John: Absolutely.

JLD: Yes. Entrepreneur, John, has created the top application in the world of the legendary book, Think and Grow Rich. It increased his income by 20 times to over $5 million a year. John, take a minute, fill in some gaps from that intro, and give us a little glimpse of your personal life.

John: Okay, great. Well, I started out as a CPA and became an entrepreneur when I was 30, but when I turned 50, you know I just wasn’t as successful as I thought I should be and I had two goals in my life, to make enough money so I didn’t have to work and to find the woman of my dreams, and at 50, I was falling short on both. And as an entrepreneur, I was always blessed to make well into six figures a year, but never close to a million dollars a year, and on finding the girl at 50, I’d never been married, but I can tell you it was not for lack of interviewing. I did, probably, too much interviewing, but just couldn’t find the right one.

And then, a defining moment really happened, and it happened three days after I turned 50, and picture this. You’re sitting in your office and you kickback and you got your feet up on the desk and you start really thinking about your life, and you do the math, and that you realize if you didn’t start netting over a million a year, you’d never have enough money to experience true freedom in your life. You’d never have that lifestyle you wanted. You’d never have that full control of your life. This just hit me like a ton of bricks and it was clear, hey, I had to make it happen in my 50s, and so, I made a decision. Working hard just didn’t cut it. While it might work for making six figures a year, clearly, it didn’t work for making seven figures a year.

And as you can probably see, I had to fundamentally change the way I created success in my life, but you know, how? Then, a pearl of wisdom and enlightenment hit me. Why not find the top book in the world on success ever written, the No. 1 book on success and achievement, and then, apply it to the letter to my life, and it’s Think and Grow Rich, and JLD, I assume you’re a fan of the book?

JLD: Huge fan of the book. Love it.

John: Good.

JLD: And John, actually, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but they recently did an incredible documentary on Think and Grow Rich, which I was actually super honored to be featured alongside Barbara [inaudible] [00:02:43].

John: Wow.

JLD: Brandon Adams, like a lot of awesome entrepreneurs. Like, it was a really fun time.

John: Wow, that’s pretty cool.

JLD: Yeah.

John: I’m glad you shared that with me. Well, and you know the central concept of this book has created more millionaires and billionaires than any other book on the planet, and so, of course, I, then, thought, well, okay. I’m reading it. That’s the central concept of the book is what you envision in detail on a daily basis is what shows up in your life, but then, I discovered there’s a problem. There wasn’t, really, a practical way to apply the book, and you know I probably moped around for you know two weeks and – but something came to me. I’m like maybe I have to create that practical application, and so, I did, and I applied it to a new business I was starting in the financial services industry.

And over nine years, I continually tweaked my 12-minute a day methodology, and over that nine years, I did see my income go from low six figures to over $5 million a year, and it’s quite a change from my 20-year history of making low six figures a year, but even better, I could see why it was happening. I was influencing my daily actions and thoughts. Clearly, I was operating at a higher level than I really ever had before, and it was happening every single day. I mean I could feel it, and the best news was I also met the woman of my dreams from applying my methodology. The results really changed me as an entrepreneur and I became fascinated by how you could take two key scientific principles and apply them to your life and materially impact your success and achievement in life.

And it amazed me that you could make such a small change that only took 12 minutes a day and so radically change your outcomes, and I found it, so [inaudible] [00:04:50] interesting that I sold my company, and then, a few months later, I met the former chancellor and president at the University of Texas at Austin and I told him my story, and he said, “Hey, you have to teach this methodology at the University of Texas,” and he said, “You know why don’t we teach it together?”

And so, today, feeling so incredibly blessed for what this did for me, I passionately teach my methodology to others, and it’s really my way of giving back and making my dent in the universe.

JLD: So, John, I’m really excited to dive into your philosophy because, to me, it’s all about the routine and it seems like that 12 minutes little mini-routine you implemented had just huge, huge positives in your life in many different areas, which is really, really exciting, but before we do dive into that, what would you say right now is your specific area of expertise, and John, I’m gonna challenge you because I can tell you’re a talker. One sentence.

John: I, basically, train the entrepreneur brain to make over $1 million a year.

JLD: What do you see is the biggest mistake that entrepreneurs make when they’re trying to reach that $1 million in revenue per year?

John: Well, great question. I think that I look back in my 30s and 40s and I thought I was a pretty sharp entrepreneur, but I see that, at the end of the day, your daily actions are what’s gonna determine your success, and you’ve got to influence those daily actions and your thoughts, and I found that the difference, when I started making $1 million a year, was I was just operating at a higher level, and I think, a lot of times, entrepreneurs think that, well, I just work harder because they really don’t know an alternative. You want more success? You work harder. Well, you know I don’t think that really works for making over a million a year. It takes working smarter.

JLD: So, let’s kind of maybe deviate from this just a little bit, but kind of dive more into these principles because this is one thing I’m really fascinated about. I mean Think and Grow Rich is definitely one of the most recommended books on EO Fire, and you know, now, with over 1,988 episodes, I mean that’s saying something. There’s been a lot of books recommended, and that’s been the book that’s probably been recommended most by the past successful entrepreneurs of this podcast, so what are the really – the key principles that you were able to apply in your 12 minutes a day that I’m sure you’ve expounded in some areas that you think would really benefit our listeners.

John: One thing that’s sort of interesting, I think you’ll find this interesting, as far as your audience, so I think I mentioned, I started teaching this at the University of Texas, and so, three years ago, when I started that, I read the book again, and to my surprise, the author does not really give you the central concept. Like I said, the central concept is what you envision in detail on a daily basis is what shows up in your life. Well, he doesn’t exactly give you that. He tells you half of it. He gives you what he calls the secret. Well, the half of the secret he gives you is everything starts with a thought, but he doesn’t give you the rest of it because he wants you to figure it out.

And I’m like, wow. When I started teaching that, I’m like, wow, I see why he’s doing it, but in today’s world, I’m not so sure that’s necessarily the best way to do it. You know I think you almost got to tell people here it is, here’s why it works, and that’s not how it works in the book, Think and Grow Rich.

JLD: So, I think what could be really helpful right now, just because I’m pretty curious, let’s go through how you’ve taken one of your clients from where they were to a great success, and again, no names have to be used. Like we can keep this completely anonymous, but I’d love to see that process.

John: The way I would take a client is I have them answer a questionnaire about their whole life, but particularly about their career, and I would really dig into what do they do, what’s their vision for the future, what’s their strategy for success, what’s their business plan. Describe to me the culture you’re creating and really, also, tell me the linchpin today that keeps you from going to the next level. A lot of times, they have it in their head that it’s not really fully fleshed out, and so, I take that and compress it and make it succinct and articulate, and then, teach them how to feed that to themselves every single day. And that’s really how it sort of works. You feed that, your detailed vision, every single day and it ends up that, then, science takes over and that’s the life and business you create.

JLD: I feel a lot of people know they have a fear of failure, but not many recognize that they actually are fearing success at the same time, so how do you take your clients who are now starting to, under your tutelage, starting to have some form of success, but are kind of self-sabotaging themselves and kind of shying away from it, for any number of reasons?

John: Well, I think that’s a good question and one of the things I sort of see that you are articulate a lot is that entrepreneurs struggle with confidence, right?

JLD: Yeah.

John: Well, I think this is perfect for that. You know when you’re feeding your brain exactly what you want to create, you don’t have time to not be confident, and one of the things you’re gonna be feeding yourself is why you should be confident, and I think that’s part of the power of this. It overcomes that lack of confidence.

JLD: So, there’s a lot that we can get into right now, John, because this is just such a deep topic, it’s such an important topic, and Fire Nation, if you haven’t taken the time to read the book, Think and Grow Rich, I hope this is gonna be something that pushes you over the edge, but if there’s just one action that Fire Nation could take from everything that you’ve learned, and you know this might just, of course, be the first step, but some piece of action, what would that be?

John: You know write down exactly what you – write down exactly the person you want to be, exactly what you want to accomplish, and precisely how you’re gonna achieve your goals and feed that to yourself every single day.

JLD: That’s just the first step, Fire Nation. Like, you have to put something down on paper. I mean how are you to know what you want to become and who you want to be if you haven’t even sat down and given some time to think and write it down yet? It’s just like saying you know I’m gonna get in the car and just drive and thinking that you’re gonna end up at a specific destination, even though you have no idea where you’re going. Like you’re just gonna open your eyes one day and say, like, how did I get here, and the answer is, well, you weren’t intentional about it. Start being intentional, and if you think John has been dropping value bombs, more are coming up in the lightning round when we get back from thanking our sponsors. John, are you ready to rock the lightning round?

John: Absolutely.

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

John: Again, I started it when I was 30, and I think confidence, probably, was stopping me, as well as just having stability in my career. Those two things.

JLD: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

John: Focus on marketing. You know being a CPA, that wasn’t my natural inclination, but marketing makes businesses go, and that is the best advice I ever got.

JLD: What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success?

John: Probably, obvious. Just feeding my detailed vision of my life and my business to myself every day, and really, I believe that what I envision in detail I actually create.

JLD: Recommend one internet resource.

John: I would say Darren Hardy at DarrenDaily.com. I think he’s the top expert in the world in success and achievement, and I got to know him personally from showing him what I created. This addresses something you oftentimes talk about with having mentors. I think you need a digital mentor and a real-life mentor, and I think digital mentors like either yourself or Darren is great.

JLD: I receive that, John, and thank you very much, and besides Think and Grow Rich, which I know Fire Nation knows is a must read, what else is a must read and why?

John: You know I would – back to Darren Hardy, I’d say Entrepreneur Rollercoaster is a great book for entrepreneurs. Absolutely great.

JLD: Yeah, and I love that Darren actually did the audio version or the audio book because he has such a good personality, and Fire Nation, if you’re not an audible member, you can actually get that book for free, EOFirebook.com. Snag it today, and John, I want to end today on fire, so give us a parting piece of guidance. Share the best way that we can connect with you, and then, we’ll say goodbye.

John: My piece of advice is make this your personal motto. What I envision in detail on a daily basis is what shows up in my life, and the name of my company is Think It Be It, and I’ve got a gift for your amazing audience. It’s how to train the entrepreneur brain to net over $1 million a year. To learn how to do this, text me at 44222 trainthebrain. Let me say that again. Send me a text and for the phone number key in 44222. In the message part of the text, key in trainthebrain.

JLD: And that’s no space, right? All one word.

John: Right, right.

JLD: Fire Nation, you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with, and you’ve been hanging out with JM and JLD today, so keep up the heat and head over to EOFire.com and just put John in the search bar, J-O-H-N, and his show notes page will pop up with everything that we’ve been talking about today. These are the best show notes in the biz. Time stamps, links galore, and listen, grab your smart phone right now. You’re probably using it right now to listen to this episode, and text to 44222, so text the number 44222, and the actual words you’re gonna be putting in, no spaces, trainthebrain, so text trainthebrain, no spaces, to 44222.

John, thank you for sharing your journey with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we’ll catch you on the flipside.

John: Thank you.