Follow John Assaraf’s tips and see what happens to your business
That big goal you’re delaying, the premium rate you’re too nervous to charge, or the dream client you’ve yet to pitch? It’s all within your control. But how do you conquer the self-doubt holding you back? We’ve broken down the free, core strategies of serial entrepreneur John Assaraf to help you test his methods, tackle your fears, and see if his advice can deliver the results you want.
Who is John Assaraf and what’s his backstory?
He’s a behavioural neuroscience researcher, serial entrepreneur and one of the world’s most followed high-performance coaches. But he didn’t start from a position of privilege.
He grew up in a difficult home environment where money was always scarce, and arguments were constant. That experience didn’t hold him back. It made him determined to figure out how successful people think, and then do the same.
At 19, after he earned his real estate license in Toronto, Canada, he asked a colleague how she’d built her wealth. She told him to put away 10% of his salary to save up for his first down payment on a property. He listened, acted on it, and eventually built a property portfolio, used the equity he earned and put that money towards buying the franchise rights to Re/Max of Indiana. As CEO and co-founder, he grew Re/Max of Indiana from a startup to 85 offices and 1200 sales associates who sold over $4 Billion a year.
John was also one of the founders of Bamboo/IPIX, which went public on NASDAQ with a market cap of $2.5 Billion.
Today, he runs NeuroGym, a training company that uses brain science to help people unlock their potential. The online and one-on-one sessions don’t come cheap. His books have sold millions of copies and been translated into 35 languages.
Is he a qualified neuroscientist? Not in the traditional sense. He has spent decades studying cognitive psychology and neuroscience through curiosity, collaboration with scientists and real-world application. His authority is built on thirty-plus years of doing, failing, learning, and teaching.
The point isn’t to be impressed by him. It’s that everything he teaches, he learned by doing. And it’s all learnable.
Here’s where to start. And it won’t cost you a penny
4 key tips from John Assaraf’s podcast and videos
1. Ask yourself: are you interested — or are you committed?
John has said in multiple interviews that this question was the seed of his own transformation. There’s a real difference between being interested in a goal and being truly committed to it. Interested people think about it. Committed people actually change — their habits, their beliefs, the way they see themselves. It’s not about wanting it more. It’s about deciding you’re the kind of person who makes it happen
2. Take one small step toward what you want, not away from what you fear
When you’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to get stuck focusing on everything that could go wrong. John’s fix is simple: ask yourself, “What’s one small action I could take right now toward what I want?” That single question shifts your brain out of panic mode and into problem-solving mode. Small steps add up. Every time.
3. You have an “Einstein brain” and a “Frankenstein brain”. Here’s how to use the right one
The “Frankenstein” brain is the voice that says you’re not good enough, that it won’t work, that who do you think you are? You weren’t born with it — you developed it over time. But here’s the good news: the “Einstein” brain, the part that thinks clearly and creatively, is still there. John’s Innercises (more on those below) are designed specifically to quiet the Frankenstein and bring your best thinking back. He explains it brilliantly on Ed Mylett’s podcast.
4. Consistency beats motivation every single time
A great podcast episode fires you up. A seminar changes your perspective. And then Monday arrives and you’re back to the same patterns. Motivation fades. Consistency doesn’t. John teaches that real change happens through daily repetition — reviewing your goals, engaging with your vision, training your brain the way you’d train a muscle. Not once. Not when you feel like it. Every day. He goes deeper on this in his ClickFunnels podcast episode.
What are Innercises? 4 examples from John Assaraf
If you’ve watched any of John Assaraf’s videos, you’ve heard him mention Innercises. Think of them as workouts for your mind. Just as you’d go to the gym to build physical strength, these are daily practices designed to build new patterns in the brain — ones that support the goals you’re working toward rather than quietly sabotaging them.
Here are four real examples, each linked to his website.
1. The visualisation Innercise: “Imagine this”
Find a quiet moment — first thing in the morning or just before bed works well. Get comfortable, close your eyes, and breathe slowly. Scan your body from your toes upward, consciously letting go of any tension as you go.
Once you feel settled, picture yourself achieving your goal. Not vaguely — really see it, feel it, live it in your mind.
This isn’t just positive thinking. Research on muscle strength found that people who visualised exercise but couldn’t physically move lost 50% less strength than those who didn’t visualise at all. The brain responds to imagination in ways that are closer to reality than most of us realise.
One caveat John always makes: visualisation only works if you work. You still have to take the actions.
2. The 4R process: for when you keep putting things off
Every freelancer knows the feeling. There’s something on your to-do list that keeps getting bumped. A proposal you haven’t sent. A conversation you keep avoiding. A service you haven’t launched yet.
John’s 4R Innercise breaks the cycle. The steps are: Recognise, Reframe, Release, Retrain.
Here’s why you may be procrastinating. You’re avoiding the feeling the task brings up. Once you see that, you can work with it. Recognise the pattern when it shows up. Reframe the story you’re telling yourself about it. Release the emotional charge. Then retrain, repeat the process until a new, healthier pattern takes hold. Just like going to the gym, the repetition is the point since it builds the muscle (the results) you want. John has an Innercise specifically for this, and he breaks it down in full detail here
3. The money mindset reset for freelancers who struggle to charge what they’re worth
This one is worth sitting with if you’ve ever undercharged, over-delivered without being paid for it, or talked yourself out of pitching a bigger client.
Start by paying attention to the quiet things you tell yourself: “I don’t have the time,” “I’m not ready yet,” “people like me don’t charge that much.” When you catch those thoughts, stop. That’s your scarcity script talking — stories about money that you picked up somewhere along the way that were never really yours to begin with.
The practice is about noticing those scripts and consciously replacing them, bit by bit, with new evidence. The shift doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. And when it does, the way you price yourself, pitch yourself, and value your own work starts to change with it. Here, he explains in more detail how to train your brain to make more money.
4. The self-limiting beliefs Innercise: for when you feel stuck or not good enough
This is a quieter one, but don’t underestimate it.
Start by paying attention to your breath. Not changing it — just noticing it. Then notice your body. Where are you tense? Where are you holding on?
From that grounded, calm place, gently look at the beliefs you carry about yourself. Not to judge them. Just to see them clearly. The truth is, those beliefs were built over time and often a long time ago. They can be rebuilt, too.
John uses a simple analogy: as a child you believed in the Tooth Fairy. At some point, you simply let that go. Some of the stories you’re telling yourself about what you’re capable of deserve the same treatment.
Do this consistently, and the grip those beliefs have starts to loosen.
What people say when they follow his advice
The testimonials surrounding John Assaraf’s books and programmes cover a wide range of life areas, from finances and career to health and emotional wellbeing. Financial change is the most commonly reported outcome. The Trustpilot reviews are also mixed, which is why we extrapolated some of John’s free advice so you could do a test run on your own to see just how committed you are before committing financially to one of his courses, but also to your personal endeavours.
One participant reported that after working through the NeuroGym programmes, their income rose by £50,000 and their priorities and perspective shifted fundamentally.
Another described how, as a single mother who had lost her job, the programme helped her eventually earn over $100,000 a year, a change she said transformed her daughter’s life too.
Health improvements are also frequently mentioned. Participants in his weight loss programme have reported losing over 20 pounds, with one person describing how they returned to whole foods and cut out processed food and sugar entirely within the first two weeks.
Emotional resilience is perhaps the most universal shift people describe. Users regularly report reduced stress and anxiety, improved focus, and a newfound confidence to pursue goals they had previously believed were out of reach.
One long-term participant shared that Assaraf’s programmes had been a steady source of support through cancer, bereavement, and other serious life challenges.
A minority of reviewers have raised concerns about billing and customer service, and some critics question whether the neuroscience claims are always presented with appropriate caution. As with any self-help programme, individual results vary and it is wise to weigh the full picture before committing your time and money.
Which John Assaraf tip will you try and why?
For me, it’s tip four: consistency over motivation.
It’s too easy to consume inspiring content, feel fired up for a day or two, only to slide straight back into old habits. What John keeps coming back to is that transformation isn’t a moment. It’s a daily practice.
So for the next few weeks, I’m aiming to spend five minutes every morning saying my goals out loud. Writing them down. Actually engaging with them, making them feel real. It’s a small habit, so why not commit?
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