TES 006 - Do You Have the Courage to Live Your Own Life?

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. Hey there. I'm Mel Abraham, the author of the Entrepreneur's Solution and the founder of Business Breakthrough Academy, where we teach you how to design a business and create a life, a life of financial freedom and peace of mind. And welcome back to the Entrepreneur Solution show and this episode of the show. And you know, I was going to start to dig into the deeper into the three phases of business life and a question came across the transom that I think is really important to set the stage for what it is we're going to do. So when I get back, I want to deal with this concept of designing a business for your life and the elements of that and the courage to design it the way you want it versus the way other people believe it should be. So when we come back after this brief introduction, we'll get into that because that's the foundation of the choices and the things that you're going to make in your business when we go through the three phases of business life.

Welcome to the Entrepreneur Solution where highly successful entrepreneurs, entrepreneur Mel Abraham becomes your entrepreneurial mentor. Here, Mel reveals his business building strategies and even gets a chance to answer your questions. Mel Abraham, a CPA by education, but an entrepreneur by exhilaration and a true believer in the entrepreneurial way of life. It's through entrepreneurship that we create community, support society and live our dreams.

It's where possibility meets reality again and you can have the life and lifestyle you want. One of freedom and peace of mind. Welcome to this episode of the Entrepreneur's Solution where it's time for you to be bold, dream big and live life your way.

Hey there, I'm Mel Abraham and welcome to this episode of the Entrepreneur's Solution where we're focused on the modern millionaire's path to more profit, fans and freedom. And in this episode, I actually want to talk a bit.

Just about life. You know, I was actually watching a video of a good friend of mine, Robin Sharma, and he was talking about this and he made a Quote, that said, don't live. Don't live the same year 75 times over and over again and call that life. And I gotta tell you, with my travels, which is really kind of cool, I get a chance, I feel blessed and honored to get a chance to travel the world. Actually, I just came back from Sydney, Australia, speaking, and I get to meet entrepreneurs such as yourselves and business owners such as yourselves with these amazing, incredible visions of changing and shifting and transforming people's lives. And it's so energizing, it's so invigorating, and, you know, it gives me hope for a tremendous and great future for my kids and the generations beyond. But yet, at the same time, the same time, I hear things and I hear things from folks, you know, looking at and saying we're actually on the precipice of disaster. And, you know, the media talks about it and the concept of, of, you know, we're on the edge, we're on the edge. And I'm not sure that that's the case. I believe that we are in the greatest time of opportunity ever in society, given the fact that so much is going on and so much change is happening. And with change comes need, and with need comes opportunity. And with opportunity comes entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs serve the opportunity to serve the needs, the people that need it. You know, remember I say that businesses were created to create community, support society, and live your dreams, and so why not design it to make it so? And entrepreneurs, and I truly believe this wholeheartedly, that if we left the world's problems into the hands of entrepreneurs, they get solved. They'd get solved more efficiently, more effectively, more cost effectively, and a whole lot quicker. So, but that. Enough of that. You know, one of, one of the things that came about is this, is that the realization of whose life are you living? I know for me, I started out. Many of you may have heard my story. I started out at one of the big accounting firms. I was following the traditional path. I got my accounting degree, I got my CPA license, and I went to one of the big accounting firms and I was going to work the process, which was to start as a. As a newbie, and then you become a junior, and then you become a senior, and then you get manager. And then at some point you move up to the point of possibly becoming a partner in the firm. And that's the big deal, to become a partner in the firm. And that's the road. That's the path that they expect accounting graduates to kind of follow. And I was on that path I was one of the lemmings on that path. Until one night, late at night, I was working late again. 10 o' clock at night, I'm standing.

On the 28th floor of the Citicorp Tower Plaza building in downtown Los Angeles, looking out at the skyline of downtown Los Angeles, which at night it happens to be really a beautiful skyline. But I started to think about my life and I looked inside and I saw the partner sitting at his desk and saw my future. And I realized that future, if I stayed on this path, had a lot of stress, a lot of strain, potentially heart issues and blood pressure issues and obesity and all that, because these guys and girls were working all hours of the night and they were working for achievement, but not fulfillment. And I think that that's a difference. And in that moment, I look back at the skyline and I said, I can't do this. And I walked into that partner's office that night, intended my resignation. I told him I quit, which freaked him out. But at the same time I quit because I realized that there had to be more and that I had the opportunity to design my life. Even though society said this is the path for the accountant now, where does that show up in your life? Where does that show up in our lives to look at things and say, well, society says I should do it this way. Society says that that's the way it's done. I mean if, if you talk to someone long enough, they go, well, that's the way it's always been done. Well, just because it's always been done that way, is that the right way to do it? And I would submit to you, I would invite you to think about it and say, as long as it's moral, as long as it's legal and you're not hurting anyone, do it your way, live it your way.

Most entrepreneurs, they have an idea and they take their idea and they get all excited about it and they start running full fledged into the idea to bring it to life, to put it to marketplace. And they don't think about it, they don't or orchestrated and they don't define every step of the way what they want to do. And they jump in a boat that's on a river and they don't even know what the river is going. They have no paddles, no life preserver and they have no map and no direction. And all of a sudden, five years down the road, they come to someone like me saying, I need help in my business, I've hit the rocks and I can't Figure out why. And it's because they weren't specific at the beginning. They didn't think about designing it a certain way. They looked at it and said, well, this is the way it's always done. Well, society would love to put everyone into the belly of the bell curve. And the belly of the bell curve, if you think about it, is a life of mediocrity. And I don't know about you, but I believe that we are not here to live a life of mediocrity. I think we're here to thrive, to build something that's vibrant, to get to the end of our life, to be at the waning years of our life, huffing and puffing and looking the mirror and go, man, that was a life well lived.

I was reading an article of a hospice nurse who spend a lot of time in the last days, the last moments of people's lives, and she wrote about the regrets that they have. And one of the greatest regrets that they had was not having the courage to live the life that they wanted. That's a sad statement to be at the last days of your life thinking about it and saying, damn, I didn't have the courage to live the life I wanted and to realize it at that point. And yet I get it. I get it. For you to live the life you want, to create the business, you want to take another path that people don't expect you to take because they say you started that way. Just keep going, keep your head down, just do what they say to do, and you'll be okay.

It takes courage. It takes courage. It takes boldness. And you know what? You're going to get ridiculed. It's like Mahatma Gandhi said about change. You know, at one point, they're going to ignore you, then they're going to start to laugh at you, and then they're going to fight you, and then you win. And it's the same thing here is to look at your life and look at, you know, if you're looking at starting a business or directing a business or creating a business. You know, I look at people like my friend Gary Erickson, who was the founder of Clif Bar, and he specifically orchestrated and created Clif Bar in the spirit, in the vision that he had. And you know what? Profit wasn't number one. People in planet superseded it. And he knew that when he took care of people and he took care of the planet in the process, profit would come about. And he's built one of the most successful privately held nutrition companies around and so you look at other companies like a Zappos and Tony Hsieh and how he's brought culture in there and how he's done it his way. And he said, I will continue to do this as long as I can do it this way. Because he wants to provide something greater than just a job. He wants us to provide something greater than just a product. He wants to provide something greater, which he calls delivering happiness. And so, so when you look at designing your business, and you may talk to, and I'm one of them, I'm an accountant that's going to look at the columns and rows and say, let's just talk about the numbers. Let's make the numbers happen. But I learned the hard way that when you solely focus on the numbers, you lose the people, you lose the things that are really important that actually are driving the numbers. And so design your business, design your life to make it in the spirit and the vision that you have. And here's how to do it. I mean, one, it's going to take bold steps. You're going to have to step out of your comfort zone, and there's going to be those people that are going to ridicule you, going to laugh at you, they're going to fight you, they're going to torment you, they're going to criticize you, and you need to be okay with that. You need to be decisive about it, and you need to be unrelenting about your march towards your vision. And on the other side, I promise you this, on the other side of that march, on the other side of all that work, on the other side of that is a tremendous amount of joy. It's a lifestyle by your own design. Whether you turn around and say, I want to live in lavish palaces, great. I've got a colleague of mine that has been traveling the country with his business in an RV for three and a half years. And him, his wife, and his two dogs are happy as all get out because they did it by their own design. And there's a whole lot of people, including myself, I don't want to be an RV for three and a half years. And my wife would probably shoot me if we were stuck in an RV together that time. But the point is, is that he's living his life by his own design. And contrary to what the industry that he's in does, so he created a lifestyle. And at the same time, now, in the process of that, you end up with freedom. You end up with freedom to know that you did it your way. As the old song went, you know, I did it my way to be able to say, I've done it my way. I've made some choices, and I made the choices, and I have myself to thank, and I have myself to bl. Now, granted, none of our successes and in fact, probably none of our failures are just solely ours because there's so many people around us that help us. But at the same time, the choice becomes yours. The decision becomes yours. You know, Will there be struggle? Absolutely. Along the way, there will be struggle, but it's the joy of that struggle to know that you're on the journey, the right journey that you've designed and decided to be on that matters. And when you are on the right journey, when you know that you're going towards the right purpose, towards your vision, towards the life that you want, you know what? The struggle doesn't feel like a struggle. It just feels like part of the process. And you start to enjoy the journey in the process, because at the end of the day, you're looking at fulfillment. And it's fulfillment from the joy of the journey, not some destination. Okay, I've been on a path. I've had my hiccups. I've had my setbacks. Many of you know that I blew one third of my net worth in a bad investment at one point in time and had to recover. You know, clearly wasn't enjoyable, wasn't fun, but it was part of the path. It was part of the journey. It was part of the fulfillment. And I look back on my life and I look at my life today and what the future holds, and I feel blessed. I feel honored. I feel blessed by the people that are in it, such as yourselves, my wife, my kids, my loved ones, and those that are around me. But I feel blessed more that I had the opportunity to make some choices, make some decisions, to take some bold steps to. To live congruent with what I want and to know that I did it my way. And so I hope this is enough for you to start thinking about things in your life, in your business. Say, let's design it my way. Let's design it based on a set of values, a set of standards, a set of things that I want to be remembered for, that I want to create, that are meaningful, and know that people matter in the process. Okay, I'd love to hear from you about how you're designing your business, the things that you make a priority in your business and in your life by leaving the comments. Leave some comments for me. And if you like, this episode, go ahead and subscribe and share it with a friend. I'd love to hear from your friends just the same. And if you're looking for more business tips, entrepreneurial tips, or have questions, feel free to get in touch with me. If you have questions, actually leave them, go to askmelnow.com askmelnow.com and you can leave a question right there for me. It can end up on one of these episodes and hopefully I can help you through that process. I become your own entrepreneurial mentor and if I get a chance to talk to you, I look forward to it. Until we get a chance to see each other again or talk again, may your vision be grand, your journey epic, and your legacy significant. See you soon.

We hope you enjoyed this episode. Make sure you subscribe so you get access to all of Mel's business and success tips. And if you like this episode, share it with a friend. If you have a specific business or success question, you can ask it at www.askmelnow.com. remember, it's all about being bold, dreaming big, and living life your way because the world needs you. Until the next episode, may your vision be grand, your journey epic, and your legacy significant.

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 Podcasts, 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.