Saad and I just walked through SoHo on our way to Spring Street Natural Restaurant for some grass fed steaks.
There was a moment of nostalgia as we walked past Mott St and noticed they were organizing some Italian/Mexican block party. We realized that exactly one year ago today we were doing the exact same thing.
Waking up at 6PM, heading for some great food, drinking sangria, smoking cigars, and ramping up for another night out. I LOVE Manhattan in September, it’s my new goal to spend the entire month here each year.
So here I am, satiated from beef and red wine, reflecting on where my life is today compared to one year ago.
The biggest difference between then and now, and even more salient if I look further in my past, is that I’m much more financially secure today compared to a few years ago.
It’s funny. I was listening to Tony Robbins tell his life story about how he used to sleep in his car, and later millions of dollars in debt, and I realized that every self development guru has some personal financial success story.
When I look at my own journey, and how my career has evolved, I realize that I seem to have my own success story in the making, and I’d like to impart to you what I’ve learned through the process.
The Collapse of 2008
Back when I took my first seminar with RSD in the fall of 2007, I charged half of the $2,000 on a credit card.
My sole priority at the time was mastering my dating life, and I spent another $5000 travelling to cities like NYC, LA, and Las Vegas to be around people that knew what they were doing.
I wouldn’t change any of it. At one point RSD asked me to join the instructor crew, which involved traveling to visit every instructor around the world, and learning from them for 2 months.
Visiting some of the most expensive cities in the world, with no income, living off of a credit card, by the end of my training I had racked up about $20,000 in credit card debt, not to mention 7 years of college loans of over $70,000.
I remember a specific moment sitting with Papa in Dublin near the end of my training. He decided to turn on the television to enjoy the first English speaking programs of the trip.
I heard him laughing, “Dude, the stock market totally went down like 10% today. Haha.” Then the same thing happened the next day, and we realized the situation was more precarious than we initially had thought.
That was the big collapse of November 2008. I didn’t think it would have any dramatic impact on my career as an instructor, until January came around and I talked with the sales staff about my upcoming Euro tour.
I literally only had one bootcamp signup, in Zagreb, Croatia.
So I had a decision to make. Fly over to Europe, not knowing if I would have any work, not knowing how to cover my basic living expenses, with nearly $100,000 of loan payments weighing over my head.
I knew that the long term potential of working with RSD was huge, but I couldn’t PAY to be an instructor waiting for things to get better.
But I decided to take the risk and head to Europe, hoping sign ups would follow.
No Namer in a Foreign Land
I flew to Zagreb, a city where RSD has never scheduled a bootcamp before.
Also, due to the economic situation, no longer did I get the Platinum Preferred Hotel accommodations of RSD years past. I had to find myself a hostel, along with every other logistical decision, for my first ever solo bootcamp.
It ended up going great, but with no sign ups the following weekend, I decided to travel to Rome via train to see Pompeii and other Ancient Roman historical things, biding my time waiting for more sign ups.
For the entire Euro tour I never knew where I was going to be 2 weeks out. But I was getting sign ups, and slowly the programs filled up.
I lived a Spartan life, tracking every expense, eating as frugally as possible, and living in 12 bedroom dorms.
I tried to reframe the trip as the glorified backpacking adventure to Europe I never had during college.
And I was slowly able to start paying down my debt as well as enjoy some amazing times in some amazing cities.
Manhattan, NYC 2011
So now I sit here today, reflecting on those “hard times.”
I’ve paid off all the credit cards and most of my student loans. I can afford to eat healthy, and enjoy a drink without feeling guilty, even at the exorbitant Manhattan prices.
I have a thriving online business, completely unrelated to bradbranson.com or anything in RSD, which is bringing me a nice 4 figure income per month, doubling in revenue the last 3 months.
Looking at RSD, with another full bootcamp in NYC this weekend, probably 9 of the last 10 also being full, and being booked out literally until next February where I’ll be running bootcamps in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil for Carnival…
Things are good!
Take Aways
Just like any other area of self development, I’ve spent a lot of time researching the best mindsets to master EVERY area of my life. The whole lifestyle development.
What follows are three lessons that helped me get to where I am today financially.
- Psychology is a Huge Factor in Finance
I agree with the debt experts that say pay the smallest bill off first. Even though it is mathematically more efficient to pay off the highest % debt first, once you pay off that first loan or credit card, there is a psychological momentum that builds and you start to get excited to pay things off.
- Enjoy Living Frugally
I’ve always been envious of my friends that are hugely financially successful, but live very frugal lives.
This ties into the whole “Millionaire Next Door” philosophy, in that usually the people that have the highest net worth are not the dudes buying bottle service and driving Ferraris, but the ones that drive used cars and only shop at sales, saving their money.
Look at your life and see where you could cut costs. Maybe it’s cutting out that Starbucks coffee, or switching from Grey Goose to Smirnoff.
Or get some disposable flasks and sneak them into the bar. If you use that company, put a note that I recommended them on the billing sheet. I’ve tried to become their damn affiliate for months now but they never get back to me! Haha
- Give 10 Times the Value You Expect to Receive
When I hear people complaining about not having a job, or hating their job, it literally brings me as close to anger as I possibly get these days.
The problem is people are so used to living complacently, punching in, punching out, the 9 to 5 grind.
I live by this quote from the author of Think and Grow Rich:
The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.
-Napoleon Hill
In Eben Pagan’s Self Made Wealth course he talks about how you should expect to give 10X the value you expect to receive from your customer. This also applies if you work for someone else’s business.
Do more than expected, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, and people will start to take notice.
If you work as a bartender, start promoting Saturday nights and getting loads of people to your bar. Use social media and grassroots campaigns like flyering/stickering your city to promote random parties at your bar/club.
If you are in the corporate world, come in early and be the last to leave. Ask your boss for more work, take on more responsibility, and be known as the reliable worker who gets shit done.
If you are in school, have FUN! Haha, take courses that you like so you won’t have to work to get A’s.
The college/university conversation is one I’ve had a lot lately, and my advice is to think of your resume as a set of TOOLS. Don’t think specifically about what type of job you want, think about building your toolbox and making yourself an attractive candidate when you are looking for a job.
It’s very rare that I meet anyone these days that went to school for what they are doing as a career.
For those looking for jobs, pick what you want to do, and BURN THE BRIDGES.
It is pretty easy to distinguish someone who is just throwing out 500 resumes to different companies remotely close to what he went to school for compared to a star who really wants the job.
Research and find a job opportunity or company that can help you build that resume toolbox, and figure out what you have to offer the potential company.
Maybe it’s just a strong work ethic, or your ability to learn, but make it KNOWN how important the job opportunity is, and how you will do it better than anyone else.
Then, make yourself indispensible.
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If you have any of your own lessons, I know there are some very successful people that read this site, please feel free to comment below.
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Well I’m off here shortly for some sushi with Saad and Mike, and then hitting up the Meat Packing District.
Ahhhh shittttt!!!!
Have a good weekend!
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