A Personal Note from Orion

What does it take to turn your online business into a seven figure success story? And more importantly, once you reach those seven figures, how does your life change? My dear friend and super successful entrepreneur AJ Mihrzad has built his dream life through a thriving online business, one that helps others pursue their passion and really transform their sales.

But life was not always so dreamy for AJ – he generously shares the many lows he had to experience to realize how precious life is and how the only way to be truly successful is by coming from a place of love – in your sales, in your marketing, in your branding, your online business will thrive when you are coming from a genuine place, doing what you love and helping others along the way. And when you do reach that six or seven figure mark, or even higher, you’ll realize that nothing in your life really changes, if you are doing what you love and coming from a genuine space.

 

 

In this Episode

• [03:19] – AJ kicks things off by explaining where his entrepreneurial journey started. He talks about where he was before starting, and how he shifted away from trading hours for dollars.
• [06:30] – These days, AJ doesn’t limit his help to personal trainers; he works with all types  of coaches or trainers, and even some business owners, on becoming an authority in their field.
• [07:34] – What is AJ’s mindset, and how did he become successful?
• [09:55] – AJ talks about what his catalyst for change was, and how he changed his story.
• [12:02] – Orion compares AJ’s perspective to the one needed to find a successful relationship.
• [12:26] – AJ shares some rituals that help him get into the mindset of success.
• [14:22] – Does AJ ever get upset or sad? In his answer, he reveals that he was addicted to recreational drugs in his 20s. This ultimately placed him in a coma.
• [17:33] – Journaling is one of the tools AJ uses as a form of therapy.
• [19:18] – How does AJ change his clients’ money stories?
• [23:05] – The secret formula to forming a successful online business lies in a person’s superpower, AJ explains.
• [24:17] – A good online business has three main pillars: marketing, a sales process, and a service.
• [25:11] – AJ shares his advice for getting leads online, emphasizing the importance of having great content.
• [26:18] – AJ talks more about creating (and delivering) great content.
• [27:42]- Doing a podcast wasn’t her first choice, Orion explains, but she’s now glad to have given it a chance. She then explains how she plays to her strengths by writing articles with her assistant.
• [30:26] – AJ shares a framework that he gives his students. He explains that content should have a problem, process, and call to action.
• [32:06] – How do you deliver a strong call to action that sounds natural?
• [33:36] – AJ gives some insight into the sales process, memorably saying that “sales is the transfer of love.” He then discusses how he handles objections about not having enough money or time.
• [36:27] – How do you make people really feel that you can help them? In his answer, AJ talks about revealing how much pain someone is already in.
• [39:55] – People use many excuses for why they are where they are, but growth happens outside your comfort zone.
• [42:05] – How does AJ know to not push someone to work with him because they aren’t willing, ready, or able to make the necessary changes yet?
• [44:46] – AJ offers advice for people who are just starting to build their businesses now.
• [46:43] – AJ shares some of what he teaches trainers about how to develop a marketing system online.
• [49:09] – Orion brings up the connection between being a coach and being a marketer.
• [50:25] – AJ shares his three tips to living a stellar life: 1. Maximize this moment. 2. Be present. 3. Always do your best.
• [51:29] – Where can people find AJ? In his answer, AJ offers Stellar Life listeners a free gift!

About Today’s Show

‏‏Hello and welcome to Stellar Life podcast. I’m your host, Orion, founder of Orion’s Method. My guest today is AJ Mihrzad. He’s the author of the best-selling book The Mind Body Solution: Train your Brain for Permanent Weight Loss. He is a mega successful entrepreneur and a keynote speaker in High-End Mastermind. He also writes for Entrepreneur Magazine, The Huffington Post, Men’s Fitness, and Bodybuilding.com. AJ is the host of Online Supercoach podcast and a leader of a community of heartfelt coaches and small business owners. Teaching them how to go from zero to hero and how to take what they have and become successful online. In this episode, you will learn the mindset of success, you will learn what it takes to become successful, you will get inspired and empowered by AJ’s story and we’re going to breakdown the formulas that AJ came up with for selling, making more profit, and marketing online. Without further ado, onto the show. Hello AJ and welcome to Stellar Life Podcast!

‏‏Thank you for having me. I am so excited to be here, honored.

‏‏I’m so excited to be talking to you on this level because we know each other as more of friends from some seminars that we attended together and it’s an honor and a privilege to be talking to you about what you’re doing and how you’re helping the world.

‏‏Absolutely! I love everything you’re doing, you stand for yourself. I would love to contribute to your audience and share some of my genius as well.

‏‏Thank you so much! Let’s start with you sharing a little bit about who are you, what you’re doing, how did you start your business and what is your business like today?

‏‏Absolutely. I would say my entrepreneurial journey started about 10 years ago. That’s when I was in a place where I was looking to improve myself. I was always a very overweight, chubby kid and at that time, I had man boobs, chipmunk cheeks, big ol’ belly. I was 60 pounds overweight. That’s when I decided like, hey, I can’t live like this and for many years, it’s way affected me. I took this big strive towards losing the weight and getting into shape and that’s what led me to a world of fitness. It took me about a year and a half and I lost the 60 pounds. I got myself in good shape and I felt confident. I was like wow, now being healthy, this feels so good. I want to help other people become healthy too. I went to school and I studied Exercise Science and Nutrition. I became a certified personal trainer and I started training clients. You’re a trainer so you know this whole industry. It’s great in the beginning where you’re making money off your passion but overtime, it gets very exhausting and it burns you out and you’re trading hours for dollars.

It’s great in the beginning where you’re making money off your passion but overtime, it gets very exhausting and it burns you out and you’re trading hours for dollars. Share on X

‏‏Yeah, I remember. I was working for two gyms and then I had my own business. It was going well but hey, it was so tiring. It’s physically exhausting.

‏‏Exactly. I do it for many years until it caught up with me and I realized that I’m sacrificing my relationships, my sleep, my happiness because I was getting about 5AM work until 9PM training clients back to back, dollars for hours. That’s when I realized I can’t do this forever. I don’t want to become an 80-year-old personal trainer but then I figured out like I got to figure out how to scale what I do. How can I take what I do inside the gym and help more people but not have to be there for every single session and that’s what led me to the world of online personal training. Around 2010, I launched my online personal training business and that helped and changed my life because it gave me this platform that I could work with clients from a distance, still help them get results but I wasn’t trading hours for dollars. I wasn’t inside of a gym confined and also it allowed me to work on my skills sets, because when you’re just training people, you just focus on the physical. With an online business, I use my intellect because you’re selling a personality. You become this expert authority where you’re this person showing up on video, doing podcasts, making posts and you’re selling people with your personality, what I call, infotainment because in the online world, there’s so much information out there with the people that stand out, they have personalities. They have an entertaining way of sharing information so I knew that I have to work on this area of my life, become entertaining and influential and then from that point on, my online business started taking off.

‏‏That’s brilliant! These days, you don’t only work with personal trainers, you work within a coach or with business owners, helping them to become that expert authority.

‏‏Yeah, exactly. I started off with personal trainers initially helping them grow their businesses and then I led on for different coaches and even some clients too, are not coaches. They’re just like business owners and I do consulting with them. Their biggest thing is they want to be an expert authority. They want to be an author of a book, just like you have a podcast. They want to launch a podcast. They want to do seminars. I think it’s a good thing because at the end of the day, people don’t buy coaching, they buy coaches.

‏‏You have a very strong mindset. I mean, the physical transformation that you’ve been through that I didn’t know about because when I see you, I was like, he was always ripped. That’s a super cool inspiration. I liked how you turned around your body. You turned around your business. That’s amazing. What is it about you, do you think, that is making it happen? What’s your mindset and how did you become successful?

‏‏Thank you. That’s a good question. I thought about it recently actually, and I was looking at the turning points of my life. First point, when I lost 60 pounds. I developed fitness. A turning point where my business started taking off and I became a self-made millionaire. To this current day, I’m grateful to be living my dream life and the house of my dreams, the car of my dreams. A lot of things have come into fruition. Stuff that I dreamed about for many years and I said, how did all these happen? One of the biggest things that came to mind was the understanding of the nature of thoughts. I realized that life is a story. It’s a story that you tell yourself. You could be this amazing hero or you could be a tragic victim. I started looking at the different areas of my life. How can I create a story that’s very empowering but also dissolve the stories that are just not true because we are humans and we give everything meaning. I realized that if I change my beliefs and I change my stories, my life would change quickly. I come to realize that in life, anything is possible. If you want to be a billionaire, there are many people that are self-made billionaires. It’s the matter of following a specific formula and happiness turned mindset. Once you have the formula and the mindset, it becomes a reality. You’re the expert on love. I feel love is the formula. There is the way of attracting love and holding on for love. Essentially, once we collapsed the stories and we change our beliefs then we bring forward the things we want in our life.

‏‏How did you change your story? Did you wake up one day and said, well, my story sucks. It’s about to change it. What did you do? What was the catalyst for change?

‏‏Great question. I believe the catalyst for change is my identity. I remember when I was first starting a business. I was reading all these books on how to be a millionaire out of a million-dollar business. I was obsessed reading 20-30 books a year but my income was not going up and I’m like, “What’s going on here? I read all these millionaire books and I’m still broke, what gives?” Then, I realized that it’s not so much how to be a millionaire, it’s who do I have to be to be a millionaire. I realized that my identity is far more important than the knowledge or the tactics. Once I started shifting my identity of like, okay, if AJ was the millionaire, how would I talk, how would I act, how would I think, who’d I spend my time with, what type of decisions would I make, what type of risks would I take. When I changed from that identity, then I started to formulate a new story.

‏‏I’m sure it was awkward at first because the idea of talking like something you want to become, it’s a little out there. Did this feel like, I’m going to fake it until I make it?

‏‏Yeah. I know that term fake it until you make it but I used a different terminology. I say act as if and soon you will become.

‏‏That’s good.

‏‏I’ll be honest with you. Right now, I’m in a place where I’m looking to attract love. I’m a single guy and ladies, if you’re listening.

‏‏You’re a single guy with a hot body, amazing business, and a heart of gold. You will find.

‏‏Thank you! I appreciate that. I realized that the areas in my life that I’m proud of and that are thriving, I used the formula to get there. For me to have a six-pack, for me to have a million-dollar business, for me to be happy every single day, there’s ritual that I follow. Maybe you can tell me because you’re the expert but I think with love, there’s a daily habit, there’s an identity, there’s a process, there’s a formula to love. I feel like that’s a formula I’m looking to crack right now.

‏‏When you said, who do I need to become to have that status, that business. It’s exactly what I believe in when it comes to love. It’s like who do I need to become to attract this specific person?

‏‏I like that. I’m on the right track.

‏‏You are. Can you share some rituals that help you get into the mindset of success?

‏‏Absolutely. I feel that, just like love is the foundation of relationships, love is the foundation of life and all things. Every day when I wake up, I go into this meditation of love, of how can I serve people, how can I come from a place of just giving and contribution and make an impact on this world because I thought for many years that money was the end all be all so my business is all focused on numbers and net worth. I remember like it was yesterday the moment that my bank account has seven figures and I became a millionaire was no different. I expected birds will start chirping and rainbows would come out and it would be the most beautiful day in the world but it did not change me. I got upset by that. I’m like, “Wow, all this time, I was expecting fireworks.” Nothing happened. In fact, I went into a little bit of depression afterwards because I think for many years I was chasing this goal and once I had it, it didn’t make me feel as happy as I thought it would. Then I realized yes, that was the number and it took me many years but what I’m most proud of is who did I have to become. For me, even to have that net worth, I become a valuable person and I found that the marketplace shows you the more valuable you are, the more it rewards you with finances but in my businesses whether it was a personal trainer or it was online coaching, it came from a place of love, it came from a place of contribution because every client that I worked with, I love them so much that I want them to have a better life, to become healthier, to make more money to provide for their families. Coming from that place of love allows you to be more successful because it’s coming from a place of contribution, genuinely wanting to give back to people.

‏‏Do you ever get angry, or upset, or sad?

‏‏Of course, I do.

‏‏Because every time I see you on video, the love theme is definitely something that comes through your videos, that energy. I feel it every time you speak, every time you share. It’s genuinely coming out of you but what do you do if you look at the young AJ when you experience the sadness, the frustration, what did you do to keep going?

‏‏Back then, I was not as conscious as I am now. It was a lot of different ways to dealing with it. For many years, I was addicted to drugs and in my early 20s, I was doing a lot of  drugs.

‏‏Really?!

‏‏Yeah. I was doing cocaine, crystal meth, I was doing ecstasy, you name it. If there’s a drug, I was doing it for many years and I was addicted to them. I was snorting cocaine on the weekends and then take enough drugs to kill an elephant because I always had this overactive mind and when I was younger, it was food. I was stuffing my face to ease the pain. Once I discovered drugs and alcohol, it led down that route. I always had a very overactive mind and I don’t know how to deal with it. I was thinking so much and my ego is always making me feel like I was worthless so when I took drugs, it took the pain away but the problem is, it was temporary because once the drugs wear off, I would go to withdrawal and there were many times where I’d literally overdosed. I took too much and ended up in the emergency room. Not just once but three times. Then the final time was actually an overdose that led me into a coma and that’s when I started to realize like if I don’t stop this lifestyle, I’m going to die very young.

‏‏Oh my God, I have goose bumps all over. Wow! It’s so interesting. I see you today, I would never ever imagine you even drink coffee.

‏‏I was doing a lot of crazy stuff and that’s the thing. For anyone in life who is now seeing the world as being grateful and being in a place of love, you have to go through a lot of challenges and a lot of pain to look from the other side because I’ve been rock bottom, I literally died and came back to life. From where I used to be, every day is a gift because when I had that near death experience being in a coma for a week, I have a new lease on life and I realized if I would’ve died that day, I would not have made the change I have. That literally happened 10 years ago and every single day, it’s like I wake up and I’m still thankful because I could’ve died that day. How can I take this next 24 hours and be more giving, show more love, help more people because even now, I have a limited time on Earth but this second chance that I have, I could do more with my life.

‏‏Amazing! You have the morning ritual of meditation and what do you do when still you deal with those emotions? Do you have any technique that you do or some tools to help you handle it?

‏‏Yeah. Big thing is the I journal. When I came from that near death experience out of the hospital, that was the first thing I did, I invested $1 to buy a journal and I started writing inside there. For the past ten years, I have not stopped. I feel like the journal is like my secret getaway, it’s my therapy, who I get to talk to and share my deepest, darkest demons and my desires and at the same time also look at my stories because many times I could be in a situation where something with work stresses me out and I’d go into this whole story and get all worried so I did two things. The first thing I do is I go either meditate or take a nap. Naps are good too, I take two a day. Sometimes, just changing the mindset if you’re stressed and tired, you sleep, you wake up, you’re fresh and you’re like it’s not that bad. Then, I’ll write it on my  journal and I’ll write everything how I’m thinking it. Sometimes when you articulate your thoughts and they come out of your mind and you see them on paper, you’re like this is not that serious. This is actually pretty ridiculous and we have these irrational thoughts, these stories that sometimes affect us but they’re bullshit. They’re not real, they’re just imaginations. 99% of the things that we think about, never happen. For me, it’s therapeutic to share it in a journal or you can have a conversation. Reach out to a friend and be like, “I’m stressed out about this, can I vent to you?” After I talked about it, they’re like, “You know it’s not that serious.”

99% of the things that we think about, never happen. Share on X

‏‏That’s amazing. I’m sure many of your clients have stories about money and what were they capable of and what they can achieve in life. How do you change their money stories?

‏‏Great question. I had a lot of money stories. I came from this place of scarcity where I was frugal with my money. Whenever something would happen like a parking ticket or a tax bill, it would freak me out like, they’re taking a big part of me. I had this big attachment to it. One thing I’ve learned in life is needing nothing attracts everything. When I was in a place of needing money and it was so important to me, it was always evading me, all these things were happening. I remember I got robbed. My house got robbed. That was at a point I had a lot of insecurity about money and at that period, everything I’ve had was taken from me, a safe with all this cash in it and they took the safe. That devastated me. It also made me realize, they stole all this money from me and insurance only paid a certain amount but they don’t cover cash. For a moment, I was like, yes, they took the money but did they take me? That was my big eye opening experience because sometimes we have an identity of our money and a lot of my students deal with this. If you have a business and many times were fixated on the numbers, let’s say, this month, I want to make $20,000 and you look at the end of the month, you make $15,000 and you don’t hit your number. You sometimes go into this whole story that I’m not worthy, I’m not good enough, I’m not hitting my goal, I’m not making the money and that’s what a lot of people do. They have such attachments into money they make or how much their revenue is especially in the internet world. Everyone is a six figure earner or seven figure earner. There’s big comparison, I’m not good enough because I don’t make seven figures. The reality of it is like coming back to our original statement like what is your identity? On that day, when I got robbed and they took everything away from me, I realized who I am. Who I am is far beyond the money that I have, my body, everything. There’s something a lot deeper than that.

‏‏That’s incredible. Was just in Convergence Summit in San Diego it’s all like marketers, digital marketers, and high earners. You had to see the cars outside the hotels. They were like, oh, I was salivating, beautiful cars. Everybody wants to show up as I’m the most important person in the room and everybody has this façade of like yeah we’re all making money but not everybody there make money but they’re showing up as something they’re not and then there is this pressure and that energy was a little too much for me. It was something like money, money, money and money equal your worth.

‏‏Yeah. That’s why you’re so conscious, you need to pick up on this and that’s the thing. Some people that’s all they have and it’s that joke, if money is all you have then you’re just poor because if you don’t focus on happiness, love, family, relationship, art, creativity. Life is so beautiful. There are so many things that you could celebrate but some people, that’s the only fixation, money, money, money. If that’s your whole identity then as you know money comes and goes, even the wealthiest people they had bad months. You’re going to go through this up and down your entire life because all of your happiness is based on that.

‏‏Yeah. That’s powerful. Wow. How do you help people create successful online businesses? What is the secret formula?

‏‏The secret formula lies in a person’s superpower. I truly feel that we all have this innate genius that when we perform, it comes out. We’re in a flow state and we’re happy, we lose track of time and space. That is the foundation of it, if you could build an online business on your superpower, that’s what I call it, essentially finding out this gift that you have that you could serve other with that just lights you up with excitement and also you’re really good at it. Discovering that first; that’s the most important thing. From there you develop the right systems, you’re living in your super power and you’re helping the people that you want to be a hero too.

‏‏We talked about the mindset and getting yourself into the beingness, your being driven because of your why, being driven because you got to a place where enough is enough and I’m going to change my life and it’s an inner knowing and you change your beingness and you act as if. Now you need the tools and systems and the structures for your business. What do you say makes a good online business? What are the components of a good online business?

‏‏Great question. I would say it’s really mastering three main pillars. Number one is the marketing, having a marketing system that generates leads because obviously any business needs leads, clients and traffic. You want to have a sales process that you’re selling whatever your super power is. It’s basically converting people at a good consistent rate and getting more people into your program. Finally, you want to have some type of service that you’re delivering your gift. Whether it’s coaching, one on one, a mastermind, a podcast, a book, a delivery system that’s giving people value so that you dial all three in your marketing, your sales and your service and that leads for a very successful online business.

‏‏What do you think are the best tools for getting more leads online?

‏‏I would say having really good content. I think that’s one of the best because a lot of people, they’re so fixated on, “Oh, I want to do Facebook ads or SEO. I want to develop a traffic system.” The biggest thing is that, you can’t just put crappy marketing with good traffic. The best content attracts people. Your podcast is awesome, you’ve had a lot of guests on it. Even me being on here, I’m super excited. You’re asking the best questions. You’re bringing out the best in me. This is a very good content piece.

‏‏Thank you.

‏‏Yeah. You’re welcome. Because I’m going to share with all my followers, friends and family members because it’s so good, this content is going to attract the right people because it’s very magnetic. Some people they just get into marketing but they don’t focus on the quality of the content.

‏‏How do you create good content? Is it Facebook Live, videos, books? How do you come up with content and in what way do you deliver the content to make it interesting?

‏‏Yeah, great point. Essentially, I feel like there are three main modes of content delivery. You have video, audio and text. I feel like you are good at one of them, really, really good at one of them. My personal opinion is to focus on the one you’re amazing at and put all your time and efforts to master it. Right now, we’re on audio. This is a podcast. Let’s say for example, I’m really good at video. For me to write a text post, it takes very long and I have very slow typing skills but I can film 5-10 videos in one hour back to back to back in one shot. I know that I could out-perform anyone in video. I’ve done over 1,000 videos in my life. So that’s the skill that I’m going to get mastery in. but if I say, you know what, I’m going to put my video to the side, I’m going to start typing. It’ll take me hours and hours for the same content. Whereas on the other hand, I have friends who are just amazing writers, they take you on this amazing journey through the written word and they inspire you and they make you cry, they make you laugh and that is their super power. If they said, you know I’m going to put my writing to the side. I’m going to start doing video. They’re going to fail miserably. I say, find your lane, whether it’s audio, video or text and focus on being the best in the world at that media.

‏‏Audio and doing the podcast was not my first choice. It’s my husband that pushed me to do it because I was like, no, I’m not good at audio, English is my second language, my grammar, my this, my that, what will people think and all that self-defeating thoughts but I went for it anyways and I’m so glad I did. I have the opportunity to have conversation with the most amazing people on the planet. It’s like, “Yaay! Hello!” And that’s amazing for me because I learn a lot and get to ask them whatever I want and then I share this knowledge that not too many people are exposed to via my podcast. Thank you, listeners for listening and enjoying and liking and reviewing. Thank you so, so much. Even though it’s not my top thing like I think I’m better on video, it’s still good to get out of your comfort zone and try new things. At least give it try. With my articles, yeah, that’s hard. The way I do them because I do need to write and I write for The Huffington post sometimes and to other blogs, I will speak and then my assistant will help me. I’ll have her transcribe and fix my grammar and all that.

‏‏I love it. Essentially, I want to just make a note because this podcast is an amazing environment. I’m here, I feel so comfortable and it just flows so well. I do maybe two to three podcasts a month and many of them, it’s a very strict interview. It’s very structured. You’re amazing at this is what I’m trying to say. This is one of the best podcasts I’ve been on because of what you bring to it. One part of it is you’re amazing at video but your communication skills are so great that you create this environment of calm and relaxation and you allow your guest to just be themselves.

‏‏Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing everything that you’re sharing here because I love it. The first step you said is content. Content, you go and you do some articles. You can do infographics. You can do videos and Facebook Live. Now, you can go on Instagram and Snapchat and go on and on and on. I think at the end of the day, you just have to choose two or three or four platforms and then work through those, the ones that work the best for you because you can’t do it all.

‏‏That’s right. You can’t do it all. The other thing I wanted to discuss is, I share this framework with my students and I’ll share it on here too. It‘s also like the content has to have some type of purpose. I use a three part process for every content piece whether it’s a podcast, a video, a piece of text and that is problem, process, call to action. Essentially, people tune into content to solve a problem, or to cure a pain or to really get a better understanding of something in their life. When you’re creating content, you’re giving information, of course. You’re educating them. You’re helping them to become better if there’s a problem they are looking to solve in their life. You’re also sharing a process, a framework, a step by step guide, and then most importantly you want them to do something. Every content, at least, should have a call to action. Listening to my podcast go to my website, you’re watching this video, like this video if it resonates with you. Hey, if you’re on this website, click here if you want more information. Getting people to really taking your content but also take your offers as well, is really going to help you to help you connect with more people.

‏‏I know sometimes when it comes to the call to action, there is a, “Hey, I love that. I love that you have a structure to your videos like the problem, the process, the call to action, brilliant!” Many people, including me sometimes, now, I’m getting better at it, don’t deliver a strong call to action. Either say, apologize. How do you deliver a strong call to action that sounds natural?

‏‏I think one of the best call to actions is share. Obviously, if you’re in a place where you’re doing a video and it’s coming from the heart, you’re just expressing your love, you  have this message. When you’re in this place of passion, this message will change life, I believe in it so much, please share it with your friends and family members. Whoever you think will benefit from this video, share it with them. Just by saying that with conviction, people will be like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I get it. I should share this. I’ll do it.” When you share it, more and more people are exposed to your beautiful message.

‏‏It’s so powerful because if you have a gift to share with the world and nobody’s listening, then you’re not fulfilling your destiny. When people don’t fulfill their destiny and the gift they came to the world with or developed or received in the midlife, who knows? Then that’s the greatest pain. Not to share your gift with the world is the greatest pain. The more you share, the more you feel amazing, the more money flows into your life and the better person you become.

‏‏That is such a brilliant point. I agree with you 100%. That’s sad, so many people live their lives not finding their gifts, not sharing it and yeah, they don’t feel fulfilled.

‏‏Phenomenal. We said content, that’s the first part and then you have the sales process. What is your secret formula for sales?

‏‏Again, love is the foundation and people ask me, because I have seminars. I go two days very deep into just a sales process and the first live and the first thing I discuss is that sales is the transfer of love.

‏‏Oh my God, I love that! Because I was just in a seminar yesterday and they said sales is the transfer of confidence and you say sales is the transfer of love. Whoa.

‏‏Absolutely.

‏‏What do you think?

‏‏They are similar. I would love to get the explanation of the confidence part. It’s like with my perspective, I love you enough that I’m not going to let you stay where you are. I know you’re going to have to invest in me but that investment is a small price to pay because if you stay where you are, it’s going to be far more expensive in terms of pain, in terms of anguish, in terms of the financial burden and making the person realize that. I love you enough to take you out of this pain that you’re in and take you to the promise land.

‏‏Yeah, but I don’t have the money, I don’t have the time. How do you handle objections?

‏‏Again, when you’re making that video and you’re sharing it from your heart and your conviction, I think people have a good understanding when you truly care about them, you truly love them. Of course, there are going to be objections. I need to talk to my husband, and I need to talk about it, I don’t have the money. We all know that lot of people say they don’t have the money but if there’s an amazing deal, they find the money. There are people that live in trailers that have TVs that are the size of the trailer. People find ways to get what they want. Coaching, your services, your products, it’s the same thing. You’re not making a compelling enough message. I understand once in awhile you get that but if you’re getting that all the time, that’s a sign that you’re not attracting people that are broke, you have an offer that’s not compelling enough. You have to go back to your offer and say how can I create this in a way that’s very exciting, enthusiastic for me? Because I think one part of sales is having the love for what you have to offer. I love what I do and I love this gift that I have and I know it’s going to help you, that’s why I’m giving it to you at this discount because honestly, once you invest, you’ll see that this will change your life 10 times more than the investment. When the person feels that, absolutely they’re going to have more confidence in you, believe in you and know that you’re to take care of them.

‏‏Beyond sane, you’re going to get XYZ, how do you make them feel it? How do you make them feel that you can help them?

‏‏The biggest thing is making people realize the severity of the pain that they are in and that’s something that sometimes people don’t do. We both are fans of Tony Robbins and he has this in his process and it’s one of the most powerful processes that has ever been created because it takes you to the worst point of pain, essentially takes your worst limiting belief and you fast forward 10, 20 years.

‏‏I have a flashback from the seminar right now, where people are screaming in agony in a dark room, thinking about what their lives are going to look like in 10 years from now if they’re not going to follow their dreams.

‏‏Exactly. That’s one of the bigger things because sometimes people look at sales as like here is my product. Talking about the benefits and the positive things in the future, and it’s great to have a compelling, exciting future but sometimes people don’t realize how bad they’re in pain. They’re not even conscious of it. The person who’s 100lbs overweight, they become so used to that, that they don’t really have too much pain. Maybe sometimes when they get out of bed, or their body parts are hurt when they walk up stairs. They feel it, but when someone talks to them and asks them an honest questions of like, are you really happy with yourself? When was the last time you had sex with your husband? When was the last time you went to the beach and you wore a bikini? They’re asking these honest questions and the person starting to answer them and then it uncovers the pain. And they are like, “Oh my God, my life is so limited, I’m not happy, I am upset and I’m eating to make myself even more numb.” When they’re first opening up and sharing this all of a sudden they’re like, “Whoa, I have no idea that my life is this bad.” Sometimes giving him a mirror just to show them how bad their life is because once the person is in the point of pain, that inspires them to make a change.

Once the person is in the point of pain, that inspires them to make a change. Share on X

‏‏And coaches, sometimes you want to love the person, you don’t want them to be in pain but it is common to a place of love to hold that context for their pain so they can create a shift and have the breakthrough because without dealing with it, without bringing it to the surface, there will be no transformation.

‏‏That’s such a great point. Look at my life, if I didn’t have that overdose, I didn’t have that coma, I wouldn’t be alive today, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I have to go to the deepest darkest pain in my life to have this transformation.

‏‏Yup, amazing. Also, I like how raw and vulnerable you are with your story. I understand the power of story. I understand the power of sharing that thing that you are the most ashamed of because that helped others open up and relate to you on a different level. That’s big and that’s a big part of being a leader.

‏‏I appreciate it. Some people will see you and I and be like, “Oh my God, they are such happy people. They’re so positive. They live such an amazing life. They’re confident. Look at them on the podcast.” But they don’t understand what we went through, all the challenges, all the pain to be where we are today. When you share with people the truth of that, they realize that wow, they’re no different than me because that’s where I want to be, I want to be the example for people to see. Maybe I had a past worse that you but I overcame that. I don’t use that as an excuse and you will do the same thing.

‏‏Yeah. People use many, many excuses for why they are where they are. It’s human nature because we are afraid to step out of our comfort zone but all growth is happening outside of your comfort zone.

‏‏Exactly. That’s where they work with you and gdt what they want because I think that’s another thing. I, myself included, I am always looking for coaches, mentors because the coaches push you out of your comfort zone. They tell you, “Okay listen, I’ll be honest with you. You’re not living up to your full potential. You need to do this and this and this.” And then you follow the coach’s footsteps, they take you to where you want to go. In every area of your life, if you’re looking to be the best or successful, find the person who’s already doing what you’re doing.

‏‏The most successful people in the world have coaches, the best athletes in the world. Not the best, all athletes, even major athletes have a coach. It’s just madness for them not to have one. They will never win the gold. First you share that we need to create content. We need to create videos, audios, we need to write and share our message in this way in many platforms. Actually, you started with the being-ness and then you went into breaking down the business which is content and then there is the sales process we just talked about. Selling is the exchange of confident love. Can we mix the both?

‏‏We can mix both.

‏‏Okay. Coming from a hard place from being a stand for the other person, like I am going to be a cause in the matter, I’m going to take a stand for your breakthrough. When do you draw the line? Where you’re like, I’m going to take a stand for that person, but if that person does not take a step toward me, I’m going to leave it. When do you know where you don’t need to push that person to work with you because they’re not ready or they’re not willing, ready and able?

‏‏That is a very great point because for many years I was very naïve. I thought I could help everyone and I thought I could change everyone. I just fell in love with people’s potential. But then as they got older and wiser, I realized that some people don’t want to change. You could put all of your energy for 10, 20, 30 years trying to change someone, but if they don’t want to change, ain’t nothing happening. I guess I’ve come to find that, for me personally, of course, I’m always willing to push someone, give them a nudge, do my best. But if I find that I’m doing my best and they are giving me one inch. Then hey, listen, they have to learn it on their own. Some people, they have to go through their own journey, in their own turmoil to find the answers. For example, I was that person too. When I was doing drugs and I was slowly killing myself, I had certain friends and family members that would have this heart to heart conversation with me like, “AJ, you got to change your life. You’re going to kill yourself. What are you doing? You’re just screwing up everything.” I didn’t listen to them, I didn’t want to change. I kept on going in my negative path. It wasn’t until I had a near death experience, it wasn’t coma for one week, when I finally changed. And then I looked back at all the advice my loved ones gave me and I’m like, damn, they were right. I should’ve listened to them back then. But I did find my own answers to my own journey even though it was a very unfortunate one.

‏‏That’s what the many parents are doing with their kids where they are overprotective and they want to give the kid the advice and they want to tell them exactly what to do and save them here and there. The more they saved them, the more the kid is acting out or not finding their own core because you have to go through your own lesson in order to grow. I believe it 100%. We all need to go through our lessons and we can’t control other people. We can reach our hands and like, hey, hold my hand, why won’t you come? I’m going to help you but they enjoy the water, they like drowning until they feel suffocated, they want the hand, you can’t help them. We went from contents to sales, and now you want to build your services, your coaching, your mastermind, your delivery system. For somebody that just starts their business right now, what will be your advice for them on how to start and build their systems?

‏‏Option number one, hire a coach because if you have the financial means or you have a credit card, I would say just hire the expert. If I could go back in time, I would hire the coach sooner. I waited a few years. It was those few years that I made a lot of mistakes on and I wasn’t making a lot of traction. That’s my first piece of advice. Obviously, if there’s no way you can hire a coach, then you get a mentor, meaning that you should find someone who’s doing what you’re doing and work under them. Be an apprentice or be an inter. Like I said, the fastest way to get to where you want to be is to model someone. Tony Robbins has a great line, “Success leaves clues.” If you’re going into this world and you want to be successful, it’s looking at who has the business, the lifestyle, the relationship that you want and become really close with them because you are the average of the closest people in your life, your health, your wealth, your relationships, your happiness. When you’re in close proximity then you start to get those shifts a lot faster.

‏‏Right then rip off and duplicate because you don’t need to invent the wheel. There are so many people that build businesses for decades. You don’t need to go out there and try to figure it all out by yourself. Even sign up for someone’s newsletter and see what they’re doing and how they’re communicating with their people and what type of Facebook ads they’re doing. Just copy the masters and make it your own and that’s totally fine because your masters copied other masters. Every once in awhile, somebody comes up with an original idea but I’m sure you will come up with an original idea yourself that someday somebody else will rip off and duplicate so it’s fine.

‏‏There you go! 100%.

‏‏That’s it. Your coaches, your trainers, what do you teach them as far as what to do online?

‏‏I go through the four systems and a lot of what we discussed. Number one, helping them to identify their target market, getting crystal clear on their super power and this amazing gift that they have. Once they discover that, who do you want to serve, who do you want to share your super powers with? We develop a marketing system based on the person they want to serve. After that, we come up with the signature package for them. We’re going to add, okay, this is this amazing transformation you give people. How do you want to sell it, package it? Is it $2,000 or is it $5,000? Coming up with a crystal clear type of offering that you’re in love with and you want to help people with. Then finally, what’s the best way to deliver this? Are you a person who likes to film videos? Do you want to make a membership portal? Are you a person who likes in person, do you want them to fly to you to do events? Or do you want to create some type of hybrid of coaching on the phone, in person? It’s more of how you want to serve people. What will give them the best results and what will make you very happy.

‏‏Yes. You need to have some kind of a lead capture. How important is the list?

‏‏Extremely important because you have this message and you have this way of sharing and the bigger list, the more people you could share with. That is with everything, your social media, your email list, people in your tribe. Let’s say, “Hey, I’m doing an event on this day. How many would show up?” You need to have a list of people that you could call on to show up at your events.

‏‏It’s important to capture the leads because this is where your bread and butter is. Your leads, your sales, that’s what converts to money. There are so many people out there with websites that don’t even have a lead capture box. It’s astonishing. You can have an ebook or a cheat sheet or a quiz or a personality test, anything that will intrigue them to put their name and email on your website and then you take it to a delivery system. You take it to Infusionsoft or a MailChimp or any other system out there that will capture those leads and then you have a list. When you want to sell to the list, you send them emails. Pretty simple but not. I think another thing to think about is what people don’t understand that the moment they say I’m a coach, they become a marketer as well. It goes hand in hand. If you’re a coach, whether you like it or not, you’re a marketer by default. You do need to know a lot about online marketing. You don’t have to do the complex online marketing but the basic, basic things. You need to know what a squeeze page is. You need to know that you have a delivery system. You need to go out there and put videos online because whether you like it or not, you’re a marketer as well. It’s good that they have you and you help them with all that brilliance. I love your website. I love what you’re doing on your website. It’s so brilliant. It’s beautiful.

‏‏Thank you. I appreciate it. Like I said, you can have this amazing skill and knowledge but if nobody knows who you are, then it’s going to go to waste.

‏‏Before we leave, two questions. One is what are your three key tips to living a Stellar Life? Two is where could people find you?

‏‏Love all these questions. The three great tips to help people live a stellar life, number one is my main philosophy on everything and that is maximize this moment. I feel that life is lived in the present moment and so many times we’re caught up in the past, with the future and then more we could live at the moment and also maximize it. In this moment we’re having this amazing podcast. How can I show up at my best? How can I come from a place of love and contribution and give everything I have to your amazing listeners and we could maximize this experience.

‏‏I feel your energy all the way here. Awesome. Maximize the moment.

‏‏Yes! I have it on my wrist. I’m reading it right now. It’s a reminder that one, be present. Number two, always do my best.

‏‏Maximize the moment, be present and always do my best.

‏‏Exactly. Yes.

‏‏Where can people find you? Where can they find your book or register for your event?

‏‏My main site is onlinesupercoach.com. That has the main source of everything, my podcast, my events, my coaching, a lot of the case studies, people that I’ve worked with. For the listeners, I have a special gift. If you’ve listened this far, you deserve this gift. That is a book that I want to give you. It is my free book. If you go to onlinesupercoach.com/freebook, it’s a book based on a lot of the concepts I was discussing on this podcast about your target market, your marketing system, your sales funnel, and your delivery. It’s condensed and like a cheat sheet. You can check them off and make sure your business has them. Finally, Facebook, I’m freely relevant on there. I post a lot of videos and contents. If you go to my Facebook which is super easy, it’s facebook.com/ajfit. I would love to connect with you and if there’s anything I can help you with, be more than happy to reach out.

‏‏Awesome. Thank you, AJ. You’re a super coach online and offline and a super person. I’m happy you’re my friend.

‏‏I appreciate you. I cherish our friendship. That was exactly what I was going to say. You’ve been an awesome person in my life and doing great things. I’m inspired by all you do.

‏‏Thank you. Have a great day!

‏‏Have a good one!

‏‏Bye.

Your Checklist Actions to Take

✓ Life is a story that we tell ourselves. Take a moment to think about how my mindset shapes my story. Am I my own hero or victim?

✓ Act as if and soon I will become. What small changes can I make to more closely embody the person that I want to be?

✓ Coming from a place of love allows me to be more successful. Am I approaching life with love?

✓ How can I show more love and help more people within the next 24 hours?

✓ Get a journal. Whenever I feel stressed or unsure about how I’m feeling, write it out. Oftentimes when I see it on paper, I’ll realize the problem isn’t as serious as I had thought.

✓ What’s my identity? Take a moment to think about who I am beyond money, my body and everything else. Who am I at the core?

✓ What’s my superpower? Make a list of things that, when I’m doing them, I get in a flow state, where I lose track of time and space.

✓ Not to share my gift with the world is the greatest pain. What is my gift that I want to share with the world? Brainstorm and make a list. See what stands out.

✓ What excuses are holding me back from living my best life?

✓ Look around me. Who has the business, relationship, health, wealth that I want? Find a mentor who embodies the success that I want.

Links and Resources:

About AJ Mihrzad

AJ Mihrzad is the author of the best selling books,  “Master Your Inner Game” and “The Mind Body Solution: Train Your Brain for Permanent Weight Loss.” He studied Exercise Science and Nutrition due to his passion for health and earned a Masters degree in Psychology due to his fascination with the mindset of weight loss. His cutting edge approach to permanent weight loss insists that the key to a healthy body is a healthy brain. His clients are walking proof that this is true; there are hundreds of them!