I want to tell you about a little experiment I did with a healer I met at Mindvalley University in Estonia.
Every year, we bring thousands of people together for a two-week festival called Mindvalley U. And one of the beautiful things about it is that we operate on the Burning Man principle of a gifting economy.
Once you’re part of the community, you give your gifts freely.
And this particular woman was an absolute giver.
She was an energy healer who spent two weeks offering healing sessions to people all across the city.
By the end of the festival, she’d given an astonishing 700 healing sessions. In just two weeks.
People were raving about her. They were describing incredible experiences, emotional releases, and transformations.
So naturally, being me, I had to ruin the beautiful spiritual moment by asking about business. 😂
I asked her, “What happens when you go home? How’s your business doing? What do you charge?”
She told me she charged around $300 an hour.
Not bad, right?
Except she’d been stuck at roughly that rate for TEN YEARS.
Her business was growing slowly, despite how extraordinary people said her work was.
So I asked her a simple question.
“Can I see your Instagram?”
And within minutes, I saw the problem.
She had expertise. But she had almost no authority.
Her Instagram was filled with lovely posts about energy, spirituality, and healing. But there was very little that would make a stranger think, “Wow. This is someone I absolutely need to work with.”
So I decided to run an experiment with her.
I gave her three simple assignments.
First, I interviewed her. And I told her to take a clip of our interview and put it on Instagram. Suddenly, people could see her being interviewed by the founder of Mindvalley.
Second, I told her to start speaking at events. For free. For the next three months. But with one condition: get great photographs. Photos of her on stage, speaking to audiences, standing next to event founders and other recognized speakers.
Third, I told her to start offering free Zoom healing sessions. And in return, ask people who had meaningful experiences if they’d be willing to share a video testimonial.
Three relatively simple changes.
She didn’t need another healing certification. She didn’t need to spend another decade mastering her craft.
She needed to show the world what she was already capable of.
Now, here’s where the story gets interesting.
One year later, her rate had gone from $300 to $800 an hour.
And demand for her work had grown so dramatically that she had a waitlist of 2,000 people.
Think about that for a moment.
Same woman. Same healing abilities. Same extraordinary gifts.
But a completely different business.
What changed?
She learned how to build authority.
Now, you might be thinking, “Vishen, isn’t that just clever marketing? Is it even fair that standing next to the right person can make someone seem more valuable?”
And that’s a fair question.
But here’s how I look at it.
This woman was already doing remarkable work. She was genuinely helping people. She was giving generously of herself.
And now, because she learned how to communicate her authority, she’s reaching far more people.
That’s why I believe building authority isn’t just about making more money. It’s about making sure your gifts actually reach the people who need them.
And this brings me to something I’ve been studying for years.
There’s a massive difference between being an expert and being a recognized authority.
In fact, I’ve identified five distinct stages on the journey from expertise to authority.
Most talented people get stuck somewhere in the middle. They become good at their craft. They build a decent business. But they never make that leap to becoming the person everyone knows, trusts, and recommends.
I’ve just released a 24-minute YouTube video breaking down these five stages, why so many talented people get stuck, and how to move to the next level.
It’s also part of a new direction for my YouTube channel, where I’ll be going deeper into mental fitness, personal transformation, and helping exceptional people become recognized for their work.
Watch: The 5 Stages of Becoming a Recognized Authority
And there’s something else I want to share.
I’ve recently created something called The Authority Guild.
The idea comes from medieval guilds, where masters of a craft gathered to learn from one another, sharpen their skills, and build their reputations.
The Authority Guild is a small, application-only community for coaches, founders, speakers, consultants, authors, and educators who are already earning $100K or more a year and want to take their impact to a completely different level.
Not just become better at what they do.
But become recognized as one of the best.
Our first class starts today.
If this speaks to you, start by watching the 24-minute video.
Discover where you are on the five-stage journey.
And if you’re ready for the next stage, I’d love to invite you to apply.
Apply to Join The Authority Guild
Because I believe the world doesn’t need more mediocre experts with brilliant marketing.
It needs more extraordinary experts who are impossible to ignore.
With love,
P.S. Once you’ve watched the video, tell me in the comments which stage you’re on. I read every single one.
