In this episode, I invited someone who can dive deep into the power of visualization and how it can be a transformative tool to create the life you’ve always dreamed of.
I’m joined once again by John Assaraf, CEO of NeuroGym, who shares how you can unlock the power of your brain to manifest your biggest goals.
We’ll discuss the science behind visualization, how to overcome limiting beliefs, and how to make this practice a real, tangible part of your life.
Timestamps:
Intro & The Power of Visualization – 00:00 Welcoming Back John Assaraf – Manifesting Your Goals – 01:53 John’s Journey and the Science of Visualization – 02:57 How Visualization Can Change Your Beliefs – 04:38 Understanding the Brain and Visualization – 08:08 Addressing Common Concerns About Visualization – 11:18 Why Visualization Works – Evidence and Practical Examples – 17:59 The Role of Affirmations and Innercise – 22:21 How to Access John’s Free Ebook on Visualization – 25:22 John’s Ripple Effect and His Purpose to Impact 1 Billion Lives – 25:55 Final Thoughts and Call to Action – 28:21
To access John’s free ebook “The Power of Visualization,” visit: https://links.myneurogym.com/moneyripples
This resource can help you get started on your journey to manifesting your goals and achieving the financial freedom you desire!
TRANSCRIPTS
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My question for everybody today is, whose responsibility is it to get the different parts of your brain to work in harmony? Because visualization, here’s the key. Ready visualization is
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello, my fellow Ripples. This is Chris Miles. This is your cashflow expert in an financial advisor. This show us for you, those that work so freaking hard for your money and you’re now ready for your money to start working harder for you today. You want that freedom and cashflow, not 30 or 40 years from now, but you want it today. So you can be work optional where you work because you want to, not because you have to. And most importantly, guys, you can live a rich life doing what you want with those you want. And not just getting rich, but being able to bless the lives of others because as you’re blessed financially, you have a greater capacity to be a blessing for those around you. Thank you for tuning in today. Thank you for allowing me to be able to be part of this journey as well, to be part of that ripple effect in your life as well.
(01:10)
So guys, as a reminder, you have not done so today. Please go and check out our social media. You can follow us at Money Ripples on any platform you use, whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, wherever it might be. Be sure to follow us there. Lots of great shorts, lots of different content you can consume beyond just this podcast. So check that out now. Alright guys, so I got to ask you a question. How would it be if you could be able to manifest the life of your dreams? And guys, how would it be if it could actually be real, not just something that people talk about and dream about, but actually be able to truly see happen in your life? Have the love that you want to have, the financial prosperity that you want. Be able to have the life of your dreams, be able to do what you want with those you love, right?
(01:53)
All those things we talk about on the show to have that freedom to do. So that’s why we brought back John Asraf here with us today, because you guys don’t remember him from about a year ago. We had him on, you guys loved the show, and so we had to bring him back again because he is the CEO of Neuro gym. Some of you guys, we’ve been around long enough. I have. He probably remember him from The Secret. He was the guy that manifested in that video as well, talked about that, and very impactful stories he shared there. And now today, he is still doing that for people. I have the thousands guys. And so I wanted to come talk about today, how do you really do that? How do you really manifest and not just become a dreamer and not just somebody who has to overdo and destroy yourself to try to get your dreams, but how do you actually be able to visualize and make that happen in a real, real way? So John, welcome back.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Hey, Chris, it’s great to be back and thanks for an awesome session last year.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, man, absolutely. So for those that of course may have been joining us in the last year, we have a hundred episodes come out a year. Tell us a little bit more about you and your journey and how you really are able to manifest where you’re today.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Great question. When I was a lot younger and not doing well financially or in any area of my life, one of my mentors said to me that I should create a vision for what I wanted to have do and be in my life. So I wrote out this grand vision of living in a nice home and traveling the world and having a nice car and retiring my parents. I wrote out this vision, none of it was true at the time. And then my mentor said to me, says, what would you need to believe in order to achieve that vision? I said, well, I need to believe I’m smart enough. I would need to believe that I’m worthy of achieving it. I would need to believe it’s actually possible. I would need to believe that I can acquire the skills to achieve it. I wrote down all of these beliefs.
(03:46)
He said something to me that didn’t make sense at the time, and it wasn’t easy at the time, but he said to me, here’s what I’d like you to do. I’d like you to read out your vision. I want you to read out every one of the beliefs that you need, and I want you to, as you’re reading it, put your fingers across with your right hand as you’re reading left to, and then actually do it right to left. And I was like, what? And he said, well, that’s going to send a signal from your fingers of what you wrote down to your brain. It’s going to activate certain circuits in your brain. He said, then I want you to close your eyes and see yourself driving that car. See yourself in that home. See yourself helping your parents out. See yourself wearing those nice clothes that you want and start to visualize.
(04:38)
And that moment, it reminded me when I was a younger kid, 15, 16, 17, my basketball coach would have the team visualize free throws. So we would do a free throw, close our eyes, hold the ball, and visualize ourselves doing free throws. And over a week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, almost everybody got better. So that’s part one of the story. So I started to visualize not really knowing what happened in my brain, but I started to feel more self-confident. I started to feel more motivated. I started to feel more certain. I started to believe the things that I had written down that was bullshit when I wrote them down. At the time when I started this, I was making a dollar 65 an hour working in a shipping department for Phillips Electronics. And then my first goal was to make $10,000 a month. Now that was 44 years ago.
(05:40)
I’m 63 now. I was 19 then 44 years ago. And within a year I was making 20,000 a month. So I started to really visualize everything that I wanted to achieve. And when I would try to teach it to people, some people were like, I don’t understand, because there’s different ways to visualize. And so I start to teach people how to set goals, how to create a vision, how to create the beliefs, how to innercise their brain, which is strengthening your brain versus strengthening your muscles with exercise. And I’ve had over a hundred thousand students that are achieving insane, insane results. And so as a New York Times bestselling author, I like to write, I’ve written probably about eight books right now, several New York Times bestseller. I actually just wrote, I guess the defacto guide book on visualization that I, I’m releasing to the world like right now. And that’s why we’re here. And I’m going to give everybody that’s watching or listening a free copy.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That’s hugely generous, by the way. I really appreciate that. And I know we have a link that we haven’t shown notes near jim.com/money Ripples that people can get that. And yeah, I mean, in fact, show us a little bit about that book and tell us a little bit more about that before I ask you some more questions to dig a little bit deeper into this.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
So I’m a fairly visual person, and so I wrote this book called The Power of Visualization, unleash Your Brain’s Full Potential to Manifest Your Biggest Goals and Dreams. And this is a page for you and your audience with a special link for them. And here’s the thing to understand around visualization. Here’s what we’ve been discovering in the last 5, 6, 7 years, is our brain has three core networks. There’s a salience network, an executive functioning network, and something called the Default mode Network. And when one of the networks is turned on, the other two are turned off like any other network with a computer. But what we’re also discovering is there’s different circuits that are turned on or off. So I’ll give you an example. We all have a fear circuit. When the fear circuit’s turned on, there’s certain behaviors that happen automatically when the visualization circuit or the occipital lobe circuit is turned on.
(08:08)
We know that it’s connected to either the fierce circuit or the motivational circuit. So if we’re imagining something that’s going to embarrass us or cause us to fail or be ashamed or ridiculed or judged, the fierce circuit goes off and we don’t take action. We actually move into safety. But when we visualize, let’s say, achieving our financial goals, financial freedom, having money for the charities, the hobbies, our kids, our parents, our husband or wife, we actually activate the motivational circuit, the motive to take action circuit. But there’s another circuit that we are discovering is connected to that as well. And that is the GPS part of the brain. There’s a part of the brain that almost works like a bird that’s flying that knows how to get 10,000 miles to the next destination through connecting to the magnetic sphere of the earth. Well, we have this GPS system that when the motivational circuit is activated around a vision or a goal, it activates that circuit and then we start to take action towards that.
(09:17)
And because this occipital lobe, we have the parietal lobes, temporal lobes, occipital lobes, when that circuit is activated with the vision and the goal that we want, and we visualize today, this week, next week, three weeks from now, and we repeat that pattern, we fire and wire new brain cells that then automatically fire and reinforce the wiring, keeping us motivated. So I’ve been fascinated with why does visualization work? And we know that the exact same circuits and motor behaviors that fire when we’re doing something or we’re visualizing something are identical. So I created this power of visualization book so that people could start using it as one of the tools to be able to help them get motivated, build more self-confidence, and more importantly take action instead of being governed by fear or a low self-esteem or feeling like you’re not smart enough or inadequate.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
I love that. Now I can kind of hear some people’s voices, of course, because as you all know, right, people’s little voice that goes off, what voice? The voice that you’re hearing right now that’s talking about
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Voice. It’s that voice right there. It’s called Frankenstein’s Monster.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
There it is. Yep. Yeah, we got the Frankenstein’s monster voice coming in, right?
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
And I know you have another picture too, you,
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I’ve got Einstein, right? Einstein is actually part of the imagination. It’s part of the executive functioning network. And Frankie’s monster is actually part of our doubt, fear, worry, anxiety circuits. So there’s a definite correlation between the two and how they work together or opposing each other.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
And I know that’s the biggest things to overcome. And I imagine your book addresses a lot of that of how to overcome those things, correct?
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah. What do you find is the most common? What’s the most common objection you hear when you hear about visualization or when you’re talking to people about visualization?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
First is, does it really work? I don’t know how to do it right, and I can’t really see what I am trying to see in my brain. Those are the three most common one. There is a condition called aphantasia, which is there’s a very, very small percentage of the world population that they cannot visually see in their mind.
(11:55)
Now, if you ever have fantasized, you don’t have that condition. If you ever caught yourself daydreaming and seeing yourself on the beach or having a cocktail or having sex or whatever the case is, then your visual cortex is working. So first and foremost, because most people dunno how it works, they discount it then because they don’t have the skill. It’s like any other skill. You have to practice it, and then you get better and better, no differently than if you were to learn a new language. It would be a little confusing and maybe overwhelming at first, but after a day or three or five, it becomes easier. If you’re trying to solve a rubus group, learn knitting, learn anything, we’re all clumsy beginners at first. But it is one of the most powerful parts of our brain. And since we’re learning about how to use our brain better, if you think about it this way, if you were a conductor of an orchestra and you had trombones and trumpets and clarinets and a pianist and a vocalist, you had a whole bunch, 20 different instruments.
(13:06)
Your job would be to coordinate, to conduct, to get people to work in harmony and in sync, right? Well, what if I shared with you that your brain has got a variety of different, let’s call it members of your brain. You’ve got antagonist, you’ve got the doubting part of your brain, the Frankie’s monster. That’s always going, well, what if you fail? What if you’re embarrassed? What if it doesn’t work? What if you lose money? What if you waste time? What if negative? That’s what Frankie does. Einstein on the other hand says, well, how can I solve that? What can I do? How do I need to think? What’s the strategy for this? Let me imagine a solution. So we have different parts of our brain, and my question for everybody today is, whose responsibility is it to get the different parts of your brain to work in harmony in concert? Whose responsibility is it?
(14:02)
And I think anybody’s going to say, well, I guess it’s mine. Well, what if I gave you a tool to help you use one of the most powerful parts of your brain to help you override the what if negative side of your brain? This is actually your friend. This is like the brakes in your car. This is like an early warning detection mechanism that works phenomenally well. But most people don’t know how to use that part of their brain, and they let that part of their brain, that little voice that sits on their shoulder talking to their, you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough. You don’t know how to do this. You might fail, you might lose money. You might be rejected. You might be embarrassed. You might be ashamed. That’s what that party of rains supposed to do as an early warning detection mechanism.
(14:52)
So our job is to start to create more coherence in harmony using the different parts of our brain, which is worth over a hundred billion if not a trillion dollars, but we’ve never gotten the user’s manual for it. So we can use a variety of what I call our inner sizes to strengthen our ability to use our brain better. And no different than we use exercise to strengthen our physical muscles. Why not use some inner sizes like visualization and a few different ways to do it, to strengthen a core motivational self-sustaining tool to move forward to achieve our goals a little bit faster and a lot smarter.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I love it. Now, I want to bring up something here because I know there’s going to be people going, they’re usually the people that at least they could be legitimately, but they also think of themselves as very intelligent people. And they will overthink this to the point where they’ll say, this is just bs. This whole visualization thing is bs. This is what dreamers and philosophers do. And I want to say this about you, John, because the reason I even have been following you over the years ever since the secret was because I know of a lot of the people of that group, and we’re not going to try to trash talk on anybody, but you’re one of people that you are one of the few people. I look as a practitioner of what you’re teaching right here, where there was a lot of philosophers that when it came down to practice, they couldn’t handle it, right?
(16:29)
They couldn’t really do it. They kind of rode the success of the secret unintentionally. I had friends that were in that same group with you, and some of ’em just didn’t even know they were just philosophers, really good philosophers, but they weren’t good practitioners to make it actually work in their lives. And that’s something that I like about you is that, I mean, you even came out with the answer. I remember when that book came out several years ago, right? So what would you say to those people that say, well, come on, this is bs. I’ve seen lots of people say what you say, what makes you different?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Sure. Well, as somebody who studies behavioral neuroscience and psychology, I’m seeking to understand why it doesn’t work and why it does work. So I really don’t care what the answer is. I’m looking for evidence. So I don’t want to waste my time and do something that’s useless or doesn’t work. So I’m doing it for my own life to help my children, to help my wife, to help my family, to help my students. And if it doesn’t work, I want to see the evidence, but I also want to see the evidence for it working and how is it working? But then I like to do a little bit deeper work. I go, why is it working? What is the neuromechanics of what is actually going on in the human brain? That’s what I do every day, is I read the research that’s available on what circuit is being activated, why?
(17:59)
What neurochemical is it releasing? What effect does it have on taking action or not taking action? I just want the edge in my life. So I am studying, I’m applying, I’m sharing what I’m learning, I’m writing about it. I’m in movies on major TV shows, sharing what I’m experiencing. And then I go back to, okay, that’s my experience. But who else is doing this? And if you just happen to have watched the Olympics this year, for example, you see athletes, whether it’s Simone Biles, whether it’s the best swimmers, synchronized swimmers, javelin, high jumpers, the best athletes in the world are using it. If you watch LeBron James playing basketball or Michael Jordan or the skiers or the archers, they’re using it. If you speak to Navy Seals, they use it, speak to astronauts. They use it because visualization. Here’s the key. Ready visualization is a mental and emotional simulation.
(19:05)
And when we visualize, we actually are firing, right? Neurons, brain cells are active in firing the electrical activity. Then releases neurochemicals, epinephrine, cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin. These neurochemicals cause feelings. Feelings either cause a feeling of angst, anger, sadness, oh my God, elation, happiness, motivation or fear. So all of these feelings that we feel affect behavior, and we know that there’s certain feelings that just cause us to retreat into safety. It caused us to protect ourselves, avoid real or imagine pain or discomfort. But that’s normal. That’s where that’s Frankie’s monster is your very best friend in the world when you know how to use them,
(20:02)
Right? So are you going to be driven by fear or motivated by vision and goals? So now when we learn how to use the gas and brakes of our own brain to be aware of what I’m feeling, why am I feeling that? How do I flip from this circuit to that circuit? Like turning on a light switch on or off, using your power windows to put your windows down or up, putting yourself from park into drive. We have to learn to use the tools to be able to simplify achieving going where we want to go. And try going from wherever you live 500 miles away, sitting in your car, in park,
(20:49)
Unless there’s a crane that picks up your car, sticks it on a truck and drives you there, you’re staying in park. So I’m fascinated with how can I use the most powerful biocomputer in the entire universe, just a little bit better for my own life? And then I happen to write and talk about it and share. And for somebody saying, I don’t believe it works, I’ll say, okay, I can appreciate that. How come? What’s your evidence that it does not work? What’s your experience that it does not work? Let’s explore that. I’m okay exploring that. And then say, are you willing and open to explore my evidence? And if you add your evidence to my evidence, maybe just maybe there might be a pearl of wisdom in both opinions, in both expertise. And if you want to make achieving your goals a little bit easier, if you want to stop sabotaging or procrastinating or limiting yourself, maybe just maybe there’s a technique, a tool, a tip that will make your life a little bit easier. And if you want that, then I might be able to help. If you don’t, I’m okay with that too.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I love it, man. John, you’re like a man after my own heart right there. I mean, that’s the thing. My comment in my story has always been, where’s the evidence? Where is it to show that actually works? And that’s what kind of led me down this path to be where we are right now.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And I started this journey literally 44 years ago with affirmations, and people said, they don’t work. I said, wow. Well, it was working for me and it worked for me, and I’ve kept on doing affirmations, and I created my innercise app for affirmations and visualization and meditations that, and I say, okay, what evidence is there for it not working? And why? And then what evidence is there for affirming in your mind something that may not be real right now and developing a pattern that will help you make it real, right? It’s like saying we have a seed in our finger. I’ll share with you a little story. Do you see what this is right here? I dunno if you can see what’s in this bottle. What is that?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
It’s a little blur. My head. I’m trying to see it
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Though. It’s an acorn. It’s a little cracked up acorn. And I always tell people, I said, where’s the oak tree?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Hasn’t arrived yet. Hasn’t grown yet,
Speaker 1 (23:28):
But in an acorn, right? There’s a seed. It’s a seed, and in the seed there’s the potential for an oak tree. The DNA for an oak tree is there. Now you have to plant it, even though the oak tree is not there, and you have to fertilize the soil, and then it grows roots, and then it’s able to get more nutrients, and then it sprouts. Then another process takes over called photosynthesis that gives the plant. At this point, food chlorophyll is food, right? Then the oak tree grows. So is the oak tree in the seed?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
It is.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Well, the potential for the oak tree is there, but you have to get it into the right environment. Well, the potential for everybody who’s watching or listening to achieve two x three x five x, let’s say, their income, their wealth, their health is there. And when you use the right nutrients and environment, it allows for the growth to happen. And when we limit what we’re giving our seeds, our vision, our goals, then we limit ourselves. And the question is why? Absolutely. Why wouldn’t you want to live a fully expressed life?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yep. That’s the whole freaking point of the show is how do you get that? How do you create that freedom? Now, not never as many people claim,
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Well then let’s use the tools that we have available. And using visualization happens to be a powerful, powerful multiplier of a tool.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
So true. So true. Well, before I ask you last question, John, I’m just going to remind our audience, go to neuro gym.com/money ripples, and you can definitely get access to this ebook today that John is so generously offer to us. So definitely go do that right now. So John,
Speaker 1 (25:22):
And I’ll just show it to everybody again if they join late, that’s what you’re going to see when you go to minor gym.com/ripples with an S, and I’ll give you a free copy. Alright. And you can enjoy it. And more than that, apply it.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yes. That’s what we love the application of it too.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Well, last question for you. Obviously this is the Money Ripples podcast, right? And you heard a little bit of the intro. We talk about that creating that ripple effect through people’s lives. John, what do you feel is your ripple effect?
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, I’m going to. I am at a stage in my life now where purpose and meaning is really, really huge for me. So how can I make sure that my life has the greatest purpose and meaning? 44 years ago, I had a mentor, his name was Alan Brown. He says, I will teach you everything I’ve learned to help you, and I only have one condition that I’d like to place on this. He’s actually had two. One is, you apply what I teach you, and then two, you teach not only what I have taught you to others, but whatever you learn and discover, pass it on for others so that you light the path for them as others have lit the path for you. So for me, the ripple is to have an impact. My goal for many years now is to positively impact the lives of a billion people. While I am alive, I’ve been in 15 movies now, I’ve written New York Times bestselling books by all accounts, right now I’m at about 700 million people who’ve seen the movies I’ve been in or read my books or listened to me on podcasts or read my blogs, et cetera. So I still have 300 million or so people to impact, and then they will impact other people, and that means that my life has purpose and meaning, and I can die when the time comes going. Yeah, what a journey.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I love that. That is an awesome one. That’s definitely leaving a footprint on the planet that’s hard to remove, isn’t it?
Speaker 1 (27:31):
For me, it’s really not even a matter of how will my life matter after I die, but if I can share when I teach my children and they implement and go, thanks Papa, then what can I do for other people that maybe just shines a little bit of a light on something for them to use this gift called life, this amazing thing called life in a positive way that lifts people up? That to me, touches my soul.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Definitely. If everybody can be happier, healthier, and wealthier, and it’s hard. Even imagine the kind of ripple effect that come from that.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Well, John, again, I appreciate your time, your generosity and offering the ebook. It’s been so great having you back on again. I’m sure we’ll have you on in the future as well.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Reminder guys, neuro gm.com/money ripples and definitely get your free copy of your free ebook today. So John, again, thank you for your time. And everybody remember, it’s not just about listening to what we’re doing. It’s not just about being hear the words, it’s about being a doer as well. One of the best ways to do the right things is to think and visualize the right things as well. Go and make it a wonderful and prosperous week. See you later. I.