Our Story

Hi, I'm Dr Nic Lucas, Founder and CEO of Provaleo, and I'd love to share my story with you. As you consider working with me, it's important that you understand where I came from, and how I got here.

The Start.

I started out life in a small country town, population 6,000. Life was comfortable and safe ... and then we started moving for my Father's career.

Over the next 11 years, I attended 9 schools, before finally dropping out of high school.

I didn't have much respect for authority, and I had so many different teachers they became a blur. I lived in my own world and just wanted to do my own thing.

This is where my commitment to autonomy started.

After school, I had a range of jobs in music, sales, stockbroking, and retail fashion.

I met Rhoda (my wife) and I wanted something more secure as my career.

But what?

Looking through the newspaper classifieds was depressing. Starting at the jobs beginning with 'A' and reading all the way to 'Z' is a horrible way to try and find your 'life purpose'.

I ignored anything that required study or qualifications, because I'd proven to myself that I wasn't academic. I told myself I was incapable of anything that required me to be 'smart', and that I could only do 'creative' things.

Turns out that story was false, but that story kept me trapped for years. This is how powerful our stories can be.

In my work with entrepreneurs, I hear limiting stories like this all the time and no amount of awesome business strategy can compete with a negative story in the mind of an entrepreneur.

First Major Breakthrough - Think Outside the Story You Are Trapped In

Completely lost and without a clue what to do, I got some advice from my Father.

Nic... as long as you devote your life to helping others, you'll find fulfilment. Whatever you choose, make sure you are helping people.

It just so happened I had a back injury at the time, and dared to allow myself to think:

"What if I could help people with back pain? What if I became a health professional? Is that even possible for me?"

I discovered that I'd need to go back to finish high school, so that I could get into University, and then hopefully, get qualified, set up a practice ... and live happily ever after.

So at age 22, I found the courage to quit my job and go back to high school, and one year later I was accepted into University.

And the breakthrough was the mental shift I made that enabled me to think outside the story I was trapped in.

I escaped my 'mindset', and it wasn't the last time I would need to do this.

In fact, 'mind-escape' is what makes my coaching and consulting unique.

I've changed my thinking and beliefs so many times now that it's become a skill.

This is where I provide real value to my clients. I help them see things differently.  I help them let go of their limiting stories and replace them with ones that actually help them get what they want.

Second Major Breakthrough - Learning to Learn

Even though I earned my way to University, I had a severe case of 'fraud syndrome' and was sure someone would discover they'd made a mistake and kick me out.  I struggled with self-doubt on a daily basis and almost talked myself out of sticking with it.

"You're not good enough. You'll never succeed. Remember ... you're not smart."

Who needed enemies when I had my own judgement to deal with?

And yet, despite this, I managed to survive. I stayed. I developed resilience.

And most importantly, I learned how to learn. And this was my second major breakthrough.

The reason I hadn't done well at school was not because I wasn't smart, it was because I didn't know how to learn.

I didn't have a character flaw. I simply lacked a skill.

And once I learned that skill, I started doing really well, and I loved it. By the end of my first year I was getting some of the highest grades in the class.

I had to accept the truth about my new ability.

And the truth was that I was succeeding. I wasn't a fraud. And every time I indulged in a negative thought about myself, I was indulging in a lie.

This is why I can empathise with entrepreneurs who feel like a fraud. Who feel like they're not good enough, or that they don't deserve success.

I know what that feels like, and I know what it's like to escape from those stories and live a better life.

Breakthroughs like this are a crucial part of the X10 Entrepreneur Intensive.

Third Major Breakthrough - Entrepreneurship

By now, Rhoda and I were married and I was doing my first masters degree. We were living on a student allowance, and we were broke.

One night we were reading books at the local book store because we couldn't afford to buy them ... and I picked up my first business book and read it from cover to cover.

My mind was blown.

I learned that no one ever got rich by having a job. I learned that being self-employed, like most professionals, meant you were paying to have your own job ... and that you didn't have a business.

I learned that a real business had leverage, systems, and staff.

And while I didn't want to give up on my dream of helping people one on one, I did expand my view about what was possible.

In the X10 Entrepreneur Intensive, I challenge my clients views about what's possible all the time. Often I believe in them more than they believe in themselves.

Acting on this new way of thinking, and in the final year of my graduate studies, I launched my first company ... a publishing company called Research Media Pty Ltd.

And at the end of my first year in practice, I was earning more from my publishing company than I was from consulting patients on a daily basis.

And yet my publishing company required very little time by comparison.

I had hundreds of patients in my 'self-employed' business, and yet I had thousands of clients in my part-time publishing business.

Business is leverage.

Fourth Major Breakthrough - Digital

It was the early 2000's and to keep things interesting, I'd taken on a University position lecturing in neuroscience ... and I realised that if I could teach at University, then I could enter the private sector and teach online.

So, I teamed up with a friend, and we started our first software development project ... to build our own learning management system (LMS).

We were going to be rich doing what we loved! Or so we thought ...

Months later, after endless late nights, we were in a hole ... financially, technically, and emotionally.

This system wasn't anywhere near ready. The costs were blowing out. And the final nail in the coffin was that the developer left the agency we had hired, and no-one else knew how to continue coding our platform.

Hit hard by a business failure, we decided to throw in the towel, and became another software startup statistic.

But years later, we started from scratch and tried again.

And I'd love to say it was a success, but we hit technical trouble.

We hired a different development company, but after about 15K in development costs, the system was horrible to use, it looked awful, it wasn't designed for marketing, and almost every feature we wanted ended up costing thousands of extra dollars to code.

I realised that we were working on another dud, and pulled the plug.

This was business failure number 2 ... but that didn't keep me down.

A few years later, in 2008, I decided to write and self-publish my first book on stress and anxiety.

I taught myself how to build websites, how to get ranked on google, and how to use adwords. I learned how to attract customers and make online sales.

And in addition to launching my book, I produced an online course to go with it.

People could buy the book, and if they wanted additional training, they could buy the course as well.

I class this project as a success.

It cost me about 20K in training, web development and advertising and I also made about 20K in sales. So, while I broke even on the money, I came out well ahead in terms of knowledge, skills and experience.

Eventually, through this book, I was invited on national TV morning shows in Australia.

And because I'd been able to make sales with an e-book and online course, I was invited to speak at a few events for online business and digital entrepreneurs.

This new set of skills also enabled me to pivot into consulting.

People wanted my help, so I established my first consulting business and started to take on clients.

In almost every case, I was consulting businesses on their overall digital strategy.

I'd help them understand the digital environment and see the bigger picture ... and change their ideas about what was possible.

I almost always had to coach them on what was holding them back and stopping them exploring their potential.

I'd also find highly successful business owners failing at their relationships. Failing at their health and fitness. Failing at their own personal growth and well-being.

This is where my background in coaching and health care became highly relevant.

Fifth Major Breakthrough - Launches & High Ticket Consulting

Third time lucky?

After the success of my book project and consulting business, I revisited my online learning idea for one last try.

This time, I knew what I was doing. I had a much greater handle on the tech side of things and I'd learned a tonne about digital marketing.

So, I focussed on developing the learning platform and the marketing strategy, and six weeks later launched a brand new company and made about 60K profit straight out of the gate ... before the product had even been developed.

To launch something successful in just 6 weeks was a special victory, especially after failing the first two times.

The business grew with thousands of students from over 70 countries.

Through all of this, I became skilled at the A to Z of digital business.

Everything from overall strategy, to the minutiae of creating the custom tracking links for email campaigns.

From launching ads on social media, to writing webinars and video sales letters. From online product development, to publishing a best selling book and a number 1 podcast.

And this is what gives me a completely unique perspective on being a digital entrepreneur.

Years of experience helps me guide entrepreneurs who want to grow their business and expand themselves as individuals.

I've consulted with large well-known organisations such as the Pew Environment Group, the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia, Roche Pharmaceuticals, and The University of Sydney.

I've helped launch or promote coaching and consulting businesses, fitness products, online courses, software apps, books, nutritional supplements, beauty products, snowboards, restaurants, charities, and property developments.

I embraced 'value-based consulting', and my fees increased substantially.

This 'high ticket consulting' opened the door to new relationships, new adventures and new partners. I moved in different circles, and my stories about what was possible changed again.

Sixth Major Breakthrough - Influence & Persuasion

Way back when I started advising patients about changing their lifestyle to improve their health, it was clear that while they listened to my advice, they didn't act on my advice.

And the best counsel my mentors could give me was "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink' ... but I just thought my mentors were being lazy.

So, I did my research and discovered behavioural medicine and social influence.

It turns out that just telling people to change is one of the most ineffective ways of getting them to change.

The next most ineffective way is to use fear, threats, guilt, or shame. Yet these are the most common approaches.

I discovered that the majority of people in digital business make the same mistake, using ineffective methods to try and force a sale instead of effective methods to create a buyer.

Learning to influence people for positive change became a passion of mine and is something I've been doing for years.

When I moved into digital business and online sales, I discovered that the same principles applied.

Trying to influence someone to stop smoking or start exercising is the same as trying to influence someone to buy your product or service.

This is why I developed the AIM ACT approach to advertising and client acquisition.

Using the best of behavioural psychology and social influence in digital business has given me, and my clients, a competitive advantage.

But the biggest breakthrough was yet to come.

Seventh Major Breakthrough - X10 Thinking

I was fortunate to have studied neuroscience during the 'decade of the brain' ... a period of time in which the way we understand the brain changed dramatically.

We can change our brain, our thoughts, beliefs and behaviours and this led to the development of neuro-coaching techniques that help people think better in business.

These X10 Mind Protocols are a core part of X10 Entrepreneur and help people move from a place where they need a solution to a place where there is no problem.

To help people escape their perspective so they can search for a better one.

This has put me in the unique position to help professionals and digital entrepreneurs breakthrough to new levels of success in life and business.

Which leads me to the X10 Entrepreneur Intensive

In the X10 Entrepreneur Intensive I work directly with people to help them reach for their dynamic potential in life and in business.

You can read more detail about the Intensive here, but the summary is that over a 4 week period, we use a unique X10 Protocol to:

During this process we uncover any of the limiting stories and beliefs that are holding you back and resolve them.

We develop an actionable plan that gives you clarity about exactly what to do ... and how to love the journey along the way.

The core skill set of an X10 Entrepreneur is Client Acquisition, and our focus is on:

The focus of the program becomes very practical, with workshops on creating your X10 Idea and developing an AIM ACT approach to client acquisition.

The end result is that you will know what you want, why you want it, and how to get it.

Graduates of the X10 Entrepreneur Intensive can continue executing their plan on their own, or they can apply to get continued help in the Possibility to Actuality Program (P2A).

The P2A Program is my most personal, in-depth level of service, working in a group and one on one with clients to continue guiding them through the full implementation of their plan.

(Note: The P2A Program has been full since it was launched in March 2020).

All of my experience has led me to the X10 Entrepreneur Intensive, and I'd love to see you in that program so I can help you.

It's not about what you've done, it's about what you're doing ... it's all about where you're going, no matter where you've been.

- Calvin Harris (DJ)