I Told Myself I Was Wealthy Til' It Became True Ep 421

In this insightful podcast, the host delves into the interplay between beliefs, skills, and character traits in entrepreneurial success. He shares personal anecdotes and those of others to illustrate how changing one's beliefs can lead to substantial growth, as seen in a friend's fitness app business that soared from $20,000 to $150,000 monthly by altering his self-perception. The host emphasizes the importance of aligning these three elements at each stage of business growth, detailing his own experience of scaling from millions to tens of millions in revenue by shifting his mindset, thanks to his wife's encouragement. He also discusses the transformative power of the stories we tell ourselves, advocating for replacing negative self-talk with evidence-based narratives that reinforce positive character traits and decision-making, ultimately shaping one's identity and business trajectory.

• Self-reflection is crucial for recognizing and affirming one's character traits.
• Recounting past actions where these traits were exhibited reinforces self-identity.
• The process involves identifying moments in the past and associating them with personal characteristics.

"And so what you have to do is you have to peel in your past and say, when did I exhibit these things? Because all of us have exhibited these character traits at some point in our life."

This quote emphasizes the importance of introspection and the recognition of character traits through past experiences. It suggests that everyone has displayed certain traits at various points, which can be used to reinforce self-identity.

• Narratives about oneself shape beliefs and character.
• Personal stories can be more impactful than affirmations in personal development.
• Stories told to oneself about past successes can change beliefs and reinforce character traits.

"The most powerful things that change our behavior and our character are the stories we tell ourselves."

This quote highlights the power of self-narrative in influencing one's behavior and character. It suggests that the stories one believes about themselves are crucial in shaping their personal development.

• The speaker views business as a competitive and strategic game.
• The podcast is a medium to share lessons learned on the journey of building a significant business portfolio.
• The aim is to help others grow their businesses and potentially collaborate to achieve greater success.

"The wealthiest people in the world see business as a game. This podcast, the game, is my attempt at documenting the lessons I've learned on my way to building acquisition.com into a billion dollar portfolio."

This quote conveys the speaker's perspective on business as a strategic endeavor and introduces the podcast as a tool for sharing valuable business insights with the intention of helping others succeed.

• Entrepreneurship is defined by a combination of beliefs, skills, and character traits.
• Changing beliefs can unlock potential and lead to business growth.
• Skills and character traits must be complemented by the right mindset to achieve success.

"Entrepreneurship is about three things. It's about changing the beliefs that you have. It's about increasing the skill set that you have and then the character traits that go along with that to make sure the skills are successful."

This quote outlines the three pillars of entrepreneurship according to the speaker: beliefs, skills, and character traits. It emphasizes the need for alignment among these elements to foster entrepreneurial success.

• A friend's fitness app grew significantly after he overcame his belief that it wasn't good enough.
• The app's success was hindered by the owner's lack of promotion due to self-doubt.
• The realization that the app provided value led to a rapid increase in revenue.

"So, a friend of mine, he started a fitness app. It was doing about $20,000 a month... when he realized that it was okay for him to promote it and people got a lot of value from it, and the app was good enough, he went from $20,000 a month to like, $150,000 a month like that."

This quote serves as an example of how changing one's beliefs can lead to business growth. The friend's fitness app experienced a significant increase in revenue when he began promoting it, overcoming his initial self-doubt.

• The speaker had success with gym chains but needed to shift beliefs to scale the business.
• A mentor's advice to transition to a licensing business model led to exponential growth.
• The speaker attributes the success to having the right skills, character traits, and a change in belief.

"I had a mentor come in and say, you need to get in the licensing business... And then we went from, I think we did like two or $3 million to doing seven, and the next year we did 28 million."

This quote provides a personal anecdote of how the speaker's business grew from millions to tens of millions in revenue through a change in business model and beliefs. It highlights the importance of mentorship and the impact of adopting new strategies on business success.

• Success in entrepreneurship requires discipline and a focused approach.
• Lacking the character traits of discipline and focus can lead to scattered efforts and hinder success.
• Even with the right beliefs and skills, the absence of these character traits can prevent achieving goals.

"So if you have, for example, if I had had those skills but I didn't have the character traits of being disciplined and being focused on one thing, I would have jumped between multiple entrepreneurial endeavors and never been able to see success..."

This quote stresses that without discipline and focus, an entrepreneur might fail to see success despite having the necessary skills and beliefs. It underscores the significance of these character traits in achieving business objectives.

• Success requires a harmonious alignment of beliefs, skills, and character traits.
• Character traits like focus and discipline are crucial for achieving success.
• Having advanced skills, beliefs, or character traits in one area does not guarantee success unless all three are developed equally.

"Until I had the character trait of focus, the character trait of discipline, then I would not have seen the success, right?"

This quote highlights the importance of personal character traits, such as focus and discipline, as essential components of success.

• The ladder analogy is used to describe the journey of entrepreneurship and personal development.
• The analogy consists of a ladder with two poles and a middle bar, representing beliefs, skills, and character traits.
• Advancement to higher levels of success is constrained by the least developed of the three components.

"You need all three to move to the next level of the ladder, right?"

The quote underscores the necessity of having well-developed beliefs, skills, and character traits to progress to higher levels of success.

• Identifying and developing the weakest component among beliefs, skills, and character traits can lead to rapid progress.
• The constraint once removed allows for swift advancement, similar to adding rungs to a ladder.

"But all of a sudden, if you change your character and that character trait development gives you three more rungs. All of a sudden, you go three rungs because the constraint has been removed."

This quote explains how improving one's character traits can eliminate constraints and allow for quick ascension in one's career or business.

• Acquiring skills is straightforward through courses, books, and practice.
• A common skill deficit among marketers is the ability to sell and manage a sales team.
• Developing this skill can lead to significant increases in business revenue.

"The skills are you just go buy the course, and you read the book, and you consume the content like this, and you practice, you apply, right. That's what you have to do. That's it, right."

This quote emphasizes the process of acquiring skills through learning and application as a tangible and direct action.

• Beliefs can be a limiting factor in achieving success.
• Support from others, such as a spouse or mentor, can help overcome self-doubt and insecurities.
• Trusting in someone else's belief in you can be a powerful motivator.

"I was fortunate because I had a ton of the skills in my skill toolbox, but I went from making nothing to tons because I had all of these rungs of this ladder already built out to a $30 million level. Except I just didn't have the beliefs."

The quote illustrates the speaker's personal experience where despite having the necessary skills, a lack of belief in oneself was the main obstacle to success.

• Challenging negative beliefs with evidence can be an effective way to overcome self-doubt.
• Asking for proof of negative self-assessments can reveal a lack of substantial evidence and help build confidence.

"What's the evidence that you're so bad at this? What's the evidence that you have? Because you keep beating yourself up about this, but what's your evidence?"

This quote suggests using evidence to question and potentially dismantle unfounded negative beliefs about oneself.

• Identifying personal character traits and skills is crucial for self-improvement and growth.
• It is common for individuals to struggle with understanding and changing their character traits.
• Self-narratives play a significant role in shaping one's identity and behavior.
• It is possible to alter one's identity and character traits to meet the demands of business and personal growth.
• The process involves acknowledging past behaviors that demonstrate the desired traits and reinforcing them through storytelling.

"What I do, when I identify a character trait that I lack or I identify a skill that I don't have or a belief that I don't have, and this one, I'll just specifically talk about the character traits because I think it's really important."

This quote emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in recognizing personal deficiencies in character traits, skills, or beliefs, and the speaker's focus on character traits.

• Personal stories about oneself can justify current behaviors and traits, often rooted in past experiences.
• Questioning the validity of these narratives can be a powerful tool for change.
• Choosing not to give power to past negative experiences can prevent them from defining one's character traits.

"What are the stories that you tell yourself about yourself? Right. A lot of times I had dinner recently with a $5 million year entrepreneur, and he was like, I had a lot of trauma when I was a kid, and that's why I am this way."

The quote illustrates how individuals often use personal narratives, like past trauma, to explain their current character traits or behaviors.

• Identity and character traits are not fixed; they can and should change according to the needs of personal and business growth.
• Developing new character traits, such as patience or integrity, may require going through uncomfortable changes.

"Leila and I both believe this is that your identity is fluid and you need to be able to change your identity and your character traits based on what the business requires."

This quote conveys the belief that identity is malleable and should be adapted to align with the requirements for success in business and personal development.

• Certain character traits are essential for success, such as focus, discipline, and the ability to make strategic decisions.
• Strategy involves making choices about what not to invest in, which requires the ability to say no.
• To develop desired traits, one should reflect on past instances where they exhibited those traits and reinforce them through self-affirming narratives.

"If you want to develop a reputation, you need to become a person of integrity, which means sometimes short term, you have to sacrifice."

The quote highlights the necessity of integrity for building a reputation and the potential need for short-term sacrifices to develop this character trait.

• Wisdom is considered the most valuable character trait because it leads to making the right decisions.
• The process of developing wisdom or other positive traits involves using the same mechanism that can perpetuate negative traits but instead focusing on positive affirmations and stories.

"Because if you make the right decisions, the whole world is your oyster."

This quote emphasizes the importance of wisdom, framing it as the key to unlocking limitless opportunities through sound decision-making.

• Affirmations alone are not enough; they must be backed up by stories of past behaviors that demonstrate the affirmed traits.
• Arguing against one's negative thoughts and reinforcing positive narratives helps develop the desired character traits.
• Over time, these traits can become more pronounced and naturally emanate from a person.

"And instead of saying an affirmation, you tell yourself the story of why what you're saying is true. You learn to argue against your own thoughts."

The quote suggests a strategy for personal growth: using stories to reinforce positive self-beliefs and actively challenging negative thoughts to cultivate desired character traits.

• The process of personal development can transition from an active to a passive state in one's mind.
• Self-perception is based on the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.
• Changing the narrative about oneself can lead to personal growth and improved decision-making.
• Making arguments for why you possess certain traits can be more effective than simple affirmations.
• Personal transformation can have a significant impact on business growth.

"And so if you have a limitation right now on your character trait or traits, you don't feel like you are patient enough. You feel like you are too easily distracted. You feel like you don't focus enough, then you need to start telling yourself the story."

This quote emphasizes the importance of the stories we tell ourselves regarding our character traits and suggests that by changing these stories, we can overcome perceived limitations.

"I think instead of affirmations, if you make affirmations into arguments that you make with yourself every day way, then those become things that will change who you are."

The speaker suggests that converting affirmations into self-arguments can lead to a more profound and lasting personal change.

• The speaker acknowledges that everyone experiences trauma, especially in childhood.
• Giving power to trauma can hinder personal development.
• Choosing to tell oneself a different story about past trauma can lead to regaining control over one's emotional state.
• Changing one's narrative about their past can facilitate a more rapid and directed personal change.

"I had tons of insecurities, right? I had tons of anxieties. I had lots of anger. I had lots of perceived trauma."

The speaker shares their personal experience with emotional challenges and how they perceived their own trauma, highlighting the universality of such experiences.

"I chose to stop giving trauma power."

This quote reflects the speaker's decision to take control over the impact of past trauma on their life, suggesting a proactive approach to personal healing.

• The speaker identifies that the success of business owners often hinges on their self-perception and character traits rather than just skills or beliefs.
• Negative traits such as impatience or unfaithfulness can be rationalized with excuses, which hinders personal and business growth.
• Recognizing and addressing the root causes of negative self-perceptions is crucial for transformation.

"And honestly, the guy was an asshole. He was like, man, employees suck, and I can never keep any good talent, and blah, blah, blah, blah."

This quote illustrates how a negative self-perception and attitude can adversely affect one's business, particularly in the context of employee relationships.

"The only way for that guy to do that is for him to get over the reasons that he tells himself it's okay to be who he is."

The speaker points out the necessity for individuals to confront and overcome the justifications they use to maintain negative aspects of their character.

• The word "because" is highlighted as one of the most powerful words for persuasion.
• Using "because" effectively can persuade oneself towards positive change.
• Rationalizing negative traits often involves the use of "because," which can be redirected for self-improvement.

"I'm this way because the cows is one of the most powerful words in the english language. It's great for persuasion. Make sure you use it to persuade yourself in the right direction."

The speaker emphasizes the persuasive power of "because" and encourages its use in crafting a positive self-narrative.

• The speaker offers their insights as a form of encouragement to other entrepreneurs.
• A call to action is made for the audience to subscribe for more content aimed at scaling businesses.
• The message concludes with a positive affirmation of the audience's capabilities.

"So anyways, that's just my two cent. I might not know anything if you found value in this hit. Subscribe I have other videos like this for entrepreneurs who are trying to scale their businesses."

The speaker provides a humble closing statement, inviting the audience to subscribe for further content that could aid in their entrepreneurial journey.