How to create & manifest more money with Nick Demos

How many times have you heard "Money doesn't grow on trees", "making money is hard", "making money is stressful", "money is greedy" or any other negative connotation about money? And how many of these stories about money... stem from your childhood? You may not even realize that the stories we have around money actually determine the amount of money we make in our business.

The key to reaching your NEXT level of success... is within the practice of identifying your money stories, releasing what they mean, renewing your sense of creativity, and defining your new money story... and then, only then, can we become open to RECEIVE. This powerful practice of manifesting more money is what special guest Nick Demos will share with us today.

Nick Demos is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer, documentary filmmaker, conscious business coach and manifestation expert. With over fifteen years of teaching pranayama (breath work), yoga, and creativity as well as thirty years in the entertainment industry, he has traveled from the Tony Awards to ashrams and run a multi-million dollar business in between. Nick guides you to clear blocks and tap into your creative intuition so you can be unapologetically visible and manifest while making monumental impact.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL​ LEARN:

• What it truly means to "Manifest" what you want in life
• The 4 R's of Money Manifestation so you become a powerful manifesting machine
• How to identify you own money stories and money beliefs that might be holding you back without you even knowing it
• How to align your energy to the person you want to be... starting today

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE

Follow Nick on Instagram @thenickdemos

Learn more from Nick at www.thenickdemos.com

Listen to Nick's podcast, The Creative Soulprenuer Podcast

LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLE

Website: www.monicalittlecoaching.com

Instagram: @monicalittlecoaching

My small business: www.shopplantbasedbeauty.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Monica Little: Hello and welcome to episode 41 of the Product Biz Podcast. I'm your host, Monica Little, and I am so excited to introduce you today to Nick, who is a friend of mine and a money manifestation coach. So this is such a fun conversation because we talk about how do we really create money? And a lot of people think that money is solely by the act.

[00:00:27] Pushing and doing and doing more and doing more and burning ourselves out and continuing to push and shove and continuing to do more and more and more above and beyond what we're already doing. But this conversation today with Nick is going to completely change your perspective on how to uncover your money, money belief.

[00:00:48] How your money beliefs might actually be driving the show and determining how you show up and determining the results that you actually get. Nick is a Tony Award-winning [00:01:00] Broadway producer, documentary filmmaker, conscious business coach and manifestation expert. He is over 15 years of teaching a pranayama, which is called Breath Work, yoga, and Creativity as.

[00:01:12] 30 years in the entertainment industry. He has traveled from the Tony Awards to Ash Rums and has run a multi-million dollar business in between. He guides you to clear blocks and tap into your creative intuition so you can be unapologetically visible and manifest while making monumental. This is such a treat, this conversation.

[00:01:37] Such a fun conversation. Such an insightful conversation, and I am so excited to introduce to you, Nick, here today on the Product Biz Podcast. Are you ready to go behind the scenes and learn what it really takes to create consistent sales each and every month with your handmade small? Join me, Monica, little Self-taught [00:02:00] multiple six figure small business owner and your product business coach.

[00:02:04] As I give you the insight and inspiration on how to better run your business and increase your sales in ways that you may not have even been aware of, so that your business can truly become what you knew it could be back when you first. Learn how to let go of perfection, overcome the fear of failure that is holding you back, and finally start taking action so that you walk away feeling like you've cracked the code on how to run a successful small business.

[00:02:34] You are listening to the Product Biz Podcast. Well, hello Nick, and welcome to the Product Biz Podcast. I'm so excited to chat with you today, all about manifestation and money mindset. 

[00:02:47] Nick Demos: Monica, I am really honored that you are having me today. I know what it means to bring people. In front of your audience.

[00:02:55] Your audience that you, that trust you. And so for you to trust [00:03:00] me, I am really honored. So thank you. 

[00:03:02] Monica Little: Oh my gosh, that is just so sweet. I know this is gonna be an awesome conversation. I know you are such an expert on so many amazing topics and you are just such a fun person. So I'm excited to chat with you today.

[00:03:12] But before we really dive into manifestation and money mindset, I would love for you. Introduce yourself to the person listening. Who are you? Why are you passionate about this? Tell us about your multiple different, amazing things that you're working on, and just bring us up to speed on, on who you are.

[00:03:28] Nick Demos: Yeah, so I am a multi-passionate, as you said, multihyphenate creative human being. And I think one of the reasons I love manifestation and talking about money manifestation so much is that I believe that we all have the power to shift, to change, to grow, to expand. And I'm one of those people that anytime somebody tries to put me into a box, I'm like, watch out.

[00:03:54] I'm on a break. Right on. Yeah, I am a, I'm a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer. I'm a [00:04:00] documentary filmmaker and really in the coaching space, I help people move through. Blocks both conscious and unconscious blocks so they can manifest, so they can create in the world. And if manifestation is a word to you that makes you go, ew, , you know?

[00:04:20] Cause for some people it really does, right? They go, Ooh, man, ooh, manifestation. That's so like woo woo, or Hoy tok, or whatever that is. You know, you can change that word to mean create or creation. I love it. So money creation or money creating, you know, it all comes from the same place in my opinion, which is sort of this idea of source or idea or universe or whatever that word is for you.

[00:04:48] And that's really the great creator. The great creator is that. So if manifestation makes you go, ugh, There's 

[00:04:56] Monica Little: an idea. Couple other ways to look at it. I love it and I know, I know the people listening. [00:05:00] Like I, I do talk on the booboo side of things. I do talk about, you know, the universe and some of these concepts, but when we were chatting and you wanted to come on and talk about manifestation and money mindset, I'm like, man, that's perfect because I kind of, you know, touch on these topics.

[00:05:13] But having someone who not only coaches on it, but obviously from. Your awards and everything that you do on like the Broadway and creative side, like you've manifested this amazing life and I know all of that is really, really intermingled just to bring about all the awesome things that you've done in your life.

[00:05:31] Um, so one thing I wanna ask you as we kind of dive in, I know you just gave an awesome. Definition of manifestation. So when we talk about manifesting, we can also just think of it as like creating, right? But tell me a little bit more in detail what really is manifestation? How would you describe manifestation maybe to someone who doesn't really know what it is or isn't super well versed and is new to some of these terms?

[00:05:56] Nick Demos: Yeah, I think manifestation can mean different things to different. [00:06:00] But ultimately what it really boils down to is what is it that do you intend to create in the world, and how can you align your energy so that you're in a place or space, a, a being space of the bead? You have model, which I'm, which you may have heard of.

[00:06:21] How can you be the person that aligns with that energy now? The, where it gets tricky is that people will sometimes, you know, think of it as. Being overly positive or toxic. Positivity, right? Mm-hmm. , it can fall into this trap of that. It is not that, it is in fact the opposite of that. Ultimately, I'm not saying stay in a negative space, but what I'm asking you to do is to look at those old stories, those old haunts, those old things that are, that, that, that are trapped within you and release them, [00:07:00] so you're open to taking the action that you need to take.

[00:07:06] In order to create what you wanna create in the. 

[00:07:10] Monica Little: Oh my gosh. So beautiful. There's a couple things that you said that I wanna dive into. So first you mentioned the b do have model, and, and I know what that is, but I haven't actually talked about that on the podcast. Do you wanna explain in a little bit more detail on what that is?

[00:07:24] Nick Demos: Yeah, it's not my, my philosophy, so I'm not gonna g I not the expert on that particular modality, but what I will say is this, you want to be the person. that can do the thing. So you can have what you want. Yeah. Whereas people kinda kinda try to reverse engineer that they wanna have it right and then they think, well, okay, I'm gonna have that, so what do I have to do to to get it?

[00:07:52] So then who do I have to be? But the reality is you need to be the person first. You have to be that [00:08:00] person in order for you to do the things that you need to do. So that you can have what it is that you intend to create or manifest in the world. 

[00:08:09] Monica Little: Oh my gosh, I love it. And such a good example. As I think about like the product business owner who's listening to this podcast right now, a lot of times I think we wait to do certain things like, okay, I'm gonna wait to get professional photos of my products until I make more money, until I feel ready, until I have X amount of more sales.

[00:08:28] But what you're saying with this, B do have model is if you wanna be that six figure small business owner or whatever your goal is, you have to step into that right now and do the things that that person is doing instead of waiting. So if we think like the six figure small business owner, they have professional photos, they have professional done packaging, they are on certain platforms, they have a team, they have support, they have whatever it may be.

[00:08:55] How do you start to build this now in order to then. , get those [00:09:00] results that you want. Is that an accurate interpretation of what you're saying? 

[00:09:02] Nick Demos: That is accurate and it's tricky, right? It's tricky because I can hear somebody out there saying, well, that's really great for you to say, but I don't have the money right now.

[00:09:13] Mm-hmm. , right? I don't have that, so how am I supposed to do that? Right? And so it is tricky. Sometimes there's this leap of faith that one has to take. You have to step out of your comfort zone. That's where. And that's where you get, you begin to run up against like these, these stories that are telling you because that we have that old part of our brain, the reptilian way back there, who's like, I'm here to protect you.

[00:09:41] It's never going to happen. Right. That kind of thing begins to, and then, so what you have to do is examine those nevers, always shoulds, all of that stuff, examine those beliefs and what I call the first of the four Rs of manifestation. You know, in school we were [00:10:00] taught, uh, the, the, the three Rs, right?

[00:10:02] Reading, writing. The interesting thing about manifestation, particularly money manifestation, is we weren't taught about it. Mm. Of course, we don't know how to do it. and there's a lot of shame around it. Mm-hmm. , there's so much shame around money. Right. That's been created. Yeah. But the first of the four Rs is this thing called review, where you go and you dive into these stories that we're talking about so you can take that action so that, so that you can go beyond that comfort zone.

[00:10:30] Yeah. But the first thing you have to do is ask yourself why? Why do you really want. . Yeah. 

[00:10:38] Monica Little: So when someone is doing this review phase mm-hmm. , I love what you said. You know, assessing your thoughts. I think that's like one of the hardest things, because I remember when I first actually started to do that, and I would just be so surprised at where my thoughts were going and I'd actually be aware and trying to be present and be like, oh my gosh, my thoughts were [00:11:00] going to this, this bad place of what if this doesn't work out?

[00:11:03] What if it doesn't happen? What if I fail? What if X, Y, Z? So do you have any tips? I know you said review. I know you said like your Y. But how does one really start to understand these old stories and acknowledge them? Is it just being present or, or what would you recommend? 

[00:11:17] Nick Demos: It's being present to them.

[00:11:18] First and foremost, it's bringing awareness to 'em. This is why like a meditation practice is, is really wonderful because we begin to learn how to watch our thoughts. Mm-hmm. So part of this is conditioning. Right. You were conditioned at, you were told stories of money doesn't grow on trees. Money is hard.

[00:11:36] That was the, that was the story that I was told. I remember when I was 12 years old, I really wanted to. Go to the arcade and play Miss Pacman. I'm aging myself here. Miss Pacman. I wanted to pay Miss Pacman and I didn't have the money, and I asked my dad for money to go to the, the arcade and my, my father said, you know, [00:12:00] I, I earned this hard money.

[00:12:01] You wanna go play Pacman? You go earn it because it's hard to earn. That's what he told me. Well, my friend Pat had this paper route and he said, oh my gosh, two streets over. They're looking for a paper. You want to go, you should go get it. So I, I went and I applied for the job and I got the job and they told me two things.

[00:12:19] One, that I would make money by delivering the papers, but two, also by getting people to, uh, do subscriptions, right? So I carried my red wagon up and down the hill, and I was tossing those papers and it was really hard work. Honestly. It was physically, we, we lived in this hilly area, so I'm going up and down the hills.

[00:12:37] I remember one day I got down to the bottom of the, and I laid down on the grass and I was looking up at the sky and, and I was sort of watching the, the clouds go by and I was like, exhausted. And I was watching and I was like, oh, what if I just get more subscribers? Mm. What if I get more subscribers? I can go to door to door and I can be charming [00:13:00] and I can just sell subscriptions.

[00:13:02] And so that's what I did. And in that moment I learned two things. One, money was. Hard to make. I had been told it was hard to make, but what I did is created the space to allow, I literally just laid down in the clouds and was, and I, and was in that dreamy kind of space. So allowing yourself that space to see.

[00:13:28] And then the second thing I learned was that ideas where money came from, came from something bigger. Source God, divine love tree, whatever you wanna call that, right? That is what I realized. And so I would say giving yourself the space is so important. Giving yourself grace ultimately to sit with those thoughts that you're having and notice the repetitive thoughts, cuz it's not about a thought.

[00:13:59] Here's [00:14:00] another thing that people get really messed up, is that it's not about having one thought. You know, I have a thought, oh, I'm gonna go broke. Oh, I'm gonna, you know, it's the repetitive thought that we're looking for. So beginning to see the patterns is what's really important. Oh my gosh. Course of a day, I can have 5,000 thoughts.

[00:14:21] Right. If a thought created everything, I'd be creating all sorts of crazy stuff. Right. It's not that. It's the repetitive thoughts that create the belief. Mm-hmm. . and sometimes it's not even your thoughts. Like I was saying, it was my dad. My dad was telling me that it was hard, so I had to undo, I had to switch that, you know, that wiring in the brain, what wires together?

[00:14:45] Fires together, they say, right? Mm-hmm. . So I had to unwire that. Oh my gosh, 

[00:14:51] Monica Little: that is such a good story. I love it and I can relate so much because I know when I was younger too, like my parents didn't have a lot of money. My dad [00:15:00] worked the night shift at like car manufacturing. My mom cleaned houses and it was the same thing, like my parents were always stressed about money.

[00:15:07] To this day, I remember my mom going the grocery store and complaining about how cereal was so expensive and whenever we would go to the grocery store, it was always like just, um, these remarks that she would say. So everything was so expensive and not enough money. And seeing my parents so stressed about money all the time, and so worried about money all the time.

[00:15:27] That was something I carried with me for so long. It was probably just the past, maybe five or six years doing what you did. Meditating, just getting quiet. Hearing my thoughts and analyzing, getting super inquisitive on why am I thinking this? Where did this come from? Exactly like you said, like really going backwards and finding where did this come from?

[00:15:49] And then realizing like, oh my gosh, a lot of what my parents thought is now on me, and now I'm acting in the same way. Because there's some things that say like the first, what, seven, eight years of our life [00:16:00] is when we're most imprinted. Absolutely. Right. Something with our subconscious and things like that.

[00:16:04] So it's, it's very interesting for you to share that as well. 

[00:16:07] Nick Demos: And if you're not a meditator, if meditating is like, I cannot meditate. Oh my gosh, there's no way. Right? Yeah. Free flow writing. I call it flow writing, where you just write and write and write and write and write and write and write and write and write.

[00:16:18] And then eventually, and you don't even read it right away, you can go back like a month later and begin circling things and you'll, and you'll go back and you'll read. You can go back and read and like circle patterns. You go, oh my gosh, look at that. There it is. There it is again. Oh, how interesting. Now that's something for me to really examine.

[00:16:35] Is right there because I see it repetitively. And then you went right away into, very naturally into part two of the four Rs, which is release, which is letting go of these stories. Right. And in many ways it's about, often it's about forgiving yourself for your past. Hmm. . You know, we've all made money mistakes.

[00:16:58] We've all had these stories that [00:17:00] have been so ingrained in us that we can't help but make mistakes. Because again, we weren't taught, it's not your fault, you were not taught how to do this. Right. That's not a class, unfortunately, in school, it's not a class. At least it hasn't been and wasn't in our day.

[00:17:15] Right. And you know, I. We all have different moments or points. You know, my bottom came when I was an actor. First talk about a. A business that they, you know, the, the starving artist, you're gonna starve forever. That was another story that I heard from my parents. They desperately wanted me to be a lawyer.

[00:17:34] My dad said, you know how to talk and argue. Go do that . But I wanted to be this performer. Right. And I, I decided, but talk about like, sort of where I was at. I took a job that was in Connecticut. I lived in New York City and we had to take the. To get there. They didn't even pay for that. And they were paying us $200 a week and I lived in New York City.

[00:17:56] Oh my gosh. And I took a six month contract on this [00:18:00] and the debt started to add up. , you know, I knowingly took this job because I was so desperate at that time to be like the performer, right? That I did it, that I, that I made this sort of financial mistake and my low point came when I went to Grand Central Station, put my a t m card in to get cash back when you had to do that, to pull cash out to, to buy my train ticket to get to work, and I had no money to get to.

[00:18:31] And then I pulled out my credit card and it was maxed. Hmm. I could not get to work. And I sat down on the steps. No Grand Central, those, those classic iconic steps. I sat down the steps and I started to ball because I didn't have enough money to get to a job that wasn't paying me enough to even. Paid to get to work.

[00:18:56] You know what I mean? It was like this really vicious cycle that I was in, and it was a [00:19:00] harrowing moment. Thankfully somebody else was there from the cast and they're like, I got you. I'll take care of you till payday. Lovely, amazing human to this day. Such gratitude for that moment. But it was the bottom for me.

[00:19:12] Mm-hmm. , and I've had to really dig into like what it is. Those stories again of what got me there, but also I had to let that go. I had to forgive myself. For the mistakes that I've made. We've all made them. I've made them also in investments. You know what I mean? Nobody's perfect because we weren't taught.

[00:19:30] So letting go is the second step of, of that letting go of these old stories, shedding them. 

[00:19:37] Monica Little: Oh my gosh, that's so beautiful. I love that. Cause I think a lot of times, at least thinking through my own example, I think I jump past this step. Like I'm very analytical and I'll analyze my, my thoughts and I'll think, you know, why?

[00:19:50] Why do I have these money stories, these money beliefs? But actually, letting go and forgiving yourself and saying, Hey, you know what? I was raised this way, [00:20:00] or this just happened. It was a learning lesson or whatever. For that reason, it happened. Understanding the why behind 

[00:20:07] Nick Demos: it, and I think it's important that we say that, you know, not everyone starts at the same place.

[00:20:12] Mm-hmm. . Both in terms of their finances, what they were privileged to, to be raised in financially, or their ability to be able to create in the world there. You know, there's definitely levels of privilege here, but everyone can learn to let go and move the needle mm-hmm. and move the needle forward. We don't all start at the same privileges, but we can learn to let go and move the needle forward no matter what your circumstances.

[00:20:44] Monica Little: So how do you know when you have let go? Is it just peace? Is it just no longer worrying about it? Like what's the sign of Yes, I have let go of these stories? 

[00:20:53] Nick Demos: There's no longer a charge. Okay. And what do you mean by that? And I don't mean charge card, I mean there's no longer a charge [00:21:00] within you. You know when you tell a story and you still get like, like sort of a.

[00:21:04] A sinking feeling or a, a bit of something in your stomach or you, it may well you up with some tears, then you know that you haven't fully let it go. But if you can, like I just did tell that story and it wasn't that I was telling an unemotional story, but I didn't get an electric charge within myself about it.

[00:21:22] So I know that that story is no longer present. That story is no longer within me. It's actually now through me, and I'm using it as a conduit to help others. . 

[00:21:32] Monica Little: Beautiful. And what if someone's struggling to let go? What if they're maybe journaling about these money stories and they're working on forgiving themselves, but they still just feel this burden about money or this burden about where they are or this burden about their current situation.

[00:21:46] How would you recommend for them to continue to shed those layers and continue to let go? 

[00:21:51] Nick Demos: Yeah, grace. Hmm, grace, right? Why that It's, it's, it, it is a process. [00:22:00] and you know, the, however old you are, you know, I'm, I'm 51. The, the 50 years before that came before this, of that conditioning isn't necessarily gonna be let go of in a year.

[00:22:11] Yes. Sometimes we have quantum leaps is what we call quantum manifestation. Right. Where things, but generally speaking, Something that has taken 50 years to build doesn't go away in, you know, three times of sitting down to write. Right? You've gotta allow yourself the time and the space that you need and ev for everyone.

[00:22:32] It's different. That's the other thing. It's different, but using the, the techniques, the tools, everything from breath work to writing to. Exercises to getting up and dancing and moving and getting it out of your body. There are so many things you can do to move energy, and so finding what's right for you is really key.

[00:22:54] Mm-hmm. to letting the story 

[00:22:55] Monica Little: go. Oh my gosh. I love it. And I love the examples that you gave cuz it might, you [00:23:00] know, I think there's obviously the reflection and releasing of going through those stories and writing about it and our money stories, our money beliefs. But I love what you just said of there's a flip side of going and having fun.

[00:23:12] And I think maybe that will remind people like, yes, maybe I am in a tough money situation, or maybe I'm not where I want to be right now, and maybe I'm manifesting and creating something different, but I can still have fun along the. 

[00:23:23] Nick Demos: Monica, I have to tell you, I used to give this exercise called nine minutes a day of creative play.

[00:23:29] Mm-hmm. , which is really, you know, to get you out of sort of that head space and into the body and like really like that child, like recapturing that inner child. Right. But I stopped giving it to people and I'll tell you why. You tell people to go play. They're like, no Uhuh, no not doing. Right. If I, if I would've called it nine minutes of work, it'll more than likely to do it.

[00:23:56] Monica Little: So true. So true. And it's so [00:24:00] funny that you say that cuz I've been doing something with my coaching clients. We had the silliest competition because I've been really getting into this whole creative thing, inner child, making sure that, you know, I'm having that type of creative joy with no strings. Not trying to create something to sell it.

[00:24:16] Cuz a lot of people, as product business owners, they'll make jewelry and then they wanna sell it. Yes. They'll make cards for fun, then they wanna sell it. So I've been working with my members like just to do something just for fun. And I showed them the silliest thing. Couple weeks ago, I literally sat on my living room floor and I drew a farmhouse and farm animals, and it looked like a five-year-old did it.

[00:24:38] It was so embarrassing. There was pigs and a horse and a cat, and it was just so crazy. But with my members, I actually told them, I'm like, let's do a competition. Everyone draw and color a farmhouse with some farm animals, and then we'll vote on the favorite and the winner gets like a $10 Starbucks gift card.

[00:24:54] But just the same thing that you said, just incentivizing people to, yeah. Let's get back to some of that [00:25:00] creativity just to create, just for fun, just to feel good and get out of our heads of all the other things we have to do and work and everything else around. 

[00:25:09] Nick Demos: and that creativity leads to renewal, which is the third.

[00:25:12] The third R. Right? Because when you are in that space, you're moving out of a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Mm-hmm. , right? The fixed is, it will always be this way. I will never, any of those type of phrases, the growth moves you into the creative zone of genius. That allows you to be the conduit or the channel because you've opened yourself up.

[00:25:39] You've, you've re re reviewed those stories, you've released them. Now you become this open channel to renew energy. My grandmother, when growing up, you know, there's the world that people that feel that. But what, what if, what if I'm so open that somebody else comes in and takes my idea? Right? I hear that sometimes, right?

[00:25:59] Or, oh, [00:26:00] somebody else has my idea. Mine's not gonna be good enough. My grandmother used to bake pipes and there were 27 grandchildren, by the way. Oh my goodness. We would, I know my mother, my, my, my, my grandmother had eight children. Bless her. Remember 27 grand grandkids? She used to bake pies. She'd come out with a pie, right?

[00:26:18] And I thought that this was, A beautiful thing that the pie would come out and, you know, all 27 grandkids would like run to it thinking they weren't gonna get any more pie. Right. . But the beautiful thing about my grandmother is she knew there were 27 of us, so of course the pie would come out, but another pie would come out.

[00:26:37] Right. Just because somebody's going to get a piece of a pie doesn't mean that the whole entire other pie can't be created. Mm-hmm. . And so when we move out of this fixed mindset of, oh, but the pie has to be this particular way and this size, and I only get this much of it because I'm in scarcity, and we move to a more open, [00:27:00] oh, oh my gosh.

[00:27:02] There are so many ways. It could be a blueberry pie. It could be a cherry pie, it could be pecan pie. What's my favorite pie? I'm gonna create that. 

[00:27:12] Monica Little: I love it. And it's truly just being open to what's possible. Right? Totally. Just being open to say, Hey, every single day can be magical. Who knows what could happen today?

[00:27:23] Today could be an amazing day, could have a random partnership or a random this, or a random orders 

[00:27:27] Nick Demos: come in, and when you, the more you unblock. Those stories that we're talking about, the more open that channel becomes and they're therefore you're able to allow more in to the final R, which is receive.

[00:27:43] And tell me more How that openness to receive and, you know, trading value for value is reciprocal. Oftentimes, I know with a lot of my students, they feel sort of almost a guilt about taking. . [00:28:00] Right. They may undercharge. This is, this comes up a lot, right? Am I undercharging? Mm-hmm. , am I not valuing myself?

[00:28:10] Am I, but, but I just wanna give it, I just wanna give it, because I, I feel I, I did it, I created it from my heart, so I want to give it away, right? Yeah. But money is actually an energetic exchange, and half of that exchange is receiving, it's co-creating. . Mm-hmm. . And so Vital. Yeah, because honestly, you're actually not doing somebody a service when you give something to them because they don't value it.

[00:28:42] Mm-hmm. . Hundred percent and therefore they don't necessarily even use it. 

[00:28:47] Monica Little: Right. That's something that happens with my members too, with selling products. Like people will sell something for so cheap, and I think it comes, I mean, this kind of comes full, full circle. If you sell one of your [00:29:00] products at a really low price, it might be because you have those money.

[00:29:03] Stories of money is hard. I need to be the cheapest one. I need to be the. Expensive. No one will buy this if it's more expensive. I'm not worthy of making money. I'm sure kind of is underneath all of that too. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, 

[00:29:17] Nick Demos: absolutely. That worthiness factor is a big part of that, which is that back to that, like you said, it's circular back to that original story.

[00:29:24] Mm-hmm. , you know what story for you to unlock a bit, and I think it's really important also to say that part of receptivity is in collabo. Learning to collaborate with with folks and the way in which you attract or draw them in is through your story. So manifestation really happens through your story.

[00:29:47] The stories that I told today either drew you in and made you say, oh gosh, he's interesting. I'm, I'm interested in what he has to say, or repelled you and said, Nope, he's not the person for me. And either way, That's [00:30:00] fine, right? Either way, that's the energy exchange. But what will draw you in, you'll be able to co-create with people is that's your superpower.

[00:30:09] Like if you had a big old S Superman or a superwoman on your shirt, it's your story. Both the internal stories that what we were talking about, we manifest through them by by releasing them, and then we really begin to manifest by sharing them once you're through them. Oh 

[00:30:30] Monica Little: my gosh, that is so beautiful.

[00:30:33] That is just taking it to another level. And it's so interesting on how this is. Such a larger discussion than just money, right? Like we're talking about money, mindset and manifestation, but it truly is just like becoming the best version of you and understanding what are those stories and beliefs and how do you release them?

[00:30:54] How do you get renewed? How do you open yourself up to receive, not only to receive money, but to receive [00:31:00] opportunities to receive? I'm sure like peace and happiness and creativity is being received too. So it's so interesting on how 

[00:31:07] Nick Demos: aligns and. Clients and profit and like that is all tied. Yeah. Right.

[00:31:14] This is how it's all tied together. Mm-hmm. . 

[00:31:17] Monica Little: And one thing that you said that I wanna probe a little bit further on, when you said money is an energetic exchange, I think some people listening might be like, what does that mean? Can you give us a little bit more context than we mean by that? Yeah. 

[00:31:28] Nick Demos: So you provide value, right?

[00:31:32] Your product is value and. We oftentimes will think, well, maybe it should only be X amount or should it be this amount? We can't quite figure out what that amount is, but it's value and the exchange is of like value. . So rather than thinking of it as, oh gosh, I don't know what to [00:32:00] charge, or, oh, I'm not sure, it's only worth X amount of money, what if it's just truly a value exchange?

[00:32:08] Mm-hmm. , which is energy. Energy is anything that's manifest in the universe. Right. And we struggle often with what is the value of this? Well, the value is what anyone's willing to pay. Mm. Right, because what I value and what somebody else may value are two very different things. I might not need that product that, that somebody, that person A has, but I might really want person B's product.

[00:32:39] So my exchange, my energetic exchange with them is the physical money I'm gonna give them in exchange for this thing that I value. Mm-hmm. money is everything in that sense. So money equals energy. 

[00:32:59] Monica Little: [00:33:00] Yeah. And, and in addition to that, would you also say, . You know, I, you mentioned earlier, one thing that I wrote is aligning your energy to money.

[00:33:10] Mm-hmm. , and by going through these four Rs, obviously your energy as a human being, when you release all of these old stories, when you're open to receive, when you go through this process, your energy as a human being is gonna be different. Right. If your energy is, money is hard, money is stressful. Money doesn't grow on trees.

[00:33:28] I'm never gonna make enough money. No one's ever gonna buy my stuff. That's a very different energy versus, Hey, money can be easy. Sure, I have to work, but money can be fun. I can have fun while I'm making money. I can prioritize myself. I'm open to opportunities. I'm open to more orders. Those are two different energies, two different mindsets, two different emotions that are coming up too, 

[00:33:50] Nick Demos: right?

[00:33:50] Yeah. And so who is your client, your customer, in, in, in your, your world, right? Who is your customer going to be attracted to? Mm. . [00:34:00] 

[00:34:00] Monica Little: Yeah. It's not gonna be the person who has these potential hard stories that they're working through, because you show up differently, right? When you are in this scarcity mindset, you show up in a different 

[00:34:14] Nick Demos: manner, and that goes back to be, do have, mm-hmm.

[00:34:16] right? If you're being the person that feels full, that feels not in this scarcity place, but in a place of abundance. That's going to draw people to you through you telling your story, that attracts people to you, to your energy, and then again, there's that energy exchange. Then they want to exchange energy with you and they want to purchase your 

[00:34:40] Monica Little: product.

[00:34:41] I love it. I love it. So many synchronicity in how this all comes together. I absolutely love it. One thing that I really believe, and I would love to know your train of thought here. I know we talked about the word scarcity and abundance, but one thing that I'm a big believer in is, you know, the universe, God sore spirit, like you said, whatever you wanna call it, right?

[00:34:59] There's so [00:35:00] much abundance in this world. There's so much potential in the future. There's so many things the. Who knows what can happen every single day that you wake up versus the, the flip side, more of a scarcity mindset is someone who maybe is more thinking of like, I'm never gonna make it. This is gonna be hard.

[00:35:15] I'm not smart enough, I'm not good enough. Yeah. Um, I would love to know your views. Like how, how, what would you recommend for someone. Who maybe is now realizing that they are more in the scarcity mindset and they want to be more in the abundant mindset. I know you used fixed and growth mindset. I think those are very similar in this situation, right?

[00:35:33] Obviously you gave the four Rs and that's gonna help them there, but do you have any other like easy, simple tips on how to just be reminded of how abundant the world actually is? 

[00:35:43] Nick Demos: Yeah. Okay. So first I would say that simply by bringing awareness to it, you're already beginning the shift. Sometimes you don't even have to do that much.

[00:35:53] Just bringing that awareness to it, which is why meditation is like very powerful. The second thing I would say is breath. [00:36:00] You go do a breath work, practice, and here's why. There is nothing more abundant in this universe than your breath. We take 21,600 breaths every single day. That's 15 breaths per minute.

[00:36:15] It's your life force. There is n You can live without water for some time. You can live without food for some time. You can live out with the com without the company of people for some time. This is all energy that we're talking about, by the way. Mm-hmm. , Anna, or energy. Right. But the one thing you cannot live without is breath the minute, breath expels from the body.

[00:36:35] You are gone from this particular. So therefore, if you're ever feeling in lack, sit down and breathe. And count your blessings with gratitude, cuz gratitude shifts your energy more than maybe anything whatsoever. And where does that come from? From your 

[00:36:56] Monica Little: breath? So beautiful. So beautiful. [00:37:00] I absolutely love that.

[00:37:01] And you know, people always say, come back to your breath, breathe, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I get that. And yeah, yeah, I'll do it. But how you explained it, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ok. Okay. . Yeah, I get it. But how you explained it that is so interesting. Like literally it is life force, it is energy. We need to breathe.

[00:37:20] So if you're ever feeling in this space of doubt or scarcity, come back to 

[00:37:25] Nick Demos: the. Not only that, it's also the great idea. Yeah. That's a yes. And not only that. Yes. And I don't wanna say no. Yes. And it's the great reciprocal, it's the great teacher of what do we give off and what do we receive from the tree?

[00:37:45] Hmm. Ready? It's an equal talk about energetic exchange. One can't live without the other, and so it's a great metaphor. for how you look at life, how you look at your [00:38:00] finances, how you look at your relationships, how you look at everything. 

[00:38:04] Monica Little: Yeah. Such a deep, deep conversation. I love it. One thing you mentioned too is gratitude.

[00:38:10] And this is something I'm a big fan of, um, something like I tell my members to do and something that I do every once in a while is just sit down and write a hundred things I'm grateful for because you're gonna get the very obvious. Things kind of coming up first, but as you go through a hundred things, you're gonna get to be like, man, I'm grateful.

[00:38:29] I have water. I can drink every day. I'm grateful I have a pillow to sleep on. I'm grateful that I'm able to walk. Right? Like these super simple things that, that we don't recognize. So I love how you said come back to gratitude because when you focus on what you're grateful on, and I would love for you to expand on this on your point of view, but you're focusing on the abundance.

[00:38:47] You're focusing on what's actually available to you. And when you focus on the good, the good continues to grow. . Right? So I'd love to know your point of view on that. 

[00:38:55] Nick Demos: And I'm grateful for the [00:39:00] lessons that got me here. Yeah. Right. Be all those stories, my dad and all of all of that. I wouldn't be who I was if I had not gone through that experience, if I hadn't learned what I learned and how I needed to learn it.

[00:39:15] So the gratitude is beyond just a thing. , right? It's for the way of being. Mm-hmm. 

[00:39:23] Monica Little: I think that is so good. And that goes back to releasing, cause I know we talked about letting go of stories and forgiving yourself, but take that to another level to actually be grateful for these stories to shape you to who you are, to have you go through the lessons that you had to go through to.

[00:39:39] become the person you are now. And man, if you can look back on all of those hard times and be like, yeah, I'm grateful for, you know, the tough stuff that maybe I went through in my childhood because I literally would not be who I am today. Granted, maybe we're working through some of those things and it wasn't perfect, but it shaped us, right?

[00:39:57] We are who we are. Because 

[00:39:58] Nick Demos: of that, I think we're always looking. [00:40:00] There is no destination there, you know, bliss, you know, there is that, that, that, that's really, it's, it's an I, I, I liken it. I just said, I, I, I, I, I, I get so excited. I liken it to an onion, right? And you peel away a layer and there's another layer of the onion, and sometimes it makes you cry, right?

[00:40:22] It makes you cry, but it's also very sweet. You know, an onion is actually rather sweet. And so, Rather than thinking of it as I have to get through this, I have to be completely unblocked, right? Each day, new stuff is gonna come in, that's going to block, right? Because new stories are being told, you're taking something new in.

[00:40:46] So it's not about being absolutely perfect. There's no perfection. It's a constant motion, A flow is the best way to say it. That it, it's about being in that flow and knowing [00:41:00] that it shifts over time. . 

[00:41:02] Monica Little: Mm-hmm. . And you said something too, I would love to get your opinion on this, cuz you said it's never, it's not like this und destination, it's not like bliss, it's not like, you know, all of a sudden we've achieved it and every single day is gonna be magical.

[00:41:14] Obviously like there's steps that happen. But I would love to know your opinion, cuz this goes into a good conversation about happiness, right? Yeah. Because a lot of people think, oh, I'll be happy when, and I just did an episode about this, but what's your view on, on happiness? 

[00:41:27] Nick Demos: Yeah. So I had from c. Wanted desperately to be a big Broadway person.

[00:41:36] Right. And I produced a musical that was nominated for a Tony Award and I'm at the Tony's and Bernadette Peters is up on stage and she's announcing the winter winner. She opens the envelope and she says the name of the show and it's our. [00:42:00] And everyone around me is jumping up and they're so excited and they're screaming, and I remember this moment so very clearly, and believe it or not, there's a a C B S still of the moment, like captured that I have.

[00:42:16] And it's a great reminder because in that moment I was neither happy. Nor was I sad. Mm, in the moment I thought, the first thing I thought was, oh good, my investors are gonna get their money back. Speaking of money . And the second moment was, this is it. This is it. This is how, this is the, this, this is how this, I'm walking up onto the stage.

[00:42:39] And it felt like slow motion to accept an award that I'd worked so hard for, for many, many years thinking it was going to be bliss. Thinking it was going to be nirvana, thinking it was gonna be Whoa. The, the, the, the world was gonna open, you know, baby Jesus was gonna come down for me. I dunno what I thought, right.

[00:42:57] But I was like, this is it. [00:43:00] And the whole time I'm like, walking up there. This is it, huh? Oh, and I was numb. Mm-hmm. because it wasn't about that moment. Happiness is fleeting. I can be happy. In one part of my morning and an hour later I can be pissed off and an hour after that I can be sad and then I can be happy again by six o'clock.

[00:43:25] It's not about happiness that we're, that we seek, we think we're seeking happiness, but the truth is we're actually seeking something called contentment being okay in the. , and that was the lesson that I had to learn when I dug in after that award because it was okay, this was not what I thought it was gonna be, and maybe it's that six figure business.

[00:43:49] Now I have my six figure business. Now what do I go for seven? Do I go for 11? Like what do I do now? Is it gonna make me happy? Right? 

[00:43:57] Monica Little: Right. And I shared a story of how [00:44:00] when I left my full-time job, same exact situation, I was like, when I leave my full-time job to work for myself, I'm just gonna be so happy.

[00:44:08] And then I was extremely grateful that I was able to do that. It was a scary decision. It was a big decision. I had so much gratitude. But a couple weeks after I left my full-time job, same thing I was. This is it. Like I'm still the same person. I still the same demons. I still have the same thoughts. I'm still struggling with the same things.

[00:44:24] Like now I'm just the unhappy person without a full-time job, you know? I'm still carrying all my stuff. Yeah, 

[00:44:31] Nick Demos: exactly. Lu I packed the luggage, the backpacks on. I brought it all with me. I thought I was gonna leave it all behind. 

[00:44:39] Monica Little: Yes. But I, I love this conversation. I think we can be so, so, so, so grateful.

[00:44:45] And I'm sure you were so grateful for that award. Right. But, but knowing that our happiness isn't on some external award or external situation or external X amount of dollars, it's. Like you said so beautifully. Contentment, being happy now, [00:45:00] being present, finding joy in the day-to-day, finding things that you can have fun with and be creative and community and, and growing and, and trying new things and stepping out.

[00:45:09] So your comfort zone. Comfort zone, like that is joy. That is bliss. 

[00:45:15] Nick Demos: and I was grateful. I wanna make that very clear, of course, what that provided me on, on many levels, both financially as well as sort of the accolades of it. I, of course, I was so grateful, but I was more grateful for the lesson that it taught me.

[00:45:31] Mm-hmm. that lesson that we were talking about, and I really had to dig in after that. That's really when I began to do some deep, deep inner work so that I could find that what, what now, today. , am I having a good time right now? Is this, is this what I want to be doing? Is this how I can make an impact in the world?

[00:45:53] You know, rather than going after something that was so external outside of [00:46:00] myself. Mm-hmm. 

[00:46:01] Monica Little: and I think the four steps, review, release, renewal, receive fits perfectly with this conversation too, because now you're reviewing similar to I how I was like, okay, I left my full-time job. Why am I not happy? Yeah.

[00:46:16] And I was like, oh, cuz I'm still the same person with the same baggage. Right? Yeah. So what can I release? What do I need to, and then once you get renewed, it's just like, okay, now I can take a walk and actually just embrace what's around me and find joy in the birds T chirping and the sun shining and the green trees.

[00:46:34] And I know it sounds like crazy, but truly that is it. And 

[00:46:38] Nick Demos: receive this moment. Yeah. Beautiful. Which is why. This whole conversation, you know, is that it's not about the money. It's actually not about the money. Mm-hmm. , it's a money conversation, but it's not about the money. . 

[00:46:56] Monica Little: Yep. That's what I like to tell people too.

[00:46:59] It's like, [00:47:00] become this best version of yourself and the money will follow. You know, just go through all of these steps to do the inner work. Focus on becoming who you can be, who you want to be, that be, do, have, become that person, be that person, and then everything else starts to fall into place. Might not be instant, but it falls into place just like it.

[00:47:22] Nick Demos: Yeah. It's, it's not, like we said, it's not instant gratification. Mm-hmm. . Right. We, I know we so want like the, the quick win, the this moment. Right. But it actually, the deeper, the deeper the root, the higher the tree. Yes. 

[00:47:36] Monica Little: Beautiful. . I love it. Well, Nick, this was such a great conversation. Oh my gosh. And you're such a good storyteller.

[00:47:43] So it was so fun to learn about your grandmother's pies and all of the amazing things that you shared. So thank you. Thank you so much. I know the person listening right now is just gonna love this episode as well. So share with us where people can continue to learn from you. Where can they find you?

[00:47:58] Where do you hang out? All [00:48:00] of that fun. 

[00:48:01] Nick Demos: So I hang out on the socials at v Dmi. Uh, that's that, it's t h e, like the v dmi cuz it's like I'm so fancy. v DMI on Instagram and uh, TikTok. And then I have a podcast called the Creative Solepreneur Podcast as well. Beautiful. 

[00:48:19] Monica Little: And I'll make sure to link that so people can find you.

[00:48:22] Listen to your podcast and stay tuned with you. So with that, Nick, I just wanna say thank you so much for taking the time. It's been a pleasure to have you, and I am just so grateful that you are guest today here on the product is podcast. 

[00:48:34] Nick Demos: Thank you so much for having me.