Lisa Nichols, a best-selling author, popular public speaker, powerful coach, and charismatic teacher of The Secret, has brought her powerful message of personal empowerment to thousands of people who want to make significant, positive changes in their lives. Starting out as a single mom, she figured out how to overcome significant challenge and realize her dream to work with and motivate teens.
I talked to Lisa about her new book, how to achieve a No Matter What mindset, character muscle building, and finding a holistic path to reach our goals - No Matter What! 
I love the title of this book, No Matter What! I love the idea that you must adopt the concept that you will achieve any goal you have set out for yourself if you have the attitude that it must happen “no matter what”. What made you decide to write this book?
I decided to write this book because long before I knew about the Law of Attraction, I knew and lived by the Law of No Matter What. It was the mantra that I would repeat over and over again when I worked hard at school or making my new business work or supporting my son. I have always felt that when I said I would hit my goal “No Matter What”, that it removed all other options from the table. It was that extra juice of commitment that made it happen. I wanted to share that mindset and its results with other people. After being on the Oprah Show in 2007, I received over 9,750 emails within the first 72 hours of airing. Over 80% of the emails had the same question. People wanted to know how they could create the life they love even if they have experienced some pretty challenging – even horrible – past events. They wanted to know how they could be happy if such unfair things had occurred in their lives…nearly 10,000 emails from people wanting to learn how to turn a breakdown into a breakthrough. So I decided to give them the answers that they were looking for, and to show them how alike we all are in the process so they would feel connected and supported in their journey.
You have overcome some serious obstacles in your life; everything from a history of abuse to spending a night in jail. Do you think that your personality is just inherently more able to deal with and overcome adversity, or do you believe these are learned skills?Yes, I have overcome some pretty dismal situations but only because I decided that regardless of what I would encounter, I am larger than my circumstances. I have spent time developing the character muscles that I mention in the book and they do make a huge difference in my ability to overcome obstacles. I believe that it’s a learned skill and anyone who takes the time to become as intentional as I was on building their “bounce back muscles”, which I explain on page 18 in the book, will be able to do the same thing that I have done, and even more. That’s what I love about a No Matter What mindset – it’s available to everyone. I have no special fairy dust in my pocket, nor do I have something available to me that no one else has. I simply have decided to live with a No Matter What mindset. And anyone else can do it too!
A good portion of the book deals with sadness, its symptoms, and figuring out what you really want in life in order to overcome that sadness. I think this is something we see a lot of, especially in new moms. Life can be so overwhelming at times. Add on a new business, and many women feel close to the edge on any given day. You were a young mom with a young child, single, and starting a business. You were able to incorporate exercise, spirituality and balance on top of the life of a single mom. How did you manage to accomplish this? Why do you think so many women are struggling with doing the same thing you did?As women, we have a tendency to think that we need to be everything to everyone at all times. This sets us up for overwhelm and high stress. I deal with real moments in our lives in this book. As much as we would like to say that happiness is a 24-hour experience, that would not be the truth. And when we are willing to deal with the dark moments, we can actually begin to shed more light on them so that they get brighter. As a single mom and CEO, I constantly looked for the things that gave me a safe space to release any stress, like exercise or surrendering and letting go of needing to have the answer for others through church, prayer or meditation. These outlets provide my refuge and my ‘me time’. I committed to ‘self care’ and filling up my own tank as strongly as I committed to supporting others. Look at what would bring better balance to your life that you have the power to incorporate. What do you need more of or need to set better boundaries around? When you finish serving everyone else, what do you invest in yourself? Remember that your life will only look the way that you design it to look, and people will only ask and expect of you what you are willing to allow them to ask and expect. You are always the best example to the world of how it gets to treat you, so treat yourself with care and love, which means finding safe places to recharge and rejuvenate.
I really liked the component of the book called “I Am Not Alone”, where you ask the reader to identify similar behaviours in their life and give them the ability to relate to you and others. Women, especially, seem to respond to being part of a community and relating their experiences to each other for support. Is this something you have experienced? Do you think this is a part of why you have been so successful, because you engage your audience in this way?Everyone wants to know that they are not alone. Women especially are ready to emote and share. We thrive on community. This technique of bringing the room together by asking them to raise one hand, two hands and stand up based on how much they have in common with the topic being discussed was originally created in our teen workshops. It was a way to get the teens talking and opening up little by little. It’s worked tremendously well with the 120,000+ teens that we have now served. Women, teens, children and even men want to know that they are not alone as they work through difficult times, and even in celebration. This call to action has been one of the key cornerstones to my success. I bring people of all nationalities, economic levels, religious and spiritual backgrounds together, and while we are together we look past every barrier and build emotional bridges which allows us to see only the human spirit that we each bring with us. In these beautiful moments, we become one race – the human race. People are ready for self development and business development delivered in this format, so the response to my work has been phenomenal.
Go to the next page for more great conversation with Lisa Nichols!%br%
How do you go from being a single mom who is just starting a new business to an international celebrity on The Secret? Tell me about that process and what it was like to work on such an enormously successful project.It’s funny because this is the most frequently asked question of all, and I always reflect back on my entire journey when answering this question.
Though all ten chapters in
You Can Overcome Any Obstacle No Matter What: Nine Steps To Living The Life You Love tell my story, it was five key muscles that I remember most that took me from a single, struggling mom (who even needed government financial assistance to take care of my baby) to CEO of a multi-million dollar business and Secret teacher. I focused intently on developing five particular muscles, my:
• Faith-in-Myself Muscle• Take-Action Muscle• I-Know-Like-I-Know Muscle• Say-Yes Muscle, and• Determination MuscleThese particular muscles got me through the darkest moments of my life, and these muscles also led me to step into the highest points of my life so far. That’s why I chose to share them in the book, along with the action steps that you can engage to develop them in your own life. I tell people all the time that if you want to be entertained, read the book; but if you want your life transformed, do the action steps – multiple times. It was very natural and fluid to work on The Secret. It literally was one of the easiest projects I have ever done, which simply shows us that great projects don’t always have to be challenging or difficult to produce. When we were participating in the creation of The Secret, I believe that though everyone knew that it would be a special project, no one – not even the producer – had any idea of the whirlwind that it was going to take us all on. When we were in production, we were doing as every entrepreneur who is reading this article would do: we prayed that the people viewing or reading The Secret would see that special love that we each put into it, and that it would serve millions. And blessed are we that people saw the love and millions have been served.
Why do you think The Secret was so successful?The Secret was successful for four key reasons:
1. It reminded people that they have the power to direct their own lives. It helped to slide each of us back into the driver’s seat of our own destiny, and everyone needed that reminder.
2. It just felt good to experience the message.
3. It was created to be such a universal piece of work, and everyone saw themselves in the experience. The producers did an amazing job of representing the human race, and everyone watching could imagine themselves in the movie or the story because of this.
4. Rhonda Byrne produced this project with a good heart and good intentions. She wanted to serve humanity and give people a way out of doubt by creating a tool that could be the light for people of all walks of life to look up toward and be inspired. Her heart was in the perfect place.
What tips would you recommend to a mom trying to balance being an entrepreneur and a family?I would recommend you walk your life out ten years and write down a clear picture of what you want your life to look like in four key areas: your finances/business, relationships/family, spirituality, and your health. Become crystal clear on what you want your life to look like in these areas, right down to the details. Then truly do what it takes to adopt a No Matter What mindset about those outcomes. When you honestly and wholeheartedly adopt a No Matter What mindset, you remove any other option from the table. You are now making a statement and telling doubt, worry and fear that they have no place in your mind or life as it relates to these key areas. You will no longer worry about what lingers around the corner awaiting your arrival. As a matter of fact, you recognize that whatever is around the corner must now worry about you – because you said “No Matter What!” The book will be your guide; it will not be just a ‘pick up and complete then put down’ book. Over the next ten years I encourage you to revisit it as a guide for any focused area or muscle as you continue on your journey.
Go to
NoMatterWhatTour.com and click on “free download” and get “Setting Your Champion Free” – then watch a new you begin to unfold.
What are your plans once this book tour has completed? Where is your business going next?I and my team will always focus on producing teen workshops – Motivating the Teen Spirit is my special, special project that will create a safe space for teens to establish their own integrity, open up and find their own voice. We now serve teens nationally and in Canada. My plans include continuing to serve women and entrepreneurs by teaching them how to create holistic success in their lives. I am launching a new course on how to build a multi-million dollar speaking and writing career and how to create five solid revenue streams coming into your business. For personal development I am offering tele-seminars and trainings on how to overcome the limiting beliefs that keep you feeling stuck, and access the champion in you. We are launching our No Matter What Mindset weekend in September and encourage women entrepreneurs to come and allow us to serve up some piping hot love, inspiration and life-changing content.
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