Inside the 7-Figure Machine: A Conversation with Dr. Noah St. John

Inside the 7-Figure Machine: A Conversation with Dr. Noah St. John

‍

Welcome back to the Daily Mastermind. George Wright III here with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education.

And today we have a phenomenal guest, a gentleman that I've worked with before. He's spoken with me. He's a true expert. Let me give him a quick intro for those of you that may not have seen one of his 25 books that he's already got out. Dr. Noah St. John, he's known as the father of affirmations.

You probably have even heard me talk about him in the past and also the mental health coach to the stars. He works with Hollywood celebrities, seven to eight-figure CEOs, and professional athletes. He's famous for helping people make more money in just 12 weeks than they’ve made in the last 12 months.

And a lot of it is your mindset, as you guys know. But he's the author of 25 books and the Seven Figure Machine: The Ultimate Roadmap to Endless Earnings and Financial Freedom. So welcome to the show, Noah. How are you?

Great to be back seeing you again, George. It’s been a while.

Yeah, it is. It is. And man, I tell you, I'm so excited because there's a lot of authors and experts out there nowadays with AI and everything going on, but very few have actually done what you've done, and very few—a lot of people can talk about it—but even fewer can actually help people do it. Your proven track record obviously speaks for itself.

‍

Noah St. John's Background Story

I grew up poor in a rich neighborhood, and I know that's a total cliché, but it's true. I grew up in this little town called Kennebunkport, Maine, which is one of the wealthiest communities in New England, but my family was dirt poor. And I mean that literally because we lived at the bottom of a dirt road in a drafty, unfinished house that my parents ended up losing to foreclosure when I was just 15 years old.

You hear motivational speakers, they'll get on stage all the time, they'll say, "We were poor, but we were happy. We didn’t know we were poor." In my family, we freaking knew we were poor. My mother, bless her heart, reminded us every day that we were poor and miserable. So no, it wasn’t happy—it sucked.

From a very young age, I was painfully exposed to the gap, the chasm between the haves and the have-nots. The haves were everyone else in the community; the have-nots were my family. And I hated being poor. I just hated that life of poverty, fear, lack, and not-enoughness. That’s what I grew up with.

Because I saw that right down the street, there was great wealth and abundance. So I said from the time I was a little kid, "How the heck can I get from here to there?" Of course, there was no one who could help me. There was no internet back then, none of the things we have today. So I did the only thing I could think of—I went to the library and read every book in the self-help section.

I just read every book: the classics, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Stephen Covey, and I immersed myself in that successful literature. I really worked hard and tried to make it work, but as hard as I tried and worked, I just couldn’t seem to get it to work. At the age of 25, I was so frustrated. I’d been working so hard, but I was in these dead-end jobs. My girlfriend left me—it was like a country song, but it was really true. I decided to take my own life at age 25. I decided to commit suicide.

At the very last moment, my life was spared, but I didn’t know why. So I said, "I’ve got to find out what my purpose is here on Earth. Why am I here?" These are questions humans have been asking for centuries. I didn’t know how to answer that question, so I said, "Okay, I’ve got to go back to the library." I did. This time, I read every book in the spiritual section and studied that. I just immersed myself in that literature.

‍

Discovering the Missing Piece

Then fast forward five years later, in 1997, I had these epiphanies when I realized exactly what was missing in all those books and all those seminars I spent years attending, and no one was talking about it. I realized, "Aha, this is my message. This is my purpose." So I wrote my first book, Permission to Succeed, which was subsequently published by the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher.

Now, all these years later, I’m the only author in history—the only person—who has had works published by Hay House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Mindvalley, Nightingale-Conant, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher. No one else in history has ever done that—I’m the only one.

And now, as you mentioned, we have 25 books, and we’ve helped our clients add over $3 billion collectively. We’ve helped entrepreneurs, chiropractors, health professionals, network marketing professionals, wealth managers, and investors add literally six figures, seven figures, and even eight figures using my methods.

As you mentioned, I’m known as the breakthrough coach—the person who helps people to make more in just 12 weeks than they did in the previous 12 months while actually winning their lives back. That’s really exciting. When you go to my website, you’ll see hundreds and hundreds of success stories and case studies. That’s how it really works.

‍

The Seven Figure Machine

And one of the things I’m excited today to talk about is the seven-figure machine book. We’re going to dive into the strategies, but before we set that up, I want our listeners to know this is why I relate so much to you, Noah. At the end of the day, we have very similar backgrounds. We had different things going on, but—guys, success leaves clues.

You notice Noah said he lived around wealth even though he wasn’t wealthy. So he was in that environment, and he knew it was possible. But the other thing is that he realized it was more than just the outer game—it was the inner game as well. That’s part of what got you and me connected.

It was more than just that outer success, and mindset became a big part of the equation. That’s why this podcast talks about mindset so often. I really want to talk to people today about the fact that you’re one of those rare individuals who figured out the real problem holding people back is mindset, but you also found ways to help people break through into financial success.

So why did you decide—look, you’ve got 25 books, you’ve been published more than anybody else in all these different areas—what made you decide to do this book, Seven Figure Machine? What was the purpose behind it?

When I started my company, SuccessClinic.com, I was living in a 300-square-foot basement apartment in Hadley, Massachusetts. I had $800 to my name. I had no money, no connections, no marketing skills, no sales skills, no business acumen. The only funnels we had back then were funnel cake. So it was very rudimentary. It was like trying to build a house with a rock and some sticks. I had nothing.

I didn’t have any resources, but I had resourcefulness. I realized I had this message that I had to bring to the world. It was my calling, but I didn’t know how the heck to do it. I had to spend what little money I had to learn how to make money online, put up a website, and eventually understand things like funnels and offers. I learned the hard way.

The point is, I ended up spending over half a million dollars going to all these gurus out there, only to find out that they can’t teach their way out of a paper bag. They truly suck at teaching. What they’re great at is self-promotion and self-marketing. That’s why, if you notice, when you go to the gurus, their main, if not only, success story is themselves.

They’ll say, "Hey, look at my yacht. Look at my helicopter. Look at my jet. Aren’t I awesome?" And it’s like, yeah, you’re awesome, dude, but have you helped anyone else make money? Usually, the answer is, not so much.

And I will add to what you just said...A lot of times, those individuals' success comes from helping people—not in normal business. You learned through actual business, but now you also have case studies of helping people. That is critical when finding a mentor or someone to guide you.

Exactly.

‍

Importance of Systems Over Personality

And so the thing that I noticed in this industry is you have two camps: personality-driven success and system-driven success. Personality-driven success is exactly what it sounds like—it’s based on that person’s personality. But the question is, what if you don’t have that personality? Then guess what—you’re out of luck. That can’t be taught. You can’t get someone else’s personality.

You can try to fake it, but it never works. So I realized I needed a system. I paid a lot of money for one but never got it. So I had to build it myself. I created the system that we now call the Seven Figure Machine. It’s literally a fill-in-the-blank, plug-and-play, paint-by-numbers checklist system. That’s what I paid for and never got.

Instead of vague advice like, "Get your name out there," or "Put out great content," I created an actionable checklist. My clients love that about me. They say, "Noah, you just give us exactly what to do." My pain is your gain—you’re welcome.

Let me ask you a question. I want to get into the strategy here in a second, but you said something I thought was really cool. A lot of people feel like, ‘I want to get to that seven-figure, eight-figure, nine-figure level, but I don’t have the personality of a CEO or high achiever.’ Now, as you progress and have more success, your confidence builds, but are you saying systems are as important—or more important—than personality?

Yes. W. Edwards Deming, the famous management guru, said, "You put a good person in a bad system, and the system will win every time." The reverse is also true: If you put an average person in a great system, the system still wins.

The classic example is McDonald’s. There are no MBAs or PhDs there—it’s run by 16-year-old kids with a turnover rate of 700% a year. But McDonald’s is McDonald’s because of the system. That’s what I’ve done with the Seven Figure Machine. I created a system that anyone can use.

That’s why I’d rather brag about my client’s success than my own. Yes, I’ve done well, but who cares? It’s about the people I’ve helped. That’s how you know it’s a system that works.

‍

Mindset and Speed in Business

So let me ask you this. And I’m imagining you’re obviously interweaving mindset into everything you’re doing because, as we know, that’s probably the most important thing out there. But is it really possible for somebody to do more in 12 weeks than they’ve done in the last 12 months, as you talk about in the book? Because I think some people probably feel skeptical, you know what I mean?

Absolutely. Think about it this way: building a business is like building a house. There are a lot of elements involved. But here’s what happens—most entrepreneurs wake up in the morning and think, “Oh man, I need money. I need sales. What do I do?” So they run around, slapping boards together, hoping a house shows up.

That’s not how you build a house—certainly not a good one. What I’ve given you in the Seven Figure Machine is a blueprint. It’s a plan—a fill-in-the-blank system. I’m like the architect. But what I tell my clients is, "It’s your house. I’m not going to live in it. Build something that works for you, not just because someone else said you should."

Here’s an example. A lot of gurus say, “If you’re not spending money on Facebook ads, you’re a loser.” I’ve had countless clients come to me saying, “Noah, I spent all this money on Facebook ads and lost money.” My first question is, “What were you sending traffic to?” And they’ll say, “My website.”

Then I’ll ask, “What’s your offer? What’s your funnel?” And they’ll say, “I don’t have an offer yet or a funnel yet.” Isn’t that amazing? All they’re doing in that case is losing money. So my job is to back up and say, “Let’s start here, put everything in place step by step, and then you’ll have a house that’s actually livable.”

Yeah, and you’re right. We have to give people some grace here because no one teaches you this stuff, right? You don’t automatically know you need an offer first or a strategy or a message. And the challenge with most gurus is that they skip right to the chase, hooking you on some idea like, ‘Do my real estate thing,’ or whatever. But the other issue is that many people are promoting someone else’s offer, not their own. And that’s critical. You need to understand and build your own offer.

Exactly. And this brings me to a major point: most people think, “I don’t have more time in the day to grow my business.” They’re overwhelmed and don’t want to sacrifice their lifestyle. But here’s the key—I teach my clients how to grow their business while actually improving their lifestyle.

‍

Lifestyle and Scaling

I know you’re great at this. So how do we create something that grows with better lifestyle integration, rather than sacrificing more time and energy?

Oh, absolutely. That’s one of my big points. A lot of these so-called experts talk about hustle and grind. I call them the "hustle bros." They’re out there saying, “You’ve got to work 14, 16, 18 hours a day. And if you’re not working on Christmas Eve, you’re a loser.”

I’m like, “Dude, are you crazy?” I want my business to serve me—not the other way around. I don’t want to live for my business. I want my business to exist to serve my lifestyle, my family, and what I want to do. The problem is most people don’t have the framework or structure to make that happen.

Here’s an example. One of my clients, Tamisa, is a business owner in Arizona. She joined my 12-week breakthrough program, where I help people make more in 12 weeks than they did in the last 12 months—while also winning their lives back. She was very skeptical, even calling herself a “seminar junkie.” She was already making six figures but kept hitting an income ceiling.

In just the first two weeks of the program, she tripled her investment. We hadn’t even gotten to the money part yet. That shows you how powerful a framework is. When you have the right structure, you can work less and make more. If you’re just slapping boards together, hoping something works, you’ll stay stuck.

And the irony is that some of the wealthiest people I know work fewer hours than most. They’ve learned to leverage systems and their time effectively. So it really is about shifting your mindset, as well as using the right tools. I know your system incorporates both. Is there a single mindset shift you feel is critical for becoming a successful, scalable entrepreneur?

It comes down to three words: money loves speed.

A big problem for many entrepreneurs is the fear of failure, which is natural. No one wants to fail. But millions of entrepreneurs are waiting for everything to be perfect. They’re waiting for all the stars to align. The truth is, you can never know everything. That’s why General George Patton said, “A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”

I encourage my clients to fail faster. I tell them, “90% of what I’ve done over the last 27 years has failed. But the 10% that worked made it all worthwhile.” I say that on purpose because I want people to realize that if I can do it, so can they.

‍

Strategic and Tactical Insights

That’s a great point. I love that you highlight the importance of speed and the willingness to fail. Let’s transition to some of the strategies you lay out in your Seven Figure Machine. Could you share specific, tactical insights or steps people can start applying in their businesses right now?

Absolutely. The Seven Figure Machine is structured around six essential steps that are critical to building a scalable business. Here’s the overview:

These steps apply whether you’re just starting out, have been in business for a while, or are trying to break through to the next level.

That’s a really comprehensive roadmap. And I think what stands out is that these are foundational elements—things people might overlook in favor of trendy tactics. Could you give us an example of someone who’s applied these steps and seen success?

Absolutely. Let me tell you about one of my clients, Charles. When we first talked, I asked him, “How much money do you think you’re losing every year by not having the right systems in place?” Without hesitation, he said, “At least a million dollars.”

I said, “Great. Why don’t you invest 10% of that million with me, and I’ll help you find the rest?” He agreed, and within just 10 months, we didn’t find him a million dollars—we found him 1.8 million. That’s an 18X return on his investment.

More importantly, he told me, “Noah, I’ve always wanted to take a seven-week road trip in an RV with my wife, but I never had the time or the money to do it. Now I have both.” That’s the power of having the right framework in place.

‍

Final Thoughts and Call to Action

I think what you’ve shared today is so valuable. For anyone listening, it’s clear that success isn’t about working harder—it’s about working smarter, with the right systems in place. Before we wrap up, can you share how people can connect with you or learn more about your Seven Figure Machine?

Absolutely. If you want to dive deeper into these strategies, go to sevenfiguremachinebook.com. There, you’ll find all the details about the book, along with over $800 worth of free bonuses. I’ve outlined everything step by step, so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting.

For those who want to work with me directly or explore additional resources, visit breakthroughwithnoah.com. You’ll find free video training, client success stories, and the option to book a breakthrough call with me or one of my coaches.

That’s fantastic. I’ll make sure to include those links in the show notes so people can easily find them. Any final advice for entrepreneurs listening today?

Yes, and it’s worth repeating: Money loves speed. Don’t wait for everything to be perfect. Take action now, even if it’s a small step. Remember, everything you desire is on the other side of fear. Break through that fear, and you’ll be amazed at what’s possible.

That’s a powerful note to end on. Thank you so much, Noah, for sharing your insights and wisdom today. I know our listeners will gain a lot from this conversation.

Thank you, George. It’s been a pleasure, and I look forward to connecting with your audience again soon.

As always, everyone, remember this: It’s never too late to start living the life you’re meant to live. Take action, build momentum, and don’t let fear hold you back. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, and stay tuned for more insights tomorrow on The Daily Mastermind. Have a great day!