Self Improvement

4-Hour Workweek Success Tales — Charlie Houpert on Constructing “Charisma on Command” to 10M+ Subscribers, From Charging $10 for Seminars to Making Thousands and thousands, Residing in Brazil, Important Early Choices, and The Secret to Freedom (#817)

June 26, 2025
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“Do I select myself within the face of the world providing me all of this temptation to be one thing else?”
— Charlie Houpert

Charlie Houpert (@charliehoupert) is the co-founder of Charisma on Command, an organization that helps folks develop confidence, charisma, and powerful social abilities. Initially launched as a 4-Hour Workweek-inspired “muse,” it has since grown into one of many largest platforms for social abilities and confidence coaching, with greater than 10 million YouTube subscribers worldwide and greater than a billion views throughout its content material in six languages. His flagship course, Charisma College, has guided greater than 30,000 members by sensible steps to grow to be extra magnetic.

Charlie was as soon as voted “Most Prone to Break Out of His Shell” and commenced learning charisma to beat his personal social anxiousness. He now explores the deeper roots of confidence by archetypal psychology, embodiment practices, and extra.

Please get pleasure from!

Hearken to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or in your favourite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube right here. The transcript of this episode could be discovered right here. Transcripts of all episodes could be discovered right here.

This episode is dropped at you by Patagonia’s call-to-action to guard America’s public lands. Go to Patagonia.com/Tim to be taught extra and act now.

The episode can also be dropped at you by Monarch Cash’s all-in-one monetary software that will help you observe, price range, plan, and do extra together with your cash and by LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 1B+ customers.

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4-Hour Workweek Success Tales — Charlie Houpert on Constructing “Charisma on Command” to 10M+ Subscribers, From Charging $10 for Seminars to Making Thousands and thousands, Residing in Brazil, Important Early Choices, and The Secret to Freedom

This message is dropped at you by Patagonia. I’m at all times requested by listeners what helps me reset, really feel grounded, get better from setbacks, or just really feel at peace. Unquestionably, it’s going into nature, often with my pup Molly. For a lot of thousands and thousands of People, myself included, our national-park system is the very best place to do exactly that.  Our public lands cowl practically a 3rd of our nation’s landmass. With greater than 433 national-park websites, there’s a ton to discover, whether or not you’re fishing, mountaineering, or simply tenting with household.

And the very best factor about our parks? As People, we collectively personal them. This implies we will go to and revel in them any time we would like.  For greater than a century, our authorities has protected our public lands by holding them in a public belief. But it surely’s turning into tougher and fewer secure for us to entry these awe-inspiring locations. 

Congress is getting ready to vote on a invoice that might power the sale of thousands and thousands of acres of public lands to, amongst different issues, fund tax breaks for billionaires. If authorised, the invoice may set off the most important single sale of nationwide public lands in trendy historical past. 

Please be part of me and hundreds of different People who’re talking as much as defend our public lands. Go to patagonia.com/Tim to be taught extra.

This episode is dropped at you by Monarch Cash! Conventional budgeting apps may help, however they don’t evaluate to the whole monetary command middle you get with this episode’s sponsor, Monarch Cash. Monarch is like your individual private CFO, providing you with full visibility and management so you may cease merely incomes and begin rising.

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This episode is dropped at you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether or not you need to rent now for a crucial position or interested by wants that you could have sooner or later, LinkedIn Jobs may help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the onerous and mushy abilities you’re in search of and places your job in entrance of candidates in search of job alternatives that match what you need to supply.

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Wish to hear one other episode with somebody who understands social dynamics and influenced Charlie’s entrepreneurial path? Hearken to my dialog with bestselling creator Neil Strauss, during which we mentioned his artistic course of, conducting participating interviews, overcoming author’s block, maximizing artistic output, and rather more.

What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know within the feedback.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

  • Join with Charlie Houpert:

Charisma on Command | Charisma College | Dropping In Podcast | Improv & Dragons | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

The transcript of this episode could be discovered right here. Transcripts of all episodes could be discovered right here.

Corporations, Organizations, and Manufacturers

  • Charisma on Command: a private improvement firm and YouTube channel targeted on enhancing charisma and communication abilities by on-line programs and content material.
  • Skillshare: an internet studying platform providing hundreds of artistic and enterprise programs taught by business consultants.
  • TrepStar: an on-demand media achievement service specializing in short-run CD, DVD, and USB manufacturing and transport.
  • Chipotle: a fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain identified for customizable burritos, bowls, and tacos made with responsibly sourced elements.
  • Airbnb: a worldwide on-line market connecting vacationers with hosts providing distinctive lodging and experiences.
  • Google (Adwords): Google’s internet advertising platform, now referred to as Google Advertisements, that allows companies to show adverts throughout Google’s community.
  • SamCart: an e-commerce platform designed particularly for promoting digital merchandise with conversion-optimized checkout experiences and upselling options.
  • Marvel: a multimedia leisure firm well-known for its superhero franchises, comedian books, and blockbuster movie universe.
  • Lexus: Toyota’s luxurious car division identified for premium vehicles, SUVs, and hybrid know-how with emphasis on craftsmanship and reliability.
  • Patek Philippe: a prestigious Swiss luxurious watch producer famend for creating among the world’s costliest and collectible timepieces.
  • Boeing: an American multinational aerospace company that designs, manufactures, and sells industrial airplanes, protection techniques, and area know-how.
  • Entire Meals: an upscale grocery chain specializing in natural and pure merchandise, identified for high-quality meals and health-conscious procuring expertise.

Blogs, Web sites, and On-line Platforms

  • KickAss Academy: the unique area identify for Charlie’s private improvement weblog and enterprise earlier than rebranding to Charisma on Command.
  • Reddit: a social information aggregation and dialogue platform the place customers can share content material and have interaction in group discussions throughout hundreds of subjects.
  • Readability.fm: an on-demand consulting platform that connects entrepreneurs with business consultants for paid telephone consultations, that includes advisors like Mark Cuban and Eric Ries.
  • WordPress: the world’s hottest content material administration system, powering over 40% of internet sites with versatile themes and plugins for constructing any kind of website.
  • vBulletin: a industrial discussion board software program bundle that allows communities to create feature-rich dialogue boards with superior moderation and customization instruments.
  • The Final Psychiatrist: an influential nameless weblog by psychiatrist Dr. Chris Ballas that provided penetrating cultural criticism and psychological evaluation from 2007-2014.
  • Cracked: a humor web site identified for its comedic articles, lists, and movies that mix leisure with shocking insights and historic information.

Programs and Applications

  • Charisma College: Charlie’s flagship on-line course instructing sensible charisma and communication abilities by step-by-step coaching modules, workout routines, and real-world utility strategies.
  • Advertising Step-by-Step: Eben Pagan’s complete entrepreneurial advertising course overlaying psychology-driven methods for buyer acquisition, conversion, and enterprise development.
  • Artwork of Accomplishment: Joe Hudson’s transformational teaching program mixing neuroscience, psychology, and religious practices to assist high-performers break by limiting patterns and emotional obstacles.

Books

Motion pictures, TV Exhibits, and Media

  • Inception: Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending heist thriller about extracting and planting concepts by shared dreaming, that includes layered dream sequences inside desires and Leonardo DiCaprio’s reality-questioning efficiency.
  • On line casino Royale (2006): the James Bond reboot that includes an iconic eight-minute parkour chase sequence with freerunner Sébastien Foucan that impressed Charlie’s first enterprise thought for parkour coaching DVDs.
  • Sport of Thrones: HBO’s fantasy epic whose complicated characters like Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister turned good topics for Charlie’s “fame-jacking” YouTube technique, borrowing present viewers consideration.
  • The Tim Ferriss Experiment: My actuality TV present the place I tried to grasp varied abilities in document time, together with a very cringe-worthy episode about relationship and chilly strategy strategies.
  • True Detective: the philosophical crime drama that was referenced in considered one of The Final Psychiatrist‘s characteristically penetrating weblog publish titles, mixing popular culture with psychological evaluation.
  • Improv & Dragons: Charlie’s personal YouTube collection combining improvisational comedy with Dungeons & Dragons gameplay, showcasing his evolution from shopper to creator of entertaining content material.

Folks

  • Neil Strauss: creator of The Sport, a controversial exploration of pickup artist tradition that inadvertently turned a masterclass in social psychology and persuasion strategies.
  • Neville Medhora: a copywriter and entrepreneur who based Copywriting Course after serving to AppSumo obtain their highest gross sales days by psychological e-mail advertising.
  • Tony Robbins: legendary motivational speaker and life coach identified for remodeling human potential by neurolinguistic programming and peak efficiency methods.
  • Tucker Max: bestselling creator of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell and grasp of provocative private branding who offered Charlie essential early suggestions on his enterprise positioning.
  • Eben Pagan: advertising strategist and entrepreneur who created the “Advertising Step-by-Step” course that influenced Charlie’s rebranding to Charisma on Command, identified for alliterative branding strategies.
  • David DeAngelo: Eben Pagan’s pseudonym below which he wrote Double Your Relationship, demonstrating early private branding methods within the relationship recommendation business.
  • Ryan Vacation: bestselling creator and advertising skilled who was working as Tucker Max’s analysis assistant once I first encountered Tucker’s unconventional strategy.
  • Brian Chesky: co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, famend for his philosophy of “doing issues that don’t scale” within the early phases of constructing disruptive companies.
  • Clay Collins: on-line course creator who developed influential frameworks for pre-selling programs earlier than creating them, offering Charlie with strategic product launch methodologies.
  • Avicii: Swedish DJ and digital music producer whose stay efficiency Charlie witnessed throughout his transformational first go to to Las Vegas.
  • Invoice Clinton: forty second President of the US whose masterful eye contact strategies in political debates turned the topic of considered one of Charlie’s breakthrough YouTube movies.
  • Greg McKeown: creator of Essentialism, advocating for the disciplined pursuit of much less however higher by systematic prioritization and elimination methods.
  • Herbie: fictional character from Greg McKeown’s Essentialism representing the bottleneck precept – that enhancing the slowest a part of any system dramatically improves total efficiency.
  • Donald Trump: businessman and forty fifth President whose communication type Charlie analyzed in a viral 2016 video predicting his electoral success, which tripled Charlie’s enterprise.
  • Scott Adams: creator of the Dilbert caricature and grasp persuader who additionally predicted Trump’s victory early, demonstrating superior understanding of cognitive biases.
  • Conor McGregor: Irish UFC fighter whose psychological warfare ways and charismatic self-promotion turned frequent topics of Charlie’s behavioral evaluation movies.
  • Robert Downey Jr.: Academy Award-nominated actor whose fast wit and magnetic interview presence offered wealthy materials for Charlie’s charisma breakdowns.
  • Gary Vaynerchuk: entrepreneur and social media skilled who popularized the “jab, jab, jab, proper hook” content material technique of offering worth earlier than making gross sales pitches.
  • Mr. Beast: YouTube phenomenon whose data-driven strategy to viral content material creation and psychological thumbnail optimization represents trendy digital storytelling mastery.
  • David Ogilvy: legendary promoting govt generally known as the “Father of Promoting” whose timeless ideas of persuasion proceed influencing trendy advertising.
  • Keanu Reeves: the right instance of an introvert who exudes confidence regardless of being quiet and considerably reclusive.
  • Brené Brown: analysis professor and creator whose insights on vulnerability and braveness embrace the knowledge that wholesome relationships are by no means actually 50/50.
  • Thucydides: historical Greek historian whose philosophy impressed Charlie’s tattoo: “The key to freedom is braveness” — representing the intersection of knowledge and private transformation.
  • Joe Hudson: govt coach and creator of Artwork of Accomplishment who guided Charlie by the complicated emotional and strategic challenges of shopping for out his enterprise co-founder.
  • Sam Altman: CEO of OpenAI who publicly endorsed Joe Hudson’s work by social media, validating the psychological frameworks Charlie was studying.
  • Nathaniel Branden: psychologist and creator of The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem whose sentence completion workout routines helped Charlie excavate limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns.
  • Jay Abraham: enterprise strategist and “old-school” advertising coach who challenged Charlie to create content material worthy of being consumed by the individuals who had influenced him.
  • Kahlil Gibran: Lebanese-American author and thinker, creator of The Prophet, whose poetic knowledge on human nature continues influencing religious and private improvement.
  • Dale Carnegie: creator of the timeless basic The best way to Win Mates and Affect Folks, establishing foundational ideas for human relationship dynamics and social affect.
  • Hafez: Persian lyrical poet from Shiraz, thought-about one of many best masters of the ghazal type, whose mystical and romantic verses exploring love, wine, and religious craving have influenced literature for over 600 years.
  • Martha Beck: life coach and creator identified for integrating historical knowledge with trendy psychological strategies.
  • Brandon Sanderson: prolific fantasy creator whose systematic strategy to world-building and storytelling demonstrates the intersection of creativity and methodical execution.
  • Richard Koch: creator of The 80/20 Precept, advocating for figuring out the very important few inputs that generate nearly all of significant outputs in any system.
  • Yvon Chouinard: founding father of Patagonia and creator of Let My Folks Go Browsing, demonstrating how genuine values can drive each enterprise success and environmental activism.
  • Ricardo Semler: Brazilian CEO who revolutionized company tradition by radical office democracy, inspiring different approaches to enterprise management and organizational design.
  • Richard Branson: founding father of Virgin Group whose scrappy, unconventional strategy to beginning an airline exemplifies entrepreneurial resourcefulness and daring risk-taking.
  • Diana Chapman: govt coach whose interview on this present explored superior strategies for integrating emotional intelligence with rational decision-making.
  • Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung: pioneering psychoanalysts whose exploration of the unconscious thoughts impressed Charlie’s Dungeons & Dragons character “Sigmund,” mixing psychology with artistic expression.
  • Charlie Hoehn: entrepreneur, 4x New York Occasions bestselling editor, co-founder of Writer.Inc, and my former Director of Particular Tasks.

Locations and Venues

  • Washington, DC: the capital of the US, identified for its federal authorities, historic monuments, and vibrant political and cultural scene.
  • H Road (in DC): a historic hall in Northeast Washington DC identified for its various eating scene, nightlife, and cultural venues stretching from Union Station to the Anacostia River.
  • New York Metropolis, NY: probably the most populous metropolis in the US, famend as a worldwide middle for finance, arts, trend, and tradition.
  • Decrease East Aspect, NYC: a historic Manhattan neighborhood identified for its immigrant heritage, fashionable eating places, bars, and mixture of inexpensive and luxurious housing.
  • Brazil: the most important nation in South America, well-known for its Amazon rainforest, vibrant tradition, seashores, and cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
  • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Brazil’s iconic coastal metropolis well-known for its gorgeous seashores, Christ the Redeemer statue, Carnival celebration, and dramatic mountain landscapes.
  • Floripa (Florianópolis), Brazil: the capital of Santa Catarina state, generally known as the “Magic Island” for its stunning seashores, know-how hub, and prime quality of life.
  • Las Vegas, NV: the leisure capital of the world, well-known for its casinos, reveals, nightlife, and indulgent themed accommodations alongside the Las Vegas Strip.
  • Vancouver, Canada: a serious West Coast seaport metropolis identified for its pure magnificence, delicate local weather, various tradition, and proximity to mountains and ocean.
  • Colombia: a South American nation identified for its various landscapes from Caribbean coastlines to Amazon rainforest, vibrant cities, and wealthy cultural heritage.
  • Pennsylvania: a Mid-Atlantic U.S. state identified for its historic significance, together with Philadelphia’s Independence Corridor and the Liberty Bell.
  • Los Angeles, CA: the second-largest metropolis in the US, well-known for Hollywood, leisure business, seashores, and various neighborhoods.
  • XS (Nightclub in Las Vegas): an upscale nightclub at Encore Las Vegas identified for its luxurious indoor-outdoor design, movie star DJ performances, and high-end bottle service.
  • UNLV (College of Nevada, Las Vegas): a public analysis college identified for its hospitality, enterprise, and engineering packages, in addition to its Runnin’ Rebels basketball workforce.
  • South by Southwest (SXSW): an annual conglomeration of interactive media, music, and movie festivals and conferences held in Austin, Texas.
  • UT Austin: the College of Texas at Austin, a top-tier public analysis college identified for its teachers, athletics, and vibrant campus tradition.
  • San Francisco / Bay Space: a northern California area identified for its tech business, iconic Golden Gate Bridge, various tradition, and steep hills.

Ideas, Concepts, and Frameworks

  • Administration Consulting: knowledgeable service the place consultants analyze organizational issues and supply strategic options to enhance enterprise efficiency and effectivity.
  • The Muse: idea from The 4-Hour Workweek for creating an automatic, low-maintenance enterprise that generates passive revenue whereas requiring minimal ongoing involvement.
  • Scratch-Your-Personal-Itch: the entrepreneurial philosophy of fixing an issue you personally expertise, making certain product-market match by constructing one thing you genuinely need and wish.
  • Moonlighting: the follow of working a aspect enterprise or venture whereas sustaining full-time employment, permitting entrepreneurs to check concepts with diminished monetary threat.
  • Burn the Ships: a dedication technique impressed by historic army ways, that means to eradicate all choices for retreat and power full dedication to a brand new enterprise.
  • Worry-Setting: My systematic train for outlining worst-case situations, prevention methods, and restoration plans to beat choice paralysis and take calculated dangers.
  • The Sport: Neil Strauss’ exploration of pickup artist tradition and social dynamics, revealing psychological strategies for attraction and social affect.
  • 10 out of 10 Upside: the element of fear-setting that focuses on envisioning and quantifying the very best outcomes of taking motion on a call.
  • Fame-Jacking: Charlie’s time period for his YouTube technique of making content material analyzing well-known personalities to draw their followers and leverage present viewers curiosity.
  • Tripwire: an internet advertising technique utilizing a low-cost, high-value preliminary product to transform prospects into paying prospects and set up a shopping for relationship.
  • Jab, Jab, Jab, Proper Hook: Gary Vaynerchuk’s content material advertising philosophy of offering worth repeatedly (jabs) earlier than making gross sales pitches (proper hooks) to construct belief and engagement.
  • The Herbie Parable: a narrative from Essentialism about figuring out and addressing the first bottleneck in any system to enhance total efficiency and effectivity.
  • Viewers Seize: the phenomenon the place content material creators grow to be trapped by their viewers’s expectations, resulting in artistic stagnation and burnout as they chase engagement over authenticity.
  • 50/50 Partnership Break up: the generally problematic enterprise association the place two companions share equal possession regardless of hardly ever contributing equally, typically resulting in disputes and energy struggles.
  • Sentence Completion Workouts: a psychological approach from The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem utilizing open-ended prompts to uncover unconscious ideas and limiting beliefs.
  • Shotgun Deal: a enterprise partnership buyout mechanism the place one accomplice names a worth and the opposite should both settle for or purchase them out on the identical worth, forcing truthful valuation.
  • Mimetic Need: René Girard’s idea that people copy the needs of others moderately than growing genuine desires, creating cycles of competitors and social imitation.

Related Assets

SHOW NOTES

  • [00:00:00] Begin.
  • [00:06:44] Charlie meets the boogeyman (me).
  • [00:10:11] Why defaulting to administration consulting after faculty felt like each day self-betrayal.
  • [00:13:21] Leaping into parkour coaching by way of DVD as a primary enterprise try.
  • [00:15:45] Moonlighting vs. burning-ships entrepreneurship.
  • [00:16:54] Negotiating distant work with a 90% increase.
  • [00:21:22] Charlie strikes to New York and kicks off KickAss Academy.
  • [00:22:16] Airbnb survival ways whereas residing in a 396 sq. ft. residence.
  • [00:23:26] Utilizing the fear-setting train and different disaster-mitigation methods.
  • [00:26:11] Charlie’s first weblog publish and crossing the publishing Rubicon.
  • [00:28:26] How Charlie’s first in-person class prompted an unintentional enterprise mannequin.
  • [00:34:21] 10 go-getters make an formidable transfer to Brazil.
  • [00:32:14] The each day development whiteboard system.
  • [00:37:58] How a harsh Tucker Max session galvanized the rebranding to Charisma on Command.
  • [00:44:39] From monetary downturn to pre-selling a course for $12,500.
  • [00:50:44] Lastly making sufficient cash to chase summer season in six-to-eight-month increments.
  • [00:52:00] Having fun with the sustainable advantages of making timeless content material.
  • [00:54:05] How Invoice Clinton seduced 7,000 folks into following Charlie on YouTube.
  • [00:55:46] How Greg McKeown’s Essentialism helped clear up Charlie’s “Herbie” drawback.
  • [00:58:26] Evolving funnel circulation and fame-jacking.
  • [01:03:46] YouTube algorithm modifications, short-form content material, and sustaining viewers belief for the long run.
  • [01:10:58] Why I nonetheless create this podcast.
  • [01:19:30] The hazards of succumbing completely to viewers expectation over authenticity.
  • [01:21:42] The catalysts that led to day without work, an ayahuasca retreat, and a seven-year transformation course of.
  • [01:30:26] Making the transition from 50/50 accomplice to sole proprietor.
  • [01:35:16] Advisable studying: Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden
  • [01:37:32] The affect of The Final Psychiatrist weblog.
  • [01:41:46] Jay Abraham teaching: “Make it ok for Tim Ferriss.”
  • [01:43:52] How testimonials added a 4x conversion raise.
  • [01:44:31] Coming to an settlement with the co-founder.
  • [01:47:20] Joe Hudson and the Artwork of Accomplishment.
  • [01:51:57] Why I stand by The 4-Hour Workweek with out additional revision, warts and all.
  • [01:55:06] Exercising gratitude even when receiving reward is troublesome.
  • [01:59:15] Relationship with earlier work: video vs. writing.
  • [02:02:05] Don’t miss “Filling the Void.”
  • [02:03:56] Extra really useful studying.
  • [02:06:43] Improv & Dragons.
  • [02:08:06] Charlie’s billboard: “Don’t assume, really feel.”
  • [02:08:57] Parting ideas.

MORE CHARLIE HOUPERT QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Do I select myself within the face of the world providing me all of this temptation to be one thing else?”
— Charlie Houpert

“If you happen to don’t consider in it absolutely, you’re going to promote it with hesitancy.”
— Charlie Houpert

“Don’t assume, really feel. I do know that’s counterintuitive to lots of people, however these days, that’s been my guideline is really feel my coronary heart, really feel my intestine, assume from my thoughts, and attempt to discover some union of the three to maneuver ahead.”
— Charlie Houpert

“If you begin buying and selling your beliefs for money or approval, you’re simply sending a sign that, ‘I can’t be relied on to be myself and be secure and earn.’”
— Charlie Houpert

The Tim Ferriss Present is one of the preferred podcasts on the planet with multiple billion downloads. It has been chosen for “Better of Apple Podcasts” 3 times, it’s typically the #1 interview podcast throughout all of Apple Podcasts, and it has been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many events. To take heed to any of the previous episodes totally free, take a look at this web page.



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