The School of Greatness - 751 Become an Everyday Millionaire with Chris Hogan

Episode Date: January 28, 2019

THE AMERICAN DREAM I NOT DEAD. We are conditioned to spend money. We think, “I’ll just get a credit card. I’ll just get a loan. I’ll just pay for it later.” Advertisements tell us to spend, spend, spend. What if, instead, you became allergic to debt. I’m lucky that my father taught me the importance of savings and investing. But I see so many of my friends spend all of their paychecks. On today’s episode of The School of Greatness, I talk about growing wealth with a personal finance expert: Chris Hogan. Chris Hogan is a best-selling author and America’s leading voice on retirement, investing, and building wealth. His goal is to help as many people as possible avoid financial traps and set their families up for the future. Along with speaking at events across the country, Chris works with business leaders, professional athletes, and entertainers to help them set goals and navigate their financial futures. Chris says that to grow money you need time and compound interest. He never buys anything that he can’t pay for in cash. So get ready to learn how to build extraordinary wealth the slow and steady way on Episode 751. Some Questions I Ask: How do millionaires think differently than non-millionaires? (14:00) How do you manage emotional challenges so they don’t affect your money? (16:00) What’s the difference between getting rich and building wealth? (30:00) How do we get people to be allergic to debt? (36:00) What type of education should people be looking for right now? (40:00) Do you recommend people get a side hustle? (54:00) Should you do a prenup when you get married? (58:00) In This Episode You Will Learn: How Chris started working with Dave Ramsey (9:00) Two myths about millionaires (12:00) Top three positions of the millionaires Chris studied (13:00) The four people everyone needs in their life (14:00) Chris’ thoughts on cryptocurrencies (26:00) Why automatic investing is the best method for saving (40:00) The four D’s to partnerships (56:00)

This is episode number 751 with Chris Hogan. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Dwayne Johnson said that success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency.

Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come. Welcome to our episode today, all about becoming an everyday millionaire with Chris Hogan, who is a number one national bestselling author, dynamic speaker, and financial expert. And for more than a decade, Chris has served at Ramsey Solutions, spreading a message of hope to audiences across the country as a financial coach and Ramsey personality. Chris challenges and equips people to take control of their money and reach their financial goals using the Chris Hogan Show, his national TV appearances, and live events across the nation. His newest book is called Everyday Millionaires,

and it's really powerful. It's Everyday Millionaire, How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth and How You Can Too. It's based on the largest study of net worth millionaires ever conducted. I think they had over 10,000 millionaires they conducted and deconstructed the things that they did to become everyday millionaires. These are people with regular nine to five jobs who became millionaires and he breaks down how you can do it as well. We talk about the power of the three E's, educate, encourage, and empower

people financially. We talk about the difference between getting rich and building wealth and why you need to know about both of them. Also, the power of building a business to make an impact and not chase money. This is important. And how to plan for financial obstacles throughout your business and life. I really enjoyed this conversation. Chris and I had a lot more in common than I realized. We've got this football background and experience and some other childhood challenges that we both faced. And there's no wonder why he's so successful today. And I really just loved his heart, loved his soul. So make sure to share this with your friends, lewishouse.com slash 751.

This is a free podcast. We look to make the biggest impact in the world as possible, but we need your support. If you're listening, just take the link on the podcast app and share this with one friend. You can text a friend, have them listen to this. It's all about becoming an everyday millionaire. And we know that most people want to earn more money big thank you again to our sponsors and i'm so excited about this episodes without further ado let me dive into this one with the one the only chris hogan very cool guys welcome to the school of greatness we've got chris hogan in the house my My man. Good to see you, brother. Absolutely, man. I'm excited to learn more about your story.

Former football player, small school, just like me. Then he went to coach for a while and popped around coaching. I did a little stint for a sports camp. Then I realized after two weeks of sports training camp, I was like, this is fun. There's no money in this. They were offering me three grand for the whole season. Serious work, too. Working all day, all night, your whole life. No.

And I was like, well, how am I going to make money? You know, I played professional football for a season in the arena league. Yes. Got injured. And then I was like, I was making $250 a week there. So it wasn't like I was getting rich. Right. I was like, how am I going to build wealth after this?

I had no college degree yet because I left early to go try to play a professional. This was in 2008 during the height of the crash. I didn't have a degree. It's 2008. I'm sleeping on my sister's couch making no money. I remember thinking, I'm never

going to make money. I don't have skills. I'm this dumb jock guy. Who's going to hire me? How am I going to build wealth in my I don't have skills. I'm like this dumb jock guy. Like who's going to hire me and how am I going to build wealth in my life? And I remember after about a year of sleeping on my sister's couch, my sister goes, I think it's time for you to start paying rent. You got to do something with your life. Like you've been depressed for a little bit and it's time to like do something or you got to move out. So she gave me the push to like do something. And I remember looking on Craigslist for our jobs, sports marketing jobs in Columbus, Ohio, and applied for this job.

They gave me an interview, right? So I get an interview and I'm thinking like, this is actually a pretty cool job that I think I would do well at. Like I enjoyed the description. I did sports marketing in school. Like I'm into sports. Like I think I'll do well at this. And I remember I had one sport jacket from my college. I get dressed and I open the door to leave. And I remember I couldn't step out the door because I, in my crazy confident mind, I was like, I'm going to book this job.

I'm going to land this job. And for whatever reason, I was just like, and I'm not going to be happy. It's not going to be what I want. Like I'm going to be there for a year. I'm going to chase the next thing at this job. I'm going to land this job. And for whatever reason, I was just like, and I'm not going to be happy. It's not going to be what I want. Like I'm going to be there for a year. I'm going to chase the next thing at this career. I'm not going to be happy. So I didn't end up going to the interview. And I said, now I need to figure out how to build wealth. Wow. And you have just written a book called everyday millionaires that teaches how ordinary people build extraordinary wealth and how you can do it as well. That's right. So I'm curious, I'll come back to my story later, but I'm curious to hear about your story and how you can do it as well. That's right. So I'm curious. I'll come back to my story later, but I'm curious to hear about your story

and how you've studied 10,000 millionaires. Yes. 10,000 millionaires on how they've built wealth. And probably I'm assuming there's a lot of commonalities where people have overcome challenges, adversities, had to take big risks, they've probably lost a lot of their money at one point and had to rebuild the lessons. So you've been in the financial world for 20 plus years. That's right. You, after coaching and realizing you weren't going to make money, you went to work at a bank. That's exactly right.

So I started down the banking path. Now I had wanted to go into the FBI. Okay. I had known this since seventh grade. And so I get up, I'm meeting with an agent. Now, I had wanted to go into the FBI. I had known this since seventh grade. And so I get up. I'm meeting with an agent. I got a mentor. We're talking and hanging out. He's starting to tell me more and more about the reality of the Bureau. And it was kind of like, uh-oh, this dream I had is starting to shift on me here a little bit.

And I went into the banking industry because what I wanted to do was if I could create the sports mentality industry because what I wanted to do was if I could create the sports mentality and that team work attitude in a business community, then I knew we could do something special. And so it started down that path, went into banking and, you know, got to the point to where I was pushing products instead of helping people. You're selling services, right? Yes. Yeah. And that's exactly right. And so I realized I wanted to help people, not necessarily promote, right? And there's nothing wrong with business, but I realized the push was more on the results instead of the people. Exactly. My dad was in life insurance for 30 years.

Okay, so you know. It's all based on self-policies and products. And so I had a chance to cross paths with Dave Ramsey at a charity event. What was this? Oh, gosh. This was back in 2005. So cross paths, we struck up a friendship, started talking a little bit. And after three or four meetings, he was like, why don't you come help me do this? And I'm like, Dave, you don't need

any help, brother. You're women. You're good. You're good. And so, but I got a chance to see and know his heart and understood what he was trying to do. So joined the team there. I was working with pro athletes, entertainers, and musicians. I was trying to help them understand how to control their money. So many of them, as you well know, will depend on their agent or their business manager. And a lot of those guys end up getting taken advantage of. I mean, I've spent a lot of time out here in L.A. I can tell you several names of people that were taken advantage of.

So obviously, I wanted to empower people to know what steps to take. And most of the athletes, I think the statistic is, what, 80% go bankrupt or broke two years after they retire. Within two years after retirement. Think about that for a minute. Yeah. Some of these guys have made $50 to $100 million. And how do you go broke, right? That's what baffles people.

And I go, well, hold on. For regular, everyday people, how do we spend five and ten grand on a credit card? You do it one swipe at a time. So these guys are doing it on another level. So, of course, I made agents nervous because they didn't want me making their clients smarter, right? And then the business managers in the music world. So anyway, so all that, I started speaking and teaching. And what I wanted to do was to empower people.

So my mission statement is to educate, encourage, and empower as many people as I can, whether it's on leadership or money. Wow. Yeah. It's amazing, man. It's fun. So how long did this study take? Were you studying 10,000? This thing was a two-year project.

Yeah. And anytime you're trying to talk to 10,000 people, it's like herding cats. But I wanted to talk to people all across the country because I didn't want people saying, well, you're just talking to people that know you and Dave. Or, you know, I wanted to get people that never heard of us. So we ended up using a research firm to dig into it. And we found them and we talked with them. And the reality is people think millionaires are trust fund babies,

that they inherited everything or they got lucky or hit the lottery. None of those are true. These are regular everyday men and women that have worked hard over time. And they've been invested 25, 28 years. And the way the book is structured, we've got the information from the study, and we've got the information I want people to know, but the stories in this book of people that were homeless and turned it around. People that had a million dollars or more in debt and turned it around. And so, Lewis, dollars or more in debt and turned it around.

And so, Lewis, it really goes back to a lot of the stuff you talk about. It's the mindset, right? It's the mindset. And when you get the right people with the right information, results can happen. Yes. We talk about these myths of millionaires, about millionaires. What are some of the myths that surround millionaires? Well, we talk about six in the book, but I'll tell you two. Most people believe they inherited it all, right? You see somebody with money, you think, oh, mom or dad handed it to them.

The truth is 79% of the millionaires that I talk to, first-generation wealth builders. They didn't come from anything. These are people that focused and built money over time. Next myth, well, if you're a millionaire, you make a high-paying job, right? You got big income. Yeah, yeah.

Nope. A third of the millionaires that we talk to never made six figures in a single working year. Really? Think about that for a second. Dual income, never made six figures. So that blows that myth out of the water. A third of the millionaires that we talk to. Wow.

Right? Now, you think about six figures nowadays, it's more prevalent than it's ever been. But for people, a lot of people with six-figure salaries have nothing in the bank. Thank you. Because they just spend it all. That's exactly right. And they're using credit constantly to buy bigger things.

That's right. No, no, you're absolutely right. So what happens is, is people tend to think that income is so important. And I'll tell you, no, it's not. Because I was one of those no, it's not. Because I was one of those people, I remember I was making about 30 grand. And I thought, all right, when I get serious,

I'm one year out of grad school making 30, 40 grand. I said, all right, when I make this amount, I'll start to get serious about my money. Well, you know that path, right? Well, when I make this amount, the next thing you know, lifestyle grows and you never end up taking control. But these are regular everyday people that took control and were focused.

It was amazing. So let me tell you this. Top three positions of the 10,000 millionaires we studied. Number one was engineer, which doesn't surprise you, right? They're good at planning. Yeah. Accountants.

Organized. Yeah, accountants, same thing. They were number two. They're good at counting stuff. Number three was teachers. Hmm. Wow. Teachers.

They're not making that much. Exactly. And you think they're not making that much. Exactly. And you think they're undervalued, underpaid. How are teachers doing this? Well, if you think about what it is, wealth building is a long-term view, right? Not a quick hit. And so these get-rich-quick schemes that we see on TV at late night, they get me riled up. Because they're preying on people.

But these people were people that built wealth over time, investing in their 401k, their 403bs. So anyway, the goal of this book is to let people know their American dream's not dead. It's alive and it's well, and it's available to people. We just have to take action. Absolutely. What are some of the things that they do on a daily basis, these millionaires? What are some of the steps to take and how do they think differently than non-millionaires? Great. 97% of the millionaires that we studied feel that they control their own destiny. Now think about that for a minute, because we have a victim mentality issue in America today, where we want to blame somebody for us not achieving something or getting in our way.

So these millionaires think differently. 94% of them live on less than they make. So that means if they're making $100,000, they're living on $70,000 or $80,000, right? You can't build wealth if you live on more than you make. So that means if they're making a hundred thousand, they're living on 70 or 80, right? You can't build wealth if you live on more than you make. That's exactly right. And that's where the credit cards, people start extending themselves and using credit cards. But 73% of these millionaires never carried a dime of credit card debt. They never create, carry debt debt. Yeah. Right. Use a card, pay it off every month, pay it off. And so the mindset, and I love to give people on economics and, and, and, uh, a PhD in economics interest that you pay as a penalty,

right? If I use someone else's money, they charge me, right? That's a penalty interest that I earn on my investments as a reward. Right. So why choose to penalize yourself? Don't use debt, get yourself out of debt and invest and grow your money to reward yourself. Yeah. Powerful. Yeah. Now, how have you managed to, through all this stuff you've gone through, I'm assuming the last, you know, 15, 20 years, you've gone through some challenges. You told me before off camera that you have a child who has special needs and was told that they wouldn't live past a certain age.

You're, you know, I'm assuming you've had challenges in relationships, with business partnerships, intimate relationships, family. The more wealth that I've accumulated and the attention that I've gained, there's more people with handouts expecting whatever it may be. How have you personally managed the emotional challenges that have come your way by not letting it affect your mindset around money so that you don't do things emotionally with your money? Right. Well, I mean, I've been there.

I don't know about you, but I've made some mistakes. Yeah. Okay. And, you know, a mistake that you make one or two times, you can call it a mistake. But when you keep doing it over and over, it's not a mistake anymore. It's called a choice. Yeah. So for me, I'm very, I'm a man of faith. So obviously I'm rooted there,

but I got good people around me. I got good friends, people that have known me since my childhood, people that know me for who I am. So I'm not an author and speaker with these people. I'm just Chris. And so those people keep me rooted, right? Mama Hogan is no joke either. Okay. She'll keep me rooted. And so I think it's really important to understand what am I trying to accomplish? Like, I don't want notoriety. I don't want to be famous. I want to be known that I help people think bigger, right?

And so staying rooted in that, it helps me to be very, very clear on what I'm doing. People will come up and tell me, oh, Chris, you changed my life financially. And I go, whoa, uh-uh, pumped the brakes. I didn't change anything. I gave you some information. You did the changing. And so I think it's really important as we help people that we stay aware of who's doing what and our role. Yeah, I think there's a story about Marcus Aurelius where he would go around the town and he had someone just walk with him beside him and say,

you're just a man. Every time someone would praise him, be like, you're just a man. Can you imagine that? I mean, seriously, how rooted does that keep you? John Wooden's got a quote. He says, you know, be careful of fame because fame is man-made and if man giveth, man can take it away. And so being aware of that, I think, is really, really important. What's the heart behind what I'm trying to do? And so if I travel and I go speak to 10,000 people, if I get one person whose eyes light up and they start thinking differently, then I've done my mission. What's the biggest challenge you've gone through in the last 15 years, personally, emotionally, financially? Biggest challenge was definitely the diagnosis of years? Personally, emotionally, financially? Biggest challenge

was definitely the diagnosis of my youngest son, Case. At age two, they diagnosed him with this rare genetic disorder that could kill him. It could take away his speech, take away the ability to walk, ability to eat, and eventually end up on a feeding tube. That was the scariest moment of my life, sitting in that doctor's office holding that two-year-old boy, listening to that, and went to some dark places over a few years. Well, you know what us men do when we have challenges. We don't, we're not as smart as women. Yeah, we don't share. Women go share.

Yeah, we don't share. Men don't share. We isolate. Yeah. And then we internalize, and then we stuff, right? And so you can imagine working through something like that, isolate. The weight you carry. It messes with you.

It does. It messes with you. It does. And that was the biggest challenge I've walked through in the last 15 years. How did you get through that initial few years of stuffing or pain? I just stuffed. I didn't do what I should have done. Isn't it amazing how hindsight's 20-20?

I wish I would have sought out those close friends and they would check on me. And what would I say? I'm good. I'm fine. I'm all right. And I wouldn't. And so that was a learning lesson for me that isolating is dangerous. It's good to reach out and get help.

It's good to have people you can be real with. And I came to this realization. We need four people in our lives. You need a mentor. This is somebody that's having some success and can guide you. You need a coach who will push you, right? You and I know, word coach means something to us, right? Because they will get on you. They will drive you. Because what's the goal? To try to help you to get better. But you need two more. You need a cheerleader. You need somebody that believes in you. They're not worried about what you achieve. They believe in you.

And that's important to have. And then you need a friend. You need somebody you can be real with. That you can just say what's on your head. They're not holding it against you. You can be honest. So if you get a mentor, a coach, a cheerleader, and a friend in your side, that's awesome. But I want to encourage people to do this.

Not only find those four, you need to be one of those four for someone else. You need to be four of those things. Are you saying? That's right. You need to be a mentor. You need to be a coach, a friend, and a cheerleader. Absolutely. For someone else. For somebody. And when you do that, now what it does is it takes the focus off of you. One of the things you and I have in common is I firmly believe that if you've

ever walked through a mess in your life, that it qualifies you to be a messenger. It does. When you've gone through some stuff, you learn. That's right. And if you're willing enough to be transparent to share it, and you're not worried about people's opinions, the impact you can have on someone else to give them the courage to try or to reach out and talk. That's a big deal, man. This life is hard. It's not meant to be done alone. Yeah. Wow. Who is your mentor, coach, cheerleader, and friend? Oh, yeah. Well, mentor is obviously Dave Ramsey. This man has been an incredible mentor for me, just guiding me. And then over the 13 years of being with him, my coaches, man, I've got a lot. I've got some people that are walking with me spiritually. I've got people that are walking me from a business perspective. I'm constantly reaching

out to learn. I'm like a sponge all the time. That's big. Cheerleader, Mama Hogan. I mean, that's my number one fan right there. She's behind me. I've got all kinds of family, uncles and everybody. They're just for me. Friends, I got amazing friends, childhood friends, people at the office, people that care about me as an individual and not just what I do. They know me. Not the books. No, no, no.

They'll call me out. Yeah, yeah. You know, they'll call me out. I got a call from a buddy the other day. He goes, dude, how's the road? He goes, you keeping your head clear? Yeah. You stay in focus?

And he said, don't believe the hype. That's right. And so what he's telling me is, is, Hey, keep helping people, keep your heart in the right place, you know? And so it's good to have those accountability people to check in with you and it just keeps your heart in the right place. Yeah. What would you say is your biggest, um, insecurity, fear or challenge right now? You've been through different phases of life and as you grow and expand, I'm assuming there's new challenges that you overcome and then new I'm assuming there's new challenges

that you overcome and then new stuff that maybe you haven't overcome yet. Right. I think my biggest fear is, am I doing everything that I could be doing? Right. I've got three boys. They're hilarious. 14, 13, and 11. These boys are my legacy. I grew up with a single mom. So my dad wasn't around. He came around with birthdays and single mom, so my dad wasn't around. He came around with birthdays and holidays or whatever, but he wasn't there. So when I had started getting ready to have kids, my goal was to try to be the dad that I wish I would have had. And so that puts some weight on you. But I was hanging out with my boys, and we were somewhere, and I saw a poster of a little boy at a bus stop with a duffel bag, right?

And he was just sitting at a bus stop, and I can't even of a little boy at a bus stop with a duffel bag, right? And he was just sitting at a bus stop and I can't even remember what was under it. But I saw that little boy and I thought of me, right? Like waiting. And then I realized, man, oh man, in my own life, like, you know, somebody somewhere is waiting on me to become what I was destined to be. And so if they're waiting on me to become who I was supposed to be to impact their life, how long am I going to make them wait? You know? And so what that means is, is that I need to do everything I'm capable of doing and some things, some people say I can't do just to be able to help that person somewhere that's waiting to hear an encouraging word or,

or something to impact their life. So that's, that's something that, that drives me every day. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What is it that people say you can't do? Oh, man. I've had people tell me I couldn't write a book. You know, my first book came out 2016, Retire Inspired. And I told a good buddy of mine, I told him I was working on a book.

He goes, man, you can't write a book. Really? Yeah. We were in church, right? I wanted to punch him in the eye. You can't hit people in church. I got a feeling that's a sin, right, somewhere. But then later on, when I finished the book and at the book signing in town, he was one of the people there.

And I realized something. What initially he said was that I can't write a book. What he was saying was it's not something he's ever thought about doing, and it's not something that he could do. It's his beliefs. That was him, right? And so for me, that was a grow-up moment. He wasn't putting a limitation on me. He was speaking his own limitation, right?

And so I just remember that and I go, oh no, limitations. And so that's where I said, I'll accept compliments from anyone, but I ain't accepting limitations from nobody, right? And that's anywhere in my life. You don't get to put a limit on me. That's what I love about, you know, Dr. Martin Luther King. The fact that he had the courage to have a dream, but the courage to share it, you know,

that's something I want us all to have that mindset of. Stop thinking about what people say you can't do, you know? I mean, opinions are like yesterdays. Everybody's got them. What are you deciding in your heart to go do? Now start to go do that. Wow, man. So what do you do deciding in your heart to go do? Now start to go do that. Wow, man. So what do you do now in terms of your own wealth?

How are you? You've probably learned a lot again over the last few years from the banking world, selling services. You learned a certain amount to get to one level. And then you realize, like, oh, some things work well and some things don't work well. And then you get back to another level of your wealth. And then you realize, okay, now I've got more wealth. Some things work and some things don't work. And And then you connect to another level of your wealth. And then you realize, okay, now I've got more wealth. Some things work and some things don't work. And you keep, I'm assuming, expanding.

And I'm building my wealth. I realize, wow, there's always something to learn. That's exactly right. There's always stuff. Now there's taxes. Now I've got to learn how to invest my money. Now I've got to learn what's the right places and all those things. So what's the phase you're at right now?

And what are the biggest lessons you've learned in the last couple of years? Okay, so the phase I'm at right now is obviously continued growth, right? Because with inflation, costs are going to go up. So you can't hide money in a cookie jar and just put it in the ground. It's got to grow. So with me, I'm always looking, but I'm understanding risk more. You know, these latest crazes that come out. I just cringe.

You know, cryptocurrency, right? Bitcoin, right? And there's this thing out there, it's not even real, that's been given a value by somebody that's not regulated. And so when you look at this, you would laugh at that. But we've had people seriously pursue that. Day trading years ago was a big thing. So for me, what I'm doing is I'm trying to be smart with what I do, but I need to be crystal clear on what not to do. Meaning I don't want to take unnecessary risks. What are the things that are non-negotiable you won't do? I'm not doing debt. I am not doing debt. So what's that mean for you? That means I don't borrow money. I'm not looking to borrow money to

leverage, borrowing money from my home to put invest, no leverage schemes. I don't borrow at all. And I'm crystal clear on what it is I'm doing, meaning the longer range view. Lewis, what I started doing years ago was I started making two-year decisions. I wanted to make a decision today that I look back on in two years and I'm glad that I made it. Now imagine- What are some of those decisions? Oh gosh. Well, I mean, staying allergic to debt. I mean, I have people come to me all the time with business opportunities. They're like, Hogan, listen, if you put in this amount, we're going to do boom, boom, boom, boom. You know? And, and, and in looking at that, I have to be smart enough

to say no, right? That if it looks too good to be true, we know it is right. But I think it's more about making the, I think I've made more money by not doing things than I would have by going down a path. And did you invest in certain things early on where you're like, yeah, that seems like fun and interesting and you're like, I never got my money back. Oh yeah, no, I learned my lesson. I've invested, I think, eight startups

over the last eight years. Guess how much money I've made. How much, Lewis? Zero. How much did you invest? Give me a ballpark. Probably about $250,000 to $300,000. Okay, okay.

That's not as bad. I wasn't going big on it. I was like, let me just dabble. Yes. Let me just get in the game, play with it. It's okay if I lose it. I met the mindset like, I'm gambling. Right.

Well, and that's exactly what I did. I learned. And you know what? You paid a dollar amount, but you learned some stuff. I learned some stuff. You know what you're not going to do ever again. And see, to me, that's valuable. Because obviously, as things grow and profiles grow, the risks grow.

You know, the bigger things come. So I just want people to take, that's why my website's ChrisHogan360.com. I want people to take a 360-degree look at a lot of the things they're doing, their business, their life. Like, look at this and make decisions about what you want. Like, I'm crystal clear on what I want, but I'm absolutely certain of what I don't want. I don't want failure. I don't want negative attitudes around me, right? I want to make sure that I'm impacting people.

Yeah. Yeah. Powerful. So you don't borrow debt. Nope. So what's that mean? It says you can't start something unless you sweat equity, unless you have the money. Pay cash. Pay cash. borrow debt. Nope. So what's that mean? It says you can't start something unless you use sweat equity, unless you have the money. Pay cash.

Pay cash. Pay cash. So that means for real estate, right? There's a property that I want to buy. I don't go to a bank. You don't get a loan. Nope. I save up and pay.

Now, what does that make me do? It makes me have patience. That means I'm not letting everything you want now. That's exactly. Well, and that's, you have kids yet. No kids. Okay. Oh, you, you got freedom and money. Okay. All right. I'm sending one of my boys to live with you, but kids want what they want and they want it now. Yes. Right. Give it to me now. Right. And so if as adults, we do that, that's dangerous. That's why the average credit card debt right now is 15 grand. People have 45,000 in student loans, car payments of $600 or more a month.

So for me, I look at debt as a thing that limits me from doing what I want to do, not getting me there faster. Now, I'm old school. I did my stupid. I did single stocks. I did all those things, and I lost a lot of money. But looking at it, what I was trying to do was to get rich instead of build wealth, right? And there's a difference. Between getting rich and building wealth. That's right.

What's the difference between getting rich and building wealth? Getting rich is where you want to quickly get money, right? And these are the lottery winners that I've talked to. They got money in really, really quick, but they also lost it really, really quick. So building wealth is a long-term view, meaning you can have some fun and enjoy some stuff, but don't get so focused in the enjoying that you forget to plan for the future, right? What's the YOLO? That's the hipster phrase. You only live once. Well, in my mind, if you have that mentality and you believe that- You've grown for a long time. That's right, because you're doing everything for today. So anyway, I want people to have just

awareness. Like you can have some fun today, but let's also make sure we're doing some things using the 401ks using SEPs. If you're self-employed, put some money aside so we can start to grow for you. Talking to these millionaires, the number one thing they said that caused them to build wealth was employer sponsored retirement plans, 401ks, 403bs and Roth IRAs. So people out there that are self-employed, the SEPs, solo 401ks, you've got ways to be able to invest. And that's what I want people to do. And so wealth building is a long-term view. Getting rich is a quick hit. I don't want a quick hit. Yeah. What else can you do to invest your money besides, say you max out all your IRAs

and everything. What else do you personally do or advise people to do to invest? Well, you can also, people typically think, okay, well, I can only invest in my 401k, right? No, you can invest outside of retirement plans for the future. For example, I talked in my book, Retire Inspired, I talked about, I want to retire by age 54, right? And so, you know, and looking at that. And so what does that mean? Because a lot of people think retirement's an age, right? Like at age 65, I can retire and I go, well, the government's not going to take care of you, right? The average social security payouts around 13,000. Can you really live a dream on 1300 a month? Yeah. A month, 13,000 a year, 1300 a month. Now it depends

on what you pay into it, but people were thinking the government was just going to take care of them and you and I know better. And so I wanted people to wake up and look at that. So the mindset around investing is to grow your money. Time and compound interest help you grow money. Put some aside each and every month and be consistent. You can still have fun and do some stuff, but just don't go all in. What else are you investing in personally? Right now, for me, I do growth stock mutual funds, which essentially what that is, is

instead of going a single stock, which is going all in on one thing, growth stock mutual funds allow me to invest in multiple different things. So I'm diversified. And all diversification is a spreading out stuff. I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, right? So growth stock mutual funds are a big deal for me. Real estate with cash is a big deal for me. So you've got to wait a while to get real estate done. Oh, yes. You've got to save your money money and then you put it down. That's right. You see you're

about a hundred percent down the cash? A hundred percent. Or do you spend like half down? A hundred percent down if I'm looking to invest, right? So you're right. It is slower, but guess what? There's no risk. For example, you pay cash for it and you have it with the economy. 2008 goes down or goes up. If I'm renting it, I need to have good renters. I don't have a payment I'm making every month. What I don't want are people in control of me. I don't want people, I don't want to have to go work to chase money. I want to work to impact people. And if I'm working to impact people and I don't have debt in my life, then what I have to make is really small. Utilities, food, right? It changes things. And so,

I mean, imagine the world we'd have if we had people that were out of debt and they were able to do the things they believed in. Incredible. Oh, I mean, there's not a charity out there that would be underfunded, right? Single moms, big brothers, big sisters, any of these things out there, they would have the money to do what's needed. So I want America to wake up and look at it, learn how to count. They taught me in kindergarten, one plus one equals two, right? When you get older and you start to factor in debt, they try to tell you one plus one equals three, right? And so what we have to do is go back to basics. Remember how to count and stay true to yourself. Wow. What do you think is going to be the biggest challenge for people right now this time in our time in getting out of debt?

Because we are in the gratification now. I want everything. I see everyone else on social media posting all the cool stuff they're doing. How hard is it going to be for people to change their mindset to say, I have to slow down? It's going to be a big one. And not compare myself to everyone. That's right. Well, you hit on a couple things there. Yeah. It's going to be a big undertaking because we're the most marketed-to country on the planet, right?

With media messages... Constant, right? Ever. And we have this appetite for debt. We've got $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, $1 trillion in credit card debt, right? $500 billion in car loan debt. Like, think about this. $500 billion in car loan debt. Like think about this. $500 billion in car loan. $500 billion. This past holiday season, people spent $859 billion

in debt for the holiday season. On credit card. Yeah. No way. Yeah. So now this time of year is where people are opening it up and they're starting to wake up to see it, right? So I think people need to understand that debt keeps you hostage. It's a thief. It steals from you. It takes from you now, but it also prevents you from investing and growing it later. And so- If you get student loan debt, let's say you have a hundred grand of student loan debt, and you pay it over 20, 30 years, you're paying 200 grand back, right? You're paying double. It's not 100 grand. Because we talked about it.

Interest that you pay is a penalty. Yeah. That's right. So I'm wanting people to wake up and look at it. And I'm telling you, people are doing it. I had a couple that was at the book signing here when I was in LA, and they told me they paid off $200,000

in student loan debt over six years. $200,000. That's amazing. And I said, what did you right? Over six years, 200,000. And I said, what'd you do? They were like, oh, we cut back lifestyle. Yeah. They go out to eat once a week, right? They got serious.

They stayed in an apartment instead of going out and buying a home. And they said, our goal was to get that out of our lives. And I said, you know what you did? When you got out of debt, you gave yourself a raise. Because now that money doesn't have to leave you every month. It can stay with you. So I think people are waking up to it and they're seeing it. And I'm just out trying to spread the message.

How do we get people to become allergic to debt? Because that's what you do. I do. So how do you get people to think that way when they're so conditioned their whole life that, oh, I can just get a credit card, just get a loan, I can do this and pay it later? How do we flip the script? I think it boils down to knowledge, telling people, explaining it. Me being clear about my own mistakes financially, Dave being clear about his own mistakes financially. People have to get to their point that they wake up. Now, this is typically what happens.

I'm getting younger people that wake up to it as they start to get engaged or get ready to get married. But the next opening, eye-opening event is when they have kids. When you start to have kids and you've got this little person that's dependent upon you, now you start to reassess things. And so I want people to know that you've got to look at it. You've got to make a decision for yourself. Do you want to keep making the credit card company wealthy or do you want to build wealth for you and your family? Snap. Right?

That's really what it boils down to do you think people when they have their first kid they become more financially aware or do they start going into more debt i think there's a wave now let me help you out because you don't have kids yet so let me tell you right when you first have them you're going to get so serious and so focused but then what will happen is instead of spending on you the tendency now is to spend on the child, right? Like, I'm amazed. I was in a shoe store out in New York, and they had these little fancy designer kids shoes, tennis shoes. Listen to me.

$110. For baby shoes that you're going to grow out of in three months. They don't walk. This is to hold a child wearing this fancy shoe. And I thought, see, that's a cultural thing because you want your baby to look good. And they go, no, no, your baby needs to be loved. So I want parents to prepare for themselves. My greatest fear is that if I don't take care of myself financially, I end up becoming a burden to my children later in life because they're going to have to take care of me.

You know, I feel very grateful for my father because he would always teach you know saving and investing and things like that he was life insurance for a long time i have multiple life insurance policies out of myself right because of that because i before even i'm not in a relationship right now uh just got out of one but i was always preparing even the last 10 years i was just like preparing for my future i was like i want to have enough money that when I have a family, when I get married, when I have kids, I'm not stressing about it. That's right. Not everyone has that luxury. They might have kids when they're 20. That's right.

But I've made the choice that I'm not going to have a family until I feel like, man, whenever it comes, whenever it's ready, I'll be prepared. So I don't need to make bad decisions based on debt. I want to have so much in abundance and take my lifestyle back in my 20s and my 30s. And that way I'm saving so much and investing so much. And I feel in my life insurance mentor was like, everyone comes to me at 40 and says they wish they would invest it. More 25, more 30, more 35. Right. And they wait too long.

Yes. And that's why I'm constantly just automatically taking payments out every single month. See, that's good. That are almost uncomfortable. Mm-hmm. Like, man, that's a big chunk of money every month that I put into savings. That's right. Or into investments, I would say.

And luckily, I can afford that because I'm a single guy. That's right. And my business is doing well, but even my friends who are making as much or more than me aren't doing that, and it scares me. Oh, it should. I mean, because here's the deal. To grow money, it means you need time and compound interest, right? And so the fact that you're putting that aside is saying you're mature enough to know what you want later, right? And I think that's the difference between adults and children. Children want what they want now. Adults have to be smart enough to go, I'm going to do

some stuff. I'm going to enjoy some stuff, but I know down the road, I'm going to want to do some stuff too. And it's going to cost more. So I need to invest. So I encourage people set up automatic investing coming out of your 401k, your 403b, or even if you're self-employed, your SEP or whatever it is, make it happen automatically that way. Because here's the deal. Your investments become your paycheck later. Think about that. Like if we're working right now and you do a job, you get paid.

The reason you're investing is to replace your paycheck. So you can go do what you want to do. You can travel or whatever. And you've got this money that you can draw from to take care of your family. So I want young people to get started early. I want people that are in the middle of life with kids to stay consistent and control lifestyle. And even if you're older and you feel like it's too late, it ain't ever too late. If you've got breath in your lungs, you've got an opportunity to make some changes today. Let's not waste another minute. Let's get

intentional. Reach out to somebody that has knowledge you don't have and get guidance. Yeah. Yeah. Talking about knowledge, what type of education do you think people should be looking for right now? Should they be, if someone's a teenager, should they be going to college in your mind? Who should and shouldn't be going to college? Right. Are there other alternative ways you think, and shouldn't be going to college and taking on 300 grand in debt?

Right. Should you save up your whole life and then spend it all up front, quarter by quarter? Should you work 50 hours a week and have a life in college? You know, what should you do? That's a lot, man. I think first and foremost, college, I believe in higher education. I got multiple degrees myself, but I don't like student loan debt. And so I would rather someone go to community college, live at home, knock out their prerequisites for $200 a class, then transfer to a four-year institution and graduate in two years.

You can work and go to school at night, right? You can go to school during the day, work at night, whatever it is. You've got an opportunity. There's scholarships and grants. Make decisions. You still get the degree from the credible college. That's right. Which is kind of irrelevant now, it seems like, where you went to school.

Maybe if you want to get a specific job, maybe the networking. But if you spend two years somewhere else and you still graduate. You get the diploma. You still get the degree. That's right. Now, here's the thing. I'm not saying that college is for everybody. Right.

Right. There are trade schools out there. I mean, one of my mentors was a plumber, a 30-year plumber out of Kentucky. He taught me a lot, you know, so I'm not saying everyone needs to go to school, but I would rather people go into it with their eyes wide open. I don't like parents co-signing on loans because that just means you're guaranteeing if little Jimmy doesn't make the payment you are, you know, and that's rough. That's hard. But speaking of the fancy schools, back to the studies, 62% of the millionaires that I studied went to public state universities. 62%. 8% went to community college.

9% didn't go to college at all. Really? Right? So education is not a factor for you to be able to build wealth. You have an opportunity. Yeah. And so I want people, you know, that to know. The choices you make every single day with your money.

Choices we make every single day around anything, right? That's what leads us down that path. But I think we get tripped up when obstacles pop up. I had an opportunity to do a speaking gig, a special forces group. I won't say the name because I'm scared they'll drop through the ceiling and get me. But they were talking to me about how they have to pack their own parachute. But they said something to me. I had lunch with them. This was an amazing time. They said they plan for obstacles throughout their mission. They plan for them. They prepare for them. So that means when something pops up that was out of the norm, they've already talked about it or walked through it. And I love that mentality.

I love that mentality that in life, we're all gonna have some obstacles. You're gonna have some stuff pop up that you didn't plan, but how do we handle it, right? What do we do? What do we go back to? That's our foundation that allows us, and I've got a phrase,

I'm gonna go under it, over it, or through it. The obstacle doesn't get me to stop, but I think obstacles are there for a reason because for the people that aren't serious, obstacles make you stop. For the people that are focused, obstacles get you fired up. So which one are you? And that's what we get to decide about in our lives. So when there's an obstacle in your life, how do you approach it? If it's something that scares you or something that's challenging or life-threatening or financially threatening or relationship-threatening, How do you handle it? First thing I've learned to do is gear down

because I'm a type A personality. My first instinct is to run toward it. No, no, I want to be smart now. So I gear down, I pull back and I look and I want to identify my options. How could I handle this? So you don't react really quickly. You can't. I don't think, I think, yeah, you really are. So I think when you slow down and you pull back, it gives you a chance to kind of look at it. And remember what I said, I want to make two year decisions. I want to decide something today that I look back on in two years and I'm glad how I handled it. Right? So it allows me to kind of reassess 360 degrees and determine my options. And then I go, okay, what's the path I'm going to take? So the obstacle doesn't get to dictate how I respond. I have to stay in control of me at all times,

no matter what everybody else is doing, no matter how they're responding. And I think that's a critical thing for us to remember as humans. We control three things, our attitude, our outlook, and our responses. If we stay in control of those, we stay in control of our life. Is there anything that's happened recently or in the last few years where there's been an attack on you, where someone's tried to take you down, or you just want to take the football mentality? Yes.

I'm going to destroy you. Yes. And then you took a pause and you do this. Oh, well, yeah. I mean, obviously via social media. Yeah. Right. I mean, you've got critics out there all the time. Right. And so with whether it's book reviews or something, Hogan is a one percenter or all of this. And, you know, he's just trying to sell this and all that. I know my heart. I'm trying to help people. So what I've learned to do is this. Critics' math is an important thing.

What I mean by that is, and you write books, you know what I'm talking about. You don't look at reviews. You ain't have time for that because you can read 200 great reviews. And one negative one. And read one negative. Which one do we walk away with?

The negative. Why is that? Right? And it's the mindset around it. And I think when what you're doing matters and you'm so busy doing what I'm supposed to be doing that I can't worry about that, right? I can't. And so when you put something in your rearview mirror, you can glance at it, but I'm going to focus forward, right? The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. So I let it go. It's okay. It's all right. I know the people that know me know me, right? And those that don't, don't, and it's okay. But I let it go. It's okay. It's all right. I know the people that know me, know me, right. And those that don't, don't, and it's okay. But I, you know, I'm, I'm not worried about people's opinions. Yeah. Have you learned that lesson from, from Dave or has he, cause I'm sure he gets millions of people that love him. And then there's probably people that are attacking him daily. No, he's as a mentor, he walked me through that, you know, and he was like, look,

you gotta be focused. You gotta know. And he'll actually read hate mail in our staff meeting. Oh, in front of everybody. He'll go, all right, got a letter and got to share this with you guys. And he'll read it. Right. And, and I, I love that he does that because it means he's clear enough on what he's trying to accomplish that this doesn't phase him. Right. I'm not, how can one or two or five negative voices outweigh hundreds of thousands of positive? So we just, we have to be grown up enough to go, can't be worried about that. Wow. Yeah.

And here's my other opinion. If you're doing something 100%, you're going to offend some people. You're going to upset some people, right? So if you're not, are you going 100%? Like if you don't have some people hating, you know, and there's a drink out there for haters. It's called haterade, right? If you're not doing some things and frustrating some people, then you may not be doing it hard enough. I mean, and it's okay.

So expect it, right? Expect criticism. But out of criticism, you get an opportunity to reaffirm and recommit to what you're really serious about doing. And it also helps you to grow up. Yeah. What are some other things that these millionaires, and these are the millionaires that are like, you know, on the reviews in the back, they're making 1.5 million net worth, 1 million net worth. We're not talking about hundreds of millions. We're talking about the everyday individuals in America who got a million, two, million two three million bucks right so this isn't like the richest of the rich no but it's showing you like you can get to that level if you make the

right choices right decisions consistently over time that's right you can get there you really can you don't need to make a million dollars a year no no and i'm glad you said that because people when they hear millionaire they think that somebody's making a million a year. No, not at all. These are regular, everyday people. So what they did was is they invested consistently over time. And I've got a free tool at my website, the Net Worth Calculator, to help people kind of understand where are you right now. So net worth equals takes what you own minus what you owe. So what you own, your house, if it's paid off, or the equity, your cars, your bank accounts, your 401ks, add that up and subtract out anything you have debt on.

And so if that end number is a million dollars or more, then you're an everyday millionaire. So I want people to know it's possible. Eighty-nine percent of these millionaires had a net worth between $1 and $5 million. But they're working regular jobs. They're managers in business. They're accountants, teachers. So I don't want people to think that this is not something that's possible for them. I met Condoleezza Rice last May at a leadership event that we were all doing.

One of the smartest women, people I've ever met. She speaks three languages and, you know, her purse was smarter than me, you know. But she said something growing up in Alabama in the 50s. She said that she was reminded of a few things by her parents. Because you can imagine her growing up in Alabama, she was called everything but her name. Of course. But she said her parents reminded her constantly that, Condi, it's not a matter of where you come from. What matters is where you're going.

Wow. Right? And so for people that are out there that grew up in the wrong side of the tracks or weren't born into a family that had silver spoons. Or a single mom. That single mom. It doesn't mean you're done. That's your start point. You've got an opportunity to write your legacy and write your story, your effort and your focus over time. Don't listen to people tell you what you can't do. Find those people that believe in you, right? And protect those people. And it's really important for our inner circle to be a circle that's been properly

vetted, right? Everybody can't have access to the inner circle. So get people around you that believe in you and that you can believe in them and let's move, man. We got things. This is the greatest country on the planet, in my opinion. You can have a business idea and start it today.

Now. Right? Top 100 bucks. You don't need permission. You don't need anybody's approval. You can start it today. So I want to encourage people to chase that American dream because it's available. I also think that sometimes growing up through adversity is an advantage for you because it makes you say, I don't want this life anymore.

What do I need to do to get out of it? What's the changes I need to make? Whereas when you grow up in a perfect situation where money is given to you, you don't have to think that way. You're just like, oh, this is the normal. This is expected. So you didn't have a silver spoon? No. Oh, me neither.

Yeah, exactly. Me neither. And I think that's one of those things that drives certain people. Yeah. You know? Absolutely. Like, you don't take things for granted. No.

When you've worked hard for it, you see it differently and you appreciate it, right? I tell people this. These millionaires were also givers. 70% of them set aside money every you appreciate it, right? I tell people this. These millionaires are also givers. 70% of them set aside money every month to give, right? And I think that's an important thing for people to understand. I want people to build wealth to be able to give to things that they believe in, causes, right? How much do they give away, sir? How much a month?

Well, 70% of them give. 70% give. So they're giving. So they're giving 15% or more, right? But I've got this phrase that I tell people that, that when you're, when you're grateful for things, when you understand that you've had opportunities or you've overcome some stuff, I tell them it's hard to be hateful when you're grateful. Right. And that spirit of gratitude, I think is what drives people that are driven to want to do more, want to impact other people's lives. You know, I was a big proponent of Zig Ziglar growing up and listening to him and his positive message.

So we have to be careful what we tell ourselves. I know internally, I've told myself some mean stuff and nobody else knows it, right? And I think that inner voice, if it's not telling you some positive stuff, we need to mute that voice and play something different. Yeah. Right?

You need to tell you that you can do it. And if we allow that negative voice to play too long in our heads, we can get defeated before we ever get to the start line. Right? And I don't want to do that. The world's going to try to tell you what you can't do. Please, please, don't you be telling you what you can't do.

You've got to be all four of those things to yourself. For yourself. That's exactly right. You've got to be a mentor. Yes. A cheerleader. And a friend. And be your own friend.

That's it. If you are your worst enemy internally, there's no way you can succeed. If you're constantly negative towards yourself, constantly saying you're not good enough, or believing the negative energy that's coming your way. Yeah. Well, and the dangerous thing is, is people don't know that you're telling yourself that. Yeah. Like, nobody can help you unless you have the courage to reach out. And so I just want people, listen, if you need help in an area, go talk to somebody. Please don't think, you know, America,

we've got these tough guy movies out there where you're supposed to just grin and bear it and get through it. Please. You know, my oldest son, he was, he was riding a skateboard and he fell off. He skinned his knee. He was about nine at the time. And he was over, he was like, oh, oh, I go, what's wrong, dude? He goes, dad, it hurts. And I said, well, why are you making that face? He goes, I'm trying not to cry. I go, well, why? He goes, tough guys don't cry. I go, that's a lie.

I go, no, no, no. If it hurts, cry. You see, I think we got too many emotional repressed people that we think it's not cool to cry. If you hurt, cry. Like, let that out, but also get people around you that believe in you. Challenges are coming.

They're going to knock you down. It's a matter of who do you have with you that's going to help lift you up. You know, I think that's what I want more for people out there. Wow. That's inspiring, man. Do you recommend that people, when they're working a nine-to-five job or just a normal job, that they get a side hustle? That they pick up some extra work on the side somewhere so they can save more, so they can invest more. Do you think that people should be thinking that way? Well, I think this, I'm never allergic to work. You can ask anybody on my team. They're like,

dude, you are wired up. Well, number one, I believe in what I'm doing and I'm wanting to help people. But if you're somebody, you've got debt and you're like, all right, I'm tired of this debt. I go, okay, take on an extra job and direct every dime of that money toward the debt. Or if you've got somebody that's saying, Chris, I want to buy this investment property, right? And I go, well, how much is it? All right, well, take on a side job and devote that money to saving up for it. So I don't think there's anything wrong with sacrifice. See, I think that's one of the things that's wrong in our world today. We're good at dreaming, right? And we can be working hard and the sacrifice.

See, nobody tells you that with goal setting. You know, I've been eating healthier, right? Because I'm down probably about 40 pounds right now. And I've been eating a lot of salad, Lewis. It's hard work and sacrifice. Salad's not food. Salad's supposed to come with the food, right? Come on, man.

But in doing that, what do you do? You've got to give up some things to get some the food, right? Come on, man. But in doing that, what do you do? You got to give up some things to get some better things, right? And so the minds, I don't have a problem with anybody that's wanting to do a side hustle to make extra money. Just be intentional with it and be careful not to allow that season to become your life. Meaning there's a lot of people out there that are working jobs they don't love, right? And they have this idea of starting a business or starting something. Start small. Let your part-time job be that I'm going to grow this business. You don't need to go rent 10,000 square feet and get a big sign and hire 42 people. Get an investor.

No. Oh, yeah. No. Slow down. Be aware. But it's okay to go slow. I believe in crockpots, not microwaves. Microwaves zap things and just get it done.

And it doesn't taste really good. Crockpots? Oh, dude. There's flavor in them bad boys. Right? And it's a matter, I think that's an approach to life. Yeah. Yes. That's good. What is your thoughts on starting a business and taking investor money? I don't like it. And the reason why is, is that it's debt. Because if I take on someone else's money, I got to make a payment at some point, whether it's an angel investor that three, five, 10 years out, there's that obligation in the back of your mind. And I know a lot of people do it.

It's just not a way I would prefer. I'd rather start small. I've never taken money. Right. I'd rather start small and then grow it myself and be able to make decisions. I don't want other people making decisions for me. And so that's something I caution on. I talk about here in the book with partnerships.

There are four Ds to partnerships that you have to be aware of, right? And these four Ds are dangerous to partnerships, divorce, death, drugs, and debt. Those four things. Imagine, let's say you and I go into business together, right? Which wouldn't be a bad idea. We're smart people. But let's say that, you know, you get married and you're married to somebody that ends up being crazy, right? No, I'm just hypothetical. And so you and I in business, you and I are, we're rolling, we're doing things, we're on track. But now all of a sudden, that's right. And it starts to take the energy and this and that. And then not only that, but now she wants her money out of the business. Now you and I are impacted, right? Our relationship is affected. So it would be different than if you started the company and we were like, hey, dude, we've got this vision.

And you're like, Hogan, we can do this, this, and this. I'm like, all right, you know what? I'm a smart businessman. I've got a business entity over here. You've got one over there. Why don't you start the business and I'll work with you in the business. So you're the owner, but we'll share profits. Right? So now what we've done is we've protected the business from those four D's and we're both sharing in profit. Now this requires maturity, right?

Humility and awareness. If I'm not, if we're not worried about who's getting the credit or who's the president or CEO, and we're worried about growing this thing and impacting people, this bottle will make sense, right? If we're not mature or we're worried about who's getting the credit, then you and I are going to be battling over, well, who's the front man and who's all this. So anyway, with partnerships, that's some of my cautionary tales for people. So go into it with your eyes wide open. What about someone who's saved and invested a lot of money of their own?

What are your thoughts on when they get married? Should they create a prenuptial agreement to protect their entire life work? Or just blind faith, this is going to work out in the end. Everything's going to be good. Trust the process. This is till death do us part. Okay. Now I've had to go down this path with some business people, athletes, entertainers. Here's my thought. If the wealth was built prior to this relationship, right, then a prenup can make sense. All right. But if you got married

and you built it, then now it's not something that really will make sense. So it really goes back to being very aware, right, of who you're with in relationships and being crystal clear. Right. But that mindset of because you want a teammate. That's my thing. Right. A buddy of mine told me this. He goes, dude, he goes, my wife is my tag team partner. And now are you a fan of wrestling?

Sure. You see. Yeah. Yeah. Back in the day, I used to be. But tag teams, they were legit. That's fine. Because when one got tired or got in trouble, he had somebody to tag.

So I think in relationships, you want that. You want to find somebody that has your back, somebody that's for you, and you're for them, and you're working together. Now, I know life can get hard and life can happen. and you're working together. Now, I know life can get hard and life can happen, but I think if we're crystal clear and we're connected together and we're working on money things together, as well as anything else that comes your way,

that to me is, that's the sweetest thing ever. Wow. Yeah. Have you ever had a scary time in your relationship where you're like, oh, I don't know, we're building this wealth together, but our relationship is in jeopardy. What am I going to do?

Yeah. Have you made decisions? Well, I mean, life happens. I mean, the situation with my youngest son popping up, right? I don't think we naturally grow together. I think we naturally grow apart. I was working with a couple. They've been married 30 years.

Marriage. Marriages, yeah. I think they naturally grow apart. Oh, yeah. I think you have to intentionally grow together. I was working with a couple. They were married for 30 years, raised three kids, had a net worth of $3.5 million. But she said something to me several years ago and it kind of sent a chill up my spine. She goes, Chris, we've been successful in business together. We've raised three kids

and we got money. She goes, but I woke up one day and realized I was married to a stranger. Wow. Right. He said the same thing, a stranger. Right. So that meant that they were so focused on achieving that they hadn't really committed to staying connected. And so they talked about how they were doing date nights and they wanted to make sure they were getting back to. And that just reminded me, yeah, we don't naturally grow together. We naturally grow apart. We have to intentionally stay connected. And so that takes effort. And it also takes two people. And sometimes you've got one that maybe is done or won't. And that takes some tough things.

You know, you need to do some counseling and talk to some people. But you have to make decisions, right? You have to be clear. And it takes courage to make decisions. Cowards stay and just stay, right? They don't speak their mind. They don't have dreams and goals. So I want people to be courageous in life. And that's in dealing with great things as well as tough things.

Do you think anyone could be an everyday millionaire? I know they can. Even if they have hundreds of thousands in debt? Yes. Even if it looks like, man, there's no way out. Yes. I'm screwed in my relationship. I know.

My finances, my family, like I'm on the wrong side of town. You still think they can help. It's possible. Talk to 10,000 of them. The stories in here of what these people overcame, it motivated me even more. And I'm already a motivated person. Yeah. But people that were told that they couldn't, people that were told that they shouldn't, that it wasn't possible for them, that they didn't have the right education,

they didn't have the right job, they didn't make enough. These people all stayed focused. And I'm talking they were every color, every nationality, every socioeconomic status. These were people that believed. And so that's what this book is about. Being intentional, being consistent, and most importantly, do these three things. Believe that you can. Okay, you have to do that. You have to believe that you can. You have to gain knowledge on how, what are the things I need to do? And then our personal everyday habits. You got to do that. You have to believe that you can. You have to gain knowledge on how. What are the things I need to do? And then our personal everyday habits.

You got to learn those. The budgeting, the getting out of debt, saving and investing. These are all things that set the course for anybody to become an everyday millionaire. I love it. Make sure you guys get the book, Everyday Millionaires. How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth and How You Can As Well. Lots of great tips, strategies, myths. This will be busted.

Mindset stuff. Make sure you guys get the book. It'll be linked up. It's online. It's on your website. Yes, ChrisHogan360.com. And you're on social media. All of it.

Chris Hogan 360. Yeah, that's me. Final couple questions for you. This one is called The Three Truths. All right. So imagine it's your last day on earth many years from now. Okay. You get to pick the day.

All right. You've lived the life you want. You've achieved everything you want. Okay. You've seen your mission, your legacy continue to grow. But at some point, let's just say habits that you've got to go. All right. Lewis, this is hardcore.

I know, man. All right, man. Come on. All right. You've written every book you want to write. You've said it all. But for whatever reason, you've got to take your message with you. You've got to take your work with you. Okay.

Hypothetically. But you get to leave three truths behind. You get to leave a message with three lessons for the world. Okay. This is all they would have to be remembered by. Okay. For your message. All right.

So if you had three truths that you would leave behind, what would those be? Wow. Believe your message. All right. So if you had three truths that you would leave behind, what would those be? Wow. Believe in yourself. Control the controllables. And number three, go all out. I think those three things are things that can help anybody in anything, in relationships, business, and money. And I would tell people, yeah, believe in yourself. Control the controllables, which

means there are some things I can't control, so I can't worry about it. Control the controllables and then go all out. Just go 100%, right? And just go out there, go for it. Don't wait on anybody to sign your permission slip because you get to sign it. Just go all the way out. And I think my goal would be for somebody to bump into one of my boys 15 years from now or after I'm gone. And they say, hey, I met your dad once. I heard that man talk. And he got me to believe in myself. He got me to try harder.

I literally just got the chills. That's a legacy. I literally got the chills because I could only imagine what that would be like having kids. And having, like, you know, because I've seen that with my dad where people come up to me and say stuff about my dad. That's right. I just gave him a chill. Yeah. I want to acknowledge you, Chris, for your consistent dedication on serving people.

I appreciate that. I think it's when we find people that their mission is service, that's the highest level of living that we can do. That's right. That's something that I try to do in my life is just be on service to humanity at the best way that I can. I'm never perfect, but I continue to try to be on service. So I acknowledge you for that. Helping people do something, which is one of the hardest things to do is understand money, managing it. It makes us lose confidence in ourselves. It hurts relationships when we don't have it figured out. So you're in the right place. I appreciate your hard work. I appreciate that.

And I hope we stay connected for a long time, man. Final question is, what's your definition of greatness? Ooh, I think definition of greatness is your legacy. I think it's the people that you've impacted, the people that are around you. Yeah, I think it's definitely the impact you have on people, the legacy. That's what I'm going to leave behind. You and I both are authors. The books that we write will outlive us, right? They're going to be on the shelf. And so 100 years from now, somebody pulls off that book,

one of yours, one of mine, I want them to read something that encouraged them, right? I don't know what they got going on in their life. I don't know where they come from. I don't know what's happened to them in the past, but I do know that they're in control of their future. And that's what I want them to believe. Chris, thanks, man.

Thank you, brother. Appreciate you, man. There you have it, my friends. Gosh, I love when we bring on inspiring people who just open their hearts, reveal all, and give us practical wisdom on how we can improve our lives in different ways. This one's all about becoming an everyday millionaire.

If that's something you want to do, then make sure you apply this information. Check out his book. The full show notes are at lewishouse.com slash 751. And all I want you to do right now is send this link to one friend, lewishouse.com slash 751, or just grab the link on your podcast app and just text that to one or two friends who you know are looking to earn more money. Do it right now. Post this on Instagram, on Twitter. I'm at Lewis Howes at Chris Hogan 360. Let us know what you enjoyed about this the most. We'd love to hear from you. And we're trying to spread this message far and wide to help as many people as possible.

I love you all so very much. I'm so excited about what we are building as a community. We're building a movement of inspiration to bring light and joy and love into the world. And I thank you for your support and listening every single week as we are constantly upgrading, constantly improving, and bringing you the most empowering, inspiring, entertaining individuals in the world to help you unlock your greatness. My man who is, I'm dreaming of getting on this year, Dwayne Johnson, the rock, said success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come. This is true in your finances,

work leads to success, greatness will come. This is true in your finances, your health, your relationships, and your life. I love you all so very much. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music