#167 – Rewire Your Brain & Reframe Your Beliefs With Reha Zamani

Shannon Mattern (00:01.816)

Hello everyone and welcome back to the profitable web designer podcast. I'm so excited for today's episode. You get to meet Rihazamani who helps leaders get unstuck and shows them how to break through limiting beliefs and build the mindsets that they need to grow blending neuroscience with practical strategy so that you can build the future that you actually want. Rihazamani, welcome to the profitable web designer podcast.

Reha Zamani (00:30.037)

Thanks Shannon, this is just so exciting to be here.

Shannon Mattern (00:34.09)

Yeah. So I was connected with you through a mutual colleague, Kate, who is one of our web designer academy students. Kate's been in the web designer academy for a few years now. She's in our next level mastermind. And she was like, Shannon, you have to meet Rihazamani. She does neuro-linguistic programming. She's an NLP practitioner. She's like a master when it comes to shifting people's mindsets. You two have to connect.

So we connected and we were chit chatting and I was like, know what would be really cool is if you did a workshop for our web designer Academy students all about NLP. I'll be the test subject and you walked me through that, which we'll tell our listeners more about that and what happened later in this episode. But it was.

So fascinating. can't wait to dig into it. But before we do, I would love to just learn a little bit more about you and your background and how you got started in this. So take me back to however far back we need to go and share with me how you even like got into the work that you do.

Reha Zamani (01:52.203)

Yeah, well, I love this because it makes me actually recall like my own history and how I got into NLP. So I got into NLP 15 years ago. And I come from an immigrant family, Middle Eastern. I grew up with a lot of like the male, female, like masculine, feminine gender roles. And there was religion on top of that. So there was just a lot of limiting beliefs, a lot of limiting beliefs.

Shannon Mattern (01:58.318)

you

Reha Zamani (02:19.831)

around being a woman? Am I good enough? Am I equal to a man? Can I even be seen? Is it safe to be seen? So, and the fun part of this was that I graduated college with a communication studies degree in theater and I wanted to act. And so I moved to Los Angeles and I was acting and I wasn't booking any jobs. And in Hollywood, it's just very typecast. Like you basically have...

People that have brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, you're all kind of just like a prototype. And so I wasn't getting cast in anything and this was something that I really wanted to do. my sister, who's actually a psychologist, said there's this methodology called the NLP. I really think it would be helpful. She was learning it. And so I actually started to work with a coach. And the first session that we did was breaking my limiting belief around being seen.

I didn't know that I had attributed that being a woman, being the center of attention or just like shining, wouldn't get me hurt. Now I'm from Afghanistan, so you can imagine like the cultural lens that was embedded through my upbringing. I I came here when I was really young, but it still like was living in my veins. And NLP essentially just desensitized that limiting belief from inside my...

body so that I could say it is safe to be seen. And then here I am today. And I've actually been studying NLP and doing coaching, mostly executive coaching, working with leaders and sales organizations and tech, because it's just there's like so much rejection or like, you know, there's so much, you're just swimming upstream constantly. And I think for the human mind, it's so resilient that you can.

actually program yourself to be resilient and have that period of recovery from rejection or loss or disappointment be a lot shorter. So that's what I really help people do is I help them break through their own limiting beliefs so that they could shift towards a new perspective and therefore take action and that's what propels them to move forward.

Shannon Mattern (04:35.429)

That is fascinating. And just to get to know more about your story and like how you even got into this where you're like, I was raised in a way that showed me and told me that it was unsafe to be seen. And yet I have this huge desire to be seen. And I don't realize that the reason that I'm not being seen is because deep down it

like everything in my being says that that's not safe. That is just absolutely fascinating. So what is an LP? What is the methodology? What is it and like, how does it work?

Reha Zamani (05:06.625)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (05:15.967)

Yeah, so neuro-linguistic programming, NLP for short, is essentially how your brain processes information. So our brain processes information through our five senses. Our eyes, like what we see, what we hear, what we touch, what we smell, what we taste. That kind of information that we sort through in our daily lives gets processed in our brain, and then it kind of gives us direction, like walk, move, brush your teeth.

What happens over time is that your brain can only handle so much information at the same time. So you delete and distort certain things that aren't valuable. So a car just becomes car rather than green car, SUV. what you, your brain is very adaptive is what I'm saying. And so what it does is as you age and grow up, you start to delete and maybe eliminate things that aren't useful to what you're actually needing to process, hence work like this conversation.

We're alert, I'm listening, you're listening. And so we're kind of in this mode of being present with each other because that's what my brain has learned to do over time is like focus. And then when I'm at home or with family or loved ones, then I'm at a different version, then I'm sorting for different things. So neuro-linguistic programming was actually designed by a hypnotherapist and a psychologist, Richard Bandler.

And they essentially just studied how we store information. So for example, when you think about brushing your teeth, your eyes will go to a certain place in your brain to recall that situation. So if I say, Shannon, think about brushing your teeth yesterday.

Reha Zamani (07:06.879)

Yeah, I noticed your eyes shift a little bit. that means that your eyes, that's why they say there are windows to the soul is because it goes in certain directions to recall things from the past and it goes in other direction to imagine or bring something out that hasn't happened. So that's why we have eye accessing in neuro-linguistic programming, hence the saying of your eyes are the windows to your soul. So with...

Shannon Mattern (07:09.741)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (07:35.879)

With NLP, the way that it works is I have a, let's say I have something that's been programmed in me from the past. So I would ask, or if some of my coach would ask me a series of questions to see what that is by looking at my eyes and where they go. And if it's something in the past that's usually a limiting belief, then that means that I have a prototype of this limiting belief with a picture, a sound, and a feeling.

Those are the three most dominant things that house a memory, a trauma, happy memory. So you may not be aware of it as a human because your brain is so sophisticated that it's not saying, here's the picture sound. You automatically just see it when you think of like a good memory or you get the feeling. The same goes with negative feelings or negative beliefs. They're always associated with the picture sound of feelings, sometimes taste and smell.

The idea is that just like you have limiting beliefs that are housed in certain makeup or I guess a certain recipe of like what you see, how far is it, what you hear. And then same with your empowering beliefs. So you have a picture associated with a sound and a feeling. And so if we could take the picture of what's positive and your brain is powerful enough to where you can manipulate

the negative picture where if it's like most negative beliefs are either super close or the picture is super close or you feel an intense feeling of some sort, NLP helps you kind of like tone some of that down. And that automatically changes the way that you perceive this belief because it changes your experience. So if you can change the pictures and sounds in your mind, you can change your feelings.

And that's essentially what NLP is.

Shannon Mattern (09:33.249)

That is...

I was going to say that is absolutely fascinating. So I got to, I got to experience this with you and you were leading me through the process. And I was, as you were sharing this, I was thinking about one of my, one of my private coaching clients who was telling me like Shannon, think in pictures, I think in snapshots, I think in

Reha Zamani (09:44.086)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (10:05.701)

in visuals. And I was sharing with her, I'm like, I think in words, I think I see words when I think it's like closed captions. And she's telling me I see pictures. And I recall when you and I were doing the NLP session, and I think you asked me like what I was seeing. And I was just like, I don't really know what I'm what I'm seeing.

And I think you had said something like, that's okay. Not everyone actually sees something. And I think you just said something just now that made it make sense to me where you're like, your brain doesn't always know that there's these parts attached to the way that it stored that experience. And

Reha Zamani (10:55.987)

Exactly.

Shannon Mattern (10:56.863)

Yeah. So I was wondering if you could, if you could share more about that, because that was one thing where I was, while we were doing this, I'm like, I wonder if I'm doing this right. Cause like, I'm not seeing anything, but you're like, your brain is so sophisticated. It's it's it knows what it saw or it like it already processed that.

Reha Zamani (11:16.887)

It already processed that. It's based on how you learn. So you might be more auditory. So you need to hear things, and then that's how it makes sense. So maybe what you were hearing or your self-talk was a lot more prominent. And then the visual might be transmuted. So if we actually go back to, well, what were you hearing? What were you saying to yourself? Or what did you hear? What do you hear? And think Ramon came out of that was.

And then the picture did emerge. so, like a lot of, that's what the brain does is it distorts and deletes. So it will hold on to the thing that's the strongest and most potent because that's what it thinks that you need in order to be able to function. But the thing with negative belief says is that sometimes negative beliefs are formed because they're serving a way to protect.

Shannon Mattern (11:50.594)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (12:11.415)

So they got formed somewhere along the line to protect you. And they always serve a positive purpose. So once you kind of start to kind of desensitize, I want to say desensitize, but maybe that's not the right word. It's more of like a, once you start to really tune into like, what is the sound? You know, then really look at what is the picture? And then the feeling. Usually people are guided by feelings. So if you don't see or hear anything, go into the feeling and imagine like,

what is the feeling look like or what is the sound of the feeling if it could make a sound. And that will start to desensitize it because now you're not run by the program of this intense feeling or this loud, you know, like self-limiting talk or belief. Now you're beginning to actually deconstruct it so it loses its power. Because it's literally just like...

you're put, you know, like these, these Legos and you start to take them apart. They're not as strong. And the same goes with like, I'll share a technique with you and your listeners. Like anytime you're super activated, the best thing to do is just to close your eyes and go into like whatever it's usually activated is it's in your body. You feel it in your body to go into the body and imagine like, what is, like, what is it that is

like the feeling, naming the feeling. That desensitizes it. I'm so angry. I feel like I'm gonna explode. I'm so mad. I'm so frustrated. I feel like it's burning something in my chest. Just the act of you acknowledging, recognizing that starts to tell your brain, okay, let me start to pick this apart. Like, let's identify this. It gives it a different neuro pathway to go down rather than this pathway of I'm so triggered. Now it's like,

let's figure out what this is. So the human brain is so dynamic and so resilient, and I can't say that I'm an expert on any of it, but what I am an expert on is just understanding the process of how our feelings or our beliefs can really hinder us because of the pictures and sounds that we hold in our mind.

Reha Zamani (14:29.173)

I hope that made some sense.

Shannon Mattern (14:30.971)

yeah, and I was just sitting as you were saying that I'm thinking like, so we don't necessarily have to believe everything we think. It's, that's one of the things that,

I have really been exploring, especially like through this podcast and the web designer Academy and the coaching that we do is like, we just have these thoughts in different circumstances and scenarios that we just believe to be true. Like the sky is blue. And you mentioned Ramon earlier. So I'll share with our listeners that the, the, the scenario that we were talking about when we had came into our group, I've mentioned this on the podcast a couple of times is that.

When it comes to sales with the web designer academy, when I'm doing like a webinar and it's a one to many situation and I'm just inviting people to come work with us and I've just done a lot of teaching and coaching and then it's time to be like, hey, here's how to come work with us. I'm like super chill. I'm like excited to see who's gonna like say yes, all of that stuff. But when it's been a one-on-one,

conversation, which will happen if someone like comes to our open house and then they stick around after and I'm like learning more about them and you know, answering questions, then I would get so weird and just feel off and there would be, you know, someone amazing sitting across from me and then I'd almost talk them out of working with us to be like, you're so awesome. You don't need to work with us.

you have everything you need or I'd just be like, well, maybe you might want to consider maybe cut. Like I would just get so it, couldn't put enough distance between myself and the person across from me. And I just, I was like, what is going on with me that like I turn into

Shannon Mattern (16:30.057)

somebody I don't even recognize. And I almost like see was seeing myself do it. Like in my mind, I'm going, what's happening? And I'm just like, putting as much distance between myself and inviting that person to work with us as possible. And so that was the scenario that you're like, okay, well, let's do some, let's go through this process on that scenario. So can you share a little bit more with

our listeners about like how, when someone gives you a scenario like that, like where do you, where do you start with them and like what you led me through?

Reha Zamani (17:09.707)

Yeah, and I can't remember the exact, I think it was like, well, what happens in that moment when you're kind of having that out of body experience? And it's like, what are you hearing? What are you saying to yourself? What are you seeing? And then I think what happened was I actually had you close your eyes because then it, you know, our eyes take in 80 % of the information that our brain sorts because we're just, you know, but when you close your eyes, then it lets you kind of tune more into the actual like,

Shannon Mattern (17:26.146)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (17:39.829)

the actual scenario or image. So I think we first had you close your eyes so that you could get closer to what it was. And then I asked, what do you see? What do you hear? And it was like something about a car salesman, hearing just like a sleazy car salesman that just will not take no for an answer. And then asked like, if he had a name, what would be his name? And you're like Ramon.

Shannon Mattern (17:47.405)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (18:03.391)

huh.

Reha Zamani (18:08.183)

But I think he was, was he a car salesman or was he like a, of those people that like sells time shares?

Shannon Mattern (18:16.277)

Ramon specifically was the time share salesman, but I think like Ramon was an avatar for probably every high pressure sales experience I've ever experienced, especially as a woman, you know, in.

Reha Zamani (18:30.551)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (18:35.179)

like just as a woman in buying a car or like whatever it is. And I also remember telling you like my chest was just like so tight. Like I felt like so much just tightness and pressure and I could picture the most recent Ramon was like the most recent of those experiences. But yeah, I could like picture him. Yeah.

Reha Zamani (18:58.805)

Yeah. So it's interesting because your brain took that, like that pressure was associated with that image and essence of Ramon, who is, I guess, accumulation of every single salesperson that you would never want to be like. And then I asked, what's his positive purpose? Like, why is he there? What is he there to teach you or give you? And it was like the gift of

Shannon Mattern (19:08.983)

Mm-hmm.

Shannon Mattern (19:17.079)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (19:28.521)

not being that person and actually wanting to help. And then we went into your values because I think your values are, one of them was to like really help and contribute and make an impact. And once we removed that, was, I think you had a shift to where it was like, let's think of your next sales call like,

how are you going into it? And it was just like Shannon 2.0 without Ramon of like, I'm going in to really help this person. I'm gonna like make them be amazing. And I think I can really do it. So it just became like more of like standing for that person's greatness rather than devaluing your own greatness. So it became much more giving than taking, which was never yours by the way. Somewhere along the line, you kind of

imprinted that on yourself that that's not who I want to be when I'm selling. And then we also like, Ramon, like what is he going through when he's doing that? He genuinely thinks he's helping, which was the value that you could align with as well is that when you really believe strongly in what you can give, it does shift the dynamic and it becomes.

less about selling and more about like, I really think I can help you. If you want it, I'm here for you. And that was just such a beautiful process. It was such a beautiful process. And yeah, I really enjoyed it. I still remember it months later. So what's it been like?

Shannon Mattern (21:08.844)

Well, for me, for me, I remember just, I read this quote somewhere that like, a new, like to lay down a new neural pathway, you have to make the implicit explicit. And I felt that I can't, I almost, I think I feel it happening. I always feel like, oh, my brain broke. Like something is, it's a sensation of like something.

I didn't know that I believed to be true and I was just operating as if that's the way the world works gets dislodged. And there's like a, it's, you call it like, like it snapped into place or it's a breakthrough. literally has like a feeling to me. And that's exactly how I felt during this process. When you asked me what

Reha Zamani (21:57.121)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (22:05.608)

You asked me something about like, what good is Ramon doing in the world or something like I had such a negative viewpoint of him and the amalgamation of him that is all of the, you know, the guy that sold me a car when I was 18 and desperate and like this car was a lemon and they never should like all of those bad experiences that we have that were like,

Reha Zamani (22:09.782)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (22:29.612)

I so much never want to put someone else in that situation. I'm going to actually talk them out of working with me. And I don't even realize that I'm doing it. You asked me that question you mentioned about why does Ramon think he's helping. And I'm like, oh, of course he.

He sees me as an empowered adult who can make my own decisions. And he's assuming that if I'm in front of him, I'm probably interested in this thing. And he wants to make sure that I have all of the information that I need to like make the best decision for myself. And he probably doesn't think he's pressuring me. He's probably just like, here's the thing that she believes about this that's not true. Let me.

show her that that's not, know, he's, don't think he's like, I'm gonna keep her trapped in this room until she says yes and I get my commission. Like, I'm guessing he wouldn't still have a job if that's how he, how he actually was actually being. And so when you said that, I was like,

Reha Zamani (23:32.052)

No.

Reha Zamani (23:37.387)

came across, yeah.

Shannon Mattern (23:46.861)

I didn't realize how negatively I thought just about sales in general. And then so you like opened that up for me. I don't know if this is how NLP works. This is my question for you. Does it work that you then replaced that thing that you opened up with? do you like what you're like, what's something that you love to do? And I'm like coaching like I can't like that is like it doesn't.

Reha Zamani (24:03.957)

Yes, exactly. Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (24:16.3)

feel like work I could, I don't know. Like there's just something magical that happens. Time passes fast. And you're, you're like, well, what if helping someone make this decision felt like that? And I, I was so excited to talk to you today because since our session, I have been enrolling, like people have been saying yes to me on coaching calls.

Reha Zamani (24:41.589)

Amazing!

Yes!

Shannon Mattern (24:44.618)

Like, like on, on sales, see, just called it a coaching call. Cause that's kind of how I think about it. But on these sales calls where I'm like, and my vibe is so different. The conversation is so different. The questions I'm asking them are so different. and I'm really just leading them to a decision. I'm creating safety for them to make a decision that they already wanted to make in the first place. And.

Reha Zamani (24:48.215)

Yeah. Right.

Reha Zamani (25:12.171)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (25:14.664)

It's, I'm just like, I don't know what happened to me, but something happened to me because I don't feel like I'm doing something wrong or trying to avoid doing something wrong in those scenarios.

Reha Zamani (25:26.059)

Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah, and I think we said like you want to take a stand for them like you're, hey, I believe in you, you can really do this and I can help you. Like it's almost like you're kind of being the person that takes a stand for their limiting beliefs, you know, you're being their empowering belief. And that's how

Shannon Mattern (25:34.347)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (25:45.718)

Yeah.

which is what I do all day, every day anyway. And I like kept it separate from that sales process for whatever reason. I'm like, I can only do that for you once you're in the program. It's like, but we need to do that before you get in the program so that you feel comfortable coming in. But I was just thinking of it as something completely different than what it was.

Reha Zamani (25:51.915)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (26:11.243)

Yeah, because it had been distorted in your mind through years of experience, you know, the traumatic, I don't want to call it traumatic, but just like buying a car that's a lemon, like it's like, okay, I will never be that. And I will never do business with someone like that. And then it starts to delete and your brain will literally delete and distort everything else because it's now it's only seeing not being that. So you're doing everything to avoid being that, which is.

Shannon Mattern (26:25.78)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (26:39.125)

essentially what a negative belief is, is trying to protect you from something. Yeah, it's really, really fascinating. And I love hearing that you've been able to just get all these yeses because that's all you're doing is you're just literally taking a stand to coach these people to be great because you believe in them.

Shannon Mattern (26:57.856)

Yeah, and it's like, I'm now thinking of it. It's like, no, they didn't say yes to me or I didn't close the sale. I'm thinking of it as like they said yes to what they really want. And that's exciting for me. And like, that's just completely, it's so completely different than how I was feeling before. So how does somebody know? I mean, I'm sure we all have this going on at all times that we

that we're operating from thoughts that we don't realize are actually driving us. But how does somebody know that this could be a strategy or process or a protocol that could help them?

Reha Zamani (27:38.828)

would they know? Well, I'll tell you why people come to me. And so a lot of times with with coaching, it's like present future, present future. Therapy, on the other hand, is like, you go back in time to figure out the present, you know, so there's there's that distinction with people like, what is coaching? So present future, and we all have goals. And if you don't have goals, then it's like, if you're ever depressed,

Shannon Mattern (27:43.499)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (28:05.557)

write down some goals, you will immediately get out of depression. So people, when they have goals, and then what stops them from achieving that goal, usually action, is a limiting belief. And so I always try to get clear with somebody like, okay, you've got some goals, maybe you've had them for a while, whether it's getting promoted or starting your own business or whatever it is.

what's been stopping you? And usually that's when the limiting belief starts to speak. Like they start giving all the, not excuses, but it's just the limiting belief. And it's just a matter of like figuring out like, it's, you know, a lot of things can be like, well, life circumstance, this and that and this and that. And it's just unpacking that to, well, what does that mean about you? Like, what do you take all of that to mean about you? Well, I take it to mean that I'm just not capable or I'm not good enough.

Shannon Mattern (28:52.938)

Mm.

Reha Zamani (28:59.529)

And so that's what the real limiting belief is, is it's like anything that stops you from getting to where you wanna go. And then it's just building a bridge on top of that, like similar to what we did with you. Like Ramon is fine, there's no judgment of him, there's people like that out there, no energy not trying to be that, because you're so not that. It's like, okay, so what's my bridge to what I wanna do, which is like to help people to take a stand and be that.

that believes in them. And that's essentially the limiting belief reframe is that we, it's always good to be aware of your limiting beliefs and the best way to know that you have them is if there's something that you've been wanting to do and that you're not doing or can't get to or can't take action on, it's usually because there's a limiting belief in there and there's a conflict because that limiting belief is trying to protect you from something that that thing may get you.

So it's a lot of just like dissecting some of these old patterns and looking at the pictures, sounds, and like the feelings. That's essentially what I do all day is just help identify what is the sound, what is the picture, and then change that around so that it's more empowering and then that's what creates a shift. So if...

Anybody's out there, I mean we all have goals and this is like the end of the year, I think it would be good to do just kind of like a year end reset. I am doing a workshop coming up in November, which is gonna be listed on my website and it's 90 minutes of like, you know, Q4 tune up. Like let's look at what you accomplished this year, let's celebrate it.

Let's leave behind everything that didn't work and let's go into the new year with one or two empowering beliefs. Because I find that the power of being able to coach yourself is in writing.

Reha Zamani (31:01.898)

Everybody wants to be able to coach themselves, but there needs to be some, you can't always have access to a coach, so the best way to coach yourself is through writing. And that's essentially what my workshop is, is we do like a series of writing exercises to have a breakthrough in a group.

Shannon Mattern (31:20.328)

Yeah, I can see. mean, I will just in my coaching, I hear people say things where I'm like, you you just like believe that as if one plus one equals two, like you said it as if it's the truth. And I know for me, when I'm the one saying it as if it's the truth, I don't even question it. I don't even notice that it came out of my mouth. And I think what you just said about like,

Reha Zamani (31:44.586)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (31:48.389)

writing it down, then gives you some space between the thing that just came out of your brain or your, you know, out of your hand onto the paper. And then you can like, look at it again, through a different lens and notice like, I didn't even realize I was like, thinking that thing to be true. Isn't that interesting that I, that I have this thought I had said something.

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday about a strategy that I've been implementing in my business. I was like, I said, you know, I think it's going pretty good. I said, I'm getting better results than I was last year. Maybe this is as good as it gets. I just went on as if, hey, if it's better than it was, it's as good as it gets. And I don't.

There's nothing more that needs to happen here. And she so kindly pointed back to me. She was like, you said something really interesting. And I just wanted to point that out to you. If it's not where you want it to be, then it's not as good as it gets. And you just believed that you had to settle for this for whatever reason. And I was just like, I just said that as if.

It was a fact. And I would have never questioned it. So I'm so curious, because you've worked with so many people. You work with leaders, high level people, all kinds of different people. What are some of your favorite shifts that you have helped people make in your business?

Reha Zamani (33:14.968)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (33:36.268)

Yeah, I would say, you when clients come to me, they'll say, you know what, I have this terrible boss and I'm like trying to break the ceiling and I, you know, like my job, I like my team, but I have this, this boss. And then once we start working together, it ends up being that they need to do more self care and like, you know, prioritize themselves. So I, what I find with my favorite thing is it's like people come to me for a specific thing and it's never that.

that gets solved, it just melts away as the main focus because there's a deeper value that they're not meeting or a deeper need that they're not adhering to. And it's like blaming this thing, like this boss, but it's not really the boss. It's just the, gosh, I'm overworking. I'm not prioritizing my sleep. I'm not spending time with people I love. I'm not exercising. I'm on my phone constantly. And then I need someone to blame. So I'm going to blame this person.

And that's like a... And this isn't a fault to anyone that's out there that's like that. I think I can relate to being like that too. But what happens is anytime somebody comes to me for a specific thing, and this is probably more common, it always becomes less once we set a goal of what they really want. And then that just kind of like becomes an undercurrent of something that isn't even really an issue because...

One thing that happens when you change limiting beliefs is that you no longer are sorting for that in your life. So it almost becomes like a distant memory. I had a client that I worked with and she was a high level executive at a tech company and very male dominated in the engineering world. And it was about standing up for herself. And so we had a session, we changed her limiting belief. The next week she came back. She was like, well, you know what? This thing in our contract,

I mean, it says that, you know, I've access to this, this and this and I haven't used it. And, and I was like, wow, you've, you've changed a limiting belief. Cause now you're like, I didn't know that this was something that was a problem for you. Like, yeah, let's talk about it. We can definitely change that. But what the most interesting thing was is that she came in really flustered of like, it's unfair. You know, something I'm not getting something, which is something she would have never done before.

Reha Zamani (36:02.464)

And that's a direct indicator of having changed that limiting belief. there's always, as a coach, I get it too where, you know, there's sometimes it's like, did anything happen? But usually when I find that there's an adverse reaction, it's because something happened. So I'd say those are probably just two examples of working with people and seeing their transformation, both in a good way and maybe like some that can even feel adversarial.

Shannon Mattern (36:30.712)

So it, we do a lot of like noticing your thoughts in the web designer Academy. So I'll be like, so when you think about doubling your price, what comes up for you? it's like, I can't, I don't know anyone that would charge that much. My clients would never go for it. All of, all of these things. And then, you know, we do, we're working with that through one dimension, right? Of like, this is a thought.

what else could be true, very like linear with, you know, imagining new scenarios. And a lot of people say to me, they're like, logically I know, logically that makes sense to me, but I like, I still can't get myself to do it or, you know, whatever. So it's like,

They are acting in a certain way. They want to be acting in a different way. Logically, that new way makes sense, but they're unable to get themselves to do the new thing. So it'll be something like, I know I need to raise my prices. It makes sense on paper. I've figured out how much time I'm spending. I understand what it's costing me to continue to undercharge. Like this whole picture.

has been painted for me. And I get it. I understand. I see other people charging this much, like on paper. It all makes sense. They go to send the proposal. And right before they send the proposal, they go back and they lower all their prices. And then they send it. so that tells me that the work that you do could be very beneficial.

Reha Zamani (38:17.302)

got it here.

Shannon Mattern (38:27.178)

to someone in that situation when they're like, sure, all of these new ways to think about this make perfect sense, but I can't actually physically get myself to do it.

Reha Zamani (38:39.746)

do it. Yeah. And it's probably because there's a limiting belief associated with doing something like that. You know, a limiting belief. I'm taking advantage of people. I'm a bad person. I'm not worth it. I'm tricking people. And that, those limiting beliefs usually come from like imprints. And that's the next level of NLP is imprints are things that get put on us by our parents or

anybody that's close within the vicinity of a young child. So ages zero through five is when a lot of imprints get imprinted on people. And so there is NLP processes that are very deep. But in terms of what you're saying with the thoughts, like, yes, listening to your thoughts and changing your thoughts does change and shift your life because then you're sorting for something different and your brain is very amenable. One of the things that I always tell people is like,

Listen to what you're saying to yourself because most, like, I think it's like 60 % of our thoughts are from yesterday. We think the same thoughts every day. Like, there is no new thoughts. And it's, I didn't come up with this, it's Dr. Joe Dispenza. So we think the same thoughts and then we have the same experience and then we're like, why is everything happening? But it's because there hasn't been an interruption. So the minute you decide you're gonna do a course like yours or

come coach with you or come coach with me, you're actually interrupting that.

And then that's when change can begin to happen. I had a thought about the thoughts that I wanted to share. It's...

Reha Zamani (40:23.114)

asking yourself a different question. Like, why is it so fun and easy for me to get new clients? Why is it so fun and easy for me to go work out every day? Why do I love waking up early in the morning? Like, you ask yourself these questions and your brain will automatically start to give you answers. So if you can't, you know, always catch...

the thoughts, because thoughts then induce a feeling, and usually by then it's too late, because you're in the feeling now, is to just start with asking yourself a different question in the morning. Like, how can I make this day be really fun and exciting and really help people? So just act like our brains will follow. You just have to give it guidance. It's like a computer. And I find that like anything that you're doing to give it

new information or having it pay attention to something different than the automatic autopilot is going to shift.

Shannon Mattern (41:26.867)

I love that. And I always say like our web designer academy strategies are a benevolent bait and switch, right? It's like, yes, I'm gonna teach you about pricing and marketing and all of these different strategies to help you create different results than the ones that you're getting. But what they're really designed to do is help bring to the surface

the things you're thinking about why you can't get the results that you really want. And like you were saying before about how people are like, I can't climb the ladder at this at my company because my boss is toxic or whatever the reason is. And where people are like, I can't raise my prices because my clients will never go for it. Or

all of these different things. And it's like, our strategies are designed to help you reveal the things that you're actually really thinking. And then that's what we help you through when you're like, I noticed that Shannon's told me everything to do. And now I'm not doing it. Let me go get some coaching. And I also think working with someone like you in a very

specific way with not just, I'm thinking this helped me think something new, which you said can be really powerful, but like reprogramming that at the brain level so that you don't have to spend so much time notice. Like I haven't had to. The interesting thing after working with you is I don't have to manage my mind around the sales process anymore.

Reha Zamani (43:06.187)

Yeah.

Reha Zamani (43:19.787)

It's exhausting.

Shannon Mattern (43:19.881)

Like I could have been like, I notice that I'm putting like, I'm so worried about not being pushy and salesy that I'm holding back and like almost talking people out of me. noticed I'm doing that. So here are some different things I can think going into this sales process. And I could do a lot of that work and manage my mind. And, and I'm sure I would eventually get to the place where I like just felt normal going into that.

but the work you and I did together, like it went from that session to like the next week, I had a call and I didn't feel any type of way about it, but excited. I didn't have to manage my mind. I didn't have to think about it. I didn't have to like, you know, go from feeling nervous to feeling good. Like it almost just happened.

Reha Zamani (44:04.333)

Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (44:19.18)

And so I, yeah, it was just, I think that there's a couple ways to go, but I think you provide like a really powerful shortcut.

Reha Zamani (44:30.146)

Yeah, exactly. Changing limiting beliefs to empowering beliefs are very, very, it's a very useful use of your brain power because your brain wants to do it. It just needs some guidance. And yes, it's exhausting dealing with limiting beliefs.

Shannon Mattern (44:49.9)

It's like, let's use our capacity to like create the results that we want instead of just swimming, like swimming upstream, like you said, like it's almost like you changed the direction of the current.

Reha Zamani (44:54.622)

Exactly.

Reha Zamani (45:02.206)

Exactly, in your mind. And then all of a sudden it's not. But it also goes back to what you value. I think NLP is also about like, what do you value? And when you can attach your desire to your value, it exponentially moves you in that direction. And that's where the confidence and excitement comes in about your coaching call, which is used to be a sales call. So amazing. I love this. Yeah.

Shannon Mattern (45:25.356)

So good. So can you tell everyone where they can go to learn more about you, connect with you, learn more about your November workshop, get registered for that, all of the things.

Reha Zamani (45:37.942)

Yes, thanks. Thank you so much. So rehazimani.com is my website. You can always reach out to me to do a one-on-one consultation. I run these workshops twice a year, and I would love to have, I usually cap it at about 10 people. And we'll have an eight-week NLP transformation where we'll work with some of the limiting beliefs that hold you back or held you back this year.

so that we can go into the new year with a few empowering beliefs and create a new vision for a great FY26 that you're in charge of. you're making, like, it's almost kind of like stripping away the noise of, like, the politics and the traffic and the economy and this and that. Like, just let's go in with the most empowered version of you that could take on anything.

And so I would say go to my website. And I think you also share a link to the website. So yeah, that's probably the best way to get in touch. And yeah, I can't wait to have you in the workshop and help you change your limiting beliefs.

Shannon Mattern (46:36.074)

Yeah. Yep.

Shannon Mattern (46:47.208)

This was so good. Thank you so much for being here. I will link up Rihaz website in the show notes. If there is anything about this that resonated with you, go check her out. It was a really powerful experience. I highly recommend it. And yeah, thank you so much for being here.

Reha Zamani (47:08.462)

yeah, thank you. I can't wait to hear all about your next adventures.

Shannon Mattern (47:13.933)

So thank you all so much for listening and we'll see you back here next week. Bye everyone.