Episode 84: Making the Most of Your Most Valuable Asset with Million Dollar Earner Travis Watts

Welcome to this episode of the Million Dollar Mastermind. I'm Larry Weidell, and let's get started. Okay, I'm back with Travis Watts. Travis is director of investor relations at Ashcroft Capital. He shared some of his background with us before and how he navigated his way up the ladder in the investment world. And so, Travis, talk to me about why, you know, the idea of being. Having passive income and not having to go out there, you know, having an income stream coming in that doesn't depend on what you happen to do today, this week or next week, you know, it's a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Oh, it totally is. It totally is. Game changer. And that's, that's my passion, is showing people firsthand what that can look like and why that's worth the pursuit.

And what about how did that first light your fuse? You know, you talked about how you realized if, you know, you had some general idea about, you know, if you sold everything. You talked about the light bulb moment where you realized if I sold everything out, I put it in there that the returns I could get would far exceed what I'm doing now. And I'm working now, 100 hour work week, so I don't have a choice. But I bet now you see it a whole lot clearer. And how about explain that picture to us.

Sure. Yeah, absolutely. And let me start with just a quick story. There was a very inspiring story that was kind of a game changer for me mentally. And there was a, there was a lady, this is back in, I want to say, like 2007, eight, nine, somewhere in there. Her name was Ronnie Ware. And so she was. She worked with terminally ill patients and, you know, folks living out their last days in life, and she decided to conduct a survey on their top regrets in life. And, you know, to make a long story short, the top two regrets were I didn't spend enough time with my friends and family, and I never pursued my dreams and aspirations. And that really set home with me. And I thought, you know, really what all this is about is our time. My time, the most valuable asset, the thing you can't get back, the thing you can't, you know, buy more of. So this idea of passive investing, as you said, I mean, you're making money when you sleep, you're making money when you're awake, but the fact is you don't have to physically work or trade your time to have it. And so I thought, okay, well, this is powerful because, you know, when you get to the point where you have More passive income that is exceeding your lifestyle expenses. You then have a certain freedom comes over. I like to call that time freedom. And so that's kind of the ability to do what you want when you want as much as you want with your time. And so everybody is different here, right? Some people want to be more charitable and give back more, Some people want to travel more. Some people just want more time with family. Some folks would love to be able to be able to switch careers, say, I'm really not passionate about what I do now. Let me learn and try something else. And it's not going to be about the money. It's going to be about the experience. It's going to be about the personal growth and development that comes with it. So that's my message is, you know, imagine having that time freedom. What would you choose to do with your time if the job wasn't in the way? And so that. That was kind of my light bulb moment, you know, from a high level and something that really sat with me.

And so. But yet, you know, you still have a job, you know, so there you go, kind of.

Yeah, yeah.

And so talk about that. I mean, you still have your investments and your portfolio of your own, but, you know, you're still working, so there's got to be a tie in there some way.

Yeah, good point, and thank you for bringing it up. So the point is this. It's not about retirement per se, unless you want it to be about that. I mean, maybe if you're in your 50s, 60s, 70s, whatever, maybe retirement is the goal. You want the absence of work, I get it. But, you know, I'm a younger guy. I'm in my 30s. So no, I don't want to just play the rest of my life out on the golf course or go sit on the beach until my 80s, you know, so I still want to work on projects and things that I'm passionate about. So what happened was this. I eventually came to the conclusion that since I have a passion for this, why don't I partner up with a firm that a I'm an investor with, that I. That I believe in myself. I put my money where my mouth is and I can leverage that brand and that access to investors and individuals and on the marketing side and I can get out there and I can go to conferences and I can be a speaker and I can do podcasts and I can do all these things to reach more people, to be able to give back and help paint this picture like we're doing now. And that's really what I want to be doing at this very moment in life. And that's why I so called have a job. I don't necessarily see it that way, but I get it, I get the description there, but really it's just a total alignment of interest. It's. I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I'm reaching people to spread the education around this industry of passive investing.

Well, since you've got past the problem of working around the clock and you've got the financial side covered, a lot of people will get the financial, you know, they don't even have financial problems, will go out there and run out of gas. You know, they run out of inspiration, they run out of new projects. And that's why I called my book serial winner. Because I tell you, when you run out of gas, when you run out of inspiration and something new to focus on and get excited about, you're gonna die. You know, you're gonna, you're gonna, your, your finance, you're gonna be. First of all, you're going to go stale, you're going to go bored, you're going to become a troublemaker because you're going to be idle and sticking your nose in other people's business. You're going to get grumpy. I used to have a thing about why billionaires bitch. And it's because most of them are incredibly brilliant, otherwise they wouldn't become billionaire. But they've sold a lot of times they've sold out their position or retired and, and they've got this brilliant brain whirling around on their shoulders and no place to apply what they know. So everywhere they go, they know how things can be better. They see things most people will never see. And they instantly know this could be better. This could be better. This is how you get double production here. This could how you make this a more fun experience. This is, open this room up, you know, and like you as a working in homes have the eye of somebody knows how to improve properties. You know, you go into a property, I'm sure you instantly you're saying now we need to put windows in here, we need to take that out there, widen the hall and get rid of that bedroom. And but you know, but it's like why billionaires bitch. They have all this brains and experience but they got no place to apply it. And it's the same way with everybody. When you run out of a next frontier, you know, you don't need to be Don Quixote chasing windmills, just fantasies. But there's a lot of good, a lot of fun that you can have after you have your first success and the pressures off, you know, you've got, you know, the, the gun to your head of paying your bills is long since been removed. And, you know, you bought a few things, you got a good home, you've got, got taken care of your family, but there's a whole lot of world out there that's exciting that if you keep your, if you run through that finish line and keep your eyes open every time you win. It's my, my premise, every time you win, you open the door to opportunities that you never knew were out there because you had never won like that before, you know. And so what are some of the things that's opened up to you that's just mind blowing to you that you're able to do now because of the success you've had?

Sure, yeah. It's. For me, it's, you know, I don't desire, I guess a lot of people desire kind of the bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger. And for me, it's like you said, when you have, and it's all individual, but when you have enough, then it allows you to kind of open your mind and to kind of, for me, some of the smaller stuff, whether that means just a meditation or watching a sunset or just taking a small day trip or a weekend trip or whatever. So my wife and I, we love to travel. We do a lot of world travel. At least we did before this COVID lockdown. All this stuff. And you know, just experiencing other cultures. Right. Is just so humbling. I mean, it's so. I love the perspective and, you know, it just, it brings a lot of gratitude and just appreciation for what we all have. And so it's just, it's that and it's giving back to others something I was really focused for the last 10 years on. You know, I valued significance, I valued growth, you know, all this kind of stuff as my power needs as a human. But I'm shifting that and I have been now into more like connection, love, giving back, being, you know, contribution. And that's kind of where I'm at right now is I just really want to inspire and help others just along their path. It's why I do these calls that I do. They're not paid calls. And as I said, this is now, you know, we're talking mid, you know, 2020. You know, ask me in five or 10 years, I'm sure it'll change. But the beauty is that it allows you the passive investor, the financially free individual, to start pursuing creative avenues, things that, and you got to try stuff, you know, not everything works out. But you know, I think that you can find a lot about yourself and grow a lot in this process just by having the ability to do so. And unfortunately, as you know, so many people never get there, you know, never have that opportunity.

Thanks so much, Travis, and I appreciate those insights on making the most use of your most valuable asset, which is your time. And I can't wait to get together with you again in the future. I can't wait to see how your future unfolds because I know you're on track to do a lot of great things. So thanks so much.

Thank you, Larry. I appreciate it.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Million Dollar Mastermind with me, Larry Wydell. If I've helped you in any way, leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. For more information like this, listen to our other Million Dollar Mastermind episodes and check out my Wydell Academy YouTube channel and visit us on widelonwinning.com I'm the million Dollar Mastermind. And until next time, go, go, go.