Dan Martell - I became a millionaire in my 20s and it sucked

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.

Dan Martell - October 05, 2024

I became a millionaire in my 20s and it sucked

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