Never Settle For Less

00:00

Welcome back to the list building lifestyle. I’m your host, Igor Kheifets. In today’s episode, I’ll tell you the story of Demetri, someone I know from ages ago, who told me something about the way he viewed life that I still reflect back on to this day, but not in a good way. You see, Demetri has a very limited way of viewing success in life that I think a lot of people share. Unfortunately, he thinks, as the old saying goes, that no one can have it all. But I would beg to differ, why can’t anyone have it all? Do we really need to settle for less and just be content with some of what we really want, few would say I would rather have that than nothing at all. And that’s the kind of crucial mindset mistake that holds people back. And that’s what I want to talk about today. But before we dive into that, we have to do the usual AI disclaimer, you’re used to it by now you know, the drill. This intro was recorded using an artificial intelligence voice that sounds like me, or tries at least if you want to submit any feedback about it, please head over to Igor dot top slash voice. And now let’s get started and find out how you can have it all.

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

This idea of having both the money and the freedom was a really interesting idea, because I remember going to this party and having an argument with a fellow named Demetri who was working for Intel. So the guy was banking and didn’t laugh when I said this. It’s true at the time. It’s a lot of money in Israel, when he was banking 5k per month, us. And he was really proud of that. Now, at the time, he was already once divorced with two kids from the previous marriage and two kids in the current marriage. So it still was enough to cover his bills. So he was living paycheck to paycheck, just like everybody else in spite of making more money. And an average income back then was about 1500. Us. So he was making three times over what an average income wasn’t. He was still struggling. But we got talking about this in a time already started to probably banking a good 10k, maybe 12k per month. And, you know, I felt I felt, you know, I had the right to argue with him because it was making more money. I didn’t tell him I was making more money than him. But I was arguing with him as if I was, and I think he got a sense for it. So anyway, he stated something out loud, without even knowing that he did it, which I found ridiculous and stupid. He says, I would rather be healthy than rich. It was either that or I would rather be happy than rich. It was. But regardless, both are equally bad. To which I said, why can’t you be both? Why can’t you have both? Why can’t you have the money and health? Why can’t you have money? And happiness? Why can’t you have the money and freedom you see in these people? I guess looking back now, you know, I don’t I don’t I’m not as aggressive about it anymore, because I recognize that he’s just a victim of his conditioning and upbringing. But that’s really the thinking that most people have is I can either be rich, or happy or healthy, I can truly be everything. And to me, having this personality of wanting to achieve and wanting to, you know, I always felt it sounds a bit bad. Egotistical, but I’ve always wanted to live the kind of life that somebody would want to make a movie out of. I’ve always been very envious and admired people like Ford, like Howard, what’s that guy’s name? The guy was afraid of germs. And he built the largest airplane, Howard Hughes and all these guys now they were flawed. And they had issues. Ford had issues with his family. He never loved his sons.

04:24

You know, Hughes had all kinds of issues. That guy was messed up really badly. But they all did something that made people talk about them even after they died. And so having that sort of personality, and I do have that sort of personality, big ego, and aggressive, driven, high standards. I’ve always felt that you should have everything, you know, you shouldn’t be forced to choose. Yeah, you can compromise here and there in terms of like, you know, maybe not being as aggressive about certain things and if you want to be a good father

05:00

Other, you can’t necessarily choose a profession where you travel all year long, and you don’t spend time with your kids. But you can be a great father and still make a lot of money if you build your income from your laptop, and you work out of your basement like I work today. So I do you know, when as soon as my kids come home from school, I’m here, they go downstairs, they give me a hug to tell me about the night, you know, their day. And I can just close the lid on the laptop and sit there and listen, in fact, you can see this but right there on the floor.

05:30

My daughter’s building a three story boutique hotel Lego set, and she’s been doing it for the last like two weeks. So it’s right there. So when I’m downstairs working, and she’s at home, she comes down and she sits there on the floor, and she’s putting it together. And if she needs some help, she says, Dad, this thing is falling apart. So I stopped what I’m doing. I go and I help you see, that’s what I mean, when I say you can and you should strive to have everything that you feel is a definition of success. Because to each person that definition differs. Like some people may think the definition of success is to be, you know, a multimillionaire and have sex with lots of different women. Well, somebody else will say, Well, I think the definition of success is to make millions of dollars, but to actually have a family and settle with one woman and have children. So both are right, because that’s their definition, some probably, you know, and some someone’s definition of success might not even include sex. But regardless, whatever that is, for me that included having a family we started young and in 2025 I had my first kid, and you know, I was really driven all these years and still continued to build my life around my success standards, meaning, you know, I don’t compromise on that. Like I might compromise some other stuff. But if I have a clear definition of what success means, that’s what I’m not willing to, you know, to settle.

07:07

Thank you for listening to the list building lifestyle, get access to the previous episodes transcript of today’s show, as well as other exclusive 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 lists 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 booklets go to www.igorsbook.com Now to claim your free package