Life, Death and your Why as an Entrepreneur with J.V. Crum III

Founder and CEO of Conscious Millionaire Institute, LLC – J V Crum, III

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J.V. Crum III is back again! He had a recent near-death experience and he’s even more determined to achieve his mission – learn more about what he’s doing and changing in this episode.

He’s a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, keynote speaker, certified business coach, licensed attorney, and the host of 4 different podcasts: Conscious Millionaire High Performers Podcast, Conscious Millionaire High Performer Health, Conscious Millionaire High Performer Marketing, and Conscious Millionaire High Performer Mindset.

He became a millionaire in his twenties. He believes that business is not all about the money but the impact that you have to the people.

Here’s a few things you’ll learn about J.V. Crum III:

– The steps in finding your “WHY”
– How to pick your niche in business
– How to pick an audience and solve their specific problems
– How to strategically maximize your day and get the most out of it
– How to live in flow
– And More…

Tune in and listen: Life, Death and your Why as an Entrepreneur with J.V. Crum III

JV’s Website:

ConsciousMillionaire.com/SevenFigureFormula

Transcript: Download

Video Transcription provided by GMR Transcription Services.

Jaime:	Welcome to Eventual Millionaire. I am Jaime Masters and I am so excited to have my good friend, JV Crum III, back on the show again, especially after some craziness. He was just in the hospital. Thank you so much for coming back. He runs Conscious Millionaire. You can see in the background he's written a book, he has a podcast, he has four shows total. He's an amazing man. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

JV:	Well, Jaime, it's always a delight and I was glad to have you back on my show. And it's just fun to connect with you because I wanna give a shout-out. I'm in podcasting because of you. Because remember, we met at New Media Expo, gosh, 2012 or 2013 in New York. And yours was the first podcast I was on and I didn't even know what this was all about. And I went wow, this is so cool. And then what happens a year later? I start my podcasting world.

Jaime:	And you have way more shows under your belt than I do; way more episodes and way more shows. So, I bow down to you now. It's very impressive to see what you've built in such a short time.

JV:	Yeah, our original show just hit 1,000 last month and overall, between our four shows, we have 1,250 episodes. But you know what? When I discovered the microphone, I realized I was in love with talking to people and interviewing them. It is the best gig in town.

Jaime:	Well, I agree completely. So, everyone's gonna start their own interview show. Actually, can you go through and just say what the names of your shows are first?

JV:	Sure, yeah. So, the original show we just called Conscious Millionaire Podcast. And each of these shows is also syndicated radio shows as well. And then I have Conscious Millionaire Help, Conscious Millionaire Marketing for Coaches and Consultants, and my newest one, Conscious Millionaire Mindset, and that's subtitled The Science of Conscious Success.

	And so I'm just totally excited about all the shows. I love them all and it's just incredible to be able to put this kind of material out in the world.

Jaime:	Yeah, especially because you had success in business before you started the podcast stuff. I know a lot of people start podcasts and they're like, I'm gonna quit my job and make a podcast.

JV:	No, I built and sold companies, so the podcasting it's interesting because the podcast came out about the same time as my book. And here I'd put all this work into the book. And the book did well; became the No. 1 book on Amazon. But I quickly realized that I'm a good writer, but I'm not an in-love-with-it writer. But you give me a microphone and I'm in love with it. And all of a sudden I realized oh, I think this microphone stuff and now I like to do videos too. All of the media stuff is more interesting to me. It's more exciting.

Jaime:	Well, I agree 1,000 percent. And what's interesting, and I wanna sort of move into this piece, because you had already made all your money beforehand. And we talked the last time you were on the show about your mission.

JV:	I hope I didn't make all my money because I'm trying to make a little more.

Jaime:	Smart man, smart man, good catch.

JV:	I still have some plans ahead.

Jaime:	Well, I guess that's sort of the point though too. You're doing this not only out of mission and passion; it also makes you money for sure. But now you've aligned the two. So, instead of just making money for money's sake, you're making it doing what you absolutely adore as we can tell.

JV:	Yes, and that really is kinda the quintessential essence of Conscious Millionaire, is it's doing something that's conscious for you, that uplifts other people, that makes a difference in the world, that you feel is your calling, and you're doing it in a profitable way. Which actually is, to me, the best business model possible because not only do you have a huge why and you feel compelled to do what you're doing, but by making it profitable, you're able to touch more people's lives because then you can expand it. So, everybody benefits out of this.

Jaime:	Okay, so let's talk about this because I've got lots of clients who have successful businesses and then sort of come to a crux where they're like, it's feeling flat, right? I either don't have a mission or I don't have the reason why. And do I switch businesses completely or can I find my why within the business that I have? Can you sort of give us the steps on how you find your why?

JV:	Sure, yeah, absolutely. Because I think I can address it from both the standpoints. So, initially, I had a regional trucking line, mainly because it was a family business that was bankrupt and I took it over at 23. But I made money, and I did well, and I ultimately hated what I was doing. And I didn't find any why in it, so I did the fun thing, was that I sold it to somebody who wanted it, right?

	Now, let's address the second part. So, the second part, you have a business where the why always comes out of  is inside you. And the great thing about a why is I have a three-part formula. I'll just give you the simple parts, if we wanna delve down into, we can, is that you discover something you're just deeply passionate about. You discover what is your purpose, but the purpose is really a difference you wanna make. And then you look at what are your strengths and you go, well, how do these come together?

	Now, the nice thing about that is that that difference you wanna make is actually a solution to somebody else's problem. And as we all know, that's the only way to build a business. You have to solve a problem over, and over, and over again. Now, the nice thing is that that difference can be spun or taken in many directions.

	So, now you start looking at possible niches and there's three pieces there I want you to look at. So, in the possible niche, you have to look at how does that problem show up for them specifically and ask yourself is this gonna excite me every morning when I get up. Because some ways problems show up don't excite you at all.

	Then you have to go, well, for each of these niches I'm considering and you only need one, folks, right? In fact, I wanna encourage you to have one because that's easier to get to seven figures, not having ten. Are there enough of these people that, given the amount of money you wanna make over the next three years because I like to do a three-year plan for where you're headed, can you stay in this same niche? And then the third thing is do they have the money available to buy what you wanna sell at the price point you wanna sell it? And if all three of those are true, that's a good niche for you to consider.

	So, what you've done is started with yourself and your why, and you've gone out and you said well, what's a way I can bring this out. And then beyond that, you're gonna bring that difference out and you?re gonna survey them, obviously. Do they want it in a colored box? Do they want it digitally? Do they want it in video? Do they want it printed? Do they want a live training? Do they wanna go to an event? So, those are just different ways you deliver it.

Jaime:	Okay, so if you were to pick your niche from ? or if you were to pick a new business that fuels from your mission in life, your passion, then that's how we go down that path. Can you give me an example or what yours is? Because the thing is it seems very squishy, right? So we're like, okay, we have a mission.

JV:	So, let's take mine. And I've centered all of everything that I've done. The last three months have been delving through, and delving through, and delving through because I wanted to take what I'm doing to a much higher level. And in order to do that, you have to be very precise. The paradox is to go bigger, you have to get precise and be more narrow, right? That's the fun part of this.

	And so I realized, I did an exercise - actually, I wanna give a shout-out and he's coming on my show, Alex Mandossian, and he did a video that I watched and it was about discovering your verb. Now, the funny part was the verb I chose wasn't on his list, but I didn't care. So, I realized going through that little 20-minute process that my verb, for not just my business but my entire life, everything I do, is empower. That everything I do is about empowering people.

	And then I work with three, so I delved down and I said well, what ultimately do I wanna empower people to be able to do? And I said I want to empower them to be able to expand their belief about who they can become, what they can achieve, and how they can contribute to making this a better world. Now, all that fit very well into the Conscious Millionaire brand. And then a little bit before that, I got clear that I really wanted to work with coaches and consultants because I so deeply believe in what they're doing because I'm also a coach, right?

	Just like I'm now launching a podcast program. Why? Because I want podcasters to do it right, but I deeply believe in getting your message out. And I also realized I love working with entrepreneurs, so I didn't want to give that up, but I wanted to take it to a higher level. So, I basically am working with entrepreneurs that are seven figures or above because that's an area that I can really help them with, like you; systems expanding their mindset about what's possible for them.

	And what I'm finding is that people are coming to me, showing up really wanting to work on their why. Even though they have a very successful company, they're wanting to play bigger, but play bigger doesn't just mean I want more money in the bank. It means I wanna influence more people. I wanna have bigger impact. And so then there's that interplay between impact and profits because it's impacting people is actually the way you get to your highest profits, right? And that impact is the kind of problem you wanna solve.

	So, I could've gone in many directions. What I realized in my private coaching, kind of like you, that we kinda have very similar what we're looking for is that when somebody's at 2-300 quarter million or above, they begin to be in a place where I can double their business in a year. And they've got enough going on that is a good match provided that what they really wanna do is have this positive impact. And I guess in my case, the brand's big enough and been out long enough. I never get on the phone with somebody that that isn't the case. I'm never just picking up the phone and they go, well, JV, I just wanna make a lot of money. Nobody ever says that to me.

Jaime:	How did you pick, though, coaches and consultants? Especially after you've already had a business for a while and you already have prospects coming in; it's hard to pick your niche from that.

JV:	Well, it is and we did a pivot because we were just focused on entrepreneurs. And so I'll pull back the curtain and tell you how I chose coaches and consultants.

Jaime:	That would be great.

JV:	So, first of all, I love coaches and consultants because I am one, so I really believe in what they're doing. But I wanted to be able to scale, I wanted to be able to create programs that I could use the same templates, the same processes over and over again.

Jaime:	Because otherwise, we're trying to solve too many problems and then you're like, well, then it's generic for everybody, yeah.

JV:	Exactly. And what I discovered is if a coach is under $100,000.00 because I'm right now looking at I'm really just feeling called. Okay, I didn't do anything for that group, but I have so many of that group that reach out and they go, I know you don't work with anybody under $100,000.00. I wish you would do something. So, I'm going, okay, why don't you do a group program form. But if you're under $100,000.00, I divided the journey to $1 million into four groups; so under $100,000.00, $100,000.00 to $250,000.00, $250,000.00 to $500,000.00, and then $500,000.00 to $1 million.

	Each of those groups have different kinds of problems they're working on, right? And so with coaches, because the majority of the people that come to me are coaches or they're consultants who kinda wanna become coaches, because they're realizing this one time going in for a week, there are only so many weeks in a year and they have a hard time scaling to $1 million. It's a very difficult journey. Coaching, you can do it because you've got so many things. You can do products, you can do so many different things.

	So, with entrepreneurs, what I was finding is that it was working with service entrepreneurs, but every one of them was different, right? And I said well, this isn't scalable and so I made the transition because it wasn't scalable. And now I'm working with seven and eight-figure entrepreneurs because they have certain kinds of problems. But because I've been there, I understand those kind of problems. And a lot of it is systems or how do they finally become the CEO and stop wearing all these other hats. Because at some point, you can't do that, right? And as entrepreneurs, we tend to hang on to things.

Jaime:	Little bit; yeah, little bit.

JV:	A little bit, right?

Jaime:	With gritted teeth.

JV:	I made the decision partly out of a practical I wanna scale, I wanna touch more peoples? lives, but I wanna be able to create. This is what we need to do. These are the exact steps you need to take. And while they're 'content might be different, the steps and process are fundamentally the same.

Jaime:	And then you can have a bigger impact for the pool that you have, which again, easier said than done for picking something, right? Because picking something is tough.

JV:	Yeah, but does that give you an idea of why I chose that group?

Jaime:	Yes.

JV:	And I chose that group on the private level, at a higher level because they're ready; because they've already solved part of the problem of how do I put money in the bank, how do I find a client. They still may need some work on that. They may need to fix their business model because a lot of times what got you to a quarter million isn't gonna get you to a million, right? So, you have to kinda go, well, I see this isn't really scalable because it doesn't work.

Jaime:	Yes, I'm trying to explain to people, especially the people that aren't making over $250,000.00 right now, that it's an ever-evolving process of rejiggering it over and over. You pick your avatar potentially, but it can also change. Or you go a little too broad and then you narrow. There are always these decisions coming in. You never go in and go, oh, everything's done. My mission's done, my this is done, my this is done, everything. Ta-da, we?re all set.

JV:	I am so glad you said that, Jaime, because one of the things that I've started telling people, because I realized it myself, was that you get your why and I love working on those pieces, but every year you have to redo this. It's not done for life, it's done for a year. Because you've changed, your business has changed. What you've learned, hopefully, in a year is you're in a different place. You go, I understand my client so much differently than I did a year ago. I'm now seeing these problems that I never even noticed before that they really need help with. And your brand shifts as a result.

	So, you have to kinda sit down and do this serious look at what am I really doing here. Why am I doing it? What am I delivering? What is that big result I'm getting? And ask yourself how can it be more robust than it was 12 months ago.

Jaime:	I love this. Okay, good. And this actually is a perfect segue into sort of what we were talking about earlier, which is a little bit more on the unknown piece, right? So, you set a goal. You potentially achieve that goal. And then you look out and there's a new horizon. There's always more, right? And there's always unknown through all of that. And we grow as a human; we keep growing, and keep growing, keep growing. And we have new perspective every single time, right? So, when you're in business, you've got all these new, different things that get whacked in the face with, right? Depending on what it is.

JV:	Well, the unexpected that happens and that you wake up in the morning and you have your day planned. And then by 9:05 or whenever it is you started, you're going, oh, turns out this is the highest priority I've got. And it wasn't on your plate, and you get an email, and you go okay, well, today just changed, right?

Jaime:	Yes.

JV:	And you have to be able to do that. So, in my book, I put two chapters next to each other and in this order. One is on how to strategically maximize your day and get the most out of it. And then the next one is on how to live in flow.

Jaime:	Okay, let's talk about that. Yes, please, tell me more.

JV:	Okay. So, 'm a three person; you can't have more than three priorities. And most people start with a to-do list and I go, this is the least efficient way to do your day. You actually have to decide what's the priority. And then what's that specific outcome that let's say 5:00, you want to have gotten this outcome. And you don't have to have three priorities. Because on days I do podcast recordings like you, that's my priority. I do seven shows. Or when I was writing my book, I'd just have a day I wrote on my book.

	But then you choose your action steps, but only action steps that'll get you to that result. And you eliminate I've had clients eliminate 80 percent of stuff they were doing, right? We can talk about this later, but because of the heart attack that I had, literally two and a half weeks ago, I'm cutting down on my number of hours. But I actually plan to do more because I'm launching a couple of programs. And I'm going, okay, you're gonna have to take your own system and prioritize at a very deep level and just say the rest of the stuff isn't important.

	And so that's how you set up your day, but then living in flow is about being present, and open, and doing what's authentic or what feels real in the moment. And a lot of times when you do that because you're in synchronicity with the mosaic of the universe all around you, literally you'll get an insight. Oh, and what you thought was gonna take 100 days, you go, oh my gosh, I could do that in a day. Or you pick up the phone and it's someone that you've been thinking about, and all of a sudden you all have a great idea, and you go, oh, well, that's what I need to focus on today.

	So, it's being a strategically planned person with the ability to turn on a dime. And say it's okay to throw out the strategic plan and that you got a lot of value from doing it, but if all of a sudden you see a faster way to get to your outcome, don't feel like you have to stick with the strategic plan. Just go with the flow, literally.

Jaime:	Okay, thank you. So, we'll talk about the heart attack stuff in just a second because I really wanna get into the meat of that also. But this is something critical that I think nobody really talks about. We talk about goals, and plans, and blah, blah, blah, but once you get to a certain level, it's more than just that. I call it inspired action. Everybody calls it something different.

JV:	That's exactly the word I use; is I get inspired thoughts and I take inspired actions. And because I trust this process of being in flow and being in authenticity, which to me is a deeply spiritual experience. And I trust it because I've been doing it for decades now. This is something where my first deep, intuitive insight was.

	I was at Wake Forest. I was on a three-year track to go to med school, because I was a valedictorian and all that, and I did all my pre-med, basically. And one day I said I don't think this is what I'm supposed to be doing. And my parents were not very happy because they had scrimped to send me to this really good school, but I knew it wasn't what I was supposed to do. And now I have a health show and all that background helps, but it's not what I was what I'm doing is what I'm supposed to be doing, right? And so I was able to say this is the plan. I decided at 5 to be a doctor, but now I'm not gonna be.

Jaime:	How did you know though?

JV:	And I was okay; within 24 hours, I was okay with it. And I call it my first major insight; was that I wasn't supposed to go to med school.

Jaime:	Okay, let's talk about that too. Because I'm a data gal, right? I'm always a show me the numbers and then I will believe it kind of thing. Or at least I have been for a really long time. And so the synchronicity thing and all that stuff, I was like, that's super woo-woo and so not for me.

JV:	No, I can get that.

Jaime:	But it was before. Now I'm so a convert. So, what's crazy is that first time that you actually had sort of that gut check and you knew it wasn't the right thing, it was innate in you is what it sounded like. You just sort of knew that time, right?

JV:	Well, yeah. And what happened was I'm a numbers person, so among other things, I ended up getting a degree in tax law, right? And so I was going to physics and chemistry lab and they were like, bang. I understood everything that was going on; felt right, we're gonna do this, that. And then I'd go to biology lab, and as I put it, I was smart enough to do it, but I had no idea what was going on. I didn't feel it. And one day I said something's wrong. If I'm going into a profession like being a doctor, I should be able to feel it.

	And I was always running to the library to look at the cancer cells versus the regular cells, and then I'd draw the diagram out of the book. But I knew that I didn't get it at a deep level. And I'm going, but the essence of being a doctor isn't this book stuff. The essence is being able to touch someone and go, oh, that's a nodule. And I'm going; I don't think I have that skill. And because I don't have that skill, I don't actually think this is the best path for me or that I would actually show up and be the best doctor.

Jaime:	Did you ever second guess yourself though? After that decision, did you -

JV:	No, I have never once regretted that decision, but have been deeply grateful that I have that background. Because I can pick up a scientific report or read a piece of research and I can pretty much understand what's going on.

Jaime:	Okay. So, you've done this a long time. You said decades.

JV:	Yeah, so I started doing it all my life. And when I took over, the family business was basically bankrupt. This sounds like someone prepped it for a stage presentation. I'd never had a business course, read a business book, or even read a business article, and that is the truth. I knew nada about business. And yet it turned out I was a duck to water. Because when I look back, I'm a systems thinker. It's how I was a 19-year-old senior in college. Why? Because I had a system; I could tell you six weeks from now what I was studying at 8:00 at night. I had it all systematized.

	And all I did was start looking at business, but I also asked myself every day and this is that flow part; I'd go, okay, this is the outcome I want. So, initially, I had to turn around the cash flow was a mess; a total mess. And so I had to stop all this not having cash at the end of the week, but people paid us a lot of money. And I'm going, well, what's going on with that? So, I would start every day with the problem I wanted to solve and I would listen to myself as to how to get there.

Jaime:	Well, what does that mean? Let's break down listen to yourself because gut check is difficult to interpret.

JV:	Yeah, and for me, it's a very interactive type of thing. It's very iterative as well. So, let's break all this down. So, this is an aside, and we can't go too deep in it, and this ain't the time, but I have nine years of training in NLP and lots of certifications. But the simple thing about NLP because I've put together my own process that I teach people about how to know how they're intuition is correct or not correct. I can only do it on an individual basis. I haven't yet figured out how to do it on a group basis.

	But in Western culture, we're visual, auditory, kinesthetic. Eastern cultures are gustatory and olfactory, but we don't tend to be that way. So, we're going to have a primary system and a secondary system about how we process information, alright? You and I are both visual and we know that from how fast we speak, right? And then you have visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

	It turns out that our intuition, and I wish we had hours to talk about intuition, comes to us in a very specific and repeatable pattern of visual, auditory, and/or kinesthetic. Now, mine happens to be visual and I tend to see words, numbers, things right here.

Jaime:	I do too.

JV:	And then I'll get a tingling; it's called a visual/kinesthetic synesthesia, the two go together. And then I'll get a tingling in my spine or I'll feel this kind of expansive energy in my head. When I got Conscious Millionaire, it was the same thing. I was in a hot tub in Reno, Nevada. I looked down. I was reading something. I saw the word conscious. Conscious Millionaire came to me. I got a tingling.

	And in that time, I had been camping for two and three weeks at a time and saying what is the reason I'm here. I'd sold companies. I said how do I take my skills and use them. They came to be and I knew that's the calling, that's my assignment, however you wanna call it. And that was the start of Conscious Millionaire, like that.

	So, I listen for inklings. I love the word inklings; like something's kinda coming up inside. Now, I don't look at all of this in a way that's black and white. I actually look at life and I look at intuition and this is getting a little complex, but just stay with me, folks as a probability curve. That we're kinda taking a slice of information at a point in time and right now, this seems like a high probability, but it's not absolute.

	And I think people get into that woo-woo place with oh, I had an intuition, like somehow it's gospel. And, folks, it's not. It's an intuition. And now you gotta go out in the real world outside of you and you gotta test it. You gotta start going, oh. And as you do that, that intuition may evolve because now you're testing it just like you were doing marketing. So, to me, it's not like this is it and the billboard goes off. This is a starting place to go out and see. Okay, what evolves from that? And you may get on the phone, have conversations with people, go Google something, and then you get more insights and it deepens. But it also might shift and that's okay.

	It's kind of like I look at goals as compass headings. Now, you and I both like the outdoors and I've done a lot of hiking, and camping, and everything. And oftentimes you have a compass heading and then a mile from now, you change that compass heading. But that compass heading was right for the first mile because it got you to the point of the next compass heading.

	So, I don't get disturbed if you have a 12-month goal. And along the way, you refine it because your experience says oh, now that I ve gotten this information let's say you surveyed the people that you're working with and you go, oh, I didn't know they wanted this. Now I do. That may change how you bring out a program, or how you upgrade a program, or who you wanna partner with, or even events you wanna go to. So, to me, it's constant information that you're processing. And the internal intuition and the external events in life are all part of a whole. And it's not like one is predominant over the other. They're part of a complex mosaic.

Jaime:	I love all this, okay. Especially because at the beginning, I was a pros and cons list kinda gal. Okay, this is logic, this is what we do. I started interviewing millionaires and a lot of them were talking about gut and intuition, and I'm like, what does that mean. And I assumed that the feeling was in your gut and I was like, I feel nothing in there, so I don't know what to tell you.

JV:	I know. It's not where I get mine either, I'll just say.

Jaime:	Yeah. And so I've been on a path of trying to figure this out and test it with as much data as I can get on my own. So, I do the exact same thing. I have to meditate because I can't clear this brain for anything unless I meditate, right? Just all over; very, very fast. But what's crazy is I meditated and I would just try and clear completely and then feel because I had a hard time tapping into whatever feeling. I was not in my body whatsoever. Like, screw that, I'm in my head. Which is fine and I've learned to tap into that and then test it like you said though. So, I have lots of data of my own and I write this stuff down, right? So, to go, when I had this thought, I got this.

JV:	So, let's bring a word in that I think belongs here. We were talking before we went to air about how both of us are really deeply spiritual people. It's always been my path. And yet I realized in my 20s because I was having all kinds of experiences that I was not necessarily prepared for or had a reference point for. So, I had some out of body experiences, those kinds of things. And so I came to a place, and to me, this does not in any way take away the mystery, but that I came to have a scientific approach even to my spirituality.

	Because what I realized is I was having when I started studying flow. Here I was, getting up, some days having this amazing experience of flow. And because of my background in science and my masters in psych and all of that, I said wait a minute, and NLP in particular, all this should be duplicable. Not just for me, but someone else should be able to have this same experience. So, I didn't start with oh, I'm magical person. I started with I'm having experiences and I wanna be curious about those experiences, right? When I have insights and it turns out the insight was right, well, that to me is something to be curious about.

	So, when I say I take a scientific approach, I wanna understand what are the processes involved here. That's why I've delved into intuition, I've delved into flow. Because I said they're repeatable patterns and I wanna be able to discern those patterns so I can use them. And I can teach them to other people and I can help people understand what's going on with them.

	So, to me, it doesn't take away from we're living in this wonderfully mysterious world where we can't possibly grasp everything. It's beyond our human brains, we just can't. We don't have the capacity, literally. But of that we can grasp, I wanna understand the patterns because then other people can use them.

Jaime:	Me too; exact reason why I started this podcast to begin with. And what I love about your approach, though, is that it can be easily seen by the logical brain of everybody else, right?

JV:	It brings it together because, actually, I think all these things have logical steps to them. So, if we take flow because I've done so much work in that area, what I discovered were there were three steps. And it took me quite a while to discern those. That when you're present, which is the most important, you're open and you're authentic. And the best way for people to think of authentic is am I taking a step and it feels real to me. However real feels for you. That might be a different sensory experience for Jaime than it is for JV, or for Holly than it is for Dave. But when you do that, I can guarantee synchronicity will begin to happen. That I can guarantee.

	Here's what I can't guarantee for me or anyone else. The direction it will ultimately take you. Because we're dealing in the world of authenticity, authenticity can't be predicted a minute from now. Because whatever authenticity is a minute from now has not yet happened. So, I can't tell you where it's taking you, but I can tell you it'll be right for you and I believe right for other people.

Jaime:	Have you ever read The Flow Genome Project or Stealing Fire by Jamie Wheal and stuff like that?

JV:	I'm not familiar with that.

Jaime:	Okay. We can talk about this after, but he lives here in Austin and it's the science side behind flow. And so, to me, I'm getting the data and it's very similar to the three steps that you just talked about too. So, it's really cool.

	Okay, I wanna relate this because I think, and I said I was gonna bring it back up again, you had a heart attack two and a half weeks ago, which is really like yes, spirituality is great. For most of your life, yay, have fun. And then you're really faced with something crazy. And, of course, I know you're more than about the money anyway, but what impact did that make on you? What can you tell us about it?

JV:	Yeah. Well, it had a huge impact because I was in ICU for five days. I had a stent put in. And I'm still, two and a half weeks later, grasping that I could not be here, right? And that never happened for me before. And because it was somewhat of a serious heart attack, that's why I was at ICU. And I told the doctors right off in fact, it's so funny. It actually is kinda funny now.

	So, I have to say the hospital was amazing. Within three minutes of me walking into the ER and me telling the person I think I'm having a heart attack, I was on a gurney. They had done an EKG. They looked at me and they said you're correct. You are having a heart attack. Within one minute, I was in a room with 12 people that looked like it was out of a movie or TV hospital show, right? I'm goin, oh my God, these things actually exist.

	And they're putting IVs in me, and this, and that, and the other. And everybody's doing this and one person's taking questions. And I stopped everybody and I said you need to understand something. I have a huge why for being on the planet. I'm supposed to be here and I wanna be very clear with you. I make it through this. So, everybody understands the game plan. I make it. And I just told them all that.

	And then they wheeled me up to the stent operating room and I gave them the same little speech. I said this is all gonna be okay because I'm supposed to be here. And then they brought teams of doctors by to see me because it turned out I had the textbook, classic heart attack. They said you could not have had a more classic heart attack, so everybody wanted to come see me.

	So, I told them all about my podcast. I told all of them I was gonna heal and I talked to them about this. I said what's pulling me through here is that I interestingly enough, in November and December, I took my first two ever sabbaticals. And I took time to journal and ask myself specific questions about my why; what it is I should be doing with my business, how I could play bigger, how I could impact more people. So, I'd already clarified this.

	And I told them I have a huge why for being here. And I have a mission that's not complete, so that's why this all works out. I can't tell you how it works out, but I know it does. And people were just enamored. I had people tell me I had one nurse say I've worked in ICU for two years. I've never met anybody like you.

	And when the doctors came, you could imagine  I'm gonna hold up a piece of paper so I got them to give me some paper and a pen. And I'm drawing diagrams of what they're talking about and sketching out plans for how I need to use the information to heal and get better, right? And they said we've never seen anybody do any of this. And I said I plan to heal. I have a reason for being here.

Jaime:	So, I'm gonna stop you because even just the science side of that, the science of belief, and I've met neurosurgeons and baby heart surgeons that are like, the more that the patient believes the more that I believe, the more the patient believes. So, the fact that you tell everybody, and they're like, he believes it, I believe it too, is just helpful in any way for having your care to be the best humanly possible because they all have the same outcome in mind. Just on the science side let alone being a guy that's directing the whole hospital. Wow, okay, I'm gonna do that if I'm ever in trouble. Okay, perfect.

JV:	It is kind of interesting because that's kinda how I do everything. I put myself at the center. And now I only have one person left for my team, and I've been assembling a team, and I created real clear criteria. So, everybody on my team has training in functional medicine because that's the part where you look at the systems and the inflammation in the body.

	But my main doctor is both a medical doctor and functional medicine. My nutritionist is functional medicine. The cardiologist I've chosen is a cardiologist and functional medicine. And I am assembling it because I told them the outcome is to heal. And we're gonna draw from every resource we can, including energy healing, spiritual healing. But I want people on my team who first and foremost you're putting together a business team. Would you put somebody on your team that didn't believe you could grow your company? Well, God, I hope not because they don't belong there.

	Well, the most important thing is for me to heal. To not just heal, but my goal is a year from now that I'm healthier than I was 20 years ago because now we're looking at everything. We're not just looking at the heart; we're looking at every part of my body at this point, right? And I want people on my team that believe in the outcome. Because if you don't really believe I can heal, I don't really need you. I have no use for you at all.

Jaime:	I love this. Okay. What are you changing in your life? I know we talked about this a little bit beforehand too.

JV:	Other than everything? It kinda feels that way right now.

Jaime:	Yeah, I bet.

JV:	Yeah. So, I'm working with a nutritionist. And I had already, from everything they told me in the hospital, created a she said you get a good foundation. And I'm fortunate because she's working with the doctor ? that I qualified for the program, but it?s two days a week for 12 weeks. And I said that?s a bit much. I think that would stress me more; that I had to figure out how to take two days a week and run my business on three. I think I would actually be more stressed.

Jaime:	Wait, who said that?s not a good idea though? You just said you have to work less too, right?

JV:	Well, work less, but not being available for two days, I just said no, I don?t think this is gonna work. But they have the only program in the country exactly like it and they take a multifaceted approach. They have everybody be vegetarian. But last year I tried vegetarian and it didn?t work for me. I need that 20 percent protein. My body just needs that. But they now have me on two-to-one fish-to-animal products and then a vegetarian protein shake a day.

Jaime:	Good thing you?re very scientific and going crazy with the data and everything.

JV:	Well, yes. And I just ordered the supplements they want me to do that rapidly lower your LDL, but it's all natural. So, my outcome is, which I told all the doctors in the hospital, was that a year from now I'm 100 percent off of the traditional meds. But I'm off of them because we made the changes in my body, so none of them are necessary.

	And typically what people do is they just do the Western approach. They're going, well, you'll take this medication for life. And I'm going, no, I don't think so. No. No, I'm quite certain that I won't. And I said but you got me for a year. But we're going to take care of each of these issues so that medications, which to me I mean, I'm grateful they're there, but I see this as a patchwork, but not the healing because the healing is when your body's doing it for itself.

Jaime:	Yes, epigenetics. There's so much more to our bodies than the drugs that we give it. It's insane. But I'm wondering because you have four shows and you do so much, and you have such a huge mission on impact, right? And really changing people's lives.

JV:	When I laid in the hospital so this happened on a Monday. So, Thursday was kinda like the crisis day where everything came together. So, because I was so curious, and I told everybody from the beginning, I said look, I am not a sugar coating kind of person. I said you're going to be direct. You're gonna tell me everything, hide nothing. I don't care what it is. I wanna know.

	So, they literally rolled the machine the main cardiologist I was seeing in the hospital rolled the machine in. They showed me the videos of my operation. They showed me the videos of my echocardiogram. They showed me exactly what kind of damage I had from the heart attack. They discussed the different options for it. And I got it.

	And I had to make some decisions that day because they said okay, what we need to do is minimize any possibility of you having a stroke on top of this for the next three to six months. So, we talked about that, and the cardiologist went out and did a bunch of research, and then brought it back to me. Of course, this worked for me because, like you, I wanna see the research, right?

	And they said literally, if you do nothing, we think you have a 1 to 2 percent probability of a stroke. If you do this special drug, which has its own possible side effects so I had to think through that, and you have to do regular blood testing with it and everything, which is Coumadin, some people listening will have heard of that, for three to six months, it reduces it to 0.5 percent. But I had to weigh a situation that was not black and white actually. It sounds that way to you, but because we're also talking about other side effects, it's gray.

Jaime:	Yep, like every decision in business too. It's a little gray, everything's gray.

JV:	Yeah, it's gray. So, I called my regular doctor and she says I understand the situation is beyond my expertise because I'm not a cardiologist. And she said if you think the doctor is shooting a straight arrow, I thought that was interesting language, do what he says. Do what he recommends. And he told me and I think the reason I went with the decision was and he says I'm typically a wait and see, but my sense is in your situation, we should be a little more aggressive. So, my recommendation is to do the drug that will give you literally a three to four to one better probability.

	And so I chose to do that, but that day made me aware this is some serious stuff you're dealing with, right? And so here's what happened that day. And the doctor said I've never seen anybody come to terms with this so fast. And I said well, if I gotta come to terms with it, I'm just a come to terms with it kind of person. So, I said I get it. For me to be in control, I have to accept that I'm not in control. That that's what this journey's gonna be about.

	And then I realized that this is actually how I live all my life because I come from this deep spiritual place of authenticity and trust that the path will unfold and I only need to see 100 feet in front of me, right? Because the truth is what I think's gonna happen 45 days from now is probably the only thing that's not happening, right? Because too much is gonna happen before 45 days.

	So, I said well, you've got some life and death that you're looking at here and you wanna be alive. So, while you trust that you're supposed to be here, you also wanna do everything that's proactive to be here, right? It's not like you just trust, you believe here. It's kinda like sitting in the corner and meditating, and someone's gonna bring you some money in your bank account; might happen, but it helps if you mark it. That's how I look at that, right?

Jaime:	Yep, I agree a million times, yes.

JV:	Yeah. And so I said the real answer is this is going to be a spiritual journey and I got it. And from that moment forward, it's deepened my own spiritual journey. And what I realized for the first time is that this is how I live all the time, but I don't talk about all the nuances on my podcast or to my clients. And I said it's time for you to talk about this because there's nothing woo-woo or crazy about it. It's really just a very practical way of how I live that brings me into greater wholeness, and greater luminosity, and greater enlightenment, and greater ability to see the path of how I can help people. And isn't that what all our clients want anyway?

Jaime:	Yes, okay. And I love the way that you explain it because I feel like a lot of the hardcore business owners that listen to this stuff or the very in their head, logical, potentially not spiritual in any way, shape, or form can still understand how core this is for you. And you can sort of bridge the gap between they're over here and not as spiritual as you and then we're here and look what it does for me now, let alone the money.

JV:	And I think it starts with what I call the rabbit hole question, which I love to work with clients. And it is why am I here? Why am I here?

Jaime:	Darn that question, yes.

JV:	Yeah, because I think that's one of those very core questions. And it's why I came to that trilogy in the hospital. That really, the essence of what I want to do moving forward is help people come to great answers that move into action about who they wanna show up and be. Because my new Mindset podcast, the first episode, I talk about growing two things. And I'll just cover them quickly.

	One, that I grew up out in the country with about 200 or 300 people; my parents had no money and at 5, I decided to be a millionaire. Why? Because I didn't like the story and I didn't want this to be my story. But one that I realized, most people didn't know because they know I've got all these degrees and all this stuff, but they don't know the backstory because all of that might not have happened.

	Because I grew up in the country, when we moved to the city I love to talk about the city; 20,000 people, folks. As I say, they had a movie theater with the entire movie screen. They thought because I'd had not very good grades because frankly, I was just bored, that I was stupid. They put me in the seventh grade in all remedial classes and labeled me as slow learner and stupid. Now, at the end of that year, I decided I didn't like the story. And I said there's a trick to making A, now I would call it a strategy, but then I called it a trick, and I'm gonna figure it out. And I did. And I graduated as valedictorian with a 4.0.

	Now, to me, the power of that story isn't that I was valedictorian. The power is what if I hadn't made that decision. And that's the message I want people to hear. That if right now you're in a six-figure business, you can have a seven. And if you're in a seven, you can have an eight if that's what you want. I wanna upgrade peoples' vision of who they can become and what they can achieve because I know from my own experience. I go back and I go, well, if I had not changed that story, what would my life have turned out like. And it would be nothing like it is today.

	And so I'm a big proponent of looking at our own stories and asking how we can change them. Kind of like in the hospital; I have a heart attack and I'm giving a little lecture to the people before they operate on me. I'm making it through because I'm supposed to be here. Because I wanted to get them all onboard to my vision, right? I wasn't just saying that to say it. I was saying it to influence that if there's any question in your mind when you're inside that heart, you're in those arteries, you do the right thing because I'm supposed to be here.

Jaime:	How do you catch up with that belief though? So, even when you were that young, how did you go I 100 percent believe it? Or even telling the doctors what to do; if they don't actually believe it, no matter who, if you say it, doesn't necessarily mean they're gonna feel that you believe it, right? You're very confident in your belief. How do we catch up if we're not there yet?

JV:	Yeah. I think you start out a lot of people are like, let's do little steps, but I'm not a little step kind of person. And it's not how I've lived my life. In fact, every major goal I've ever set, I had no clue at the time I set it of how I was going to achieve it. So, I've come to think that a lot of people are afraid to set a big goal because they go, well, that's just not who I am today. Well, that's why it's a goal.

	I was growing up where I was literally taught at the age of 5 not to ask for a candy bar at the grocery store because my mother didn't wanna be embarrassed that people might think we had no money. Which we didn't, but she didn't want people to think that. And so I was taught not to ask for it.

	And that was actually when you go back, that was part of my sitting one day, literally, and asking myself what's the solution to this problem. Because I said my parents are smart, but they're broke. Why are they broke? I don't get it. Because even at 5 - because I was watching television and people lived in mansions and I'm going, they're not broke. As a little 5-year-old, that's all I'm thinking is why are they living in a mansion and we're clearly not, right? What's going on here?

	I'm so glad you asked that because I haven't said this in about two years because I forget to say it. It was having the faith of a little boy or having the faith of a little girl. Where you go, I had no idea how I'd become a millionaire. And I honestly don't think I knew what $1 million were at age 5, but I just knew it was enough to get the candy bar and live in a bigger house, right? That's all I knew.

	And that's all you have to do is ask yourself how do I really wanna be on this planet. And so some of the things I've done in January, it was interesting, is that I'm really getting clear. So, one of the tabs on my computer right now is a $400,000 Bentley. I have a five-year goal. It's exactly what I want; color, everything white, the camel interior. And I go, if you're gonna buy a Bentley, you're writing a check. God knows you don't wanna make payments on this. And I go, in five years or sooner, I am writing a check for that specific Bentley, that specific model, and that's what I'm going to buy.

	And now I'm getting clear about the kind of estate-level homes that I want. But what exactly do I want? I thought I wanted something with an acre, and a gate, and all this, and some staff. And I went no, you like to travel. Forget that stuff. You actually don't want property. You want something that's 6,800 square feet. I know exactly the size. I know exactly what it's kinda like, but I have reasons for it. The basement's gonna be ripped up and become a film studio because I want a film studio in my home. So, I can do all of that from my house because I want a television show in three years.

Jaime:	Of course you do.

JV:	Of course I do, right? But do I know how that happens? No. Is that important? No. And I'm giving you these things because everybody if you're listening today, first of all I don't think there's an accident. I think every show that you hear, mine, Jaime's, anybody's, you're supposed to be listening to it or you wouldn't feel compelled to do it. And I wanna challenge you to really get clear this week how you wanna show up.

	And how you wanna show up is like how do you wanna live. Because otherwise, you stay in that box that you?re in and you never get out of the box. And unless you have no adventurous goals whatsoever inside of you, and I don't think that's true, I think everybody does, I want you to claim them. And then start asking how do I get there.

Jaime:	Okay. So, that's actually the perfect segue to my last question though because I know we have to start wrapping up. What is that one action? So, if they start you said this week, right? So, what is that one action that they can do this week to actually move forward towards their goal? I know a million is one thing, but this conversation is so much more.

JV:	I'm gonna answer that differently than I typically do because in light of what we've been discussing, my heart attack and what really pulled me through that five days in ICU, which was not a lot of fun; 12 electrodes, 2 IVs, all this kinda stuff. Not the way I every hour they're doing blood and all this kind of stuff. And I said well, it's the why. It's getting clear about this very specific why.

	And the why should be very aspirational. Like in my case, I really want to empower people to understand and expand their belief about who they can become, what they can achieve, and how they can contribute to making this a better world. And that really encompasses my for profit; the non-profit, we didn't even talk about, but my Conscious World non-profit.

	And I want you this week to take in I love to journal, however you want to do it, written, word processing, whatever, and get a clarity of right now because next year it'll be different. It'll expand. But right now, what's that why that could really I think a great why, the litmus test, Jaime, is that it's a magnet that pulls you forward. If you have a why that's like a magnet pulling you forward and this is a phrase that I've used many, many times because not everything that I have ever tried with Conscious Millionaire worked, right?

	You try marketing; I just did an initiative, didn't work. Okay. So, okay, back to the drawing board. Wild horses couldn't stop me. That's what I say. It doesn't matter. It's the day that nothing happens correctly. You lose the big client you wanted. This all happens to all of us, folks. But you have to be having a why that wild horses couldn't stop you from moving toward it. And that will pull you forward in all areas of your life.

Jaime:	Yes, times a million. So, my whole thing is I can't not. It's a little obsessive. Yeah, I can't not. I can't not help people.

JV:	Right. I actually coined a term out of conscious; conscious obsession. And it's being consciously obsessed with something that's got a powerful outcome for you. And makes you feel like you're supposed-

Jaime:	Yeah, that makes you feel better about obsession. That's way better.

JV:	No, I think obsession has a positive quality to it. None of us ever achieve any goal we're not obsessed with. It doesn't happen. You have to be kinda laser obsessed that I'm getting there and nobody and nothing is standing in my way because I'm going right through.

Jaime:	Yep, no matter what. That's what we say in my family; no matter what. Love you no matter what. We're doing this no matter what. Don't know what to tell you. We'll figure it out as we go. We'll see how it goes.

	Okay, I know we have to start wrapping up because this is amazing. I mean, we apparently could talk for hours, and hours, and hours. And I know you have a give-away gift for our people.

JV:	I do, I do.

Jaime:	So, please tell us.

JV:	So, what I've created are the exact steps to going from wherever you are right now, especially if you're a coach or consultant, to that seven figures. And what is it you need to do in what order because I had so many people tell me I don't know what to do. And I go, well, this is the kind of work you need to do first and then this is the kind of work you need to do next. And a lot of people try to jump into what might be the fifth step, but they haven't done the first step. And so there is an order, a progression that you need to go through in building and scaling a business.

	And so I wanna give that to you and it's very simple. It's consciousmillionaire.com/sevenfigureformula. So, I'll say that again. It's consciousmillionaire.com/sevenfigureformula.

Jaime:	And we will link to it too.

JV:	And I want you to have that so that you can go get it.

Jaime:	Because he's already done this, so the unknown for you is the known for him. So, just listen to what he says to do on that piece because there are answers out there for you wherever you are.

	Thank you, JV, especially two and a half weeks after being as on your path as you are right now and sharing the wisdom that you've got with my audience. I so appreciate your being here. Thank you so much for coming today.

JV:	Well, it's just always great to connect with you. And I just wanna wish my best to everybody listening today and encourage you to get a super big why for why you're on the planet. And that why is the mission. It's what you're gonna be doing with your life. And if it excites you, I think you're on the right path. And if it really impacts other people, I'm certain you're on the right path.

Jaime:	I'm sending this right now, actually, to one of my clients. We were just talking about why and mission earlier and this is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us today. I hope you have a fantastic day, JV.

JV:	Thank you so much.

Tags: Business Owner, business social impact, Conscious Millionaire, Entrepreneur, eventual millionaire, finding your why, how to pick a niche, how to pick an audience, jaime masters, JV Crum III, Millionaire Entrepreneurs Podcast, podcast, start-ups / startups, startup entrepreneur, top entrepreneurs

Categories: All, Featured Millionaire Interview, Millionaire Interviews

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