This past week, I had the privilege of spending several action-packed days with a brilliant group of 7, 8, and even 9-figure SaaS (Software as a Service) founders. My dear friend Dan Martell invited me to speak to his elite level mastermind on how to rewire our subconscious for wealth.
If you don’t know Dan, let me tell you, you definitely should. He is a 5x founder, award-winning investor, and world-class coach. Most recently, he authored WSJ #1 bestseller Buy Back Your Time, a book that I consider the best business book of the last 5 years (at least).
When Dan speaks, I listen. Here are a few things that I learned last week that are worth remembering:
- This group was humble and willing to learn. Based on the size of the businesses in the room, I went in expecting there would be some egos to match. I was shocked at how down to earth this group is – and how open and dedicated they are to growing their businesses, but more importantly, growing themselves as humans. Dan often says that our business will never outgrow our personal limitations, and this crew clearly takes that personally. They showed up ready to push themselves and grow.
- The SaaS Boardroom event team is completely dialed, at a level I’ve never seen before. One of the things I admire most about Dan is that he truly walks the walk. In a world where internet gurus spew advice with little to back it up, this man is relentlessly dedicated to living into his ideals. This is evident in the way his team operates, and perhaps more importantly, the way they respect him. Their professionalism was next-level. From a speaker’s perspective, we often have to spend a lot of time and energy making sure things are handled in order to deliver a world-class presentation – and that often means shouldering some of the coordination. Not so at Boardroom. The process was so well handled that I could completely sit back and enjoy the event – a total breath of fresh air.
- I was introduced to the work of fellow speaker and beautiful soul, Philip Sheperd. We were fortunate enough to get to spend 3 hours in an interactive workshop learning his embodiment practices and I cannot fully express how unique and amazing this experience truly was. We often hear about how we live in our head and need to get out of our head and into our body – but Philip’s take is a little more nuanced. He practices a concept called Radical Wholeness (and authored this book of the same name.) I’m a long-time practitioner of mindfulness and meditation, and it’s not often that I am so profoundly shifted by a new technique or practice. This soft-spoken, yet incredibly powerful and thoughtful man is a true gem and I can’t wait to dive into his book.
Finally, I learned (again, for the 500th time) that no matter how successful, no matter how many zeroes are in our bank account, all of us have some sort of money stories that show up in ways that keep us from living our best life.
When I facilitated my workshop with this group, I was amazed at how quickly they were willing to open up and examine their beliefs. But when we dove in, it was shockingly predictable.
Ultimately, the more I do this work, the more I realize that we all share so much more in common than we think. The fact is, no matter how much you make, you can’t outrun a poor relationship with money.
At my first retreat, two attendees stood in stark contrast. One was making $16MM a year – but spending $17MM. The other had just sold his company for a similar sum – but it was all sitting in a bank account. The room was shocked when he revealed his greatest fear: that he wouldn’t be able to send his kids to college.
All of us fall somewhere between these two on the spectrum of abundance and scarcity. And all of us have some sort of belief that we inherited as a child, or perhaps from early adulthood, that shapes our relationship with money in irrational ways.
The trick, though, is not getting rid of these beliefs. That’s a trap. Ideally, we are able to recognize when we are being driven by our subconscious and step back and choose whether or not these patterns are serving us.
And that, my friends, is the true work. There are reasons we don’t follow all of the great advice out there – because our rational mind is rarely in charge.
If information was all that we needed to become wealthy, there would be a lot more rich people.
So here’s to digging in and exploring our relationship to money – and the deep-seated beliefs that we may not even be aware of.
Stay curious my friends,
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