THIS IS My Biggest SECRET FOR SUCCESS! | Allison Maslan & Tom Bilyeu

And I walked away from that business with nothing. And I walked away from a difficult marriage set out in the world as a single mom. No money, no idea what I was going to do, and really happier than I've been in years. Dedication, commitment, persistence, pushing the edge. And also, you know, I've been doing it for 20 years. And same thing with business. It's. It's not something that you do overnight. You might hear otherwise on the Internet, but it's that overnight success story that took 20 years.

Talk to me about pushing the edge. What do they mean by that, or what do you mean by that?

I think pushing the edge is doing things differently. It is seeing how far you can go. And I remember, you know, going back to the gymnastics metaphor, when you think of people like Olga Corbett, if those. Remember, and Nadia Comani at the time, nobody had ever scored a perfect 10. The thought that that could even be done, they said, was impossible. And once Nadia Comani did that, then there was another perfect 10 and someone else did a perfect 10. So every time you can push your life a little bit further, there's a breakthrough, and then there's a door that opens and a whole new pathway opens up.

It's really interesting. Talk to me about, what is it like the very first time you're gonna do the trapeze and you're climbing up? What do you have to deal with? What's running through your mind?

Well, when I think back to that first time, I was terrified. And look, we're all human. We all have fear. So it's not about making the fear go away. It's about facing the fear and jump, jumping through it. But when they said hep, which means go, my feet stuck to the platform, and it didn't go. I wasn't moving. And so somebody on the board just kicked me off, really literally put their foot behind my knees, and I was flying. But once I got about halfway up in the air, I was like, ooh, that's that familiar feeling. And from then on, I was just hooked.

Okay, I have to ask. So we live in a world where I think we're gonna get a mixed reaction from them kicking you onto the thing, but it really excites me. And I feel like that's something that a lot of people never get that in their life. And so they get stuck at that moment where they want to do it, but just some primitive part of their brain is saying, absolutely not. What do you think about that? Are you glad they gave you that little kick?

Yeah, I kick my clients all the time. I mean, not literally.

Yeah, see, okay, now we're just gonna get into really weird waters. But I find that this is really fascinating and I wonder myself. So I had a moment, not quite that cool, but when I didn't wanna leave for college and my mom all but kicked me out of the house and was like, you are gonna go do this, and ended up being tremendously valuable in my life. And I've thanked her profusely for refusing to let me back down. How do you get your clients to push to that? I'm sure that especially when it comes to business, people are absolutely petrified of either embarrassing themselves and looking stupid or really losing money. How do you help them over that hump?

Well, I really get to the core of what is driving that, and I actually give credit to that as my life as a homeopathic physician. And we might get to that a little bit later. But in homeopathy, which is a holistic type of medicine that treats the whole person, you have to get to the core. You know, if your house is burning down, you're not going to just bang the fire alarms. That's not going to put the fire out. You have to get to that burning ember. So if someone is having fear or panic or worry, get to when was the first time you felt this way? What was really going on in your life at that time to show them that that's not what's happening now, that's the past. Because we are driven by our unconscious mind. 96% of our actions are from our unconscious mind, which develops in the first three to seven years of life. So we really need to get to that core. If you just keep telling someone, do it, do it, do it, they might do it for a little while, but they're not going to stay with it.

I'm deeply distressed by how much of our, what I call frame of reference is determined that early in our life. Is that a formal part of your coaching? Like, do you really track back? And I ask because if you do, I really love to know what's the process of questions or whatever that helps people identify that how often are people already aware and they don't want to talk? And then how often is it they really don't realize that's what's driving them?

Most people don't realize it. I mean, I'm sure I don't realize it in the moment. It's not that you're going, oh, well, that's an unconscious action and that's a conscious action. Right. And I think You've got to test the waters a little bit. Some people are more open than others, but most people really want change in their life. They want to have that breakthrough. They don't want to be in that stuck place. And whether you're mentoring somebody on their health or their business, if you can help pull back the curtain and help them see what they're capable of and that it's just a few steps in front of them, they're more willing to work with you on that.

Now, in your book, you coin a phrase, stuckness. So how do you one is that just sort of where people come to you at? Like, you know, okay, they're walking the door, they're going to be in a stuck place. And then how do you get people out of that? What's that kick to the back of the legs that really forces people to the other side?

Well, I get two types of clients, ones that you know are stuck, and they've just been hitting this wall for years. You could be in business for 10 years, 20 years, and you had good traction for a while, but you just can't get over that wall. And every year comes December, they're looking at the P and L going, here we are again. Or maybe just incremental growth, or maybe the stuckness is about, she's not really happy I've got success, but is this all there is? And then there are those others that are making good traction, but they want to get to the top of the curve a lot faster. Let's take that five year plan and get it done in a year. And so to get them unstuck, it really is looking for each individual, what are your obstacles? You know, if you could choose one or two things that would just excite you to get them out of the way, what would they be? And really dive right into that pain point and work to, you know, erase that.

What I love about the things that you put forward in the book and the really concrete, highly tactical way that you walk people through things obviously comes from deep personal experience, not the least of which is this stuckness notion. Walk us through running yourself over with a car, which was pretty fascinating. When I first heard that. I was like, how do you do that? And then how radically you allowed that to shift your life.

My daughter was really young at the time. I was in a really unhappy marriage. And I just felt like I was being run around by my life. Like, I just felt like I didn't have choices at that point. And I had a lot of fear. And one day I think this is the day the universe said, we're really tired of you messing around here and we're just gonna give you a massive wake up call. And so it was like 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon, and I'm with one of my biggest ad clients. I've been up almost all night working on a campaign and I go, oh my God, I forgot to pick up my daughter from daycare. And you know, if anyone that is watching this has ever been the last parent to pick up their child from daycare. You know, it's kind of, you know, I was wracked with guilt. And so I jump in the car and all I'm thinking of is, I got to get my daughter. I got to get my daughter. So I'm racing to get her. And the driveway was like on an incline like this at the daycare. I jump out of the car and it starts rolling back. It was a Ford Taurus, had really heavy doors, and I jumped in like superwoman to try to push it back into park and the door was really heavy. Knocked my feet out from underneath me and pulled me underneath the car and the car pulled me, it rolled over my legs and pulled me out into the middle of the street. And because the street kind of went up like this, right when it got to the top, which it was literally at my face, it rolled back. And that's really what saved my life. And in that moment that I knew that I was going to make it, I said, that's it. You know, this is either it's a hell yes or a no way. I'm out of here. And I said, I have got to live a life that I'm passionate about. I don't care how much money that I make, because this is not success. And I walked away from that business with nothing. And I walked away from a difficult marriage. Set out in the world as a single mom. No money, no idea what I was going to do, and really happier than I'd been in years.

Wow, that's phenomenal. What advice do you have for people on the marriage side that are in a similar situation? It's not working out anymore. So many people stay in a relationship because they just cannot face the either acknowledging that they couldn't make it work or the what if, what if I never find love again? Or, you know, whatever the scenario is that they're playing in their head. What did you learn through that experience that you can pass on?

Yeah, I mean, it actually was kind of similar to the business because what I would tell people is never Settle in your life, and especially with business or passion or opportunities, it's never going to be the right time. People stay in a career, even that they hate for years because they're so afraid of what's on the other side. I mean, in a marriage, there's a little more. I have a beautiful daughter and she was 7 years old. So it was a big decision. We did a lot of counseling. There was a lot of processing and. And again, same thing. I really felt like I gave it everything that I could, and I don't regret it. I don't regret that relationship. That was my growing up time. There were a lot of lessons. I chose that relationship and I feel that I needed to go through those things that time to bring me where I am today, to give me the resilience that I have today.

Yeah, resiliency. That's probably one of the most important traits that I think somebody can have if they want to be successful at anything, let alone being an entrepreneur. It's critical because that's the only way that you're going to be able to learn and keep pushing and bring together all the lessons that you're learning to build something. What would you say is the number one trait that's made you successful?

Persistence.

Why persistence?

I say persistence is stubbornness all dressed up. I was born stubborn. My mom would definitely attest to that. If I got something stuck in my head as a kid, it was going to happen. But the persistence part is a little bit different. I mean, stubbornness can also be an obstacle and get in your way. Because as you become a leader, you need to be flexible. You really need to listen and know that you don't always have the answers lots of times. But persistence is that you are so determined that you're going to make it happen, even if it looks like all the cards are against you. Even if you wake up going, there is absolutely no proof that this is going to happen. But if you have that persistence inside of you, that you're just gonna stick with it, and you're just gonna stick with it until it happens. It always does. It always does.

What's the process that you use for that? Because I loved what you said earlier, and this is something that my mom said to me when I was a little kid as well. And I think there was a TV show with like, my friend Flicka or something, and the kid that rode the horse in the show didn't know how to ride a horse, but his mom said if anyone ever asks you in an interview or an audition, if you know how to do something. Just say yes and we'll figure it out. So they said, do you know how to ride a horse? He didn't, but he says yes. They hire him, and then he goes and learns before they shoot for the first day. And when my mom told me that story, that always stuck with me. So I love that. But many people don't know how to follow that up with how to go learn how to ride the horse. So in your tenacity, your perseverance, sticking through with something, what is your process? And this is the thing that I want people to really understand about your book. There's no fluff or hype in your book. You're just like, do this, do this, do this, learn this. Go here. It's like, it's so instructional. It's basically an instruction manual, which I love, and it's one of the reasons that I respect the book so much. So what is your process for when you've said yes and now you have to go learn? How do you actually, in an efficient manner, go learn something new?

Well, I mean, in the book, you know, just backing up a little bit, I wanted to not only inspire people to break through and to be able to scale their business in this last book, but I want to give them the steps to do it. You know, let's make it easy. Business doesn't have to be complicated. But I think that as far as persistence goes, and once you say yes and your back's against the wall, you're either. You got two choices. You can look like a complete fool because you kind of, oh, yeah, I can do this. You've got to back it up. So having a little pressure on you, I think is a good thing. I know that when I was a single mom and I had no money, and I mean, getting purses and shaking them out, trying to find a few coins to be able to go get a cup of coffee, there's something about being there that's really good and humbling because it makes you want that more. And to say, you know what? That's the impetus that's going to push you forward. And, you know, I think the beginning is ask for help. I think that people feel like asking is a sign of weakness. Asking for help is a sign of weakness. And I really feel like it's a sign of strength and it's just smart. You know, if you ask someone that's been there and done it, you know, they're walking the talk, then they're going to get you directly to where you Want to go? It's like a geo force moving you forward to your solution.

Yeah, it's interesting. When I hear people talk about solutions, I think about one of the most important things that you had in your book, which is clarity. And your whole notion of it's either a hell yes or no way. And how does that all work together? What is the concept of hell yes or no way? Why is clarity so important?

Yeah, the hell yes or no way first came to me, you know, after that accident, when I think that when your desire for change becomes stronger than your fear, because your fear will keep you crippled, will keep you paralyzed, but when you want it so badly that you're like, you know what? Fear out of my way. You know, that's really where the breakthrough happens. And the clarity is. It's just that feeling inside where everything is congruent, where the way you feel, the way you live, the way every. Everything on the inside, your values, your beliefs are in sync, they're in alignment with what you say and put out into the world. I think there are a lot of people that are depressed, ill because they're living one way, but they're feeling another. And there is this constant battle, there's this constant fight. So the clarity comes when it finally all comes together and it just feels like, yeah, that feels right, that feels good.

What can somebody watching now, like, what kind of process can they go through to get the level of clarity that they're gonna need?

Yeah. So it obviously depends on what type of clarity they're looking for, but I really like to give people the space to do that. I think that if we're like pushing it and pushing it and searching, it doesn't always come. So when you can get yourself into a creative space, like when you're a kid and you're just playing and having fun, you are who you are. You are in alignment. You're not doing it because you have responsibilities or you have demands or you're going to feel guilty if you don't do it. You're just doing what feels right. So I think if we can take moments and part of why I love the trapeze. But whether that's painting or I show several processes to get to that clarity. And one of them is looking at what did you love doing as a kid? What did you love from 0 to 12, 12 to 20? And what were some things that you've always wanted to do, like your bucket list, but you've never done? What are your talents? What are your passive talents? Like, oh, I'm really organized or I'm very compassionate, or those active talents like I play classical piano or I know rocket science, whatever it is. And you start to pull all these things together. And this is some of the things we do with our clients. Whether we're helping them create new revenue streams or a new business altogether, or taking their business to the next level, it needs to be in alignment with who they are. Because if they're just doing it for the money, they won't stay with it. They won't give it that persistence that's needed in the long haul to see it through, to see it through to success. It's what's going to get you out of bed on the tough days, what's going to get you excited when the doors are slamming in your face. What's going to, you know, get you rah rah for your team. When you just looked at your P and L and you can barely cover salaries, it's not going to be for the love of money. It's got to be that deeper passion, that bigger reason, your legacy that is going to fuel you forward and then that ultimately turns everything else around because then you stick with it and you give it that persistence.

So as you continue to build your businesses and take it to the next level, you've gone across so many different industries. Obviously it takes an extraordinary amount of time. You must clock an unbelievable number of hours. But one thing that you've spoken to is just being absolutely critical is self care. Why is that so important? Do you think of work, life being a balance? I know you said that there's a real crossover between life and work for you, but how do you integrate that in a way that's healthy for you?

Well, after you run over yourself, you kind of relook at the way you're operating, and that was not healthy for me. And I would say over the years, a couple other times that I really crossed that line. Not in an automobile, but where I was just really run down or I had a friend going, you look like hell. You know, it's like, okay, I need to sleep. I. When I. The trajectory was when I got out of the ad business, I discovered homeopathic medicine. And that actually changed my life.

Why is that?

Well, I had, you know, I was raised in Oklahoma. My mom always took me to the doctor. I didn't even know what holistic was.

And then if you had to define holistic, you gave a brief definition, definition before. But if you really had to break it down for somebody that's watching, that doesn't know what that means.

Well, holistic and homeopathic are very different. And I think a lot of people interchange and use it as the same and it's incorrect. Holistic is just mind, body, spirit. It's the whole picture. A homeopathic does cover the, you know, it treats the whole person, but it's actually a system of medicine that's been around over 200 years, over 100 years longer than western medicine. Allopathic medicine. Homeopathic means same disease. Allopathy, which is western medicine, means opposite disease. And so with homeopathy, the body cannot hold two like diseases. So for instance, have you ever experienced where you might have, let's say neck pain or you have some chronic pain and then you get sick, you get a cold and then that pain goes away. So the body cannot hold two like diseases. So you take a substance, a homeopathic substance. They're those little tiny pellets that you get, like in whole foods, right? And they are highly diluted substances, plant, mineral, animal. So there's not the actual substance anymore. It's the molecular structure. And this is where so many people poo poo it say, you know, nothing's there, but they have actually been able to show that the water holds the molecular memory. And so by taking a substance that causes the symptoms that your body is experiencing, One knocks out the other. That's the law of similars. And so that's really what happened to me here. I was, had the car accident, major change, you know, leaving a marriage I had been in for nine years. My confidence was like this. I was, you know, just did not have a lot of clarity at the time. I had aches and pains, I had tire tracks on my legs from the car. I went to this homeopath, somebody referred me and she chose this one homeopathic for me. And I took that. And it wasn't like a drug like effect, it was just gradual. Over the next six months, I felt more clarity, I felt confidence, I felt excitement about life again. And I just felt more resilient. And I thought, gosh, this is incredible and this just makes so much sense. So that's really how all my businesses have evolved. If I'm passionate about it and I'm excited about it, then I want to delve deeper into it. And that led me to 20 years running my homeopathic practice and building one of the largest homeopathic schools in the country in 1999.

So going back to the self care, what does your process look like? Do you have a daily regimen like, how do you really stay in tip top shape?

For me, the biggest one is sleep because I'm a night owl and I really, it is genetic in my family. We could do a conference call with my mom, my brother, my sister at 2am we would all be up. And so that's, I finally have just accepted I am a night owl. But I really need that seven, at least seven, seven and a half hours of sleep. And so I will just place plan out my week if I know I'm going to be up late because I get this creative burst and I allow myself that I make sure I don't schedule anything until a little bit later on in the morning or late morning to get started. So that is a gift to myself. I have had the same fitness trainer for over 20 years. And that, you know, having that discipline, you know, that boost of endorphins and that's given me a lot of resilience over the years. And the other, the biggest thing I would say is that I only do what makes me happy.

Now, how do you stay true to that while building businesses? Because there are inevitably times where there's things that are not so much fun.

Okay, let me back up on that statement just a little bit. The purpose of what I'm creating, I am totally in sync with, I'm totally in love with. There may be some instances or some conflict. You know, it's not my favorite. That's just part of it. But I know that, you know, what I have, what I'm doing really has meaning to me. And if I come to a place where, you know what, there's a sense of completion, I'm done. I'm ready to move on. Right?

So you talked about meaning just a second ago, and I think that's so important. And you in your book talk very wonderfully about the power of storytelling, how we conceptualize what we're doing in the frame of a story. Walk us through that. Like, what is the importance of story and storytelling and how can anybody use it in their life?

I think that people don't realize the value of their story.

And what is their story?

Well, their story can be their journey. And there's so much wisdom in their journey. You know, they say it's not about the fall or the fail, it's what you do once you get up. That's the, you know, you know, that's the golden ticket. So we got to learn from our story. But you don't want to then live in your story either. You don't want to be Living in the past. And there's the old story and the new story. I think people that are too stuck in their story stay in this place of being a victim. They're playing the blame game. And whatever scenario it is, unless you're a little child, you've made the choice to be there in, let's say, 99% of the cases. But I think story is a great way to connect us with others, connect us with community. It's a great way to get your message out there. And people remember story. If I'm on stage and I'm speaking, I could teach several things. But what people are really going to remember is the story and then the valuable lesson from the story.

So how do you get people to begin to understand that their life can be seen as a story and that the story, you get to essentially decide the meaning of that.

Connect us with others, connect us with community. It's a great way to get your message out there. And people remember story. If I'm on stage and I.

It's not predetermined. How do you help them find the power in that? Because I'm sure people come to you a. In victim mode. Right. They're stuck. Okay, we can help them out of that. But then how do you help them reshape the same sequence of events, but to see them in a new light that hopefully is more empowering?

You know, sometimes when people come in victim mode, it's hard to shift them out.

Really. Have you ever had somebody that you couldn't get out of?

Yeah, I think sometimes people are. So they get a lot out of staying stuck in their old story.

That's interesting. Can you go deeper on that? What do you mean they get a lot out of it?

Well, because maybe it created a family dynamic that when they're the victim, everybody runs to save them. You know, it's. Maybe they didn't get much attention as a kid and that's their way of getting attention, or, you know, or maybe it's the story that their parents had. And so they're holding onto it with dear life and they believe that, you know, the world is a terrible place and everyone's against them. And then this horrible thing happened in C. I told you. I told you I was right. You know, it is all so bad. So sometimes when they are so wrapped that it's part of their identity, it is hard to break that. And, you know, it's hard to be around people like that. I'm sure you've experienced that, right?

Yes.

You know, so I like to be around people, that it's okay to be scared, it's okay to be stuck. We're going to help you through that. But let's at least be willing to open your eyes to things, try things and be coachable. Don't work with a coach if you're not willing to do what they suggest that you do. And I think too, in business, and it's just what people see and hear this overnight success story, like I was saying earlier, and you have to do the work. You have to be willing to say, stay in the game. Even though you don't see the results happening, you just know that you're a few feet from gold. But what if you quit and you never saw that?

There's one thing that you've talked about that really resonates with me, and I wonder how much you use it and what particular style. But what is your take on meditation?

Yeah, so I am a fan of meditation when I can sit still like that. And I did TM for quite a long time, and it was really beneficial to me. Now my husband meditates almost every day, but I just really struggled with sitting still.

You didn't want to do it or you have ADD or what was the driver for that not being easy?

Yeah, I just felt like I was sitting there. I was wanting to do other things. I just think that my constitution likes to be in motion. So therefore, when I am on trapeze, I am in the most meditative state that I could ever be in. I mean, when you're up in that platform, time stands still and you have to be focused because, you know, you don't want to kill yourself. But it's. It really does bring you into the state of being so grounded, even though you're up in the air. And when I come down after, you know, a session of flying for like an hour or so, I feel my feet on the ground. It really does bring me back into congruency.

I love that. All right, before I ask my last question, where can these guys find you online?

Well, go to my website, alisonmaslin.com or Pinnacle Global Network, which is our mentoring company. And. Yeah. And wherever books are sold.

Fantastic. All right, my last question. What is the impact that you want to have on the world?

Well, I believe I've been given this gift to understanding business, and I truly believe that business owners are the change makers of the world. They're the innovators, they are the inventors. And whether it's health or technology or the environment or making people feel more beautiful, whatever it is that if I can help them to break through, then it is my way of elevating consciousness through business, one business owner at a time, and ultimately impacting millions. That's how you change the world.

Awesome. Alison, thank you so much. That was wonderful.

I hope you found this valuable. And if you want more support, guidance, wisdom, inspiration to scale your business from top business experts, check out this video.