 When should you pay for coaching and knowledge and information? And when should you get it for free? It's the constant question You can get lots of free knowledge. You can get lots of free information You can get free coaching and free tickets to seminars and free conferences and Free stuff But is that as valuable as when you pay for it? It's a little bit counterintuitive, isn't it? You'd think well if I can get free coaching then obviously that would be the best thing if I could get free tickets to Seminars and conferences then that's smart because I'm not spending money that I don't have to spend so I'm saving money Plus I'm getting the benefit of the knowledge But is it as beneficial This is a question that I asked myself for some time But now I formed a very strong opinion on this matter to the extent that I now have a phrase on my cell phone screensaver Which simply says pay to get rich pay to get rich And what that means is that What I have learned is that on those occasions where I have paid For a program or I have paid for a conference or I've paid for mentorship. I focus I Get things done. I take it seriously. I take action and Ultimately, I become rich now when I say the word rich. I don't mean Swimming in dollar bills or hundred dollar bills and I'm so wealthy and I'm living in my mansion in the Hollywood Hills and driving whatever I Mean rich in Happiness rich in my body rich in my health rich in my finances. Sure. What am I talking about? Well, here's the thing When I pay a Personal trainer in the gym. I show up. I turn up He pushes me Whatever sessions I've bought To be coached by him There's not a chance in hell that I cancel or postpone Or don't show up because I'm not feeling it that morning because I've paid the money I've got skin in the game So I show up and because I show up I do the work and because I do the work I get the physique That I want when I pay for a program I Value that program more I Digest every last minute of its content and Then I take action because I've paid for it when I have paid for things My focus increases exponentially and The results that I get from taking action increase exponentially. So I used to be the guy that would Try to get free tickets everywhere to seminars and conferences and it wasn't too long ago. It was only about Probably even only four years ago I remember when I was trying to figure out what I was going to do in my entrepreneurial life and I was deciding that I was going to go down the path of being an entrepreneur and trying to run my own business and build a product and Coach people but I didn't really know what I was going to coach people on I was a little bit Directionless and I remember very vividly getting a free ticket To a seminar down in San Diego to go and listen to a guy called Ted McGraw young guy lives in San Diego like a Motivational coach teaches people business and I had interviewed him on One of the first few episodes of what was this podcast Which was originally called alpha male club the alpha male club podcast and I remember I interviewed him because I'd met him through a mutual friend and And I thought oh, I need any content. So I'll interview this guy and at the end of the call He invited me to go to a conference of his in San Diego Which I was hoping that he would do I was hoping he would invite me And I was hoping that he'd offer me a free ticket a complimentary ticket Which is exactly what he did and I think the tickets may have been $497 I think to attend this conference was a two-day conference. Maybe it was a three-day. I'm quite remember Anyway, at the end of the call he said oh, you should come to my conference is in San Diego It's on these dates. I'll leave you a complimentary ticket and I was like, yes Beautiful. I got a complimentary ticket free ticket great So a month later when the conference came up I went down to San Diego and I stayed with a friend of mine called Ryder who lives in Pacific Beach about a 20-minute drive from downtown San Diego And I stayed with him in a spare room and he and I Went to this Ted McGraw conference and I went to the Ted McGraw conference and the conference was all about finding your purpose and and how to sell and How to create a business and how to make money and how to get your head straight and all that kind of stuff And I remember being really enthusiastic by being at this conference and there were some interesting speakers and at the end of The two or three days. I was like, wow, that was great. It was awesome. It was incredible. I got so much knowledge I'm gonna go there and now I'm gonna go and Start my business and I'm gonna I'm gonna focus and we do all these amazing things, right? And I was also feeling great about the fact that I had got the ticket for free and the other Let's say hundred and fifty two hundred people who are attending the conference all had to pay 497 and I'm thinking Yes, I beat the system. I'm so clever. I Didn't have to pay look at all this knowledge. I'm getting everyone else had to pay for it And I didn't have to pay for it. Yes, that's that's amazing. I'm saving money. That's smart But I'll tell you what happened about three days after that conference. I Was still on a high. I was like, yeah, this is great This is awesome and I typed out all the notes and then I printed out the notes and I'm looking at the notes And I'm gonna run I'm gonna take action on these notes and then on day four they five They're six they seven I started to forget and I started to lose interest and I started to go back into Negative negative thoughts and what am I gonna do and I'm not sure what I should do and what business should I start and all of a sudden This enthusiasm that I had had right when I was getting this information for free Had subsided had dropped. I ended up not looking at those notes that I took for three years three years I did not return to look at the notes that I took at that conference and It was only really recently when I thought about this in the last 12 months Did I realize why and the reason was is because I didn't value the information and the knowledge that I got from that conference Because I didn't pay for it. I didn't invest in it. I didn't invest my money Now I invested my time. It was two or three days and that's an investment sure But I didn't value the content that was given at that conference because I didn't have skin in the game now One of the most difficult things that I ever did one of the hardest things I ever did was when I decided to invest 25 thousand dollars of my hard-earned money Into being personally personally coached and mentored by a business guy called Tai Lopez Some of you listening here will know who he is. Some of you will not know who he is If you don't know who he is you can go to James swanick.com forward slash 67 steps He's a somewhat controversial figure to some because He owns about six or seven very fast cars a Lamborghini a Ferrari has a big mansion in the Beverly Hills Mansion in Beverly Hills rather and some people think that he's materialistic and flashy I know him and I've known him now for four years and I know him not to be that way He's a very very good marketer. He knows how to get people's attention. He does. He just genuinely likes driving fast cars But he's not showing off about it and he's inspired lots and lots of people to read books And I read a book a day and he inspired me to read a book a day and now I teach that so I Have nothing but positive things to say about Tai Lopez so October of 2013 I Had met Tai socially he invited me up to his home in the Hollywood Hills He has a second home in the Hollywood Hills and I went up there. He invited me to a paid seminar that he was having Which was gonna cost? I think it was $1497 like let's call it $1500 or just round it up and I remember thinking oh man I've played basketball with Tai socially surely he can just give me a free ticket. So I don't have to pay But he didn't he said do you want to come I'm having a two-day seminar at my place. It's 1497 Do you want to come and I was at the time? I wasn't there was no real money coming in there were no incomings and $1497 a huge amount of money for me at the time I'm like am I really gonna spend this am I really gonna spend $1500 and I remember thinking I really want to learn from Tai and I just decided I was gonna do it and so I did it and I spent the $1500 and it hurt It was it was like painful for me to do it Because I was so used to getting stuff for free So I paid the money and I turned up to his to his home and Because I paid the $1500 there was no way that I was gonna be late. I showed up on time I I took ferocious notes I listened intently and then three-quarters of the way through the second day Okay on the second day of this two-day conference he pitched One-on-one mentorship and he said I'm gonna choose I Think it was three of you. I think he said three of you and she Take three of you and I'm gonna coach you one-on-one for 18 months $25,000 Who's interested and I remember sitting there I was so Impressed by Tai and what by what I had learned over those two days And I remember my hand starting to go up But mentally I was like James keep your arm down keep your arm down Do not put your hand up do not tell him that you're interested in doing this but my arm went up and My heart was beating. I was like, oh my god. I'm really gonna invest $25,000 now to be clear $25,000 I had was sitting in Australian dollars back at my St. George bank account in Brisbane, Australia I had had a property. I'd sold the property. I had a little bit of cash You know some cash lying around but remember I'm at this point. I'm in my late 30s Some of you you might be listening to this game. Well, I don't have 25,000 Well, remember I've been I had jobs and I had a property and so I'd had some money saved but 30 it was actually 31,000 Australian dollars at the time because of the conversion rate so 25,000 US was about 31,000 Australian dollars at the time This was a huge deal for me right to have to Decide that I was gonna actually invest that amount of money and I put my arm up and In the next hour or so I talked to Ty about it and I agreed to do it And then about four or five days later. It came time for me to actually send the money I'd agreed verbally to do it And I remember being on my St. George bank account on my online bank Bank account and I put in Ty's bank details and you know saw that the conversion made it like 31,000 Australian dollars And I'm like am I really gonna do this and my finger was on the mouse for like 10 minutes I'm just looking at this and I'm like am I really gonna hit send am I really gonna send this international wire Am I really gonna transfer 31,000 Australian dollars from my Australian bank account over to his bank bank of America account in the US? Am I really gonna do this? And I remember thinking well, it's either short-term pain or long-term struggle And the struggle was that I was trying to figure out how to be an entrepreneur and grow a business But I wasn't doing very well and I was a bit lost and confused and I wanted someone to help me with some direction And I'm like this is painful to send this huge amount of money But what may be more painful is just struggling long time at long term So it was short-term pain or long term long term struggle and I went all right I'll take the short-term pain and I went click and I sent the money And I'll tell you what happened In the hour after I sent the money After I started the transaction it wasn't that I felt in pain all of a sudden I felt amazing I felt powerful. I felt incredible It wasn't even a conscious decision to go. Oh, I sent the money now. I feel amazing It was like this subconscious thing was this natural feeling that came across me is like wow Now I'm thinking like a wealthy person It's kind of counter-intuitive, right? You've just coughed up 31 grand and now you're thinking yourself as a A wealthy person, but I did I felt wealthy because I was like I've just hired one of the world's top business coaches to coach me I've just coughed up a huge amount of my life savings and my cash to get that coaching I felt smart. I felt strong And I'll tell you then what happened over the next few months Ty received the money We scheduled a time for me to go and meet with him once every two weeks for the first few weeks So we weren't met up met up in his gym Which was his garage The same garage actually where he filmed the The Lamborghini video very famous youtube video he put out And he worked with me and we helped get clarity on what I should be doing And then after that and then throughout the course of the next few months As I traveled and he traveled we did the call on a video Skype call And we spoke over over an internet connection. But guess what? I showed up. I turned up I listened intently to what he said I focused I then took action and you know why because I had invested 31 000 into this program There was not a chance in hell that I was just going to go. Ah, you know what? I'm not going to do this I'm not going to take this seriously. You know what ty I'm not feeling it this week Can we postpone it until next week? No way Because I'd spent that money because I had invested I was there on time every two weeks Whatever plan we had set forth for me to do for the ensuing two weeks I I went and I did it so I when I came back to him in two weeks I said, this is what I've done and he would review and go great awesome I was dating a Um, uh, a very beautiful brazilian woman at the time That this was happening and I remember her On a thursday saying to me james honey. Let's go to pump springs for the weekend Let's go and stay in a nice hotel. We'll go to a spa. We'll get massages and we'll go for a walk. Let's go Come on, honey. Let's go to pump springs for the weekend and I was looking at this This woman that I was dating and I was imagining this romantic weekend away with her and palm springs and you know weekend in in bed if you like and Romantic strolls and beautiful dinners and I thought man, that would be amazing It would just be the best weekend ever. It'd be so nice and I remember thinking to myself Hang on a second That's a distraction. I've got plans to work on my website this weekend And so I said to her I said, I'm sorry sweetie, but I've got to work on my website this weekend And we didn't go I worked on my website I stayed in town I did the work because I had invested the money and because If I didn't do it and if I just went off to Palm Springs, I was basically just throwing my money away I was basically just throwing the 31 000 Australian dollar investment away But because I invested that money because I had skin in the game I focused on what I needed to get done in business So investing that huge amount of money every step of the way made me focus Made me take action made me take everything that Ty said seriously Made me really focused on that coaching Fast forward four years Or fast forward. It's now been through as we're recording this three and a half years I have a My swanik sleep business which The blue light blocking glasses which helps people sleep better Consistently doing six figures a month And planning on getting it to a million dollars a month before the end of the year hopefully Probably My 30 day no alcohol challenge Which is put thousands of people through a course helps people reduce or quit alcohol This podcast obviously I mean I did I had started a version of this podcast before I had started with Ty but just Keep staying consistent with this and growing this podcast Coaching I'm now coaching people have my James swanik in a circle People pay thousands of dollars to be coached by me now There are six members that I'm coaching at the moment in my James swanik in a circle We've paid thousands of dollars to have me coach them on how to build a business So you look at those things I now speak on stages I now speak in front of hundreds of people all of these things have happened because I focused And it was because I invested the money into coaching That made me focus So that 31 000 Australian dollars that I invested I've made that back 30 times 40 times 50 times I'd have to actually sit down and do the math, but I don't worry about the 25 000 US that I spent three and a bit years ago because it's made me back multiples of that When I got stuff for free Sure, I felt good in the moment that I was getting this stuff for free But then I didn't even I didn't take action because I didn't value it people uh It's funny people who find out about my 30 day no alcohol challenge I get people on instagram or um sending me emails quite often and uh, there's always some Doubters Not so much haters people kind of like questioning and not really haters, but people who are like skeptical Uh, I have had a couple of haters over the last couple years have been who abused me for the fact that Um, I charge people to do the 30 day no alcohol challenge So the 30 day no alcohol challenge is a program where You go to 30 day no alcohol challenge.com you sign up you pay Uh a fee to take the challenge and then every day I give I send you a video with a little Motivational talk to keep you on track so you don't drink for 30 days. Okay And people Who are dubious or doubtful or haters if you like Will often send me messages And they always say the same thing. Hey, dude Why would I spend money to do your challenge when I can just quit drinking myself? well, the answer is You can quit drinking yourself You don't have to spend money. You don't have to invest in the program. You don't have to sign up You can quit drinking for 30 days yourself But will you That's the question You can Quit drinking for 30 days and not sign up to my membership Program and not pay the money and not pay the fee Not pay the membership fee And do the 30 day no alcohol challenge for free And you can go 30 days without drinking you can do that But will you And the answer sadly 99% of the time in my experience from what I've seen is that no you won't do it Because there's no skin in the game Maybe you start off you go seven days and you don't drink you go Yes, but then the eighth day comes along and there's a football game on and your friends Down the pub and there's a birthday and you're like go and just have one you go Oh, okay I'll just have one and then you drink on day eight or day nine or day 10 And now all of a sudden you 30 day no alcohol challenge is over But if you had invested in the program and you'd put money and skin in the game Even though even though people friends are like encouraging you to have a drink go and just have one Maybe you don't drink maybe you say i'm okay for now because you've invested the money because you don't want to set fire to your investment So you can do it for free But will you you can Go on to Tai Lopez's YouTube channel and just get all of his free content for free and then you can go and take action on it And maybe you take action on some of it for sure But will you really really focus? As much as if you paid to go into one of his programs you can go onto my youtube channel James swanick go to my youtube channel and you can digest all of my content You can go back and listen to every single episode of the James swanick show podcast You're listening to this right now on the James swanick show podcast You can go back and listen to every episode that I've ever done 250 260 of them. I think getting up to episode 300. I think And that's amazing. They've been great and that's terrific. You should totally do that Will it be as valuable as if you Invested money in my James swanick inner circle in a circle program Will it be as valuable? If you sign up at James swanick.com forward slash coaching sign up fill out the survey invest money into the coaching And then actually be coached by me The coaching I mean both of those things are incredibly valuable But I'll tell you this the moment that you invest your money in something is the moment that you have extra super powers in clarity in focus in motivation Because you have to otherwise you're just setting fire to your investment. You're setting fire to your money The actual art of paying for something fuels this clarity fuels this focus and we're so No Not focused today There's facebook. There's instagram. There's the super bowl. There's the nfl season There's your friends trying to get you to go to dancing lessons. There's the party on the beach on the weekend. There's the the summer trip through europe there's the uh There's the 21st birthday circuit. There's the friends weddings all these distractions That are just fighting for your focus We live in a free world For most of us we can do whatever we want to do with our time We can choose to spend our time with who we want and when we want and how we want all of these things Are vying for your focus You've got hbo. You've got netflix. You got game of thrones You've got westworld You got all these amazing tv shows now. You got the movies You've got video games You've got Thanksgiving Family get-togethers you got church all of these things Are competing for your attention The moment you invest the moment you invest money the moment you put money On the table the moment you put skin in the game is the moment that all of those distractions All of those things that are competing for your attention like westworld and game of thrones and all these other things They stop dropping down the list and your order of priorities You want to learn how to build a business? invest in a program that teaches you how to build a business Put money in the game don't get a pirated version You can get people's programs online for free. You can get the the pirated version and have someone share it with you I have people share things with me all the time. I don't even ask them for it I've got other entrepreneurs who have bought programs and in conversation I have with them I'm like, oh, that program sounds great and I say, oh, I'll send it to you and I go great. Thanks I don't ask for it, but they send it to me for free and you know what most of the time I don't even open it I've probably got 20 000 dollars worth of business coaching and programs sitting in my inbox somewhere from other entrepreneurial friends who sent me The version of programs that they have bought and I haven't even opened the damn email It's not a conscious decision not to open it. It's just I didn't pay for it. So I don't pay attention to it I didn't pay for it. I didn't invest in it. So I don't pay attention. I don't value it So what's the point of me even having it for free if I'm not even going to open the damn thing? Let me tell you something if I pay a thousand dollars for that program I'm opening it And I'm digesting every last piece of content My screen saver says pay to get rich When I paid the Uh personal trainer a guy called David over at the crunch gym on sunset boulevard late last year I walked in and I said to the crunch gym. I said, who's your top trainer? They said David walked up David and I said David I want to um Buy like 10 sessions from you how much of the cost he told me game I gave him my credit card. He swiped it and then over the next two and a half months I showed up every single day that I paid for And my gains in the gym increased Started squatting doing dead lifts lifting heavier I did one of those um body scan tests. Um a couple weeks On uh, sorry About two a couple of months after I'd started with him And it was amazing to see how my my leg muscles had increased in size from the last time I did one of those body scan tests As a result of going and having this this personal trainer the personal trainer pushed me 15 or 20 harder than I would have done At myself and because I'd invested the money I felt I turned up on time. I squeezed every last bit of knowledge out of him. He pushed me And I Got results Now you might be asking the question. Well, well, when do you pay for things and when don't you pay for things? And you have to ask yourself that question and come up with your own answer But here's the thing Keep listening to podcasts Keep listening to all of this free Content you don't pay to listen to this episode right now You don't pay to listen to the james swanick show You get all this information and content for free and that is amazing and I digest content for free I type in jim ron on my youtube Some mornings a week and listen to jim ron talk motivational talk Sometimes I type in warren buffett and I'll just listen to warren buffett talk the world's greatest investor So i'm not saying don't listen to free stuff. I'm not saying pay for everything Keep listening to free stuff, but know this The moment that it's time for you to take serious action and go bang right now. I'm going to do something Will be the moment that you invest in whatever it is You're investing in the moment that you put down money is the moment that you will really focus Until that point You can get the free information and some of you will take some action But the moment that you invest money is the moment that you go. Yes. I am in All the way That's the moment where you don't watch game of thrones where you don't watch netflix Where you decline the invitation To go to another party and get drunk and whatever That's the moment that you focus and when you focus you get results Keep digesting free content. Keep getting that knowledge. Keep reading books Keep doing it But watch what happens when you invest when you spend money You value it more You value it more I paid to get rich. It's counterintuitive right you pay you cough up cash You think oh no I should be saving But guess what the moment I invested that 25 000 us the 31 000 austrian dollars Was the moment my life changed Now money is flowing into my life whereas before there was no money flowing in Pay to get rich All right, I hope you enjoyed this episode Please do send me a tweet at at james swanick. Remember to please leave a review Let me know your thoughts on this you can follow me on snapchat at at james swanick Send me a snap and tell me what you thought about this episode I'm also on insta stories at at james swanick You can get my free book notes over at james swanick.com and if you want to leave me a voice message Um james swanick.com is a spot there where you can leave a voice message And maybe I'll play it on the show and answer one of your questions Thank you for listening to the james swanick show I'll catch you on the next one