Show Notes:

Financial discipline is key. “ I see those who get to that eight-figure and nine-figure level as just having serious discipline — and it’s not just in their financial life, although that’s required. There are a lot of sloppy seven-figure business owners who spend every penny they make. Their profits could go from $1 million to $3 million and they spend it all. It doesn’t really matter that they made $3 million because they spent most of it, whereas those who get to the next level have real financial discipline.”

Pursue unleashed freedom. “They just think a lot bigger. They don’t think that they don’t deserve it. They just go for bigger goals. They don’t really limit themselves by saying, ‘Well, I shouldn’t need that much and therefore I’m not going to aim for that much.’ I think there are a lot of limiting beliefs that keep us stuck in the excellent and they don’t allow us to pursue that true unleashed freedom.”

The biggest financial mistakes people make. “Number one is no clear goals: investing without clarity, investing without goals, investing without having a real sophisticated strategy first. I also would say, not taking any risk. A lot of people have just money sitting in the bank. Maybe if you’re getting 4% or 5%, it’s not terrible, but it’s not useful. Inflation is high. Most people have sat on money for a long time, and they wait and they wait and they wait and they miss opportunities. You can’t sit on the sidelines and get to financial freedom. You cannot save or earn your way to financial freedom. You have to invest your way there. Another mistake is on the other extreme, which is taking too much risk. I do see a lot of people who get caught up in these private investment deals — private equity, venture capital — and that’s almost all they do because they get excited about the new deal, the story, the sizzle. Great investing most of the time is really boring. It doesn’t have a sexy story that you’re excited about. It just compounds and grows, kind of like a farmer out there just working the fields. Eventually the harvest comes after patience and after work.”

The difference between rich and wealthy. “Rich to me is purely financial and often materialistic, whereas wealthy is time. Wealthy is time plus money, and rich is more just like money plus stuff. I think you can be rich and not wealthy. You can be rich by having a really high income, and I think maybe that’s what some of the law firm owners out there are dealing with. I think it’s very doable to kind of flip that switch and say, ‘I’m not going to try to be rich. I’m not going to try to be the big sizzle personally.’ You can be the big sizzle for your firm and attract all that marketing business, of course, but financially at home, if you’ve got health, you’ve got financial freedom, you’ve got lots of money set aside, you have a team that’s amazing, you’ve got partners that are amazing, the firm is growing and you have more time freedom — that’s actual wealth. That’s a balanced life. Rich, you’re still stressed out. You’re on the grind. You’re working 60 to 80 hours a week. You’re not collaborating, hiring, or delegating properly. You’re trying to keep up with your payments. You’ve got huge obligations. You’re constantly looking for when that next big settlement is going to be because you already spent all the cash flow from the last few. You’re getting loans on your payables and your next settlements coming up because you’ve spent all the money on big flashy stuff. So I think there’s just a big difference in wealth and rich, and a lot of what’s glorified online is rich.”

How to teach your kids about money. “You can start way earlier than you actually think you can. You could literally talk to a three-year-old when you’re at the grocery store about things that you’re buying, how much they cost, and where the money came from. ‘This is why mommy went to work this week, so we can afford things like what we’re having for dinner. Here are two items at the store. I’m going buy this because of this reason.’ You can teach kids about money.”

The true definition of success. “Success to me starts at home. My personal life is always a priority. I love the quote by David O. McKay that says, ‘No success can compensate for failure in the home.’ So for me, I want to be first and foremost successful in my marriage and my family. I want to be a good, engaged father and a good husband. I’m definitely not perfect there, but I’m trying. I’m trying to do a good job there. To me, success is keeping your commitments to yourself and to your family. I’m a faith-based person. So God, family, faith, and success: I think they all go together with keeping the principles and staying true to what you believe, whether anyone’s watching you or not. I think success is not financially based. It’s really based on principles.”

What does being a game changer mean to you? “Being a game changer means that you’re willing to step out above the norm. You’re willing to stick your neck out. Changing the game to me doesn’t mean you’re going to fit in. So every time you have a chance to make a new significant commitment, you just step up and say yes. I love the quote that has been said by many people, that we all have fear, and essentially fear is wetting your pants and courage is going forward with wet pants. I think being a game changer, you’ve got to make big decisions with wet pants. You’ve got to go forward and change the industry by doing stuff maybe that’s a little bit different. You have to be willing to spend the money and the time and the commitment to go big if you’re going to actually change the game.”

EPISODE RESOURCES & REFERENCES
Merrill Lynch
TikTok
Instagram
CNBC
Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Amazon Prime
Albert Einstein
Warren Buffet
Fit For Wealth by Chad Willardson

• [Email Neliza at [email protected] to get a free copy as a listener of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast!]

Pacific Capital
Trader Joe’s
David O. McKay