THE #1 THING HOLDING YOU AND YOUR COMPANY BACK AND HOW TO FIX IT

Hey everybody, welcome to the B2B Revenue Leadership Podcast. Hey, what we do on this podcast is talk about what B2B sales and marketing leaders, operators, and experts are doing today to really break through and grow their businesses at exponential levels. Let's get it in the interview. At the end, I'll give you an update on my courses and you can check out my website at b2brevenue.

com and it's Brian G. Burns on LinkedIn. Okay. Hey, Karen, thanks for joining us today as a way of getting started.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hey, Brian, glad to be on your show. Thanks for having me. Well, you know, nothing remarkable here.

I was just 20, spent 20 years in the executive leadership space in corporate America, all the while had a humongous dream to compete in the toughest human endeavor on the planet called the Ironman World Championships as a total amateur recreational athlete. What I then found in finally pursuing that is not only what was holding me back, but was also holding me back in other areas of my personal and professional life. And then by achieving it through neuroscience techniques that I now employ by pioneering in our arena, in our part of the world, I was able to achieve that dream in two short years at the age of 46.

And then it was merely, even though it was the biggest thing I could fathom at the time, it was merely a gateway to what I was really meant to do and using my unique gifts and talents and living my purpose. And what was holding you back? Was it a belief? Was it just habits?

Yeah, it's a scientifically proven concept called limiting beliefs. And the definition is when we think or say, I don't have enough money, time, talent, support, fill in the blank to achieve that. And, you know, mine always was, well, you know, I'm this recreational athlete, right? And they are elite athletes, professional athletes way up here.

I can't, I can't possibly bridge that gap and compete. You know, who do I think I am? Uh, comparison bias also plays a big role in that when we compare ourselves to someone else that we see doing what we want or Uh another experience that we want to engage in and this all happens Split second instantaneously unconsciously to us in our unconscious mind And that that's what fascinated me about it because first of all i'm fascinated with human beings and that entire time that I was a senior executive, I was also an internal business coach.

And I found that there were barriers that we couldn't get beyond. And I was always fascinated by that. What makes people really tick? What's the key to each person?

And what I discovered then through this big, scary, ridiculous, outrageous dream of Ironman is the power of our unconscious mind and where limiting beliefs and emotions and meaning and values and all of that stuff that really drives a lion's share of our actions and thoughts every day, that's where all of that stuff lives. So when you do work in the unconscious mind, you can make changes that are more ease or with more ease and sustainability. And that's why the name of my company is Velocity.

And a lot of people don't get this, do they? They think you can just reason your way through this or it's the economy. It's something outside of me and what I have control over. Absolutely.

Yep. It's all out there. It's their fault. I'm all good.

Everything's great here. It's all of you people. It's all of the outside stuff. It's the whole world that needs to be fixed.

Oh, right. Yeah. Keep waiting for that one because I'm sure it's going to happen. Yeah.

And you know what? I'm going to take the mickey a little bit out on probably the primary group that I see doing that because they're honestly too smart for their own good. They're engineers. And I say that with love in my heart.

But they're so cerebral, so intellectual, so used to being analytical that it's really difficult for them to first accept what I'm talking about. Although they can feel in their gut that they know it's true and from past experiences. and then to really dive in and hone in on that and how it really works. But once they do open up, it does work.

Because this is counterintuitive. I think we have these limiting beliefs to protect ourselves. Yes, absolutely. Yeah.

I mean, that's a leftover from our unconscious mind caveman days, right? It was meant to keep us surviving one more day, right? If we could instantaneously size up whether something was friend, food, or foe, and then take immediate action, we could live another day, right? But the problem is it's sort of like a bug in the system that's still left over from then, and it doesn't serve us well.

In fact, it really gets in our way, so much so that if we're not aware of what's happening and sort of how our operating system works, then we trip ourselves up. And what I like to say is that then we think it's a four-letter word beginning with F that trips us up. And that word is actually fact because we think, oh, well, this is a fact. You know, I can't, you know, win in the talent market, you know, B2B sales that, you know, we're not going to be able to do whatever it is we're trying to do that maybe we haven't done before, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

It just keeps, it just, it's a broken record that just keeps playing and habits that keep repeating until you become aware of it and do something to change it. And what was your epiphany? Was it a life event, a book you read, a workshop you went to? What caused this?

I'm sure you, every, I want to do an Ironman, but it ain't happening. so it certainly is a journey and an evolution but I would say the watershed moment the light bulb moment for me was as I was pursuing the Ironman world championships and I was training what I finally realized in using neuroscientific unconscious mind techniques and also doing everything my coach told me right all of the physical things that are involved in training you know, 22 to 24 hours a week for two years straight to get there.

What I realized was that at the beginning, I thought that the key to success there was 90% physical, like what I did every day right And only 10 mental The watershed moment was when I realized it was 90 it was exactly the opposite 90 mental and only 10 physical Because here is a scientifically proven truth that if you think about our unconscious mind as a spectrum, right? And on one side of the spectrum is limiting beliefs that I just described. On the other side of the spectrum is our ability as human beings to carry out anything we can think up.

And there are millions upon millions of examples of how this is proven out over hundreds and hundreds of years, right? And any icons of mega success that you can point to today, I don't care what market industry or whatever they're in, it's the same thing. If you can think it up, you have the ability to carry it out. That's just how it works.

You're going to figure it out. And then your body, this physical mechanism is going to follow along. It will do anything that you tell it it can do or that it can't do. Now, I'm sure you probably read David Goggins' book.

Yeah. The Navy SEAL. Yeah. And that's their belief also is that the SEAL training, it's 100%, they consider it 100% mental.

Yeah. But I'm sure a lot of people think that's fluff. I mean, what is the science behind it? What are the evidence that convinced you other than you anecdotally seeing it in your own life?

Well, certainly something as huge and prolific and permeating as the Ironman. I mean, that was something that, you know, I had no earthly idea how I would do it. I was not a triathlete before. I was primarily a recreational runner and mountain biker.

I had never ridden a road bike. I was a terrible, terrible swimmer. In fact, I had two coaches. I had a swimming coach and a triathlon coach because I was so awful, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

So it's not like I was well-suited or aligned or had previously been in this world. I hadn't. I was like a fish out of water. And so I'd say that it's that primary experience that was so enormous, so gigantic, all-encompassing, that showed me that.

Then I could look back also at neuroscientific research that's been done by everyone from Erickson to Einstein to Carl Jung to Richard Bandler. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. And by continuing to test it out myself, not only with this dream, but in all other areas of my life, my business, my relationships, my leadership, connections, selling. Oh, my gosh.

It absolutely changed everything in selling. Yeah. Yeah. That's funny because when I coach clients about quotas, I go, you want the quota low because when people are over quoted, they're more confident and more likely to sell more.

Yes. And it's like the income thing can be adjusted through math. But the emotional thing of crushing your number, now feeling good about yourself that you can sell has just an enormous impact on them. Yeah, absolutely.

It's really all about making progress and seeing visually something that represents that progress. You know, that's one of the things that opens up our unconscious mind and makes it so much easier, right, to keep going and to keep doing it and improving and making it better and better. So what were the routines that you went through to change these beliefs and reinforce them day to day? ah so the i'll actually give a link at the end to the three-step technique to do this uh so just everybody that may be driving right now listening to this don't get in a crash trying to trying to write it down uh you'll have it at the end but it's three steps and the first step is really the awareness of it right so what what are my limiting beliefs and that's going to be somewhat of a surprise because you're probably thinking, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.

You're probably thinking, oh, I just have one, right? That's what I thought until I did step one of the technique and I had a whole page of limiting beliefs that were holding me back. And these are all like, you know, operating systems or files that you keep open on your computer or your mobile device all day long and they just suck out the juice, right? And pretty soon you're just dead, you're exhausted and your machine can't work.

It's the same exact thing, only limiting beliefs and then they just keep anchoring to hold you back, to hold you firmly in place where you are, right? So that's step one, really unearthing all of them. Then step two is writing the exact opposite, which coincides with the name of my book, Unlimiting Your Beliefs. So you write the unlimited version of it.

So my limiting belief or the main one that I had at the time was I can't possibly compete in the Ironman World Championships. And so the opposite of that, very simply, and that's the other thing about this, this is so simple. It's just like Occam's razor, right? The simplest solution is usually the right one.

Well, this is the same thing because our unconscious mind is a simple, very simple, yet infinitely powerful machine, right? So, yeah. So then the unlimiting version of that was or is I will compete in the Ironman World Championships. Okay.

So then step three is you've got to change that thought pattern and interrupt it when it's happening. So you get to do fun things like as you're going throughout your day and you think or say that limiting belief, you stop yourself right then and say out loud, no matter where you are, and this is why it's fun. I will compete in the Ironman world championships, or I will scale my business to be the number one in our category or whatever it is. And, and I'll, I'll be real with you.

I got some chuckles and some points and some side eyes and like, wow, that gal is crazy. What is she doing? She's talking to herself. And I brought those people along with me.

You know, anytime they did that, I would just say, Hey, here's what I'm doing. What is your dream? What is your dream that you're not pursuing? And here's the cool part.

Every human has one. And that builds an instant connection with that person. Because every time thereafter I would run into them, they would run up to me and go, or they would call me or email me or whatever and say, hey, this is my dream. And I never would have realized it until you asked me that question.

And now here what I doing to pursue it Really really cool stuff Did you study neurolinguistics programming I did after yes But I have a traditional Bachelor of Science degree in applied management which was why I was a leader, of course. But then after I discovered this, yes, then I wanted to be the pioneer in this space. I wanted to be considered a subject matter expert. you know I always wanted to have a resource or a tool or a concept or a model to go to for anyone that I worked with I never wanted to be you know that person that was like oh and professional level certification in coaching professional coaching and executive coaching and you know I've been doing this for wow over 25 years yeah so what I heard is when you feel that statement, that belief, you sense it, you interrupt it.

Yeah. So which starts to disconnect it from the next steps. You replace the next steps with what you want. Yes.

And you say it out loud, which gives a much tighter attachment to it. Yeah. What you're doing is starting to rewire that connection or that thought pattern that's been ingrained with a new one that you want. And the other thing that happens is your unconscious mind actually hears it.

So verbalization is an excellent way to change patterns and to actually recognize and become acutely aware of what you're thinking and what you're doing. And it's a key to processing, right? And so the other thing that happens is once your unconscious mind hears it, it's a machine that's meant to take action to make things easier for you to achieve, right? So it immediately will start doing that.

It's just like, it's actually called your reticular activation system. Yeah. So just like when you decide you're buying a new car and let's say it's a Lexus, whatever, you never saw that car on the road before and now it's everywhere. Now you see it all the time, right?

That's an example of how your reticular activation system jumps into action to find it for you. The third thing that it does is it starts to change your identity. Of who you are. Yes, of who you are, how you see yourself.

So even before I crossed the finish line at the Ironman, I already was an Ironman. I already was a triathlete because I had been saying it so much that that was my thought pattern and that was my identity. Made it so much easier to actually then carry out the goal or the dream. Now, with these limiting beliefs, did you segment them, prioritize them, chunk them down, or did you just go at it?

Take the whole sheet and just go at it? Well, I'm pretty much an overachiever by nature, so I just took the whole sheet and went at it every day. But with your clients, is that what you recommend? Or you'd say like, okay, what's the most important one that's the easiest to change, that'll get you the biggest result?

Great question. Yes. I do not recommend doing what I did. Don't do that.

Yeah. So what we do is set up the top five or less goals and objectives in order of priority. Meaning, usually I ask them to start off with, what is the number one biggest, most important thing that you would like to achieve. And then I ask them, okay, what's getting in your way of that?

Why haven't you accomplished it yet? Why haven't you even pursued it yet? And that is the number one goal we pursue. Then we do that to identify two, three, four, five, no more than five, because it's really tough to effectively and efficiently work on five things and maybe several things within each one at once.

And how do you reinforce the habit so that you just don't get overwhelmed? Great question. Were you just like, oh, I'm so tired, I'm sick of this. Yes, great question.

So first of all, we use a proprietary system, which is super cool. And I wish I had thought this up because I would be a gajillionaire by now. But it's a system called Coach Accountable. and we track in the metrics function of the system.

So when we set up those goals that I just talked about, we actually attach metrics of measurement to each one and we set them up daily at the beginning so that the client has to report in, usually midday, okay, here's how this is going or I did all right the first part of the day and then toward midday, it sort of waned as my energy got low and then they have sort of a reset midday when they're checking in with it so that they can make changes that afternoon. And it goes like that every single day.

And that also shows up in a visual representation, so a graph or a scale or something like that, and it's colorful. And this, again, is a gateway into the unconscious mind. So once they see that, and they can also make comments, right, you know, a challenge or a win. Oh, this was a big breakthrough.

This felt great. This went really well. Or, oh my gosh, this was so difficult. Here's what I was feeling or here's what I encountered.

So that then we as coaches can come alongside them and open up that dialogue, open up that comment. And then they can still keep making forward progress and they're seeing it. So that's what makes it really easy to keep going. Now, I'm sure you've run into the situation where you're at the work level goals, but what you're seeing is their lifestyle goals or lifestyle habits are so atrocious that they have lost the mental and physical energy to execute.

They overeat, they eat the wrong things. They don't do any kind of movement exercise. And that's why at two o'clock in the afternoon, they're dead tired. it.

Have you ever tried to, okay, we got to start with the foundation. We got to get- Oh, of course. Yeah. Organically, we get into those things, right?

Because we'll go to the root cause first, you know, whatever is, you know, at the root of it that is causing the issue or the pattern. And then by us unearthing that, then it sort of loosens up these other things, right? Forces them to bubble up to the surface, like, you know, a lifestyle behavioral pattern. and and then it's much easier to deal with right uh rather than if we went the opposite direction and just sort of went layer by layer and said okay so what's stopping you with that and they said well you know uh i drink energy drinks and i don ever exercise and you know and i eat poorly i eat fast food uh you know then it it would it would be it would take a lot longer yes you have to you know and I eat poorly I eat fast food you know then it would be it would take a lot longer You have to you know change that one behavioral pattern and then look for the next one and then look for the next one.

Whereas doing the opposite, root cause unearths, you know, all of them, loosens them all up, brings them to the surface. And then we can actually work with several at one time because it's usually the same kind of thing that is causing all of them, which is the root. Yeah. And how long does this typically take?

You know, where people start to see real results? Well, we start off with a six month engagement, but the cool part is clients report back to us. And, you know, we're talking twice a month about this stuff and interacting with them, through the system in the metrics piece every day, every week. And so we see this, but usually around the five-week mark, they've already achieved that first round of goals and objectives.

Man, they are excited. They are stoked. They're like, wow, I can't believe I achieved this big thing that I had held myself back from for so long in such a rapid period of time. Now I want to work on this and this and this and this and this.

Can we do that? And it's truly amazing. But see, that's the power of the unconscious mind, right? And tapping into actually how it works and how it sets up behavioral patterns.

And that then those just live, they just keep on living and playing over and over until you change them. And that's it, because that five weeks is kind of like the standard or typical habit building timeframe, isn't it? Well, I've seen six days. Yeah.

Yeah. So yeah, that would be right around five weeks. Yeah. Yeah.

And you kind of get that compounding because now that those habits are subconscious. They're automatic. Yeah. They don't have to, they don't have to do the checklist.

The checklist is already natural. They've been, the old ones have been replaced by the new ones. So now you can start building the snowball. Absolutely.

Yeah. That provides a great platform for us to start building, you know, the rest of the house on. And they've also now got a structure to use. So clients will often say to me, gosh, you know, I was in this meeting or I had this decision point I was at and I heard your words in my head.

Like, oh, you know, you were asking me the questions you always ask me, you know, to help me through this. This is awesome. Yeah. And then they start to see things differently than they have in the past.

You know, they start to recognize their own behavior and the behavioral patterns of others. So, you know, for C-suite leaders, this is imperative that you can see past your own behavioral patterns so that you can identify others and you can bring out their best. You can help them. You can coach them and help them think at a higher level when you're not around because that's really what you want from them.

Cool. Tell us about the book. So it's called Unlimiting Your Beliefs, Seven Keys to Greater Success in Your Personal and Professional Life. So it is the other six keys, along with the limiting beliefs key that I already mentioned, that I found through my journey and using my story as a backdrop, because we all learn much easier and quickly through story, right, that we can relate to, that has an emotional component.

and that I, it's these six other keys that I learned through that journey through the neurosciences that help you in your personal and professional life. Because that's the other thing I want to point out. Even though our gateway in the coaching work that we're doing is through professional goals, they're always intertwined with our personal habits and thought patterns. Right.

Yeah. They aren't separate or siloed. Cool. And how about the timing of it and the formats that it's coming out in?

So it was released last year. Okay. And it has received wide critical acclaim, named Amazon number one, hot new release, and also received a five-star review from Brian Tracy for anybody who knows who that is. This audience will.

He's still within me, so I'm not sure anyone listening will know who that is. But if you do, you get a gold star. He's a very prolific, successful business book writer. And it's on Kindle.

It's available in hardback or paperback version everywhere books are sold. And as soon as I get to a certain threshold in sales, I will be able to do the Audible. Yeah. Cool.

And where can people get in touch with you? They can get in touch with me. at the name of my company, which is velocityleadershipconsulting.com forward slash greater, meaning you want greater success.

Hey, I hope you enjoyed that interview. Hey, I want to make sure you're checking out b2brevenue.com. That is where you can get a free copy of an ebook that I did.

It's a real ebook. It's not a fluff book. It shows and talks about how companies make buying decisions and how you can influence that from both a marketing and a sales standpoint, how to find all the people that are in the decision path and what they need to see, know, and touch, and feel before they make a product selection. If your team needs some coaching, some help, some training, some systems, some processes that do work today because we know what doesn't work or you know what doesn't work.

I'll show you what does work and how to connect and get into pretty much any account. It includes deal coaching and content community, and I can customize it for your particular company. Just go to b2brevenue.com, look under training, schedule a call with me.

We can talk it over or just sign up. You can pay per month or all at once, whichever makes most sense for your budget. Also, I put out videos pretty much daily on LinkedIn and on YouTube. On LinkedIn, it's Brian G.

Burns, and on YouTube, it's Brian Burns Sales. Just search for that if you'd like to consume some video content. And if you see me on LinkedIn, please put a comment and a share and a like on some of the videos. I really appreciate it.

I've got a company page for each podcast. This one, the B2B Revenue Leadership Podcast, where I put both content and humor videos out daily and tell a friend about the podcast. Really appreciate you listening. Check out the show notes for all the partners and the connections you can make there, the coupon codes for the products to evaluate them, see if they're a right match for you.

And we'll see you next time.