Raised by an extraordinary woman, who took care of six children single-handedly, worked two jobs to make sure all of them are well fed and well kept, David Meltzer, grew up with the essence of gratitude, empathy, accountability, discipline, and effective communication instilled in him from a very young age. This has led him to be one of The Top 100 Business Coach today, a global public speaker, “Sports Humanitarian of the Year ” as honored by Variety, and thrice the internationally best-selling author. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he never made mistakes. Just knowing what is good and what is bad for us is not enough to keep ourselves in a safe place. These principles and values we learn growing up, they have to be practiced and refined before they become a part of our basic nature. Going through his own experiences in life, David too at times felt that he has lost touch with his authentic self. But what brought him back every single time is the appreciation and deep regard he always has for the efforts of those who love him and believe in him. At one point in life, David thought he had lost everything, but the inspiration from his mother and his wife helped him re-focus and once again, thrive. The things that he learned in between all these occurrences, widened his perspective on a greater level and he realized how much simpler life could be by just learning how to keep ourselves grounded. And for him one of the ways to do it was to share these learnings with the rest of the world. In 2014, he founded David Meltzer Enterprises, set on a mission to create a collective consciousness of happiness on this planet by empowering over 1 billion people to be self-sufficient and fulfilled individuals. To know more about this mission and how his organization works, we spoke to David.
“One of my most important daily practices is the practice of ending fear. We all experience fear, but it is important to identify when we are in ego-based emotion and stop, drop, and roll back to our center.”
Aspioneer (A): In a world where most people hesitate from taking responsibility for their own happiness, what motivated you to set foot on this venture and take up the task to establish a collective consciousness of happiness among over a billion people? And how do you believe you are going to achieve that?
David Meltzer (DM): I believe that the world today has a happiness problem, with higher rates of unhappiness and suicide than ever before. That’s why I’ve made it my life’s mission to empower over 1 billion people to be happy throughout the world. As a values-based organization, one of the things that set me apart from some of my competitors is my willingness to pay what I call the dummy tax for my clients by sharing my situational knowledge and illuminating the mistakes I’ve made throughout my career to help them avoid making these “dumb” mistakes for themselves and save them from experiencing the same consequences that I did. I look to provide as much value for others as possible.
And speaking of what motivated me to set foot on this venture, I’d say my mom was one of the biggest influences in my life. She would wake us up at 5 am every day – knowing that getting up that early would keep us out of trouble. During my 30’s I lost touch with these values, and it wasn’t until my wife told me that she was unhappy and that I had to step back and think. Now, I’ve got five daily practices that I follow as I consistently and persistently pursue my potential. The first is taking an inventory of my values, so I can understand what’s most important to me today and base my decisions around that. Next, I practice asking others for help. Studying my calendar is another essential part of my routine and I look at three different areas; the things I have scheduled, the ‘white space’ in my calendar, and my sleep. Next, I have a practice that I call ‘Do It Now’. I look at each task I have to accomplish and assess whether I’m capable of doing it now. If not, I have a “Do It Now” folder where I reposit the task and come back to the folder at a scheduled time. Finally, one of my most important daily practices is the practice of ending fear. We all experience fear, but it is important to identify when we are in ego-based emotion and stop, drop, and roll back to our center.
“We’ve made a lot of changes in recent months to provide people who are struggling as much value as possible. Our core values of gratitude, empathy, accountability, and inspiration have been a great help to carry us through these times, especially for the first few months of the pandemic.”
(A): It is easy to dream but harder to dare and your approach is commendable. Tell us, what are the major challenges that you have come across in your pursuit to achieve this goal, and how do you handle them? Are there any specific instances that you would like to share?
(DM): I know that pain is an indicator, not a stop sign. When we experience pain, it is an indicator that we have a lesson to learn, and that is an opportunity to accelerate towards something better in our lives. One of the biggest changes came when I wrote my first book, Connected to Goodness. I had wanted to write an evergreen business book, like Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, and codifying the values and stories in it has given me a platform to connect with others and provide as much value as I can. My prayer each morning is for 10 people I can help (at least) and to oversee not only the financial impact that my company has, but the emotional impact we have on others is what I care most about. This is why I send people my books and worksheets for free, as well as hosting free Friday Training sessions each week at 11 AM Pacific Time. And for my paying clients, I guarantee my value month-to-month because I want to be a profit center for others.
(A): How are you helping people find happiness in these tumultuous times?
(DM): We’ve made a lot of changes in recent months to provide people who are struggling as much value as possible. Our core values of gratitude, empathy, accountability, and inspiration have been a great help to carry us through these times, especially for the first few months of the pandemic. My aforementioned free Friday Training sessions started as sales training but evolved to include all sorts of topics over time. Since the pandemic, we’ve started offering these free Friday Training sessions to the public, and now we’ve got thousands of people tuning in each week who are looking to elevate their own life in order to elevate others. In addition to these training sessions (which include open Q&A), I hold daily Instagram Lives with guests and a daily live-streamed show called Office Hours. I’ve also created new group coaching programs that provide weekly 1-on-1 access and I guarantee the value that I deliver to members. I’ve also got a new partner in Clarity Experiences, who are helping us to provide better virtual experiences to the audiences who tune in to new speeches and TV shows.
(A): What upcoming initiatives do you find particularly exciting? And when you happen to meet your ambition, would that be your endgame or is there a legacy you want to leave behind for others to follow?
(DM): One of the things I’m most excited about is my new show called “The Two Minute Drill”, coming out on Amazon Prime and Bloomberg in 2021, where competitors try to deliver their best pitch for a chance at $50,000 in cash and prizes. Coming to the second part of your question, quite simply I want my legacy to be the impact I have on more than 1 Billion people by empowering them to enjoy the consistent and persistent pursuit of their potential. And the only ideal way to do this is ‘Make a lot of money, Help a lot of people and Have a lot of fun!’. This mission and this motto remain a part of everything I do in my business and my life, and it’s why I spend most of my time each day towards unconditional servitude and making people happy.
