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5 Minutes Decisions

Hey guys, today we are talking with Geoff Seow, founder of Mind Axis Life Coaching. Geoff is dedicated to helping unfulfilled Millennials create an inspired vision for their future through overcoming self-doubt with his mind access method. Geoff also has an extensive academic background in human biological sciences, neuroscience, and biotechnology. He combines his academic knowledge with his coaching experience to help his clients achieve the ultimate personal transformation. Geoff is so knowledgeable and passionate and brings a scientific side to the discussion that, honestly, is very thought-provoking. So, welcome to the show, Jeff. Hey, Geoff, thanks so much for joining. I am so glad to have you here.

 

Hey, thanks for having me, Tiffany. It's awesome to be on the podcast.

Fantastic. You know, I was checking out some of your content. And there were a few things that jumped off the page at me; I was like, "We absolutely need to dive into some of these things. And so tell me a little bit, just give me a kind of quick overview of who you are and who you serve.

Right. So I'm the founder of Mind Access Life Coaching. I help unfulfilled millennials get clear on their life vision and what they want to do, and I help them overcome any obstacles or fears that stand in their way. And basically help them plan a strategy that actually achieves it with accountability.

Yes, and this was, I was like, Absolutely, this is fantastic. So tell me, when did you realize you wanted to start focusing on millennials?

 It was when, at the very beginning of my coaching, you know, the thing that I didn't tell you is that you can't coach everyone. So that should be common sense. But I had not really realized that at the time. So as I began to work, through my coaching, I began to understand that my coaching should be aligned with things that I actually resonate with—not just everything in general, but the path that I have walked. So, being a millennial myself, I'm able to understand the challenges facing millennials. So I've created my own course. And I've created everything that I do around my own understanding, compiled with my life coaching certifications and my academic background in human bio neuroscience and biotech psychology. So I now understand exactly who I help and how I help them get what they want.

That's incredible. I think the word millennial comes with such a negative connotation. People don't. Yeah, I think it's almost used against people in some cases, and so you're a millennial, or Oh, yeah, it makes sense. You know, or, oh, you've got to learn how to lead the middle millennials. I loved the focus on clarity, focus, and whatnot. So when you developed your coaching program and whatnot, was that right at the start of your journey? Or are you waiting? And you really had to focus and learn your way?

 

No, it was from the very beginning. So there was no way I was going to go into coaching without having some kind of spine to be able to deliver. Like, I was never about the idea of coaching, as in, "Oh, you can call me for an hour, and then we'll catch up. And we'll work through it. No, I always had a definable target for what I knew people could achieve, which was achieving their goals, overcoming their fears, getting clear on where they wanted to take their path, all this kind of stuff. These are outcomes, and I, as an outcome-focused person, understood that that has to be where the program takes you.

Yes, yes, absolutely. You know, the objectives—we refer to them as such in our agency and in business—and being super clear on the objective Because if you're not clear on where you're trying to get to, trying to define the best way to get there becomes this, you know, very involved process of overthinking because you really aren't, and you're missing out on the main key question: Where are you trying to get to?

Yeah, absolutely. You've got to understand where you're headed. And once you understand the endpoint, you can strategize toward it.

Yes, so one of the things I was noticing about your content that you were talking about was helping people find their vision and establish that, and so can you kind of walk me through what that can look like when someone's working with you?

The Exercise called "Gazing"

There's a major exercise that we perform called gazing all the way to the end, which is really getting clear on what you want your life to look like at the end. We're not talking about 10 years or 20 years; I'm talking about at the very end when you're old and you're looking back, and you know how they always say you want to live without regrets? I firmly believe that's very important. Because, you know, living with regrets just really shows that you haven't taken life to its fullest, right? So if you look all the way to the end, what is it that you would like to say you have done, and then go and do it? You know what I mean—make it happen. And that's the plan. But you've got to understand exactly what it is that you want first, because we only get to live once. And it's very important to really internalize it because we don't get ultimate readers; you know, there are only a certain amount of times we can press the reset button.

 

Yes, absolutely. And, absolutely. And, so, do you find that some people struggle with that concept and that exercise more than others?

No, everyone I've introduced to that concept has really been able to visualize exactly what it is that they want. So everyone knows what they want out of life, but the question is whether they're able to bring it to the fore. Life is full of distractions: you've got work, commitments, family, all that sort of stuff. And it's not at the forefront of your mind. So when someone walks you through it, like in my coaching program, it's already there. I'm just unearthing it and making it clear in their minds again.

 Right, right. Okay. So once you've figured out exactly where you want to be at the end, it's a process of reverse engineering back to where you are now and working through that process. Okay, yeah. And so when someone is setting these objectives and whatnot, do you find that there's also a personal journey piece that really is comprised of some of that, even though it's related to business and how it all ties together? You know, when the life coaching and business side coaching meet? How do you create that distinction? Or boundary? Or do you, when you're coaching and teaching? Do you? Do you try to keep it separate? Do you bring it all together and work on it as one unified piece?

 

No, they are completely separate because life coaching itself is a business. But when I coach, that side of it is not integrated. Coaching is a one-on-one experience with another person or with a group where you're literally providing insights to help people change their lives. So no, the business side is separate. That's in the background; that obviously needs to happen for you to survive in this world. Right. But the coaching itself is focused entirely on the client. And there are no distractions.

Okay. Okay. And so when you're working through some of these pieces, what would you say have been some of the biggest kinds of revelations that some of you have had? Who would ad?  consider some of the biggest success stories? What have they experienced? Or what have they worked through that has helped them become that much more successful? Or do they have a deeper understanding?

Factors that influences Decisions

It will definitely be their fears; it will be overcoming their fears and their limiting beliefs. But first of all, let's get clear on what it is. A lot of the time, most of the people I work with have bad self-sabotage plans, right? So it's, shall I say, bad, but not really; it's like self-sabotage to a degree where they want something, but the more they want, the more they push away from it, purely because they haven't been able to understand what makes the neurology tick. So how does their psychology drive their decisions, and how do the decisions you make consciously create your reality? But if you're not conscious of your decisions, that's not helping you at all. And a lot of the time, our decisions are underpinned by our limiting beliefs of what we think we can do in life, our fears based on past experiences, and we don't necessarily project them consciously into the future, but they're there influencing what we do and how we do it. And that's how we end up being stuck in a loop. And that's why a lot of people get stuck in addiction, in alcoholism, in their jobs; they get stuck in different situations that are not ideal because they haven't realized exactly why they keep repeating the same cycle.

Right, that makes so much sense. I think that millennials and everyone really struggles with this limiting belief piece, and even the most successful people who end up, you know, you often read about it later in memoirs or, you know, podcast episodes like this where people really dive in and share that authentic piece. And that limiting belief piece is so key to so many people's journeys, and what do you think creates that? Like, where does that originally stem from because it's such a widespread problem? So no problem.

What makes it such a widespread problem is the fact that humanity itself is quite complex. Our childhoods are normally quite chaotic, particularly in a child's mind from the age of birth to seven years old. We act like sponges; we basically consume information, and we attach emotions to certain events. So if you look at the neuroscience that underpins it, it's attaching a neurotoxin to a memory, which creates a negative sensation whenever we relive that same experience. So therefore, during these seven years, whether things are good or bad, what happens is that we extrapolate that into the future, and that's where all limiting beliefs are formed. And I'm not saying we have to go all the way back and isolate a memory if you can help, because that normally unlocks everything because you can rationalize it. But if you can't, then you've got to understand whether the narrative you're telling yourself is the truth. Or if it's fiction based on something you believed when you were a lot younger, because the past does not equal the future. So they're very big distinctions, but that's where they form.

 Right. Okay. It's almost a bit frightening when you think it goes back that far. And that's a lot of baggage to unpack.

It's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. 

So I was, you know, at lunchtime; I can't even remember the event I was at at this moment, but I remember being at a personal development conference, and someone was saying that you can have two people that have experienced the exact same hardship. You know, maybe they've gone through life; it's been a struggle. And one person can say, and one person can become super successful, and they can say, "You know, what inspired you to make these electronics? Or what inspired How do you How did you get here? And someone can say, "Well, you know, my past really, you know, helped shape my future; it inspired me. And then you could have someone else have the exact same experience. And they can, you know, be having a tougher time. And someone can say, "You know, how did your life become this? You say? My past was really tough. And so two people, both going through the same situation, ultimately ended up with opposite outcomes. And so, how does that tie in to what you were just talking about? And kind of these pieces? Yeah, can you elaborate on how those would tie in with what you were just saying?

Conscious Psychology 

Well, there are a couple of factors that underpin what we end up doing with our lives through our conscious psychology. One is that our genetics play a big factor, but so does childhood psychology. When you combine these two, it comes back to the analogy of the glass being half full or half empty, depending on how you see the world. But you can only see the world in which you've been conditioned. For example, while there are two different people, let's use that example and see exactly what that has to do with alcoholism. So there are two kids, and they both see their father as an alcoholic; one sees the father as an inspiration to not be an alcoholic, and the other becomes a ravaging alcoholic. And what makes all the difference? Well, it's not just a choice, because if we could choose, we obviously wouldn't pick a pathway that has negative consequences. But it depends on how we cope. Because the way in which we cope with hardship in our lives is multivariate, Like for me, for many years, I used to be a drug addict in my past, right? I use it as a coping mechanism. But then, when I flipped the story, when I flipped the script, in my mind, I realized that my past and what happened to me in my past should inspire me to help other people not go through the same. So it comes down to the story, which we tell ourselves as a coping mechanism. If you tell yourself that your life has been hard, full of difficulty and strife, and you want to get away from it because it's bad and everyone else should feel your pain, then you're going to cope with some other substance. But if you use it as inspiration, saying, "Okay, my past is full of pain, negativity, and anger; maybe I can use this to help other people provide a positive impact, or at the very least not be a detriment to other people," that's the choice we make based on the story we tell ourselves.

Yes, that's very powerful. Very powerful. When you talk about who you're surrounding yourself with and your influence on the people around you, there's obviously that influence coming back in. And so sometimes we can choose who is in our circle and the energy and the positivity and whatnot. And sometimes we—I mean, I guess we always could—but sometimes we have family that may or may not be super supportive. And I would say that a lot of times, as people, you know, embark on an entrepreneurial journey, they have people—maybe a partner, a parent, a best friend—who cannot understand or see the vision. And so they're struggling with someone who says, you know, don't be silly, or, you know, that's crazy. Why are you doing that? And for someone who's already struggling a little bit with their own self-doubt, that can be really difficult to work through. Do you have some, do you have some advice or suggestions for people experiencing that?

Yeah, so, you know, that's something that comes up a lot. And for me, I've been an entrepreneur multiple times as well. And this coaching means a lot to me. It's my favorite one that I've ever done. I love it. And throughout all the time, people have always given me different pieces of advice: go get a job; do something safe; go do this; go do that; you know, finish university before you open up a business; all this kind of stuff. And I have listened in the past. But there comes a point where you've got to realize that what people are telling you does not necessarily reflect a reflection of who you are on the inside. You've got to really understand that everyone is different based on their upbringing and the information they understand. So if somebody else has spent their entire life being conditioned to act along a certain pathway, which involves a lot of safety and a lot of risk, then of course they're only going to be able to give you the information that works best for them; you've got to do what works best for you. We all have different attributes. And if you look at human nature, it's a beautiful picture of different things with so many different ideas and variations that you can't just look at someone else's version of reality and extrapolate that onto yourself; you have to be able to pick and choose, and that requires willpower. And that requires intention. And if you don't have confidence or belief in yourself, it's hard to make anything happen because you're going to let everyone push you around. So you don't have to listen to everyone, but there's always something to learn from everyone. It just depends on whether you incorporate it.

 

Right. Right, that'd be a very interesting concept. There is so much to learn from each person, but really deciding which parts of you know, listening and hearing, but not necessarily implementing,

You've got to make up your mind. 

Right, right. Now, when we look at those who are around us, and those are, you know, influences on positivity, and, you know, sometimes you have people in your life that really are just super negative about what you're doing, you know, do you feel like there's a way to manage that relationship and protect the confidence and the positivity in your life? Or do you find that to make that choice for yourself, you really need to exclude some of that from your life?

We don't have to exclude anyone, and I don't think that there's any gain to be had from cutting people off entirely. Because, you know, people are people and they have their own issues to work through, you can't take it personally. That's, first of all, a business; don't take it personally. And you know that too. But the next thing about that is that if somebody is really bringing you down with their energy, just reduce the amount of time you spend around them. You don't have to give your energy to each and every single person that requests it; you can give your energy to those that can use it positively. And then it's a good cycle of exchange. But you don't have to let other people bring you down. You can keep them in your life so that maybe once every couple of months you still maintain that bond, but you don't have to be there all the time sucking that up. Because you deserve better. That's where you've got to make up your mind; the majority of life is making up your mind—who do you want to be? How do you want to do it if you don't know when it's time to figure it out? Because if you don't, you're always going to be in a cycle where our internal world is the most important thing we could ever develop.

Yes, and that mindset piece is so key as you head out on any kind of entrepreneurial journey. And that, you know, to kind of reflect back on one of these pieces you say and take, don't take it personally. You know, it's when you're doing your business, and I'm sure because you've built your course and, you know, you are so passionate about your business, I'm sure you understand that. I mean, when you're putting yourself into your business, really. And that's so common in any kind of service based business or entrepreneur type situation, that where you putting yourself out there, it's, it's tough, because often it comes especially off at the beginning with, you know, some form of rejection, you know, you're the sales, you know, you're often in a sales piece, you're, you're in a customer fulfillment piece, you're in a, you know, creation design piece. And so there comes this point where protecting that confidence and, you know, continuing on that journey and believing in yourself are necessary when sometimes no one else shares the vision yet.

Well, there's no reason for anyone else to see your vision apart from you, because it's your vision, and you've got to protect it; that's for you. You know, no one else can see what you can see in your mind. But secondly, rejection Yeah, I've got to admit, like, I'm not perfect. Rejection has hurt me a lot since I first started the business. And even in the past, when I was in university, I used to work as a salesman. I used to be the worst salesman; I used to get rejected constantly, like, literally, when I say hello to people or they tell me to leave them alone. You know, I've been rejected in jobs, I've been rejected by my girls, and I spent most of my life being rejected a lot. And I have looked at it, and for a lot of the time, that created a limiting belief that I was never good enough. So I'd always sabotage myself and kind of pull back or give up because I never thought I was good enough to do anything. And a lot has changed for me in the past couple of years. And the key to getting over rejection is to realize that that rejection is not real. Because no one's rejecting you. They're just rejecting the idea of what you're trying to give them. So, for example, if you're trying to sell something and they reject you, they're not rejecting you; they're rejecting the product. If a girl rejects you, that might just be because they reject the idea of being with you in a future scenario. But it's not you per se; you can always learn because there are always trends. And that rejection is a learning experience. Because you can look at those trends to improve certain areas that you may not have seen before. So if somebody rejects you for the way you're talking, maybe you're arrogant. Maybe you need to moderate the way in which you come across to other people to be more sociable. Maybe people will reject you based on how you express yourself to the world. Maybe you're not looking after your hygiene standards. There are many different ways to look at those examples alone. But there's always something to be learned from rejection. And the more you get rejected, the more you realize it doesn't matter. Because of the number of people who will reject you, someone will need you. And then, as you know, that's business. Well, not everyone's going to love what you do with all your products.

 

Yes, you know, I was having a conversation with a client this morning, and we were talking about how, you know, you have to be willing to put yourself out there enough that some people will absolutely love you because they will know that you are for them. But in turn, that means that some people will know you are not for them. And that's okay. And trying to be you know, it almost comes back to your initial comment about coaching everyone, you know, it really comes down to being able to choose who you're going to benefit the most from, who your service serves the most. And often, when people are starting out, they say, Oh, I, you know, I don't want to exclude anyone, but I need to make the money I need to make sales. And so you know, yes, there's this balance of, you know, increasing revenue and growing your business. But there also comes the point where it's, "What are you working on developing? Where are you investing your energy to grow your business? And as your business grows, hopefully, you know, you get to the point where more and more of the ideal audience exists, but it's really through good messaging and good marketing that that transformation occurs, because people understand, "Hey, this person is exactly what I've been looking for, or this service is exactly what I need. And for every one person that says, "You know, this is exactly what I'm looking for," There may be someone who says, Oh, that's not for me. And that's okay.

 

It's completely fine. And it's one of the reasons why everything in my business, like literally everything that you can see on my website or in my social media, is completely handcrafted by me, because coaching is very personal. And I understood this from the beginning, because I wouldn't want to be coached by just anyone; I wanted to be coached by someone who resonated with me. So everything I do is completely handmade, because that means that I am completely authentic; there is no one else involved; that authenticity all comes from me; it comes exactly from my mind, and the people that resonate with it resonate with my message. And that's why it's completely authentic. And it's organic. Because I know that you can't just buy your way into coaching, which is a one-to-one transformation, it's very important.

 

Yes. It's interesting, as you say that because you're, you're really, coaching is so specific. And so you have defined it and said, Hey, this authentic messaging piece is super important for my business. So is there an area where a different type of business would maybe go all in on that as a coach, you'd say? That's not necessarily an area that I want to focus on. That's something that maybe wouldn't be authentic to my brand or my message?

To me or to any other coach?

To you specifically?

I probably couldn't coach children; I think that would be very difficult. I know that there are some people who coach children. I don't think I could, because I don't get along well with children. But just because of that, you need a very specific type of mindset. It's got to be based upon the transformation that you've been through, okay, so, like, if you've gone through a certain hardship and you can resonate with other people because, you know, your scenario is not completely unique to you; there are 7 billion people on this planet. And the beauty about that is that there are at least one or two other people going through the same thing. And the cool thing about that is that those are people that you can help. So that's where you're authentic with what you do with your brand, right? But then, if you say, for example, I tried to market towards children, I don't know what children like, I don't know what they do, or their conflicts or their struggles, it will be hard. So yeah, I would only be able to understand and help people that I really resonate with at the same time.

Right, right. So when you're looking, you know, one of the keywords that I picked out of your content that really kind of resonated for me was inner resistance. And how do you define inner resistance?

Well, inner resistance is something that is stopping you from achieving what you want. It's like, you know, when you see a job that you really like, okay, and you want to apply for that job. But then you're like, "You know, I'm not good enough. And I'm an experience; I don't feel like I'm worthy of this. And then you just get rid of it and go find another one. Or say you're about to post a piece of content and you're like, Wow, this is a really good piece of content, but I'm afraid of being judged. Or maybe this is too much for my audience. So you click Delete, which is in resistance because you're avoiding something that could potentially harm you or cancel you in some way. But you know that if you could do it, there could be potential rewards, and you choose the lesser

 Right?  So in that kind of risk versus reward analysis, you're kind of overestimating the risk and just shying away rather than leaning in.

Yeah, exactly.

I think that, unfortunately, the leaning versus kind of shying away is this inner battle that comes almost to this, you know, cycle of overthinking things. And so, to speak to a business piece specifically, you know, we reflect back and always say, you know, look at the data; the data helps tell the story. And when you're relying completely on, you know, intuition, and I think it's going better, but you don't have the data or the numbers to say whether it is going better or whether it is growing, and it is growing by the objective of being at x by the end of the year, And here we are on the path. And so what types of mindset pieces, in addition to that, would you say are important? So, you know, we definitely talked about the data and how having the appropriate information can help you with confidence and help you make those decisions and feel more confident because you have some, the data is almost backing you up, saying, Yeah, you're right, you know, you got this. So what else, from a mindset perspective, would you recommend?

The Art of Confidence 

Also, data shows trends, and I'm always looking to observe analytics and understand that, but data can't give you confidence. I mean, data can show your business growing, but it can't change what's on the inside because it's numbers. They're not real interactions and numbers that have correlations and will look for linear trends, right? And therefore, that's our understanding of something that's completely separate. Because confidence itself and self-belief in yourself cannot be tied to an algorithm, they just can't be. Because that's not an accurate representation of people. For example, if we look at the algorithm and say that the majority of our audiences are from the USA, then that's going to make us feel like we have to target only people in the USA, but maybe the people that want to serve as Muslims in Europe aren't targeted because the numbers are showing us a certain thing. But that's—have you heard of something called the Dark Funnel before? So the dark funnel is basically, you know, like the marketing funnel, obviously, right? So the opposite of that dark funnel is the exact same, but reverse engineering with human interactions. So, for example, if somebody screenshots your post and shares it, somebody's telling a friend about what they learned from you. These are things called the dark funnel that happen beyond the realm of numbers because they involve human interactions. So if you only look at numbers to make yourself feel confident, that's not an accurate representation of your impact. An accurate representation of your impact is how much other people are gaining from you in terms of value and inspiration, and being able to use your service to give themselves leverage. It's like teaching a man how to fish, right? So you cannot tie internal worth to numbers or to trends because they are not real. But you can tie your total worth to the strength of your relationships and the growth of your dark funnel, which is human interaction and beyond the scope of what you can view.

Right? Okay, I, I don't disagree with that, but I do think that a lot of times in business, you have to make a decision of whether we're either going to go left or we're going to go right. And so a lot of energy or time could be spent, you know, well, we could go left. And you know, the pros are this and the cons are this, and it could be this or it could turn into that. Or we could go right. And, as you know, in turn, we could have all of these pros and cons. And a lot of times that energy is spent, you know, almost with this personal debate of left or right, left or right, and what if I get it wrong? and this kind of cycle of overthinking these decisions. And so when you have the appropriate information, so you know, the data to say, you know, well, if using your kind of marketing and funnel example, if we're saying, you know, well, if we're going to go left, now that we have the data to say that, you know, our conversion rate is x, and you know, our traffic is this, and we have all of these facts, it will provide some information that's going to help guide the way and say, you know, realistically, is it Is this, your cost of acquisition to go right is this. And so you have more confidence; it's no longer enough to say, I think it might be left or I think it might be right." When you have the data, it helps you make an informed decision.

I agree with that. I definitely agree. You know, I used to be a neuroscientist. So for my thesis in particular, we spent a whole year doing a project to collect data and write about trends. And I basically use that to calculate and write a thesis. So I spent most of my academic life looking at data. And the one thing I learned about data is that you can have so much data that shows you two things, but when you put it into action, it does nothing. So that's right. Yeah, a lot of the time, a lot of the research we've done has proven nothing, because we have so many trends that look perfect when we experiment, and we collect them and then actually try them out. And it has no observable effect. Now, I'm not saying that businesses, even the same ones with slightly different numbers, can sway your decision. But there is something about decision-making that I really value for myself. I don't take longer than five minutes to make a decision for pretty much everything. There are some things that are the exception, but the majority is five minutes; any longer than that, and I'm wasting my time that I can invest in other things. To make a quick decision, I already have an idea of where I need to go because I'm always taking in information, right? So my brain is continuously absorbing information. And there is a trend line that's occurring within it already. And I'm forming an unbiased opinion based on things that I'm viewing and observations that I make. And then I try to make a decision within five minutes, purely because if you spend forever looking at this, rationalizing, rationalizing, and over-rationalizing, that is where we can become biased. And as you know, in science, being biased means that you have inaccurate results; you want to be unbiased and look at it for what it is; the more you rationalize, the more you're going to be biased, and then we're going to skew your data. And then you could create a consequence that might not be the one you want. So therefore, you've got to be okay with the consequence that happens. That's life; you've got to be okay with the consequences, but you've got to take the risk first. And if you spend all your time over-rationalizing, you're not going to take the risk, or you will take the risk that is lessened but with a lesser reward. It's all a balance. Really, it just depends on how you want to do it.

Very interesting. Five minutes. So all life decisions take five minutes?

Almost, almost. There are a few that are different that are different. My interpersonal stuff, while it really grounds decisions in my life, No, that's a little bit longer. But most of the time, five minutes, five minutes, five minutes—I can't waste more time than that. I do stuff.

You know, I agree. Does it? When it's time, my most difficult thing is, like, where are we going to go for lunch? This is a decision that I can make without being decisive when it comes to food. It is interesting; my most dreaded thing to do is go out for lunch with a friend. And it's like, where do you want to go? Oh, my goodness, the amount of time that could be wasted on something so trivial And you get into these, it's almost like once you're in this cycle of overthinking a decision that it becomes a problem, and to bring that back to business, you know, the funny lunch analogy, but we've all been there where it's something that in you, you almost are like frustrated with yourself that something should be so simple. You're like, "This is simple. Why am I doing this? You know, but you get into this overthinking cycle, and you just struggle to get out of such a frame to frame a situation and say, I'm going to make this decision within five minutes. Very interesting.

 

Mental Energy and Intellectual Complication

Well, because we tend to overcomplicate things, a lot of things in life do not need to be overly complicated. But the reason we are overly complicated is because of our intelligence. Intellect requires us to overcomplicate. For example, if you look at a dog and its life on a daily basis, it gets up, eats, does its business, goes for a walk, and does nothing else. And it's completely the happiest animal on the planet. Humans, on the other hand, spend most of their time thinking and over-rationalizing and are some of the most miserable animals on the planet. There is a correlation between this I'm not saying thinking is bad. I'm a thinker, too. I love thinking about existential reality, which is why I'm able to communicate with you like this, but in my thoughts and in my deep dives into the world. And in my own mind, I've understood that over rationalizing with logic takes away from the enjoyment of any experience. But overindulgence in an experience means that you lose rationalization and have a problem taking any kind of conclusive action. So you've got to have a balance. And the only reason I learned about this is because I looked at how many decisions a human makes in a day. We make like, I think, close to 1000 in our lifetime. And every decision you make takes a bit of mental energy. So if you imagine your mental reservoirs being about this big, every single time you make a decision, you're decreasing your reservoir. So if you continuously struggle to make decisions, say like in the example of lunch, then later on you're going to struggle to make more important decisions related to your business or your personal life. So you can't waste time with that; you've got to really get clear on this, this, this, and this and save your mental reservoir for things that require energy. For me, it's my coaching or doing a podcast and talking to you like this. I can only communicate with clarity if I don't waste time thinking about things that drain my mental reservoir.

Right. It's interesting, you know, and it's an interesting way to frame it. I know. I've mentioned, you know, we've chatted on the podcast a few times about Steve Jobs and wearing the same sweater every day and removing that decision from his day. And so as we're chatting about that, I think, "Oh, you know, it's always done in a different way," which you explain so well. And so clearly, you know, sometimes people are sicker, like, "Why would you wear the same sweater?" but he just did not want to waste any of that reservoir on that decision. And just solve that once and for all by fixing all the same sweaters.

And that's made the same, so I really don't buy clothes; I just use the same ones. And it doesn't take me long to choose because that's something that you struggle with a lot as a young man, and I used to love all the fashion and stuff; I used to really be into, like, you know, the nice Gucci and all this sort of stuff. It was a couple of years ago, mind you, and I wasted so much time and effort trying to be someone that I wasn't. It doesn't matter what makes the money; it's not the clothes. That's the same.

Yes, absolutely. So if you had one piece of advice for a service-based business that they could implement today that would have an impact tomorrow, what would that be?

Focus

Get really clear on why you're doing it and on the type of people that you're going to serve, especially since it's a service. Your ultimate goal needs to be to serve. While there are obviously profit and gross margins and things like that, which you need to take into account as the underpinning of your business, you've got to get really clear on the fact that the ultimate number one priority is your client or your customer. If they are not happy, or if they do not see value in your product, you do not have a business; you have a hobby. There are many different things that could be the case, so get really clear on who you serve, why you serve them, and do everything you can to make sure that they get the best value from whatever you do. Don't skimp, like, you know, on Facebook, where they're like, "Oh, download this book," and you download the book, and it is like a three-page book with like, the most ridiculous checklist, and you're like, "Wow, this guy totally ripped me off and stole my email address." Don't do that; give as much as possible; I'll give away a free book; I just wrote a book on the count of three; give as much as you can; and always look after your customer. That's number one.

And that is such a valuable statement. And, you know, I was working on some automation with someone recently, and, you know, creating a massive impact has a huge following on Tiktok. We started repurposing some content and putting it on other platforms. And, you know, it was like, "Wow." She was like, I can't believe this is working. And she goes: everyone needs this automation. And I said, Okay, I love automation. And so I will always advocate for the fact that everyone should have automation. However, as I said, the reason that this is working is because you have good content. And automating bad content just means you have more bad content. Automating good content is why you're seeing the benefit; you know, because she got into this a little bit, she should have been doing this sooner. And I'm sure, you know, we can always look back and say we could have done something sooner. But it comes down to, you know, if the customer doesn't see value in what you're doing, the content isn't good. You know, the book is the three-page brutal checklists that we have all downloaded and felt ripped off by. You know, it's without those pieces. It's not a business; it's not sustainable. And it will not create that repeatable, predictable revenue that really helps a business grow.

That three-page checklist actually comes from yesterday, Tiffany. I was on Facebook, and I saw this really cool ad for the Sunday planning week that will really get your week going. And I was like, I could use this. So I go and download it. I was actually eagerly waiting for it. I was like, "Oh, when's it going to come on?" I just want to get this; I want to read this book; I get it. And it's literally a page with all the services. And I look at the checklist. It's one page with four text boxes and four blank text boxes, and it says goal number one, number two, number three, and number four. And then, on the bottom page, it was like booking a call. And I was literally just livid. I was like, Are you serious? I wasted like 10 minutes waiting for that. I was so excited to get this. I really was like, "This is so great!" It was so well marketed. And I was just fuming.

You can market to people, and they will know; you will give your email address and do good marketing. There's certainly not to be underestimated. But at the end of the day, especially in a business where you need a repeat customer, you're trying to provide a service later on. Without the value and without actually being able to deliver, you really aren't much further ahead other than having crafted a fantastic marketing campaign.

Yeah, great ROI, but no, no engagement, or, like, what's called no closing of the deal.

 Yes, absolutely. I mean, maybe they need to go back and have a look and say,  maybe we should do more marketing and less of the checklist building. So if people want to dive into this, they want to work with you on some of these pieces that we've talked about today. Jeff, where can they do that?

They can find me on social media. So I'm on Instagram and Facebook at mind@mindaxis, which is life coaching. And then at LinkedIn, you can find me by my name, Jeff Co., Jeff with a G. Or you can look at my website, which is mindaxislifecoaching.com.au And I've got heaps of stuff. I've got free books and lots of podcasts. I've got a webinar you can watch for free as well. Just like content as well. I've got plenty of good stuff. So come check it out and have a chat. I'm always open to it.

 

Fantastic. Yes, yes, I highly recommend you; just a quick browse on Instagram really shows that you're bringing value. There are tons of value bombs there. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Jeff. I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing your message with the listeners. It truly is such a critical piece to every business owner's journey, and getting clear on where you are and where you're going and building the plan out that spent Asik

Yeah. Thanks for having me, Tiffany. You've been great. So it's been awesome to be here. Awesome.

 Well, thank you so much. Well, we are all out of time for today. If you guys have not joined the service-based business society Facebook community, make sure you head on over to Facebook so we can continue the conversation. Be sure to also follow the show by going to any podcast app and searching surface-based business society. Click subscribe, click the fifth star, and leave us a written review. Have a great week, and we will see you soon.