoy the episode.

All right, Heather,

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And I'm like, yeah, sure. Cuz I've got all the time in the world. No intentions of doing anything more except for saying yes. So I read the book and he came back a week later. I said, Hey, let's do this course. Let's get

certified. I was like, oh my goodness,

So I said, okay, I'll do it. And he's like, it's two days. In my head, I'm just shrinking. I can't believe I'm doing this. So I'm like, okay, we're gonna get Dream Manager certified. I had no intentions of following through with this.

I was gonna be non-committal. I didn't wanna do it at all. So we do that and I'm like, okay, I got through that. I'm good. And two weeks later I get this notification that I'm signed up for a year. With this dream manager, this Michelle girl, and I'm like, what am I gonna do? And then I just got sucked in and I'm so committed.

that I wanted the second year, the first year, my notes are like, Okay, I'll go along with it. I'll do whatever she wants me to do. I'm an overachiever, but I gotta tell you, this has changed my life. 180 degrees. It's just I'm inspired,working with Michelle every day. Gives me the perseverance to not only move forward with what I wanna do and even what I didn't know I wanted to do.

I've achieved so much over the last two years that we

just started our third year together

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They're excited to do the program. Heather was not so excited to do the program. So what happened when you went to certification? Like what was that experience for you?

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And so taking on that extra, bit of work, even though it's only one hour a month, was just so overwhelming to me. But everything just changed after just a few months. When I realized during the Dream Manager certification, I wrote in the journal that we get, just a few things you know, random dreams, and three or four months in, I realized that I had achieved a couple of those and it was amazing. I've achieved so many dreams.

In the last two and a half years, my biggest accomplishment that I'm so proud of, and Michelle will tell you how hard I worked. I got my master's degree in seven months.

I was over 50, you know, I hadn't been to school in 30 years and I didn't think I could do it.

And I was like, you know what, I'm gonna do this.

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I don't have the time to focus on my dreams. I don't have the time to do some other program. I don't have the time for another certification or whatever that is. But the fact that you came and you embraced it while you were there to really discover, I mean, one of the reasons that Matthew created the dream manager, he made it so intentional about making it simple.

because life can be so complicated and we have so many things to do and so much on our plate, we need that reminder of, let's get back to simple. And what does that mean? That means that we're gonna spend time and focus on the dreams that we have for our lives.

if you're listening, Heather is talking about Michelle. Michelle is, Heather's dream manager. it's her dream manager. It's her coach. and so you are dream manager. So not only have you been able to achieve so much of your dreams, you are a coach for your dreamers.

And what has that experience been like for you?

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Financial literacy eight week course. And then of course, working with Michelle and learning just so many amazing tricks of the trade, from her. And then moving into the coaching, aspect of it has just been a natural progression for me. And I use it more than just in coaching and financial literacy.

I use it every day. I'm dealing with people and, every aspect of my

life.

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talk about your life, what was life like before Dream Manager and then life after Dream Manager, when you actually had a Dream Manager coach really encouraging you to go after your dreams.

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meeting people where they are has been instrumental in me being successful in transitioning from, just talking to people to actually being a coach,

my mantra for this

year, Michelle and I did, is why not?

everything is possible now,

I feel like I sound like I'm like part of a cult or something, but I just have so much, passion for the dream manager and the program and what it has to offer. And if you just give it just a little bit of commitment, it can open so many doors.

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for people who haven't bought into having a dream manager coaching, what do you feel like something that. Is holding them back from making that commitment in their lives.

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I found so much, of myself and the spiritual aspect and it's all about balance. for those who aren't, Completely sold on it. I want to just tell people, just go through the first two sessions with me, because I've got a lot of passion for it, and I found that once they go through the first two sessions, they want to go further it feels so good because I'm like, I was right.

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Encouraging people to dream again, that is what brings out those possibilities. You're like, oh my gosh. so many people have lost that muscle of dreaming. Not only that they can dream, but I think so often we think that dreams mean.

things like, I need to live on a 10 million mansion and with my yacht, no, your dreams are like your dreamers. What are some of the dreams that your dreamers have?

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And those small changes add up and they realize their dreams. And I love to see when they

realize that,

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It is possible. it probably doesn't look the way that they think it has to look. They think that financial freedom means a hundred million. That is actually not true. and so you get to help them see that. And then, some of the other dreams that we see, so common among so many of our clients is They wanna be healthy and fit. They wanna buy their first home, they wanna have a better relationship with their spouse. That was something this year that we've seen a lot of is that people really wanting to build better relationships. And these are all the things that we tap into with the Dream Manager program.

Now obviously you've seen it cuz you've experienced it. you shared with us that one of your dreams that you achieved was to get your master's degree. So what are some of the other dreams that maybe you've been putting off? For so many years, and you finally gave yourself permission and put them on the list and went after them.

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I just wanted to appease people, but my gosh, it's possible. So this year I'm focusing, like you said, on my health and wellness. I have lost 40 pounds since February 6th because I'm so focused. And it's not about losing weight, it's about getting healthy.

And one thing that Michelle has driven home, since day one, his health is wealth. And it just hit me this year. I'm not getting any younger. I wanna focus on that. I broke it down. We've, worked an entire session on it. Like, how am I gonna get there? And I did everything. And I'm seeing the results.

you either make time or you make

excuses.

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So obviously you're continuing to make the investment, so it is worth the investment for you since you're continuing to do the program. tell us a little bit about what have you seen over the past three years? what are some of the,changes that you've seen?

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And communication has been a huge key to that, and I've learned so much about communication. That was a big obstacle. I had a lot of issues with my professional course. and I've been able to,

Align my dreams to work with my professional course that I want. things just have been aligned more the difficulties. I've been able to work through them, just by achieving other dreams and knowing what's important.

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Why is this such a powerful program for people to consider individually and also to bring it to their organization?

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and it's important for my company because we are investing in our employees. there are so many employees. I'm not sure what the number is. I'm sure you do, of how many employees have been certified or gone through the program. But we're finding that work-life balance and I think we're happier, more satisfied,and it's made all the

difference.

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In all areas of life. Not just that they're growing professionally, but that they actually, like you've talked about spirituality and your health and fitness.

if you're healthier, you're happier, you have a good spiritual life, you have a good, energy. We talk about all of those different pieces, throughout Dream Manager. When you have someone that is a complete person that feels very fulfilled in all of those areas.

That's worth a lot for a leader because they're showing up fully themselves. They're showing up being productive and engaged in their work life because they're engaged in their personal life.

Absolutely. If you're happier, with your personal life, like work doesn't seem like work, and you bring that positive attitude with you, and people see that people have seen a huge difference in me at work. I'm just, more engaged, I'm more accepting, I'm more confident, and I do a better job.

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And I hope there's a fourth year. If there's

not, I don't know what I'll do.

Oh no. We'll do, here for life. you can just keep on going. Well, that's the thing is that making that kind of investment in yourself, I know can be scary for people because most people have not invested any amount of money in their personal development and growth.

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I've achieved some of this stuff and it didn't happen overnight.

It happened over time. As you were building that relationship with your coach what's so interesting,Is that, why do we need a coach? We need a coach because not only do they push us Every dream manager wants more for their people because they recognize and see the brilliance inside of you.

And inside of your people. And that is what you, Heather, get to do for your Dreamers too, right? Is to recognize their brilliance and to encourage them that it is possible to build that bigger, better future for themselves. And you get to not only believe that and start to see that and build that belief system in yourself, but you also are getting encouragement and being held accountable.

Prior to having a dream manager, it was easy for you to just make excuses and be okay with the excuses because the only person was you,

But when you know you have to show up and talk to Michelle and say, Hey, did you or didn't you do this as an overachiever like you are,

you don't wanna do that.

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I did. I am the best version of myself. thank you to Dream Manager. And I'm grateful to my company as well because they've supported me in this and they've allowed me to, continue. they've provided for me not only financially, but they've also provided the time. And even with, my education, my company provided me one day a week fully devoted.

I didn't have to work, to my studies. And so that made it possible too. So everything, fell in line. So I'm grateful to, my company for supporting me and,

allowing me to do this.

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And so

that's a beautiful thing.

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just don't really create a coaching culture where they feel like they want to really support their people there are those people out there, but there are so many leaders that care deeply about their people that want their people to grow, that understand the importance of it, that believe that coaching matters.

They wanna create that coaching culture. And so it sounds like,over there at pine Creek Indian Reservation, you guys have that culture, which is great because now you attract more people, more overachievers like Heather. to come and work for that organization. So that is another benefit of having this program and personal development for your

team.

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start thinking about it cuz you're gonna go through it.

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I love it.

it plants that seed and then, I come in and I say, if anybody talks to you about Dream Manager, embrace it.

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change

your life.

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Obviously, our mission is to get it into the hands of as many leaders and organizations as possible. So you're helping us fulfill our mission here at Floyd. So thank you so much for all that you do, and I'm just happy that you love the program and just to hear the impact that it's had on your life.

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appreciate you so much.

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I have it all planned out and I've had this dream since day one. And so I've been working on it almost three years.

I've got two more years.

I will be there,

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I see you there. I can envision it. I can see it. that reminds me of, one of my favorite Matthew Kelly quotes where he says, we, overestimate what we can accomplish in a year and underestimate what we can achieve in a decade.

And I love that you have that.

Five year you've been working towards it because, the day-to-day stuff can get hard. But when we have that dream and we see that vision for our three, five year plus plan, it encourages us every day to remember that. Yeah. it's those little things every day and now all of a sudden you're like, wait a second.

And Heather, you're gonna wake on and be like, I'm on the safari. Like, how did that happen?

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years from this month.

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And it makes sense, right? Because when you start to interact with your people in a different way and you start to ask them about their dreams, they show up at work differently. And that's what people experience. And it happens time and time again with everybody that we work with. Because this program was really created and designed to roll out.

Simply, effectively, we can teach anybody that cares about their people to be a great dream manager and to really help their people thrive, which obviously helps their organization thrive as well. So if you are interested in learning more about the Dream Manager program and if it's something that would really work within your organization As long as you show up and put in the work, it absolutely will. If you're interested in learning more, please go to the dream manager.com. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We so appreciate you and until next time, lead with culture.