How Alex went from getting bankrupt to becoming the 21st fastest growing company in the US | The ...

What's going on? What's going on, everyone who's watching this podcast right now? I'm excited. This is going to be crazy. First of all, guys, welcome to The Nikhil Sai Show, which is hosted by me, The Nikhil Sai. And guess what's going on today? We're back with another amazing Two Comma Club interview. You can call it that way, or you can say it's an FHL speaker interview, or you can say the Two Comma Club live speaker interview, or you can say the TED Talker interview, whatever. This is going to be crazy, guys. No matter what level of entrepreneur you are, this dude is going to blow your mind. You may be 'Okay, I'm in a different niche, I'm in a different business, I'm not going to relate with this podcast.' Hell no. No matter wherever you are in your business, this podcast is going to make 100% sense for you. So make sure to stick around. And you know, guys, like, when it comes to human life, it's more about cycles, right? It's more about the decodes we created for ourselves, and we kind of making ourselves so much efficient, right? And this dude is so obsessed about success that he literally, literally, literally decoded countless billionaires and created the Billionaire Code. So I hope you know the keyword already as you are inside the ClickFunnels community. So let's not waste any time and actually welcome Alex Charfen, CEO at charfen.com. Hey, Alex.

Nikhil, it is so good to be here with you, man. I'm, I'm, I just want to be, as we get started, I just want everyone to know how impressed I am with you. The fact that you are in India, that it's 1 o'clock in the morning, that you're 20 years old and you've gotten me on a podcast, you got Dave Woodward on a podcast, you've interviewed all these 2 Comma Club Award winners. Dude, I wrote a book called entrepreneurial personality type, and you are a badass entrepreneurial personality type, man.

Means a lot, bro. I appreciate that, Alex. I'm really a true fan of you, brother. This is going to be an amazing podcast, guys, so make sure to stick around. Alex is gonna blow you out of the universe for a second. So Alex, most of the entrepreneurs already know you, but kind of to just give that backstory, like, can you please start with the backstory? Like, how did all of this crazy journey started to the way you're actually teaching people the Billionaire Code?

Sure. So, um, you know, my backstory starts when I was a kid, Nikhil. I, I was always a different different type of kid. I bet you can relate to that a little bit. Um, you know, I was different than the other kids around me. I was, I was so different that when I was walking up to someplace, adults would attenuate their voice. I would hear things like, oh look, there's Jennifer and Robbie and John and Alex. And I knew that they were talking about me. I understood it. And so I've always kind of been different and unique. And so as a kid, I was the kid who like, I didn't really feel like I belonged anywhere. And I started working with my dad at a very young age out of necessity, uh, from 8 years old on. I, I worked a lot of hours, sometimes 12, 13-hour days with my dad. And as soon as I got into business, as soon as I started working with my dad, it was something that I could do well. Um, we, I actually worked in a flea market in a, in a swap meet, like a bazaar. And, um, it was on the border town. And so I was this little 8-year-old kid working 12 to 14-hour days in over 100-degree weather and working, sitting behind this table with my dad selling electronics. And on one corner there was a guy who sold some like chopping machine and on another guy In one corner there was a guy who sold chamois and in another corner there was a guy who sold this mop. And I used to listen to them with microphones pitch like, this is how you slice and this is how you dice and this is how the chamois holds 3 times as much water. And so as a little kid, I watched people sell out in real life and that was like the training that I got as a child. And so that was like my beginning. That was how I started in my life. I'm 48 years old, so I've had multiple businesses. I've run dozens of multimillion dollar companies. I've founded dozens of multimillion dollar companies. Partnered with other entrepreneurs to do the same thing, you know, and I got into the information product space in 2008 during the foreclosure crisis. Prior to that, I had owned a consultancy. My wife and I had had some big real estate companies in Florida. We were basically independently wealthy and we could have retired. And when the foreclosure crisis hit in 2007 in Florida, it was early. It was in 2007. We were wiped out and we went completely bankrupt and lost everything. And And in that moment of having really all the success taken away, all I ever wanted to be in my life, Nikhil, was a successful entrepreneur. And in 2007, we declared bankruptcy, which is publicly and legally and very expensively admitting that you are not a successful entrepreneur. And it was devastating. And there was a few weeks where my wife and I had some trouble. We had a hard time figuring out what to do next. And I started seeing opportunity in the middle of this crisis, both a personal crisis and what became a global crisis, I saw this opportunity and I wrote a product called the Certified Distressed Property Expert designation. And it's some of the awards I'm most proud of. In 2007, we were bankrupt. In 2011, we were the 21st fastest growing company in the United States. My Inc. 500 award is right above my head here.

You can kind of see it.

I can't move the camera, but we repeated on the Inc. 500 list another 2 times. And I was drafted into the ClickFunnels world by Russell at the second Funnel Hacking Live. He asked me to be a speaker and I spoke at, I think, 3 or 4 consecutive events after that. And so my entry into this world was a product called the Certified Distressed Property Expert. We started in the middle of bankruptcy sitting in a rented townhouse and we created this slogan, we are solving the foreclosure crisis one homeowner at a time. That was in 2008. And in 2013, Lori Maggiano, one of the directors at the US Treasury, came to our office and on a broadcast to over 20,000 people told everyone that our company, this tiny little company in Austin with less than 100 people, wrote a product that pulled forward the recovery of the foreclosure crisis by 5 to 7 years. So we actually accomplished solving the foreclosure crisis one homeowner at a time. And so that's how I got into this world. And then out of that product, we had members that they used our product and their business started exploding. We had real estate agents that had never been top producers, had never done really that great in real estate, some who had done exceptionally well. But when they used our product, their businesses grew and they needed help with teams, they needed help with planning, they needed help building their companies. And so in 2011, we started coaching entrepreneurs how to build and grow their companies. I did a lot of events, I did a ton of one-on-one coaching. And in 2016, we started the company that we have now where we show entrepreneurs how to plan strategically, communicate to their team so everyone knows what's going on, consistently and predictably build their business so that they can go out and change the world. And today, Nikhil, we have a membership where we are known for— we are known for doing the impossible. We're known for taking dozens of companies, not a couple, not one or two, but dozens of companies from six figures to seven figures. But even more impressively, we've helped a ton of entrepreneurs go from seven to eight figures. You know, Rachel Rodgers joined our program a few years ago at just under $2 million. She joined us in 2019. This year she will hit $12 million in revenue. Uh, Daniel Rosen joined us a few years ago at like $1.7 million. He had been stalled out for 6 or 7 years. He runs Credit Repair Cloud. This year he's gonna do $25 million in revenue. And we have stories like that over and over and over again. And, you know, um, I'm sure you can tell it's like, it's, it's one of the most exciting things I've ever done because we work with companies where they're absolutely changing the world in what they do. Daniel Rosen is becoming known for credit repair. Rachel Rogers, George Rogers is known as the person who can make underprivileged women in populations millionaires. You know, we have that, that story repeated over and over and over again in our membership.

Yeah, Alex, wow, brother, like what an impact you're actually creating to everyone and your clientele and the kind of impact they are creating to this entire world. I'm so obsessed with your success, brother, and this is amazing stuff. And Alex, let's get to this question. Because of the uncertainty which is happening because of this COVID hit and a lot of entrepreneurs struggling to, you know, have that transition pivotal, key pivotal, which required from that offline business to online business. A lot of questions pop up in actual entrepreneurs' minds that should they even think about entrepreneurship? That's what I'm hearing every day. And most people, this was one of the most demanding questions, like, should anyone in this uncertain time at least even think about being an entrepreneur? How does that look like for you?

You know, Nikhil, I'm so glad you asked that question because I think that we need to remember who we are as entrepreneurs. You know, I think, I think we need to take a pause and take a deep breath And, and I think a lot of us have forgotten who we are. And I'd like to remind us, I'd like to remind you, I'd like to remind the people around us, because when I look at the world around us today, the devices we're talking on, this microphone in front of me, the house around me was all first envisioned in an entrepreneur's mind and they demanded it become real. And when somebody asks me, is this a good time to become an entrepreneur? You know what, Nikhil? I think it's one of the best times in history to become an entrepreneur. Here's why. I'm 48 years old. And I now have the perspective of being in business for 3 decades. I started my first business when I was 16 years old. So I've been running companies for 30 years. I've helped hundreds of— probably, no, I've helped thousands of entrepreneurs run businesses. In our former product, we had 50,000, almost 50,000 clients. And at one point, we had 5,500 people on a software as a service every month. So when I look at the thousands of entrepreneurs that I've helped, when I look at the 30 years that I've been in business on this planet, the 48 years I've been on this planet, here's what I have learned. Learned with certainty. Transition creates opportunity. Massive. The bigger the transition, the bigger the challenge, the bigger the crisis, the bigger the issue, the bigger the opportunity. And I think too many people have had the wind knocked out of them. And it's understandable. The last 2 years have been extraordinary. They've been confusing. They've been frustrating in a way that, that is not normally frustrating. You know, when we go back to February of 2020 and then come forward, there has been so many different things that challenge us, that frustrate us. Even in just recent history, mandates here in the United States, you know, the, the international conflicts over this, this virus, this crisis that we have that's going on. But here's what I look at for people like us, for entrepreneurs. We are that small percentage of the population that gets up every morning, we go into the future, we create a new reality, and then we come back to the present and we demand it becomes real. We put up with whatever we have to to move ourselves and the world forward. And so Are there entrepreneurs who are going to check out during this time? Sure, there always is. But here's what I believe. Right behind them, there is a new group of entrepreneurs that are incubating right now, that are figuring themselves out, that are understanding, they're creating that reality. Guys just like you at 20 years old who are pulling people on, like me, onto podcasts from India at 1:00 AM in the morning. You give me hope for the future of humanity because we need people just like you to do the following. To rise above the noise we're feeling and hearing right now, identify an opportunity, get it into momentum, and take the world with us. And that is what's going to move us forward. So when somebody says, is this the right time or a good time to get into the business? I feel like this may be one of the greatest times we've ever had. Because as entrepreneurs, we need to remember, the greater the obstacle, the greater the opportunity. And don't ever forget it. In a crisis like this, in a challenge like this, in an environment like this, this is where a startup can unseat the number one person in a business. This is where somebody just like you, just like me, can become a recognized worldwide expert on a subject just because we decide to sit down and study about it. I have. From 2009 to 2013, I was on television in the United States more, on CNBC and Fox News, more than any other commentator as the expert on the foreclosure crisis. I don't even have a degree. Don't think for a second this is a time you shouldn't be in business. This is the best time to be in business.

Holy moly, wow, what a powerball, Alex! This is amazing. And as you just mentioned, the disruption is happening and people need to look at the opportunity and it's the time to jump in. It's just like the time where they need to risk or regret, and there's nothing to lose obviously because it's already the worst scenario in the marketplace, which is just amazing. And that gives us the motivation to go through the roof. That's awesome, brother. Let's get to the next question, Alex. This is going to be tremendous for sure. Right now, if any entrepreneur is considering to enter the marketplace and create that disruption, like, what are the considerations in the marketplace in the world environment at this point of time, actually?

I think as an entrepreneur today, I think that more than ever, we need to be transparent about who we are. We need to let the world know who we are and what our beliefs are and what we understand and what we care about and what's important to us. I think in a crisis like this, the first thought that you might have is, oh, I need to play it safe. I don't want to share anything that's going to make people upset. I want to be inclusive so that everybody understands that I'm OK with them and I don't offend anybody. I don't frustrate anybody. And I don't make anybody feel uncomfortable. Uncomfortable. I think we need to forget about that. I think right now in this time, in a crisis like this, the more transparent you are, the more real you are, the more you let your true self out there, the more you're going to create trust and the more people will follow you. I look at some of the people out there who have amassed massive followings. And when you look at the people who have the biggest followings, the people who are— like a guy that I've known for years, Grant Cardone. I don't agree with a lot of what Grant says. I really don't. I actually, sometimes I watch his videos and I'm like, oh, come on, Grant. But Grant says exactly what he's thinking 100% of the time. He once came and spoke at one of my events and he, I don't even know what the topic of the speech was. He had so many different topics that he covered in an hour. It was like the audience got whiplash watching him. And then he went to the back of the room and he sold more books than any other author that we had at that event. And I think there was 7 of them. And so why? Because every person in the audience was like, that is a real human being. I didn't agree with everything he said, but man, did you hear? He told us everything. He was real. He was passionate. He showed us exactly who he was. And we're in this time where you are not going to include everybody. You're going to make some people irritated. You're going to make some people annoyed. But the more you live out loud and you let not only the world around you, but your team, the people around you know who you are and what you care about and what matters to you, that is what people are going to follow. The subject matter starts to fall away the more transparent you are. And so when I look at ClickFunnels, we all have such a massive amount of respect for ClickFunnels. ClickFunnels, for the audience that they built, for the product that they built, for the team that they have. I love going up to Boise and spending time with the group at ClickFunnels. They are some of the most passionate and committed and incredible human beings on the planet. But here's something I can tell you with certainty, 100% of them are not Mormon. And Russell is way out loud about his love for Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the LDS Church and Jesus and the Bible. And of course, not everyone is included in those beliefs. In fact, I know a ton of people who are in ClickFunnels that have completely opposite beliefs to that. I know people who follow ClickFunnels who actually, think that there's challenges with the Mormon church. But you know what they know about Russell? He's 100% who he is, and he puts it out there, and he's real about himself, and he shares himself. And so even if they don't agree with him, they still follow him. And so I think one of the biggest considerations for right now about being an entrepreneur is to live out loud and be exactly who you are.

Wow, Alex, this was a tremendous requirement for a lot of entrepreneurs. I think business owners need to listen to this. A lot of people try not to be vulnerable, and they try to hide all the scars they hat. They'd be like, oh, you know, this is all sunshine and butterflies right now, I was born rich. But it's not true, right? Being who you are actually is what actually sells. The truth always sells, and people like to actually coordinate with people who they really see the transparency with. Absolutely, Alex, that was on point, brother. Let's get to the next question, brother. A lot of entrepreneurs, especially the mid-range entrepreneurs who are at this 5-figure per month level or running that multi-6-figure business, they are getting so much anxious because of the stress, the kind of considerations happening in the marketplace, the kind of pivotal changes they need to make every week because they're solving a problem and the next week another problem, right? So what do you say to the entrepreneurs who feel discouraged and frustrated and feeling so much anxious about what's going to happen next? What is your suggestion for them?

You know, Nikhil, when, when, when I look at who we are as entrepreneurs, what I just said earlier, we get up in the morning, we go into the future, we create a new reality, and we come back to the present and we demand it becomes Real. Here's what that means. That means we challenge the world around us always, no matter what the environment is. Here's why. We want to make the world a better place. We want to change things. We want to improve things. We want to see things get better. We want to see things go in a new direction. And the rest of the world strives for average and clings desperately to the status quo. They want everything to stay the same. We need to remember that no matter what environment we're in, we are going to offend people and frustrate people and make them upset and make them irritated. But here's what I know about you and every other entrepreneur I've ever worked with or been around. We've all had that time in our lives where we see a new reality. We can see that light at the end of the tunnel, that tiny, faint, barely visible light, and no one else can see it. And we compel ourselves towards that light, and we do what it takes to move forward, even if it's only one step at a time, even if we take one step forward and three steps back. Some days we might get five steps in and we finally move forward. And if we can have even not barely perceptible progress, we will keep going. That's who we are. That's how we're hardwired. And When I look at the entrepreneurs that I've worked with, here's what I know about every single one of them, including me. We've all had that time in our lives where we are headed down that tunnel towards the light. And the world around us is telling us we don't have enough money. We don't have enough time. We're not old enough. We're too old. We don't have enough experience. We have too much experience. We don't have what it takes. There's no way we're going to be able to make it happen. We don't have the resources. And instead, we continue to push towards that light. And we compel ourselves towards it and it towards us. And when we step through that light, we create who we are. So if you're feeling discouraged and frustrated and anxious, use it to propel you towards the obstacles around you and find a way over, under, or through them, because that's what people like us have always done and we can't forget it.

Absolutely, Alex. Wow, like this is more like being a shark in the tank, right? It's more about having that shark-like mentality, only forward. You cannot swim backward. There is no option, right? And that was really on point, Alex. Pretty much exciting. And Alex, when it comes to entrepreneurs, you've been obsessed with this actual, you know, theory of helping entrepreneurs to take care of themselves, right? And a lot of entrepreneurs be like, I'm so much obsessed to my business growth. I drink no water, I eat no food, I have no time off. I'm like 24/7, I'm working in my sleep. I hear this day in, day out. So what is the most important thing for entrepreneurs to do for themselves right now?

You know, Nikhil, I have this concept that I call pressure and noise. You know, for us as entrepreneurs, the way that I I wrote a book called The Entrepreneurial Personality Type. And the way that I define people like you and us is— and you and me and the people around us, other entrepreneurs, everyone who's at Funnel Hacking Live right now— we are physiologically sensitive, momentum-based beings that are highly reactive to constraint. And when I look at the constraint around us, I call it pressure and noise. It's the pressure and the noise in the world that we're feeling right now. And when the pressure and noise goes up, here's what happens to people like you you and I. When the noise goes up, that's when we experience frustration and irritation and physiological sensitivity. And, and then we don't see that new reality. We don't see the future like we need to. It starts to go dim. It starts to go dark. The light at the end of the tunnel goes away, and we get into this place of constraint. And as entrepreneurs, when we're in a place of constraint, when we allow ourselves— because we always allow ourselves, always, it doesn't matter what the environment around you is— we are allowing ourselves to be in constraint because it happens in our mind first. And when we are in this place of constraint, that's where we get symptomatic. We get exhausted, we get fatigued, we break down, we get sick. We, we don't see opportunities. We don't see what we can do next. And so regardless of what's going on in your world, in your life, in your business, in the environment around you, in all of this craziness that we're experiencing, regardless of where in the world you are, the most important thing that entrepreneurs can do for themselves right now is to personally, for ourselves, for our own bodies, for our own human experience, is to lower the pressure and noise in our lives. That means getting up every day and hydrating and drinking water. That means getting up every day and moving your body and getting outside and getting sunlight and exercising. That means drinking or eating the right foods and eating whole foods and staying away from the things that slow us down like alcohol and cigarettes and all the other crap out there in the world. Let everybody else use it. Because for us, we need to be clear mind, clear body, clear spirit. Because when we're in that place as entrepreneurs, when we lower the pressure and noise in our lives, here's what happens. Happens. I have this 4-step theory which I actually think is one of the laws of the universe. It's like the secret to life for entrepreneurs. I call it the contribution equation. When we lower the pressure and noise in our lives, when we're willing to, to say these are the people, the places, the things in my life that are making things noisy, these are the things in my life that are not giving me momentum— because if they're not giving you momentum, chances are they're taking it away— when we're willing to, to push those things aside, here's what I know happens. Step 1 is you lower pressure and noise. Then second, you ask for protection and support. Nikhil, the fact that you reached out to me, that you reached out to Dave Woodward, everybody that you did, you're asking for help. You're asking for protection and support. You're bravely, as a 20-year-old in India, in a foreign country, reaching across the world and saying, I want your help, and you're getting it. So don't tell me entrepreneurs can't do this. Because when you lower the noise in your life and you ask for protection and support, here's what happens. Your strengths and abilities just show. You will have opportunity. You will see opportunity. You will see the world around you different. And if you lower the pressure and noise and you increase protection and support and your strengths and abilities show, you will go out and make your greatest contribution. And so it starts with you first. Lower the noise, create a morning routine, drink water, eat the right foods, exercise. A lot of those things are free. Breathe, do breathwork, oxygenate, meditate, get into a place where you're taking care of yourself and you will see a bigger opportunity. You will see a way around the obstacle. You will understand what to do next and you you, by doing those things, will go out and make a massive contribution, which means you will effectively leave your dent in the universe.

Oh my God, Alex, that was so transformational. And a lot of entrepreneurs need this. And these guys are like 24/7 wind with their business and have no clue what's going on in their personal life. I think this is the number one suggestion they need to take and implement right now, guys, right now. Alex literally nailed down what you should be exactly doing, taking personal care of yourself. Because if you are performing to your best, your business will automatically grow. So that is the best part. And Alex, one of the key things, as you have been helping dozens of businesses to get to that 8-figure level, right? There is something called hiring key people, the leaders who can actually be the decision makers and like take care of the company like you do as the owner, right? So how does that look like for you as you have been helping thousands of entrepreneurs to get consultations on this part? Like how someone, an entrepreneur, can hire key leaders in their company? And the best part is maintain train them? Because key leaders come in and they jump off as they see a different opportunity. So how do you make them this way?

You know, if I had to summarize that process, I would tell you it's the same way, same thing that you need to do for every one of your team members, not just key leaders in your company. This is, this is, this is how we teach entrepreneurs to treat every member of their team. So first, when you're hiring, go out and hire true believers. And here's what that means. You know how earlier I said we need to live out loud, we need to be who we are, we need to show what we care about? You do that, and so you then you will have people who come to your company who are drawn to you regardless of what you say, regardless of who you are. Don't have the fear that if you share some part of yourself that nobody's going to show up, because somebody always will. And the more that you do that, you will find people who believe in you. But it's not just that. See, when I'm hiring true believers, I want people who believe in me, who understand who I am, who, who want to get behind me as a team, want to get in front of me and be the tip of the spear on our team. And so that's key. Second, I want to make sure that I find people who believe in what we do as a company. You know, we're a coaching company that helps entrepreneurs, so I want people who believe in coaching. I want people who believe in humans helping I want people who understand one of the most transformational experiences is to be helped by another person who's been there before and to be able to mirror them and match them and understand what they're doing and use them as a model. And so when they believe in that, I know I can hire them. It's the same thing for your business. And then the third thing is I want to make sure I hire people who believe in the people we serve. See, if I have people who believe in me and my company and we have people who believe in what we do and they believe in the people we serve, they're not going to leave unless unless we don't give them responsibility. The most important thing with true believers is to hire them and then let them tell you what to do. One of the greatest leaders in the history of business was Steve Jobs, and there's a lot of conversation out there about how sometimes he blew his lid and sometimes he yelled at people and sometimes he had challenges with people and sometimes he made people upset. But you know what people who worked with Steve Jobs would tell you is that he got the best work out of them ever. And why? Because he transferred responsibility to people. He gave them responsibility. He actually said his job at Apple was to go out and hire people who are better than him and have them tell him what to do. I think far too many entrepreneurs hire people and then try and tell them everything that they need to do, and they don't let them actually achieve their jobs. So hire true believers and then give them real responsibility, transfer it to them, and you'll have people for a long time.

Yeah, absolutely, Alex. That was really, really insightful. And obviously, for a lot of entrepreneurs who are trying to— who are in that hire and fire cycle, this is what they really need to hear. And Alex, you've been so obsessed with the tools and systems and processes entrepreneurs need, right? And you are one of those people who are one of the most productive, in my opinion, as for my terms, what I've observed so far. So can you please tell us, like, what tools you use to project manage, client manage, for your productivity to the max?

Sure. I use our Momentum Planner, Nikhil. So on a daily basis, I sit sit down with the product that we sell to other people. I think you've actually maybe had some experience with it.

Yeah, you use it.

So I use the Momentum Planner every day, and I'll just give some perspective as to why I think this is such an important tool. I think the productivity of your team starts with you, period. If you're not sitting down and planning on a daily basis, if you're not sitting down and creating that reality in writing, you will not manifest what you want in your life. You know, I have this, this quote that I share with entrepreneurs: if you don't have the company you want, you haven't become the person who can run it yet. And part of becoming the person who can run that company is lowering the noise in your life, increasing protection and support, letting your strengths and abilities show so you can make that contribution. And one of the ways that I do that is I sit down with our Momentum Planner, and on a, on an annual basis, I create an annual personal plan for myself. On a quarterly basis, I create the goals I want to achieve. On a monthly basis, I create a strategic plan for myself and for my— my team does it in my business. And then every morning I sit down and I fill out the questions. What is my intention for today? What are the top 3 things I need to achieve today? Where was I uncomfortable yesterday? So I'm always discovering what makes me uncomfortable. I'm always discovering what I need to change around me so that I do not let the noise go up. And then I create the to-do list that I have for the day, and I prioritize everything. And by doing this every day, I create the stability and the foundation through which I can show up as the leader that I want to be.

Absolutely. So in that way, you like— I highly suggest, guys, everyone who's listening to this podcast, get, get your hands on this Momentum Planner. That's gonna be a killer. That's gonna be literally a killer to increase your productivity through the roof. It's gonna give you so much more clarity on what you've done. Because as an entrepreneur, you will be that like stupid bitch who just changes hats day in, day out. And this Momentum Planner will give you so much clarity on what you should get done that day. Because people really underestimate what they can do in a day and overestimate what they can do a year. And once this Moment Planner comes in, it's going to be a total game changer. My personal suggestion, go get hands on it. That would be transformational. And Alex, we would love to hear more about like your daily routine. You've been so much obsessed about personal care on entrepreneurs. We would love to hear your personal routine. How does that look like?

Um, so I actually get up every day and I, I do a very similar thing every day. Um, but I've actually recently changed it a little bit, Nikhil. I've actually taken it from routine all the way to ritual and created an absolute new level of intention. And I actually think this will be one of the first podcasts I've ever shared it on. So, you know, I have a written morning routine where I get everything that I need to get done and I check the boxes on getting it done. But I've recently started taking it a lot more seriously. I actually get up in the morning, I get up early, I come down to my office. I usually take my dog outside for a couple of minutes first, just in case so that there's no accidents in here. By doing that, I get bright light. And so I want to get out out into the natural light as early as I can, usually between like 5 and 6 o'clock is when I'm out there. And then, I come back in here and I sit down with the Momentum Planner. But first, I go through a ritual. I light a candle and I do some breathwork and I create stillness in myself and presence and awareness. And, once I'm in that place, I out loud invite my higher power, my higher spirit, my guardian angels, my higher self into my world to help me, to support me, to help help me create momentum during the day. And I ask for the strength and the courage and the wisdom to be able to move my family forward, myself forward, my company forward, to be able to reach out and help the people that we serve move forward. And I say it until— and I keep talking until I start feeling chills and I feel the activation of that energy entering me. And then I sit down and I do my planning and I go through the rest of my written morning routine. But having that activation, having that time where I invoking the higher spirits that I have in this world into helping me move things forward has become one of the most important parts of my day. And then my written routine after that is doing all of the things that are going to make sure that I am hydrated, oxygenated, that I have the right nutrition on board, that I have the right movement. So during my morning routine, I hyperhydrate. I go for a long walk every morning. I come back. I usually go in the sauna. I jump in a cold plunge. Plunge for at least 3 minutes where I'm in water that normally would make somebody hypothermic, but I've accustomed my body to it to where it just creates massive momentum. I come back, I get ready, and then I get on my huddles with my team. And from time to time, my morning routine and morning ritual changes. I'll add things to it and take things away from it. But I'm always looking at how do I make it so that when I enter my day, I am as energized and as prepared as I possibly can be.

Wow, Alex, that was so transformational. Like, you're literally uncovering the different dimension in yourself, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs really need to discover in themselves because that's going to keep them energized. As you're talking about that, pretty amazing stuff, Alex. This is, this is on the next level, brother. Really appreciate the golden nuggets you're actually dropping here, Alex. Let's get to the next question. You started your business so young, from 16 years to, you know, you're, you're having 3 years— decade, uh, 3 decades of experience in business, which is amazing. If there is an opportunity to talk to a 20-year-old you or someone who is just getting started in business, what will be your number one suggestion for them? Hmm.

I think that the biggest deficit that young entrepreneurs have is that they never learn how to actually create a plan. And rather than creating a plan where we determine an outcome and then work backwards to the steps to get there, they just keep trying to do and work and grab onto something new and create a new project, and they they hear something somebody's talking about and they get distracted. And, and I think that one of the biggest challenges for young entrepreneurs today is this massive information overload that we have where everything feels like a shiny object. Everything feels like the thing that you should do. Everything feels like you're missing out on something. You know, this word FOMO, fear of missing out. I, I, I want us to eradicate that because if you're an entrepreneur who has a clear plan, none of that stuff sticks to you. You just focus on the plan and you put your energy, your attention, your resources, your time, your effort into plan. And, you know, our, our company teaches strategic planning at the personal level, at the relationship level for you and your spouse or you and your significant other, and then at the business level. And when I look at most entrepreneurs, young and those who have experience, they are working without a plan. And when you're working without a plan, that means you have to personally get up every day and compel your business forward. I call it we're driving your business by personality, not by process. And when we step out of driving it by personality and we create the process of creating plans for ourselves, for our lives around us, for our business, we have a target we can actually pour our energy and attention into. And, you know, there's this, this, you know, there's a lot of talk about the law of attraction and manifestation and bringing the things energetically that you want into your life. The way that I do that is I predetermine what those things are and I have absolute clarity about what I want. And then those things show up in my life. And if you listen to the entrepreneurs around you, you'll hear crazy things. Like, I hear entrepreneurs all the time say, you know, 10 years ago, and I sat down and I wrote this list of things that I wanted. At the time, they were all a dream. And I looked at it the other day and they all came true. I always think, why don't you create a process around doing exactly that so you can make stuff come true all the time? And so as a younger entrepreneur, as an experienced entrepreneur, we need a strategic plan for our lives, for our relationships, for our business. It needs to be in writing. It needs to be documented. It will give us perspective. Objective. It will help us understand if we're actually creating momentum and moving forward. And in our lives, we need 3 things to create momentum. We need clear outcomes, like a strategic plan. We need to understand our role, what we're doing and what other people are doing. And then we need scoreboards that show us, are we actually moving forward? And when you create a strategic plan, you create all 3 of those things at once, and you have an actual reality you're pursuing to go forward. And when you have a strategic plan, as you start to hire a they pursue that plan. They don't have to come to you to ask you what they're doing every day. And the plan creates the clarity they need so that every member of your team gets into momentum. And when that happens, you change the world.

Yeah, absolutely, Alex. And that was the best part actually on this podcast today, which was more about creating the momentum. And a lot of young entrepreneurs and even experienced entrepreneurs really struggle to create that. And the action plan you just mentioned is going to really help them to get that clear action plan right there on their desk. So everyone, even as the team, will be aligned with the vision to make that happen. That's awesome, Alex. So Alex, you've been doing so much crazy stuff— talking on stages, being on TED, you know, being the number one foreclosure expert when the recession happened in America. But we would love to hear your life's biggest achievement so far and any next bigger goals.

Hmm, my life's biggest achievement so far. Hmm. You know what, Nikhil, I think my life's biggest achievement, huh?

Oh my God, Alex Charfen is thinking twice for his achievements.

You know, because these are like so many. I want to make sure I'm not giving you a performative answer because what comes to mind first is that I feel like my life's biggest achievement, given where I started out and what I've experienced, is the marriage that I have with my wife, Katie, when I look at everything around us, the businesses that we've had, the speaking that I've done, the money that we've had, the wealth that we've created, you know, I know that it can go like that. And when we went into bankruptcy and we lost everything, you know, we were in a relatively new marriage with a baby. My— there was a tremendous amount of pressure and noise. My daughter Reagan was only a few months old when all of that started, and And that type of pressure rips relationships apart. That type of pressure creates massive conflict. And I'm not going to say that it didn't create conflict and issues in our marriage. It absolutely did. But we've been together now for 18 years. We will have been together for— or married for 16 years on October 1st, so just in a few days. And that— here's what I know, that regardless of anything else that happens in the world, regardless of anything else that happens in my life, I have Katie and the partnership between us can help us overcome that. With the partnership between us, we will overcome anything that happens because we always have. And so creating that, that intimacy, that closeness, that belief in each other is the biggest thing that I've ever been able to do. Wow.

Absolutely, Alex. And you have been like, as, as a partners, you have created the character traits, even if everything is going just like that, you will definitely come back. And I think that's the characters entrepreneurs need to look after and build for themselves so that they can have a long-term business, unlike a new momentum thing which is happening for a second and gonna blow off within a couple of weeks, right? Absolutely. And Alex, this will be pretty amazing stuff. What was the biggest mistake in your life so far in terms of business, especially?

Hmm, the biggest mistake in my life. You know, Nikhil, when I look back at my business career, I no longer can see things as mistakes. I see them as lessons that I learned that had a cost. And I— if we had done this interview as little as 5 to 10 years ago, before I had done some of the recent trauma work that I've done and some of the self-awareness that I've created, I probably would have given you a time and a date and some decision that I made. But the reality is, when I look back at any mistake that I've done, it's created a transition. Or any mistake I've had, it has created a transition, and I've chosen to learn from it, and I've chosen to understand from, from it. And even going bankrupt was one of the most pivotal and intense and difficult, but also one of the most incredible things that ever happened to us. We would not have the life we have today had we not had that happen to us because of the lessons that we learned from it. And so the one place where I have regrets is that as a younger leader, I didn't understand how to run a company in a way where I gave people clear outcomes and clear accountability and clear understanding with perspective of what they were doing. And I feel like in many cases I created an environment that was unhealthy for the people I worked with. And when I look back on that, that challenges me. That when, when I think back on the terminations that didn't need to be angry terminations, when I think back on the way that some people were treated in the companies that I owned when I was younger, when I look back on some of the things that happened to people in the organizations that I had because I didn't understand what I was doing with the people I put in leadership. Those things frustrate me because I feel like I affected those people. But even then, I take a step back and I know that even for those people— and some of them have come back and told me this— that even though it was one of the most challenging times in their lives, it was something that in their life was drawn in energetically to help them grow. So I have a hard time seeing anything as a mistake. I see it as an opportunity where I was able to learn and mature and, and understand more and be able to bring that understanding and that energetic into the world that I have now.

Yeah, absolutely, Alex. And I think a lot of young entrepreneurs will absolutely get into that phase of actually having that, you know, wrong decisions when they're building a company. And those are the key learnings, and the mistakes you have done are actually going to determine the path where you're going to move forward and kind of build a much more important character traits. Absolutely, Alex. Let's get to the next couple of quick questions. Your main inspiration so far and the key people involved in your journey?

My main inspiration for success. You know, Nikhil, I think that, that my main inspiration for success probably always has been that I didn't know how to do it any other way. I don't, I don't really understand how to do— when I'm, when I'm trying to work through somebody else's process, I have a really hard time with it. And so I've always created things around me and understood that I need to create the things that make me comfortable. And so So I think that that is the biggest— that's the biggest driver of success for me. And what inspires me today is when I look at the members that we have. I mentioned a couple of them. Rachel Rogers is such an incredible human being. But when I look at my membership, it's just full of people like this. I just had the opportunity to sit down with Ken Adolf and Ali Waddell, who run a company here in Austin called Illuma. And it's a ketamine clinic where they're using psychedelics to help people overcome trauma and overcome things that have happened in their lives and have new perspective and create new insights and abilities in their lives. And Ken is a cardiac anesthesiologist, and he's one of maybe 50 people in the country who has the capabilities he has with ultrasound and exactly what he does. He's like an incredibly world-changing doctor who has been transformed himself and now is going to go out and change the world and show people there's this other way way to overcome trauma. And my inspiration is every time I walk into a room full of our members, or recently every time I get on a Zoom call with all of our members, I look at these human beings who get up every day and they see this new reality. And no matter what's happening around them, they push and they do what they need to do, and they take care of themselves, and they, they build teams, and they create the organizations that are creating the tomorrow we are all going to have. And I can't help but be inspired and humbled and excited on a daily basis to make the content and to build the team and create the organization that is the foundation for their success.

Yeah, absolutely. So it's like indirectly we're building the tomorrow, the future, the most efficient future everyone's going to experience. And you're being a part of it, which is much exciting. And we want all of the entrepreneurs to be a part of this, guys. This is amazing stuff, Alex. And Alex, what an amazing podcast, brother. It was so transformational. I think so many business owners can relate to what they have learned from this podcast. So in case if they need more any help, like, where can our audience find you mentoring, Alex?

So the best place to go, Nikhil, is to our podcast. We have a podcast called Momentum for the Entrepreneurial Personality Type. We just— we're about to cross 2.8 million downloads since the beginning. Uh, you can go to all the major podcast platforms, or you can go check it out on our website. If you go to momentum momentumpodcast.com. We have a search engine there. So if you're an entrepreneur dealing with anything, we have almost 800 episodes. If you type in the subject, it'll pull up the podcast for you. And we have each, each podcast is about somewhere between 7 to 20, 25 minutes. Um, they all vary in time, but each one of them solves a single issue for an entrepreneur. And so go to momentumpodcast.com to check it out.

Wow, that's awesome. So guys, make sure to check that podcast out. That is like a library. Entrepreneur its needs. So whenever you feel like you have a problem, write that down and just go and search in themomentumpodcast.com, and you will most likely find an answer. That's amazing, brother. So Alex, any last word before we conclude the entire podcast session for today?

Yeah, you know, I think that, that yes, this is a challenging time in the world. Yes, this is a, this is a very, very interesting and conflict-filled time to be alive. But here's what I want us all to remember: throughout history, conflict is always with us. It's part of the human condition, and there are always challenges. And the bigger the conflict, the bigger the The bigger the obstacle, the bigger the transition, the bigger whatever it is, the bigger the opportunity that it creates. And people like us are made for times like this. This is where we should check in, where the rest of the world goes crazy and checks out and backs up and, and hides. This is where we stand up, we rise up, we get above the noise, and we identify the opportunities and we move the world forward. And I want you to know something. It doesn't matter what is going on for you right now. It doesn't matter how many challenges you have. It doesn't matter what country you're in. It doesn't matter how old you are, you have an opportunity to change things because that's what people like us have always done. And I don't care if there's an issue in your life or a diagnosis that you've gotten or somebody's told you that you're broken or somebody's told you that you don't think the same way everybody does. Well, Jesus, thank God, because entrepreneurs throughout history have heard that. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with a friend of mine. His name's John Morrow. He's one of the number one bloggers on the planet. He runs Smart Blogger and he has an adult education company where they're showing people how to become content marketing experts and changing people's lives. And he has a team of people and he's running a multimillion-dollar business. And John is confined to a wheelchair and he can only move this part of his face. He navigates the entire world with his mouth, including a computer, including a mouse, including moving his wheelchair around. And if you go for a walk with him, you would never— you forget about the fact that he's in a chair. Care. So if you can move, you're ahead of John Morrow, and he has a multi-million dollar company. And so don't ever think that there's a time or an issue or anything that takes you out of the game. To every one of you out there, I want you to remember something about people like us: regardless what the obstacle is, we will overcome it. And I want— I have this belief system: there is nothing wrong with you, and you are not alone. No matter what it is you're facing, one of us has been there, overcome it, and gone on to change the world. And so on you.

Wow, Alex, we need this. This was absolutely amazing, brother. What a transformation. So there are no excuses, guys. It's just like you need to build the right belief system for you. Again, Alex, what a pleasure having you on this podcast, brother. Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity. It was great, such a great opportunity to have you on the podcast. What an amazing transformational journey. And hopefully, guys who actually listen to the podcast so far, make sure to take notes and start implementing them from now, not tomorrow, not the coming week, right now. Make sure to get your hands on the Momentum Planner and try to listen to podcasts as well. That's going to be transformational, guys. And hopefully, guys, you enjoyed the podcast so far. This is me, D Nikhil Sai, as well as Alex Charfen, signing off for today. I'll be back with another amazing Two Comma Club interview soon. Bye, Alex.

Thank you.