Welcome back to the show. My fellow extraordinary Americans, we have Mario Lanzerotti as today’s guest.

Mario is an entrepreneur and a strategic advisor to multi-six- and seven-figure business owners. He’s also a world-renowned high-performance coach and TEDx speaker with over 1.3 million organic views. He’s also the founder of ZenPreneur Resources. His ZenPreneur Resources method empowers entrepreneurs to double their business in half the time while achieving inner peace and operating in their zone of genius.

Born and raised in Germany to an Italian immigrant father and a German mother, he witnessed his parents’ hard work and determination as they built a successful restaurant business to provide a better life for their family. Inspired by this example, Mario went on an entrepreneurial journey with many ups and downs and struggles. This included co-founding a fashion brand with his partner in New York City and selling it. 

He has coached. There are more than 1000 entrepreneurs worldwide, and he challenges the belief that success requires constant sacrifice and advocates for inner peace, balance, and purpose in entrepreneurship as a key to sustainable success. Mario is the definition of what I would call extraordinary, and I’m honored to have him on the show. Mario. Are you there?

Those both. Thank you so much for that amazing introduction. It’s exciting to see.

Yeah. It’s exciting to see you, too. I’m honored that you took the time to do this podcast with us, and I know you’re an entrepreneur. You’re a high-performance business coach, and you’ve also been one. Ted X speaker. Can you tell the audience more about yourself, your background, and how you started?

Absolutely. I would say my journey into high performance began in Germany when I was becoming a pilot. I was in the pilot training academy for Lufthansa, one of the most prestigious airlines in Europe and the world. 

And when I was admitted to the flight, I went to school. It was like a whole new chapter of my life began, and the stress and pressure that was applied there really was something that I didn’t expect. It lifted me, and I recognized that I had chosen to become a pilot because I wanted to prove my worth. To essentially get the approval of my parents and society at large, to have them tell me that I made it. I’m a great, great man. I am a success in other people’s eyes, and that mindset led me down a very dark path. 

I became severely depressed. I was suffering from chronic back pain. For about 1 1/2 years, I was toying with the idea of suicide, but it wasn’t until I encountered, through divine intervention, Tony Robbins and Les Brown on YouTube that something inside of me shifted because, at that time, it was either do or die. Either I was going to make it as a pilot and become successful in my thinking at that time, or I would end my life. And when I came across Tony Robinson and Les Brown, it was like two men had failed so many times, and with so many different endeavors in their lives, they used that as something to be ashamed of. But it’s something to inspire the people. And it was me who was inspired by listening to this story.

So it was like somebody shifted something inside of me. And at that point, I felt a sense of relief. I felt that sense of hope—that this wasn’t the end of my life. I could make a change, so I quit my pilot career. And I made a promise. I promised myself that one day, I would help people free themselves from the thoughts and feelings holding them back. And I didn’t know when I would make it as a coach and speaker or how I would do it. All I knew was that it would happen.

And so, then I went on to study in Berlin. I studied fashion management. I ended up consulting Uber. I helped them get a big sponsorship deal with the luxury industry market in Berlin, and I think it was like 30 thousand U.S. dollars. I became an Uber ambassador. As a student, I was made a junior partner at a consulting firm while interning there. And then, I flew to New York, and in New York, I was doing an overseas semester, and at the same time, we had to look for an internship.

So, I found the company, a custom shoe brand. At the time, the founder had just started the brand and was looking for interns to help him. And I told him, look, I love what you’re doing. And I’ll work for you, but only if you allow me to become your business partner. I thought I just did that in Berlin and worked there. So why not try it again?

And so, he said yes. So, he said yes, I would love that. But first, you’ve got to show me that whatever you’re saying makes any sense. And so, I worked. I hustled. I grind it. I just put in the hour. When I made it, I was the company’s founding partner, which was the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey.

Wow, Mario, this is it. This is extraordinary. Like you went through depression. You were thinking of suicide at one point, and you made an extraordinary comeback. And my question to you is that, for many people, there’s a state at different points in their lives. They feel hopeless. 

My question is, what is that transitional thought process from that stagnating place to the pinnacle of success? Because what are you? He was extorting. Very few people can do that, but people want to know how they can get to the next level in a certain dark place.

Yeah, that’s a great question. And obviously, my story was very compact. There were many years between what I experienced at Lufthansa and starting in New York City as a co-founder. And I would say the first thing is that you have to realize that what you’re experiencing is, OK, it’s human. 

When people are in dark places, especially high performers like entrepreneurs or business leaders, when they’re going through difficult, dark times, they shame themselves for it. They tell themselves that it’s somehow a sign of weakness. It’s somehow a sign that there’s something wrong with them, like, fundamentally, as a human being.

And I would say it’s not so much that there’s something wrong with you; it’s more that you’re misaligned. You’re not operating in the way that you are designed to operate. For me, it was really important to recognize that there are other people out there who are very successful in life who have gone through episodes like that, and that took away that pressure that took away that sense of oh, It must only be me, and I cannot talk about it.

I would say the first step is always to talk about it. Open up, whether that is with a friend, whether that is with a partner, or whether that is with a professional such as a coworker. A mental health coach or you know somebody like me who does business and inner and inner work for the well-being at the same time, or even a therapist, somebody you can talk to without fearing being judged. That has to be the first thing. 

Once you do that, it’s about carving out time to process what you have avoided. So, for me, what that looked like was me. It allowed me to explore the underlying trauma that led me down this path. 

Remember how earlier I told you that I wanted to prove myself desperately, which was creating the drive and source of my actions? And so, that’s an unhealthy way. Imagine driving a car that runs on diesel fuel, but you keep putting in regular fuel. You’re going to break down the engine. You might get something out of it. You might get some mileage out of it, but eventually, you will break down the engine.

And so if you keep running with the same fuel, guess what? You’re going to destroy the engine, so you must stop. You need to stop the car; you need to open up the engine. Look at. Oh, what’s the fuel that I’m putting in there? And if the fuel comes from a place of pain and fear, scarcity See. Then you have to replace that.

So once you have that awareness that there are some feelings and traumas that I have been pushing aside, the next step is to make time and space to go into the healing process. And healing means feeling. Right. If there’s a sense of anger, a sense of resentment, a sense of bitterness, or a sense of abandonment inside of you that you have been pushing away, you have to feel that. 

And feeling does not mean that you’re going to be stuck there. Actually, as a result of not feeling it, when you make space to feel it and to be guided through it, it creates A clearing creates space; it creates the space for you to go to breathe.

And when you can breathe, guess what? You can think clearly, and when you can think clearly, you suddenly start to see new paths and possibilities that were always there. But you didn’t see them. And then you can start moving in a different direction, and your life will naturally change, which is why I’m going. Stop there, and maybe you have some questions about that.

No, I mean, I’m listening, right? And one thing that came to mind is that many people have, like, basically what you’re saying: they want to prove themselves to the world. And it’s a major drive that motivates a lot of entrepreneurs. 

They want to make something of themselves; they want to prove it. Comes from a place of ego. And what you suggested is right. It’s true, that’s what do you need to do grow, but it requires a lot of humility, and it requires you to have an introspection that a lot of people will not want to go deep into themselves and like they have to face their traumas and fears.

So my question to you is, like, how would a person? Like, who’s afraid of going inside? And, like, you have to confront themselves; how do they do that altogether? Because it’s pretty hard to do for most people, right?

I would say it’s easy. The hard part is the uncertainty. So, if I tell you, Cosmos, I want you to learn a new skill, which will be driving a motorcycle. Have you ever driven a motorcycle?

No, not really.

Would you say that driving a motorcycle is hard?

No, once you get the gist of it, like I ride in the cycle, you know, it’s. You eventually drive, get the hang of it, you know.

Exactly right. So, there are a few very simple steps. It’s not rockets. Science I. You learn the skill, so the steps required to heal are quite simple, and I’ll share them with you. It’s becoming aware; you must know what you’re unaware of, right? Very simple. 

So, you have to know what your blind spots are. What is lurking in the shadow? What’s inside of what is in the dark that you cannot see, and what is the best way to do it? It is to be done. It is with the professionals. I always do this with my clients, where I reflect on people. 

I had a client earlier today who was talking to me about noticing that clients don’t stay with him for the long term. Right. He has an agency, a marketing agency, and clients would often not extend their business to him. He always has to get new clients.

So, his retention rate is quite low. And I said, OK, what’s sort of the thought process that goes through you when you think of it when it comes to clients? And I said, well, one of the first things is that once I sign on the client, immediately I get this. This thought is ****. What if I lose the client? What if I lose the client?

So, I said, well, what are you mentally focusing on? He’s like, oh, losing the client. I said OK. What behavior does that create? And he reflects. He’s like, oh, it’s like he goes into pleasing. He doesn’t choose ideal clients; He picks anybody he doesn’t charge. What he needs to charge: He doesn’t set boundaries.

So, he gets the kind of super-demanding clients who are just not a fit for him. And so, guess what? They end up—leaving because they’re not. So, when you recognize what’s in the shadows, you start to see your sabotaging patterns. 

So, the first step is to see it; you get to go into the underlying emotions once you see it. So, what is the emotion that is inside your body? Healing happens in the body before it happens in the mind. You need to make time and space to feel something when you heal the body.

So, if the underlying emotion is anger, men carry a lot of anger because men have been taught in our society that anger is unhealthy and a threat to society at large. Angry men are a threat, but anger. Expressed healthily is a powerful tool, which could mean you take a pillow, punch into the pillow, and scream into the pillow. Or it could be you go into the forest, and you take a stick, and, you know, you just punch down on the floor or on like a big tree. Ensure you don’t destroy anything that cannot be rigged quickly, but you let the anger out. You can healthily go boxing. When I do this work with clients, they release their anger. Nine times out of ten, underneath the anger is sadness. 

So, once you’ve released the anger, think of a child. Often, children go screaming, and this is where I go. I didn’t get this. Why didn’t I get the lolly? I didn’t get to watch the TV show. Did they get it all out? Once that’s gone, what comes next is sadness. They start to cry, and that’s the same thing that happens with us often; underneath anger is sadness. The reason is that it feels safer for most people to tell themselves that they’re angry rather than that they’re weak and sad. Anger is still seen as something more powerful and assertive, but sadness is seen as weak.

So, you have to allow yourself to feel that. And then people like it well. How do I do that? Oh, how do you feel? Sad. You watch a sad movie. You hear a sad song, cry, and allow yourself to process the feelings. That’s the second. Step to become aware, feel the feeling, and then three is reprogrammed. Reprogram. You reprogram yourself based on guiding principles.

So, if, for instance, you are somebody, you’re an entrepreneur who has been pushing away their feelings for the longest time, and that leads to a certain behavior where you go into pleasing. What you have to do, OK, you got to set up a new belief system, a new principle that says, for instance. I give myself space to process my feelings. 

If that becomes your guiding principle, the next time you feel something coming up, you know, ah, OK, I’m somebody who gives myself space and time to process this. So now you move through it quickly. So that’s how you override a pattern. And with that, you change the behavior. 

Mario, this is amazing. You’re combining the teachings of Zen with entrepreneurship and the practical application of entrepreneurship. It’s ingenious because I studied Zen meditation and like Tibetan Buddhism. I understood the part where you talked about processing your emotions and letting him feel like that is basically what the Zen masters do. Talk about it right, like you have to experience it. Let it just flow through you… Through your being and like, you have to center around yourself, let it flow to your being, and then once you take the like, you experience it fully.

Then, as you mentioned, there was a reprogramming part, but you have to allow yourself to feel those things, and many people block themselves internally. They don’t want to. They feel certain negative emotions, and because of that, they stop themselves from attaining the pinnacle of success, so that’s what came to mind when I was listening to you.

Yeah, yeah. And you know if you think about this, all fears … Every single fear in life is always a fear of feeling. It’s never the fear of what will happen when we tell ourselves. Oh my God, what if? I can’t pay. The rent. What if? What if my wife leaves me? What if that client is going to say they don’t? They don’t want to work with me anymore. It’s not the scenario we’re afraid of; it’s how we will feel about it because the feeling creates that sense of pain, and we somehow are conditioned to think that we can’t handle it. But we only allow ourselves to handle the pain when we connect it to something that creates growth.

Because you’ve probably done this many times, even in meditation, you’ve probably had moments where you sat down to meditate, closed your eyes, and your mind went. God, this is annoying. This is not working. This is stupid. I just want to stand up, eat something, and watch some Netflix. Why am I doing this stupid stuff? Here, and you got all of that discomfort, which is pain. But you decided to sit. Why? Because you wanted the growth. It was worth it to you.

And so when you make the connection to me going through that pain, I experience those feelings. Even though I don’t know what’s on the other side, it’s worth it because I know. That will be it. It will expand my being and my capacity as a leader. And they will allow me to create a better life for myself and those I love.

Mario, you just blew my mind with what you just talked about right now because, like, even though I’ve studied Zen, anything like that just hit me. Yes, it’s not the events happening in the external world that we’re afraid of. It’s how we feel about it and the feelings of pain we’re going to feel. Right because. Bad things can happen in the world. But it’s like the feeling that we are scared the most. And if we can somehow transmit the fear of feeling that pain and realize that the pain is necessary for good, we’re creating a positive association. With that pain,

And that’s just—I mean, I don’t. I don’t know. If you realize this is true. One of the greatest contributors to growth, like it’s unbelievable, right, because you have to create an association with pain. But like with something positive, it’s necessary for growth, but many people don’t allow themselves to feel that because they don’t want to suffer that pain, and ultimately, it’s not about the external events. They connected to the external events. That’s literally how they feel about it. And it’s your perception of how you look at things that ultimately decides whether you will feel pain or not. 

And Zen is the method of Zen where you’re not attached, and you’re feeling a sense of calm and peace, and then you just, like, allow yourself to feel that; that’s basically what. You know what Zen meditation has always been about.

You got it. And I also want to distinguish here because there’s a difference between pain and suffering. Pain is guaranteed. It’s a part of the human experience. It will always be there in some capacity. Your ability to master yourself allows you to master the degree of pain that you experience. If you think of Zen monks, Shaolin monks are some of the most extraordinary people on earth. They can perform a handstand on their finger or a sharp razor blade, and nothing will happen. 

And I’m like, What how? Because they’ve mastered their mind and body to a degree where they can command their body. You will not feel pain, right, but the opposite is suffering. Suffering is resistance to pain. Suffering is. I shouldn’t feel this way. I’m afraid that’s not right. It shouldn’t feel the way it does. Why is it feeling this way? I just don’t get it. Well, I’ve already done the work. I mean, I’ve already made the money. My wife said. I love you. You know? My kids said they loved me. They. But why? Why? Why? 

It is this continuous resistance to what is and that creates suffering, and at its root, suffering is a direct line from failure to disease to just a life of misery? Teens can be healthy, right? I don’t say it to everybody. Just look out for pain. You know, you might be a masochist, but pain is an agent for growth. Suffering is not suffering; it is something you want to transmute to reduce suffering. And the more you reduce it, the higher your consciousness grows and the more peace you’ll experience.

Mario, you must repeat this… suffering is resistance to pain. This is a new thing that I did not hear before.

Can you elaborate on this so that the audio is clear? You can get a better understanding. Of what this is.

Yeah. So it’s all about mental resistance, and mental resistance is a very simple thing to discover. Here is what happens: I feel angry. OK, I got it. What’s your relationship with anger? Oh, I shouldn’t feel angry. Oh, and feeling angry means I’m weak. I’m. I’m a crazy person. I’m a chaotic person. That’s not right. You know, that’s like angry people are bad people. All of these stories about the anger that you feel are judgments. If you can say there is anger inside you, that’s OK.

And I give myself the time and space to process that anger. What happens? There’s no resistance. It’s like saying there’s a river flowing. And the river’s flowing. And then you go and say, Oh, you know what? I just don’t like the way the river is flowing. I mean, me, the almighty Mario, I know how nature should be. Let me just put this massive rock in there. What will happen? The rock, the water will wear out the rock. It will. And that’s the suffering, the wearing out. Heart that happens inside of you. You are wearing out if you have. If you fight the anger, if you fight the doubt, if you fight anything, if you invest that energy in fighting and resisting, you are going to suffer.

Wow, that is so true. 

And then, I added, like many times, that the boulder, in this case, is our ego and perception. Of what we should. Be, and the water is … wow. This is me… I’m blown away… This is amazing. 

I think this is a solution to your, like, you know, like, world issues. You know, if there’s like a revolution in the way we think and we apply these principles into our everyday lives and all people do that, it’ll create like a change on a global level. 

So what you’re saying is the right mindset we should all have.

Yeah, I mean, look, I asked myself. Yeah, I’ll tell you how I got to this when I got onto this path of inner-world personal development. I also got on the path of conspiracy theories. Because I was thinking now, I want to know, and now my thirst for knowledge has been unleashed, and I want to understand everything about the world. And then I got down the path of, OK, they’re all. Whether this is true or not doesn’t matter. But to support the point that I want to make, I thought, OK, there’s all these elite families in the world—the Rothschild and you—you name it. And they’re controlling the world, and they have this master plan. Enslave humanity, and I got deep into that. And I got so angry, and I was like, Man, these are just evil, bad people. We need to. Yeah, we need to kill them. You know, we need to get rid of it.

They like to get the pitchforks. And I was like, whoa. Whoa. What? What? What? What’s happening with me? I’m getting really angry. Oh, and I’m like, we need to destroy these people. Oh, my goodness. I just became the very thing that I said. I want to get rid of it.

And so, what you hate is what you become. Looking at what came out, you have the far left on the far right. They are just as aggressive and hateful as the far right.

What happens if somebody hurts you deeply and you hold that grudge? You pass it on. I’ll give you another example—my father. I love my father. My father cheated when he was married. My parents have been divorced for a long time. I wouldn’t say I liked it. For that, I judged him all my life. For that, I said, you know, my father is a terrible example. You know, my poor mother, I will never do that. 

I cheated on almost every relationship that I was in. I became what I hated. And I was like, You have to be kidding me. I was like, I didn’t. I didn’t want to be that. But the mind will always bring you to what you focus on, and the mind doesn’t know the difference between what I love and hate. It just sees. OK, that’s important. Let’s guide him there.

So, it guided me to cheating, and it guided it. It guides the far left to hate. And destruction. So, we cannot develop new behaviors unless we are willing to accept and forgive. We cannot rise in consciousness. We’re doomed to repeat the same thing. And if you look at the world, that’s exactly what’s happening. It’s the people that have been hurt in history who are now hurting others, and it’s just passing on, you know, one to the next, if you want to—a real solution. Then, to quote Einstein, you have to change the way of thinking that created the problem, right? If you approach the same problem with the same level of thinking, you get more of the same.

So it would be best if you rose in consciousness for new solutions that we don’t know yet to become possible.

Mario, that’s basically like, in Star Wars, they have the Jedi and the Sith. You just basically explained the Sith. We are thinking like paint and focusing on what you become and what you hate the most, and yeah, that’s wild. But it’s so true. Right. 

We become the things we hate the most? And we become a reflection of that. 

And basically, here’s the thing: like love and forgiveness, it tends to be the more conscious thing. But it’s also the it’s also the—harder thing to do. A lot of people are given to their hate and their anger because, yeah, they feel hurt. But how are they going to? The way they process was by fighting the external thing that created that. This is one of the deepest podcast interviews I’ve ever had. 

Because you’re getting to the root and crux of how do you change human society altogether? It starts with understanding our emotions and how to deal with the outside world. And this is it.

That tells you that most people don’t want to change. Most people just want to be, right? Because if they’re right, they can continue feeling the way they’ve always felt. And what does that give you that gives you certainty? And what do most of us get from certainty and safety? And that’s the reason why people would rather die. In unhealthy lifestyles, unhealthy relationships, unhealthy situations, or living homeless on the street, people would rather die than change because change is uncertain, and that is why we keep saying, “Oh, but this is so hard.”

Yeah. And I would like to add it over here because this is a question I wanted to ask you especially right. 

So, there are many reasons people have these beliefs, these emotions, etc. Because they think it’s part of their identity. And identity comes from a lot of them. The time comes. From the ego and associated with that identity, there are many good things, good emotions, and bad emotions. But Pete, one of the reasons people don’t want to change and adapt like you’re suggesting is because if they do that, they lose sense. Of who they are. And you know, like identity, if there’s a transition between your old and new identities. 

So my question is, Let’s say somebody wants to change and drop this thing, but they’re like, No, I am this person. Listen, I am a Catholic. I’m Christian, or I’m a left-leaning Republican, and associated with this are all my beliefs, all my ideas, and all my perceptions of the world. And even if I feel these unhealthy emotions, this is just who I am. How would you advise that person to transition? Go for a healthier identity altogether.

So that’s a great, great conversation. I’m enjoying it. And you asked some great questions—most of them. Now, every change comes with a process of loss, a process of letting go, which brings grief. And we want to avoid that in our design as much as possible.

So when you say to somebody, OK, you know Your ego, which is really who you think you are and who you tell yourself you are, is your ego. I am a Manchester United fan. I am a Republican. I am an American. I am an Italian, right? That’s not who you are. There are some labels there. There’s no such thing as America. It’s a made-up thing, America. It is an idea. It’s not a fact, and people might wonder, What do you mean? How dare you say this… think about this. You’re living on a piece of rock. On a piece of land that you call America, but if you show me one piece of rock in nature, you can pick it up and say, Oh, look under this tree here. It is America. I rest my case. I will not say anything right, but you will not find that, just like if you cut me open. If you open up my head and my brain, no stamp says Mario Lanzarote. Doesn’t exist. Like Mario Lanzarote, this is an idea. That’s not wrong. That’s not a bad thing. That’s just how it is. 

Now, here’s the thing I’m not telling you. You that you have to. You can no longer be a Republican, American, or Italian. Be this, be that. No, but I am saying that the more you rise in consciousness, the more you will be able to enjoy that. If you’re attached to an identity, you create feelings for it. Anger, resentment, bitterness, and frustration Because if I say something that goes against America, in your perception, you’re going to be triggered. You’re going to be. Like, how dare you say that to me, you ******* *******, you know? Who carries that poison? You do? I don’t. I’m going to go on with my life. 

You know, I’m going to tell Buddy what Oh. Germany is terrible, right? And then somebody In German, how dare you say that? Oh no. We need to start something. You carry that poison. That poison affects you. It eats away at you. It destroys your relationships and ability to create wealth, freedom, and peace. It takes away from all of them. But if you can be detached, say, Hey, look, I’m playing a role, I’m playing an avatar, and he’s called Mario. I know that that’s not who I am. It’s just the game that I play. See if you’re playing a game. And, you know, it’s a game. Even if you lose the game, you can still have fun. Oh, man, that was so much fun. Oh, we had such a good time. You know I lost. But you know what? I had fun. Next time, you know I’ll be better.

So, with detachment comes greater enjoyment. And guess what? Enjoyment comes with a greater ability to win because you’re not so attached. If somebody says to you, oh, you’re such a stupid American, and you’re not attached to America, you can laugh at this. OK, well, that’s your story. But you know you can come back. Or take Republican, and you can come back and say, well, OK, how can I improve the idea of a Republican? How can I improve the Republican Party? But if you’re attached, you won’t be able to create real improvement. You just create. It’s more of the same because you’re in defense, right?

So, detachment is the most powerful process that you can go through for me. You know, I used to be so attached to the identity of being Italian, and so when? Italy used to play, especially against Germany. I had physical fistfights with people in Germany when there were matches. I mean, how bad can it be? Yeah. Now, I’m not that interested in soccer anymore. But when Italy plays, I bring out the passion I like. Let’s go outside of Italy. But when they lose, I’m not going.

My life is over, and somebody comments, how dare you say that? And I destroy the relationship, like, you know what? It’s a game next year, and I can enjoy it.

Wow, Mario, you are right. This is the solution that America needs on a national level and also, what you just mentioned, the root cause of conflicts all across the world. Conflicts between nations with national identities and religious identities, but if they followed what you were suggesting, right where you have a sense of detachment and know that you’re just playing an avatar, and this is all like a game or something. 

Then you get how to make it, but from a sense of detachment that solves all conflicts. And right now, in America, you have Republicans and Democrats on the right and the left, like you have on the other side of the world. 

You like China, India, and Pakistan; you even have, right now, what’s going on with Israel and Palestine. If you have a sense, I know it’s a controversial thing to say. Still, people are so rooted in their identities that they forget they are ultimately the children of a higher consciousness, and their identity is far greater then this temporary … when you die like this, is what I wanted to add to. When your conversation ends, you’ll no longer be Mario Lanzerotti.

When I die, I’m not going to be Cosmos. The reason I have that name is a need because I know that my identity is far bigger. Then this little physical body of mine, right? Yeah, that’s where I came from. I was born in India. I lived in the middle. 

Now that I’m in America, I’ve shifted many times, but I could because I had detachment. I could understand that you know. Like, you identify with the best in all beings. And yeah, I’m passionate about it because he spoke to my soul right now. It’s the root cause of 90% of conflicts and wars because of identity. And if we can have that sense of detachment, that solves the problem, but it’s one of the hardest things to do because a person will lose their sense of self. 

And that’s one of the things. I want to discuss. With you, people said, ” OK, Mario, you’re right. We need to do this attachment thing, but I do no know who I am. I’m uncertain, and I cannot be there. I need something. 

So my thing would be that your permanent identity is with the higher. The source from which everything came was a will that is eternal like that. What you call God, Buddha, Christian, or whatever is the same entity from which everybody came, but from a Zen perspective. What would be your solution to that?

I’m very much there with you; this is all about who we are: we are spiritual beings, energetic beings, right? If you think about this: if you take away an arm, will I still be me, or will I be me minus an arm? I’m still going to be me, right? If I take away the other, I will still be me. But how is it possible if I have two arms less than I just had? Shouldn’t I be less than I am now? No, but I’m still me. And so we are spiritual beings before we are physical beings.

But most of us don’t realize that. We think we are this body, which is why so much of the world focuses on their body. I am my body, but you’re not your body, and some other people think I am my thoughts because I think I am.

 No.

 Because you are, you think that you are, and that’s a frequency. It’s a frequency band of energy. It’s a spiritual dimension and that is everlasting. It always has been and always will be. It cannot go away. It’s there. It’s in the isness, and it’s in the “is notiss”, if that’s even the thing to say, right?

And so, the more you recognize that, and I think the best way to recognize that is not conceptually right, you might be some people listening now, and it’s like, yeah, I get that, sure. No, you don’t really, unless you experience it. How do you experience it? Well, meditation. Well, its breath work, deep breath work, and deep meditation. Plant medicine. 

I’ve made plenty of ayahuasca journeys worldwide, which helped me get an experiential feeling as I went. I once took DMT, and I experienced my own. Like it was like lights out, that’s. I was gone. And it lasted a couple of seconds, but it was so profound about where I went that when I came back, I was like, Oh, now I get it. I’ve been there.

 Now. I’ve been in this at a frequency that is beyond this body. And the more I do it, the more I tap into it. The more disconnected or sorry I become from Mario, the more detached I become from him, which means I get to play the character Mario much more effectively, joyfully, and peacefully.

So, it has to be an experience of transcendence, and the more you tap into that, the more you know. What we’re just doing here, Cosmos, is something we’re adding—A bunch of words. But if a Zen is saying, as I think it’s a, it’s a, it’s in the Tau Tao, the Ching that says the finger that points at God, you know, is not God. 

Because the moment you try to explain what this thing is. You lost it. Because you’re going into your head, and it’s like, OK, I got, like, the number of times I was in deep meditation for like, an hour and a half, and all of a sudden, I was there, and my body was relaxing, and I felt this sense of, like, boom, this expansion. I got goosebumps all over. 

Whoa, it’s Bliss. And then my mind was Like, yes, this is it.

It’s gone, I say. It was like ****. Because I tried to latch on to it, I tried to analyze it. I tried to conceptualize it. 

So it’s ingrained in the being. It’s in letting go of thinking this is the way that it has to be and opening yourself up to the mystery, and in the mystery, you don’t need to explain it because you really can’t. You’re just telling yourself that you can. Still, if you can sit at the foot of a river and stare at the mountain without explaining why this is beautiful and magical and just be with the fact that it’s beautiful and magical, you’re bleeding out, which expands you so much.

Mario, We could have this conversation for hours. Man, this is like this. This is it, but you know, like the hours. 

On a different note, I have to ask you about: you know you have a business accelerator program called the Six Figure Zen, and you also found it in ZenPreneur Resources Movement. Can you tell me in the audience a little bit more about both of these and what they do?

Yeah. So that’s what ZenPreneur Resources Encapsulates three things. It’s my one-on-one coaching, where I work with multi-six- to seven-figure business owners and help them scale their businesses through a piece of state joy and balance.

It is not once they reach the goal, but from day one, that just makes you so effective in how you think and act, you stop wasting all that energy, and you enrich your relationships with a sense of meaning and joy—a sense of deep connection.

So, I do that in my one-on-one as part of the zipper nose movement. I have the six-figure Zen accelerator specifically designed for a marketing agency. Owners where we take them from, you know, low six figures, even just before that to multi six figures.

So, I am teaching you how to go from being a freelancer to becoming a full-fledged business owner with the principles shared with you. Today and then. The third part is my Zen Prenter podcast. I interview people on a similar journey who are all about redefining entrepreneurial success from just making money and towards the inner world towards entrepreneurial success. Is living a life of fulfillment, a life of peace, a life of joy, and taking that as a means to drive your actions to generate wealth, to generate impact for the world at large?

That’s awesome. I would recommend to my audience to take a look at both of these, are because of this. What we have today could solve many of the world’s problems if we adopted the right mindset. This is only possible through mindset, detachment from these identities, and knowing how to process your emotions. You can create a better world, not just for yourself but for everybody around you. And my other question, Mario, is, are there any other projects you’re doing right now that you want the audience to glimpse?

That’s a great question. Right now, all of my energy is going towards my six figures in the community. I’m pouring my heart and soul into that. I can’t tease. That’s the first time I’m saying it out loud now and on a public platform. I am beginning my book writing process this year and looking to launch it. To publish the book early next year. So that will be something I watch for because of everything. Share today; we’ll come into that in a minute—a practical, simple form to give you a manual for personal enlightenment and thriving business success.

That is awesome, Larry. We will look forward to that when the book comes out. And so, how can our audience connect with you and get to know more about you? And your work and what you’re doing.

Yeah. So, for me, most importantly, I love to hear from people in terms of what part of the conversation resonated with you the most and what part didn’t. What didn’t you agree with? You know, I’m not here to convince anybody or brainwash people. I’m sharing a perspective on sharing experiences. And I would love to hear. How do you look? At that.

And so you know, you can contact me on all social media platforms, including Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Just type in my name, Mario Lanzalotti. I’m very responsive on those platforms. You can also visit my website. That’s just my name, Mario Lanzerotti.com. And yeah, if you’d like to chat with me, please reach out. I always look forward to meeting you, new entrepreneurs, and business leaders.

Mario, I’m so glad you took the time to do this podcast with me, and my mind is truly going away. It’s one of those conversations that I love having because it’s literally like people. If they practically adopt what we discussed today, they can change their lives, even nationally and globally. Like that is what we need, you know?

And so, I’m honored you took the time to do this podcast, and I definitely would want to have you back later.

Thank you so much, my friend. You asked some great questions, and as you know, nothing is created just by yourself. Everything is a co-creation process. So also, thank you for you and for your time and energy. And yeah, I look forward to our next conversation.

For sure. And I want to conclude this podcast by letting Americans know. Hey, look. There’s something extraordinary within us; it’s our duty to awaken and unleash it. But until next time, bye for now.