Executive TLDR
Success requires choosing truth over comfort—the “red pill” mindset.
Obsession, discipline, and consistent action separate winners from quitters.
Excuses about time, rejection, and failure must be replaced with persistence.
Six months of focused effort can put you five years ahead financially.
Video Summary
Choosing The Red Pill
In The Matrix of Success: Why The Truth Is Your Best Friend, Nelida Flynn challenges the audience to choose between comfort and truth—referencing The Matrix and its famous red pill/blue pill decision. The message is clear: if you want real change, you must choose the hard truth over the easy illusion.
It’s Hard — But So Is Being Broke
Yes, success requires discipline, licensing, phone calls, early mornings, and constant growth. But Flynn reframes the pain: being broke, financially stressed, and unable to provide is harder. You must choose which “hard” you’re willing to endure.
Obsession Beats Average
Your family may call you crazy—but high achievers are obsessed. Just like elite athletes practice daily, business builders must immerse themselves in their craft. Obsession until you win is not extreme—it’s required.
Time Is Not The Problem
Everyone has 24 hours. The issue isn’t lack of time—it’s misplaced priorities. Screen time reports prove we spend hours on distractions. Success demands intentional scheduling, earlier mornings, and disciplined use of time.
Money And Relationships
Flynn tackles a sensitive truth: financial stress is a leading cause of relationship breakdown. Building income isn’t selfish—it strengthens stability, confidence, and long-term partnership health.
Phone Calls Build Freedom
Making calls is uncomfortable—but so are calls from bill collectors. The discomfort of prospecting is temporary; the consequences of inaction are long-term. The solution: commit to at least ten appointments per week and follow up persistently (often five times or more).
Recruiting Reality
If you recruit ten people, expect some to quit. That’s not failure—it’s math. You cannot complain about results until you’ve recruited at least 200. Volume and consistency drive growth.
Exams And Rejection Are Temporary
Failing a licensing exam doesn’t mean you can’t succeed—it means you try again. Some high earners failed dozens of times before winning. It’s not “if” you pass—it’s “when.”
Training Is Non-Negotiable
Every training session adds another piece to the puzzle. You cannot outgrow instruction. Six months of focused alignment and consistency can put you five years ahead financially and professionally.
The Bottom Line
Truth is your best friend. Stop protecting excuses. Choose discipline over comfort, persistence over emotion, and long-term freedom over short-term relief. Take the red pill—and go win.
FAQs
1. What is the red pill vs. blue pill analogy about?
It represents choosing uncomfortable truth and growth over comfortable illusion.
2. What is the main message of the talk?
Success comes from embracing hard truths and eliminating excuses.
3. Why does Flynn say being broke is harder than working hard?
Because financial stress affects lifestyle, relationships, and long-term stability.
4. Why is obsession important for success?
High achievers immerse themselves fully in their craft until they win.
5. Is time really an excuse?
No. People prioritize what matters to them—time must be intentionally redirected.
6. How does financial stress impact relationships?
Money problems are frequently cited as a leading cause of divorce and tension.
7. How many appointments should someone aim for weekly?
At least ten appointments to build consistent momentum.
8. How many follow-ups does it typically take to get a response?
Around five follow-ups before most people respond.
9. What happens when recruits quit?
It’s normal. Recruiting is a numbers game; persistence matters more than emotion.
10. How many recruits should you have before complaining about results?
At least 200 to truly understand the process.
11. What if you fail the licensing exam?
Retake it. Success is about persistence, not perfection.
12. Is college the only path to success?
No. While valuable for some professions, many succeed without it.
13. Why is training emphasized so strongly?
Training builds skills, confidence, and alignment with proven systems.
14. How long does it take to significantly change your life?
Six months of focused, disciplined effort can dramatically accelerate progress.
15. What is the biggest mindset shift required?
Stop defending excuses and start defending your goals.
Glossary
Red Pill Mindset
Choosing truth, discipline, and growth—even when uncomfortable.
Blue Pill Mindset
Choosing comfort, excuses, and avoidance of hard realities.
Prospecting
The act of contacting potential clients or recruits to set appointments.
Follow-Up
Repeated outreach attempts to reconnect and secure a decision or meeting.
Obsession In Success
Intense, focused commitment to mastering a craft until results are achieved.
Alignment
Operating consistently with proven systems, leadership guidance, and disciplined habits.
Transcript: Alright, has this been an incredible meeting so far? Woo! Woo! The best event! And, uh, who’s here for the first time? A couple of you? Here for the first time? Okay. Woo! Fabulous! Alright, so, um, thank you Joe and Denise for an incredible school. You always do an amazing job. Woo hoo hoo! Let’s give them a round of applause!
Woo! Woo! Um The music man of my life, DJ Dan, over there. Papi Chulo, right? Woo! Okay. My incredible team, the Killers, over there. Woo! Alright. And, uh, of course, we want to thank God, right? We’re all here. We’ve been through some tough things, right? We’re here. Thank you, God. Alright. So, my presentation today is the red or the blue pill.
I need the clicker. Um, but, uh, so anyway, uh, yes. Um, so, so anyway, uh, uh, my, uh, my parents, um, my parents are from Puerto Rico, right? Just so body. Okay. And, um, uh, Caribbean mothers, right? Puerto Rican moms, right? Uh, Santo Domingo moms, right? They tell you as it is, right? They don’t sugarcoat anything. They just tell you the truth.
And sometimes you don’t want to hear the truth, right? And, uh, so there was this great movie, The Matrix, right? I’m sure a lot of you have seen it. And they give Nemo the choice, right? The red or the blue pill. Do you want the truth, right? So you could change your life. Or do you want the blue pill and keep in the fantasy world that you’re living in?
So, in this business, it’s because you’re here, right? You want to hear the truth. The truth about the business. So, I, I think some of you may not like me after this presentation. I hope you forgive me. But here we go. All right. So, collection of truths. The blue pill. Okay, yes, it’s hard to be successful. Right?
You have to do some extra things. You know, you have to discipline yourself. Right? You have to. You have to go through licensing, you have to call people, you have to do all those things. You have to get up extra early, you have to be positive, all those things. But isn’t it harder to be broke, right? Okay, it’s harder, right, to be broke.
It’s harder to, you know, not be able to give the kids the things that they want, right? To live the life that you want, right? Isn’t that harder? I think it’s much harder, right? The next one. Your family’s gonna call you crazy. Yes, right, they are going to call you crazy. But instead what you got to say, you need to tell them you’re obsessed, right?
Okay, you got to be obsessed. That’s how you are successful. Every successful person has been obsessed. And you got to think about it, you know, guys that play basketball, they’re playing basketball all the time, right? People that are good at their craft, they’re doing it all the time. You got to be obsessed until you win, all right?
You got to make that your focus. You I have no time. We hear that, right? But actually, you have a lot of time. Okay? You have time for the things that you think are important. Alright? If you take a look at your phone, they give you a recap of how long you’ve been streaming. Right? And you see that, and sometimes it’s a long time.
Alright? You could do a lot of things. Don’t waste your time. Alright? Sleep faster! Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about that, sleep faster, if you have to get up earlier, that’s what you have to do. But you have to make time, you have to get the things done. We all have the same amount of time and there’s people that are getting more things done than you are.
Alright, you have to make that time. I have no time with my spouse. You guys are really going to hate me, okay? Alright, listen, I love my honey bunny over there, right? All I want to do is spend time, eat bonbons every single day. You know, but that’s not going to give me the life I want, right? We got to work, we got to do.
And the thing is, if you don’t do it, listen, you’re going to be divorced anyway. Okay? You’re broke. Okay? Most marriages end in divorce. Finance is cited as number one issue. Okay, so you got to make money so you know what I’m gonna tell you what you’re sexier when you make more money, right? You’re happier.
Okay, things go better. All right, but you gotta you gotta make it happen Okay, making phone calls are hard. Okay, yes, they’re hard, right? But you gotta keep doing it. You gotta make it happen. You gotta make those appointments. You gotta set up your book. There has to be at least ten appointments every single week.
You gotta do those invites. Because making those calls are going to get you the life that you want. And you have to associate yourself. Every time I make that phone call, right? I can, I can earn a thousand dollars. I can do it. I can make it happen. Because listen. This is the reality. If you don’t, it’s taking phone calls from bill collectors.
That’s hard, isn’t that? Okay? So, you gotta work, you gotta work. Make the call, so people don’t call you, right? You gotta supply for your family. College is the answer. Okay, yes, for, I guess, if you want to be a doctor, yes, it is the answer. It’s not only, the only answer. Because Starbucks and McDonald’s have some of the best educated employees.
Alright? There’s a lot of people out there, they say they have that college degree, but they’re doing nothing, okay? So, I’m not saying college is bad, but listen, there’s a lot of things that you could do great in here without a college degree.
I hired three people, they quit. Right? They’re like, oh my god, I’m gonna die, I wanna quit, I wanna leave, okay? But listen, this is the truth. You can’t even start to complain until you have at least 200. Okay. The more you recruit, the more you make, it’s part of the process. Okay. When you hire 10 people, three are going to disappear right away.
It’s like a ghost story. They’re gone. They’re abducted by aliens. Okay. But you got to keep going. That’s what’s going to change your business. All right. The blue pill. I can’t pass the exam. Okay, come on, really? It’s not if, it’s when, okay? Would you tell your kids to give up on an exam? Okay, stop being a baby.
Do it, just take it. If you fail, you take it again. You know, we have million dollar earners that have failed that exam 35 times. I should have failed it a few more times, right? Okay? So you can do this, you got this. And we have so many resources. I don’t want to talk to any of my family and my friends.
Are you ready? You’re gonna hate me. Oh, so you want them to die broke and leave their family helpless. Is that what you want? Okay, you gotta talk to your whole family. You gotta help them. You know, I talk to everybody. Listen, I’m just letting you know. Because I don’t want you to be mad at me when I didn’t tell you about this opportunity.
All right, you got to tell everybody, you got to change their lives, and that comes with your life and your family’s life. I keep calling and they keep rescheduling. Listen, newsflash, it takes at least five follow ups before people respond. People are busy, okay, so you have to follow up, that’s part of your job.
And somebody, if somebody doesn’t call you up the first time, come on! You got to try again. You got to call him at a different time.
I don’t want to, or need to come to training. Not necessary.
Well, look at where you got on your own. How is that working for you? Right? Okay? You gotta be teachable. Every training is important. That’s how you get better. That’s how you change. Glenn Lee talked about the Primerica’s 5, 000 piece puzzle. Every time you go to a meeting, you get a piece. Alright, it’s gonna change your life.
It’s gonna make you better. So listen, six months of hardcore focus and alignment can put you five years ahead in life. Don’t underestimate the powers of consistency and desire. You have what it takes to become the best that you can be. Don’t ever doubt yourself. Harness your power, exceed your expectations.
Let’s go win. Thank you everybody.
