Make Your Environment Your Superpower
About this video
Martell expands on the idea that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with, arguing you become your community and that proximity is power. He cites Tim Sanders’ ‘Love Is the Killer App’ (‘your net is your net worth’) and Keith Ferrazzi’s ‘Never Eat Alone.’ He tells how, when his third company could not make payroll despite doing $1.6 million in revenue as stated in the talk, he cold-emailed former premier Frank McKenna, who gave him three names who became mentors and helped him sell the company two years later. Three lessons follow: push past the filter successful people use to test seriousness (exemplified by Steve Palmer’s 7 a.m. Sunday Tim Hortons meeting, and Martell’s own Tuesday hike), community is created not found, and you must give to get. He describes creating communities from scratch after moves to New Brunswick and Kelowna, and seeking entry to Jeff Walker’s 50-person invite-only mastermind, where back-channel references from people he had helped supported him.
Key takeaways
- Push past the filter: top people test seriousness with inconvenient times/places; showing up is how you earn access — offering coffee alone will not cut it.
- When asking a mentor for help, be open about your real situation and numbers instead of pretending everything is great.
- Community is 100% created: Martell describes calling roughly 200 people to get 75 to a dinner in New Brunswick, and building lists from nonprofit boards and award winners after moving to Kelowna.
- Give to get: grow so you have more to give, ask mentors about their top challenges, read books for them and summarize them, and contribute without extracting.
- People back-channel references before admitting you to rooms like Jeff Walker’s mastermind, so a long record of adding value becomes your reputation.
Episode details: published June 27, 2022 · 15:28 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
← Previous: Watch these 20 minutes if you want to expand to a new market… · Next: Building a Saas Prototype With No Money →
All Dan Martell videos · Dan Martell profile · Dan Martell (official site)
You Might Also Enjoy

The Best AI Strategies by Income Level: $35K, $100K, $1M+
Explore →
Brutal Life Lessons I Wish I Knew in My 20s
Explore →
How to Make AI Sound EXACTLY Like you
Explore →
These Are the Best AI Tools in 2026
Explore →
Give me 57 sec... I'll DELETE your need for perfection
Explore →