Dan Martell - October 05, 2024


I became a millionaire in my 20s and it sucked


Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

224.20714

Word count

3,556

Sentence count

172

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Toxicity

14

sentences flagged

Hate speech

3

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

I became a millionaire at age 27 and actually SUCKED. Here are the 6 reasons why making millions can actually suck. 1. Money doesn t make you happy, but this will. 2. Money exposes your real and fake friends. 3. Having a relationship with a God actually makes life really hard. 4. The 5 F s are fun. 5. I believe that every human is born to have faith. We're here to believe in something way bigger than ourselves. And if you do everything for yourself and it's all driven by ego, ego stands for edging God out.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 I became a millionaire at age 27 and actually sucked. 0.82
00:00:03.620 I'm gonna share with you all the mistakes I made
00:00:05.660 through building and selling three multi-million dollar
00:00:08.220 companies and how to avoid them.
00:00:09.940 This is everything from losing all my friends
00:00:12.120 to some controversial opinions
00:00:13.640 that most business owners shy away from.
00:00:15.820 So these are the six reasons why making millions 0.99
00:00:18.040 can actually suck. 0.77
00:00:19.420 The first reason is money doesn't make you happy, 0.99
00:00:22.520 but this will.
00:00:23.640 So when I became a cash millionaire at 27 years old,
00:00:26.860 I was working 100 hours a week,
00:00:28.520 my health was at risk and i got to a point where my relationship disintegrated in front of my eyes
00:00:34.200 i felt like a freaking loser my whole world imploded in on itself it got so bad a doctor 0.84
00:00:40.240 told me i had to walk around with an anxiety rock that i would squeeze anytime i felt the pressure 0.97
00:00:45.280 of the situation on my chest it was like an elephant was literally standing on my chest
00:00:50.020 and i couldn't fix it people think it's about making money but having all the money in the
00:00:53.880 world will not make you happy i know it's easier said than done some of you guys like well test me
00:00:58.140 out. Wire me the money. People say, if I won the lottery, I would go on a beach and drink Mai Tais.
00:01:03.140 Trust me, I've done that. And it gets old really quick. It's been long proven that retirement
00:01:07.600 actually increases the risk of mortality. Interesting, right? Humans are built to create, 0.88
00:01:12.080 not stagnate. Our default being is expansion. A child is born and grows. Seeds are planted
00:01:18.600 and grows. People go, I just want to be happy. You know what happiness is? Happiness is progress.
00:01:23.480 That's why today I live by the five F's framework 0.99
00:01:26.560 to build a life of unlimited creation
00:01:28.440 I never have to retire from.
00:01:29.960 The first one is fortune.
00:01:31.200 Yes, having wealth allows you to have optionality.
00:01:33.880 It gives you resources.
00:01:34.960 It's required because without that,
00:01:37.120 you're always stressing out
00:01:38.000 about not being able to just live.
00:01:39.600 But the rest of them are actually more important.
00:01:41.420 Number two is family.
00:01:42.920 Having people around you that love you for who you are,
00:01:45.880 that you feel like you're investing in,
00:01:47.520 that you can spend time and go on these experiences with.
00:01:50.720 What's the point of going on a beach all by yourself,
00:01:53.100 not being able to share any of it.
00:01:54.720 Number three is fitness.
00:01:56.020 And I've learned this, unfortunately, the hard way.
00:01:58.160 I used to weigh 265 pounds.
00:02:00.380 I struggled with my weight my whole life.
00:02:02.400 And I know that anytime I was sick,
00:02:04.040 I might've had the day before a thousand dreams and goals,
00:02:07.160 but the moment I was sick, I had but one.
00:02:09.380 And having my fitness, my energy, my health,
00:02:11.760 it just changed everything.
00:02:13.280 Number four is faith.
00:02:14.640 And I believe that every human is born to have faith.
00:02:18.540 We're here to believe in something way bigger
00:02:20.760 than ourselves.
00:02:21.580 And if you do everything for yourself
00:02:23.360 and it's all driven by ego,
00:02:24.880 ego stands for edging God out.
00:02:27.220 Not having a relationship with a God
00:02:29.980 actually makes life really hard.
00:02:32.380 The fifth F is fun,
00:02:33.900 which we'll talk more about later in this video,
00:02:36.020 but my whole life is designed around making money
00:02:39.620 in the funnest way possible.
00:02:41.400 So at 27, I became a cash millionaire.
00:02:43.700 I was very successful, had all the accolades.
00:02:46.260 People were looking up to me, asking me for my advice,
00:02:48.500 but I wasn't happy.
00:02:49.440 My life was actually in shambles.
00:02:51.580 Which brings us to number two,
00:02:52.920 which is money exposes your real and fake friends.
00:02:56.340 When the news broke out on the local paper
00:02:58.280 when I sold my first company,
00:02:59.880 I had friends from high school reaching out for help.
00:03:03.640 Current friends dissing themselves for me
00:03:05.460 because I'd change, you're different.
00:03:08.100 I mean, honestly, it took a real toll.
00:03:09.680 I didn't know how to say no to some stranger
00:03:11.860 that I just happened to sit next to in math class.
00:03:14.420 I was like stressing myself out.
00:03:15.900 Like, why are they asking me for money?
00:03:17.280 Don't they have parents?
00:03:18.160 Do they have friends that can help them out?
00:03:19.360 And then the people that I thought were my real friends, 0.62
00:03:21.340 they ended up like talking crap about me.
00:03:24.000 Why? 0.70
00:03:24.420 Because I did the thing that they all wanted to do
00:03:27.220 and had success and all of a sudden now
00:03:28.980 I'm different than them.
00:03:30.300 So I wanna give you a tool that I use today.
00:03:32.020 They're the five signs that I look for
00:03:33.740 that tells you if you have fake friends.
00:03:35.820 Number one is they only talk to you when they need something.
00:03:38.600 I have a friend that I grew up with.
00:03:40.600 Some would have called him my best friend
00:03:42.260 and it was really tough for me
00:03:43.540 because he would only text me or call me
00:03:46.540 if he needed something.
00:03:47.620 Other than that, he never checked in.
00:03:49.360 He never asked me how I was doing.
00:03:50.460 and I realized for myself, I had to create some space.
00:03:53.160 This is not somebody I want in my life.
00:03:56.020 Like you just gotta ask yourself, is this a good friend?
00:03:58.380 What do you consider a good friend?
00:03:59.960 Do they have these habits, these traits, this character?
00:04:03.160 If the answer is no, they gotta go.
00:04:05.060 Number two is they make you feel inferior.
00:04:07.240 It's an interesting one
00:04:08.260 because I've had friends over the years
00:04:10.080 where initially I might've looked at them
00:04:12.020 as like peers or mentors,
00:04:14.200 but the way they spoke over me never felt good.
00:04:17.300 I felt like every time I talked to them,
00:04:18.720 they looked for the thing I was doing wrong
00:04:20.220 would criticize me.
00:04:21.300 It was almost like they were trying to peg me down
00:04:23.560 and I couldn't figure it out.
00:04:24.840 It's like, why are they doing this?
00:04:26.060 The truth is once I just decided to stop talking to them,
00:04:28.460 stop seeking their advice, stop spending time with them,
00:04:31.520 my whole life felt a lot better
00:04:33.180 because I didn't have that negative energy
00:04:35.000 of somebody that was almost like jealous of me.
00:04:37.420 If they make you feel inferior, they gotta go.
00:04:40.100 Number three, they don't celebrate your success.
00:04:42.960 I gotta tell you, I've had friends over the years
00:04:45.160 that for whatever reason, when I have a win
00:04:47.300 and they ask me what's new and I just tell them,
00:04:49.640 they get really awkward. They get really weird. Some of them make this face. I can't even explain
00:04:53.980 it. It's kind of like a confused face. And I'm not trying to confuse them. It's almost like they
00:04:58.300 don't understand, like, how are you having this success? And then I have other friends, like my
00:05:02.140 best friend, Marty. The day I interviewed Dana White, I have it all on video because we recorded
00:05:06.420 it for the vlog. He was the first person I called as soon as I got off stage. And that guy has been
00:05:11.560 my biggest cheerleader since day one. He's eager to hear what I'm up to so he can celebrate it
00:05:17.120 with me. He tells me, I can't believe where you come from, what you're doing now, Dan. Did you
00:05:21.040 ever believe this? This is so great. What are you going to do next? That's somebody you want in your
00:05:25.880 life. If they can't celebrate your success, they got to go. Number four is they talk shit about you
00:05:30.620 behind your back. Now this one is a big no-no. And I'll be honest with you. The first time this 1.00
00:05:34.580 happened to me, it hurt my heart. I remember a friend of mine called me up and he says, hey man,
00:05:37.800 I don't even know how to tell you this, but your friend was at a dinner and he was telling other
00:05:42.080 people about you. And he was saying things that honestly, I don't understand why he would say
00:05:45.500 those things about you and i didn't know how to approach it like my heart sunk into my stomach
00:05:49.940 and i knew i had to say something and i reached out to him we had a conversation the crazy part
00:05:54.460 he admit to doing it but he actually admitted it to a completely different dinner so he thought i
00:05:59.780 was talking about this other dinner and i was talking about this one so it told me that it
00:06:03.040 wasn't the first time here's the thing i'm all about redemption and giving people a second chance
00:06:07.740 but if it happens twice you can't be around me do those people talk crap about other people to you 0.62
00:06:14.060 If your friend is talking crap about your other friend 0.85
00:06:17.700 when they're not around, they're probably doing it to you. 0.92
00:06:20.180 If they do that, they gotta go.
00:06:21.760 Number five is they had falling outs in the past.
00:06:24.180 This one's fun.
00:06:24.980 I remember Naval Ravikant, one of my mentors,
00:06:26.980 he said, if somebody is always getting into legal issues,
00:06:30.040 give it enough time and their litigious ways
00:06:32.120 will eventually end up on you.
00:06:33.980 Your past history is a great predictor of the future.
00:06:38.300 So if you're somebody that has a history
00:06:40.360 of falling out with friends from the past,
00:06:43.120 There's probably a good chance
00:06:44.740 that they're gonna do it to you.
00:06:46.400 What I've learned over the years
00:06:47.460 is that some people come into your life for a season,
00:06:50.200 a reason, or a lifetime.
00:06:51.920 And if it's a reason, teach it to me and I'll move on.
00:06:54.640 If it's a season, I'm okay and I won't stress.
00:06:57.120 If it's a lifetime, that's beautiful, let's invest in it.
00:07:00.300 Which brings us to number three,
00:07:01.960 which is it's easy to make money, hard to keep it.
00:07:05.200 When I sold my first company at 28,
00:07:07.080 I became a multimillionaire.
00:07:09.020 Now I had something to lose
00:07:10.460 and I started to invest in other startups
00:07:12.780 thinking that hey i know what i'm doing i made money in the past and very quickly i lost over
00:07:17.580 eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars and that's when i reached out to one of my mentors
00:07:21.580 who explained to me the simple concept when you make money the goal is to take 50 of what you make
00:07:27.420 and put it in low risk very safe money vehicles like the smp index funds low risk real estate
00:07:34.940 bonds things where you know for the most part you're not going to lose all your money the other
00:07:39.660 50% is what you use to invest in your next thing. But you got to do it in a way that's fun, which
00:07:44.940 I'll talk to you about in the next step. When you build a new thing, it may fail because it's not
00:07:49.380 guaranteed and you don't want to lose it all. Making money is actually very easy. It's keeping
00:07:54.160 it that's hard because some people are risk takers and they just keep throwing it into the next thing,
00:07:58.700 the next thing, and they keep resetting. Warren Buffett said it best, said rule number one,
00:08:02.620 don't lose the money. If you just keep resetting yourself, there's no compounding growth that's
00:08:06.680 going to happen entrepreneurs do this all the time because they don't go all in then are they
00:08:10.800 really taking risks they read these stories like elon musk putting 250 million into tesla and solar
00:08:16.200 city and spacex they think well i need to be an elon musk if i'm not investing all of it then do 0.99
00:08:21.280 i really believe in the idea i'm not saying you don't believe in it it's just don't be stupid 0.99
00:08:25.300 just understand there's risk you could lose it all would you be okay losing it all probably not 0.96
00:08:29.180 so don't do that 50 goes safe 50 goes into the next thing which brings us to number four which
00:08:35.460 is it's not how much money you make it's how you make your money at 31 years old i sold my second
00:08:41.380 company flow town but i had to keep working there for 12 months to get my final check what's called
00:08:46.060 your earn out but honestly i hated showing up to work every day it sucked the energy out of me it
00:08:52.120 was like this soul-sucking work nobody wanted to create anything everything worked really slow and
00:08:57.560 even though i pretty much blocked out my calendar to vest in peace and just go to coffee shops to
00:09:02.400 visit friends. It was tough being there. And then I had this new idea for a new company that I really
00:09:08.280 wanted to pursue. And I felt like a fraud. And after some soul searching and some tough love
00:09:13.860 from my wife, I decided to walk away. I'll tell you what happened in a sec, but here's the big
00:09:18.960 idea. It's not how much money I make. It's how I make my money. So here's my core framework on how
00:09:24.440 to build a life you don't grow to hate and makes you more money. Number one is you got to audit
00:09:28.480 your activities. Look at everything you've been doing for the last two weeks and ask yourself,
00:09:32.400 Does this give me energy or does it suck my energy?
00:09:35.360 It's why I wrote a whole book called Buy Back Your Time
00:09:37.580 to understand how to reinvest your time.
00:09:39.880 Number two is renegotiate your commitments.
00:09:42.140 If you have things in there
00:09:43.300 that you don't wanna do anymore
00:09:44.500 that you should have said no to,
00:09:46.120 put yourself first and have those conversations
00:09:48.600 at your job, at school, wherever it is.
00:09:51.580 Number three, do more of what lights you up
00:09:54.280 and makes you more money.
00:09:55.640 Think about it.
00:09:56.140 If there's something that you love doing
00:09:58.040 that you would do for free,
00:09:59.300 but yet people pay you the most for,
00:10:00.940 stop doing the other stuff and double down on that that's how you end up building a life that
00:10:06.200 you don't grow to hate a second ago when i talked about walking away from my earn out in the company
00:10:10.720 that acquired us to pursue my new idea it wasn't guaranteed that any of it was going to work out
00:10:15.060 but i just made a commitment to myself that i'd rather bet on me than stay for a guarantee 12
00:10:20.300 months later it paid off not only did i raise 1.6 million for my new startup at a six million
00:10:26.240 valuation, but the company who bought my company got acquired for $600 million, which meant that
00:10:32.260 everybody who had stock accelerated and I got my earn out. In essence, I got both. Here's the big
00:10:38.660 belief that I now have since that happened is the world rewards courageous decisions. So focus on
00:10:44.860 building a life you love. Which brings us to number five, which is don't be a prisoner to your wealth.
00:10:50.340 It wasn't till age 36 that I finally allowed myself to buy a supercar.
00:10:55.480 Even though I was a millionaire at a very young age,
00:10:57.520 it took a while for me to accept or give myself permission
00:11:00.700 to allow myself to buy nice things.
00:11:02.580 It's so crazy.
00:11:03.600 I had been a millionaire for over nine years at that time,
00:11:06.280 but never allowed myself to enjoy my wealth.
00:11:08.620 Getting my first McLaren changed everything.
00:11:11.200 When it comes to money, money can actually make you a prisoner.
00:11:14.780 Here's a quote for you to live by.
00:11:16.500 If every decision you make, the primary reason is for money,
00:11:20.000 then you're just a prisoner of your money.
00:11:22.060 It should be a consideration, but not the primary reason.
00:11:25.500 So here's how not to be a prisoner of your money.
00:11:28.260 Number one, tell yourself you're worth it.
00:11:30.240 See, a lot of people,
00:11:31.000 when I tell them they should get a coach or buy a book,
00:11:33.460 it's almost like there's a hesitation
00:11:34.900 because I don't think they feel worthy
00:11:36.860 of investing in themselves.
00:11:38.880 But what I learned a long time ago
00:11:40.260 is that my transformation happens at the transaction.
00:11:43.500 The moment I wire the money to hire a coach,
00:11:46.600 to invest in me, it doesn't matter what it is,
00:11:48.480 a parent coach, a fitness coach, a business coach,
00:11:51.120 a media coach, the moment that I pay,
00:11:53.720 not only do I start paying attention,
00:11:55.140 but the transformation occurred
00:11:56.880 because I just told myself, I am worth it.
00:12:00.020 Number two is return on investment
00:12:01.700 versus return on lifestyle.
00:12:03.420 I know too many people that are so tight
00:12:06.200 with their purse strings
00:12:07.100 because it's not gonna make them money
00:12:08.840 or it's not gonna hold value.
00:12:10.360 They don't realize tomorrow's not guaranteed.
00:12:12.680 The experience has value.
00:12:14.740 The value of a boat, the value of vacation property,
00:12:17.560 the value of a trip.
00:12:19.340 I remember one time I was talking to my buddy Deacon
00:12:21.040 about telling his friend to put a pool at his house
00:12:23.160 because I was like, don't they not make money?
00:12:24.800 He's like, they may not give you an ROI on the house,
00:12:27.540 but the return on lifestyle is immeasurable.
00:12:30.520 Number three, you can't bring it to the grave.
00:12:33.000 Every person in a cemetery has the same thing, a tombstone.
00:12:36.620 So none of it comes with you after the fact.
00:12:39.020 Why would you keep saving all the way till the end
00:12:42.180 and then not use any of it to create experiences?
00:12:44.680 There's an incredible book called Die With Zero
00:12:47.240 by bill perkins he maps it out he gives you the math how to accumulate wealth and then as you've
00:12:52.860 built it up then start deploying it so you understand when you have the go-go years the
00:12:57.180 slow go years and the no-go years some people are waiting for someday maybe to do something nice for
00:13:02.380 somebody else when the best time to do it is right now don't let money make you a prisoner
00:13:07.800 start using it as a resource which brings us to number six which is avoid wealth preservation mode
00:13:14.040 when i was 32 years old i had one of my mentors invite me to this fancy dancy dinner on a private
00:13:19.720 golf course with literally a runway that went through it and jets were landing with people
00:13:25.640 that were invited to this dinner it was a hundred millionaires and billionaires from all over north
00:13:30.440 america and i remember i was sitting there listening to these conversations and honestly
00:13:34.360 i didn't enjoy them all they were talking about is how to skimp and save on taxes or get a good
00:13:39.160 deal on something or something the government was doing or the news and honestly boring life
00:13:44.040 insurance policy type stuff it wasn't entrepreneurial or exciting and i remember telling this to my
00:13:49.560 mentor because he asked me how it was and he replied he goes ah he goes you just discovered
00:13:53.960 the difference between wealth preservation mode and wealth creation mode and those people have
00:13:58.760 transitioned into wealth preservation mode they're not trying to make more money with what they have
00:14:03.080 they're trying to keep what they have so they don't lose it see i believe being a millionaire
00:14:07.480 or somebody that's expansive has to do with your mentality,
00:14:10.960 not your actual economic situation.
00:14:13.340 You wanna continue being in wealth creation mode
00:14:15.540 all the way till the end
00:14:17.000 because you're expanding and you're creating.
00:14:19.020 So here's my philosophy to avoid living
00:14:20.880 in wealth preservation mode and be all in on wealth creation.
00:14:23.840 Number one is work like you have nothing to lose.
00:14:26.360 Become addicted to your expansion.
00:14:28.600 Don't set up shop as you climb this mountain of success
00:14:31.880 because you had a little bit of success.
00:14:33.820 Continue to grow, continue to invest,
00:14:35.800 and continue to be more of who you are.
00:14:37.840 Number two, don't build a life you grow to hate,
00:14:39.880 which we just talked about.
00:14:41.020 You know, I had a client of mine, Brad,
00:14:42.460 and he was looking to sell his company and asked him why.
00:14:45.240 And he said, well, I've just got like a lot going on
00:14:47.140 and I'm a little stressed out and my health isn't good.
00:14:49.540 And my wife's kind of giving me a hard time 1.00
00:14:51.360 and there's some things I want, I feel guilty.
00:14:53.560 And I go, well, you could sell now, but it's a little early.
00:14:57.040 If you delayed it three or four years,
00:14:58.680 you'd be able to get maybe five times more for it.
00:15:01.880 All he had to do is pay himself a little bit more
00:15:04.160 to improve his situation,
00:15:06.020 to delay having the need to sell his company
00:15:08.260 so he can get way more money in the near future.
00:15:10.880 Number three, focus on abundance, not scarcity.
00:15:13.860 You cannot save yourself to a fulfilled life.
00:15:16.940 Fulfillment comes from investing, opportunities, expansion.
00:15:21.040 Some people are thinking,
00:15:21.840 well, I'm just gonna save on my latte
00:15:23.120 and I'm just gonna scrimp and save over here
00:15:25.500 and I'll eventually be full of abundance.
00:15:27.760 No, that behavior tells you
00:15:29.920 that you don't believe there's more available
00:15:31.640 to you in the future.
00:15:32.480 and because of that, it'll never show up.
00:15:34.960 And that's how we avoid getting to a place
00:15:37.020 where we have stuff that we're worried we're gonna lose
00:15:39.340 and get into wealth preservation mode
00:15:40.980 or we stay in the place of expansion and growth
00:15:43.980 and we keep reinvesting in ourselves and our future.
00:15:46.400 If you wanna learn the 44 cheat codes
00:15:48.280 I wish I knew in my 20s, click the link
00:15:50.480 and I'll see you on the other side.