Episode 121: Aligning Your Business to Your Life Purpose with Iman Aghay – Transcript
Rennie Gabriel 00:10
Hi folks, welcome to Episode 121 of the Wealth On Any Income Podcast. This is where we talk about money tips, techniques, attitudes, information, and provide inspiration around your business and your money. I'm your host, Rennie Gabriel. In past episodes, we spoke about how to understand the numbers from your business, how to measure the level of pleasure based on where you spend your money, how to track your money in 5 to 10 seconds, what determines how close you are to Complete Financial Choice®, and how to run your business without being in your business. Last week, we had Larry Broughton, the owner of a boutique chain of hotels, who was also awarded as entrepreneur of the year. Today we have as our guest Iman Aghay. Iman is a serial entrepreneur, international speaker and six-time number one best selling author. He's best known as the founder of Success Road Academy, an industry leader in online marketing and training that has created over 50 courses - that's five zero - that's helped coaches, authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs grow their business aligned with their life purpose. Iman, welcome to the Wealth On Any Income podcast.
Iman Aghay 01:32
Thank you very much for having me here, Rennie. I'm excited.
Rennie Gabriel 01:34
Yeah, I've been looking forward to this for a long time. We've known each other for a long time. And I'm so pleased that we're finally doing this. So, okay, you design courses for coaches and entrepreneurs. Why?
Iman Aghay 01:52
Well, the story goes to when I was growing up, my dad was an entrepreneur, and he was a really good entrepreneur. But he always worked really, really hard. And he had plans to retire when he turns 53. That was a time that I would turn 18. I was the youngest kid and he was waiting for me to turn 18 and retire. And when he turned 50, he was diagnosed with a disease called ALS also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. And he passed away when he was 53. He never retired. He never enjoyed his life. And he died with massive regrets. And that led me on the journey of wanting to find ways and systems for entrepreneurs, to help them to be able to live their life purpose while they are building their business. Unfortunately, many business owners are slave to their business. So they work hard for their business, as opposed to their business work really hard to serve their life purpose. And many times people don't even know what their life purpose is. So the business starts as a means for providing financial stability. And unfortunately, it continues as the way to live for them, because now they're in "golden handcuffs". So one of the things that we do at Success Road Academy is talk about your life purpose and understanding, like, why you're building a business, what's the impact you want to make in this world, and how your business is part of your life purpose. Now, it just so happens that I believe, creating and selling online courses is one of the greatest ways that gives you financial freedom, location freedom, and time freedom. So you can easier follow your life purpose. And many people don't want to build and create online courses, and that's totally fine. But at least we have helped them to figure out their life purpose. And many people want to get in, you know, $500 billion industry of online courses. And so they start creating their courses and we help them to share that knowledge and message and make an impact in the world and, and change the world.
Rennie Gabriel 04:15
Your reason why is just so clear. And it kind of reminds me a little bit of my own story of having been broke at 50 and starting over. But by age 58 I no longer had to work for a living. And so my doing the podcast, my interviewing folks like you, my training other people how to handle money powerfully, is a part of my purpose. Because you know, I get to live my life now without a concern for earning a living. So you know, thank you, Iman, for what you're doing. Also because I donate 100% of the profits from the work I do to charities, tell me about your favorite charity and what they do or your favorite cause.
Iman Aghay 05:00
Yeah, actually, when I read the question in preparation for the podcast, I was thinking we don't have one favorite charity, we actually support several charities for different reasons and different things, and in different areas. So one of the best places that I always highly believe in supporting and helping is food banks. So we we donate money and food and also like when sometimes when we have parties, for the business or even personal, we just ask people to bring some food to donate to the food bank, to the local food banks. And so that's actually one of the biggest pieces for us. There is another charity called the Plastic Bank, which is charity that cleans the oceans.
Rennie Gabriel 05:51
Oh, that would be like a favorite of Rich German's.
Iman Aghay 05:56
Exactly. Right. So one of my business partners in one of my companies is Rich German, and Rich's purpose and goal is actually to help preserve the life in the ocean and cleaning the oceans. And the Plastic Bank was one of the charities that we actually highly believe in their work. They create jobs in countries where people can have a job with low income but now that they can live very sustainably with that low income, and then they clean the oceans. And then they turn these plastics in the oceans into useful things done by these people that can actually create jobs and amazing things. So Plastic Bank is one of our favorites. And Children's Hospital is actually one of our charities that we help and support. And this is an interesting thing because like sometimes people don't think about this, but like Wikimedia, which is the company that owns Wikipedia is also a charity.
Rennie Gabriel 07:02
Say that again, slowly, the name of that media company.
Iman Aghay 07:06
Wikimedia.
Rennie Gabriel 07:07
Oh, Wikimedia. Okay. I am thinking of, you know, Wikipedia, is it any relationship?
Iman Aghay 07:15
Yes, Wikimedia owns Wikipedia. Wikimedia is a company that owns Wikipedia. And one of our, well, they're not a charity, they're not for profit, but one of the biggest things as Success Road Academy that we believe in is making the information available to the world and Wikipedia has probably done one of the greatest jobs in our lifetime, for creating that information. So Wikimedia, which is the company is actually one of the not for profits that we always donate to every year, because we believe in . . . I mean, like the fact is, I think probably once a day or twice a day, I end up on Wikipedia, because I'm searching for something and the answer is there. And I think, okay, if I pay like 50 cents per answer I received, or like $1.
Rennie Gabriel 08:11
Yeah.
Iman Aghay 08:12
I mean, it's a subscription for having access to unlimited answers to everything you want to ask. So that's also one of our places that we always look at and we love to support them. And once a year, they run their fundraising round, and we just love to support them, help them, and some other companies.
Rennie Gabriel 08:33
Yeah, it's funny, because I realized when you said it, oh, yeah, I support them as well. And you know, until you mentioned their fundraising, their annual fundraising, I forgot all about it. We know who your clients are, because it was a part of your introduction - coaches, authors, entrepreneurs. But tell me about what would be your biggest business or personal failure, if you want, and what insight did you gain from that?
Iman Aghay 09:02
This is an interesting thing. Several years ago, I was invited to speak at an event. And they named the event, the Success Story of Iman Aghay.
Rennie Gabriel 09:17
Oh.
Iman Aghay 09:18
And as I was sitting there waiting for my turn to get on the stage, I was thinking there is something wrong. Something doesn't make sense. Like, this doesn't land well with me. As soon as I put my foot on the stage, I realized what the problem was with that name. So I asked him to get me a chair. And I sat on the chair and I looked at the audience, there's an audience of about 150 people, and I said, there is nothing called the Success Story of Iman Aghay. I'm a master failure. I have failed every single day. And once in a while I fail at failing, and other people call it a success. It just, every single day, I am testing different things, I am creating new systems. And every single day they fail, they stop working, or they don't go well. And once in a while we look at that, we're like, oh, that one worked. And everybody remembers that one that worked and forget about all the other failures, because they actually never even hear about them. They never got to know about them. Or if they do they forget them, right. So the biggest failures, for me are always the biggest lessons and things that actually led to creating the most amazing things in my business and life. And one of those things was in 2011, when I was new to North America, I couldn't speak English properly, I could, but I still had a very thick accent, I still have a thick accent. So imagine back then how bad it was. I was supposed to speak at this event that had 450 attendees. And the night before the event, I got food poisoning. And my talk was at 1pm. So I got myself to the venue at 12:45pm, gave them my presentation and got onto stage by 1pm. And did my presentation. And when I came down, I realized that on Twitter, everybody hated the talk. Everybody hated the talk, right? But it was not just people have hated the talk, they started talking about it and started using the hashtag of the event. And as they were posting about this hashtag, of course, the hashtag started trending. So this hate for them of my talk, became the number one most hated talk, sorry, the number one trending hashtag in Vancouver where the event was, and then became the number one trending in BC, which is the province.
Rennie Gabriel 12:20
British Columbia. Yeah.
Iman Aghay 12:21
Right. And then became the number one trending hashtag of entire Canada. And so of course, now people that are not even at the event are watching this hashtag, they're like what's happening, right? A long story, short, 450 negative tweets seen by 2 million people in an hour. And I just couldn't make sense of it, because I did the perfect talk that had been tested before. So I went to the organizer. And I said, Jonathan, what happened? And he said, I think the kids didn't like your talk. And I'm like, Who are the kids? You're supposed to have 50-year-old business owners here who don't know anything about social media. And he said, Well, we couldn't sell the tickets to those people. So what we ended up doing, we ran a special for university students, for college students, studying social media.
Rennie Gabriel 13:18
So you think you're speaking to mature entrepreneurs, and you're talking to a bunch of college kids.
Iman Aghay 13:25
Yeah, it's worse than that. Listen to this. So I thought that's I'm talking to a 50-year-old business owners who have never used social media.
Rennie Gabriel 13:34
Oh, gee.
Iman Aghay 13:37
I was talking to 19-year-old college students who were studying media.
Rennie Gabriel 13:43
Yes!
Iman Aghay 13:43
In college.
Rennie Gabriel 13:47
Talk about missing the mark. It's like talking to a master carpenter on how to drive a nail into a piece of wood.
Iman Aghay 13:59
Right. Except I didn't know because I was sick. And I never got there on time, right. So there were no . . .
Rennie Gabriel 14:05
Yeah.
Iman Aghay 14:07
That's one of my biggest failures, of course, being the most hated speaker in the entire Canada in less than an hour. But what that led me to do was only once and let me do was that now, every time I have a talk, the day before the talk, I called the organizer and asked him who are going to be actually in the room?
Rennie Gabriel 14:29
Yes.
Iman Aghay 14:33
So some of our biggest failures, actually are just simple lessons for learning how to do something just a little bit better.
Rennie Gabriel 14:46
Yeah. And this conversation so much reminds me of, you know, when you got on stage and you didn't like the title of the Success of Iman and you had so many failures, it's so widely quoted that Thomas Edison, when the reporter asked him, How does it feel to have 10,000 failures before you invented the light bulb said, I didn't have 10,000 failures. I had 10,000 learning experiences of what doesn't work. Yeah. So beautiful, such a great story. What are the common mistakes your prospects make? And I think I know what one of them would be because I lived it, but you tell me.
Iman Aghay 15:35
So a couple of things, many people who want to create and launch their online courses, they procrastinate on creating and launching their course, because they want to create the perfect course. And the reality is that you can never have a perfect course, until you have sold the course and you have taught the course, and you have gotten feedback from the actual students. Because that perfect course is a course that your students are learning and implementing it. And the only way that you know that students are learning and implementing it is by teaching it and getting feedback about their implementation. Otherwise, if they're not taking action on what they're learning from you, what's the point? So one of the things is procrastination, or perfectionism, and that's the one thing that I highly recommend to people. To actually follow the step-by-step process, where it teaches them how to create, how to sell their course, first, then teach it. And by teaching it and getting feedback, creating the perfect course. That's the best way of creating the course. And the second challenge that they have is with technology. Lots of people who don't know what tools to use, where to go, what to set up all of those pieces. And there are really amazing tools right now. And actually, the gift that I'm going to give every single person who has listened to this podcast is actually a list of every single tool you can use for building your online business.
Rennie Gabriel 17:11
It's so perfect, because that was going to be my next question is what kind of valuable resource can you provide my listeners? I know you're going to email the link to me. When I get it I will put it in the show notes. So people can just click on it. Does it have a title?
Iman Aghay 17:27
Yes. So it's called The Ultimate Toolbox, the list of every single tool you need to create and launch your next online course. Which - it teaches you what cameras to buy, what microphones, what computer, what system online that you can use, where you can actually find inexpensive graphic designers to design the graphics for you, where you can find images and everything related to technology that you need, even platforms. Like what platforms to use to send emails out or to get opt-ins of people and the designs and all of those things. So they're all in the Ultimate Toolbox and you can go to the show notes and find the link.
Rennie Gabriel 18:08
Perfect. Yeah, it does sound like the ultimate toolbox. Is there a question that I should have asked you, that would also give some value that I didn't ask and what would the question be? And what would the answer be?
Iman Aghay 18:23
So there is one thing that I would like to invite people to watch. Several years ago, I did this TEDx talk on how to live a life with no regrets. I'd been on my deathbed, and right before my 27th birthday. And that changed the entire trajectory of my life of the way I live, and why I live, and the way I do things, and why I do them. And I highly recommend to people, like the majority of people that end up on their deathbed, they regret not to living true to their heart. They regret not allowing themselves to be happy. They regret not spending enough time with their family and friends and they regret lots of things. And all of those go back to our daily, small daily habits. So there's a long kind of conversation around that. So instead of having that entire conversation here, I would highly recommend to people to go to YouTube, search my name, and watch my TEDx talk. And maybe we can put the link to the show notes for that TEDx talk.
Rennie Gabriel 19:37
Please. Please have them send that link as well.
Iman Aghay 19:40
Yeah, but I would highly recommend to people to watch that talk as one of the highest rated TEDx talks in history. And so it's a life changing talk, and I highly recommend it's one to watch.
Rennie Gabriel 19:52
Thank you, Iman. Thank you for being on the show.
Iman Aghay 19:59
Thanks for having me.
Rennie Gabriel 20:00
And to my listeners. Thank you for tuning in. Next week, we're going to have Lexis Johnson as a guest. She's an international best selling author, and has also ghostwritten over 50 best selling books. You can listen to the Wealth On Any Income Podcast on your favorite platform. And please rate, review and subscribe. And if you'd like to know how books, movies and Society programs you to be poor, and what the cure is, then log on to wealthonanyincome.com /TEDx, you'll get to hear my TEDx talk and receive a free 27-Page Roadmap to Complete Financial Choice®, and Philanthropy. And you'll receive a weekly email with tips, techniques, or inspiration around your business or your money. And if you'd like to see how you can increase your wealth and donate to the causes that touch your heart, please check out our affordable program, Wealth with Purpose, again on the Wealth On Any Income website. Until next week, be prosperous. Bye bye for now.
