John: Entrepreneur on Fire 775, boom! Shake the room Fire Nation. John Lee Dumas here and I am fired up to bring you our featured guest today, Brandon Epstein. Brandon, are you prepared to ignite?

Brandon: Baby, I can’t even tell you how pumped I am to get started.

John: Brandon is a health and performance coach with a mission to help entrepreneurs have more energy, get the bodies they desire and experience more satisfaction from their business and personal lives. He’s also the founder of entrepreneurfitness.com, a site dedicated to peak performance for entrepreneurs. Brandon, I’ve given Fire Nation just a little insight so share more about you personally then expound upon the biz.

Brandon: Absolutely man. So, personally I’m a man who’s dedicated to spending as much time possible in my flow state. So, the states of mind where you’re completely immersed in what you’re doing, you’re enjoying it and you’re performing your best. And I’m just absolutely obsessed with this whole idea of living in flow.

So, I help people do that through my business by optimizing emotional states, cognitive performance and their physical performance so getting their body, mind and emotions all headed in the same direction and I do so with, as you said before, my company, entrepreneurfitness.com; also have the Entrepreneur Fitness podcast so we’re helping entrepreneurs live in flow states and that’s what I dedicate every day to man, I just freaking love it.

John: Hmm, love that Brandon. Give us a little personal background about yourself.

Brandon: Absolutely man. So, personally, I studied actually exactly what I’m doing now in college. I studied the mental aspect of human performance and upon there, I started a health and fitness app company where I was taking all this stuff I know about human performance and making them into apps. So, I had meditation apps to help people get better at sports, get people to get over addictions, get people to focus more, motivate themselves, everything you can imagine.

So, I’ve done that the last couple years and have now taken all this knowledge I’ve learned along the way and launched this personal brand Entrepreneur Fitness where I feel like I’ve realized a lot of pains entrepreneurs have and it’s my passion, it’s my mission now to help entrepreneurs live every day in a state of flow where they really enjoy the process of building these businesses that they love instead of, you know, getting overwhelmed and feeling like this is something they have to do. We wanna keep them in that paradigm of they’re I get to do this every day. This is what I chose to do.

John: We’re gonna experience your mission. We’re going to really analyze Brandon your journey because it’s a pretty powerful one, but before we get into all that jazz, we always start with the success quotes and why you chose it so take it away.

Brandon: Yeah, so my success quote is by Jim Rohn. So, I’m a big Tony Robbins fan and Tony, of course, this [inaudible][00:03:06] dream by Jim so I’ve researched Jim a lot as well. And this quote is, “We must all suffer from one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” And this quote is so powerful to me because you think about this when you’re building a business, you think about this when you’re trying to create good relationships or when you’re trying to create a physical body that you actually wanna live in.

Anytime that you’re just choosing the easy way out, that pain is gonna be so much more; that pain of regret is gonna be so much more than the pain it would have been to just really immerse yourself, that laser focus and make the right decisions in the moment.

John: Hmm, love that and Jim Rohn is actually a guy that I could quote all day long. He just has so many powerful ones and they just really get to the core Brandon of entrepreneurs. Every time I read one I’m like oh, it’s like he was speaking to me like that’s something that I resonate with so much and I just know that’s so true for you too Fire Nation. So, if you could ever just get a Jim Rohn book full of quotes, don’t skip over that.

And Brandon, let’s now take the spotlight of this interview, of Entrepreneur on Fire, and turn it to you and really your journey specifically. We talk a lot about successes, a lot about ah ha moments, but we’re gonna focus right now on a story of a time that you Brandon Epstein failed, this time that you just faced a massive obstacle my friend that you had to dig deep to overcome. So, take us to that moment in time, share with us that story and the lessons you learned.

Brandon: Absolutely man. So, I’ll just bring you back to the beginning of this story where – when I was in college, I did some research on the effects of meditational brainwave training, on strength performance, so helping people get stronger through using their mind to meditation so I’m very interested in stuff. And so I got some money from a health foundation and when I graduated college, I took this money and I didn’t know what I was gonna do man, I just couldn’t imagine just, you know, getting into a grind and working on someone else’s vision or dream and so I tried to start my own app company at the very first.

And so what I tried to do was I tried to just follow the market, you know, I got some advice from a friend of mine and I followed the market. I took all the money I had and I sunk it into this app and I just pushed it and pushed it and learned everything I could. I literally got an iPhone like two months before I started this company so I was learning everything in the moment and everything just took too long man and the company completely – or the first app completely failed. All money was lost from it.

And so I was sitting there I think about five months after graduating with, you know, no job, no prospects, wasted money, no app, but the biggest thing that I got was I did have an education now. And I had these tools and this knowledge from spending so much time dedicating myself to human performance and though this was one of the most painful lessons I had to learn, you know, I learned a lot of lessons in regards to learning to systemize things, learning to really research things before I do them, learning to make sure that I am putting myself in a position where I can fail and it’s not the end of the world, which it kinda was when I made this failure.

But fortunately, I had a buddy who really believed in me and what I did with the human performance stuff and so he actually invested in me trying again at these apps but instead of following the market, getting into doing these meditation apps, which I talked about at the opening of this story.

So, definitely, it was a painful lesson learned, but I learned so much through this failure and back then I would have told you I didn’t learn anything, but looking back, I’m like yeah, you know, you can see now and it’s fun to see and all the failures leading up to wherever you are in your present moment, you can that like you’re just getting better and better as long as you’re iterating and that’s what I constantly did. I constantly iterated and I constantly tried to learn more information to make sure that I could excel forward.

John: So, there’s been a really consistent theme that’s been coming up over and over again in these Entrepreneur on Fire interviews and Fire Nation, yes, failure is gonna be part of your story. It’s gonna be part of your journey as an entrepreneur, but it’s only total failure if you refuse to learn from it. And as Brandon said, you know, at first, he would have probably called it total failure but now looking back it and having a little more experience honestly, he has learned from it. He’s seen what he did learn, you know, he sees that yeah, overall, maybe he didn’t succeed, but parts within it helped me, you know, build systems, understand better things about different areas.

Those things can be applied to future endeavors so Fire Nation, everything you do in life is only going to be a total failure if you don’t learn anything from it. And Brandon, I actually, you know, I’m the type of person that if I go more than three or four days without being like man, that was a flop, that was a failure, I start questioning the fact that I’m not pushing the envelope enough because we need those moments. We need those mistakes, those setbacks, those obstacles, you know, that’s how we evolve.

You can’t just be kicking it back in the right-hand lane, letting these cars just whiz on by you as everybody else is just going full board because they’re not afraid to make mistakes and neither should you Fire Nation. So Brandon, that’s my big take away from your failure story here, but share with Fire Nation all those big takeaways that we’ve been discussing, what is your No. 1 takeaway that you want our listeners to really absorb?

Brandon: Yeah, I think you need to really see failures as nothing more than outcomes. If you really look at things scientifically and you think about anything – any time where you haven’t had the desired outcome that you want and you call it a failure, call it whatever you want, but all it is is a desired outcome that you don’t want. So, if you think about it scientifically, you’re like okay, let me go back to the drawing board, how can I iterate and create a more desirable outcome?

So, it’s just change of perspective on that and I think that’s what I did and it’s been incredibly helpful for me to constantly move forward and not get overwhelmed during the process of trying to build the business.

John: No, I love that, a failure is just a desired outcome you didn’t want Fire Nation. That’s cool, just that little mindset shift is all it takes. So, Brandon, we’re all about the stories here, you know, we’re all about going there to that place in time where you had that failure, and you took us there.

Now, take us to an epiphany moment, a time that a light bulb went off, an ah ha moment so to speak. We wanna hear that story now Brandon. Take us to that moment in time. Break down for us what that ah ha moment was and then what steps you took to turn that idea into success.

Brandon: Absolutely man. So, I can remember this very vividly. I was sitting on one of my buddies’ beds and we were watching the movie The Secret when I was living in England, overseas, and you know people can say whatever they want about The Secret and Law of Attraction, whatever, and maybe it’s not the most actionable thing out there, but what I got out of it was I’d always been a positive person and I didn’t really see the link between being positive and why I had a pretty good life. But watching that movie and understanding the power of my thoughts and my emotions just absolutely kick started a whole new paradigm for myself and what I thought was possible.

I feel like if I didn’t have that moment of watching this movie and going through the silly exercises of closing my eyes and holding a steering wheel and feeling what it’s like to drive a fast car and really bring yourself into a moment of yes, my emotions and my thoughts really are manifesting everything in my world. And that was the first time ever I sat down and I started to write down and map out a blueprint for what I wanted my life to be and I started to get clarity.

And yeah, it took a long time for things to start to get in motion, I mean they still are, but just the understanding, the ah ha moment of my emotions and my thoughts at every second are either determining if I’m going to be in a growth phase where I’m getting better and I’m living abundantly, I’m attracting more abundance or I am just surviving and I’m just gonna be happy to stay here and just not die. And that was huge for me man. That was one of the biggest game changers, biggest ah ha moments and there’ve been many since then, but that really kick started it and got the ball rolling for me.

John: So, I mean completely honestly Brandon, I’m a huge Law of Attraction person. I love just the knowledge and the understanding and the belief that putting things out there in the universe, saying affirmations, just being that positive person with an optimistic outlook and attitude, you know, that is going to come back to you in a really powerful way. You know, Debbie Downer, whose always complaining, she shouldn’t be shocked when negative things seem to always be happening to her and then Don Do Little, he shouldn’t be that surprised when he never gets “lucky” in life.

It’s what you put out there, it’s that vibe, it’s that attitude, it’s that perception that you have towards life Fire Nation that’s gonna make all the difference in the world. So, if you’re listening right now and you can honestly look back and say man, you know, I am a little bit of a Debbie Downer or a Don Do Little, you know, maybe I give myself one month where I just change my perception and I just try putting things out there in the world that are positive instead of putting things out there in the world that are negative, just see what happens. I mean it can’t hurt because obviously, if you’re thinking these thoughts right now, whatever you’ve been doing hasn’t been working so why not try something different?

And one thing that I found really interesting Brandon is that they surveyed all of these multimillionaires and even billionaires, and the one thing that no multi-successful millionaire and billionaires do to any degree is one word – they don’t gossip. Gossip is just this toxic thing that they found that, you know, everybody below the poverty line, that’s how they spend 75 percent of their lives. They’re gossiping about this or gossiping about that and just spending all this time and energy gossiping about really nothing that’s gonna improve their lives and that’s just kinda where they stay. They kinda squirrel in this.

So, Brandon, I get you with the Law of Attraction, my friends, I’m there. What’s the one take away from your epiphany moment that’s just really powerful that you can share with our listeners?

Brandon: Definitely. And so taking it even deeper from the knowledge I just shared about my experience, I mean there’s a book, The Biology of Belief, that shows scientifically through all these studies that our cells and genes are either in a survival phase – so, if you’re being positive or sorry, if you’re being negative then you’re in this survival phase; if you’re being positive, you’re in a growth phase.

So, really just be cognizant that any moment in time you’re either growing or you’re dying. And so really it’s a choice. It’s a choice. It’s a choice. You can incant, you can do affirmations, you can bring yourself back to a positive memory, do anything you can to stay in that positive growth phase because the more time you spend there, the more wonderful things you’re gonna attract.

John: Love that. So, Brandon, you’ve had a lot of powerful moments. You’ve had a lot of what we would call proud moments. But what would you consider your proudest entrepreneurial moment?

Brandon: Definitely man. And so, this is actually a story about a young man that I was able to help through one of my first entrepreneurial ventures and so I got into just trying to hustle and work with coaching clients doing health and fitness and one of the first times I was able to do this, I started working with this young man. He was about 315 pounds when I started working with him and I’d say one of the most proudest moments I had was seeing the hustle that I made on my end to actually grow the client’s – build the client’s health base and then combine that with actually providing massive value to the world.

So, this young man’s transformation was one of the most powerful moments for me because this young man went from being 18 years old, 315 pounds, just completely depressed, seeing no light at the end of the tunnel to end up going down to about 170 pounds, completely changed his world around, being the light that lit up his whole family and providing everyone him with inspiration and hope. And seeing that through doing my own hustle and taking on this entrepreneur venture, I was able to create this impact, just gave me so much juice for wanting to replicate it over and over and over again.

John: Wow. I mean what I love this Fire Nation, and you’ve heard it before but it’s just so powerful, you know, when someone like Brandon can go from success now, he’s had the success and he’s continuing to experience success, but when his proudest moment comes from something like this, you can just see that he’s moved from success to significance, to where it means now more to him the impact he’s having on other lives and that is the ultimate goal of entrepreneurs, you know, how can we take success and bring it to significance and have that powerful ripple effect and just great stuff Brandon.

And speaking of great stuff, let’s bring things to today, to current times, to right now. What is the one thing Brandon that has you most fired up right now?

Brandon: Dude, by far it’s my podcast, the Entrepreneur Fitness podcast. And, of course, you can speak to this as well, but dude, I don’t think there’s anything cooler in the world than having your own show and getting to interview experts in a field that you’re so passionate about. So, I tried to go on and pursue higher learning at first and I wanted to get neuroscience positions, I applied for those, and sports psychology, and I didn’t get any of the positions I applied for.

Through this podcast, I’m literally bringing on people on my show, talking to entrepreneurs, that would cost $1,000.00 plus to consult with. And I literally ask them all the questions that I wanna know as an entrepreneur.

John: Right.

Brandon: And I’m getting like thousands of dollars worth of information, years of education from these absolutely geniuses funneled down into a month or two of just knowledge. I’m just getting all of this. I’m downloading it every day from these people and it’s amazing. My growth has gone on supersonic mode man, it’s crazy. I’m smarter, I’m able to contribute more and yeah, I can’t think of anything more because I think it’s a big thing people need to recognize is if you are going to do a podcast, you should really think about doing it on a topic that you would, no matter what, do for free.

So, don’t just do a generic business podcast just for doing one. Like I ask people about flow states, every single person who comes on my show because that’s what I care about and so I get neuroscientists, sports psychologists, I get nutritionists, exercise physiologists, athletes, entrepreneurs and I really wanna unlock this secret to flow and I wanna know about. And that’s why it’s so fun for me and why I do it for free and why I’m just so juiced on it right now man.

John: I love that. And Brandon, yes, you are preaching to the choir my friend. I mean Fire Nation knows that I can’t even imagine another medium that’s as powerful as podcasting for everything that you just mentioned. I mean, you know, Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, my entrepreneurial heroes. I’ve been able to have one-on-one conversations with, pick their brain, ask them questions, develop relationships with.

Tim Ferriss just Skyped me the other day and said John, do you have a minute to talk about sponsorships for my podcast, you know, he wanted to pick my brain because I have a lot of knowledge about that and we had a one on one conversation for 45 minutes, I mean blew me away. The relationships that you can build through having a platform and especially one that you’re passionate about. I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and the business side of it. I mean Brandon, you’re passionate about fitness and the flow state. I mean Fire Nation, what are you passionate about?

And Brandon, I bet you don’t have a ton of experience in the broadcasting world. I bet you didn’t get a degree in interviewing people, I mean this is just things that Fire Nation, if you wanna be, do. And Brandon and I wanted to be podcasters so now we’re podcasting and there’re a ton of great resources out there. I mean I do a free live podcast workshop every single week at podcastersParadise.com and there’re books galore out there. I mean the knowledge is out there.

You just have to take that step and Brandon, we are about to enter the lightning rounds, but before we do, let’s take a minute to thank our sponsors. Brandon, welcome to the lightning round where you get to share incredible resources and mind blowing answers, sound like a plan?

Brandon: Absolutely man, I’m pumped. Let’s roll?

John: What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

Brandon: Yeah, man, not knowing that it was a possibility and that really stems from not having a circle of influence that opened my eyes to these possibilities because I think most of us think that life is very linear. So, not having that circle of influence to show me, tell me, introduce me to that people actually do what they want for a living was the biggest thing holding me back to start. And once I broke through that, everything changed.

John: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Brandon: Yeah, it’s definitely the advice actually – I’m gonna credit this to our good friend Jaime.

John: Sure.

Brandon: Who has been telling me this over and over again is to get laser focused 110 percent on one thing and do it the best you can before you move on and try to do anything else and fragment yourself.

John: Share one of your personal habits that you believe contributes to your success?

Brandon: Every day I treat my body like an absolute temple. I eat clean, I exercise, I very rarely drink and I go through very specific daily and morning routines to make sure I’m in peak state, I’m in flow as much as possible.

John: Oh. Do you have an Internet resource like in Evernote that you can share with our listeners?

Brandon: Yeah, I have a few companies now and so to manage projects, I use basecamp.com and I don’t know what I’d do without it because it allows me just to get overview on everything so it’s incredibly helpful.

John: Perfect. If you could recommend one book for our listeners Brandon, what would it be and why?

Brandon: So, I’m sure this will be for about the 500th time, but I gotta roll with Think and Grow Rich man. That book is huge for me and in Austin, Texas, I’m in this group of high-level entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and every month we break down a chapter in this book because it is so profound. If you really dig into each and every chapter and you gain mastery over it then it can really change your life.

John: Well, Fire Nation, I know that you love audio so if you haven’t already, you can get an amazing audio book like this one for free at eofirebook.com. That’s eofirebook.com. And Brandon, this next question’s the last of the lightning round, but it’s a doozie.

Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning in a brand new world, identical to earth but you knew no one. You still have all the experience and knowledge you currently have, your food and shelter taken care of, but all you have is a laptop and $500.00. What would you do in the next seven days?

Brandon: Dude, it’s funny. I would actually do probably exactly what I’m doing right now. I would launch a podcast so I could start to reach –

John: Yeah.

Brandon: Millions of people. I would use this podcast to help and contribute as much as possible and on the side before I even tried to monetize this podcast, you know, I’d use the podcast to build the community, I’d go on Amazon man and I’d start cranking out either eBooks or some kinda digital products, things that don’t take much money upfront to get started. I think you could do that all for less than $500.00 and yeah, I mean it’s pretty well figured out.

John: And your food and shelter is taken care of.

Brandon: Boom.

John: So, Brandon, let’s end today literally on fire with you sharing one parting piece of guidance the best way that we can find you and then we’ll say goodbye.

Brandon: Definitely. So, I’m gonna circle back around to really telling people a big thing and that’s in regards to my branding, what I’m about. And I want every entrepreneur to understand out there that if you really try to overload yourself and not take care of your health and not really gain mastery over your body and your mind, no matter what, you’re not gonna get as far as you would have if you really gain mastery over your body and mind first because that is that foundation that’s gonna allow you to build and create something beautiful and live to 150 years old or whatever.

That’s my big advice for entrepreneurs is really focus on building a foundation with your health that you can build from and then flourish with your business. And as far as finding me, you guys can check me out at entrepreneurfitness.com as well as check out my podcast, the Entrepreneur Fitness podcast. We’ve been chilling in the Top 10 for health lately –

John: Booya!

Brandon: So, if you just go there, you’ll be able to see us.

John: Well, Fire Nation, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with and you have been hanging out with Brandon and myself today so keep up the heat. That’s Jim Rohn to you by the way Brandon. Head over to eofire.com, type Brandon in the search bar. His [inaudible][00:24:41] page will pop right up. And Brandon, thank you my friend for sharing your journey with Fire Nation today and for that we salute you and we’ll catch you on the flipside.

Brandon: Thank you my friend.