How To ACTUALLY Change Your Life - The Martell Method w/ Dan Martell

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: The Martell Method w/ Dan Martell
Episode: How To ACTUALLY Change Your Life
Release Date: August 22, 2023

In the "How To ACTUALLY Change Your Life" episode of The Martell Method, host Dan Martell delves deep into transformative strategies that propelled him from a challenging past to building a $100 million empire. Drawing from his personal experiences, including overcoming adversity and achieving remarkable business success, Martell outlines five actionable strategies designed to help listeners break through personal and professional barriers without succumbing to burnout.

1. Reset

Timestamp: [00:01]

Dan opens the episode by sharing his personal journey of transformation—from feeling “less than nothing” at 265 pounds to leading a fulfilled and successful life. He emphasizes the critical need for a reset when one reaches a point of exhaustion and stagnation.

Key Points:
- Acknowledging Rock Bottom: Martell underscores that sometimes reaching rock bottom is essential for catalyzing change. He advises listeners to embrace moments of extreme dissatisfaction as opportunities for renewal.
- Declaration of Commitment: He encourages making a tangible commitment to change by writing it down, setting a clear intent for transformation.
- Blank Slate Approach: Martell likens a reset to receiving a blank piece of paper, urging individuals to seize the moment to redefine their lives without the baggage of past failures.
Notable Quote:
“Now's the time. If you know that you're not as strong as you should be, if you know you're not showing up as powerful as you could in your business, you have these glimpses, that's your ego, that's your psychology telling you to step it up.”

2. Vision

Timestamp: [04:30]

Martell highlights the importance of having a clear vision as a compass for decision-making and sustained progress.

Key Points:
- Clarity in Goals: Without a defined vision, decision-making becomes paralyzing, leaving individuals feeling stuck.
- Idea Generation: He advises writing down 12 creative ideas you wish to bring to life within a year, focusing on what you want rather than how to achieve it.
- Prioritization: Identify and circle the one idea that, if achieved, would make the other goals easier to accomplish, ensuring concentrated effort.
Scientific Backing:
Martell references scientific studies indicating that individuals with a clear vision experience greater fulfillment and a stronger sense of purpose, as they feel aligned with their life’s path.
Notable Quote:
“People that have a clear picture of the life they want to create live a more fulfilled life because they feel like they're on path.”

3. Identity

Timestamp: [09:15]

The discussion shifts to the concept of identity and its profound impact on one’s success and self-perception.

Key Points:
- Self-Worth and Success: Martell posits that your earnings and achievements are direct reflections of your self-identity.
- Identity Switch: To achieve external success, one must first undergo an internal identity transformation. This means seeing yourself as the person who can attain the desired results.
- Consistency in Behavior: Drawing parallels with athletes, Martell explains that adopting an identity aligned with your goals leads to consistent, constructive behaviors that support that identity.
Practical Example:
Just as CrossFit labels every participant an athlete, regardless of their experience level, adopting a strong, positive identity can drive consistent performance and improvement.
Notable Quote:
“Until you create what's called an identity switch inside of you, then the external is never gonna materialize.”

4. Accountability

Timestamp: [14:05]

Martell emphasizes the necessity of accountability in maintaining momentum towards goals.

Key Points:
- Public Commitment: Sharing your goals with others induces positive peer pressure, making it more likely you'll follow through.
- Role of a Coach: Similar to Olympic athletes who rely on coaches for feedback and strategy, entrepreneurs and individuals benefit immensely from having mentors or coaches to guide them.
- Environment Influence: Surrounding yourself with high-achieving individuals fosters a culture of accountability and inspires you to elevate your own performance.
Implementation Tips:
- Set Clear Goals: Clearly define and communicate your aspirations.
- Find a Support System: Engage with coaches or peer groups that hold you accountable and provide constructive feedback.
Notable Quote:
“If you just like called your shot, told people what your goals are, you're going to have positive peer pressure from those people going, hey, you still doing that thing?”

5. Internal Thermostat

Timestamp: [19:50]

The final strategy revolves around adjusting your internal thermostat—the subconscious benchmark that dictates what you consider “normal” or acceptable in various aspects of life.

Key Points:
- Setting Higher Standards: Often, people unconsciously limit their potential by setting the same standards they once achieved as their new baseline.
- Continuous Elevation: To achieve higher levels of success, you must continually reset your internal thermostat to accommodate greater achievements.
- Behavioral Adjustment: By redefining what you consider normal, your actions align with your elevated goals, driving further success.
Practical Application:
If you’re earning $5,000 a month and aiming for $10,000, treat the $5,000 mark as the new minimum standard. This mindset shift ensures that every new achievement sets the stage for the next, fostering exponential growth.
Notable Quote:
“Whatever your old high water mark is, make it the new low and reset it. Set the new number.”

Conclusion

Dan Martell wraps up the episode by reiterating the power of these five strategies—Reset, Vision, Identity, Accountability, and Internal Thermostat—as pillars for personal and professional transformation. He encourages listeners to reflect on these concepts, implement them diligently, and share their progress to foster a community of growth and support.

Final Thought:
“Look in the mirror, hold yourself accountable, and I'll see you next week.”

Additional Resources:

Get Dan's Book: https://bit.ly/3pCTG78
Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3W2tjp2
Instagram: https://instagram.com/danmartell
Website: https://danmartell.com

This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for individuals seeking to overhaul their lives and businesses. By implementing Martell's actionable strategies, listeners are equipped to overcome inertia, set and achieve meaningful goals, and cultivate a resilient and empowered identity.

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[00:02]
A
Welcome to the Growth Stacking podcast. This is Dan Martell. You know, you see the Dan of today that's running Ironman, that's fit, that's got his family stuff together and driving supercars and building multi million dollar companies. But there was a point where I was 265 pounds, where I felt like I was less than nothing when I looked in the mirror and thought, my kids see this person. And here I was trying to give them advice and like I was saying stuff that I knew I didn't even believe. And I see that often, it's like, why isn't this person listening to me? You don't even listen to yourself. You don't have any proof of all this stuff that you wish everybody else should do. And I want to go straight to that. I think too often people are too soft on you and nobody's going to tell you how it is. So I want to share the five specific strategies that will absolutely transform your life. I just want to show you what I've done for myself, what worked for me to allow me to create this incredible life I'm super blessed to have. Number one is you gotta reset. If you are done, if you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, then this message is for you. Now's the time. If you know that you're not as strong as you should be, if you know you're not showing up as powerful as you could in your business, you have these glimpse, that's your ego, that's your psychology telling you to step it up. That's your subconscious saying you have more to give. Be that person. But it starts with a reset. You see, oftentimes rock bottom is required. I get calls from parents all the time. And the thing I tell them is sometimes you gotta let your kid hit rock bottom. Right now, they haven't felt enough pain because you keep protecting them. But this is for you. I want you to fight for the reset. If now is the day that enough is enough and you wanna move forward, then just make that declaration today. Write it in your journal, put the date, make a commitment. What's the new standard that you're gonna hold yourself to? Let me invite you to consider a blank piece of paper if you've gone through a full reset is a beautiful thing to have. Don't waste it. I had a friend of mine go through a divorce. And I told him, I said, hey man, I know it's emotionally tough right now, but you've been given a gift. You got a blank piece of paper and you can do anything on there, and nobody's going to hold you accountable. If you left town, you went to a new city, and you started from scratch, they're going to understand that you're going through some stuff. Give yourself the gift of writing down some stuff and making today the day that you push things forward. Embrace the reset. Number two is vision. People that don't have vision have a hard time making decisions. They feel stuck all the time because they don't know which decision aligns with getting them closer to their vision. I want you to write down what could you create? Take a piece of paper, write down 12 ideas. Give yourself a year and just write them all down. Don't worry about the how, just write it down. What would you want to create in your life? Now, here's the kicker. Circle the one that if you know you achieved, the rest of them would be easy to get through. Pick the one and do that. Wake up every day for the next 365 days and go for that. This is backed by deep scientific studies that the people that have a clear picture of the life they want to create live a more fulfilled life because they feel like they're on path. That is my invitation to you create a compelling vision. Number three is identity. Think about this. You will never get a penny more than you think you're worth. Your bank account is a reflection of your identity, your health, your body, everything is a reflection of your identity. I'll prove it to you. Imagine this. You get on a scale tomorrow and whatever you expect to read, it says 20 pounds heavier. In that moment, are you going to then go and have a breakfast burrito? Are you going to adjust yourself? You're going to change some things. The reason why is you have an identity of how you see yourself, and it's not that number. So, see, until you create what's called an identity switch inside of you, then the external is never gonna materialize. Like when I went to CrossFit, they called every person that goes to CrossFit class doesn't matter if you're first class or your thousandth class. You are an athlete. And in the class you are a competitor. And there's a leaderboard. Do you know how powerful that is? Does an athlete eat pizza for lunch? Does an athlete decide to stay up late and get drunk? No, no. Athletes perform. They understand how to take care of their body, they fuel their body, and they work on their weaknesses to become more. And that is the beauty of an identity. So I want you to consider. How do I look at Myself, what do I feel like I'm worth? Am I a 10k a month type of person? Am I a 60k a year type of person? What do you feel you're worth? And until you fight for that and show up like that and invest in your mindset, invest in yourself like somebody that operates at that level, you, you'll never have it. Think about it this way. If every dollar in the world was given to every person, evenly distributed all over the world, within two or three years, it'd be back in the hands of the same people that had it originally. Why? Because of their identity and their decisions and how they show up and how they're wasteful, how they save whatever it is, their money, beliefs. And that is your biggest opportunity to shift everything. Number four is accountability. It's very simple. If you just like called your shot, told people what your goals are, you're going to have positive peer pressure from those people going, hey, you still doing that thing? So a lot of times the power of accountability is the folks asking you how you're doing towards that path, knowing tomorrow morning you could sleep in, you could not do those sales calls, but somebody's going to ask you about it. So building that into your life by calling your shots, setting goals, that's how you move your things forward. Not you by yourself in your mind. See, most entrepreneurs don't achieve because it's commitments they make to themselves and they erode at their self confidence by not delivering on any of that. And most importantly is have a coach. Imagine meeting an Olympic athlete that was going for gold and they said they didn't have a coach. You'd be like, that's crazy. You're no different. Who's reviewing your game tape with you, who's giving you feedback on your process? Who's giving you tactics and strategies to perfect the practice, right? To hold you accountable to the goals you guys set as a team. Who's looking and giving you corrections? Who's inspiring you? What's the proximity, those people around you? Just look at it. Are you feeling like you're the small guy amongst your peer group? You know, it's easy to feel like the top dog when you're a bunch of loser friends, right? And they might be well intentioned, great people, but if you're the richest person on your street, you got to find a new street. Accountability will help you do that. Number five is your internal thermostat. See, most people don't realize that they have an internal thermostat of what they think is normal. And anytime they go out of that range, that thermostat, like the temperature in a room, if it goes too high, the cooling system cools in. If it goes too low, the heating system kicks in. Right? It keeps the room at that set temperature. You know, some people having the kitchen brand new and clean every night, that's their thermostat. Other people can have a sink full of dishes. Everybody has internal thermostat. Here's what I want you to consider is how do you make the current high the new low, your revenue? Okay, you might be stuck at like 5k a month, 10k a month, whatever it is, you have a thermostat that sets that as a high. And as soon as you go above that, you take your foot off the gas, you slack off, you take long vacations, you don't show up intensely. So what I want you to encourage you is whatever your old high water mark is, is make it the new low and reset it. Set the new number. So if it's 5,000amonth, set it to 10,000. Act the way you would if you're at 1,000, that internal thermostat is setting your outcomes. And, and if you can learn how to uplevel it by making that old high the new low, that is how you're going to get new levels of achievement. Those are the five strategies to absolutely help you change your life, backed by science. I want you to leave a comment, let me know what was the most valuable one for you. So look in the mirror, hold yourself accountable, and I'll see you next week. If you like this week's episode, be sure to visit itunes, leave a review that'll help us get in front of other founders just like you. And if you're looking for more resources and video trainings, be sure to check out dan martel2l's martel.com to subscribe. Keep up the hustle, keep stacking your growth, and I'll see you next Monday's episode. Peace. Grow Peace. Bye bye.