How I became a millionaire in my 20s lol

All right, so how did I become a millionaire at 26 coming from a third world country, poor third world country, being born to poor parents? I want to shoot this video to show you that no matter where you're born or who you're born from, poor family, whatever, you can make it, right? And so this is an interesting question because everybody you ask how they became a millionaire is going to probably give a different answer. And the reason is because they're in different businesses, right? But I think that the foundation for the path to success is more or less the same for everybody. And what I want to get into today is this foundation and also what business am I in, what business did I decide to venture in, right? Maybe hopefully this video can generate some value. And so Yeah, so the foundation, man. Um, the foundation is interesting because since the beginning, I always used to see videos of people talking about mindset, self-development, whatever. And I was— I would also— I was— I would always skip ahead, right? No, just give me the— just give me the sauce, just give me the business, just give me the buttons to press to print money, you know what I mean? And What's funny is now that I'm a millionaire, I understand why they used to start with the foundation, with mindset, with philosophy, right? By the way, today we're going to talk about two things that were the catalysts to change my life, which is number one, philosophy, number two, business leverage. I'm gonna explain to you the two things. And the funny thing is, right, I always used to think that these mindset guys were I mean, like, that's bullshit. I don't need mindset, I need the buttons to press to make money, man. Just give it to me, you know. And, but today I understand, right? And actually, it was after watching a 4-hour video seminar from Jim Rohn that he did in the 1990s, I think. Um, 5 years later, after watching that seminar, I became a millionaire. And Jim Rohn helped change my, change my life because He started with philosophy, right? And I'ma explain to you what is philosophy. Don't skip ahead to the business leverage thing because really, really, really, really, the philosophy is the most important thing. That's why it's the first thing. That's why it's the foundation. And if you don't know Jim Rohn, super famous entrepreneur, he passed away already, right? But super famous entrepreneur, multimillionaire. And, uh, he's— he, uh, used to do a bunch of seminars on self-development, on how to make money, how to become rich by 40, 30 if you're extra bright, much sooner if you find a unique opportunity. And so I watched that video, um, a little over 5 years ago, and I found a unique opportunity, and I became a millionaire 5 years later. Maybe it won't take you 5 years because, you know, 5 years ago there wasn't that much information on the internet. It's crazy how 5 years to become a millionaire seems long nowadays, right, in 2024, because the internet is so insane. It gives you so much leverage. Imagine, like, you— that would be something impossible to do 100 years ago, right? To become a mil— to become a millionaire in 5 years 100 years ago, that would be insane. Even adjusting for inflation, which would be like, I don't know, $100,000 or $200,000 100 years ago, um, you would have to work like your whole entire life if you come from a poor country and a poor family, like, to, to get like $100,000 or $200,000. And nowadays it's insane. You can get there in like— you can get there. I did it in 5 years. But I think with the information there's available now on the internet, if you actually do the changes in your philosophy and you actually change and you actually grow and you actually do the things that you're supposed to do, you can do it maybe in like 2, 3 years, maybe even sooner. But anyways, so philosophy. You probably heard of Tai Lopez, right? Tai Lopez was that guy here in my garage, right? Yeah, maybe the young, the young guys right now might not know him, but anyways, Tai Lopez was an OG of the internet. Tai's ad, which was here in my garage, was the first video that I've ever watched that planted a seed in my mind that it's possible to change, right? That it's possible to grow, it's possible to develop, it's possible to make money, it's possible to change your life no matter where you're from. And so I started following Tai after that video, you know, a couple years in following him, whatever. And in one of his live streams on Instagram that he used to do back in the day He said— he, he talked about this guy named Jim Rohn and about a seminar that he has on YouTube, which is a free seminar, by the way, called Best Life Ever on YouTube. It's still free, it's still up there, you can watch it. And so I watched that seminar by Jim Rohn, which is a 4-hour-long seminar called Best Life Ever. 5 years later, I became a millionaire. It's insane. It's insanely good. And The first thing that Jim Rohn talks about there is philosophy. And it was only when I changed my philosophy was that I was able to become a millionaire, right? And what is philosophy, you might be asking, right? Philosophy is everything you've learned from the moment you were born, from your parents, from teachers, from, you know, your school friends. From family. Everything you've learned from the moment you were born until today helps form your philosophy, what you believe in, what you think is true, the express— the expressions you use, the words you use, your accent, right? If you're born in Louisiana versus New York, you have a different accent. And all of this is formed— all of this helps form your philosophy which is, you know, what you think, the opinions you have of things, of people, of situations, your political affiliation, right? All this is your philosophy. Philosophy is the way you think. And so the only way to change your life is to change the way you think. And I used to think this was bullshit, right? And so I thought it was just the business tactics, but it was only when I changed my philosophy after watching this 4-hour seminar by Jim Rohn, 5 years later I became a millionaire. And so what my philosophy used to be was, how do they expect me to get rich? I'm from a poor country. How do they expect me to get rich? The government is corrupt. How do they expect me to get rich? The taxes are too high. I always had a burning desire inside of me to get rich, to live a good life, But those were the things going through my mind. If this is all the company pays, how can they expect you to do well, right? If taxes are this high, how can they— how can they expect you to do well? And so this was my philosophy. Not, not I'm the one to blame, not it's all my fault. My philosophy was, if I'm not doing well, it's because of others, not me. It's because of my negative relatives, it's because of the government, it's because of the political party, right, left, right. Um, it's because of taxes, it's because of the, the jobs, it's because of the universities, it's because of the schools, the teachers, my parents. It's because of this country, right? I'm from Brazil, a very poor country. Um, to give you an idea, the minimum wage in Brazil is $200. And so if you're born from a poor family in the US, you still have it 10 times better than I had it, you know what I mean? Um, and it was only when I started to change my philosophy and amend the errors in my personal judgment was when I started to make money. And 5 years later, I became a millionaire. And so I used to think everything else was the problem and not me. I used to blame everything else but me. You know what the funny thing is? Most people go through life with that, using that blame list, right? Most people go through life with that blame list. Everybody is to blame but me. But let me ask you a simple question. What would your life change if all your negative relatives suddenly turned positive? Not much. What would life change if taxes lowered a little bit? Not much. What would your life change if the government changed? Not much. You know, what would it change in your life if circumstances were better? Not much. And the funny thing is, is most people count with that list of things that doesn't count much. And that's why at the end of 6 years, 7 years, 10 years of, you know, their economic life, they're driving the car they don't want to drive, wearing what they don't want to wear, working where they don't want to work. Maybe they became what they didn't want to become. And all of that because they rely on the list of things that doesn't count much. And so, Marcel, how can I drastically change my life? You need to count on yourself and you need to change your own personal philosophy. And if you have a blame list like I had, reasons for not doing well, right? You need to change that blame list and add only one name on it: me. I'm responsible for my life. I'm responsible for everything That's wrong in my life. I'm responsible for not doing well. Oh, but I live in a poor country. I live in a— well, you can't control that, right? It's like the Serenity Prayer, which is one of the best prayers I think there is. God grant me the courage to change what I can control, the serenity to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference. Something like that. So there are things you can control, there are things you can't. You can't control the government, you can't control the weather. Once you get your whole plan— once you, once you get your own planet, you can change this whole deal, right? Guy says, I want 4 summers, 1 spring, 1 winter. You can't do that. If you get your own planet, like, you know, Elon wants to go to Mars, then you can change this whole deal. But this one, you got to take it like it comes. And there are some things that you just can't change, you can't control. And so when I started to take the blame off the things I can't control and put the blame on me, which is the only thing I can control— I can't even control my wife, I can't even control my parents, I can't control where I was born— I could only control myself. And so once I changed the blame to other people and shifted it to me, my life exploded into change. 5 years later, I became a millionaire. And so that's why philosophy is so important, and it's the building block for all success. Because if you don't blame yourself for everything in your life and you keep blaming others, nothing will change. Your life will be the same after 4 years, 5 years, 6 years, and then you'll be driving what you don't want to drive, wearing what you don't want to wear, living where you don't want to live, working where you don't want to work. Doing what you don't want to do because you failed to amend your philosophy. And most people don't— aren't born into a good philosophy. I wasn't. My parents are negative until this day, right? I'm here in Dubai, I'm a millionaire. I'm now 27, right, and became a millionaire at 26. And I'm here living in Dubai, this beautiful place, make over we're doing about $400,000 a month right now, like, they're still negative, right? Because it's their philosophy. They didn't bother to change their philosophy. And so it doesn't matter where you're from, you can change your philosophy. Doesn't matter where you came from, where you were born, right? Most people aren't born to successful parents that can give them a good philosophy. I hope that, you know, my kids, I can give them good, good wisdom and good teachings, right? So that they don't end up like me, right? 20 years old, in college, every reason to do well, and couldn't— just couldn't figure it out. Once you start amending your philosophy, your life is gonna explode into change. And you don't have to wait till tomorrow, you don't have to wait till next month, you don't have to wait till 2025. You can do this starting right right now. Let me give you the definition of success and failure now. The definition of success and failure, as I learned from the guy that I consider my mentor and my teacher, Jim Rohn. So let me give you the definition of success. Definition of success is a few simple disciplines practiced every day. A few simple disciplines practiced every day can change your life. Substitute a Hershey bar for an apple a day Life change. Substitute 3 hours of Netflix for a walk around the block. These disciplines can change your life. So success is a few simple disciplines practiced every day. And what's failure? Failure is errors in judgment repeated every day. Substitute an apple for a Hershey bar, that's failure. So you need to understand these errors in judgment that you're making. If you're watching 3 hours of Netflix every day, that's an error in judgment. If you want to be successful, you can't watch 3 hours of Netflix every day. If you get home from your job, from your, you know, 9 to 5, and all you do is sit on the couch and not do anything for the rest of the day because you deserve it, but on the other hand you want to become a millionaire and you're, and you're unhappy with your current circumstances, I'm telling you, that's called errors in judgment. And a few errors in judgment repeated every day, and so that's why after 5 years, 10 years, living what you— living where you don't want to live, doing what you don't want to do, making the kind of money you don't want to make, all because of these simple errors in judgment repeated every day. So substitute the Hershey bar for the apple a day. Substitute the Netflix for a rock for a walk around the block. Substitute bad habits for good habits, right? And a few simple disciplines, practice every day, can completely change your life around. You don't need to start with complex stuff. You don't need to start with, you know, running a marathon. Start with the easy stuff. Start with the apple a day. You know, it's like Jim Rohn said. Have you ever heard of the saying, an apple a day? Keeps the doctor away. Let me ask you a question: what if that's true? Well, you would say, if that's true, that would be easy to do. Then what's the problem? Do it! You see, it's easy not to do as well. So it's easy to do and it's easy not to do. So pick what you want. Pick your easy. It's easy to eat an apple a day and it's easy not to. So pick your easy. That's a little bit about philosophy. And once you start changing your philosophy, you can completely change your life around like I did at age 26, became a millionaire 5 years later after changing my philosophy, after working on my philosophy. And so remember, success is a few simple disciplines practiced every day, and failure is a few errors in judgment repeated every day. Alright, so that's enough about philosophy. I hope this, uh, helped you a little bit. I hope this planted a seed in your mind. At least if that's the only thing I did is plant the seed in your mind and you think about that over the next days, weeks, months, and you decide to make a change, that'll be worthwhile, right? I've planted the seed in your mind of philosophy, which is the most important part of this video. So now let's talk about business leverage. Right? It's the part everybody was waiting for. Business leverage is simple. It's the amount of energy you put in versus the results you get. And so if you put in, um, 10, uh, from 1 to 10, 10 energy and you have 5 results, that's a low leverage thing. So like an example of that, of putting 10 energy into something and getting like 5 results is to, I don't know, open a brick and mortar bakery, you know, that's, that's a business. You could do that. There are plenty of successful brick-and-mortar bakeries, but the amount of energy you need to put in to figure out how to hire the right people, what's the best location, how to do the marketing, um, where to— what are the best suppliers to buy the, the, the, the things from, right? Um, food waste, you know, all these all these things. Hotel business is a— hotels and restaurants are the most— are the businesses that statistically most fail. They're the statistically the hardest businesses to do. So it's like from 1 out of 10 energy input, it's like a 12. And the results, if you do it right, you know, you can make a lot of money. But initially it's like a 2. So it's like the hardest leverage business to do. And, and so what would be a good business leverage? So the business that I'm in today, it's not the one I started with, but the business I'm in today is info products. So we sell online courses where we teach people how to do what we do today. So And that is a 10 leverage because with me, I can shoot one video, I can shoot one sales video, right, for my online program, and that one video that takes me 3 hours to shoot maybe can make me millions and millions of dollars. And so it's a 1 energy and 12, uh, output, right? And so it's a high leverage activity. Um, it's not what I started with. What I started with in 2017, late 2017, was with dropshipping. That was my first thing that I did, and I did have a little bit of success with it. Um, and then I met a guy in Brazil— I'm from Brazil, by the way— and I met a guy in Brazil that used to sell dropshipping courses, and he found my dropshipping idea quite different, which was I did a one-product store. You know, that was way back in the horse and buggy days, and I used to do a one-product store, and this guy found this interesting, and he was like, Marcelo, let's do a course, you know, let's teach what you, uh, what you do. And I had a little bit of success with that, you know, dropshipping store, and so we did that course, and this was the guy that opened my eyes to the digital product space, to the info product space, right? Because dropshipping is high leverage because you only— you don't need, you don't need inventory, right, for your business, and you just run some ads. You know, it's Facebook Ads arbitrage. You hope that your cost per acquisition on the Facebook Ads side is lower than your average order value and minus the, the, the product, right? The cost of goods. And so you make a profit there. So it is high leverage, but digital products, you know, online courses are even more high leverage because there's no cost of goods, right? I just record a video and this is the course. This is what people buy, right? And, um, And so it's super high leverage, way higher than dropshipping. And so this was the guy that first opened my eyes to online courses. A couple years later, I wanted to get out of the dropshipping business and I decided to do a course for— because I already had some knowledge in marketing, right, and how to grow businesses using marketing. And so I did a course on how local businesses can grow using marketing, right? So a bakery, for example, a gym, a salon, a whatever, a local business. And so I did that course. I shot a, uh, it's called VSL, right, a video sales letter. So it's like a sales video or an ad, right, where I pitch the course and then people buy it. And I had a little bit of success with that. Um, oh, another thing I did as well was selling services. So One thing that I started to do as well was selling social media marketing services, right, to local businesses. And so while I was trying to make my course thing work, I was also selling services to local businesses. And that's actually a course that I have because I think that's the best way for you to start in 2024 is to actually have an SMMA, right? A social media marketing agency. And you don't even need to, you know, there's a, a, um, a system that I use called digital intermediation where you don't even need to deliver the service, right? But anyways, I think that's the best way to start. And so after, after I did that, my marketing agency, then I started having a little bit of success with the course, and then Facebook ads blocked me, and I spent like a whole year trying to figure it out again. And so anyways, long story short, um, what the, the business that I'm in today is info products, which is a very high leverage business. Another high leverage business is code, right? Because you write a code once, right, a software or something, and you can sell it infinite times. But the energy to create the code is higher, um, than, than the energy to create a course, right? But the, the results are way higher as well. So anyways, that's the business leverage concept, right? You need to pick a vehicle that has high leverage because if you pick like, I'm gonna open a bakery, I mean, that can work, but there's not much high leverage in that. If you pick a social media marketing agency, that can also work, that there's higher leverage, right? Because you don't need an office space, You don't have a ton of overhead. Um, I think the— if for complete beginners, the Digital Intermediation System is even better. Um, and this is not a pitch. I'm not trying to sell you my course or anything. Um, but I think for beginners, the Digital Intermediation System is better because you don't need to deliver the service, right? You just close the client and then you have a partner that delivers the service. So you don't need to learn the whole service delivery part. But of course, if you want to grow even more, you should learn, you should grow your agency, you should hire in-house people, right? But, um, yeah, so you need to pick a vehicle with high leverage. And so that's what Jim Rohn was saying, right, in that presentation where he taught you how to become rich by 40, 30 if you're extra bright, or much sooner if you find a unique opportunity. And so in the '90s, in the '80s, where this presentation was being done, right, by Jim Rohn, there wasn't the internet, there wasn't this, this whole, um, high leverage opportunities. But now in 2024, there are tons of these high leverage opportunities. And so anyways, you can, uh, you can pick one and go after it all in, right? I would, I would recommend you to watch that 4-hour a seminar by Jim Rohn called Best Life Ever. And to give you an idea, I watched that seminar till this day, 5 years later. I'm already a millionaire, but every time I watch it again, I learned something new that I didn't catch. I learned something new that I didn't quite figure out the first time I listened to it. And it's super valuable. It changed my life, and I want to continue to grow. I want to continue to develop. I want to continue to be— become the best version of myself. And so that's why I listen to this seminar once or maybe even more times a year, because it's that good. So watch that 4-hour seminar by Jim Rohn. It'll completely change your life like it changed mine, if you take the actions, if you do the things right. Because that, that seminar I think has tens of thousands of views on it, but how come I watched it and 5 years later became a millionaire and another guy watched it and didn't? It's because that guy probably didn't do the thing. It's like Jim Rohn says, it's mysteries of the mind. We don't know why these things happen. We don't know why somebody takes an opportunity that they watch on a seminar and use it to get rich and become a millionaire and another person doesn't do anything about it. It's mysteries of the mind. Beats me. I don't know why. Right, but anyways, watch that video, it's super good. And then, um, pick your business vehicle, whether it be dropshipping, whether it be SMMA, whether it be digital intermediation, whether it be info products, affiliate marketing. I mean, there's so much business vehicles. Like I said, I recommend that the first thing to start is digital intermediation because I think it's the easiest. It's one of my first businesses as well, and, uh Yeah, so doing those two things, amending your philosophy and your errors in judgment, changing your philosophy, changing the way you think, changing your beliefs, right? Because just to wrap this up, the way you think determines your emotions inside, right? And you know, sometimes you're watching TV and it shows, oh, new NFL player just got a contract for $30 million or something, you know, I have no idea, I'm just, you know, and then you might think in your heart and in your mind, $30 million to throw a football, right? And that's a negative thought. And so that's something you need to change in your philosophy. You must bless people that make money, because if you don't bless people that make money, how do you expect people to bless you back? When you start making money and when you become a millionaire. Every time, it's super funny, man. So my parents, like I told you, not my dad, my dad has a good philosophy, but my mom and stepdad, like every time we were to, you know, pass by a nice car or sports car or something, they would be like, "Pfft, waste of money." you know what I mean? And every time I pass by a sports car, I used to think that in my heart, and I used to feel that negative feeling boiling up inside me, right? But now I changed my philosophy, and now I bless everybody that has a sports car. And you know, you don't need to, you know, you only bless rich people. No, you bless everybody. But that's the point. You bless everybody. Before, you only blessed poor people. Oh yeah, poor him, and the rich people, you're like, the guy's a fraud, that guy's whatever, that guy's a scam, you know what I mean? So you need to bless rich people if you want to be rich as well, because how can your heart and your mind go like, yeah, let's be rich, if you don't like rich people? Those two things don't— can't coexist in your mind. Like, your mind says— your subconscious is more powerful than you think. And this is biblical, right? Um, if your mind goes, that guy is a fraud, that guy's a scam, oh fuck that guy, he has a Lamborghini, and then the other day you're like, oh, I want to get rich, I want to buy a Lamborghini, those are two conflicting ideas and your mind can't, can't understand that, and therefore it won't make that happen, right? And, oh, another quick thing about the mind is one of the books that changed my life as well is Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, which is one of the books that Jim Rohn recommends in this seminar, Best Life Ever. Think and Grow Rich was one of the books that changed my life, so make sure to read that book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich. So yeah, anyways, Hope this video generated some value for you and apply actually what, you know, everything that was taught here. And, uh, yeah, I'm thinking about making some more videos like this, um, just, you know, talking to the camera, maybe video, you know, on my computer explaining what I do, how I do it, how you can start, whatever. Um, more things about philosophy, more things about the mind, more things about self-development, more things about business, you know, anything you guys want to see. I would love to know what you guys would like to see next. And so make sure to leave a comment on this video because, you know, I'd love to see, um, your— this is the beginning of my YouTube journey, right? I've made millions of dollars, but now I've just started making, uh, now I think I have some credibility to talk on YouTube, right? You see all these 18-year-old business and life coaches, which is insane. But anyways, um, whatever you guys want to see, whatever you guys want me to talk about, um, make sure to comment, make sure to subscribe to the channel, make sure to leave a like, you know, on the like button. And yeah, I'll see you in the next video.