It Took Millions to Realise WHAT Was Real Wealth

If you have something to share that's valuable to people and you don't share it, that's horrible and you're not fulfilling your purpose. And that was a very different way for me to look at the whole idea of sharing myself with the world in that way. Before that, I wasn't spending any time on social media. I didn't have an Instagram account until like a few months ago. And it was almost like you need people at certain points in your life who you respect to give you permission to do something that, if not approached in the right way, could be very damaging. There's an aspect to sharing yourself on social media that can be exactly that slippery slope that I was mentioning earlier, and it was probably part of the reason that I resisted it. I was like, this can only spell bad. But because it was at the right time and the right person gave the advice, and I had the vehicle through, you know, an investment and a unique skill and value proposition to actually share something that I felt was worth sharing and not just like documenting your breakfast every morning. It, it made sense at the time. I thought, okay, here's a, a great way to fill that need of significance and need for attention in a way that aligns with what I think is actually valuable that I do in the world and can not only help me satisfy that need but help other people on a journey where I've got unique experience that frankly I undervalued and undershared for years.

Uh, such a It's such a great journey. And my content journey has been very much the same thing. If I think about, I said I didn't want to talk about my 8-figure exit and all, because I was being humble, right? Reality was I was scared.

Yes.

I was scared of putting myself out there. I was scared of judgment. And the online world is a scary place. Like people are really mean and there's no reason to do that or subject yourself to that.

Right. Why do that unless you have a really compelling reason? And I didn't think I had one. I imagine you didn't feel like you had one either.

Totally. Until we get that mirror up and go, actually, you know what? I have been through the shit. I have some things that I've learned through blood, sweat, tears. And, you know, I love learning the hard way, but I'm trying to quit. And maybe, just maybe, if I start sharing that message, I can shortcut other people's pain, right? And I don't wanna rob them of their pain. Everyone's gonna go through their own journey. But, you know, hopefully I can kind of share some of the mistakes. And, you know, someone like you comes along into my life and I go, Hey man, I've made this and lost it a bunch of times. I really hope you don't have to do that.

I can only imagine what I would feel right now if you hadn't started sharing yourself at the time that you did, because I didn't have anybody who was in my social feed who was sharing a journey of making a lot and losing a lot. And even just what I was really interested in was the psychological and emotional approach to these things. I mean, what I really appreciate about you is like, Yeah, we can talk about portfolio allocation. I'll give you your 15 minutes of what you need on the basics, but really we got to unpack the emotional aspects of not just what it takes to create wealth, but what it takes to deal with having wealth, which is something that people rarely ever talk about that I've heard at least, and is such an unsolved need that frankly is traumatizing in its own right if you don't know how to deal with that. It's, it's kind of like having a huge amount of electricity that's got nowhere to go, it just implodes on itself at some point.

So what does wealth mean to you now and how has that definition evolved over time?

I think the best answer is waking up really happy with what I have is true wealth, and it has nothing to do with a number on a screen for how much is sitting in your bank account or your Bitcoin wallet. I've had days where I feel like the least abundant person in the world with 7 figures sitting liquid and available to do anything with, which is hilariously sad place to be. So to me, it's all about the feeling. And if you can wake up feeling grateful for what you have, excited to do what you do, and in love with the place that you live and the people you get to spend your time with, that's wealth. Nothing to do with a number, all experiential.

So how do you think about cultivating that wealth?

Have to be intentional about it. Have to know that it matters and spend time cultivating the, the state for that to be how you show up and, and how life shows up for you. So for me, meditating is a non-negotiable. Recently, fitness has become a non-negotiable because a great mind without the vessel of a, a fit body is kind of mismatched and you're, you're missing out on potential. And, but you're in build mode. I am in build mode.

So how do you integrate build build mode with cultivating that wealth, right? I mean, we're talking about being intentional, fitness, meditation, spending time doing things that light you up with people. What does that balance look like for you, or how do you think about integrating that with what you're building?

So in a sense, I'm looking to just translate that feeling to the rest of the organization. One of the greatest gifts that I've ever received was from you, and it's this bracelet with the word magnetic on it, and I wear it every day as a reminder of how I show up best. And that word magnetic to me means not just am I showing up and doing the things to build the thing, am I being the person who enables the people around me to build the thing and who attracts the right opportunities into his world? And that has nothing to do with getting up and grinding. It has everything to do with getting up and being in the state of someone who's worthy to receive.

Profound wisdom. And I love your word magnetic because there's so much depth there. So what do most people get wrong about the process of building and how do you think about changing that for yourself and getting it right?

I won't pretend like I've got it all figured out because I'm still mid-journey.

Today years old, here we are.

Today years old. And this is really, this is for me the vehicle. This is the thing to get right. There's no like 3, 5 year, exit plan for this. This is, this is my vehicle for as far out into the future as I can see until something shows me different. So for me, the most important thing to keep top of mind is, am I showing up as the person who is ready to create the next stage? Because the person who did everything when you're going from zero to seven figures is not going to be even close to what's needed to get you from a million to $10 million. And is, is a horrible, horrible match for the journey from $10 to $100 million and so on. So constantly reevaluating, am I spending my time, am I embodying the perspective of the person who can get from here to here, or am I still stuck in the behaviors that made me successful from here to here? So that's the main thing, is as often as possible, ideally daily, sometimes it's weekly or monthly or quarterly even. Sometimes I'm not reevaluating the right thing for, for years on end. But as often as possible, coming back to, am I being the right person for the next stage? And if not, and if I can't be, who do I need to bring in?

So who's the right person for the next stage of what you're building?

That's a multifaceted answer, but me for the foreseeable future.

Yeah. And I guess, I guess what skills or mindset are you thinking about cultivating for yourself as, as you move forward and step into this level of scale?

It's one thing to be a leader. It's another thing to lead leaders. And that is the next rung up for me, is not just showing up as a leader for people on my team, but showing up as a leader for people who already have great leadership skills and can lead other people on my behalf. And that requires just a different level. It's almost like instead of caring for a little brother, caring for yourself. Like really inhabiting what would make me the most effective at what I do and how can I give that to somebody else, not just how can I support someone who's a subordinate.

And how big is your team currently?

We're at 15 people.

Cool. And what are some of the challenges that you've, that you've learned about yourself that like as you're, as you're leading a team of 15, right? Because again, and I, I imagine that there's been many, but like what are some of the most profound leadership lesson that you've learned over the last 3 years in, in growing your team?

I'd say the, the biggest one, and I already kind of knew this about myself, was that at a certain point I just get detail overwhelmed. And there's things that are important that I should have no opinion on at all. And up until probably about 10 people, I had the bandwidth to have an opinion on most everything if it was asked of me. And I'm at the point now where too many things are happening on a daily basis, whether from from site operations to customer service to marketing to event planning, that I, I cannot be even aware of most of the decisions that are being made, and that that's a good thing as long as you've got the right people making the decisions. And thankfully I do. I feel like I do. But letting go was the skill to learn and still is the skill to learn to make sure that everything gets done and it doesn't need me to get done, and I can withdraw that energy to then focus on higher order call it strategic partnerships, alignment with, with really key players. If I'm bogged down in the details of the banner at a conference, can't do that. It's, it's just one thing or the other.