From Criminal to Millionaire! Dan Martell Shares His Journey to Wealth

Like, I'm not proud of any of this, but I used to break into people's houses that I knew had guns to steal the guns. Like, just saying that sentence out loud is kind of stupid. Like, you're going into somebody's home that, you know, in that home, they have the ability to shoot you in the face that I don't even understand. And when they're like, talking risk, I'm like, what we're doing in business is, worst case, I sleep on my brother's couch for two months, maybe. Worst case, I get a job at Facebook. Like, what are we talking about? Where's the risk? Like, some people don't actually. They don't real. I think this is a big idea. Is. And again, these are all things I learned. 16, 17 year olds going through rehab, going through, you know, being in prison is. I am ca. I've. There's never been a situation where I haven't figured it out. It doesn't mean that I didn't stumble. It doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It didn't mean I suffer for. For months. It doesn't mean that there were definitely periods of my life where I went through some. Some tough times, but I always figured it out. So, like, the older I get, the coolest perspective I have is, it's all awesome. It's all going to be great.

It's all figureoutable.

It's all there. And we get to create from that place. So again, I'm not saying that everything's possible. I'm saying anything's possible. And if people want to connect to their creator, embrace the pain, like Guy said once, he said, the freest person in the room is a person with no secrets. When I was writing that book, okay, my dad heard Dan's writing a book. He calls me up and he goes, hey, you know, I talked to your brother. He says, you're writing a book. I don't think your mom wants that story out there. I go, hmm, that's fast. They've been divorced since I was 13. I was like, really? Mom called you and told you? Well, no, but I know your mom. I go, dad, do you have an issue with the story out there? Like, is that. Is that your way of telling me that? And he's like. He goes, I just. I don't. I don't want to have that conversation with my neighbor. I don't want to have that. You know what I mean? Like, I just. I just. Why do we have to go back?

What was the conversation? He didn't want to have.

He didn't want anybody to know that I went through that. Nobody knew that story. Oh, that's, that's what's fascinating. I, that was a family secret that I kept quiet for 17 years.

But that secret held you hostage.

That secret was the most powerful thing I have. Why, Dude, I'm sitting here and telling you. Everything in my life is because of that. Everything. I, I, I, I'm. There's no other way to say it. The, the thing that's happened to me, the worst thing that that's ever happened to me is my, my, my source of strength. And it's kind of like somebody said it recently. They say it's like a bow and arrow. The only way for the arrow to go as far as possible is you got to pull that sucker. Like, it's, it's almost like. And I don't. I, I'd love to get into bow and arrow stuff, but as a kid, obviously, I knew how I had a bow and arrow, like a regular one, not a compound bow. And it's just like, the more you pull it back, the more you're willing to go into the inner child and do the work, the further you can go. The lowest you've gone is the highest you can go. And that's why a lot of people that have gone through the most actually had the most to give if they're willing to explore that. So for me not to use the thing that shaped me, that created who I am, to go out in the world and be full of shit, like I would be full of shit.

Dude.

Dude. If you ask me. Hey, Dan, why you think you're successful? Well, you know, I get up every day and I work hard, and I'm consistent, and I'd be lying. That's not why I'm successful. I'm successful because I went through some really tough challenges, and I was blessed to have people show up my life to, to show me how to do the work.

Dude. You know, this makes me remember a story from Les Brown where he talks about the Chinese bamboo tree. Have you heard this one?

No.

This is it. Literally, when you were speaking, I was seeing a bamboo tree grow. You have to plant a seed perfectly. It's got to have perfect angle sunlight. You got to water it every day for, like, five to ten years.

And.

And if you miss a day, it won't grow. And then all of a sudden, in two weeks, it grows 50ft. The Chinese bamboo tree. That's exactly what you talked. So, 16, 17, you're in the Car. You're literally disconnected from God. Probably your creator in every way possible, but the seed of success was fucking planted. The Chinese bamboo tree was planted, and it took how long before it started to sprout?

I just finished talking to my buddy Nicholas about this. I didn't have a relationship with God the way I do today for a long time.

Why was that?

I just didn't. I didn't. I mean, how do I say this? I. The people I knew in the Catholic Church, full of like. I'm like, you don't. What are we doing? You go to church on Thanksgiving, Christmas. Like, whatever. It's. You don't believe in it. Like, I talk to you, and I can see it's not there. Like, they're not connected to spirit. Yeah, Okay. I didn't know that. I just was like, I met these people in church, and I'm like, you're full of. You talk about God, principles, this. And I know that you hit your wife or you talk about this, and I know you cheated on your wife, right? Like, there was all these. These issues with the people from religious church. And then I go my whole life, but I knew there was more. Like, I'd be that guy. Like, I believe in energy. I believe there's more out there. I can't tell you what it is, but there's something more. There's something more. And that helped me, right? That helped me with, like, the coaching, the therapy, the breath work, the meditation. Like, I had these moments of, like, connectivity and massive gratitude. And then I went to. I think it was a decade ago, went to an event, and they did this oneness blessing. And then all of a sudden, I felt like I felt it. That was probably the first time I felt what people call God. And even then, I didn't kind of allow myself to go on the journey. And it was probably five, six years ago, and I woke up one day, and I realized all the best people in my life, all the best humans in my life were all followers of Jesus. And it was the weirdest thing. I'm like, my best friend Brad. Oh, yeah. And then this other guy. Oh, yeah. And this guy. And I'm like, okay, this is interesting. Like, these are all people I admire. They all have faith. We don't talk about it because they're also incredible entrepreneurs. And then I just kept asking questions, and then this, like, random introduction to a guy named Irwin McManus. You know Erwin?

No.

Dude, it's so weird, man. I heard him on a podcast, and he was the first person I Ever heard talk about spirit and energy? I mean, he studied. I think he grew up. I don't even know Buddhist or something. Like, his mom went through, like, all these different religions. Religions. And then he just. He just kind of explains it. He. He runs a church in LA called Mosaic, and one of his tenants is 75% of the audience are atheists on purpose. He goes, that's what. We're not supposed to hold place for people that are believing. Supposed to hold space for people that are on the edge, that are curious. What's. What's going on here? I see this person. You seem a lot more lit up than I am. What do you know? Like, and that's. That's been the coolest thing is, like, I think God was there the whole time. I definitely did not know how to have a relationship with him.

Yeah.

With it. With the. The Holy Spirit, I mean. And then it was just like, the more I pulled on that string, the more blessings again. My frequency is what I frequently see. So I actually am weird because I believe in faith and I also believe in quantum mechanics because I believe God created quantum mechanics. He created string theory. He created this universe. He created it all. So both of those are opportunities for us to express.

Dude, so good. Kevin Kelly calls it the Technium, and he says that it's God experiencing God's self through technology, I think, which is quite interesting of a theory.

Yep.

What do you make of that?

I actually think we're all here for God to experience it's consciousness, experiencing consciousness.

So that God's basically Goding everywhere.

Dude, we're all of the universe now.

This is a spiritual, but it's also a practical. This is very practical because if people actually feel what you're saying, it could change their life. I had so much anger towards God. My mom was manic bipolar. My dad left when I was two.

God exists.

Two months old. Like, if God's here, why would God allow these things to happen? And are we actually ever free? If I believe in a deity, if I believe in an all, because why would the all allow such heinous things to occur? And that was what baked my noodle for so long. I'm like, oh, my gosh. How do I let go of my resentment and anger towards God? And it wasn't until I started this podcast where I actually developed a relationship with God. So it's so fitting that, you know, first thing in the podcast we're talking about is your faith. Like, you connect with your creator in the. In the morning so that you actually can create.

Yeah.

And I wonder, like, this book, and even this concept of buying back your time, it's about freedom. It's about sovereignty. It's about living your life exactly how you want to. I heard Tony Robbins say, you know, true freedom is when I can say no to anything for any reason.

Yeah.

And I'm like, yeah, that's. That sounds pretty fucking free to me.

Yeah.

So when were you running through a field and the book started to come in? Or. How long had this been brewing? The actual concept of buying back your time. Cause you were doing it 28. When you were in San Fran the whole time leading up to that, and after that, you were buying back your time. But the concept. How did the concept of buying back your time actually come through?

So I've been teaching the concept of the buyback loop for 15 years. And it just came as, like. I ended up moving to San Francisco. I had built a company. I became a multimillionaire at 28. But I did it the hard way. You know, I showed up, I wore all the hats. I was crazy and disconnected and, you know, reactive, and I was just plate spinning and go and revenue and trying to keep it together and working 100 hours a week. And I was actually in a relationship with a woman. I came home one day and she goes, I can't do this anymore. She's. She just couldn't even breathe. Honestly, she was beside herself.

She took her ring off and threw it down.

Drops it on the. Yeah, just. It was a painful moment in my life, but one of the most beautiful, too. Like, we're. I. We're still friendly. I don't talk to her, but, man, I've written her letters over the years, so. Just because, like, what she did for me is hold me to a standard. I think that's what a lot of people do in our lives. Even though at the time it's painful. I mean, my whole world shattered. This is seven weeks before the wedding. I had. I had built everything up to that point for us. Like, this is what's crazy. For four years, I killed myself to be successful, to create a future for us. And in the. The chaos of it all, she goes, I never asked you for any of this.

Huh?

And I don't see you ever changing. And I don't want. I can see where this goes. I don't want that. And the blessing that she gave me was a. It's almost like. It's kind of jokey, but when I was a kid, my. My brother stole my bike, and he went around, like, the. The front yard, and he was coming across, and I grabbed the broomstick and I threw it at him to try to knock him off the bike, but it got the front tire, and he just, like. I don't know if you've ever done that to us.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, just like, it happened so fast. Like, he's. The bike just flipped up, smashed himself in the face. That's what she did. For me, it was a immediate shock to the system that said, okay, how I'm doing it is clearly not working. It's not gonna work. I can't do this. But here's my challenges. That's how I was wired. That's why I told myself, this is how, Josh. This is all I know. I know how to. I know how to go. I know how to create. Okay, well. And I. I mean, dude, I was. I had anxiety attacks. I was depressed, and six months later, we sell the company. I become a multimillionaire. Now what. All the stuff, all the. The person I thought I would be. Turns out none of that works. But that's when I went. I. Eventually, I was working with therapists. I mean, it was. It was a journey. It was probably like eight months. And. And for a long time, I just. This is what's crazy. There was a period where I thought, I will have to resolve to being the rich uncle because I should not be in a relationship. I will be. I'll be the creator. I don't know if there is anybody like me, but I'll just be the single bachelor for the rest of my life. I will build companies. It's my happy place. That's what I'm doing. I'm should not be in a relationship with somebody else because I'm not going to be good for them. And I don't want to hurt somebody the way I hurt her.

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