How Can an Abundance Mindset Boost Your Mental Health and Well-Being Noah St John Ft. Clarissa Burt

Every human being does what they believe is in their best interest at the time. That's it. That's all we ever need to know.

Noah St. John. Hey, Noah, what's going on?

Hey, Clarissa, great to be here with you.

I can't believe that you're coming in from Ohio and you're sitting in a t-shirt. It's cold.

Not where I am. I'm nice and warm. Toasty warm here.

It's just the way you roll. Listen, I know that you are the author of 15 books, including Power Habits and Get Rid of the Trash— Head Trash About Money. So that's really good to talk about that. You've been on every major television show channel on the planet, including Entrepreneur Magazine and the Huffington Post. And I know that you— I want to talk to you also about your Afformations, which is really, really cool. And you help— what? Where are you going? What's happening?

I was just pointing to my Afformations book right there.

Oh, okay. But I do kind of want to start with you back in the beginning. Oh, yeah, I see. Oh, you pointed to the book. I see. Oh, gosh. All right, so I want to start with you. You know, way back in the day when I was a kid, you, you know, I love your website because it gives your backstory, and a lot of people don't do that. You know, I, I think that your backstory, when you say, you know, I was raised as a little kid up in Maine and we were poor, we were, we were, we were dirt poor.

Yep.

Um, you know, when you look back on those days now, knowing, you know, the grand success that you've had with your business over years and years of helping people with theirs. What is it, what is it, do you think, that still remains in you from that little boy from back in the day?

Well, a lot. And that's, that's the whole point about why I've written 15 books on how to get rid of your head trash, right? Because of course, I had a lot of head trash I had to get rid of. And so, you know, as we go through life, and as you mentioned, I've helped thousands of entrepreneurs to literally add 6 and 7 and even 8 figures to their business, over $2.7 billion collectively. You know, one of the things that we talk about is literally getting rid of your, your head trash. That's that book right there. And what— so what is head trash? Head trash is the voice in your head that says, I can't do it because— and so, you know, many of us grew up in that situation of poverty. Just if you look at mathematically, most of the planet, you know, grew up in or is still living in poverty. And so, you know, having that experience, but it was a very specific experience because I grew up poor in a rich neighborhood. So I got to see that literally right down the street there was great wealth and abundance, but meanwhile my family was in poverty. So it was very confusing for me as a young kid going, well, why are my parents working so hard and right down the street there's people who have a lot of money and a lot of things and we don't have anything? It doesn't make any sense.

Right.

So, you know, that's why I did all this studying and, you know, writing all these books now and helping a lot of people make a lot of money.

Right.

And so the point about that is that, you know, when your head trash says, well, I can't do it because, Even if you have all of the talent, the skill, the experience, or whatever, you're going to find a reason not to do it. And so that's one of the things that holds people back.

Absolutely. I love also your courses and your classes and the idea that, you know, you're kind of going down the path of going, listen, I love, I love to work with you. But first of all, I need a couple of things from you. And that is you need to be a big dreamer. Are people, are you finding that people are dreaming big enough when they, when they are working with you? Are you helping them? Really, really flesh that out.

Well, you know, that's a tricky question because, you know, a lot of motivational speakers out there, they say to dream big, and that's not wrong, of course. But my argument is that's not enough. It's really like saying, well, you know, let's get to the moon. And I'm like, well, that's great. How are you planning on getting back? You know, it's like, you know, we got to do both, right? And otherwise, you're going to be up there and it's going to be hard to breathe after a while. So the point is, you know what I mean? So I, I'm really all about the tools and the strategies, the, the nuts and bolts of it. And, and I call it the non-sexy stuff because see, the gurus, they, they sell a lot of sexy stuff like, you know, hey, look at my Lambos and look at my jets and look at all that stuff, which is great. We all want that stuff. But, um, the point is, where's the meat? You know, remember that old commercial, where's the beef? And it's like, there's no there there. And so I— and I know this from painful experience, Clarissa, because I I gave all those guys so much money only to find out they can't teach their way out of a paper bag. And so, a lot of people come to me after they spend all that money, like similar to what I did, and they're like, Noah, how come I'm still stuck? I'm like, well, because they didn't give you any meat, that's why. So, here's the meat. And that's why my clients add 6, 7, and 8 figures, literally, even while working less and even coming out of poverty like I did.

Here's the piece that I love. Here's the piece that I really, really love. Humility. No, you want to work with people who don't consider themselves any better than anyone else. Wow. I mean, who says that? Like, who comes and says, listen, you know, first of all, do you think you're better than anybody else? Because if you do, can't work with me. That's great. I love that.

Right. Well, I mean, I know I'm not better than anybody else. That's for damn sure. Because I mean, you know, coming from poverty, um, and, and seeing that abundance literally down the street, that, that was a very Weird experience, you know, and, and somewhat unique in that sense. But again, I'm fully aware that just mathematically, most of the human race is in poverty right now or was raised in poverty. So I'm certainly not better than anybody else, and I've worked really, really hard to, you know, get where I am. And honestly, it's— the hardest part has been because most people come to me and they're willing to do the work, you know. They're like, Noah, just tell me what to do and I'll do it. And I'm like, That's what I did. I just went to all the wrong people. I went to all those guys and they said, you know, nothing really. There was no there there. And so, it was so frustrating. And so, I know that's when people come to me, they just are like, will you give me the checklist? And I'm like, yes. And see, it took me so long to put the checklist together because I had to figure it out all by myself and it was really hard. So, I want to save people years and literally compress time. And that's what's so exciting.

Yeah, I just love the humility piece when you say, you know, again, A man or woman doesn't— you want to work with people who don't consider themselves any better than anybody else. Generosity is a big thing for you, too. They have to have a willingness to give to those that are less fortunate than themselves. And how is it that you vet that? I mean, how is it that you get a sense of who you're going to be working with and that they are willing to give back?

Well, I mean, a lot of times I'll just get on the phone with people or get on a Zoom and just— you kind of read people. I've been doing this for over 2 decades, so I kind of get a good sense now. I don't think anybody can get past my radar at this point. I'm trying to think of the last time somebody did. It's been a long time.

Bravo!

Well, I mean, like I said, I, I know, I know humans. I, I understand human behavior pretty well. And, and listen, it's really very simple. Every human being does what they believe is in their best interest at the time. That's it. That's all we ever need to know. That is human motivation in one sentence. That's all you ever need to know. So if someone thinks that it's going to benefit them to be generous, to, you know, have that humility to give to others, then they'll do it. I mean, this is Dale Carnegie 101. I learned this many years ago when I read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, which is on my shelf here somewhere.

Right.

But I mean, you know what I mean? And so, but it's really, really true. And so, you can really just get a sense of people by reading them, by, you know, talking to them, looking at them. And it's pretty hard to get by my radar at this point.

What about coachable? That's another really, really huge piece, I think. Huge piece. And people say, no, no, really, really, you know, I promise you, you can coach. I'm really— and then you find out, you know, kind of like, I mean, we have to like, you know, smack them upside the head sometimes and say, stop it, I'm trying to coach you.

I'll give you a great example. I had one client named Stacy who is a health professional up in Canada, and she came to one of my live events. You know, it was live events at the time. Now we have a virtual event called the Online Business Retreat. But she came to the event and she Said, hey, Noah, I want you to help me build my business. I wanna get more patients into my practice. I said, okay, Stacy, but you understand that you just asked me to make your life more miserable. And she said, what do you mean by that? Well, if you only— I said, there's only one of you, right? She goes, yeah. You only have 2 hands, yeah? Well, so then if you have more patients, then you can't be spending time with your family. That's what you said you wanted. And she said, oh, I never thought of that. I said, can't we— don't you think if I help you package up what's in your head and we package it and sell it to the world, then you can actually help more people, make more money, have a bigger impact, and spend more time with your family. She said, oh, I never thought of that before. Long story short, I helped her do all that, and she was able to literally double her income in less than a year and take her family on a trip. Her dream trip was—

Wow.

Her dream was to go on a trip to the Grand Canyon with her husband and 4 kids. She has a big family. She thought it would take her 5 to 7 years. We got her there in 18 months. Using my formula, so you know that's the kind of thing. And she, to your point, was the type of client that I love to work. She you know I would say do this. She'd say okay, do it. Now what do you want me to do? Okay, do this. Do okay. Now what do you want me? I'm like ah, what a dream client! And that's why she got results.

Right. You talk also about your six power habits. Can you give us one or two of them? I mean, what are the first? What's what's the easiest one we can start doing right now?

Yeah, absolutely. That's the affirmations right there. A you can't really see it, but you can see the COVID a little bit. Anyway, it says affirmations. A F F O R M A A-F-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-O-N-S. So, you can Google that or just go to afformations.com.

Okay.

But Afformations, we all know what an affirmation is, right? If you've ever read a self-help book, you know, an affirmation is a statement of something you want to be true, like, I am rich, right? I like to do that at my virtual events or my private workshops with clients and say, all right, everybody say, I am rich. They go, I am rich, and everybody starts laughing. I go, what are you laughing at? They say, well, I don't believe it. And I, and I go, but you just said you were. They go, yeah, but I really don't believe that I am. And so, that's the problem with the traditional, the old way of doing the affirmation method.

Right.

And so, the point is what I invented over 2 decades ago is something called the Afformations Method, A-F-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-O-N-S. So, an Afformation, instead of a statement, is a question. So, instead of saying something like, I am rich, to which your brain says, yeah, right, you ask a question like, why am I so rich? Why am I so happy? Why am I enough? And I've been teaching my clients this for over 2 decades, and the results of this, just this one simple method, that literally you can do in the next 5 minutes, literally are life-changing. We've had people go from making $5,000 a month to $75,000 a month, $60,000 in debt to a 6-figure income. The stories go on and on. You go to the website and look. But the point is that the Afformations Method is one— is actually the foundational power habit. Again, I talk about the power habits of unconsciously successful people, and this is what highly successful people do unconsciously. That means They don't know they're doing it. They can't tell you how to do it, and they don't even realize they're doing it in the first place. So it took a nerd like me to be able to break it down and say, here's what these highly successful people are doing that they don't even know they're doing, and they can't tell you. See, that's why the gurus are, in a sense, not very helpful, because they're doing all these things unconsciously, which means they can't tell us. And that's why there's so many huge gaps, and that's why When people come to me and start doing these power habits, the results are pretty astonishing.

What is it that makes your courses, your classes, and your retreats different than anybody else that might be doing anything similar, air quotes, to what you're doing?

Well, I think it's because I'm the nerdiest nerd in the industry. As you can see, I'm wearing a TARDIS, which is Doctor Who. You can't get any more nerdy than this. Sheldon from Big Bang Theory would be a huge fan of this t-shirt.

Right over my head, but okay.

I appreciate the reference. You're way too cool, Clarissa. See, you're too cool. I'm nerdy and you're way too cool.

What are you talking about? You lost me, but okay, I appreciate it.

That's what I'm saying. See, you're cool. See, all the nerds are going, oh my God, Doctor Who, and all the cool kids are going, what? I've got a life. Why don't you get a life?

I'm like, yeah, well, all right.

So, but anyway, I'm— I am— I'm the nerdiest nerd in the industry, and that means that, um, you know, what I mean by that is I, I am kind of like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory, which is I get down to the molecular level, you know, and really, really solve problems at that level. Because that's what annoyed me about those gurus is they didn't do that. They're just talking airy-fairy stuff that doesn't help, like set your goals and think positive. And I'm like, okay, yeah, that's great, I already knew that. Where's the meat? And so I, again, I believe that is, you know, to your point, to your question, I think that is what makes my programs different. And I think that's what gives our clients such amazing results in a very, very short amount of time.

Right. You're doing a lot of, uh, teaching people how to start online businesses as well, which I'm assuming— I'm just going to assume that in the last year has kind Kind of exploded a little bit because people are at home, because people want to start their own businesses, because people don't want to work at corporate, because people don't want to depend on the man anymore. And they realize that it's pretty, you know, I mean, it's work, do not get me wrong, but it's kind of cool to stay at home and be at your computer all day and, you know, stay in your pajamas until 4 in the afternoon and do whatever else. It's work.

Don't get—

I know it's a lot of work, but, uh, you know, what kind of uptick have you seen in the last year on, uh, on, uh, people wanting to start their online businesses and how best can you help them?

Oh, it's huge. I mean, all the points you made are right on point. And, and yes, it is work, but I always say there's work and then there's work, you know. So I had to— when I, you know, was in my, my poverty stage, I call it my survival mode. I was just surviving. I was working all these survival jobs, you know, going into an office, and I hated every second of it. I felt like someone's hands were around my throat every day.

Yeah.

Is this really what I'm here on this earth to do? It just, it was awful. And again, I'm not putting it down.

I'm just saying, I couldn't do it. I mean, other people probably, yeah, they can do it well.

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, a lot of people kind of feel like that, and they want to, you know, be their own boss and work from home and have that home base that I call it the freedom lifestyle. So you have the time, the energy, the relationships, and the money you really want. And what's nice is, you know, it's funny because there's an old saying about entrepreneurs that we're the only people who work 80 hours a week so we don't have to work 40 hours a week. But it doesn't make any sense, but it does make sense when you think about it because I'm in charge. I set the bar of how much I can make. Nobody else is telling me what I'm going to make. I make that decision. So, I want to, and I do, empower my clients to be able to have the time, the energy, the relationships, and the money they want. But yeah, you have to put it in place. But really, it really just comes down to 3. What's so funny is the gurus really overcomplicated everything. That's they've just so overcomplicated everything. Number one. Number two is it's always about the next fad, right? So you know it was it was Periscope, then Snapchat, then TikTok, and now it's Clubhouse. And you know everything just and it's like oh you know you're just running off to the next shiny object, the next shiny object. But people forget that it all comes down to the basics. If they don't have the right offers, the right funnels, and the right traffic, it doesn't matter what you're using. You're really not going to have that success. So what I like to do is bring people back to the basics. Simplify everything, and people literally say, thank you, Noah. Thank God that I found you because it was just— it was a nightmare out there. And I'm like, mm-hmm, I know.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, I love the phrase that says something— goes something like this: if you don't want to work a 9 to 5, be prepared to work 24/7. But that's okay, right?

Because it's for yourself. It's for you. It's for your family.

Exactly. It's, you know, you answer to yourself. You make your own mistakes, and you, you know, and you really, really get to I think to just, you know, to really enjoy just even that much more, enjoy every win, every little win, every big win. It's all yours, you know, and it's, uh, it's, it's just a really cool— I want to know more about the Online Business Retreat though. So, uh, when is your next one? Uh, and, you know, how is it that people can join in and what can they expect to learn? How long does it last? I want to know all about it because I'm thinking of jumping in myself.

Awesome. Okay, well, first of all, onlinebusinessretreat.com. Very easy to remember, onlinebusinessretreat.com. It is a virtual retreat from the comfort and safety of your own home wherever you are on this planet. So we have people from all over the world, which is awesome. In fact, we used to do this as a live event. Of course, with the pandemic, now it's virtual, and people come to this event who probably wouldn't have come to the live. So onlinebusinessretreat.com, it's a 2-day virtual event, um, and it's, uh, from 12 to 6 PM Eastern every day. Just check your local time zone. Uh, so it's a Friday and a Saturday coming up in just a couple weeks from now. And so, uh, what I teach on day 1 is what we call Inner Game Secrets. Inner game is everything that happens between your ears that you can't see directly, but it affects everything that you do, right? So your, your habits, your beliefs, your head trash, your affirmations, you know, all that inner game stuff that I really love teaching and I've written all these books about. So that's, that's the foundation, right? It's like building a house. If you build your house on sand, guess what? It's going to go away. So we start with it. We have to start with a strong foundation. That's— but that's what all the gurus forgot. They just go right to marketing, marketing, marketing, marketing. Well, that's great. Most people are sitting there thinking, oh, I can't do it, be cut, right? All the head trash that people have.

Right.

So, the point is, that's day 1. Day 2, then we get to the offers, the funnels, and the traffic, which is the outer game secrets. So, we start with inner game secrets on day 1, outer game secrets day 2, and this is one of the big reasons that my clients are making a lot of money because, and I talk about money only because it's easy to measure, right? It's easy to say that Sheila was making $5,000 a month, now she's making $75,000 a month working less. Susan was, $60,000 in debt. Now she's got a 6-figure income, you know, using my formula. So the point is, right, that's it. But it's not just about the money like we've been talking about. It's about the freedom, the time, the energy, and really just the empowerment. So that's what Online Business Retreat is all about, and it's pretty exciting.

Absolutely. Uh, everybody, we've got a ticker. It's been going on the bottom, as you know, of the screen. It is, uh, noahstjohn.com. I'm pretty sure you could probably— and I know because I've done my research— you can find all kinds of information about Noah, about his courses, about his retreats, and everything else that you need to know there. And you can find him on social pretty much anywhere. So again, he's on Twitter as Noah St. John, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and yes, he's also got noahstjohn.com/tv. So no excuses not to find Noah. And yeah, take a deeper dive on what's going on with him. And I'm really excited to learn more myself. So as I said, I want to thank you, Noah, for taking the time.

We did it.

Yay. Good on us. We finally made this happen, and I want to thank everybody. That's going to be the last live for today, everybody, but we are going to be back again very, very soon. Stay tuned. Uh, I'm not gonna say go buy your TV Guide, but we're gonna be back very soon. And, uh, again, I want to thank Noah. Noah, stay right there. We'll talk in a minute. Bye, everybody.