DO THIS To Transform Your Life In 12 MINUTES | Allison Maslan

What if you knew that 12 minutes a day could completely transform your life, your finances, your relationship? Oh my gosh, 12 minutes. Wouldn't you want to know what you needed to do in that 12 minutes? Well, I am dying to know. And that is the topic of today's episode for Allie and you'd the business success lifestyle show. I am Alison Maslin. My friends call me Ally. I am a business growth mentor and serial entrepreneur. I love all things business. And really the show is about helping you to break through those walls to get to that next level in your business and your life. And today my guest is going to give you exactly that. So let me just jump right in and and introduce John Mitchell. He is recognized today as the top practical application in the world of the legendary book Think and Grow Rich, one of my favorite all time books. I mean, you know, we'll dive into that, but so listen to this. When John applied his technique to his own life, he saw his income go to over $5 million a year. And it was a dramatic jump. He's going to tell all about that. Previously, he had only had only a moderate success as an entrepreneur earning low six figures a year. And the difference was just this daily technique and increasing control over himself by probably double. The science behind his technique was profiled in a Time magazine cover story. John, welcome to Allie and you'd.

Thank you, Allie. Glad to be here.

I am so excited. Now I got to see you speak. I was blown away by what you shared and I said I've got to have you on my show. And I know everybody is in for a real treat. So those of you that are watching right now, commit to watching the whole show. This 30 minutes will change your life. So John, tell us. I mean just your story is so transformational. So I'm just going to let you have the floor here or the mic. And you use this technique we were talking about and changed your own life.

Right?

Share that with everybody and me.

Well, you know, I started my career as a CPA and became an entrepreneur when I was 30. But when I turned 50, I just wasn't as successful as I thought I should be. And I had two goals in my life. Make enough money so I didn't have to work and to find the woman of my dreams. And I was falling short on both of them. So, you know, as an entrepreneur, I was always blessed to do, you know, pretty good six figures a year, but never close to a million a year. On finding the girl at 50, I'd never been mirrored, but I can Tell you all, it was not from lack of interview. I did a lot of interviewing. But then the defining moment happened, like three days after I turned 50. And picture this, I'm in my office, I'm kicked back, and I got my feet on the desk, and I start to realize that if I don't start making over million dollars a year, I'm never going to have that exceptional life that I always dreamed of. You know, the sense of freedom and the lifestyle, sense of accomplishment. And that really hit me like a ton of bricks. And so, and it was clear to me I had to make it happen in my 50s. So I made a decision. I realized that hard work really doesn't work. I mean, it works for making six figures a year, but I was living proof that it didn't work for making seven. And I just knew there had to be something else. So I made the decision to go find out whatever that something else is. So three months after turning 50, I'm struggling to figure out what to do. So then I got this pearl of wisdom. Why not find the top book in the world ever written on success and achievement and then apply it word for word to my life? Allie, the logic was so simple and compelling. So after some research, I found that there actually is one book that excels over all other on the topic. And as you know, it's Think and Grow Rich. And Alan, here's what's significant about it. It's really two things. First, this book has sold over 100 million copies. And the next best selling book on success and achievement has sold under 10 million. And so clearly it is the top book ever written.

Yeah. By miles and miles.

Right. And I know when I tell people Think and Grow Rich, I found that about one in three has heard of it. But when you tell them, you know those numbers now, you got their attention. And here's the other, the second thing that's pretty interesting about this, this book, the central concept of the book, which is what you envision in detail on a daily basis, is what shows up in your life. That concept has created more millionaires and billionaires than any other concept on the planet. And so of course I read the book, but I ran into the problem that so many people run into when you read a good book, how to apply it to your life. Right. You've experienced that, right?

Yes. That's like watching a really good someone that's been very successful at what they do, but finding a way to then take that and translate it.

Right.

You know what I mean? Like, you could be A great expert, but being a good teacher is a whole lot.

Right? And so, you know, and I ran to that problem. Great book, but how to apply it and, but, you know, I felt that pressure of turning 50 and it was like, what am I gonna go do? Find a better book, you know, so, so I'm like, I gotta figure out how to apply this. And over nine years, you know, I, I developed this 12 minute a day technique. And over that 12 years, I saw my income quickly go from a 20 year history making six figures a year to 5 million plus a year. And I also met the woman of my dreams for good. So it was truly transformative. And you know, it's. I saw that it was happening. I mean, this is what was really cool about, was great that it was happening, but I could see why it was happening. By really applying two key scientific principles to my life, I was materially impacting my success and achievement in life in all phases of my life. And so that's sort of the story of this.

Yeah, that is just so incredible. Of course I want to know the 12 minutes and what you do in the 12 minutes. So. And yeah, I mean, it really is, it's like the answers are out there, right? It's, you know, it's been written in books, but then translated. How to apply that in the everyday. And so what do you feel creates success in people?

You know, I want to throw that back to you. You tell me what you think and I'll play off that a little because I don't want to influence you.

Yeah, you know what, that's such a. Yeah, thank you for throwing it back at me. You know, it's interesting because we were talking about it earlier. I think a lot of times people are looking for that one strategy, that one thing, you know, is it the Facebook ad? Is it the funnel? Is it, you know, the target market? And I personally think it's just deciding that you are going to create a success of whatever it is. If I have somebody that's telling me, well, it's a couple things. If I have someone telling me, oh, I'm going to try this business and see how it's going to work, I already know that it's not going to work.

Right.

Because, you know, you have to really, you know, make the decision that it's, it's going to work and that you will find the solution. You know, the other thing is just that power of intention. And you know, it's just there's so much synchronicity, there's so much Opportunity. So number one, believing that it's absolutely going to happen. And not giving up, of course, when you hit the walls, but just getting that complete clarity of what it is that you want to create and just see that unfolding. And I've seen that happen in so, I mean, in every area of my life. It's how I've attracted my husband, it's how I've created the success in my business and so much more.

Well, let's dig into that a little deeper and challenge me on this. If you disagree with this. I came to realize that at the end of the day, your success in each area of your life actually comes down to your daily actions and ongoing thoughts. Because over time those daily actions determine your success. Would you agree with that?

Definitely. Right. Because they all add up.

Right.

Daily actions being consistent, for sure.

But I see the problem in the success and human achievement field is that everything else is strategies. But we don't need more strategies. We got all the strategies. We, I mean, we got strategies coming out of our ears.

Yes.

Is to have great strategies show up in our thoughts and actions automatically. And that's what this 12 minute a day technique really is all about, is applying science to your life so that your ongoing actions and thoughts reflect your goals in the person you want to be. I mean, that's sort of a simple explanation.

Right. So it really is about the thoughts behind the actions. Right, right. Because I, you know, you see people all the time that are doing all the right things, but there's, they're still not manifesting what they want.

Right.

And so my, you know what, what I'm feeling is happening is that they're, they're not congruent because at the same time their thoughts are, this is never gonna work or I'm not offering enough value or who am I? Or money's bad, whatever it is. And then you're out there like putting the action. So it's like this constant, you know, battle internally and therefore not getting the result.

Right, right. I think that's true. But I think, you know, in my 30s and 40s, I was hard working. I mean, you know, I get up at 5:30 and I work until 6 and I was working 70 hours a week and you know, doing that for 20 years. But you know, I saw that, you know, where is that really getting me? There's something missing. I mean, yes, I did okay, but it didn't, it didn't create that true sense of accomplishment. I didn't see it show up big time in my bank account. I Also couldn't find the woman of my dreams. And, you know, when I turned 50, I'm like, you know, I'm tired of this frustration. You know, I sort of felt like, what, am I going to have to work the rest of my life? Am I never going to have that sense of freedom? And then I started realizing, you know, from reading the book that it is your daily thoughts and actions. And if you can manipulate and control those thoughts and actions around your goals and the person you want to be, you will achieve your goals. But it's a methodology for really applying science to your life to make that happen.

Yeah. And it is you, you know, it's taking control of those thoughts.

Right.

Because they. They can run amok. And so can, you know, I'm on the edge of my seat, John, so can you share with me for you the 12 minutes, this methodology? And I'm sure everybody else is like, tell me.

Okay, now here's how it works. Exactly how it works. So we take your life and compress it down to one sheet of paper, front and back. On the front is the ideal you, the five key areas of your life. Your career, your health, yourself, your significant other, relationship, and your spirituality. So the five key areas of your life are articulated on the front, and the ideal you on the back are the improvements you want in your life as well as your top three goals for the quarter. Now, one will be in career, one in health, one in your romantic relationship. Okay, so you're feeding that to yourself every day. And so essentially, what you're feeding yourself is exactly the person you want to be, exactly what you want to accomplish, and precisely how you're going to achieve your clearly defined goal. And what happens is when you feed this to yourself every day, after about 21 days, you start seeing that what you're feeding yourself shows up automatically without thinking. And, Allie, I'll give you an example. Okay, so as I mentioned, I didn't get married until I was in my 50s. And so I get married and I discover something that unfortunately, my married friends had failed to share with me. I discovered that every once in a while, your spouse will say something irritating.

I know that's never. Are you kidding me? That's a shocker.

So, surprise. And so it happened to me, and I didn't really like what would come out of my mouth when it happened. Not that it happened all that often, but it happened. And so I thought, okay, I'm gonna put what I feed myself. Hey, one of the things I'm gonna feed myself is I'm Flexible, patient, and thoughtful. Well, okay, I start feeding every day. Fifteen days in, nothing. I mean, I'm no more flexible, patient or thoughtful 15 days in than I was at the start. But about the 21st, 22nd day, my precious wife, Ginger, says something irritating. And in that moment, Allie, I'm flexible, patient thought. That's who I had become. It wasn't something I had to think about. It happened automatically, without thinking. And, you know, when I stepped back and really observed that, I realized that the reason it didn't work 15 days in is because my subconscious mind thought that the programming was going to go away. But after 21 days, it realized that it wasn't going away, and then it fed it up to myself automatically, without thinking. And that was the magic.

Wow. And you think that it is the 21 days. Do you feel like that there's something to that number?

I do. I do. And I, you know, I share with you real briefly how the mind works. Conscious mind sets your intention and is influenced by logic, but it's your subconscious mind that controls your everyday thoughts and ongoing actions, and it's influenced by repetition. And I'll give you an example of this. Let's say you want to lose weight. Well, the conscious mind sets the intention to lose weight based on logic. But actually, losing weight comes down to your everyday actions and ongoing thoughts, meaning exercising and controlling what you eat. And the reason people don't lose weight is not from lack of attention, it's from lack of influencing that part of their brain that controls their ongoing thoughts and actions. And that part of the brain only responds to repetition. That's the power of. And, you know, the subconscious mind doesn't accept the repetition until about 21 days before that it thinks it's going to work.

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, that's why. And so many people will start a diet or a health routine, and after two weeks, they will get frustrated and quit. It's like, you just really need to hang on.

Right, right. And, you know, one of the things you might find interesting, you know, I. I teach this to high achievers at the University of Texas, which is a lot of fun. But my real passion is to teach it to entrepreneurs who are just like me, who were frustrated making six figures a year and want to go to seven. And I tell them this is, I'm going to teach you the foundation to making seven figures a year. And here's how it applies to entrepreneurs, because I know you got a lot of entrepreneurs and your audience. So every day you're going to feed about four key things to yourself. You'll feed your succinct business plan, your strategy for success, the two or three things that move the needle in your, in your business, and the LinkedIn issue, whatever that issue is, to take you to the next level. So you're feeding those four things, the succinct articulation, those four things, things every day. Well, here's what happens and it's really three things. First, your business plan is so easy to implement because it's so top of mind. So that's the first. Second thing, is your laser focused only on what moves the needle?

Yeah.

All other distractions fall by the wayside. And the third thing, and this was surprising, you know, so I would feed myself every day my strategy for success. Well, whatever your strategy for success in your business is, there's flaws in it. Maybe it's 2/3 right and one third wrong. And by feeding it to yourself every day, it causes your plan to morph and evolve much quicker than it does if you have your strategy for success sitting on the shelf in your office. And I was amazed. I felt this momentum constantly pulling my vision forward. And I saw that, wow, this really does create a foundation for making seven figures a year. I mean, it really does.

So I could see that because you're so focused on that, you just keep getting more clarity and more clarity.

Right.

And you're obviously probably attracting in the people and the opportunities to make that happen. Right.

Well. And you know, Allie, I could just see I was like operating at a higher level. And I'll give you an example. When I was in my 30s and 40s making six figures, if you had asked me to rate myself on a scale of 1 to 10 is not, I probably would have rated myself, oh, maybe an eight. But when I got in my 50s and started doing this, I'm like, I wasn't an eight, I was a three or four. I mean, you know, in my 50s then. Now I'm operating at a much higher level every day. I'm laser focused on what moves the needle. I have a way to evolve my strategy. So success. I mean, I'm just operating at a much higher level.

Yeah. So. So let's back up again because I want to, I want to get clear on this. So on the one side of the paper, you're dividing it up. Well, we'll look at the life side and then the business side putting like, who the. As if you are already that person. And so your, your business, your wealth, your relationship, your personal life. Right. How are you spending Your time, the fun things that you're doing in your life and the spiritual aspect of your life.

Well, let me make it a little more precise.

Okay.

You'll articulate the ideal you as a person. You'll articulate you from a health standpoint. You know what you're doing for exercise.

And are you doing it in present tense? Can you give me, like. Okay, like I'm feeling vibrant and.

Well, whatever. Whatever you want to be. You accept the fact that you're already that.

Okay.

You know, I'd say yes.

Exactly.

And so you're articulating the ideal you and yourself, your health, your relationship, your romantic relationship, your spirituality and your career. And we've got sort of a formula that makes you articulate that in a rather succinct, effective way. Everybody is different, but we teach you how to customize it to you. And then on the back, you've got the improvements you want in each of those five areas. Your life, as well as your top three goals.

Okay, that. That are going to be improvements that are going to get you to that ideal picture.

Right, right, right.

And then what else did you say on the back then?

Your top three goals.

Your top three goals. Okay. That are gonna move you, like, move the needle the fastest.

And we do something pretty interesting with the go goal setting. We incorporate probably the top goal setting system in the world where you define the goal, find the why behind the goal, find the three or four key behaviors associated with the goal, and then the time frame of measurement. And then every Sunday morning, you're going to track some of those key behaviors on the bottom so you can see your performance on the key behaviors with the idea that if you do the key behaviors, you're going to achieve.

Right. And I know before we're done with this interview, you're gonna actually give an email course that is going to help walk people through this. So we'll. A little bit. That means you need to hang on to the show and until we're done to listen to it all. I'm so gonna do this. You know, I love this. This is really. I have a saying. Make decisions from where you're going, not from where you're at.

Right.

I'm such a big believer of intention, and I just. Oh, gosh. Story after story, just the people that I'm meeting and constantly it's happening. I mean, you know, I have my book, Scale or fail that's coming out that I've just been working on, you know, for. I feel like this baby is so ready to be born. And while you're watching this show, you can actually get the book on Amazon scale or fail. And so I gave a talk on it and there was someone in the audience that was so moved by what I shared that went and wrote an article for INC Magazine. And I wake up in the morning and I on the book, I wake up and you know, when I turn on the computer and I look and there it is, you know, and it says like the book to help you scale your business fast right on Inc Magazine. And I'm just like, you know, this is not a strategy. This is really like you're putting that intention. You're seeing whatever it is in my eyes, I see that book and in everybody's hands that needs it, that it's going to make a difference and the how, how it unfolds, I'm just allowing that to, you know, I'm letting the universe kind of provide that. Of course I'm showing up and doing the work, but you know, it's just so much more fun that way.

When I see the compliment to what you're doing, which I love to. What I'm doing is take your book and help it and help people have those ideas show up in the thoughts and actions on a daily basis. And you know, I have, I have people that, you know, you've heard of the secret. Remember the secret? Mm. Well, this is the opposite of the secret. You know, I, I mean I, I, I buy into the law of attraction and all that, but you know, this isn't just imagine what you want and imagine comes to you now, you know, my background is being a CPA and so I'm not inclined to that type of woo woo sort of stuff.

I know you're very analytical. Okay. Because the numbers behind it. So it's like what's the thinking behind it? What's the science behind it?

Right. And really that's what this really is. You know, over the last 20 years there's been intense interest in what separates the mega achievers from everybody else. And what they've really discovered is it comes down to two things. Control of self and focus. Well, those are exactly the two things I teach in this 12 methodology.

Yeah, really is because the unconscious thought somebody was telling me and I don't know if this is accurate, but that 90% of our actions come from our unconscious mind.

Right.

What do you think of that? That gives us 4% of hope from our conscious mind, but it really drives everything we do.

Well. And you know, here's the other thing and we talked about it earlier. So everybody is working at a disadvantage because they're using an antiquated operating system to run their life. It gears them to survival. If you do no daily programming, that's the operating system that's running your life. And there's the negative side of that, is that first of all it causes 90% of your thoughts to be fear based. It causes you to have less than 20% control over yourself and it causes you to be reactive rather than proactive on your agenda. Well, you know, the only way you overcome that is to overlay programming that gears you to being proactive on your agenda and, and gearing yourself to positive thoughts, not negative thoughts.

Right.

And so unless you're doing that type of programming again, you're using that innate operating system that sort of dooms you, in my opinion.

Yeah, we've got the same operating system for the last few thousand years. Right. So I think we're, it's time for a reboot. I mean it seems like, right. Technology is moving so quickly our brains need to. But I just, you know, the thought of that, it's like, you know, we exercise our body, we, you know, went to the gym today and if I stop doing that then, you know, I mean, it's okay for a while but you know it's going to go fast. And why not then do the same thing for the brain to our thoughts? And really it is about controlling because controlling your thoughts affects your feelings. Right. And your feelings, your actions and your actions affect your results.

Right. Well. And you know, Ali, one of the things I realized is you've got to have an advantage if you want to have an exceptional life. You can't do life like everybody else does it. And so you need an advantage in life. And you know, in my 30s and 40s, I was always looking for that success formula, you know, that if you did this it would sure success. And by the time I reach 50, I'm like, well, I don't think a success formula exists. I mean, you know, some people would say, well, hard work is a success formula. Well, okay, but there's got to be something more to really have exceptional success. And I realize you've got to have an advantage in life. And this 12 minute methodology is it. I'm telling you.

Yeah, 12 minutes. And so do you recommend doing this like first thing in the morning when you open your eyes?

There's a lot of science behind this, but yeah, first thing, literally first thing you do when your mind is still sort of in the alpha state and that's when you're most receptive to it. And you know, I sort of see that you can do life like everybody else the other 23 hours and 48 minutes, but you do this 12 minute a day thing that I've developed and it changes everything. I mean, I'm amazed that it does. It really does. And the genius of this is not me, it's Napoleon Hill who wrote Think and Grow Rich.

Yeah, it's, you know, it's. I love. Because you've simplified it, you've translated. It can be a bit of a textbook and a little bit heavier and antiquated, but the message is there. And it's like you're bringing Shakespeare into, you know, the 21st century in a sense. And just saying this is step one, this is step two, this is step three. So, you know, I'm just such a big believer in this. I truly believe that mindset is everything and I. But you know, the unconscious mindset. Right. So I'm excited to apply this. I'm going to do it. I recommend all of you that are watching this. Let's go ahead. We still have some other questions that I have for you, John, but for those of you, let's go ahead and do. Can you share the number for the texting for the gift?

So text 44222. Train the brain. So the way this works is text into the number 44222. Then in the message, type in Train the brain. With no space.

Train the brain. Train the brain. Like all one word or three words?

All one word.

Okay.

And what you'll get is you'll get my free 5 day course that takes you through this process step by step. I'll show you the science behind it and you'll fully understand it after the fifth day.

Perfect. So 44222. Train the brain. We'll go ahead and put the link there too. You can also go to our library, which is what is our library. Allisonmaslin.com library and you will get not only this gift from John, but you will also get the downloads from all of our other guests. So it really is a powerful place to visit. So all the information will be there. So what is you talk about the differentiator between being moderately successful and being mega successful. I mean there's a big difference. But what are your thoughts around that?

Well, and like I said, you know, really for the last 20, 25 years, there's been intense interest in this and studying the mega achievement. And it really does come down to control, self and focus. And you know, when you really think about it. That would make sense because most people, by their nature, partly because they're using an antiquated operating system to run their lives, are not focused, you know, and focus is your, your thoughts, your daily thoughts and control of self is your daily actions. So you see that the two things that this 12 minute a day methodology affects are exactly the two things that make the mega achievers the mega achievers.

So what do you, let's say that you have, say you're in a different difficult challenge in your life and you have a lot of demands coming at you, or you have financial demands coming at you and so forth. It's like, okay, I get this, John. Like I've written this out, I'm reading it, but I still getting these thoughts coming through of fear or overwhelm or shame or guilt, whatever that is. Everyone has their recipe. What do you do with that?

Well, great question. You know, after 21 days that essentially goes away because I'll give you an example. Let's say you have negative thoughts. Yeah, we all have negative thoughts. When you train your brain that as soon as you see a negative thought that you immediately are going to trigger something you're grateful for. You probably articulate this, that, that maybe you're grateful for your husband or your wife. And as soon as you get a negative thought in your head, immediately you trigger to your husband or wife, well, at first it doesn't work because the subconscious mind doesn't accept it. But after 21 days that starts to happen. And what I found with this technique, I mean it's really the ultimate of living a life of. And it gives you a real sense of control over your life to a level that you've never experienced before. So if you have a lot of things hitting you and you're feeding, you know, this to yourself, you, it comes over you that hey, I got control of my life. Sure there's bumps in the road, but I can handle the bumps because I'm clear about where I'm going and who I am.

Right? You're not letting that take over.

Right.

And, and so what you're saying is when these fearful thoughts come in, you just immediately are switching them to this of you know where you're going and you know this mantra you're creating. And so then that slowly just dissolves, right?

Well, like I said in the example about my wife, it happens automatically, without thinking. It's not like, you know, when you have a negative thought, you have to stop and go, oh, now I need to trigger to my wife or husband. It happens automatically.

Yeah, once. That's the key. That's the key. Okay. All right.

So another thing I think that's interesting about it is you're impacting your career, health and romantic relationship all at the same time. That's the other.

Yeah, that's incredible. You know, and I'm sure some people watching this are like, yeah, yeah, that's just too easy. Right. Because we feel like, oh, this has to be really complicated and it's got to be super costly and all of that.

You know, that is a great point. And I've oftentimes seen that people go, well, this is too easy. And I'm like, well, you know, let's just understand what this is. It's applying the top book in the world ever written on success. So it's got that credibility and it's got, you know, Time magazine did a cover story on the slants behind this. So how do you get more credible than that? And I really think that it comes down to, it's not, will this work? I mean, it's proven to work. I mean, you can take that off the pavement. It really comes down to, is a higher level of success a necessity for you or merely a preference? For most people, more success is merely a preference. Darren Hardy, who I bet you know, has told me that, and I think that's true.

Yeah, yeah. It's like, what is. And you know what? I love how you tie in the why behind it. Is it success because you just want all this stuff, or is there a why behind it? I mean, is it something that there's just this sense of achievement that you've always dreamed of reaching a certain goal, creating something, or is there an impact that you want to make? Are there people that you want to help? Because invariably when you reach your goal, it's not just you. It also impacts a lot of other people.

Well, I think you hit on it. I mean, once I started making seven figures a year, I didn't know what it would be like. I thought it would be pretty great to have the lifestyle. And it is. But the thing that was most impactful were the non material things, how I felt about myself, that sense of accomplishment, being able to start a foundation for single moms. I know you have a history being a single mom and, you know, having an exceptional life was really not so much lifestyle and the actual money, but the freedom and the sense of accomplishment. That's the real joy of it.

Yeah. To be able to have that freedom of choice of what you want to do and how you want to spend your time. So, yeah, this is really, really fantastic. So, yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited. So this has been so great, John. I really appreciate you sharing it. We're going to go ahead and put the text again down below, which is 44222. And then you put into the message of the text is train the brain. 12 minutes a day, people. You can do this. And then I want to hear everything that you have to say about applying this. And this has just been wonderful, John. So thank you.

Well, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it and I admire what you're doing.

Thank you so much. This was, wasn't this great? I would love to hear your thoughts, share them if you. You can also subscribe to our show and get these fantastic episodes every single week right in your inbox. Also go to subscribetoally.com subscribetoli.com and then write a review. We would love to hear. What do you think of the show? Are you learning new things? Is your business growing? And don't forget to grab your copy of my brand new book, Scale or Fail. And you can get that@scaleorfail.com and there's all kinds of fun bonuses that we're giving away for that to help you take your business to a much higher level. Boy, you apply this book, you apply John's strategy here. Forget about it. Forget about it. All right. Get out there and elevate yourself until next time.