Redefining Success Beyond the Financial Spectrum with Craig Siegel

0:00I want to help people, and I want to do a lot of good, and I want to be around positivity, and I want to share and not have everything be so transactional. And what I learned on Wall Street, and just to be clear, I wouldn't have changed a thing on my journey. I learned a lot there. I became a man now. I learned discipline. And there's a lot of skills that were transferable for me. But there's also a lot of lack of integrity. Everything, for the most part, is very transactional. There's usually an agenda. I just didn't resonate any longer with the consciousness. As I began to spread my wings and grow and become more spiritual, I just didn't have as much in common with the energy over there.

0:41And for me at that time, it was time to do something a little bit more meaningful with my life.

0:51Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Business Lunch Podcast. And today's guest is Craig Siegel. Craig, welcome to the show. How are you doing? I'm doing phenomenal. No place in the world to rather be than right here with you. Every time we get together, it's magical. It's just some fun. well i don't know you said you just got married so if i'm you i think i'd probably rather be on a honeymoon than here with me as much of a honeymoon as it is of course for to be with you know each other we had a little bit of a honeymoon more like a mini moon after the wedding we didn't really want to think too hard so we just went to bahamas for a little bit we're going to probably book greece for a couple months out um but i'm glad to be back you know when you love what you do you don't really want to leave it for too long and nobody knows that better than you so So definitely an exciting time.

1:32I got the New York City Marathon in two weeks, which I'm training for, and business, but all good things, all abundance, not overwhelm. We did your podcast before and the CLS experience, right? And you have had kind of an interesting career starting in the world of Wall Street and then kind of getting into motivation and drawing on your experience with marathons and stuff. Would you give people a little bit of kind of the quick entrepreneurial journey that you've been on so far? Yeah. So I spent 13 years on Wall Street. And I was making money. And at that season of life, that's what I basically define success as.

2:14And I was doing the stock thing, trading. And that became very stressful. And I didn't love it anymore. And so I left that and I started my own company. We're supplying businesses across the country with working capital, loans, and so forth. Pretty trendy industry. very lucrative, but wasn't exactly lighting my soul on fire. And so, look, we're going to spend about a third of our life in our career, another third sleeping. So you better love what you do. And it occurred to me that there was a lot more to success than just making money. Is it possible that you can connect to your purpose, find what you're called to do, share your unique gifts with the world, and make a lot of money doing so?

2:54And as it turns out, you can. And so when the pandemic happened, I shut down my office for what I thought would be two weeks at the time. I think that was a good opportunity for the whole world to just take a second and reassess something I know now to be so productive. If I'm being honest, that was kind of a forced pivot for me. And when I got really quiet and connected, I was able to be that channel and start getting those downloads. And I realized just how obsessed I'd always been with personal development. And so I put together a whole strategy, kind of created like a 10 lane highway, let's be very strategic, 10 different ways to make an impact and also unapologetically make money.

3:29And so I was thinking coaching, community, speaking, book, podcast, TED talk, et cetera. And then I reverse engineered it. And at the time I had no following, no connections, no celebrity friends, nothing. I said, what's step one? I said, let's start putting out content and sharing and building a personal brand. And so I started my CLS brand for the first time in my life. I was in alignment. Universe definitely liked that. Left Wall Street for good. I'm a big believer in, for me personally, can't really have a safety net. I need to be all in and shift my energy. And I say very humbly over the last few years, it took off and never had more fun or made more money.

4:06So what did you do on Wall Street? I was trading for a while, stocks, broker. And what drew you to that? Like what caused you to be interested in moving in that direction in the first place? The truth is, is when I graduated college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I didn't know, but I was ambitious, did live in New York, and I was always fascinated with stocks. So I thought that would be a good place to start. Okay. Yeah. If you don't know what you want to do, pick something that interests you, right? Yeah. What did you discover about that that caused you to want to do something else? I want to help people and I want to do a lot of good and I want to be around positivity and I want to share and not have everything be so transactional.

4:56And what I learned on Wall Street, and just to be clear, I wouldn't have changed a thing on my journey. I learned a lot there, became a man there. I learned discipline and there's a lot of skills that were transferable for me. But there's also a lot of lack of integrity. Everything for the most part is very transactional. There's usually an agenda. I just didn't resonate any longer with the consciousness. As I began to spread my wings and grow and become more spiritual, I just didn't have as much in common with the energy over there. And for me at that time, it was time to do something a little bit more meaningful with my life.

5:33Sure. Yeah. And it's a good message when you start to feel that way, right? That I think a lot of people are. And so your reinvention formula, is that based kind of on the experience that you had of getting to the point of feeling like you needed to reinvent yourself? Yes. So we did a TED Talk and I was looking at some data just recently and I saw an alarming stat that probably wouldn't surprise you. And that was that only 20 % of Americans are actually finding purpose in the work that they do. And I was actually a part of that other 80 % for a very long time. And so a lot of people gravitate towards me to help them with entrepreneurship or coaching or spirituality, because they've seen what we've been able to do in a relatively short amount of time compared to most people.

6:22And I want to show people that there is, in fact, something more for you if you feel called to it. But how do you identify what your purpose is? How do you become available for your next level? And then how do you marry that with business strategies, which no one's better than you and get practical with the spiritual and create something really special and when when a lot of people i think they you know long ago it was people most people lead lives of quiet desperation i think that's still true for that 80 they are living in you know either imposter syndrome or unhappiness place or whatever what would you or how do you advise them and tell me if you do or don't in the book, um, to make the move away from the thing that isn't giving them the joy and happiness and fulfillment they want to do the next thing.

7:16Cause I think fear stops so many people from doing that. I couldn't agree more. Fear is an interesting thing and it's important to cultivate a healthy relationship with fear. Um, yeah, in the book, we talk a lot about this and, and, and what inspired me to do this and how I did it. I think a lot of people relate to this topic, probably why I became a Wall Street Journal bestselling book and so forth. And so that's good news for everybody that maybe is in a season right now where they're not super inspired or excited about what they're doing. They feel like there's more out there for them. I think there's a couple of steps.

7:49There's typically a barrier in between where you are and your next level. And that barrier, as you just attested to, is typically fear and doubt or insecurities. once in a while we'll get a glimpse of what our next level is and what our courageous action could be but that barrier makes us feel very uncomfortable and and really not safe and that's the thing you mentioned fear a lot of people get glimpses of what they could do or what they might be good at but then it's the fear of rejection the fear of looking silly the fear of judgment what if i fail and so forth. And so what is the next step?

8:27Right? Let's make this practical. Well, the first step is, are you open for your next level? Right? If the answer is yes, if you're listening to this, and we're really resonating with you right now, then to get a little spiritual, tell the universe, whatever your thing is, God, Jesus, creator, that you're open for your next level, I would be available for it. And then part two, which is arguably more important is once you declare that you are open for your next level, do you have the willingness, the willingness to go out of your comfort zone, to try new things, to take some messy action, to look a little silly.

9:01If you're not, if you don't have the willingness, you're probably not going to stay inspired. But the universe is yearning to see your willingness. And I believe once you have the willingness and you step into that discomfort, that could be your portal to expansion. You can convert that and the universe will typically open up doors, create opportunities, you'll meet the right person, a download will come or something, but that's on the other side of stating that you're available and then having the willingness to take the uncomfortable action. You talk a lot about limiting beliefs, which I think that's such a fascinating subject.

9:44What are the limiting beliefs that keep people stuck?

9:51A lot of ones that I see are as follows. It's too late. I'm too old. Who's going to want to listen to me? It's a saturated market. I can go on all day. But I think, go ahead. I want to run something by you in this context. I just read a friend of mine sent me a, I guess it's an email that was kind of going around virally. And I wish I had it to read, but it was along the lines of this guy saying, I'm 46 years old. I just, my wife just told me she wants a divorce and that she's been cheating on me for 10 years. I have no relationship with my son. When I was 20, I was popular. I had the world ahead of me.

10:41I had written 70 pages of my novel. I had already been to the Philippines and New Zealand or someplace backpacking, and my dream was to do that all over the world. and then I became a provider and now my son doesn't know who I am. My wife, you know, leaving me, cheating on me. I have nothing. Don't make the mistakes I've made and waste your life. This is a guy who's 46, who's basically going to make the same mistake he made when he was 20 because he thinks his life is over. And so he's living a life of regret now. And so are a lot of people who are like, you know, if only I'd gotten on the bus, if only I had done that one thing.

11:26So contextualize your answer with that too. Cause it's, cause like, I literally see that happening all the time around me. And I know that it, that you can help those people. Your consciousness creates your reality. So if you think at 46, that it's over and maybe it is, but if you think at 68, that you're just getting warmed up, then you are. And I, I promise that to be true. And I recently spent some time with some billionaires. I was at an event that I was invited to a couple weeks back. And also, we've had some of the most successful people on our podcast, such as you. And one thing that I hear often, a lot of successful people say, is that they didn't really put it all together and hit their stride until their late 40s and 50s.

12:12The wisdom, the experience and so forth. And so, look, it doesn't take time. It just takes alignment. the people around you begin to change when you begin to claim your position. So if you're claiming at 46 that nothing was a waste because you're going to take all those lessons, that experience, those skill sets, and transfer them to something that you feel really connected to, then that's beautiful. But if you really believe that it's too late, then I would encourage you to consider a different perspective. I love it. What gets us excited about reading what we're going to learn in the reinvention formula?

12:55Give us the sexy trailer. This is going to light me up and make me absolutely want to get in there. Yeah, I love it. So look, I think a lot of people are looking to reinvent themselves and not just a career but maybe an identity or self-image or a consciousness if you're into personal development spirituality mindset removing limiting beliefs building a mindset relationships how to make money how to build a personal brand entrepreneurship if any of those things appeal to you then this book is for you and i say that you know somewhat joking because this book isn't niche. It's for anybody that knows that they're here for more and how to identify and connect to that more.

13:42And I tell my story in there, but by no means is it a biography, but I have been through some stuff. I did reinvent myself, totally different careers. I have ran seven marathons now. I ran one after having surgery, getting a tumor taken out of my foot just a couple of months prior. I've been through a lot of adversity and I know a thing or two about overcoming it, being very resourceful and connecting something bigger to call in your desires. And I think everybody's looking to do more in their life. When I say more, yes, we all wanna make more money, but how to connect to the real authentic purpose that you're here to do.

14:22Because we all have different gifts. I don't believe our gifts are actually ours. I believe they were given to us and we're the managers of them. and it's on us to share those with the world. And when we do that with the right consciousness, we end up making, like I said, I'm apologetic a lot of money doing so. So anyone that's looking to tap into something more, overcome setbacks, get rid of limiting beliefs, build a business, you'll find some nuggets in here for sure. Did you ever get to the point where you thought you might break?

14:57like man this is is just i don't know if i'm gonna make it through this thing or this i'm taking a second because it's very deep and immediately when you ask that the first thing that came to mind was before i reinvented myself towards the end of my wall street days when I was a gladiator in the wrong arena and I was very out of alignment and I was, I would say depressed, though I wasn't diagnosed. I was drinking a little bit more than I'd like to admit. I was not waking up inspired. It was a tough season. A bunch of things happened at once to my personal life at the time. And I knew I was here for something more, but I wasn't taking the time necessary to connect and figure out what that was.

15:46I was just kind of in it and that's on me. I didn't think I was going to break, but it sure was lonely and it was dark. I always believed in myself. That was a superpower that I developed. And I think that if you believe in yourself, there's always a way. And so even if you get knocked on your butt, you'll extract the lessons and you'll figure it out. So I never necessarily thought I was done or out of it, but it got pretty dark, but I never lost hope because number one, I have faith and I'm very spiritual. And also because I believe in myself, though I will admit it did get pretty close before I put it all together and reinvented myself.

16:33Say that again. I'd love to ask you that father. Did you, were you ever in a season where you thought you might break? Oh yeah. Yeah. I, I had, uh, I had, uh, a, a marriage where I was, uh, you know, friendly, but it was like being married to your sister. Um, I wasn't particularly happy. I, uh, had a, uh, disagreement and an enlightenment that you should never pick a fight with people that, um, own a jail or an army. Uh, And, you know, went through some went through some very, very dark times. But I like I like helping people by saying for for because I feel like no matter how successful you are and actually I think probably the most successful people go through multiple times where there's a lot on them.

17:30and the more you strive for, the more you take on, the more you want to move ahead and evolve and grow, the more you're out of your comfort zone and the more people depend on you and the more pressure you have. And, you know, it's a bigger game. What I like to share with people is like, what got you through that? So you're at that place and you're not, you know, you're not exactly where you want to be. You're not who you want to be. You're saying, I like, I'm the gladiator in the wrong arena. You know, Sarah Blakely says, this is not my movie that I'm living. I like that, you know, this, that recognition, this isn't what I, I'm not going to accept this as my reality is kind of what it is for me.

18:14And I'm just wondering, you know, if you have the same take, a different take, any particular thing that like that, that person who's watching or listening to this right now that's in that place can kind of cling to and say, you know what? Yeah, that's right. That's me. That works for me. Yeah. If you can look up, then you can get up. Even if you're in the darkest valleys right now and it does not seem promising, if you're listening to this conversation, if you just have a glimmer of certainty that you can turn it around, if you can connect to something bigger than what's going on here logically, then you're connected.

18:51And it doesn't take so much time. And for those of you that go, what are you talking about? What does it mean to be spiritual? And what does that have to do with business? Well, I would just say being spiritual means that you believe that there's something else going on here beyond our logic. And if you can tap into that, then we can cultivate momentum. It doesn't take all these specific circumstances to happen for you to get back at it. It just takes a shift in your consciousness. So for me, I was feeling a little bad for myself. I was maintaining that victim consciousness, which I think a lot of us experience when we've had the forward end of the stick.

19:30But the truth of the matter is, is now I actually subscribe to the opposite. I look to take accountability and responsibility for everything in my life. Even if it maybe wasn't my fault, I like to assume it was because that gives us power and control over the things that we can control. And then we can start taking responsibility for a shift in our mindset and a shift in consciousness. And just like that, things can begin to open up. What is the most surprising thing that you discovered about yourself during that reinvention journey?

20:08Maybe a couple of things here. So something that surprises people is that I'm actually an introvert. and showing up, speaking all over the world. We just spoke with the UN two months ago, social media, all that stuff. It was very uncomfortable for me in the beginning, but I understood that it was such a great tool to be able to share your message and help people and also build relationships and so forth. And so whatever you might not be good at or you find to be uncomfortable, that's not like a death sentence. You can create a newfound respect for it. you can change your relationship with it and so forth and i think there's something to be said about the power of consistency and discipline a lot of people like well like how do you like how do you get so much momentum well first of all i'm not just interested i'm committed yeah right i have the mentality very important distinction yes do a thing do it well if i say i'm going to do something that's it we're doing it not like a mutual friend of ours dave melter and i have a weekly show on instagram called the paradigm shift you've been on it i've owned celebrity entrepreneurs and so forth we've done it now 187 weeks in a row no weeks off i even did an episode the morning of my wedding that's how committed i am some people think you're crazy i had 20 minutes that morning of course i could do it and to be honest with you it's a pleasure for me and so being committed number one awakens that desire and shows the universe that you're commuted which open up doors but also just the power of consistency.

21:40You don't understand how much power you have. Once you commit to that, so much can happen, relationships, compound interest, quantitative value, et cetera. And so look, I always knew that I was committed, but I was kind of in the wrong arenas. When I applied it to the stuff that I finally felt connected to, it took off relatively fast. And I think I pleasantly surprised myself on how quickly you can attain success. When you love what you do, you're committed to it and you're willing to put in the work. Yeah, that's true. What, uh, when you're talking to people or they're reading your book, um, what's one thing that is a big point of disbelief where, where they just, they're like, they disagree with you.

22:25Like there's, it's like, it's like, yeah, yeah, you say that, but But is there anything like that that people tell you? Obviously, it's coming from their limited belief. Yeah. I think that a lot of people, the main reason why they don't manifest their desires is because they settle for less in life, in relationships, in their spiritual connection, and what they think that they deserve. And as a result, by setting that type of standard and buying into it, you're now delaying your ability to manifest and create, whether it's money, projects, relationships, opportunities, anything. And so you have to be willing to go from a confidence and a belief, which are great, to a certainty consciousness.

23:15And the way to tap into something much bigger, which is certainty, is to cultivate a knowing. And I believe you're able to cultivate that from creating a connection with something bigger. So for me, it's creator. For someone else, God, Jesus, whatever. But by quadrupling down on that connection, you're able to tap into something much bigger. And when you have certainty, you're also removing doubt. And when you do that, you can create and manifest with ease. And I think some people don't realize how easy this is. I shouldn't say easy. It's simple, not easy if you commit to it. Right. And so they struggle with the ability to believe that that will work or the ability to try it or the ability to make it happen.

24:07Where is the disconnect that causes them the pain and struggle to not get the benefit that you're trying to help them see from that recommendation? I love how deep we're going right here. I think a lot of people are so jaded from either getting beat up by the world or however they grew up, trauma, the parents, the economy, whatever, that they're almost afraid to even consider a different narrative. right there's people that are that are just so conditioned and programmed to think negatively or to have limiting beliefs or to not subscribe to the stuff that i'm talking about but i always say don't take my word for it test it out see for yourself but some people are just unwilling to consider that they are not only the main character but also the director of their own movie and you can literally change the scene you could change the geographic location you could change the cast of characters in your movie you are in control of that and if you just play around and stop focusing so much on what can go wrong and maybe consider what can go right things will open up but you have to have the willingness yeah yeah if you don't if you're not open to the possibility then, uh, then you will forever doom yourself to the present re repeating itself.

25:37Right. I mean, it's just not, it's not going to change. I, a buddy of mine's a copywriter and, uh, he, he wrote me, he just super nice guy. Uh, and he wrote me, he actually, you should have him on your podcast. Frank Kearns, just great guy. And, uh, he, he just randomly spontaneously sent me an email, where he wrote a bit of copy for one of the programs that we have. And it was like, you know, I know you may be asking, I know anybody's saying to yourself, you know, this is just more of the same. I've tried before and it hasn't worked. None of this stuff works. And he said, but what if this was the time that it did?

26:14What if this did work? What would that do for you? How would that be different? And honestly, what do you have to lose? because what you have to lose when you commit to no change is everything different from what it is right now. And what you have to lose from trying something new is finding out one more thing that isn't the exact thing that works for you. And I really liked that perspective, you know, it's absolutely beautiful. I love the way that you, that he broke that down. And I would even, I would give this nugget to everybody when things are going really good or when things are not going was so good.

26:51Always ask yourself this, what else is possible? What else is possible? And then you start to open up a different perspective. I love that. So you're about to run another marathon, you said? New York City in two and a half weeks. Have you done that one before? I have, yes. Yeah. What's going to happen with that? What's going to happen with that? I hired a new coach this time around, different vibe, different energy. I'm really enjoying it. I'm expanding the vessel. The mileage is up. I have a nice goal. I just want to do a really, really good job. Last year, I had a PR, which is a personal record of 327.

27:31I'm looking to do a little bit better than that this year. I know that last year, although I did well, I left a lot on the table, and there's a lot of room for improvement, which excites me. So I just want to get to the start line healthy. I'm a little beat up right now, if I'm being honest physically. No predictions, but I am looking to beat that time and just do a really good job. And have a lot of fun doing it. For me, people always ask me, why do you run these things? It's all about the transformation. The training camp, the voice in your head, what you have to go through to get to the side.

28:00It changes you. And I love that because I take that into other arenas. And so even for anyone else listening, I'm not saying you should sign up for Marathon tonight. But maybe find a vehicle for you that you can use that creates transformations in addition to business and so forth. I love it. So in addition to that and being married, I'll give you passes on those two. What's the thing that you're most excited about right now? Right now, we're just building the business. We're reaching a lot more people. I'm speaking a lot. We have a huge community with 600 people in there. We meet every Wednesday.