The 24-Hour Habit Billionaires Use (That 99% of Agents Ignore)
In this 24‑minute interview, Dr. Noah St. John shares the "24‑hour habit" that billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett use to generate massive momentum. He begins with a vivid personal back‑story—growing up in a dirt‑poor family in the affluent town of Kennebunkport, Maine, surviving foreclosure, and later confronting a suicide crisis at 25. Those experiences led him to discover that outer achievements alone (books, seminars, marketing tactics) could not deliver lasting fulfillment. He coined the "inner‑game vs outer‑game" framework, arguing that beliefs (the "head trash") operating between the ears dictate results in health, wealth, relationships, and business. Dr. St. John explains his signature 12‑Week Breakthrough system, which aligns with the natural quarterly rhythm of a year, and shows how clients have made more in a single 12‑week cycle than in the previous 12 months. He outlines the 5‑stage "7‑Figure Expert" formula that has helped clients scale from plateaued 7‑figure revenues to $20 million (600 % growth) by first clearing limiting beliefs and then optimizing outer‑game tactics such as funnels, delegation, and strategic planning. Throughout, he emphasizes concrete habits of "unconsciously successful" people, the importance of delegating tasks, and the myth that one simply "doesn’t have time"—all high‑achievers have the same 24 hours. The interview closes with a promotional call‑to‑action: a free copy of his new book The 7‑Figure Expert (via 7figureexpertbook.com) plus $500 worth of bonuses, and a complimentary 15‑minute business evaluation (breakthroughwithnoah.com).
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In this video, I'll show you the 24-hour success secret that billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett use to create massive momentum. I'm Dr. Noah St. John, known worldwide as the father of Afformations and creator of the 12-Week Breakthrough. Now, I've helped entrepreneurs like you from all over the world to scale to 7 figures and beyond, and it all starts with mastering your inner game. So if you're ready to stop holding yourself back and start playing big, subscribe now and let's dive in. It started very organically, let's say, because I grew up poor in a rich neighborhood. And I know that's a total cliché, but it's totally true. I grew up in this little town called Kennebunkport, Maine, which is one of the wealthiest communities in New England, in fact, in the entire country. But my family was dirt poor, literally, because we lived at the bottom of a dirt road in a drafty, unfinished house that my parents ended up losing to foreclosure when I was just 15 years old. So, from a very young age, I was painfully exposed to the gap, the chasm between the haves and the have-nots. The haves was everyone else in the community and the have-nots was my family. And so, I just, I hated being poor. I hated it because when growing up in my family of lack and not enoughness and fear and things like that, I saw that right down the street, there's great wealth and abundance. So, I said, how the heck do I get from here to there? And of course, there was no internet back then. There was not all the tools that we have today. So, I did the only thing I could think of, which is I went to the library and I started reading books. I read every book in the self-help section and I just immersed myself in that literature. And because I really wanted to improve myself, get better, and have better results. And so I read every book in the self-help world, and I really tried to put them to work. But as hard as I tried, as hard as I was hustling and grinding, I just couldn't get it to work. And so at the age of 25, I actually made a decision that could have ended my life because I decided to commit suicide at age 25. At the last moment, my life was spared. I didn't know why. But I said, I've got to find my purpose here on earth. Why am I here? And I didn't know how to answer that question, that essential question that we humans have been asking for centuries. So I went back to the library and I read every book in the spiritual section this time. And I just immersed myself in the spiritual literature. The first time I was reading all those books, it was about outer success. But then I realized I didn't— what I needed was inner success. And then 5 years later in 1997, I had these epiphanies and I realized exactly what was missing in all these books I'd spent all this time reading. And no one was talking about it. And I realized this is my purpose. This is why I'm here. And so I decided to write my first book, which was called Permission to Succeed. And it was actually subsequently published by the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher. And now I've published 25 books. My books are in 18 languages. And as you mentioned, I work with celebrities and 7 and 8-figure company CEOs, multimillionaires, and people come to me When they've reached a certain level of success, maybe it's 6 figures, maybe even 7 or 8 even, but they're like, why am I not happy? Why am I not fulfilled? I thought once I had this success, I'd be fulfilled. And it's, yeah. And in many cases, most cases, they were doing what I was doing. They were trying to get that outer success, but they were missing the inner component. So that's where I help people. And ironically, even when I help people with the inner success, they start to make more money on the outer side, on the outer success. So it really works great. It works, it works both ways. And really, that's how it all started. And that's why I'm here.
First, let me say, we are so glad that you are here with us to share your expertise. In a world where everyone is a self-help guru, or the creator economy is abundant after COVID, we have so many influencers. What makes your most recent book different from these other books?
What my new— newest book that we're talking about is called The 7-Figure Expert: How to— it's your ultimate guide to a life of more impact, influence, and financial freedom. Because isn't that what we all want? We all We all want more impact. We want more influence, as you were just talking about. And of course, we want financial freedom, right? So, really, one of the things that makes my work different is I do take that inner, inside-out approach, right? So, we start with what I call the inner game, right? The inner game is everything that happens between your ears, and you can't see it directly, right? But it's affecting everything that you do. As a keynote speaker, for example, I get to do keynote presentations, whether it's live or virtually, for teams, organizations, companies all around the world. And one of the things I like to ask my audience members is, what's one area of your life where your beliefs don't affect you? And of course, people go— and I go, exactly. There's no place your beliefs don't affect you, right? Your beliefs affect your health, your wealth, your business, your career, your finances, your personal life, your marriage, your family life, everything, right? But here's the funny thing. You can't see a belief. You can only see the effects of a belief, right? And also, have you ever noticed that you can be doing really well in one area of your life, but maybe in another, you're stuck or struggling? So, Some people, they're making a lot of money, but they're not happy. Other people, their relationships are going really well, but they're not making the money they want, or, and so on, right? So, it's not cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all. It's a very customized, personalized approach that we take. So, that's your inner game. But then we also have your outer game. Your outer game is everything you can see directly. And that's all the funnels and marketing, sales, all the stuff that most people have spent a lot of time, money, and effort on. But here's the funny thing. Because most people have spent so much time on their outer game, they've totally ignored their inner game. And no one has shown them or given them the system that I created to actually master your inner game. And as I call it, take out your head trash about money. A lot of people have a lot of head trash, a lot of limiting beliefs about money. And so, that's really what makes my work different. And the book that we're talking about, The 7-Figure Expert, I really give you that, the 5 stages Of my 7 Figure Expert Formula that has helped my clients literally make billions of dollars as a result.
So part of this journey is a 12-week expectation that you'll make more in 12 weeks than you will in the last, in the previous 12 months.
Right.
What is magic about that 12-week number and how did you arrive at that?
People like to think in years and they also think in quarters, right? So if you think in business, right, there's 4 quarters, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. So as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, I was a CEO, business You're used to thinking that quarter is 12 weeks, right? That 12, 12, 12, 12. So there's four quarters in a year, and there you go. So it's and it's funny because I never even realized that I was helping people doing this until one of my clients pointed it out, and she said to me, Noah, you know what's so exciting is I've made more in these last 12 weeks than I did in the previous 12 months, and I'm working less. And I'm like, wow, that's what I've been doing for a long time. I should probably tell people about that. I didn't even notice that I was doing it. In fact, it's so I'll give you a quick example of that. One of my clients is a business owner in Arizona, and she. is a self-described seminar junkie before she came to me. That's what she— she's going to all these seminars and she was doing well, right? She had making 6 figures, but she couldn't break through that income ceiling. She just kept hitting her head on that ceiling, right? No matter how many seminars she went to. So she joined my 12-Week Breakthrough Program and she actually ended up tripling her investment in just 2 weeks. 2 weeks, she tripled her investment. We hadn't even gotten to the money part yet and she tripled her investment. So that's how powerful this inner game is. She'd been going to all those marketing gurus who were trying to go from the outside. So, it's like when you're trying to build a house. You can't build a house starting on the 3rd floor. You have to start from the inside out. And a lot of people, business owners, entrepreneurs, what they're doing is they get up every morning and they're trying to build a house, but they're just slapping boards together. They're working really hard. They're hustling and grinding, right? Because that's what everybody says. You got to hustle and grind. That's great. But if you don't have a plan, if you don't have a blueprint, you're just slapping boards together and you get to the end of the day, you're like, man, I'm working so hard and I don't even have a house yet. So, that's really what it's about. It's about giving people the right plan, the right tools, and then giving them the, the right support so that they can actually really make more in 12 weeks than the previous 12 months.
And it sounds like a lot of what entrepreneurs are doing is muscle memory. I've been doing this since I started my business, and if I keep doing more of this, it's gonna work. But are those really unconscious habits?
One of the things that I teach is, yes, you're right. What I call the power habits of unconsciously successful people. Now, that sounds like a mouthful, but it's actually very simple. What I realized, that was one of the epiphanies I had 30 years ago, was that highly successful people, all these people that, you know, we look up to, the 1 percenters, are doing habits unconsciously that they don't even know they're doing, number one. And therefore, number two, they can never teach it. This is why so many people have spent so much money on all these gurus and they keep hitting that income ceiling. And even if you're making even 6 or even 7 figures, I remember I was speaking at a seminar in Los Angeles to 1,000 business owners. And I just finished speaking. A man came up to me right after I got off stage, and he said, Noah, you are the coach I've been looking for. I want to hire you as my coach. Now, I didn't know this man from Adam. Ironically, his name was Adam. True story. Love it.
Love it.
So I said, so what's going on? He goes, Noah, we're making seven figures in my business, but we have been stuck plateaued at the same level for four years. And he said, I have paid so much money to all these gurus. I've hired every marketing guy out there. And we're still stuck. And he said, as soon as I heard you speak about inner game and outer game and head trash and everything you just said, he said, I knew you were the coach I've been looking for. So, he literally hired me on the spot. That's why I love working with high achievers, right? Because they make decisions quickly and firmly. They don't dilly-dally. They just, let's do it. So, I coached him and his leadership team for 18 months. In that 18 months, we actually got him from being stuck at 7 figures for the previous 4 years to over $20 million. In less than 18 months. So, that's a 600% growth in less than 18 months. And it's what I'm— because of what I'm talking about, the inner game. See, no one had— he was doing all this outer game stuff, and that got him to a certain level, no problem. But he couldn't break through because no one had taken the time to actually give him the system to master your inner game. And that's what I gave him, and 600% growth. Pretty awesome.
Dr. Noah, I'm sure there's someone who's listening to this podcast and they're saying, sign me up. They're waving their hands. How can I get on that track? So, let's pivot moment, because you mentioned the term head trash. When you are working with your coaching clients, or you're at a speaking engagement, and you're talking about the limiting beliefs and all those things that kind of hold you back, can you just elaborate on how you get rid of that head trash and how you identify it?
Oh, absolutely. I've written 25 books basically on this one subject, how to take out your head trash, right? If you think about what you want, right, everybody talks about goals, right? Oh, you gotta write your goals. We've heard this a million times. Okay, so why have so many people written their goals and they're doing vision boards, they're doing everything the gurus are saying, and they're still hitting that ceiling? The vision isn't coming true. Why not? It's because of what I've been teaching for many years now, which is what happens after you set the goal. This is what they don't tell you, right? So after you set the goal, what happens for so many people is, let's, so let's just say I wanna make more money, right? I wanna add an additional $10,000 a month to my business or $50,000 or $100,000, whatever the number is, doesn't matter. Right? So, let's just say $10,000, right? That's a nice easy number because that means you're adding 6 figures a year. Boom! For most people, that's life-changing money, right? So, I want to add an extra $10K a month. Great. But you know what most people do right after they set that goal? In their unconscious mind, they go, I probably can't do it. Why bother? Yeah, I've tried everything already. It's not going to work. Yeah, I don't have the time. I don't have the energy. I can't afford it. You see what I mean? Do you see what I just did? I literally just talked myself out of that goal that I just said. But this is what's so funny about that is that's all happening in your subconscious mind. You know, if I were to ask you, do you think you can do that? You go, yeah, I can do it. But meanwhile, your behavior is over here saying, nah, I don't think I, nah, I can't do it. And so the number one complaint that people have nowadays, you know what it is? I don't have the time. I don't, I don't have the time. And meanwhile, I come into, let's say I have a one-on-one client or even in group coaching, you know, the 12 Week Breakthrough. And I'll say, so why don't you tell me what you do each day? Meanwhile, they're spending 2, 3, 4 hours a day on social media, TV, Netflix, whatever. And it's like, really? You don't have the time?
Okay.
That's interesting. And then I also point out, I'll say, do you know what you, me, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, Richard Branson, you know what we all have in common? We all have the same 24 hours in a day. So, it's a lie. When you say to yourself, I don't have the time, Noah, you're lying to yourself. Okay? So, do you see what I mean? So, just bringing that up and they're like, wow, I never thought of that. I'll give you another quick example. I had another client. And I asked him, how much do you think your head trash is costing you this year if you don't get rid of your head trash? I ask all my clients this question, whether it's one-on-one or group coaching. How much do you think your head trash is costing you right now? And without batting an eye, his name's Charles, by the way, this client. And I said, how much do you think your head trash is costing you? You said $1 million without batting an eye. I said, $1 million? No, I'm easily going to lose $1 million this year, lose out on $1 million if I don't get rid of this head trash. Now, he'd been reading my books. He'd been studying me. Watching my videos on YouTube, he understood what makes me different, right? So I said, "You know what, Charles? It's very common. A lot of people tell me that." And number two, I tell you what: Why don't you just give me ten percent of that million, and I'll find you a million dollars in the next twelve months? In other words, if you give me one dollar and I give you ten dollars back, is that a good deal? He goes, "Yeah, that's a good deal." So he did that. When he again decided quickly and firmly, I love working with high achievers. He said, "Let's do it." Didn't dilly-dally, didn't waste time. So, I coached him for a year. And as it turns out, I didn't find him $1 million in the next 12 months. Instead, I found him $1.8 million in just 10 months.
Awesome.
So, he gave me a dollar. I gave him $18 back. Is that a good deal? No, that's a great deal. And then he said, I took a 7-week vacation. He said, he sent me an email. He said, hey, Noah, I'm on a 7-week vacation with my wife. I've had a dream for years, but I never had the time or the money before. But we bought a new motorhome. We're driving across the country, taking 7 weeks off. He said, not only do I have more time, I have more money. Than ever before. And I'm happier than ever. Thanks. He said, thanks for changing my life. So yeah, it's life-changing.
So let's kind of unpack the concept of time, Dr. Noah, because if you are an early founder and you may be the first person in your business and you're just, you don't have a lot of staff, you are the receptionist, the HR person, the marketing person. There's a belief that you have to work from sunup to sundown, 60 to 80 hours a week just to make it. How do you get past being busy and move into productivity and reliable, predictable income?
Absolutely. That's absolutely one of the things that I work on with my clients all the time, because that is one of the biggest objections that people have and one of the biggest limiting beliefs. So, head trash is, I gotta do everything myself. And listen, when you're starting your business, you, you might probably don't have a lot of money, right? I remember when I started my company, successclinic.com, in 1997, I was living in a 300-square-foot basement apartment. I had $800 to my name. Literally, I had no money. I had no connections. I had no list. I had no marketing experience, no sales. I'd never run a business before. Certainly don't know how to run an online business. And the only funnels we had back then were funnel cakes. There was nothing like what we have today. But I had one thing that I bet everybody listening to this program also has. And that was the one thing that kept me going all those lean years. And there were a lot of them. And that is a deep burning desire To make an impact, to change lives, to make people's lives better. And I've interviewed millionaires, multimillionaires, even a few billionaires, and not one single one of them started their company because they said, "Ooh, I'm gonna make a lot of money." Now, of course, they made a lot of money, but they made a lot of money as a result of wanting to make an impact, wanting to make a difference, wanting to help you, wanting to solve a problem for humans. Right? That's what a business is: you're solving a problem. for a set of human beings. Guess what? If you can't do that, you ain't going to make any money, right? So, the solution is the thing that comes first. Now, again, I love making money. I love helping people make money. I love making money myself. So, you have to still get rid of your head trash about money because a lot of people feel guilty about money. Oh, if I make a lot of money, then I'm taking away from other people. What? But see, that's head trash. And anyway, so there's a lot of things like that the person just doesn't realize. That they're even thinking, let alone believing, let alone living. Okay, so anyway, that's just one quick example. But yeah, that's one of the biggest things. So going back to my point, I didn't have anybody and it was all me. So what I realized is when I got to a certain income, right, again solving problems for humans, once you're doing that and charging money, making sure you're collecting the money, that's okay, it's okay to do that. Once you're doing that, then one of the first things you need to do is absolutely unload and delegate, right? So that's one of the things I work on with my clients continually is delegating. As another quick example, I have one, a one-on-one client right now. And when he came to me, he was spending all of his time on emails. And I said, what are you doing on your emails? I'm answering customer questions. And I'm going, you're the CEO of this company. You shouldn't be answering customer questions, right? You have an assistant to do that. Why don't you empower your assistant to be able to answer these questions and free up your time to work on high-level strategic things? Boom, he's doing that. And his business has already taken off. So, another quick example. So, again, if you're saying, but no, I don't have the money, I understand that. Believe me, I was there. So, you got to get the money as soon as possible, and then you want to delegate as fast as you possibly can.
You've given us so much great information, but if there was just one point that you can drive home for entrepreneurs on how to play big faster, what would that be?
Most important thing, number one, identify what your goals are. What is it you want? Get clear on that if you're not. Number two, understand what is your head trash about you actually reaching, achieving achieving getting that goal. If you're telling yourself, I don't have the time, I don't have the money, I can't do it, I can't afford it, who's going to listen to me, whatever, that's your head trash. The one, number one thing you need to do right now, whether you read one of my books, hire me as a coach, whatever it is you need to do, get rid of that head trash because that is in fact the thing that is holding you back from reaching your goals. Once you take out your head trash, you're going to reach your goals 10 times faster and easier with a lot less stress and no overwhelm.
And so, we do have something very special for the listeners and people that may be watching the video. You want to give people a free copy of your latest book. Tell us a little bit more about how we can get it.
Absolutely. So, the book here, it is called The 7-Figure Expert: Your Ultimate Guide to a Life of More Impact, Influence, and Financial Freedom. So, all you have to do is go to 7figureexpertbook.com. Easy to remember, right? 7figureexpertbook.com. The book is free. And just cover the shipping. And also, when you get the book, you're going to get over $500 worth of free bonus gifts that we're going to send you immediately, electronically. You get instant access to this. So, while you're waiting for the book to arrive on your doorstep, you can already start studying and start changing your life right away. And by the way, if you know you just want to talk to me or one of my coaches, you want my help, just go to breakthroughwithnoah.com. Easy to remember. I'm the Breakthrough Coach, right? So, breakthroughwithnoah.com. And you're going to get a complimentary 15-minute business evaluation. And you're going to walk away with 3 steps that you can take right away to instantly skyrocket your results and get out of your way faster and easier. So again, that's breakthroughwithnoah.com.
