This is Why You’re Not Happy in Your 9-5 | Amy Porterfield

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 gonna be a tweak versus having to find the courage to start from the very 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 gonna 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 Notice. Congratulations.

Thank you so 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 outta my 9 to 5 and start working a different type of job. So you are sort of the master of, I, 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. Um, 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 gonna move, let's start getting excited about somewhere new, I told him right away, don't even send me to the snow. I, 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. And my husband and I— I'm an introvert, and we tend to be really social here because people invite you to tons thing. 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, um, 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 nother level of gratefulness in being in Puerto 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. Yeah, 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. Yeah, it's special.

Yeah, it's so cool. And I know you mentioned you guys are looking at, or maybe just got some land.

Yes.

Are you guys gonna have chickens or—

you know, 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 in Leapers 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 just at the 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 he say? Like, 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 2 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 the world, work with Tony for almost 7 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 wanna 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 wanna 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, you know, I was in this position, and this is why I think what, what, you know, the, the advice that you've given, the wisdom you share, is so important. You know, I was, I was at a point where I was in a practice, ran a functional medicine practice for 5, 6 years, and in about year 4, I thought to myself, you know what, like, I think I, I think I want to do something where I have more freedom, but more than that, where I, I also want to reach more people.

Yes.

And so I started this newsletter, actually just even before that on draxe.com, started just sending out a weekly newsletter, started to grow and grow and grow over time. And, and I remember I, first of all, I didn't know how to monetize it. Yeah. And I had a friend, I was doing lunch with a friend and in Atlanta and he, and I said, you know, I, you know, I wanna do something else where I, 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 sell, and I was afraid to tell anybody about anything because I thought, well, I don't want anybody to think I'm salesy. Salesy. And so I ended up just like twice a year I would send out an email. So I was making, maybe making like $5,000, $10,000 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 $33,000 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 2-week notice. What I essentially started doing was learning from people like you and saying, okay, well, I can't put in my 2 weeks notice yet, but I feel like I can start ramping up over the next year. Yes. For my 2 weeks notice. And so share with me your thoughts about that. If somebody is 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 6 months, now it's 3 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 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, 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, um, 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, that's another one that helps a lot.

It's so good, you know. And this is very similar to the formula that I followed. And again, I, in, in, you know, you know, going to seminars 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 in a very similar place. And, and the why 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 had 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 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, uh, they, they interviewed just a whole wide group of people and they found that only 25% of people know what their purpose or their why is. And so that is just such a key ingredient that 75% of people don't know what their, 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 of mine. She did this exercise with a small group of her friends, and every day we had to write down 5 things that we wanted. I thought that would be very easy, but every day, uh, 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 gotta 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, of something I think we all deal with at different points, is sort of these, um, limiting beliefs. Yeah, right. Because it's like, like, because here's what I— when you shared 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. 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 be 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, if you feel 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 or find their dream job, right?

You know? Yes. So anyways, so the what and the why I think is 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 it's, uh, more— 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— he's like, oh, we love the Porterfields.

Like, love them.

Yeah. And so he was sharing that with me. What is one of— what is one of the biggest things that you've learned as you spent some time 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 and they didn't show up 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 gonna warn you, I'm gonna 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.

Yeah.

And he said, no, you don't. And I said, what are you talking about? And I told him 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, you 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'm, um, 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, you're okay.

It's so good. You know, I, I had time to, um, I'm doing dinner with Mike and Gail here in a few weeks, and, uh, every time— so, so I told you, like, Chelsea's pregnant with our second, we have another girl. And he told me something, and I, I, I, I, I tell people this all the time. It was so good. Um, he said, you know what, I think, I think some people think that it'd be great to have boys. He's like, I've loved having— because he has, you know, 5 dogs.

I pretend I'm the 6th, for the record. Yeah.

Yes. So, you know, and, 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 them as much in the future. And so he's like, if you can think beyond 18 years, yes, he said, you'll see that, you'll, you know, you'll just, you're just gonna love having daughters. And it was like something for me. 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 Arwen, like us doing right business together. And so he, he's a white I told him, I said, you're a, you know, you're a, you know, you're a wise sage.

He is. And I think having 5 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. 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.

That's so good. I can see it. You know, I, I think I, I was, I was sharing this with someone 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. Like, 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 say it's modeling, right? Part of it is too.

Absolutely. It's such a big thing. I, you know, when I look at the success of 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'd you get involved with Tony? I thought— 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, and 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 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, uh, library, started— got cassette tapes. This is how long ago that was. Put him in my car, and every time I 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 there's 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 and 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, 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 slides, and it took me forever cuz that book is like 3 books. Huge. And one, and then I also had one of his, um, and I'm trying to remember the CD set, set, but it was like Your Hour of Power.

Yes.

30 Minutes to Thrive.

That's the one I loved.

Yes. Yes. And I listened to, I mean, I mean, over and over and over again, and it had a just massive impact on me. And so anyways, I'm, uh, you know, I've learned so much from Tony.

Same.

What is the biggest thing you learned in working for Tony Robbins for 7 years? What's the biggest thing you learned from him?

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, 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, 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 served me well.

There's this famous— I had this coach, uh, when I was a doctor, and He would— he had me read this thing. It was called A Letter to García. 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 García. Now, there's no phones at this time. There's none of this stuff. And this guy has to deliver this letter like 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 someone 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.

Agreed.

Is that thing of like, you know, no matter what, it's the will. No matter what, I will find a 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, to get it to be successful. So getting resourceful is easy then. But when you're in, let's say, a 9-to-5 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 entrepreneurs 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 rationally say, you know what, like 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, 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 till the day you drive out of that parking lot. Harley-Davidson, um, at Tony Robbins. Yeah. Oh yeah, gotcha. Um, and I was not a big motorcycle girl, just for the record. So, but yes, when, uh, when I left that parking lot, I knew I had shown up as a 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 talked 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 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 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 realized really quickly I was not cut out for it. So I say that because how— 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 yeah, 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 some— 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 4 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 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'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 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. Yeah, a lot of people— this happens all the time— but Amy, it's already being done. Been 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, right? 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 excited about. It doesn't have to be your life's purpose, but you have to be excited about it. So good.

Yeah. So I, 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 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 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 over confidence. Confidence is when you have a proven track record. When I sold a digital course online and 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 till they feel confident. I didn't feel confident for about 2 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 doing bigger things than me. Another lesson I learned from Tony. Wow. Yeah. So, uh, 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 gonna have to go beg for my 9-to-5 job back. So I dealt with those demons for about 2 years. But here's the deal: my— 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 worrier nature. I think I was telling you that before we started to interview. I'm just a worrier. So, uh, 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, 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 wanna do this, they wanna do that.

Yeah.

And chase the squirrels. And I, 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.

Mm-hmm.

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 have stayed in my lane for 14 years.

I love this. I love all 3 of these points. And the one that courage over confidence. Yeah. And it's a powerful one cuz I think sometimes people feel like, well, I, you know, I've gotta arrive or I have to wait till I get a degree or I have to 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 the 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 or figure out the how. And so, 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'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 onto 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, um, 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 3 or 4 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 run in 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, uh, 10-minute meditation. I can't tend to, I do 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 um, taking care of my mindset.

So, 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, $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 8 days in a 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. 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 2-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. Um, one of the women I work with, she's a single mom in LA, she has 3 kids, her mom lives with her, she makes caramel candy apples. And one day she decided, I'm gonna put this in a course. People would come to her house and buy from her. It was a very scrappy little business. 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.

That's amazing. I mean, somebody make a $60,000— I know how to make candy apples.

Or 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.

My cousin followed this, and, and we— she came over to our house and we're like, we got a 3-month-old here going on the bed. We're like, what is going on? This is the craziest thing I've seen.

Yes, wild. And so she teaches that, but here's the thing, she did it with her kids. She has 3 kids. She did it with her kids and thought thought, 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 overthink 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, 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 And if I would have, I never would've thought I'd be where I am today. Right. 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've 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 gotta get it out to people. And I'm just gonna 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, oh, 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 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. This is very normal, especially with a lot of women in my industry.

Yeah.

So looking at that and and being inspired versus feeling defeated because you don't have it yet is really important.

Yeah, yeah. You mentioned women, and one of the things I saw a post— now this is probably, I don't know if it was 6 months ago or, or 12 months ago, but the picture was, I think you were with— I'm just going to start off with people, and a few of them I have right, and a few I might not. I think you were with like Mel Robbins and Jamie, uh, and maybe Jasmine Stahl. Yeah, just a whole group of other women And how, you know, I, uh, 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 that 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. I'm normally not that 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 3 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. Yeah, 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 till 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, it's very similar. Like, I learned, you know, uh, Mike, Mike Hyatt, uh, 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 two, they're, you know, they're so good.

They're always doing it, right?

Yes. And so I did that. And to be, you know, I gotta tell you, it's the most fulfilling, one of the most fulfilling things, top 2 or 3 that I've done in my life.

And you put the group together?

Yes, I put it together.

Yeah.

So anybody can see. We gotta take the initiative.

Yes, we really do. And even if 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 you mentioned, Jasmine Starr, I talk to her every day. Every single day on the—

not—

I don't talk to her. Let's not get crazy. Uh, 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 is 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, it's big. So good. You know, I had just a couple quick stories with this one. My first year of practice, first off, I mean, you I had no idea what it was like. Yes. And I did this with a, with a friend of mine. He had a practice in Minnesota, and then I had another friend here in Murfreesboro. 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, uh, 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, um, it was so good to be able share those wins and failures with these other people and just, you know, allowed, uh, you know, allowed me to continue to just, I feel like, you know, move, 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 common analogies together. That's so good.

Yeah. So we talked about, you run around some amazing people. Another person I just remembered, I think Jenna Kutcher was in there.

Dear friend. She's another one that I text almost every day. Yeah.

Yeah. So good. Um, what, 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?

Ooh, I love this one. So it comes from Michael Hyatt, and I'm gonna tell a quick story around it. So when I was doing a launch last year, we were not hitting our goal. We were about 4 or 5 days into an 8-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 $6 million and I'm okay with that. It's not going as well as I wanted, but I think we're going to hit $6 million." And he said, "You just stepped off the field and you have 4 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 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 error. 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've never learned that if Michael didn't say, get back on the field. So the The lesson I learned is to be very careful when you step off at 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 mechanisms. Yes. It's like, well, I don't want to experience the discomfort of failure or feel like I I, that's so true. So good.

So just be, be aware when you step off. It's pretty obvious when you, when you start to think about it.

That's so good. Yeah. What, what's your best piece of advice for anybody who wants to go out there and they, and they, they wanna find their dream job, they wanna build a successful career. Like 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 crash and burn. 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 $1 million 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? Yeah. We didn't have a lot 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 he— 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, um, 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 believe 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 got us to a place I could buy him 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 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. Um, 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, um, your, uh, the way you think and the way you feel. You own that. To me, success success is freedom in all different ways— lifestyle, business, relationships, all of it. So, 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 40s, so that I'm not working anymore, okay? And it is sitting on the porch, um, in Tennessee with my husband in a rocking chair and spending quality time. It's, 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 acts of 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, 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 relationship— what's your love language then?

Uh, probably words of affirmation, physical touch. Those are probably my— those are my top.

Yeah, that would make sense. I think that's, um, 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 asked myself, wait a second, I, I— 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 us?

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, uh, Amy's book, Two Weeks Notice. If you're a person, you're saying, you know what, like I'm not 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 makes $60,000 the first time in just a couple of 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 in 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, uh, Amy is the world's leading expert in helping people launch courses and programs. She makes it very simple. Step Step 2, Step 3. I want to encourage you, check out her stuff. And what's the best website for people to go and find out more about your books and your courses?

So, amyporterfield.com. And then I have a podcast. It'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.