Perhaps the most important rule when starting a business or selling a product is to serve your customer first and foremost. In this episode, Oma sits down with Pat Flynn, to discuss all the factors that go into succeeding as an entrepreneur. Pat is the founder of FLynndustries LLC and the host of the Smart Passive Income podcast. Today, he shares his journey into entrepreneurship and how he serves his customers first and helps them in their needs. When you put your customers first, you make a connection with them and leave a good first impression! Become a successful entrepreneur today! Tune in for some great tips and insights from someone who owns several successful online businesses.
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Creating Strong Customer Relationships By Serving Their Needs With Pat Flynn
We are excited to have an amazing light being and a successful entrepreneur, none other than Pat Flynn. He is a father, a husband and an entrepreneur who lives and works in San Diego, California. He owns several successful online businesses. He is a professional blogger, keynote speaker, Wall Street Journal best-selling author and host of the Smart Passive Income and AskPat podcast, which has earned a combined total of over 65 million downloads, multiple awards and featured in publications such as the New York Times and Forbes.
He’s also an advisor to ConvertKit, Circle, and several other companies in the digital marketing arena. You wonder why and how perhaps Mr. Pat Flynn discovered his purpose on Earth. He’s here to share with us multiple colorful keys to his success and how can you turn your light from within to win and also change the lives of others on your own.
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Welcome to the show, Pat. You embody what it means and that’s beside the business. A lot of entrepreneurs want the success, achievement and trophy but with you, you have accessed this key to what success means in the world, besides the money and the trophies. I see you speak and hear your message on your podcast, which we have a nice moment to spend together. I think as we download this conversation, it’s probably about what came through to you on the journey of discovering yourself and embodying what we call the higher self to discover what is now for you, the keys to success and how do you lead with that in your business and life? What did you want to be when you grew up?
It’s interesting that you tie in this idea of discovering who you are and go to that question because I grew up in a house where it almost felt like my future was already determined for me. I know a lot of people can relate to this. Having teachers, parents and society tell you that you need to be a certain way. I acted so that I could live up to those expectations. I got straight A’s my entire schooling career. Even through college, I graduated magna cum laude from Berkeley. I went to this prestigious university to become an architect. I was on the path that maybe I didn’t decide that I was on but I believed that I was supposed to be on because everybody else was on that same path.
That’s what everybody said what success was. That was the definition of success. I was going and on autopilot. I was doing everything I was supposed to. There came a moment in 2008 when I got laid off that everything came to a screeching halt. I started to question who I was. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie The Matrix with Keanu Reeves. He’d unplugged from the Matrix and sees everything now but it’s painful, dirty and not anything that he had expected but at least there’s some truth now.
For me, I had unplugged from the conditions that I had been within to realize that I had this choice now to go back and take the blue or red pill. I can’t remember what pill but go back to that world. I had options. Even my father was like, “This happens all the time. In the meantime, while you’re waiting for the economy to get back, maybe you could go back to school and get a Master’s degree or even a PhD.”
He was right. I could go down that route but that would be me going back to the way it was. I was so hurt from not knowing what I was doing next and where I was going. I decided that was the moment that I was going to step into this new world of online business and begin to realize who I was, where I want it to go and the decisions I should make.
If I were to fail, it would be my own fault. Not because of a pathway somebody else told me or because of something else other people can control and that’s when it started to get harder. As things get harder, oftentimes, things become brighter. Things start to open up. I started to lean into those things where I started to see some light finally.
You said decision and it’s a word that rings a bell for me. Did you ever find yourself in your life accessing a place of business intuition to make the decision? Perhaps share with other entrepreneurs globally because this is going to go global. How did that affect the outcome making the decision perhaps upon this inner voice?
It’s interesting because the inner voice was telling me I needed to go down this path but at the same time, it was countered by a balance. On the other side of you can’t do this. You’ve never done this before. You went to school for five years to be an architect. That’s what I was supposed to be doing. I always had this constant battle internally and I heard multiple voices. It was up to me to decide what that filter was going to be.
I started to and the decision that had happened was I chose to listen to the positive sides of those voices. I chose to have optimism and look at the glass half full versus half empty. I had gotten laid off, moved back in with my parents and had no idea what was going to happen next. Those are all things where I could tell myself this story that I’m a failure, things are going backward for me and I didn’t do it. Those are the kinds of voices I was dealing with but I chose to listen to the other voices that were like, “What does this make possible now? What does this open up for you? When one door closes and several do close, other ones open.” We always hear that but we don’t visualize what those doors are and which ones we should step into.
If you try to serve everybody, you're going to serve nobody. Share on XI’m very grateful because, at the time, that I had these internal battles, I was also listening to a lot of conversations on podcasts. It’s similar to this one, of entrepreneurs who had lived through similar things, had tough decisions like I had to make and have seen the other side of it and we’re sharing their success stories.
It was one episode in particular in a business-related podcast where a guy talked about how he was helping people pass the project management exam. I’d never heard of that exam but I heard his story and struggles. I saw myself in him. I said, “I can do something similar and choose to follow his path and that path versus the path that was happening in my head, which was, “You can’t do this. It’s never going to work out,” those kinds of things.
That is beautiful and all of your wisdom that comes naturally through you when you speak is so organically embedded within you, your direct knowledge and life experience. I love that about you. That it’s not so much, “Reading this book.” All of that is important in our path to success as an entrepreneur but with you, it has this grace, even in your voice. The first time I heard you on your podcast, I was like, “This is super exciting.”
I was so excited because your voice itself is instrumental when you share your message. Your voice is very expanded consciousness, Pat. When you listen to your podcast, it’s not the things you say but there’s joy with you. It’s contagious. There’s this joy that you transmit. There’s more than a speaking message with you. It’s almost like you’re speaking like light language. You are delivering and transmitting wisdom that’s beyond the linear functional like, “I understand. Yeah. I need to do the logic.”
You went beyond be beyond all of that. It’s so pure, beautiful and magical. That’s lovely to have you here. You spoke about your podcast and how did you discover your mission. Talk to us about the essence of your message. What exactly is it? Why is this so important for the world to know this message?
The phrase I like to share is this idea of serving first. In every successful business, a product I’ve sold, successful transaction and conversation I’ve had with somebody I’ve been helping, it is only successful when I first understand who is it that I’m speaking to or with and what might they need help with? Everything stems from there.
My first business was helping people who were trying to pass a very difficult architecture exam. It’s one that I had taken. Instead of me going, “Here’s everything I know, go.” It was, “What are the parts of this that you’re struggling with the most? Let’s start there.” When you can get people some small wins first, they start to open up to this idea of not just, “You can help me.” It’s, “I can do this.”
I started to notice that myself when I started to put myself out there and help people. I started to even tell myself that, “I can do this. I helped one person now. Maybe I can help another person tomorrow or maybe two people tomorrow.” All of a sudden, I started noticing things were stacking upon each other to a point where now I was getting messages every day from people saying, “Thank you,” calling me by name, getting recognized for way more than I was when I was in architecture.
I was getting called out by name because I was helping people pass a little exam because that’s who I was targeting and what they needed help with. Evolving from that, I noticed a lot of other people, especially my older architecture friends, who were like, “Pat, how are you surviving during this time?” This was back in 2008 during the last Great Recession.
I started noticing and paying attention to what they needed help with. Everybody was asking me, “Pat, how did you build that online business? Can you show me and help me understand how I can do that too?” I said, “Let me take this information and put it on a website and now answer those questions and help those struggles.” That’s what became Smart Passive Income.

I didn’t start going, “Here’s everything that you need to know.” It was like, “What do you need help with? I need help with finding my niche. Let’s talk about that. I need help writing an eBook. Let me create a little PDF file to help you with that.” The beauty about the way that I approach business and what I recommend for others is all the answers are out there already.
You have to find them. In order to find them, you have to have conversations and you have to ask the right questions. The beauty of this is you don’t have to guess anymore. The path is already there. You have to take your machete and get rid of the weeds, the unnecessary and start carving that path. It’s going to be a little dangerous but you can have some people there to support you. You can have information and education to support you and equip you with more things.
You don’t have to guess anymore. That’s the beauty of this. I think a lot of people approach entrepreneurship with, “I’m going to try this and we’ll see.” That’s how we approach it but you can stack things in your favor to have a better chance of those things that you’re experimenting with to succeed.
I have in my tribe many who are seeking help, like, “How do you start a podcast?” They’re going why. It’s like, “I have this big idea,” and they want to help the world, the speakers, the coaches, the consultant. There’s nothing wrong with that. What would you tell them, like, “You’re launching your podcast,” or the things that you wished you knew before you started your podcast?
If you try to serve everybody, you’re going to serve nobody. The beauty of this is your desire to help everybody is so good. Not everyone is in it for everybody. Everybody often is in it for themselves. The fact that you want to help the world is great but the truth is this world is so big and expansive. If you try to create a message that pleases everybody, a product that serves everybody, you’re not going to serve anybody because they’re not going to feel like you made it for them. Don’t create something for the entire world. Create something for somebody’s world. When you pick a little world within this bigger world, for me, it was architects and then it became entrepreneurs.
It’s become more hobby-based things that I’m into or an invention I have called the SwitchPod for vloggers. I chose that world, went to that world and similar to before, I said, “What do you need help with? What is a struggle or a challenge that you have?” I became to that little world exactly who they needed. As I often say, “The riches are in the niches.” There’s less competition. You can speak the same languages as that.
On the surface, you’re weeding out so many people. It’s like, “Those are potential customers.” No, those are distractions because there’s this little tiny world that needs your help. You can become their go-to resource, their favorite, their solution that they’ve been looking for. The beauty of this is when you create a solution again, without guessing, those people often hang around with each other because that’s their little world.
When you help that one person, they’re friends and there’s nothing better than a recommendation from a friend. It works on itself, even for the architecture stuff. I had a woman named Jackie email me once. She said, “Thank you for helping me pass this exam.” Several months later, I get all these customers coming in. I remember her email was the same as these people’s emails. It was from the same company. One person, Jackie, told 25 of her coworkers that they needed to get my guide. She could’ve shared it for free. She could have let them get whatever guide they wanted to pass it. She said, “No, you got to get Pat’s guide.” That one person or that super fan’s recommendation is worth way more.
Those people tend to hang around with each other who have similar problems. That’s how we do it again. On the surface, it’s like, “This sounds easy.” The truth is it’s way easier than we think it needs to be. Another issue with entrepreneurs, it’s something I wish I told myself was, don’t have to make it so complicated. Tim Ferriss once told me, “If this were simple, what would it look like?” Do it that way and start small and do it simply. We complicate things too much. We try to make it harder than it needs to be.
I come from a very small territory in the South of France. I was a gypsy, literally. We are from this place where it was creative. Gypsies come from all over the world to embed the art, creativity, passion and connection. I think that this culture you have in your business is crucial for global success, communities. How do we innovate? How do we create? A little bit of me is nostalgic because I see in America or even globally, losing that culture of simplicity that you speak about.
I saw you on stage and you are flamboyant in a very positive way. You have a way with people that literally come out of you. You have this unique energy or frequency that speaks to people before you open your mouth. You show up with it, your light, excitement and passion. Come to that is to see what your take on that? How important is it in your opinion that we cultivate the passion or the creativity that we cultivate daily? How do you cultivate daily? Do you get inspired daily? You get inspired. How do you get fired up?
Start small and make it simple. People complicate things too much. Share on XThere’s a lot of ways I get fired up. First and foremost, my family at home, my wife does so much for our family as a stay-at-home mom and I owe her everything. A lot of what I do in my energy goes to her and for her. My kids as well are growing up so fast. We only have eleven more summers with my kids until my daughter’s out. That’s like not much time at all when you break it down to that. Let’s make the most of it. Let’s inspire and lead by example.
I get inspiration from my audience, customers and students and everybody out there, my partners, colleagues and friends, all play a role. When you speak about this idea of having that presence and connection with people, which is very important to have, even if you have the best business and solution and products, without that connection to start, they won’t even get to that product. They’re already moving on.
The person-to-person aspect, the relationship aspect is important. My favorite way of entering a room and becoming somebody people can trust and listen to is to take the conversation out of who I am and make it about who they are. One of my coaches once said, “Stop trying to be so interesting and start getting interested.” The funny thing is when you get more interested in somebody else, they can’t help but now want to be interested in what you are doing naturally authentically.
This is this idea of stacking on positivity to make something even better. This is how we make the world a better place. That’s what I do. I don’t make it about me. It becomes about me eventually. I learned this from Tim Ferriss who launched a book in 2007 called The 4-Hour Workweek, which many of us know.
I hadn’t heard about how he launched that because when he launched that, this was back before podcasting was big and YouTubing was huge. He somehow got on everybody’s radar and was on a podcast that I was listening to telling the story. He said he went to blogging conferences. When he went to these blogging conferences, he met as many people as he could. When he met these people, he tried to become the most interested person in what they were doing and the entire conference.
What ended up happening was all these people who were getting this attention from Tim turned and said, “Tim, what are you working on?” He has opened the door to talk about what he’s doing without ever feeling like a sleazeball or too aggressive because he now has permission and attention. People are asking. He was able to make these connections with all these different people, such that they eventually learned that he had a book. They wanted to support him.
They all wrote blog posts and started talking about it when it came out and boom, New York Times bestseller. Whether it works strategically like that or inherently and emotionally in your life, I think let’s go and meet people. Let’s see what we can do to learn who they are, what their needs are, what language they might respond to and then get them interested now in what we have after. That’s beautiful to me.
It’s like you’re building an empire upon that wisdom that underneath it is the force that feeds everything else. You are this instrument. I see that you’re present. Even here with me, you’re so present. You’re such a gift and that’s where abundance comes from. That’s where that gift of living comes from. To be here with you present in this moment. I’m listening with my heart and that’s what you do. You listen with your heart. That’s exactly what one of your probably most gifts is that you are this listener. You’ve been listening and now look at what you created, the reality of abundance, joy and freedom that you created. I’m so humbled to be here with you. How did you discover it? Do you also have a gift with music?
I was a big musician when I was in school. I was introduced to music in the fourth grade. I remember literally in fourth grade, they had a big assembly in the theater area. They brought out all the instruments. Every single instrument in the band was there. We got to go around, touch and look at them and talk to people who played them to discover which one we might want to choose.
I remember going to the tuba first because it was the biggest. I was like a little kid. I was like, “I want the biggest thing.” I went to the biggest one. I couldn’t even pick it up. I’m like, “I’m a tiny kid so that’s not going to work.” I went to like the lightest one. I was like, “If I’m going to carry this around, I want it to be light.” I’m trying to use logic. I went to the flute because it’s the lightest one but I noticed that like that’s where all the girls were. All the girls were at the flute.
I was like, “What’s a good medium one?” I found the trumpet. I could hold it. It was only three keys. The saxophone looked cool too but there were twenty keys on it. I was like, “Three buttons. Cool. I can do that.” I took it home and my parents were very supportive. Even though it was loud and obnoxious at first, they put me through lessons and I got good at it.
I played it for about fifteen years. I was in orchestra, wind ensemble, marching band, jazz band and pit orchestra for musicals. I did the whole thing. Even it helped me choose what college to get into because that’s where UC Berkeley has the Cal Band, which is where my band director in high school was from. It’s been a huge part of my life. I picked up piano and guitar. I can play drums and it’s become this thing. I even took singing lessons.

The funny story about that is I took singing lessons because my career is very much based on my voice. I knew that getting some singing lessons and training for breathing and voice could help me with my podcasting. When I spoke on stage, it was helpful. As a by-product, I’m now able to sing a couple of tunes but it’s been a while. I haven’t done a lot of breathing exercises lately but music is huge. Music motivates me when I’m working out. Music is on when I’m studying. I have music.
Music is funny because I will harmonize it when it’s on. I will make up the lyrics. If I’m studying or doing work, I have no words. If I start hearing the words, I start thinking about what the singer is going through, the emotion behind it and the story behind these lyrics? It’s so interesting to me but music is one of those layers of energy that I often try to have with me at all times.
It’s such a beautiful concept that you bring forth because music is literally the language of the soul. I didn’t speak any English when I came to this country. I was a homeless, illegal immigrant. I can’t imagine not having my guitar with me. Because of that, I was able to survive playing on the street and buy those little Gerber baby pot sauces. It was $0.25 at the time. If I didn’t have that, I would not be able to talk to you right now. Music saved my butt.
It’s a universal language. It doesn’t matter what country you’re from. It’s something we can all groove to.
I can see how you dance and move on stage. This is why I was so excited to meet you. I was like, “He’s definitely my tribe.” You got the whole package. I love your look. I’m a big curious person. Tell me more about that look. Did that naturally come through? This is the old soul coming into a full blossoming.
There’s like even gray coming out underneath too that I didn’t even know I had. First of all, being half Filipino, I didn’t even know this was possible. I always shaved off but then COVID happened. I’m like, “I’ll let it grow and see what happens.” It came out nice and thick. I started trimming it and my daughter loves it. My wife’s like, “It tickles but whatever.” Being on video quite a bit and on stages, I don’t know. People respond to me differently as a result. Not to say like you have to have a beard to succeed or anything, no but at the same time, visual appearances matter.
This is an interesting thing that happened to me. When I started speaking on stage in 2011, I had no idea what I was doing. I tried it and a kind person who I had helped without even knowing it downloaded one of my guides. He was successful with it. He reached out to me and his name’s Antonio from RealMenRealStyle.com. He said, “Pat, I downloaded your how-to write an eBook thing. I had made it over 100,000 downloads. I owe this to you.”
Without even knowing who this person was, he created a 27-minute video that was like, “Pat, I know you’re speaking a lot. I want to give you all the tips I know to help a person of your size, your color, everything so that you can look the best you can on stage.” It was the most educational and helpful. This is people serving people first.
He and I since then have become friends. He’s been on my podcast and all these things because I helped him. He helped me. It was interesting because I remember I had purchased and invested in some nicer clothing now that I knew what to do. Before he even got to the plane in the airport, I noticed that people were speaking and treating me differently. I didn’t want to believe it. I think we all inherently know that you make a first impression and what you wear, what you look like and how you smell, all that stuff plays a role in the entire conversation.
Share about that more because I think we speak, do all these things and see a lot lately about the concept of, “You have a great message and are amazing. Just show up.” You have those showing up. Even on the podcast, they show up and it’s like a tradition for me. I meditate before showing up. I do the perfume. Even though you don’t smell my perfume but what I mean is, can you share a little bit more about the importance of a first impression? I think a lot of entrepreneurs could do so much better with that and see the ripple effect of showing up, being prepared for who they are and their message.
We’re not talking about what your website looks like or the colors on your website. This is beyond that. The number one thing that offers an amazing first impression is your messaging. What are the words people are reading and how does that connect with who it is that you’re serving? I know a lot of entrepreneurs who build a homepage and a website where they make it about themselves. Immediately, what does that first impression? “This is for you. You’re not in this for me. You’re in this for you because all you’re doing is talking about yourself,” versus when I see people, it’s almost like you can’t even pinpoint it. It’s like a feeling, aura, a sense that, “This person is in it for the right reasons.”
Stop trying to be so interesting and start getting interested. Share on XThere are strategies but there’s also experimentation. You might not get it right the first time and that’s okay. It’s important to have conversations with people visiting that website to have them tell you what they thought because the truth is you never get a second chance to make a first impression. It’s important that you at least have the right purpose behind what you’re doing. That’s the most important thing. The purpose comes out and then everything else stacks on top of it. You’re now saying the right words, able to show the right images and everything is built on top of that if that makes sense.
Sometimes we don’t know. Another one of the phrases I often use is, “You can’t read the label when you’re inside the bottle.” You need people on the outside to tell you what’s happening. We’re so involved in our own stuff that we don’t see the obvious sometimes because we’re so in the weeds. Having even one other person go, “That doesn’t make sense to me.” You’re like, “What does it make sense?” They’re like, “This,” and then you go, “You’re right.”
It’s important to beyond the first impression conversation we’re having is like connect with other people, not just your audience but colleagues and a mastermind group and friends who could lean on you and you can lean on them when you’re in need. There’s a lot. We’re talking about a lot of things and it might be overwhelming but again, one step at a time. The best piece of advice I could give is if you’re starting in your journey is get one person one result.
That’s going to teach you how to get to those people, how to talk to them, how to get a person to agree, to get help from you and also how you like helping these people. You might find that you didn’t like how you did it. You don’t like the one-on-one coaching. Maybe we can move on to something else but it’s so much easier to help one person and try to launch big and help a thousand people or have a multimillion-dollar launch from the beginning. You can get there. It takes steps and you learn along the way as you go.
You make a legacy literally such an impactful financial legacy on that. Your podcast, it’s one out of a million, we’ll be able to get there but it’s possible to get there. You’re an example of that. What drains you?
This might come as a surprise but I’m a huge introvert. Draining is not bad, though. I’ll talk about the things that drain me in a bad sense but like conversations like this, getting into a public environment, having to put on my performance and be there to shake hands, meet people and truly get interested in others. That takes energy from me as an introvert. It’s important for you to know that it’s not a bad thing. An introvert is not a bad thing. It means that being around people takes a lot of energy. I need to know how to recover from that.
Typically, when I’m at an event, for example, I have time in my schedule for no people. I go back to my hotel room and I like Netflix it out. That’s my recharge. Extroverts are the opposite. When extroverts are alone, that’s draining. They go into those environments and thrive. They get energy from being around people. For me, that’s not how I work. You have to know how you work to know how to support yourself and be the best version of yourself. There are things that are draining to me.
For example, a lot of in the weeds work in my business. If I were to have to edit a blog post, now I know that’s draining. It’s not even draining because it’s hard. It’s draining because I know that time can be better spent elsewhere. It took me a long time to become the CEO of my company. Even though I have been boss for years, it took me 6 or 7 years to finally turn into the CEO of my company.
It means knowing when to say yes to doing things and knowing when to say no to do certain things. What eats me up or drains me is if I find that a lot of the work I’m doing is not productive. If it’s not productive but I’m doing it means I didn’t plan enough ahead of time to know not to do that either not at all or hand it off to somebody else. This mindset started happening especially as my kids started getting older because as time is running out with them, I know that if I am not being productive if I’m working on something that I didn’t plan enough ahead of time and I’m wasting my time, that’s not time wasted for my business. That’s time I’m taking away from my kids. Whether that’s true or not, it doesn’t matter. That’s what I believe. I plan enough ahead of time to make sure that the things that I am working on are big levers that move things. I don’t want to sit and do busy work.
I can see how micro-managing for you would be literally a pain for you. You’re a creator, that’s what you do and excel in. Can you recall a time in your life where you had a moment of fear? One of those fears that you’re like, “I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to overcome this one.”
There are so many times where fear has come into play. Some of those moments happened early on from when I got laid off and didn’t know that this was the path that I was supposed to be on to the day before I launched my study guide and wondering if people were even going to buy it. To investments, I’ve made in my business that was completely wrong, to partnering with a person who I thought was authentic and then they go behind my back and do something. All of a sudden, I feel like I’m left alone. There’s a lot. From getting on stage, putting my voice out there and my podcast to launching my online course for the first time, feeling like does this launch of my only course mean I am trying to take as much money away from my audience as possible? I already gave so much away for free.

Am I selling out now? Creating my membership program that happened now is another thing that costs money but also brings these entrepreneurs together to let go of parts of my business. I was editing my podcast for five years and finally, having to let go was very difficult. Every once in a while, I get those little momentary lapses of anxiety where I’m like, “What if the business goes away tomorrow? What if tomorrow is the day where everything crumbles, I don’t make any sales and then something happens or whatever?
There was another time where my website got hacked and I couldn’t deal with it. There was another time where I got a cease-and-desist letter from a company whose trademark I was using accidentally. There are so many moments where I’ve had moments of fear and me telling myself, “What did I even get into? I’m not cut out for this. I wouldn’t experience this if I were working my 9:00 to 5:00 job so maybe I should go back to that.”
I always remember, what does this allow me to do? Yes. Did I expect everything to go perfectly? No. This is one of those moments that it’s one of those road bumps but what’s on the other side of it? What’s going to happen next year if I get through this? What’s going to happen next year if I retreat? How am I going to live with that regret? I love to live by this phrase, “I would much rather live a life full of “Oh wells” than a life full of “what-ifs.” If I have something I might want to do or a goal but I don’t do it. That what if on my deathbed, what if I did that? What if that was the thing that changed everything? That’s what’s going to kill me versus me trying something.
Maybe it fails, “Oh well, I gave it a shot. I tried something.” The cool thing is with every single thing you do, you either get the result you were expecting and hoping for or the lesson you needed. No matter what, it’s a win. Hopefully, for those of you reading who are like, “You’re always getting in your own way. You’re always stopping yourself. You’re holding yourself back from moving forward because you’re not getting the results and the lesson. What happens in 30 years when you’re wondering what could have happened? It’s not good.
It’s so deep that it should be like one of your next books. I can see how you’re shifting into this guru. Gu means light and dark. You’re like this guru of business podcasting and all you can add into the list but you’re removing the excuses for the people who have self-doubt and victim program into the Matrix. It’s like, “The monkey mind is running around.” You come in and remove the darkness. For me, I will definitely add on that you are the guru and literally the guru of podcasting, messaging, connection and community. You’re absolutely a beacon of light.
I’m not perfect, though. I make mistakes, still, get scared and don’t do things right all the time. I like to share those things openly everywhere on my podcast and whatnot. That’s reality and real life. In Japan and they have these man-made Japanese gardens. They always put a couple of weeds in there because if they didn’t, it would be too perfect. It wouldn’t seem real. Even though it’s a man-made garden, they still put a couple of weeds in there.
I still have a couple of weeds in me but the beauty is I have other people who can spot them for me before I do. I’m in the bottle. I have other people I can lean on in case things go bad. To my points earlier about connecting with others and being interested in what they’re doing. I had once learned from one of my friends, Jordan Harbinger, who also has a podcast. He recommended that we create what we call our layoff lifeline.
That is these connections that you make with people. You don’t want to make them when you need something. You want to keep the relationship going. To a point where every month or two, I go into my phone, scroll all the way to the bottom of my messages and see who hasn’t made a connection within a very long time. Sometimes it’s like four years ago. It’s like one of my best friends and I haven’t even texted him until four years ago. I sent him a message for no reason other than to reconnect because there might come a point in the future where you might need some help.
If you haven’t reached out to these people and you’re only asking them in your time of need, it’s too late. If you’re digging your well and already thirsty, you’re too late. We need to work on our relationships now and keep adding to that well and digging it now. I love to practice that exercise of reconnecting. I want to do this, go to my messages and go all the way to the bottom. There are names here that I haven’t connected with in so long. It’s so sad. It could be a good exercise for everybody reading.
It’s an empowering message that you share. People need to understand, this is a wake-up call. This is like, “We need to get in touch with our humanity.” How do we do that? You have those people in your life that they’re hanging in there. How about you connect to them instead of going out and saying, “I’m going to change the world.” Connect with the people already there with you on your train and connect with them, see how they’re doing and that’s going to change your life, tribe or business.
It’s a powerful, divine message. Thank you, Pat, for sharing. How is it that now you are in this place in time and creating this place of new stuff coming up? I haven’t done my research and I apologize. I’m being completely genuine here about what’s going on in your world and universe next.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Share on XThere are a lot of things happening. I’m very grateful because I have a team that allows for a lot of things to happen all at the same time. We launched our SPI Pro Community. This is a membership now. Community is becoming more important than ever. A lot of people are escaping from Facebook now to find their people. We wanted to create a space for entrepreneurs to connect with who can help and serve each other.
I’m working on a new book. I haven’t told many people this so I’m happy to tell you because I feel very connected to you. It’s a productivity book when it comes down to it. It’s this idea of the fact that we are learning too much. We have so much consumption behavior in this world that we are not allowing ourselves to take action. What do we learn? How do we apply it? How do we overcome the fear of missing out on top of that?
It’s all those kinds of components with a lot of personal stories to go along with that. I’m excited about that book. It may be traditionally published but I haven’t decided yet but seeing what’s out there, we’re shopping it around. I am also excited because my physical product, the SwitchPod, was an invention that my videographer and I created. We will be very soon having it available in Best Buys and in stores around the world, which is a big deal because we launched it on Kickstarter in 2019. It did well.
It still continues to sell but this is big leagues now. It’s exciting because it was a little side project that took off. More than that, I’m going to be slowing down my speaking on stages. I’m going to do fewer but I’m going to go bigger when I do them. I’m going to allow for more time at home with the kids and with the family instead. It was getting to a point where it was like every month I was gone and it’s not like the 45 or 60 minutes on stage.
It’s a couple of days earlier getting to know the audience a couple of days later, the preparation coming back and recovery. It was a lot. More vacations with the family and experiences. We’re doing good financially. We don’t spend money on Lamborghinis. That stuff doesn’t matter to us. What matters are experiences and buying memories. That’s what we do. We buy memories.
I think I’m more excited than you about your new project. This is unbelievable. There’s no limit. I’m waiting in maybe 2022, 2023 for a documentary of how Pat Flynn discovered the path of self-realization through the skill or cutting through the infobesity, a lot of information. When you talked to me about discovering this download of your new book because you’re going to download it, it touched me deeply. I’m passionate about the things that are around infobesity and how people are in denial of the noise. They’re so inflamed in the mind that they cut them from being creative. I can’t wait for your book. What is your most mystical experience? How did they impact you?
I had my podcast for a couple of years and was getting a little bit tired of it because it was getting to the point where it started feeling like work. A lot of us could get to that point very easily. I was thinking of quitting it. Literally, two days after having that thought in my head, I got an email. The email was from this guy in Poland. He said, “Pat, please read. You saved my life.” I said, “That’s a good subject line. I’m going to open this for sure.”
It’s like twenty pages of this guy’s story going back a whole year and a half. It’s almost right when I started this podcast. He said that he had gotten into a terrible accident and broke both legs. He shared the x-rays. He said he was feeling so depressed. He couldn’t support his family. He’s got two kids. He couldn’t go back to work, which required him to walk around. He was useless and that’s when he discovered my new podcast, Smart Passive Income.
He said, “He listened to the show every day.” It was one episode where I talked about when you set goals for yourself, you want to set almost impossible goals. If the goal is already achievable in your mind, you’re not extending yourself or stretching. He decided that with two broken legs that he was going to run a marathon. He said there was a marathon going to happen in Poland in about a year’s time. He was going to train and get better. His goal was to complete that marathon. He said that I was his trainer. I don’t teach physical therapy or training. I’m the podcaster talking about business but he said that he could come and listened every day. I was his coach. I kept him motivated. He started to learn how to walk again and to run.
At the end of this email was a picture of him crossing the finish line of that very marathon on his two legs, holding up a sign that was in Polish. I couldn’t read what the sign said because it’s in Polish but translated. It was, “Thank you, God. Thank you, Gabby and his kids. Thank you, Pat Flynn.” Literally, I started breaking down. I was crying at that moment because that was divine intervention. I did not even know this guy existed but the moment that I said to the world, “I don’t think I’m in a podcast anymore.”
Mi Howell sent this email with this image and I vowed to never stop. This is why I teach podcasting, it’s the most powerful platform in the world and there’s definitely something going on when you need something. When you put yourself out there, the world gives back. I’m thankful to share that story with you and your audience. I met him a couple of years ago in London and he gifted me that very banner. It’s up there.

It’s beyond words. It’s divine intervention because you’re so fricking connected and in alignment, Pat, to your soul purpose. It’s amazing. Thank you. I know you have a tribe to serve and got to go but you will always be in my heart.
Thank you so much. You as well and everybody who’s reading, I hope to connect with you again in the future. I hope this inspires you and encourages you to share it because I think you can help more people too.
We’re going to do that definitely. Namaste. Thank you so much.
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It’s such an incredible interview with Pat and transformational at a core level of consciousness, not just the so and so questions that you maybe would expect from an interview. I feel like when we go deeper into that, the human being behind who’s Pat Flynn came through in such a beautiful way and experience that I know had you reading this episode because someone like Pat Flynn truly represents such a genuine expanded of consciousness that speaks from the heart to become a place of love. What I mean by that divine love, that intimate connection was the highest self and that invitation.
When we hear him speak, you can’t help yourself wondering, “How can someone that young keep on the higher path and be so aware to teach millions and have such a tremendous, massive success, which is the cord, if you will? The way I see it is this someone like him who worked with himself that he found going within to win that got him to where he’s at now?
The nuggets and the wisdom he shared were absolutely brilliant in the simplicity, which one of the keys of success that he shared that stood up for me was to keep it simple. It might be something that we keep on saying, “Simplicity, make it simple,” but it is not that simple to keep it simple. When we look at our lives, the noise in the world society and everything that we have to deal with, how can we reduce everything to that very crucial moment where we see ourselves in this point in the universe and say, “I’m going to dedicate the next minute to be absolutely real and in alignment with my purpose. Who am I in the world? Who am I?”
This simplicity doesn’t come with wandering around. I feel like you shared so many beautiful practices that how can we become the best version of ourselves, yet serving on the higher path. He talks about the importance of being a servant leader. It takes that getting out of ourselves out of the way. We’re so caught into, maybe as an entrepreneur, what people think. We’re looking at everything. Many around us are doing what they need to do, yet we are caught in this web of entanglement.
It’s like, “I need to focus on what it is that I am here to do.” Most importantly, “Why am I doing the things that I’m doing?” When you come to that place in your business where you keep asking. Him being invited to be transparent with yourself and looking at yourself in the mirror and asking those tough questions like, “What am I here to do? Why am I doing the things that I’m doing? Who are you here to serve?”
It’s for you to determine that and honor what you’re here to do. We all have different things to do in life and different purposes but the best part of it all is when you discover that path and you’re on that path, it’s almost like you become guided. There is a place in your life where you become guided. You become more in tune with who you are, not what you do necessarily but who you are. Who you are? What you are becomes so evident that you feel like this light keeps showing up in your life.
Even though you might struggle because the struggle is real, you can struggle. It’s your choice. You can look at it as you struggle on the ground in that suffering or you can struggle on the ground of joy. You might say, “What are you talking about? Why is she telling me this? I don’t understand. What is that about?” That feeling of being always in your head and not being in connection with your heart, not being at ease, that’s suffering, the stress in your life.
You can experience that stress. If you experience stress, that is on that ground of creativity, for instance, it’s going to have a different outcome because it’s going to help you to feel differently. For instance, we all have bills to pay and problems. When that happens to me and I get stressed out and I do, I would even write or pick up my guitar or do something that is outside the box a little bit. That’s more unique to you. It’s something that you used to like when you were a child but perhaps it’s painting or whatever that is that’s creative for you like dancing. Put music and dance.
You will get out of your head and what happens is that you feel different. You start feeling different because you’re expanding your field of consciousness. Now that you feel different, your body starts to open up, there is body language that connects to your brain. The next action that’s going to happen is that you’re going to feel different. You’re going to have a different attitude and behavior from that feeling.
Live a life full of 'oh, wells' rather than a life full of 'what ifs.' Share on XThe behavior is going to turn into a different energy vibration in your being. When that happens, you raise your frequency. Therefore, you become activated into a different alignment, place, if you will, as Pat described that he had this moment when he felt like he was unplugging from the Matrix, like the movie. It was like, “I had to unplug.” He felt this shift and experienced this difference, change, transformation and then he got him to be in alignment. Even more was what he was supposed to do here but he also took action.
It’s important to know that you’re going to have a different feeling which is going to create a different outcome because eventually, that behavior’s going to nurture a different reality. You got to create for yourself. You’re not going to be in your headspace, thinking about self-doubt and fear because your vibration now is changing. That’s so important. It’s like, “If you want to create something different, feel different.” Go back to simplicity.
If you read Pat’s episode, you will be inspired by his way of being so real, genuine with us because he shared things that perhaps he didn’t even share before anywhere else. This vulnerability is also a gift and you don’t have to leave it shackles into your old programming. You’re not those programs. You are unique and light. You are the creator of your own destiny. The message was so profound. This episode inspired me as well.
He shared how he was able to make a decision with his business intuition. He also battled with his internal self. It was very clear that when you turn yourself positive, you make that effort. When you serve first, they start to shift. His podcast, Smart Passive Income is powerful. I invite you to connect with Pat and his podcast, his tribe. He has so much knowledge when it comes to podcasts. Please feel free to plug into his train. If you’re interested, it’s basically so super simple to connect with him. It’s at PatFlynn.com. Go to his website and you’ll get many ways to connect with him and his program. He’s got such an incredible story as well.
That is the lesson and the wisdom wrapped up into one episode. I send you lots of love. Keep it simple. It’s all good. Take it one minute at a time. Remember to connect with your breath and the place within yourself. That’s always there. I like always to remind everyone that there is a guide that’s always there within you, this inner voice. Call it whatever you want. For me, it’s my best self. It’s like the highest self that knows the way. When you decide to quiet yourself up or get out of your way, you lead with your higher self and there is no way that you can’t be ever wrong when your highest self is always right.
You have to make that choice to finally say, “I’m going to do what Pat and Oma did. I’m going to unplug from the Matrix.” It must be something about shifting and frequency that must be real. I know so many of my guests are coming in and they are transparent about something that’s mystical about success. Not just the success that comes with the trophy and the cars and all this stuff but the success that is more, “I feel so abandoned. I feel it in my own cellular level and my body.” Gratitude. Take time to feel that in your own life or heart every day.
Don’t get caught so much with the expectation and outcome because when you’re in the moment, you have all the answers. You already had the answers. It’s a place that you have to be at peace with. You have to be a peace with yourself. You can go, serve and do all the great things you are here to do. We are here to help you. We are here to get you that juice to fire you up and make sure that you stay connected with your uniqueness to the gift you were born with. If you don’t know what those are, it’s okay.
Connect to Mystical Mavericks tribe. Join us on the higher path with others. The mystical mavericks are the ones who are definitely leading with their uniqueness. We’re not shy around that, which is important to do because you’re leaving now outside of the Matrix and creating from a multidimensional place. I’m not afraid of saying, “I speak the light language. It’s no problem.” Be connected. Find a tribe. If not, make sure you plug in and join us on the show. Continue to get plugged into those episodes. They will elevate you.
We’re very blessed, you and I, to be able to participate in this flow and this new shift, a new paradigm that’s going on universally and globally. We’re able to plug into the community to help each other elevate and raise consciousness for a better world, future and experiencing life the way it should be, which is abundance, health and wealth.
I wish you with all my love and light that you find yourself unplugging from old programs. You’ll see yourself in a mirror exactly as you are such a beautiful being that you are. Continue to serve that which cannot be contained or defined. You are the light in the world. Thank you for showing up and being you. Reading the message and also spreading your light with others. I send you lots of love and light. A bientot, my friend, on the next episode on the show.
Important Links
- Smart Passive Income
- AskPat
- ConvertKit
- Leadpages
- Teachable
- SwitchPod
- The 4-Hour Workweek
- RealMenRealStyle.com
- SPI Pro Community
About Pat Flynn
Pat Flynn is a father, husband, and entrepreneur who lives and works in San Diego, CA. He owns several successful online businesses and is a professional blogger, keynote speaker, Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and host of the Smart Passive Income and AskPat podcasts, which have earned a combined total of over 85 million downloads, multiple awards, and features in publications such as The New York Times and Forbes. He is also an advisor to ConvertKit, Circle, and several other companies in the digital marketing arena.