I Didn't Learn Anything In the Good Times : Top Wealth Strategist REVEALS

Donald Trump said when asked would you learn the good times and the bad times? He told the real estate guys, I learned anything in the good times. I learned everything in the bad times. And I would 100% agree with that. When you're coasting and everything's going well, you're not learning anything.

This get real aspect that Flip and I talk about a lot, this journey of reaching freedom and in your word, agency is a journey of roller coasters. It's not all rainbows and sunshine. There are times that where you're struggling, there's times where you're not sure exactly what to do, and you're having to reach out to your network to, you know, find solutions to problems. And not a lot of people talk about those times. They talk about the highs and don't talk enough about the lows. And we're very much, we have a kind of a passion to say, hey, everybody, if we did it, you can do it too. And we're gonna tell you about all the failures so that you realize it's okay to have failures and it's okay to get up and do it again. So you're talking about your kids and teaching them all of these things. I thought in my head, you know, I wonder, is that, are those conversations happening as well? You know, here's the mistakes that I made so that you don't make them too. And can you share just some get real moments with our listeners?

Yeah. So Susan and I are very open with. I mean, my kids are 19 and 22 now, both boys. And so but for, I would say for the last close to 10 years, we have been completely 100% open with them about how much money we housed and what mistakes we've made, what successes we made and what we recommend for them, like aggressively open and conversational about that. You know, my parents were open about what we had, too, but we didn't have much, you know, and so they were open about the debts that we had and things. So there wasn't a lot of secretiveness going on. I think one of the big challenges is that many successful business owners and entrepreneurs are so busy building the business that they don't ever spend time teaching the family about it. And then they realize the family is not educated to be able to handle this. It would be a weapon in their hands, and so they have to shield them from it so they don't talk about it and because they don't think the kids can handle it. Right. I mean, there's bumpy moments when you're totally Open about stuff. Like, I remember my son, Xbox, telling one of his friends how much money I had or made or properties we have or whatever. I'm like, who are you talking to? He's like, oh, some guy I just met from Kansas. I'm like, no, no, no. But anyway, so being open about that, you have to do the work, right? You have to do the education side of it. But I'm certainly open. Like, my kids know definitely know some big, big setbacks that have happened in the last two or three years. And I think one of the things we want to talk about coming up here is like, your biggest lesson learned or takeaway or advice, right? And so I'll hold kind of what that lesson was until then. But what I'll say is they saw me go through the turmoil of losing, you know, seven figures in a scam. And I believe that God teaches us all these things, like, we go down this path intentionally to learn the lesson. And I was getting, frankly, a little cocky about, I can make money, you know, while I sleep or not. I wasn't really thinking that, but I was, like, very comfortable and. And I wasn't learning as much because when you're in stress, when you're learning the lessons, when you're moving the boulders that just showed up in front of you at an inconvenient time, you're learning from that stuff, right? You learn the most. Donald Trump said when asked, would you learn the good times and the bad times? He told the real estate guys, I don't learn anything in the good times. I learned everything in the bad times. And I would 100% agree with that. When you're coasting and everything's going well, you're not learning anything. And so I want to make sure my kids, I mean, I can't really hide it anyway, but they see the pain. They see that I really regret those decisions I made. And. But I also learned a lot of lessons, and I make sure they understand what those lessons are. You can teach kids the wrong lessons if you're not verbal about what they're seeing, right? Because they're watching everything, like, you know, do what I say, not what I do kind of thing. Right. But if you're not saying and doing, then they're just going to learn from what you do. And I've had my kids tell me stuff. My sons, I would never do that. One of them said I would never invest in real estate because he saw the pain associated with me making a mistake in real estate, Right. But I didn't take the time to verbally explain and show that pain is absolutely worth it. Right. Like it's, it pales in comparison to the alternatives. Like, I didn't take the time to explain that.

Yeah, that is very, very powerful. So what would you tell people? Is that the lesson that you would tell people? Or is there something different that you would say to people? Hey, if you're struggling right now or if you're on a journey, understand there's going to be these ups and downs. And what advice would you give them?

You know, there's a lot of lessons there, but the one I was really going to talk about is that really it all comes down to the character of the individuals that you're dealing with. Right? So all risk in investment deals and opportunities and businesses that you start up or whatever, everything you pursue, the risk is in the other people. It's really not in anything else. It's. You're betting on two things, other people that are involved and yourself. And you should always put the most possible amount on yourself and believe in that. So if possible, keep a positive mindset, like work on gratitude, work on abundance. I have this dear friend who was running a business and she was getting on an airplane 20 years ago when you couldn't, you know, stay connected on the airplane. And she got news on an on the telephone right beforehand that she was probably going to lose her business. And she had done a lot of work on personal growth. And so the entire flight, all the way across the country, she's staring at the blue seat and she's like, I came up with everything possible that I could think of positive about that blue seat in front of me because it kept my mind off everything else. She walked off the plane, got the follow up phone call and she was like, we can deal with it, we'll handle it, right? And it's because she could change her mindset, right? And so that's the one thing we can always control. And that's why I always say, bet on yourself. No matter what, bet on yourself and stay positive about your ability to stand up, dust yourself off and move forward. Right? And if you ever give up on that, if you're ever looking at anybody else, first of all, you're gonna be scared out of your wits and you're not gonna have what you need to move forward. So biggest lesson is always better on yourself. If at all possible, do everything possible to stay in a positive mindset, even if it means throwing away the work and going and doing your favorite thing in life and just putting it off. Till later do that. Because if you can approach it from positive mindset, then you're not in fear mode and you're not trying to cut your losses and do all kinds of crazy things. Right? You're moving forward the whole time. That's super important. And then I would just say that in my lessons learned of the big mistakes that I've made, it's been because of the character of the other individual. I'm not saying don't trust people. I'm saying find the right people to trust, spend hours and days around them. Before we started recording, I spent a lot of time around a good, mutual, close friend of ours. And then one of the primary reasons I did that was to know him in. In the fun times and the not fun times, when we're super tired and we're worn out and things didn't go, the people didn't show up to pick us up or the reservation's not there or whatever. Like, how does that person respond? Right. And once you know those people who do have good character, just stay tied to the hip, to those individuals and just protect yourself from everybody else.

I love that you just shared that story.

Nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions and information on the show are not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss.