Think Rich But Act Poor (My Mentor)

Hi, it's Rob here. So I've just finished a lunch with someone who's been giving me, I guess, some mentoring. I mean, it's unofficial mentoring, but he's worth hundreds, hundreds of millions of pounds, and he's 73 and got so much business and life experience, makes me feel like a little boy at school. And I just wanted to share with you something that he shared with me which I thought was really insightful. And look, this guy's been doing deals for 50+ years in his industry, which is a massive industry. He's the most successful in the world. His son, who's pretty much starting to take over his business, is world famous. If I said his name, you'd immediately know, but I just think it'd be nice to keep the discretion on this one. But he said you got to think rich but act poor. So he was saying, look, you know, you've got to think big and get deals done and try and add value. If you buy real estate projects, trying to then change the use and add the value, but you've always got to act poor. And I don't think he was really talking about how you dress and how you present yourself, but just having cash reserves, thinking about what happens if interest rates go up to 5% or 10%. What's the worst-case scenario? And this is someone who's been through, what, 3 to 4 economic cycles? So that's obviously a pretty big deal there. I think in modern social media, people can think rich and act rich, or are poor and act rich. But I just thought it was a nice little piece of advice that I got: think rich but act poor. And he also said, no matter how hard business is going for you, he said, 1988, '89, He said those 2 years were his hardest years in business. He said he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He said he was a bit mean to people. It was really hard for him. But if anyone asked him, hey, how's business going? He would say, fucking awesome. Business is fucking awesome. So he'd have this persona that he's in control and that things are going well. And it was fascinating to me because, you know, in this world right now, we're all taught about being vulnerable and being honest and being open and sharing your defeats and your losses, and I think there's something in that, but I think there's also something in the old school way of, you know, you fix up, you look sharp, you put your big boy or girl pants on, and you just deal with what's going on, and you just show the world the best version of you. So no matter how bad it's going on in the background, I'm doing fucking awesome, business is fucking awesome. So he said, you know, you've always gotta believe in yourself and project that confidence. Even when you're not feeling it, because you'll feel it, but that will be temporary. Um, what, you know, form is temporary but class is permanent. I think that, um, you know, that's a famous saying, isn't it? But the whole thing about thinking rich but acting poor, um, for me was— I really like that because I think it can be— he said he did a few deals back in the '90s, they were ego-driven, he bought stuff, he way overpaid for it, he didn't get planning, etc. And, you know, it took him 10 years to recover. So protect the downside, number 1. Have cash reserves, number 2. Go through the what-ifs. This person who, you know, I bought him lunch at a restaurant that he owns in central London, and he's actually, his background, he's a chartered accountant. So I think he felt that that's been really good for him because he can always do the, he was talking to me a lot about wills and legacy planning on what are you thinking beyond your business and your life, him being 73, me being 42. So, you know, acting poor is what if interest rates double or quadruple or go to 5% or 10%? What if tax rates go up a lot? He was talking a lot about avoiding inheritance tax because his son has now got a majority shareholding in his business, whereas he had the majority shareholding in his business. Like I said, you'd absolutely know who he is. And so, you know, I think it's very easy with the modern world we're in of social media to only see the best. And we're taught to, you know, 10x, go big, go home, go all in, cash is trash, don't hold cash, all of this stuff. And I think, again, I think there's a lot to learn with that mentality, and I think there's some upside to that. But it definitely was a really grounding lunch that I had. We had the, um, the 2-person Châteaubriand, and I ate the whole of London. Literally, there's none of London left because I ate the whole of London. Now I'm being interviewed on a podcast, someone who's got 7 million followers, and then I'm having friend dinner with, um, a friend of mine, Ed Smith, later tonight. So big time carb coma. Just want to say hi to everyone. Hey Matt, how are you doing? We need to catch up. So let me just summarize then. I hope you found this little bit of content useful. Think rich but act poor from someone who's poor, who's someone who's worth hundreds of millions of pounds, 73 years old. Huge name, you'd absolutely know him. And how do you do that? Imagine if interest rates went up 5 or 10%, because, you know, in commercial property— I'm in commercial property in a fairly big way, I suppose, in my own humble way— and they have loan-to-value covenants. So if values go down and rates go up, then they'll want you to put cash in to bring the loan-to-value back down. They'll protect themselves. So you've got to be ready. What if rates double or triple or quadruple? He said, look, rates are going up, inflation is going up, which is— I think most of us know that commonsensically, but this is a very experienced businessman. I don't know if he's a billionaire. I think he possibly could be. Certainly talks like one. He had lunch recently with the richest man in the UK. So, you know, with all the American influence in business culture the celebrity nature of entrepreneurs now and going all in and going big or going home and 10x-ing and having no cash and going all in in crypto and, you know, cash is trash and, you know, this kind of stuff. And all about reach and some of the glitz of business and, um, you know, building a brand, which he's not averse to, by the way. He— I'll give you a clue— he's a boxing promoter. You know the name to father and son boxing promoter. I think you can guess. But he said, you know, I'm old school, but I still love the Logan Pauls and the Jake Pauls of this world because, you know, this is business. And you can either get old school about them being no good at fighting, or you can realize that they can give us more reach and more pay-per-views than anyone else. He said that Jake, uh, Jake Paul in his last fight got a million buys on pay-per-view, and he said that that is about 10 times what the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world would get right now. So this is the modern world of business. The modern world of business is following and distribution and infiltration and social media, um, more necessarily than traditional class or skill set or talent. It's a different world. And if a boxing promoter— not full sports promoter— who's 73 is open to this world, then, you know, maybe you should be too. But isn't it interesting that the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world would probably get 1/10 of the pay-per-view buys than Jake Paul, who's essentially a YouTuber who's, you know, taken up boxing. Different world. Always stay up to date with the times and the changes. And, and definitely social media and having your own following and having your own brand is a big, big, big part of that. So yeah, think rich, act poor. Protect the downside, have some cash reserves. Cash is not trash. Um, be ready for inflation and interest rates and being blindsided and extra lockdowns and big increase in taxation, because if you can protect all that, then you're going to get rich and you're going to get rich for a very long time. So yeah, just had a brilliant 2-hour lunch, um, with someone who, you know, really it He's been on my podcast twice. Um, he's just one of the best guys to hang out with ever. I'm buzzing. I like— I buzz from hanging out with cool and interesting people and having really interesting, diverse discussions and conversations. Feel like I'm 7 foot tall now. Feel like my mind's been expanded. Feel energized and enthused. And these are the kind of people you need to hang out with a lot more. I'm interviewing a billionaire next week. I'm interviewing Jordan Peterson, David Icke for round 2. So I'm in this really fortunate position where I'm able to hang around with these amazing people. It looks like I've got a billionaire who's kind of like a friend of mine to more officially mentor me now. We're just talking through the early stages of that. So you definitely get really leveled up when you hang around with really cool and interesting people. So hope you found this little bit of a random life useful and interesting. If you do enjoy my content, please hit the share button. 'cause I'm on a mission to help as many people start and scale their business and get better financial education. And yeah, I wanna change the world doing that. So if you could hit the share button if you've ever found any of my content useful or educational or interesting. And one thing just to finish is observing the paradoxes. So think rich but act poor is a paradox. Think big but start small is a paradox. You know, chase money but don't let it consume you is a paradox. Money is a great servant but a terrible master, it's a paradox. You know, get involved in personal development and aspire to be a better person, but you're also perfect just as you are is a paradox. So the more I tend to learn, the more I realize I probably don't know. But I think if you examine anything and everything, it exists in a paradox. Embrace these paradoxes. Don't try and separate these paradoxes. If you just think big, think big, think big, think big, think big, in the end you could end up going bust. If you're like a hoarder and think small, small, small, small, small, small, in the end you'll never grow. So embracing the paradoxes of life is probably where the success that's scalable and sustainable and long-term— I'm 42, I want to be doing this till I'm 92. This chap I had dinner with, he's 73 and he acts like he's 23, effing and jeffing and having loads fun and enjoying life and a smile on his face and lots of laugh and lots of banter and even sticky difficult conversations there, he seems to have them with a smile on his face with some charm and laughter. That's how I want to live life and that's how I want to be in business when I'm 85 or 90 or 95. So hopefully, just a bit of a share there for you. Thanks for following my work, hit the share button. I've got my next stop in a minute and I'll catch you on the other side. I'm doing content regularly, so make sure you're following me on all my channels. I do content on Instagram Lives as well now, probably 4 or 5 times a week. I'll probably do 10 pieces of content live a week on, um, here on Facebook. Um, so I'm stepping it up. Are you, are you with me? Are you stepping up? Are you with me? So make sure you follow me on all my channels. Love you all. Cheers.