The Dr. Josh Axe Show - This is Why You’re Not Happy in Your 9-5 | Amy Porterfield

Episode Date: January 18, 2024

Are you ready to quit your job? Amy Porterfield is an ex-corporate trailblazer turned online business mogul and bestselling author of "Two Weeks Notice." Amy now runs a multimillion-dollar company helping people achieve success by pursuing their passions. Tune in as Amy shares her proven formula for setting a business apart, how to cultivate resilience to help in your career and relationships, and the mindset shifts and practical first steps for achieving your biggest dreams.  You'll discover: How to overcome feelings of self-doubt and imposter syndrome Principles for expanding what's possible for your life and career Why you must surround yourself with people pursuing bigger goals How adopting a growth mindset fuels achievement Why your "why" matters more than having confidence How to turn your perceived weaknesses into strengths When it's time to quit your job and give your "two weeks notice" Walk away with a blueprint for transforming your perspective, finding courage over confidence, and taking small wins to build an empowered career and life on your own terms.  Want more of The Growth Lab with Dr. Josh Axe? Subscribe to the YouTube channel. Follow Dr. Josh Axe Instagram Twitter Facebook Tik-Tok Follow Amy Porterfield Instagram Twitter Facebook YouTube Follow Leaders Instagram Twitter Facebook Email Newsletter ------  Links:  Buy Amy Porterfield’s latest book, “Two Weeks Notice” → https://twoweeksnoticebook.com/  Check out Amy’s podcast, “Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield” → https://www.amyporterfield.com/amy-porterfield-podcast/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's no such thing as a wrong turn. And it feels like there is, especially when you're going after something big. I did this wrong. That didn't work out. That was a crash and burn. I believe that there are no wrong turns. So that means you get out there. Let's say you put yourself on the field from the other example and you go for something

and it doesn't work. You go for a job interview or a promotion and you do not get it. In that moment, you put yourself on the field. You did it. So now it's going to be a tweak versus having to find the, courage to start from the very beginning. So I believe everything that happens, I can take a tweak or a turn to get to where I want to get to. Hey, everybody, Dr. Josh Axe here. Welcome to the Growth Lab podcast where each and every week

we cover the science behind how to grow yourself, your health, your wealth, and take your career and relationships to the next level. This week, I have a friend of mine, Amy Porterfield with us today. And we're going to be talking about all kinds of stuff. We're going to talk about you just had a New York Times bestselling book. Yes. Two weeks notes. Congratulations. Thank you so much. And you're a person I've learned a lot from in terms of how to create an epic course. And so, you know, if somebody wants to create a course or a program, and this could be everything. In fact, when I went through some of your stuff, I thought

this could be great for pastors who want to create a program for a church, somebody who's just saying, I want to create a secondary form of income and, you know, get out of my nine to five and start working a different type of job. So you are sort of the master of, or at least I consider you the master of how to create a course or program. And we're going to talk about all kinds of stuff today. I'm looking forward to it for sure. So, so everybody, I want to talk, we're going to talk about personal growth, professional development. We're going to talk about mindset today. And we're going to do all this with Amy today.

So Amy, when I, when you walked in the door first off, it was so good to see you. Thank you. You too. It's been too long. It's been, I know. It's been a while. And I know we've got a lot of mutual friends in Nashville. And I was so excited when, when I found out you were moving here. Why did you originally move to Nashville? So I was born and raised in Southern California. So I've had the best weather of my life. So the number one thing when my husband said, we're going to move.

Let's start getting excited about somewhere new. I told him right away, don't even send me to the snow. I won't be able to survive. So Tennessee weather-wise is kind of a good compromise. But beyond that, there are so many amazing people here. Like you said, we have a lot of mutual friends. There's an energy here that I love. And I will say my favorite thing about Nashville is the people.

They are just so nice. My husband and I, I'm an introvert, and we tend to be really social here because people invite you to tons of things. So I love that. It's so great. We're talking about some people. And I know we've had some of these people on the podcast, Michael Hyatt, Donald Miller, talked about Julie Solomon. Yes. They're just some amazing people.

And I think for myself, you know, Chelsea and I have split time between living in Nashville and Puerto Rico. Yes. And one of the things that I think I really became even more, even though I was already very grateful, a whole other level of gratefulness and being in Puerto Rico. Rico was, I mean, like if somebody would say, hey, what do you miss about Nashville? Now, like, I like the green trees, the rolling hills, the food here is great now, too, but I miss the people. Yes. The people here are so, so great.

They are. And they're entrepreneurial and they're excited about their projects and they're really involved in things. It's special. Yeah, that's so cool. And I know you mentioned you guys are looking at or maybe just got some land. Yes. Are you guys going to have chickens or horse?

That's what everyone keeps asking. You have to remember, I am a city girl. I do not think there's going to be chickens unless my husband talks me into it. But we just got 70 acres and Leepers Fork, which is a beautiful area. So we're excited. My husband's always wanted land. So I love to see him, like, have a dream realized. It's so great.

Well, I mentioned to start, you have this book out that I think is awesome, two weeks notice. And when I first heard that, I thought, what is, what did we say? Like, like, tell me about this title because I thought maybe you're telling people, like, actually, one of the first questions. regarding the title is, do you make a recommendation for when people should put in their two weeks notice in the book? Yes. So when I think about who should put in their two weeks notice, it's somebody who has a desire for more. You're in your 9 to 5 job and you're looking around thinking, this can't be it. I don't want my boss's job. I don't want to excel in this world. I want more freedom. It's really the word freedom. That's how I became an entrepreneur. I was a corporate

girl for life. My last corporate job was with peak performance coach Tony Robbins. And so I got to travel world, work with Tony for almost seven years. It was an incredible job. However, I wasn't free. I wanted to call the shots. I wanted to work when I wanted, where I wanted, how I wanted. And so I did that for myself and put a roadmap together to leave my 9 to 5 job and start this business. And then I thought, I can teach other people how to do this.

I know there's a desire for so many that they want to do their own thing. And it could be as simple as I want to pick up my kid at 3 o'clock after school. And I can't do that with this type of 9 to 5 job. or I want to take that vacation that I never get the opportunity to do so. So it's whatever freedom looks like for you, really have to explore it. And it might be time to become your own boss so you can call the shots. That's so cool. It reminds me.

So I was in this position. And this is why I think what, you know, the advice that you've given, the wisdom you share is so important. You know, I was at a point where I was in a practice, ran a functional medicine practice for five, six years. And in about year four, I thought to myself, you know what? Like, I think I want to do something. something where I have more freedom, but more than that, where I also want to reach more people. Yes.

And so I started this newsletter, actually, just even before that, on Dr.ax.com, started to send it out a weekly newsletter, started to grow and grow and grow over time. And I remember, first of all, I didn't know how to monetize it. And I had a friend. I was doing lunch with a friend in Atlanta. And I said, you know, I want to do something else where I reach more people online. And he said, well, what's your email list size? And I said, it's like 33,000 people. And he goes, how much money are you making? I was like, well, like, and I just had a cookbook at the time.

And so we would, and I was afraid to tell anybody about anything because I thought, well, I don't want anybody to think I'm salesy. Oh, yeah. And so I ended up just like twice a year. I would send out an email. So I was making maybe making like 5, 10K a year, but probably losing like 10 times that. And he's like, I heard for every email you have on your list that you should make that in dollars a month. I'm like, yes. You're telling me I should be making 33 a month with just my

email list. And so anyways, I went and started learning about all this. And basically, you know, so you talk about a two years notice. What I essentially started doing was learning from people like you and saying, okay, well, I can't put in my two weeks notice yet, but I feel like I can start ramping up over the next year for my two weeks notice. And so share with me your thoughts about that. If somebody's saying, well, I couldn't just turn in it tomorrow, but I do. have this dream and vision for the future, what's that sort of process and strategy like for people? I love that you ask this question because the book is called two weeks notice, but I am not encouraging people to wake up tomorrow morning and say, I'm giving my two weeks notice. I am really

into a roadmap of how to get wherever you want to get to. So in the book, I outline a roadmap of what it looks like. For me, it was a year. So from the day I decided I'm going to leave and do my own thing. It took a year for me to actually put together a plan and start a side hustle. So when you ask, like, what does the plan look like? First, it looks like getting really clear on when you do want to leave. I think it's important to choose a date. I tell my students to put it on a Post-it note, put it on a mirror where you see it every day, and ask yourself, what can I do today to move me closer to that date?

Every single day I was thinking about that date's coming up in a year. Now it's six months. Now it's three months. I've got to move toward it. So that was a big thing, getting really clear on where you're going and when you're going to do it. The second thing is getting clear on why you want this. Because if you don't know why you want to leave your 9 to 5 job and start your own thing, the minute it gets hard, you won't do it. And so getting really clear to me, I just wanted freedom. To other people, it could be so much

bigger than that or different or I just want to help more people like you said. Getting clear on your why is really important. And then from there, you do have to look at your finances. This is one area that people would like to just like cover their eyes. And I don't want to know. But what kind of money do you need to make when you go out on your own. And so getting clear on, okay, this is how much I need to make when I go out on my own. Maybe I'll start a side hustle now just to kind of ease me into that. I'm a big proponent of side hustles. So starting something like a mini course or one-on-one consulting or coaching on the side, whatever it might be, just to start getting the ball rolling. That's a huge way to move your way into becoming your own boss. So that's another one that helps a lot. It's so good. And this is very

similar to the formula that I followed. And again, I, in, you know, going to seminars and and learning these things and conferences and reading about, you know, things that you or other people have written online. And so I remember being a very similar place. And the Y thing I think is so important because for me, like I loved being in a functional medicine clinic. But I remember I had this patient one time. And she came in and she said, hey, I gave your newsletter to like, you know, a friend of mine. And they were able to get off their medications. and like they literally hit just just by reading the article and i thought wow like i'd love to be able to do this more i'd love to be able to communicate more and so it wasn't that i didn't like

what i was doing it's that i knew i was called to do something different and so i think that why is such an important thing that you mentioned there too and i think you know i i read this study pretty recently and they they they they interviewed just a whole wide group of people and they found that only 25 percent of people know what their purpose or their why is and so that's is just such a key ingredient that 75% of people don't know what their why is, right? It's important to start there. It truly is. It's your North Star. And if you don't know, some advice is to start journaling. So 10 minutes every morning and just write down everything that you want and why do you want it. And there's no wrong answers here. But Mel Robbins is a good friend in mine. She did this

exercise with a small group of her friends. And every day we had to write down five things that we wanted. I thought that would be very easy. But every day I would do it and I could see myself like repeating it because I couldn't think of anything else I wanted. There was like a limit in my mind. I couldn't think bigger. And so getting into that exercise, like, what do you really want? Whether it be an emotional feeling that you want or something physical or a relationship

or whatever it is, you got to get into that practice of asking yourself, what do you want? Because you're never going to go after it if you don't know what it is. You know, this sort of reminds me of something I think we all deal with. the different points is sort of these limiting beliefs. Yeah. Right? Because it's like, because here's what I, when you share that with me, I think that I've done a practice like that before.

And I think the first time I did that, the thing I thought to myself was like I felt guilty because I felt like I shouldn't want so many things. It's true. And I think we need to really look at that because let's say I said, I'm married, but let's pretend I wasn't. And I said, I want a relationship. So if I was really clear on I want. a relationship, then I'm going to be showing up differently. When I get clear about what I want,

I will start having to act like the person that wants a relationship, putting myself out there, saying yes to invitations, maybe working on myself so I feel more confident. The world around you starts changing when you get really clear about what you want. But if you're guilty, like, I shouldn't want this much. I think it's cutting yourself, you know, selling yourself short. Everybody deserves to go after what they want. And when you get what you want, you become a more generous person because you're happier inside. You want to share that with other people. I think it makes the world a better place.

It just starts with getting clear of what you want. Yeah. Yeah. You know, there's another study I read too. And I thought this was good that kind of went along with this other. And it was, you know, when you set goals, you shouldn't just set goals that are solely for personal, personal gain. So, for instance, I want to have 100 million social media followers. If it's not attached to, I want to help 100 million people build their confidence or feel worthy inside or find their dream job, right?

Yes. So the what in the why I think it's important. I want this, but why do you want this? And if it's tied to something that is going to be beyond you, I think you're more compelled to go for it. Yeah. If it's virtuous, if it's good, if it matters, that's good. Yeah, for sure. That's so good.

You know, we talked about, you know, we've had some great people in our life. And I know, by the way, when Michael Hyatt was here, he had mentioned, I said, hey, who do you love running around with here in Nashville? Like, who's your? And he's like, oh, we love the Porterfield. Oh, love them. Yeah. And so he was sharing that with me. What is one of the biggest things that you've learned as you spent some time with, with Mike?

Michael is a dear friend and he's also a business coach of mine. And I think the biggest thing, okay, actually, I'm going to tell you a story of what he told me that. I've taken with me. So I am a really sensitive person. I get my feelings hurt easily. I hate to admit this to you, but it's true. I get my feelings hurt. I take things very personal. And that doesn't necessarily help me in business. At least I didn't think it did. And so when I launched my book, you would know this. You have to ask a lot of favors. It's my least favorite thing. So can I be on your podcast? Can you interview me for this? Can you buy my book? And some people said no. people that I felt like I showed up for them if they didn't show it for me. And that's just my own

personal issue. But it hurt deeply. So one day I got on a call with Michael and I said, I need you to teach me mental toughness. I remember I texted him first. Like, we're getting on a call soon. I'm just going to warn you. I'm going to cry. I just knew it was coming. But I said, I am worn down. I feel hurt at every turn right now. I need mental toughness. And he said, no, you don't. And I said, what are you talking about? And I told them all these things that were happening. And he said, Amy, your superpower is the thing that you think is your weakness. Your superpower is you're sensitive. So you're more compassionate, you're empathetic, think of people's feelings.

You're always thinking about others. And you're powerful at the same time. And he proved like, look what you've done in your business or what you've done in your relationship. You have power there. But you're sensitive and powerful. And that is your superpower. And he took what I thought was my weakness and showed me how it makes me the person I

am and has allowed me to have the success I have. And I tell that story because people are listening right now where there's something in their life that they think is not good about them. I'm sensitive or I don't know, whatever you are and you just think this is weighing me down. Ask yourself where it could show up where it actually makes you a better person, whether it be more empathetic or compassionate or helpful or whatever it might be. So he allowed me to take something that I really beat myself up with and turn it around. And it's been amazing to look at that. I think having coaches and mentors and guides show you where you're beating yourself up, but they can show you where actually you're doing pretty well. You're okay. It's so good. You know, I had time to,

I'm doing dinner with Mike and Gail here in a few weeks. And every time, so I told you, like Chelsea's pregnant with our second, we're going to have another girl. And he told me something. And I tell people this all the time. It was so good. He said, you know what? I think some people think that it'd be great to have boys. He's like, I've loved him because he has, you know, five daughters. I pretend I'm the sixth for the record.

Yes. So, you know, and he said, you know what? I've actually found that girls, you know, if you have a good relationship with them, they always come home. Like, you'll see your daughters all the time. And the boys, they'll run off. They'll go somewhere. You won't see him as much in the future.

And so he's like, if you can think beyond 18 years, He said, you'll see that, you know, you'll just, you're just going to love having daughters. And it was like something for me. That's sweet. I love that. That's so good. And, you know, he's got one of his daughters in business with him. And I could see that for my, or Arwin, like us doing business together.

And so he's a, I told him, I said, you're a, you know, you're a, you're a wise sage. He is. And I think having five daughters has made him a better man. I've never said that to him. But the way he coaches me, it's like a father figure. Yeah. And he's very sensitive and patient. and introspective with me.

And I think a lot of that came from having to be patient with his daughters as well. So your daughters are going to make you a better man. It's so good. I can see it. You know, I think I was sharing this with some of the other day because as you're sharing that these coaches and mentors and father figures are so important. And I think, like, I had a dad that was so, I'm so blessed. I had a dad that was so incredible growing up in so many areas.

But my dad was not an entrepreneur and he didn't know business. And so I think for anybody to be successful, there is this sort of parental, maternal, or paternal, these figures, father figures in our lives that are important even after we leave the house, right? And so like in business or spiritual growth or whatever it might be, I mean, it's, it's, I found it to be, it's the fastest way to it's modeling, right? Part of it is too. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's such a big thing. I, you know, when I look at the success in my business and really the success in my personal life as well, I have a beautiful marriage and beautiful friendships.

It all stems from my mentors, my guides, my coaches. I've always had them since the day I left Tony Robbins, I've had a coach or someone to guide me. And I think that's really, really important. How did you get involved with Tony? First of all, I didn't know that. Oh, you didn't? Okay. So it's kind of a funny story.

I had broken up with a boyfriend. I was living in Ventura, California. I was working for Harley Davidson in marketing, which is very different than Tony Robbins. and I broke up with a boyfriend and couldn't sleep. So every night I was on the couch watching infomercials. And at that time, any minute of the day, Tony Robbins had an infomercial on television. I didn't know this, but I learned later. So his infomercial came up and I thought, I'm going to need to buy those tapes he's talking about.

But I didn't have a lot of money. So I went to the library, started got cassette tapes. This is how long ago that was. Put him in my car. And every time I'd drive to work, I'd listen. And I just really loved everything he taught. That's when personal development became a very big part of my life. I wasn't happy at my job.

I wasn't happy with my weight. I wasn't happy with my health overall. And I wasn't happy with my job. So he showed me that I had personal power that I could work on myself and go after what I want. That was my first introduction. And so fell in love with his content. And then in true fashion, I thought, well, then I need to work for him.

And so I pursued a job. And I got a job as a content manager. and got to travel the world with him and work on the content that he does on stage at like Unleash the Power Within, Date with Destiny, all his events. It was incredible. Wow. Yeah. You know, I read Awaken the Giant Within. Yes. And by first off, it actually was the book. Now, when I read a book, I do the Hyatt Method, which is, you know, I highlight the book. I type out the notes. I put it in the flies. And it took me forever because that book is like three books. And one. And then I also had one of his, and I'm trying to remember the CD set, but it was,

was like your hour of power, 30 minutes to thrive. That's the one I loved. Yes. And I listened to, I mean, over and over and over again. And it had a just massive impact on me. And so anyways, I'm a, you know, I've learned so much from Tony Robbins. Same. What is the biggest thing you learned and working for Tony Robbins for seven years? What's the biggest thing you learned from him? The biggest lesson is that how to be resourceful. So when I worked with him, never ever was there a time that we said we couldn't do anything, ever. And it wasn't that we could just throw money to it to get what we wanted. We had to be creative and innovative. But he never ever felt like anything was out of reach. And so now in my business, when my team's like, we can't do that. Oh, it's my favorite

challenge. Like, oh, I'll show you. We could do that. And I always figure out a way. So this idea of being resourceful, it's a muscle you have to build. I don't think we're all born with that, right? But I'm constantly looking for the opportunity of finding a yes when people tell me no. And I think that serve me well. There's this famous, I had this coach when I was a doctor, and he would, he had me read this thing. It was called a letter to Garcia. Okay. But the whole point of this was there's this man, and I'm going to mess this up terribly, who's ever watching this and knows this story. But basically, this general, it's during the war, it's during like the Cuban Missile Crisis or something like that. And he said, here's a letter. I need you to develop, I need you to

deliver this to Garcia. Now, there's no phones at this time. There's none of this stuff. And this guy has to deliver this letter like across the globe he doesn't know where he's at whatever and and he's like and basically the point of this letter is this guy didn't say well where is he how would i do that i can't do that whatever you know and so and and i've heard some uh just some of i really respect talk about this letter and he basically said you know part of the point here is he's like it's it's one of the greatest qualities anyone could ever have agree is that thing of like you know no matter what it's the will no matter what i will I will find a way. And here's the thing. If anyone's listening right now and you don't feel resourceful, sometimes that resourcefulness comes when you are pursuing your passions, when you're

going after what you want. It's very easy for me to be resourceful when I have goals for my business that I feel like I birthed this business. It's my baby and I'll do anything to get it to be successful. So getting resourceful is easy then. But when you're in, let's say, a nine to five job that you don't necessarily love being resourceful in that situation, it's kind of a low. vibe sometimes. It's hard. Yeah. So the way you increase your ability to be more resourceful is get very clear on where you're going and where, again, where you want to go and why you want to go there. And I promise you, you'll start to feel that resourcefulness. Yeah. Because you're clear about your direction. So those listening that struggle with this, it gets easier when you get

clear about going after your purpose. You know, this is so true. And I do think that sometimes what I think holds people back is that I think a lot of people know, If I fully own the business, if it was fully mine, maybe I would be. Now, actually, I don't know if that's fully true because I see a lot of people who are entrepreneur who still probably don't act in that way. Now, I do think it's more, though, to your point, I absolutely think it's more. But I do think if people can maybe detach some of the feelings and even rashly say, you know what, like, this is a stepping stone.

It's like, yes. If I'm faithful with this, that's not even mine, when it is mine, I love that. I love that way of showing. You know, the way you do one thing is the way you do everything. And if you, okay, I got that advice. When I was still in my 9 to 5 job and I knew I wanted to leave, someone said, show up every day like you are going to be the best employee until the day you drive out of that parking lot. On Harley Davidson.

At Tony Robbins. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Gotcha. And I was not a big motorcycle girl just for the record. So, but yes, when I left that parking lot, I knew I had shown up as a great. great employee to the very end, and I think that builds character. It also allowed me not to burn bridges. So I had a great relationship with Tony and the team when I left. And I think that's important

as well. Yeah. That's so good. One of the things we talk about is you've really helped people in creating their dream job, you know, I think with so many people, talk to me a little bit about, like, if you have a client come in and they're sitting down and this can be worth a lot to a lot of people because, you know, it's, it's, you know, you can charge a lot to sit down and coach with you. What is some of the process that you bring in them through? Let's say somebody comes in and says, you know what? I want to start a skincare company or a nutrition company or my own clothing line. Where do you have them start?

And then what is some of the process that you help somebody do in order to launch their first course or whatever it is to fulfill their dream? I love this question. But I'm going to step back. One thing that's unique about what I do is I don't do any one-on-one-one, coaching or any consulting whatsoever. And I bring this up to say that I don't like to do that. And so when I went out for what I wanted, I thought, I need to do something that is going to be perfect for my personality. So I started to create courses because I love the idea of teaching one to many.

And I did consulting in the beginning and realize really quickly I was not cut out for it. So I say that because wherever you want to go with your business, if you want to go out on your own, you could do it on your terms. You could do it your way. And that's the most beautiful thing about entrepreneurship. So just wanted to give a plug for that. But I do work with my students every single day in a group setting. And if they come to me and say, I want to start a skincare line or let's say I want to teach about skincare because I don't deal with physical products. I only deal with digital courses. The first thing I'll ask them is, okay, let's get clear on your sweet spot. And so this could be really valuable for anyone thinking maybe one day I want to do my own

thing. There's four quadrants of a sweet spot. The first one is look at your knowledge, know-how, and skill set. Where have you gotten results in your life for yourself or for somebody else? Everybody has a sweet spot there. And we actually call it a 10% edge. You just have to be 10% ahead of those that you serve so you could say, here's the roadmap to follow. Follow me. I'll show you the way. I've gotten results. Let me show you. So a lot of people think they need more education, more certification, more college. You do not. Think about where you're you've gotten results for yourself or somebody else, you can teach that. Okay, so that's the first quadrant. The second one is what kind of thing, what do you want to solve? What challenge do you want to solve?

What desire do you want to meet? Because we want to marry your knowledge with solving a problem or meeting a desire for your ideal audience that you will eventually serve. So what are they struggling with? What do they want? What do they need? So getting clear on your audience and who you want to serve. The third quadrant is your profit potential. So if you think, you think, you think, you know, what you think. about what you want to do. Let's say our example, I want to teach skincare. Are there books about it, podcasts about it, other courses about it, coaching, consulting? And if the answer is yes, that is a beautiful validator. A lot of people, this happens all the time. But Amy, it's already being done by really big names. Like if someone wants to get in the industry that you were in,

Dr. Axe already has the audience. But people forget there's over 7 billion people in this world And you need a tiny sliver to pay attention to make an amazing living online. So if it's been done before, I feel as though that is a great validator. And then the third or fourth quadrant is what brings you joy. A lot of times people will say, I'm really good at X, but I do not want to build a business around it. And I quickly say then don't. It has to get you up in the morning. You have to be excited about it.

It doesn't have to be your life's purpose, but you have to be excited about it. So good. Yeah. So I know that as you've talked about, you've had some career shifts, right? Harley Davidson, Tony Robbins, teaching people to build courses, all these different things. Well, what are some of the key decisions you've made throughout your career that has led you to where you are? So again, as I'm saying this, it's like, okay, there's a lot of people in, like you were, 9 to 5 job, Harley Davidson, that sort of place. What are some of those key decisions that you made along the way that allowed you to build this multimillion dollar business and have all the success?

So one of the key decisions I made early on is I was willing to take a step. backwards to move forward by leaps and bounds. And what I mean by that is I made great money at Tony and, or Tony Robbins. And I was willing to say, okay, I'm willing to make less money and sacrifice our lifestyle a bit in order to figure out what I want to do. I didn't have it all figured out the day I left the San Diego offices for Tony Robbins. I was terrified, but I was willing to take that risk. So I believe in courage overconfidence. Confidence is when you have a proven track record. When I sold a digital course online, I made $10,000. Okay, I'm feeling kind of good.

I didn't have any of that. So you have to rely on courage or faith before you ever feel the confidence. And I think a lot of people don't take a leap toward what they want because they're waiting until they feel confident. I didn't feel confident for about two years on my own until things started to click. So just look for courage or faith first before you look for confidence. That helped me immensely. So that was the first thing, taking that risk, going with courage first. And then another big thing that helped me is that I invested in myself.

So when I left Tony Robbins, I invested in a mastermind that I could not afford. I had to ask for a payment plan. So I paid it every month and I freaked out every month that I couldn't afford it. But I got into proximity with other people that were doing bigger things than me. Another lesson I learned from telling me. Yeah. So these women, I was with women entrepreneurs that were building businesses and doing great things. I had never done any of it.

Every day I felt less than. and every day I felt like an imposter and every day I thought I'm going to have to go beg for my nine to five job back. So I dealt with those demons for about two years. But here's the deal. When my worries knocked me down, my why picked me back up. That's why I stayed in the game. I had every fear that everyone else has.

And I'm a warrior by nature. I think I was telling you that before we started an interview. I'm just a warrior. So when I thought, oh my gosh, I'm not going to make enough money to pay the bills or I can't get that client. I just remembered like, why did you leave your job? You wanted more freedom. You wanted to reach more people. You want to make an impact. So when your worries knock you down, your why can pick you back up. That helped me immensely as well. And then I think the last thing is I learned early on to stay in my lane. And so I got really good at one thing. And what I see a lot of people do is they

want to do this. They want to do that. Chase the squirrels. And I'm multi-passionate. But my secret was, I could have hobbies, but I didn't have to make money with everything I loved. I found one thing I was good at, and I just stayed in my lane. Now, my lane is teaching people how to create digital courses. Is it my passion in life to create digital courses? No, but my passion in life is helping people build businesses online and having more freedom. So it's just the vehicle that gets me there. So I didn't make it a big deal that this is what I do.

I made it a big deal of this is who I serve, the people I serve. So that's helped me. So I am known for creating digital courses. That is by design. I've stayed in my lane for 14 years. I love this. I love all three of these points and the one that courage over confidence. It's a powerful one because I think sometimes people feel like, well, you know, I've got to arrive or I have to wait until I get a degree or I have something.

And it's like, no, you just, you know, these small wins will build your confidence along the way. So I love that point. The second one is, and you've gone back to this, probably this is a third time now on your why. There's a quote by Nietzsche I love, and it's, he who has a big enough why can bear any how. So it's like, if your why is big enough, the how is it, the why will overcome whatever, we'll figure out the how. And so that's, it's really good as well. And so I love this advice.

It's, yeah, it's really, really good. Yeah. What, you know, as we've talked about, you, you've had the opportunity to be around just a number of just really, you know, a lot of influential people you talked about. I know that as I've, again, I follow you on Instagram, you know, we see a lot of your posts and you're always talking about a book you've read or hanging out with just, you know, some incredible people. What role, I bring all that up to say, what role has personal growth played in your professional growth? Everything. So coming back to Tony, another lesson I learned. He always said 80% of your success in anything you do is mindset.

20% is the mechanics, the how that you mentioned. 80%. And that, he taught me that 17 years ago. So I've always held on to that. So to me, everything is mindset. I could do anything in my business as long as I am managing my mindset. And so I, from a very young age, have dealt with depression, just low level depression. It's always just been there.

And then recently, like over the last three or four years, anxiety. That was a new one for me. I woke up one morning, like, what are these feelings? So depression and anxiety, they run through me, unfortunately. And they're running my family, so I got it honest. So to me, every single day I have to check in and manage my mindset. So what that looks like is journaling in the morning, 10 minute meditation. I can't do more than 10 minutes, but I'm there.

I do 10 minutes. Moving my body is huge. I don't move my body to lose weight anymore. I genuinely move my body to have a better day, have a better mindset. So I learned that. Unfortunately, in my 40s, I wish I learned that in my 20s. So I do things every day because I believe personal development and personal growth is everything to my success. So I'm constantly in my ear.

I've got a podcast to inspire me, a book to inspire me. Like you said, I'm constantly taking care of my mindset. So what are some of the books that you've read regarding personal growth that have had the biggest impact on your life? So there's this book called The Gap and the Gain. It's Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy. Do you know it? Oh, yeah. Michael Hyatt introduced it to me.

Of course he did. And all my life, I have felt that I haven't measured up. So if I wanted to reach a goal for $10 million for a launch and I came in at $9 million, that's a lot of money. I always felt like I was coming up short. I didn't hit my goal. What happened? What did I do wrong?

I instantly go to. But there's this gap and I didn't hit it. And what the book taught me is I have to live in the gain. I just made, hypothetically, $9 million in eight days in the launch. Oh, my goodness. That is incredible. And most people can't even do something like that. I did it.

My team did it. We should be excited. And because I lived in the gain or gap, so did my team. So they always felt like we were a little bit behind if we didn't hit the goal or they wouldn't celebrate anything. I saw what it did to my team. I saw what it did to me. And I thought, never again.

So I make a mission to live in the gain every day. It's not easy, but it's so important. I mean, this is something I've had, as I've studied psychology over the years, is that this is literally the difference between somebody being happy in life or being unhappy. You're right. It's like one of the biggest factors is right there. Oh, I did, you know, I have this far to go versus no, look how far I've come. Yes. So good.

It's just a small shift. And I think that when we talk about personal development, it's all just a small shift. It doesn't have to be this huge thing. This is why I love that you're doing this podcast. Someone walks away with just one thing we said today. And it could be that shift that could change everything for them, a small shift. It's that, you know, two millimeter shift instead of this huge thing you have to do. Does someone have to have superpowers and a million dollars to launch their first course?

Absolutely not. So I have story after story of people that never in their wildest dreams thought they would have success online. One of the women I work with, she's a single mom in L.A. She has three kids. Her mom lives with her. She makes caramel candy apples. And one day she decided, I'm going to be. put this in a course people would come to her house and buy from her it was a very scrappy little

business she puts it in a course teaches people how to make it 60 000 her very first launch her life changed with that she didn't have a big email list a big business she just had a desire to teach other people what she knew and i see that over and over again it's very doable and it's amazing i mean somebody make a 60 i know how about another woman i teach i teach men and women but she teaches you'll love this, how to get your newborn baby potty trained. They're never in diapers. There's a word for it. Elimination something. By the other. My cousin followed this. And we, she came over to our house and we're like, we got a three-month-old here going on the bed. We're like, what is going on? This is the craziest thing. Wild? Yes, wild. And so she teaches that. But here's the thing. She did it with her kids. She has three

kids. She did it with her kids and that there's other women that would earn and men too that would like to learn this. So she taught what she knew. I think we overthinking it. And we look at other people that have big businesses and we think that can't be us. You don't have to start there. You got to just start right here, you know, grassroots. That's right. Yeah.

That's so good. You know, I think that if I would have, if I would have, and you might be in the situation too, if I would go back to when I was 20 years ago, I was 22 years old and I just finished college. And if I, if I would have, I never would have thought I'd be where I am. in terms of like some of the business success and the type of home. I'm like all those sort of things. I just would have never thought that. But I think for me, the thing was it was this thing of this why of like,

you know what, there's something that's breaking my heart or there's something I really know people need or something I've experienced and I just got to get it out to people. And I'm just going to do my best to just learn and follow the people that have done it. And eventually, if you just keep following down that path, you'll just be shocked at where you end up. It's so true. And it's just that those little baby steps and looking at what other people are doing.

Okay. So if you ever feel guilty, this is such a great lesson I've learned over the years, whenever I feel guilty or not guilty, envious or jealous of what somebody else has. If I have that ping of, ooh, I feel a little jealous or I wish I had that, you have to ask yourself, what do they have that I want? What do they have that I want? And then start kind of dissecting. Well, how could I get there?

So use that envy or jealousy as full. fuel and use other people's success as inspiration. If they can do it, so can I. Because comparing yourself online is one of the biggest deaths to your success possible. Looking at someone else and saying they've got something I don't have and they've got it because they're better than me. It's very normal, especially with a lot of women in my industry. So looking at that and being inspired versus feeling defeated because you don't have it yet is really important. Yeah. You mentioned women and one of the things I saw a post. Now, this is probably, I don't know if it was six months ago or or 12 months ago, but the picture was, I think you were with, I'm just going to

shout off with people and a few of them I have right and a few of them might not. I think you're with like Mel Robbins and Jamie. Her in Lima and maybe Jasmine Stalk, just a whole group of other women. You know, I know that in my journey as an entrepreneur, as I've grown to kind of different stages of success in business. At certain points, it's almost like you kind of feel lonely or maybe there's some people that it's hard to connect with. Like, how important has that been for you to find those other women to connect with? Okay, so very important. And I mentioned that I'm an introvert.

I'm not the one saying, hey, let's all get together or normally not that person. And entrepreneurship or just even going after your dreams, whatever it looks like, could be so lonely because there's so many people that don't understand. If you're going to go a different direction than your friends or family, they won't get it and you won't have their support. So finding other people that are in the trenches with you is everything, in my opinion. But you have to put yourself out there. So what I've learned now that I've moved to Nashville because it's more social here than where I lived, I have to invite people. I have to say, what are you doing? What's going on kind of thing?

I noticed that Mel Robbins was in Nashville today. I actually thought she was coming here because she was in Nashville for three hours. Normally I wouldn't say anything. She mentioned online. I texted her right away. What are you doing in Nashville? Do you have time to get together? That's not really my style.

But I think it's so important that you do that. So anyone listening right now that you feel isolated or lonely, you have to put yourself out there. I want you to call up a friend, invite somebody in because you can't wait until they come to you. I got invited to that circle because I built some relationships with those people. It wasn't just because I'm successful in business. I really had to put myself out there. It's like pursuing someone to marry. I mean, Rick is very similar.

Like I learned, you know, Mike Hyatt. started this men's group and then i asked him about it and he's like you know what i just i wanted to create a community and then donald miller did a similar thing and shared it with me and they're these these two they're you know they're always doing it right yes and so i did that and to be i got to tell you it's the most fulfilled one of the most fulfilling things top two or three that i've done in my life and you put the group together yes so we got to take the initiative yes we really do and and even if you you You don't need big names. You don't need to start with like anything fancy.

Just get a few people together and also the accountability. So these women mentioned, Jasmine Star, I talk to her every single day on the, not, I don't talk to her. Let's not get crazy. I'm an introvert. That's too much. Yes. Voice text.

Every day I tell her what my day is going to look like and she tells me what her day's going to look like. Or we say, I'm having a problem with this or I'm challenged with this, personal and business. But to have a friend that you check in with every single day, it's a really big deal. It is. Yeah. That's big. So good. You know, I had just a couple of quick stories with this. One, my first year of practice. First of all, I mean, you know, I had no idea what it was like. Yes. And I did this with a friend of mine. He had a practice in Minnesota. And then I had another friend here in Murphy'sboro. And so we would just, the three of us would just kind of text constantly, yeah. And it allowed us to get through. I here's what I told them with starting a business. And if anybody's been an entrepreneur, they'll really connect with this. I said, I know I don't have this, but I feel like I have like bipolar disorder. Because it's like win, failure, win, failure, win.

Yes. And it was so good to be able to share those wins and failures with these other people and just, you know, allowed, you know, allowed me to continue to just, I feel like, you know, move on. And they'll tell you what's not working. And not that you don't want it to work for them, but you realize, oh, I'm not alone. So Jasmine will say, I'm struggling with this hire that I just had. Oh, I've been there. Let's talk about it. Or she might say, my husband feels neglected right now because I'm working so much.

Oh, I know a few things about that. Let's talk about it. So I love having those commonalities together. That's so good. So we talked about you running around some amazing people. Another person I just remembered, I think, Jenna Cuchar was in there. She's another one that I text almost every day. Yeah.

So good. What is, again, we've talked about mentors. We've talked about a lot of things. What is the best piece of advice that you've ever received? Oh, I love this one. So it comes from Michael Hyatt, and I'm going to tell a quick story around it. So when I was doing a launch last year, we were not hitting our goal. We were about four or five days into an eight day launch.

And he called and he says, how is it going? And I said, well, the goal is $7.2 million, but I think we're probably going to hit six. And I'm okay with that. It's not going as well as I wanted, but I think we're going to hit six. And he said, you just stepped off the field and you have four days left. And he was on speakerphone. I was driving. I was like, wait, what?

And he said, Amy, You just stepped off the field. You're on the sidelines. You were in the game and you took yourself out because you just said, I'll do a million less than my plan. And the numbers are all relative. But when he said that, I realized you are so right. And so his advice was get back on the field, stay on the field. And so what happened was I went back to my team.

They were at my house during this launch. And I said, you guys, we just made a fatal air. We stepped off because we got scared. And also we didn't want to disappoint ourselves. We had this big goal. I don't think we're going to make it. So let's not get disappointed. let's be okay with something less. Instead, I said, what could we do to hit this goal? And we came up with

this idea for a little mini event in the middle of the launch. People had to pay $27 for it. It was different, felt exciting, and it crushed it. And so fast forward to, so we hit our goal that year and fast forward to this year and we redid that, but even better. I would have never learned that if Michael didn't say get back on the field. So the lesson I learned is to be very careful when you step off. whatever you're doing in life, when you just step off, even in a marriage, things aren't going really well. I'm just going to kind of step to the side and maybe be a little bit less available, a little bit withdrawn, because I'm not like, no, we got to go all in and step on the field and figure it out. I think it's very easy to step off. It's so good. And I think these are natural

protective mechanism. Yes. It's like, well, I don't want to experience the discomfort of failure or feel like I failed. That's so true. So just be aware when you step off. It's pretty obvious. when you start to think about it. That's so good. Yeah. What's your best piece of advice for anybody who wants to go out there and they want to find their dream job? They want to build a successful career.

What's your best piece of advice for those people? My best piece of advice is that there's no such thing as a wrong turn. And it feels like there is, especially when you're going after something big. I did this wrong. That didn't work out. That was a crush and burn. I believe that there are no wrong turns. So that means you get out there, let's say you put yourself on the field from the other example,

and you go for something and it doesn't work. You go for a job interview or a promotion and you do not get it. In that moment, you put yourself on the field, you did it. So now it's going to be a tweak versus having to find the courage to start from the very beginning. So I believe everything that happens, I can take a tweak or a turn to get to where I want to get to. Long story short, in my book, I talk about getting into a partnership. So I got into a partnership with a guy that was a lot younger than me. He was so incredibly smart about marketing.

I had already gotten my business to about a million dollars. And I thought, I can't do this alone. I was scared and just felt like I needed support. He came into the business and it was great for a while until it wasn't like many, many partnerships, right? We didn't have a lot of contracts in place to protect either of us. So it was a battle for me to get off or to get out. And I had to pay him because I wanted him out of the company. and we couldn't come to an agreement for about a year.

I think I cried every day for about a year talking about being sensitive. And finally, I woke up one morning and I thought, there are no wrong turns. There's a way for me to make this into something great. So I woke up and said, if I have to burn this business down and start it over, I will. Because I knew that I really believed there's no wrong turns. I'll get to where I need to get to if I have the faith. And that day, we decided to go to mediation. Long story short, mediation, God is to a place.

I could buy them out. And we went, my business skyrocketed after that because I finally felt like I was on the right path. Wow. But I look at that. In that year, I could have said that was the worst decision I ever made to get into that partnership. Like how could I do that?

No contract in place. I could beat myself up a million different ways. Looking back now is the best thing that could have ever happened to me. So all these things that aren't going for you right now aren't working out as planned. I promise you they are literally part of your story. I tell my students every day, you are exactly where you are meant to be right now in this moment. You might be in a hard season. You might be in a confusing, overwhelmed season.

You might not know your why. You are exactly where you are meant to be as long as you stay on the field and you just stay in the game. It's such good advice. It's such good advice. So last couple questions here for you. Yeah. One is, you know, as we see, and you spend a lot of time online like I do, you know, on Instagram, social media. and I think there's, you know, there's a lot of different, I think, maybe definitions or ideas around success.

What is success to you and what do you teach your students that success is? Success to me is all about freedom. So when you have success, you have the freedom to spend your money the way you want to spend it, give it to charity, offer it for others, do whatever you want. You get to spend your time with the ones that you love the most, and you get to spend your, And the way you think and the way you feel, you own that. To me, success is freedom in all different ways. Lifestyle business, relationships, all of it.

But freedom looks very different to all of us. To you, it might mean something totally different than to me. That doesn't matter. So to me, the more success I have, I feel like I have the freedom to do what I want, when I want, and how I want. Paint a picture for me. Success for Amy Porterfield in 20, 30, 40 years from. now. Okay, so let's go 40 years because I'm in my 40. So that I'm not working anymore. Okay. And it is

sitting on the porch in Tennessee with my husband in a rocking chair and spending quality time. It's the quality time. And, you know, I'm very lucky that I have a husband that his love language is quality time. Mine is not for the record. I like access service. You take out the trash and you're the sexiest husband in the world. Like, I love that. But that is valuable. to him and I'm learning how important that is. So 30, 40 years from now, if I'm spending time with the ones I love and feeling financially secure and giving back in the way I want, I have won the game. To me, that is all I need. It's so good. So I have a wife, Chelsea, she's, her love language is quality time. Okay. And I remember when we first got married, I thought, like, there were certain

things I would do. And I realized that they didn't count. No. And the tally, and so I realized, okay, very specific. And I would say things like, did this count? Yeah. No, this didn't count. I love that you asked though. That's so true. And to be in a relation, what's your love language then? Probably words of affirmation, physical touches are probably my, those are my top. Yeah, that would make sense. I think that's most men. I think it would be those. I'm actually surprised it's quality time, but my husband's retired. So he has a lot more time than me. And I will tell you, sometimes I feel a little resentful. Like, I don't have 30 minutes in the morning to sit and drink coffee with you. And then I ask myself, wait a second, freedom is what I love. I make my time. And this man wants to spend

time with me. How lucky are we that we have spouses that want to just spend time with that? Yeah. So I had to change my perspective for sure. It's so good. Yeah. Well, this interview has been awesome. And I want to encourage everybody to check out your new book. Guys, check out Amy's book, two weeks notice. If you're a person you're saying, you know what? like I'm not in the in my dream career now like I want to do something different I want to go out there and I want to learn how somebody goes and takes from you know making candy apples and make $60,000 the first time in just a couple weeks and launching a program like that so Amy is somebody who's so incredible at helping people fulfill their dreams and you might

already have a job that you like but you know you know what there's more I can do more in my current career. So I want to encourage you guys her books and bookstores nationwide. You can also just go to Amazon.com and just search two weeks notice, Amy Porterfield. And also, if you've ever thought about launching your own course or program, and if you haven't thought about it, well, now you might think about it. Amy is the world's leading expert in helping people launch courses and programs. She makes it very simple. Step one, step two, step three. I want to encourage you check out her stuff. And what's the best website for people to to go and find out more about your books and your courses.

So amy porterfield.com. And then I have a podcast that's a great place to start. It's free. So online marketing made easy. Awesome. Thanks for asking. And thanks for doing this. I love the idea of this podcast.

I think it's so important. Mindset is more important than anything else in my opinion. So I'm so glad we got to talk about it. Awesome. Thanks so much, Amy. Well, everybody, again, thanks so much for listening to the Growth Lab here. By the way, I'd love to hear your comments. What is your biggest takeaway from today's interviews?

and what did you learn from Amy? Please share that. And hey, if you're not subscribed, make sure to subscribe to the podcast. We've got a lot more information coming out and some other great guests that are going to teach you how to grow to the highest level possible.

Thanks, everybody, and thanks again to the wonderful Amy Porterfield for sharing her wisdom today. Have a great week.