Hey Friends, it’s XayLi Barclay introducing you to our first 2021 podcast where I’ll be telling you where I currently am, and how I got here. 

For starters, 2020 has been a crazy year. 

I know that if you’re reading this, it’s crazy for you as well. I don’t have to go too deep into that, but even though this year has been crazy, I have such a clear vision for the first time, This year, I had clarity in what I want to accomplish in the next five years.

But, here’s a little bit more about me and how I got here.

I am in Dallas, Texas but I was born in Trinidad and Tobago. I am from Trinidad, which is a tiny island in the Caribbean, and I came to the U.S. on a scholarship. So I came to the US to go to college and I was 18 years old at that time. Since then, I lived in New York forever. 

Now I’ll tell you, New York is my favorite city. I absolutely love it, but I left New York because I needed a change. I needed a huge change because I was two years into building my business full-time and. 

New York has a lot going on. Anxiety in New York is on 1000 just because it’s New York City. And I remember that I asked one of my students in my Start Shoot Grow Academy, “what is Dallas like?”, and she said “XayLi, it’s nothing like New York”,  meaning “girl, do not come to Dallas”. 

But, I did come to Dallas. I had never been to Texas, but I knew that I needed a change. In 30 days I found an apartment and signed a 16- month lease, and I moved. Coming to Dallas definitely was a game-changer for me. However, I didn’t realize that I was going to be away from my friends, family, and everything that I knew.

I was so hungry for change, for something new, for focus. 

Being alone, allowed me to redefine what I wanted. I was able to dig deep into myself, through meditation, through journaling, through so many things.

And so many of those things I’m bringing back into 2021 because they helped me figure out who I was. 

I made the leap. I was fearless because I wanted to change. And I got to Dallas without realizing what I had done until I got here.

And so when it got really lonely, which was just not normal for me because I enjoy being by myself a lot, I read in my downtime. By that time, I was reading Think and Grow Rich, a black choice by Dennis Kimbro. 

Elevation Requires Isolation 

One thing that I got out of that book and it was plain as day is that elevation requires isolation and that you can’t grow until you leave home until you leave what you know, and until you leave, what is familiar to you?

You will never grow until you do something like that. That’s when I realized I made the right decision to move to Dallas. I’m not asking you to move to Dallas and leave all of your family and friends, but sometimes doing something way outside of our comfort zones just brings the most rewards. Not even sometimes. It definitely brings the most rewards. 

Write down something that you want to do that is completely outside of your comfort zone and think about what it would be like to actually do that. 

So, we’re moving into 2021. I have so much clarity. It’s just probably human nature for us to want to reset for January 1st, and I have been in organization mode for the past two weeks.

I have been revamping all of my systems,  looking at my website with a side-eye. I think it’s just innately in us or it’s probably intuition and we know that the new year is coming and we want a fresh start. I’ve been just working on mindset, organization, and just being intentional with all that I am.

How I got here, and what I’m doing right now. 

For the new year, I am definitely going 100% into the start shoot, grow video Academy. I’m so excited about that.

I have been working so hard bringing you guys new, fresh content. If you’re on YouTube, you can see how much we’ve been doing there. It has been absolutely amazing. And I think that one thing that I did when I moved to Dallas was that I didn’t give myself room for a plan B. 

We’re looking for everything to work out instantly, and that’s just not how things happen. When I think about my move from New York City to Dallas, I moved with the intention to never move back to New York City because I knew that I wanted a change and I wanted more out of my career out of my life, out of myself.

And. I didn’t have a plan B. I uploaded videos when I first moved to Dallas and people said “Oh my gosh, XayLi, like how’s the job market?” And I didn’t know because I just doubled down on my business. 

But there is no plan B and because my desire to win is so strong. I’m so confident and so excited about just serving new people and giving, and changing the world because that’s what this is all about. I am excited because I’m looking toward the future.

Look towards the future

I just want to encourage you to look towards the future. Try to understand what you want out of your next season. I think I’m going through all of this because it’s a new season. It’s a clean slate again. 

So many doors opened since I moved. So, I’m encouraging you wherever you are, if you’re looking for a real shift in your life, you need to start shifting yourself. You need to make moves so that those moves can then open up. 

Take care.

Xo, 

X