In this episode, Charles explores the science of neuroplasticity and mental transformation with John Assaraf, who built a multimillion-dollar empire after starting as a high-school dropout with a troubled past. John reveals his groundbreaking "innercise" methodology, demonstrating how anyone can rewire their brain for success by implementing consistent micro-actions over 100 days, sharing the exact system he used to go from earning $1.65 per hour to making $300,000 in a single year through deliberate brain training techniques. From his life-changing encounter with mentor Alan Brown to becoming a leading expert in applied neuroscience, John's journey illustrates the profound difference between being merely "interested" in success versus truly "committed" to achieving it. He explains the biological mechanics behind our self-limiting beliefs and fear responses, introducing his paradigm-shifting approach that distinguishes between "Einstein" (our creative problem-solving capacity) and "Frankie's monster" (our brain's protective fear mechanism), providing practical techniques to calm the sympathetic nervous system and access our highest mental potential. Charles and John engage in a fascinating exploration of habit formation, examining why most people fail to achieve their goals despite having access to all the necessary information. They unpack John's "rule of 100" and discuss practical brain training exercises anyone can implement, including the physiological breath technique that deactivates fear circuits in just four breaths, and the powerful visualization practices that literally reshape neural pathways when performed consistently. John shares wisdom from decades of coaching high-performers, emphasizing the critical importance of finding purpose beyond material success and using daily visualization to maintain focus on long-term objectives. His exceptional life blueprint approach demonstrates how spending just six minutes daily reviewing goals and mental images can transform abstract dreams into concrete actions, challenging conventional notions about willpower by revealing how systematic brain training creates sustainable success where motivation alone fails. Key Takeaways: * Rewire Your Neural Pathways: Discover the science-backed system for creating new mental habits in 100 days * Master the Fear Response: Learn the 4-breath technique that instantly shifts your brain from panic to productive thinking * Visualize for Results: Understand how consistent mental rehearsal activates the same brain circuits as actual performance * Build Extraordinary Self-Trust: Develop unshakeable confidence through small, consistent daily commitments that compound over time Head over to podcast.iamcharlesschwartz.com to download your exclusive companion guide, designed to guide you step-by-step in implementing the strategies revealed in this episode. KEY POINTS: 15:24 - The Interest vs. Commitment Distinction: John shares the pivotal question that transformed his life - understanding the profound difference between being merely interested in achieving goals versus being truly committed. 20:01 - The Self-Image Reconstruction Method: John reveals his technique for building a new self-image through consistent affirmations and story-crafting, even when your subconscious initially resists the new narratives. 25:20 - The Einstein vs. Frankie Framework: Learn how John's brain model separates your empowering "Einstein" creative problem-solving capacity from your limiting "Frankie's monster" fear-based protection system. 39:02 - The Four-Breath Reset Technique: John demonstrates his physiological breathing method that instantly deactivates fear circuits in your brain, allowing you to shift from anxiety to productive thinking in seconds. 49:49 - The Rule of 100 Success Principle: Discover John's non-negotiable 100-day consistency approach that transforms impossible-seeming goals into inevitable achievements through tiny, manageable daily actions. 54:03 - The Hourglass Life Management System: John explains his visual reminder system for time management, focusing on how to make meaningful choices with your remaining "sand" rather than dwelling on past regrets. 1:00:02 - The Rocking Chair Visualization Test: Learn John's powerful end-of-life perspective technique that helps you identify your true priorities by envisioning advice from your future self to your present self.
Chapter 1: What is the difference between being interested and committed to success?
From his early struggles as a high school dropout to becoming a mindset pioneer, John reveals the crucial difference between being interested and being committed to your goals. You'll discover his inner size methodology that trains your brain like a muscle and why consistent microactions over 100 days can literally reshape your neural pathways.
John unveils practical techniques for calming the fear center that sabotages your progress, including his four-breath reset method and the visualization practices that have helped countless clients achieve breakthroughs.
He explains how to recognize when Frankie's monster, your brain's protective fear mechanism, is holding you back, and how to activate Einstein, your creative problem-solving capacity. John's approach is science-backed, straightforward, and immediately applicable.
He's not selling quick fixes, but equipping you with the precise mental tools that have fueled sustainable success across all areas of life. So if you're ready to transform your mindset from your biggest obstacle into your greatest asset, grab your notepad and prepare to rewire your brain for extraordinary results. The show starts now.
Welcome to the I Am Charles Schwartz Show, where we don't just discuss success, we show you how to create it. On every episode, we uncover the strategies and tactics that turn everyday entrepreneurs into unstoppable powerhouses in their businesses and their lives.
Whether your goal is to transform your life or hit that elusive seven, eight, or nine figure mark, we've got the blueprint to get you there. The show starts now. All right, everybody, welcome back. I'm excited to talk to John. John, thank you for being on the show.
I am so happy to be here with you, and it's going to be a lot of fun.
There's a lot of things we're going to go over, and a lot of people might not know who you are and what you've done. And you've done some really radical things. And we're going to get into a lot of those things, but I want to make sure people kind of know who are you, what have you done. Give everybody an update if they happen to not know you.
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Chapter 2: How did John Assaraf transform his life from high school dropout to millionaire?
Maybe I should start off with how I got to what I've done. Listen, I think I'm an average guy. Mm-hmm. who is very passionate about living an extraordinary life. And so I've been focusing on, how can I live a better than average life, an extraordinary life? And one of the reasons I made that one of my focuses is when I was in school as a kid, I fell behind by two years. I failed English.
I failed math. I left high school at grade 11. My father was an alcoholic who used to beat me and my brother. My mother was kind, seamstress, and they always struggled. Started a relationship, struggled with money, and there was never enough money at the end of every month. And I didn't do well in life as a kid.
And I got in trouble with the law, sold drugs, did drugs, did breaking and entries, was in junior detention halls a couple of times. And that's kind of like my teen years. And at the age of 19, my brother, who was concerned for my well-being, specifically not going to jail or dying, one of the friends I was hanging with went to jail, another one died. And he introduced me to this one guy.
And this guy was a real estate developer in Toronto, Canada. I was living in Montreal. And he asked me if I would meet this guy for lunch and maybe he would give me a job. And at the time, I was working for that big electronics company called Phillips Electronics. And I was working in the shipping department, making $1.65 an hour, opening boxes, putting boxes away on the truck, off the truck.
And I hated it. I took the train from Montreal to Toronto, met this gentleman for lunch, and he asked me what I wanted to achieve in my life. And I said, well, I'd like to make more than $1.65 an hour. I'd like to move out of my parents' house, and I'd love to buy a car because I'm tired of taking the bus and the subway here in freezing cold Montreal in the winter.
And he said, it's all great, but what are some bigger goals and dreams you have? I said, I don't have any. And this was a pivotal moment in my life because he said to me, he said, would you mind doing me a favor since we're going to be talking about maybe you coming to work for me? I said, well, sure. He said, can you fill out the answers to these questions? And he gave me this document.
And the first question when I flipped over the page, Charles, was at what age do you want to retire? And I'm like, excuse me, what am I supposed to put over here? He goes, pick a number. And I was 19 at the time. And so I said, well, like, what's a good number? He says, pick, you know, 20, 30 years. And I said, it's like 45. Okay. He goes, sure, put it down.
The next question was upon retirement, how much net worth do you want to have? I'm like, net worth? I said, excuse me, sir, what does net worth mean? And he explained to me what net worth is. I said, okay, how much should I put there? He goes, well, you're going to need probably a few million dollars, you know, if you want to retire at 45, and you're going to live to probably, you know, 75 or so.
He said, so put a few million. So I put $3 million. The next question is, what kind of car do you want? Mercedes-Benz convertible. What kind of house do you want? Oh, four-bedroom house, two-car garage. Where do you want to travel? All over the world. How do you want to dress? With Italian clothes. Who do you want to help? My mother and father. I wrote down all of the answers to these questions.
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Chapter 3: What role does neuroplasticity play in personal development?
He says, wonderful, young man. Then I will be your mentor. And I said, wow, thank you. What's a mentor? explain to me what a mentor did. I ended up moving from Montreal to Toronto. I ended up working for him in his real estate company on commission only. I went from $1.65 to zero. But he taught me how to develop the identity of somebody who is successful.
He taught me how to train my brain to believe that I could achieve the goals that I want to achieve. He taught me how to create a plan, simple plan for every goal that I want to achieve. He said, there is a process to achieve it. And so I said, okay, well, you're driving the Mercedes. You have the beautiful house. You have real estate offices. You have 700 people working for you.
I'll do what you say. So I moved to Toronto, lived with my brother, went to real estate school, got my real estate license, went to work for him. And over six months, I made $31,000 for me. And he also made $31,000 for him because I gave him half of what I made. And he kept teaching me over the next year after that.
And I ended up making $300,000 gross, gave him, I think it was $150,000 for him, $150,000 for me. And I died and gone to heaven at 21 because he taught me a process. And I never had a process. So that changed my life. And so we can start with some of those structures and understanding maybe my journey over the last 43 years since then, or 44 years since then.
So I love that you talk about this in a way that most people don't. People will talk about strategies. They'll talk about tactics. They'll talk about, hey, there's these ideas. But your mentor, and they're saying something that you and I agree with is, you have to start with the who. You have to start with this identity. Who are you? And how does that person show up?
Because to your point, there's a difference between, hey, I'm interested in becoming financially free and I'm committed. When you're committed to do something, you're willing to dive for it. You're willing to go all in and your brain will start asking different questions. And one of the things is people understand that we can rebuild our bodies. We can rebuild, you know, we're both athletes.
We're a triathlete where you can rebuild your bodies and how you move. People don't understand that you can actually reshape your brain and you go through and there's this thing called neuroplasticity. And it's something that you really do a really amazing job on. And there's this way to have exercise within you.
Because we all focus, Hey, we're going to go to the gym and we're going to go lift weights up. But you've, you've mastered a different way of, of kind of doing that and interacting with that because you understand it starts with your identity. And then I'm going to give you strategies because I think to your point, if your mentor said, okay, here's the strategies, how to go sell.
But if you are interested, you're not going to commit. You're not going to get results. But if you're committed, he could have given you half as many strategies. But I don't think people understand what neuroplasticity is. And they obviously don't understand how to exercise that inside of their brain. So could you explain to us what neuroplasticity is and how you actually can achieve it as well?
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Chapter 4: How can visualization and affirmations rewire your brain for success?
So there's these circuits in our brain, like, you know, like your light in your room, turn it on, turn it off. Well, When we're born, this thing called the neuroplasticity switch is fully on. And we're creating these connections, these meanings, these feelings, these smells. I like the way this broccoli tastes. I hate how it tastes.
You know, we start to see, think, feel, and create these patterns that get reinforced from zero to about 13, 14. At around 14 years young, the research has shown that this switch goes off. And now we go into a reinforcement pattern where we reinforce the beliefs, the self-image, the fear of the snake or the fear of driving or the fear of sex or the fear of jumping out of a plane or a flying.
So we reinforce these patterns and they get stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger. And the way the brain works is consistency compounds. So when I think negatively over and over and over again, it compounds. When I feel disempowered, disillusioned, not good enough, not smart enough, not worthy enough, it compounds.
And then our brain just moves into keeping the patterns consistent to maintain identity.
Right. Absolutely. And what I loved about this is you could take someone, they did a study, they scanned a bunch of brains, they put the scans in front of people. They said, you're not going to know who the person is. You're not going to know what they're connected to, but I want you to pick out the people who are depressed. I want you to pick out the people with anxiety, people with ADHD.
I want you to pick all these things. And you walk through it. They literally showed the scans and within reason, scientists were like, oh, this person's got this, this person's got this, this person's got that. And then they went through a very specific process and they remolded their brains. And six months later, they came back and said, okay, same brain, completely different shape.
It's in a completely different environment. And I don't think people truly understand that you can redesign your physical body, your calves, your legs, your chest, your arms, as much as you can do your body as well. And more importantly, they don't know how to do it. They get the concept of it.
They get like, hey, if I'm saying I'm not enough, it's the old conversation of someone sitting there going, I can't lose weight, I can't lose weight, I can't lose weight, I can't lose weight. Why can't I lose weight? Well, because you just said it for forever. But they don't have the methodology. They don't have a way to go and go through and say, okay, I understand meditation's a good idea.
We understand conceptually that there's this great research that it physically changes the shape of your brain by doing it. But people are like, do I meditate by eating frosted flakes? Do I meditate by sitting on a log? Going through that, you've got an immense amount of experience where you help people redesign and basically get their brains in shape. How do they do that?
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Chapter 5: What are the practical steps to train your brain for achieving goals?
I mean, again, people know meditation works. What are the things that you've proven and that you've seen, because you've helped people, because a lot of people come across you and like, oh, he's just mental stuff. No, not just mental. You've created an immense amount of wealth for your clients. You've created an immense amount of wealth for the people that are around you and for yourself.
You don't do this because you just gave them strategies. You know, I talk to people all the time. They're like, oh, I just don't know how to do it. Do you have an iPhone? Do you have a Google phone? Yeah, then you know how to do it. So shut up. So what are the things that you actually need to do? How do they actually do this and exercise their inner part of their brain?
Sure. Can I get to that in just one second? I want to put one more piece that you're talking about right now into what Alan Brown had me do. So I had my story, my goal. I want to make $10,000 a month. I want to buy a home. I want a nice car. I want to give some money to charities. I want to take care of my parents. I had this as my vision.
And then I had goals for the end of the year, for nine months, six months, three months, and for like what I want to achieve in one month. And I didn't know how to set goals before. I didn't know what was realistic, what wasn't realistic, but I was a beginner. I was like a beginner. The only thing I knew how to do, I played basketball and hockey when I was a kid.
So I knew that I had to train and practice before game time. So Mr. Brown helped me create a daily action plan. So he said to me, you want to make $10,000 in a month? I said, yes. He says, well, based on the home prices here, you're going to need to get either these number of listings or you're going to have to get these number of buyers to buy a home.
So we broke it down to, OK, now I have a number. He says, now, in order to get this many listings, you're probably going to have to be in front of, you know, 20 people this month that could say yes to you. And you're probably going to have to speak to people who want to buy a house. And we determined that I had to make 100 calls a day and prospect.
So if I made 100 calls a day, and back then we could phone call, and we'd get probably 30% of the people answer the phone. And they said, great, so here's the math behind achieving the goal. And he said, and here's the numbers to achieve the goal. He says, but that's not enough. He says, because you can make 100 phone calls and just blab your way and sound stupid.
And yes, you'll get embarrassed and ashamed and ridiculed and judged and rejected. He says, but let me upgrade your skill now. So he gave me literally like a sheet of paper that was typed out. And on the sheet of paper was a script. And here's the script 45 years later. Ready? Hi, this is John Assaraf with Allen Brown Real Estate Company.
We have somebody who's looking to buy a home in the neighborhood. Have you thought about making a move? If they said yes, I go, great. Could my broker and I, Allen Brown, come over today at three o'clock or would five o'clock be better? So I had an alternative choice. The illusion of choice. Right. And then if they said, sure, three o'clock is great. Great. We'll see you there.
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Chapter 6: How does John Assaraf's 'innercise' methodology work?
Put your running shoes out somewhere where you can see them. One small step.
Pour the sugar out of your house.
Yeah. One small step just to have self-trust, self-confidence, and to be able to give yourself a command and follow through to completion. Right.
And I think this is where people don't get it. They go, okay, I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to bench press 300 pounds. No, you're not. You're going to start by bench pressing maybe 75 and then maybe 80. And we expect that in the physical space, but we don't, for some reason, expect that in the mental space. They're like, okay, I'm going to make $10 million. Let's try and make 10.
What do we have to do to make $10? Okay, good. You got that. And you start building and redesigning, recoding your brain and getting that confidence in you. And you start having the ability for, to your example, Frankenstein's monster over here going, wait, okay. I used to have this fear that I couldn't do 10. Maybe I can do 20 now. And it slowly starts rego.
And if we go and you do these things, we can scan your brain before. Yeah. And then we can scan your brain after and it will physically be a different shape. It'll physically fire differently. And it's these little baby steps that happen repetitively. You work with, you work with some clients and you've been doing this for a long time.
What are the biggest struggles when they show up and you know, they walk up to you and of course, you know, they want to rule the world and they want to make millions of dollars and they want to grow wings and whatever their Marriott of things that they want. What are the hurdles that they normally walk into going, God, This is normal. This is what I normally run into.
And then here's how you normally help them fix it.
Yeah. Whether I'm working with an athlete, working with a CEO, working with a homemaker, most of them are not operating with a vision of what does it look like in the future if it was complete? What do you look like? What does the result look like? Part two, they don't have any path to from where they are today to that.
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