All About Net Worth and Self Worth - An Interview with Mike Michalowicz

Welcome to TwoQuestions TV. My guest today is Mike Michalowicz and we're talking about net worth and self worth. Welcome to TwoQuestions TV. I'm Susan Varancini. Moe. Joining me today is Mike Michalowicz. He's a speaker. He's the author of many books, including profit first, which we've talked about on this show. Mike created the profit first formula, a way for businesses to ensure profitability from their very next deposit forward. Hi, Mike. Welcome back to the show.

Hi, Susan. Thanks so much for having me.

Well, I invited you back because I wanted to talk to you about this article that you sent out a couple of months ago about your net worth. And for the viewers who haven't read the article and we're going to link to it in the show notes, could you just give a basic rundown of, like, where you started and how all this came about?

Yeah, absolutely. So when you Google, if you type in your own name, it'll populate with searches that are being conducted about your name. So I was on Google one day and was like, oh, I want to see if there's any news on me because every so often think it pops up. So I typed in my own name, I think, like many people do, and it pops up. And the queries were Mike Michalowicz books was the first query. The second query was Mike Michalowicz's net worth. There was other stuff below. I was like, oh, my gosh, people are curious how much I'm worth. And what's interesting is I'm like, that's what I do about others. I used to do. I used to type in, like, you know, some famous person, Angelina Jolie. What's her net worth? Like, I was curious. Here's what I came to realize is when I saw someone's net worth, meaning a number, I would immediately either determine a relation to that, either I'd envy that saying, oh, my gosh, I have so much, or I pity them. Say, oh, I thought they were more successful than that. But I would lay a judgment on them, which I've come to realize is when I envy someone, I go through the exact same pattern. I go, oh, God, they're so much better than me. And they go, well, they don't deserve it. And maybe that was family money or they're probably selling drugs. Like, I literally start going through this process of pulling them down so I don't elevate myself. I don't step up. I actually pull them down.

Yeah.

The other thing was interesting when I Pitied someone when I was like, ah, they're not nearly as successful as I thought they were, I would start playing a story like, oh, I'm happy I'm not them. I'd actually avoid them.

Interesting.

Yeah. So I realized, and this is truly, you know, the extreme of someone homeless on the street or something. I was the guy. If I see someone homeless on the street, I'm like, don't make eye contact. Don't make eye contact. Do a broad walk around them. And the essence of me feels that everyone's the same, regardless of your life circumstances. We're all, you know, brothers and sisters on this planet.

Yeah.

Like, look at. Shame on me for judging others. So I've never looked again at net worth. I don't place any value in the financial element. I believe what our net worth is is the value that we're contributing to others. It can be broadly or it could be deeply, but what are we putting out to serve others and serve ourselves? To be the best of ourselves really is what it is. So what I did is I wrote this article to capture the SEO. So if you type in Mike McCallowitz net worth, the number one thing is an article titled Mike Michalowitz's Net Worth. And I go into detail of how I've gone through this experience myself of believing that it was all about a number and now really believe it's about being the best of who we are. That's really what net worth is.

Don't you kind of feel like some of that is. And I think your point is well made. And yet the comparing game is something that is difficult to avoid. It's something I remind my clients about all the time. They hear me saying, don't compare yourself to stay in your lane. Just focus on your game. They still really struggle not to do it. I struggle too. I mean, we all do. So.

Oh, yeah, I always do.

What strategies do you use? I mean, aside from just not googling, what strategies do you use to stay in your lane and not compare?

So I have a little drawing. It's kind of my head. It's a simple circle. And what I believe life is is this continuous loop on this circle. The top of the loop is the high points, the bottom of the loop is the low points. All of us are on this kind of continuum. And what I. The story I tell myself is anytime I start to compare myself to someone else, which I do, I look at that circle in my mind and say, okay, they're on this other part of the circle than I am. So what really are they're experiencing right now is different life circumstances. And it's not. I'm not in a position to say that's good or bad. That's a judgment. I just realized they're in a different part of the circle. It kind of brings me back into the reality. Check is we're all on. It's the same line. Right. So we're all on the same level, just a different part of it. So that's technique one. Technique two that I use was really effective, is I used to. If you and I were talking and we're talking about a third person, I'd be like, oh, Susan, let me tell you about this person. You're very gossipy.

When did you ever gossip with me?

I haven't gossiped with you. Former Mike. Very gossipy in a judgment form, saying what I've done. And I'm not 100% perfect, this, but I'm pretty good at this. Now is. Whenever I'm about to talk about someone, I envision, I really can see them sitting next to me. And so the picture is I'm talking to you, but that person I'm talking about, I have my arm over their shoulder, and I'm talking with them with you. It is profound, the impact it has on how I communicate about that person.

Absolutely.

And when I communicate them as if they're in the room, my belief becomes what. What I say. And so I speak at a much more integral level. I am far from perfect. I am really, really flawed. But these are just little tricks I use to bring me back into My core foundational belief is that we're all on the same circle.

I like that circle idea. As you described it, I instantly thought, ooh, when someone's on the side of the circle, this kind of the, you know, they're in trouble or they need some help. How can I help them? That was my first thought, was that circle lends itself beautifully to how can I help someone who's on the downside of the circle to get back to the upside? And that's a much nicer place to be, a better value place to be too.

Yeah. You know, but. But I think it all has actually extreme value. So. Because it's all part of the circle. So my darkest periods of my life have become the most enlightening, if you will. Like, I look back with my financial struggles, and I put myself, my family, in a financial calamity. And we've recovered extraordinarily well, and we're doing very well, but we wouldn't be if it wasn't for that calamity that brought about a whole new appreciation for how money works. And this is, you know, this is in all aspects of our lives, relationships, spirituality, health, all these things. I think those dark moments can bring an enlightenment. I think about the smoker, you know, who smokes well until the day they have the heart attack. And that's the darkest moment their life. But also it can become the greatest turning point. I hope for all of us that we don't need to go through those dark challenges. They are terrifying. People say it's the school of hard knocks, like that's the school we go through. But when you're going through it, it doesn't feel like a schooling. It feels like a beat down. So I don't, I don't think, I don't wish that the dark periods upon any of us. I also appreciate, at least from my life's experiences, it was. It's necessary. It's necessary. And I know more is coming. I know more is coming. I don't look forward to. I'm trying to slow down that part of the circle, but I know more is coming.

Well, I am glad that you had the time to come and talk about this because when I read that article, I thought, oh, we have to discuss. We have to discuss. But you're coming back. You're going to come back and talk about your new book?

Yes. Oh, I can't wait to share what's going on there.

Do you want to. Do you want to tell us the title and tell us what it's about coming out?

The main title is clockwork. The subtitle is design your business to run itself. That's what's all about.

And when's it coming out?

August 21st of 2018.

And you're going to be here to talk about it?

I will.

So excited about it. That's great. I love your books, you know that.

Thank you.

Well, okay. Would you like to join me on the after show?

Oh, yeah. Hell yeah.

Okay. Okay. All right, well, thanks for joining me here on TwoQuestions TV. And we're going to scoot over to the after show. Now, viewers, if you'd like to catch us on the after show, just come with us. Come over to TwoQuestions TV. That's our website. But for now, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.