The Secret Blueprint That Fixed My Finances

Just— all right, here we go. Hey everybody, Toby Potter here, the Unshakeable Investor, and today we are here with my good friend Rafael. Rafael, thank you, buddy, for jumping on this today and talking to us. Um, we've got this major event coming up here. The BTBY Tour is kicking off next Thursday the 12th here in Allen, Texas, And we have the distinct honor of having you be a speaker on our stage. And I want to kind of share with the listeners what to expect when they come see Raphael live and in person.

Well, let me tell you something. The distinct honor is me having the opportunity to be there with you all and be able just to share my story and kind of some things that have helped me succeed. And so it's just a blessing to be able to be a be a part of this. You guys are doing so many amazing things for people and getting them to reach levels that they never thought they'd be able to meet. And so I'm just honored to be able to talk about, um, how to take advantage of those opportunities when they come— when they come about, and to make sure that you're ready for them.

Yeah, appreciate it. Let's talk a little bit about your journey to Houston. Um, you came out of Kansas, right?

Correct. Correct. Yeah.

Talk about that real quick and don't give away the whole story, but let's, let's kind of give a little bit of a teaser on what in the world drove you to Houston.

Man, you know, opportunity, you know, and that's, that's the biggest thing. And just, I went to school, I'm originally from Topeka, Kansas, a kid from the East Side, Highland Park High School. And I was pretty good at sports. And so I had the opportunity to play sports. At the collegiate level, and I actually played in Texas. And just some things happened along the way that ended me up in Texas. My college roommate, my best— one of my best friends, David President, he got into coaching here, and I coached back home in Kansas for a while. And he called and was like, hey, man, I have an opportunity, you know, if you can take advantage of it. And so, you know, I was able to do so. And then me and him coached together for about 13 years before another opportunity allowed me to stop coaching and to do some things where I can also help other people. And so that's what I'm doing now. I still teach in the school. And so I'm able to connect with youth every single day. I still have that pleasure and honor to be a part of their lives and to speak positivity in their lives. But I'm also able to do it, you know, not just here, but beyond you know, here and around the world.

So if I remember right, it's been a while since I heard the story, but when the opportunity presented itself, you had a little bit of fear, a little bit of anxiety, a little bit of, uh, how do I know if this is the right move to up my family, up everything, move all the way down to South Texas? So share a little bit about that.

Well, you know, it, it was a, a time I just had my first daughter Riley and she was not even a year old. I was working, I was in a new position. So my— the way my pay was structured kind of shifted. I was making a little more money, but it wasn't coming as fast or as often as, you know, my position before. And, you know, so things were tight. You know, I was a brand new father. And so, you know, an opportunity came about where I was going to have to decide, you know, I have this amount of money. And I can use it to go try and take advantage of this opportunity and hope that it works and have the faith that it works. Or I can say all the stars aren't aligned and I'm going to wait till things are perfect and everything's in order for me to try to do something different, which you and I both know that never happens, right? And so I was able to take advantage of that. And then I was able to move here and be here in Texas, and I haven't looked back since.

So What was the, you know, this is what we're on when we're on stage on Thursday. The thing that we're talking about is the decisions that people make shape their lives. But the more important statement in that is, is the lives they want should shape their decisions. You had an opportunity, but you had fear. And, you know, everybody runs into that. We all, as business owners, as families, building and growing our families, we have to make decisions and we never know if it's the right decision. We never know what the absolute guarantee of outcome is. So how do you, when you're working with somebody, how do you help them mentally work through that to overcome that fear?

Well, the biggest thing is one, you know, I was raised in the church, Toby, and we were taught to walk by faith and not by sight. And you can't let your fear outweigh your faith. And, you know, those things are important. And so to get them to process those things, you just talk about, well, let's talk about a time where you did do something that you weren't sure of and it worked, right? You were extremely happy. You know, you, you couldn't be as proud of yourself because you like, man, I can't believe I just did that.

Yeah.

You know, and then let's talk about those times where you maybe had an opportunity, but you weren't sure, so you didn't take it. How'd you feel? Right. Everything you— everything you thought about after that was, well, I wonder if— so if we never take those chances, if we never take advantage of those opportunities, we'll never know if it's going to work or not. Right. And so more of us don't take advantage of those opportunities because we're not sure what will happen versus, you know what, I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity. And if it doesn't work, I'm going to learn from it, right? And I heard Kelvin Sampson, the coach of U of H, the other day say, you know, those W's and L's sometimes stands for when wisdom and learning and those things are important, you know, everything's not going to always work out. But what did you learn from it and how can you prevent that mistake from happening again if at all possible?

And I think that is the key. Element of everything that we do, Rafael, is it's not that this is a bad decision. The move that you're wanting to make, the fear that you're facing is real. But if you look at what— even if things go wrong, even if it doesn't work out correctly, it won't be— it won't be to a devastating part that you can't recover. As long as you plan and prepare and learn from it along the way. I think this is where most people screw up, is they, they overcome the fear, they jump into something, but they do it with their eyes closed, unprepared, uneducated. And then they say, see, I told you that wasn't the right move. And this is one of the most profound things that we'll be talking about on the stage Thursday and on the tour. Yes. For business people to grow, for individuals to grow, they have to overcome fears of the unknown, but be educated and prepared to maneuver along the way so it doesn't become catastrophic.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's why I'm so excited to get up there and not just be on the stage, but to learn and listen and hear and just talk to all you serial entrepreneurs and world-class speakers.

Yeah, well, I wouldn't go that far yet, but I don't know if you heard the news of our good buddy Dr. Reuben West was just appointed king.

Yes. Yes.

A remarkable milestone in his life. And everybody He's going to be here in person for this event. I'm so excited. You know, Rafael, I'm envious of you because you are related to Ruben. You've known him for a long time. You have such a, a huge heart and you have such an amazing support system. And I love that you're taking that and expanding that to everybody that you come in contact with. So if, if, if there was one thing that you're wanting the audience to take away from Thursday's event from you, what would that be?

I think that when I talk about opportunity and taking advantage of those opportunities, sometimes it's the opportunity to have a conversation with someone like yourself or someone like a Dr. Reuben West. Um, you know, it's just so important. You talked about, you know, when we have this fear and we finally overcome it, but we go in blindly, being able to have that person that you can contact and talk to that where you don't have to go in blind. Maybe they've done it before, and if they don't, maybe they have somebody, um, that has that they can connect you with. And so using your resource, and I think a lot of the times when we fail, we're so worried about wanting to do it on our own and wanting to show the world that I did this, right? And it's so much easier and it's so much more important to do it with, with someone else, right? To have them on your journey so they can also see the growth and, and help you get to that next level. You know, I'll talk about some different things, but just having those people that are going to, you know, be in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. And those things are extremely important because not everybody is going to be there for the, for the final destination. But, but their role isn't any less important, right, in that journey. And so those are the things I'm definitely excited to share from my experiences.

And you hit the nail right on the head. It's so much empowering when we can reach out to somebody just as a sounding board. Hey, I've got this opportunity. I've got this situation. I've got this problem. It doesn't matter how you want to label it. But when you can talk to somebody about it, so many things start happening. You start hearing yourself, you start hearing the situation, you start reflecting upon it, and now you're getting feedback. And this is what is so important that for what we're doing, uh, on this tour is letting business owners, letting individuals know that there's always somebody there willing and ready to offer advice, to lend an ear, and to help rationalize the decision. You had it when you made that move from Kansas to Houston. The person that you talked to didn't tell you what you needed to do. They told you what you needed to think about and how, how it would reflect on your life if you did it or if you didn't do it. And this is 90% of the time what people need to know is Hey, just if you don't do it, what happens? And if you do do it and it works out, what happens? And that's what removes the fear.

Yes. And the key is having a person that you can trust.

That's right.

Because, you know, like I know you go tell some of these goals and dreams you have to some people and they'll put their fear of it on you and talk you off of your next blessing and your next opportunity. So, yes. Yeah, I am so, so excited.

Well, and I'll tell you, uh, in one of my courses I teach that if, if your goals, your dreams aren't so big that you're not embarrassed to share it at dinner table, at a, like at Thanksgiving and all that, if, if you have no problem sitting at dinner with your friends and family at a Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, whatever, and you share your goals and dreams they're not big enough. Your goals and dreams have to be where your fear of them laughing at you is to let you know it's the right decision and the right trajectory. Yes. You're coming in Wednesday night, Thursday. When are you coming in?

Yes, I'll be— I'll be in Wednesday night. So I'll drive up after school on Wednesday. I'm going to— will my wife be able to come to the Yes. Okay.

Yes.

I just want— I told her I would ask and make sure I know it's an event and I didn't know how it works.

Bring her. You got— we got a hotel room for you. Everything's all set up. So.

Okay, great.

Come up. Bring your— bring your wife and, and then bring your A-game, buddy. Bring your A-game.

I'm ready. I'm ready.

We're going to light this up and then we're going to travel the world and share the message.

All right. I'm grateful to be a part of it.

All right, Rafael, have a great day, buddy. I'll talk to you in a week.

All right, sir. See you soon.

All right. Bye.