Once You Solve for Money

Business brain episode 600. I know. For Wednesday, November 20th, National Absurdity Day. 600 episodes seems absurd, seems absurd until you're doing the 620, 24. Greetings, folks, and welcome to Business Brain, the show where we take some ideas, we crunch them, we dissect, we analyze them, we use them to tune our business brains each and every time we get together. Sponsors for this episode include shopify.com businessbrain. That's where you can go sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today. And also incogni.com brain where you can use code brain to get 60% off of an annual plan and take your personal data back. We'll talk more about each of those in a few min. For now, here celebrating 600 in Durham, New Hampshire, I'm Dave Hamilton.

Dude. And out here in Northern California, I've been celebrating 600 all week. I started like, ready to go.

Let's do it. Yeah.

I wrote about it in my newsletter that went out yesterday about this. The idea of getting to 600 episodes seems unfathomable when, you know, starting recording, you know, episode one, two, three, all this kind of stuff and how we've adopt, adapted and adopted new things and new names and new formats and kept it, I think, fresh, at least in my opinion. I still enjoy it. I love doing it. I say I always learn the most. So congrats on 600.

Congrats to 600. It's amazing. It's the second time I've hit 600. Not the first time, but it doesn't milestone like it. It's good to see. It's like, here we are, here we're doing the thing. But it doesn't like leading into it. It's like, well, we're just going to prep the show and do the thing and like.

And get on to 601.

And get on to 601. Like, I got. We got stuff to do. We got stuff to talk about. Shannon.

Yes. Yes.

In a recent episode, you said something in passing that I want to dig into. And that is you said something along the lines, I could go back and like, play the clip, but I'm not going to do that. Once you learn how to solve for money, life gets easier. You get to work on the things that you want to work on. And I agree wholeheartedly with this. But I also know that if you haven't yet solved for money or if you don't think you have solved for money yet.

Yeah, that's important.

Which I think is more important. Yes. Then that phrase may seem contrived or a little bit dickish. Yeah. Like any of those things. And it really isn't, because I feel like I've solved for money several different times, and each time I do, I think, oh, wow. The last time that I thought I solved for money, I'm. I was wrong. But I wasn't wrong because I think it's more a mindset thing. There are some tangible parts of it, but I think it is a mindset thing more than anything else.

Yeah. And I. It has nothing to do with your bank account.

No.

And what I always say is, once you solve for money, life gets way more interesting. I don't know if it gets easier, but it's. You're allowed.

That's a fair point. Yeah.

Yeah. You have the flexibility and the freedom to do things that interest you more, and that opens up the world to opportunities that you can do and, you know, having a luxury to look back. I've always felt rich, even when I was broke, because I was carving my own path and no one was telling me what to do, where to show up, and all that kind of stuff. And it is a mindset. And the way that we've done it, my life is. We've always tried to live below our means so that whatever we did generate had a greater impact on our lives. We kept ourselves from getting into debt. And when we had debt, I certainly have had it. We've worked really hard to pay things off. And we don't fund our lifestyle with our assets. We fund it with revenue and profit. I shouldn't say revenue. We fund it with profits, not assets. So we have scaled up and scaled down when things are tight. This past year was like a money pit with kids in college, graduating, weddings, all that kind of stuff. But I know 2025 will be amazing because it'll just be different. So that I like to say that, you know, once you solve for money, life is. It's more interesting.

That. Yeah, that is. And that is what you said. There are many different ways that this can exist. This can exist. This mindset can happen. One of the first ones. And this I had solved for, but I did not know it until you said something to me and you were talking about yourself, and I was like, wait, I've already done that. And this was years and years ago. You said something along the lines of, well, it doesn't really matter if this falls apart. And I'm not talking about this show like, you know, we were talking about something else. And it was like, it doesn't really matter if, if X falls apart. Current, the current thing, whatever it was sure falls apart because I know how to make money. Like, it's not an issue. And it was like, oh, whoa. Like, same. Why?

Once you've done it a few times.

Yeah.

Okay.

I have confidence that if everything I'm doing, if the cash flow from it stopped, I would just figure something else out to start up the cash flow again. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs have that skill, but you gotta, you gotta know you have that skill.

Yes. And this is where I often talk about this thousand dollar brain switch. I was fortunate to flip my thousand dollar brain switch when I was in my early 20s and understood that, oh, I know how to make money. It may be with cars and trucks, cranes, computers, real estate, handbags, watch chains, podcasts, whatever. I mean, it is, it is all the same. But you have to first throw the switch. And in my experience, that switch gets thrown the first time you start to make money on your own with no one else. You created something or it's.

No, I want to stop you there.

Okay.

It. That switch flipped for you on that day?

Yes, yes, correct it.

I. It did not flip for me until you shined a light on the fact that your switch had flipped. And then it was like, oh, wait a minute. Same.

Yeah. And just maybe, maybe it's, you know, you're not aware of it.

It's the awareness brain.

Your brain is aware of it.

Well, but I, but consciously I stopped to think about it. I was still in. Maybe this is correct or maybe it's not. But, you know, I was still in that scarcity mindset of, oh, I've got to, like, I got to figure it out. And it was like, well, I don't though. I already know that it will work no matter what. And not everything works, obviously.

Of course, spectacular costs more. It takes longer. It never works exactly the way you think it's.

No, no, no. Oh, yeah, that's for sure.

But never.

I know that I can survive failure.

Yes. That's probably the most crucial thing. That no matter what happens, you have the confidence and faith in yourself that you'll just say, okay, well, tomorrow, as long as I can speak and move and operate as long as I can, you know, figure stuff out and problem solve, I can get through this. And, you know, I learned my thousand dollar switch got thrown very, very young. But it wasn't until I lost my first million that I really. The confidence really solidified in my brain that I'm totally. I'm unstoppable I mean, and I don't say that like from an ego thing. I'm just like, oh, I can get through anything. I got through this, which was horrific and could have blown my whole life up forever.

Sure.

It could have caused multi generational damage to my family.

Yes. Right. Kids can't go to college now. Right. Like, all those things could have been true.

Yeah, could have been true. But the fact that, you know, powered. Powered through it now that I didn't realize probably until, you know, five years after. Because of course, finally, finally look back and not breathe, Freak out. I could, Yeah, I could breathe. But, yeah, so it's. It is true. It is kind of a T shirt quote. You know, once you solve for money, life gets more interesting.

But it is a mindset thing.

It is.

I mean, again, you can look at lots of different things. You can say, well, once my bank account equals X, no. Once my income, my annual income equals X, no, Because they'll never be enough. No. And. And that's. And I want to talk about that next because there's moments where it feels like enough, and those are actually scary. But we'll talk about that in a minute. But for you out there, folks, what is your metric? You know, what is the thing that switched your mindset and you realized that you had solved for money? And maybe it happened during this episode while you were listening because it had already actually happened. And like me, you just had to realize it. And maybe it took a little longer, but let us know. Feedbackusinessbrain show. We want to know, because all of these things, the more awareness we have, the better off we all are. All right, folks, let's talk about the magic behind selling success. Sure, having a great product is key, right? Whether it's hot sauce from Momofuku or Feastables by Mr. Beast, right? But the secret sauce behind all those sales, it's the business behind the business that makes everything run smoothly. And for millions of entrepreneurs like me, that's Shopify. I've been using Shopify for one of my other businesses, and soon it'll power my podcast merch store for giggab too. Why? Because nobody does selling better. Shopify is home to the number one checkout on the planet, with shop pay boosting conversions by up to 50%. That means fewer abandoned carts and way more cha Ching moments. Shopify lets you sell wherever your customers are. On the web, in store, store in their social feeds, or wherever they're scrolling the secrets out. Folks, businesses that want to grow, grow with Shopify. So if you're ready to take your sales to the next level, upgrade your business and get the same checkout that I use. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com businessbrain all lowercase. Go to shopify.com businessbrain to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com businessbrain and our thanks to Shopify for sponsoring this episode. Have you ever felt like your personal data is out there partying without you signing up for mailing lists, crashing inboxes, and maybe even stealing your Netflix recommendations? That's where our sponsor, Incogni comes in. The ultimate bodyguard for your digital life. Incogni is like a digital bouncer for your personal data. They hunt down those sneaky data brokers who've been stockpiling your sensitive information and tell them, not today, pal. Incogni doesn't just remove your data. They handle the back and forth with data brokers like a top tier negotiator. Objections denied. My favorite part, less spam. Incogni will turn your inbox from a junkyard of ads into a streamlined communication hub. And the bonus, your sensitive data, like Social Security numbers or login credentials stays yours. It's like having a digital ninja protecting your identity 24. 7. Why wait? Take your personal data back with Incogni. Use code brain@incogni.com brain and get 60% off an annual plan. That's codebrain@incogni.com brain incogni.com brain use code brain there you get 60 off an annual plan. Incogni, because your data deserves VIP treatment and so do you. And our thanks to Incogni for sponsoring this episode. All right, so I alluded to this, and I want to get into this, Shannon, because there's. There are these moments where, like we said, you realize, oh, I've solved for money. I. I figured it out. Doesn't mean you have. You can stop working or that you would want to. No, no. In fact, often it's exactly the opposite of that. Right. But there are also those moments where you do see the numbers. Either your bank account or your income hits a level that it has not before. Right. It goes up to a number, hopefully. Right. Goes up to a number you haven't seen before. And if you've been living within your means or below your means, then that's great. And suddenly it can happen. And it has certainly happened to me at times where that breeds complacency.

Yep.

That success breeds complacency. And you know, it. It. It's wrong. But. But it's difficult because it's happening inside your head and it's, you know, I, we talked, I don't know, a couple of months ago about, you know, how do I get that chip back on my shoulder? Right. How do I, how do I get that drive going again? Because sometimes, you know, you had a bunch of wins and it's like, all right, well, maybe I can take my foot off the gas. Or not even. Maybe I can take my foot off the gas. You just, it happens. Your foot, it does. Taken off the gas is like, crap. How do I put my foot back on the gas?

So, yes. And I've had, you know, I've been fortunate to have some of these events happen in my life. I always say the. One of the best parts about entrepreneurship is that it's exponential. You know, you're grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, and then boom, you know, some opportunity comes along and you, you're able to really stack up the wins. And it's hard to build wealth a little bit at a time. It's a great way to.

Yeah, not for most of us. Yeah.

No. When you get big chunks in and then you say, you look at your bank account, I can tell you from my experience, and I was just talking about, we had a meeting with our financial planner this morning. I'm driving home with my wife and I said, you know, the last time this happened, the last time we let go of the slingshot. Because I kind of. This analogy I like for entrepreneurs is we're constantly struggling to pull this slingshot back, back, back, back, back. And every once in a while you get to release and it goes, woo. And your life just, it levels up, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that doesn't mean levels up in, in the amount of money you spend. But my brain. Yeah, yes. My brain looks in my bank account, dude. You know, thinking you're rich is not a good thing, in my opinion. In my opinion.

No.

They come back to that complacency and this kind of thing, and it doesn't motivate you. So the last time this happened for us, a few years ago, you know, we just got rid of that, that, you know, those profits as quickly as we could and out of our, out of my line of sight. Yes, you will.

Yes.

We bought some more real estate, we invested in some more stuff. We did all the things, things that I don't see on a day to day basis. I, I look at my bank account every single day. I mean, it's just, that's part of my. I. Yep. I've Been ingrained in that. Every morning I just blink what's going on? And having your, your. My bank accounts go back to normal. Where you normalize them.

Yes.

Really keeps me motivated. Because now I'm. I start thinking things like, because, like I, I always say I have a, A vicious case of the. I wants, like, oh, I want to buy, like, I bought this piece of real estate, and now it's like, oh, I want to buy a tractor, and I need to buy a new atv, and I want to buy this. I really want to buy a Sprinter. I don't need one, but a van to drive around the country.

Yeah. Oh, those things. I almost bought one of those during. During COVID lockdowns. Yeah.

I rented one during Coven. It was like, this is amazing.

Yeah.

I didn't buy one at that time because the prices have two. But those things, like I said earlier, I am motivated to buy them with profits, not with assets. Had that money been left at my disposal, my sticky hand, when it was still.

Well, there's, there's, there's the intention. And this is, I think this is what you're talking about, the intention of taking those assets. And I'll call it cash. Right. Yeah, that, that. I mean, it comes in as a profit and turning it into an asset. That, that's a mindset shift.

I mean, it is a mindset shift.

But it's an important one to understand, especially if you're someone, like, you're describing, which I resemble. This remark. I have the same issue. And when I see it and it's just like, free cash. It's like, oh, well, we could spend that.

We just get. Yeah, I could just go buy this.

Doesn't matter. Oh, okay, great. You know, and it, yeah, it doesn't need to be a Sprinter. It could be whatever, you know, a computer or new set of drums or whatever. It's like, yes. You know, I, I went. I bought a. I bought a. I did. I bought a new set of drums last year. That was the first time I bought a new set of drums for me since 1996.

Wow.

Now, in the middle there, I did buy one other set of drums. They were used, and I was looking for something. It actually didn't turn out to be what I was looking for, but they work great for me here in the studio. I paid 700 bucks for them. The new set that I bought last year was like 3, 500 bucks or something. Not a ton of money, but still significant. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

But that's the thing is, like, I, I, I easily could carve out cash and go buy a new drum set every year. I, I, I take the cash and turn it into an asset, and then I, then I'm not allowed to spend it in my own.

Then you're out. Same way with me. I don't, I don't spend assets. I just, I spend profit now. And that's great when you're earning it. And this kind of stuff, it's, what we're talking about is when you have situations where, I don't know, it could be anything if you're working for somebody else, you get a big bonus if you're sold something that acc. In in value and you have a big chunk of cash in, in my experience, I need to get that cash away from myself as quickly as I can because then I can buy those assets that kick off profits. What I would consider profit, like, oh, go buy another vacation rental that, you know, kicks off six figures in profit each year and, and use that for your lifestyle, not the assets that came in that you paid, you know, that you could go buy the vacation.

And I realized it's fuzzy math here that we're talking about. This is, in this whole episode, we've been talking about the mindset differences. That's really, all this is, is mindset stuff.

And I know it is mindset.

I know that when we talked about, in the beginning of the episode and we talked about solving for money, like an easy way to interpret that, and the way it probably landed with the majority of people, or at least a sizable percentage of you who are listening was, oh, once you have a pile of cash, you don't have to worry. And, and what I will point out is the pile of cash was not part of that first conversation. It was part of the second conversation. And it was a liability, not, not a bo, not a benefit. Right. I just call it assets and liabilities because it's a different thing. But it, you know, that pile of cash can be in, it can be a liability in the mindset of things because it can make you complacent. It can make you think, oh, I don't need to go out and sell things today. I've already got, I've already earned, I'm good. Get it out of your sight lines. I, I like, that's right. I like that.

And let it work for you. Right? That's, that's how you again, get another, you level up later on down the road because you, you know, by all means, take a chunk and go spend it, you know, whatever vacation if you.

Want whatever you want.

10% or 5, whatever it is. Yeah, Yeah. I don't know. But you know, some, some chunk of it. Go buy a new truck or go buy this or go there, but, you.

Know, don't set drums.

Yeah. But like I always tell guys, you know, that, that are people that, you know, guys like trucks or whatever. A lot of them do. Yeah. And they have some big revenue event. They want to go sports, buy a, you know, $100,000 pickup truck. And I'm just like, you know, you really should rethink that because you need it. Yeah. It's not. That's not the best. You're.

That's not an asset.

Not an asset. It's just depreciating. Go buy the truck. You need. Well, that's great. And you need a vehicle. You want to use it, Buy the truck. But spend, you know, 50 or 60 or whatever you have to spend now to get a new truck.

Yeah. It's not, it's not as little as it should be.

Yeah, not at all. Not at all. But it is, you know, come full circle. We're talking about the way you think about money and the way you think about your life. I lived, you know, just really be straight here. I lived in my quote, five year house. Our first house we bought. We stayed there for 17 years. And it made all the difference when we released that slingshot the first time. Had a big revenue event.

Yep.

And were able to buy a next size house up. And it, it made all the difference because we'd live below our means and forever and, and it was. But loved. Our life is amazing. We. We live a very uncommon life.

But you have to, it is tempting to spend that money.

Very.

But look at. Do you need to. Do you need a, a, you know, $100,000 car versus a, like you said, a $50,000 car, which should be like a $25,000.

Yeah.

But that's, you know, that's because. Get off my lawn. We're too old.

Yeah. Feed your. Feed the beast a little bit.

A little.

Your, your, your, your lizard monkey brain.

Also train your brain now to be fed by looking at how your assets are serving you.

Absolutely.

How you just, you know, bought this thing that's not going to go anywhere. I mean, and even with me, like the drum set, I absolutely didn't need a new drum set. I. But I like it. It's great.

That also you're.

But I'm making money from it. Right. Exactly.

Yes.

Yeah. It will pay for itself easily within a couple of years.

Well, I Talk about buying a sprinter. But I would tell you the first thing I would do would be on our, I would put it on Arturo and rv. Share an rv. Yeah, that's right. And when I wasn't using it, I'd be renting it out because I cannot stand non performing assets.

Yes.

And you know, I want to make money. And I like, it's, it's a rubric that tells me things are working well or they're not. And so it's all the way you think about it. It, it's the way you position it in your head. And I'll come back to what I said. I have felt rich most of my life, even when we had nothing.

Doesn't have anything to do with money. It's the freedom to do what you want to be able to do. Yeah.

Go back and listen to last week's episode that freedom versus flexibility and, and you get some more of this, this concept. But yeah, we'd love to hear from you. Feedbackusinessbrain show. Tell us what you think and you know, there's thousands of you listening right now. If 5% of you went to BusinessBrain show review and left left us a review, it would level up Dave and I a lot on this podcast and we'd love to hear from you. That would be the best gift and a 600th anniversary gift you could give us.

Oh yes. That is the gift. BusinessBrain show review. We would love that. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being subscribed. We'd love to hear from you too, if you want, but feedback. Oh, sorry. BusinessBrain show review. That's what we would love from you. Keep living that charmed life. We'll see you on, on Friday.