In this motivational monologue, Toby Potter reflects on the constant "noise" of global events—stock market swings, wars, economic uncertainty—and urges listeners to focus on internal control and mindset. He recounts his personal hardships, including losing everything in the 2008 crash, navigating the COVID‑19 loan market collapse, and recovering from a $522,163 hack, emphasizing that he survived each crisis by controlling his reactions. Potter describes building Global Integrity Finance, which has underwritten over 6,000 deals and funded more than $1 billion in loans over three decades. When COVID halted loan sales, he invented a new loan product to keep the business afloat. After the hack, he took decisive actions to recover the funds within a year. He then challenges the narrative that real‑estate investing is dead, explaining how, in the past year, he purchased roughly 300 multifamily units at 47 cents on the dollar, stabilizing them and generating about $8 million in net profit. Throughout, he promotes his book The Unshakeable Self, offering free copies, and calls listeners to adopt a resilient, proactive mindset rooted in personal belief, spiritual conviction, and self‑entitlement to success.
Chapters
Hey everybody, Toby Potter here. You know, I was coming into the office today. I've got about a 30-40 minute drive in and, you know, I was reflecting on all that's going on today, all that's going on in the real estate industry, all that's going on in society with the world, the economy, you know, the noise. And so many of us— I, I work with a lot of people, I coach a lot of people. I've been in this industry now, uh, for over 30 years. I have, uh, coached, worked with over 7,000 people. And in the last 2 or 3 years, we have gotten so wrapped up in the noise And it's just, it's irritating and it's frustrating. We're so worried about what's going on around us that we forget about what's going on inside of us. And so one of the things that I wanted to reflect this morning and one of the things that I needed to share with everybody is you have to stop listening to the noise outside of you. You can't control it. You can't control the stock market. You can't control what's going on in Ukraine or Russia or Israel. You can't control it. Yes, it has an effect on us, but you can't control it. So why worry about it? Why stress about it? Why get wrapped up in it? What you need to do is you need to go back and realize what if— what if everything was going perfect? What if there was no war? What if the economy was amazing? What if real estate was just rocking and rolling? What would you do then? Who would you become? What would you do each and every day? And then realize and recognize you still have the ability to do that. See, I wrote this book called The Unshakeable Self solely because of all the things that I've been through. Let's see. So I've been through the 2008 crash, lost it all, lost it all to the degree that I had to borrow money from a family member to buy my kids Christmas presents. I didn't have to borrow it. It was, it was a gift from him. I've lost it all to the degree that I didn't know where gas money was coming from to get to the next job. Lost it all and rebuilt it. Rebuilt it simply because I believed in me. I knew I couldn't control all that. I knew that that was out of my control. But there's one thing that I could what I could control, and that was me. I could control the way I saw things, the way I felt. And I built it and grew it and achieved. And then I started this company, Global Integrity Finance, and started with that same passion, that same zeal, that same knowledge that I am entitled to an amazing life. I'm entitled to it. So are you. I built it so that I could achieve those things. And so with that mindset, knowing and believing that there was nothing that I couldn't achieve as long as I firmly believed and I worked hard each and every day, I built this company. And in the last 10 years, we've underwritten over 6,000 deals. We funded in the last 30 years over $1 billion in loans. But see, then COVID hits in 2020, and I had $8.7 million in loans that I had issued that I needed to sell off. And the person that was— the company that was supposed to buy those said, we're not buying loans anymore because of COVID and the market is going to go into turmoil, and all this is going to go upside down. I'm like, that— I That's $9 million of my money I need back. And I could have let that devastate me and I didn't. I put my head on and I started thinking, started working through something I couldn't control. Was that, was COVID, was the market, was the stock market, was the capital markets. I couldn't control that, but I could control me. And so I revamped and came up with a new way to write loans, a new product, a new program, and built it back up and got through that turmoil. And then one year later, we got hacked and half a million dollars, $522,163 got removed from our account from a hacker. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me. I made it through the 2008, I made it through COVID, and now you want to steal half a million dollars of my money? What else? And we rebounded from that because I couldn't control it. All I could do was fix it, put actions in, in place to get it back. It took 12 months to get that money back. But we didn't just sit around for 12 months and wait. We took action. We kept plugging forward. And then things were doing really well. And then the interest rates shot up and all this going on in the economy and the world with wars, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, all this noise. And everybody's, oh my gosh, we gotta stop. We gotta, we gotta, we gotta wait and see what's gonna go on. I'm not gonna invest in real estate because real estate's unstable right now. And I've heard so many people, it cracks me up. Real estate's dead. We're gonna get outta real estate. No, it's not. The only thing dead is your mindset. Because last year alone, I set out to achieve a goal of buying property when nobody was buying property, when everybody was dumping property. I wanted to buy property. I set a plan in place and I believed I could achieve it. And we set a goal, we set a target, and we went after it. And inside 12 months, I bought almost 300 units at 47 cents on the dollar and converted those into operational multifamily units that are almost fully stabilized today with a net profit of almost $8 million. So don't tell me real estate's dead. I'm gonna tell you your thinking process is dead. Your mindset is dead. Just because it's not easy doesn't make it dead. Just because it's different than it was doesn't make it dead. The thing that's changed is your ability to see opportunities and to capitalize them. Those gurus who say real estate's dead, I've listened to them and they said, you know what, when I got into this, I didn't know anything. I didn't have anything, but I figured it out. I went after it. I had a vision, had a goal, had a dream, and I went after it and I achieved it with no knowledge, no history, no money. And I'm like, it's the same today. It's just a different mindset. See, we get so caught up in the noise that's going on around us that we forget about the power that's within us. We forget about the vision, the passion, the zeal that got us to where we're at. And we just stop. Oh shit, there's a roadblock. What do I do now? I stay here, turn around, I go backwards? No, you pivot. You change your vision. You change your mindset and you adapt and you overcome and you achieve because there's the same fire still within you to achieve. There's still the same passion within you to achieve. You just forgot about it. You got so wrapped up in everything going around you that you forgot about who you are, the gifts you have, the talents you have, and the power you have to achieve anything you want. You forgot about it. You let everything outside of you influence you. I'm here to tell you, you gotta stop right here, right now. Because if you want more, if you want to become more, if you want to have the things that are entitled to you, and I'm not the guy that's going to ever promote government entitlement. I will make that crystal clear, but I am the guy that's going to tell you, you are entitled to an amazing, wonderful life. Jeremiah 29:11 says, I know the plans I have for you. The plans to prosper, not to hurt or harm. See, we are destined to have great things. We are destined to have a fulfilled life. We are destined to transform, to live the American dream, to live the, the godly dream. But see, you have to get up and go get it. Nobody's going to give it to you. That's a government entitlement. The right entitlement, your entitlement, is you getting up. Get rid of the noise around you. Start listening to the noise within you and light that fire and go get it. Be so inspired. Be so fed up with what's going on and say, I want more. I want to become more. I'm going to do more because it's my God-given right. I'll support you 100%. I will teach you. I'll show you. If you have not gotten this book, and I'm not here to sell this book. If you are listening to this and you want this book and you won't pay for it, you just send me an address. I will ship it to you for free because see, this is so powerful. This transforms lives. And that's what's important to me. I'm not here to sell books. It's like $6, $7. I can't remember. But I guarantee you the change that it will make in you is generational. It's a legacy. And that's what's so important. Understanding the power within you to understand how to think correctly, spiritually, mentally, physically, to achieve each and everything that you are destined to have. That's within you. Nobody can take that away from you and nobody's going to do it for you. Doesn't matter what's going on in Ukraine. What's going on in Russia? What's going on in the stock market? What really matters is what's going on within you. Take this moment this morning and just reflect. Take this moment this morning and just think about— look at your spouse, look at your children. Is this everything they deserve? Is this everything when you were a kid? When you were in high school, when you were in college, was this the life that you thought you were going to get and have today? If it is, congratulations, you are 1% of 1%. For the rest of you, stop letting the noise around you impact the fire within you. If you have more questions, if you want to learn more, you want to become more, Send me a message. I'm here for you. Have a great day.
