Freedom FastTrack Podcast

As promised during the first episode, Alex Charfen returns to the Total Freedom Podcast for more insights on the Entrepreneurial Personality Type.

00:32

Chris: -- the first session, I’ve had so much good feedback. As I was just sharing offline with you. People have wrote in saying; “I’m an Entrepreneur Personality Type!” “I get the momentum thing!”, “I get having goals! I’m with you on that, and I want to quit my—“ I’ve had people, man, say, “I want to quit my job. I gotta get started.” “I’ve never heard anyone share it like Alex did.” And I have to feel the same way, man. I mean, you’re so spot-on in your group on Facebook – which, everyone, will be on the shownotes, because you all need to go and get in that group (click here!) – and you’re so on-point understanding the few of us, I think, that really think this way.

01:20 – Catch-Up Round; Where is Alex Now, and What Has he Been Up To?

Alex: Absolutely. Yeah. So Chris, you know, I think you – as an entrepreneur – sometimes you get to a place where, where kinda everything accelerates, but you don’t feel like you’re in that pressed rush or anxiety-type state, you know. And I think that’s where I am. I’m in this really intense new place where business is growing, the attention has gone through the roof, and the effect that we’re having is the effect I want to have, and I think that that makes it very centering and calming.

01:51

Alex: But man, there’s been some exiting stuff. You know, I got to speak with Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis. Just recently, I was up in Canada. I did – Robin Sharma, it was his event. He invited me.

03:29 – On Being Coachable

Chris: You’re doing great in business. And I look at it, and I look up to you, because I don’t think my business is where yours is at. And I look, and I go, ‘That is awesome.’ I look at the impact. And then, you get on this call, and the first thing you show is that you’re still coachable. That you’re still looking up to other people. And I love that, because I feel as though that shows me how you’ve got to where you are, and how you’re gonna go so big. Because I see a lot of people who are nowhere near as big a business as yours or even mine, and they won’t talk up or share who they are so inspired to go and learn from, so … thank you for that, man.

Alex: Yeah, my pleasure. My pleasure. You know Chris, it’s crazy, because I go to these events and I get to go because I’m speaking. And I watch so many speakers come in and out – and there’s some events I don’t stay for, like, when it’s just internet marketing, or something like – that’s someone else on my team, right?

Alex: It’s Jack who speaks on Nutrition and Physiology in a way that just changes your life. Greg Wells has coached three Olympic teams. Sally Hogshead is like an institution in herself. She knows how to tell people, like, how to find their magic, and she’s amazing. And if you can’t get excited about going to an event and learning from people like that, you’re lost.

Chris: Uh-huh.

Alex: You know? Because, for me, too, now at this stage of the game – for so many years I went, and I was a member of the audience. Now I’m a member of the team. And so, I don’t just get to go watch, I get to go meet and understand and learn from. Dude, I was there every day. I took pages of notes.

05:16 – First Episode Flashbacks

Chris: I know last time, we talked about pressure and noise – a lot – and getting rid of that. We also talked about what an Entrepreneur Personality Type was, and you just put me through it, man!

Alex: Yeah!

Chris: For those who want to see me being coached, go check that out! Because Alex just –

Alex: [laughing]

Chris: -- he just smothered me in; “Chris, are you this?” “Are you that?” and I loved it! I got off the call going; “I am! I love momentum. I love having goals!”

06:04

Alex: I’ll give you, like, the two-and-a-half-minute pitch, right? So our organization has discovered, and we’ve written the archetype – I’m holding it right here – there’s … we wrote this book. There’s 500 in circulation, there will only ever be 500 in circulation. But we wrote this book about the Entrepreneurial Personality Type.

06:25 – What is the Entrepreneurial Personality Type?

Alex: We have a framework that shows that we are different. And we believe – and I can prove – that we are a sub-population that’s been overlooked by science, that has been existent throughout history, has been present – and has been misunderstood. And we are physiologically sensitive, cognitively aware, and chemically reliant on momentum. And the world tells us things that show that they don’t know who are. Because when you tell someone who’s reliant on momentum to sit down, or to stop, or to shut up, or to stop asking questions – all you do is provide constraint so that they can’t see.

Chris: Uh-huh.

Alex: And the fact is that – when I say we’re different, I mean we are different. And reality is, is most of society’s systems are structured in a way that – it’s not that they don’t support us. It’s that they damage us. They harm us.

Chris: Right.

07:22

Alex: So entrepreneurs are the most important people throughout history. And human evolution has been caused, actively and proactively, singularly, by entrepreneurs.

Chris: Mm-hmm.

Alex: It’s the only force, other than nature, that has caused the proactive evolution of people.

07:56 – EPT’s … Us Against Them

Alex: The problem is, we are so sensitive to constraint that it causes us physical problems, it causes us cognitive problems, and we know it causes us chemical problems. And there’s all kinds of symptoms that look like all kinds of labels up to, and including, suicidal ideation and thought.

Chris: Right.

Alex: And so, sometimes when I talk about the EPT, people say; “Hey. You make it sound like it’s us against them.”

Alex: I want to make it clear; it’s us against them.

08:23

Chris: It’s literally like you read my life story when you talk about it. My business, obviously, and the podcast Total Freedom – people just can’t get their head around it a lot of times; why this is frickin’ freedom to me. Why, 2 in the morning last night, I am up writing goals because I got challenged on my brand and my messaging, and to go bigger. And they’re going; “Why?” You know, “Go spend time with your family or go hang out!” And I go; “I tried that!”

08:59

Alex: … for someone to be up at two o’clock in the morning writing their goals. It’s not self-fulfilment. It’s not; “I’m going to grandiose myself.” It’s not driven by something within is, because here’s the thing: we know that driven within us doesn’t get us up at two in the morning.

Chris: Mm-hmm.

Alex: I know that the reason you are up is, you were writing about the contribution you intend to make. The change you intend to have, and the effect you intend to create. We are driven – basely, foundationally, emotionally, everything, spiritually – by contribution.

09:35 – MLM Versus EPTs

Chris: That’s – that’s the other thing. And I thought about this, and I just remembered it, man. There’s a reason why – and this is just for me, personally – there’s a reason why Multi-Level Marketing and Direct Selling never got me. And I’ll tell you why, and here’s why; because all they would say to me is; “You’re gonna make this much passive income.”

Alex: Yeah! Yeah.

Chris: And it just – and I’ve never said this before in my life, but it literally – physically, I was like … “great!” You know –

Alex: Yeah!

Chris: “Wow. I’m good at making money already … yeah.” Like, it was like it literally bounced off me because it wasn’t what I wanted to share. And I remember, about a year-and-a-half ago, making this conscious choice not to be involved or not to look at those things anymore because they just – and same with other things, like property and other things like shares.

Alex: Yeah.

Chris: They never got me.

Alex: Yeah. Because it’s different for everyone, right?

Chris: Right! Right.

Alex: And, here’s what I’m hearing, right? So, like, this stuff that doesn’t create an effect, that doesn’t create an outcome, that you don’t see that greater need … it doesn’t even get you excited, right?

Chris: No.

10:44 – The Challenges All EPT Face

Alex: First, we’re called all kinds of crap. Like, you know that your confusion has been mistaken for anger. And you know that for most of your life, like many entrepreneurs, you’ve been told you don’t feel right.

Alex: And here’s what I mean by that, you know. You’ve heard it like this: “Chris, um. You shouldn’t be so intense.”

Chris: [bursts out laughing]

Alex: Right? Hey, Chris – be more intense.

Chris: Right.

Alex: “Um, Chris?” – and you tell me; how many times have you heard: “Why don’t you share your feelings?”

Chris: Aw, man. Um … I only have one feeling. [laughs]

Alex: [laughs]

11:24

Alex: For us, the confusion is – primarily and centrally – around the way the rest of the world lives. We don’t understand what motivates them, because for us; momentum. Moving forward. It’s the only thing that matters, and that looks like going towards your greatest contribution.

11:41 – The Contribution Equation – A 4-Step Equation That is the Meaning of Life

Alex: So there’s a 4-Step Equation that we teach people like us, because this is really how we get there. The first step is; we lower pressure and noise.

Alex: So Chris, you tell me man; have you had the recognition from most of your life that you have more pressure and noise than those around you?

Chris: Recognition for myself, or others?

Alex: Yeah. For yourself.

Chris: Uh, I … dude. I, uh – [chuckles] Here we go again, guys!

Alex: [laughs]

Chris: When I was seven years old, I was waking up at six in the morning and shooting a thousand shots before school because the only thing that mattered to me was making the NBA.

Alex: There you go.

14:22

Alex: So the second step is this; you ask for protection and support. Here’s what I want everyone to hear – Entrepreneurial Personality Types learn almost nothing standing still, and very little alone.

Chris: Mm-hmm.

Alex: So build a team, join a team, and go fast. Because regardless of where you are in your life, building a team, joining a team, having contribution, working like this! You know, you’ve recruited me to be your extended team.

Chris: [laughs]

Alex: Right? You contacted me and said, “Hey, will you do this, this podcast?” and I’m like, “Heck yeah! That’s a lot of exposure, and I love your style – let’s do this!” So that’s mutual protection and support.

15:30 – Proof: When EPTs get Protection and Support, Strengths and Abilities Show

16:09 – EPT’s are Driven By?

Alex: Here’s what drives every entrepreneur in the world: contribution. But we never state it out loud, early in our careers. We never say, “I just want to do this to make a difference.” Instead, we go and chase all kinds of different things.

Alex: And the fact is that business that make a difference, that make a contribution, that change people’s lives – like Apple and Facebook and Google, the ones that connect people, transform communities – are the most profitable … and also make the greatest contribution.

16:37 - The Full Contribution Equation

Alex: And so the equation is simple: lower pressure and noise, ask for and increase protection and support, strengths and abilities will show, and you can make your contribution.

18:29 – Recognition in an EPT’s Life

Alex: So here’s what’s interesting, Chris. There’s this place where, if you have recognition, life can change. Because for most of our lives as EPT’s, we were running away from something. You went to basketball because it was the alternative to what was in the present. Because if there was something more exciting in the present, you would have done that.

Chris: Uh-huh.

Alex: And most of our alternatives are based on where we go, because we don’t want to be here. And even those of us who build really successful business often do that – running away from our past.

Alex: But there’s this place where if you lower pressure and noise, you increase protection and support, you really get to that place where, as an Entrepreneurial Personality Type you know who you are, and you are transparent with the people around you strengths and abilities show – and when I talk about contribution, it shifts.

21:05 – Obsession

Alex: Okay, you know what?

Chris: What?

Alex: You’re brilliant, man. I want to do this, and I don’t think I’ve done this on a podcast. But I want to share with you about why I think guys like you and I are driven like this. So check this out – when you were younger, and you started going, you couldn’t turn it off anymore, right?

Chris: [laughs]

Alex: Right? Can – can you turn it off now?

Chris: I just wrote – before you asked me that, I wrote the one thing that I want to ask Alex, is about [holds up notebook] obsession.

Alex: -- it’s obsession!

22: 07

Alex: -- and the fact is, we’re driven in a way that’s different from most. And, so, you tell me if this relates, Chris. Haven’t you been on the hunt your whole life?

Chris: Of course.

Alex: Right? I mean, it relates, right? And when I say, like – you tell me. As soon as you reach that objective you’re hunting, that thing that’s over the horizon – as you cross through it, doesn’t it lose significance?

Chris: Aw-! Absolutely! Absolutely. Like –

Alex: -- at the same time?

Chris: It – it’s though – “okay, that’s done, now what?”

Alex: Right!

Chris: You know, best-selling book was exciting until it was best-selling. And then it was – now it’s there, and that’s great.

23:33 – The Sub-Population: Hunters

Alex: Let’’s line up the sub-population, right? Remember how I said we’re a sub-population? So in every species, there’s a sub-population that hunts. And you look at, like, ants – there’s the ones that hunt. You look at animals, there’s the ones that hunt. Like, you tell me; doesn’t it make sense that there’s a sub-population, in human beings, that is driven to get up in the morning and contribute to the tribe.

Chris: Uh-huh.

Alex: That is driven obsessively and compulsively to create an outcome like ‘killing food so we can all stay alive.’

Chris: Uh-huh.

Alex: And driven so much, that as they mature and become wise, they want to turn around and give the wisdom back to everyone else, so that the tribe can keep going.

Chris: Uh-huh.

Alex: We’re hunters. And evolutionarily, we have all the chemicals, all the buttons, all the triggers, that hunters have. And the fact is that if you spent a career hunting in any tribe, maybe you should just be around hunters.

26:45 – Chris: “The thing I really wanted to touch on was; hunters should be surrounded by hunters.”

Chris: How do people get in touch with you?

27:13

Alex: So Chris, you know, we’ve got this Facebook group that we put up, that’s free. And there’s a shortcut to it, it’s; We Are EPT.com . It’s a free resource, I put a lot of videos there, there’s incredible discussion there. And then you can go to charfen.com

29:41 – Chris: “I might have to just keep getting you on this show, man.”

Chris: Every time I talk, I’ve got, like, a page of questions that I want to just keeping asking you – mainly, listeners, for my own self-benefit. [laughs]

Alex: [laughs]

Alex: Well Chris, we’ve gotta get you out here to an event, man!

Chris: Yeah! Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s do that.

30:21 – Alex Leave’s the Listeners With This:

Alex: You know, for anyone out there who has ever felt like you’re different, or you’re a party of one, or you’re – you know; alone. I want you to know that … that’s okay. Society’s systems have conspired against us, to convince us we’re alone. And at no time were we ever encouraged or even shown how unique and how special we are. And the very fact that you’re here, listening, you want to contribute and you feel like you’re different – makes you part of the most exclusive club in history. Because when you read the biographies of anyone who did anything significant in history? They were like us. And they felt the same way.

Alex: So, for anyone who’s felt that way, regardless of what pressure and noise you have in your life, there is nothing wrong with you, and you are not alone.

Alex’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm7h9ePRONYnfrPmLWAq2Lw

Alex’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acharfen

Alex’s Website: http://www.charfen.com/

The EPT Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eptgroup/

 

CEO and Best-Selling Author + Speaker Cherie Aimee has experienced the afterlife. 20 years ago, she flatlined in a hospital and doctors were unable to revive her for 90 minutes. She was dead, came back, and has since lived her life completely changed, completely free, and without boundaries or limitations.

 

00:54 – Chris introduces the guest, Cherie Aimee, calling her “a little bit of a miracle” and “a blessing”. Here’s why.

01:40 – Cherie Aimee – who is she? What does she do? What’s she about? Known as ‘The Afterlife TV Girl’, Cherie gives us a short and sweet version of her story thus far. 20 years ago, at the height of Cherie’s success in her career, she flatlined. Up to that point, she had just become a sought-after tech programmer after fifteen years of working her way up. She was travelling the country and earning six figures. She had just started her own business which immediately exploded with 12 clients – including her first six-figure client. Shortly after that, her heart just gave out. On that day, her husband drove her to the emergency room because she wasn’t feeling well. Five minutes later, she flatlined in his arms.

04:55 – “What happened next?” Doctors tried to revive her unsuccessfully. 90 minutes and her heart would not restart. They were ready to call it were it not for one person who kept ordering them to keep trying – he turned out to be her local cardiologist. He instructed them to continue CPR while he installed a device that would bypass her heart to get oxygen to her brain. At this point, she’s 90 minutes in. Brain damage was a very real possibility at this point. They were able to sustain her for a few more hours, but there was no denying that she was dead. She was brought to one of the top hospitals in New York and her husband gave them permission to perform open-heart surgery – a surgery that lasted 14-16 hours. 7 days later, she woke up from her coma.

08:21 – Unfortunately, she was unable to communicate that she was awake to the other people in the room, and their procedures were putting her back under coma. She remembers feeling so mad and frustrated.

08:43 – “I died! I just died. Don’t put me back under again. I don’t want to die again. I might not come back.”

08: 51 – She was then put in a coma for another 2 months. It was another 4 months before her heart completely started on its own again. However, she needed a bionic device installed – a LVAD – Left Ventricular Assist Device – to help it along. The LVAD sustained her life until she was listed on the transplant list.

10:23 – “A lot of the strength that people see in me now, and my resilience, is literally from fighting for my life for five years.”

12:02 – What did she really start to understand about life? We are living life completely wrong, she says. Cherie stands by five things: ethics, integrity, loyalty, love, and community. Other than that, she boldly states that she plays by no rules. No rules, no boundaries. “There’s nothing I can’t do. There’s nothing I’m not allowed to say. There’s no cap to any amount of money I can make. I have no limitations.”

15:38 – What message do we need to get out there for people who know that they’re sacrificing their truth? For people who are still constricted in limitations? That is the biggest mistake you could make in your life, Cherie says simply. The biggest. “If you think you’re doing anybody a service by putting your dreams, your passions, your purpose for living your life on the backburner – you’re just dead wrong.” She doesn’t mean to scare anyone, but in the end; “You will face it. You will have to answer to yourself … and it will be the most painful thing you will ever have to experience, if you don’t follow your purpose.”

17:41 – How do we do that? How do we become so vulnerable and in our truth? How do we step into our purpose? (without dying, of course!)

20:42 – “So, it’s end of story. I’m going full steam, straight ahead, in full authenticity, full in my heart. Whether it’s broken one day because it’s so open, that’s alright. I clean myself up, I dry off my tears, and I keep going, keeping it open. I keep it open no matter what. It never shuts down. I will not experience that again.”

22:32 – Her #1 Best-Seller: “How to Rock an LVAD Like a Fashionista: Ten Tips to Finding the Perfect Bag for your Left Ventricular Assist Device”

26:49 – Cherie leaves the listeners with this: “Although it feels like such a risk to be so authentic to the world, I have never received back so much love and abundance in life other than just taking that risk to just be authentically me, and to just keep my heart open 24/7.”

To find out more about this Miracle Women, check out her social media:

https://www.facebook.com/Afterlife-Girl-TV-811642355600705/

https://twitter.com/afterlifegirltv

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCotlKnUFq6h_guKiXQASO-g

https://www.facebook.com/xocherieaimee

https://www.periscope.tv/cherieaimee

http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Fingerprints-Impressions-Death-Experiences/dp/1910121053 God’s Fingerprints: Impressions of Near-Death Experiences. Her story there will be blown up into a full-length book which she plans to release sometime this year, 2016.

Russell Brunson is a legend in internet and online marketing. He started his first online company while wrestling at Boise State University. Within a year of graduating, he had sold over a million dollars’ worth of his own products and services from his basement! For over 12 years now Russell has been starting and scaling companies online. He is a best-selling author, owns a software company (ClickFunnels), a supplement company, a coaching company (DotComSecrets), and is one of the top super affiliates in the world.

Read more about him here: http://blog.dotcomsecrets.com/hey-my-name-is-russell-brunson/

Or visit his coaching company website: https://dotcomsecrets.com/welcome

Check out Russell’s Podcast: Marketing In Your Car http://marketinginyourcar.com/subscribe-now

Or his software company: https://www.clickfunnels.com/

Points of Discussion:

00:25 – Podcast Guest Introduction: Your host, Christopher Duncan, introduces the special guest for Total Freedom’s First 2016 Episode

02:25 – Russell Brunson shares his story: what prompted him to look into internet marketing? What did he hope to achieve? What was his strategy for online success?

03:56 – Why Modelling Made Sense

05:29 – How Important is the Online Space for People Looking to Create Freedom?

09:21 – Before his stint with online marketing and online entrepreneurship, Russell was already familiar with the concept of leverage. How did he come across it, and why does it make sense? How does leverage work?

11:11 – The Job Experience that convinced Russell that trading time for money is NOT the way to go

14:52 – Athletes Turned Businessmen: From one athlete to another, Chris asks Russell how the athlete mindset gives them an advantage in business and entrepreneurship

18:40 – Marketing Testing: 90 Percent Won’t Work, 10 Percent Will. What To Do With the 10 Percent?

23:14 – How important is modelling and mentorship?

25:22 – Russell shares his insights on where the future of internet marketing is headed

31:40 – Entrepreneurs and Focus

 

Full Transcript:

 

Chris: Welcome to the Total Freedom Podcast with your host Christopher Duncan and today is such a special day. I’m here with Russell Brunson who is, as you know, an absolute legend when it comes to online marketing and building sales funnels online. He’s the founder of ClickFunnels, which you guys have heard me talk about over and over and over again. And I know a lot of you out there that listen to this know that I travel a lot and know that my whole thing’s about freedom. And just before I started, I said to Russell: “You know, I don’t want to travel with a lot of books.” And before I had the interview – I’m travelling! I only got the notification we’re going to do this show like three or four days ago. So I went, “You know, it would be really cool if I had one of his books so I could kind of hold it up. And so, I found the first book. And I say the first one because, as I started talking about it, I told Harriet, my wife, who pulls out the second copy of it.”

Russell: [laughs]

Chris: And for all my listeners, when I teach you Sales Funnels and I show you how to do things – I mean, a lot of it has come down to what Russell has done. I’ve bought a lot of his programs and stuff. And I just wanted to show you guys; in this book, it doesn’t matter which page I go to; there’s a highlighted section and there’s notes sticking out of there – it’s a good business plan on a napkin – and everything in there, so [voices overlap]

Chris: Thank you so much for getting on this show, Russell, and it’s such a pleasure to have you here. So everyone, make sure that you listen up to whatever this man says and follow him and do it right. Other than that, Russell’s the founder of ClickFunnels – which we do everything on – and so, mate, it is so good to have you on the show.

Russell: Thanks for having me. I’m excited to be here, and I appreciate you letting me share all this cool stuff with your audience. It’s always fun for me.

Chris: Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Chris: And I know – I mean, there’s a lot of people that will know you but maybe not as many of them know you and your whole story and those sort of things so maybe we can just start off with you kind of filling in your story and getting into it to where you are today

Russell: Yeah, sure! You know I, I got started doing this business almost 12 years ago now, which is funny because people always tell me I look like I’m eleven so I’ve been doing this from the womb. [laughs] I was in college and my wife was working. I was trying to figure out how to make some money because I was also a wrestler and I wanted to keep wrestling for my university. So I just jumped online, just trying to figure out how to make money. As most people know there’s the – you know, [when you go on the internet] with that goal, there’s a whole bunch of stuff you have to get through [before] you find out how to actually do it. It took me about eighteen months of just, I don’t even know what I was doing. Selling stuff on eBay and Craigslist and signing up for pansy schemes and who knows what else I was doing. And nothing was working. And then, about 18 months in, I realized it really wasn’t that hard. You just had to figure out a cool product people wanted, figure out some way to sell it, and getting people to show up and see that thing. And that was kind of the beginning of it. So I started creating little products. I created a potato gun product. I created these little software products and I was just kind of looking at what other people that were successful, what they were doing. I just kind of modelled it. I remember there was this dude named Armand Morin, and he used to sell stuff – he had a very distinct way he sold everything. Like, they all looked the same. And I’d buy every one of his products. And I had my first software product – his were all softwares – I just like … I copied as close as I could. I remember he had these banner ads on top of his site and it was pictures of him in a suit and tie, so I went and got a suit and tie, got a picture of myself and I put it on top of my banner ads as well. [laughs]

Russell: I just modelled as close as I could because I knew he was making millions. I’m just, like; “I’m going to just model everything he did,” and that’s how I started launching these little products. Just finding people that were doing cool things and modelling them. And that was, again, ten or twelve years ago. And since then, we’ve sold almost everything you can dream of, from supplements to dating advice to weight loss to internet marketing software, and just a whole bunch of things in between. And it’s just been the most amazing ride of my life. I never thought that when I started searching for those kinds of things where it would lead, but it’s just been … amazing, and it’s just been so much fun to get to meet entrepreneurs like you and, you know, just people and hang out and share ideas. It’s been a huge blessing for me. It’s been awesome.

Chris: Yeah. And that’s one of the things that I love about you so much; it’s that you’re nearly as obsessed or probably just as much obsessed as I am about this stuff because it is … it’s so much fun. It’s so much fun. Just to get it working and to watch your business. I mean, I guess the one thing that I truly love about what you’ve done with ClickFunnels and your book is you’ve taken this complex thing and you’re so great at just making things so simple. I mean, you even called it “the simple webinar”. You make things so simple, right? And I think a lot of times that’s so necessary because everyone’s out there kinda … you know, they’re struggling in this complex, digital – like, “I need this, and this, and this” and then it’s just: out pops ClickFunnels and you can just – this is it!

Russell: [laughs]

Chris: You know, it’s so good! So, obviously we talk a lot about Freedom. And for us, what freedom means is the opposite of sacrifice. So, for me, I still love working and I love building businesses and doing things because that’s what I would do if money’s not an object. And so we talk a lot about Freedom on this show. So I’d love to ask you how important the online space is to anybody wanting to create their freedom.

Russell: Yeah. It’s interesting because I actually – just this weekend – had a conversation with my son’s eye doctor. So my son’s got [kind of a lazy eye] and so he [wears glasses to] correct it and he’s got this eye doctor that’s helping him. He’s doing these cool exercises and all these things to make it better. And he was asking me what I was doing, we were sharing back and forth, and he’s like; well, for someone like me, how would I usually do it? I was like, “Tell me what works right now.” He says; “Okay. We get a client in, they pay $5000 for a nine-month program, and every day for the next nine months they come in and they go through all these exercises. And nine months from now, their eyes are strengthened.” And I was like; “How many clients could you possibly get through your doors if you just maxed it all out?” And he was telling me so I kinda did the math. I’m like; “Okay, so you’re telling me it would be physically impossible for you to make more than … whatever that number was.” He was like; “Yeah, I don’t know how I could.” And I was like; “Dude, why don’t you just go and take this amazing skill you have, set up a video camera, spend three days, record yourself teaching the whole thing, throw up a website, and then go on vacation! And then people can buy this product, it ships to their house, they go through it – you do the work once, and you’re paid for it over and over and over again.” And he’s like; “Well, I don’t think that would work.” It does work! [laughs] We’re doing this every single day! He’s like;
“Well, people in my profession would look down on me.”

Chris: Uh-huh.

Russell: I’m like; “Who cares about people in your profession?” The problem now is that we’re so used to – our society’s into this whole thing where we trade time for money, right? So everyone has, like, their dollar. How much they make an hour and we’re trading. We’re handing this thing off. When we start understanding the internet and the leveraging that comes with it … like, it completely breaks out of that. You’re not bound by that anymore. Example; we did a Periscope last Thursday. This is ridiculous, right? And like, last minute, I’m like; oh, my new Periscope. And I had a thing we were selling, so I – I didn’t have time to make a webinar or anything, so I just got out my whiteboard and I mapped out like the perfect webinar script. I just, like – on the whiteboard real quick, we opened up Periscope, and we started doing it. And I spoke for 22 minutes on this Periscope. Did a $150,000 in sales.

Chris: [laughs]

Russell: It’s ridiculous! And then I went home and hung out with my kids for the rest of the day, and – you know, it’s just ridiculous when you start understanding how leverage works. Where it’s not you having to trade time for hours. It’s you create something, and then you create a system to sell that – that pulls you completely outside of it. And that’s when you get the freedom you’re talking about.

Chris: Totally. Totally, man. I mean, for me, it was sitting on a beach in Thailand. I did a ninety minute webinar and at the end of it, I had – way less than you’re turn, I had $13,000 and I went; I’m sitting on the beach, this is crazy. And you know –

Russell: [laughs]

Chris: -- that led me to this journey to, you know, keep building them out and I think … one thing that I hear a lot from people when they hear it, they kinda get this: well, that’s good for you, but I can’t do it. Or, you know, people looking down on me. There’s always this story or reason why they didn’t do it, and I mean – I know your story. Where you started – and you’re in college and you got someone else to basically make the product, and you just launched it. I mean, for the people out there who are still kind of in that space, maybe, where they’re going: “$150,000 in 20 minutes? That sounds awesome but I make that in three years.” You know? What would you suggest or – actually, before that; what’s your story? You know, when you were back at the beginning – when you started – I know it already, but would you tell the listeners how you kind of got your first wins and how you started into this field?

Russell: How far back do you want me to go? To the beginning beginning?

[overlapping laughter]

Russell: It’s actually – you know, three seconds: I’ll grab it and you guys can see what – wait –

Chris: Yeah?

Russell: -- because this is, like, an artefact. Let me grab it. It’s like we’re in a museum. [moves offscreen, voice fades]

Chris: That’s awesome, man. [beat of silence] We’re in a museum.

Russell: [voice fades back in] Alright, so I wish I could, uh, fr – I should frame these. But anyway. So I was … I think I was fourteen or fifteen years old and my, uh – you know, at nighttime, infomercials come on, right? So, my dad, he was watching the news and I was laying on the couch watching with him. And usually, at the end of the news, he’s like ‘get to bed’. But he didn’t, he was working and forgot I was there. And then like, after that, Mash came on and it was playing and all of a sudden this infomercial popped up! And there was this dude named Don Lapre who jumped up talking about buying and selling classified ads. And he was like just jumping around [talking about] how much money he was making and I was watching it and my eyes were like this big. I’m like; are you kidding? I look over at my dad and he’s not even noticing. I’m like –

Chris: Mm-hmm.

Russell: And I remember he told – this Don Lapre guy – he told a story. He said that he had a … he created this little info product – I think it was about mortgages or something – and he put a classified ad out and it made 30 dollars. And he said he was all excited. He told his friends and his family and they all kinda laughed at him like; sweet, you made thirty bucks. But what he understood – and what they didn’t – is the power of leverage. So he ended up taking that same ad and he ran it out over a thousand different newspapers. He was averaging $30,000 dollars a week coming in from this one little tiny classified ad. And I was listening to that and it just made so much sense to me. I was like; why … ? You know, those things were just – it was eye-opening to me. It just made perfect sense. And so he was selling his kit for forty bucks. I still have the whole thing, like; how to do 1-900 numbers and –

[overlapping laughter]

Russell: Anyway, it’s kind of funny but that was like my intro as a twelve, thirteen, fourteen year old kid. I was just like; this is amazing.

Russell: So I went through that and I started trying to figure things out. And I still remember – I think I was fifteen or sixteen years old – I got my first job. And I think was getting paid five or six bucks an hour. And I remember just thinking: “Ugh, I gotta work a whole day and they give me, like; ‘here’s thirty bucks,’ and I’m like ‘aww’,”. [laughs] I remember I got called to go, uh – I was working at this garden shop and they had these trees. And they were like; “Hey, come over here and plant this tree.” And so, I went to go plant it [to help out]. And they had a work order and they – the company billed these guys like five or six thousand dollars to come and plant these trees. And I was like; this is going to be awesome, I’m gonna help them plant their [trees]. And I assumed I was going to get some of that since I did all the work. The owner, you know, he knows where he was at. And I was out there digging and planting this thing. And I got back to the office afterwards and I didn’t get anything. I was looking at the girl who was doing the front desk. She was, you know, sitting there, goofing off, reading a magazine all day and she made the same hourly rate that I did and I was killing myself. And they made four, five grand off my work. And I was just like … huh. And that was why I’ve never really had a job after that. Because I’ve never been so frustrated by that. I was just like; “this isn’t fair. I’m doing more. There’s got to be a better way to do it.” Anyway, I was young, so I kind of got ruined back then.

Chris: [laughs]

Russell: And then, just as I started growing up, I started trying to figure these things out. And one of my first products I ever sold was this DVD – I should probably have it on the shelf here somewhere too – teaching people how to make potato guns. And it was crazy because I was learning about internet marketing. I remember hearing all these people talking about stuff. And then – at the time, it was Spring Break here in my University. During Spring Break, we don’t have school, so I was goofing off making potato guns with my buddy. And I started thinking: I wonder if anyone else besides me is looking for information on potato guns? And I was like; that could be something. I know how to make those. I did a search back then – there were about 80,000 people out searching for potato gun plans and nobody was selling anything! So I put together this little DVD and some plans and I put it up online and just put these little ads out there and people started buying them. And it wasn’t like millions of dollars. But it was thirty, forty, fifty bucks a day just happening while I was sitting at school and going to college and wrestling and all these things, and I was like; this is it. I got to – I want to do that over and over and over again. That started the whole obsession with it. [chuckles]

Chris: And it was huge! From what I know, you went from that doing your Senior year over $250,000 while studying.

Russell: [laughing] Yeah. Yeah, I know. People thought it was so funny because I remember, um – I was wrestling and we had these guidance counsellors – all the athletes, all the student athletes, we know we’re not that smart – and so they kept coming. And she kept saying, like; “Russell, I need to have your resume.” I’m like, “I don’t need a resume.” She’s like; “No, you can’t graduate without a resume.” I was like, “I don’t have a resume. I don’t need a resume. I’m doing fine.” Like, [this is gonna] work out. And finally one of the coaches went up to her and he goes … [laughs] He goes, uh; “Hey, Anne Marie,” – her name’s Anne Marie – “Anne Marie, Brunson could buy you. Don’t worry about it. He’s gonna be fine.”

Chris: [laughs]

Russell: She’s like; What? And then they told her I had this business and was making all this money and they left me alone after that. Yeah, it’s just so backwards. It just didn’t make sense to anyone there, so. Anyway. [laughs]

Chris: It’s funny. And I still get those same looks. Like; what is that you actually do? Like, when I go to Christmas and I go home, and my family goes “You know, what do you actually do?” and I try to kind of explain that we’ve got this Dating Advice Business and then we’ve got this Juice Cleansing Business and – you know. I try to explain it, but they still don’t kind of get. They’re like “Oh, well, where are your offices?” and these sort of things. I’m like; “well, you know. It’s a computer and an iPhone and we’ve got this team in the Philippines.” And I just look at them going; what? And uh, I think –

Russell: [laughs]

Chris: [laughs] I’m so blessed as well. You know, conversations like these. However, I think there’s a mindset that we share. And I want to hear it from you a little bit. And I think it’s important for this listeners because I think a lot of people overestimate sports. And, you know, for me; I was semi-professional. And you, you know, second in the nation in high school, I believe and, you know, Top 14 when you’re at college. And I believe that there’s a mindset and, you know, there’s a lot around getting a good coach and mentorship and applying yourself. And I’m wondering what you think, you know. What do you think about the mindset that we have to go through to be athletes, and how that translates into business?

Russell: There’s a lot of them. And it’d be fun if there were actually books on it. There’s so many – I’d say one of the biggest ones for me is – so I was a wrestler. And, like, every time you step on the mat, there’s a good chance you’re going to lose. The other dude’s coming out and he’s prepared, you’re prepared. And, like, if you’re going to win you have to be okay with losing. Otherwise you’re so scared. Like “what if I lose?” “What if I lose?” “What if I lose?”

Chris: [laughs]

Russell: You’re so paranoid. So, let’s look at my career. You know, I did four years in high school, I did four years in college. Actually, five years in college. Plus I did an off-season. I mean, I probably – I probably stepped on a mat – I don’t know – five or six hundred times. Where I’d go out there knowing that I could lose but then just doing it because I’m having so much fun, I don’t even care. If I lose, that’s cool, right?

Chris: Yeah.

Russell: I think that’s given me the advantage? Because, like, a lot of people have never competed. So, like, I see this with my coaching groups all the time where people are like; they have an idea and then they’re so passionate. They go out there and start creating this thing. And then there’s all this internal fear, like; what if I put it out in the world [and people] don’t buy it? Or, what if – you know, all these things and they’re so afraid that they’ll put it out there, it doesn’t work, and their dream is gonna collapse. That’s fear. And so, for me, I think one reason I’ve had success is that I don’t – I’m not concerned about that? Like, I assume even today that half my projects are going to fail. I don’t even care. Like, unless I do them, I don’t know. Like, I had this awesome idea for this funnel two weeks ago that I – I swear, I was so excited, I just spent all this time and energy and I thought it was gonna just blow up. We promoted it and, uh. I think we made maybe a thousand bucks off of like five-thousand dollar adds. [laughs] It was like, so far from like, even getting close to being, like, a realistic thing. I was kinda like “aww bummed out.” But the cool thing is that nobody knew outside of me that it failed. Because it’s the internet! Like, as far as people know I sold a billion of them and we shut it down because we sold so well, you know.

Chris: [laughing]

Russell: I’m honestly not concerned about what other people think because, first off, they don’t know and, second off, I don’t care. It’s just like wrestling. If I’m going to win, I have to step on that mat. I have to be okay with losing. And I think that was one of my biggest lessons. And it’s something I always try to instil in my people. It’s like; you’ve got to be okay [with] losing. The coolest thing about being an entrepreneur – especially in America, and I’m sure it’s the same in other countries – but [the government is giving us support] So if you screw the whole thing up? You go bankrupt, you rattle paper, and then you start over from scratch. You’re going try again. The worst-case scenario is you’ve just got to start over. And so, might as well roll the dice and just see what happens?

Chris: And, you know, we’re lucky to get that upbringing. So, for me, basketball; well, if I lose this week, I’ve got next week. And if I lose that, I’ve got – you know, if I lose this season, I’ve got next season! And it’s putting out there in that mindset. Because I hear a lot of people; they want that perfection. And it’s just, it’s weird to me because – for me – it’s like, well, this is as good as I’m going to be and I’m going to go play. And I see that in what you do as well. You know, you’re always doing so much action and you’re always doing so many things. It’s absolutely inspiring. And you’re right, there should be a book on it. You know; What You Learn From Sport and How To Cross it Over.

Russell: It’s really cool. And one thing that I think is important to: you know, we start doing these, like, daily Periscope shows and daily podcasts and just putting out a lot of stuff. And my initial goal when I did it was because I wanted to see what people respond to. Like, the cool thing about Periscope is [you write a] little headline and you click a button and within, like, ten seconds, either people show up or they don’t. And you’re like; okay, that one wasn’t very good. Another one’s like – tons will come on! So we figure out really quick what people respond to and what they don’t. And I think a big part of that is – you know, Jeff Walker – last year, he won my contest and launched a book, and so – we gave him my Ferrari as the prize, was kinda cool – and he came and spoke at our event. And at the event, we talked about him. It was so cool. He said that, when he got started, he didn’t – his list had like eight people on. It was like his family, and then one guy from work, and he started messaging in it. Started slowly growing in it. Every day he’d send something out because he didn’t know what people liked or what they didn’t like. It was like he was just publishing, publishing. He was like; ‘what happened?’ Most of the stuff no one cared about. Um, a couple things, people kind of were interested. And some things, there was a lot of interest. So when there’s a lot of interest, he went back and just did more of that and less of everything else and then that becomes the new standard and you need more of that. So you find within there, like, what because more things are focusing there and it kind of grows. One of the guys in my inner circle group; he’s a really good blogger. I see him, like, he blogs every day and he posts it on Facebook.  And some of those blog posts just like, tank. Like, nothing. And then last week, he did one that had almost a million shares, or – no, a million – a million something, a million views – something crazy like that! – and like, he looked and was like; okay, that was the right message. Let’s do more of that because that one resonated. Same with YouTube videos. We had a new project with a girl that was [unintelligible]. She posted all these videos and no one cared. And one of them got, like, 1.2 million views.

Chris: Wow.

Russell: Okay, more of that! [laughs]

Chris: Yeah, yeah.

Russell: And I think that’s the big thing; just putting stuff out there? Like, ninety percent is going to fail, but with that ten percent? You go, okay, cool; more of that.

Chris: Right! And I love that because we’re looking at the market and going “Okay, what does the market want?” rather than what I hear so often is people going: ‘no, it’s got to be like this,’ and ‘this is perfect’ and then they put it out there and then it tanks. But they spent so much of their own energy, they’re so invested in it working, they’re like –

[voices overlapping]

Chris: Oh, yeah. I think perfection is a huge, huge, huge killer and so, you know, listeners; what I’m hearing from this right now is: get the market to tell you. I’m doing this in my videos, I’m doing this right now with the podcasts and periscopes. But I love that idea of really getting out there, figuring out what they want to hear, and then capitalizing on – you know, it’s kind of like the 80-20 rule, but multiplied like 95-5 or something.

Russell: Yeah.

Chris: Which is huge.

There was a cool thing that uh … we hired Neil Patel earlier this year to come out and consult us on his content strategy. And I just figured he was the prolific writer. Putting stuff out. And I figured that he was doing human research to see all this stuff, and he was like; nope. This is what I do: I go to Buzzsumo.com, I type in the word that I’m interested in, and I look at all of the blogposts. And Buzzsumo will show you, like; this one was shared 1.2 million times. This one was shared 5 – and he’s like; I find topics that people are already talking about, already sharing, and I write something that’s almost the same.

Chris: [laughs]

Russell: I’m like; that’s it? He’s like; yeah. Okay, so, no creativity goes into it? No keyword research? And he’s like; no. I just do what people are already writing, already sharing, and then I just write my own version of that. I jump into the conversations that they care about. I was like; that makes it so much simpler. I don’t have to be creative. I can just –

Chris: [laughs]

Russell: -- oh, that’s what they care about. It’s so cool.

Chris: It’s like, we’ve all heard of modelling and we’ve all done modelling and then we forget about it, and then he’s just like; no, it’s just modelling again man.

Russell: [laughs]

Chris: It’s the same thing. I just wrote that down because that’s something I didn’t know. Modelling has been huge. That’s basically it, right? You see what’s working and you capitalize on it.

Russell: Oh yeah.

Chris: I think mentorship and modelling is massive. How does that play a part for you? I see so many people trying to recreate the wheel.

Russell: [laughs]

Chris: And I just go; this is it. This isn’t working. And before I got on this, I did a Periscope. And I said, look, I’m about to go get Russell on. He’s basically way better and done it for a lot longer than I have, but it’s the same stuff! And it works. I love modelling, and I love getting the right mentors, and I love your stuff like crazy, but how has mentorship and modelling really played an impact on you and your journey?

Russell: Oh, it’s been huge from day one. I can show you, um … I try to have in every aspect of my life one active coach in each aspect of my life at all times. Because people are always a step ahead of you. So like, right now, I’ve got – you can call him a biohacking coach – whatever you want to call him – but someone who’s like hardcore in that? So I’ve got a coach there. Like, whatever level I’m at in any aspect of my life, I’m always trying to get more? So first step for me is always finding an active coach. One thing you can do really easily? If you go to clarity.fm. There’s a … this site has thousands of gurus in everything you can dream of. There’s dudes who have built up and sold hundred million dollar sass companies, right? And you go there, and you’re like; hey, I want to buy fifteen minutes of his time. And then you buy, and then his phone rings, and you pick it up, and you ask him anything you want for fifteen minutes!

Chris: Wow

Russell: For like a couple hundred bucks! And so, we went through there and, you know, we were looking for all the people we want to interview. Like, Mark Cuban is in there – and his is like crazy expensive – there’s all these people that have built up in companies and other industries as well but for me it’s like, people that built companies and you can come and just [pay per minute] to jump on the phone and just ask them your questions. ‘Who’s already done it? Let’s just – instead of trying to be smart, let’s just go; clarity.fm, pay a couple hundred bucks, call them on the phone, just ask his opinion.’ That will save you so much time. So much effort, you know? It’s awesome.

Chris: Yeah. Yeah! And it literally is the secret, secret, I think. I mean, surrounding yourself with the right people that are ahead of you and keep you moving is the thing that can get you there. So, out of all the questions that I got sent in to me. You know, I’m saying; hey, I’ve got Russell, I’ve got some time with him, and I get to ask him some questions, and – I bet you know the question, I bet you’ve been asked a lot of times – but I want to make sure that everyone … there’s about fifty people who asked the same thing.

Russell: Oh wow.

Chris: And here’s the question. They want to know; where do you think the future of internet and internet marketing is going?

Russell: Ah, interesting. That’s a good question. And I would say I think the biggest trend I’m seeing – and I was talking to one of our guys today about this – I look at how people sell stuff, right? The overarching concepts are the same. The scripts [are the same]. But I think that’s where the most change is happening. There’s always equal sales processing like that, but the biggest thing is how we sell. We started out initially with sales letters. And then it was like Tell Seminars. And then we went to webinars. And then went to Video Sales Letters. And then it’s like Sales Letters kind of resurfaced to do better. And then we went back to webinars. And then there are like Powerpoint Stuff – things like that. I think that where the future’s going in selling is more and more of, like, Virtual Reality. Not Virtual Reality, but like – Reality TV. I look at my Sales Processes. Even, like, three years ago, I spent so much time writing scripts and Powerpoint Videos and copy – all these kinds of things. Where nowadays, it’s way more like; let’s get a video camera and let’s show this experience that people are having, right? Like, earlier this year we flew down to New Zealand and Liz Benny, who’s a big ClickFunnels member, we filmed her lifestyle and what this tool has done to affect her life – and things like that. And I feel like the selling –

Chris: She’s from New Zealand, is she?

Russell: Yeah.

Chris: Cool.

Russell: I feel like selling is – people are just getting annoyed by it. It’s just getting harder and harder. [it works more when it’s] entertainment. It’s like Reality TV wrapped in like, here’s the offer at the end. And I think those people who embrace that will become good at, you know – not just making amazing videos but being good on video and understanding, like, how to speak right and, you know, be willing to sell. I really feel like that’s a big thing. And not just like you selling, but, um … using other people as – how do I say this right? – using other people’s stories as the sales tool, right? Like, five years ago, everyone was like; income claim, weight loss claim. Like, that was the big – like, it was just hardcore. And it converted, but then people got so sick of it. The actors didn’t even like it. Like, for example, when I launched our coaching company about two years ago, I didn’t just go like most people, like; “Hey, I’m an internet marketing coach! You should give me money.” I was like, I wanna prove that I actually know what I’m talking about and I can actually help people. And so, I found this dude online who – I love and respect what he does, his name is Drew Cannolli – and I was actually, at that time, going through this whole juicing thing, so I was juicing, I was following his stuff. And I was like; this dude is cool! But, well, from my marketer’s standpoint, I’m like; oh, there’s so many little things he could do that would be cool. And so anyway, he lived in San Diego and I was going to San Diego, and one of my friends was, like, a co-friend. So I was like; hey, can you introduce me to Drew? I’d love to meet him. And so they connected us and I went down and actually got to meet with him and just really hit it off. Like, really impressed with him and everything they’re doing. And I asked him at the end, like; “hey, do you mind if I come back like in a month from now and let me come work for you for free for a little while?” He was like; “what do you mean?” I’m like; “I just want to come here and just serve you. I’ll work for free, and just see if we can do something cool.” He’s like; “well, what’s in it for you?” I’m like; “I don’t know. Nothing right now, but it would be cool to just come and see what my stuff would do in your world.” And so I think he was kind of apprehensive, like; “Alright, if you want to come and work for free.” So, a month later, I flew down there, came into their office, he had this little team there. We sat there for an entire day like, looking at what they’re doing and giving little ideas and tweaks and changes. […] and just gave and served as much as I could. When it was done, I flew back home and I kinda coached them for free for the next few weeks. And then they rolled out their new product, smashing success, they made – you know – tens of millions of dollars, and afterwards; Drew made a video just saying like – telling them like what I did, how much help I gave them. I took that video, I put it on a page, put an application form down below, and launched my coaching program. And it was never me saying; “I’m an amazing coach!” it was; “look, here’s this dude named Drew. Ask him what he thinks.” And then after that, all the people started coming in and that’s where we met Liz and Jason and all these guys came in. And then we gave Liz an amazing result. I said, “Liz, can I capture that moment?” So we captured her telling her story. If you watch her story, she’s the no-income claim. She doesn’t say “Russell made me a ton of money.” She says; “it was really hard, it was like this painful process, but it’s what I needed, and it changed my life.” We got her video up online. Within the first six months, that video made us over 1.6 Million Dollars.

Chris: Wow.

Russell: And it just snowballed. And every time we change someone’s life, I try to capture that. So instead of me writing a sales script about, like, blah blah blah, how the keys to how I turned this guy into 1.6 million dollars – whatever, like, the way we used to sell, I call them on the phone. I’m like; how would you like a free trip, come hang out with me, I want to capture your story? And everyone’s like “sure” and I fly them here, we capture their story, and that becomes the Sales Message. I think it’s … it’s moving away from selling and moving to; “let’s change people’s lives, and then capture those stories in an interesting, fun way to watch” – and that’s your sales piece. I think that – I really feel like that’s the future. And I love that future because it’s so much more inspiring than these crappy sales videos where people are hard-closing you. Instead, it’s you serving someone, getting an amazing result, and that result will get you more people just like that. I think that’s the future.

Chris: Aw, mate. Beautiful. I’m so glad we got that question across and what a great answer. And one thing that I want everyone to hear from that is; we’ve talked about modelling, and that’s why I followed it up with that question. Because we just got the modelling answer. And if you didn’t get it, if you want to start a business out there, go and give first. Create a massive change in someone’s business or in their life, and then capture it. I mean, what a beautiful way to start a business. From a guy that I respect massively, and – one thing I think I haven’t mentioned is; you’re not only doing info products and coaching. I mean, you have the whole supplements division and all sorts of other things that you do as well. Because, you know, sometimes – we both know that people just go – oh, you know, they’re just selling. Having you do something without actually being able to do it. And like me, you’ve also got the real, physical products going out. I know you’re doing some stuff with Dave Asprey and some other things are happening. So, would you fill us in – I know that we’ve got to say goodbye pretty soon because I’m aware of your time – would you fill us in on what’s exciting you most at the moment? What are the projects you’ve got on? What’s happening in your world?

Russell: I think most entrepreneur’s problem is that we focus on something, we make a bunch of money, and then we get excited so we try, like, a million new things and then, like, everything else suffers? And so for the last twelve months I’ve been trying to focus on ClickFunnels, on one thing. And it’s been painful, but the fruits of that have been amazing? And what I’ve learned is that a lot of times we try to exercise our creativity by new companies, new ideas, new products, new things? And I’ve been changing it to: how do I use my creativity to keep focusing on my core thing? And that’s what’s been so much fun for me. No longer am I trying to create new things to sell and figuring out new ways to sell that thing. And that’s what’s been just so much fun and it gets my mind spinning. I think that the biggest thing that entrepreneurs can do to become more successful, and it’s also the thing that causes us the most pain, is learning how to focus. And I get that because there’s so many fun things out there. So I’m going to do another year of just focusing on this thing and figuring out how can I use all my creativity to grow this one thing and I think it’s going to be fun. Everyone looking from the outside will start seeing some really unique, really fun things – if you’re watching close. It should be a really good marketing lesson, just watch it externally. And feel free to funnel hack and model anything I’m doing, because – I did a podcast this morning, I was trying to explain the whole thing and how it worked, and I’m like; “guys, go do this! Everyone should do this!” I love it when people copy it because it works and so, that’s what I’m so excited about. We’ve got a whole bunch of really cool, unique ideas that we’re going to test now and hopefully, other people get tons of ideas based on that using their own businesses as well.”

On this episode of the Total Freedom Podcast, we end 2015 with a bang! Alexi Panos returns for round two -- this time giving our listeners solid advice on stepping up, standing out, and overcoming ego and fear.

See part 1 here

02:21 – Our host poses the concept that the episode will be centered around today; stepping out, standing for your message, and dealing with the consequences

Chris: I want everyone to understand – and learn – from you today about; how do we step out and be okay being “out there” – being big, and being authentic, and all the stuff that we have to deal with

02:48

Alexi: I want to be clear that even Preston and I are still working on peeling back the layers and doing this: arms wide open, here I am, here’s my message, take it or leave, this is what I’m going to stand for. And it’s been our biggest work and I can speak on this really strongly because it’s what I’ve been up against my entire life.

03:13 – Despite being a successful speaker and public figure, Alexi shares that even she went through a gradual, step-by-step process to overcome the natural fear of standing out.

Alexi: It started off as “Who do I think that I am to do this?

Alexi: And then it went into: “Okay, I’m doing this.”

Alexi: Then it went to: “Well, man, I just want to make content that’s, like, aligned with who I am and what’s coming through me. I just need to share it.”

03:35

Alexi: And now, it’s: “Can I stand in the fire with what I have to say, even if-slash-when – because when you’re a stand for something, it immediately creates a position; it creates opposition – can I stand in that even when people come and say: I don’t like it. I don’t agree. I don’t think you’re right. Here’s my challenge. I say this. Can I stand there and go: “And I’m still a stand for this.”

04:49 – Why is Standing Out such a big deal?

Chris: Here’s what was big for me about this and why I wanted to bring it up. [It’s] because – it is still hard, and it’s still a challenge – but it is easier to talk about a product, or to talk about somebody else, or to talk about other things, but when it matters? Truly, truly, truly matters, and it is you? When you put you out there?

Chris: When you stand up and go; “This is actually who I am, everybody. And this is what I’m all about.” It’s a big deal.

Chris: You go out there and you might do a video, you might say something, and there’s this: “Oh, but what would so-and-so think? Or what would the media think? Or [what] would this happen?” I just think the truth in getting out there [is that] it’s a big step.

06:36 – Alexi shares some lessons learned from Elizabeth Gilbert on the concept of Ideas

Alexi: Here’s what I found – and I’ve got to give credit to Elizabeth Gilbert. Have you heard of her?

Chris: I have now.

Alexi: Okay. She is amazing. She wrote the book “Eat, Pray, Love” –

Chris: Oh. I know the book.

Alexi: Yeah. Her latest book, “Big Magic” is awesome. She brought to light something that I studied a while back, but she said it so brilliantly. So, back in the Roman days and in the Greek days, they would say that an idea was your genius. It was your Muse.

Alexi: So they wouldn’t make it about you. It wouldn’t be like a personal thing, like ‘Chris did it.’ It was your genius. It was whatever Muse came down to create that idea and bring that idea forth. So it was a great way to separate the art from the artist. So when it was bad … they would say; Okay. Your genius had an off-day. Your Muse was a little off that day.

Alexi: She talks about this idea about Ideas. Ideas are like these crazy orbs – imagine these orbs floating around the universe. There’s millions of them, everywhere. And the only thing that an Idea is focused on is getting made. Is being brought – being manifest – into this world.

Alexi: It’s this idea that ideas are not ours.

09:04 – “This idea that ideas are not ours” – how does this mindset help you stand out and share your message?

Alexi: It’s helped me get out of my own way. Where it’s like; ‘Oh, this isn’t about Alexi. I’m just a vessel. The idea’s coming through me, and it’s an awesome one, and I need to share it because it resonates with me. And if people don’t like it, they don’t like it. If they love it, they love it. But either way, it’s not about me.”

10:05 – For all the people out there who now they have something to share, Alexi has some advice

Chris: I think there’s a listener right now who knows they have a message to share. I think they know that they’re hiding out, and I think that they know they’re the world’s best kept secret and no one knows about them yet. And here’s a big that I want to share with you: you can be the best of the best of the best. You can be so good. You can be absolutely amazing. You will not make that difference until you becoming ‘OUT-standing’ and you actually STAND OUT.

Chris: In your opinion, what are some of the things that these people need to start doing or thinking. Like, practical steps on how to allow themselves to come out? I mean, to actually come out from behind their wall.

Alexi: Stop hiding, people. Stop it. [laughs]

11:09

Alexi: There are, I guarantee you, 95 percent of the people listening to this podcast, have something that’s waiting inside them to come out. And they’ve got a list of reasons of why they can’t do it yet. ‘Oh, well I don’t have the right equipment’ or ‘Oh, well, I’m waiting for an editor,’ or ‘Oh, I’m waiting to get a good background,’ – whatever.

Alexi: I’m waiting. I’m waiting, I’m waiting, I’m waiting. And procrastination is really – really, the truth of it – is going ‘I’m not ready to put myself out there, put my ego out, and have it [my ego] willing to be judged.

Alexi: So, the way we get over it is; we just do it.

14:03 – How to address the fears and self-doubt that will come

Alexi: … and then all of a sudden, your mind starts going “Oh my gosh, what if they don’t respond?” or “What if they hate my speech?” and “What if they talk about how bad it was?” or “What if I get a negative comment?”

Alexi: That’s where you have to keep checking yourself. ‘It’s not about me. It’s about my message.’

Chris: I love it.

Chris: I think … so often, people give themselves such a story of why they’re not doing what they’re meant to be doing. And, you’ve gotta ask yourself. You know; you can have results or excuses, but not both. You have the story or you have the success, but you don’t have both.

15:01 – Chris Duncan and Alexi Panos on the concept of “Perfection”

Chris: Your imperfect action will lead closer to perfection.

15:45

Alexi: Perfection does not exist. It does not exist.

16:11

Alexi: I gave up perfection in the pursuit of excellence.

Alexi: What does it mean to be excellent?

17:05 – The Root Cause of Perfectionism

Chris: The root cause behind being perfect is – people say; it’s because I don’t want to fail. No, it’s not. No, it’s not.

Chris: If you are worried about a video going out because of what others think, you’ve got to ask yourself; why are you worried about what they think?

Chris: ‘Because then, they won’t love me’ or ‘They won’t like me.’

Chris: Well, what does that actually mean to you?

18:03 – Reevaluate the WHY of what you’re doing

Alexi: People aren’t willing to talk about it. And you have to talk about. WHY are you doing what you’re doing?

Alexi: Are you doing it for attention? Are you doing it for love? Are you doing it for “respect”? Are you doing it for your reputation? Are you doing it for fame, for money?

Alexi: If you’re doing it for any of those reasons, then you’ve already failed.

Chris: That’s it.

Alexi: You’ve already failed. Because then, the world owns you. Their opinion owns you. You are trapped. You are trapped and you will never be happy.

20:16 – Chris’s Message to the Listeners

Chris: You’ve got to start from that place. And if you don’t have the feeling that you want to feel now, you won’t get it then.

Alexi: Yes!

Chris: Right?

Alexi: You will never get what you want. You will always get what you are.

Alexi: And if you are coming from a place of lack and scarcity and ‘I need money,’ and ‘I need this,’ and ‘I need this to be happy,’ – well, then you’re always going to need. You’re always going to need because you are coming from a place of need.

Alexi: But if you are coming from a place of ‘I am abundant.’ ‘I am love.’ ‘I am giving.’ ‘I am happiness and joy and bliss’ then, my God, you are going to be it.

21:41 – Chris gives the listeners some questions to think about

Chris: What is the result that you’re chasing?

Chris: And then what is that going to give you?

24:12 – Alexi also poses another question that she asked herself back then, and that listeners should ask themselves

Alexi: And then I had to ask; what does success mean to me? What does it really mean to me?

25:30

Alexi: So while we’re talking about bringing our message out and standing in the fire and being willing to go there and being willing to put yourself out there, face annihilation and allow your ego to just be blown to shreds – we’re asking you; figure out why you’re willing to do that.

Alexi: Also, know what your definition of success is.

Alexi: Because if not, you’re going to be chasing – like, running. Running down a long road that goes nowhere.

29:09 – Alexi shares why the law of attraction (we don’t get what we want, we get what we are) is so simple, and yet we often fail to realize it

Alexi: But it’s truly one of the hardest things to do because I think we’re programmed as a society, as a people, to wait for the world to show up for us.

Alexi: We’re waiting but your life is moving. Your life is ticking. Your time is ticking. And you’re trading your days for something on this planet. What is that thing?

Alexi: If we can choose to be what we want now, and recognize that we already are that – that we don’t even need to want it because we already have it here – it’s just a choice. [Then] everything else is just a bonus.

31:54 – A nice little recap

Chris: So today, we just talked, I think. And we talked about a lot of things about stepping into who you are and understanding that you can become outstanding. And then somehow that moved into love and connection for you, and not needing it.

Alexi: My biggest insight is START. Just begin. There is a genius inside of you that is begging – is begging – and you’ve heard it. It’s begging you to let it out. And the world needs your gift. The world needs it now. It is time. Stop standing in your own way, because we’re waiting. We’re waiting for you.

Kim Barrett is a world-renown Social Media Marketer, Best-Selling Author, and founder of Your Social Voice – an online advertising company that specializes in lead generation through Social Media Marketing. Your Social Voice helps businesses get heard on social media, and most importantly, build engagement, generate more leads and more sales. Kim is also a Speaker and Trainer, and has taught marketing around the world and helped businesses grow to 6 and 7 figures.

01:39 – Meet Kim Barrett, a “Facebook Ninja” and advertising extraordinaire who has worked closely with Chris Duncan on several projects, the most recent one being the Singapore Event. A good friend of our host, Kim shares that he started out doing jobs that didn’t make him very happy. With a background in accounting and a $30,000 piece of paper (read: University Degree), Kim always had a flair for entrepreneurship.

02:45 – Kim’s current business, Your Social Voice http://www.yoursocialvoice.com.au/ , focuses primarily on advertising. While they do cater to other social media platforms, they’re favorite platforms are Facebook and Instagram.

04:13 – For the listener out there who would love to start smashing it online, Kim shares some key tips that you need to consider and start putting into place. What it comes down to, Kim says, it the how of it all; how do you put your product or service in front of people, and how do you convey it in a way that they understand what it is you have to offer.

05:48 – Kim shares the yardstick or metrics they use to measure their results. Is it simply by ROI?

07:33 – What are some of the advertising structures that Kim’s business employs? What is Pay-Per-Click and how does it work? He also shares a word of caution to would-be advertisers; sites like Facebook won’t hold your hand when it comes to advertising. You have to know the structure and specifics beforehand, and you need to double check. Kim likens it to having a radio station advertise your website. They won’t check the link with you before they air. They assume what you give them is correct, and it’s up to you to catch any mistakes prior.

09:26 – So why is Facebook such a great platform to advertise on? In Kim’s opinion, it’s due in large part to the fact that you have the freedom to speak to any group of people at any point in time for just a couple of dollars. Facebook allows you to be as specific as possible, filtering down people based on age, location, interest, and so on. The information people unknowingly supply Facebook simply by liking and sharing is valuable data points not available on any other platform.

13:37 – What was Kim’s turning point? What was the moment he realized he was sick of the typical job structure and wanted a way out? A couple years ago, he was working in the Finance and Marketing Department of a grain trading company. Right around this time – Christmastime! – that his boss told him he was working every day except public holidays. He had Christmas Day and Boxing Day off, but he was required to work on Christmas Eve. Needless to say, this was an eye-opener.

14:19 – “I shouldn’t be in the position where someone else dictates what I can and can’t do. If I can or can’t see my family. I shouldn’t be in that position.”

16:04 – Time Travel Moment, Part 1: If you were to go back to your turning point, given what you know now, what are some of the steps you would take to start creating freedom through your business? Kim started out simply by taking the plunge without first defining his focus. Mostly, he just wants listeners to realize that the worst thing that could happen when starting a business for the first time is just you having to get another job. Basically, you going back to right where you started. You can’t go further backwards. “If you failed,” Kim says, “Well, then, just go back and get a job. You were already doing that before. Just do it again.” There’s not much risk attached.

18:13 – Time Travel Moment, Part 2: What piece of advice would you give to the past you that was just starting out? “Get mentorship faster,” Kim says. He admits that he waited quite a while before he did that but, when he did, everything skyrocketed. His initial mindset was that he would figure things out as he went along.

18:43 – “You’ll still fail,” Kim says, regarding getting a mentor. “Don’t get me wrong. There will still be failures along the way that you’ll learn from and then turn them into successes, but it would make things easier and faster.”

19:34 – And on the note of figuring things out by ourselves, “Why is it so hard for us to seek out mentorship?” Chris asks. “What makes it so difficult?” The biggest reason, Kim says, is probably the ego component. The other side is that people either grossly overestimate the cost and underestimate the willingness of people to help you.

21:53 – Start of the QuickFire Questions: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received in your industry?

23:22 – As a results-based marketer, what’s one of your personal habits that you strongly believe contributes to your success?

25:42 – What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people make when it comes to paid advertising? There’s the two main parts. If you get either of this wrong, you get the whole thing wrong. One; targeting. Second; message.

27:42 – If you’d like to get in touch with Kim or learn more about him, feel free to hit him up on his Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealKimBarrett. Starting New Year 2016, he’ll be doing a regular Friday Facebook Facts and Questions; basically, you can jump on a call with Kim, free of charge, to get your questions answered – an incredible and unique opportunity that you should definitely watch out for!

00:39 – Meet Janet Beckers

01:11 – Who does she help? Two groups of people: people who are either already really established in business. She helps them leverage what they’re doing to achieve their desired lifestyle. People who are almost at that stage. Already know what they’re passionate about, are helping other people in getting results, but they might just be doing that “for a free lunch” or they’re building a business based on it but they’re not making enough money or they’re attracting the wrong people.

03:04 – Why do we get caught in this time-for-money trap? According to Janet, the biggest reason could be because it’s traditional. You have a skill, people want that skill, and they aren’t focused on the outcome; they’re focused on the process. Traditionally, we tend to focus on the process instead of the result because the process is about us. This is the mindset behind the per-hour-rate, which just encourages people to take longer. It also leaves a lot of opportunity for people to judge you based on your hourly rate. “Bundle it so they can’t even tell.”

06:47 – So, what’s her story? Right off the bat, Janet wants to disprove the typical assumption that people who do well in business must have had a business background. Janet started out as a nurse, moved on to teaching nursing at a university, and eventually finding herself in community development. While she loved all these jobs and she gained a considerable wealth of experience and knowledge from each, she left all three feeling disappointed and shot down. What set her apart From her peers and colleagues was that she was always trying to change the system. She often found herself in her superiors’ office, pitching ideas on how to innovate and make things better. Janet was shot down every time. Eventually, she decided to leave behind the traditional and start her own business.

08:39 – Janet’s Story, continued. She started an Internet Art Gallery as a way to help artists showcase their artwork. It wasn’t very big back then and she admits to making a lot of slip-ups along the way. She kept it running for five years and managed to make it profitable against all odds. After that she attended her first Internet Marketing conference. She sold her art gallery and became a conference junkie. In that time, she noticed two things: everyone who spoke at a conference had an amazing rags-to-riches, overcoming-trials story … and they were all male.

11:30 – “Come on, girls! Put your hand up. Contact them. Say; ‘You know what? I’m going to be on your stage. What have I got to do to be there?’ “

11:43 – Janet shares her unique approach to her first Market Research: she interviewed ladies as they were standing in line to the women’s toilets, waiting for their turn. Armed with her MP3 recorder, she asked them all one simple question: “If I can find the most successful woman in the world, what do you want me to ask them?” Countless hours and interviews later, she knew there was a demand for women entrepreneurs. And thus; Wonderful Web Women was born. Within just a few weeks, Janet’s list grew to 2,000.

12:31 – When she started winning awards for her accomplishments, Janet found herself being contacted by numerous people, all asking her to mentor them. This prompted her to start a mentoring business. What started out as an eight-week project led to her interviewing a different successful women every single week for the next two years.

15:08 –Time Travel Moment: “If you were starting over with nothing but your experience, what would you do?” Do not skip over doing your market research. Get to know your target market. For all you know, Janet says, you’ve almost got it. Five degrees to the right and you’re there. If you don’t take the time to interview your target market, how will you know?

19:19 – Start of the QuickFire Questions: “What matters most to you?” Freedom, for Janet, is the choice to do what she wants to do with her time, when she wants. Being there for family is extremely important to her. For the past couple years, she’s even lived by this mantra: “Health before 10, Wealth after 10.” Until 10 every morning, she can do whatever she likes. After 10, it’s business as usual.

21:49 – What do you think is the best business model for the person starting out in the infospace right now? It all dials back to what your client needs.

24:31 – What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

26:00 – What’s one of your personal habits that you strongly believe contributes to your success?

29:37 – If you’d like to get more from Janet, go to www.wonderfulwebwomen.com/chris – this will take you to a free training that will introduce you to one of the methods Janet finds extremely successful; using video! The training is all about starting your own professionally branded web TV program.

31:44 – Janet leaves the listener with this: “Just believe in yourself. Do one little step at a time and just believe in yourself enough – one step ahead. You know, you don’t have to dominate the world. To start with, dominate one step ahead and just do it.”

Janet is the founder of Wonderful Web Women, a successful and dynamic online community. She is an international speaker, best-selling author and mentor, and she has helped & inspired thousands to create their own success on-line. She is a multi-award winner, including most recently, Australian Marketer of The Year. Connect with her on http://wonderfulwebwomen.com/ or on her FB page https://www.facebook.com/janetbeckers. You can also find her podcast, Wonderful Web TV, on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderful-web-tv/id463278036?mt=2

 

00:47 – Meet Kate O’Brien, a business builder and game changer. While she originally hails from New Zealand, she’s currently living in Bali.

01:09 – Who is she and what does she do? She – along with her husband Henare O’Brien (catch his episode here) – runs a business that is a combination of personal development and spirituality. They deliver their services in a number of ways; online products, pipeline projects, published interviews and articles, and so on. There’s a lot of stuff on, Kate says, because we just want to keep playing games. Every year, she and Henare take two days off together to discuss and shape what it is they want to create, as well as realigning themselves; are they on track? What do they need to adjust or change?

02:46 – Out of everything that’s happening in her life right now, what is Kate most excited about? She doesn’t name any one specific pipeline project. What she finds most exciting, she shares, is everything that they’re currently creating to move their business up a level. A couple months ago, they started with one employee. Their team has grown considerably since then, and what Kate finds amazing is that they can now launch two or three products or projects at a time. The best part is that her time is now freed up, enabling her to do and focus on what she really loves, on her specific area of genius.

05:59 – While Henare and Kate may seem to be two perfectly in-sync powerhouses, Kate shares that they are both still learning. And there is, apparently, a lot to learn. How do they stay as a married couple? How do they maintain a relationship that’s on fire? How do they have a sex life that’s on fire? It’s always learning and growing, Kate says.

06:42 – Kate’s story; how did she get to be where she is now? Who was Kate five, ten years ago? Fifteen years ago, Kate was battling anorexia, bulimia, and depression. She recovered from it after three years but, unfortunately, she left the roots of the problem behind. This led to a severe drug addiction that brought her to her knees. Her crossroads moment came to her at 3am one morning, with her lying there, thinking she was going to die. That night, she chose a completely different path; herself. That night, Kate says, I actually chose me. The read to healing proved difficult, as she had a long, arduous way to go from where she was to a fully-functional human being.

08:31 – “This is why I absolutely know that anyone can create anything in their life, and the only stuff that is holding us back is the belief that it’s not possible for us.”

08:42 – What Kate wants you to understand; she wasn’t handed anything. In fact, she started out in a terrible position compared to others. People tend to listen to the voice in their head that says; I can’t do that because I’m not this or I don’t have this. We all face this voice of doubt, as humans. However, Kate says to see it as an opportunity to overcome an inherent obstacle, dig deeper inside ourselves, and keep going.

10:14 – This is for the listeners out there who aren’t ready to take steps outside their comfort zones. Kate shares her opinion on Comfort Zones; do we have to wait for the universe to define it or do we manifest tone ourselves? Is there a way out of it? There are really only two options. “Either,” Kate says, “we intentionally take ourselves out of our comfort zone to be able to create something bigger – or life will throw us out. I would much rather be choosing it now, rather than have it forced upon me.”

12:47 – So for those who, like Kate, would prefer to choose when they step out of their comfort zone, Kate shares four tips and advice on how to take that first step. You will be going through comfort zone shifts, she warns, and the important thing there is to find a stable foundation to stand on during those shifts so that you don’t lose sight

14:25 – What kind of foundation does she mean in regards to comfort zone shifts?

16:39 – Chris describes Kate as a Freedom Entrepreneur – she has a successful business, she helps hundreds of people, she has a family – husband and kids – and she’s basically able to live and be wherever they choose to be. For those out there who would love to be where she is, she has some advice:

1. Know what you want and why you want it.
2. It’s a step at a time. Stuff doesn’t get created overnight.
3. Opportunities will arrive. Doors will open. What you need is the courage to step through it

20:32 – Time Travel Moment, Part 1: If you could go back ten, twenty years and tell your past self one thing, what would it be? Darling, it is all going to be okay. “Everything that is happening to you now is helping you gather the resources you’re going to need later on.”

22:55 – Time Travel Moment, Part 2: If you were starting over from scratch today, with nothing but your experience, what would you do? Kate shares that before she’d run off creating, she’d probably take some time and space to herself to really think and reflect; what is it I want to create?

24:21 – Start of the QuickFire Questions: What’s the best piece of advice in your industry you’ve ever received?

25:03 – What’s one of your personal habits that you strongly believe contributes to your success?

25:31 – What’s one piece of tech, app, or equipment that you or your business can’t live without?

25:49 – What book would you recommend? The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

26:11 – Who is your public hero? (Click here to get her answer!)

27:06 – Kate leave the audience with this message: Wherever you are – if you’ve got dreams and plans for your business, know that that’s absolutely perfect. If you’re facing challenges, know that that challenge is helping you gather the resources you need to take the next step. Embrace the journey. You can get anywhere you want to. Resource you more. Just keep on going.

Kate O’Brien is a Freedom Entrepreneur and Personal Development Coach. She and her husband, Henare O’Brien, run game changing webinars, personal development series, and mindset coaching sessions. She is the founder of the personal expansion programs: ‘Game Changer 90 Days’ and ‘Foundations of an Empowered Life’. She is an extraordinary coach and acclaimed motivational speaker being a finalist for the New Zealand Emerging Speaker Of The Year in 2013. You can connect with her – and Henare! – on their official website: http://henareandkate.com/ you can also connect with them on FB https://www.facebook.com/henareandkateobrien or Kate’s personal page here: https://www.facebook.com/katemareeobrien?ref=ts&fref=ts

Alexi Panos is a motivational speaker, author, and self-proclaimed truth junkie. Her mission is to “make personal development mainstream by synthesizing big ideas into fun, bite sized nuggets of goodness that spread throughout the world and create a ripple effect of positivity and love.” She achieves this through “speaking and facilitating workshops around the globe, dishing insights from my personal quest for truth in my books + blogs, inspiring viewers as host of History Channel’s OPERATION BUILD and knocking people’s socks off with my energetic new YouTube Series.”

She is the co-founder of The Bridge Method and The Bridge Experience. The Bridge Experience is “a fully immersive and high octane human potential training that yields incredible results.”

She founded her non-profit, E.P.I.C (Everyday People Initiating Change), about ten years ago and it has been drilling clean water wells in South Africa ever since – among other things.

 

00:42 – Introducing our guest for today, Alexi Panos: founder of the epic, non-profit movement – Everyday People Initiating Change – and co-creator of the Bridge Method. She first read Tony Robbins at age 8.

01:44 – Alexi herself tells us her story; since she was young, she was passionate and committed to making a difference. She admits that she’s always had that hint or feeling that she was meant to do something big, but she didn’t know what it was. Due to her mother being a talent agent, Alexi started acting and modelling and earning money at a very young age. Her parents taught her that if she wanted anything, she had to work for it – a lesson that has stuck with her up until now. A few years later, she moved to New York City, got into the music industry on a dare, and travelled the world for two years with a major recording artist.

02:49 – Her turning point happened on a trip to Africa. Having travelled the world with top-of-the-billboard-charts musicians earning millions of dollars, Alexi travelled in style and luxury, living the rockstar lifestyle and partying every night. One night, as they’re leaving a nightclub, she sees a little shanty village just as she’s about to board their million-dollar tour bus. The juxtaposition of those two worlds served as her wake-up call. “Wait a second,” she says. “Like, whose life am I living? What am I doing? What happened to that girl who wanted to give back and contribute and make a difference?” That led her to start her non-profit about ten years ago, and they’ve been drilling clean water wells in South Africa ever since.

03:42 – Currently, aside from her non-profit, Alexi helps people uncover their best life. The best part of that, she shares, is that she doesn’t necessarily feel like she’s teaching people something they don’t already know. She believe people are born with the intrinsic knowledge they need – what she’s doing, she says, is simply helping them remember.

05:23 – Alexi goes into a bit more detail about her turning point. Then 19 years of age, she thought was experiencing freedom: she was travelling the world, she had financial abundance, and she was living this incredible career. Despite this – she felt trapped. She felt like she was a prisoner to something that she had created, and she wasn’t living her true, authentic life. The life she was living at that time wasn’t in alignment with what she truly wanted. She describes her soul as unhappy at that time. So she took the biggest risk she ever had to take: leave everything she worked for, built, created … and start over.

09:56 – To the person listening, the person who knows that the life he or she is currently living is not the life they want in fifty or sixty years … Alexi has some advice on stepping out of the life you know and taking the plunge to a better, more fulfilled life. First, you have to know what you want. “Find something that you’re so passionate about,” Alexi says. “That you’re so electrified about, that you’re so on fire about, that you’ll get up every single day and do it for free. Because for the first two years? You’re going to.” Second, bootstrap. Learn to moonlight. Stick to what you’re currently doing to earn money, but work on your new project on the side. If you have a 9-to-5, Alexi says, you’d better have a 5-to-9.

12:06 – “You’re going to sacrifice a lot. You’ve gotta give up to go up.”

12:25 – Third; you’re going to attract people who think like you do. People who get your work-ethic and your passion.

12:46 – “Find out what you want and then just take action. And be willing to sacrifice, period. Most people want it come easy and overnight, but it takes work.”

13:21 – Alexi explains what she means by “a higher self” – by using an Oak tree seed to illustrate her point

14:22 – “When we’re in fear, when we’re in scarcity, when we’re in doubt, when we’re in hesitation and procrastination – all those things that keep us so far away from the life that we wanna live? It’s all ego.”

16:01 – For the people who want to make a change but don’t want to let go of the past – for whatever reason – Alexi shares some advice. It’s different for everyone, but she shares two things. First, whatever you worry about – money, scarcity, etc. – will haunt you and will continue to haunt you until you stop focusing on what you don’t have and start focusing on what you do. For the people who don’t want to let go of the careers they’ve spent so long building up … you don’t have to.

16:34 – “Whatever you say, is. So whatever you’re constantly putting out into the universe, the universe is constantly giving you more of.”

16:56 – Alexi shares why taking action is just. So. Important. Small, incremental steps towards your goal make all the difference.

18:26 – Time Travel Moment, Part 1: If you could go back in time ten, twenty years, what advice would you give your younger self? Stop worrying so much about what everyone else thinks. They’re not thinking about you.

19:57 – Time Travel Moment, Part 2: If you were starting over from scratch today, with nothing but your experience, what would be your first steps to recreating what you built? Alexi answers that she would just start. Just take action. Nothing more, nothing less.

22:55 – Alexi and Preston Smiles have a gift for the iisteners! For everyone in New Zealand and Australia, a whopping 70% off tickets to their 2-Day Tour; The Bridge Experience.

26:37 – Start of the QuickFire Questions: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

26:53 – What’s one personal habit that you believe massively contributes to your success?

27:05 – What book would you recommend? Conversations with God, Neil Donald Walsch

27:19 – Who is your hero?

28:31 – Alexi leaves the audience with this last bit of advice: be true to who you are, because those who have it all choose to have it all.

Alexi is “insanely committed to empowering ONE BILLION people to harness their unique gifts in order to create a Compound Inspiration Effect that truly changes our world.” To find out more about her and her non-profit, visit http://www.alexipanos.com/

As an emerging Next Generation Thought Leader, recently winning the Millennial Mentor Award by Elixir Magazine, and with his forthcoming book LOVE LOUDER being published by Simon and Schuster, Preston Smiles is a breath of fresh air in the personal development world. Generating millions of views with his message of love and unity, Preston Smiles is making a huge impact with his loyal social media tribe, with his unique gift to make the complex simple.      His arsenal of love includes being the co-founder of The bridge Method and The Love Mob, a contributor to The Huffington Post, and many other top blogs. Along with being featured in many top magazines and podcasts like Origin magazine, The School of Greatness, and Addicted to Success,  he's also one of the youngest members of A.T.L (Association of Transformational Leaders) which was founded by Jack Canfield from Chicken Soup for the Soul.   

01:06 – Introducing our guest for this show, Preston Smiles: A Messenger of Love committed to unbridled creativity and play that manifests itself through writing (see “Love Louder”), Synthesizer of Universal Truths, and Conscious Graffiti Artist. Preston creates conscious content that he puts out to the world because he believes that love is all that is, was, and ever will be.

03:13 – Who was Preston Smiles before he became the Conscious Creator, the Messenger of Love?

“I’ve been a little bit of everything,” Preson says. “I was pretty brainwashed.” He describes himself as an angry American teenager. He joined a gang, got into fights, got kicked from several schools, and did graffiti for the sake of vandalism rather than creating.

As a child, he was placed in special education classes without being told that he was intelligent. Being in a class full of children who were mentally ill gave him the impression that he was stupid. That he wasn’t good enough. This lead to the overwhelming want to be accepted, which is why he joined a gang.

His turning point happened when Scott – his best friend – invited him to come and hang out like they usually did. That night, something felt different. Preston describes it as the moment he had a full understanding of intuition, because his intuition told him strongly ‘Don’t go.’ He declined the invitation. An hour later, everyone in the van that they hung out in every night – including Scott – had been shot. Scott received a bullet to the head. He was killed instantly.

05:13 – Even though he now realizes that that was something that had happened for him, instead of to him, Preston remembers that – as a fifteen year old – he didn’t know how to deal with the emotions that came from losing his friend in such a violent manner. He asked his father if he could leave. His father made a few calls and he ended up in a rich high school in Pennsylvania. In that school, he was the only black male in the whole population.

06: 21 – Being in that high school – a rich, respectable, pristine school – made him act differently. At his old school, he wasn’t afraid to talk back and make waves and spit at people. In this school, where everything was so clean “you could literally eat off the ground,” he wouldn’t dare do any of those. Same kid, different environment. “If you treat people like animals,” Preston says, “they’ll act like them.”

08:23 – Preston shares the secret to why things are going so well for him and Alexi and why they’re tribe is growing by the thousands every day. The answer is ridiculously simple: they’re not pretending

10:40 – Who inspires Preston the most right now (aside from everyone!)? What does he currently find most exciting in his career or his field? What is the thing that gets him going and just motivates him to reach out and help as many people as he can? Preston shares that gets really excited by people who love growth.

12:05 – “Once you know, you can’t unknow”

12:50 – From one of his many videos: “Accept what is, let go of what was, have faith in what will be, and be here now.”

16:22 – Preston shares some advice on how to be in the moment. How to be in the now. One way: powerful questions call for powerful answers. If you want to know what’s going on or why things are happening or how you can live for the moment, ask questions.

19:11 – A little exercise in how fundamental and instinctual it is for humans to seek genuine human interaction. Walk through a book store and see what kind of covers your eyes are drawn to first. For Preston, he always gravitates towards ‘eyes’. In other words, his attention is caught by covers that depict people. This phenomenon is explained through ‘mirror neurons’ --  the uncanny ability for us to feel what other people are feeling (empathy).

21:31 – “We’re all big kids at heart. Even if it’s buried under all our bills and worries and stresses. There’s still a big, beautiful, happy, innocent kid that’s never, hurt, harmed, or endangered. There’s a part of every single one of us, no matter if we’ve been molested or raped or – anything has happened to us, there’s a part of all of us that is still innocent. There’s a part of us that knows love to its core.”

26:04 – Time Travel Moment, Part 1: If you could go back ten, twenty years, what would you tell your younger self? Slow down and have fun. You can’t fail. You absolutely cannot fail. It’s perfect. All of it. Enjoy the ride.

28:21 – Time Travel Moment Part 2: If you were starting over from scratch today, what are the steps you would take? How would you get insight during your turning point? How would Preston start?

1. Take inventory. Just be really clear about where you are and where you want to be
2. Do your best to remove as much comparison from your consciousness as possible. Start celebrating and supporting other people in the field that you want to be knowledgeable in
3. Learn to love to give

32:22 – Preston Smiles is coming out to Australia very soon, and he and Alexi have a special gift for all listeners! To find out more about it and where to grab it, stay tuned for Alexi’s podcast episode this Thursday, December 17th 2015.

35:56 – Start of the QuickFire Questions: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

36:27 – What is one of your personal habits that strongly contributes to your success?

36:58 – What book would you recommend? Conversation with God, by Neale Donald Walsch

38:23 – Preston would like to leave the listeners with this: if you want something you’ve never had, you’ve gotta do something you’ve never done.