Brooke Castillo Pt. 1: Thinking Your Way To Success

Hi, friends, this is Ryan from capitalism dot com. I'm so jazzed to bring you today's episode. I am Jizzer Jazzered Up. I've recorded hundreds of podcasts over the years. Started this thing back in 2013, and I must say, I think the one that you're about to start listening to is the one that had the biggest impact on me personally. And immediately. We've just opened up Texas from quarantine. Texas now is allowing us to leave our house. And so the first person that I saw outside of outside of quarantine was Brooke Castillo. So good to see her. I'm just so happy that she is spending some time here in Austin, Texas. And I had plans to do a podcast that was just called A Tribute to Brooke Castillo. If you don't follow her work, she is just a magician when it comes to changing thoughts and perspectives. And I just so appreciate her perspective on life and really her thoughts on thoughts, as strange as that may sound. So I had planned on doing a full podcast that was just dedicated to a tribute to Brooke Castillo, but then the quarantine was lifted and Brooke and I got to get together and we just recorded a podcast together that was about a whole range of things that I'll talk to you about in a second. But first, I just want to give a 30 second tribute to Brooke Castillo. To be such an example of an entrepreneur, and I hate to even bring it up, but a female entrepreneur. Some people ask me, who are your favorite female entrepreneurs? And I say, well, I'm Brooke Castillo and Susie Batiz are two of my favorite entrepreneurs. I don't differentiate if they're male or female, but they happen to be female and they're two of my favorite entrepreneurs. But the reason Brooke has had such an impact on me is because as an entrepreneur who keeps such a free lifestyle, meaning she works hard, but she has intentional time that she takes off. She says that she works no more than three days a week. And to make as much money as she does with so much poise, without the need to draw attention to herself and to do it in a way that looks calm and poised and thoughtful and to grow as much as she has as quickly as she has while being as giving and serving and happy as she has has had a real impact on me just watching her example. And I just want to give that quick one minute tribute to Brooke Castillo. I consider it a privilege every time I get to spend some time with her. And we recorded this podcast together to talk about a few things. We started talking about the thought patterns that rich people have once they become rich. And I wanted to ask Brooke about this because she has observed in her work that people have the same fears, insecurities, and sometimes beliefs once they become successful as they did before they were successful. Which is really interesting to me, because what I kind of internalized from that is that if you know you're going to be the same person when you're rich as when you're poor, then there's not so much angst or pressure to get rich right away. If your life is going to be mostly the same, your thoughts are going to be mostly the same. Once you're really successful, then I think we could slow down and be a little bit more intentional about our thought patterns now, even if we're not at the level that we want to be and who is. And Brooke said something really interesting. I think she was quoting Byron Katie in this podcast together, where she says, no matter where you are in your life, most of your time is spent either standing, sitting, or lying down. I thought that was really interesting. So the only thing that changes is the thoughts we have, the emotions that we feel, the people that we spend our time with, and those are the things that we're really after. And if we can start to cultivate some of that now, we can enjoy the thing that we are so desperately seeking in success or fitness or marriage or whatever it is that we are hoping to accomplish. If we can start enjoying the thoughts and emotions and behaviors that we think we will have, then we can start enjoying that now. Brooke even says, I am enjoying my hundred million now, even though I don't have $100 million. Gosh, that was so interesting to me throughout this podcast. I, I, I'm a little bit worried about how you're going to perceive this podcast because you're not going to be able to see my face. Obviously. I wish we had done a video version of this because I quite literally had my head in my hands a few times going, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What? I need you to say that again. This was so helpful because.

Brooke has been able to do what I do for other people, which is see some of the BS thought behaviors in your brain and help tweak them. And I have never walked out of a podcast meeting so pumped. In this interview, I talk about how one of my goals is to sell a million copies of my book, 12 months to 1 million. I'm so proud of this book. I'm so excited to get it into your hands. And I just, it's one of those things where it's easy to sell because I believe in it so much. And so I want to sell a million copies of this book. And Brooke talks about, wait, hold on a second. Let's just feel that for a second. Just bask in that thought for a second. You don't have to wait until you've sold a million books to be happy about it. Be happy about it now. And so I did something kind of strange. I drove home thinking about, well, how would I operate if I had already sold a million books and my iPhone was connected to my Tesla and I was streaming some music and I rocked out to one of my favorite songs. It was keen somewhere only we know I rocked out to it, but this time I rocked out to it. As someone who has sold a million copies of a book that they were really proud of. Music sounded exactly the same, except I enjoyed it just a little bit more. It was like, I got to celebrate one of the accomplishments that I'm sending out to do now. And I told Brooke in this interview that when you come at it from that perspective, I can be really pumped about the entire process, knowing that it's going to happen. And she said, exactly. That's it. That's it. That's why you can enjoy the results of it now rather than just putting it off until later. And so I have listened to this episode multiple times, and it's really meaty. There's a lot in here, so I've decided to break it into two parts or release them to you just so it's a little bit easier to digest. Plus, I've already quartered an eight minute intro on this, so I split it into two parts and this is part one. I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can message me directly on instagram or I'm ryanapitalism.com and if you enjoyed this, please tag Brooke on Instagram. She's not on there a whole lot, but I think she'd really appreciate the love from the capitalism.com community. All right, enjoy.

Hello, my friends.

Hey, Brooke.

How are you? What have you been doing?

I haven't been working much.

I've been cooking.

Nice.

And I've been playing video games.

Nice.

And I've been doing a lot of journaling and thinking and walking.

Sounds like my life all the time.

Even when we're not in quarantine.

Yeah, I do.

Well, I don't think I want to go back.

I think you work a lot more than I do.

Well.

I think I'm working a lot more.

Here'S. What I've realized in the quiet is how much I.

Like, I have the thing I want to get to, so I should be thinking about it or, like, I think I force myself to work rather than wait for the inspiration to work. Yeah. And I'm not doing that right now. And so right now it feels like I'm not working much, but I think it's the most productive thing I can do.

Because you're noticing how much stuff that you do that doesn't really matter.

Yes. I. I love the quote. I think it's C.S. lewis. I don't. He's dead, so I'm just going to credit to him.

Perfect.

Yeah. If two men are walking in the wrong direction, he who stops first makes the most progress.

No, that's awesome.

Yeah.

I've never heard that quote before, so. Good.

So I'm realizing all the places that I've been walking in the wrong direction.

I think a lot of people are experiencing that right now.

I think.

So this pause, they're kind of like, huh, Do I want to go back to what I was doing before, or do I want to change some things up? And you're noticing that you want to change some things up.

No, I want to not change it back. Yeah, It's. It's just highlighting all the things that I don't want to keep doing that I kept doing just because of inertia.

Right.

There was like, we do this. We have this meeting all the time. We do this thing all the time. I do this part of my routine all the time, and it doesn't actually matter.

So are you still doing all the same stuff with your team, or has that changed a lot?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean.

I mean, I attend one team meeting a week. I have one other meeting with, like, a group of people that I meet with. I have one coaching meeting a week.

Yeah.

And apart from that, it's like, I don't have to do anything. I want more clients, so I think I should do all of these things. But actually, no, that's not the best. I don't really have to do any of that.

I love that. I think that's so clarifying, like, and feeling. I think a lot of people feel like they don't have time to do more because they're spending so much time doing so many things that don't matter instead of doing the things that do matter. So I think that's. That's awesome.

See, I've learned. I've learned a lot from your example because I've noticed about you that you just stay so true to you and you never really move from that. You kind of don't have a better phrase for it. Let the world come to you a little bit.

Yes, that's how I like to think.

That sounds terrible. But yes, I shall sit and wait for the world to come to me.

And. And they do.

They do. But here's the thing. I learned this, that hustling and working harder in a way that is fueled by fear or scarcity or frustration or whatever never works. So I just never do it. I know better now to not cause I can work myself to death, and I just never want to do that. And so I've had to get smarter about how I work, and it really hasn't changed that much. I was like, I was actually talking to Frank Kern about this when we were cracking up because we're like, what's changed? Nothing. Now we just have permission to like, hide. Right. Because we're both such introverts and we like to stay inside. I like to go on a walk by myself. I like to think. I like to journal. And now it's just expected of me, which is even better.

When do you know to work?

When do I know to work? When I have a very clear end game and I know exactly what I'm working for. I. I don't do busy work. And I always try to eliminate anything unnecessary and simplify everything. That's been really interesting having a team too, the way my team thinks. It seems like so many people try to over complicate things and make things take longer than they need to and work so much harder. And then we compound that by everyone saying, oh, then that's how we do it. Right. So then that becomes the process. Yeah. Yeah.

So I've experienced a lot in the last couple weeks of, I have an idea, and I'm really excited about the idea. And my normal impulse is to run and go work on that.

Oh, that's such a problem. Right.

And lately I have been letting me like, that's a really cool idea. I'm gonna let that digest for a while.

Nice.

And my, my strategy is to wait until it's an impulse that is like, I gotta get this out. Like, I can't not do this anymore. It's like, it's like pooping. It's just like pooping, bro.

Exactly like pooping.

If you try and poop too early.

It'S just not effective.

You're gonna strain yourself.

It's gonna, it's gonna.

This isn't a thing women talk about.

Well, women don't poop. It's different. I'm sorry.

I'm talking about.

About boy issues.

I know we're like, bros, but I don't talk about pooping.

It's such a part of my life that I forget that women don't poop. Why. But. So I'm just waiting until I have to poop. The idea has to poop. It has to come out, and then it comes out real easy.

Well, I think. I mean, it's actually a really good point. I think so many people are in such a hurry that they try and rush every idea and everything immediately because they're trying to cash in on it too quickly. And I think it's all. It kind of goes back to this idea. Like, okay, I have this goal that I want in my life. It's kind of what we decided we wanted this whole podcast to be about, right? It's like, I have this idea in my life where when I execute this idea and it works out, then my life will be better. Right. Especially as entrepreneurs, we're like, oh, I have this product or I have this program. I have this amount of money I want to make, so as soon as I get there, everything's going to be better, so I better hurry up and get there. And so then every idea, we have, everything, it's almost like this frenetic energy. We're like, oh, get it out there. Cash in on it. Get what we can get from it, right? And then we are exhausted in the attempt to get there. And then we start questioning, wait, do I really want that thing? Is this really worth that thing? And I think if we would just slow down and go after the thing, but don't be in such a hurry to go after the thing. Like, wait for the thing to come to you to bring it full circle.

So there's.

There's.

For someone like me, I like, I want to get it started immediately. Like, I'm excited about it, but then I get frustrated. And so I've. I've. I've realized I don't want the frustration right now. So I'm just not gonna start until I'm excited to do the whole thing.

But why do you get frustrated?

I, like, because I haven't thought it to completion. And what I think I'm hearing you say is when you know the end. The thing that you're building for, you can see the end game or you can see it through.

Yeah.

And I tend to start on things before I can see that piece of it.

Oh, that's Interesting. Yeah. Because I think if there's no rush, there's no hurry to get something done, there's a much less likelihood of frustration. Now, I know you have people listening to this, that that's terrible advice for them because they never start anything.

Right, right.

So there's the kind of people that never start anything that you just need to delete what you just heard. But there's people like us that start too many things and are in too big of a hurry to accomplish too many things. Much more likely that we're gonna burn ourselves out.

Now, let me throw a wrench into that, because I think there are some people who don't start anything because they don't really want it.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

And there's. There's a lot of, like, what you call. Or what like, we kind of call hustle porn. Like, go, go, go, go, go is a lot of times people doing things for results that they don't really want.

Exactly. Exactly.

And I'm realizing that I do some of that, too. And so to answer your question, I'm doing a lot of thinking and a lot of analyzing, taking a step back.

Which I think is the most lucrative thing you can do, ultimately, long term.

Yeah, I think so, too, because all of a sudden, the things like the ways that I thought how I was going to get somewhere all of a sudden either don't sound fun or they seem too hard and better, easier, more fun alternatives are starting to show up.

Exactly. Yeah.

That I couldn't see if I had not taken that step back. Yeah.

Love it. Yeah. I worry about the different kind of people sometimes because I think. I think some people step back and then just keep stepping back, never accomplish what they want. So I think there's definitely a balance. And once you start taking action, you know, committing to a decision and following through, I think is important too. So it's like, what. When do you. When is taking a step back a good idea? And when is it just slowing you down? I think it's a very interesting question.

Well, let me tell you a personal story.

So.

I've had periods in my life where food was a challenge. I use it as a distraction. I use it as fun. I use it as a comfort.

Yeah.

You know, I've. I've gone through periods where that was a real problem. And then I would over exercise. Yeah. To make up for that. And it was just kind of a. A loop. Right. And what I thought I wanted was the abs.

And the physique. Right. And so it was just like this constant Frustration, this constant loom. And every time I would try something new or I would try to do something, I would kind of reopen the loop. And lately I kind of threw it all away. Was like, I'm not gonna do anything for a while. And my food eating issues have kind of have greatly subsided.

Okay.

Like, greatly subside. It's a huge relief for me. And I tell you that because there's the. For me, it was like the result driven activity. And then there was more of the process driven. If I was going for the six pack.

Yeah.

And all I ever saw was the lack of a six pack.

Yeah.

But if I was going for, you know, I just want to feel good.

Yeah.

Or I just want ease in the process. All of a sudden, the strategy was real easy and I stopped being so damn hard on myself.

And then the result comes. But I think people have heard.

This in a cliched way so often, they don't really get it. So it's like, oh, it's all about the journey, not the result. And people are like, yeah, yeah, I just want to be rich. Like, just give me the money and I understand that. Or I just want to be thinner. I just want to have the abs or whatever. So the question becomes, okay, let's say you just want the result. You don't want to enjoy the journey. Screw the journey. I just want the cash. I just want the abs. I just want to be thin. Then you have to ask yourself the question. Okay, I'm in. If that's what you want. But you have to know why you want it. So what do you think is going to happen when you have those abs? Because whatever you think is going to happen when you have those abs, that. Whatever that feeling is, whatever that way of being is, is how you have to be now in order to get them. And that's. That's what people don't understand. They think that result is going to somehow produce this life. And that's what we were talking about. Like, people think when they get rich that they're not going to have many problems. They're not going to suffer as much. They're going to have, like, a sense of, like, respect from other people or accomplishment or whatever. And, you know, for me, it's so interesting because I've been on both sides of that spectrum. I've been very successful and I've failed pretty terribly. And I'm still me all through there. And there's still joy and there's still pain on the whole continuum of that. So suffering to get somewhere because you think then you won't suffer. Makes no sense.

Beautifully said.

And that's exactly what your whole AB situation is. Right? Because let's talk about abs.

Let's talk about abs.

It's totally important. Like, and for women it's, you know, it's the same thing, right? Like, why do we want abs? What do we think's gonna happen?

Oh, you speak for you.

Sorry, you said women. And I'm like, I don't know why women want abs.

Well, yeah, I think it's the same thing. But you talk about you like, why do you want abs?

Well, to be clear, I've again realize what I really want is to feel good.

But why did you want ab?

But I thought that abs would give me a sense of respect from other people.

They're like, oh, before I thought you were kind of a douchebag, but now I see that you have abs. Respect, man. Respect.

Makes no sense. Right? Or you think like.

Or like, you know, you'll be more attractive to the opposite sex. Okay, that could be true. Let's say you're more attractive. You're in this, you know, perfect body.

I, I can go back to elementary school.

Yeah.

Like watching bodybuilding shows, be like, oh, when you have abs, you're successful.

Yeah.

Like that's when you've made it.

Yeah.

And, and you're in control.

You're self disciplined. Like, but when you really think about. And the same is with money too, right? Why? Why do we want money? Why do you want money? Why do you want $25 million?

Well, I used to think that money would give me the self affirmation that I had done something that was valuable. So that's a fancy way of saying feeling good enough. Now I realize that that doesn't happen. And I also recently have realized that if I'm just good now, if I'm just good enough now, if I know that about myself, then I will just create from a place of abundance and I will get the $25 million.

Right. But this is what people say to me all the time. So I'll be curious what you think about it. They'll say, okay, Brooke, you say that it's not better there than here, right? So $25 million isn't better than a million dollars. Your life won't be any better. So why even bother with the $25 million? Why, Brooke, why are you trying to make a hundred million dollars if it's, if life isn't better? Which really indicates that we have been taught that the reason to do something Right. The reason to go accomplish something is so that we can feel better. So we can. It presupposes that it will make our life better, and that's the reason to do it. So is there another? So if my life's great, I'm really happy with what I have. I already have $25 million. Why bother? I'm already happy.

I need you to keep talking right now.

You're, like, staring at me, but they're like, the only reason for me to go after 100 million is because 100 million is better than 25 million.

And what do you say to that?

I say, I know that it's not, but I still want to do it for the journey. And people like, oh, brother, the journey. Right. I still want to do it for the process because of who I'll in the process of doing it.

Okay. So I think I just had a brain gasm. Okay. Is what you're.

Okay.

Is that why you say that you have to feel how you want to feel now?

Yes, yes, yes.

Because that actually puts you into the journey that you want to have.

Exactly.

It's almost like. It's almost like that's the unlock to being on the right path, to getting the results. But the feeling comes first.

The feeling comes first. And so you're already enjoying. I'm already enjoying my hundred million right now. In my mind, I've been enjoying it for the past three years already living in that space of 100 million. So there's no hurry to get there. There's no rush. And the big difference between me and so many other people that I talk to is there's no lack right now that I need to fill up with the 100 million. So here's the other. And here's the other piece of it that I've noticed a lot with this whole Covid thing, right? So it's like, I'm not freaked out about losing the wealth I've already created or the success that I've already created, because I'm not utilizing that to make my life great. My life is great regardless. And so, like, when people say, I had a client just recently say to me, she's like, I can't even imagine my future anymore because the world's gone crazy. So I don't even know what the future is, and I don't have this problem at all. So I sat back and I'm like, why don't I have this problem? I'm like, oh, because I don't determine my future by what's going on in the world by what's going on in the circumstances. I determine it by who I am. And that will always be consistent no matter what the circumstances, whether I have 125 million or zero. And people are like, yeah, yeah, yeah, how do. And then they'll just say, but how do you make 25 million again?

And that. I know they've completely missed it because they're so fixated on the abs or on the money, because that's when it'll all begin.

That's when they can feel good.

Yeah. And so when you feel good now, then you'll get the abs, but it'll just be.

So.

I've had this realization, but it's been a practice recently.

Okay.

I kind of, I kind of knew that this was right, okay, 12 months ago. But it's, but, but then there's a sense of realizing you don't know how it's going to feel.

And so then it's been more of a discovery of like, how do I want to feel? And that's a new bit of a new muscle. It's like I'm. I was so used to looking at the things I want the Cleveland. I want to own the Cleveland Indians. I want to have a million podcast subscribers. I want to have all these things and then be like, I don't know how that's going to feel. And it's been focusing. I just, I know I don't have it now and I want it. And that sucked.

So you're coming from lack and scarcity. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, Interesting.

And.

I'm curious, when you are setting up the target.

Do you assume how it's going to feel?

Yeah, because that's the reason you want it. So it's just a self awareness exercise. Right. Because you think some time is preventing you from knowing how it's going to feel. But here's, here's the truth. How you feel is based on how you think. So you can access that right now. So if I tell you, okay, what do you think it's gonna feel like to own the Cleveland Indians? Like, and you really go to the place where you imagine yourself owning them, like really going there and believing that and being in that space, you will be able to access the reason why you want them.

And have you been able to do that? Like, the reason why you want them now? A lot of people think, and this is really important, they think, I want the Cleveland Indians. Cause I don't want to feel this way.

Right, right.

That's the difference. I want to make a million Dollars in my business because I don't want to feel this way. I want to be successful because I hate my job. I want to be able to quit my job and stop feeling the pain of that. This will solve that for me. And that's never going to work, right? Because you can't get to success from hate. You can't get from success from lack. It just never works. And that's why you can hustle your way there, you can starve your way to abs, but it's never going to be sustainable. You will be burnt out. So when you think about whatever goal it is, when you think about the abs or being rich or owning the Cleveland Indians, you have to practice being the owner of the Cleveland Indians, like, as much as you possibly can. Then it doesn't matter if you ever own them, because you've owned them.

Yeah.

So.

So I want to play with this, because if I own the Cleveland Indians, it would just be exciting, and it.

Would also suck half the time.

I hate that thought.

Right? Because you think owning the Clevelandians is. We have not been drinking.

You think owning the Indians, in your way, you fantasized it in such a way that it removes a lot of negativity. But you have to imagine it as a human right, that you're gonna own them. And there's, you know, how many headaches you're gonna have from that. You have to imagine all of it, right? You can't just be like, oh, it'll be great. I'll be the owner, and that's all that will happen. No, the owner of the Cleveland Indians right now feels like ass half the time.

Hundred percent. You can agree with that.

He's very old, okay?

I don't know who he is, but he feels bad and he suffers and he makes hard decision, right?

Sure. Yeah.

He experiences life as a human.

Well, so one of the things is he. The city is very critical, okay? So there's. There's public judgment and there's things he doesn't want to do. And the team loses money most years and games. And, hey, they are the winningest team in baseball since 2013.

They lose a few games here and there, Right?

You're breaking my heart. But just playoff games, but only playoff.

But here's the thing. You have a huge goal of the Indians, but people listening may have a goal. Just, I just want my business to net a million dollars. A lot of people just want to net a million. Okay, great. So imagine your business netting a million. Well, if you. When you imagine that, you only imagine rainbows and daisies. You're not truly going there. You're not truly believing it. You're going to have less problems in some areas and more problems in others. And if you really want that for yourself, you have to step into that reality. Now. Here's what you realize, okay? When I own the Indians, I'm going to have so many more headaches than I have now.

Right.

In different areas. And I'm gonna have a lot less headaches in some of the areas that I have now. So it's not going to be that different than my life is now. Right. And then you can be like, okay, slow down, tiger. You don't have to be ashamed. But we fantasize.

I just got. I just got that. Yeah, yeah, please keep going.

Yeah. So. But it's the same. I used to do this. My first lesson with this was, wait, I was just like, if I could just be a size 6, I mean, rainbows would be prettier, people would be nicer. The world would be more peaceful. Like, seriously, in my brain, it was such a fantasy. Like, I could have any guy to marry that I wanted. I would never be in pain. Like, it was so ridiculous how I had set that up for myself, which, of course, I could never accomplish that. And if I did, I would just gain all the way back because I'm like, something must have gone terribly wrong here. I'm still in pain emotionally. So understanding that, like, every goal is cool and we should do it, but not because we think it's going to take our pain away or because we think it's going to make us more respectful or because we think it's going to make us a better person.

Huh?

So what's the point of doing it anyway?

I just need a cigarette right now.

I mean, what's the point of doing it anyway? Just to do it.

Before you go further. What I'm experiencing is actually a strange sense of relief.

Yes.

And it's. It's like a realizing that all the pressure that you put between where you are now and where you want to be is all kind of head trash.

Yes.

Like, that pressure doesn't help. And if you're. If it's not this great big amazing thing at the other side, it'll make you happy for the afternoon. Then it's like, oh, okay, well, all that matters is now. And.

I don't have. Like you said, I don't have to be in such a rush to get there.

But it also doesn't take it off the table. And this is what's Important. Like, if you ask someone, like, do you like having $10 million? And you're like, yeah, it's great. But you're not like, oh, my God. Every morning, you're not like, dude, I have $10 million. I'm amazing. But in your mind, before you have it, you kind of think that's what's gonna happen. Like, you think, if I had $10 million, I would be happy every day. That's not what happens. You get it. And then you go right back to being a human being and being you and wanting 20 million. Right. That's exactly how it works. So when you think, oh, my gosh, when I own the Cleveland Indians, that's when I will have arrived and, you know, everything will be amazing. But once you. I mean, the first couple days that you own it, you're going to be stoked. And then you're going to be like, all right, now we got to get to work. And it's just going to be back to. As Byron Katie would say, you're going to sit, you're going to stand, you're going to lie horizontal. That's going to be your life. It's just. The story will be different in your head. That's it.

So I've come to learn this through this whole situation.

Yeah.

In the opposite direction.

Okay.

Because when. When the world shut down.

Yep.

I had crazy fear of loss syndrome.

Okay.

Like, a lot of people did, I'm sure.

Like, lots of money.

Yeah. The economy's gonna go down. The. The stock market's gonna crumble. All my clients are gonna cancel.

Yeah.

Like, it's all gonna. It's all gonna go away.

Yeah.

And there's maybe three or four days of just. Of that and frantic and trouble sleeping and all this.

Yeah.

And then it was like, you know, if all that happens, my life is kind of the same. I'm probably going to stay in the same house. I'm probably going to drive the same car. And even if I don't, if I'm in my mom's house or a beater car, my life is still kind of the same.

Yeah.

Because I'm still me.

You're still you. Yeah.

I still have the same.

Which is kind of fantastic and kind of disappointing all at once. And the same is true when you make $25 million. You're like, I'm still me. Which is kind of awesome and kind of disappointing.

That's what it is. I love it. So it's both ways. Right. Because I've had. I've had the zero Dollars. And I've had the millions of dollars. And.

The only thing that's different is, like, the number on the computer screen and. And even, like, all the other things. Like, it's so fun to be able to buy all the things and have all the luxuries. But, like, when I really think about it, the best thing I do every day is walk my dogs free. Free. Right. Like, it's the most. And reading books and talking to my family and coaching. Those are, like, my joys of my life.

So. But I feel like I keep needing to reiterate because I feel like a lot of my students will say, oh, I love that you've come to appreciate the simple things in life and now you can let go of all your ambition. I'm like, no way. I love all the simple things in life, and I have more ambition than I've ever had in my life. Like, there's no risk to it anymore. There's no fear to it anymore because there's nothing to lose. And when there's nothing to lose, let's go.

And the risks you take are a lot smarter because when. When people have a lot to lose or there's this big goal and they think that life is going to be so much bigger, they start swinging at pitches they shouldn't swing at, or building businesses that they don't really want want, or making physical decisions that are unhealthy or working in ways that aren't sustainable. They start pushing rather than.

They start forcing it. Yeah, exactly. Or trying to hustle it. Yeah. I mean, I think that's an amazing question. How. How do you decide what risks. Risks to take as an entrepreneur?

How do you know which ones to take? Do you know the answer to that question for yourself?

I mean, for me, it's. Well, I had an answer, but then I contradicted it in my mind. So have I ever told you the story about starting the Capitalism conference?

I don't know.

I was literally laying in bed and I thought, what's the biggest risk that I could take that if it paid off, would change my life? And I had $500,000 in retained earnings in my company.

Yeah.

And I bet it all on the event. I broke even. Worked out.

Nice.

Worked out.

So there's that way of taking risks now. I more take risks when it feels good. Even if it fails. It's the thing that. Even if it doesn't go well, I like what we're doing. For me, it's like betting on a stock. It's a risk. When you buy A stock. Any stock. But are you happy owning the company?

Yeah.

That's the question that I ask.

I think it's genius, and I think very similarly. And it's probably why we're successful entrepreneurs, because I think, will I be better off five, 10 years down the road having taken this risk? Even if I fail, will I be better off? Will I grow as a person? Will the process change me? Will I enjoy myself? Will I have fun? And I think it's a much different.

Kind of scenario than is the reward greater than the risk. Financially, I think that'll screw you over every time. But I'm willing to lose money to grow personally. Because think about this. And this is something I think gives me a tremendous amount of confidence. Let's say the economy does totally tank and, like, I lose all my customers and all my money and all the money in the stock market. Right. Let's say that all happens. I still have my brain and I still have all the experience. So my confidence is still off the charts because of that, because of all the experience I've had creating it. I would create it so much better and so much faster again. And that's when you really can't lose. I'm gonna. Go ahead, take it.

I heard you say once that the worst thing that can happen is a.

Thought, is a feeling.

Okay. So I would say a feeling, but.

A thought causes a feeling. So it's the same difference. Yeah.

Because I've played this out. Like, the worst thing that can happen of me losing everything is that I'll beat myself up. Yeah, that's the word. Because when it comes down to it, I'm not afraid of losing everything. I'm afraid of the feeling I will have of beating myself up.

Yeah.

And so if I just don't have that, well, now there's no now. I don't have a reason to fear losing everything.

That's right.

I'm afraid of how I will perceive myself in the context of other people having had that failure. But if I don't have that thought.

About myself, which is 100% optional. Right. Isn't that amazing to know? Yeah.

And if. If I don't. If I opt out of that.

Yeah.

Then it doesn't matter if I fail.

Right. Which means the chances of you succeeding are, like, 10 times.

Right.

Because you're not gonna second guess. You're not gonna hold back. You're gonna go all in.

And that, to me, is freedom. Because now you are 100% at choice.

Exactly.

It's. What do you want to do? I was, I was working with. With a team member today who has a business, and that business has done okay during all of this time. And he has been kind of beating himself up because he's not working on it as much. And I said, well, it sounds like you got what you wanted when you started the business. You're just completely a choice. And he's like, I hadn't really thought of that before, but we're so used to the thought patterns that we have and continuing them that stepping back and looking at a new one requires something like this.

Well, we don't even realize that the thought patterns we have are thoughts like, I just had a student point this out to me. So she just listened to my podcast and I was talking about how we have to hire a bunch of people now because the life coach industry is on fire and because so many people want to hire us and so many people want coaching. And so let's go. And she's like, brooke, when you talk about stuff like that, it's almost like you're making an observation. That's what it seems like to us. But really you're just choosing that to be the truth and, and then saying it out loud and then that's what you create. Right? So when I say the life coach industry is on fire, it's as if I'm looking out into the world and looking at the industry and just making a note, taking a note, but there's nothing to see there, right? There's nothing. When I say that. Life coach, let's talk about this. Life coaching industry is on fire. Let's say we said that about your industry. Like, what would you call your industry?

E Commerce.

The E commerce industry is on fire right now. This is the biggest opportunity in the history of ever. Like, we're just making that shit up, right? When we say that, like, you can find evidence that that's true 100%.

The blank look that you see on.

My face.

I'm all helping is me processing when you say that. I do think that you're making an observation, right? Are you not?

But you are. Because there's no. How do you look at the E commerce industry right now and decide what it's doing?

You decide what it's doing. You make a decision and then that is true. Because there's people in my industry right now that think my industry is failing right now.

The life coach industry?

Yeah. Like, what are you talking about? But, but here's the question. This is what the coach was saying. Is it that you're looking at the reality and just noting it, or are you creating the reality by saying it? So my experience is that the life coach industry is on fire right now in a good way. Everyone wants to hire life coaches. And I've been telling people that that's the case, especially my customers that then are falling in line with that. Right. And so if I could also say e commerce is not good right now.

Well, I would come back to you with a bunch of data. Why you were wrong because you believe.

That I am wrong. But there's somebody else that could come to me with a lot of data as to why that is correct for sure. And so the question is, do you really create what's going on in your business?

I need a moment.

I legitimately need a moment.

Because what is the truth, I think, is the question that we're like contemplating here. Right.

I'm more curious is how do you arrive at the thought or the belief?

It's a decision.

But this is my whole point. We don't do it consciously. We think we're just making an observation, but really we're deciding what to see.

Okay, so I want to pick something that we're not so close to.

Okay.

So I want. I'm trying to think of something that I want to believe that I don't believe or something that I don't believe that I could believe.

Okay.

Like.

I could be a professional bodybuilder.

Mm.

I don't believe that to be true. I don't want it to be true.

But pick something you want to be true. You want to pick something that you want to be true that isn't, but you wish it were true.

Okay.

So the economy is going to come back way better than it was before. You're going to be so glad you didn't sell everything.

I mean, I think this is an. This is a relevant one. Let's talk about the stock market.

Okay.

What do you believe is going to happen?

I think that we're going to fall back down.

And then pitter patter for a couple of years and then go back up.

Okay. What do you want to believe?

I want.

That.

Damn it.

Damn it.

Wow. Because you have no. You have no evidence that that's what's gonna happen, but that's what you wanna believe. So that's what you believe. And that's what you will see, which is so fascinating, you will even see it. You will interpret the data to see it the way that you've described it too, which I think is totally fascinating.

Okay, so like an example that's coming to mind is someone that I used to just adore is an economist named Peter Schiff.

Okay.

He ran for Senate. I gave money to a Senate campaign. He called the 2008 recession. Like, no one. I mean, it was amazing how he called it. And he's been wrong for the last decade. All the while, every podcast episode was him talking about why he was right. I mean, every single one while he was right, he was right. And it was like, dude, like, what are you saying? Yeah, because you're just wrong. Yeah, gold's gonna be 10,000. Stock market's gonna be this. You're still wrong. Still wrong. And his response would be like, no, I'm just early.

Yeah. And, but see, this is where this becomes relevant to the people that are learning from us is you get to choose to believe whatever you want to believe.

That is the biggest freedom that a human has.

Period. To choose what we want to believe in any situation. Okay?

You get to choose what you will believe about your own life. You get to choose what you will believe about other people. You get to choose what you will believe about how much money you will have, how successful you will be, all the things. And you get to choose what you believe about the world, including the stock market, capitalism, the president, all of it. You get to choose it and you will see evidence for what you want to believe and what you do believe. And that is what you will create. And that's where we take this very, like, hardcore thing called capitalism and we intersperse it with all of the woo woo things. And that's what I think makes life fun. I think making a shit ton of money is so fun because it just proves the power of the mind. It's just our playground. We get to demonstrate it in the world. And people are like, no, you need to be realistic.

And so give me an example of, like, believing what you want to believe. Since I'm struggling with an example outside of my current reality. Can you.

Well, like, you believe that you're going to own the Cleveland Indians, Right.

People believe the stock market. Like, I choose to believe the stock market's going to bounce back bigger than and faster than you're going to imagine. Boom. I believed that less people were going to die than what they said.

Okay, so if the data came out that showed that you were wrong, how would you respond to that?

Well, it. Here's the. And this is the part that becomes applicable. I think we've talked about this before, but I think it bears repeating. Like, let's say you're 95. And you don't own the Cleveland Indians, but you believed your whole life you were going to. And we're like, you were wrong about that. Who cares?

This is my hope.

I mean, I might.

But here's my whole point is, like, there's no downside in believing in your dream right up to the end.

Sure.

Right.

I'm with you.

Okay.

I'm with you. So you really blew my mind when you were talking about the example you used was the life coach school.

Yeah.

Or there's a life coach industry. And you seeing it as on fire. And the confidence with which you say that because you believe it.

Yeah.

I start seeing evidence for it too.

Right. And it creates that. Yeah.

And you're saying that.

And what you're asking is, what if all of a sudden I lost all my clients and I was like, well, I was wrong.

No, not necessarily. What I'm questioning is the difference between the creating and the observing.

Okay.

This insight that this person had where when you say it, it sounds like an observation, but it's really a creation.

But all observations are just our decisions on what to think. That's why you and I can look at the exact same thing and think something completely different.

Even if it's a fact.

Because what you. You're basically. You decide. The filter through which you can make observations.

Exactly.

Aha.

Well, everyone thinks their observations are facts. That's what's so fascinating about the human brain. Right. I look at something, I'm like, no, this is what happened. And you're like, no, this is what happened. This is what's true. So this is why I asked you in the beginning, like, what is the truth? Is there a truth that exists outside of our brain?

And if there is, I don't think we can. I don't think there's any way we would. Could know.

Well, I think the answer is no. Right. Because there is. Without our brain, there is no outside. Right.

So that's why. And that's why choosing to believe something and believing it with all your heart, if the only reason you don't want to do that is because you're afraid you might be wrong about that. Like, that's ridiculous. Who cares if you're wrong? Believe it as hard as you can your whole life. Like, you wouldn't even question, what if I'm wrong about it? Like how?

We're not recording. You can't see video. I literally have my face in my hand.

Doing, like, the Home Alone scream. I'm like.

My mind is melded.

It's so good.

Right?

Right. Because without the human judgment, there's no, there's no need for truth.

There's no, there's no truth without your brain to interpret it.

Right?

So here's where this is handy. Can I share where this is handy? And let's bring it.

Because my whole world feels weird right now and I need you to tell me how to apply it.

Hey, team, if you enjoyed today's podcast, please let me know on Twitter or Instagram. I'm Ryan Moran on Twitter and RyanDaniel.

Moran over on Instagram.

And if you're looking to start a business or you know somebody who's starting a new journey during this crazy time, you're wondering, what am I going to do next? You're wondering, what do I do with my time? You're wondering, where's the world going? My new book, 12 Months to 1.

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