Naveen Jain at 10XGrowthCon 2

What you’ll learn from this article: There is no problem you can’t solve.

Introduction

It’s independent people that have the power now, not governments or massive, faceless companies. Entrepreneurs are the next superpower. Naveen Jain, an ultra successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, and face of Viome and Moon Express, believes that individuals can solve any problem no matter how large—and that it’s our responsibility to do so.

Helping People

Naveen’s sense of social responsibility comes from a form of regret—his inability to help the people that have helped him achieve success is a key part of his motivation. He says, “the people who help you, you can’t help them,” in reference to a mentor he had forgotten who had believed in him when he was younger.

Years later, the wife of this mentor called him from the hospital asking him for a moment of his time. Naveen, unaware of who was on the other end, asked what they wanted. When his mentor got on the line, he simply wanted to congratulate Naveen for his success because he had followed his accomplishments over the years.

The man was on his deathbed, and it was at that moment Naveen realized he had forgotten the people that have helped him get where he is today, and there was no way he could help now.

Motivation for Paying it Forward

He remains positive about the guilt, using it as a motivation and reminder to help other people. He encourages everyone to experience the same feeling so that they will pay it forward. Although he was too late to help his mentor, he sets his attention on solving global problems that have a huge impact like health, education, and space travel to the moon—this guy’s think is massive.

When faced with any problem, Naveen has a specific order that he likes to follow:

• Cross that bridge when you get there
• Burn the bridge so there’s no way to go back

First, you don’t have to have the solution immediately, and that shouldn’t stop you from carrying forward. The second part is committing 100% to your cause without looking back. If you combine these two strategies, it adds up to a powerful recipe, which you can see from Naveen’s achievements, compounded with great effect.

He advises everyone to find a cause that’s bigger than yourself. Use a team to solve problems in a spirit of collaboration. “In school,” he jokes, “if you ask someone for the answer that’s called cheating—in business, it’s called collaboration.”

Being an Expert is a Limitation

Naveen is a very smart guy but the source of his success is not his intelligence, it’s his ability to run headfirst into territories that he knows little about.

“Never be afraid to do things that you know absolutely nothing about,” he says.

Experts tend to be limited in their thinking. Once you’re an expert, you can’t do much better. When you are at the top, you can only improve marginally. It’s the people not ingrained with the rigid thinking that create innovation.

Naveen’s company, Moon Express, is the only group in the world that has permission to land on the moon.

“Not even Elon Musk has that,” he says. Naveen learned how to sell people on his cause by inspiring them to buy in by making it their decision. He knows nothing about space travel, technically, but that doesn’t stop him from committing to solving the problem of exploiting the untapped resources of the moon.

When you’re 100% committed with a burn the ships mentality, you’ll find creative ways to get around problems.

You don’t have a choice. You have to obey the rules of the campground when you are in the tent. Sometimes you have to step outside and pee on the tent. With a project like landing on the moon, that comes with lots of restrictions and fears of releasing locations of defense satellites. It matters where you take off from. Sometimes you have to change the campground and follow a different set of camp rules!

The Root Vs. Symptoms

When you’re trying to solve problems in your life, look for the root cause, not the symptoms. A lot of people mistake the symptoms for the root cause but solving a symptom does not, in effect, solve the real problem.

A lot of people in the world think that we have a water shortage problem. They think that we just need more of it but where does our water go? It goes mainly to agriculture which is used to grow food to feed cows. Then we eat the cows.

What if we found an easier way to make cows involving stem cells? Imagine a factory that no longer needs to raise cattle, but manufactures only the parts that we eat using biological technology, excluding parts that we don’t like the eyes and brain. So what started as a water problem turned into a problem of synthetic biology.

Solving a major root problem is what they do over at Viome. When people have a medical issue, they tend to blame it on the symptoms: depression, anxiety. But what is causing the depression? Naveen has an answer—mirobiomes.

The Truth About Medical Problems

He believes that all medical problems arises from an imbalance in the gut, which is where the microbiomes live in the human body. Humans are mostly composed of foreign cells, and are only 1% “human.” All disease come from the gut—from these microbiomes.

Viome seeks to correct the imbalances in the stomach with the goal of making health a choice rather than a condition to endure.

Naveen ultimately asks, how do you solve your root cause? What if you had everything that you ever wanted in your life? What would you do then? The answer to that question is your moonshot.

So what’s your moonshot?

Get a seat at 10XGrowthCon 3 and let’s make your moonshot a reality!

10XGrowthCon 2 was a blast. Will you come hang out with me for 10XGrowthCon 3? Reserve your seat now, this will sell out fast.

Be great,

GC

Grant Cardone is a New York Times bestselling author, the #1 sales trainer in the world, and an internationally renowned speaker on leadership, real estate investing, entrepreneurship, social media, and finance. His 5 privately held companies have annual revenues exceeding $100 million. Forbes named Mr. Cardone #1 of the “25 Marketing Influencers to Watch in 2017”. Grant’s straight-shooting viewpoints on the economy, the middle class, and business have made him a valuable resource for media seeking commentary and insights on real topics that matter. He regularly appears on Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, and MSNBC, and writes for Forbes, Success Magazine, Business Insider, Entrepreneur.com, and the Huffington Post. He urges his followers and clients to make success their duty, responsibility, and obligation. He currently resides in South Florida with his wife and two daughters.