Jim Britt is an award winning author of 13 best-selling books and numerous #1 International best-sellers. Some of his many titles include Rings of Truth, Do This. Get Rich-For Entrepreneurs, Unleashing Your Authentic Power, The Power of Letting Go, and Cracking the Rich Code.
He is an internationally recognized business and life strategist who is highly sought after as a success strategist and keynote speaker for all audiences.
As an entrepreneur Jim has started 28 successful business ventures. He has served as a success strategist to over 300 corporations worldwide and was recently named as one of the world’s top 50 speakers and top 20 success coaches. He was presented with the “Best of the Best” award out of the top 100 contributors of all time to the Direct Selling industry.
In the past 43 years Jim has presented seminars throughout the world sharing his success strategies and life enhancing realizations with over 4,000 audiences, totaling over 1,500,000 people from all walks of life.
Early in his speaking career he was Business partners with the late Jim Rohn for eight years, where Tony Robbins worked under Jim’s direction for his first few years in the speaking business.
In addition to his other ventures, he is currently working with Kevin Harrington from the TV show Shark Tank on a collaborative book series and PR, Marketing, Branding and lead generation strategy for coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs. support@jimbritt.com for info
As a performance strategist, Jim leverages his skills and experience as one of the leading experts in peak performance, entrepreneurship and personal empowerment to produce stellar results. He is pleased to work with small business entrepreneurs, and anyone seeking to remove the blocks that stop their success in any area of their life.
One of Jim’s latest programs “Cracking the Rich Code” focuses on the subconscious programs influencing one’s financial success, that keeps most living a life of mediocrity. His Cracking the Rich Code four-month program is designed to change one’s money programming to that of the wealthy. More at www.JimBritt.com
[Podcast Transcript Using Artificial Intelligence]
Umar Hameed 0:06
Are you ready to become awesomer? Hello everyone, this is Umar Hameed, your host and welcome to the No Limits Selling Podcast, where industry leaders share their tips, strategies and advice on how to make you better, stronger, faster. Get ready for another episode.
Umar Hameed 0:35
Hello everyone, I am privileged to have Jim Britt here with me today he's a legend. It's all about beliefs and bringing your best self out into the world. Jim, welcome to the program.
Jim Britt 0:45
Hey thanks Umar! I appreciate you having me.
Umar Hameed 0:48
One of the things I was excited to talk to you about was this, is that if you talk about money, most people can't. It's like that's a taboo subject, It's like, "We don't talk about that, we don't ask people how much they earn, we don't talk about our problems," that is unhealthy. Why do you think we have such a hang up around money? And it's not just here in the US, it's a worldwide phenomenon?
Jim Britt 1:08
Yeah, I think, you know, I think most people would rather talk about their sex life versus money. We're here to talk about I guess, but I think a lot of people fear money and a lot of people fear fear having it fear not having it. So it's kind of a battle that goes on between their ears. And, you know, everybody's relationship with money is different. You see some people that make a, you know, a huge fortune, it seems like it just rolls in and the next person is, is doing similar things but yet the money is stays out of their bank account, you know, it does.
Umar Hameed 1:45
And there's a possibility that the second person doing it might be more brilliant, more talented, better looking and yet still something their belief around money is dictating that they do, they live a small, smaller life.
Jim Britt 1:58
Yeah. Well, I'll give you a personal example of that. You know, I grew up in a poor family. We had food to eat, but that was, and sometimes not enough of that. But we were very poor. Not not, I wouldn't say poverty stricken but pretty close. We had a roof over our heads. I grew up my first job was at six years old picking cotton. And that's not an easy job. And, and I picked cotton for up until I was about 13...
Umar Hameed 2:30
How much did you get paid per bag or whatever?
Jim Britt 2:33
Per pound? Two cents a pound.
Umar Hameed 2:35
Two cents a pound. And cotton is pretty lightweight so it takes a lot of cotton.
Jim Britt 2:39
Very lightweight. So. So it took it took a lot. I mean, in six years old I was I you know, I maybe I made 50 cents a day or something. But my parents and and all of the siblings went out and picked cotton during the season. And we did that because we needed money to buy school clothes, we need money for the family. And occasionally we'd get a dime here and there are a quarter here and there that we got to spend. But that was my my first I'd say my first exposure to making money...
Umar Hameed 3:09
To money yeah!
Jim Britt 3:10
But I always heard my parents talking about how little they had, you know, we can't afford this, we can't afford that we can't pay the rent, we can't you know this and that. So it was always a struggle just getting by and...
Umar Hameed 3:24
You know what's interesting Jim is that some people grow up and they realize that we didn't have any money, but we didn't realize we were poor. Because their family was talking about family and, and love and the money subject never came up. And it wasn't till they were much older that they realized, "Hey, we were poor, but we were happy, we didn't even know we were poor," which is kind of a blessing, right?
Jim Britt 3:44
Yeah, it was. I mean, we were very happy family. It was a loving family. My parents were not alcoholics or abusive or drug addicts or anything, you know, they, they were normal people and we grew up poor. And but yet at the same time, you're programmed everything that happens in your life, your your program to, to believe certain things. And, and the more you get programmed, the more it becomes a core belief. And and money is a big one, you know, we've heard, there's not enough to go around money doesn't grow on trees, the...
Umar Hameed 4:20
Root of all evil.
Jim Britt 4:20
the root of all evil, you know, on and on, that we hear these things.
Umar Hameed 4:23
And so let's go back to what you just quoted, which actually, I think is a misquote and a lot of people do that is the love of money is is the root of all evil and it turns out that it was actually the lust for money.
Jim Britt 4:34
Yeah! well that what...
Umar Hameed 4:35
Is the root of all evil..which has a different feeling, right? So going back to your story, Jim, what's kind of interesting is another person could have been in a family identical to yours. And that upbringing could have crushed them financially and just mentally, and you could also have a third person going through the same experience and they kind of go on never let this happen again, and they end up again, zillionaires. So it's not only family experience, but it's the meaning that we have make from that experience is the one that counts.
Jim Britt 5:02
Well you know, you see siblings from the same family, and what ,uhm, breaks out of that mold and the other one stays in it.
Umar Hameed 5:12
Oh yeah!
Jim Britt 5:13
I've seen it happen many times but I'll never forget the day that I was 12 years old and we just finished picking cotton and we enrolled in school and, and I got to buy two shirts. And one shirt was that I picked out, I got to pick them out myself, I was so excited. So go to the department store, one shirt had a kind of a green pattern with a blue design. And then they had a flip of that with a blue pattern and a green design. So it was the same shirt, but just flip the colors.
Umar Hameed 5:46
Yeah.
Jim Britt 5:46
And I liked it so much that I, I bought those two. And then I go to school the first day and sure enough, I get all kinds of compliments on it. The next day, a few compliments after about four or five days, and I switched the shirts every other day. And after four or five days, somebody comes up and says, "Hey, you're going to wear that shirt all year?" And I tried to explain to them, you know, "I've got two of them." And I've switched it back, "Oh, yeah, really?", you know. And, and I, you know, I was like sixth grade. And this went on for the full year, I felt like, you know, an inch high because I couldn't convince anybody. And then before long, the whole grade that I was in was kind of kidding me about wearing the same shirt all year. And I'll never forget the last day of school, I get off the bus and I just walk away from the bus and this kid sticks his head out the window, the one that started it all. And he said, "Hey, Britt, get another new shirt next year." And it upset me so much, I went home and I took both of the shirts when I was wearing I ripped it off. And I went in and got the other one, and I ripped it up and I cut them both up and dug a hole and buried them. And then I stood there and I said I'm...
Umar Hameed 6:05
Hilarious.
Jim Britt 6:15
And I said when I grow up, I'm never going to live like this. And that was a turning point for me, I know, you know. But still you have these things you have to overcome, you know, you don't realize that your subconscious programs are are guiding your life positive...
Umar Hameed 7:27
And yeah! because we can only see the behaviors, we can't see what's causing them.
Jim Britt 7:30
Well, you know, here's a good example. I had a fellow just recently, he said, "I haven't been able to pay my bills on time or fully each month for 25 years." And I said, "Wow, that's a long time." And I said, "What are you going to do about it?" And he said, "Well, I'm thinking about cutting my overhead." And I said, "Well, there's nothing wrong with that." But I said, "In two, maybe three months at the outside, you'll be back not being able to pay your bills on time." And he said, "Well, how do you know that as well, you're addicted to it, you've been doing it for 25 years. that's your core belief." And I said, "Unless you figure it out yourself, or you have somebody like me, or somebody else that walks you through how to break that cycle, you're going to stay in it for the rest of your life."
Umar Hameed 8:15
So you come to me a favor, think about a client and don't mention the name because we want to protect the innocent. Tell me about a client that came in that had a money issue that was stuck, and then walk me through how you got them to change that limiting belief to get an empowering one.
Jim Britt 8:29
Okay, well, that that fellow's a good, a good example. You know, the, I call it an addiction. It's an addictive cycle that we get in. And you can you can, you can use this in any area of your life basically. But every experience that we have, we attach a feeling to it good or bad. But if you have a negative feeling, and you keep repeating an experience, it creates that same feeling, eventually, especially as a kid, eventually you start to think in those terms, you start to think that that's who you are. And, and eventually, if you think that long enough, you're going to believe it and that's going to become a core belief, if it's programmed in that way. So...
Umar Hameed 9:17
And so what was this guy's belief that we're talking about, what belief got developed?
Jim Britt 9:21
Well, his belief was he couldn't pay his bills on time. Now, that came from his, from his upbringing as well, because he, he was told that he would act as a as a child that he would never measure up to his siblings, that he would never make any money, that he would never have a good profession that you know, so he he that was programmed in. So that was his experiences as he as he grew up, and then and he couldn't, he couldn't control spending every time he would get money and just spend it because because he never had it. So when he got it, he spent it and so...so the cycle, every time you re experience that it strengthens a cycle, so it goes from thinking to believing and we always act on what we believe our behaviors are influenced by those beliefs...
Umar Hameed 10:15
Absolutely!
Jim Britt 10:16
...in every area of our life. And then every time you act upon something, you create a result. And the result creates a different feeling, because that's another experience. But if it's if it's the same cycle that you're in, then that result that you created actually feeds the original experience that you had. So it just keeps strengthened.
Umar Hameed 10:37
Alright, so we've got that, so you got this cycle, so how do you how did you help him break out of that?
Jim Britt 10:42
Okay, a couple of things. You know, it once you half of learning how to break it, is understanding what cycle you're in. What what addiction it whether you're a procrastinator and you put it off for whatever reason, but you don't realize you're procrastinating or you're late for appointments every time you go to an appointment, but you don't, you don't think anything about it, that's just who you are. But once you understand that you're doing this, now, it's a conscious thing that you do. So instead of an unconscious thing, so we have, we have..
Umar Hameed 11:19
Make sense.
Jim Britt 11:20
we have habit patterns in our lives, that positive and negative, that influence our behaviors. Now, these habit patterns become second nature to us. So in a positive sense, it would be like second nature habit might be driving a vehicle. You know, you don't have to relearn to drive it every time you get in or walking across the room, you don't have to relearn to walk or talking is another habit pattern or we have hundreds of them, it would be difficult to live our lives without. But on the other side of that we have negative habit patterns that become second nature to us and we don't know we're doing them, we have no idea that we're doing. And they're all always based on those core beliefs. So it once you understand what you're in, then what's required is two things really, you've got it, you've got to decide what it is, well, I'd say more than two things, first of all, you have to have a desire to change...
Umar Hameed 12:21
Absolutely!
Jim Britt 12:22
...nothing happens. You got I'm gonna...
Umar Hameed 12:23
I'm gonna pause you right there Jim, I'm gonna pause you there for a second. It's an old joke, you've heard it, "How many shrinks does it take to change the light bulb? Only one but the bulb has to want to change." So yes, they have to decide they want to do something about it, then what?
Jim Britt 12:36
That's true. That's absolutely true. It's never heard that one before. But they do have to want to change otherwise, you can't help people. You know, it's like...
Umar Hameed 12:44
So you help them identify the pattern, then they go holy crap, I want to change that, then what?
Jim Britt 12:49
Yeah! Well, you're, it's it's a, it's an understanding of what what happens. Your brain, your subconscious is a lot like Google. So you Google making money, try it, sometimes, Google making money and you'll get...
Umar Hameed 13:04
Your picture came up!
Jim Britt 13:05
...you get about three and a half billion files, and point two five cents. It could never go through all those files so they'll take 10 lifetimes. So what do you read? the first page typically, and sometimes you'll go to the second page, well, your brains the same way. So if you've had all of these experiences about making money, and they've all been negative, then when you say, "Well, I want I'm going to become a millionaire, or I'm going to make I'm going to double my income from 100,000, this year to 200,000." Your Google pops up instantly, without you even knowing it. And it's going to give you the top 10 experiences you've had with making money. And if you've tried and failed 10 times, it's going to say, "Hey, you've tried and failed 10 times what makes you think you could do it now, we are already off course," you've already sent him a message to your subconscious that is confusing. So to break the cycle, you've got to have a desire to change, then you have to make a decision to change. In other words, you have to make a decision, whatever it is you want to accomplish. So if you want to go to 200,000 a year from 100,000, then that has to be a decision so strong, that nothing less than that will do. Because that creates the mindset and determines how you show up to the world and how the world...
Umar Hameed 14:31
Alright so let's...let's pause you there just for a second...
Jim Britt 14:34
Okay.
Umar Hameed 14:35
So I desperately, I've got a neighbor, I'm just making this up by the way, but okay, for argument's sake, I've been a neighbor who's been praying every Friday for the last 20 years that I need to win the lottery, or this year is going to be my year and they want it they believe it but they don't do the action to make it happen. So wanting it and deciding so how do you go from like consciously deciding it to have a kind of going your unconscious, were you actually doing stuff to make it happen?
Jim Britt 15:03
Well think about this, if you had no desire to, let's say, become wealthy, whatever that means to you, if you had no desire to become wealthy, would you even see opportunities if they came along?
Umar Hameed 15:16
Absolutely not! I might glimpse it but wouldn't believe it.
Jim Britt 15:19
Well, you probably wouldn't even be looking for it. Because if you're not..
Umar Hameed 15:23
For sure.
Jim Britt 15:24
...interested, it's like, I bought a new BMW a few years ago and, and I saw one and I'm going, "That that's what I want." And so I placed an order for it and it was on its way in, but then from that point forward, I must have seen 100 of them between when I ordered it and a week later when it came in, because...
Umar Hameed 15:51
Right.
Jim Britt 15:52
...I was looking at it before I wasn't. So it's it's like, yeah, I want one one was telling me one day she said, "I, I never even saw ever a cement truck that I know of." And she said, "I started dating this guy that drove a cement truck." And she said, "Everywhere I look, there's a cement truck." So...
Umar Hameed 16:14
Makes perfect sense, yeah!
Jim Britt 16:15
...don't want to accomplish something, why would you go look for it? Why would you be open to even seeing it at all?
Umar Hameed 16:21
So the person decides, I guess what I'm trying to understand is this, is that this kind of bizarre example, but you could have somebody that beats his girlfriend or his wife, and afterwards, they are so devastated they did it. And they make solemn promises that they absolutely believe, honey, this will never ever happen again. But that, and they truly believe it. If you took a lie detector, you would say 100% the truth, this will never happen again, but sure enough, three weeks later, it happens again, so you get somebody you're helping, and you get them to decide, realize there's a pattern that's not healthy, they decide they want to change, but how did they get that level of intensity that actually gets them to change?
Jim Britt 16:59
Okay, I'll give you I'll give you a real life example of that. I, a few years back at a woman that came into a workshop, I happen to be standing near the registration table when she walked in. And I saw that she had bruises on both of her wrists, she had a busted lip, she had a black eye, and she had bruises on her throat. And it was quite apparent she had been abused. Now she had makeup on and trying to cover it up but it just didn't cover it. So we started the workshop and about three o'clock in the afternoon, different people were sharing things and she said, "Well, I have something to share. it's really hard to share, but I want to." So she says, "I've been in for marriages and three live in live together relationships with men, and she said every one of them is abusive, physically abusive. And she said the guy I'm with now, I'm not married to. When I left this morning, he said "If you ever if you ever tried to leave me, he said I will kill you." And she said, and he means it. And so she shared on about, you know, how she felt? And I said, "Well, I said you got it" and she talked about her her boyfriend as well. I said, "Well, you guys are a perfect match," she said, "What do you mean?" And I said, "Well, let me see how this goes," I said, "He beat you up." And then he he you run him out of the house. And a few hours later, he calls you back and says, "I'm so sorry. I'll never do this again, please take me back." I said, "Now you're in control and he's seeking acceptance." And so you accept him back. So you feel good because you're in control. I said "When he beat you up, I said you're looking for acceptance. He's looking for control." I said, "Is that about right?" She said, "Yeah!" I said, "So which is it? I said, "For you, the underlying cause of this conflict, which is the need for you to be in control or the need for acceptance.?" And she thought about it for a while. And she said, "I think a need for acceptance." And we dug into it for about 15 minutes and it was some upbringing and things that happened and abuse that happened in her life. So she was always looking for acceptance real needy type person.
Umar Hameed 19:21
So that's like, oh, deep down what's driving it. Brilliant!
Jim Britt 19:24
Yeah! Yeah, and see that, that goes into all areas of your life. It's not just in a relationship that goes into relationships and business and everything that you do.
Umar Hameed 19:35
Go back to your hero, the one we were talking about what was his underlying belief because the initial one was, you know, I won't have enough money I'm not good enough kind of thing. So what was the the belief that you uncovered was that it was this something deeper?
Jim Britt 19:46
That was, that was it! The belief he had a belief that he just wasn't good enough and, and would would never make the amount of money that his siblings make and would never amount to anything? So he see what we believe as a core belief, we will do almost anything to prove to ourselves and the outside world that what we believe is true, even to our...
Umar Hameed 20:08
Absolutely.
Jim Britt 20:09
Yeah. So this is...
Umar Hameed 20:10
So how you get him to shift his mindset?
Jim Britt 20:13
Well...
Umar Hameed 20:14
So he identified the cycle, he believes what you're saying, "I've got this belief, this is a cycle, I need to decide to change." How did you get him to believe that decision and actually do something about it?
Jim Britt 20:23
Well, for the first thing was him seeing that he was in that cycle. So I hope that's what that cycle was. And I said, "Now it's it when you do these certain actions," I said, "That becomes a conscious choice for you." And I said, "You consciously do certain things, you unconsciously do certain things now, that keeps you in that situation." But I said, "Now you need to turn it to consciously, when you're doing it" become what I call an observer of yourself. See, every action you take, once you decide what you want, it's going to move you toward that objective or away from it. It's simple as that. Success at anything is that simple, once you've decided you want to do a certain thing, whether it's make more money or lose weight or have a better relationship, every action you take in that area of your life is going to move you toward having that or moving away from it. We live in a black and white world, we don't live in a gray world. But a lot of people live in that gray world, well, this is not really bad for you, well, it's either bad for you or not bad for you, it's one of the other. So that's what I got into see. And, uhm, you know, the, I asked a few questions to, one question I ask is, "I want you to" get well first of all, I say, "I want you to get in touch with how that makes you feel not being able to pay your bills on time, or fully?"
Umar Hameed 21:54
Right.
Jim Britt 21:55
And he said, well, it's it's frustrating and it's a little fearful, but I seem to always get them paid, but not on time. As well as to make you feel you said, "Well, frustrating and maybe a little depressed." So okay, I said, "Do you like feeling that?" You said, "No." I said, "Do you feel that that feeling supports you, and being able to break out of this cycle and be able to pay your bills on time?" He said, "No." I said, "Do you want to let that go?" And he says, "Yeah, I do." "You know that depression, that that feeling of frustration?" He said, "Yes, I do." I said, "Okay, I'm going to ask you another question, I don't want you to answer just yet." I said, "Are you willing to let that go? Are you willing to?" And I said, "Because the next question I asked you, you no longer have an excuse to being to continue to not pay your bills on time." I said, "Are you willing to?" He said, "Yes." I said "Last question, when, when are you willing to break out of that cycle, when are you willing to let that go?" And he said, "I need to think about it." So what sort of think about?
Umar Hameed 23:25
Right?
Jim Britt 23:25
He said, "Well, I don't know what will be there when I when I let that go?" I said "Well, what will be their solutions right now your solutions covered up with the anxiety and the depression and the feelings you're having about not having to be able to pay your bills on time." I said, "That's what's there now, when you let that go, solutions appeared."
Umar Hameed 23:48
So Jim, just pausing you there for a second because you can hear it in the languaging that you're bringing up that became his self identity, this is who I am and all of a sudden this weird guy, Jim is saying lose that identity and that's a hard thing for people to do.
Jim Britt 24:00
Oh yeah!
Umar Hameed 24:01
So anyway he made that change. And so how difficult was the change to retain the change?
Jim Britt 24:07
Well, to retain the change first of all, you have to say I'm willing to let it go.
Umar Hameed 24:13
Generally, so this but this particular guy, this this guy, how long did it take him to actually adopt the new behaviors? Was it right away, or did he have to fall back a couple of times to make it happen?
Jim Britt 24:23
No, it was right away. It was...
Umar Hameed 24:25
Oh. Brilliant!
Jim Britt 24:26
...right away!
Umar Hameed 24:26
And that's a true belief change them?
Jim Britt 24:27
Yeah. Because I, I explained to him It took it took 15 or 20 minutes, but I explained to him that, you know, you've got this, you've got this feeling of anxiety toward money and depression and frustration. And I said, "That's a ball of energy that you're carrying inside you and it's projecting out to the world. So that what you're going to attract, is what you're projecting out. You're going to attract people in circumstances that will support what it is you're feeling you know, just like a person feeling lonely, they're gonna attract circumstances that make them feel more lonely." So...
Umar Hameed 25:06
Absolutely.
Jim Britt 25:06
...that's what he was doing. And I think he finally saw that that's what he's doing. So finally he, I, after asking him four or five times, "When are you willing to let that go?" And he finally said "Now," and it was almost like he could see, you could see this relief come over his face. And understanding is really the big thing, and I said, "Now you've got to become self observant, not become aware awareness of one thing, you can be aware that you're broke, or struggling," but I said that doesn't do anything other than make you aware of it, you got to have a tool. And here's your tool, it's self observation, separate yourself from what you're doing, and look at yourself doing it. And as soon as you do you disconnect from that feeling. So if you're feeling fearful, or anxiety or whatever, stop and observe yourself, and say, "There I go, again, all wrapped up in this fear all wrapped up in and feeling frustrated." As soon as you do, it disconnects from that feeling. And I said, "The more you do that, the more it'll go away." And eventually..
Umar Hameed 26:22
Jim?
Jim Britt 26:22
...quickly it'll go away, and sometimes it takes a little longer.
Umar Hameed 26:27
Jim, thank you so much for sharing that story, because there's not too many people in this world that can help people identify limiting beliefs and more importantly, change them so they can get the lives that they want. Jim, thank you so much for sharing that story with us and it was great having you on the program.
Jim Britt 26:42
Oh! thank you. I appreciate it.
Umar Hameed 26:48
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to iTunes and leave a five-star rating. And if you're looking for more tools, go to my website at nolimitsselling.com. I've got a free mind training course there, that's going to teach you some insights from the world of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and that is the fastest way to get better results.