From a Chicago Flat with No Hot Water to Million Dollar Success with Entrepreneur Bill Orender

I'm back with the Duke of Dallas, Bill Arender, a million dollar earner forever, long since became financially independent. The guy that really got me thinking on the exact right tracks early in my career that allowed me to, to get into, to focus on the right things and to get, you know, start to think strategically, start to think in terms of compounding distribution, not just doing things myself. Really owe him a debt I can never repay. And so. Welcome back, Bill.

Thank you, Larry.

I can't wait to get going on this one.

Me either. I'm ready.

Let's go. Let's talk about your launch in your life because we all start and we're in our family. In my book Syria Winter, I talk about we all grow up in a cocoon, some kind of hothouse environment of our family, our relatives or whatever, maybe just a few people. It may be a bigger. But it's a cocoon. There's a mindset. Sometimes it's, you know, most of the time it's neutral. Sometimes it's like super invigorating and positive, but sometimes it's poisonous, you know, and it's never perfect. Let's just say that it's never perfect, but we grow up in that hearing adults talk about this, that and the other being treated certain ways by adults. And so you grew up in your cocoon, you grew up in your environment. And so where were. When do you start thinking about Bill? You know, I've had people on here, they said, like at 5 years old, I looked at my parents and I noticed, I started noticing at six years old, at eight years old, I don't think I was that perceptive that early in the game, but I think it took me a little longer. But you start noticing negatives and you start noticing things you like, you know, right, right from the time you're born, you start noticing things you like and things you don't like. So as you moved up, where would you decide? Because there's a lot of people right now say, you know, I want to be financially independent or I want to be, I want to supercharge my life. I just know I got more in me and I know I got to know. It starts with how I'm thinking. And the thing is, when you're thinking bad, you don't know you're thinking bad because everybody around you thinks the same way. But if you're going to break out of the clutches, the restriction, the ideas that bully you into submission and holding back from breaking out of that thing, you got to start, you got to have A crack that can get some lights in there. And that starts with how you think and look at things. So what, what would you say? How did that get going with you?

Television. And I mean that in a good way. I was born on the south side of Chicago. And my mom and dad were both factory workers. And until 10 years old, I lived in an apartment and it's called a cold water flat. And we had an apartment that shared a commode with the apartment behind us. This is where we lived on the second floor. So we had to go to bathroom. We put the latch on so they couldn't come in. And you finished your business, you unlatched it and you came back in. Cold water flat means there's no hot water running, you have to heat it up. And every day we would take sponge baths with. My mother would give us sponge baths over the kitchen sink, you know, just wash us down. My dad was shower at work. He worked literally blue collar hard labor, making an hourly wage. And once a Saturday night we had this galvanized tub. My mother would put hot water in it, my sister take a bath, put more hot water, I take a bath and then she take a bath and then she dumped water out until I was 10 years old. And I kept thinking there's, you know, this is the way people live. And then I was probably nine years old, we got a television and black and white, you know, only three channels. And you remember the old test thing they had test pattern. They had nobody in neighborhood had a TV and they always broke. And I saw, I didn't know it wasn't real. I saw these nice homes, I saw these nice cars, I saw these nice places to travel. And I thought, why don't we live like that? That got the idea going that there's a better life out there. And then, and I was, interestingly, I did not like authority over me. You know, most people don't like a father figure authority or mother figure authority. I didn't like financial authority. I didn't like anyone holding my income and how much money I had over me. And so I remember at age 10 or 11, I started doing puppet shows and charging, you know, nickel or so. And I always had money, always had money because I didn't want to have to go to my parents, the financial authorities to get money. And so when I was 11, I got my first paper out. And I had a paper out until I was almost 18 years old. And then we finally moved to a house when I was and had my own room for the first time. My sister and I slept in our same room for, you know, in a bunk bed. And I always liked having my own money. I liked it. And so. But all I was bred to do was be a worker bee. So I went to high school, of course, and struggled through high school. There's 300 kids in my graduating class. I was number 150 and my best friend number 151. So we both figured out we were hanging around the wrong people. Still are friends to this day, by the way, 60 some years later. And so right after high school I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I went to college immediately, flunked out and got a job working in a factory and laborer like my dad was. And my mom worked at Johnson and Johnson amazed gauze pads. And so went back to tried college again, flunked out again and was so desperate. Larry, funking out does not do anything good for your self esteem. I just could not force myself to study. Which word translation said I could not force myself to work. I could not the activity, I just couldn't do it. I had good intentions. I want to study. I want, like a lot of people, they want to work, they just can't. And we thought, well just go to work, we'll just study. I couldn't do it. People had no understanding when you just can't do something. And so I remember my mom and I went downtown to Chicago, she was going to the doctor and I went to a Carson Perry Scott, which is no longer there anymore, downtown Chicago. And we passed by the book section. I said, here I am, 19 years old, flunk out, making $2.34 an hour, no self esteem, had a girlfriend whose brother was smart, wanted to be an engineer and I had to compete with that. And I got a book. I looked around and said my problem is I don't know how to study. So I picked up a book, it was kind of like how to Study. And I couldn't wait to read it because I wanted to know how to fix my problem. And I opened up the book, Larry, and the first chapter said, you don't have a study problem, you have a goal problem. G O A L I had never set goals in my life. I just winged it. And I thought, I thought life was like that. If you're smart, you're successful, if you're talented, you're successful. And you are, you aren't. That's just your lot in life, you know, pick it. It's just your lot in life. And so I read it and that's when the first time in my life, I actually started setting goals as to what I wanted to accomplish from a grade standpoint. I never, when I walked into a class, Larry, I never even entered my mind, what grade do I want to get in this class? Never. I just went to class. Whatever grade I got, I got. And then it said, how many hours a day do you plan to study to get that grade? Never thought that about that. So I set up some goals. I set up a plan, I'm going to study so many hours a day. And I had a checklist and I started getting decent grades. So I went to full time college where I met Carol. And you've heard me say this, that when we got engaged, she had flunked out of college and we had concerns about a relationship because I wasn't that smart, she wasn't that smart. I was worried about our children. We would have idiots for children. And I like right now that all my kids, none of them flunked out of college. And so when I went to work for a steel company, again, I had financial authority over me. I did not like authority. Financial authority. I liked authority. I didn't mind that, but I didn't want any financial authority over me. And I was locked in and worked for a steel company. And no matter what I did, I got paid like everybody else. And what the steel workers union negotiated for a contract, that's my pay raise. And so that one thing led to another. And of course, if you don't have any money, if you don't have any financial goals, which I didn't have any financial goals at that time because I, I set goals for college, but not goals for finances. I started building up credit card debt and that was the way of life. I got what I wanted like most people, borrowing because you know you don't have the money, just borrow it. And I started having. Larry. Something called a victim's mentality. You mentioned the word victim. There's a huge problem out there with victimhood where if you ever think you're a victim, you can never make it financially. You're never going to be financially successful because that's your loser's lamp. I'm not successful because someone did me wrong. I'm not successful because I was born on the wrong side of the track. I'm not successful because I'm not that smart. I'm not successful because. And whatever the reason is that they didn't teach me in college, right? If you ever think you're a victim, you can never make it, it's only when you abolish those thinking and thinking, nothing can hold me back because there's somebody like me, with my background that made it. And I'm going to be one of those people. You take a look at America today, we have a victimhood mentality and we even have people that are prying and encouraging people to say, you're a victim. Don't you know that you can't make it? You're a victim. And they buy into that. And so I read a book called how to Think Big, the Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz. That was kind of my first introduction to To Thinking Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz, who's from Atlanta, by the way.

Such a great title. Such a great title it is, and.

A great book too. That's still a standard. And that led me to a book called Think and Grow Rich. And now my mindset was starting to be formulated about you get what you think. And I started setting financial goals. It's interesting, when you set financial goals, the opportunities come along that you never would have. We got a lot of people saying no to opportunity in life because they don't have any financial goals of financial independence. Like we know that either you are decided to be financially independent or you decided to be financially dependent. There's no two ways about it. And that led me to the financial services industry that you're aware of, and those books served me. And I started becoming an avid financial goal setter. And within nine years of joining the financial services company, I became a cash millionaire because that's what I wanted. I set a goal of being a cash millionaire by my 40th birthday. And by my 38th birthday, I was a cash millionaire. And the complaint I have is if I only realized it really, really, really worked, I would have set a bigger goal. And I made a lot of mistakes by not thinking big enough. As you know, we have a friend, you know, a man named Bo Adams. Bo Adams is a great friend of mine and yours. And he always said, it doesn't pay to think big. It only pays big if you think small. Because when you think small, you're paying a heavy price for thinking small. Larry, in my life, most of the time I wasn't even thinking. I truly was like in class showing up. Most people go to work every day, they're not thinking, where do I want to be financially? And. And so I achieved financial independence because my early upbringing realized that my parents way, my way, the neighborhood's way, the college way, wasn't working. And I Desperately wanted to be released from financial authority in my life. I didn't want anybody holding a financial thumb on me ever. That's why I've made some decisions regarding government. I don't want government telling me what to do. I don't want a boss telling me what to do and how much money I can make. And so that's why I chose the path of entrepreneurship and financial independence.

And when you talk about the victim mentality and the limitations of that, we all feel victimized by life. I mean, it never stops. You know, it's just like. But when you have that, things happen, they put restrictions on you. And if you look at it the right way, it's to send you in another direction or to cause you to work harder or cause you to stand up taller. Sometimes you just need to get off your butt and fight, you know, and sometimes you won't wake up and do that until life just pushes you back, pushes you back, pushes you back. And you and your victimhood, you know, no, no, you know, I just can't do this. You're backing and then your back's to the wall. It's like, I'm going to die if I don't. You know, it's like the people who depend on me are not going to eat. And there's nothing like Willie. I mean, Coach Hayes from Ohio State had this thing. Yeah. Woody said there's nothing like, nothing so energizing as getting your ass kicked. And, you know, seeing you see that in sports all the time, I mean, they get destroyed 45 to 6 on the football field or they get blown out by 30 or 40 points and then, you know, it's like wake up call, you know, and the teams come back and then they sometimes win championships. It's just if you drift, sooner or later your butt is going to bounce off the bottom. And the correct way of looking at this thing is like, I'm being sent a message I'm doing things wrong.

Or.

I need to learn something or I need to make an adjustment. And sometimes it's where you live, sometimes it's who your friends are, sometimes it's what industry you're in. Sometimes it's attitudes and concepts you've been operating from that you think are just fine. And so if you look at it the right way and it's easier to do that if you have goals, isn't it?

You're right, Larry. And you know, Woody Hayes would say, you get your butt kicked. But you know, the victimhood person said, yeah, well, it was the guy didn't block. And I don't have the right coaching and I don't have the right equipment. If I'd been at another school, if my father had been 6 foot 7 and my mother 6ft tall, I could have played in the NBA or if they had been smarter or prettier or something, I would be more successful. Larry, what life tells you you must take personal responsibility for your life. There is nobody else. There's no cavalry coming to the rescue. There's no government coming to the rescue. There's no president coming to the rescue. There's no legislator coming to the rescue. There's not even. I couldn't even get my wife to come to my rescue. I was hoping she'd go out and get a job so I didn't have to work as hard. But no, she refused. So if my wife had worked, I would have been better off financially, but she wouldn't do it. So I finally had to say, I guess I gotta do it. And you're right. You finally come to the realization to come to Jesus meeting that I have to take personal responsibility for my life, my health, my spiritual life, everything. It's on me, not anybody else.

And you said to kind of wrap this segment up, you know, because the thing is, like, people wonder, what do you do? What do you do? Well, you do the things you know to do and you do the first steps and you get going, you know, start moving, you know, to turn things around, you know, if you want to, like, yeah, all of this great bill, but what do I do? Well, you know, get going with what you already know to do and that's gonna elevate you to where you can see what the next steps need to be. But, you know, you work with me and we spent a lot of time putting out this book together and I'll get to put. We'll have the title in the credits and all about, but it's like 24 different aspects of how you found your way to the top. And we kind of talked through it on there. But one of the things that really fits this is you said I'm not good enough to do what I want to do today, but it doesn't mean I might not be good enough tomorrow or next month or something. And so the whole idea that I can get better and is absolutely life changing. And talk about that. Did I say that right?

Yes. You know, one author said, success is the progressive realization of worthwhile goals. The progressive. You're always working to get better. You know, I believe strongly you got to Be content. But you'll never be satisfied because if you're ever satisfied, you stop trying to get better. And we all have in us a better life that we want to have. And that's why I believe in my spirituality. I believe in my Savior because he will help me get my life better. He will encourage me, he will direct me, he will guide me, he will train me, he will teach me how to get, make my life better. And at the end of the day, Larry, we're supposed to be working daily and hourly to make our lives better like you have and I have. And ultimately, when you look back in your life, as Steven Jobs says, you see the dots all connect. It's amazing. All the dots always connect. If you don't give up, if you don't back off. Like a friend of ours, Carlos Temple, said, people don't quit, they just settle. And the worst thing you can ever do is be a settler. And so you're right.

And the thing is that again, all of these are things happening in your mind. But you start understanding things and then when you start, you know, life pressures you to like give up or to make a bad decision. That thought goes into your mind that has already been organized for success. And it immediately, your subconscious says, no, we can't do that because of this, this, this. And it doesn't become like this fruitless, hopeless thing of I'm going to self discipline myself to work hard and not give up and not quit. No, it becomes a rational type thing. You know, you've organized your mind. You've put the correct structure in your mind about how to react in certain situations and things about Vic that would drive you to quitting or victimhood or settling. And it's like, because it all starts with the next move you make. You know, it's like chess. It's all dependent on what's the next move you make. And you're not going to win the chess match if you don't have all of these strategies and this experience in your head. If you're up against, you know, life is complex. That's the thing. Life is complex. And the thing that you and I have against all these seeming experts that have never done anything, who write books on winning is they try and simplify it. Beyond which the key is about making it simpler. Keep it simple, stupid, but don't make it simpler than it actually needs to be because then you're going to fall apart. You simplify it to the minimum, but you go beyond that. And what happens is these guys until you do Something you don't know how complex each one of these little concepts we're talking about can be. But once you get the understanding, the way you get the understanding is go through it yourself and win and overcome it. And or what accelerates that and what we're trying to do with these. You have taken time out to share these insights. It's helped people collapse timeframes and getting it clear in their mind the refinements so they can deal with the complexities. There's all these little. The life is gonna feed you a lot of tricky ways to get you to quit, to start feeling like a victim or to start go wrong. And a lot of that is these things, messages are sent in there to keep you from getting arrogant, you know, to kind of keep you balanced. You don't want to feel like a victim, but you don't want to be too arrogant. You know, you got to be right frame of mind. And sometimes those things happen to kind of knock you. You're getting a little full of yourself. Like you and I were, you know, sharing, you know, I was telling you I just filled the milk all down through the drawers two days ago. It's like I got too big of a hurry. It's like, slow down, big boy. And I won't tell you about the two times I got pulled over in a two hour period driving to Colorado Springs last week. And as the state trooper was standing up outside my window on the second time, I thought, because usually all's in my mind is am I going to get a ticket or not? You know, or how much will he do? But I started looking out there, said like, I think God is sending me a message. I need to make an adjustment in my thinking, my programming.

You don't need to make any new friends that quick.

Yeah, you know, he. Because he's very nice, very calm and you know, very concerned, you know, sir, he said, I almost. Car almost. It was an icy road, snow and this, that the other, and all the animals were out. You know, I was taking pictures, but I was not off the road enough. I didn't pull, you know. So he said, I almost got killed here, he said two days ago with a car sliding. And he said, you know, sir, I'm just trying to. And I thought I should actually listen to him.

Brilliant. Self responsibility. Wow.

Maybe it's more than whether or not I got a ticket. And so sometimes these things happen to us and it's to save us, you know, from the thing. But sometimes it happens to us to like a right cross when you're, you know, you're in a fight and you got your hands low, and, you know, you're concentrating on what you're going to do, but you've dropped your hands. You know, that's what they're always telling the fighter. Up, hands up, hands up. But it's so easy to drop your hands in a fight, and then you get that crushing right hook and to your jaw. You're like, okay, I need to keep my hands up so I could block that roundhouse. And so sometimes. But when these things happen, don't immediately, you know, if you say that's going to be for my good.

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it.

That's not there to knock me out. I need to get a lesson from that and make an adjustment that puts you in a position to start doing more of the right things and moving up the ladder. And I'd like to talk to you next time about that and what that means and how you, you know, this whole thing of learning how to work and learning how to get yourself to do. Like Virginia Carter had the. The phrase that something to do with. And Virginia was the one who brought you into the business and trained you. But it's like doing the things that other people won't do. Winners do the things that other people won't do. And so how do winners get themselves to do those things? Well, it starts with what we've been talking about here. You don't buy the lie of victimhood, you know, you don't buy the lie that just because I don't know how to do it today, I can't learn how to do it tomorrow. And you don't fall for that and just kind of go back to the fetal position. You ask questions, you make adjustments in your mind, and you start moving forward, at least doing the next step that you know you need to do. And so staying on track from that allows you to separate yourself. And so we're going to dig into that, hopefully in the next episode and see how that paid off for you in your life as you kind of climb the ladder. So thanks so much, Bill. This has been great.