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A
John Asarav, thank you for being here.
B
Hey Aaron, great to be here.
A
We're here. We're here. John, what is. I'm going to start with a light, a light lift of a question. What is, from your perspective, the root of human suffering or the most prominent root? I'm sure it's a nuanced question and there's many roots, but if you had to, what comes to you in that question?
B
The first word that comes to me is ignorance.
A
Say more.
B
Not knowing. So when we talk about suffering, obviously it's an emotion, it's a feeling, it's a state of mind and being. And the average person who hasn't been trained on awareness, on choice, on technique and tools keeps repeating that rumination of either being the victim, being in pain and focusing on the pain, looking outside of themselves for a solution over and over and over again and playing the whether it's blame, whether it's self justification. And they sometimes, I've discovered, don't realize that they're the ones that may be causing the suffering and they don't know how to interrupt that pattern.
A
Why is it so attractive to look outside of the self for solutions? Is that just being logical and pragmatic? I would imagine the best approach to getting what it is you desire is a combination of an inside job and also, you know, the external work.
B
Well, it is however, you know, when we were born, we weren't born with any beliefs. We weren't born with a self image or an identity. We weren't born with any skills, maybe propensities, yes, but not skills. We weren't born to be self reflective, you know, or to, you know, look outside. So we were taught by mostly our parents, our teachers. Look at him, look at her, look at that. They gave us the meanings of things and we developed these habitual ways of behaving. We developed these expectation points, we developed this map of reality. And because of, you know, our lives for so many of our grandparents and parents and beyond was, you know, based on hear, see, smell, taste, touch, you know, senses. We weren't taught to use intuition. We weren't taught to be introspective or introspective. Introspective. So I think it's just a learned behavior. Like just about everything we believe about the world is something that we learned. How we react or respond is something we learn. And so that's why I say ignorance. Ignorance doesn't mean somebody is stupid. Ignorance just means somebody doesn't know. It's not known. So I think they don't know that they can stop the suffering. They don't know that they can stop believing that they're not good enough or worthy enough or smart enough or capable enough.
A
Yeah, you are a person who has, you're obviously a very aspirational figure to many people. I don't know you on like a personal level, but from your accolades and many businesses, multimillion dollar businesses and many New York Times best selling books and you're a very prominent voice in the world. So you have a lot of reason probably to feel well resourced and safe and fulfilled, at least from an external perspective. I don't know about the internal world as much. I don't know you personally. How often, if ever do you experience at this stage in your life existential crisis, Sensations of void, sensations of dissonance, sensations of who am I? What is the point of anything you look at, Like Robin Williams for example, looking from the outside in, like, how could he end up where he did? You know? So how, how often, if ever do you experience sensations of dissonance within yourself? And, and if, if and when that does happen, how do you approach that and what's that experience like?
B
Great question. I think it might be worthwhile to go back in time a little bit. Then I'll come back to the present moment when my parents moved from Israel, where I was born, to Montreal. I was five and spoke Hebrew but didn't speak English or French, which is what they spoke in Montreal. And we moved to a town where a lot of immigrants were being allowed into Montreal at the time, back in the late 60s, 70s and, and I quickly fell behind by two years in school and didn't think I was smart enough or good enough. And so I got into trouble in school. Then when I was 13, 14, 15, all the way to 18, I was in either detention centers, the principal's office at the police station because I was selling drugs, doing drugs, doing breaking and entries and part of a small little gang that got into a lot of trouble.
A
Sounds like a good, sounds like a good time, man. Time.
B
It was a good time.
A
Sounds like an exciting, you know, there's something, you know, that like the excite. I wonder what you were looking for in that moment. Were you looking for excitement? Were you looking to like run? Like, what do you think you, your young self was looking for in this situations?
B
I was looking to fit in. I was looking to belong. I was looking to make some money. My father was a alcoholic, abusive cab driver and beat the hell out of me because my personal horrific grades, like F'S were my best grades. So I got beaten up a lot by him. Lots of love for my mother. And by grade 11, I'd failed English, failed math, failed a whole bunch of stuff. And I just said, the hell with it. I'm leaving school. And so that was kind of like my. My beginning. And so the journey has been from the age of 19, I met a mentor who took a liking to me and decided to share, you know, his life lessons with me. And he put me on a. On a spiritual path of, of self reflection and understanding, identity and self image and self worth and beliefs and habits and. And a lot about that. So now to your question. I never feel. Who am I? I never feel like, you know, life is. Is too hard. I've had. I've made money, lost money. I've been through two divorces, been happily married with my wife and together for 25 years, got two amazing sons. I've got business success, I've got business failures. And I do experience dissonance. And sometimes I still feel like, God, am I still not smart enough to do this? I never feel anymore that I don't deserve it. I never feel anymore that I'm not worthy of it. But I still feel like I have big goals and dreams, stuff that I want to achieve and accomplish before I die. And some of it's really complex. And so I go, oh, my God, that's like, so hard. But I've also had enough hard to know that I can figure it out. And if I can't figure it out, I can find people to help me figure it out. And now in the world we live in, I can chatgpt to figure it out. I can Gemini or I can cloud or I can deep seek, you know, and figure it out now, faster, easier, better than ever before. So even though I may feel a certain way, I am no longer governed by the disempowering, destructive or negative emotions anymore because I understand what's triggering them. And this goes back to. In the absence of understanding awareness, then we default back to our highest level of training. And if we are not trained to understand that I have emotions, I'm not emotions, I have feelings, but I'm not my feelings. And just like a Hollywood actor or actress can switch how they're feeling and their state of being in a second. So could you and I. Yeah, there's.
A
A bit from Ram Dass that you probably have heard is my guess, or some iteration of it, but that he hasn't lost a neurosis of all of his collection of Neurosis, if that is the plural form of neurosis. They're not. They're all still there. It's just now he can kind of manage them and they sit around the table and they can have tea together and they're like oh, like hey, you know, whichever. Pick a neurosis. Pick something that creates some type of anxiety or, you know, since this unfavorable sensation within you. And I think that people can place themselves into a double bind because we, you know, these people probably doing this forever, but we have this pedestalized concept or conceptualization or idea of people out there. And I think it's actually some form of violence in a way to infuse a facade of perfection into culture. If a person has a voice, because I think it can create a sensation. Obviously it's each person's individual responsibility for what they feel. And you can't. Anything, anyone can't do anything to you. But I feel like there's like this game we're playing of trying to appear to be all put together. And I wonder is. Is. Does any person get to a point where they actually are resolved with all of the neuros and they're just not there? Or is it just a thing of management? That's a very long non question. I apologize.
B
Behind me you might see Frankie's monster up there. And you see Einstein. These are the Stein cousins. And the reason they're behind me is to remind me that I have this. Frankie's monster.
A
Right, exactly.
B
Frankie's monster that shows up. What if you fail? What if you don't look good? What if you don't sound good? What if you succeed in the film? What if you are embarrassed, ashamed, ridiculed, judged, rejected, abandoned? Like what if. And then I've got this other part of my brain. And we know these as the left and right prefrontal cortexes in the brain. But I have this imagination of what I want my life to be like and how many people I want to help. And people loving me and caring about me and loving my books and my work and my movies and all that stuff. And there's this polarity, right? And that's the law of polarity. You cannot have one without the other. Now you can quiet Frankie's voice down, all right? By learning, you know, before we, we started talking, we did a little breathing, right? We, we. We got centered into ourselves. Well, I meditate every day for the last probably 35 years. And that is to be able to be still and hear the thoughts that I have. And some Days I'll sit there and. And I can go blank like no thought. I can fly from here to Miami where you are, and I can meditate the whole way there without a thought. Other days my brain is just going, firing on all cylinders and I can quiet that sucker down. And you learn to accept that moment is perfect. And you can learn to observe the thoughts, you can learn to observe the sensations in your body. And then you can learn to shift your attention and your focus. But it's practice that most people don't want to do. It's like everybody wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to die, you know. And so I happen to be willing to invest in micros, time, energy, money, mistakes, failures for the lessons so that I could just get better at the game. And I look at life, health, wealth, relationships, career, business, finances, fun experiences, contribute. They're all games. And I wrote my first book called Having it All. Came in New York Times bestseller because I wanted to achieve all. Now that doesn't mean I haven't failed. Sometimes when I've made a small fortune. I've been the unhealthiest I've been in my life because I was so focused on that. I got to 243 pounds, 33% body fat, borderline diabetic, alcoholic, sugaraholic, fatty liver, like going health in the wrong direction. Like, whoa, whoa. I'm way out of, you know, integrity of my values. So I had a chance to recalibrate and retool and recalibrate. And for me anyway, I've been retooling and recalibrating all the time. Now I have some practices that have been my cornerstone or keystone practices that when I keep those, it seems like everything else works. When I don't keep those, it seems like everything else suffers too. And one of them is my meditation and some breathing as we did before.
A
What are the mechanics of your meditation? What's the time? What's the intention? Does it have a name?
B
No, does not have a name. It's my time to sit and be. So I do that on a regular basis, at least 20 minutes every morning, at least 10 minutes at the end of the day. And I group my meditation with what I call is my inner size practice. So I have been, except when I was really out of shape, you know, somebody who stayed active most of his life. And I still do. And I'm in probably the best shape of my adult life at 63 now. I have a better physique than I've ever had at 63 with the best Body fat percentage and, and, and, and all that. But my inner size practice is a way to prime and train my brain, in addition to training my body and my cardiovascular system, et cetera. And so I look at what are all the different tools and techniques. So in the morning, for example, right here in front of me, I have something called my Exceptional Life Blueprint. And in my Exceptional Life Blueprint, I have every single part of my life written out for health, wealth, relationships, career, business, finances, my story. I back everything up with things I've achieved, things I've been, things I want to achieve with my vision board imprint what I want to trade my life for in each one of these areas. So I'm very, very deliberate on picking what I want to trade my life for. And then every day, I invest about 7, 8 minutes priming my brain with my inner sizes, whether it's doing a visualization on something or doing some affirmations or some cognitive behavior techniques to wire, fire and wire those neural patterns into my brain, which then governs my behavior.
A
What would be an example of the cognitive behavioral technique that you would do?
B
Yeah, so a CBT technique might be something like taking something that may be bothering me. Okay. So what might be bothering me, you know, something that's going on in my life. And using cbt, a cognitive behavior therapy technique is called reframing it. So I would ask myself, how can I see this thing that might be bugging me, this person that might be bugging me, this result that might be bugging me? How can I look at it from a different perspective? How could I reappraise it in a way that empowers me instead of disempowers me? So I'm looking to change my perspective, not my perception. Right. My perception is what I'm looking at. But I'm looking to use CBT cognitive behavior technique to be able to change my perspective. And you had mentioned Ram Dass earlier, but let's go to Wayne Dyer. Wayne Dyer said many, many years ago, he said, when you change the way you look at something, the thing that you look at changes. So I can use a kind of behavior. Right. My cognition, looking at it a different way. And I change the perspective, which changes the emotion, which changes how I feel.
A
We do that with people all the time.
B
Yeah.
A
It's called the unnecessary psychological term that's been coined for that is called the Pygmalion effect. The way that we perceive someone, actually. We start to highlight and draw out those characteristics within them.
B
Yeah. So we'll always find the good or the bad or the indifferent in somebody or in ourselves? And so how can you be aware? And then how can you shift so you're empowered instead of disempowered? And a lot of it is around, can I manage my. My mental and emotional and physiological state? And if I can manage my state, then I can manage my behavior. If I can manage my behavior and I'm doing the right things, I could achieve just about everything that's, you know, possible for me to achieve. So I'm very, very big on being deliberate on what I do or don't do. And so I take the time to, you know, to write my blueprint and to be very, very diligent and then to back it up with different behaviors on a daily basis to reinforce more of what I want. And so do I have negative thoughts? Of course I do. You know, the Average person has 6,200 thoughts a day. 80% of the average person's thoughts are negative, and 90% are repeated day after day after day. So how do you go from 80% automatic negative thoughts or ants to more automatic positive thoughts?
A
How do you define. Because you were in the documentary the Secret, which obviously has been viewed by a lot of people, and there's a lot of people that would roll their eyes at the concept of hearing the Secret, and there's a lot of people that base their life around the Secret. How do you define the concept of manifestation? Want to take a moment and share a little bit about digestion? You know, it's crazy. You could be eating all the right foods for your New Year's resolution, but if your body isn't properly breaking them down, you are literally flushing money down the toilet. That's where mass Zymes by bioptimizers comes in. This isn't just another digestive enzyme. We're talking about a powerhouse supplement with 100,000 units of protein digesting enzymes per capsule. If you're hitting the gym and upping your protein intake for those 225 gains, Massymes will help you actually absorb those expensive protein shakes and meal prep containers you're investing in. Users report better digestion, increased energy, and faster muscle recovery. Plus no more feeling bloated and sluggish after meals, which is exactly what you don't need when you're trying to stick to those New Year's fitness goals. For exclusive offer, go to buyoptimizers.com/align and use promo code align10 for 10% off. That's buyoptimizers.com/align use code align10 for 10%.
B
Off very differently than how most people define it. So the Secret was a wonderful movie that talked about a little bit of Napoleon Hill's work. And think, believe and you'll achieve. And I say bullshit. You don't just think, you don't just believe. You don't just achieve. You have to think, yes, you've got to believe, but you've got to then take the right action in the right order at the right time to achieve the thing that you want to achieve. So manifestation isn't something that just pops out of thin air, you know, and lands on your lap just because you've thought it or you've willed it to be by meditating or breathing or chanting or rubbing crystals together. But if it's true that we are vibrating packets of energy called quanta, which we are, and we are energetic beings, and if it's true that we have this intuition that picks up on the vibration of other people, animals, we can walk into a room, no word is said, and we know something's wrong or something's funny that's just been said. So we can pick up on vibration, we can pick up on energy. Contrary to popular belief, you know, not everything in the universe is energy. But that's a deeper discussion for another day. But I like to think of, you know, manifesting as being in resonance, you know, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically and strategically with that which you seek, desire, want, etc. And I think our job is to use this hundred billion dollar brain of ours, which is nothing more than electromagnetic switching station. Our brain takes light in through our eyes, actually slows it down from the speed of light at 186,000 miles per second. It actually slows down light once our processor is processing it so it can decipher what it is very, very rapidly. Our job is to be able to transmit and receive information, energy information that aligns with the vision of goals that we want. So we have to learn, like a radio can tune into a specific channel. 95.2. Oh, that's rock and roll in Miami. Oh, you want, you want classical? I'll go to 95.3. Every time we tune into one station, we distort, delete all the other stations that are already here. And so manifestation is the alignment of your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions and your behaviors with that which you seek. And if you get in alignment with those things that you want, you end up, oh my God, she likes that. He likes that. We start to see everything that's in alignment with that and at certain times, and I've had some just hyper mysterious things happen. Like my vision board that I had of the house that I cut out from a dream Homes magazine. Didn't know where it was, didn't know how much it was. I would look at that vision board every day for a few years. We put the vision boards away. When I moved to several different cities, I ended up in the house that was on my vision board that I had no idea where it was. And that was part of my story in the Secret. It wasn't a house. Like was the house. And I was like, how in the world did that happen? So that's a mystery that nobody knows the answers to. And I have been studying quantum physics and quantum mechanics and neuroscience and neuropsychology and law of attractional resonance and all the way back in time. And there. There isn't an answer of how it was that I had a picture on that magazine, that I ended up buying it. Now I have a picture of a car on my blueprint that I put up, like, four years ago. That car is sitting in my garage. But I deliberately said, that's the car. Worked my ass off, you know, and bought the thing that I wanted to. But the house, I still cannot explain, you know, but I busted my ass to be able to afford a house like that. I had no intention of moving to that little town that it's in, Rancho Santa Fe, which is literally 10 minutes from where I am now. So there's something more than what I've just explained to some unexplainable things of how that was possible. But what I can tell you, in studying performance and studying manifestation and attraction and strategies and tactics to build companies or build my life, there's a lot of work that has gone into achievement. And sometimes things were like, wow, really easy. But the majority of the time, there was a lot of effort, a lot of trial and tribulation, you know, to get to that part where things are just magically working.
A
Yeah. Do you experience fulfillment with regularity? And what do you think about the concept of fulfillment? Is fulfillment? Is there any static state of fulfillment that exists? Is that even healthy?
B
I made a decision many years ago to trade my life based on my highest values. So I have five core high values. Number one, God, I'm not religious. Number two is my health, which is spiritual, emotional, mental and physical. Number three is my family. Number four is contribution. Number five is fun and experiences. And every decision in my life is based on doing those five things first and all the time. So I experience an enormous amount of fulfillment, impact, influence, purpose and meaning because I'm very deliberate on how I get it. So, yeah, I experience an enormous amount of fulfillment.
A
Seems like, yeah, it seems like as you're speaking, a lot of, it's like you get what you asked for. And the analogy of a, a cork floating around the ocean compared to a ship, they both go for a trip, but the ship goes to Antarctica and then it goes to South America and then it goes to India and it's got coordinates. And ultimately at the end of the lives of both the cork and the ship, they both essentially just floated around the ocean. Just one chose the path. And it seems like that's something that. Why do you think it's so challenging for people to choose the path or trust they have the agency to choose a path?
B
Yeah, I'm going to go back just one step and say we don't always get what we choose. Sometimes we get what we need.
A
Do you think we always get what we need? Is there any availability for it?
B
Depends. If we're looking at it myopically, like right this second, looking at it over time, it's so much easier, as Steve Jobs said, to connect the dots backwards and go, oh wow, that awful, horrible thing that I hated, drove me nuts on the inside, was actually one of the best, best things that ever happened to me. But you can only see that later. So, so we'll come, we'll come back to that. What was the second part of that question that I, that you asked?
A
Why is it that so like the average person, I don't remember the statistic exactly, but 40 plus percent of Americans can't afford a surprise, whatever it is. $500 bill. And so obviously, at least for a very, you know, big chunk of this country doesn't seem like they're getting what they're asking for, for the most part. So something's awry in that. Why is that?
B
I teach a bunch of my students how to win the game of money. And money has several components to it, so I'll just give you some examples. In the game of money, there's earning money, there's managing, there's investing, there's protecting, and there's getting out of debt and, or using debt as leverage. So those are five pillars in this game of money. And your skill is what's required to play the game better like any sport. Right. And you can either play at the kindergarten level, grade school level, high school level, university level, pro level, all star team hall of fame. Right. And so let's talk about money. And in one of the courses that I teach, one of the questions I start off with is, forget about your current situation. Is there more than enough money in the world, right, in the form of coins, bitcoins, this coin, that coin, buildings, real estate, gold assets, is there more enough money? And everybody says, yeah, there's more than enough money. Okay, great. And then if there's more than enough money, what could be preventing you from having the money you. You want? Right? And, and we say, okay, well, let's understand, what is money? Did we always have money from the beginning of time? And the answer is no.
A
Right?
B
But what happened is, you know, we had little pockets of people living on the, on the banks of the river, fishing and eating and foraging for, you know, for some vegetables and, and berries and eating. And. And then, you know, another group came by next to them, and they were really good at hunting. Another group was great at, at picking berries or whatever. And they started to exchange, you know, berries for this and that. And as, as people started coming from different parts of the world to their part of the world, they exchanged spices. So money became an idea, and money was a tool that became a means of exchange. And then we developed this entire commerce world around, hey, I'll give you this pen for a dollar, but you also need to give me that handkerchief, you know, and we started to create this value system. And the question then becomes, is, are you providing the value you want in the marketplace in order to warrant somebody wanting to trade the thing that they work hard for in the store, in the company or in their business for that thing that you offer? Because the marketplace establishes value, right? So somebody who's a coach, like me or you, we can get better at our craft. And just like an athlete who's really good at her, you know, at her skills in her sport, gets paid based on the skill and the value she brings in. Or a CEO, you know, or a worker is a graphic artist or somebody who's good with AI gets paid by the marketplace. In essence, we pay ourselves based on how good we are with our program, product, skill, tool, resource, and bring it to the Marketplace either to one person, 10 people, 100 people, a million people. So it's based on your knowledge and your skill applied. So if you're don't understand how to earn money, your level of skill is at the level of what you're earning right now, or you have the skill, but you don't believe you're worthy of it, so you will sabotage it, or you have the Skill, but you have limiting beliefs or you have a skill, but you have a fear of failing or being embarrassed or ashamed or ready to judge or. But now we're still getting back into the domain of I'm responsible if I don't know how to get rid of my limiting beliefs, if I don't know how to manage my emotions called fear, if I don't feel I'm worthy of it or deserving it because and I have a story, I'm not going to earn the money that's readily available. And some 12 year old kid who's using AI now to create an app makes a million bucks a month and you're wanting, oh, how does, how's he doing it? Right? Well, he's taking action. He is, he's taking risk, he's taking action, he's not afraid of failing. And so there are four different reasons people do not achieve their goals. There's only four categories and I've mentioned them. If you don't have the knowledge and the skill, then you have doubt and uncertainty. When you have doubt and uncertainty, the motivational center in your brain deactivates. If you have a fear of being embarrassed, ashamed, ridiculed, judged, failing, disappointed, whatever fear you might have, your motivational circuit in most cases is deactivated and you either fight it, freeze, or you run away. If you have a limiting belief that because of my age or my ethnicity or because of the government or this guy's in power, this guy's not, or, or this is happening, or that's happening, your brain basically makes that your reality and you behave in accordance with what you believe. And so there are the mechanisms of why we're achieving or not achieving the results we want. I'm going to go back to where we started. Most people do not understand themselves well enough. They haven't done a deeper dive than the surface, you know, to say, well, why am I not earning 2 or 3 or 4x? Like what's the real reasons? And all of it's going to come back in most cases to me. And so then what has to happen in order for me to get better so that I could earn more, I could be in great shape, I can have a great relationship, I can build a company or write that book or build an app or get a promotion. What has to happen for me to change so that my outer world of result changes? And most people are looking out there and I say, that's like going to the mirror right now, Aaron taking a rag and wiping the mirror off, expecting your mustache and your beard to go away. The only way, what changes in the mirror, the effect. Get a razor blade, get some shaving cream, or don't start with a razor blade. Get one of the electric razors and you shave off and then you finish it off with a razor. So it comes back down to me and me being able to respond, you know, in the market, in my life, in my world, in a more empowering way. Because every effect, how much you weigh, how much body fat you have, the relationship you love or don't love, the business you have or don't have, it's an effect. All of that is an effect. And so the question becomes, well, what's the cause of my effect and the cause of my effects?
A
Well, what is the cause of my effects for you? I don't interrupt you.
B
The cause of my effects are the actions I take or don't take, right actions I take or don't take, and whether the right ones are the wrong ones. But that's also a secondary reason. The number one reason is my habits, my self image, my self worth, my beliefs, and my ability or inability to manage my emotions. If we take a look at cause versus effect behaviors, of course, cause what I achieve or don't achieve, what I have or don't have. Not taking action is a behavior. Taking actions of behavior, taking the right or wrong action makes a big difference, too. So no differently than if we're going to, you know, bake a chocolate cake, flour, sugar, eggs, milk, in a, you know, mix it up in a bowl, put it into the oven for a certain period of time, let it cool for a certain period of time, put some frosting on it. What if you put the ingredients in the wrong order in the bowl? You don't get the cake. What if you miss a few ingredients? Well, you don't get the chocolate cake. What if you cook it too long or not long enough, you don't get the outcome you want. So we're dealing with a precision model that most people don't know the precision model. And even if they do, it's like, oh, my God, I got to do that.
A
I want to take a moment and share about something. I have found to be very supportive for the health and vitality and elasticity of my skin. Because I have a secret to share. I have been aging. It's been happening pretty much every day for a long time. I haven't talked about it, but I want to share about it now. It's happening. Got some pros feed, see some grays popping out every now and again, I partnered with a company I am a huge fan of, referred to as One Skin. They are fantastic. One of the reasons I like them is they use a specific proprietary peptide referred to as OS1, which is the first ingredient scientifically prov. Proven to reverse skin's biological age. Their ingredients are fantastic. There's no fragrance in parabens, sulfates, stuff like that. They don't even use essential oils or silicones, colorants, drying alcohols, gluten, none of that stuff. And I've been finding that to be really supportive. I will use the face topical supplement in the morning and in the evening I'll do one to two pumps of that. I'm also a fan of the Alpha Eye topical supplement for things like crow's feet. I also feel it is supportive if you have bags under the eyes. Things of the sort. Helps tighten the skin up, makes you look more cute. If you guys are interested in stepping up your own skin game, I cannot recommend One skin enough. I think these. These guys are amazing. These gals, I should say. It's founded by four brilliant female PhD level scientists with more than 15 years of experience in stem cell biology, skin regeneration and aging research. And so if you guys want to step up your own skin game, jump over to Oneskin Co Align. Use code align for 15% off your first purchase. That is OneSkin Co align. Use code align for 15% off your first purchase. I have full faith Oneskin will not disappoint. Yeah, it seems like that's. This is a big part of why I think relationships are so challenging and also accelerating in growth is it actually provides a. Well, maybe it's not always honest, but some form of reflection. And it seems like relationship, like romantic relationship or not. It seems like the writing would probably be a powerful tool and probably writing in an honest way, because I feel like days can slip away from us and habits can perpetuate themselves and become more deeply ingrained. And there needs to be a strong pattern interrupt. And there needs to be accountability and visibility on who the fuck we really are and who we say we are and who we say we would like to be. And in creating clear differentiation between that and then action steps forward. But to do that, you might have to be really honest. And to be really honest, it might be embarrassing and it might be uncomfortable. And you might have to, you know, feel small temporarily, to feel big, to be big.
B
Well. And what ha. What I think can help is what's more important for me, for me to really live my truth and authentic self and Go through the discomfort initially to get deeper into myself so I can be the best version of myself. And I'm going to go back to. That means I have to learn how to manage these automatic emotions that are going to come up based on what did you, what did you hear about discovering that you're really not that sensitive or discovering that you're really not that smart in figuring out this thing. Like we all have these meanings, you know, that in many cases will disempower us. So why do we want to disempower ourselves even more and affect the self image? That's already part of the challenge. What will, what will you think of me and she think of me and he think of me? And what will I think of me if I discover I'm not that good at that? And I'm like. Because I'm going to look at the things I'm not good at, I'm going to look at the deficiencies, Right? But what if you just came to this conclusion that I have a lot of deficiencies and I'm okay with them. Part of being human is being, you know, being able to surrender and allow and accept without judgment, without blame, without shame, without guilt, without justification and say, I'm really awful at that, but you know what? I'm really good at that. And understanding the human condition is you're not supposed to be good at all of it. And very, very few people, if anybody's even remotely close.
A
I think something that is very elusive for a lot of people is the concept of wealth creation and coming out of a place of hand to mouth getting by. You know, it would be great if I had an extra, you know, whatever, 10 grand in the bank or something to coming into a place of wealth creation and then maybe eventually coming to a place of generational wealth creation. How does a person start to change their mindset? And also, what are some action steps that were not taught in grade school or by most of our parents or folks, unless we were lucky enough to have that, that would be important for people to know.
B
So you said earlier I wanted to add one piece to it. Then we're talking about the money story first and foremost as it relates to habits, consistency compounds consistently thinking negatively of yourself compounds consistently thinking positive yourself compounds consistently doing the right things compounds consistently doing the wrong thing compounds and it has an exponential effect when we look at a year, five years, 10 years, I mean, insane, because we reinforce what we reinforce. Okay, so that's one. But let's go number two. Since we weren't born with any beliefs about money, with any expectations about money, with any goals about money, with any money skills on managing, investing, protecting, earning. We've developed something which is probably one of the most intimate relationships we have and it's with money, right? We, we need it to eat for the most part. Most of us, we need it to pay for our rent or homes or cars and gas and clothes. And we, we need money. Not, not everybody in the world needs money, but most of us in the, you know, in the world need money. So we have this story about money. Is it easy to make? Is it hard to make? Is it easy to keep? Is it hard to keep? Can I make it, you know, in, in hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars? Easily. But tens or hundreds or millions is hard. It becomes part of our story. I'm good enough to achieve money. I'm not good enough to achieve money. I deserve it. I don't deserve it. There's this whole cacophony of story that we have that ties directly to our identity, right? So what if, what if, just as a, a fun exercise, what if we deliberately chose, since we didn't choose our money story deliberately and the associations that we have around money because many of us got our, our money story from our parents, many of us and their relationship with money and, and how they viewed, had, didn't have money. Earlier today I did a two hour training just on this topic. And I asked people, There was about 200 and some odd people in the audience and I asked them, I said, what was your relationship with money growing up? Positive, negative, empowering, disempowering? What are some of the things you heard about money? And 99% of the people that answered it was negative didn't have enough. You know, what were some of the things you heard? What do you think? We are the Rothschilds? Money doesn't grow on trees. Money's the root of all ev. Just like, like, no wonder most people are broke. But what if, what if we started and we wrote out a new money story now? What if it went something like this? I'm so happy and grateful for the fact that I am now earning fill in the amount X per month, per year. I'm now serving people. I'm now loving my life. I now believe I deserve it. I'm smart enough, I'm good enough, I'm worthy enough. I'm now traveling to here and here and here. And I drive this car and I give this amount of time to charity and, and I give this amount of money to the charities. What If I wrote out a whole new story of what, what it feels like, what the character traits are now for earning, managing, investing, protecting. What if I wrote a whole new story now? And what if I wrote a whole new story as if I was writing a present tense story for a new Hollywood script for Steven Spielberg and Stephen was going to go and get an actor to play this role of the new money story that you created, what would be the process that the actor he chose or actress, actor would become that script before filming time?
A
Very high. It would just necessitate trust. And you're getting a guarantee in that. And I think a lot of people are operating from a place of a lack of trust or a lack of faith.
B
Okay, so let's flip this around for just a moment. What if Steven Spielberg paid you to write the story and then to practice it enough so that six to 12 months from now he could film you and this five minute segment. What would you do to take this script that's not real right now about this fictional character? What would you do to embody that script, that role? Would you like read it once?
A
Yeah, I would visualize. I would rehearse acting it out. I'd rehearse internally. I would really take on the role in my life.
B
And so would you practice for a minute or two a day?
A
No, I would practice probably. If I had the commitment that this was going to be the thing that, you know, pulls a lever for everything else, then I would just pour my entire self into it.
B
Right. So you would become the role and you might film it on your mobile phone. You might have friends come and watch you practice while you're reading the script and, and having the, the emotion and the incantations. And then you might film yourself without the script. And over the course of one week, three weeks, you probably feel uncomfortable. Oh my God, I'm like that good as I can't remember the roles. But then with rehearsal, whether it's mental, emotional, whether you read the script, you filmed the script, you recorded and listened to it, wouldn't you in essence be firing brain cells and wiring brain cells in your brain as if you're learning a new language that you didn't know how to speak. And then wouldn't that new language become second nature if you practiced it enough?
A
Yeah.
B
Oh, so you could practice a role like you would math or putting on your clothes as a toddler, or learning how to eat or anything else. And then as I practice this new role, and since you said visualization, I would say visualization is a Mental and emotional simulation practice creates permanent patterns.
A
It's a physical simulation as well.
B
Yes.
A
As you're saying. Yeah.
B
So what happens when I practice something that's new, a new story that's not real, but I add the emotions and the commitment to making it real. There's something in the brain called automaticity. And what happens is if I do something enough, remember, consistency compounds if I do anything enough, read it, watch it, listen to it, act in ways like that. Then our brain says, hey, you seem to be putting a lot of energy and attention on this and it's taking a lot of your effort. Since you're doing that, I'm going to actually automate this and I'm going to make this the new default story. And if you keep practicing this, I'm just going to reinforce it. I'm going to find ways to reinforce it. So I've been doing this for 40 some odd years and I can take you to the story of my life right over here and I could take you to the second page of that and I could take you to my big why I'm doing. I could take you to my inner and outer mission all written out. Why? Because first I create my story and then my story creates me. So none of this was true for me. None of it. I committed to the process.
A
Yeah. There was something that you. I really like that Anel. I've heard you, I've heard you say that before and it was, it was something that struck me as something like, oh yeah, like interesting. Yeah. If I had the faith that I was going to get the thing, then I would commit myself 100% to the thing. And I think a lot of it for people. And then there's another thing you're big on as, as people can notice, you're big on language and specificity within language. And one of the things that I wrote that I've heard you say as well is around motivation. And the foundation of motivation is motive. And I think that that is something that for a lot of people, myself included, at times I kind of oscillate with this. Having a sincere enough motivation outside of just your own self interest, I think is something that probably a lot of people are not fully equipped with and that I think comes into faith and probably comes into things that are taught in books that are thousands of years old and drawing your focus outside of yourself and having a motive that actually feels sincere and actually feels worthwhile, having a wife, having kids, having something like for a lot of people that suddenly they have a child, something Switches like, oh, okay, this matters and shit gets real and we really start moving forward and we become a ship. So, yeah, some people don't. But I think that, to me, I feel like that's a really important piece of the. Do you have a motivation or a motive robust enough to actually create commitment?
B
Yeah. So do you remember earlier I said there's like, four things that will stand in your way? Self image, fears, limiting beliefs, lack of knowledge and skills. You have to create a compelling reason why you must do something, achieve something, become something that is bigger than why you're not. I'm afraid of failing. Great. What are you more afraid of failing? Or look at yourself at 50 years old going, oh, my God, I wasted my life. Which do you. Right? So I love to create contrast frames.
A
Yeah, you have to put yourself. You have to put yourself there. Yeah, you got to feel it all the way because if you push it away, it'll sneak up on you and you're like, ah, shit, don't feel it.
B
Now it's so easy. Our brain will actually take the path of least resistance. And there's also something else I teach called the law of secondary gain is when I stay in my comfort zone or my familiarity zone, I'm actually getting rewarded. I get rewarded for staying safe. I get rewarded for staying okay in my comfort zone. I get rewarded for playing the game I'm playing because it's familiar. And even if there's pain associated with what I'm doing, mental pain, financial pain, at least I know it. So there's certainty, and I love certainty. So you mentioned something about faith. And I want to just make sure that people understand. Faith is acting in the absence of your own facts. It's trusting. And this is where I go into, you know, a little bit like, do you know what you are? Right? Do you know what you are. Just remember, right, that faith is the absence of fact. That's why we have faith. We believe in something other than our own fact. But that also then brings me to. Do you believe that we live in an intelligent universe? Do you believe that the answers to just about whatever we want are here? The people, the tools, the resources. The path is here. I just need to find it. And if I have faith, all right, that I can find it. If I have faith that I can figure it out. If I can have faith that somebody will have the answer. If I can have faith, I can, you know, use AI right now to help me, then I can act in spite of not having the individual visceral fact that I may need. So I have to act in the absence. Okay. Of everything being in place. And that's faith.
A
Yeah, that's probably a big lift for a lot of people to come into that place than being able to do that. What do you think? The biggest. And then we have to wrap up and I want to actually ask you a few questions around actually investing and your perspective of what's happening. So maybe since we are running out of time, what would advice your advice be for someone? It's Trump just got elected, it's January, whatever, almost February 2025. A lot of interesting things are happening. There's a suggestion of AI, you know, consuming everything that might put people into a really wild place of a meaning crisis. I borrowed that language from John Verbecky, past guest where suddenly we have a lot of jobs might be gone. So yeah, tech's blowing up. Crypto, you know, that seems there are suggestions of that blowing up. It seems like there's an immense amount of opportunity right now and there's also an immense amount of volatility. Simultaneously, I want to take a moment to share about some interesting technology that I have been utilizing to mitigate some of the negative effects from non native EMF exposure. Those are those tricky insidious frequencies that we're exposed to in the form of our wi fi routers and our cell phones and the five GS and all of the stuff that we're bombarded by in our modern world, world that I believe is making us sick. Leela Quantum technology, pretty interesting stuff. There has been 59 plus third party studies done on Lila Quantum products that have been shown to increase the production of adenosine triphosphate ATP, the energy currency in our bodies by 20 to 29% as well as boost mitochondrial health as well as boost our wound healing by 85 to 100%. I'm getting all of this research off of of their site which is all done by again third party studies. It's not actually done by the company, which I think is very important. They're also double blind studies. They are placebo controlled and it's interesting stuff. They have jewelry, there's a necklace that I enjoy wearing. They have clothing that is protective with EMF exposure as well, as well as these very interesting and esthetically pleasing blocks that you can have in your home. So if you're interested in checking this out yourself, giving it a try and getting 10% off, you can go to lelaq.com align for 10% off. If you do not notice a difference, then send it back, get your money back. But I think it's worth giving a shot. 10% off. Leela q l e-e l a q.com aligned.
B
So I've been studying AI for five years now. Kai Fu Lee, who is the head of Deep Seek and the investment arm for Deepseek, somebody I interviewed five years ago. That interview is on YouTube, on AI Superpowers, his book. So he opened my eyes up to AI. Been teaching it to my students for two and a half years now. So let's understand that the change that we have just entered is the greatest change in the history of humanity, period. We have gone from AI being the IQ of a chimpanzee to now AI having the IQ of Einstein in every single category, with the computational abilities of quantum computers that are millions of times more powerful than the most powerful computer we have today. Prior to Quantum computing, part one, part two, in the next 12 months, the Einstein level AI will be 10 times smarter and Einstein is going to be compared to the AI as a chimpanzee. That's the shift that we're having right now. And I'm talking about PhD level expertise in every single category ever created in written, audio, video, and every combination modality thereabouts in the history of mankind in the fingertips of every human being that has access to a mobile phone or a computer. Part one of that, part two. There's expected to be 70 to 90 million jobs lost in the next, they say five years, seven years, but. But they're also expecting 150 to 200 million new jobs to arise. So, okay, great, your job is in jeopardy, your business is in jeopardy. But it's also a time of great opportunity. We have just moved in AI from the generative AI space where you can use the tool to generate something, to what's known as agentic AI. That is a robot that'll do the darn thing for you. Write your copy. Robots will be cleaning your home, analyze your website, book your airline tickets, book your hotel. It'll do the work for you. So the question becomes is, are you going to learn how to use the tools better or will you become extinct and obsolete? Because the next generation after agentic AI is artificial general intelligence. And we're almost there. And that is what we all have to be aware of. Our lives as we know it has changed forever. And for some people, it'll be a tool of mass destruction of your life and business. That'll be a tool of mass construction. Now I'm going to go back to where we started earlier you get to choose. Am I going to learn how to use the tools to get ahead in health and wealth and relationships, career and business and learn how to use the tools, have the tools help me, or am I going to let somebody else use it? And I'm going to wonder what in the world happened. So in times of change, you know, was it what was the. Eric Hoffer says, in times of change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learners or while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped in a world that no longer exists. So here's what I'm doing. Here's what my students are doing. A minimum of 30 minutes a day retooling. I'm spending 10 hours a week on AI, learning it, using it. My whole company is moving to AI powered everything. And all my students in my business program, they're using that too. So now let's go to crypto. We'll go to investing. I don't own one piece of crypto. And when somebody that I have invested with, Warren Buffett says, like, I don't get it, I'm not putting any money in crypto. He might be old school and I'm probably old school. And I looked at crypto up until like recently as a high risk, volatile game. And I have made and lost small fortunes in making stupid, risky mistakes and moves in the past. So I'm risk averse at this stage of my life. I want to make sure that the money I have lasts me till the end of my life and has enough for the charities that we support. But I have investments in blockchain. I have investments in the infrastructure. We have investments In, I think 93 different companies right now as part of a VC firm that knows how to analyze these things better. I have clients who have made deca millions in crypto. I've had clients who made a fortune, then lost it, sold it at the bottom and lost the big rise back up. So we're in a very volatile time right now. And when you mentioned Trump and he's president now and he has his own coin and his wife Melania has a coin and it's worth billions of dollars and there's no valuation except he's Trump, I have a hard time understanding that there's value there.
A
No, there's no value there.
B
Well, yeah, yeah, like I would say.
A
I mean that value is 100% based off of the story there. There, there does. There is utility that exists based off of, you know, the experts that I talk to in something such as Bitcoin itself. And then people that I talk to the suggestion is kind of like pretty much everything that's not bitcoin because it's truly decentralized and all the different things is pretty much all shitcoins. I'm borrowing that from Robert Breedlove and other folks.
B
But yeah, and I've followed Michael Saylor and I think he's brilliant and he's putting his money and billions behind, you know, what he's doing. But, but I also take a look at, you know, you know, it's, it's a, you know, 70,000, that goes down to 19,000. You wait, you wait, you wait, you wait, you wait, you wait, you wait. That takes off to 109 and that goes back to 102 and that's 108 and it's 97 and that's volatile. So I think if you're going to get bitcoin, right, I think it's a long term play. And if you, you know, if you're thinking, you know, five years, 10 years, 20 years, I think that's probably a good, you know, good thing to consider. I also, when I teach my students about investing, I teach them three frames to consider, you know, when they're putting money into something. Number one, are you investing, are you speculating or are you gambling? So let's, let's define what you're actually doing.
A
All right.
B
At this stage of my life, I don't have much interest in gambling. Like, I mean, go to Vegas, I take a thousand dollars, I play $20 this and $15 that and 25, $50 that. But I don't have, like I've gambled before, I've lost a fucking fortune, you know, gambling, not like in Vegas, but gambling on this business and that business and this thing and that thing. And I've rarely won, but I've made a small fortune on investing and speculating and I've lost money in both of those, but nowhere near at the rate of gambling. I considered crypto gambling for a long, long time. Now I think it's a speculation if it's the right type of crypto.
A
If you were to not financial advice, create a financial portfolio for someone and be like commodities, equities, real estate, whatever yourself, like, what would you, how would you map out a portfolio for a person? Is there anything particularly that stands out? Because I know we have, you know, we're probably, we need to go like right now. So anything particular that stands out, that would be advice.
B
Real estate over time, which is my background, I had 85 offices and 1200 salespeople so, you know, I had a lot of real estate at one point, and real estate, you know, over time is great depending on your risk portfolio and the Standard and Poor's did well. Or if you can afford to invest in private equities, you know, private equities. If you could put my private equity firms, they will outperform, you know, most, most of the stock market portfolios, the S&P 500, et cetera. So I think it depends for each individual how old you are, whether you're playing a short game or a long game, you know, what's your risk tolerance. So I think everything has to be customized so that you feel you're getting what you need. You know, what I need at 63 is very, very different than somebody who's in their 20s or 30s and even 40s that might say, you know what, Listen, like, I happen to be in my prime earning years now, like, because I take the wisdom of 20, I've been in business now 44 years. And so I can take the wisdom of all the successes, the, you know, the ups, the downs of invested at 21% interest rates. I've bought real estate. You know, I've had portfolios, I've got VC fund I'm a part of. So I've see, I've seen all of it. I haven't seen crypto. So my investment portfolio is very, very different today because I am just looking to make sure that, you know, the money that I earn, I could spend all of it. The money that I have will take me till 111 years old. I think a diversified portfolio is the way to go because crypto may be hot right now, real estate may be low right now. Real estate and crypto were pretty good right now. So I think if you have an interest, whatever you have an interest in that you're willing to go deeper. You know, if you're going to do it yourself, especially that's where you should be investing. Or you have professional people who have got a track record of a lot of years. And, you know, I'm going to, we're talking about investing, say, you know, stop using emotion to invest and, and make a decision. Am I gambling, speculating or investing? And how am I going to come up with how I'm going to define each one? And how do I make sure that I'm not investing emotionally? Because the market or the bus driver said to buy this because his, you know, his girlfriend said that it's going up.
A
Yeah, it's very sage advice. Thank you so much for yeah, Just taking the time to be here and also just the path to your life to be able to bring all this wisdom to us. Now you guys have. I'd love to, you know, for people to point some people somewhere to be able to learn more about your stuff. I know you have a. Is it actually there? You actually have like. It's a. It's a. A book or an ebook that. That people can. Can grab if they want to go deeper into your stuff.
B
I just finished a new ebook that we can give away. I'm going to put this on Amazon. It's called the Power of Visualization. Unleash your brain's fullest potential to manifest your biggest goals and dreams. So that's it right there.
A
Awesome. And the. The link for that? Do you have the link for that?
B
My neurogym? Yeah, my M Y N E U R O G Y M My neurogy forward slash align and have that for free. And follow the advice on visualization. Remember, visualization is a simulation. The more you simulate, the more you automate.
A
I love that. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. I look forward to doing this again. Thank you for tuning in. That's it. That's all. I'll see you next week. Hope you guys enjoyed that conversation. I want to invite you over to the Aligned Podcast YouTube channel. If you want to see the quality of both of our skins IRL or as close to IRL as you can on the Internet with video and check it out, subscribe, leave comments. Love reading the comments over there. And also if you have interest in improving the quality of your skin, they did give us a discount code at One Skin, which was kind of them. You go to Oneskin co align. I believe you get 15 off your order, which is pretty cool. So if you want to try it out and get yourself a discount, jump over to there One skin co align. I appreciate y'. All. That's it, that's all. I'll see you next week.
Host: Aaron Alexander
Guest: John Assaraf
Release Date: February 27, 2025
In this richly insightful episode, Aaron Alexander sits down with John Assaraf—entrepreneur, bestselling author, and mindset expert—to unpack the root causes of human suffering and the pathways to self-mastery, fulfillment, and financial success. Fusing personal storytelling with actionable neuroscience, they explore practical techniques for reshaping limiting beliefs, cultivating daily practices for growth, and navigating uncertain times with agency. The conversation spans topics from the science of self-image and emotional regulation to the realities of AI-driven change, wealth-building frameworks, and manifestation, all delivered in an accessible and authentic tone.
Ignorance as the Core ([00:23])
John defines the root of suffering as "ignorance—not knowing.” This isn’t a matter of intelligence, but rather an absence of self-awareness and tools for breaking habitual patterns of pain, blame, and self-justification.
Learned Helplessness ([01:46])
Suffering often comes from learned behaviors: "Just about everything we believe about the world is something that we learned." Our conditioning frames what we see as possible or impossible.
"Ignorance doesn't mean somebody is stupid. Ignorance just means somebody doesn't know." (John Assaraf, [01:46])
John’s Troubled Beginnings ([04:24])
He shares raw anecdotes about his childhood as an immigrant, school struggles, crime involvement, and family abuse. A pivotal mentor at age 19 set him on a path of self-reflection and personal development.
Ongoing Dissonance & Management ([07:41])
Even now, John experiences doubts about accomplishing big goals, but no longer lets negative emotions control his actions. Understanding triggers is essential.
"I have emotions, I'm not emotions. I have feelings, but I'm not my feelings." (John Assaraf, [08:08])
On Neuroses & Self-Image ([08:38])
Drawing on Ram Dass and Wayne Dyer, John and Aaron question the idealization of perfection. John uses analogies like "Frankie's Monster"—a physical reminder of his shadow self—to exemplify acceptance and ongoing management of internal doubts.
Practices for Grounding ([10:24])
Lifelong meditation, breathwork, and daily recalibration are foundational. John’s honesty about ongoing retooling highlights that even with success, inner work is perpetual.
"The journey has been from the age of 19... of self reflection and understanding, identity and self image and self worth and beliefs and habits." (John Assaraf, [05:35])
Meditation & "Inner Size" ([13:58], [14:06])
John’s daily routine: 20 minutes of morning meditation, 10 minutes at night, combined with intentional visualization and affirmations—a process he calls “inner size.”
Exceptional Life Blueprint ([15:01])
He details his written vision encompassing health, wealth, relationships, and more—revisited daily as a mental rehearsal to ingrain new patterns.
Cognitive Behavioral Techniques ([16:03])
Reframing is key: viewing problems from empowering perspectives, inspired by Wayne Dyer’s, "when you change the way you look at something, the thing you look at changes."
Misconceptions of Manifestation ([20:28])
John debunks “think, believe, receive” and emphasizes the necessity of aligned action:
"You've got to then take the right action in the right order at the right time."
Resonance, Not Magic
Manifestation is “alignment of your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, and your behaviors with that which you seek.”
Personal anecdotes include manifesting a dream house through visualization and consistent effort, with some results remaining “mysterious.”
"Manifestation is the alignment of your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions and your behaviors with that which you seek." (John Assaraf, [24:26])
Static Fulfillment? ([25:54])
John finds fulfillment by aligning his life with five core values: God/spirituality, health, family, contribution, fun/experiences.
Ship vs. Cork Analogy ([26:50])
Agency versus passivity; fulfillment arises from consciously choosing coordinates rather than drifting.
Origins of Money Beliefs ([28:58])
John distills the skills of earning, managing, investing, protecting, and using debt—emphasizing value creation and self-awareness as the linchpin.
Limiting Beliefs & Sabotage
Self-image, fears, doubts, and stories around scarcity must be addressed to shift financial outcomes. Using the "mirror" analogy, John reiterates, transformation is inside-out.
"Most people do not understand themselves well enough... most cases to me. And so then what has to happen in order for me to get better so that I could earn more...?" (John Assaraf, [34:41])
Behavioral Change Framework ([36:25])
All outcomes are the effect of actions and, more crucially, habits, beliefs, and emotional regulation.
Consistency Compounds ([43:50])
Small repeated actions—positive or negative—produce exponential results over time.
Motive as the Core of Motivation ([51:39])
Motivation is sustainable only when the “reason why” is more compelling than the blocks (fear, limiting beliefs, etc.).
Secondary Gain & Comfort ([54:11])
The brain loves safety; change requires stepping willingly into discomfort and having faith—“acting in the absence of your own facts.”
"Our lives as we know it has changed forever. And for some it will be a tool of mass destruction... [for others] mass construction." ([1:01:23])
Adaptation Strategy
Minimum of 30 minutes daily dedicated to retooling and learning; John personally invests 10 hours a week in AI mastery.
Crypto & Investment Philosophy ([1:02:31])
John is risk-averse with crypto, preferring diversified portfolios and real estate, and advising clarity about whether one is investing, speculating, or gambling.
Customizing Portfolios ([1:67:16])
Each person’s risk tolerance and life stage should shape their approach. Emotional investing is a trap.
"I have emotions, I'm not emotions. I have feelings, but I'm not my feelings." – John Assaraf ([08:08])
"Manifestation is the alignment of your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions and your behaviors with that which you seek." – John Assaraf ([24:26])
"First I create my story and then my story creates me." – John Assaraf ([51:30])
"Our lives as we know it has changed forever. And for some it will be a tool of mass destruction... [for others] mass construction." – John Assaraf ([1:01:23])
"Faith is acting in the absence of your own facts. It's trusting." – John Assaraf ([55:18])
This episode provides both philosophical depth and concrete strategies for anyone interested in breaking through personal limitations and thriving in uncertain times—balancing timeless wisdom with tools for a rapidly shifting world.