570: How "I Am" Affirmations Can Transform Your Life with Dan McCormick

Hello and welcome to the Achieve your Goals podcast, the show that empowers you to wake up to your full potential and achieve your biggest goals and dreams. I am your host Hal Elrod and I invite you to join us each week as we share actionable strategies to take your life to the next level, as well as interview world class experts and entrepreneurs who have achieved extraordinary goals themselves. And we ask them to give you a peek behind the curtain and teach you exactly what you need to do to do the same. Ready? Here we go.

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Elrod and welcome to the Achieve youe Goals podcast. I am thrilled to be joined Today by Dan McCormick, the author of the transformative new book which I'm holding up right now if you're watching on YouTube. Awakening who I am. Two words to ignite your transformation, which he wrote with Ken Shelton Forward by Hal ELROD. Yours truly, Dan's become a good friend and the afterword by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, one of my favorite authors. So in this episode we dive deep into the powerful journey of self discovery and awakening, utilizing I am Affirmations. Now, if you followed my work for a while, I have a very specific approach to affirmations which differs from Dan's and that created a really interesting dialogue today where I wouldn't say we debated. I actually like invited a healthy debate, but it was pretty insightful, us each sharing different ways to approach affirmations. But here's the important part is both of us have utilized affirmations to transform who we were as individuals, overcome limiting beliefs and create success, like measurable success beyond what we imagined possible. Dan, he went from being at 19 years old, he was no money, no career and he was a millionaire within three years. Once he learned affirmations at 19, he shares the pivotal moment that inspired this journey, this transformation where utilizing affirmations he was able to become a millionaire within three years. It's pretty remarkable. Now you don't need to want to be a millionaire for affirmations to change your life, but really you learn a unique approach today, different approaches on how you can transform from the inside out to become the person that you need to be, utilizing my favorite personal development practice, which are affirmations. And again, Dan is an expert. I mean he literally wrote the book on this. So whether you're feeling stuck or you're seeking clarity or you're just ready to step into the best version of yourself, this conversation will leave you inspired and equipped to take meaningful action. So grab a pen, open your mind and let's dive into the incredible wisdom that Dan has to share. Before we do, I want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by the Miracle Morning app. Yes, it is 4.9 out of 5 stars in the App Store. And the reason is this app is the simplest, most effective way to implement a morning routine and specifically a Miracle morning. So if you've read the book, this is kind of the like the book's like here's what you do and how you do it. And the app's like, hey, hit play or use the journal or use the affirmations prompts or the visualization prompts or right like all six of the Sabers practices are represented in the app and I want to take just 30 seconds. I'm going to read you this review from New Hope Pa. New Hope says simply the best this is an App Store review. They said since starting the Miracle Morning nine months ago, I've been hoping there would be an app. I was so happy when the beta version was released and was lucky enough to test it out and give feedback for improvements. I completed the advanced option of the 30 day challenge on the app and it was fabulous. Nice to have an online accountability partner to track progress throughout the month. I plan to do the 30 day challenge again and again because the app is super easy to use and fun to watch my progress. Highly recommend it for those new to the Miracle Morning and those who have been practicing for a while. It's perfect for any experience level. And for those of you who don't know the app is new and improved, there is now a plus one feature where if you get the premium app, you can invite anyone to use it at no additional cost. So it can be a spouse or family member or colleague. And we now have live events that come with the app. I don't know any other app that does this. I'm sure there's probably a few, but we do live events online that come at no additional charge for all Premium plus app subscribers and you can try it free today for seven days in the App Store if you're an iPhone user, or the Google Play Store if you are an Android or Google Phone user. All right, without further ado, let's talk about how to transform yourself and your life using the power of I Am Affirmations.

Dan McCormick it is good to see you man. It's been a minute.

It's been a minute, man.

Happy New Year.

It's great to be with you and it's going to be a lot of fun to share some nuggets.

Yeah, it's Funny. I've had someone say, I've heard you tell people they're your favorite people. Like, multiple times. I go, I've got at least like, probably 30 to 50 of them, you know? Right. Like, Right. And I think that's a blessing. And you're probably the same.

Yeah, it's huge. I actually heard a guy years ago on an interview on cnn, this old show called Pinnacle, and the guy said his dad told him that if he could count five great friends in his life, that's a success. So to have super five great friends or 50 great friends, that's a great success.

Yeah, yeah. I say that a lot about my closest friends. I go, anyone would pray to have a friend as good as any of my top 15 friends that are just there for you. Supportive, loving. I mean, all the things, man.

Yeah.

So for those that don't know you and I met, you brought me in to speak at an event that you were hosting.

Right.

And we hit it off immediately. I think it started when, well, just. You're that guy, right? You exude love and acceptance and positive energy. But then you took me to your favorite restaurant, which was all organic, grass fed, smooth, and I was like, okay, you're my people, Dan. You're my people. So. And then we found out that we both. A lot of our success we credit to Affirmations. Right? Yeah, yeah, take us back. Like, a good place to start is, when did you get introduced to Affirmations? I know that you hosted the OG Mandino podcast, Right? Correct me if I'm wrong on that. Exactly. But yeah, when did Affirmations get into your world? Because that's really where you've got this new book, Awakening who I Am, that teaches seven foundational affirmations. This is my favorite topic to talk about, quite literally affirmations. So I'm excited to, like, geek out with you and just teach our listeners as much as we possibly can about how they can transform their lives using the misunderstood power of affirmations. So where did it start for you?

Well, I think it all starts when people have a need, Right? I had a need as a young man. I had no self esteem, I had no self worth, I had no net worth. Went to Washington State University and finished in two weeks. Now most people call it dropping out, but for me, I was finished. It was over. I had to find a way. And lo and behold, it just started. Through my wife, I met in business the following summer. We were fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. And her dad had a Book club. And that book club always was reading the Zig Ziglar. We're talking back in the 70s and the 80s. Dennis Waitley, OG Mandino. My wife was always reading this when I met her. And so that was the first book ever put in my hands for someone that didn't like to read. And what Og taught us in the Greatest Salesman in the World, that incredible story that he told is he taught us through scrolls. But one of those scrolls is written in an affirmation form, and it's I am nature's greatest miracle. And so I literally had to figure out how I was gonna add self esteem to my life, self worth, value other people. And I just learned through that. It was the first book I ever read. And Og gives you an incredible challenge in the journalized version. So he asks you to read one scroll a day, three times a day for nine months, where there's 10 scrolls. And lo and behold, he says at the beginning of the book, I'm gonna give you 75 to 1 odds that you'll even do this right at the beginning. Right? And he says, and people are gonna risk doubling or tripling their income over this. And so I started doing it. It's the first book, remember, I didn't know really how to read. I didn't really know how to study.

Now, you were how old at the time?

I'm 19. 19.

Okay.

I mean, I finished college in two weeks at Washington State University, being on the tennis team. I was there to play tennis, had a knee injury, had a reckless driving ticket, driving home two weeks later, and I was back building tennis courts, stringing tennis rackets when I got home. And this book shows up in my life the following August. And my life changed. Eight months later, I married my wife. Here we are 42 years later, 14 grandkids later.

You said your 15th grandchild, right?

Grandchild just showed up. And we were just so blessed that affirmations came into my life.

Wow. Wow. So Greatest Salesman in the World by Augment Mandino. You read the three scrolls a day, and how many scrolls did you say there were?

So there's 10 scrolls. The first scroll is. You just kind of read it on a Sunday night. Is today I begin a new life. Og wrote these scrolls from the paradigm of an alcoholic. I never knew that he literally was facing his own life. He's an alcoholic at the time. His wife and daughter leave him, and he's facing this thought, maybe I'll just commit suicide. Whoa, that's heavy. Right? Wow. Walks into a library Meets W. Clement Stone's writings, works. And lo and behold, 1968, the greatest salesman in the world was born. And thank goodness, because it helped my wife and I pass our first million dollars in income. I'm 22 years of age and yet it's been a part of my life, every day of my life. And then I meet you and things go crazy.

Well, so when you were 22. So from 19 by 22, within three years of reading that book, you had achieved your first million dollar income year. Yeah.

And that's. I always attribute that to marrying up. Of course. You know, I got an incredible wife, we're business partners, we're traveling the world, we're speaking to audiences around the world. And lo and behold, it just stayed with me. You know, there was one part of my life and you love to talk about this. I didn't know what love was. I didn't know how to feel love. I didn't know how to affirm another person. And so in OG's first scroll, the second scroll, I will greet this day with love in my heart. That was the one that stuck out for me. It's kind of like every morning for 40 years, I would arise to say, I will greet this day with love in my heart.

Mm.

And it's really a powerful. There's a lot of layers to that onion, if you will.

No, it's interesting you say that. Literally a few minutes before we jumped on this recording, I was bench pressing. I've got my workout room right behind the office. And I was listening to an Instagram video with Aaron Abke. You ever heard of Aaron Abke?

I don't know Aaron.

Young guy, relatively young. I mean, I'd say he's probably mid-30s or so. But he talked about the only way to know God is to love every person. Right. And he said, if you don't love every person that you see, then you don't really know God because each person is God's creation. It was just really powerful paradigm. And. Yeah. And so I just, I love you just reminded me, right. That greeting every day with love, every person with love. And to me, that's not to get off track in terms of this topic of affirmations, but I think that loving all people unconditionally is the greatest opportunity that we have in front of us.

Yeah. On teaches us that really clearly. And I think as you and I, when we first met long ago, you were at a funeral. When I had you on my show and I was going to my business partner's funeral, who had just crashed in his jet. And when you go through and you just lost a dear friend.

Yeah.

And it's just like it changes the way you feel about empathy and compassion. As you go through life, you get older, you appreciate love, kindness, respect, understanding. Compassion and empathy are two of the highest valued words using the science of axiology that even exist in the world. So compassion and empathy is a big thing. And continuing to share love is what you do.

Well, what is the science of axiology?

So it's the measurement of words. It's using math to measure the value of words. They do it at University of Tennessee. So at the OG Mandino company where I hosted that podcast for, it was 45 episodes. You do that, like, every week. But I tried to interview the greatest salespeople in the world, and so it was called the Greatest Salesman. And Dave Blanchard, the owner of that company that bought OG's company, taught me those principles, compassion and empathy. Huge. On the. On the level of measurement of words.

Powerful. I'm curious, by the way, how many kids do you have that gave birth to those 15 grandkids?

We have four married daughters. We have four daughters. Wow.

Four girls. That's.

Yeah.

And you live between Utah and Southern California, is that right?

Orange County, California, and Coeur d', Alene, Idaho, up there on the lake.

There was a fire in Orange County Forest. My dad's cabin burned down a couple of months ago. Did that get near you?

Yeah, it was. We were in our house in Idaho, and my daughter was actually evacuating our house here. That was the airport fire that then turned and went out to Riverside. And now, of course, we're dealing with LA fires and prayers and thoughts for everybody out there.

Unbelievable. All right, so we start with Augmentino. That's where you learn about the scrolls. When did you learn? And maybe it was the same time. But the word affirmations, when did that come into your vocabulary? Speaking of words, and how did you start applying them?

So it's a great thought, because, as you know, when I walked into that convention center two years ago September, so that would have been like 30 months ago. Now I walk into Salt Lake Convention center, and your book is on the table, and my assistant is on the other side. And I'd given thought to affirmations, but I hadn't gone as deep as I have on other words. And so my assistant says, hey, it's $50 for the book in the journal. I said, great, but I might not read it. And I come to know I had posted about Your book years earlier, they show up on the memories on Facebook, you know, And I never bought it or read it or studied it.

Okay?

And so here's Brittany Cornine, this lady on the other side of it, and she says, Dan McCormick Cormac hasn't read Miracle Morning. And it jolted me, Hal. I went home from that convention, and I noticed you said at the beginning of the book about the documentary. And I said, honey, let's turn on the documentary. It was Sunday night, September 12th 13th, something like that, two and a half years ago now, and your book was already sitting on my reading table. So I have my book thing right here, and this is the very first copy. Yeah, I watched the documentary. Boom. I always got up at 5, 5, 30, but, man, I was mind over mattress. I was ready to apply what you were offering. Wow. I love genuine, authentic giants. And the page turner, for me that never turned is where I keep it. And that's the book building on the three imperative arguments. I leave the book open right there every day. And that's where I kept saying, I am nature's greatest miracle. That's og. That's scroll number four. And then you kept saying every single day, I'm just as worthy, deserving, and capable as anyone else on the planet to achieve whatever I want. And I started writing these things down, and I kept going deeper. And then I start. I mean, I got thousands of names in my phone. Cause that's my business. That's your business. Everyone I was calling, I was saying, have you read Miracle Morning? Have you watched the movie? I'm geeking out on this stuff at so many levels. I can't find any of my public speaking friends that know you. Wow. And so finally, I reach out to Andrea Waltz from Go for no, and she says, I think I know who can connect the two of you. And. And so I was going deeper and deeper. And at the time, I started writing my book, but I put I am in front of all affirmations, thinking deeper that I means exist. Am means with God. So what follows? I am follows you is the T shirts that I make and the QR code that I put on my car. What follows? I am follows you. And so for the last 30 months, it's a deep, deep specific dive from scrolls and principles to affirmations. I'm writing this down.

What follows? I am follows you. That's brilliant.

Yeah.

I am follows you. Elaborate on that.

So if you are in the defamation space and you say, I'm fat, I'm lazy, I'm sick, I'M tired. Right. You're going the wrong way. That's the wrong energy. But if you say I am, as I start off my book as inviting you to be my co creator, I tried to do something that no one had ever done before. I want people to sign the COVID page as my co creator. I want you to create with me. I want you to live with me. I want you to literally go through these affirmations. And I am is just the paradigm that adds the value of heavens, the spirit with you, God with you. And so to me, I literally never say an affirmation unless it's the positive. I filter any possible friend or negativity out of my life. I caution people, hey, look, if you go there, I can't be here. It's not the vibrational energy I want to resonate on. So hopefully that impacts it a little bit.

Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I'm reading the book and I love that within the first chapter or two that I was not just signing the first page, but that I'm actually writing, it asks like, hey, which of. After you teach the benefits of affirmations, you're like, which of these benefits do you want in your life are you most committed to, you're most excited about?

And so when you start off, by the way, with the creation piece. Right. So I love one of your recent podcasts when you were talking about neuroplasticity. Right. And so when you think about this notion in your book, the Savers, and you think about what I've done with my book and my affirmation videos and all the things that I've done, everything was programmed around neurogenesis. The idea that last night when you and I slept, baby nerve cells were being born. The idea that when we wake up, the very first thing on my coin that I feel and that I think about, because the Savers is part of it. But I am nature's greatest miracle. And I put a magnet right here. I am a magnet for miracles. Einstein said that we either believe that everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle. So I go every day, I'm on a podcast right now with a guy that is a living miracle, like a miracle of all miracles, literally. Right? And so then on the other side of the coin, I have the seven affirmations that are in my book. And it's just an invaluable thing to say. I am a creator. Because what do you create every day? It's what follows.

I am. Yeah. What you believe you are, Right? Yeah. If you believe you're unworthy, then you're not going to pursue things that would write that a worthy person would pursue. If you believe that you're not creative. Right. But yeah, if you believe. Yeah. No, it's powerful. I think about, like when I. The reason I trained for that marathon that I ran is I used to affirm I am not a runner. Right. I am not a runner. And I realized, wait, that's a limiting belief. How about I am committed to becoming a runner.

Right.

I want to talk about two things. Let me say them out loud, then I'll decide which order we should approach them. Yeah. One is the different way that you and I approach affirmations. Right. So obviously the book is Awakening who I am and I am as in quotes. I have a kind of a more like left brain, practical approach. I want us to discuss that. Right. Maybe even debate it for our audience. And then the other piece, though is actually, let's start here. Why the title Awakening who I Am? I know in the book you explore the concept of awakening. So how do you define awakening and why do you think that it's such a pivotal process for personal growth?

Well, it's what Miracle Morning gave me. It was an awakening. I was on my plateau. Now, most people around me wouldn't say, dan's in pain or he's hurting or he's not doing well. But I wasn't growing. I was sitting there living my best life on a plateau. I was sitting there, not growing. And there I pick up your book, and it was the awakening for me.

Got it?

Now we can look in the New Testament and the Savior says he goes early off in the morning up in the hills to pray and meditate. There's an awakening. There's a way, there's a pattern for doing this that you gave everybody. So I just was able to adapt it to my own way and literally have that awakening for me. And then, you know you always wrestle with titles, right?

Yeah.

So you never know what is the perfect title. Certainly the Miracle Morning is the perfect title. But the subtitle of my book is really critical. And that is the two words to ignite transformation. Right. We all know we need inspiration for transformation. In Romans 12, 2 says, Be ye transformation formed by the renewing of your mind. So again, it comes back to all this stuff in the morning to get it right. First thing first thoughts. First thing first light. Get it right.

Goal achievers and members of the Miracle Morning community. I just wanted to remind you or invite you to check out the Miracle Morning routine app in the App Store and the Google Play Store. It is free to download and comes with a robust assortment of features, including templates to create your affirmations, a built in journal, customizable timers for your sabers, the Savers 101 guided track, where you complete your miracle morning in 13 minutes by simply hitting Play, a Miracle Evening guided track to help you go to bed at night and a lot more. And then you always have the option to upgrade to the premium version, our most popular version of the app, which you can try for a seven day free trial. And it gives you access to over 500 affirmations, a library of nearly 200 guided savers tracks so that you can click play and complete your savers in different areas of your life. You want to improve your mental health, you want to improve a relationship, you want to make more money. There are specific savers tracks, guided or designed, I should say, for each of those outcomes that you want to achieve in your life. So you can again literally click Play and complete your miracle morning. Plus over 200 journaling prompts and a lot more. And the app now has over 2,900 reviews averaging 4.9 out of 5 stars. You can download the app now in the App Store or Google Play for Android users. Either way, I hope the app enhances your mornings and your life.

What are the obstacles? I think it's important that a lot of us, or a lot of folks when you're pursuing what you want, we avoid thinking about the obstacles because they might discourage us, they might overwhelm us. But the problem is if we don't foresee the obstacles, then when they show up, that's when they discourage us. And then when they overwhelm us as opposed to going, you know what, this is a potential obstacle. Okay, I'm aware of it. How might I overcome that when it arises? Or maybe I'm facing it now. So what do you think? When it comes to people awakening to their true selves, their full potential, or even utilizing affirmations to do so, what are the most common obstacles that people face and how might they overcome them?

So I've really been fond of this phrase that flow before phone. And if you let Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn rule your morning, yeah, you are going to struggle. It is an impediment to your success, your flow, your neurogenesis, the savers, everything. And so if people are watching this today, write that down. Flow before phone. If you wake up and check email and go to those Instagram, all those social Media platforms. It's an impediment. It's going to stall you. I have this One lady, maybe 65, mid-60s, and she's like, dan, I just can't get through your 18 minute affirmation video. And made this 18 minute affirmation video for me. I needed to borrow upon because I know you recently were quoting and love James Clear's book Atomic Habits, but here I am writing this book and James Clear said something that just rocked my world. He said, quoting Naval Ravikant, in order to write a great book, you have to become the book. And I added that to my book and I made this 18 minute affirmation to say, dan, if you're going to do this, to answer your question and have a little bit of dialogue about it, about maybe even some debate about it, yeah, then you have to become the book and you have to be willing to give that 18 minutes. And so I mentioned that phrase flow before phone. And she said, dan, I could Never do your 18 minute affirmation video. Now, 18, how is approximately 1% of your day? 18 minutes used to feel like 90 minutes to me. Just, you know, that scatter brain three years ago, that feeling like you're missing out on something. And she comes back to me and she says, I was gonna give it one more try to not touch my phone and just go through the 18 minutes. And it changed my life. So to answer your question specifically, it's a desire, it's a focus, it's a flow before phone desire. The best description I've ever heard of desire is a motivating conviction that moves you to action. And so that, to me is the biggest impediment to answer your question.

Yeah, I was talking about this yesterday. I was being interviewed on a show and I talked about the idea that when we check our phones first thing in the morning, we literally put our brains in a state of reactivity. As soon as your phone goes off airplane mode, if you kept it on airplane mode during the night, right. Which hopefully you did, minimizing the EMFs that are flowing to your body and your brain. But now you're bombarded with notifications. And so you are in a state of reactivity, reacting to the notifications, reacting to the text messages that come in, the emails on a social media post.

On and on and on.

And I love that. Flow before phone.

Flow before phone.

Yeah, you allow yourself to get into flow. Take care of your mental and emotional wellbeing before the phone. So let's talk about the way you approach affirmations with I am. And let me first start, I'll start being the counterpoint. So I often say that the two problems with affirmations. So I'm going to tell you, here's my take and then I want you to tell me yours. Number one, lying to yourself doesn't work. So I say that if you say I am wealthy now, even though many self help gurus and I think even you would argue potentially against this, I always say if you say I am wealthy but your bank account balance is negative, then you are potentially creating an internal conflict that you go I'm wealthy or I'm a millionaire. Like I was taught by a well meaning self help guru but my bank account balance is negative and, and now there's an internal conflict. Right. As if we don't have enough internal conflicts just being a human being. Yeah. The second problem with affirmations is I've said that we've been taught to use this flowery passive language that promises an almost magical result such as I am a money magnet. Money flows to me effortlessly and in abundance. A I don't believe that's how money works. Meaning if you go and interview a hundred millionaires or billionaires and say how'd you make a fortune? They go, oh, I just became a magnet and money flowed to me effortlessly. They probably say I worked my butt off. Like I overcame a lot of obstacles and self doubt and fear, like it wasn't easy and I kept going and going and going and going and going and going and getting knocked down and getting back up. That's how I made a million dollars.

Right.

Not it flowed to me effortlessly and in abundance. So I'd love for you to, to speak to both of those. And I think there's nuances, very little is black and white. So you might say yes, there's truth to that. How but you're not looking at this side of it. So I'm open to learning right now.

Yeah, I love the word nuance by the way, because there is no two people that are going to go down the same path with the same thoughts. And we got 60 to 80,000 thoughts a day. We repeat most of them every day. But I'm reminded of the time you entered you group text me and Dr. Benjamin Harding. And I love the fact that you have the forward to my book and he has the afterward to my book because you both to me resonate everything about this question. And what Dr. Ben reminds us of is qualitative versus quantitative. So I can say I am like and I can put Whatever follows that. But as Neville Goddard would say, feeling is the secret. Like, if you can feel and believe. I call it sensory stacking. At the end of my book, we go through the visual, the auditory, and the kinesthetic and the seven levels of affirmations. And so when I think about I am worthy, qualitatively, I think I am a creator. I am intentional. I am all of the seven affirmations in my book. Qualitatively, you changed my life, Hal Elrod, on this page. The moment I read that page, because I never turned the page, I literally, as Bob Proctor said, you just look at that page every day until you master it. I remember 30 months ago having people on my team, top salespeople, people that have written massive, successful books. And I'd say, you've got to read this book. And I want you to call me and I would ask them, what did you get out of the three imperatives? And I would get answers that weren't great. Like, I don't know that I heard that. I'm like, did you read the book to say you read a book or did you do the work? Like, you gotta do the work, right? And so I'm all in on the qualitative change of your life, no matter who's listening today. And you and I both know with a podcast, someone could hear this six years from now, six months from now. But the qualitative aspect of your life changes the minute you incorporate the two words I am and you start filling in the blank. Because you can be a creator and not be a millionaire. You can be intentional and not be a money magnet, right? Qualitative change. And Dr. Ben said to me on that first phone call when you connected us, he said, dan, if you read the introduction to my book, it'll change your life. It'll 10x your life, Hal. Six months later, here I am now stacking what I'm writing for my book, what I'm reading from your book and his book. And I just became this huge magnet for miracles, if you will. And I literally, my life 10x like it's indescribable. People couldn't even comprehend what happened. You becoming a great friend, my co author. I didn't even know Ken Shelton, who wrote the seven Habits of Highly Effective People for Covey. I didn't know you. I didn't know Ben, I didn't know Ken. And here I have all these people in my life through I am affirmations. And the qualitative aspect of my life changed first. And the quantitative oh my gosh. It has just exploded my life in every category.

It reminds me when I think about the word magnet, I think about the quote from Jim Rohn that sparked the Miracle morning, which is a quote that gave birth, if you will. And honestly, in some ways, it co.

Created it, if you will.

Jim Rohn said, your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development. But it's the second part of the quote that I'm talking about, and I don't always share the second part. It was because success is something you attract by the person you become. That to me is the practical application of what it means to be a magnet for success, wealth, relationships, et cetera. When you become the person, you develop the qualities as you spoke about. You embody the vibe, the energy that is attractive to other people and attractive to people that have opportunities that you can both benefit from. That's what it means to be a magnet. And I found that for myself, I think, my whole life. Like when I was in Cutco, I used to always joke that, like, I'm like, I don't know how to sell anything. Like, I don't know any sales tricks. I'm just a super enthusiastic person, right? Like, so I was a magnet for people to buy Cutco from me just because of how I was showing up, how I was, the energy that I was, you know, admitting people was like a whirlwind. They're like, it was like the Tasmanian Devil. They're like, I don't even know what you said, but you seem excited about the knives. I guess I'll buy them or let's go. You know, So I do think that with the I am affirmation and let me scroll up to get this how you said it. What follows I am follows you. And so you think about, for those listening, almost anybody watching or listening to this is a majority or Miracle Morning practitioners, right? And think about whatever you're affirming. I am blank, right? No matter what, there's no other option. Or I am committed to blank. That's usually how I word my I am statement. It's I am followed by committed to and then blank. So it could be, I am committed to becoming the father that my children is or whatever. I'm committed to continuously becoming or getting better. Or I'm committed to following through. I'm committed to doing the thing right, whatever it is, I like that. Committed to because for me, it's just that extra like, I am. What am I committed to? So I'm looking in the book and I Mentioned earlier, I liked that I got to write in the book and I wanted to read what I wrote. Here we go. Affirmation in action. What are your thoughts about yourself when you're not consciously thinking? And I want to share this for people. A I was like, huh? I really examined that. What are my thoughts when I'm not consciously thinking? Because consciously I judge my thoughts. I make sure that I only say the ones that are positive, right? Because I know better. I've been in the game a long time. Like, I'm not going to speak negatively about myself out loud, right? That's. I'm not going to consciously think negative thoughts. However, think about this if you're listening. What thoughts are we most often unconsciously thinking or consciously thinking? The answer is unconsciously. Most of our thoughts, the 60 to 80,000 you mentioned, Dan, are unconscious. So we've got to be aware of those. And I love that that was the first question and you've got blank lines. And I actually wrote in the book, I wrote, here's my answer, Dan, what are your thoughts about yourself when you're not consciously thinking? I wrote down in one word, negative. I think how much worse my mental cognitive abilities are now before cancer and chemo. So it's interesting just being aware, right? And then I'm like, wow, I need to change that. And affirmations for me changed my life and my mental and emotional well being and my confidence and everything that you talk about in the book back in 2008. But like many things in life, we get away from what got us to the dance, right? We get away from the basics. And so just that answering that question brought me self awareness where I'm like, oh, I still got a lot of work to do. I've got to go back to the basics. I've got to relearn affirmations. And so it's interesting how this book came into my life at the right time because I would have been like, I would have never bought this book, Dan, because I'd been like, I'm a master of affirmations. I teach affirmations. There's nothing I have to learn. And I'm like, oh, I actually don't know as much as I think I do. In the second question, it says of the science based benefits you just read, which is the most exciting or important for you to manifest? I wrote four answers to that. Number one, reduce stress and anxiety and cultivate inner peace. That's the first benefit that I am. What is it most excited or important to me? Number two, enhance performance, productivity and goal attainment. And by the way, if you're listening right now, these are the benefits of affirmations when you do them daily. Number three, be happier, make lasting changes in the way I think and feel. And the number four, science based benefit that I am most excited about and I feel are as important for me is to enhance self image, self esteem, self love and self confidence. And so I just wanted to share that with you as the author because I don't know, my bookmark went but just for you to see, like that's the impact that already just that alone is worth its weight in gold. And then now I'm learning affirmations in really a different way than I've learned them before. So let's give your teaching how do you teach affirmations to people? And if you want it like I love inserting, maybe if you've got a personal example in your life where affirmations were transformative. Like I share my. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I used affirmations to beat cancer. When I was training for my ultra marathon, I used affirmations to be able to train and follow through with that. So I have multiple accounts of how affirmations were transformative in my life. I'd love to hear a story from you and specifically how you use them in a way that people can apply to their own life.

You've said so many cool things. And by the way, I've always got my Jim Rohn quote book with me because I love that I have that world with Jim. I was able to go on cruises with Jim. I was able to be on stages with Jim way back in the day. And all of the things you just said, I was putting this as kind of like my self help bible. And then I realized that what got me here won't get me there. You know what I'm saying? I had a sunk cost bias that this is all I needed. But then you awakened within me the notion that there was more for me. And so while I'm teaching affirmations, I'm always thinking about how do I keep it simple? Okay, because one of the first interviews I did with Richard, Paul Evans and even your friend Honore keep it simple. And so I was talking to Ken Shelton who worked with Covey on the Seven Habits. And I said, ken, seven Habits isn't easy. I interview audiences all the time. Nobody can remember the seven.

I can't remember them all.

I ask audiences, nobody can. And so I said, how can we make it simple? Well, to make it simple, to really ingrain the teaching requires repetition. You and I both love the phrase repetition is the mother of skill. It is so true because I want to say them all day long. I am a creator. I am intentional. I am present. The lady in my book that is in the story version of I am Present, she is grown up in a very well to do family. And in her mind she thought self help was just weird. Sure you're not going to walk into the bookstore and buy a Tony Robbins book? I mean, I'm good, right? And so she said on a podcast with me, this is a seven figure a year woman just cranks. I am present because I am prioritizing. And if you want to change your life, if you want to ignite transformation, keep it simple and recognize that there's two words, I exist, am with God. What follows I am follows you. And the example I'm going to give you to answer your question is the day Nathan died, my friend, that kind of brought us together on that podcast that we did. And he crashed his own jet. Everybody else on the plane lived. He was worth unbelievable sums of money. He was a rock star of rock stars in the world of direct selling and investment in real estate. And the day he died, another super achiever, when we got on the phone the day he died, said, I will never forget Nathan's famous talk called be a finisher. And so the seventh affirmation draws upon the Lord's New Testament verse that says, I am the author and the finisher. And so every day I kept saying, I am a finisher. I am going to finish this book. You talk about writing being hard for you. I mean, look, writing for me is anxiety. Sure, right. And so I went with, I am a finisher. And my wife and I, it's become our mantra around the house. You know, do you have to finish the project? The dishes, the garage, the backyard, the closet, cleaning the library, Cleaning up. I am a finisher became such a remarkable mantra in my life. And it just borrows again from scripture. And so hopefully that gives you some sense to be able to say, I am a finisher. I mean, for me to have this, if one of my teachers in high school was to say, Dan McCormick, least likely to ever do this.

Me too, dude. Yeah.

So here we are sitting here, and you know, you sold millions of copies, and I thought my goal this year would be to sell 8,000 copies to match your first year efforts. So that's my goal of the year because I want to be a finisher. But more importantly, if I Never sell another copy of the book. It's already changed my life 10x multiple times. And hopefully those that'll read it can take the time like you have to really personalize those affirmations. Peel away the onion and go as deep as you've ever gone. And I'm confident that you will let those two words ignite the transformation on your life.

Yeah, Dan, I agree with what you're saying so much. And when you just said I am a finisher, it made me think about it just. It sums up what you just said, which is the words that follow I am. Right, Follow you. And if you say I never finish anything, I never follow through. Right. Well, then that becomes your identity. And we can't help but live in alignment with our identity. But if you can repeat the identity, I am a finisher or I am a great parent, or I am a dedicated spouse, whatever. Well, or I am financially abundant, whatever it is, or. Or you can throw in the I am committed to earning X amount of dollars and providing financial freedom this year, whatever it is. If you repeat it every day, your subconscious does not know the difference between what is vividly imagined and repeated day after day after day after day after day. That becomes your reality. This is the difference. Like when you wake up from a nightmare, you're not actually getting chased by a guy with a knife, but you're sweating and panting and breathing heavy like you are, because your subconscious doesn't know the difference. So the book, I'm holding it up right now. Awakening who I am. Two words Ignite your transformation by Dan McCormick, my good friend and Ken Shelton, Forward by Hal Elrod, yours truly, and afterward by my good friend, Dr. Benjamin Hardy. This book is already transforming my life. Someone who's been doing affirmations for 15 years, and it's teaching me all sorts of new ways to think about them and implement my life.

Dan.

So thank you for the work you do. And I just love you as a person. Like, I just love who you are. And so there was no doubt in my mind that the work that you produced was going to be of your heart and your mind and your soul. And I have no doubt this book's gonna make a huge impact for others.

God bless you, my friend. Great to be with you. And God bless everybody that gets a chance to read Miracle Morning Awakening who I am and look forward to sharing the journey with everybody.

Everybody go grab a copy of Awakening who I am on Amazon and I love you so much. I'll talk to you all next week. Dan, I love you too, brother. I'll see you soon.

Awesome. Thank you.

Thanks for listening. To learn more about the Achieve youe Goals podcast and to get access today's show notes, transcript and exclusive content from hal Elrod, visit Halelrod.com podcast thanks again for joining us. Be sure to tune in next week for another episode of the Achieve your Goals podcast.