The Fear Factor

Hello to all our listeners. Though I may sound like Alan Watts, I must clarify that this is a digital limitation and an homage to the insights and depth Alan brought to us. Today, we turn our attention to a tale of resilience and vision. Igor Kheifets stands as an emblem of how motivation, coupled with fear can become the compass directing one toward unparalleled achievements. These two seemingly opposing forces, when embraced simultaneously, can propel an individual beyond the ordinary and into the realm of the extraordinary. In this episode of the list building lifestyle show, we journey through the tapestry of egos experiences. His story serves as a reminder of the intricate balance between ambition and caution, and how harnessing both can lead to a life most only dream of as we traverse through this narrative, let it be a testament to the boundless possibilities that lie within each one of us. Even when faced with life’s difficulties, let us embark on this introspection.

01:03

I’m Igor Kheifets, and this is the list building lifestyle. The podcast for anyone who wants to build a wildly profitable email list working from home. If you’d like to make six figures travel the world and help people improve their lives in the process. This podcast is for you. I also invite you to claim a free copy of my bestselling book, the list building lifestyle confessions of an email millionaire at www.igorsbook.com. Get the free book plus $3,000 bonus package that includes my best capture page templates, email, swipe files, and traffic blueprints, visit www.igorsbook.com for details. And now it’s time to claim your list building lifestyle.

01:48

So, what really gets you up and keeps you going every day? You know, I don’t have a sexy answer for that. So, I’ll just give you the truth. And that is and that is this. I was born in Ukraine, to a Russian family. And then at the age of 12. My family moved to Israel because things were getting pretty bad in Ukraine, even back then we’re talking back in the 2000. So, they’re pretty bad over there right now. But I’m probably even worse, but back then still pretty bad. So, my family had the vision that things aren’t going to change. And they truly won’t. That’s just the region. And so, we moved to Israel. Now I’m arriving at this absolute worst age at 12 years old, to a brand-new country with a brand new mentality where I don’t get the people, I don’t speak the language, the language is actually backwards. So, in English, and Russian and Ukrainian you go right from left to right. Right. 

02:38

In Hebrew you go right from right to left. Now, that’s So, hard. Because at the age of 12, my personality formed my So, view of the world formed and then it just flipped upside down. Because the mentality in the Middle East, which is where Israel is, it’s the Middle East. It’s slightly different from the mentality of the Eastern European communities. So, I couldn’t adapt. I had a terrible, terrible time adapting. And as a result, I shut down. Like I said, I wasn’t really social, I found refuge in video games. And overall, it was just a pretty terrible life. But it was even worse. When you think about how much my family struggled financially, because about six months into our presence in Israel, my dad suffers a near heart attack, goes into a double bypass and can’t work for the next two years. Now, what’s actually pretty bad about that, besides him losing his breadwinning abilities, is that he basically wasn’t technically sick enough to qualify for disability. So, he wasn’t healthy enough to work. But he wasn’t sick enough to be getting paid some kind of government assistance. Yeah. So, we ended up living off of handouts, from friends from my mother’s parents, for my grandparents, who just throw us a bone every now and again. It was and we started sinking deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper in debt. And that’s the funny thing about Israel is, is that you, you don’t really accumulate credit card debt, you just go overdraft. And the bank likes it. Because the bank knows you can’t leave and that you’ll continue to try and kind of get your head above water, but you’ll keep sinking and they’ll have you as a customer for life. So, overdraft fees, any kind of transaction fee and anything else they own you. Yeah, and my dad would every now and again would go to the bank and would get a loan to cover the overdraft. Yeah, I mean, can you imagine how stupid That is? He would have to get a loan for us to get a loan from the bank to cover the overdraft in that bank. Yeah, that was the reality. 

05:11

He did it six times in 10 years. So, my point being is that I remember what it’s like to be poor, and I was poor. And it sucked. It sucked for me to have had to go through all the starter jobs to scrub plastic trays, in Burger King in the Dead Sea to clean hotel rooms, to do retail sales, which is just I hated that more than scrubbing dishes, honestly. And I remember exactly what it’s like to be poor. Exactly what it’s like every minute of it. And I never ever, ever, ever, ever want to be poor again. I don’t want my kids to be poor. I don’t want my friends to be poor. I don’t want to go through that experience. Again, it was a very valuable experience. But to screw with that, I don’t want it again. So, what wakes me up in the morning is fear, sheer fear of poverty, you know, sinking back into that hole into that slime. You know, it just feels terrible. It’s a place where I never want to be. And it doesn’t matter what my bank balance is. I’ll be waking up tomorrow as if I was broke.

06:26

Yeah, I gotcha. I gotcha. Yeah, fear, powerful motivator. And especially like, if it gets the job done, get you the result you want. Why not let it wake you up? Right? It’s honestly, whether a lot of us say it or not, like you’re just honest about it. A lot of people are waking up based on fear and just aren’t honest about it. Right?

06:45

Yeah, look, it can be your friend. But eventually, I’m hoping to move away from that motivation. Because my kids, my daughter was born in Israel, and my son who’s four was born in Canada. And I look at them. They can’t, they don’t understand it. The way they talk about money, the way they think about money. They do not see the same mentality that I have. I have a shortage mentality about money. Yeah, it doesn’t matter if I made 100 grand this month. I’m not going to just spend it on something like a new pool. Yeah, it ‘s just against my core nature. Now, I think to an extent, it’s a downside, because it means I’m saying no to so many things in my life. 

07:32

But at the same time, it’s an upside because I live below my means. And because I’m always prepared. Now what will happen with my kids? I’m not sure. Because I see Canadians. Here in Canada, growing up and in the well to do families, middle class, upper middle class, there’s still a middle class in Canada, maybe not for long, but there still is one. And I don’t see a drive. I don’t see passion. I don’t see grit. I don’t see problem solving. I don’t see the desire and the fire to prove yourself. I don’t see an insatiable need for advancement. And then, like, I don’t really see that at all. Yeah, and that worries me. I mean, call me conservative or whatever. But I worry seeing this next generation, even the generation that came after me, for now, like 25, or 22, most of them do not have what it takes to be successful. And they’re okay with it. They’re okay with not striving to achieve. You know, I think it’s a part of that. It’s a part of growing up in a secure, safe and cozy environment, which was so different from the environment where I grew up. So, what I want to say about fear is that it can be toxic, because I think because of this fear, and because it’s been fueling me for so many years, I have put myself in a position of constant stress, you know, kind of like a string that’s always super, super tight. And every now and again, I would break and it would come out as like a lower back pain issue, or some stomach issue, or some So, you know, I twitch or something, and I don’t think that’s healthy. I really don’t think that’s healthy. But unfortunately, I’ll be super honest about this. I can’t help it. I don’t know how to live in any other way. I honestly don’t know how to wake up in the morning and create from a position of let’s have some fun versus the one-off survival and kind of trying to chase the wolves away. 

09:53

Thank you for listening to the list building lifestyle, get access to the previous episode’s transcript of today’s show, as well as other extra serve content at listbuildinglifestyleshow.com. Also remember to claim your free copy of my bestselling book at www.igorsbook.com. It explains how I made millions with list building starting from scratch. Plus, I’ll give you $3,000 worth of free bonuses, including my best landing page templates, email, swipe files, and traffic blueprints. Go to www.igorsbook.com now to claim your free package