In short
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin: Episode Summary
Episode Title How To Rewire Your Brain for Success, Make (A Lot) More Money and Supercharge Your Confidence with Mimi Bouchard
Episode Overview In this episode of *Money Rehab*, Nicole Lapin speaks with Mimi Bouchard, founder of the app Activations. Mimi discusses her practical, science-backed system for rewiring the brain to foster real-life changes, enhance productivity, and boost confidence.
Key Topics Discussed
- Manifestation vs. Neuroscience:
- Nicole questions the common perceptions of manifestation, suggesting it may not be as 'woo-woo' as often thought, especially when backed by neuroscience and psychology.
- Activations App:
- Mimi describes her app, which offers guided audio sessions designed to help users build confidence and upgrade their money mindset through motivational pep talks.
- Personal Journey:
- Mimi shares her own story of overcoming financial insecurity, stemming from a challenging childhood in a financially stressed household.
- Brain Rewiring Techniques:
- The concept of using audio activations helps in reprogramming one's mindset by leveraging classical conditioning, which can foster new habits and confidence.
- Self-Development:
- Mimi emphasizes the importance of being proactive in one’s own self-development journey, particularly during periods of struggle.
Key Takeaways
- Understanding Your Relationship with Money
- Mimi’s background reflects a tumultuous relationship with money, shaped by her childhood experiences. Recognizing these roots can empower individuals to reshape their future.
- The Power of Visualization
- Engaging in visualization and audio activations can facilitate a shift in mindset, leading to improved self-image and confidence.
- Habit Stacking
- Mimi introduces the concept of habit stacking, where listeners combine daily activities (like walking or cooking) with listening to activations to reinforce positive habits and thoughts.
- Taking Responsibility
- A pivotal moment in Mimi’s journey was understanding that she is fully responsible for her life. This belief empowered her to take charge of her financial future and overall well-being.
- Neuroplasticity and Self-Image
- The episode discusses how changing one’s self-image can lead to significant transformation, citing the principle "neurons that fire together wire together."
- 10X vs. 2X Philosophy in Business
- Mimi shares insights from the book *10x is Easier than 2x*, emphasizing that focusing on opportunities that have the potential to greatly impact (10X) can lead to faster and more effective growth than attempting to double efforts (2X).
- Aliveness and Connection
- The notion of 'aliveness' is central to Mimi's philosophy. Engaging in activities that foster this feeling leads to a more fulfilling and productive life.
Final Thoughts Mimi Bouchard emphasizes the importance of creating a clear vision of one’s future self and consistently working towards embodying that version. Through actionable steps and a supportive community, individuals can transform their lives by changing their thoughts and habits. The episode wraps up with an invitation for listeners to try the Activations app with a special discount.
Resources
- Activations App: [activations.com/moneyrehab](https://www.activations.com/moneyrehab) - Special discount and free trial available.
- Mimi’s Book: *Activate Your Future Self* - A guide for personal growth and transformation.
---
Call to Action Listeners are encouraged to email their money questions to moneyrehab@moneynewsnetwork.com for a chance to be featured in upcoming episodes.
Follow Us
- Instagram: [@moneynews](https://www.instagram.com/moneynews)
- TikTok: [@moneynewsnetwork](https://www.tiktok.com/@moneynewsnetwork)
Thank you for investing time in your financial education!
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:01I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. And it's time for so many rehab.
0:16When you hear the word manifestation, what do you think? Honestly, for some of you, you're probably going to be all about it. But for others, you might think it's too woo woo. But what if those ideas weren't just mysterious and squishy and instead were actually backed by neuroscience and psychology? Well, today I'm talking to Mimi Bouchard, who's the founder of the app Activations, who's built a practical science-backed system for rewiring your brain to create real change in your life. I've actually been using the app myself, and I can confirm that it works for people who are a little averse to all the woo-woo.
0:51Activations is filled with pep talks, and that's how I like to think of it as a user anyway. The app has a ton of different guided audio pieces that you can listen to to build confidence, upgrade your money mindset, or just feel ready to tackle the day. You'll hear that during our conversation, Mimi offers to hook up our money rehabbers with a discount, which you can snag at activations.com slash money rehab. She is the absolute sweetest. I am just obsessed with her and her app and everything that she's all about. Mimi also tells me the origin story of the company, the real science behind how it works and hacks for productivity that actually work.
1:26I once interviewed the CEO of a credit bureau and he confessed that his assistant has a better credit score than he does. Why? Because she's more organized. Yep, even the head of the credit bureau can use a little help in the credit score department. If you can too, then listen up because Chime has a card that can help you do just that. Chime turns everyday spending into real rewards and progress. Not like old school banks that charge you overdraft and monthly fees built for you, not the 1%. Imagine cash back and credit building with your own money finally on the same card. No annual fees, no interest, and no strings attached.
2:01And when you get qualifying direct deposits, you get 1.5 % cash back on eligible Chime card purchases. Chime is not just smarter banking. It is the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free today. It just takes a few minutes to sign up. Head to Chime.com slash MNN. That is Chime.com slash MNN. Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services, a secured Chime Visa credit card, and MyPay line of credit provided by the Bancor Bank NA or Stride Bank NA. MyPay eligibility requirements apply, and credit limit ranges$20 to$500. Optional services and products may have fees or charges.
2:32See Chime.com slash fees info. Advertised annual percentage yield with Chime Plus status only. Otherwise, 1.00 % APY applies. No min balance required. Chime card on-time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary. See Chime.com for details and applicable terms. I recently went on a quick beach trip with my husband for a little couple's time. And it was perfect. We sat in the sun, swam in the ocean, and generally just tried to get to that place of deep relaxation where your shoulders actually drop a few inches. Do you know what else can give you that feeling?
2:58Co-hosting with Airbnb. Trust me on this one. Hosting your home on Airbnb while you're away from home is a great way to make some extra cash and make sure your home is working as hard as you do. But knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. That's where co-hosts come in. These are local experts who can help make hosting even easier by taking care of all the little details back home while you're off enjoying yourself. Co-hosts can handle everything from staging your space to communicating with guests to offering on-site support so nothing interferes with your time away from home. Whether you're living the digital nomad life or just taking a well-deserved reset, I love this for you.
3:37Looking to get started? Find a co-host at airbnb.com slash host. Mimi Bouchard, welcome to Money Rehab. Thank you for having me, Nicole. I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy to have you. I really, really admire what you've built and I'd love to dig into it. But as you know, everything starts in childhood. Let's go back to the beginning. What was your relationship with money and ambition like growing up? Oh boy, it was very different. I know, let's just get into it. Okay, well, we'll dive right in. My relationship with money was incredibly different to my relationship with money now. It's been one of the biggest things that I've worked on over the past decade of my life.
4:14When I was younger, I grew up in a household that was very financially stressed. My parents are artists, and I was always around lack when it comes to money growing up. There was always a lot of fighting around money, bankruptcies, and just a lot of negative energy towards money and wealth. It gave me this feeling of deep insecurity as a kid. And I realized when I was young, you know what, I don't want this type of future for myself. It seems like all the fights, all the stress, all the anxiety, all the crying, all the tears comes from a lack of money. So I really hope one day I don't experience that too.
4:54So it was very different. And I think to be totally transparent, it was the biggest motivator for me growing up to create my own future because there was such a negative context around it. I grew up similarly. I used to think that was a weakness of mine, but I had so much work that I had to do to reframe all of that as my superpower because it really is what made me who I am today. It's very motivating when you don't come from it. like that makes you realize that you want it, you know, quite badly. And yes, maybe there are disadvantages from not coming from money where when I first started my first entrepreneurial venture, my parents couldn't back it up.
5:36I had to work all summer at a restaurant to try to get tips to launch this, my first online venture, which was like an online magazine at the time. And it gives you a certain level of motivation. Once you started the work, because we all go through this journey, You looked at tools like journaling, right, and meditation. How did that resonate with you? I kind of reached this rock bottom at a certain stage in my journey about 11 years ago. And in this rock bottom, every pillar of my life was lacking. And I write about this in my book, Activate Your Future Self. You have five pillars to your life.
6:14You have mental, physical, financial, social, and spiritual. And every single one of those areas was lacking. I didn't feel good in my body, my health. I was 30 pounds heavier. I didn't feel good. I was going out every weekend. I was partying a lot. I was living paycheck to paycheck, feeling a lot of anxiety towards my finances still at this stage in my life. And I wasn't connected to myself. I felt very low confidence and security. So I reached a point where I decided I needed to change. And that came with diving into self-development, self-help, and personal development. and I started reading a bunch of books about it, started listening to all these experts, and started doing the things.
6:57And one of those things that everyone told me to do that I couldn't quite stick with was meditation. Everyone said, okay, to be successful, you need to meditate every day. And I tried, and I put it on my to-do list, and then half the time I'd forget to do it, or I wouldn't check it off, and then I'd feel guilt and shame. And I reached a point where I was like, you know what? Why would I do this? Because I want something to invigorate me. I want something to make me feel alive and feel motivated and disciplined towards all these goals that I have. And sure, meditation is great if you want to calm your nervous system and clear your head.
7:31But I'm not really trying to do that in this phase of my life. I have stuff to do. I want something active that can also take advantage of visualization and all these different practices that really help you reprogram your mind. But I just wasn't resonating with meditation. And I was also really busy at the time. I was working like four jobs trying to make ends meet. I didn't have time to carve out 20 minutes out of my morning. I needed something that I could have at stack. So around that same time, I remember the moment, Nicole, it was kind of crazy. I was sitting in my 200 square foot apartment in London.
8:04I lived in London in my early 20s. And I just had this intuitive pull to record a voice memo on my phone. and I was essentially just speaking a visualization, a guided visualization of feeling like my future self now and I weaved in certain affirmations and certain other modalities into there and then I'd listen to it and it was good but it wasn't giving me that motivational feeling. So then I added it to my computer on my garage band. I remember this so specifically. I took all this like cinematic motivational music from YouTube, I started layering it in and then little did I know I created the first activation at that point.
8:43This was eight years ago. And I can't even tell you the shift that started happening in my life. If you think about it like a graph, the beginning, the first couple years of my journey, trying to do all the things that weren't working, it was this very gradual elevation and growth. I was feeling some changes. I was journaling. But then I'd fall off track and go back to the old self. But then it was literally, if you think about it, like a bell curve from the moment I started listening to these activations and creating them and putting so much time and effort into creating a bunch of these audios to listen to.
9:18It was a bell curve of growth. It started going up like that. I started making more money. I started feeling better in my body. I started gaining confidence and I was doing less than before. So I'm happy to kind of tell you why it worked so well, but that was really my story. And now everything is so different in my life and And I have dedicated the rest of my life to teaching this. I'm so grateful that you have. I went through something similar. I actually felt an extreme burnout that led to a breakdown. I had to push out the launch of my third book. Never imagined that I would have done that as a super type A person who always wore this busy badge of honor.
9:59And I went through trying to understand and quantify what self-help looks like. And I love that you think of it as a chart because that's what I was trying to do, too. I wanted these modalities, but I also wanted to prove that they worked. I wanted science. I wanted a chart. I wanted exponential growth. I didn't want something that was only going to feel like a chore. And so to me, I looked at meditation and journaling similarly. I couldn't take the time to do all of it. And I felt like I was just taking one step forward, maybe taking one step back. what was the rewiring process for you after going through it and then thinking that you had to come up with something totally different essentially it came from a need that I had this need of feeling like my motivation and my discipline was quite fleeting like I'd wake up in the morning and think oh okay I'm not in the mood today and then I'd kind of act like this version of myself I didn't want to be and I felt like it was very hard to hone in to this energy this feeling this emotion of being who I wanted to be, right?
11:04Because at the time I was researching a lot. I'm just like you, quite a pragmatic person. I like to research the neuroscience. I like to research the psychology behind it. I was reading a lot of books on self-image psychology and how visualization literally retrains your brain and how our brains are actually malleable and how we can change our personalities. And when we change our personality, we start acting different and we start having different habits. And it was a shortcut to transformation, it seems, that all these people that really could hone in on this were doing. So long story short, I just, I wanted something to get me into that state in everyday moments.
11:39I didn't want to carve out 20 minutes out of my day to sit and try to journal or meditate. I wanted something that would give me this active aliveness feeling during these everyday moments, like walking to work or cooking dinner. So I'd actually listen to these activations while I was doing these everyday activities. And Now I know after it changed my life and I was like, wait a minute, how is this working so well? Because it was dramatic. And one of the reasons is that it takes advantage of classical conditioning. It's kind of like a modern take on the Pavlov's dog theory. You know that theory where Pavlov rings the bell, the dog salivates, that's classical conditioning.
12:18Well, you're essentially taking advantage of that when you listen to an activation in an everyday moment. For example, when you're walking the dog around the block for 10 minutes every morning, if you listen to a walking activation in that moment, soon enough, you don't even need the activation to feel abundant, inspired, confident, alive, magnetic. So it really trains you in these everyday moments to be the version of yourself that has the life you want. And all of this work I teach, Nicole, it all comes down to being her now. If you want to create the life of your dreams, you must first become the version of you that has it.
12:55It doesn't happen. And then you feel all the good, amazing feelings. You have to be that version of you before achieving it. And that makes it come to you so much faster. It's not magic. It's actual science. When you become the self-image of your future self, you literally subconsciously, without even realizing it, become that person. You start doing the same thing she does. You start speaking the way she speaks, dressing the way she dresses. And it makes the process of transforming any area of your life very enjoyable. So why wouldn't you do it this way is what I say. Agreed. Let's double click on the neuroplasticity and the classical conditioning because as you started digging into this, you really leaned on the science behind it.
13:40And what is that show with neuroplasticity? What I found in my self-help adventures was that neurons that fire together wire together. And I thought that was so cool because it showed me that a lot of this is in my control. Yes, absolutely. And that's actually one of the biggest beliefs that I had to change the beginning of my journey to start changing my life. The belief of I am 100 % responsible for my life. I used to be a victim. I used to think, oh, because I didn't come for money, how could I ever be wealthy? I used to think, oh, because of this, I can't get that. Or there was always this stream of reasons why I can't.
14:17And I notice a lot of people naturally have that. And it's comfortable to have that as a belief because it absolves us of responsibility. But the beautiful thing that happens when you start taking 100 % responsibility for your life is that you realize that you're the creator of your life. You realize that you can actually feel empowered every day knowing that you're creating the future you desire and you actually believe it's possible. So it's a self-fulfilling prophecy as well because if you think it's possible, then naturally you're going to do the things to get there. But if you don't think it's possible, how are you going to wake up in the morning and work towards your dreams?
14:54Because deep down, you don't think it's going to work. Absolutely. And what I love about what you've done with activations is that you've also democratized this for people who might not have time to go on a self-help journey, to go to Bali and to Mirabal. And there's a ton of places that are also really expensive, and it feels a little gatekeepy. But you've been able to take what you've learned and allow people to participate in the science-backed methods that you found to be so helpful. Thank you. Yeah, I honestly think self-development, personal development, becoming successful, it's a lot more simple than a lot of people realize.
15:32And I've always been the type of person that I like a shortcut. I like to get things done quickly. I'm impatient. I want to get there fast. So when that beginning of my journey, the growth was quite slow for the first few years, I was like, I need to change something. There is a reality where I'm growing quickly and I'm changing my life in a way that feels good. So yeah, it can be simple. It doesn't mean it's going to be the easiest thing in the world, but simplicity with personal development is what I like to hone in on. It's what I teach because it actually doesn't have to be that complicated.
16:06I have this two-step formula to transformation and it's very simple. The first step is clarity. you must first get crystal clear on who your future self is and I say the term future self synonymously with your best self your favorite self you can be your future self right now it doesn't live in the future but your future self is the ideal version of you it's the most authentic version of you it's the best possible potential version of you so the first step is getting clarity on who they are who is that future self version of you and most importantly how does it feel in your body to be that person?
16:43I don't want to get too woo-woo here because I'm very science backed, but really it's an energetic thing. Emotion is energy, right? Feeling is energy. It's a frequency. How do you want to live? How do you want to feel in your body? What is the feeling inside of you that is aligned with how your future self feels? So that's step one. And step two is becoming. You must then be her now in everyday moments and just keep showing up like her. And it doesn't mean that what you want is going to poof, you know, show up in front of you. But what it means is that you're going to change because when you start being her and training yourself to be that version of you in these everyday moments, everything begins to change.
17:26Everything in your life will start unfolding in a new manner because really your self-image, how you identify, you know, your identity. I am a successful person. I am a lucky person. If you have these core beliefs, good things happen to me, then you're going to start seeing things everywhere that align with that belief. And that's another science piece I can share. The reticular activating system, the RAS, it's a system in all of our brains, we all have it, that essentially acts as a filtration system. And it filters out information and shows your conscious brain information that it deems relevant, right?
18:03So we've all heard of like the red car example. If you're thinking about a red car, you start seeing it everywhere. Well, that's your RAS in motion, right? So the RAS also is in motion when you have these beliefs. I'm a lucky person. You start seeing reasons everywhere. Or if you have the belief, I was destined to be rich. I was destined to make enough money to help my family, to help my friends, to create this life that I desire. I was destined for it. if you have that core belief, you are going to start seeing opportunities all around you that were always there that you just didn't notice before.
18:41So it's actually crazy because if you're not doing this work, it's also working to your disadvantage. But if you are doing this work of reprogramming your mind to think better beliefs, to align yourself with your future self, you're going to start literally seeing things come up that were always there, but you just weren't seeing them.
19:03Hold onto your wallets. Money Rehab will be right back. And now for some more Money Rehab.
19:16So if somebody's listening and they're like, I'm a really practical person, this does feel a little woo-woo to me. What would you say to somebody like that? Because what I love that you're doing with activations is that you're really linking what you can be doing and the habits that you decide for yourself that are going to become a regular part of your routine can directly be linked to your own success and your own vision of what your life is going to be. So that feels really tangible that it's actually working toward the betterment of your career, your financial picture, whatever you vision for yourself in money and finance.
19:52So basically what I've learned is this is all the truth no matter what you want to call it, right? So an atheist will call it the placebo effect. A psychologist will call it self-image psychology. A scientist will call it quantum physics. A Christian will call it prayer. A spiritualist will call it manifestation or the law of attraction. However you want to package it, it's pretty much the same thing in a different language, right? So really, it is the truth and you need to focus on your thoughts and your beliefs and who you're being. Most importantly, it's all about who you're being. And I can share with you so many incredible stories because we have hundreds of thousands of people that have changed their lives with activations.
20:39And every single day we have stories coming in from people that really just wanted to get their spark back. In a small way to a big way. They wanted to feel better. Maybe they've just had a kid. We have a lot of moms that use the app because it's habit stacking. And moms always want to be their best selves for their kids, right? Whether it's getting your spark back after you've had a child. Whether it is when you're feeling confused about the direction you want to take in your business. Whether it is you wanting to create so much financial freedom for yourself. Or even you want to get a raise for$10 ,000 more at work.
21:14every big or small thing that you can think of, you learning who your future self is and reminding yourself throughout your day to be her now, to be that version of you now, that is the trick. And it will change results in your life. And that's a given. You mentioned habit stacking and you talk about this in your book, Activate Your Future Self. Can you tell me more about habit stacking and also mental rehearsing and how that's worked in your life? So habit stacking is essentially when you pair different habits together to just make it a lot more effortless to do and easier to do. So for example, I will put a scoop of collagen in my morning coffee or matcha just to get a little bit of extra protein in and to feel a bit more balanced my cortisol levels in the morning.
22:02That's kind of a habit stacking thing. I will listen to a walking activation when I'm walking my dog in the afternoons. that's a habit stacking situation. I might listen to an educational podcast while I'm folding laundry. That's habit stacking. So even like wearing your red light mask while you are putting your legs up a wall and listening to an audio book, like that's like the ultimate habit stacking situation. I find that with activations, that's a reason why so many of our users use it every single day because it's just easy to. It's one of those things, like I mentioned earlier, when I was to meditate, I'd have it on my to-do list and I just wouldn't check it off.
22:38With activations, you don't even want to add it to your to-do list because it's like just having your morning cup of coffee. Like you just want to do it. It's not something forceful because it just makes you feel good. It feels good to feel good. That's the base of all of this. So that's kind of why I created this business as well, because I was seeking aliveness in life. I was feeling numb and I was seeking aliveness and listening to cinematic inspirational music, especially paired with visualization words, really just does something inside of you and shifts how you feel because the activations app isn't what's going to change your life.
23:14It's who you become when you listen to it that's going to change your life. And whatever it is that puts you into that state of aliveness and inspiration and that future self energy, you need to hone in on that. So whether that is waking up early and doing some journaling and listening to some soft music, whether it is weaving activations into your daily routine, whether it is deciding to not have screen time for an hour in the morning and an hour before bed, and that helps you connect with yourself and feel more alive, whatever it is for you, just keep honing in on that feeling of aliveness and that feeling of being who you want to be now before what you want comes into reality.
23:57who did you create as your future self when you were starting this what did she look like oh thanks for asking that I love that question and I can honestly say that I feel like I am her most of the time now and I'm not going to say I'm perfectly her all the time because I don't believe in perfection I've never had one perfect day on this journey of completely radically transforming my life I am not going to lie and say that I'm now officially perfect no it doesn't happen that way. And no successful person that I've ever met has ever even had one perfect day where they wake up at 5 a.m. They have it stacked to the nines.
Read the full transcript
24:33They ate organic all day. They didn't have a negative thought. They didn't procrastinate. Like we're human beings. We're not meant to be perfect. So perfection shouldn't be the goalpost for us. What should be the goalpost is a quick bounce back rate. That's another term that I kind of coined back in the day. Your bounce back rate is the rate at which you get back on track after falling off. So perfection should not be the measure of success because it's not. It never has been for anybody. Your bounce back rate, how quickly you can get back on track after you fell off the bandwagon, that is the measure of success.
25:08So to answer your question, my future self, I feel like I'm the image of her today. I feel deeply happy in every area of my life. And I really am astonished because I didn't realize how it was going to happen, but I knew it would when I started to reprogram my mind and I started telling myself I'm destined to be financially free. I am meant to live this unique, bigger life. And I know that every single one of us actually has that little voice inside. I'm not special. Every single person has that little soul whisper. Maybe there's more for me. I just listen to it. Anyone listening can also listen to it and create their version, their unique version of this beautiful potential life, right?
25:55Back in the day, I wanted to make a lot of money because I felt lack growing up. So money was a big motivator for me. For some people, maybe just making$100 ,000 a year is the big goalpost motivator for them. For some people, it might be a million. And for some people, it might be more. Whatever it is for you that gives you that feeling. For me, money was important. For me, that felt like security. That felt like safety. That felt like I could help the people I love. And I also wanted to feel bliss and joy every day. That was a big future self image of mine. And I feel like I've achieved that too.
26:33And so many other things. Did you put a specific number on it? it's funny because I did and then it changed when I reached that number and then it changed again and then I realized I just wanted to feel that feeling of awe towards how I can attract this beautiful big life and I just continue to see that over and over again when I first made$10 ,000 in a month I was like wow and then I wanted$100 ,000 a month and then that became normal and then it was 500 ,000. And you know what I mean? So it kind of kept going up. But what I noticed with money that I think you're going to find interesting is your money mindset, your money identity is kind of like a thermostat on the wall.
27:17If you identify as like a 70 degrees with money and you're comfortable in that range, no matter what happens until you change that set point of your identity, you are always going to get back to that level no matter what, like subconsciously. It's like a need that we have, right? So if you get a raise and you have not brought your money dial up to 72 degrees, you're probably going to spend that extra money and get back down to this amount in savings. The same goes as if you had an unexpected bill, you're uncomfortable until you bring your money, your savings, or your identity around money around this set point.
27:50So what's interesting about this work is the more you do it, the more your set point kind of rises. For example, the baseline. So it would be uncomfortable for me to be making, let's say, less than$200 in a month, right? This idea of a money thermostat is just a honed way to look at money manifestation because I do think that money has energy. I've noticed, we've talked about it on the show, when you put money out there, it comes back to you somehow. Do you believe that? I think everything is energy, but that's not woo-woo. That's literally measured, right? And if you think about it on a subatomic level, like particles attract like particles.
28:32There are so many amazing theories that we could study in quantum physics that just open the mind to possibility. And our thoughts are energy. Our bodies are energy. That glass on the table is energy. So, yeah, I do believe it is. But I don't believe that when you think about something, it pops up in front of you. I don't believe in the movie The Secret where they try to emulate someone just thinking about a car and it pops up. That's not, that's too woo-woo for me. That's not what I believe in is doing this work, becoming the person that has what you want and naturally creating this life because it's just who you are.
29:07Did you meet your husband before you started Activation? Oh, yeah. We met just over eight years ago. And I'll tell you something crazy. So this was around the time where I was still recording. I just started recording my own activations for myself as my little side hobby. I spend hours creating so many of these different, because it takes a long time to create with the music and everything. So I was a couple months into creating my own activations. And on October 12th, 2017, I actually recorded an activation describing my person. And I described how he made me feel. And I literally met him on October 13th, 2017, the next day.
29:46Wow. Yeah. So maybe that's coincidence, maybe not, but I was definitely looking for what I wanted and it was in my subconscious and I found it. And I also think because this work is a lot about just being that version of you and not necessarily creating lack between where you are and where you want to be, it's just already being there from a feeling perspective. So perhaps if I wasn't in that state, I would have wanted it too badly and created resistance and that would have pulled away, right? So it's important to not be too needy in a way with the goals that you have, I've realized. At what date did you tell him about that?
30:26Probably a year in or something. I'm like, I did some voodoo spell. No, it was maybe a year in or something. Yeah. He's like, all right. He's just been like, OK. But it's crazy because I met him at the beginning of my journey before I was who I am today. So that's so special. We both grown so much and we got married three months ago. It's kind of a thank you. It's a full circle moment. And you did activations on your wedding day. I did. We actually launched our bridal series. Perfect timing for my wedding day. And it was incredible because one of our top composers for the app, Judah Earl, he actually lives here in LA.
31:03He does the most amazing cinematic music for top movies and TV shows. And I found him because I just loved his music. I found it on Spotify. And then I reached out to him years ago and he started giving us some of his music for activations. And really his music's very emotive and that's what we need. So I tell my audio engineers, my team, you really need to make sure that every activation makes the listener feel alive and feel like they're this main character in a movie moving towards what they've always wanted. It's that intense, beautiful cinematic feeling that we really need to infuse into every piece of audio.
31:42Judah's music is so aligned with that. He actually created the custom composition I walked down the aisle to. And I flew him in from LA because we got married in the English countryside to perform it in person with the rest of the musicians. And it was an out-of-body experience, I'm telling you. That's so cool. My husband really connects with music in that way, too. I wish we had this when we were getting married last year. I'm sorry. Yeah, no, it's game-changing. We'll have to renew our vows. You'll just have to get married again. No, I'm kidding. I'm so obsessed with all of this because I truly believe in all of my journey for finding my own answers to self-help you've leaned in to the science and the data here and I so appreciate that I don't want to put you on the spot or be weird but would you mind hooking up our listeners if they also take advantage yeah oh my god of course I was actually going to offer if you wanted But we're more than happy to give your listeners a big discount.
32:40Yes, please. So you can't do discounts in the app store. So to sign up, they'll have to go to the website. Let's just come up with a link off the top of our heads here. We could do activations.com slash money rehab. OK, activations.com slash money rehab. By the time this episode is out, I'll make sure that we have the website up. And we also offer a two-week free trial. So we'll do the two-week free trial and a big discount on that link if you guys want to try it. Thank you so much. You're welcome.
33:10hold on to your wallets money rehab will be right back and now for some more money rehab
33:23I want to talk about the mirror activations because that was that felt really vulnerable and I've done a bunch of this work and I've done different exercises. Like I've had a time when I was told in a hypnotist's office to like visualize what success was and then switch chairs and do all this sort of interesting stuff around really looking at financial trauma or looking at other issues that might be standing in my way. But the mirror exercise. Whoa. Tell me where you came up with that. Well, that's a very niche category. I kind of love that you gravitated towards that. It's not as popular as our other categories.
34:01We have 16, 17 categories in the app, the mirror activations are really deep. Like you mentioned, they're very deep to change your identity and to change your self-image. Most of our activations there for everyday moments, like walking, cooking, cleaning, getting ready in the morning, whatever you want to be doing. But this specific category, it's really to just deeply reprogram your identity. And you're essentially sitting in front of a mirror, closing your eyes, opening them, closing your eyes and just kind of, but that's quite a niche category. I love that you enjoyed them because it's one of my favorite categories when you really need to change something, but it's a little less popular on the app.
34:42But yeah, I think I came up with that because the more I think about how your self image is a simplifying transformation, right? Continuing to simplify your self image is everything. So how can you change your self image. Okay, we're doing this work. What if you need something deeper? What if you literally need to start seeing yourself differently? Then that's kind of how the mirror activations came to be. But anyone at home listening can also just do them by themselves in a way where whenever you go to the washroom, just take a minute while you're washing your hands, look in the mirror, look at yourself, look in your eyes, and just start to train your mind to see yourself as more confident, more beautiful, more magnetic, more wealthy, more whatever you want to be.
35:26And if you can just in these tiny moments, start to train yourself to have different thoughts about who you are. That's the biggest thing. It's the biggest thing. And transformation happens in the small moments. It doesn't happen on this one day in your calendar three months from now where this big thing is going to happen. No, it happens in the tiny moments of your day. It happens with consistency. It happens when you keep showing up for yourself in these small ways every day. I'll share with you between us girls. I notice when I'm slipping with my own mental health, when I don't look at myself in the mirror, when I go so fast and I'm a new mom and something about it, I'm just like, I can't even look right now.
36:07That's when my personal bounce back rate, I know is going to be a little bit longer because it's not really if, but when you feel like you need more support. And so that's why the mirror activations were so resonant with me because it forced me to do a thing that I know in the back of my mind is a sign that I need some more support. Wow. Well, you're very intuitive. Thank you. And that's beautiful that you went to that. And it's tough. I think when you enter any new stage of life, you kind of need to rediscover yourself for a minute. Yeah, that's for sure. I was listening to your motherhood activation too, because I'm going through sleep training right now with my daughter.
36:48And so we're running on very little sleep. And I love that it's a reminder that these moments are ones that I'm going to miss at some point. And so it's really helped to ground me in a place where I'm like, yes, you're crying. And I am very frustrated inside. But I know that in 10 years, I'm going to be like, oh, but she needed me. And she was just this little snuggle munchkin. And I'm going to miss that when maybe she's slamming in the door. She's never going to do that because she'll be a perfect angel and love her mother forever and ever but it's a really special reminder to lean into that chaos or embrace the chaos and just reframe certain things in your life you know what i mean like we are the ones that attach meaning to everything and yes we cannot control everything that happens to us but we can control 50 of the outcome reaction too yes exactly so there is this formula it is E plus R equals O.
37:48The event plus your response equals the outcome. So I think Jack Canfield came up with that one and I love using it because it just reminds you that yes sometimes there are things outside of your control. Okay you have a big podcast in the morning but your baby's up all night and you're going to be tired but it's your response to that. How you're going to translate that situation into something that could be better. Even what you just mentioned And you're going to savor these moments now. Because when she's older, she's not going to need you as much. And so, yeah. The only thing that you can control is your response to how all of the chaos is happening.
38:25My husband just started a company called Second Arrow because you can only control the second response. Oh, that's so cool. I don't know it, but that's amazing. It's just this idea that you can't control the first arrow. But you can control the second. You can control your response. And that's it. Because stuff is going to happen. When I started this journey for myself, I thought, okay, well, I'll get to balance. Like it was a destination. Like I was going to find it under a chair or something. And it's just a constant journey because you can use balance as a verb and a noun. And so I started thinking about it as a noun, something you have to cultivate all the time.
38:57And you have to continue to do these habits, activations, because you had a lifetime of bad ones or negative ones that weren't serving you. And only a lifetime are going to counteract that. Right. It's kind of like the compound effect, obviously, with investing, as you talk about a lot. I'm speaking your language here. It's like the compound effect. When you are showing up for yourself in these very small moments of your day, that compounds so much over time that you end up in a completely different place, even a year down the line, than if you weren't to do those tiny little things. That's actually one of the biggest lessons I've had to learn when it comes to transformation.
39:35I used to kind of want it to be this one big thing and then I transform one day, but no, I really had to learn that it's actually just about the small incremental changes and showing up for yourself imperfectly in those little moments and that being the compound effect to massive transformation. And I also very much so enjoy investing and I'm very interested in it. So using an investor's mentality, I write about this in my book actually, embodying this investor's mentality towards life not just money but just towards your life right so it's making the certain decisions that will benefit you in the future maybe not be as enjoyable now whether that's with your health or your finances or your relationship sometimes having the hard conversations now and not stuffing it down or choosing the healthier meal at the restaurant whatever it is those little things that can help you be this investor in certain areas of your life, just having a complete investor's mentality towards everything, I think that's such a game changer.
40:37Thank you. Yes. The ROI, the return on investment is so real. Massive. Investing in yourself pays the most dividends later on, for sure. And yeah, I think about that idea of compound interest when you would say, do you want a million dollars now or a penny that doubles every single day for a month? And the answer is the penny. But you think that You want like this quick fix idea. And the penny every single day compounds to much more than that. And so thinking about it in the same way for your own habits and your own mental health is totally true. It does compound over time to bigger numbers than you ever would have imagined.
41:14And I wanted to ask you too about how this has impacted your business. You talk about the 10X versus 2X principle, which I can imagine it, but if you can explain, it would be awesome. Yeah, there is a book. I forget the author's name now. I think it was two guys that wrote it. It's called 10x is easier than 2x. I didn't even read the book. I just read the summary online. I said someone recommended it to me and it's a very simple concept. It's essentially the concept is if especially in business. if you just focus on the 10x things that have the potential to 10x your business and you forget about everything that could 2x your business that's the way that you're going to grow easier than ever faster than ever and in a way that you won't burn out as much so I started to integrate this philosophy into my business I told my team to read the summary online or the book and it really has paid dividends because I think it's been a year and a half now of this and we've more than doubled the business.
42:14And this was also at a time where I took eight months off of social media last year. We've just honed in. And that's one of my biggest pieces of advice to any founder or any business person or anyone that works in a career where they can control what they do in their day day life. It's often very confusing. As you know, being a business owner, what marketing channel are we going to focus on? Or everyone's saying that we should do this Pinterest ad thing. And then your focus is spread in so many different directions. So that was what I was experiencing at the beginning of my journey in business.
42:51I was focusing on trying to do everything and then not actually focusing on one thing with so much intensity. So then I started to take in this 10x is easier than 2x philosophy. And really, we just stopped doing 90 % of the stuff we were doing. And I actually tell my team, I'm like, I don't want you to burn out. I don't want you to be working late. I just want you to fully focus on these one to two things that we are focusing on with laser attention. Think about it like a light. If you have a wide light, it casts a wide amount of light everywhere around you. But if you have a laser, it will burn through something.
43:25So really using that mentality of just focusing on the things that could 10x your business. Whenever something comes across my desk, I think to myself, is this a 10x opportunity or a 2x opportunity? And I now say no. So many things. So I definitely needed to hear that today. Thank you so much. It's true because you can spend the same amount of time for something that will 10x or grow exponentially as you would on a smaller opportunity. Absolutely. Yeah. Don't just do it because you think you should, right? It also gives you a lot of confidence doing things unconventionally because everyone's telling you to do all the things.
44:03But if you decide to move into a different direction and not follow the norm, it makes you feel quite unconventional. And you think about it, maybe doubting yourself, right? But really I have been unconventional most of my career and with most of this business. and I've never raised money. We keep the team very, very lean and I don't do certain things the way that others would necessarily, but then yet the revenue we're bringing in, the profits we're bringing in is unlike anything else. And I'm happy to say that because I want to inspire people listening that you don't need to do things the way that everyone tells you to.
44:41Just because they have a certain title or they have this certain confidence about them, you need to listen to your own intuition as a business person. that's a big learning that I've had and something that I always try to tell other people in business so I'm so proud of you for doing that and so happy that you're sharing that because I think it's such an important message too as someone who bootstrapped as well and this idea of raising money has been glorified and right become like I don't get it you know you have bosses but yeah so I appreciate you saying that how was taking so much time off social media it was invigorating I felt more alive than ever before and you know my thing is like aliveness from emphasizing life that's kind of how I like to live I like to feel good did you have a withdrawal period oh my gosh yes like the full addictive behavior I'm busy I'm not scrolling all day long but still when I deleted the apps off my phone weeks later I was getting this craving where I'm like going to where Instagram used to be and I'm like wait a minute what am I doing and it makes sense because these big social media giants, they literally hire people to make their apps more addictive.
45:51We don't have a chance. So I think the best way to feel clear and to feel alive, which I keep talking about, that juicy aliveness feeling with inspiration and happiness and presentness, that feeling is what I want to feel more of in life. Numbing, which is the opposite, is what I want to feel less of. Social media and doom scrolling and binge watching too much Netflix, even overeating over drinking, drugs, anything that numbs you out, puts you into this state of just like disassociation of fatigue, of exhaustion, of kind of taking your life force away. And then the opposite is aliveness. And it gives you this juicy life force.
46:32And I really try to lean into things that give me that aliveness feeling. So whether it's listening to certain music, it's literally why I created activations. Every single one makes you feel aliveness. Whether that's having a beautiful deep conversation with a friend calling your mom and just sitting and not scrolling and just connecting connection gives you aliveness waking up early moving your body dancing laughing that's aliveness when you're in this aliveness state time goes by slowly you are literally soaking up your life in the most beautiful way and when you're focusing on numbing activities and you're distracting yourself time goes by very quickly and you don't feel good even hours later when you're not scrolling, you still feel this like haze of just brain kind of tiredness.
47:18So again, I am not perfect and I still scroll, you know, throughout my days. Sometimes if social media is back on my phone, but I'm now a lot more aware of it. And when I start to feel that kind of that feeling of numbness creep in, I often will just delete the apps so that there's just, there's no way. And I've noticed that a lot of people that I speak to feel the same way. I appreciate you saying that. It's true. Like you can try your best, but at the end of the day, you know, you're only human. And it was such a program thing. And as you say, these companies have to profit from getting your attention.
47:56Well, a juicy alive life, sign me up. And thank you for spending time with us to help us create our own juicy alive lives. uh let's say that 10 times fast we end all of our episodes by asking a guest for one final tip that listeners can take straight to the bank i think my biggest tip here is you need to get very familiar with how it feels to have the amount of money that you desire you need to start feeling very comfortable with that amount of money because if you're not then your set point that we spoke about earlier that identity thermostat is just never going to budge You need to feel a new standard inside of you and actually feel it in your body.
48:39This is, again, not woo-woo. This is really just this creates your self-image here. So get very familiar and very comfortable with the amount of money that you desire. We specifically actually have a whole manifest money category in activations, by the way. There is everything from manifest$1 ,000 all the way to millions and millions and millions and everything in between. So what that does, it doesn't, like I mentioned earlier, those activations don't just make money show up in your bank account, but they change who you are. And it makes you create more money for yourself the more you listen.
49:15So I would highly suggest anyone listening to try any of those out. It's in the targeted visualization category in the app. So yeah, it helps you get familiar with the feeling. It gives you that feeling inside of you. And the more you can hold on to that familiarity and that comfort with the amount of money you desire, the more that or the closer you will get to it and the faster you will get there it's not magic you have to work for it you have to listen but it makes it easier to work for it and do all the things you need to do when you embody the self-image that's what makes it more effortless because when you identify as the type of person that is wealthy you're going to feel weird if you don't wake up and work on your business you're not going to want to procrastinate as much just like if you identify as someone that's healthy you're going to feel weird if You ate like crap all day and didn't move.
50:00So that's kind of shortcut to transformation. Amen, sister. OK. And activations.com slash money rehab. Activations.com slash money rehab. I will make the best discount, the juiciest discount for you guys. Just an alive juicy discount. That's what we want in life. Exactly. That's the word of the day, aliveness.
50:37so
50:57Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at moneynews and TikTok at moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.
51:37Thank you.
From the publisher
Try Activations with a free 14-day trial and exclusive discount at activations.com/moneyrehab.
Today, Nicole talks to Mimi Bouchard. She has built a practical, science-backed system for rewiring your brain to create real change in your life. Mimi shares hacks for productivity and confidence, the neuroscience behind manifestation, and how a quick audio pep-talk helped her get out of her own way and build real wealth.
