Do You Have To Be RUTHLESS To Get Rich?

Hey there, real quick, before we jump into the episode, listen, if your earnings treadmill hasn't set you free yet, running faster won't either. Listen, hustle without principles just going to burn you out. So here's what I want for you. I want you to join me for my money machine experience Live. It is three free trainings. Deep dive into how to escape the treadmill and build a money machine that actually works for you. All right, grab your spot here by going to moneymachinelive.com and I'll see you in the free training. Here's a question for you. Do you need to be ruthless to get rich? Is the path to wealth built on stepping on others or sacrificing your integrity or putting your relationship at risk? If you've ever worried about pursuing financial success because it means becoming something you're not or someone you're not, well, if you're wondering, is there a way to build wealth without losing yourself? This episode, it's for you. Because today I'm going to break it down. We'll reveal why the myth of ruthless wealth is just that, a myth, and how you can create financial freedom without compromising your values.

All right, let's jump right to it. Do you really need to be ruthless to get rich? It's a question that I get asked a lot. In fact, I was speaking recently and someone actually raised their hand and said, my concern is, is if I build wealth, I have to be ruthless to make it happen. And I want to address this head on. I think it's time to do that, because I think society tends to paint this picture that in order to be wealthy, you have to be cold, you have to be cutthroat and maybe a little ruthless. But it's really not true. It really isn't. We've all heard the stories, and for a lot of people, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of wealth is, is greed or selfishness or exploitation. In fact, in a survey that was done in 2021 with Pew Research, they said 2/3 of Americans felt like the system was unfavorably favoring the wealthy and that half of them thought that wealthy people were greedy. And I get it. Look, even look at the cartoons that we grew up with. How did they portray the wealthy people in the cartoons? Okay, so it's not a surprise that people associate wealth and ruthlessness together. But let's take a closer look at why I believe that this persists and what the reality is. Because if we want to look, we'll find plenty of examples about ruthless wealth building. Let's just take one, probably the most.

One that we know, the most popular. I don't want to use the word popular because he was a parasite, but Bernie Madoff is one of the most infamous examples, probably a better word, that ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He defrauded investors, he defrauded institutions, he defrauded pension plans. He robbed people of millions. And it's a textbook example of greed driven wealth at the expense of others. These kinds of people are what kind of give that reputation. But is Bernie Madoff everyone? I don't think so. You know, you can go back like I'm old enough to remember the 1980s where you had the corporate raiders, the, the Carl Icahns and the T. Boone Pickens that would go in and make hostile takeovers. They would buy up companies and they would slash the jobs, they would fire everyone, they would sell piecemeal things for profit and they made themselves rich for sure. But at what cost? Or the one that robbed me, that was a Ponzi scheme, Peter Fromer, and wiped out one third of my net worth. He portrayed himself as this family man with children and successful and all those things. He ended up.

Robbing many people in the $20 million and beyond. And four and a half million plus was from me and two friends. We lost one third of everything I owned in.

Is that what wealthy is? And I would have to say no, I mean I would have to say that they're the exceptions. These are examples that are extremes. These are examples that have a spotlight on them because let's face it, the news, the news wires, they want to parade the dirty laundry. That's the stuff that gets, gets the ratings, that's the stuff that gets the viewers, that's the stuff that gets the advertisers. So it's the, the ill gotten gains, the greed.

The salacious stuff that they're going to put out in front of us. They become the loudest stories. And I believe that we start to get into that thought that everyone that has money is that way. Anyone that is building wealth is that way. That's just not the full picture. All right, so let's look at the real path to wealth. Let's look at how it really works to make it possible. And in that process I'm going to give you a handful of action steps that I want you to take to build wealth the way you want to, with integrity, with ethics, without ruthlessness and ruthlessness and making sure that is fulfilling in the process. So the first thing is this. The real path to wealth is strategy, not ruthlessness. Okay? Real wealth, true wealth, sustainable wealth, which is what I like to talk about, is something that lasts.

Is not something that happens overnight. It's a journey. It doesn't require ruthless. I would like to believe that the richness that I've created in my life wasn't because I stepped on people, because I took advantage of people, because I stole from it, because I know I didn't steal from people or do any of that stuff. So it doesn't require you to be ruthless. It requires you to focus on, on strategy. It requires you to have discipline. It requires you to have long term thinking. It requires you to understand the process of wealth building. Building wealth ethically through knowledge and by adding value to others. That's the real path to wealth is to sit back and say, how do I add value to others? And do it in a way that over a period of time that I, I have the opportunity to build something meaningful, something that is going to support not only my life and my lifestyle, but those that I care about and the causes that matter to me. To be able to do that, that's how we build it. So the action step here is to start to educate yourself. The first step to wealth creation, to wealth building, to mastering your money, will always start with financial literacy. To understand the principles of wealth building, to understand the principles of investing, to understand the principles of money management, you've got to dedicate yourself to learning about money, how it works and how to make it work for you. Just like the subtitle of my book, you Know, Getting youg Money to Work Harder for you Than youn Did For It. So it's time for you to start reading books. If you don't know where to start, start with my book, Building youg Money Machine. Okay? It's a shameless plug, but hey, it's a great book that gives you processes, frameworks and, and systems that have worked over, over time, okay? It's going to give you the very principles that I've used in my life as well as my clients and my family's life. Or also get other books. You know, Robert Kiyosaki's Rich dad, Poor Dad, Millionaire Mission by my dear friend Brian Preston, or any of David Box books. Start reading. Leverage the Knowledge, get the Understanding. This is the first step to starting to build wealth without ruthlessness. Think about this Warren Buffett, arguably one of the richest people in the world, one of the most successful investors in the world. He is known for being A voracious learner and reader. He is always reading, he's always learning, and always trying to improve his investment strategies. He built his fortune ethically, not through ruthlessness. He built it over time. He built it by doing things the right way. Okay, so that's the first step. The second actionable step that I want you to take is to adopt a long term mindset. We live in a society right now where our focus is on instant gratification. Yolo. You only live once. And those kinds of things. Wealth doesn't come that way. When people come into a substantial amount of wealth in a moment, they win the lottery, they get a big inheritance, they do those things, inevitably what happens, the majority of them end up losing it. Why? Because they have not developed the skills, the understanding and the tenacity to care for it. They are way outside their comfort zone and they don't understand it. So we need to look at the long term mindset and know that getting rich quick means that I can also get poor quicker. So it is about getting rich that lasts. It's about smart planning. When I work with my clients, one of the things that I do with some of my, my clients is what I call a money machine master plan. I literally we, we plan it out, we plan out their, their wealth creation journey. We look at education, planning, Social Security planning. We look at all that. We change the portfolio, we stress test the portfolio, we run a thousand different iterations in a Monte Carlo analysis to really get them to, to look at and say, what's the probability of hitting your milestones, hitting the goals that you want to know what the vision is for your life to make the strategic investments that allow the plan to become a reality. So start with planning. Create strategic investments that make sense. If you don't understand those, get educated, get my book, go through training, stay on this show because we go through it investments using index funds, real estate, businesses that have real value, people who win with wealth, they're building it for those that will stick around for decades. When you win with wealth, it's because you're building it for the long term. So wealth is really more about understanding the system and making it work for you and not against you. And it is not about taking from others so you can have it. I don't believe in the zero sum game. There is enough going around to allow all of us to live that rich life that we define. And so let's talk about the other side of money. There is a good side of making and having money. And, and so when you look at it, it's really about.

How do you use the wealth? Now part of it is, how do I use the wealth to give me the freedom? I have the freedom to travel. I have the freedom to do what I want, what I want, how I want, with who I want. I can get on a plane, I can. I can stop working. It's a gift. It's a blessing, but it's a blessing that was born out of decades of work that I built. The money machine that allowed me to have a life of choice. That's what I want for you. Wealth used the right way can bring you freedom. Wealth used the right way also has the ability to make an impact. I have the ability to get behind causes, to fund missions, to do things to make the world a better place. Wealth, although enables the freedom of choice, but it also allows us to put ourselves into a space where we can give back. It's not about buying things, it's about buying time and freedom. I think that our wealth should be measured in time and not dollars. It's about really looking and saying, what are the things that matter to me? I remember a colleague of mine who's in this space. He walked into a office supply store one time in his community, in his community that he grew up in, and he's a very successful entrepreneur. He says, I want to buy everything on the shelves. And the manager looked at him and says, are you at in mind? I can't sell you everything on the shelves. He says, why, are you not in the business of selling stuff? He says, no, I am, but I have orders and all this is fine. Just hold everything back that you need for the orders and sell me the rest. And he says, for what? You can't use it all. He says, oh, I'm going to take it all and I'm going to donate it to the schools I went to in my community where I grew up, that came from wealth, that came from having the freedom to do that. You look at people like the founder of Patagonia. In 2022, he took his $3 billion company and he put it into a trust and a preservation trust. And he basically said, our shareholder is Mother Planet Earth.

In all the profits from Patagonia, once they invest for their growth, once they pay for their people and do the all the additional profits, they don't go to shareholders. They go to causes to fight climate change. They go to causes that matter to the organization. They go to causes to promote the health of the Earth. It's a massive example of how wealth can. Can do good. Or you look at McKenzie Scott. Okay. Jeff Bezos X, who gave. Has given away billions of dollars for racial equity and LGBTQ rights and public health and education and all that. She's changing lives with her philanthropy. Philanthropy. It's important for us to. To understand that. We see the stories of the greed and the deception and the corruption and all that, but these are the stories that are more prevalent. These are the stories that really matter. There was a report that was done by Wealthex Philanthropy Report. It's called Billionaires. They collectively gave over $360 billion, $360 billion.

In 2020 alone to fund education, to fund public health, to fund environmental causes. So wealth is a gift. Done right, it's a gift that gives to you. Done right, it's a gift that gives to others. And done right, it's a gift that gives over time. So here's your actionable step number three. Give back with intention. Give back with intention. You don't have to be a billionaire to make an impact. Start small. Maybe you don't have money right at the beginning, but you have these causes that you like. Volunteer your time. Give of yourself. Ask yourself, what's the cause that. That really matters? Even when Jeremy was growing up, my son, when he was getting paid, I was paying him commission. He had four buckets, and one of the buckets was generosity. I didn't care what the cause was. I just cared that he cared about a cause. It allowed us to have a conversation around giving back. How can you give back even if it's just your time? For now, as you build wealth, you'll expand to give more money. You'll be able to give to things. Maybe it's education. Maybe it's special needs children. Maybe it's animal rights. Maybe it's. For me, I have a foundation that deals with abuse and violence against women and children. So it's important for you to look at it. LeBron James, he's built schools. He's given educational support through his foundation. He's changing lives of underprivileged children. My dear friend Stu McLaren and his wife Amy have a nonprofit that they fund that builds schools in Africa for children. Okay, These are the things that I think we need to get behind. So ask yourself in this action step, what are the causes that matter to me? How can I give back now? And how can that give back grow over time? How can I be intentional to give to something that matters? Because the gift that you give comes back to you tenfold. Okay, that leads me to this, this next piece is that the importance of integrity and wealth building. Let's be clear.

Sustainable wealth is built on relationships, not ruthlessness. It's about collaboration, it's about trust. It's about creating value for others. I couldn't be, I would not be where I am, not where I am today if it were not for the relationships. The people that supported me, the people that, that kicked me in the rear end when I needed it, the people that helped me up when I needed it, the people that, that educated me or called me out on my stuff to know that I don't believe when people say, well, he's a he or she is a self made millionaire. No, they're not. No, nothing I have is self made in the sense that I didn't do it in isolation. I have you to thank for it. I have the people around me to thank for. I have a family, I have my, my parents who are, who are now gone to thank for it. I have the people that are in the audiences when I speak to thank for it. I don't believe I'm self made. I don't have that kind of ego. I am made by everything around me. And I realize that the relationships, the trust and giving back and giving value to others is what really matters. Richard Branson does this a lot. He's built an empire by treating people well. His employees, his partners. He creates a company culture that values and respects the trust. That's how he built his wealth and why his wealth lasts. You don't see the ups and downs and all that stuff. You see someone that's fun, that's, that's having an impact, that's doing the things in a way that, that people like serving. Okay, so action step number four based on this is I want you to network for relationships and not money. Too often we go into something and look at it transactionally.

What can I get from this person? No, no, no, no. Look at it relationally. What can I give to this person? Where do I support them? How do I support them? How can I give to them? How can I make their life better? My ability to give to someone is my ability to gain because the gain is in the gift. Okay, here's, here's the thing. Who you spend time with matters. Surround yourself with the people that are doing good things, who share in your values, who will promote you in a way of being all you are meant to be, to call you up to be that better person, to focus on building relationships that aren't just for financial gain, but that are Creating a synergistic value together to give back to the world. All right. Because I think that you have the opportunity to do this in a way, and when you do, you start to look at it and say, I can create win win situations. Because when you build wealth with integrity, everyone wins. Okay, I'll give you another example. Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx, she didn't create her company by cutting corners or undercutting competitors. She focused on solving a problem for women. And in turn, she built a billion dollar business. She served. Did she make a profit at it? Certainly. But she did it with integrity. She did it with intention, and she did it by making sure that people are taken care of.

That leads me to this next point, and that is this.

You gotta overcome the fear of wealth. Because if you're sitting back having these thoughts about.

Wealth, to be wealthy, I have to be ruthless. That's a fear of being wealthy. There's a lot of folks that have that they worry about it might corrupt them, that the chasing of the money might make them greedy. It's not chasing money. You're chasing purpose. Money is a result. It's not a purpose. There's a purpose behind it. But the reality is wealth isn't the problem, it's how you approach it. So really, in this step, this space is where you have to start to deal with the stories in your head, the mindset issues, the things that you're telling yourself about money. If people who have money are greedy or it's bad or I have to be ruthless, this is where we have to break the bonds that hold you. We have to. The actionable step here is to shift your money mindset. To start by changing the relationship you have with money. To sit back and have gratitude for what you have instead of regret for what you don't have. To look at wealth and saying, it's a tool. It's a tool that as I grow it, as I get more wealthy, it amplifies my values. It allows me to put my values out there, not to change the values. To sit back and say, how do I do this? Now? Maybe it's just starting out with simple affirmations or journaling or gratitude practices. I journal, I write, I do gratitude walk every morning with my dogs on the beach. It shifts my mindset from scarcity to abundance.

From gratefulness.

To. To gratefulness from. From judgment. It's, it's. What we need to start doing is to shift your mindset. And if there's deeper stories around money because you made decisions, because you were raised without money or in poverty. Then there's deeper work to be done here. I actually start with some of that and the fear based, the stack of fear that I talk about in the first chapters of my book, building your money machine. Start there, get the book, go through the processes in the book to build it out.

Because what happens is that when you do that, you'll shift from a scarcity or lack mindset to an abundance mindset. People with a scarcity mindset see wealth as this limited resource and I got to get my peace. And when I get my peace, you can't have a peace. I don't believe in that. That's where ruthlessness comes in. Because they operate from a perspective of the pie is finite. I think that you need to look at it from. The pie expands based on the value you give and what you put into success from creating comes from creating the opportunities in that process. All right, that leads me to some final thought and I hope that this helps. Do you need to be ruthless to be rich? I think the answer is a definitive and absolute no. In fact, the opposite's true. Wealth is built with integrity. A strategy with a long term mindset that builds something that's sustainable, that has value not just to yourself, but to your soul, to the people you love and to the people you serve, that you create a positive impact with what you do. When you build wealth with that in mind, it completely changes the dynamic. You don't come at it from a ruthlessness perspective.

You come at it from allowing the wealth to expand your giving values of your system of who you are and not changing the values to something you're not. Okay. Wealth doesn't change you. Wealth expands you done right? All right. Does it take ruthlessness? Absolutely not. Go after it the right way. Serve people, make a difference, and allow your legacy to be in the footsteps you took, not the money you have. I hope that this helps. I hope that this gives you something that is meaningful that you can take and go back through those action steps and make it happen. All right, Again, if I get a chance to see you on the road, please say hi. Let me know if there's questions that I can answer. Let me know in the process, in the journey to financial freedom, because I believe it's your birthright. And in the process, as I always say, always, always strive to live a life that outlives you. I'll see you in the next one. Cheers. And that's it for this episode of building your money Machine where we help you learn how to master your money, eliminate financial stress, and live a life of choice. If you found this valuable or helpful to you, here's what I'd love for you to do. If you do me a favor, go to Apple, Apple Podcast, or wherever you're listening to this podcast and rate and review the show. It helps us tremendously to keep us at the top of the list so we can continue to get this information and this message out to people. Because I truly believe that financial freedom is your birthright and I want to help each and every one of you claim it. Thanks so much.