YEL 035 - HOW TO UNLOCK YOUR BRAIN'S TRUE POTENTIAL (JOHN ASSARAF)

Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle 2.0

Many entrepreneurs focus on how their business plays out in the market, but there’s another game that influences the final score: the one that rages in the mind. Win your inner game and you’re many steps closer to clinching success.

That is how New York Times bestselling author and NeuroGym CEO John Assaraf depicts the mindset of the world’s most successful personalities, how he helps new generations of entrepreneurs develop a winning psychology, and how he recounts his own transition from a teenage gang member into a philanthropist and serial entrepreneur who have built multimillion dollar businesses and generated billions in revenues.

To go beyond his limiting environment and join the big leagues, John -- inspired by a mentor -- played the mind game. He unlearned everything he knew as a teenage crook and spent an hour everyday in the inner game, using his fears to fuel a hunger for success, purpose and meaning.

The idea that positive psychology strongly influences success and happiness is nothing new. But in recent years, more and more studies confirm the link between the brain and our potential to achieve more than we have even thought possible. Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reorganize itself into new neural connections, enables us to consciously reprogram our instinctive behavior and develop positive, life-affirming habits.

Join me as I interview John about his early years as an aimless teenager, the pivotal milestone that led him to become one of the world’s leading behavioral experts, and the new scientific techniques you can adopt to elevate your mindset.

In this episode you’ll learn ...

• How a teenage hoodlum selling drugs transformed into a successful behavioral coach with a heart for philanthropy. (1:56)
• The psychology and neural processes behind motivation, fear, success, and human potential. (10:12)
• How to subvert fear and use it to your advantage. (9:04)
• How to use the mental rehearsal technique to successfully hurdle business, strategic or personal obstacles. (14:39)
• The replicable steps needed to keep your personal best always levelling up on areas such as finance, health, career, and relationships. (19:10)

Quotes

1. "If you're interested, you'll do what's convenient. If you're interested, you'll do what's easy. If you're interested, you'll do the simple stuff. But if you're committed, you'll do whatever it takes." -- John Assaraf quoting his mentor, Alan Brown (4:40)
2. "All of my friends were hoodlums. I didn't have any normal friends ...I knew I had to really break free If I were really going to do something in my life." -- John Assaraf (6:50)
3. “My hunger came out of fear. My fear of being insignificant. My fear of being not smart enough. My fear of being not good enough.“ -- John Assaraf (8:37)
4. "Motivation is almost always followed by an unpleasant emotion such as fear." -- John Assaraf (12:37)
5. “Fear for a lot of people is something holding them back. I learned how to put fear behind me to push me forward.“ -- John Assaraf (9:04)
6. “If you really take an hour a day and focus on the inner game, you can have anything you want in your life.” -- John Assaraf quoting his mentor, Alan Brown (5:25)
7. "The reason you want to be aware of your [mental] patterns is to know which ones you want to accelerate and create into a habit vs. the ones you don't want to." -- John Assaraf (17:15)
8. "Here's the truth in business: the potential for failure always exists ... You can't get away from that. But the potential for success always exists as well." -- John Assaraf (17:24)
9. "Mitigating risks is focusing on [how to achieve] the positive outcome you want." -- John Assaraf (18:56)

Ask yourself:

How would you “re-calibrate the thermostat” in your business, professional, or personal life to surpass your achievements in the past year and set a new (and better) normal?