This video was originally recorded for a virtual financial summit. Due to audio issues in the recording I’ve written down a transcript below, and embedded the video for you to watch and enjoy. I’ve never intended to charge for this video or message, it is not what I stand for, so please enjoy and let me know if it helps you in any way!
About me: I went to really great schools like Harvard, UChicago. In my early 20s, I earned >$50,000 a year and had ~30% gross savings rate. I started a side hustle from age 21 that earned $200K in profits that I invested. From ages 27+, I earned >$100,000 a year, and increased my savings rate up to ~40-50%. I reached work optional by age 31, also known as FI/RE (financial independence, retire early)
Why Mantras: This video / blog post is not going to go into investing, but rather, mindsets. Because your brain is your most powerful organ. Mantras matter. What you believe matters, because it influences how you behave and your ability to achieve success. The money mantras I’m teaching you are exactly what I have followed on my journey.
Turn your “I have to” to “I get to”: I didn’t make this up, but I want you to try this at least once a day. Why? If you cannot be grateful for what you have today, then how do you expect to be grateful when you have more? You need to learn gratitude now before you have more. Examples for me: “I have to care for my baby” vs. “I get to care for my baby”. “I have to talk to my spouse about something hard” vs. “I get to be in a strong partnership with my spouse”. “I have to eat leftovers” vs. “I get to have enough food to have leftovers”
Personal finance is 80% emotions, 20% knowledge: Just because I went to a great school did not automatically guarantee that I’d be good at personal finance. There are classmates I know who still struggle with this right now. Yes, you do need to understand how exponents work. For that I assume most people to have learned in high school. The richest people in the world are not mathematicians. And, consumer advertising focuses on your emotions. The best ads aren’t factual. They create a setting to make you feel something and then take that feeling to buy something.
Successful people have persistence against all odds: I’ve been in startups, technology, and cool meetings with senior people. Two examples. J.K. Rowling – needs no introduction – billionaire author of the Harry Potter series. She’d contemplated suicide after her divorce. From conception to publication of Harry Potter took 7 years. Chris Gardner, whose life story was turned into a movie starring Will Smith called The Pursuit of Happyness. His story was so long I tried to distill it into five points. Grew up with an abusive stepfather, placed into foster care, abandoned a career in medicine, thrown into jail for not paying parking tickets. The movie picked up when he was homeless, caring for a son, and in an unpaid internship. He never gave up despite all the setbacks in his life, and he’s a multi-millionaire.
You can do this. Progress. Not perfection. The most common question I get all the time is “I don’t know how to start” – whether for finance or career. The reason you are asking this is because you feel frozen, you think you need to be perfect at something before you start. Have you seen how a baby learns how to walk? Babies don’t start suddenly walking perfectly one day. They waddle. They brace themselves. They fall down on their butts and they have to figure out this balance thing. Babies are not afraid of falling. But somehow as we grew up we became afraid of failure. Remember you can do whatever you put your mind to it, but you have to focus on progress, not perfection. If you try to be perfect from the start, you’re never going to start. Just start. Even the software you use, the food you buy, are works in progress. Companies are trying to improve all the time. People are always refining things that already exist. And I know that even the highest ranking public officials in the world, can still have imposter syndrome, and feel like they don’t know what they’re doing. We all feel this need to be perfect, but we should not focus on it to thrive.
It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you choose to spend and invest. Yes, making 6 figure income helps, but if you don’t know how to save your money, spend just a little less than you make, then having more money isn’t going to help. Sylvia Bloom was a legal secretary from Brooklyn. She never earned 6 figures. Worked for the same law firm for 67 years. She died without children. She left $8M for college scholarships because she was frugal and lived a simple life. Growing your net worth is all about habits and mindsets. Save that money. If you’re struggling right now, take it one step at a time, progress not perfection, you will get better.
Don’t compare your behind the scenes with someone else’s highlight reel. For me, the highlight reel is LinkedIn. All my classmates are always sharing their next cool project, their latest TED talk, when I was 30, I went through this crisis where I felt that I wasn’t good enough. I felt like a failure. Most people are not going to be honest about things that don’t go well, but they won’t talk about it publicly. No one wants to share that. People want you to like them and feel good. Social media is a highlight reel. But you’re living life every day.
I hope that this has been helpful. Remember that your mind is your most powerful organ. Feed it positivity, and it will get better.
