Best-selling author John Assaraf returns to the show for an insightful, motivating, and educational conversation about how to unlock the incredible power of your amazing brain and the theme of his annual event, Brain-A-Thon, this year: how to change your brain to change your income.
As one of the leading peak performance experts in the world, John knows everything there is to know about creating a winning environment that sets you up for success. In this episode, we talk about how to make sure rejection doesn’t adversely affect you, how 95% of our behavior is because of our current habits, and how you can actually change your income by changing your brain. You’ll also hear great advice on effectively overcoming the things holding us back in our lives when John shares the secret of how he helps people achieve permanent results in everything from weight loss to procrastination.
This year’s Brain-A-Thon is happening SOON, on Saturday, October 23rd. This is a really wonderful and unique opportunity to learn the three “Brain Unlocking Secrets” John uses (to great success!) to optimize the quality of both your life and career. If you want to achieve your goals faster and more easily, improve your income, truly take control of your emotions, and have more peace of mind and freedom, click here to sign up to learn more about this incredibly useful “Success Switch” or “Neuroplasticity Switch” that basically turns your brain into a superpower!
TIMESTAMPS:
This guest tells us about changing our thinking to create a winning environment. [01:42]
The topic of this year’s Brain-a-Thon is change your brain, change your income. [06:36]
What is it around weight loss that causes most people to lose weight and then gain it back? [08:18]
When establishing a habit, consistency is more important than intensity, complexity or duration. [12:17]
We need to understand how to work with our brain instead of against it. [16:28]
Change your thinking, manager emotions, put the right behaviors in place and create the right environment. [21:28]
The natural reaction of our brain when we are outside our comfort zone, is resistance. [23:36]
We need to acknowledge the subconscious programming from our childhood and ask, is this really serving me? [28:04]
When you say you don’t have enough time, think again. You work 40 hours a week. Sleep 50 hours a week. You have 78 hours left to do what you want! [28:48]
Understand your relationship to money. [31:32]
What is an example of wanting to change from scarcity to abundance? [36:21]
Most people’s thoughts are limiting and negative. [38:45]
Desire, hope, prayer, wishing, imagination, in most cases does not change behavior long term. [43:41]
There’s almost no goal that we can’t achieve if we are committed. [49:44]
What happens when you sign up for the Brain-a-Thon? [50:51]
LINKS:
- Brad Kearns. com
- Brad’s Shopping page
- Brain-a-Thon
- Show #1 with John Assaraf: ‘Innercise’, Unlocking The Power of Your Trillion Dollar Brain With Easy Habit Formation, and ‘Doing A Little Anyways, Even If You Don’t Feel Like It’
LISTEN:
Download the episode audio by clicking the arrow in the bottom right corner of the player above.
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B.Rad Podcast
Brad (00:00):
John Assaraf is back everybody And of course he brings his A game all the way. Full speed ahead. You are going to love this guy. I hope you listened to our previous show, but he is one of the leading brain training experts, peak- performance mindset experts in the world. Multi-time bestselling author. He’s got his wonderful operation called My Neuro Gym. And today we’re going to specifically talk about this annual event that he holds called the brain-a-thon and the 2021 version theme is change your brain, change your income. So the theme of income, but pointing this massive, wonderful weapon that we have our brains in any direction that we choose. And so at the start of the show, actually, he talks about his concept of achieving permanent weight loss, as opposed to temporary weight loss, which is what most people are out there pursuing, achieving, and then gaining all the weight back.
Brad (02:44):
And he was over and done with that. And he brings in a lot of the mindset and psychology aspects that extend beyond your food choices, your exercise habits. So that was a nice little tee up to the discussion. And then he talks about the general overall process of becoming a new person, making new habits, pursuing your goals, realizing your dreams, and getting the work done. It’s entailing first, changing your thinking, then managing your emotions around that thinking then changing your behaviors and then creating a winning environment. And that’s a nice, uh, 1, 2, 3, 4 step there. And this guy is full of that stuff. These memorable takeaway insights, very hard hitting very powerful stuff. Hopefully you can cultivate an open mind and see how many times we might get in our own way. When we’re trying to achieve goals and behavior change. John Assaraf will help you unlock the power of your amazing brain.
Brad (03:41):
And one of the things I love about John is his perspective, his backstory, he’s not just a slick expert, trying to have you become like him. He is a guy who who’s risen and fallen, uh, in dramatic and extraordinary ways. We talked about this more in the first show, but he was overweight, unhealthy. He had to pull himself together. He’s also lost, made, and lost and made and lost and made a fortune in his life. So he talks about the difference between going out there and earning money and then also learning the disparate skill of how to save and invest it. So he’s been through all kinds of amazing life experience, put together this fantastic technology. I’ve had the privilege of taking a couple of his courses. They’re very rich, very memorable, and they’ll help you a lot. So here’s a little tidbit about brain-a-thon and guess how much it costs to participate.
Brad (04:31):
It’s free. That’s right. He does this every year for free, very valuable content. It’s a, uh, all day seminar that you can participate in for free and get exposed to all the other offerings from John Assaraf and my neuro gym. Here we go back with John Assaraf. I’m so glad to have you back on the show. Our first recording was so inspiring. I just told you off, off the microphone that, uh, you’re in my head every single day. Um, I’ve had a chance to go, uh, peruse your courses and watch the, uh, incredible content and the high level of quality. So we’re going to talk about your brain -a-thon, but I want to tell the listeners, um, if you’re kind of on the fence, one of those people that oh, $99 or $200, listen to this guy and he will deliver because the content is extraordinarily well done and super deep and rich and memorable. So that’s, that’s my intro to the one and only John Assaraf. How’s it going today?
John (05:30):
Thanks Brad. Great to connect with you again.
Brad (05:32):
Uh, so we have a big event coming up called the brain-a-thon and I’d love to hear more about that.
John (05:40):
Sure. So, um, I decided, uh, about eight years ago to bring some of my other neuroscience based friends, the behavioral neuroscientist neuropsychologist to do a free training for people who want to learn how to use their noggin better. And, um, it became such a success. We did a free one day event, um, that we, uh, aired via technology like this. And we had about, uh, 20,000 people show up. And so then we did it the next year we had about 50,000 people show up. And then we did the next year and about 75,000 people showed up. And then we got it up to about 150,000 people signed up to watch me and some other brain experts talk about, you know, have a game, more focused on, let, go of limiting beliefs or fears or, um, challenges that they’re having. That’s preventing them from achieving their goals and dreams.
John (06:36):
So, um, this year again, uh, brought a whole new team of amazing, um, brilliant individuals who are on the cutting edge of performance as it relates to how do we achieve more in our lives, right? And, uh, and so we were doing our event and it’s called it’s the ninth annual brain-a-thon. And this year the theme is change your brain, change your income. And so we know that we can, um, you know, refire to rewire our brain around how much money we can earn, how much wealth we can accumulate. And, uh, obviously that translates into the lifestyle and the impact that we have. So we’re doing another event and it’s free,
Brad (07:18):
It’s free just sign up at, so you can Google Brain-a-thon. It comes right up. But we’re also going to go to, um, is it my neuro gym to see the other courses available as well?
John (07:32):
Uh, yeah, I mean, there’s, the Brain-a-Thon is specifically around changing your brain to change your income. And, uh, on the Brain-a-Thon we’ll show people our way, the game of money, brain training and coaching programs. They want to go deeper, but we also have other programs for overcoming fear or procrastination or weight loss and permanent weight loss. I like to call it and, um, how to achieve goals and how to stop procrastinating. And so, um, but the particular one that, um, that we’re, we, we’ve got an incredible lineup again this year. Um, Lisa Nichols, Jack Canfield, Marisa peer, Dr. John Demartini, Dr. Lisa Barrett Feldman, and I will be sharing some of the best stuff we’ve learned over the last 12 months. So it’s, it’s very, very, um, up to the moment stuff.
Brad (08:18):
Uh, you said permanent weight loss what’s that I’ve never heard of that concept before?
John (08:23):
Well, um, 97% of people who go on a diet to lose weight, gain it back, and a huge portion of them gain more. So the question is, how is it possible that in 2021- 22 timeframe, right? How’s it possible that we haven’t figured out how to release weight, which is what I prefer to call cause weight as you, and I know is just calories, it’s energy, how’s it? That everything that we know about yo-yo dieting and self-image and triggers and addictions, how is it possible that nobody’s teaching permanent weight loss, where you can release the fat that you don’t want on your body and then sustain it and keep it off? Right. Um, you’re in you’re, uh, 57 or so, you know, we’re in the,
Brad (09:19):
And the upper age groups, you and I, and we’re hoping to teach our grandchildren to ski, right? That’s your big goal? I love it.
John (09:26):
So, you know, I’m, I’m 60 and I’m in better shape at 60 than I was at 30. Now, why? Um, in between that time at, uh, 48, um, I was 243 pounds, 33% body fat, uh, fatty liver, borderline hypertensive, um, uh, uh, and all of the markers for, you know, for, um, uh, borderline diabetes and everything was going the wrong way. And the question is how come? And the answer is because I just was addicted to a certain lifestyle and behavior that fostered that result. And so when I looked into, how is it possible that I went, for example, you know, um, go on a diet and exercise and I lose 10, 15, 20 pounds, and then I’d gain it back. Like what’s going on here? I’ve put in the work, got the result. Then I gained it back. So I started to research, what is it around weight, weight loss, being healthy that causes most people to lose weight and then gain it back.
John (10:33):
I discovered a whole bunch of stuff. As a behavioral neuroscience research, I’ve discovered a whole bunch of stuff, circuits that were turning on or off in my brain and in everybody’s brain. Cause every brain functionally works the same with a computer in a car. Um, I figured that there are certain things mechanisms and triggers that activated certain, um, neurochemicals. Um, and, uh, some of them were helping me release the weight, but others made it hard to release weight, um, and certain behaviors, obviously, of course. Um, and then I had to go to the science of habit change, right? And most people since we’re talking about weight. Most people lose weight either for a reason or a season. And I decided to figure out how do I release the weight that I no longer want in my body and how do I sustain it for a lifetime so that I can get healthier and healthier and healthier as I get older.
John (11:28):
So, yes, so that I can ski with my children and teach my grandkids how to, you know, um, board or ski with her grandchildren. And so the focus was different. It wasn’t on a diet. Uh, it was a very holistic look at the neuro mechanics of changing habits, whether it was sleep habits, food habits, exercise habits, stress habits. Uh, and when I put a few of them together, I figured out a way that I can release weight and keep it off. And I’ve been at my ideal weight now for 12 years. And actually I’m getting better now. Not I’m actually getting better and better and better and better and better shape as I get older. And I’ve got probably the best physique I’ve ever had in my life, even compared to my twenties.
Brad (12:17):
Incredible. And I like how you, uh, convey it as a, a comprehensive approach because the sleep, the exercise, all these things have to be in place otherwise, especially in modern life, just to stay with the weight loss question for a moment. Um, we’re going to get, uh, roped in by the, uh, the powerful marketing forces that want us to stay addicted to these hyper palatable processed foods. And it’s a slippery slope downhill when these things are lingering around, um, our social psychologist, Lindsay Taylor, that works at the Primal company. She says, look, if there’s a plate of cookies out on display on your kitchen table all day long, that’s going to be, you know, very difficult to withstand. Uh, just as if there’s a kettlebell within view in your office environment all day long, you might have a better chance of swinging it a few times because it’s right there in your visual field. So I imagine it’s a matter of creating the right environment. You talked about your exercise habit, where you, you hired a guide to show up at whatever time, every single morning, just knowing that he’s coming, all of a sudden you’re going to succeed.
John (13:26):
And you know, that’s, what’s interesting. Brad is, uh, as I’m thinking about that, I remember, um, some mornings, uh, I dealt with severe sleep apnea, um, and didn’t know it at the time of some mornings, I would actually be laying on my gym floor in my home, uh, on a mat. And he would literally be moving my arm because I was too tired to move it myself or moving my leg. But I paid him not to like train me. I paid him to show up just so that we would do something. And the reason was I discovered that initially, when we’re looking at the science of change, when we’re developing a habit, the consistency is more important than the intensity more complexity or duration. So even though I was exhausted, I just want to go through the motions to develop the habit and the identity that I am an exerciser. And when my, you know, I don’t feel like it neuro muscle was activated. I didn’t have the ability to have that as an excuse cause he was there many mornings. If it was up to me and my own discipline, many mornings, I’d be like, Hey, Ari, I can’t, I don’t know, two times higher. I exercise no matter what a little bit, even if somebody was exercising me.
Brad (14:53):
So consistency being more important than intensity, uh, first at first. And I think, especially because I think a lot of us hit a roadblock when we’re taking on these super ambitious challenges and maybe they’re too daunting and that’s when we fall off because we have an all or nothing thinking, especially with dieting and who knows what else? And I like how you mentioned that we want to take these incremental steps that are doable and sustainable succeed, celebrate, and then, uh, you know, leverage that success to continue with more aspirations.
John (15:29):
Sure. So, I mean, imagine that you had a, um, you know, computer in front of you and imagine every time you want the computer to do something, it would do it or not doing it, do it based on the workload. And if the workload was big, it would say, I can’t do it right now. I’m busy doing other stuff. But if the workload was little, it could say, okay, I can do that. Well, um, you and I have the most advanced hundred billion dollar bio-computer we don’t even own a mortgage on it. Right. We own it. And it’s number one, responsibility, number one, safety and survival, number two, avoidance of pain or discomfort. But number three, to make sure it does number one or two, alright, is the use of energy. And it is an energy miser. So it does not want to use glucose.
John (16:28):
It does not want to let go of this resource. Okay. Easily. So if something requires, uh, a workload, it’s like, oh my God, what if I have to run away because of the saber tooth tiger type of thing. And so we need to understand how to work with our brain instead of against it. And most people just never learned the process. When we talk for example, about, you know, is it possible to double your income or triple your income in 12 months? Of course it is. There are people doing it all over the place, but if you’ve got a habit of earning a certain amount and you’re in a comfort zone of that amount, even if you’re miserable, um, and in order to earn two or three times, you have to change some of your habits. You have to change some of your thinking. You have to change your, uh, emotional control, abilities and skills. It’s like, I prefer to master disappointment versus mastering change because disappointment is something I already know how to do.
John (17:35):
So when we’re dealing with the neuroscience of this, it doesn’t matter if we’re looking to make more money, get away from a relationship or not happy in, ask for a raise, start a business, write a book, learn a new skill, um, our brains consistently looking at what is the cognitive load and the metabolic expenditure for that. And if there’s any risk of failure, now, it’s like, oh my God, I’m going to, I’m going to try and fail. And therefore I’m going to be disappointed. Anyway, I’m gonna, I’m gonna maybe be embarrassed or ashamed or ridiculed or judged or rejected. Like, why the hell do I want to do that? So now the capital expenditure not only is around glucose, which is what our brain is regulating. And obviously all the other, um, um, salts and then the neurochemicals. But now there’s a chance that myself worth it, identity are going to be, um, uh, challenged as well.
John (18:37):
So like, ah, you know what, let me watch a Netflix movie. Oh, my friend’s going to meet at the bar. Oh, let’s do that. I’ll come back to this later. Now what allows us to, um, to make advancements is to increase our level of awareness of here is what’s happening. Right? And then come up with counter strategies for when this happens, right? So if I said to you, Hey, you want to get in shape. Great. Um, you know, you’re gonna need to let’s let’s say let’s just focus on the proper nutrition, proper beginner exercises. And if I just left you at that, you’d have to figure it out. But if I said, okay, proper nutrition, and here’s what you’re going to have for breakfast. Here’s your snack. Here’s your lunch, here’s your dinner. Okay. And here’s the exercise regimen. And when you are hungry, if you are hungry, eat this and do this.
John (19:38):
And when you don’t feel like exercising, do this instead of that, and after this, you might be a little bit sore. So take this. Okay. Now, if I give you an easy framework to follow and give you some of the support, it makes the change easy or not easy, but makes the change easier. Why? Because I have set you up to succeed. I’ve set you up to not all of that stuff, right? Then we take the cognitive load that cheap. And then if I pre-frame, we qualify, I let you know what the experience is going to be like. And I get you to pre-commit to overcoming the challenges before you, even half of them. Now have created a map or an experience of something that you are going to experience. So most people are just ill equipped with the right process for change. It’s not that they can’t, they just don’t know how to. Then you try to use willpower, which becomes very, very weak, because then they’re all muscle by three, four o’clock every day.
Brad (21:03):
I like that analogy of the map where you could be looking at your route, driving over the Colorado Rockies and describing how tough these mountains are going to be on your car engine and get ready. And then it gets really cold up there. And you’re going to have this challenge and that challenge. But when you see it in front of you, oh my gosh, it’s so much more, uh, you know, comfortable to, to go and take on the challenge.
John (21:28):
That’s right. Yeah. So, um, you know, we’re talking about, um, you know, change your brain, change your income. Uh, first we have to change how we think, right. And what we focus on. Then we’ve got to do is understand how to manage the emotions during change. And then we need to know what are the right behaviors. So we’re not wasting time figuring it out. And then if we get ourselves in the right environment, that fosters growth well, that makes it easier. And it happens faster,
Brad (22:03):
Change your thinking, manager emotions, put the right behaviors in place and create the right environment. Simple as that.
John (22:10):
And that’s what gives you is predictable results.
Brad (22:14):
Right? Right. Then if we, if we stop by and see the environment is still lousy, we still have predictable results. It ain’t going to happen here, man. Your desk is a mess. You don’t even have internet connection, whatever.
John (22:27):
Yeah. Yeah. So most people are focusing on the result versus the process. I focus on process that creates predictability.
Brad (22:37):
So help me out here. A little, John, I’ve had some experiences where, uh, as soon as I even open my mouth to mention your name and our great show and these amazing insights that he provided, and even the idea of doubling and tripling your income, uh, often, uh, one experiences, immediate pushback, .For example, with the, the, the, the income theme, Hey, I’m already burdened with my 47 hours a week job. And I’m exhausted when I get home. How the heck can I even dream of something or take the first step? So I’m wondering, uh, when you, when you experience a little resistance, um, I, I know I asked you this question about your kids and you had a great answer that, you know, you, you can’t force them to be someone who they aren’t, but if you’re feeling maybe some partial interest and partial resistance, how would you address that?
John (23:36):
Sure. So the natural reaction of our brain when we are outside our comfort zone, is resistance. Okay. So think of a rubber band, right? If we take a rubber band and when we stretch it, we feel resistance. That’s what it’s supposed to do. So whenever we feel resistance, instead of allowing the resistance to control us, why not ask, why is the resistance here and not here? Like what is causing the resistance? The resistance is any fact, right? So think about resistance as stress, right? Resistance is a form of stress. Now what is stress? Stress is simply when the demand exceeds my current capacity. So the resistance we feel is when we’re getting to the edges okay. Of our mental, mental, or emotional or financial or physical edges. So the resistance, isn’t the problem. The question should be, why is the resistance there? And is there a way to expand me so that I don’t meet the same resistance points,
Brad (25:00):
Right? The obvious example, getting fitter where now you can pedal a bicycle for 30 minutes. No problem. And six months ago it was seven minutes. You were out of breath. ,
John (25:10):
Yeah. Walking was hard. Right. And so, so, so the key to understand the resistance is a signal just as fear is. So I don’t know if I shared this last time we talked, but imagine you’re driving your car. Right. And the light pops up on your dash. Have you ever taken a hammer to hit the light?
Brad (25:34):
Not, not to date? No.
John (25:36):
Why would I do that? It’s actually there to say, Hey, you’re low on air and your front right tire where you left the trunk open, you know, the back windows open, you’re getting out of the car. So it’s beeping. Oh, thank you. Resistance. Oh, thank you. What’s causing this resistance though. I need to move so that I can have more capacity. Right? So there’s nothing wrong with fear. There’s nothing wrong with resistance. There’s nothing wrong with stress, right? There’s nothing wrong with anxiety. There’s nothing wrong with any of the signals that our brain sends out for us to feel something. Now, certain feelings, right., are construct of positive and move us forward and other feelings okay. May put the brakes on and cause us to retreat right back into safety. So the question is why? Like, am I not taking action because I’m afraid of being rejected? What’s causing that to trigger, like what’s causing that to trigger? Do I not think I’m worthy enough? Oh, wow. Maybe I should work on upgrading, expanding my self-image and self-worth. So the rejection doesn’t affect me
John (27:05):
If I’m afraid of taking action. Why? Oh, cause I’m afraid of failing. Why? Well, because if I fail and I lose money, I won’t be able to pay the mortgage. Uh, and it’s gonna put a lot of stress on my children and wife. Oh, okay. Is there any way I can protect that from happening? Right. So there’s nothing wrong with the feeling. The feeling should give me a place to move forward in my understanding and in my strategy. And when I can learn how to be more aware of my thoughts, my emotions, my feelings, my sensations, my triggers, my move towards behaviors, my move away from behaviors. Now I can be deliberate and responsive versus unconsciously reacting to all my old patterns.
Brad (28:04):
Hmm. So, so becoming conscious and aware, we hear so much about the, uh, subconscious programming that occurred in, in our youth. And then we carry it with us and we act out these patterns. Maybe we feel undeserving of wealth and abundance because of whatever program message we, uh, we have. And, um, it’s, it’s tough to unwind some of those I would acknowledge, but once we become aware of them, it seems like an excellent first step to say, Hey, is this really serving me? Um, is there a way that I can reconcile, uh, my, my, my distaste for the, uh, inequitable distribution of wealth and in modern society and still go for my goals and dreams and double my income.
John (28:48):
Yeah. While you were, while you were talking, I was listening, but I was also going through a couple of, um, um, uh, calculations here on a piece of paper because you said, you know, what happens to the person who’s working, you know, 40 or 50 hours a week because I’m exhausted. I say grateful, let’s say you have, you’re working 40 hours a week, you know, and you’re sleeping 50 hours a week. Uh, you still have 78 hours left a week. Uh,
Brad (29:13):
You can start a second. That’s gotta be wrong. John, hold on 168. I know we have 168 in a week. Okay,
John (29:21):
Great. If you’re working 40 and you’re sleeping 50, you have 78 hours left during the tabulation.
Brad (29:30):
And he’s a gentlemen. This guy is right. We have 78 hours fritter away.
John (29:35):
So somebody tells me I don’t have time to build a side business. I don’t have time to learn how to invest. I don’t have time, you know, to sell my knowledge or a skill or to write a book or to become a coach or whatever. And I go, you got 78 hours left sleep one hour, less than a day. Oh, you don’t want to sleep an hour less a day. You want to sleep half an hour less, but that’s three and a half hours a week. You can buy back, right. That’s seven hours, every two weeks. That’s 14 hours. Every month, times, 12 months, you’ve got yourself several months to get better at something you want to double or triple your income. There’s more than enough money out there, but you’re either going to not give me stories and reasons and excuses, why you can’t or you’re going to commit and do whatever you can. So you have more than enough time. Time is not the issue. Commitment is the issue. Awareness is the issue. Ignorance is the issue, lack of knowledge and skill is the issue all fixable.
Brad (30:34):
Uh, one thing you said, just kind of caught me personally. I think we should drill into it a little bit. Maybe it will be relevant to others when you said there’s more than enough money out there. And I can, uh, intellectualize that and realize that money is an exchange medium. And the economy is unlimited in abundance. But I think a lot of times when let’s say we’ve, we’ve lived on a budget for, uh, the greater part of our lives and felt this, uh, these sensations of scarcity credit card debt. And I’m talking, I know who I’m talking to here because your story is incredibly powerful and that you’ve been there at the very high, fallen, lost everything, gotten it back. So maybe we could, we could speak to that, um, that money mindset and how we can kind of break free from this scarcity mindset about money. That if I invest a thousand dollars in my business, oh, gee, uh, that also is going to be compromising my vacation or my, uh, whatever.
John (31:32):
Yeah. So you can, um, you know, spend 5,000 bucks on a TV or spend 5,000 bucks on upgrading your knowledge and skills on how to make 10,000, right. Um, you know, spend $5,000 on your trip or don’t take a trip and spent $1,500 on a course. That’ll help you take 10 trips. Um, when we were talking about money, right? Money, money, money, we know we all need it. We all have to eat them, pay, you know, for stuff. Um, but if you think about, um, you really want to make money, let me give you an example. Um, we’re gonna take a couple of things that are on my desk. Just random things on my desk. Let’s say I need money. I have no, I’ve got zero money right now. Just got what I got on my desk. Pair of reading glasses, 1.75, this little acrylic thing with a color like in a remote control for my PowerPoint on my computer, a little bottle with an acorn in there.
John (32:34):
So it reminds me of that. The, you know, the Oak tree, the potentials in the acorn, I got to put it into the right soil and till the soil. And I got this little, uh, you know, those a little rocket ship that is from one of my mastermind groups called escape velocity. And, um, it represents, um, the velocity that a rocket ship needs to attain in order to leave the gravitational force of the earth. I got these, you know, these things and a pen. I don’t have any money. I’m tired, I’m busy, but I need money. I need to feed myself. Do you think that if I maybe hopped on Facebook, Instagram, or walk out to the street over here, knocked on my neighbor’s door and say, Hey, John Assaraf here. Uh, listen, I have this acrylic beautiful colored, um, thing that I use to hold down paperweights, uh, but also use it as color therapy.
John (33:28):
Um, would you like to buy this for a dollar? 99 people will probably say, are you out of your mind? One person say, sure, I’ll take that for a buck. Oh, by the way, um, this is something that reminds me that everything’s in the universe and no tree grows. Okay. Because right. The vibration and, uh, if you need a pen to sign contracts and so it was really good to pay three bucks for it, give it to you for buck. And this is really great. If you have, I can, I can go and take stuff that I have on my desk and I can make money today. If I’m willing to go and do the work. So not having money is any effect. Being in debt is an effect, not knowing how to invest in protecting your wealth is an effect. Not knowing, you know, how to use debt as leverage is any effect of ignorance and conditioning.
John (34:22):
So when we say there’s enough money out there, um, there’s evidence of it everywhere, everywhere. There’s people in stores, people buying stuff, people traveling people in hotels and $20 a night hotels, and $2,000 a night, hotels. There’s people buying Rolls Royces right now. And people buying VWs or somebody saying, I can’t even afford a bicycle. So when we’re talking about money, the skill of earning money is readily available to anybody to learn. It’s a skill, no different than chess or checkers or knitting or playing tennis. It’s a skill. And for somebody who is committed to learning the skill, they can get better. And they’re going to be clumsy beginners at first. And then with practice, they can get better as long as they’re practicing the right things. But if you keep practicing the wrong things, you just get better at the wrong things. So it’s not practice that makes perfect it’s perfect practice that makes perfect. Too many people are repeating patterns over and over and over your language patterns, emotional patterns, behavioral patterns. And they wonder, I wonder why I keep seeing scarcity, but that’s the pattern you’re practicing. And is there scarcity? Yes. For the people who believe in scarcity and is there abundance? Yes. But the people who believe in abundance, if, for people who do things to connect with had resonated with the abundance and you know, where it all starts right in there, right. In between your two ears.
Brad (36:21):
So the language patterns, what’s an example of maybe wanting to change from scarcity to abundance.
John (36:35):
So language patterns and what we say, activate chemicals that cause us to feel a certain way when our brain releases certain chemicals we’re either in a motivated state or unmotivated state, we’re moving towards trying to find, you know, and finding what it is that we want or not. So, uh, self-talk is critical. Like self-talk is critical. Why? Because every sentence that you speak releases the neurochemical associated with that sentence. So are you releasing the neurochemicals of scarcity? So if you say there’s never enough think about this, if you, if you typed into your computer, okay, there’s never enough memory in this computer. And that was an instruction for your computer to make that a reality, the computer would say, sorry, can’t save this. Not enough memory. What would you type into the computer? There’s always more than enough. Right? So what do you think our brain is? It’s a bio computer. Now, when we say there’s always more than enough, and it’s easy for me to find it, your brain says, okay, let me make that a reality. When you say there’s never enough, I’m so tired of being in debt. Your brain says, okay, okay. If you did, you just said what I am. Hmm. So there’s a part of our brain that is extremely literal.
Brad (38:28):
This goes for unspoken thoughts as well, I would imagine?
John (38:32):
Of course. Of course. Yeah. We have about 6200 thoughts a day. According to the latest research has just come out and not 35,000 to 50,000 is, Hey, that sounds
Brad (38:41):
More reasonable. Okay. 6200, people,
John (38:45):
Most people’s thoughts are limiting and negative. Most people’s thoughts. So they’re reinforcing, limiting and negative thoughts more often than not. And so then the neural networks that cause us to see, like, think about this, right? In any given second, when your eyes are open, about 400 billion bits of information are coming in through your eyes. And yours and my brain deletes distorts 99.9, nine, 9% of it. And it only allows you and I to see for the most part, what we are conditioned to see, it’s looking for a match between the map and the reality out there. And it deletes anything that doesn’t match the map. So if you are consistently living in scarcity with not enough or just enough, it deletes and distorts all the abundance and shows you just enough, right. Or not enough. So our brain is as much as you think. And I used to think that we see, you know, with our eyes, we don’t, we see through our eyes and our brains actually projecting the patterns back onto the canvas.
Brad (40:16):
Dr. Andrew Huberman says the eyes are technically part of the brain. They’re just sticking out.
John (40:22):
Right.
Brad (40:24):
Uh, so I suppose if we are, uh, filtering and pattern matching for scarcity, fear, self limiting beliefs, we’re going to also create an environment that supports this, surround ourselves with negative people, like-minded, uh, naysayers and so forth, probably without even noticing it.
John (40:46):
All right. We’re always looking for evidence. We’re always looking for evidence of our truth, our beliefs. So if we started to talk in abundant ways, if we started to feel abundant, we start to behave right. In ways that are abundant, then guess what would happen? We would then start to all of a sudden be in resonance with more abundance.
Brad (41:12):
Uh, I, I forget the guy who went and bought the Lamborghini that he couldn’t afford. Um, was Usain or somebody. And then he grew into the income level that could support that, but he wanted to drive around and, uh, you know, be visceral with his manifestation. Hilarious. But I think on a, on a more, uh, reasonable level, a lot of us can challenge, especially the, um, the, the, uh, the verbal running of the mouth with the litany of complaints and second guessings and all these, all these things that we do to, to keep ourselves stuck and buried.
John (41:47):
Absolutely. So, like I said, you know, we’ve got a phenomenal, um, biocomputer or brain that’s got genius capabilities. Um, and we have a way to use our brains power, um, and achieve more of our goals and dreams. And, you know, by default or by design, we also have, you know, it’s why behind Einstein, you know, to remind me of the imagination and the genius within Einstein, but we all also have a Frankenstein’s monster, right? You can’t do that. You’re not good enough. You’re not smart. And what have you failed or succeeded at? What if you’re disappointed, that’s like the brain breaks and gas of a car. We can, we need to use both. And when we learn to use both, then we’re better operators, right. But we learned how to overcome the limiting beliefs, the fears, the I’m not good enough. Um, you know, part of our psyche, cause you know, the trauma that we had as children is not who we are today, but we still have those patterns. Um, we need to release those patterns and really step into our fullest potential. And we know how to do that today. So why not learn how to focus better, how to be more aware, how to let go of destructive habits or addictions and create positive, empowering, constructive patterns that create the success that you want for every level of success that we want. There is a thinking and a behavior that gets that success. And for every failure, consistent failure, there’s, there’s a pattern there too. Right. And so,
Brad (43:27):
Oh gee, I wonder what kind of pattern is, it was all 17 companies that fired me are totally screwed up and they don’t have any idea what they’re hoping. Uh, what do they all have in common?
John (43:36):
Yeah. You’re near the, uh, that you’ve been at the scene of all the crimes,
Brad (43:41):
Just randomly coincidentally, uh, John, do you ever encounter, um, sort of this, um, this dreamer type of character who’s, uh, saying all the right things. I’m thinking of the classic job interview setting, where you have someone who seems to be on that, uh, enlightened path. But then if we look at the history, uh, you know, when the smoke clears, there’s a lot of failure, a lack of execution, uh, heading in the wrong direction. I know you have your own story of, of, you know, making millions and then losing them. So how do we solve that equation to make sure that we’re not, it makes sure we’re walking our talk in a, in a legitimate way.
John (44:25):
Um, I’m going to come back to ’em. You know what I mentioned just a few minutes ago is the, you know, the Einstein part of our is the dreamer part of our brain. It’s the part of our brain that could even say, well, I’m going to do this and this and this, this and this. I’m going to on a Friday and on Sunday and on Monday and on Tuesday, it’s going to be like this. And so we can come up with all of the, how to win, come all, come up with, you know, what to, we come up with why we want to, um, but behavior doesn’t work that way, right? Behavior, um, 95, 97% of our behavior is because of our current habits.
John (45:09):
So desire, hope, prayer, wishing, imagination, in most cases for adults who are conditioned does not change behavior long-term. So when I’m interviewing somebody, I want to know what they think, what they feel, what they say they can do. And then I have a very, very classic, you know, line that’s show me. Uh, I can take a look at your physique. You can take a look at mine, you know, whether I eat well and workout you, you, you know, I can take a look at your bank account. You can take a look at my bank account. I know how well you’re doing with money. Uh, I can invest a little bit of time with your significant other, and I can tell a lot about your relationship. Why? Because results don’t lie. So I don’t really pay much attention to what people tell me they can do. Everybody tells me they can do this or that. I pretty much base people on what they are doing.
Brad (46:24):
And sometimes we see, uh, parts of the package looking great, not the whole package. Um, I’m, I’m, I’m, uh, I’m okay with my physique, but my bank balance is a subpar. And I’m wondering how I can leverage those skills that have, uh, contributed to fitness or whatever. There’s a lot of people walking around with a lot of money and they have healthy relationships or what have you.
John (46:49):
Yeah. Yeah. So listen, life is, you know, we’re playing several different games simultaneously, right? Spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, financial health, relationship, career, business, fun, and experiences. Uh, so we’ve got a variety of different games that each one of those games that we’re playing, we can be playing one game at the pro level and not a game at the kindergarten level. All right. We can have a great relationship with our spouse in a terrible relationship with our employees. We can be a leader at the YMCAs, but a terrible leader at home. Right? So, so the key in this, in this game, it’s, it’s like, uh, you know, a big Rubik’s cube that we’re trying to solve the algorithm to get it just in proper flow and harmony. And, uh, it’s a complex game. I get that, but even complex games, the Rubik’s cube is complex. Okay. Due by Tuesday, easier than this.
Brad (47:49):
Oh, is that real? He can twist that. Don’t, don’t touch it. You’ll never get it back. And he’s, he’s showing the world’s most complex Rubik’s cube on the video,
John (47:58):
18 hours to solve this one, five seconds to solve this. So the point I wanna make is, um, once you understand the algorithms, right? The rules of engagement, um, and you have the skill and the desire, you can solve this. If you really put your mind to it, now you can try and figure it out on your own. Or you can find somebody as a Rubik’s cube expert and they’ll show you how to solve this. Why? Because they’ve probably spent 10,000 hours solving it versus you trying to figure it out. So it’s the same thing. Listen, it’s the same thing for money. It’s the same thing for health. It’s the same thing for relationship, the how to all ready, exists. So it’s not the how to that’s the problem. The real big problem, Brad, is the commitment to, because if you are committed, nothing will stop you. If you are committed, if you aren’t interested, nobody can help you.
Brad (49:12):
If you aren’t interested.
John (49:15):
Well, if you’re interested, you’re just going to do what’s easy and convenient, but if you’re committed, you’ll do whatever it takes. Right.
Brad (49:21):
Um, and then we have to kind of check in the mirror and decide if we’re truly committed, or we just like to, uh, speak in these, uh, platitudes that boy, I would love to double my income and I’m taking this, this brain-a-thon course with John Assaraf so I’m, I’m certain it will happen. Uh, let me tell you even more about what I’m going to do, but yeah, the commitment’s different.
John (49:44):
Yeah. Listen, now you want to get in shape. Um, great. You can, you can write out your plan, set out your goals, have your vision. Um, but then if you don’t follow through with behavior and then don’t follow through when you don’t feel like doing it and don’t follow through when there’s challenges and don’t follow through until you achieve the goal, then you’re interested. Yeah. There, there’s almost no goal that we can’t achieve if we are committed almost, but in order to achieve big goals, we have to get good at the achieving small goals because small goals require process. Big goals. Okay. Require more complex processing in, in most cases. Right.
Brad (50:37):
So start with small goals, get your process, right. Maybe redirected to other areas of life. Like we talked about where you’re sure you’re firing on all cylinders.
John (50:48):
Yep.
Brad (50:49):
Love it.
John (50:50):
Yep. Absolutely.
John (50:51):
So what happens when we sign up for the Brain-a-Thon, will we get an email reminder? And then what is the actual athon like? Are we going to
John (51:00):
Yeah, the Brain-a-Thon starts at 9:00 AM on Saturday. Um, and you’ll have the link for, for the brand new, uh, Brain-a-Thon is coming up the virtual Brain-a-Thon, a virtual event. And, um, um, it’s going to be probably about six hours, seven hours. We could easily charge a thousand dollars for it. We don’t, we do it for free and people could sign up for the Brain-a-Thon, come and show up, prepared to learn and apply to chat, ask questions, share, you know, and participate. And you can stay for an hour and a half or you can stay for all six hours. Um, uh, and as soon as you sign up, it’s free. Uh, you’ll get a reminder and there’ll be some, some videos that we send you as well. Uh, at times, uh, some emails just to get your prepared and then just hop on your computer, you know, have a pen and paper handy or somewhere to type on and take notes and learn from these world-renowned experts this year on the brand side, we’ve got Dr.
John (52:02):
Lisa Barrett Feldman. Well, the top neuroscientists in the world, uh, Dr. John Demartini brilliant, uh, Jack Canfield, who many people know from Chicken Soup for the Soul, he sold 500 million books. Um, these, one of the thought leaders in personal development for 50 years, um, we’ve got Marisa Peer who’s one of the top, um, teachers of hypnotherapy in the world, working with celebrities, athletes, CEOs, homemakers on getting rid of the mental and emotional junk that holds people back. Um, we’ve got, um, me, uh, teaching as well. Uh, we’re going to have Niurka back from last year. Uh, and, uh, we also have Lisa Nichols, which many people know from, uh, the movie, the secret, but also, um, she’s going to be talk about how she built a multi-million dollar empire, um, you know, when she was broken and broke, right. So how did she do it? And she is an amazing teacher. So we have all these teachers, um, that are going to be investing in the people that are signing up for free to teach them that. So it doesn’t cost anything. Um, but it costs a lot. If you don’t show up,
John (53:25):
That’s your loss people, how can you say no to that, John? Uh, your energy is awesome. I so much appreciate connecting with you. Keep up the great work and let’s everybody meet at the Brain-a-Thon. We’ll, uh, we’ll have 150,000 zoom squares on our home screen. We can draw, draw a face of Albert Einstein with all the, if we all position ourselves, right? Different technologies and zoom for, for the number of people we have. But it’d be great to see you there again. And I look forward to seeing your, your friends and audience and helping them change their brain so they can change their income,
Brad (54:01):
John Assaraf everybody. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to the show. I love sharing the experience with you and greatly appreciate your support please. Email podcast@bradventures.com with feedback, suggestions, and questions for the Q and A shows. Subscribe to our email list of Brad kearns.com for a weekly blast about the published episodes and a wonderful bi-monthly newsletter edition with informative articles and practical tips for all aspects of healthy living. You can also download several awesome free eBooks when you subscribe to the email list. And if you could go to the trouble to leave a five or five star review with apple podcasts or wherever else, you listen to the shows that would be super, incredibly awesome. It helps raise the profile of the B.rad Podcast and attract new listeners. And did you know that you can share a show with a friend or loved one by just hitting a few buttons in your player and firing off a text message? My awesome podcast player called Overcast allows you to actually record a soundbite excerpt from the episode you’re listening to and fire it off with a quick text message. Thank you so much for spreading the word and remember B.rad.
