How The Law Of Attraction REALLY WORKS! (Manifest Anything You Want) | John Assaraf

What happens when somebody is looking to manifest is they may be thinking positive but feeling negative. They may be thinking, oh my God, this is going to change my life. But what if I fail?

What is the number one thing that people get wrong about manifestation and setting goals and what they can actually do to achieve them?

So listen, the number one thing that people get wrong about manifestation and setting goals so they can achieve them is they think that all they've got to do is come up with the idea of what the goal is and maybe visualize it. And as much as that's an important piece, they're missing several elements. And what if we thought about it maybe slightly differently? Since we know that everything is energy and that energy is vibrating or oscillating at a different frequency, What happens if you have, for example, a positive empowering vision and goal that's vibrating at a certain frequency, but then secretly you feel a fear of failure, or you feel a fear of being embarrassed or ashamed or ridiculed or judged or rejected or unloved? Now, I'm sure you know how noise cancellation headsets work. Where, you know, you have, you know, some that you're listening to and then you have noise from the outside. Well, what do you think is happening with the noise cancellation headsets? The frequency, okay, that you are listening to is backed by some technology that cancels out the outside noise. Well, what happens when somebody's looking to manifest is they may be thinking positive but feeling negative. They may be thinking, oh my God, this is going to change my life, but what if I fail? They may be thinking, this is going to be great because I'm going to be able to do this, that, and everything else, but what if I'm embarrassed? So when we have these opposing energies, they cancel each other out. So let's think about energy like a musician or a band would be thinking. What would they be thinking? Well, let's say we have 5 members of a band that just come together to jam, you know, a killer new song and they haven't practiced. Now, even though individually they may be outstanding musicians, until they get into concert or coherence and harmony, it sounds like shit. So what do they do? They practice getting into flow and into harmony. So I'm giving you a long-winded answer with several different examples. What if our job is, yes, get the mindset, the vision right? And what if in addition to getting the vision right, we get the emotions right, get in coherence with the feeling, the energy in motion? And then what if we used our intuition, our gut as well to to help navigate how we can start to achieve the goal. So there's the spiritual side, right? There's the emotional side, the mental side, and then there's the physical side that we need to get into concert. I call that the SEMP model, spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical. And when those are aligned, now we're able to create, manifest, attract, and, achieve our goals and dreams. And I like to say faster and easier than when we're out of concert.

Wow. Yeah, I love that. That was awesome. I think that the thing that when people are learning about manifestation and people are learning about like how to attract their reality, they seem to focus a lot on thinking, right? They focus a lot on their thoughts and like, oh, I need to think better thoughts, or it's all about the thinking. But what you just explained kind of incorporates different elements into it. Which I think is great.

And there's a huge difference as well, Aaron, between thinking and thoughts.

What is that difference?

Yeah, great question. So, there's another piece, by the way, that is really important because you asked me what's one of the biggest mistakes they make or misunderstandings. That is a lot of people, when they think of manifesting, a lot of people have this idea that somehow magically something's going to appear. And that is like so far from the truth. And in the movie, The Secret, which I was blessed to be in, we talked about the law of attraction and think, feel, believe, and you'll achieve. That's so full of shit. If that was true, everybody would be skinny, rich, and in a happy, amazing relationship. So The last 6 letters of the word attraction, they're action. Action, attraction, which means that I actually have to do something. Now, in the doing something, we can't just be busy doing stuff. We have to do the right things in the right order at the right time. Perfect example, I always have Rubik's cubes on my desk. I have like 5 different ones. Now, Is the solution of how to solve the Rubik's Cube, okay, is it available on YouTube?

Yeah.

Yeah. So how to solve the Rubik's Cube and the algorithms of what I need to do is available on YouTube. But you could sit here for hours working, trying hard to solve it. But if you don't do the right thing in the right order at the right time, you will never even solve the 2x2. So attraction manifestation is alignment, as I mentioned before, between the thinking, the thoughts, the emotions, and the right behaviors. So that's part 1. Now to get to the question about the difference between thinking and thoughts. The average person has about 6,200 thoughts a day. 60 to 100 thoughts. Now the question is, where do those thoughts come from, right? And the answer is, well, um, I might be watching TV or walking down the street and I see a rose and I see a little girl and it reminds me of something from, you know, my past or an experience. And so thoughts percolate all day long from our subconscious mind randomly because of something that has triggered thoughts. Now, we have positive thoughts, negative thoughts, empowering thoughts, disempowering thoughts, constructive ones, destructive ones, and everything in between. Some that are like bizarre, almost like in our dreams. So thoughts are happening and they're percolating like effervescent bubbles, you know, in a soda can, just percolating up and everything in between. Now, Thinking is, hmm, I wonder why I'm having these recurring negative thoughts and what can I do in order to stop this negative emotion that I'm having that's causing me to procrastinate? Thoughts are random, thinking is deliberate. Right now, when we get into this automatic thinking about certain things, Now we're out of the world of thoughts that are random, and now we're thinking about certain things, which is deliberate. Thoughts are unconscious, thinking is conscious.

That's good. I like that.

So what if I share it with, you know, everybody that according to the research, right? Most people's thoughts are negative. It's like, why? Why would most people's thoughts be negative? And the answer is because there's this part of our brain that I call the Frankenstein's monster. This Frankenstein's monster part of our brain is standing guard. And the question is standing guard on what? Well, that part of our brain is focusing on what if negative all the time. And you ask yourself, what do you mean what if negative? Well, there's a part of our brain that is responsible for our safety. Wow. I have that part. That is part of my brain? Yeah. That part of our brain is also responsible to move us away from real or imagined danger and discomfort. So, this part of our brain goes, well, what if you fail? What if you succeed and fail? What if you disappoint your children, your husband, your wife, your sister, your boss? What if you disappoint yourself? So, this little part of our brain is constantly running this script predicting what if negative. Yeah. We also have this other amazing part of our brain that I call is the Einstein part of the brain. Now, this part of our brain is the executive director of the whole brain. This part of our brain can imagine the negative, the positive, the solutions, and the risks. So we want to be aware that this Frankenstein's monster part of our brain is one of our greatest allies. It's like having a built-in fire chief, okay, in your brain to protect you just in case. Now you can't let the fire chief, okay, ring the bell all the time of possibilities, right? Because that part of your brain is basing your possibilities that there might be danger or risk or pain or discomfort.

Right, right.

We have to realize just like you have sensors in your car that tell you you are low on gas, windshield wiper fluid is low, your back tire pressure is low, that is the sensor that gives you a signal. So, you don't shoot the messenger. You learn how to manage the messenger better. And then you shift over to this part of your brain that can say, well, I wonder why I keep having these negative thoughts or why I am sabotaging causing my success? Why am I not taking action? Why am I afraid of failing? What do I give a shit if what somebody thinks about me?

Right?

So now we are dealing with different parts of our brain. And this is the domain of my behavioral neuroscience research. And that is understanding that I have, you have a $100 billion brain, but we weren't really trained very well how to use this electromagnetic switching station very, very well. And so when we're dealing with, you know, manifestation, creation, energy, uh, networks and circuits in our brain, most people are just ignorant. Not stupid. Ignorant means I'm really not a good operator of this $100 billion brain that's been evolving for a couple hundred thousand years. Yeah. Wow. There's a little, there's a first few minutes of our time together to open up people's minds of what we're dealing with.

I love that. I love also that you're able to use those analogies of Frankenstein and Albert Einstein. And I think it's, I like what you said too, about how Frankenstein isn't necessarily bad. It's just, he's doing his job. So, it's like, I think that we have this like survival mechanism, this, like when we self-sabotage ourselves, it's like our ego is doing what it can to keep us safe. It's just that what keeps us safe doesn't serve us anymore. Right?

Well, yes. And it goes back to, listen, when we learn to drive a car, right? We take driver's ed and they, you know, we do some of the work, you know, in the classroom to learn the signs, to learn highways and freeways and byways and all the signs that we need. We learn the the laws, and then we get into the car for the practical training, right? And we learn the gas and the brakes and the windshield wiper and all the little buttons in the car. And so we learn, you know, the little cockpit here. And we also know that every car today, you know, has these sensors of what may be going around you, right? If you have one of the newer cars today and you want to go into the left lane, a light might pop up, you know, on your left view mirror. Right? And if you want to go to the right, if there's a car in the vicinity, the radar, you know, gives you a signal with some flashing light to know, stay in your lane. Well, we have a very, very highly developed part of our brain for safety and survival and conservation of energy. So our brain is predicting in advance what might happen based on all of our experiences that we've had from the time we are born to now. So all of the memories that we have and the associations that our brain has in our biocomputer is used like a little library and it's predicting what might happen in the future. Even a second from now is the future to the brain, but it's releasing the neurochemicals of that possibility into our bloodstream right now as the way that it sends us the signal. Yeah. So we have, you know, anger is a signal for protection, right? Overwhelm is a signal that there's too much input that we're trying to process. Self-doubt is a signal that maybe we don't have enough information. Right. So whenever we're dealing with our brain, we're dealing with electrical activity that produce neurochemicals that cause a feeling. Yeah, right.

Yep.

All of this is happening in billionths of seconds, right? An AI-driven biocomputer that's learning in real time. So when we're looking at, you know, personal development and growth, and I know, you know, you're deep into the spiritual work The first part of this is to realize, holy shit, I have this unbelievable brain that is genius. And now, just like I learned how to drive a car and park and reverse and go left and go right and go fast and go slow and make decisions, I can learn how to use my brain. I'm not my brain. I have a brain. Now I can learn how to use it a little bit better and I become a better operator. And then what I see, what I feel, what I do, how I behave and what I achieve can be magnified in multitudes of degrees.

Yes. Preach. Yeah, that's awesome. So, Yeah. My next question for you on all of this, which is along the same thread of what we're talking about, I know a lot of people have probably, I mean, the way that I found out about you was when I was back in 2008, my mom sat me down and was like, "You have to watch this movie, The Secret." And I was like, I thought it was, I didn't know what it was, but I started watching it. And after about 5 minutes, she's like, "Just watch a couple minutes of it." And I watched it for 5 minutes and then I just got sucked in and I was watching the whole entire thing. And There was just something about it that rang true for me, and it changed my whole life, that movie in general. And what I love though is that what you're talking about right now, there's certain things that The Secret did well by bringing people into the awareness of what the law of attraction is. But then you're also acknowledging that there's some things that it actually may have done a little misunderstanding with. And what I would like for you to share is a little bit more about maybe what The Secret not necessarily got wrong, but what is the practical steps we can take to manifest our dream life that maybe uses some of what you talked about in The Secret, but also a message that you think will really help people get the results that they desire?

Sure. So, what The Secret did for a lot of people is give them hope. What The Secret did for a lot of people is maybe introduce them to everything is energy. And the things that, you know, vibrate at the same frequency, you know, resonate. And that's okay, even though, you know, at the quantum level of energy, if you have a positive magnet and you put it next to another positive magnet, it actually repels. So you have to have a negative and a positive for the attraction, but that's a whole other thing. So what it got wrong is it gave people a misunderstanding that The law of attraction works like a magnet. Yeah. And the real, um, the real, um, law is the law of resonance. The law of resonance. Things that are on the same wavelength resonate. And there are millions and millions of frequencies, right? A lot of people know, you know, 3G phone, 4G, 5G. They're already talking about 6G. That's already here. Here, but we're not tapping into it. So that's part 1. Let me give you a visual and then we'll bring it back. So imagine right now, and everyone who's watching or listening, you know, is there music right now during this session? And then if you listen, no, there's no music. Well, what if we took a radio right now Right? Is there music here right now with you and I? And the answer is no. If I took a radio now, there's not even a wire that's plugged into the wall. It has batteries. And I turned the radio on and you and I, Aaron, said, hey bud, let's listen to some rock and roll. Right? We can just, okay, what channel is that? Oh, that's 95.1. And we put on some rock and roll and it was shitty, shitty rock and roll song. And you said, John, Can you go to 92.8? Because there's a really great jazz station there. And so I just switched the dial and I tuned in in a nanosecond to 92.8. Wow, some really great jazz. And then I said, hey Aaron, let's have some fun. Let's go and listen to some punk rock. That's at 107.2. And we turned the dial to 107.2 and boom, the radio would tune into the music that's already in this room. Yeah, frequency, right? There's a radio station that is, is sending out that frequency. All right, and the tuner in the radio tunes into the different frequency just by turning the dial. Yeah, are we clear so far? So first and foremost, law of attraction, law of manifestation Do you have absolute clarity on the station you want to tune into? You tune in with your brain. So most people, when I say to them, give me the exact details, and I don't care if it's health, wealth, relationships, career, business, money, whatever, give me the exact details of what you want to achieve. Most people are talking in general terms. And I teach all of my clients and students, no, you can't say generally I want to listen to jazz. You have to get right on the freaking station for you to be in resonance. So I'll give you an example. I have something called my Exceptional Life Blueprint here. And in my Exceptional Life Blueprint, I have some family pictures. I have some of my lifestyle, my current lifestyle blended in with some of the things I want to do. But then from the pictures, the visuals of exactly what I want my brain to tune in on, you know, I also have my goals for health, wealth, relationships, career, business, that if anybody read this, there would be no misunderstanding of exactly what I'm investing every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every quarter creating, manifesting, and moving towards. So clarity is one of the most important things you can start with. Why? Because there's a part of our brain attached to this Einstein part of the brain, that's the GPS part of our brain. Yeah, the GPS part of our brain, if you give it the destination, it'll start working towards how to get there without you even thinking about it. And that means that I need to be clear on the vision. I need to be clear on the goals, which is the destination.

Yes.

Most people don't have clarity on the vision and they don't have clarity on the goals. And the question is, why don't they? And the answer for a lot of people is they really don't believe they deserve it, or they really have limiting beliefs around it, or they really have fears around it. So a part of their brain wants it, but another part of their brain moves them away from it. So what I like to suggest is if you want to get into resonance and coherence, right? Coherence and resonance. I want to get clarity of the vision so that nobody knows or nobody has a hard time understanding like what, what specifically? No differently than if you wanted to build a home, you have to make sure that you give the architect precise instructions.

Yeah.

Or you may or may not get the home that you want. You know, how many bedrooms? One story or two? How big is the lot? Trees? No trees? Pool? No pool? Jacuzzi? What size? Um, windows? How big? How wide? How many bathrooms? What's the kitchen? What's the design? So you spend the time on the design first.

Yes.

Then the next part of coherence is great. Um, What are the goals? By when? Like, what are the goals? By when? Then we say, okay, well, in order to achieve the vision and hit these goals, what do I need to believe?

There we go.

What do I need to believe to make that a reality? What do I need to believe about myself? What do I need to believe about whether it's possible or not? What do I need to let go of? What habits do I need to release? What habits do I need to start to make the goals that will help me achieve the vision more real in here and in here? Because in the absence of goals and in the absence of how I'm going to achieve those goals, I'm creating uncertainty and doubt in this biocomputer. And when I have uncertainty and doubt, this part of my brain lights up like a Christmas tree because now if I don't have certainty and confidence and clarity, then there's risk. And risk to the human brain means danger.

Yeah.

And danger turns off the motivational circuit in the brain, which I need to take action. Risk and lack of motivation deactivate the motor cortex in the brain, circuits in the brain that are required to take action. So if I don't I have doubt, that means that I am not in concert with the vision, the goals that I want to achieve. So the neuromechanics, right? Every single brain, Aaron, works the exact same way. Like your brain and my brain mechanically works the exact same way. So if that's true, like almost every car works the same way, or a tractor, or a semi, it works the same way, right? Whether we have, you know, an engine, we have spark plugs, we have electrical system, we have axles, and we have tires, like they all work together. What I love to get into, and you can tell my passion around this, is how do I get the mechanics to work while the process on the inside to work well so this body moves towards what I want in flow, in harmony, in concert. And so that it makes it easier to achieve my goals. So The Secret didn't talk about any of that. It just said, think, believe, and you'll achieve. And I said, bullshit.

And when you talk about beliefs, So let's talk about that for a minute because one thing on my channel I talk a lot about is how beliefs create our reality more so than just thoughts because beliefs are, you know, what we believe to be true. So what would— I've heard you also in other interviews talk about this, but you've had like a mentor that told you and asked you a very powerful question that I think changed your life about this. So I thought maybe you'd share a little bit about that too.

Sure. So let's talk about beliefs, then we'll talk about the question. One question, one man, one answer changed my life. Totally, totally in resonance with that. So, um, were you born with any beliefs? Was anybody born with any beliefs?

Blank slate.

Blank slate. Were you born with any habits?

No.

Were you born with any experiences? No. So we are born blank slate, 100 billion brain cells. And through parents, teachers, environment, experiences, what we read, what we watched, what we did or didn't do, we start to develop this belief system. And there's two different types of beliefs. There are what we call our declarative beliefs, which is, excuse me, I believe that everybody deserves to, you know, achieve success. I believe that I can make $1 million. That's a declarative belief. It's a generalized philosophy and belief that I can share with people or even within myself. But then we have something called implicit beliefs. And an implicit belief is actually a subconscious belief. And subconscious beliefs are actually what drives our behavior, not declarative beliefs. So if we believe that everybody deserves success, but we also have subconscious beliefs that I'm too young, I'm too old, I believe that it's too risky, I believe that it's, you know, she can do it, but I can't. So we can have opposing beliefs that are generalized that we declare, but subconscious patterns that have been reinforced from the time we were born. So from a neuroscience perspective though, a belief is nothing more than a pattern, cells that fired together and then became connected and then maybe wired and reinforced. So beliefs are nothing more. If you were to take a human brain and start slicing it into millionth of an inch, pieces, you would see these neural networks and patterns, okay? The synapses and creating the connections. And so the question is, if I have beliefs that are subconscious or conscious that maybe are not the most powerful beliefs, they actually are disempowering beliefs, can I let go of those if it's just a pattern? If it's just software that's been reinforced, can I deactivate the software, you know, or the belief pattern and create a new, more empowering one? Well, let me ask you a question. Did you ever believe in Santa Claus?

Yes, I did.

You really believed in Santa Claus, right? That Santa maybe came down the chimney from the North Pole. You can actually write letters to Santa and you might even get a response. And you had this entire idea and you believed it. You got so excited Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. And then something that you really believed, you found out later it's just an idea.

Yeah.

And you let it go as you matured with more new evidence, right?

Yep.

So first question for everybody is What do you believe now still about yourself? It's just a lie or just not true. Do you believe you're not good enough? Do you believe you're not smart enough? Do you believe you're not worthy? Do you believe it's too hard? Do you believe you're too young? Do you believe you don't have enough knowledge or skills? Do you believe— like, what do you believe right now that if you didn't believe that, you'd forge a faster, easier path to achieving what you want versus allowing this belief to shape your reality and shape what you do or don't do. So first and foremost, every one of us has beliefs that limit us.

What are the most common beliefs that you've noticed? I know you work in the belief realm of helping people change their mind. What are the 3 most common beliefs that people have?

It has to do with self-worth, self-image, self-esteem. Yeah. So around whether it's age, ethnicity, worthiness, et cetera. It has to do with money. I don't have enough money or time or knowledge and skill. So those are two major beliefs that limit people.

Would you say the second one's like lack of confidence? Like a belief or a doubt, more of a doubt energy than self-worthiness?

Uh, well, um, when we have experiences that we failed as a result of the experience, then we're gonna have self-doubt. Uh, when we don't trust ourselves because we either don't follow through to completion or we failed so many times trying and we didn't know how to frame it, then we're going to have doubt and uncertainty. But there's another piece to this that causes doubt and uncertainty. And it's the third reason that holds people back. And that is I just lack the knowledge or the skill required to achieve what I want to achieve. So, and then there's 4 things. It's limiting beliefs, it's self-image, self-worth, self-esteem, how I think and feel about myself, it's lack of knowledge and skill, Okay. Which sets up self-doubt, worry, fear that I might fail again. And then there's actually the fears, you know, fear of failure, fear of being embarrassed, ashamed, ridiculed, judged, disappointed. You know, there's a fear of, and fear is an emotion and there's over 50 different types of fears that hold people back. Now, fear is nothing more than a signal, right? And so people who, for example, learn how to, you know, door knock and not take the rejection personally, they learn to override the meaning that a lot of people give being rejected. A lot of times, you know, people, you know, who are rejected think that you're rejecting me. Therefore, my self-worth, self-esteem, self Image lowers people who learn how to door knock or cold call.

Yeah.

Care about what people say or do. They just know that's part of the process because they learn how to frame rejection as rejecting the idea. They're rejecting what I may be offering them, but I'm not, okay, less than because of it.

Yeah. They're not internalizing it.

Right. So the meaning that we have at a subconscious level determines how we will feel and what we will do about anything and everything. So I'm going to go back to a lack of training, right? A lack of training and understanding how this works a little bit better. Obviously not my plastic brain, but my own brain.

Yeah.

Then how do I learn to give things meanings that empower me versus disempower me? Is that a skill I can learn? Of course it is. Yeah. Now I could take anybody's failure or trauma and come up with what did you learn or discover that empowered you as a result of it?

Yes.

Most people are fixated on what they didn't like and what it means versus saying, okay, for every up there's a down, inside and outside. There's a polar opposite to everything on this little blue planet. Protons, electrons, muons, everything has a polar opposite. But when we get fixated on a way of thinking that's maybe negative or disempowering or destructive, the average person doesn't know how to turn that off and shift to the other side, which is there. Yeah. And the more we think about something that, let's say, disempowers us, The more we reinforce that pattern, the more we reinforce that pattern, the more our brain actually looks for that pattern.

Yeah. Wow.

Right. So when we're talking, you know, again, you know, I want to stay like on manifestation, but there's the practical skill side of manifestation, right? So, and this is the thing, again, I'm going to go back to where we started, you know, what are the secret not teach, it gave people false hope. And it gave people, you know, 2 of the 4 numbers required to open up the safe, but not the rest. And not the rest. So people like, they created their, their vision boards, like, right, I want my vision board of, of my life, but then what else? Like, what, what else? And so a lot of people sat there, you know, meditating in their home, you know, is the money here? Is the car here? Is the love of my life here? Shit, this isn't working for me.

That's exactly what happened to me because I was working a sales job selling women's shoes at Barney's New York in Vegas. And I knew I wanted to be on YouTube. And I knew I should be making videos. And I was, I moved back in with my dad at the time because I was like, I was really going to go for it. And I was trying everything, but what I was doing is I was thinking about it. I was like sitting on the couch and visualizing it, but nothing happened. And then what happened is I committed to making a video every single day for the next year and no matter what. So even though I was working 40 hours a week, I'd go home at the end of the day and make the video. And within 3 to 6 months, my YouTube channel exploded. Um, put in my 2 weeks at working at Barney's New York. And, you know, I work for myself now and my whole entire life transformed. But it was when that second part you're talking about, the action came into place because that's what changed everything. Not just the thinking, you know?

Yeah. And, and one of the things I know you did and I share is imperfect action beats no action Every day.

Yeah.

Why? Because in the imperfect action, you learn. And now the imperfect action becomes part of your experience for better intuitive decision-making and logical decision-making down the road. And then you can tweak and adjust and tweak and adjust and tweak and adjust no differently than when an airplane leaves whatever city you live in to its final destination. You know, it's off course 99% of the time. But the autopilot starts to adjust, go faster, go slower, go left, go right, go up, go down. So what we want to do is we want to get into action. And if we want to speed up the results before we take action, why not do a little bit of research? You know, listen, I think everybody's going to agree with this. You know, I can open up my computer right? I can go to, uh, to Google, right? And I can ask Google, the greatest library in the world, or whatever search engine you use, hey, how can I stop this, start this, achieve this, have that? I can ask the greatest library in the world, and in, in literally less than 10 seconds, I can have 50 resources to at least give me the first few steps of how I need to think, what I need to do or additional resources so I can go a little bit deeper before I take action. So I don't even need to know what to do. I can solve, if I want, I can solve the most complex Rubik's Cube if I commit to it by following YouTube examples. So the question then becomes the question you asked me before, Many years ago when I was in my late teens, I was getting into a lot of trouble. Left high school in grade 11, failed English, failed math. My life was heading in the wrong direction, on the wrong train, picking up speed. And either going to jail or dying was really the path that I was on based on the activities that I was engaged in. And My brother arranged for a meeting with a gentleman by the name of Alan Brown one day in Toronto, Canada. I was living in Montreal and I took the train to meet my brother. And at lunch, this man asked me, Mr. Alan Brown said like, what are your goals? And I said, well, I'm working in the shipping department for Philips Electronics. I'm making $1.65 an hour. I just can't move out of my parents' house. I don't have a car. My friends are, you know, always picking me up and I'd love to buy a car and love to move out of my parents' house. He goes, well, that's all great. What are some of your bigger goals and dreams? I said, that's it. I mean, like, that's it. And he took out this document, Aaron, and he said, hey, why don't you just sit down for a few minutes and fill out this document and let's see if you can imagine and dream a little bit. And I didn't know it then, but I can tell you now, he helped me activate the imagination Einstein part of my brain. And so I wrote down, the first question was, At what age do you want to retire? I was 19. At what age do you want to retire? I'm thinking, retire? My father is like, you know, 50 years old, 45 years old. He's a cab driver. He still works like a dog every day. My mother still works at Kmart as a seamstress. Like retire? I said, how am I supposed to put a number? He said, just pick a number. I said, 45. Retire at age 45. Second question, how much net worth do you want to have? Net worth. I looked at Mr. Brown and said, what does net worth mean? And he explained to me. I said, $3 million. Out of my behind, I pulled out this number. What kind of car do you want? What kind of home do you want? Where do you want to travel? What kind of clothes do you want? Who do you want to help? What are the charities? Blah, blah, blah. I just wrote down shit that came out of my ass. Literally just my imagination and my ass. And he looked at the document and he goes, this is, this this is a great lifestyle, right? If you could achieve that, this would give you a great lifestyle. How would it make you feel, et cetera? Proud of myself, worthy, on purpose, passionate. I wrote all this stuff down. And he said, I'm going to ask you a question and the answer to this question will determine whether you achieve every one of these things. I'm like, wow, one question, one answer is going to let me know if I'm going to achieve all these things? And he said, yeah, okay. So he leaned in and he said, are you interested in achieving all of these things, or are you committed? Like, huh, this is like a trick question. Um, what, what's the difference? And he said, he said, if you're interested, you'll do what's easy and convenient. He said, if you're interested, you'll allow your story about high school and leaving grade 11 and failing English and math and getting into fights and selling drugs, and you allow all of that to control your thinking and your emotions and your behavior, and you just actually keep reinforcing that, and you're going to make the reality of what you believe in here your reality out there. He said, but if you're committed— and I'll never forget this— he said, you will upgrade your identity to match the new destiny. Upgrade your identity, who you believe you are, to match the destiny of what you want to achieve and who you want to be. He says you'll upgrade your skill set to match, yeah, the achievement of the goals. You'll change the habits that you have right now to match the goals. You'll upgrade your beliefs. You will upgrade your story. You'll upgrade everything to match this vision because the vision is doable. So are you interested or are you committed? And I don't know why, Aaron, I was like, I was like freaking like a bean bouncing, you know. And I was like, well, in that case, I'm committed, Mr. Brown. And he reached out his hand and he said, in that case, I will be your mentor. I said, uh, wow, thank you. What's a mentor? I was stupid, right? I was not stupid. I was ignorant. And he explained, a mentor is somebody who will guide you and show you the path to achieving these things. And under his wing over the next 18 months, I was 19. It was April of 1980, to put into perspective, 41 years ago. Right? So I said I was committed. He said he'll be my mentor. I ended up moving to Toronto from Montreal, moved in with my brother, borrowed some money from my parents, got into real estate class, graduated 5 weeks later. Then I went to work for him on commission only. And June of 1980, I started as a real estate agent. I was 19. And over the next 18 months, He helped level up my identity, my beliefs, my habits, my behaviors, and my skills. And I made back then $180,000. That was my 50%. Yeah. Okay. He got 50% of my commission, which means I grossed $320,000, $360,000. I thought I died and went to heaven. And then, you know, I kept selling real estate. And then at 26, I decided I was going to start my own real estate company. And I bought the franchising rights for RE/MAX Real Estate for Indiana and moved from Toronto to Indiana. And then over the next 10 years, I opened up 85 offices, recruited 1,200 real estate agents. And every year, we were doing over $4 billion a year in sales. Wow. Yeah, I know this stuff works.

Yeah.

And I started to teach it to my agents, and I started to build some other companies. And then I've been writing about it and fortunately been in, you know, I think 11 movies or so. And now I love to teach it and share with people the process, because anybody can do it because every brain works the same.

Yes. And I want to, I want to attest to what you're saying too, because I worked a sales commission job. For like 10 years. After I was 18 years old, I started selling women's shoes and I worked at Nordstrom's and I worked at Barney's New York. But every day I'd go in, I started at zero and I was able to clearly see what the difference was in my energy to why I'm getting the results that I am. And there were certain things that I noticed. And there was been a book that I read that I know I've heard you talk about. And I read this book called Psycho-Cybernetics. And I noticed that I was always at the end of the, the beginning of the day, the next day when you go into work, there's the top salespeople from the day before and the top everyone. There was certain people that were at the top that were always at the top. And then I was always right in the middle. I wasn't at the bottom, but I wasn't at the top. So I read Psycho-Cybernetics. And then what I started to do is I started to see myself. I realized that my self-image was that I was a mediocre employee. So then what I did is I started to see myself as a top employee. I would go out onto the floor and I would ask myself, what does a top-selling version of Aaron Doughty do? Do I greet only specific customers or do I greet every customer? Do I, um, what is my tonality like? What is my body language like? How do I dress? And as I started to do that, I started to become at the top of the list consistently, and it was because I changed my self-image. Now, one thing I think—

your identity.

Yes.

Meet the destiny and goals and results you wanted. So it happened in here first.

Yeah.

And then it manifested out there in your behaviors because you did that. And I've got a little exercise that I can, I can share with people that they can do.

Yes.

And a visual just for fun.

Let's, let's do that.

So, so here's the, um, here's the, um Question. Kobe Bryant used to have a little practice that he really took to a whole other level. And he had his alter ego, right? And he had this alter ego and Black Mamba is what he called this alter ego. And everywhere he went, He would have a seat if he was going out for dinner, let's say with 2 people, he would always have room for 3 because his alter ego was always with him. And he wrote out very, very clearly the character traits of this alter ego.

Wow.

I mean, does this alter ego drink? How does this alter ego eat? How does this alter ego dress? How does this alter ego play on the court? How does this alter ego treat people? He just wrote this out like a a Hollywood scriptwriter would write out a character, okay, for somebody else to play. And he would say that he would turn on Black Mamba every time he got onto the court.

Wow.

Right? Let me give you another person who we all saw do this. So Michael Jackson, okay, on stage was just unbelievable, bigger than life. But in person, there was another personality, almost like, holy mackerel, who's that?

What's going on here?

Barbra Streisand, another one. She is petrified to be on stage, but she turns on, okay, this other alter ego. So here's my, um, challenge to everybody. Imagine you are, um, at your favorite coffee shop, tea shop, gym, wherever you are. And you feel this tap on your shoulder and you look up and one of your favorite Hollywood actors or actresses is there and you go, oh, oh, hi. And he or she says, hey, listen, I've just been sitting at the table over there reading this brand new script that Steven Spielberg wrote. And you look like somebody that would like, you'd be a perfect look for this role. If I paid you a million bucks, would you be willing to, uh, take the script? You've never seen it. Take the script and the stuff that's in it. Would you be willing to go home, practice for the next 3 months this script, then meet me in Hollywood? And by the way, while you're practicing, uh, we'll give you an acting coach, we'll give you, uh, what to do each and every day. Would you be willing to learn the script that you've never seen before And would you be willing to learn the tonality? Would you be willing to learn how to dress? Would you be willing to learn, you know, would you be able to gain weight or lose weight? Would you be willing to become the role? We'll pay you a million bucks. And most people say, well, I mean, yeah, okay. Even if you had fear, we'll show you how to overcome the fear. Even if you had uncertainty and doubt and you didn't feel assured enough to do it, We'll give you help to do that. If you committed to the role and you practiced every single day, what would you do to practice a new script? It's only 5 minutes long. What would you do to practice this new script? Would you write it out clearly, make sure it was like you knew exactly what you needed to learn? Yes. Would you read it every day? Yeah, would you maybe record it? Would you maybe yank out your phone when you're ready, practice it? Even if the script was like right over here and you're filming, right? You know, right? Would you practice it? And most people say, well, yeah, I'd visualize it, I'd practice it, I'd rehearse it, I'd get people to watch it, I'd critique it, I'd hire a coach. And so in essence, you would take something that's not real and not a part of you right now, and you would practice it. And in the practice, would it not be true that whatever we practice makes permanent patterns in our brain? And the patterns that we make permanent in our brain, initially we use conscious effort to create those patterns.

Yeah.

But isn't it true that since my brain's number 3 priority is to conserve energy, the patterns that I practice My brain then at a certain point says, huh, let me just automate this into new beliefs, a new identity, new behaviors, new skills, new abilities. And then I don't have to practice anyway because it's a part of who I am. Why do you think you can speak the English language right now? Why do you think you can do the multiplication tables? Why do you think you brush your teeth right now without thinking? Why do you think, you know, you can get dressed without thinking? Why do you think that anything that took energy and time and effort before doesn't now. Yeah, because you practiced it and created patterns. And once the patterns are created, it's effortless. Not effortless, it's effortless. It's not stressless, it's stressless. Right? And so now with practice, I, uh, I get a little bit of self-confidence. And now with practice, I reduce doubt and increase certainty. Now with practice, okay, it's not that I have less fear, but I have more courage.

Yes.

Oh, so that's how I level up my identity to match my destiny. Yeah, that's how we do it. Wow.

Yeah, that's, that's awesome. That's, uh, pretty much what I've done unconsciously for the levels of success that I've gained, um, just, just from working a 9-to-5 job to doing what I do on YouTube to now moving into, like, you know, my next stage is like running live events. And I'm now doing a similar thing where I'm, I'm imagining like that version of me. I've done a couple before, but there's like a new way that I'm I'm looking at myself because I'm realizing I've been tied to the identity of being a YouTuber for so long because I've been making videos for so long. And I'm realizing that's limiting me now, even though I'll continue to make videos. But I'm realizing that that identity I've kind of outgrown. So now it's like I have to have the courage to let that go, even though it's brought me so much security and safety in the past.

So let me show you a visual.

Okay.

So you're basically, give me one second. I'm going to show you a couple of visuals, right? So You're basically going from YouTube video creator to also doing live events. Yeah, this is already in here, right? So you haven't lost anything, you're just adding another dimension. And when you're done with that, um, you're going to add another dimension. Yeah, when you're done with that, you're going to add another dimension. And when you're done with that, you'll add, you know, another dimension.

Yeah, right.

So it's not that anything's gone to waste, you're just adding another dimension. And the beautiful thing about the genius within every one of us is we can add other dimensions.

Yeah, yeah. And I—

and you determine whether you want to go from this to this.

Yeah.

Or from this to this.

So if my mind believes that I have to go in that sequential order then I can do that, you know?

Correct. And this is, this is the beauty, you know, of the human brain, right? And a lot of times we've learned linear thinking.

Yes.

But we live in a quantum field.

Yeah.

And in the quantum field, right, particles can move from here to the other edge of the galaxy.

Mm-hmm.

So we don't have to go linear if we don't want to. Let's say you decided, or anybody, here is my, you know, current capabilities. I'm committed to this.

Hmm.

Now why won't I go from here to here? Well, I don't know how to solve this. Yeah, I don't have the knowledge. I don't have the skill. I've only been doing Rubik's Cubes for like, you know, 2 weeks. What if I said to you, I want you to think of somebody you love the most in the world. Can you think of somebody? Can you?

Yeah.

Okay. 6 months from now, if you don't figure this out, you'll never see them again. Let me ask you a question, Aaron. Will you figure this out?

Yes.

What will you do?

Anything and everything.

Yeah. That's too general. Tell me exactly what you would do to solve this.

I would, I would get the skill. I would look at other people that have done it.

Okay. Then what would you do?

I would model what they're doing and I would watch videos and I would look at different scenarios and I would, I would do that repetitiously and then practice. Great.

Would you possibly call them and hire them?

Yes.

So you can actually hire a coach who's already done it to show you the step-by-step process to get from here to here, right?

Yes.

So that means you can do it?

Yes. Great.

Why go from here to here then?

Yeah, that is true. I'm learning that in my own life.

So this, this is the beauty of imagination.

Yeah.

We live in a world now where the how-to, unless you're trying to colonize Mars, you don't really need to innovate much. None of us do for most of our goals.

Yeah.

The question is if somebody knows how to do this and somebody out of almost 8 billion humans actually doesn't just know how to do it, they've documented a blueprint of how to do it. They have books, courses, checklists, charts, coaching programs, events just for this. I guarantee you there's people on this blue planet that have step-by-step plans and courses and checklists of how to get to this.

Yeah.

So that means that the only thing stopping you is whether you're interested Or you're committed.

The law of vibration is way more powerful than what is called the law of attraction. That was something that John was talking about in this episode. Now, one of the most powerful videos you can watch next is understanding the law of vibration. Watch this. This will help you to wire in everything you're learning about how to really resonate with the reality you want so that it happens effortless, which is something he was talking about. There is a law that is more powerful than the law of attraction. If you're finding that maybe there's blocks coming up when it comes to