8 Life-Changing Lessons from 8 Multi-Millionaire Speakers at the 2019 Perfect Life Retreat

On any given weekend, the average American watches six to eight hours of TV, drinks four to six beers, sleeps fewer than ten hours (in total, not per night), and consumes 1,000+ calories more than they should.

I don’t need to tell you what this average approach to life will get you… because it ain’t much.

Besides you’re not average.

But are you really spending your weekends as well as you should?

And once in a while are you going all out and attending weekend events that will change your life?

Let me introduce you to 8 multi-millionaires that recently did me a huge favor and taught their secrets to 300 of my top clients in San Diego, California…

Nine days ago, nearly 300 men and women from across the globe came out for our third annual Perfect Life Retreat with a single purpose…

To get the clarity, discipline, and strategies they need to make more money, work less, and live their perfect lives.

And it was nothing short of amazing.

The energy, enthusiasm, and passion each attendee brought to the table was both inspiring and humbling and I want to say a special “Thank You” to everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to be there.

After having some time to decompress and reflect on the amazing wisdom shared by our world-class speakers, I wanted to share my biggest takeaways and insights from the event to help you get more out of your life and business in 2020.

I don’t care if you’re a “struckling” first-time entrepreneur or a titan of your industry. It’s impossible to spend two days with people like Bedros Keuilian, Sharran Srivatsaa, Jason Capital, and Keri Schull without taking away a life-changing less (or ten).

These are the 8 most important lessons I learned and I promise, if you will implement them into your life and business, 2020 will be the most profitable, rewarding, and joy-filled year you’ve ever had…

1. Culture, Not Content, is The New King

For years, marketers and gurus have told us “Content is King.” We’ve been instructed to create Instagram videos, write more blog posts, dominate YouTube and become “omnipresent” online.

But in the 21st century, content is a commodity.

Anyone can create killer content with almost no barrier to entry.

The factor that really separates the empire builders who create “legacy wealth” from the struckling “wantrepreneur” then is not content…but culture.

It’s the emotion people experience by being a part of your organization. It’s the way you show up as a leader and inspire your team to achieve greatness. It’s the feeling of belonging and acceptance your clients can’t get anywhere else.

Listen…

Content is great. And this is in no way a recommendation to stop creating killer content (I’m still doing it here and on my Instagram!). But without a winning culture, your content won’t matter.

Focus first on building your team…on serving your clients like family…on creating a culture inside of your business that people need to be a part of.

If you can do this, the bottom line will take care of itself.

2. Build Your “Don’t Give a Care” Muscle

To open his 90-minute fireball keynote, my friend and long-time coaching client Jason Capital stood up on stage…and mumbled incoherently for the first 60-seconds.

If you aren’t familiar with Jason, he is one of the best speakers in the world and one of the most prolific creators on the internet.

So you can imagine everyone’s surprise when he took the stage, looked at the audience, smiled, and said “blahblooblabloo?” over and over for almost 60-seconds.

As silly as it seemed, Jason’s little antic served a very important purpose.

To illustrate to the audience the power of not giving a “care” (and yes, as you can imagine, his language was a bit more “colorful”).

In 2019, it’s impossible to create do anything that matters and changes lives without having haters.

No matter how good you are at what you do or how much value you offer, someone, somewhere will criticize you and try to bring you down.

As Mark Manson puts it, “You cannot be a powerful and life-changing presence to some people without being a joke or embarrassment to others.”

The problem is most entrepreneurs care too much about the opinions of the minority and allow their haters to sabotage their mission.

They won’t publish articles or record videos because they’re scared of what someone will say. They’re afraid of what a few people—who’ve never achieved anything themselves—will think and so they deprive the world of their gifts and sit quietly on the sidelines.

Don’t let this be you.

Build your “don’t give a care muscle” and commit to sharing your message no matter what. Be weird, be off the wall, be inappropriate…be yourself and trust that the right people will resonate with you and the wrong people will filter themselves out.

Do you think Jason, Bedros or I waste time on Instagram telling people that their nose is too big or their video is too grainy or they stuttered too much in their last story?

Of course not. We’re too busy building our own empires to waste time trying to criticize others (or care about the criticism from others).

The haters don’t matter. No one with an opinion worth listening to will “hate” on you or your content.

So stop worrying about what other people think and share your gifts with the world. It needs them.

3. Develop the Most Underrated Skill for Business Success in 2020

If you want to build a successful online business in 2020 and beyond, there is one skill that will 10x your success and help you increase your impact, income, and influence faster than anything else…

Video marketing.

In 2020, nearly 90% of the content viewed on the internet will be video.

YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world and all of the biggest social media platforms (especially Instagram) and shifting their algorithms to prioritize video content first.

Jason built an 8-figure business with video marketing.

Keri Schull generated $500 million in revenue for her real estate firm with video marketing.

And if you want your business to stand the tests of time and beat the competition…you must master video marketing, now!

If you aren’t good at video, then get good at it. Publish three videos a day for 30-days. You will be horrible at first. You’ll stutter, make weird faces, forget your script, and sound like your gargling a bag of marbles.

But it’s ok. It’s part of the process of mastery. And no one is good at anything the first time they try it and video is no exception. Embrace the journey and commit to improving your skills on video every single day.

I promise, if you will consciously develop your presence on camera in 2020, your business will grow faster than ever before.

4. Throw Out the Old Client Acquisition Model

If you’ve ever read any of the “OG” sales books, you were likely taught to follow the classic client acquisition model.

Approach. Qualify. Convince. Close.

But the old model is broken. It might have worked 50 years ago when people had fewer options and didn’t know what they really needed…but today, in the 21st century, it’s time for an upgrade.

During his mind blowing presentation, my friend Sharran Srivatsaa, the $3 billion man who 10x’d teles properties revenue in only 5 years, shared a new model for client acquisition and it goes like this.

1. Attract prospects into your business by delivering results in advance and helping them with their biggest challenges through video and written content.
2. Get the prospect to commit to sitting down with you for a 15-minute strategy session.
3. During the strategy session, clarify the prospects’ needs and determine if you can help them. If you can, set up another call where you will present your solution (do not pitch them on this call) and then create…
4. Clients for life.

That’s it. It might seem simple, but when applied consistently, it has the power to 10X your revenue and send your closing rate through the roof.

This simple four step method helped one of his clients go from broke (and living on savings) to generating more than a $200,000 commission in only 90-days.

If you want to generate a tribe of raving fans who are eager and excited to buy from you, it’s time to ditch the old model of sales and adopt this new framework.

This framework shifts the focus of the conversation from “how can I get money from this person?” to “can I genuinely serve this person and meet their needs?.”

It streamlines the selling process, allows you to understand your clients fears and desires, and puts you in the driver’s seat during the conversation.

5. Use the Three “R’s” to Accelerate Your Business Success

To become an empire builder and scale your business to 7, 8, or even 9-figures, you must develop what my buddy Bedros calls the “3 R’s”.

Relentlessness. Resourcefulness. And resilience.

Listen…

Building a 7 or 8-figure business is not easy. You will get kicked in the teeth, thrown to the curb, and beaten down time and time again.

And to make it through the adversity you will face, you must be relentless and resilient in the pursuit of your goals and keep going no matter what.

You must become an operator and commit to achieving the mission come hell or high water.

Just like my late mentor Sean Stephenson, the 3-foot giant who persevered through a rare genetic disease and became one of the highest-paid speakers on the planet.

Just like my friend and ex-Navy SEAL Jason Redman who was shot nearly a dozen times and turned his “disabilities” into a platform for success.

To an operator, there are no excuses. Only the mission. And you must commit to achieving the mission no matter what.

Next, on your journey, there will be times where you don’t have the resources to achieve the goals you’ve set…you won’t have the money, the team members, or the infrastructure to make the big leaps required to get you to the next level.

And when this happens, you must be resourceful and realize that you can find a way. Don’t have a videographer? Use your phone. Can’t afford a stripe account? Use PayPal. Don’t have the resources to hire a copywriter? Offer a 30% commission on any sales their work generates instead of paying them a salary.

No matter where you are or how hard things are right now…you can find the resources required to succeed.

6. Don’t Hit the Panic Button

I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret…

No matter how good you are at what you do or how amazing your team is, you are going to face failure time and time again.

You’ll invest thousands, maybe millions into a product that doesn’t convert. Team members will leave you for your competition. Family members will get sick. Your dog will pass away.

Life doesn’t let anyone make it off this planet without a few scars and no matter how many affirmations you chat or how open your third eye might be…Shtuff happens.

And when it does you cannot hit the panic button.

No matter what adversity you’re facing in your life or business, you must trust that you can find a way to succeed.

But when you panic and catastrophize, you become a slave to your fear and anxiety.

When my buddy Joel Marion launched his $100k/year mastermind, a group he invested multiple six figures into, he struggled to make sales and close new members (even as someone who’s sold more than $700,000,000 in products).

He had industry gurus and top talent from all over the world who’d agreed to join his team and deliver mindblowing strategies to new members…and fewer than a dozen people who joined (out of his goal of 100).

But he didn’t panic.

Instead, he got resourceful and committed to finding a solution. And within a few months, he filled up all 100 seats in the mastermind.

When I experienced my biggest business failure of my life, launched a cookbook that bombed (costing me over a quarter of a million dollars in development and staff salaries), I didn’t panic. I learned from my mistakes and shifted my strategy…going on to grow my business to more than $5 million in annual revenue.

No matter the challenges you’re facing right now…don’t panic.

You haven’t been kidnapped by Somali pirates (like Captain Phillips), shot in the head by enemy combatants (like Jason Redman), or lost your ability to walk and speak (like Stephen Hawking) and I promise…the problems you’re facing can be solved.

But to solve them, you must keep a level head and avoid the panic button at all costs.

7. Selling a Great Solution is Your Duty and Obligation

Most entrepreneurs I know are terrified of sales.

They don’t want to come off like a sleazy used car salesman and so they avoid selling at all costs.

They’ll pump out tons of valuable content…but never make a call to action.

And when they do try and sell a product or service, their pitch is timid, weak, and half-hearted.

Listen…

Your prospects, the people you’re trying to serve…they are in pain.

They go to bed every night with a knot in their stomach desperately trying to find a solution to their problem…a solution that you have.

And as my friend Zander Fryer noted during his epic presentation…if you have a solution that takes the pain away from the people you’re trying to serve…it is your duty and obligation to sell it.

Think about it…

If your best friend was diagnosed with a terminal illness and you found the cure, would you show up to their house shy and awkward, trying not to be too “pushy”?

Of course not! You’d beat down their door if you had to and do everything in your power to get them that cure.

Your clients are the same way. They’re suffering from “terminal illnesses” in their businesses, relationships, and bodies and YOU have the cure.

And it’s you’re duty and obligation to get it to them.

8. If They Can Do It, So Can You

The most valuable lesson from the perfect life retreat wasn’t something any of the speakers shared on stage…it wasn’t a part of a keynote or included in a powerpoint slide…it wasn’t even something that was mentioned during our “billion dollar round tables”…

The lesson is this.

If they can do it, so can you.

20 years ago, I was a broke, binge drinking, socially anxious personal trainer.

In his late 20s, Bedros was a bouncer at a tiny little gay bar and a line cook at Disney.

Jason Capital is just a shy “kid from Michigan” who dropped out of college and lost every dollar he made from his first business.

Sharran was a broke immigrant from India with no connections and no clue how to succeed.

There is nothing special about any of the men and women who spoke at the retreat (just don’t tell them I said that!).

They don’t have genius-level IQs, a trust fund, or some crazy advantage that you don’t.

They’re normal people just like you and me who committed to success and decided to do whatever it took to achieve their dreams.

If they can do it…If I can do it…so can you.

By getting clarity on your big vision, developing the discipline to do what needs to be done, and using objective outside eyes to create a winning strategy, you can build an empire and leave your own dent in the universe.

But you must first believe in your own potential and trust that what one person can do, you can do too.