Paid To Exist: Interview With Jonathan Mead – The Illuminated Mind

Ok folks, if you’re into getting a better version of yourself and read in English, I’m telling you that you just can’t avoid stumbling upon Jonathan Mead’s blog, Illuminated Mind. Jonathan is one of the fastest growing self improvement bloggers out there and also one who managed to create a very original identity and a strong sense of respect. And that is both among its readers and its colleagues from the self improvement blogging community. Believe me, this is something you don’t find every day.

Recently, I heard the word that Jonathan is going to re-boot his program called Paid To Exist. We bumped into each other names a few times in the last few months and since I’m a big fan of synchronicity, I soon started to think that we should really get in touch somehow. All this time, I had in my head the words of Adam Baker, when we met in New Zealand last year: “I finally summoned the courage to get on Skype with Jonathan Mead, man!”. That must be hard, I thought. This guy must be really tall, you know… So I prepared for a rather tedious campaign of “getting a grip of this guy”.

Since I am preparing the launch of my own next ebook, I thought it would be a good opportunity to say hello to Jonathan on Twitter, just to let him know about it. To my surprise, he replied almost instantly. He gave me his email and from that point, our message exchange speed changed from the speed of a pedestrian in a park, to a supersonic ariplane. I mean it, we exchanged like 5-6 messages each day. And keep in mind we were both occupied with our own products launch.

There were a few bumps on the road, as expected, but I finally managed to arrange for an exclusive interview with Jonathan. Yeap, an exclusive interview with Jonathan Meads, how about that? So, without further ado, let Jonathan speak for himself (and for his Paid To Exist program too):

1. When, how and why you discovered the internet as a medium for broadcasting your personal image?

It was around the beginning of 2008 that I begin seeing blogging as a platform for building a business and personal brand. I first got introduced to the idea from reading blogs like Steve Pavlina’s and other bloggers in the self development niche. I saw them and realized “Hey, I think I could do this too.”

2. When and why you started to practice martial arts? Tell us at least 3 benefits of practicing the martial art of your choice.

I started practicing martial arts (Jeet Kune Do, specifically), in February of 2009, so it’s been about a year and a half. I did wrestling in junior high and high school and always wanted to learn a striking-based martial art. I actually began wanting to learn Wing Chun, because I had dated a girl that had practiced it, but had trouble finding a teacher in my area. So, I found Jeet Kune Do, which was the martial art Bruce Lee developed. He started out training in Wing Chun as a kid, so I thought it was the next best thing. Obviously since then I’ve fallen in love with JKD and consider it to be one of the most effective styles.

Three benefits? Wow, it’s hard to narrow it down to three. I think the biggest is that for me it’s a practice in self development, in a very physical and tangible way. When I am not present, I get hit. When I am thinking or planning, I am not as effective. When my mindset is not positive or centered, I am also not very effective. It’s a direct feedback system in that you get to see immediately how your mindset affects the way you perform. In that way it’s an incredible self development tool. The second and third benefits for me are health and friendship. JKD has led me to pursue health in a more focused and intense way, and it’s led me to create some of the greatest friendships that I could have ever imagined.

3. What’s your relationship with money now? What was your relationship with money 5 years ago?

My relationship with money now is that it’s simply congealed energy. How much money I feel is very rooted in my connection spiritually. When I am connected to my source of well being, I experience a great flow of money into my life. When I am disconnected, I experience shortage. How much money I have is a great way for me to gauge my connection spiritually. It may seem weird to say that because money is supposed to be “unspiritual” but who cares? That’s the way I view it.

My relationship with money five years ago was very different. It was rooted in scarcity and lack. I thought that people that had a lot of money must be bad people, or not have good character. I now see the amount of money people have as a reflection of the value they give others. Complete 180.

4. I need a 30 seconds description of the Paid to Exist program. You think you can do it?

It’s a way for you to align your passion, unique talents, and gifts to the world in a way that makes you wake up excited about your life and work.

5. Do you have a testimonial from one of the guys who finished your program before? A short story would be nice.

Sure, one of the previous members of Paid to Exist, Mars Dorian has just launched his first consulting offer in digital brand consulting. He received his first two paying clients in the past month. You can take a look at his website here. [Dragos Roua: Mars is also a guest poster on DragosRoua.com, here’s his latest guest post]. He’s absolutely on fire and an amazing person to have around you. His energy lights up the room. He has endless fire inside of him.

There are a lot of people that are doing great things after leaving the program. One of my clients just launched her online program called Imagine More University and received her first 50 signups. There’s a great amount of diversity in the program between people from all different sorts of backgrounds, which is something I love.

Really this program is for anyone that is dissatisfied with their work because it’s lacking meaning, passion and purpose. Everyone in the program has found more inspiration and a clearer road map for how to create their own online business from their passion. My goal is to help people that want to make a transformation. If you think it may be right for you, I’d love to have you in the course.

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Well, that was it. If you want to know what exactly are you going to do on his Paid To Exist program, you should check out this video. It’s 30 minutes long and to be honest, I don’t believe Jonathan made this available for free. Imagine what you get once you step on the train, since the free stuff looks like this.

Thanks again to Jonathan for this lovely interview and as for you guys, please feel free to leave a comment before you jump to Jonathan’s site. Or not. 😉