Most of the time, finding your purpose can seem like a vague, nebulous instruction that you can’t quite act upon, as hard as you may try. However, directed properly, this might just be the first important step you can take to send you moving forward on the road towards true success. Business strategist and author of Money Management Mindset, Israel Duran, joins Terri Levine as they discuss the importance of purpose. You can’t keep driving down a highway directionless, and the same holds true for your business journey. Discover your purpose and get a real start for your journey today!
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Finding Your Purpose With Israel Duran
Israel Duran here. I’m extremely honored to have my wife, Jessica, and my daughters, Abigail and Anabelle. As I’m in a unique position to be able to spend the time that I always wanted to with them. My desire for my clients is the same, to give them the freedom they always desired, so they can spend time with the people they love the most. I am totally committed to the success of my clients to help them bypass the 10 to 15-year learning curve. I was searching for the ultimate solution to give me clarity, direction and confidence for starting and scaling the business that I knew was within me. I found my answer to discover the purpose within. Thankfully, I mastered a unique skillset, which allowed me to build a global coaching and training company, which focuses on helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs, leverage their knowledge and experience to create highly profitable businesses that impact individuals, businesses in the world by proven system, which helps individuals discover, design and deliver their gift to the world.
It virtually puts anyone, any person with a real passion in a position where they can profit with their purpose. Giving them leverage and protecting the future of their family and making an impact. Integrity, I have never had a single failure and there’s nothing I would rather do than help someone gain crystal clear clarity into their purpose and give them direction on how to monetize from it. I am Israel Duran, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a business strategist with a proven solution for people like you, with families like yours. If this inspired you, I would encourage you to click on the link and watch our free training. Thank you.
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I’m excited to have you with us if you understand Heartrepreneur. You’re probably like, “What?” Maybe you’re a follower or a friend and you already know. The Heartrepreneur cause and philosophy has about 6,000 members. Our job is to disrupt the way business is done. It means our job is to do business from a more heart-centered place caring about our clients, our customers, our patients, our employees, our contractors and our vendors. We stand for three words: transparency, authenticity and integrity. We want to disrupt business because most people are doing business in a transactional way. Everyone’s a number. There is no customer service anymore. We’re changing that. We’re disrupting the way business is done and the businesses that we work with and the businesses that we help as business consultants. They are not only more successful and have better customer reviews, but they also keep their customers long-term.
Through reverse-marketing, they have people raised their hands who are qualified prospects and who choose to do business with them. It’s a whole different way of business. I interview incredible business leaders, who have value and understand the Heartrepreneur philosophy. We get to understand how they serve people. I want you to pay attention because I hand-selected this guest. I met this guest approximately a month ago. Sometimes when you meet people they instantly resonate. I could feel within an instant, I know we need eye contact on a smile and I said, “I have to have this person on.” I’m going to tell you why. He is heart-based. He shares the Heartrepreneur philosophy and he can give you tips and pointers. I would make this a show that you continuously read.
Let me tell you a little bit about my guest. I am delighted. I’m honored to have him with me. I already consider him a friend. He’s the author of Money Management Mindset. His name is Israel Duran. He’s a speaker, he’s an entrepreneur, he’s a business strategist. He’s also the Founder of Israel Duran and Associates. They are a global coaching and training company. What they’re focused on resonates so much with Heartrepreneur. They’re helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs leverage their knowledge and their expertise, so that they’re able to create highly profitable businesses that make a difference in the world and that aligns 100% with the Heartrepreneur philosophy. Israel, welcome. I’m so delighted to have you.
Thank you so much to you for having me on the show. It’s an honor.
It’s great to be with you and you come from this heartfelt philosophy. Let me ask, how did you even get into the business? What led you down your path?
Essentially, purpose is what you have inside of you that you need to extract. Click To TweetThe reality is I found myself against the wall. I found myself, perhaps like many people do in the United States and around the world, where you’re drowned in debt because of student loans. You need some way somehow how to feed your family. In that corner, that’s when my first business idea came to me. By faith, I started the business and I learned a lot through my first business a few years ago.
When you hear me talk about the Heartrepreneur philosophy, what comes up for you? What might even resonate with you?
It’s very important to me. I might say that Heartrepreneur is something that is very needed around the world. It’s something that’s a global philosophy and I believe many business owners should embrace it. A show like this is very important. For me, when I hear it, it connects the purpose. That’s what I love is doing business purpose-driven. It’s not just about money. It’s not just about a transactional item, but it’s about the impact that you’re bringing to the individual or the business that you’re serving and being able to make a difference in the world. That to me is a purpose. You’re not only led by making money, but you’re walking in your purpose and using your gifts.
I love that we’re talking about purpose because I heard so many people talk about purpose and it’s almost connected, as their passion and purpose were the same thing. I’m curious, what do you see is a distinction between purpose and perhaps passion?
I have a process I take people through so they can understand further into the purpose and the clarity, asking simple questions that most people die without hearing. Essentially, purpose is what you have inside of you that you need to extract. It’s usually connected to a gift in the things that you went through. Passion is more of like a pain, it’s connected to something that you dislike or strongly hate, but it’s something that you’re called to solve. There is a distinction, but they do go hand in hand because when you walk in your purpose, you’re going to live passionately.
I never heard an anyone who says that. By the way, I call that a writer downer. Something that our readers should take in and breathe in. Those aren’t just words, that’s very meaningful and impactful. The thing that became important to me in Heartrepreneur is I want to help other businesses. I only want to help other businesses who help other people. I don’t want somebody who has a widget or a pet rock that doesn’t make a difference. Who do you love to work with, Israel?
I love to work with individuals that have so much potential, but they don’t know how to extract it from their life and learn how to monetize from it. This was me. I know that when I first started, there wasn’t anybody out there that I knew to help me around years ago. Luckily and thankfully, through the years, I was able to meet mentors such as Joel Bauer, a lot of things online. I was able to learn from individuals that can help extract what was in me. I think the biggest thing, Terri, is the education system in America is not geared to identify your purpose. It’s more geared to allow you to learn how to develop skills or learn information to be able to get a job. That’s not what you were put on Earth to do. For me, education is supposed to extract the gift that you have. If I go to school, it’s not supposed to give me a gift. It’s supposed to extract the gift that I have within me. That’s essentially what I love doing as a coach, as a consultant, is being able to educate people to extract their unique gifts, to extract their unique purpose so they can gain the clarity into what they need to do to be able to serve their gift to the world to make a difference. Even if they’re working at a corporate job, they can become a leader the right way. That’s a servant leader.
You’re talking about how much we have internal gifts. One of the things that I heard and it resonates a lot is whether it’s education or a mentor or coach or consultant, they help bring that out of us. What a lot of people believe is, “Somebody has to put something in me. Education has to put something in me like a coach, a consultant, a mentor. They have to give me something.” I think along with you, the best education, the best coaches, the best consultants, the best mentors can work with a student who is ready to embrace their intrinsic gifts versus, “Let me dump a bunch of education on you. Let me help you find what’s already within you and let’s bring that out.” Is that aligned?
100%, I always like to use the example I learned from a man called Dr. Myles Munroe. A fish never goes to a swimming school to learn how to swim. It has the gift of swimming within itself. The bird never goes to the flight school to learn how to fly because it already has the gift of flight within itself. What do you have inside of you? What do we have inside of us? It’s the discovery that when we discover the gifts that are within us, I have a process that I helped people do this, then they can gain clarity. When they have the clarity, they have the direction to take action and serve their gift to the world and bring an impact that’s fulfilling because they know that they’re doing something that they’re passionate about. They’re making a difference.
I’m resonating. My part of my story is I did a lot of things that didn’t resonate with. I started as a speech-language pathologist and I instantly realized it was a very depressing field. I said, “This isn’t what I meant to do.” Even though I went to school for six years, I have a Master’s in this. I sold that business and then I did something that was in my heart and had an art consulting business that I loved. After a while, I said, “That’s not making a big enough impact.” I left that and I started several businesses on my journey. I worked for five years in Corporate America. That was not a fit for me at all. I’ve been doing this consulting and coaching for the last 25 years. I know I’m doing the right thing. I’m at home doing this. I’m not seeking anything else. The important thing for me, and I want people to get this because it ties with what Israel is saying, is if you’re not doing what you’re meant to do and the way you’re meant to serve and it’s not aligned with your heart and your purpose and you’re not that bird or your fish. That is like, “This is natural.” When I started consulting, the first year I got into this profession, I kept saying to people, “I’m finally at home doing what I’m meant to do.” Does that make sense to you?
100% and I smiled because that’s exactly what it is. Imagine doing something that you love and you’re passionate about and you’re making a difference in your life. You are making an impact, inspiring others and influencing others for great change on Earth. It’s fulfilling, Terri.
The coolest thing is when we’re impacting one person who then gets it, they can pass it forward. They can impact one person. I remember years ago, I was with Mark Victor Hansen from Chicken Soup for the Soul. He said, “One plus one does not equal two. One plus one equals eleven.” I always felt that. I’m like, “If I impact one person and they pass it forward and then they impact one person, they pass it forward. I believe that the work you’re doing that I’m doing is not only aligned, I believe it can make a real difference for businesses and business leaders.”
I use a phrase, “Let your life be a ripple effect of greatness.”
Let your life be a ripple effect of greatness. Click To TweetWhat are you working on? What projects? What’s going on? What are you excited and passionate about? What’s happening?
I’m very excited now because in 2020, it’s going to be a very good year. It’s the year to speak. I’m going to be doing a lot more speaking engagements around the country. I also will be looking in to speak around the globe as well. I’m happy and joyful because I’ll be able to serve my gift to the world in a higher dimension and at a higher level and make a change in people’s life. We go beyond business. When we help the people that we help and allows someone that was fired from her job. One of my clients was literally fired from his job, came to me and we helped him start his business. Within nine months, he generated over $250,000, verifiable, paid off all his debt within six months. That changes somebody’s life. It’s not just about the money. When you help somebody go from $0 to $30,000, that changes their life and it brings an impact. That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to impact and serve what we have because what you have, I need and vice versa, and we can all learn from each other. At this time, that’s what I’m focusing on. I have some courses I’m launching. I have some other group coaching I’m launching as well, thankfully, to you giving me some advice, which I thank you for. I’m excited about the impact that’s to come in 2020.
I’m excited about the amount of lives that you’re going to change. One of the reasons I speak and write is I can only coach and consult with a certain amount of people. Even if I do a group, there’s a limit to how much I can do with a group writer or a webinar. When I go and speak, I have spoken to audiences as large as 18,000 people. In that timeframe, I’m now touching 18,000 people’s lives, who can touch more lives. To me, that’s the benefit of speaking. It’s also the only reason I write books. I write books because if I have a message to share, it’s a way I can share it with many people. It’s the way that it gets translated and it can go worldwide. I can help more people. I’m happy to hear that you’re going to be out there speaking. I know that’s going to make an impact. If someone says, “I want to connect with Israel. I might want to have him speak. I might want to know more. I might want to find out how to work with him. I want to know about his courses, coaching, whatever his consulting,” what is the very best way to get in touch with you, Israel?
The best way is to go on my website, IsraelDuran.com.
I tell my clients and family members this all the time. The best thing you can get a website is with your name. It’s your name and that’s the best website there is. If your name is Kodak or Pepsi, you’re probably not going to be able to claim that. However, it is very effective when you can have a website with your name unless you have developed a notable brand. A brand that people are already following, that they already know the brand and then you can’t have a website called Nike or anything else that you choose. It’s important that you get that. When you hear the words integrity, transparency and authenticity, what do you feel about those words and what do they mean to you? I’m curious.
Integrity is everything. Integrity is the only thing because if you don’t have integrity, you don’t have anything. For me, I do business in a way of integrity, authenticity and truth. If you don’t, you’re not going to be able to bring the impact that you want. This world is smaller than people think. If you don’t over-deliver one of your clients, if you don’t serve someone correctly on one occasion, that one occasion could limit you for serving other people in the future. Integrity is everything.
I believe the same thing. I believe that my mother taught me something when I was a very young girl and it stayed with me forever. She said, “You only have one thing in this world.” She had me guess what that was and I didn’t guess correctly. She finally said, “You have your word. You are your word and nothing but your word.” That has been profound for me my whole life ever since she taught me that I was a young girl. I always remember that. This is why even in a moment as a young child when they say, “Terri, did you?” I don’t want to say yes, because I’m going to get in trouble. I didn’t tell a white lie. I thought about it. I didn’t tell it because I remember my mother saying your words. I would have to fess up and say, “I’m the one who did that knowing I was going to get in trouble and get the punishment.” I think it’s a valuable lesson. I see so many passing the buck.
I want to share this little story. I had shipped something back to Apple through FedEx. It didn’t get to Apple. I was trying to track it. I contacted FedEx. They told me, “It never got scanned. You put it in the wrong box,” which I didn’t. I put it in a FedEx box. “It must have not dropped in the box.” It dropped because I checked it. The woman on the phone began to yell at me, talk over me and hung up on me. I contacted FedEx, got to the next level, high-level manager, who after hearing my story said, “It wasn’t scanned, therefore, we don’t have it.” I said, “That’s the problem I’m calling about.” He gets the same woman on the phone. She’s with a corporate superior manager. She continues to yell over him, yell at me and then hang up again. I said, “Is this an example of the customer service that you have at FedEx?” He said, “There’s absolutely nothing we can do.” I called Apple. I contacted Apple and I told the exact same story. They don’t know what happened. Apple says, “Let us track it down.” The next morning, 6:00 PM to 8:00 the next morning, Apple has tracked my package, which was received somehow. Even though FedEx didn’t scan it, it was not only received. Apple said, “It was sent to the wrong department. However, we’re not going to ship it back to you, make you to reship it. We’re instantaneous, at this moment, giving you full credit for what you shipped back. No question.”
I want people to get this. When you do business the way FedEx did business, number one, I’m not shipping anything through FedEx. Number two, what am I talking about here on a radio show, TV show or on a blog? Who? What company is getting noticed? FedEx. As a company, I don’t care if you’re a solopreneur or you work at a large company like the Fortune 100 companies I’ve worked with in the past, it doesn’t matter. Everyone on your team has to have that same customer service philosophy. It has to be empowered because if you do wrong by one customer, you’ve done wrong by more than one. What do you think of that, Israel?
I think that is wise. It’s wisdom. It’s everything because you had an experience and now you’re speaking of and because of that one incident, potentially someone heard that story about FedEx is going to choose to go with UPS. It’s the reality. I resonated with this. I had something happen to me, which I’m sure you have had many times. Sometimes we run into clients where they’re not in integrity. They say something and they do another thing. When it comes down to the test, it’s on us. What are we going to do? What are we going to do when that client says one thing but does another and then is accusing us even though we were trying to help them? That’s the moment where you show what customer service you have. It’s great to treat people that treat you great. Anybody can do that, but when someone is pretty much accusing you that you’re not keeping your word or they’re not keeping their word, what do you do? As a Heartrepreneur, what we do is we go the extra mile and show them many times that we’re different than most people. It resonated with me because I went through something more or less similar.
I was having a very fascinating conversation on Facebook. I’m in a particular group that has a lot of coaches and consultants and somebody said, “What do you say when you’re talking with a prospective client and the client says, ‘I have to sleep on it. I can’t possibly do it without asking my partner, my spouse, my whomever?’” I say, “Very simple. I would say we’re not a fit. We’re not a match. I work with people who can make instantaneous decisions, who are 100% independent and don’t rely on anybody else.” Somebody came back to me and said, “That sounds very sales.” I said, “I don’t think you are getting it. I won’t take that person. If they call me the next day, if they email me, if they call my team and say, “I’ve thought about it. I asked for permission. I want to work with you.” The answer for me is, “No.”
They said, “I don’t get it.” I was like, “Let me explain. I want to work with people who are like me, who are their words, who are decisive, who jumped right in and who’s in this partnership,” because I do view coaching, consulting and mentoring as a partnership. They instantaneously go, “I need what you have. I want what you have and I’m committed. I’m going to be a partner,” not, “I’m not sure. I’m going to consult the stars, ask a crystal, I’m going to talk to a partner.” They instantaneously say, “This is for me,” and they jump in. The person messaged me back and said, “That was a profound lesson.” Every single time that I have not held a boundary like that, I’ve worked with a client, family member who wasn’t quite right. Any thoughts about that conversation, Israel? I had to share it with you.
If you don't have integrity, you don't have anything. Click To TweetI agree with you. We are what we attract sometimes because of the love and the impact. Sometimes we’re emotional human beings. Sometimes we understand a person’s life and we say, “Let me help this person.” We start the relationship with helping them. What happens is people lose the value of what we have and they take advantage of what we have. Then they don’t value what we’ve had. I agree with you, Terri. You’ve got to have a target market who you want to work with. You’ve got to be decisive on it. You’ve got to be clear. I don’t work with people who don’t think and make decisions and then stick to it.
I’ve figured that out over the years of doing this that if I’m very selective about who I work with because I want to give people results, we even guarantee results. I want to be selective. The other thing that I recommend and I advise our clients is to sell more high ticket. It’s not because you make more money that way. That’s not the primary reason. I have found that when people jump into something that they’re more financially committed to, they stick with it. As an example, I have a good friend who spent $100 on some weight loss program. A week later, we were out a whole bunch of us having dinner and she was eating cake, bread and cocktails. I said, “Is this on the program?” She goes, “None of it and I don’t care. It’s $100.” A year later, she went on a weight loss program that was $3,000 a month. We went out to lunch one day and she had a small salad with no dressing and a little piece of grilled chicken with no oil, no butter. I said, “What’s the difference for you?” She said, “I spent a ton of money on this. I have to stick with it.” Do you agree with that philosophy? Where do you fit on that? Not everyone is aligned with that.
I agree with you 100%. That principle applies to anything. For example, before going into business, when I was in college, I used to play baseball and I wanted to get drafted. When an MLB team invests in someone and they draft them, they give them a sign-in bonus. That first, second and third draft pick has a higher signing bonus. They invested millions of dollars many times in these young talents. Let’s say then they invested much less money for our 50-round draft pick. By the investment, it could be that the 50th drawn draft pick is playing better than the first-round draft pick. That 50th draft pick is going to leave first because they have more skin in the game and at first. They’re going to give him more time to succeed. Even though he might not be playing well, they’re still going to him more time because they have skin in the game. It’s the same way with people investing. They want to give it more time because they have to get an ROI on their investment. I agree with you.
I want our readers to take that in because I see people trying to make a living by selling a little eBook or a $97 product or course. I’m saying, “Don’t give people a Band-Aid.” That’s a Band-Aid. I know when I write books that help people to this degree. When they say yes and they come to hear me speak or they work with me as a consultant, that’s where I can help them. However, I’m willing to give them a book or something like that, give them to allow them to get a piece of a process. I don’t want people to think you can buy a $97 solution. A lot of these funnels tell people, “Here’s the solution. It’s $97. Get it.” The next thing they say is, “That’s not the best solution. It’s $297.” You keep going. I say whatever the best solution is that you can guarantee your full solution, only offers that. I don’t care if it’s $5,000, $15,000, $25,000 or $50,000, offer people what is going to make a real difference. Israel, who are your ideal client family members if someone’s reading and they’re resonating with you? I’d say, how could they not? Who do you choose to work with?
I choose to work with purpose-driven entrepreneurs that either are working directly with individuals or businesses. They’re in a position when they want to scale their business.
As you are reading, if you’re resonating with us, if you’re getting value, I’m already getting tons of value. Start thinking, “Is this someone that I might want in my life?” I have eight mentors in my life. I’ve had most of them with me for a long time, as Israel knows, one of our mutual mentors, Joel Bauer, we talk about all the time. This is my sixteenth year with Joel and people asked me, “Why would you have the same mentor consistently?” Some of my client’s family members have been with me for 25 years. The why of that is when you find someone that you resonate with and gets to know you on a personal level, why would you change? Joel understands me, how I think, how I tick and understands my business.
Then I get asked, “Why do you have eight? Why you don’t have one?” I have people for different things. I have someone that helps me with humor because for years of my life, I looked at life very seriously. I have a humor coach. He has been with me for years. I have someone who helps me with my health and wellness. I have Joel that helps me with my business and a little bit with certain things that I do on platforms. I have all these different people in my life. People sometimes go, “I already have a coach. I already have a consultant. I already have a mentor.” You don’t have someone like Israel. I would like you to think about, “Do I have a place?” The best way to know that is to connect with him. Israel, what is the website again?
IsraelDuran.com and I have some free training on there too for you all.
You can even get some free training. Literally, go to his website and free training. This is the Heartrepreneur. Heartrepreneurs aren’t there to, “Let me get some money from you.” We give first. The philosophy comes from years ago when I was in high school. I worked at an ice cream store called Baskin-Robbins. They give out to this day pink spoon of samples. When I was trained to Baskin-Robbins, my manager said, “Terri, offer everyone samples and let them sample as much as they want. They get sample every flavor and never ask them, “What do you want to buy?”” I said, “How’s that going to work?” The manager said, “I’ve been here for many years. No one comes in and tastes who isn’t ready to experience more. If they are, they can leave.” I worked there for a couple of summers and I can tell you every person was grateful for a taste. In my experience, most people who sampled it liked something. That doesn’t mean that you’re going to buy from everyone you taste from. It means that as a business owner, open your heart, be a giver first and understand that the more you give, the more that you will get back in whatever form that looks like. Israel, give me a parting sentence that sums up your philosophy and why you want to connect with people.
I love what you said. I’m going to piggyback right off what you said. If people love your fruit, they’ll continue to water your tree. That’s what I do.
I’ve got goosebumps. I’ve got major writer downers for you. That is another one. Some of these are great tweets, they’re great memes. Give credit to the source. You want to say who you heard it from and you want to make sure that you mention Israel in the post. I recommend that when you read blogs, you read for pieces of nuggets like that. Israel, I want to thank you so much for being my guest here at Heartrepreneur Radio and TV. You are such a delight and you create so much value. You are a true Heartrepreneur.
Thank you so much, Terri. I appreciate you and for the time that you have considered me to guest your show. It’s a true honor.
You’re the best. For the readers, I want you to think, what did you get from today? What created value? Most importantly, what did you hear or see that you can implement? Otherwise, this becomes more self-help more, “That was great. That was interesting. Let me go on to the next blog, the next podcasts, the next TV episode.” Instead of, “Let me breathe this in, let me take it in intrinsically and let me ask myself the question, what was the gift?” Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll see you all next time.
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About Israel Duran
Author of Money Management Mindset, Israel Duran, speaker, entrepreneur, business strategist and Founder of Israel Duran and Associates, a global coaching and training company focused on helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs leverage their knowledge and expertise to create highly profitable businesses that impact individuals, businesses and the world.
A recent example of his success was a man in his 30’s after being fired from his job, was able to go from 0 to 30k a month in revenue, from a direct result of Israel’s proven and transferable coaching program.
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