The School of Greatness - Are You Secretly SABOTAGING Your Wealth? How To MANIFEST Money & Attract Abundance
Episode Date: October 25, 2024Today on The School of Greatness, I dive deep into the psychology and practice of manifesting money with three incredible experts: Rhonda Byrne (creator of The Secret), Robin Sharma (leadership expert... and author), and Dan Martell (successful entrepreneur and coach). We explore everything from rewriting limiting money beliefs to understanding true wealth beyond just financial success. Each guest brings powerful insights about transforming your relationship with money, developing an abundance mindset, and creating sustainable wealth while maintaining balance in life. If you've ever struggled with money blocks or want to level up your financial game while staying true to your values, this masterclass episode is a must-listen.Buy Rhonda’s card set - The Secret Manifestation CardsBuy Robin's book for yourself and a friend - The Wealth Money Can't Buy: The 8 Hidden Habits to Live Your Richest LifeBuy Dan's book for yourself and a friend – Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your EmpireIN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARNWhy happiness attracts money, not the other way around - and how to flip your mindset about financial abundanceThe eight forms of wealth beyond money that create a truly rich lifeHow to identify and rewrite your limiting money stories and beliefs that are keeping you stuckThe power of becoming a "ghost" temporarily to create your life's masterworkWhy your perception of your time's value directly impacts your ability to create wealthPractical techniques for shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindsetThe importance of focusing on being generous and of service while building wealthFor more information go to https://www.lewishowes.com/1685For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Rhonda Byrne – greatness.lnk.to/1561SCRobin Sharma – greatness.lnk.to/1599SCDan Martell – greatness.lnk.to/1642SC
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Welcome to this special masterclass.
We've brought some of the top experts in the world to help you unlock the power
of your life through this specific theme today.
It's going to be powerful.
So let's go ahead and dive in.
Money is something that people want to attract and manifest more of.
It's one of the biggest problems of divorce.
It's one of the biggest pains for people,
is not feeling like they have enough,
or maybe they haven't navigated their spending habits
correctly and they're overspending on things
they don't need to spend on, whatever the reason is.
So money doesn't bring happiness,
but happiness brings money.
And this is the rest of the card.
Again, I want everyone to go buy this, because these cards are incredible, but this is the rest of the card, again, I want everyone to go buy this because these cards are incredible, but this is the rest of the
card. If you keep thinking that you need money, then you will keep attracting
needing money. You have to find a way of being happy now, of feeling good now, of
being in joy now, without the money, because those great feelings are what attracts money.
What else about money do you feel like people are missing
when it comes to manifesting in the law of attraction?
One of the reasons people want money,
and you know they say money isn't spiritual,
there isn't anything that's not spiritual.
You know, everything's spiritual,
and people think they don't deserve it.
Like for example, there is all the money
that everybody needs and wants waiting there for them.
And there's only one reason it's not in their lives
and that's because they're stopping it
from coming into their lives.
Really? Oh yeah.
How are we stopping it?
By thinking we don't have enough. Right? By thinking we don't have enough.
By thinking we don't have enough.
By thinking we don't deserve it.
By maybe being programmed the way you were,
that my family didn't have very much.
I'm destined to not have very much kind of born
on the wrong side of the tracks kind of thing,
or all of those thoughts
to believe that we only get money through our job. If you believe that that's the only way you're
going to get money, that's the only way that you're going to get money. But you can get money from
our unbelievable, unlimited different ways. And so you start to open up your mind
that money can come from anywhere, everywhere, right?
And that's so money can come into your life.
So straight away you open up
because law of attraction can only do what you believe.
And so if you believe you only get money from your job,
you see what we do? We are unlimited beings and we limit
ourselves down to nothing. Down to, we are unlimited,
unlimited. The world and all of its riches and joys is all of
ours. And so, but we, through our beliefs,
you know, for this reason, I don't deserve it.
I don't deserve it because I didn't work hard enough.
I need to work harder to get this.
You know, I need to suffer.
You know, I know that people, you know,
have money, they had to suffer.
So we have all of these limitations
that we impose on this unlimited being
that we are. Yes. Why does it seem like money is one of the hardest things to break through when it
comes to believing we are deserving of money and believing that it comes to us effortlessly? Why
does it seem like it's so challenging for a lot of the world?
I think it is to do with our deserve ability.
I just think that's ingrown into us.
What about all the things?
Money doesn't grow on trees.
I can't afford it. I came from a really humble background.
My parents could not afford, we had secondhand clothes. So I had a whole lot of lack
fed to me just by my day-to-day living as a child and growing up. I didn't ever feel that,
day-to-day living as a child and growing up. I didn't ever feel that,
but I certainly grew up with lack
because I knew when I discovered the secret,
I had to turn my mindset from lack
to a wealth mindset, to an abundance mindset.
And so I set about to do that.
And that's why I know anyone can do it, because I did it.
What was that process for you
of turning it from lack into abundance?
It was all affirmations.
It was all, I played affirmations,
gratitude, being grateful for everything I had,
affirmations to talk about the, you know,
what, that,
that I'm wealthy already, you know, affirming that I have plenty of money,
that I attract whatever I need,
and you know, I'm, I'm the success with everything I touch,
and you know, all those, all those kinds of affirmations.
So I did those, I did gratitude,
and anything that gave me
a bad feeling around money, I reversed it. And one of those things was paying bills.
Why? Because you never have enough money to pay the bills, right?
Right. So how did you reverse that? When bills would come your way, what were you doing?
I pretended they were checks. When it was a bill. And so what would you think and feel when you see it?
So back then, I would open the mail.
Right.
It was like all these window-faced envelopes.
And I would open the mail and I'd go,
oh my gosh, I didn't have any way to pay all of these bills.
It was like a dread feeling.
Oh, horrible.
My stomach would just, brr, to my knees.
So for everybody, I have been there. I have done it.
I know how you feel if you're struggling with money. And I can tell you, you don't have to
live your life like that. You really don't. And so I would just, I played games because
law of attraction doesn't know if you're imagining something or if it's real, doesn't know, doesn't care.
Doesn't have an opinion. Doesn't have an opinion at all.
And so I would play these games where I would open it up, I would, you know,
and maybe it was like $1,200 or something.
And I would be like, whoa.
You'd be excited.
Oh, yeah, I'd be excited.
Oh, $1,200.
And I would write it down and I'd tally up the amounts of money that I got for that day. And it got to a point where I didn't feel I was getting enough, like it wasn't a tally. So I would add zeros. So the $1200, I would turn into $12,000 and then I would add zeros and then I would say, yes, $150,000 is mine today.
But it was really in bills.
Yeah, they were really bills.
Oh my goodness.
And so I would play that game so I would feel better.
And then I would pay what I could.
But do you know when I paid,
I would do something else.
I played another game.
Tell me.
When I paid, I would imagine that this money is not a bill but I'm
donating to the company. I'm making a donation because this
company has been really great in supplying me with
electricity and so I'm making a donation and this money is
going to help all of the people educate their children.
Wow.
It's going to help them buy food this week.
It's going to pay their mortgage.
So I would think about all of the employees that and the difference this money would make by giving this money.
And so that would cause all the resistance to go away, right?
A total meltdown.
And that's how I did it.
So I took the circumstances
where I didn't feel good about money.
Now, back then, we got bank statements.
They were not pretty, right?
But I changed that around.
Really?
Just with a bit of marker.
Yeah.
I was just, and I had credit cards
because I, in making The Secret,
I kept borrowing on the credit cards
to make the documentary.
They were at the max.
At the max.
And I had two credit cards
and they were at the absolute max.
For amounts of money that was inconceivable to me.
Right.
And I had no, absolutely no way, no way of paying.
Oh, pay it off, yeah.
No, but what I did was I just, yeah, added, I just pretended that when I got the statements,
I would just pretend that I had, you know what I did? I did zero, zero, zero, zero. And then I put thank you over the bill. And now I have zero, zero, zero, zero on my credit
cards. But to this day, to this day, if I have a written bill or something like as somebody comes
to do a service at the house and I write them a check and across that bill I would write thank
you paid because that is what I did with every bill I couldn't pay. I put thank you paid.
Wow.
And to this day I still write thank you paid.
Wow.
I know.
Now for people that are watching or listening and thinking this is a beautiful you know thing to try and to do but if they
still have to pay the bills and they're like well how far
can I take this until I'm like the money is you know
stacking up or the bills are stacking up or I'm like I
don't go back into overwhelm or stress that I haven't
paid off these bills. You have to pay what you can. Like
what I did was I I would play that game and
then I would pay what I could. And I think even these days companies are a lot more understanding
than they were back then. You know and they would say if you ring us we'll work out a payment plan
with you and whatever. But I did pay those bills. I would pay the most urgent ones like electricity because you know you do pay them but I
would just do things to feel better about money. I think that is the thing I
want people to take away from this story is the the play nature that you had with
it. There's a lot of stress and overwhelm around money for so many people.
Yeah.
But which was the same for you for a long time until you started to play.
I did. I played all the time.
And that is a huge key to the secret is being in a playful, energetic state.
Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Like I did this list of desires.
I had all these credit cards they held. I overdraft on my
company. I had mortgage my mortgage my home to the hill
all like just making the documentary and I wrote out
this desire list of all of the desires that I wanted and all
of the things. It looked like I look like a mad woman, right? Like I'm riding, you know, the car that I wanted and all of the thing. It looked like I looked like a mad woman, right?
Like I'm riding, you know, the car that I wanted
and that house that I wanted overlooking the ocean
and all of these different things.
Absolutely every one of those things
on that list manifested.
And that's something else too that I think.
It all manifested.
Everyone.
A desires list.
Oh, is there a specific way? Sorry to interrupt you there, but is there a specific way to
create a desires list so that they all manifest?
Easy, just write down the things you really, really, really want.
And do you need to have a reason why you want them or is it?
Law of Attraction doesn't care what your reason is.
Doesn't care.
Is there a way to write it down of
saying I desire I want this or just I just did a list. I just
did this list and I would keep adding to it but I did a top
ten and I got everything on the list and the last thing on the
list was to go to Bora Bora in Tahiti. And you went? Yeah to
stay in one of those things on the water, you know, one of the huts on the water.
And I'd always wanted to go there. And you got a small plane, you know, light plane to go there.
And I can't remember if I was going or if I was returning. No, I was going.
And the plane stopped. I thought it was an
unscheduled stop but anyway it stopped. I think it was the
only person in the plane and it filled with Tahitians and they
were incredible. Suddenly the plane just became alive and
they were laughing and talking. There were all these workers
and they're laughing and talking and I sat there and I just had tears
of the beauty of them and the happiness from them and then I realised this was the last desire on my
list and I'm in this plane with all of these people so happy, so joyful, saying,
this is the way to live your life. Be happy. Because do you know,
we will find a million excuses not to be happy. You know, I'll be happy when,
I'll be happy when I have more money. Be happy when I feel better.
Be happy when I get that job. Be happy when I meet someone I'm not on my own anymore.
Hehehe.
And you have to be happy before.
I know.
Yeah.
You were just talking about joy
and how much joy you had in that plane
with those individuals there.
Again, we're talking about the secret manifestation cards.
Make sure you get a few of these decks
and give them to friends. This one is about jumping for joy.
It says, jump from joy.
You can lift your frequency, accelerate manifestation,
and change your whole life
with this powerful visualization technique
that can be done in less than 30 seconds.
Imagine that you just received your desire
and see yourself jumping for joy.
So I love this idea of writing down your desire list, whether it's five or 10 things that
you really desire.
Imagine that you just received this and see yourself jumping for joy.
It's a beautiful way where again, I'm hearing you say the law of attraction is about what you're thinking
about and desiring and how you're feeling around that experience.
It's not I want this, but I don't feel good about it because I don't have it now.
It's thinking the desire and feeling the joy and excitement and being happy now is the
key.
It is the key.
Yeah.
That's right. Yeah. That's right.
Yeah.
It's just, and that is what I did.
That visualization is what I did.
Yes.
I would imagine myself jumping for joy.
I would just close my, and even I can see the movie
of that, even with my eyes open open because I've done it so many times
and just jumping for joy that down to the smallest things like you go and have a test at the doctors.
What do you want? If you're going to go and have a test at the doctors and somebody says to you,
or how did the test, I've done this with people.
Oh, how did you go with the test?
I don't know yet until it comes back.
Then it could be anything.
Right.
You've got to say what it is.
You've got to decide what it is.
Down to the smallest things in life, right?
Everything, everything we have to intend and say,
we have to choose it, we've got to declare.
We are an unlimited being.
Don't limit ourselves and say, I don't know yet.
Because when people say that to me, I'm like,
what do you want it to be?
Well, I don't know until I get the results.
No, what do you want it to be?
All clear, right?
Like before I go to the dentist,
I always say before I go to the dentist,
fabulous.
All good, all good.
Yeah, absolutely.
And going back to the desire around money,
I wanted to add one more card in here
and then I have a couple final questions
because I could speak to you for hours, Rhonda.
This is amazing, but I want to be one more card in here and then I have a couple final questions because I could speak to you for hours Rhonda, this is amazing but I wanna be respectful of time here.
When it comes to money, you have this incredible card,
again in your manifestation deck which says,
prosperity is your birthright.
And here are four simple rules to manifest money.
Number one, each day think more thoughts of abundance than thoughts of lack of money. Number one, each day think more thoughts of abundance
than thoughts of lack of money.
Number two, be happy now without the money,
which is probably one of the hardest things for people
when they feel like they're stressed, not with money.
Be happy now without the money.
Number three, be truly grateful for everything you have now.
Not frustrated for what you're lacking,
but be grateful for what you have now.
And four, give the best of yourself to others. This is huge. And I'm so
glad you have that in here because a lot of us hold back the best of ourselves to ourselves
and to others. Why do we live in scarcity of our gifts to other people
to see those gifts fully?
I just think it's the nature of the ego.
You know, the ego's second name is lack.
I am ego, lack and fear.
They're it's kind of middle names.
And so the ego is lack because it is completely lackful and, and it's also
incredibly fearful. And so, and so that is what is sending out all of the self-talk to us.
So we have to be careful of what we listen to. Yes.
You know, because that voice that you have in your head,
that really, that is not you.
And I know you think it's you because you think it sounds like you,
that voice, the thoughts, but it is not you.
These are just thoughts floating by.
So don't empower those thoughts.
Don't, you know, don't give those,
don't believe any of those thoughts
because all of those thoughts are an absolute lie.
You are an unlimited being.
You are not lacking in any way whatsoever.
As you know, you felt that you were lacking,
but you now know you're not lacking, right?
That was not true.
Not true at all.
So yeah, it's just the nature of the ego.
So I would just say, please,
don't believe any negative thoughts about yourself,
because they're not true.
People are so much more than they realize.
It just I get really choked up when I when, you know,
that people are just so magnificent and so brave
and courageous to do this journey of being human.
You know, it's just and all of the obstacles
and the difficulties that people face.
And, yeah, but magnificence is what we are.
Yeah.
And something came to me as you were saying about this,
you know, my father used to turn the,
mute the commercials when any type of medication
or sickness commercials would come on. So whenever we're watching a sports game sickness commercials would come on.
So whenever we're watching a sports game
and commercials would come on,
he would always mute it or he'd turn the channel
because he didn't want that program
of sickness, disease, medication constantly running
in my mind and my siblings' minds.
And I really thank him for that
because we start to believe lies
that are out there, even though it's not the truth.
But if we start to believe it, it becomes true for us.
And it's with anything, whether we're seeing other people
gossiping or talking about negative things
that don't serve the moment.
So it's turning the channel, it's changing the conversation,
it's switching our thoughts, it's removing ourselves
from the situation. We need to be standing guard to our mind and our thoughts.
Yeah, no, very well, Paul. It's exactly what we need to do. And not subject ourselves to,
that's really one, I mean, I'm mute too. Yeah, I don't, I don't. And, you know, the news is just,
you know, who wants to, who wants to partake of any of that?
And I know I'll hear about anything that's-
You'll be informed.
I will, I'll be informed.
You don't need to be entertained with fear.
Exactly.
But you can be informed with information.
That's right, exactly.
Without the feelings of fear and scarcity.
Yeah, because that only makes things worse, you know,
and then brings it into your life.
I think in the Bible, in Job, is this simple little line,
what I feared the most came upon me.
There's law of attraction.
Yes, yes, yes.
Right?
That is true. So, it's not worth
being afraid. You know, it really isn't and and and fear,
you know, all of the emotions and all of the thoughts are
coming from the mind and the mind is just a program and you
can change the program and it just takes a little bit. It
just takes a little bit of putting in the good thoughts and
the positive thoughts and and as you put in the good thoughts and the positive
thoughts then you feel then you begin to feel better and you like you're feeling
happier and then you're on a roll. Yes, absolutely.
I want to start with this question around wealth because I think that also
connects to wealth. I think a lot of people want to feel wealthy and they think of financial wealth first. But you talk
about these different levels of wealth in life. But I want to ask you first about the
difference between what is authentic wealth versus normal wealth, if we could start there.
Sure. Well, first of all, we're really happy to be helpful.
Yes.
And thanks for being so generous in what you just said.
So we live in a fascinating world, Louis.
We've been hypnotized and mesmerized by society to believe that winning is a large stock portfolio.
Get the yacht. Get the yacht.
Get the watch.
Get the fame, fortune, and applause.
And one day you'll wake up and you'll feel fantastic.
And anyone who has achieved those things will tell you,
and just to use the Zen proverb,
wherever you go, there you are.
So I think too many good souls have fallen into a trap of thinking if I just had the
right amount of money and I achieved material wealth, everything will be OK. Well for 15
plus years, this is year 31, I've been in the personal mastery leadership field, but
for 15 plus years I've worked with many of the world's celebrity billionaires. Entertainment legends
and sports superstars.
And I can tell you personally that
some of those people if not many
of those people are cash
rich but life poor.
So the wealth money can't
buy is based on the forms
of wealth. Money is one of the forms of wealth. I'm not going to sit here and say money is not important is based on the eight forms of wealth.
Money is one of the forms of wealth. I'm not going to sit here and say money is not important.
It puts food on the family table, allows us to do amazing things
for the people we love, allows to serve those in need.
It allows us not to get back into the corner to make decisions
we don't want to make.
But there are seven other forms of wealth that when we pursue them
we find authentic wealth, real riches versus financial fortune where we become
worldly successful but empty of heart. And I think in this social media
age there are just so many people, I mean we're tribal, we have a neurobiological
instinct to follow the crowd.
We have mirror neurons.
So we do what the mass of people is doing.
But what's the point of climbing a mountain, spending our best years doing it, only to
realize at the end of a quarter, decade, lifetime, we climb the wrong mountain. And so what I'm trying to do is show people a map
or a framework of real wealth,
and it has eight forms, not just money.
What is the... What do you think is the most influential
form of wealth outside of money
that people are missing today?
I think many of the of the seven aside from money, I would say
service is incredibly important.
Before we went on, I hope you don't
mind me saying, but you set
an intention to be of
service.
And I think it's very
easy to think, oh, that's some kind of
a metaphysical or philosophical idea.
But if you want to be a great entrepreneur, for example, be monomaniacally focused on
distributing as much value as possible to human beings.
Our job as an entrepreneur is to push magic into the marketplace.
And when you push magic into the marketplace in a world that celebrates mediocrity, you
stand out, you differentiate, create fanatical followers.
But service is also remembering that
in this age of polycrisis...
you know, people need to be seen.
Service is even listening to someone.
Service is seeing someone in need
and helping them in some way. Service is just being as helpful as possible. So I think service is a form of wealth.
Mahatma Gandhi said it beautifully, he said, to lose yourself in service of others is to find yourself.
So we're all looking to find ourselves, to find fulfillment, happiness. And it's such a paradox, but we find that happiness, we find that wealth when we
give ourselves to others. It's such an amazing paradox. In the book, I talk
about a conversation I had in Barcelona. I don't know why I always befriend
dormant at hotels or door people,
you know, I just love and
his name was Alberto.
And so we were chatting and I
got the sense Alberto
may not have realized what
a giant he was.
And so I said, Alberto,
it was a beautiful Barcelona day.
I said, I said, Alberto, you know,
if you uplift 100 people every day
by being positive and polite
and give them gifts of kindness and positivity
at the end of the year,
that's 3000 plus people at the end of a decade. It's 30000 people at the end of the year, that's 3000 plus people. At the end of a decade, it's 30,000 people.
At the end of a lifetime, it's 300,000 people.
I said, you can have a huge impact.
So I think service would be one.
I think family is one we miss.
I think adventure is one we miss.
Craft is a form of wealth we can talk about.
I think we miss some of those.
of wealth we can talk about. I think we miss some of those.
Now you mentioned
service as one of the main forms of wealth. What would you say is the percentage of people in today's society
in general that are missing service? It seems like a very self centered society
or at least what you see on social media, like you mentioned sometimes.
But what do you think is the percentage of people that are
missing service and are more focused on self in today's
world?
Well, the way I'd answer that, Lewis, is if we are stuck in
scarcity, then we are not going to stand for generosity.
You know this so well, you teach it in your books and in your
methodology.
But our primary relationship with ourself determines every other
relationship.
And that's why the first form of
wealth and the wealth money camp by
his growth.
To develop yourself, to build a strong
character, to get to know your heroic
elements, to tap into your wisdom,
to know how strong you are, to
know your gifts and talents,
to know how loving you can be as a form
of wealth.
I mean, intimacy with your mastery is a
form of wealth.
And the reason I made that the first
form of wealth is the relationship
with you determines every other
relationship.
And so if we're stuck in scarcity and
unfortunately, a lot of people are stuck in
scarcity. And if you're stuck in scarcity, then you may not be of service.
You may not be a fee use.
You may not. Let's say you're building an app or building a business.
You might not apply what I call the 10x value obsession.
Give your customers 10 times the
value they have any right to
expect. So they beat a path to your
door.
If you look at most businesses,
it's.
How can I deliver the least amount of
value and receive the most amount of
money?
And that's not a recipe for
a global base of fanatical followers.
If someone feels like they are stuck and scarcity, and I like this idea, I want to be more generous, but I don't have much to give.
I feel stuck, I'm in debt, I'm stressed, I'm overwhelmed, I'm burnt out.
What would you say would be the first three things they could do
to turn their scarce life into an abundant life?
Wow.
I would say MVP.
So, you know, as an athlete, that means most valuable player.
It's also an acronym for meditation,
visualization and prayer.
And I do my best. I'm certainly no guru,
but I have a lot of work to do on myself.
But I've come a long way over these
25 years of deeply working on myself. And these've come a long way over these 25 years of deeply working on
myself. And these days I spend from
four o'clock to four forty five in MVP
meditation, visualization and prayer.
And it works.
You know, as an insecurity, you want to
move through a scarcity that's
bothering you.
You meditate on it, you visualize
yourself being generous and brave and stronger and radiating goodness and strength in a world of
emerging darkness. And then you pray. And I believe every prayer is heard. It's
powerful. So that would be one tool. Another tool is remember that gift
giving doesn't mean you have to do something material. I just learned this incredible Jap,
we were talking about Japan.
I just learned this incredible Japanese philosophy
called intoku, which is secret gift giving.
Secret gift giving.
Secret gift giving.
Without someone knowing you gave it.
Well, Lewis, I think a gift given
with the expectation of a reward isn't a gift. It's a trade.
If I give you a gift and I go, hmm, I hope I get
this from you, then it's not a gift.
And at some level, you're going to sense it.
So the second you ask for a tactic, the second
tactic would be give secret gifts that nobody
knows about.
Wow.
And it could be and it doesn't have to be
anything material.
It could be I'm staying in a hotel here,
I'm visiting you in Los Angeles.
It could be simply understanding a room
cleaner is going to come into the room
after I leave to come on.
The school of greatness.
Let me make sure the room is clean.
Let me make let me make the bed. Let me put
the towels in the bathtub. Let me straighten up the
room and leave a nice tip because someone's mother
or father son or daughter is going to be cleaning
this room. That's a gift. I think that's a gift. So
we can we can give gifts that way in in the book. I actually talk about
it's full. It's full of philosophy and
tactics. But I talk about the power
of thank you notes.
That's not expensive.
But writing a thank you note to your
mentor in this world of did
digital writing a thank you
note to someone you meet on an
airplane or in a train or in
a is we Lewis
a handwriting.
What I love to do when I'm on the road, I'll
love to write a letter to mom
and dad. My dad is going to be 87
in June.
Wow. And just telling him
what a force he's been in my life.
Writing a letter to my partner, Al,
or my kids are, of course,
of course, my mom.
So I think there's lots of things we can do to be generous.
And then it's a practice.
The more you practice it, the more generous we automatically become.
MVP, meditation, visualization, prayer, gift giving and gift giving in secret.
And thank you notes, physical thank you notes.
I think those are three inspiring and practical
things that people could start to do. And if you don't have an hour a day to do the
MVP, you could do five minutes a day. You can give a gift once a day. You can write
a thank you note once a week. It doesn't have to be all time consuming, but I really love
this process of getting outside of self and thinking of others. And I think that's a great step to turning yourself into more selfish or scarce
thinking into abundance and opportunities and
synchronicities into your life. So I love this this process
and I don't think a lot of people think about this
enough. I don't think they're thinking about how can I be
generous and gift giving how can they be generous in my
acknowledgement you know something I love to do on this show for 11 years
is acknowledge the guest in front of me.
And I started with acknowledgement with you.
I believe we talked about the power of intention
right before we got on.
It's like setting an intention and acknowledging people.
You mentioned people love to be seen.
And if we can get out of self and think about others
in some form or way, that unlocks a door to abundance.
So I love this strategy and I love these steps.
I would even say, Lewis, with our work,
our work, a job is only a job if we see it as a job.
And I think many people miss the opportunity
for generosity as well as mastery.
That's why it's the fourth form of wealth
and the wealth money can't buy.
Seeing your work is your craft. Seeing your work is noble. You're a coder. You're a yoga teacher.
You're an airline pilot, an astronaut, a teacher, a firefighter. And you say, I'm on a mission. I
want to be B.I.W. best in world at what I do. And there's a chapter in the book called
Make Your Project X.
I think a lot of entrepreneurs in my
observation, I say this respectfully,
but they suffer from chasing every shiny
toy that shows up.
I think one entrepreneur in particular,
every time I meet him, he has a new
business he's launching every time.
It's it's the it's the once in a lifetime opportunity
that's consuming him and this is gonna be
his liquidity event.
It's the newest and greatest technology.
It's the newest.
And what I'm talking about with the Project X concept
is in a world where we push out so much content
and we rush to constantly be pushing out
many things at mediocrity I would say be one of those rare rare souls who takes a
year or three years or Lewis I talked about it in the book the duomo in Milan
600 years to finish it and master it.
Wow.
Are you willing?
Are we willing to spend 600 years on our Taj Mahal,
our Eiffel Tower, our Moonlight Sonata,
our Catcher in the Rye?
Wow.
And I think, you know, you got me on this topic of generosity.
It's... I just think it's so powerful.
I spent a year of my life on this book.
I can get into my writing process
if you're interested, but I suffered,
but it was a beautiful suffering.
But I suffered through so many drafts,
so many iterations, so many resistances
like this sentence can't be done.
You can't do this, that.
And...
But I think once we push our best out into the world
through our Project X,
I think it's an act of, may I say it, love.
Wow.
It's certainly an act of generosity.
And I think this world needs more astonishment in it,
more magic.
Mm.
You mentioned in the book this concept of, like,
becoming a ghost or ghosting, like you just said there.
Where it's like, spend a year, two years,
not being everywhere all at once,
not putting out something every day,
but actually deepening in your craft.
In a world, especially with social media,
where people feel like they need to be relevant constantly, they need to put out something every
single day to draw an attention, how can someone have the confidence to become a
ghost for six months or a year or two years to work on one project and not be
anywhere else and know that it's going to succeed. What if they come back a year or two later and the world has changed?
People don't remember who they are.
They don't have an audience anymore.
How do they deal with that insecurity, fear or doubt?
OK, that is I love the question.
I would say a few things. So if they don't have 25 million copies
sold in books already, if they're new, they're starting out. Like, how can they navigate that? OK, there's a few things. So if they don't have 25 million copies sold in books already, if they're new, they're starting out like how can
they navigate that?
OK, there's a few things I would say.
You can be in the world or you do you can do
your finest work. You can't do both.
You say it again. You can be in the world or
you can do your finest work.
You can't do both. Wow.
OK, so what does that mean?
Well, I would also say it means...
genius adores isolation.
You want to get into flow state and do beautiful work.
See, I would just rather be a minimalist
versus a maximalist.
J.D. Salinger is one of my heroes.
He just published one book.
Happened to be capturing the rye.
Vincent van Gogh.
He only sold two paintings,
but he's Vincent van Gogh.
So.
I would say it's absolutely essential to leave the world regularly to do your best work to get into flow state, to create your mastery, to create to get this little, you know, a little seaside cottage.
I mean, Ian Fleming of James Bond had gold in it.
There's a chapter in the book called,
Find Your Personal Gold in it.
I would say to everyone, invest in a cottage,
even if it's a hotel room or a motel room in your city
or stacks in a library.
But go ghosts there.
You don't have to go ghosts for a year.
I think it's a cool idea.
Go to Tokyo.
Go to Colombia.
Go to Mexico City. Go to Stockholm. Go to go ghost for a year. I think it's a cool idea. Go to Tokyo, go to Columbia, go to Mexico City,
go to Stockholm, go to South Africa for a year
and create your masterwork and be free from social media
and meditate, pray, visualize, read the classics,
work on your masterwork, chat with the locals,
find yourself and then come back born anew.
I think that's a powerful idea.
And then how do you handle it?
Well, you can build a team to run
your social media, of course.
You can check in once a week
and go ghost six days a week, of course.
Or you can go all in
and be a gangster.
Let's call it a ghost, a ghost gangster
and just go, I'm going to get lost for a year.
I'm going to get away from the noise so I can hear the signal and I'm gonna get lost for a year, I'm gonna get away from the noise
so I can hear the signal,
and I'm gonna create something so beautiful,
so masterful, so disruptive.
Mm.
So special because I'm not distracted,
I'm just writing or doing the screenplay
or building the business.
That when you come back and release it,
I mean, people sniff quality a mile away and they're aching for magic
And so let's say a book
You just get away from the world. Then you come back with this masterpiece
It's if you people are gonna find it. Mm-hmm. I
Love I love this concept of becoming a ghost for a period of time
I love this concept of becoming a ghost for a period of time. I had a Christian pastor on named Michael Todd that has a couple of New York Times bestselling books and a big congregation,
a big social media following, all these things.
And he said before he became a pastor, early on, he had a mentor that was a wiser pastor than him. That was kind of teaching him how to come up and lead a congregation and and be a good husband and a father and all these
different things. And he said every year, take a month off, take a month off where you're not in the church, you're not working
on a book, you're not creating something like you're going to be pouring your soul into service every week, take a month to recover, rejuvenate, relax, reflect.
And he had a book a couple of years ago that was a I think it was the number one
New York Times bestseller or top on the New York Times bestseller list
for like six weeks in a row.
And his he planned his month every year in advance.
Right. So he has he knows it's's gonna be July or whatever it is.
And this was the six-week mark,
every week he was on the list.
He was out promoting, he was marketing.
And every week he'd hit the list,
and then his time to stop promoting was up
because his month of ghosting was coming up that next week.
And when he came on, he said he said you know the week I stopped promoting
was a week it came off the New York Times bestseller list and I said do you know when it couldn't you
just push it a little farther like that ghosting month couldn't you just extend it and just keep
going and bribe the momentum he goes I could but then that could lead to burnout also. I schedule
this in specifically because I know greater things are to come on the other side.
And I'm OK if it's not on the list that week or that month.
And he said, the reason this book was such a big success
was because I got the idea from two years ago of that month
off.
That's when this idea came.
And so he's like, I am sacred with this time. Even
if amazing things are happening, I say no during that time. And
I think that takes a lot of strength or power to say no, in
your season of ghosting, when you're recovering, reflecting,
working on your masterpiece, or just allowing ideas, the signal
as you mentioned, to come to you. So I just thought that's
interesting. And I like that you have this in the book.
How can someone approach becoming a ghost when they have a lot going on or they're maybe living in scarcity or they're in a month to month right now and they're not they don't have the resources to extend for a year
in another country. How can they start to think of a ghosting season of their life.
in another country, how can they start to think of
a ghosting season of their life?
Well, first of all, I think that's the key. It's seeing work and life
in a series of seasons, almost like an
athlete. You're on season and you have your
off season.
But I think that's the power of
the eight forms of wealth model that the book is
based around.
We were talking about work and masterwork, but
that's only one of the eight forms of
wealth.
The third form
of wealth is family.
So we don't want that's why I don't
subscribe to the hustle and grind
culture. I've I talk about it in the
book. You know, I was asked to
mentor a multibillionaire.
My team and I thought about her for a
few weeks, decided I was going to do it,
show up at his house, never seen anything
like it. Walk by his art collection, walk
by his indoor car collection, walk by
his library, eventually
went to this down these stairs into
the subterranean passageway.
I could smell cigar smoke from
a mile away.
I walk in and there he is, the icon.
So we talk for a few hours.
He tells me he he shares his story
and his how he built the businesses,
the empire, the empire.
He's the emperor and but order
and
then I say he goes, yeah, you know,
and I said, like, you know, tell me
about your family, who you share it
with.
Long silence.
And he said, no, I, you know, I'm all alone.
So I share that because the third form of wealth is family.
If you have a rich family life, we've talked about relationships in our
past conversations, you know, if you have a rich partnership with your life partner,
that's that's wealth money can't buy. If you have a rich relationship with, in my
case, you know, also my children, then Colby and Bianca, and my parents.
I saw them in Toronto the other night.
And having good friends who you enjoy being with, I mean, that is a form of wealth money
can't buy.
So yes, put out masterwork and yes, do great work, but also remember the other forms of wealth,
because, you know, what's the point of having a lot of money
and ending up there alone?
There's, I quote Bob Marley and he said,
possessions is rich.
I don't have that kind of rich.
My rich is life.
My community,
I think people that are coming to this are really going to want to understand
about the three principles of building wealth first.
So I'm curious with all the people you coach and work with,
what are the three keys that they all have in order to build wealth sustainably
and exponentially?
What would you say those three things are?
Yeah, I mean, the first thing I'd say is most entrepreneurs,
unfortunately, because they've never been taught different,
end up building companies they grow to hate.
Think about that.
It's not the economy that takes a business down
or an entrepreneur.
It's usually the fact that they wake up one day
and they look around and they hit what I call the pain line,
which is essentially they have opportunity to grow, but the more they grow, the more pain they wake up one day and they look around and they hit what I call the pain line, which is essentially they have opportunity to grow,
but the more they grow, the more pain they're gonna feel.
So, and-
What is the thing they're,
they have the most pain around is that their teams,
their customers, the clients,
is it the industry they're in?
It's the calendar.
It's their schedule.
Yeah, and it's maybe the way they hired
where they don't have the right people
or the thing they're selling is too complicated.
And the more they do, the more their calendar explodes. So imagine you get an email where you
could double your capacity, double your revenue, and you can't take that business on because that
would mean more pain in your life. And you're already trying to get more time for the weekends
for your kids or whatever it is. I mean, it's tough and you're exhausted. You're burnt out.
And it's not the dream that you were sold. You sold yourself a vision of a future where the bigger
this gets, the more time you're going to have and the more
freedom and, and unfortunately, if you're not taught to do it
properly, that's what ends up happening. That's what happened
to me. The three things that I would say that people who've
created wealth and when I think wealth, I think of like time and
just like the freedom is first off is they understand the value of their time. So, and, and when we think wealth, I think of like time and just like the freedom is first off is
they understand the value of their time.
So and when we think about the value of the time, it's not how much you get paid for your
hour.
It's what do you think you're worth?
So I learned a long time ago is nobody's gonna get paid a penny more than they think they're
worth.
So if you wait, what's the difference between how much you get paid per hour versus how
much you're worth?
I think there's one that materializes in the minute
How much did somebody just pay me for what I just offered and there's what do you think you're worth? What's your value?
But some people might say well, I'm worth a thousand dollars an hour. Yeah, but they're not getting paid that no and you could is that
Delusional to think oh I'm worth this but if market's not willing to pay it, are you worth it?
Dude, it's such a good question.
Here's why it's a great question is because there has
to be a belief you're worth more than what you're currently
getting paid so you make better trades.
See, if you think you're worth a thousand
but you're only getting paid a hundred,
then you're gonna start thinking about your time differently
where you'll say no to things that don't even look remotely
close to 200, maybe a $300 an hour opportunity, or you might decide to spend some money.
See, most people spend time to save money.
I encourage them to spend money to save time.
Yes. This is kind of how I grew up. You know, this is what people do.
It's like, you know, we're cutting coupons, we're going to discount,
we're going waiting in line for an hour to like save money, whatever it might be.
It's like you wait where you spend time to try to save money.
But why is that the wrong way to look at it?
Because if we're talking about creating wealth, the only ways we can create wealth is by making
that our worth more.
And this is what's interesting is, is so the first part is worthiness.
But the second part is increasing your value.
So if you think you're worth 1000 thousand, but you're only charging a hundred
or people aren't willing to pay you more than that,
then you can say, well, how can I become more valuable?
For me, the three areas I always look at
is the character traits that I have, right?
Like you're not valuable if you're not somebody
that can deliver on the commitments you've made.
Right, and so then are you worthy if you're not valuable?
Exactly, so I think that you have to start
with the belief you're worthy,
but then you gotta back it up by action. by creating value, that value, what developing skills.
Yeah. So it's character traits first off, right? Like just being somebody that shows
up that honors their word, right? Be impeccable with your language. Second would be skills.
Like what skill do you currently have this creating value and is there a way to upgrade
that skill, right? Marketing, sales, et cetera. And then the third part I think is, um,
belief systems, right? So what are the,
what are the belief systems that keep people bankrupt or broke?
I always look at two things, whatever the,
let's say the goal is becoming rich. There's two parts of this.
There's the negative,
there's this limiting beliefs you have about yourself, about being rich.
And then there's the negative beliefs you have about the achievement.
So both of those are in the mind. So think about like limiting beliefs is like, well, I can't do this. I've never done this before.
And I know the person has those belief. If I hear the language and you, and you know, I'm talking about this language like could, should it be nice?
I want to. Yeah. Yeah.
That language has the expectation
of failure built into it.
So that's the limitation beliefs.
And then on the other side, the coin of the outcome
is the negative belief.
So what's the negative beliefs that keeps people broke?
The rich people are evil.
There's no chance you're gonna wake up to try to be rich
if you believe rich people are evil.
Or rich people don't pay taxes, or rich people took advantage rich if you believe rich people are evil or rich people don't pay taxes or rich people took
advantage of somebody or rich people are unhappy.
Because if you believe rich people are evil, you don't want
to become that belief of evil. If I held a knife to your throat
and said step forward, you'd be like, Well, I don't want to step
forward because I'll hurt myself. It's like, yeah, so
you'll never push for the goal if you think the outcome is
negative. So until we work through those beliefs, I seen that and that's what I call self-sabotage.
The biggest work I do with entrepreneurs
is understanding what are the unconscious beliefs they have
that are literally self-sabotaging
their progress to winning.
What are the beliefs that most people have around money
that are holding them back then?
Is it that money's bad or people with money are takers
or what is it?
Yeah, I think it's anything negative.
So, I mean, I know I had money beliefs around,
I used to, I had this crazy belief
that everybody had to go bankrupt.
That everyone had to?
If you wanna be successful.
Really?
It was this weird belief that I read Donald Trump's book
and I read a bunch of other people's books
and when you look at the history, they all talk about like, you know, if you're really trying, you're taking risks and at some point you'll probably go bankrupt. So get used to it.
So like, well, if I have that belief, how hard am I going to push to try to be successful? If I've got a young family and I'm trying not to create pain in their life? Yes. So that one kept me playing small for a long time. Yeah. The other belief is, you know, what will other people in my family say?
Did I have money?
Oh my gosh.
Do you ever feel guilty about the money you have?
I felt so guilty, Louis, you've known me for a long time.
I didn't tell anybody I had money.
I was quiet about it.
I didn't allow myself to buy anything nice until I was 30.
I made my first million at 27, multi-millionaire at 28, and it wasn't until I was 36, I made my first million at 27 multimillionaire at 28 and it wasn't
until I was 36. I allowed myself to buy a McLaren.
It's so funny. Isn't that crazy? What's up? Because I still don't really buy myself anything.
I mean, I bought a nice home. I bought it. Yeah, you bought a beautiful. I'm buying like,
you know, I'm not buying things to like show off that I have money though. Like I don't showcase my home.
I'm not like taking photos of it and posting it online and like, look at me.
Uh, my friend got me a Rolex for my 40th birthday last year.
I think I've worn it like seven times because part of me is still kind of like,
should I be wearing this? Talk to me about that. You know, it's,
well part of it is not my style. You know, I don't like to, you know,
part of it's like, I just wear the same black thing. Just like you're one of my new t-shirts. Yep. Exactly. So well, part of it is not my style. Yeah. You know, I don't like to, you know, part of it's like, I just wear the same black thing.
Just like you're one of my teachers. Yeah, exactly. So that's part of it.
The other part of this is, you know, I don't want to reject money coming my way by by not wearing
it. But it's also like, how are people going to are they going to judge me or they don't want
more from me? Are they going to be thinking I should be doing more. It's just like, do you also do I want to attract some type of
judgment that is unnecessary? I don't know. It's kind of a lot of that.
Well, and that is it. So you said a few things that I just want to kind of pull up to the
surface is one of them is I'm worried if they expect me to do more. A lot of people don't
want to call their shot
or live a bigger life because then that becomes
the new floor they gotta live into.
So that's a fascinating one.
It's like, well, I don't wanna create wealth
because then I have to maintain that.
And if I lose them, people will visually publicly see me
rise and fall.
That holds a lot of people back.
I'm not afraid of the rise and fall
because I'm in the bottom.
But that's the judge around.
Yes, 100%.
And for me, it was what would my family say?
Like, oh, you're too cool for us now?
Why did you get that kind of car?
I remember, dude, I got the car.
Especially Canadian.
Oh, it was the only McLaren in the province I lived in.
And they just said I have to go to Montreal to get service.
And I remember the first time I had it for almost two weeks.
I didn't want anybody to know.
It was in the garage.
I wasn't even sure how I was going to be with it.
That was really weird.
And I remember the first time I wanted to go to the gym
and drive it with my wife.
We went and worked out every day.
You know, Renee?
And she wouldn't come with me.
She took her car.
Why?
She didn't want to have to deal with what
people were going to say.
Interesting.
So it's fascinating that when people just kind of try on these,
these ideas, like what would it mean to say? Even a lot of my clients, I say,
can you say I am ultra rich? They can't say it. Nope. Why not?
I mean, they, everybody's got a personal story, but what does that mean?
Why does saying the word ultra rich scare you,
frustrate you, like you're the judgment, what is it?
What does it mean to you?
It's just words.
What do most ultra rich people say around why they can't own
that they're uber wealthy by speaking about it?
I think there's a part of it that is, if I acknowledge it,
then I'm different than other people
and they don't want anybody to think that they think they're better. Really? Yeah. I mean I'm that way man. I
don't want anybody to think that because I drive a certain car or fly around in my jet that I think
I'm better than you because that's and you're the same way like we don't. Yeah. Right. I don't the
reason I don't wear watches because I don't like it to get in the way. I appreciate beautiful things
in design. Yes. But yeah I'm definitely when I first got the McLaren,
I was worried that people would treat me different. And guess what they did.
They do. They look at you differently. Dude, I remember the first,
it was awesome. I mean, I showed up, I went and did a talk at a rehab center.
I'll tell you why. So I pull up to go,
I do a lot of work with troubled youth and every kid immediately the,
the like they want to know what I have to say.
Whereas before I'd show up in whatever car and then they'd be like, who is this guy?
It's not fascinating. So, you know, perception is reality.
But yeah, people do treat you different.
And sometimes if you are comfortable with it, you can use that to fast track conversations.
And if you're not okay with it, then it can be a source of a lot of pain.
And I think that's the mindset.
Who are the wealthiest people that you know,
that you respect based on how they live their life
and what are the things that they do
that you respect the most about them?
Yeah, I'm gonna say Gary V for sure.
Gary-
What are the characteristics about the wealthy
like Gary that you respect?
That he uses his money to create and to help other people.
And I would aspire to always be that.
And that's what it is.
And I think that if you truly, it's like when people say, well, I don't need to be rich.
And I'm like, cool, why don't you become rich?
And then if you want to do good with it, then you can.
Why wouldn't you accumulate the resources?
If you think somebody else, the government, this other
entrepreneur, the CEO isn't going to do right by having that
money, go get it. And once you got it, decide what you want to
do with it, right? That's the way I think about it. So when I
watch Gary, you know, create his empire, and then reinvest it
into content and helping other people and running these big
events and building companies inspire entrepreneurship and help and really like help other people and running these big events and building companies inspire
Entrepreneurship and help and really like help other people around them become wealthy
I mean we've seen Gary over the years make concessions for his career for other people
Yeah, I mean dude even the fact that he helped build his dad's wine shop
Like nope, but most people don't know this he built it to 60 million. He owned none of it
Yeah, and was paying himself. maybe 100k a year. Dude,
I don't pay my CEOs 100k a year if they're generating 60
million a year. Right, right. That's not how the math works.
Sure. So he inspires me just the way he shows up. I think, you
know, Alex and Layla Hermosie, friends of ours, like they they
do the same thing. They're, they're very much like, how do I
use this to create more?
How do I buy back my time?
Because I really think it's about an experience
and a leverage thing.
Like wealth should be an opportunity
to live a more fully developed life, right?
Like I think the word empire, subtitle my book,
I believe in empire as a life of unlimited creation
you never have to retire from.
And I think everybody should want
to aspire to do that. Just be a creator. That's why I talk a lot about artists and creators in
the book. The book's really meant for people that are starting off because I don't want them to get
the wrong head space for what it means to be successful. And I try to teach them how to value
their time, the math behind it, the value of it, the worthiness.
And then allow yourself to if you have a desire to drive a supercar, don't tame it. If you have a
desire to own a jet, don't tame it. There's nothing wrong with that. Live in a beautiful home. I think
the number one thing you could ever do for somebody else is inspire them to live a bigger life. And
you don't inspire people by playing small. What is the difference between inspiring people and Number one thing you could ever do for somebody else is inspire them to live a bigger life.
And you don't inspire people by playing small.
What is the difference between inspiring people and showing off?
It's the intent.
Think about it.
Money is an amplifier.
That's it.
It's not good or bad.
It's like a fork.
A fork can be used to hurt somebody, it can be used to nourish somebody.
It's a tool.
That's it.
So some people buy the Rolex because they're trying to fill a hole that says I'm not enough. Maybe this will
make me feel worthy of that affection. Other people get it
because they understand the history and from a engineering
point of view, and a story maybe if their grandfather had one,
they want to wear it as a reminder of that. Or and it could
be like this is a cool part is that it's not necessarily the thing,
it's the story behind the thing.
It's not fun.
That's why I help people kind of rewrite their money stories
because then if we say, okay, I got a client,
he was worth like 50 million
and he couldn't bring himself to,
he had a car he wanted to get.
I think it was, it was like the new Corvette, okay?
The C8, brand new rear engine Corvette and he, and he couldn't bring himself.
Okay.
Guys were 50 million cars, like a hundred and some thousand.
And I said, why is that?
And his mindset was always about, well, if I do that, then I'm taking away from
something else I could help somebody with.
And I said, cool.
I totally honored that.
I appreciate it.
I said, but what if you got the car to help inspire other kids that were just like you?
And I could see the light bulb.
And he goes, oh, I said, so talk to me about what just,
I saw the math click.
And he goes, well, if I got the car,
then I could use it for charity rallies.
And I could do it, I could go to schools,
and I could go to car shows, and I go, now we're talking.
See, if you have a thing, a house,
and you don't host people there,
you have a company, but you don't allow the resources
to be leveraged by your team to do good,
you have money, but you just try to hoard it
and keep it in one spot and not use it
to create experiences for yourself.
That's where I think people get prisoner of money.
And here's the thing, and I got this from one of my friends. I really like the way he framed it. He
said, it doesn't matter how much money you have, a hundred thousand or a hundred million. He said,
if money is the primary decision, you make a decision, you're a prisoner. He said, money needs
to be a consideration, but it can't be the primary reason. How does someone identify what their current money story is from their past?
And, and then how do you rewrite your money story to create more
abundance versus scarcity?
So good.
That's a great question.
So what I do with people is ask them to sit down and say, as it pertains to
money, being rich and let's call it like being rich,
what are all the negative beliefs
that you have around that language?
And really sit with that for 15 minutes.
Don't move on it.
Well, and I've had people say the craziest things,
and crazy to me, but maybe obvious to a lot of people
listening, the first one, I remember one time they said
that rich people don't pay taxes.
That's fascinating. And what I've been a lot of taxes. I know how much I write and I want to pay taxes. The more taxes I pay, it means that I've obviously created
more well. Like I have no problem paying. I don't want to pay one penny more and a half
to, but I have no zero problem. And it's funny how that belief, well, what is that? Why does
that matter to you?
Well, I don't want to make, I want to give a penny more to the government. I have to.
Interesting. So you have an anger issue against your government that's stopping you from being
wealthy because you don't want to pay more. So you don't want to make more because you don't
want to give more dude. It's so fascinating, right? When people literally say like, well,
I don't want more because I might make, you know, if I'm wealthy or rich, my
sister might be upset with me. Talk to me about that. Well,
last time I got a raise and I told her all of a sudden she
didn't talk to me for three weeks because she thought I was
better than her. That's interesting. Let's talk about
that. So I always go to three questions when this stuff comes
up is number one. Is it true? So first off, write off all the
beliefs, right off all the beliefs
that you have on your money story.
Yep.
Then for each one of them, the first question, is it true?
What if they believe it's true?
Well, is it really true is the follow-up.
Is it true, comma, is it really true?
Is there a scenario where that's not true?
And for most people, if I say, is it really true,
they're like, well, no, it's not really true.
It's like, cool, let's start there.
Second question is what would need to be true for, is it really true? They're like, Well, no, it's not really true. It's like, cool. Let's start there. Second
question is, what would need to be true for that not to be true?
Because that's another great question. It's like, well, I
don't want to pay taxes like perfect. So what if you had a
tax expert that specialize in making sure that you didn't pay
a penny more to the government you had to with that solve the
problem? Cool. Because again, it's, it's not about overcoming
that they don't believe it anymore. It's resolving the belief.
So if I then found a firm that I knew would help me not pay the government one penny more, then I could push harder.
Right. Because again, people don't want to grow if they have a negative belief of achievement.
So once we resolve that, then we move it forward. Now, the third question is how old is that belief?
How long have you been thinking about how old are you
when you came up with that start? You know, I'm talking
about seven. I was 10. I was nine. I saw, you know, I saw my
dad, you know, upset and he made a comment and that stuck
with me or my dad. My dad used to say that it's fascinating.
He used to always say to me that it's not what you make,
it's what you spend.
Okay, which is a good advice.
On the surface, it's not what you make,
it's what you spend.
So you could make a million dollars a year,
but if you spend a million and one,
then you're no worse off than somebody
that didn't make any money.
But what I took that and internalized it for my 20s,
and my 20s when I started in business was every dollar was an expense was I was taking it away from me.
So think about the concept of buying back your time.
My belief if I spent a dollar, then I was taking away profit.
So I tried to do as much as I could to save, save dude.
I was like, I was making like, you know, hundreds of thousands a year. And instead
of investing in the business, I was constraining it. I was choking it from its potential because
I wouldn't in I wouldn't let a dollar go if it wasn't absolutely necessary. And the challenge
is if you understand business is that it requires an investment. And what happens if you make
good investments, you get a return on that investment.
And if you get really good in business, then the more investments you make, like when I ask somebody
like how much you pay for a customer? Well, I pay $10 a customer. How much is that customer worth to
you? $100. How quick do you get that $100 within the first month? How many $10 bills you want to
trade for $100 bill? So what's your marketing budget? But originally, they'll say, well, my budget is 10,000 a month. I go, no, it's
unlimited to the degree that you get that $100 bill for every 10
that you put in. It took me six years of being in business and
choking the potential of the business till I flipped the
mindset of, oh, no, it's not what you make. It's not what you
keep is literally what's the return on the growth. Because the real value in a lot of businesses, yes, it's not what you make. It's not what you keep is literally what's the return on the growth. Because the real
value in a lot of businesses, yes, it's the profit. But even
more importantly, it's what's the business worth to somebody
else? Because to the degree that and this is what I talked about
in the book to the degree that I can build a business that
doesn't need me to grow. And that it has predictable
revenue, predictable profits. Those two equations equals how
much it's worth to somebody
else. And for, and this what happened to me at 20, my company got bought my first company I sold.
That was when the flow town spirit, even before that, that one, that was the one that really set
me up to then do a bunch of other stuff. But that's when I learned that yes, you can't be
not profitable, but at the same time, don't constrain the business from its potential growth
because if you can build a business
that doesn't require you to run
and is predictable profit,
then it's gonna be incredibly valuable to somebody else.
I hope you enjoyed today's episode
and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness.
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