RPF0326-Dan_Lok

00:00:00.000 | Hey, Cricket customers, Max with Ads is included with your Cricket $60 unlimited plan at no additional cost.

00:00:06.000 | Thanks!

00:00:06.800 | Max is the streaming platform where you can watch Scoob, Meg 2 The Trench, The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection, and so much more.

00:00:13.200 | Remember me.

00:00:14.200 | Just log in with your Cricket username and password to experience Max on all your favorite devices.

00:00:18.900 | We never seen this before.

00:00:20.300 | Max, the one to watch for a good scream with Cricket.

00:00:23.600 | Yeah!

00:00:24.600 | Phone plan, streams, and standard definition. Programming subject to change. Fees, terms, and restrictions apply.

00:00:28.500 | See cricketwireless.com for details.

00:00:30.000 | Welcome to Radical Personal Finance, the show dedicated to providing you with the knowledge, skills, insight, and encouragement you need to live a rich and meaningful life now while building a plan for financial freedom in 10 years or less.

00:00:41.500 | My guest on today's show is Dan Lok.

00:00:44.000 | Dan is an entrepreneur, perhaps better said a serial entrepreneur, who has built for himself a multimillion-dollar empire.

00:00:53.000 | And today he's here to share with us a little bit about his story and his practices as they relate to entrepreneurship and business.

00:01:01.000 | Dan Lok, welcome to Radical Personal Finance.

00:01:03.000 | Hey, Joshua. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me on the show.

00:01:07.000 | So today we're going to talk about business.

00:01:09.000 | And to begin with, I'd like to just have you share a little bit about your background because my audience is possibly not familiar with your experience.

00:01:18.000 | How did you get involved in the world of business?

00:01:20.000 | Well, I first immigrated to Canada when I was 14 years old.

00:01:28.000 | And because at the time I was born in Hong Kong, you can hear from my accent.

00:01:33.000 | So, my mom and dad got divorced when I was 16 years old and I was the only child in my family.

00:01:40.000 | So, in the beginning when I was going to school, my father was sending my mom and I a little bit of money and then unfortunately my dad went bankrupt in Hong Kong.

00:01:54.000 | So then I had to kind of man up and stop being a boy and take care of my mom.

00:02:00.000 | And at the time I never thought about money as that important.

00:02:04.000 | Because our life was pretty, I would say kind of middle class family when I was growing up in Hong Kong.

00:02:11.000 | We lived in a decent home and growing up I've always had people taking care of me.

00:02:17.000 | We had a maid.

00:02:18.000 | So, and then most people they might have big dreams and big goals.

00:02:24.000 | But with me, I kind of got into business because I had no choice.

00:02:28.000 | I wanted to take care of my mom and I was making minimum wage at the time.

00:02:33.000 | Working as a grocery bagger in a local supermarket.

00:02:38.000 | So, I got into business because I wanted to have more choices.

00:02:43.000 | I wanted to make more money and at the time I had a dream of buying my mom a home.

00:02:49.000 | And that's kind of how I got into it.

00:02:52.000 | And the funny thing is money never interested me that much when I was growing up.

00:02:59.000 | So, you live in Vancouver, right?

00:03:02.000 | Yes, I live in Vancouver.

00:03:03.000 | I'm obsessed on a personal note.

00:03:06.000 | I am obsessed with Shui Long Bao, the Shanghai dumplings.

00:03:10.000 | Oh, love it.

00:03:11.000 | I just had it like three days ago.

00:03:13.000 | So, last time I was in Vancouver, I specifically, I forget the name of the restaurant right now.

00:03:18.000 | It's in my notes.

00:03:19.000 | But there's a restaurant in Hong Kong that is what they're known for their Shui Long Bao.

00:03:25.000 | And every time I go to Hong Kong, that is the first stop I go.

00:03:30.000 | I try to eat there as many times as possible.

00:03:32.000 | You eat it with the meat or you eat it with the crab flavor?

00:03:35.000 | With the pork.

00:03:36.000 | Just the pork.

00:03:38.000 | So, last time I was in Vancouver, I found out they had an extension of that restaurant.

00:03:43.000 | I have to come up with the name of it again.

00:03:45.000 | It's in my travel notes.

00:03:46.000 | And my wife and I, we drove like a couple of hours to this restaurant in Vancouver just to eat Shanghai dumplings there.

00:03:53.000 | Was it worth it?

00:03:54.000 | It was.

00:03:55.000 | Okay, good.

00:03:56.000 | I love those things.

00:03:57.000 | So, every person I've ever known who's going to Hong Kong, I always tell them, "Here's the restaurant.

00:04:02.000 | Here is Din Tai Fung, right?"

00:04:04.000 | Yes.

00:04:05.000 | It's in Din Tai Fung.

00:04:06.000 | I tell them, "Here's where you need to go to do it."

00:04:09.000 | So, how did you go from a grocery bagger?

00:04:12.000 | What was the actual process in business going from a grocery bagger to becoming, I mean, your website says you're the $50 billion man.

00:04:18.000 | Well, I'm not the $50 billion.

00:04:20.000 | My mentor is the $50 billion.

00:04:21.000 | Okay, excuse me.

00:04:22.000 | I misunderstood when doing my research.

00:04:24.000 | So, with me, it's interesting because I was making minimum wage and I was looking for a way.

00:04:33.000 | I don't know how most people did it but one day I was – at the time, I was still going through college.

00:04:38.000 | And I stumbled upon a book.

00:04:42.000 | I was walking by just a bookstore and I saw a book on the ground.

00:04:46.000 | And I thought the title was interesting.

00:04:49.000 | It's called "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.

00:04:52.000 | Right.

00:04:53.000 | And I thought, "Okay, that's an interesting title."

00:04:55.000 | And I don't read a lot of books at the time.

00:04:57.000 | I picked up the book and it was a used copy and it was selling for $2.95.

00:05:03.000 | I still have a copy in my library.

00:05:05.000 | I thought, "You know what? I'll buy the book."

00:05:07.000 | And after I read through the book, I got the idea.

00:05:10.000 | Guess what the idea is, Joshua?

00:05:12.000 | Tell me.

00:05:13.000 | I wanted to get rich.

00:05:14.000 | Indeed.

00:05:15.000 | Indeed.

00:05:16.000 | And I want to make more money.

00:05:17.000 | This makes a lot of sense and how these people – I was so inspired and motivated after I read the book.

00:05:22.000 | Then I was reading all kinds of books on finance, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, from Zig Ziglar, more work from Napoleon Hill.

00:05:33.000 | I was what I would call myself an opportunity seeker, a business opportunity seeker.

00:05:38.000 | And I would get into all kinds of money-making opportunities.

00:05:45.000 | You know those opportunity magazines like Home Business and those type of deals.

00:05:51.000 | I would buy those magazines and I would respond to those ads.

00:05:55.000 | I would respond to all kinds of ads with the little money that I have and also a little money from my mom.

00:06:04.000 | I would buy into all kinds of opportunities but guess what?

00:06:08.000 | What happened?

00:06:09.000 | I didn't make a dime.

00:06:11.000 | That was going to be my next question.

00:06:13.000 | I didn't make a dime.

00:06:14.000 | I did not make a dime.

00:06:17.000 | And I was curious but one day I had this aha moment.

00:06:24.000 | You know what?

00:06:26.000 | I'm not making a dime buying this crap.

00:06:29.000 | But the people selling this crap, maybe they're making money.

00:06:33.000 | Because I'm looking at the situation here.

00:06:35.000 | Okay, this guy is running some ads in some magazines and I'm sending him some money.

00:06:43.000 | I've never talked to him.

00:06:44.000 | I've never seen him.

00:06:45.000 | I was just responding.

00:06:47.000 | I was sending him checks.

00:06:48.000 | And I thought this is interesting.

00:06:50.000 | At the time I didn't know what this is.

00:06:52.000 | Now I know it's called copywriting or marketing.

00:06:54.000 | But I had no idea how that works.

00:06:58.000 | I was just fascinated by the whole thing.

00:07:00.000 | And then later on it planted a seed in my mind.

00:07:02.000 | I was trying all kinds of stuff.

00:07:04.000 | I had a software company.

00:07:06.000 | I was trying to fix computers for people.

00:07:08.000 | I got into network marketing, MLM, just like most people.

00:07:12.000 | I was jumping from one thing to another looking for the answer.

00:07:15.000 | Now the turning point for my life was when I first found my first mentor.

00:07:19.000 | His name is Alan Jacks.

00:07:21.000 | Alan at the time, he runs a very successful financial seminar company.

00:07:27.000 | Probably one of the most successful financial seminar companies in Canada.

00:07:31.000 | Called Business Breakthrough Technologies.

00:07:33.000 | And with Alan he was the first one that brought Robert Kiyosaki to Canada to speak.

00:07:39.000 | He was the first one that brought a lot of great speakers and thinkers and thought leaders to Canada.

00:07:47.000 | And he was doing a lot of these educational seminars.

00:07:50.000 | And maybe with a little bit of luck he liked me and he took me under his wing as a young guy.

00:07:58.000 | I worked for him for basically next to nothing for one year.

00:08:01.000 | I was going to the office, I was licking the stamps.

00:08:03.000 | Literally I was licking the stamps.

00:08:06.000 | And I was taking the stuff to the post office.

00:08:09.000 | He was doing a lot of direct mail at the time.

00:08:11.000 | And I was going to the postal office, I was cleaning his office.

00:08:16.000 | I was just learning from him.

00:08:18.000 | That may not be the answer for everybody but finding a mentor, that was the answer for me.

00:08:23.000 | So then from that point on, after that one year, within that one year he taught me marketing.

00:08:30.000 | He taught me how to sell.

00:08:31.000 | He taught me how to write copy, how to put words on a piece of paper and get a response from people.

00:08:39.000 | He calls it direct response marketing.

00:08:41.000 | So from that point on, within that one year afterwards, I started my own one man little advertising agency.

00:08:50.000 | At a very young age, and because of the training I got from Alan,

00:08:58.000 | I always call it the million dollar year of my life because I got a million dollar year's worth of education from Alan.

00:09:05.000 | And I was making about $10,000 a month as a copywriter.

00:09:08.000 | Keep in mind, back then in my early 20s, that was a lot of money.

00:09:14.000 | Sure. Still a lot of money.

00:09:17.000 | Yeah, it felt like a ton of money.

00:09:19.000 | I was paying some of my debt, taking my mom and putting a little bit of money aside.

00:09:24.000 | And $10,000 a month, it was good.

00:09:26.000 | I felt like I made it.

00:09:29.000 | And then one day, a guy, a webmaster was talking to me and he said, "You know what, Dan? You need a website."

00:09:37.000 | I said, "What do I need a website for?"

00:09:40.000 | "I don't know. You need a website, man."

00:09:42.000 | Because he was trying to sell his website service.

00:09:44.000 | And maybe you can sell something online.

00:09:48.000 | "What am I going to sell? I'm already very busy with my clients."

00:09:52.000 | "Maybe you can sell a product or something. I don't know."

00:09:55.000 | I said, "Okay, let me think about it."

00:09:58.000 | Anyway, so I thought, "Well, maybe I'll put together some kind of a manual."

00:10:02.000 | So at the time, I wrote a book, a manual called Forbidden Psychological Tactics.

00:10:07.000 | And I wrote the book, it's actually to kind of educate consumers what marketers do to influence consumers to buy stuff so they can protect themselves.

00:10:18.000 | That was my intention.

00:10:19.000 | But guess who was buying the book?

00:10:21.000 | The marketers.

00:10:22.000 | The marketers. That wasn't my intention.

00:10:26.000 | And I put it at a time I was putting it in bulletin board, forums, I was just talking about it.

00:10:34.000 | And I got a call, I still remember.

00:10:36.000 | I printed about 100 copies of these things, selling it online for $19.95.

00:10:41.000 | That was it.

00:10:42.000 | And so $20 and I got a call.

00:10:46.000 | I think the first order was from the States.

00:10:49.000 | I got a call from a gentleman, he said, "You know, I saw your post online.

00:10:53.000 | You still have those books available?

00:10:57.000 | I look in my garage, yeah, I got a few."

00:11:01.000 | A few pallets worth.

00:11:03.000 | Just a few.

00:11:05.000 | He said, "Please send me a copy."

00:11:07.000 | I said, "Great."

00:11:08.000 | And I think I charged him whatever, $30, $20 for the thing and $10 for shipping.

00:11:12.000 | And I sent him and he sent me a money order.

00:11:14.000 | And that was a big moment for me.

00:11:18.000 | Because in my mind, it was a validation.

00:11:23.000 | Wow, this is interesting.

00:11:24.000 | It's the first time I actually sold something online and this is amazing.

00:11:29.000 | And then I think I sold 100 copies within 30 days.

00:11:33.000 | So I made about a little bit of money.

00:11:35.000 | The thing cost about $15 to print or something and then I made $5 per copy.

00:11:41.000 | But it's a validation.

00:11:44.000 | So from there, I started selling more books and I turned it into a digital version of it at the time.

00:11:51.000 | Exe file, believe it or not.

00:11:53.000 | And from there, I got into affiliate marketing, eBay, I was importing stuff from Hong Kong actually, selling it on eBay.

00:12:01.000 | I was selling Bruce Lee collectibles.

00:12:03.000 | I'm a fan of Bruce Lee.

00:12:05.000 | I was selling all kinds of stuff just on eBay.

00:12:08.000 | And ClickBank and I was making a lot of money.

00:12:12.000 | At one point, I was one of the top.

00:12:13.000 | I have multiple products in multiple categories within ClickBank.

00:12:17.000 | That was good.

00:12:20.000 | I was making ridiculous amount of money.

00:12:23.000 | And as a young guy, I've never seen so much money.

00:12:28.000 | And so from ClickBank, but that's good and bad because I have a lesson here I want to share with the audience.

00:12:34.000 | Because money was coming in so fast at a time, it was easy.

00:12:40.000 | It was easy making it.

00:12:42.000 | And I wasn't very good at saving it.

00:12:45.000 | So I would, let's say, go out for a drink with a bunch of friends.

00:12:50.000 | You could call them friends.

00:12:52.000 | And we would drop like 2-3 grand on a night.

00:12:56.000 | And I don't even freaking drink.

00:13:00.000 | Everyone else had a good time though.

00:13:02.000 | Everybody else had a good time.

00:13:03.000 | Like, what is this?

00:13:04.000 | And I went through a period of time like that.

00:13:06.000 | I was so naive.

00:13:08.000 | I was not very mature.

00:13:10.000 | I was trying to buy friendship or love or whatever something was a boy within me.

00:13:18.000 | Probably because when I was growing up, I got beat up.

00:13:22.000 | I didn't have a whole lot of friends.

00:13:24.000 | So when I become successful, I thought that's what it takes to have friends.

00:13:27.000 | Of course, as you know, those are not true friends.

00:13:29.000 | And through that period of time, I made it and just blew all this money.

00:13:37.000 | And I thought, "This is not so good.

00:13:39.000 | This is not so good either."

00:13:41.000 | And basically, long story short, I hit millionaire status by the age of 27.

00:13:48.000 | And multimillionaire status by the age of 30.

00:13:52.000 | And through all that period of time, there are some ups and downs.

00:13:54.000 | We could go into that if you want.

00:13:55.000 | I'm 34 at the moment.

00:13:57.000 | But it's the last 3-4 years I've had some big, you would say, "Aha" moments.

00:14:05.000 | Some revelations of what actually money, business, or success is about.

00:14:10.000 | Tell me more. Tell me more of what you've learned.

00:14:13.000 | I think the first 10 years in my business career, from my own perspective.

00:14:20.000 | Okay, put it this way.

00:14:21.000 | My first goal when I was online was marketing online.

00:14:25.000 | My whole focus was to make enough money.

00:14:28.000 | Have enough because I was brainwashed by a lot of gurus talking about,

00:14:34.000 | "You don't make enough passive income so that you can retire."

00:14:38.000 | Right?

00:14:39.000 | And so you don't have to work.

00:14:42.000 | I thought, "When my passive income exceeds my expense, I'm done."

00:14:47.000 | Bad idea.

00:14:49.000 | That's one thing I've learned.

00:14:50.000 | I've learned that my passive income is a myth.

00:14:54.000 | I've learned that the whole, why people get into internet marketing or

00:14:59.000 | internet business, why most of them fail because of the wrong expectation.

00:15:03.000 | Let me give you an example.

00:15:05.000 | Let's say when people talk about passive income, most people associate

00:15:10.000 | passive income with no effort.

00:15:14.000 | It means quick.

00:15:16.000 | It means easy.

00:15:18.000 | Well, Joshua, let me ask you a question.

00:15:20.000 | If someone was to say to you, "You know what?

00:15:23.000 | I want to be fit.

00:15:24.000 | I want to be healthy.

00:15:26.000 | I just want some passive health."

00:15:29.000 | Hey, I want that.

00:15:31.000 | If you could sell that to me, I'd probably pull out my credit card.

00:15:35.000 | I want some passive exercise, man.

00:15:38.000 | You're like, "Dude, what are you talking about?"

00:15:41.000 | I'll answer.

00:15:42.000 | I'll prove your point for you.

00:15:43.000 | You see that machine that is sold?

00:15:46.000 | It's a very high-dollar direct marketing machine that's sold, I don't know,

00:15:49.000 | back of Popular Science.

00:15:51.000 | It's always a one-page ad, and it's this weird-looking thing that has all

00:15:54.000 | these arms, and the marketing copy is amazing on it about how it's been

00:15:59.000 | perfectly invented, and it gives you a total body workout in, I don't know,

00:16:04.000 | 15 minutes, 10 minutes, something like that.

00:16:07.000 | But the machine is thousands.

00:16:09.000 | I can't remember exactly.

00:16:10.000 | I'll just guess $10,000.

00:16:12.000 | That ad has been running in the back of Popular Science and many other

00:16:16.000 | magazines for as long as I can remember reading magazines.

00:16:19.000 | It just proves to me that copywriters don't keep things going that aren't

00:16:23.000 | working.

00:16:24.000 | People are desperate for that solution, that $10,000 solution where they

00:16:27.000 | can get a full body workout in no time, passive health and passive exercise.

00:16:33.000 | I know exactly the ad you're talking about.

00:16:36.000 | I think it's also endorsed by Tony Robbins or something like that.

00:16:39.000 | It could be.

00:16:40.000 | Yeah, I know the ad.

00:16:42.000 | So exactly.

00:16:43.000 | It's like also in relationship.

00:16:45.000 | It's like what if I tell my wife, "Hey, honey, you know what?

00:16:50.000 | From now on, we're just going to have passive sex.

00:16:53.000 | You're going to do all the work, and I'm just going to lay there like a

00:16:57.000 | dead fish."

00:16:58.000 | It doesn't work very well.

00:16:59.000 | Just how passionate would our relationship be?

00:17:01.000 | It's not how it works.

00:17:03.000 | But somehow when it comes to business and money, I guess it sells.

00:17:07.000 | I mean it's like the four-hour work week.

00:17:09.000 | I mean I like team, don't get me wrong.

00:17:11.000 | But it's people think, "Oh, yeah."

00:17:14.000 | Because the concept of passive income is so dangerous because when you think

00:17:18.000 | most people associate with no work but the fundamental question when it comes

00:17:24.000 | to passive income, when people start a business is, "What could I get away with?"

00:17:31.000 | It starts off with a question.

00:17:34.000 | "Well, you know what?

00:17:36.000 | How can I have minimum input yet I have maximum output?"

00:17:41.000 | Well, that's not how life works.

00:17:43.000 | It's just not how life works.

00:17:45.000 | So it's very, very, very dangerous versus doing something that you're

00:17:49.000 | passionate about, delivering value to the marketplace, loving what you do,

00:17:53.000 | and actually create something that's cool, that is good for people.

00:17:57.000 | It's very, very different versus I notice a lot of internet marketers,

00:18:01.000 | Joshua, you know that, they sell whatever products.

00:18:04.000 | They don't give a shit about those products.

00:18:06.000 | It's just, "I just want to make some money."

00:18:09.000 | And in some cases, you could make some money but not the big money that

00:18:13.000 | you want for sure and usually those success from my experience don't last.

00:18:17.000 | So you have a digital product you're selling, you don't give a damn.

00:18:21.000 | After, you know what, six months, a year, it stops selling or Google AdWords

00:18:28.000 | ad cost goes up, your affiliate stops promoting, whatever it is,

00:18:34.000 | and it stops working versus with what you do and you're very passionate

00:18:40.000 | about educating people on finance, about educating people on financial freedom.

00:18:45.000 | So explain to me how you actually came to these realizations because you've

00:18:51.000 | skirted around all these businesses.

00:18:52.000 | I've been around the edges of them as well but you've skirted around these

00:18:55.000 | very – let me choose the word carefully.

00:18:59.000 | You've skirted around these questionable businesses and questionable –

00:19:03.000 | Just call them what it is like scams and all that crap.

00:19:07.000 | Yeah, I mean I admit it.

00:19:09.000 | And it's not that there's not some – it's always challenging because it's

00:19:12.000 | not that there's some people who can't come out better but there's a whole

00:19:16.000 | lot of – as yourself, there's a whole lot of empty checkbooks in the rear

00:19:21.000 | view mirror when you were buying get-rich-quick opportunities.

00:19:24.000 | So what was the actual process to where you realized this?

00:19:27.000 | Did you have a failure?

00:19:28.000 | Did you have a success?

00:19:29.000 | What was the transformation and what do you do differently now versus

00:19:33.000 | what you were doing 10 years ago?

00:19:35.000 | Great question.

00:19:36.000 | So I think the big realization was when I was buying all this stuff and it

00:19:41.000 | didn't work and I was looking for something outside of myself to fix my

00:19:46.000 | finance and I think a lot of us go through the same journey that we get

00:19:51.000 | rich quick or we got involved with whatever opportunities because we wanted

00:19:56.000 | to do something, we wanted quick versus focusing on skills because look, I

00:20:02.000 | was trying about all kinds of opportunities until I found my mentor.

00:20:06.000 | What my mentor gave me was not the opportunity.

00:20:09.000 | What he gave me was skills and what I've learned is it's skills that makes

00:20:14.000 | you money.

00:20:15.000 | At the end of the day, it's skills that makes you money.

00:20:18.000 | So I think the biggest thing that I learned is that you have to have a

00:20:23.000 | business idea.

00:20:24.000 | I run one of the largest entrepreneurs group in Vancouver called Vancouver

00:20:28.000 | Entrepreneurs Group with 1,400 members and every time I do a meeting,

00:20:34.000 | people would come up to me and say, "Dan, I've got a great business idea."

00:20:37.000 | I say, "So what?

00:20:38.000 | It doesn't mean anything.

00:20:40.000 | Tell me what you want to do."

00:20:42.000 | "I want to be in the junk removal business.

00:20:45.000 | I want to be the hamburger business.

00:20:47.000 | I want to be the digital marketing business."

00:20:49.000 | Well, you know what?

00:20:50.000 | Whatever idea that you have, it's not that unique most of the time.

00:20:54.000 | "Give me that one idea.

00:20:56.000 | I could go out.

00:20:57.000 | Give me a week.

00:20:58.000 | I could find one company that's made millions.

00:21:01.000 | I could find hundreds that's gone broke."

00:21:04.000 | So then in business, what I've learned is not what you do, it's how you do it.

00:21:10.000 | So it's execution.

00:21:12.000 | It's your strategy.

00:21:13.000 | It's your implementation.

00:21:14.000 | So then I've learned that the more skills I have, the skill sets that can provide value

00:21:22.000 | in the marketplace, those skills I have, the higher level my skills are, the more money

00:21:28.000 | I make.

00:21:29.000 | And that's when I made a change of instead of focusing on what's the next opportunity

00:21:34.000 | of lifetime, I'm just focusing on getting to work and improving myself.

00:21:39.000 | Learning how to market, learning how to sell, learning how to negotiate, learning how to

00:21:44.000 | invest, learning how to do deals, learning how to raise capital, etc.

00:21:49.000 | And so back then, it's funny because funny now, everybody talks to me like, "Oh, Dan,

00:21:56.000 | now everything you turn turns into gold."

00:21:59.000 | And I say to them, "My friend, you should watch me back then when everything I touch

00:22:04.000 | turns to shit.

00:22:05.000 | What's the difference?"

00:22:08.000 | It's the difference is who I am today and the knowledge, the business acumen and skills

00:22:14.000 | that I have, that's the difference.

00:22:17.000 | Expand on the list of skills.

00:22:18.000 | You just mentioned things like marketing, etc.

00:22:21.000 | What are the skills that lead to an entrepreneur being able to build wealth?

00:22:27.000 | I would say it boils down to communication.

00:22:32.000 | If you think about it, let's say the ability to sell.

00:22:36.000 | If you know how to sell, you'll probably never starve.

00:22:40.000 | You can make good money doing whatever in whatever industries.

00:22:43.000 | The ability to sell, one-on-one or one-to-many, the ability to communicate in one-on-one or

00:22:51.000 | two groups like public speaking.

00:22:53.000 | That's why I encourage people to join Toastmasters because I joined Toastmasters and that completely

00:22:58.000 | changed my life.

00:23:01.000 | Such as how to market, how to do marketing, how to get, how to attract customers.

00:23:06.000 | And how to lead a team, which is also a form of communication.

00:23:09.000 | You're communicating, you're motivating your team, your employees.

00:23:13.000 | How to hire, how to do deals, and how to raise capital as an entrepreneur.

00:23:18.000 | But all those things, if you think about it, boils down to communication.

00:23:24.000 | Do you consciously build the skills or did you recognize just one day, "Oh, these skills

00:23:33.000 | have been built"?

00:23:34.000 | For you, was this an intentional and proactive approach or did it wind up happening intentionally?

00:23:40.000 | Not just intentional, not even proactive.

00:23:43.000 | I was obsessed.

00:23:46.000 | You look at athletes.

00:23:48.000 | Look at world champions.

00:23:50.000 | Anyone who competes at Olympics.

00:23:54.000 | Do you think they just kind of practice a little bit or do you think they practice every damn day?

00:23:58.000 | Every day.

00:23:59.000 | Every day to compete at that stage, at a world stage like that with a lot of other very talented

00:24:05.000 | athletes.

00:24:06.000 | Well, in business it's the same and that's why I tell people, "I don't watch sports."

00:24:10.000 | I'm in Canada, I'm in Vancouver, I don't watch hockey, I don't follow any sports.

00:24:15.000 | I tell people, "I don't need to watch sports, my friend.

00:24:18.000 | I'm playing the most competitive sports on the planet called business.

00:24:22.000 | It's 24/7, 365 and every day somebody's trying to kick your ass and grab your market share

00:24:28.000 | and take customers from you."

00:24:30.000 | I'm already playing the most competitive sport.

00:24:32.000 | Now, so somehow people can think, "Well, if I want to compete in Olympics, I got to practice

00:24:37.000 | every day, I got to hone my skills, I got to work."

00:24:40.000 | But in business, that's not how people think.

00:24:42.000 | People read a book such as Think and Grow Rich or whatever, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

00:24:48.000 | And after three months, they get inspired and they go, "You know what?

00:24:53.000 | If I don't quit my job and I'm not financially free within one year, I'm a failure."

00:24:59.000 | Where does that come from?

00:25:01.000 | You don't say, "You know what?

00:25:02.000 | I'm going to compete in swimming."

00:25:05.000 | "Well, I practice and I go to the pool, maybe swimming pool once a week, part-time.

00:25:11.000 | And if I don't win the gold medal, I'm a failure."

00:25:14.000 | That's not how it works.

00:25:16.000 | So, very – so constantly I'm working on my skills, even today.

00:25:21.000 | Learning those skill sets, that never stops.

00:25:25.000 | It's interesting how unfortunately it seems like this is – just my observation, this

00:25:34.000 | is the primary differentiator between people who seem to experience success, especially

00:25:40.000 | financial success versus those who don't.

00:25:42.000 | You talk about writing this book about psychological ways to defend yourself or forbidden psychological

00:25:50.000 | tactics.

00:25:51.000 | And you talk about how the only people that bought it were the marketers, the people who

00:25:56.000 | are proactively going out and building their skills.

00:25:59.000 | And all the people who could use the information to defend themselves don't seem to be knowledgeable

00:26:05.000 | or willing enough to go ahead and buy the book and learn how to defend themselves.

00:26:09.000 | You brought up a great point.

00:26:10.000 | What I noticed is, as a speaker, as a mentor for so many years now, is people who need

00:26:17.000 | the information the most, you could say success information or business building information,

00:26:24.000 | the people who need the information the most don't seem to be seeking it.

00:26:29.000 | You could say a homeless person on the street, he's not really thinking of getting rich.

00:26:34.000 | It's the people who don't need it.

00:26:35.000 | It's people who need it the least.

00:26:37.000 | People who are already motivated, who want to do something, who want to make a change,

00:26:42.000 | who want to pursue the excellence.

00:26:46.000 | Those are the people that seek out this type of information.

00:26:50.000 | I'd like to learn how you're actually doing this on a proactive basis.

00:26:54.000 | So we're doing this interview on a Tuesday.

00:26:56.000 | Feel free to pick yesterday or today.

00:26:58.000 | Tell me about the normal course of your day, how you structured your day and how you are

00:27:04.000 | consciously and in a focused manner developing your skills.

00:27:07.000 | So it's a little bit different from where I am today versus when I was younger.

00:27:12.000 | I'll give you both versions because I think it's beneficial.

00:27:15.000 | So when I was younger, let me pick one skill because I think that will give you a better example.

00:27:22.000 | So let's say take public speaking.

00:27:24.000 | Public speaking at a time when I was honing my craft, I would go to Toastmasters once a week.

00:27:32.000 | I would do something every single week.

00:27:34.000 | Sometimes twice a week and I would go to these clubs and I would deliver some kind of speech.

00:27:39.000 | It could be being a humorous speech, it could be just table topic, it could be anything, something every single week.

00:27:50.000 | And then in between what I would do is I would pick up a book, an English book and I would just read through them, read it out loud to practice.

00:27:59.000 | Learn more vocabulary, expand my vocabulary, practice my pronunciation as an example.

00:28:07.000 | And then when I was speaking, I would do presentations, becoming a professional speaker.

00:28:14.000 | Not just doing presentations but dissecting what other speakers do.

00:28:20.000 | What do they say, how do they say it, oh that's an interesting story.

00:28:23.000 | How do I craft those stories?

00:28:25.000 | It's like people are always interested in the event but the problem is nobody wants to process.

00:28:32.000 | Instead of meeting a guy and saying wow he's very successful, his this is that.

00:28:39.000 | I'm always interested in what's the process.

00:28:42.000 | A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of doing an event in Vancouver with the CEO of Freelancer.com, Matt Barry.

00:28:54.000 | And so he built a company from basically zero to now over a billion dollars within just a few years.

00:29:02.000 | And everybody, we had probably a couple hundred people in the audience and people were interested more in the outcome.

00:29:10.000 | And afterwards I was having a drink with Matt and it was all about process.

00:29:16.000 | Tell me how, just kind of like what you're doing Joshua, right?

00:29:19.000 | What's the process, what did you do first, what are some of the turning points and then what?

00:29:25.000 | How did you raise your first round of funding?

00:29:28.000 | And then when did you take the company to the public?

00:29:30.000 | What were the challenges?

00:29:31.000 | What happens after you take it to the public?

00:29:33.000 | How do you manage your now global team?

00:29:35.000 | All these things, I'm always curious.

00:29:38.000 | What's the process?

00:29:40.000 | I know you have a six pack app, tell me how you get to that six pack apps.

00:29:44.000 | What's the diet like?

00:29:48.000 | So it's millionaires are forged by process.

00:29:54.000 | That process makes millionaires.

00:29:57.000 | And we've all got a process.

00:29:59.000 | We all have a process at the moment.

00:30:02.000 | If you're broke, you have a process.

00:30:04.000 | The way you have a process, how you make the money, how you not save the money, how you waste the money.

00:30:10.000 | Millionaires also have a process.

00:30:12.000 | How we make it, how we save it, how we multiply it.

00:30:15.000 | Now for today, my own routine is, let me take a look at my agenda.

00:30:24.000 | Because every day is a little bit different.

00:30:26.000 | But I would say I spend the majority of my time on the phone.

00:30:31.000 | Probably 60% of my time on the phone.

00:30:34.000 | Every day, let's say after this interview I have basically back to back appointments

00:30:39.000 | with a lot of my business partners and operators of various businesses.

00:30:44.000 | And I spend a lot of my time just coaching them in a way.

00:30:49.000 | Being a strategist, they would tell me what they're working on, report to me their progress.

00:30:54.000 | And I would do that.

00:30:56.000 | In between I also devote probably about, I would say 10-15% of my time on personal branding.

00:31:04.000 | Such as an interview like this.

00:31:06.000 | So I strive to give one interview per week on various channels such as your show or other podcasts or TV.

00:31:18.000 | I was just on TV last Friday or in magazines, something like that.

00:31:22.000 | And I strive to conduct one interview for my own show, Shoulders of Titans,

00:31:26.000 | where I interview an entrepreneur every single week, once a week.

00:31:30.000 | So that's 52 times a year for myself, 52 times I interview somebody else.

00:31:35.000 | And then I strive to also do probably one presentation, one speech at some place once a month.

00:31:44.000 | So 12 times a year.

00:31:45.000 | Last year was a little bit crazy, probably close to 20.

00:31:48.000 | So that's for personal branding side.

00:31:51.000 | So I would say that's my day, now most of my day.

00:31:54.000 | What types of businesses are you actively involved with at this point?

00:31:57.000 | I have a business in e-commerce, jewelry.

00:32:01.000 | E-commerce is a big part of it.

00:32:03.000 | I have a business in real estate.

00:32:05.000 | I have a skincare line.

00:32:07.000 | I have a jewelry brand at a market.

00:32:11.000 | I have digital marketing obviously, software, digital marketing service.

00:32:16.000 | I have, I'm trying to think, B2B.

00:32:21.000 | We also service one of the largest digital marketing firm for audiologists in the States.

00:32:28.000 | And many more.

00:32:32.000 | I can't remember them all, but a dozen of them.

00:32:35.000 | Are all of your businesses information businesses?

00:32:38.000 | Or are you involved in any bricks and mortar traditional type of business?

00:32:42.000 | Not bricks and mortars because I don't like retail.

00:32:44.000 | I used to have a whole chain of salons in Vancouver.

00:32:47.000 | I sold them all.

00:32:48.000 | Made a little bit of money from that.

00:32:50.000 | But now I like stuff that's scalable.

00:32:53.000 | The only brick and mortar that I have, not retail, but it's real estate.

00:32:58.000 | So my concept is quite simple.

00:33:00.000 | I teach a concept actually called wealth triangle.

00:33:02.000 | If you're interested, I can get into it a little bit.

00:33:04.000 | So wealth triangle is what I teach is for anyone who is interested in the path of financial freedom or financial independence.

00:33:12.000 | The journey that I went through.

00:33:14.000 | So you think in terms of a wealth triangle, there are three corners, correct?

00:33:18.000 | The bottom left corner, you have what I call high income skills.

00:33:23.000 | High income skills.

00:33:24.000 | Notice the word skills again.

00:33:27.000 | I define high income skills are any skills that could make you $100,000 or more per year.

00:33:34.000 | $100,000 or more per year.

00:33:37.000 | That's the very first step.

00:33:38.000 | So it could be at the time, my high income skill was copywriting.

00:33:43.000 | Then I developed other high income skills such as public speaking, such as consulting, such as being a seminar promoter.

00:33:54.000 | So those type of businesses.

00:33:56.000 | So skills.

00:33:58.000 | Then once you have the skills, so you have income.

00:34:01.000 | Now when you're making, for people, that's what I noticed.

00:34:05.000 | When you're making more than, I don't know, let's say around $10,000 a month, that's $120,000 a year.

00:34:10.000 | For most people, you're pretty comfortable.

00:34:14.000 | Unless you just blow the money.

00:34:16.000 | But for most people, you're pretty comfortable.

00:34:19.000 | I mean you're paying the bills.

00:34:21.000 | You've got a home, you've got a car.

00:34:24.000 | You're taken care of.

00:34:26.000 | You're stable, right?

00:34:28.000 | So from that place, then you can go to level two which is the top corner, what I call scalable business.

00:34:35.000 | Not passive income business.

00:34:37.000 | Scalable business.

00:34:39.000 | Something that's scalable.

00:34:40.000 | It could be internet business, it could be e-commerce business, it could be any businesses.

00:34:44.000 | But scalable business.

00:34:46.000 | Something that can scale up.

00:34:47.000 | So what that does is scalable business provides you with cash flow.

00:34:52.000 | What most people, how they make the mistake is they want to jump into scalable business but they have no skills.

00:34:58.000 | They have no business skills whatsoever.

00:35:01.000 | They say I want to start a business and that's why most businesses fail in the first five years.

00:35:06.000 | So once you have that, that provides you with cash flow.

00:35:09.000 | So high income skills provide you with income.

00:35:12.000 | Scalable business provides you with cash flow.

00:35:14.000 | Once you make a lot of money, you have good cash flow coming in from your business.

00:35:18.000 | Now you can go to the third corner is what I call high return investments.

00:35:22.000 | High return investments.

00:35:23.000 | So there are many, many types of investments.

00:35:26.000 | Different from everybody.

00:35:27.000 | My thing is real estate but it could be other things for other people.

00:35:31.000 | That builds your net worth.

00:35:33.000 | It gives you a little bit of cash flow of course.

00:35:35.000 | But I make way more money from my business than my real estate.

00:35:40.000 | So it's cash flow, it's appreciation, it's tax advantage.

00:35:43.000 | So from there, then all that, you build your net worth and then you take some of that money and go back and invest in your skills.

00:35:51.000 | So you can see how it's a very positive cycle.

00:35:54.000 | It goes into a cycle like that.

00:35:55.000 | More skills, more money, put into your business, grow the business, make more cash flow, put into some kind of investments and investment builds your net worth.

00:36:04.000 | You get a good return from it.

00:36:06.000 | And it goes into like that.

00:36:08.000 | So that's the path I teach people.

00:36:10.000 | And anyone that I meet, I can very quickly tell them, "Hey, you know what? You're thinking of buying..."

00:36:14.000 | That's how people get into trouble.

00:36:16.000 | They read a book and they go buy...

00:36:17.000 | I have a friend of mine who reads a real estate book.

00:36:21.000 | He's working at a job, making two, three grand a month.

00:36:24.000 | And he went out there and bought three properties, nothing down.

00:36:27.000 | And then one property, he couldn't find a tenant for three months.

00:36:31.000 | One property, the plumbing stopped working and cost him a whole bunch of money.

00:36:37.000 | The banks foreclosed all three properties and he was bankrupt.

00:36:43.000 | Did he not have any money?

00:36:44.000 | The reason was he didn't have any money saved before he bought the properties?

00:36:47.000 | He had no money.

00:36:48.000 | He just read a book, thought it was a good idea.

00:36:50.000 | Get rich quick, nothing down.

00:36:52.000 | What could be so bad about it?

00:36:54.000 | Just put it on a credit card, right?

00:36:56.000 | And so because he doesn't have high income skills and he doesn't have scalable businesses.

00:37:03.000 | How would somebody – would you advise somebody who is not currently participating in any of those three categories?

00:37:17.000 | They're not earning $10,000 a month.

00:37:19.000 | They're earning, say, median income $50,000 a year.

00:37:21.000 | So let's call it $4,000 a month.

00:37:23.000 | They don't have a business.

00:37:26.000 | They're working as an employee and they don't have any high return investments other than possibly the money that's in their 401k.

00:37:33.000 | They got $20,000 in a 401k.

00:37:35.000 | Would you advise somebody to walk through that triangle in order?

00:37:40.000 | Yes.

00:37:41.000 | Why?

00:37:42.000 | Absolutely.

00:37:43.000 | Because unlike what most people talk about, that they have such a negative feeling towards having a job.

00:37:53.000 | Like, "Oh, if you have an employee, you're so bad and you have to quit your job and jump into entrepreneurship."

00:38:01.000 | I'm an advocate for entrepreneurship but I don't advise people to do that because business is tough.

00:38:07.000 | Business is very tough and chances of you failing is very, very high.

00:38:13.000 | Like, if we were to bet, chances of anyone has an idea, they want to make that successful, chances of that person failing is very high.

00:38:22.000 | So when someone is making $10,000 a month with their skills, it tells me a couple of things.

00:38:31.000 | It tells me probably that person has good work ethics.

00:38:36.000 | Probably.

00:38:37.000 | Some good behavior, some good habits.

00:38:40.000 | Delivering value to the marketplace.

00:38:42.000 | Working with clients.

00:38:43.000 | Probably decent people skills.

00:38:45.000 | Manages himself reasonably.

00:38:49.000 | So that's how you get a $10,000 a month.

00:38:52.000 | So less than 6% of the population makes $100,000 a year, less than 1% of the population makes over $325,000 a year.

00:39:01.000 | So when you're in that 6% category, the $100,000 a year mark, it tells me something about you.

00:39:06.000 | So from that place, not from a place of desperation that, "I started this business, man. I just quit my job. I've got 3 months, 6 months, 1 year savings. I've got to make this business work."

00:39:18.000 | Well, that's the worst time to start a business.

00:39:20.000 | When you need the business to work.

00:39:22.000 | When you are desperate.

00:39:24.000 | When you are just kind of backed up in the corner and you have no time.

00:39:30.000 | Because it always takes more time than you think.

00:39:33.000 | It costs more than you think.

00:39:34.000 | You think it's going to cost you $20,000 to start a business? It's going to cost you $50,000.

00:39:39.000 | You think it takes you 6 months to be profitable? It takes you 2 freaking years, right? Or 3 years.

00:39:44.000 | What if it's not profitable?

00:39:46.000 | What if it never takes off like the way you think and imagine? Now what?

00:39:52.000 | Now can you go back and get a job?

00:39:54.000 | Probably not from the same company.

00:39:56.000 | You put yourself in a very bad situation, financially speaking.

00:39:59.000 | So high income skills, absolutely.

00:40:02.000 | So for someone making $4,000 a month, I would start what I call a side hustle.

00:40:06.000 | Some kind of, not business, some kind of gig you could do on the side, using your skills, using your knowledge, using your expertise.

00:40:15.000 | Something.

00:40:16.000 | I mean I have students who are making that kind of money, let's say through search engine optimization, through digital marketing, as a copywriter.

00:40:25.000 | I have another guy who comes to my group who makes $10,000 a month as a ballroom dancer, instructor.

00:40:31.000 | Awesome. Like there's so many ways you can do it and that's completely fine.

00:40:36.000 | And then take that money and then you start a business.

00:40:39.000 | How many hours a week do you work?

00:40:42.000 | Now I would say, I'm not even counting, but I would say every day at least 10 hours a day.

00:40:50.000 | Do you take a day off a week or two days off a week or do you work seven days a week?

00:40:55.000 | No, I probably work six days a week.

00:40:58.000 | Do you have children?

00:41:01.000 | No. Not yet. I just got married last year.

00:41:05.000 | Congratulations.

00:41:06.000 | Thank you.

00:41:07.000 | Do you think that life cycle has something to do with this? Like meaning that you've worked very hard in your 20s as a single man, so you had a little bit more flexibility over your time.

00:41:18.000 | What do you tell to people who are in a different situation?

00:41:22.000 | They say, "Hey man, that sounds great Dan. I'd like to be able to do those things, but man look, I got two kids, I got a mortgage."

00:41:28.000 | How would you advise someone to think through that situation?

00:41:31.000 | I would say don't use your kids as an excuse not to do this. Use your kids as a reason why you want to do this.

00:41:39.000 | And it's not just, "I was single, I was this and that." I sacrifice a lot. I pay the price.

00:41:47.000 | There's one thing I learned from my mentor is pay price to action.

00:41:51.000 | Going through college, I didn't party. I was working. I didn't take vacations. I was working.

00:42:01.000 | When all my friends were out there drinking, partying, I was working.

00:42:05.000 | But look where they are today.

00:42:08.000 | Some of them are struggling, couldn't get a job and all these things.

00:42:14.000 | So I pay the price. I did what most people weren't willing to do.

00:42:21.000 | People talk about this as a quote, "Entrepreneurs do what people don't want to do for a few years, so you can do what you want to do for the rest of your life."

00:42:30.000 | Don't use that as an excuse.

00:42:34.000 | I work harder today than I was many years ago because I still work very hard. I love what I do.

00:42:42.000 | And that's why I don't believe in the concept of retirement.

00:42:44.000 | I retired at the age of 27. I was sitting on the beach for two months. It was out of my mind.

00:42:49.000 | That's not what life is about.

00:42:51.000 | You think in terms of the people, some of the wealthiest, most successful people.

00:42:57.000 | Let's say the Forbes 500, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, all of them.

00:43:04.000 | None of them have "retired."

00:43:09.000 | They have retired, I can tell you that.

00:43:12.000 | But not retirement doesn't mean you don't do it.

00:43:14.000 | Most people, here's what I've learned.

00:43:16.000 | Most people don't actually want to retire and do nothing.

00:43:21.000 | Because life is about progress and contribution.

00:43:24.000 | So most people just want to do what retired people do.

00:43:28.000 | They want to be able to take that vacation. They want to have the choices.

00:43:31.000 | They want to do, buy, whatever they want. That's retirement.

00:43:36.000 | The wealthiest and most successful people on the planet, they have retired.

00:43:40.000 | They have retired in their companies.

00:43:43.000 | That's what they love to do. That's what they want to do.

00:43:45.000 | They don't need more money.

00:43:47.000 | If you think in terms of financial freedom, they could have retired many years ago.

00:43:50.000 | They don't need to work.

00:43:52.000 | For most people, after you make a few million dollars,

00:43:56.000 | unless you want to buy a private jet or a yard or something,

00:43:59.000 | make a couple million bucks, you're pretty comfortable.

00:44:03.000 | So why do we still keep working?

00:44:06.000 | Because it's progress.

00:44:08.000 | Then it's no longer just about ourselves and making enough money,

00:44:12.000 | paying the bills or having materialistic things.

00:44:15.000 | It's about, it's more a self-actualization process.

00:44:19.000 | It's about growing ourselves.

00:44:21.000 | It's more about making a difference now for others.

00:44:24.000 | And what you can do to contribute to others.

00:44:27.000 | But it's a process people have to go through.

00:44:30.000 | Understand, focus on yourself.

00:44:32.000 | Take care of your family.

00:44:34.000 | Once you do that, you can now think more, think bigger.

00:44:37.000 | How can you use your talents, your skills,

00:44:40.000 | to make the world a better place to do more, to leave a legacy.

00:44:46.000 | I'd like to ask about how you manage your time and your calendar and your schedule.

00:44:51.000 | Are you a very scheduled, disciplined person?

00:44:54.000 | Yes.

00:44:56.000 | Tell me how you approach your time management philosophy.

00:44:59.000 | That's a good question. I love it.

00:45:02.000 | Some people might say I'm a little bit difficult when it comes to,

00:45:06.000 | let's say, getting to me.

00:45:09.000 | So everything I do is tightly scheduled.

00:45:13.000 | Most of the time, weeks in advance.

00:45:15.000 | And so that's number one.

00:45:17.000 | So I basically schedule my appointment in 15 minute increment.

00:45:23.000 | Increment, 15 minute.

00:45:24.000 | So when I have a consulting call, IE, it's 15 minute increment.

00:45:29.000 | So in this case, this podcast is one hour.

00:45:32.000 | If I have a call with my business partners,

00:45:37.000 | usually it's about 30 minute or so.

00:45:39.000 | If it's another podcast interview, it could be 30 minute.

00:45:42.000 | So tightly scheduled.

00:45:44.000 | And I don't, almost 99% of the time, I don't take any unscheduled incoming calls.

00:45:49.000 | I just don't do that.

00:45:51.000 | My phone is actually unplugged most of the time,

00:45:54.000 | unless I have an appointment.

00:45:56.000 | So I don't get a lot of interruptions.

00:45:59.000 | I think that's the key.

00:46:00.000 | Work without distractions and interruptions.

00:46:04.000 | Not someone calls you.

00:46:06.000 | Sometimes people are shocked.

00:46:08.000 | In a meeting with me, sometimes when I do something,

00:46:11.000 | when I'm there the whole day,

00:46:13.000 | my phone never answers my cell phone.

00:46:17.000 | I just don't because I want to be 100% focused.

00:46:21.000 | So that's just the way I do it.

00:46:22.000 | I also do time blocking.

00:46:23.000 | So I block out my time to do my thing.

00:46:26.000 | So in the morning, so before this call,

00:46:29.000 | I had like a morning ritual.

00:46:31.000 | I do yoga.

00:46:32.000 | I do an exercise, what I call attitude gratitude.

00:46:35.000 | Focus on what I'm grateful for.

00:46:36.000 | It takes about 10-15 minutes to do.

00:46:39.000 | And then I would plan out kind of a little bit of my day.

00:46:41.000 | What are the six major things I want to accomplish.

00:46:44.000 | And I do a little bit of thinking time.

00:46:46.000 | Just thinking time.

00:46:48.000 | So I always devote a little bit of time in the morning just to think.

00:46:52.000 | And I do that pretty much every day.

00:46:55.000 | So that's how, it's very simple.

00:46:56.000 | Time blocking, make people know that

00:47:01.000 | and train people how to respect your time,

00:47:03.000 | respect your time, and be obvious about it.

00:47:08.000 | And be obvious about it.

00:47:10.000 | And people will know.

00:47:11.000 | Like my friend will not call me and say,

00:47:13.000 | "Hey, Dan, can you help me move my house?"

00:47:17.000 | Not because I'm financially well off.

00:47:20.000 | It's just, no, I don't do that kind of stuff.

00:47:24.000 | You want to talk business, you want to talk life,

00:47:25.000 | you want to dig deep, let's go.

00:47:28.000 | Moving, not my thing.

00:47:31.000 | Who have been the three most influential people in your life?

00:47:36.000 | Ah, good question.

00:47:37.000 | So the first one definitely, it's my mom.

00:47:40.000 | Okay, it's definitely my mom.

00:47:41.000 | Because my mom just, she gave up a lot.

00:47:45.000 | Just a lot for me, taking care of me for many years.

00:47:49.000 | So my mom, my mom is like an angel.

00:47:51.000 | She's one of those person that has,

00:47:55.000 | she can make friends wherever she goes.

00:47:57.000 | Like she's friends with people at the supermarket,

00:47:59.000 | she's friends with the waitress,

00:48:01.000 | she's friends with everybody.

00:48:03.000 | I don't know how she does it.

00:48:04.000 | I still don't know how she does it.

00:48:06.000 | She just has so many friends and people love her, adore her.

00:48:10.000 | Just incredible.

00:48:11.000 | So my mom would be the first one.

00:48:13.000 | I learned a lot from her.

00:48:15.000 | Second one would be my first mentor, Alan Jacks.

00:48:18.000 | He taught me marketing, copywriting,

00:48:20.000 | taught me how human psychology, how all that works.

00:48:24.000 | So I would say, and Alan actually gave me the name.

00:48:27.000 | My name at the time was actually Daniel.

00:48:30.000 | That was my name.

00:48:31.000 | Daniel Locke.

00:48:33.000 | And one day I was sitting in his car and we were driving

00:48:36.000 | and he said, "You know what, you should make your name shorter.

00:48:38.000 | Make it Dan. Just Dan Locke.

00:48:40.000 | Add some more punch."

00:48:42.000 | I said, "Okay."

00:48:45.000 | I know and I have to say it works out pretty well.

00:48:48.000 | So I thank him for that.

00:48:50.000 | The third one obviously is my second mentor.

00:48:53.000 | His name is Dan Pena and that's what you saw on the website,

00:48:56.000 | the 50 billion dollar man.

00:48:58.000 | The 50 dollar came from that he has created value and equity

00:49:03.000 | for himself, which he turned a company from $800 to $450 million

00:49:10.000 | in the oil industry.

00:49:12.000 | And also for his students, his mentees.

00:49:15.000 | A lot of them are very, very successful high-end executive CEOs.

00:49:19.000 | So I would say Dan Pena, he changed my life.

00:49:22.000 | Definitely.

00:49:24.000 | You've obviously consumed a lot of personal development,

00:49:27.000 | literature, advice, input over the years.

00:49:30.000 | Yes.

00:49:32.000 | Starting with, I mean, it wasn't the granddaddy.

00:49:35.000 | He wasn't original with the ideas but he's well-known as the granddaddy

00:49:39.000 | of personal development of Napoleon Hill.

00:49:42.000 | Which of that type of input has been the most meaningful to you?

00:49:47.000 | Whose teachings, whose resources, courses, etc.?

00:49:50.000 | It's like the question people ask me all the time.

00:49:53.000 | "What's the one book you recommend?"

00:49:57.000 | And I always reply, "All of them."

00:50:01.000 | Because the books that you don't read don't help.

00:50:04.000 | And I don't know your situation, your circumstances enough to know

00:50:08.000 | which book is helpful for you.

00:50:10.000 | I have over 2,000 books in my library.

00:50:13.000 | I've got 5,000 books on Kindle.

00:50:15.000 | I still read about one or two books per week.

00:50:18.000 | And when I'm driving, it's Audible, it's MP3s, it's podcasts.

00:50:23.000 | So I mean Brian Tracy, Sig Ziglar, all of them.

00:50:29.000 | I like all of them.

00:50:30.000 | I want to pinpoint and say, "I guess I learned something from all of them."

00:50:34.000 | Even the bad ones.

00:50:36.000 | So you're jumping right into the question.

00:50:38.000 | And I wholeheartedly agree with you in that I simply look when I consume content.

00:50:44.000 | I'm looking for one idea.

00:50:45.000 | One idea that can be implemented.

00:50:47.000 | And you'll find them in the most unique places you never thought you'd find it.

00:50:51.000 | You can always get one good idea out of a bad conference.

00:50:54.000 | You can find one thing worth hearing from a bad business meeting.

00:50:58.000 | If you make a note of it and you're looking for the one idea, you'll always find it.

00:51:02.000 | But my next question was as a wide consumer, whose advice or input did you at the time say, "Man, this is awesome."

00:51:10.000 | And now from a more mature perspective, you look and say, "It didn't really help me that much."

00:51:15.000 | That is a good question.

00:51:19.000 | So at the time I read it, it was awesome.

00:51:22.000 | And then now looking back, it didn't help me that much.

00:51:25.000 | Nothing comes to my mind.

00:51:35.000 | Because if I find it helpful at the time, I couldn't think of any.

00:51:42.000 | I truly couldn't think of any.

00:51:44.000 | It's a good question.

00:51:45.000 | Because as I said, I think every book, every workshop, there's just something there.

00:51:51.000 | I still find it helpful.

00:51:54.000 | I think if there's one point I want to leave to your audience, it's about being resourceful.

00:52:02.000 | There's something to learn from everybody.

00:52:05.000 | And there's always, because most people would say, "There's nothing I can do. That's just the way it is, man."

00:52:12.000 | No, there's always something you can do.

00:52:14.000 | Always something.

00:52:15.000 | It's not lack of resources, it's lack of resourcefulness.

00:52:18.000 | People say, "I don't have money. I don't know enough people. I don't have enough experience."

00:52:23.000 | All of that, it's all resources.

00:52:25.000 | External factor.

00:52:26.000 | But when you're resourceful, you can make it happen.

00:52:30.000 | And funny thing is, when you're successful or not, millionaires, we don't use our own money anyway.

00:52:38.000 | We use other people's money.

00:52:40.000 | It's not so much money, it's skills.

00:52:42.000 | When you have the skills, maybe a little bit of track record, and people will throw money at you.

00:52:48.000 | So money's not an issue.

00:52:49.000 | I mean, you talk to anybody.

00:52:50.000 | Just yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine from New York, owns a private equity firm.

00:52:55.000 | He was just calling me, "Hey Dan, you got any deals? It needs funding."

00:53:00.000 | There's more money chasing fewer deals nowadays.

00:53:04.000 | So money is never the issue.

00:53:07.000 | It's just a limiting belief.

00:53:09.000 | Money seems to be the issue up front.

00:53:11.000 | But when you have the skills and you've demonstrated a track record of consistency, people with money are looking for that.

00:53:18.000 | So you've got to start with demonstrating the skills and demonstrating a track record.

00:53:23.000 | The reason I'm probing on – I'm going to ask the question slightly differently.

00:53:27.000 | The reason I'm probing on the personal development thing is because you and I have consumed many of the same information and not much of the same information.

00:53:34.000 | And there are common themes that have been influential in my life that even themes that you've expressed that longtime listeners of the show will recognize are the things I've often expressed on the show.

00:53:45.000 | But I'm also concerned that there have been a lot of people hurt by less than – there have been a lot of people hurt by gurus, especially in our modern – in the ways that they've been hurt is they have bought into the motivational message without committing and following through on the back end to put in the work.

00:54:08.000 | They bought into the passive income idea without recognizing the fact that this person also needs to come with 60 hours a week of work.

00:54:16.000 | So –

00:54:17.000 | I got it. I got it. I see where you're coming from. I got it.

00:54:21.000 | And now when you dig behind it, what you always find is a good – let's say straightforward person is going to say, hey, here's something catchy. Here's a catchy title.

00:54:30.000 | But now here's the story.

00:54:32.000 | Tim Ferriss in writing The 4-Hour Workweek, he'll be the first to admit the title is intended for you to pick up the book.

00:54:38.000 | But the book is not – the book is filled with useful and actionable and practical tips and techniques.

00:54:44.000 | And knowing Tim, I guarantee you he doesn't work for hours.

00:54:47.000 | Exactly.

00:54:48.000 | He doesn't even sleep for hours.

00:54:49.000 | Exactly.

00:54:50.000 | OK.

00:54:51.000 | Exactly.

00:54:52.000 | I get a little concerned though because there have been a lot of people who have been separated from a lot of money and have been – which has resulted in a great deal of damage.

00:55:01.000 | And so my desire is to help people have a filtering mechanism where they can take the good but also know how to balance themselves.

00:55:10.000 | As an example, if someone is going to go out and buy a $30,000 mentoring – you've used the word "mentor" several times.

00:55:17.000 | And the word "mentor" is something that has often been used.

00:55:21.000 | People say, "OK.

00:55:22.000 | You need a mentor.

00:55:23.000 | So therefore you should pay me $30,000 to be your mentor."

00:55:25.000 | Buy my coaching program.

00:55:26.000 | Exactly.

00:55:27.000 | Buy my whatever seminar.

00:55:28.000 | Exactly.

00:55:29.000 | And I believe that there are many people who could benefit from a $30,000 coaching program.

00:55:33.000 | And I try to reinvest a certain percentage of my income constantly back into my personal development.

00:55:39.000 | And if you think about the fact that, OK, if you're making $4,000 a month, let's say you're going to invest 10 percent back into yourself.

00:55:44.000 | If you're making $4,000 a month, you've got to find a lot of resources and materials to invest 10 percent of your income back into yourself.

00:55:51.000 | If you're making $40,000 a month, you're going to need to upgrade your mentors.

00:55:54.000 | You're going to need to upgrade the cost of the seminars you're going to.

00:55:57.000 | And you're going to need to find that higher-level information.

00:55:59.000 | So that said is the reason I'm probing on this.

00:56:03.000 | I want to know, as a broad consumer of personal finance literature, have you developed a framework, any type of filtering mechanism, any useful questions that you apply when you're listening to me?

00:56:13.000 | You apply when you're listening to a new podcast, a new YouTube channel because this stuff is everywhere, Dan.

00:56:18.000 | I'm really concerned about how there's just a lot of scammers out there.

00:56:22.000 | And so have you built any useful defense mechanisms to filter through and take the good but be wary of the bad?

00:56:28.000 | That's such a good question and I share the same concern.

00:56:31.000 | And if anyone is familiar with my work and what I stand for, I hate those damn gurus.

00:56:37.000 | I hate those gurus.

00:56:39.000 | I think it's such a great question.

00:56:41.000 | I think first of all, everyone has to go through stages.

00:56:44.000 | At first, I think they need to just learn as much about success, personal development, setting goals.

00:56:51.000 | Let's call it building the foundation.

00:56:53.000 | Develop those habits of excellence, setting goals and communication skill.

00:56:58.000 | All the basic stuff.

00:57:00.000 | You go through a period of time but not to become what I call a success junkie.

00:57:04.000 | You see those people at these motivational seminars all the time.

00:57:07.000 | Last year I was attending Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within.

00:57:12.000 | And I was talking to a guy and he was like, "You know what? I've been to Tony's events 8 times."

00:57:18.000 | I said, "You've come back to Unleash the Power Within 8 times?"

00:57:23.000 | "Yeah, man! Look at my badge, 8 times!"

00:57:26.000 | I look at him, "Man, I mean, okay, good for you, man."

00:57:29.000 | But as far as I'm concerned, the message is you have all the power, isn't it?

00:57:35.000 | All the power is within you.

00:57:37.000 | And I'm not saying, "Yeah, take Tony's artist workshop. I like Tony's."

00:57:41.000 | But I'm like, "Shouldn't you just go and do stuff and you have all the power, you have all the tools now?

00:57:46.000 | Why did you come back?"

00:57:47.000 | "Oh, because I get motivated."

00:57:49.000 | "What have you done since the last first seminar?"

00:57:52.000 | "Nothing."

00:57:53.000 | So the people go for the high, they go for the motivation.

00:57:57.000 | And they keep attending workshops and seminars.

00:57:59.000 | So they become a success junkie. That's not good.

00:58:02.000 | It's very simple.

00:58:03.000 | So first, go through that period of time where, yes, study the Brian Tracy, study the Zig Ziglar, study the Napoleon Hill,

00:58:10.000 | all the Nightingale content stuff.

00:58:13.000 | Study all of that for a couple of years.

00:58:15.000 | I think it's a good thing because most people…

00:58:17.000 | We need to get our heads screwed on straight.

00:58:18.000 | Let's put it that way.

00:58:19.000 | Go through that.

00:58:21.000 | Once you are, you know what, I am very positive.

00:58:24.000 | I think positively.

00:58:26.000 | I have some of these…

00:58:28.000 | You need to have a good solid foundation.

00:58:30.000 | Then I think you need to develop what I call, again, skills and business acumen.

00:58:35.000 | The filter is actually, Joshua, is very simple.

00:58:38.000 | When you want to look for a mentor, buy the thing, or the program, or this and that, just look,

00:58:43.000 | have they been there and done that?

00:58:46.000 | Are they still doing it?

00:58:48.000 | Consider the source.

00:58:51.000 | So if a guy is selling your coaching program, whatever, and most of the coaches, quite frankly, they're broke.

00:58:58.000 | And they're teaching you how to improve your business.

00:59:02.000 | Most business coaches are broke.

00:59:05.000 | Most prosperity, you know, gurus have no prosperity.

00:59:09.000 | A person knows a lot of them.

00:59:12.000 | Yet they're teaching you this stuff and that shows you.

00:59:14.000 | So it's very simple.

00:59:16.000 | You ask the question, okay, so you're going to sell me your whatever program, coaching program.

00:59:22.000 | What have you done?

00:59:24.000 | And you notice most of them, they're running some kind of program.

00:59:27.000 | They're reading some kind of scripts from Utah maybe.

00:59:31.000 | Some kind of coaching floor.

00:59:33.000 | And there's a huge business to be done in those cities.

00:59:37.000 | Scams.

00:59:38.000 | And you look at that.

00:59:41.000 | That eliminates 99% of people you learn from.

00:59:44.000 | And that's when I first, when I found my mentor, Dan Pena.

00:59:48.000 | You know what?

00:59:50.000 | Dan is a guy that's been there and done that, still does it.

00:59:53.000 | He gave me $450 million during the oil crisis.

00:59:58.000 | You know what?

00:59:59.000 | That's a guy I want to learn from.

01:00:00.000 | So I just look for mentors who's been and done that.

01:00:04.000 | It's very simple.

01:00:05.000 | It saves you a lot of time and hassle.

01:00:06.000 | That's the only filter you need.

01:00:08.000 | Agreed.

01:00:12.000 | It's like a lot of, you're going to buy real estate and the guy's teaching you how to buy real estate.

01:00:18.000 | Well, how many properties does he own right now?

01:00:21.000 | Not 10 years ago.

01:00:22.000 | Right now.

01:00:23.000 | So here's my rebuttal and I'm going to – I'll give you my rebuttal and feel free to disagree with me, but I'm interested to know.

01:00:29.000 | I don't like that as being the standard filter because sometimes for somebody to be a great coach, they don't necessarily have to be the world's greatest expert.

01:00:40.000 | And so, I mean the classic example would be Tiger Woods' coach is not as good of a golfer as Tiger Woods is, but he's a world-class coach.

01:00:48.000 | Now, that could be applied to other areas.

01:00:50.000 | And so, for example, with me, with Radical Personal Finance, I have made very clear from the beginning that I am not teaching this show from the perspective of – I'm not teaching this material and saying, "Look, I'm a multimillionaire.

01:01:05.000 | I was financially independent at 30," because I wasn't.

01:01:08.000 | What I can identify, however, is many of the mistakes that I made and I can identify clearly where I went wrong and I know exactly what I'm doing.

01:01:16.000 | And so, I can present the concept and the materials in a way where I demonstrate here's what I'm doing.

01:01:22.000 | Here's what works.

01:01:23.000 | I can share with you the knowledge that I have gained, and I believe I can make things a little bit more accessible simply due to the fact that I am still going through the process myself.

01:01:33.000 | Now, my money has to be where my mouth is.

01:01:36.000 | I cannot – if I were somehow disingenuous in trying to portray myself as something that I'm not or if I were trying to say – if I weren't able to back up and say here's the concept and leave the audience free to consider it, I would consider that a problem.

01:01:51.000 | But I don't.

01:01:52.000 | I don't – I'm not trying to portray myself in any way that I'm not.

01:01:57.000 | But I don't believe that simply because I'm not yet financially independent, I don't believe that disqualifies me from providing useful information for how to do it.

01:02:07.000 | I am a subject matter expert.

01:02:08.000 | I'm a student of it.

01:02:10.000 | I've gone the expert route, and I can actually identify things.

01:02:14.000 | And I'll tell you, this was going to be my last question as we wrap up here, was related to your podcast.

01:02:18.000 | You're doing this podcast called Shoulders of Titans.

01:02:21.000 | And you're – the tagline, "Conversations with today's most inspiring and successful entrepreneurs."

01:02:27.000 | And I'll tell you my – one of the things that I focus on, and I'm interested in your concept.

01:02:33.000 | But I often don't find the message of people who have been incredibly productive with income, who have reached the top of their businesses, people who have built it and who have done it.

01:02:52.000 | I don't find that their message often resonates with me or with other people because they have forgotten about some of the difficult years.

01:03:01.000 | It's funny.

01:03:02.000 | So my wife and I, we have two young children, and I often talk with my parents about parenting.

01:03:07.000 | And in fact, my dad and I actually do a podcast on parenting.

01:03:10.000 | And I always chuckle because my mom, I love her dearly.

01:03:13.000 | She's a wonderful lady.

01:03:15.000 | But she has completely forgotten it seems like what it's like to work with babies.

01:03:19.000 | And the human mind has an ability it seems to – and that's probably too strong.

01:03:25.000 | She knows how to work with babies.

01:03:26.000 | She can take care of a baby.

01:03:27.000 | But she's blocked out a lot of the challenges that she faced because that just is not relevant to her anymore.

01:03:33.000 | And so when you make a statement like turn your phone off and don't answer the phone, somebody who's in the stage where their job requires them to answer the phone, that type of advice doesn't necessarily resonate.

01:03:47.000 | And they don't know how to go from here to there.

01:03:50.000 | And so I often find it difficult to gain from – it's difficult in real estate.

01:03:57.000 | It's very difficult.

01:03:58.000 | I can't gain from somebody who's running.

01:04:00.000 | I can learn a little bit, but it's hard for me to relate to somebody who is – who has a portfolio of 500 properties.

01:04:08.000 | Sometimes it's a little easier to relate to the portfolio of the guy who has five properties.

01:04:12.000 | Now, in the future, I'll be able to relate to the person with 500 properties.

01:04:17.000 | But today I can't because I'm still figuring out how do I get my five to go.

01:04:22.000 | So do you get my point?

01:04:24.000 | I don't love that as a standard because under that standard, I should always be talking to the person who's way down the road.

01:04:30.000 | But often the person who's way down the road, they're in a different mindset.

01:04:34.000 | They've experienced something different.

01:04:36.000 | So someday I may be where they are and I may be able to gain from them.

01:04:41.000 | But sometimes I think the very best person to teach first grade is a second grader, not necessarily the teacher who has a PhD.

01:04:49.000 | It's a second grader who's learned the first grade material and who can convey that effectively.

01:04:55.000 | Now, we need the person with the PhD because the second grader is going somewhere.

01:04:59.000 | But I think there's a real balance there in terms of consuming advice.

01:05:04.000 | So feel free to respond or rebut that from your perspective.

01:05:07.000 | Great points.

01:05:08.000 | I think going back to the first question, I think what you're referring to, I totally agree.

01:05:15.000 | I mean I have coaches in my life.

01:05:17.000 | I have a relationship coach.

01:05:18.000 | I have a fitness coach.

01:05:19.000 | I have a kind of accountability coach.

01:05:22.000 | He's a coach but he's not my mentor.

01:05:26.000 | So there's a difference between a coach.

01:05:27.000 | A coach is there to push me.

01:05:31.000 | He's there to extract what's already within me.

01:05:36.000 | To ask powerful questions, profound questions that maybe I already know the answers to.

01:05:41.000 | So that's different.

01:05:43.000 | There's a difference.

01:05:44.000 | So a coach, a mentor and then you can have advisor and experts.

01:05:48.000 | So let's say I just recently hired someone who's a YouTube expert and he's going to be managing, optimizing my YouTube channel.

01:05:57.000 | That's fine.

01:05:59.000 | I mean he knows YouTube more than I do.

01:06:01.000 | That's perfect.

01:06:02.000 | Doesn't mean he makes more money than I do but that's perfectly fine.

01:06:05.000 | So I have those people in my life.

01:06:07.000 | Advisors, experts but when I'm talking about that one person, that mentor, that's a different story.

01:06:15.000 | Because you can have advisors, you can have coaches and all that is great.

01:06:19.000 | But what changed my life is when I found that one person.

01:06:23.000 | And Mr. Penny has been my mentor for more than 7-8 years now.

01:06:27.000 | It's a very different type of relationship.

01:06:30.000 | Alan has been my mentor for more than a decade now.

01:06:35.000 | I'm still seeing him once a month.

01:06:37.000 | It's a different type of relationship.

01:06:39.000 | That's what I'm referring to.

01:06:41.000 | Now going back to the second part of your discussion, I absolutely agree.

01:06:48.000 | I absolutely agree with everything you said actually.

01:06:52.000 | I think you made a great point.

01:06:56.000 | You were saying…

01:06:57.000 | Give me the last question again.

01:07:00.000 | Just simply talking about how sometimes the world's leading experts are difficult to relate to for someone who's still in a different place.

01:07:08.000 | Yes, great point.

01:07:09.000 | So with Shoulders of Titans, my audience, it's not targeting to people who are in transition.

01:07:18.000 | It's not targeting to people who are…

01:07:20.000 | When I set out to do the show, it's more of a passion project for myself.

01:07:26.000 | That you know what, if I could have a conversation with all the people that I know or people I would like to have a conversation with,

01:07:33.000 | who are the people that I would like to interview?

01:07:36.000 | So that's why I don't…

01:07:38.000 | I'm very clear.

01:07:39.000 | My target market is established entrepreneurs who want to go to the next level.

01:07:44.000 | Not a startup.

01:07:45.000 | Otherwise I would call it a startup something, right?

01:07:48.000 | Or I would call the show something totally different.

01:07:51.000 | And the branding would be done differently.

01:07:53.000 | And if you go to ShouldersofTitans.com, it's very clear.

01:07:56.000 | You can look at the brand, look at the color, look at what I do.

01:08:00.000 | Even the opt-in, the interview that I did with the developer of Trump Tower.

01:08:05.000 | It's very clear who I want the listeners to be.

01:08:08.000 | And it's not for everyone.

01:08:09.000 | Just like your show is not for everyone.

01:08:11.000 | Right.

01:08:12.000 | Just like we have a target market in our mind.

01:08:15.000 | And that's why.

01:08:17.000 | You're exactly right.

01:08:18.000 | Some of the concepts, people are talking about raising $100 million.

01:08:23.000 | It's like, "Dan, I'm trying to make my first 10 grand."

01:08:26.000 | Right.

01:08:27.000 | You're talking $100 million.

01:08:28.000 | What the hell, right?

01:08:29.000 | Go through your stage first.

01:08:31.000 | Just like you said, I totally agree.

01:08:33.000 | The best teachers to teach a first grader, second grader.

01:08:37.000 | When you're there, the third grader, fourth grader.

01:08:40.000 | So this is more like the university.

01:08:43.000 | This is more the Harvard for entrepreneurs.

01:08:47.000 | Because if I see myself, I interview people who are getting started, I would just get bored.

01:08:54.000 | It's more only amusement.

01:08:57.000 | I want a challenge.

01:08:58.000 | I want to interview some guy that's like, "Wow, I think I'm doing good.

01:09:03.000 | But man, you're doing some pretty cool stuff."

01:09:05.000 | Right.

01:09:06.000 | How do you do that?

01:09:07.000 | Just keep myself interested in the project.

01:09:12.000 | So that's why.

01:09:13.000 | Yeah.

01:09:14.000 | And that's what I love about the modern access.

01:09:17.000 | Well, that's what I love about media is I wouldn't necessarily hire--I'm not in a position where I could implement the strategies of hiring--I don't know.

01:09:27.000 | Jack Welch lives near me.

01:09:28.000 | I couldn't hire Jack Welch to be my business coach.

01:09:30.000 | I'm not at that stage where I need him.

01:09:34.000 | But through the use of media, by reading his books, by reading his articles, by listening to his interviews or if someone has a podcast, by consuming his advice, I allow myself a little peek into the way that he thinks.

01:09:47.000 | And then I can think about, is there something there that he's got that I don't have, some way that I can look at my situation and see?

01:09:57.000 | And that's why.

01:09:58.000 | I mean I've never seen--I mean you've proved it all through this interview.

01:10:01.000 | That's why exposure to a broad amount of ideas, information, things that aren't directly applicable, just the exposure and chronicling and cataloging those ideas, they come out when you need them.

01:10:14.000 | And you recognize, "Ah, I'm in a position that I wasn't before.

01:10:17.000 | Now, here's the path I'm going to."

01:10:20.000 | And so it is very valuable to consume, but it's not necessarily the most practical today.

01:10:26.000 | It's like one thing I'll leave you with, one idea.

01:10:31.000 | Many years ago, think about entrepreneurship.

01:10:34.000 | I've started a company, I've turned around companies and I always want to start stuff because entrepreneurs, we like to create.

01:10:42.000 | And I would just learn, digest a lot of information on how to start a company.

01:10:49.000 | So now, at this stage of my life, I tell everybody, "I will not and I don't want to start another company."

01:10:57.000 | Either I want to buy one or I want to invest in one, I want to partner in one, but I will not start one, period.

01:11:05.000 | So again, different stage of life.

01:11:08.000 | And you have a different background.

01:11:11.000 | I teach – there's a concept that – feel free if you find it useful, but we don't think about things in terms of what I think of as a lens of scale.

01:11:20.000 | And so one of the things that's most important is we always have to apply where we are in life to – and apply that filter over the information that we have.

01:11:30.000 | If you make $50,000 a year, you don't need real estate as a depreciation – for a depreciation write-off.

01:11:37.000 | There are enough very simple things that you have no need for.

01:11:40.000 | If you make $500 million a year, investing some money in the local mall and being able to use the depreciation expense might be very useful to you.

01:11:49.000 | And so even with investing, I believe we should always apply the same lens of scale to investing.

01:11:55.000 | When you are making minimum wage, perhaps the most effective thing that you can do is to buy books and cut your grocery budget.

01:12:03.000 | But on the flip side, when you've got a few million bucks in the bank, dickering with your grocery budget is not going to make any meaningful impact in your life.

01:12:12.000 | But learning how to develop the skills of negotiating a couple million dollars off of a construction deal, that will make a huge difference.

01:12:21.000 | So ignore the grocery budget and focus on the coaching from a world-class negotiator so that you can learn how to invest more effectively.

01:12:31.000 | And when you've got a couple million bucks, you don't want to be going down and doing a startup where you're competing with every other punk 20-year-old young man or woman.

01:12:39.000 | You want to be dealing in a world where you go from thousands of competitors to just a few.

01:12:44.000 | And you want to figure out what do I have to leverage in this situation that's really going to impact my results.

01:12:50.000 | So that's how I look at it.

01:12:52.000 | Dan, this has been fun.

01:12:53.000 | Your website is danlock.com, podcastshouldersoftitans.com.

01:12:57.000 | And also, it's in the App Store.

01:13:01.000 | Tell us about that.

01:13:02.000 | Tell us about your media.

01:13:03.000 | I know you're building a YouTube channel.

01:13:04.000 | People want to get more involved with your content.

01:13:07.000 | Share with us all the places you're active and busy, please.

01:13:09.000 | Yeah, I would say danlock.com, D-A-N-L-O-C-K.com.

01:13:12.000 | That's the best place.

01:13:14.000 | And then, shouldersoftitans.com, that's my podcast where every single week, I interview a multimillionaire entrepreneur or billionaire entrepreneur.

01:13:25.000 | And then for my YouTube channel, you can just type in danlock, D-A-N-L-O-C-K.com.

01:13:30.000 | Type in danlock in the search box in YouTube.

01:13:33.000 | That's where I give all my content away for free.

01:13:35.000 | I still teach at my Vancouver Entrepreneurs Group locally.

01:13:40.000 | And I record it and I put it online.

01:13:43.000 | And I just give away my content.

01:13:44.000 | I don't do training, bootcamp, or whatever course, those type of things.

01:13:49.000 | I give all my content away for free.

01:13:52.000 | So that's my way of giving back.

01:13:55.000 | It's the other day, I got an email from a subscriber and said, "Hey Dan, how come you don't send us emails?"

01:14:04.000 | I said, "I don't have nothing to sell. I don't have nothing.

01:14:11.000 | I mean, it's a buffet, all you can eat.

01:14:14.000 | You want to watch the video, you want to listen to the podcast."

01:14:16.000 | I feel kind of bad because I should follow up a little bit more and encourage them to watch certain videos.

01:14:21.000 | But I don't even do that.

01:14:23.000 | So those would be the best channels.

01:14:26.000 | That's great, man. Thanks so much for coming on the show.

01:14:28.000 | You're welcome. It was fun.

01:14:30.000 | Thank you for listening to this episode of Radical Personal Finance.

01:14:33.000 | If you're interested in building financial freedom for yourself and your family,

01:14:37.000 | please subscribe to the podcast with our free mobile app so you don't miss a single episode.

01:14:42.000 | Just search the App Store on your mobile device for Radical Personal Finance and download our free app,

01:14:48.000 | which also contains an archive of every past episode of the show.

01:14:51.000 | If you have received value and financial benefit from the content of today's show,

01:14:57.000 | please consider becoming a supporting patron.

01:15:00.000 | Radical Personal Finance is listener-supported, and it's your direct financial support which enables me to bring you this content.

01:15:07.000 | In addition to your voluntarily paying for the content you've just heard, as a supporting patron,

01:15:13.000 | you will receive a number of member-only benefits, including a private Facebook group,

01:15:17.000 | access to our weekly Q&A calls, and discounts on future products and services.

01:15:22.000 | Details can be found at radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron.

01:15:26.000 | Again, radicalpersonalfinance.com/patron.

01:15:29.000 | Hey, Cricket customers.

01:15:31.000 | Max with Ads is included with your Cricket $60 unlimited plan at no additional cost.

01:15:36.000 | Max is the streaming platform where you can watch Scoob, Meg 2 The Trench, The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection, and so much more.

01:15:43.000 | Remember me.

01:15:44.000 | Just log in with your Cricket username and password to experience Max on all your favorite devices.

01:15:48.000 | We never say this before.

01:15:50.000 | Max, the one to watch for a good scream with Cricket.

01:15:53.000 | Phone plan, streams, and standard definition. Programming subject to change. Fees, terms, and restrictions apply.

01:15:58.000 | See cricketwireless.com for details.

RPF0326-Dan_Lok_Interview