What if I told you you could be a MILLIONAIRE? I’m guessing you’d want to hear more! Who doesn’t want that, right? But here’s the thing — becoming a millionaire isn’t just about making money.  It’s about your mindset. My guest today knows a thing or two about the millionaire mindset. His name is Dean Graziosi, and you’ve probably already heard of him. Dean is a major player in the real estate and personal development spaces. He’s a multiple-time New York Times bestselling author, and he’s appeared on television every day for 16 years in infomercials. He’s one of the most-watched success trainers of our generation! But Dean wasn’t always the picture of success we know today. He started off working at his dad’s mechanic shop in upstate New York. From there, he built his business from the ground up. Along the way, he learned some tough lessons and developed a strong mindset that led him to become a multi-millionaire before he turned 30.

“Again, it doesn’t matter where you are if your surroundings feel complacent. If they feel okay — shit, if they feel good and you want amazing, you know, you gotta break through. And I was just lucky enough to stay persistent. I wasn’t afraid to fail.” - Dean Graziosi

Dean Graziosi is an inspiring guy, and he’s here today to teach you how to live a better life, build better businesses, and create more abundance in our lives. Seriously, this guy knows how to #MAXOUT your mindset. So if you’re ready to learn the SECRETS to SUCCESS, dive into my interview with Dean Graziosi!

Who Is Dean Graziosi?

Dean Graziosi knows how to create success. Today, he’s a multi-millionaire, but as I said, he came from extremely humble beginnings. Dean was never the brightest student in school. After high school, he started working on cars with his dad, eventually becoming a 25% partner in his collision shop. Dean hated the work, but he trusted that it was temporary. Eventually, he met a client at the collision shop who got him his first big real estate deal. Before the age of 20, Dean closed a real estate sale for over a million dollars. From there, he went on to create a multi-million dollar real estate business. He rose fast and built a true empire. He even wrote a couple of books about the real estate business, Be a Real Estate Millionaire and Profit from Real Estate Right Now!. Both books were massively successful, and the strategies and tools in them helped Dean’s company to continue growing even during the economic downturn we saw from about 2007 to 2012. Eventually, Dean knew he needed to get into the personal development space, too. He partnered with personal development genius Tony Robbins, and together they’ve educated millions through tv infomercials and countless live events. Most recently, they partnered to create the Knowledge Business Blueprint with the goal of making self-education and valuable success strategies accessible to everyone. Dean also wrote a book called Millionaire Success Habits, which you can pick up for FREE here! You guys are going to want to check this one out. I loved the book because there is so much valuable information in it — seriously, my highlighter was going crazy! And Dean’s just giving it away for free. Just pay the shipping and handling, and you’ll have a true genius’ best success strategies in your hands! In addition to being a massively successful businessman with almost $1 billion in revenue, Dean is also a genuinely good guy. He has raised and donated over $1 million to Richard Branson’s charity organization Virgin Unite and founded “Operation Free Home,” a program that provides people in need with a home to live in, free for one year, to help them get back on their feet. Dean is obsessed with sharing the success habits learned along this journey with the world, and I’ve brought him here to share with you exactly how to develop a MILLIONAIRE MINDSET. Let’s go!

Take Control of Your Own SUCCESS

As I’ve mentioned before, Dean didn’t grow up in the best of circumstances. So how did he rise above that? Here’s the bottom line: Having a millionaire mindset is all about taking control of your own life. It’s about deciding to build your own success and pursue your dreams relentlessly. It’s about not letting your circumstances determine how high you can rise.

“I wanted to be successful because I hated not being in control of my life. … If I want to wear orange sneakers today, I wear orange sneakers. I live where I want. I raise my kids the way I want. I don’t get into peer pressure. I don’t hang out with the Joneses or try to impress the Joneses. I just want to live my life.” - Dean Graziosi

I think this idea is fantastic. If you want to be successful, take control. Don’t let anybody else define you, and don’t give in to peer pressure. Don’t worry about what your sister is doing, how much money your neighbors make, or what kinds of cars your friends drive. If you want to be successful, you go out there and make yourself successful by staying true to YOURSELF and pursuing your unique dreams.

“... I’m trying to be the most authentic version of myself that exists. … I want someone to say, ‘Okay, I saw Dean on video, and then I met him, and then I saw him in a tight situation, and I saw him with his kids — all the same guy.” - Dean Graziosi

Your circumstances only define where you start, not where you go. You can become the person and the businessman or woman you want to be. So if you’re unsatisfied — if you want to do better — you’re already in a great place to start. In fact, Dean says you can go ahead and let that dissatisfaction and frustration drive you toward success.

“So sometimes you need pain to drive you, and then you start being successful … don’t ignore the pain. Let it seep into where it really disturbs you. Action comes from being disturbed. You don’t move until you’re uncomfortable. You don’t put the air conditioning on til you’re hot. You don’t go to the next level until you feel the pain. So feel it.” - Dean Graziosi

If you’re unsatisfied with your circumstances, that’s fine. Let that feeling sink in. Go ahead and feel it! Pain can drive you to #MAXOUT your life. 

Pay the “Success Tax”

When he talks about struggling through pain to reach success, Dean likes to use the phrase “success tax.” In order to succeed, you’ve got to pay the success tax. You’ve got to persist even when things are difficult.

“I love when people say, ‘Hey man, what you’re going through is Hell, but that’s your gift. You’re going to learn from it.’ But when you’re going through it, you can’t [say] like, ‘Oh great! This is wonderful!’ … Like, I didn’t want that! … But our buddy, Tony Robbins, always says, ‘life happens for us.’ … That was me paying success tax at a really young age.” - Dean Graziosi

In order to be successful, you’ve got to be willing to get through the hard times and put in the work. It’s not just going to happen for you. You have to make it happen.  Dean used the example of a band trying to make it big. If you’re in a band, and you have this huge dream of playing for 50,000 people in Madison Square Garden, you’ve got to be willing to play for no audience first. You’ve got to be willing to show up for yourself and play small gigs in bars where your hands hurt and the audience bullies you if you’re going to make it all the way to your big dream. That’s paying the success tax. So no matter what you’re doing, do it and do it well, even if that means starting small. Trust that it will work out because you’re either succeeding or paying the success tax.

“... How you do one thing is how you do everything. … So no matter what you’re doing, find a way to be enthusiastic, knowing that maybe the universe, God, whatever you believe — it’s putting you through your trial run to deserve that.” - Dean Graziosi

That is so true in business and in life. When you’re working out, you’re not always having a lot of fun, right? But if you can find a way to be enthusiastic about exercise, you’ll eventually pay off the success tax and reach your fitness goals. So don’t worry if you’re not successful right away. You’re just paying the success tax. The money and growth and success you crave will come! The important thing is to keep at it and never stop moving forward.

Get Bigger Problems

How often do you get caught up stressing and worrying? How often do small amounts of money stress you out? Here’s the thing: Dean Graziosi is a multi-millionaire, and he’s here to tell you that stress over a $10 million deal is the same as stress over a $10,000 deal. And that’s not to brag; it’s to make a point.

“It’s like, if you want more success, get bigger problems. It’s as simple as that. … I don’t ever want to come across as pretentious … I just want you to know that the stress you feel to pay your bills or get ahead and work — it’s the same stress. Whether you’re making ten, a hundred, ten million, or a hundred million a year, it feels the same. So if it feels the same, then why not avoid lower end problems so you can spend time solving bigger ones?” - Dean Graziosi

Seriously, I want you guys to ask yourselves that question: If you’re going to experience the same stress either way, why not aim for the $10 million deals? So start prioritizing the problems in your life. Figure out what matters most to you and the success you want to achieve, and work at solving those problems. And if there are things that aren’t going to help you reach that success, think about removing them from your life entirely.

“If you work on something you suck at, does it make you feel empowered? … Like me trying to do accounting — like, I could never do it. That’s not my personality. So what I know about the most successful people on the planet, including you, Ed, you just got really great at a few things — the things that light you up, the things that inspire you. And when that fire starts, you can’t stop it. And eventually, you’ll pay someone to do the things you suck at.” - Dean Graziosi

Focus on your unique skills. Develop the strengths that you need to achieve your goals, and don't stress about the smaller frustrations that come up along the way. If you focus on solving the big problems, you’ll eventually succeed, and then you can pay someone else to worry about the little things for you!

#MAXOUT Your Millionaire Mindset

At the end of the day, success is about following your dreams with passion and intention. A MILLIONAIRE MINDSET is about persistence through pain and frustration so you can ultimately achieve SUCCESS. It’s about taking control and getting what you want.

“... Know where you want to steer your ship. … I think we become somebody for our parents when we’re young, and then we might become someone for a relationship we’re in. And we become someone for a boss that we have or a coworker or a partner or our employees. … We knew we had this destination of what we wanted, but it gets diluted by all these things, all these realities … and we forget who we are. What I would say is: spend some time remembering who you really are and what you really want, and start saying no to all the shit that doesn’t point you in that direction.” - Dean Graziosi

You guys, this interview barely scratched the surface of Dean Graziosi’s genius. He’s a business and success expert with over 30 years of experience, and I’m so grateful to him for sharing a little bit of his wisdom with us. If you want to learn more, I highly recommend picking up his book Millionaire Success Habits. Remember, you can pick that up for FREE right here! Seriously, you can get a copy of a book worth way more than its $20 retail price for FREE. So go check that out and soak up all the great business sense Dean has to offer! And if you want to connect more with Dean, check out his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and website. While you’re at it, make sure you’re following me, too, @edmylett! Guys, thanks for checking out this episode. Make sure you share it with the hashtag #MAXOUT! Tell me your biggest takeaways from the episode in the comments below! I read your comments every week, and a few select winners get all sorts of prizes from gear to coaching calls with me!