Define Success On Your Terms And Move Towards A Zero Regret Life with Saahil Mehta

0:01John Lee Dumas:Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down how to define success on your terms and move towards a zero regret life. And to drop these vibe bombs, I have brought to Saahil Mehta and the EO Fire Studios. Sahil is an author, a coach, and a passionate mountaineer who was on a mission to enable business owners to gain clarity on what success means to them, stress less, grow faster, and build a zero-regret life. So today we'll talk about defining success, less not more, the freedom factor, and oh so much more.

0:36John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Sahil and our sponsors. Fire Nation, is your business stuck? Are you looking to learn the proven processes and success systems that have been used to create thousands of millionaire success stories? schedule a free consultation with America's number one business coach, Clay Clark, by visiting thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Again, request life changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High Level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award-winning 24 seven support.

1:15John Lee Dumas:Get a 30 day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com. Highlevelfire.com. Sahil, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Well, first of all, John, I just want to say a great shout out to you because I just love listening to your podcast. And for anyone who's listening, make sure you leave an awesome review. So coming to your question, I believe a lot of what we call success is actually misalignment. And most people don't realize it. And it's not their fault.

1:57They followed the system perfectly. The one they were given, work hard, grow fast, achieve more. And I know because I lived it. By 36, I'd grown my net worth fivefold in 10 years, built businesses across two continents. and on paper everything looked exactly how it was supposed to but the reality is John I nearly died in a car crash because I was running so hard I fell asleep behind the wheel and it was around that same time that my wife once she got up one morning and said I just don't recognize you anymore and and that's what made it so confusing I wasn't doing anything wrong I was doing everything I was supposed to do.

2:44The system was working perfectly. It just wasn't my system. And that's the shift. Real success begins when you step back and define what success actually means to you, and then build your life around that. Because if you don't define success for yourself, you'll spend your life successfully chasing someone else's.

3:07John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, powerful way to start the episode as we talk about defining success on your terms and moving towards a zero regret life. I mean, how would that feel, living a zero regret life? Now, we've already talked about this because this is just what you focus on so much, Sahil. But I want to even dive a little bit deeper because you just talked about success, defining success. And for me, the reason why I was able to extricate myself from corporate America is because I heard somebody say one day during a meeting, they said, you know what, I've been climbing this ladder for 15 years, and I just realized today that this ladder's leaned up against the wrong wall.

3:49John Lee Dumas:And I was like, oh my goodness, I cannot let that be me. So I defined my own success in that moment, and I've been driving towards it ever since. So let's dive even deeper on what you just shared so that Fire Nation, so that my listeners can define success on their own terms. How can they do that? But look, John, I'm a mountaineer. I love the mountains. I use a lot of mountain analogies. In the mountaineering world, you have something known as the seven summits, the tallest mountain on each continent. And when you conquer these seven summits, you've basically conquered the world. And so when I was at that inflection point in my life where I wasn't feeling fulfilled, even though I checked all the boxes of being successful, at least that's what I thought was success, I kind of asked myself, well, what about conquering your inner world?

4:41And how about highlighting what your inner seven summits are? And just to give you an example, some people may say, well, why not three? Why not four? Well, if it's three, most people are going to pick health, wealth, and relationships. It's too obvious. But seven actually makes you think beyond and question what other things are important for you. So just for the listeners and to get an idea, I'll share my seven. It's health, family, personal growth, fun and recreation, work, spirituality, and community service or giving back to society. and now had I not done this focused on seven and just focused on three I would have missed out on these other elements that are so important for me so that's a great starting point because once you have an idea of what success means to you it becomes easier to make decisions because now when you say yes to anything you can ask yourself well what is the net effect on these seven summits that I've defined as my definition of success.

5:50And if the overall direction is up, great, go for it. However, if the direction is overall down, you may want to reconsider. And even if I look at the previous version of myself, I used to see money or growth in company and I just said, yes, go. But when I said yes to that, I wasn't aware of what I was saying no to. Whereas now with this framework, I have an idea what I have to sacrifice in order to focus on the yes.

6:22John Lee Dumas:One thing I want to talk about is the reality that we just seem to add more stuff, more responsibilities, more things to our list, the order that we get. I mean, I'm 46 years old right now. I'm very fortunate that I stayed very close with a lot of my friends from college. And we've all taken this very similar path. We graduated. We tried a bunch of different things out that didn't work in our 20s. We kind of settled into a career in our 30s. And now we're all in our mid-40s and we just have like a lot of stuff and a lot of responsibility and stress and weight. and to me in some ways like we're much less free than we were in our 20s when we had no money and that's just because we just seem to keep adding more things to our plate as humans it's like this human trait of like just keep adding things to your plate but you talk about less not more sahil so talk to us about eliminating things and how that's more powerful than adding more all the time like especially when it comes to growth and clarity can you share more on that Yeah, absolutely.

7:29And again, so now that you've defined your seven summits, essentially you're trying to scale them, right? That's because you want to become more successful. And as you know, when you climb any mountain, you have to carry some gear. You can't just go with nothing. Like you'll have your tent, your food, essentials, different layers because of the weather. And that's how I understood finally that less is more. Because as I'm climbing up the mountain, if I keep adding stuff into my backpack, thinking this is going to help me here, this is going to help me there. Next thing I know, I'm carrying a lot of weight.

8:05And as I'm carrying that weight up, it's slowing me down. It's requiring so much more energy. but then I came across this army captain who mentioned to me he goes Sihel when we climb we don't just carry what gives us benefit we only carry what gives us enough benefit yeah because there's a lot of stuff where I see that I'm like oh you know if I just learn this it's going to help me if I just do that it's going to help me if I just buy that it's going to help me. But does it give me enough benefit? And that was a complete shift in my perspective because yes, I got rid of what was the obvious dead weight, but I realized I was still carrying stuff I just did not need.

8:50It was a good to have, but it wasn't giving me enough benefit to deserve keeping a spot in my backpack.

8:58John Lee Dumas:I want to talk about the freedom factor right now, because we desire freedom as entrepreneurs, as humans. I mean, honestly, it's such a human trait to want freedom, to desire freedom. And of course, what you were just talking about with eliminating things can be more powerful than adding things and really, really identifying and measuring what you are carrying. Is this worth it and how so? So what are the real benefits of financial freedom beyond just the money? Because we get the money, like how it's gonna take away the stress and allow us maybe to do more things. But what are the real benefits, Sahil?

9:31I love this question of yours. When I did not have financial freedom, I was worried about the next paycheck. Sorry, not the paycheck, the rental check that I had to make. And then I'm making decisions that might be okay in the short term, but they may not be great decisions for my long-term vision, right? Because I need the money now. I have to get it somehow. I may take on a client I should have said no to. I may have discounted my services or my product that I shouldn't have because I needed the money now. However, when I know that my basics in life are covered, whether it's rent or groceries, education, et cetera, I can then make the decision that is right for me and for the company in the long term.

10:25And that's going to take me, again, closer and closer to my definition of success and away from regret and more towards fulfillment.

10:33John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, when you're in that position too, you can make those decisions that Sahil is talking about. And those decisions compound over time. They may not seem like a lot and huge and moving the mountain immediately, but over time they compound into something magical, not in days and weeks, but in months and in years. And it is so, so powerful. I love that. And there's something that people love to say, especially people that don't have financial freedom. They like to say, money can't buy you happiness. And I'm not going to argue that specific quote, but I will say, when you can write a six and even a seven-figure check to a philanthropy cause that you love and know the difference that that's making, if that doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.

11:19John Lee Dumas:Now, we're going to talk about what holds entrepreneurs back, living with no regrets, It's clearing internal clutter and more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Fire Nation, is your business stuck? Are you looking to learn the proven processes and success systems that have been used to create thousands of millionaire success stories? See thousands of success stories and testimonials from real people just like you who Clay Clark has mentored and coached into prosperity at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. Clay's proven business coaching program is month to month and it costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee.

11:51John Lee Dumas:Yes, it's month to month and costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee. Schedule your free personal 13-point assessment with Clay Clark himself today at Thrivetimeshow.com slash EOFire. Because Clay only takes on 160 clients and only allows 300 attendees on each business conference, you will interact with Clay directly. See thousands of success stories and learn about attending the Thrivetimeshow two-day in-person workshops featuring football star and entrepreneur Tim Tebow and President Trump's son Eric Trump today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Become the next success story.

12:24John Lee Dumas:Schedule a free consultation and request tickets to join football star and entrepreneur Tim Tebow and president Trump's son Eric Trump at Clay Clark's next business conference today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Fire nation. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. That is why high level is entrepreneur on fires featured partner. High level gives you a website builder and hosting funnels and landing pages, email marketing, appointment scheduling, payment processing, course and membership hosting, and so much more. Everything you need to succeed all under one roof.

12:56John Lee Dumas:No duct tape, no juggling five platforms, just one clean system for your business. And their award-winning 24-7 support has your back when you need it most. When you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a 30-day free trial, a private 15-minute call with me, JLD, access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50 Days to Something Execution Roadmap, and more. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. Sahil, we're back, and I want to talk next about what the heck holds entrepreneurs back.

13:36John Lee Dumas:I mean, what do you see as the most common traits that keep entrepreneurs stuck or just playing way too small? It's funny you mentioned that. The next book that I'm writing, which is enabling entrepreneurs, business owners to define success on their own terms, which I'm co-authoring with Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. We researched this with 100 plus business owners, and we nailed down the seven most common behavioral traits that are holding them back. And one of them is they've identified what is most important in their life. Many of them tell me health and my family are my highest priorities. And then you have I'll get to it when.

14:21When I get the next deal, when my company makes this much more money, after this next event. There's always a reason. There's always this. It's always being sacrificed for something that is so-called important. and I understand there are moments when we go through challenging times where all our attention is required. We're working, we're burning the midnight oil. I get it. But when, after coaching multiple business owners, I see that one sacrifice is made after another, after another, I then question, is it really a sacrifice or is it a choice? And so that's one of the things that I've seen through this research, that people are shying away from what's most important with the statement, I'll get to it when.

15:12John Lee Dumas:I want to talk about living with no regrets, Sahil, because man, that is such a powerful thought because regrets often haunt people their entire life. And then it's almost like they get to the very end and they're laying in their bed and they're starting to move along from this life to the next. and it's almost like this light bulb goes off right at the end and they're just like, I've been living with all these regrets and these regrets mean nothing in the real world. Like, what am I doing? What have I done? It's too late now. Why is it so important to live a zero regret life and how can we actually do that?

15:53A lot of this has been documented, which is great. There's an author, Bronnie Ware, she highlighted, she interviewed tons of people who were in the final stages of their life. And the five most common regrets, if I may just quickly highlight them, is I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. I wish I had let myself be happier. Now, this is not my view. This is based on hundreds of folks who are in their final years of their, not even the final years, final days of their life, who are sharing their emotions.

16:39And it got me thinking that what is regret? Regret is the opposite of fulfillment. And so if you want to be more fulfilled in life, I believe that comes from being more successful. And again, not successful by an inherited decision, but one that is truthfully yours. Because then you're in resonance. So I believe that when you identify what success means to you, take the necessary steps through courage, discipline, and humility to get there, you move towards fulfillment, hence you're moving away from regret. and that's how you move towards this utopian zero regret life.

17:20John Lee Dumas:I love that last quote, which is, I wish I had let myself be happier. And it's such an important sentence, like every word in that sentence is key because it wasn't, I wish I had been happier. I mean, that's not what they said. They said, I wish I had let myself be happier because they knew in that moment, they knew with absolute certainty, with no doubt that that's all they had to do was let themselves be happier. Not be happier, not become happier. Let themselves be happy because it was right there for them. It's right there for all of us. We just have to let ourselves be happier. It can really be that simple.

18:05John Lee Dumas:Just like it's simple to eliminate things that aren't positive in our lives. That's pretty simple, but few people do it. It's pretty simple to let yourself be happier when you realize it's all within your power. So I wanna talk about clearing the internal clutter because this is one of the things, Sahil, that a lot of people can't get over, which is why they can't let themselves be happier because of this internal clutter. I mean, we all have outdated beliefs and we have outdated mindsets as well. So how the heck can we let go of these beliefs of these mindsets that are outdated, that are holding us back?

18:39Such a powerful question. And the first step, which I really discovered when I was getting coached myself by my coach, she asked me, what belief system of yours is not serving you anymore? And what belief system do you need to replace it with so that it can serve you moving forward? And that was such a powerful question because it made me realize, unconsciously I was just carrying these belief systems that I picked up from somewhere or the other most likely from education or from my family and I didn't ask myself why or does it still serve me today and I'll give you a couple of examples one is as a child it was great to please your parents you got that love you got that validation you probably ended up getting a lollipop when you asked for it or candy when you went to the store, right?

19:37I mean, it served a purpose. But when I became an adult, I didn't need a lollipop anymore. I could go buy it myself, but I was still behaving like that child and that belief system of please others remained with me. And it wasn't until I asked myself, well, why am I doing this? Did I start to peel the layers and go, oh my goodness, yes, it did serve me at one point in my life when I was a child, but it's not serving me anymore. And another one that I can share, which a lot of the Fire Nation folks can understand, is never give up. I mean, I love that statement, right? It can push you. But at what expense?

20:33When I'm climbing the mountain, there's a point at which I have to turn around because if I don't, it becomes unsafe. You may have heard the statement, going up is optional, coming down is mandatory. I don't want to die. I want to live. Yes, I love the adventure. I'm taking chances, but I do want to live. Now, there's a turnaround point because you have to make it back to your campsite. And in the afternoon, the weather is usually more unpredictable. Now, I could say, never give up. I can see the summit. It's just another half an hour away.

21:14But is it worth it to risk my life? No. So we have to think about these bold statements that are driving us forward and understand what the negative impact of those can be as well. And does that actually serve us? So I'm a big believer of sit down, note down the belief systems that are driving you, ask yourself, is it still serving me today? If so, great, carry on. And if not, how can you modify it or replace it with something that will serve you? Because as my mentor always tells me, he goes, what got you here won't get you there.

21:54John Lee Dumas:Man, this is powerful. And one of the things I want to pull out of what Sahil just shared is, why am I doing this? How often do we ask ourselves that question? How often do we actually take a pulse of what we're doing minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, week to week? Because it's so important to just remember to realize that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. A lot of people are sacrificing their days for some unknown cloudy future. They don't even know really what that looks like. They're just like, oh, just sacrifice now because someday. But how you live your days is how you live your lives.

22:30John Lee Dumas:So how are you living your days, Fire Nation? And for someone who's feeling stuck, Sahil, or overwhelmed, what is one thing they should eliminate today to create immediate clarity and momentum? Well, funny enough, I'm actually going going to ask you to add something in order to eliminate. There's a question that the Fire Nation listeners can ask themselves at the end of each day. And I'm actually going to give them two questions. The first question is, what drained my energy levels today? And you just make a note of that. And what happens is that you just make a note and at the end of the week or at the end of the month, you start looking at what you noted down and you'll start to see patterns.

23:15You'll start to see patterns of things that are happening, you know, multiple times regularly that are draining your energy levels. That's clutter. That's something that needs attention immediately. And I don't like to end on a negative. So that's why I asked the second question, which is what raised my energy levels today? And same process where you'll see that there's certain similar things that raise your energy levels. Ask yourself, how can I do more of that? So that's a great starting point and literally just takes two or three minutes of your day, which I know the listeners have busy lifestyles, but all I'm asking for is two minutes of your time to answer these questions.

23:57John Lee Dumas:Sahil, if Fire Nation's really connecting with you and they want to learn more about you, they want to grab your book, give us a call to action for Fire Nation today. So John, I want to give everyone listening something I normally reserve for my private coaching clients, and it's called the Zero Regret Success Kit. If you've built the business, you've got the net worth, you've checked every box you were told to check, and there's still a quiet voice saying, something's missing, this is for you. The first piece is the success audit. It's what I use with my private clients on day one. You'll complete it in about 10 minutes or so, and it will show you exactly where the gaps are across seven dimensions of a fulfilling life, which areas you've been neglecting while building the business and which ones to focus on first.

24:46Most people tell me it gives them more clarity about their life than the last 20 years did. The second piece is the success redefinition session. This is the exact starting point I use before we go deeper into my$30 ,000 coaching engagement. It's a private 45-minute call where I personally walk through your audit results with you and map out the path from where you are to where you actually want to be. And this is only available to the first 10 people who grab it. Once you have both of these, you'll know exactly what's been off and you'll have a clear first step towards building a life of success on your terms.

25:29So go to podcast.sihillmethod.com slash fire, at which I've set up exclusively for this audience. and make sure you grab it before those 10 spots are gone.

25:41John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, take action. Be one of those people that takes action. Get in on this very limited offer. Be one of those 10 because you are the average at the end of the day of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with SM and JLD today, so please keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Just type Sahil, that's S-A-A-H-I-L, S-A-A-H-I-L in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up And one more time, what is that URL? Podcast.sahilmethod.com, which is S-A-H-I-L-M-E-H-T-A.com slash fire. Sahil, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today.

26:21John Lee Dumas:For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Sahil for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world? If yes, we are now accepting applications for EO Fire. To learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest. And I'll catch you there. We're on the flip side. Fire Nation, is your business stuck? Are you looking to learn the proven processes and success systems that have been used to create thousands of millionaire success stories?