Passive Income: The Right Way to Secure Your Future | James Malinchak DSH #755

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Passive Income: The Right Way to Secure Your Future | James Malinchak"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Digital Social Hour
• Host: Sean Kelly
• Guest: James Malinchak
• Release Date: September 25, 2024

In episode #755 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in an insightful conversation with James Malinchak, a Vegas local and seasoned entrepreneur. The discussion centers around the concept of passive income, financial freedom, and the right strategies to secure one's future. James shares his personal experiences, business philosophies, and valuable lessons on achieving peace of mind through strategic investments and relationship building.

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1. James’s Philosophy on Passive Income and Financial Freedom

James Malinchak emphasizes the importance of achieving peace of mind through financial strategies that avoid the pitfalls of traditional real estate investments. He states:

"I want peace of mind, man. I don't want to be tied down." (01:35)

For James, passive income is not just a financial goal but a pathway to personal freedom. He rejects the conventional notion of real estate as a tangible investment and instead opts for financial instruments that offer steady returns without the associated risks of property management.

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2. Real Estate as an Investment Vehicle

James discusses his unique approach to real estate, focusing on hard money loans rather than direct property ownership:

"I do hard money loans for people that go do real estate, and they just pay me a great interest rate." (00:29)

This strategy allows him to earn passive income through interest without the headaches of being a landlord. He further explains his stance on debt:

"There is no good debt or bad debt. In the Bible, it says that the borrower is the slave to the lender." (02:14)

James is resolute in avoiding debt to maintain control over his financial destiny, asserting that financial freedom outweighs potential returns from leveraged investments.

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3. The Importance of Debt and Financial Independence

Delving deeper into his aversion to debt, James shares wisdom imparted by his mentor:

"Rule number one, he would always say, James, don't owe people money." (03:34)

Reflecting on economic downturns, James highlights the vulnerability that debt introduces:

"What I'm trying to get to is I'm trying to get to this guy Gary Breca, like, because I have this health challenge." (21:23)

He underscores the unpredictability of markets and the importance of financial strategies that safeguard against uncontrollable variables.

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4. Building Multiple Income Streams

James advocates for diversifying income streams but within one’s area of expertise to ensure sustainability and mastery:

"I'm a big believer in multiple income streams and what you're good at, because you can have mastery over that and you can focus on that." (10:14)

He cautions against spreading oneself too thin across unrelated ventures, which can dilute focus and effectiveness.

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5. The Role of Focus and Mastery

Using the example of Shaquille O'Neal, James illustrates the power of focus:

"Phil asked him, he said, hey, Shaq, do you want to be the most valuable player of this league? And he said, yes. He said, then I need you to cancel all that stuff and focus on basketball this summer." (11:08)

James relates this to his own life, emphasizing the importance of honing one's skills and concentrating efforts to achieve excellence.

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6. Personal Anecdotes: Health Challenges and Overcoming Them

James shares a poignant personal story about his struggle with high blood pressure and his journey to overcoming it:

"I just want to say thank you... I understand how valuable this time on your podcast is and for those who are watching." (37:39)

After facing severe health issues despite a healthy lifestyle, James found a breakthrough through Gary Breca’s coaching, transforming his health within two weeks:

"Thirteen, fourteen days later, my blood pressure was normal." (21:12)

This experience reinforced his belief in working the right way and the profound impact of the right mentorship.

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7. Relationship Building vs. Networking

James distinguishes between traditional networking and meaningful relationship building:

"Stop networking. Start relationship working." (25:34)

He advocates for building genuine connections where both parties benefit, rather than superficial exchanges aimed solely at personal gain. He shares strategies such as observing how potential partners treat service staff to gauge their true character.

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8. Mindset and Subconscious Programming

Exploring the psychology of success, James explains the influence of the subconscious mind:

"You have the two? Yeah. So I had the mthfr." (21:35)

He discusses the importance of reprogramming one’s subconscious to foster a mindset focused on serving others, which he believes is key to personal and professional fulfillment.

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9. Managing Ego and Staying Humble

Reflecting on his rise to success, James emphasizes the necessity of humility:

"Ego is just edging God out. You're focusing on the fame and all that." (34:53)

He shares how experiences on large platforms like ABC taught him to stay grounded and prioritize service over self-aggrandizement.

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10. Conclusion and Takeaways

In closing, James imparts a heartfelt message about the value of time and making a positive impact:

"The one thing we can't get back is time. Think about this every minute, every second you waste, you don't get back the rest of your life." (37:39)

He urges listeners to use their time wisely, focusing on building meaningful relationships and contributing positively to others’ lives.

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Key Quotes:

• On Peace of Mind:
  "I want peace of mind, man. I don't want to be tied down." — James Malinchak (01:35)

• On Debt:
  "There is no good debt or bad debt. In the Bible, it says that the borrower is the slave to the lender." — James Malinchak (02:14)

• On Relationship Building:
  "Stop networking. Start relationship working." — James Malinchak (25:34)

• On Time:
  "The one thing we can't get back is time..." — James Malinchak (37:39)

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Timestamp Reference:

For precise navigation, notable quotes are tagged with their corresponding timestamps in parentheses, e.g., (01:35).

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Conclusion: James Malinchak's insights on passive income and financial freedom offer a roadmap grounded in strategic investments, debt avoidance, and authentic relationship building. His personal journey underscores the importance of focusing on one's strengths, maintaining humility, and prioritizing meaningful connections over superficial networking. Listeners are encouraged to embrace these principles to achieve both financial security and personal fulfillment.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

I do hard money loans for people that go do real estate, and they just pay me a great interest rate. I. I want peace of mind, man.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

I don't want to be tied down. That's why I teach my students, you know, what's the price for peace of mind? Pay everything off, they say, you know, there's good debt and bad debt. I don't want to get spiritual, but there is no good debt or bad debt. In the Bible, it says that the borrower is the slave to the lender.

[C]

Wow. All right, guys. Vegas local James Malinch here today. Thanks for coming on, man.

[B]

Oh, good to be here, man. I'm big fan.

[C]

Likewise. I didn't even know you lived here.

[B]

Yeah. Until you hit me up, I didn't know that you were down here. And I was honored, man. I watch all your clips on Instagram.

[C]

Hell, yeah. We've been talking. We were talking about real estate pricing out here 20 years ago.

[B]

Oh, crazy.

[C]

Bought a house for 250,000.

[B]

Shoot. Wish you would have had land back then. Yeah. Like, some of the folks bought land, they just held on to it. Now they're selling it for crazy millions of dollars. Just the land.

[C]

That's crazy. I saw some land sell on the strip for, like, 20 mil a couple months ago.

[B]

Unbelievable.

[C]

Nuts.

[B]

Unbelievable. There is riches and dirt.

[C]

Yeah. Is real estate a big investment vehicle for you?

[B]

No, because, well, physical real estate is not. Because I have a philosophy. I want everything peaceful. I want peace of mind. I don't want to be handcuffed by fluctuations and unknowns. So I'm in real estate, but I just lend. I do hard money loans for people that go do real estate, and they just pay me a great interest rate. I. I want peace of mind, man.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

I don't want to be tied down. That's why I teach my students, you know, what's the price for peace of mind? Pay everything off, they say, you know, there's good debt and bad debt, and I don't want to get spiritual, but there is no good debt or bad debt. In the Bible, it says that the borrower is the slave to the lender.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

You know, so I never wanted to be at the mercy of fluctuations, goofy government changing things. And so I don't want to be fixing toilets. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I've got tons of friends who are amazing real estate folks, some that you've had on your podcast. But I just, I like freedom. I'm all in it for freedom. That's. That's what I try to teach my students to. To. What's the price for freedom? To not worry about a bill when you wake up. To not worry about things that are out of your control.

[C]

And did that thought process come at a young age or did it come when you reach some level of success?

[B]

Came at a young age. I was very fortunate. I had a mentor who's still my mentor, and he's my cousin. He's worth a lot of money. He was one of the great commodity traders on the floor of the Commodity Exchange before the trade centers went down. He was trading gold, silver, and mercantile. He came from the same small town that I came from in Pittsburgh, really tiny 6,000 person steel mill town. And he would always tell me these financial rules. He'd fly me out to New York for his amazing penthouse place, and I'd go to the exchange and I'd work for him. I was a gopher. Go for this, go for that, wash his car or whatever I needed to do. But he would start mentoring and teach me. And rule number one, he would always say, james, don't owe people money.

[C]

Hmm.

[B]

At the end, he said, I know more about real estate, I know more about the markets, and I know more about floating money. At the end of the day, you go to bed owing people money, you wake up owing people money.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I understand leveraging debt and all that, but what happens when the crash comes again like in 08, and things are out of your control and people are upside down who are leveraged to the Hill.

[C]

Right.

[B]

I literally just got a call this morning from a friend of mine who's in that situation. Damn leverage to the Hill, to where? And he's. He's a really good man, and he is liquidating personal assets to pay all his investors back because he said, I'm not going to screw them out of money. You know, they. They understand real estate and deals. He said, but I'm not going to go bankrupt. I. I got these folks in at my word, and I'm going to give them their money back, whatever I have to do. And I thought, man, what, what an honorable thing to do.

[C]

Yeah. Most people would not think that way.

[B]

No. But that's the challenge, you know, you're at the mercy of others.

[C]

Yeah, that's good. Until it's not.

[B]

Man, you hit the nail on the head. Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. So I just don't ever want to worry about that. So he started. My cousin started teaching me those things. Don't swing for the fence, just get on base, right? Nice, steady, slow returns over time, you know, don't try to hit the grand slam, right. He used to always say, Babe Ruth had a lot of home runs, but he struck out more than he had home runs. And he said, when you would think about great hitters, you know, Ted Williams, Pete Rose, they just got on base.

[C]

Yeah, Jeter.

[B]

Jeter, man, just got on base and just consistent. So that's what I've done. I've always tried to get on. I remember saying about, I don't know, 15 years ago, how do I pay everything off fast? Now, here's the deal. Here's what I teach my students. When you pay something off, you don't stop making the payments. That's crazy, right? If you pay your car off, whatever it is, 3, 300 bucks a month, you don't stop making the payments. You keep making that monthly payment. You just pay it to yourself and invest that money. So that money grows for you and works for you, you pay your house off, which I know a lot of real estate friends say don't do, right? Because you're tying up all that equity. What's the price of peace of mind? I know that if everything goes to hell in a hand basket, I got a place to sleep. And nobody can take that from me. Because when. When you have real estate under contracts, you don't own it. You don't own it. The bank owns it.

[C]

When you put 20% down, you don't.

[B]

Yeah. People don't think of. I own. No, you don't. Now, when you got debt on it, you don't own that. And so what I always teach, like, if you pay your house off, you don't stop paying the monthly mortgage. You just pay it to yourself and invest that money and let it grow for you, Right? Whether that's go buy, you know, passive real estate investing, stock market, whatever that might be, life insurance, you know, So I just don't believe in. In debt.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because I love what you said. That's good until. Till it happens. And it's not good because odds are.

[C]

In a lifetime, you're going to deal with two or three major crashes, right?

[B]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And again, I keep coming back to the uncontrollables. Things that are out of your control.

[C]

Right.

[B]

That's the scary.

[C]

Covid was unpredictable.

[B]

Who saw that coming? What's going to happen in the election? What I mean, you just never know. So I like to be in control and I like to put my head down on the pillow, know that I'm good. Yeah, I love that matter what happened. That's what I try to teach my students.

[C]

Powerful. Do you believe in passive income? That's a controversial thing, you know, thousand percent. You do?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

So like the real estate that I do, I don't do buildings. I don't flip. I don't take contracts. But I lend my money to people who love doing that and are better than me and they just pay me a great interest rate. Just gets deposited into my, my bank account every month. So I love passive income.

[C]

So it does exist.

[B]

It does.

[C]

Some people say it doesn't.

[B]

If you, if you structure the right way.

[C]

Right.

[B]

You know, and I have passive income. I have 150 private consulting clients.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Who every month pay a fee or they, every year they renew. They pay up front and they renew. Well, that's all passive income. It just keeps coming in. Yeah. So I, I'm a big believer in passive income.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some people say real estate is passive, but it depends on how you structure.

[B]

Depends? Yeah. Everything's relative. It depends on how you structure everything. You know, you can't just do an umbrella and blanket it and say everything in real estate is passive income. You know, So I just teach students, you know, be careful, do due diligence and see the big picture.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

And everything looks great on the front end. But you got to really understand all the pros, cons, ins, outs, you know, every nook and cranny. You can't just, you know, take some people online's word of. Hey, you just invest in real estate and you become rich.

[C]

I wish it was that easy. Ye a lot of fix and flippers got wrecked. That market's tough now.

[B]

I know. All markets are tough.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Even short term rentals.

[C]

Right. Airbnb just talking to the guy this.

[B]

Morning and he got creamed on him.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

Is leverage really to the hill doing these short term rentals. And there's one state where they changed certain, I guess the government changed certain laws and they start putting fees and fines on top of it. So he's really, all of a sudden he went from positive to upside down.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Literally positive to upside down overnight.

[C]

It's pretty Crazy. You could have a million dollar business and then overnight, one change and it's sad.

[B]

It is sad what others can do and how that affects your livelihood. You think you're set up, you're free, you're taking care of your family, and then all of a sudden you got to go like, dig in and work because an uncontrollable flipped, right?

[C]

With that being said, you have multiple businesses at the same time to kind of mitigate that risk.

[B]

I do, but within my lane. Like, so I've done a lot of talks, as you know, 3,000 some talks in my career. Very, very blessed. And so I have multiple streams of income within what I'm really good at. Like, I don't do, like, I'm not really good at real estate, nor do I want to get involved and be handcuffed to the uncontrollables. So I can lend the money and that's pretty simple, right? And then I just get paid every month. I don't go and then do like stock market and I don't do bitcoin and I don't do. Because I'm not good at those. But when it comes to getting paid to speak as a speaker and teaching others, I'm really great at that because I honed in that for 20 years. And so I can teach you how to get paid to speak for colleges and universities. I can teach you how to run your own seminars and have high net. I could teach you how to speak and sell offer from the stage on webinars. So I have various coaching members that come to me and have. I have various income streams coming in because of. In my lane. I have multiple streams set up.

[C]

Got it.

[B]

Outside, I don't. Because how can I be good at any of those if I'm. If I'm spending, if I'm dabbling and spending a little time on eat. How can you be good at anything, right? How could you have mastery? You know, I was just watching something on the Lakers last night and Shaquille O'Neal, when he came to the Lakers in the beginning, it was kind of a letdown. And when they brought Phil Jackson in, old coach of the Bulls, Phil looked at Shaq's schedule over the summer and he had 50 things booked, rap videos and commercials and all these different deals. And Phil asked him, he said, hey, Shaq, do you want to be the most valuable player of this league? And he said, yes. He said, then I need you to do something. I need you to cancel all that stuff and focus on basketball this summer. If you will do that and listen to me, I guarantee you will be the most valuable player.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And Shaq's. And he said, look, and if. If you're not, go back and do whatever you want. Give me three months. Shaq canceled it and started leading them the back to back championships. Back to back MVPs in the NBA Finals.

[C]

Dang.

[B]

Because why? He was focused, brother. He was focused, became really good. Then he started creating multiple income streams through basketball. In basketball. Right before that, he was doing that Kazam movie, rap videos and all that. He was out of his superpower. He's out of his talent. He wasn't in his lane.

[C]

Right.

[B]

So I'm a big believer in multiple income streams and what you're good at, because you can have mastery over that and you can focus on that. But I'm not real big on trying to create multiple income streams by dabbling in a whole bunch of stuff unless you got people that are running it for you and you truly trust them.

[C]

Agreed.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

That's a legendary story. Phil's one of the greatest coaches.

[B]

Oh. If not the greatest, maybe.

[C]

I think him and Steve Kerr are probably one and two.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Or maybe pop.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[C]

It's hard to be pop. But I love how Phil incorporated the mental side of the game.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

He would make the players meditate.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

I'm big on that.

[B]

Yeah. I'm huge on the mental. And I. I used to play college basketball.

[C]

Oh, yeah?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So you were nice.

[B]

I signed to the University of Cincinnati.

[C]

Oh, D1.

[B]

Yeah, D1. I was all right. I was pretty good. Pretty good shooter.

[C]

Did you want to go pro?

[B]

I did, but I blew my knee out. And fortunately, I had a plan B, which was to get into investments. And I thought I wanted to be a financial adviser and a stock broker, which I did coming out of college. But then a funny thing happened where I had success at a young age and built a pretty fast business. And I got called to speak, and I'm like, I don't speak. I'm a financial advisor. Well, just come and talk to my sales reps. I think there were like 30 of them.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I don't speak financial advisor. And so we only want you to talk for like 35, 40 minutes. Fire them up and teach them business stuff. I said, I don't speak. They said, I'll pay you 5,000 bucks. I said, I speak. I was like, what? And then that's how I kind of got into the whole speaking thing.

[C]

$50 million later, here we are, man.

[B]

I'M just sometimes, you know, God blesses you and takes you in a path when you don't expect it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and if your antennas aren't up and if your blinders aren't off, you know, that's why they put blinders on horses and races, so the horse can't see anywhere but right there.

[C]

I noticed that.

[B]

And we go through life like that and we miss a lot of opportunities. I say you got to go through life with no blinders on so you can see it. Not that you have to take all opportunities, but so you can see them coming and. And evaluate them and see if it's a good situation. Man, I often think that if I didn't say yes to that, where would I be today?

[C]

Crazy.

[B]

We wouldn't be sitting here.

[C]

Probably not.

[B]

I would have no books, you know.

[C]

Yeah. You got, what, 27 books you're writing about one a year, man.

[B]

Which is crazy because, like, I never read a book in college. I was a C student in school. Wow. Yeah. You know what a C student is, right? See your way through school. That was me.

[C]

That was me, too. Maybe even some Ds in there, you.

[B]

Know, And I, I just. Man, it's just. Greatest gift in the world is knowing that you've made a difference in the lives of other people.

[C]

Yeah. You're probably starting to get some testimonials now, years later, of people saying you changed their lives, Sean.

[B]

It's crazy. You know, man, I read your book 18 years ago, and I still follow this on page 67. I'm like, huh? Really? Me? I'm. I'm a small steel mill town kid from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, you know, never thought I'd do speaking at events and read books and write books and do online courses and. And it's just such a blessing, man. I'm. Right now, I'm at a stage in my life where I want to help as many people as possible leave a positive footprint in the heart, mind, and soul of people and hopefully make this world a little bit better after I'm gone. Hopefully. Which is a long time from now, but.

[C]

Well, you got Gary Becca as your health coach, though.

[B]

I do.

[C]

Man, that probably added 10 plus years.

[B]

To your life, man. He's freaking amazing. I had had a blood pressure problem for about two and a half years and nobody could fix it. I actually drove myself to the ER about four and a half, five months ago.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

10:30 at night, my blood pressure was 232 over 124.

[C]

That's double mine. Holy crap.

[B]

Like Crazy. Now, here's the crazy thing. I've never done a drug in my life. I've never even smoked a cigarette.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

I don't drink. Maybe a glass of wine every couple of months out to have steak with friends. I walk or run 10,000 steps five times a week.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

I had every heart test, every blood test, every kidney test, every liver test done that you can imagine. Everything comes back perfect. Went to a cardiologist, did a stress test. He's like, your heart's like an athlete. Like, everything's fine. And yet this blood pressure things. And I have no stress. Blessed to have no financial stress because paid everything off back in, I think, 2012. Nice financial stress, nothing, you know, no relationship stress. So why is this like this? And doctors couldn't tell me, you know what they do? They say, well, here's another medication script, right? So now I was on like, six.

[C]

Jeez.

[B]

And I'm like, this is crazy. Like, what the heck is going on? And so I drive myself to the er, they get freaked out, and they put me in the hospital and start running all the tests again. Chest, X ray, blood work, kidneys, liver. Nobody could figure it out. So then they start about 3am so about six hours later, they start to bring it down to, like, 150 over 98. All tests are negative. Everything's fine. So what do they tell me? We're going to send you home. And I flipped out. I said, how can you send me. Look at that monitor. 120 over 80 is normal. That's not normal. I came in here with. And all tests are negative. It's your job to figure this out. And they didn't.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And I said. And I got really upset. I said, you do this to all the people in this hospital. You just sent them home. Like, that's great. Your job is to figure this out. And so they sent me home, wrote me another prescription, and I said, screw it. I had it. I saw the videos from Dana White of the UFC here, who was in a very similar situation, was on blood pressure meds for, like, 15 years, and all these problems. And I had no problems. I just had high blood pressure. I said, who's the best guy in the world that seems to be helping people? And, well, I don't think Dana would lie. I mean, Dana's got no reason to, and he's not getting paid for it. And then I saw Steve Harvey talking about Gary and then Stephen A. Smith, and I'm like, okay, I know enough about working with celebrities because I've helped a Lot of people with speaking through coaching program, they don't say this stuff. These folks get paid big bucks, and none of them are getting paid to say this right. I said, I don't care what I have to do. Now, I didn't tell Gary this after I started working with him, but I went to the bank and I got a Cashier's check for $100,000 because he wasn't taking clients.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Personal clients. And I said, if I have to stand outside of his office and wait until he walks out and hand him 100 grand cashier's check, I'll bet you he works with me.

[C]

That's legendary.

[B]

And I got to tell you this. This is crazy, man. God works in wonderful ways sometimes. So that was on a Monday that I had to check. I was going to go to his office the following Monday and just stand there.

[C]

So you're going to fly to Miami?

[B]

Well, I have a place down in Florida, so I was going to drive about an hour down to where he's at. Yeah, I literally was going to walk in and just sit there. I mean, at some point, I got to see him or show up where he does a talk. I mean, if I handed you a Cashier's check for 100 grand, would you work with me?

[C]

I probably would.

[B]

All I wanted was somebody who knew what they were talking about to figure this out, because now I'm going nuts. Like, somebody's got to figure this out. Nobody had. So, anyway, I'm at dinner. So that was a Monday. I'm going to go the next Monday to his office. I already had it planned out. And I was going to tell the receptionist, hey, could you have Gary come out? I have a check for him for $100,000. Literally was what I was going to do. That Friday, a friend and I go to dinner in Miami at a restaurant, which I never go to Miami.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Just not my jive. So I. I wanted to go to this one. We were going to this restaurant, and I asked if we could switch and go to this other one that just had been open. It was getting great reviews. So we go there, we catch up for, like, two hours. And they have these, like, bridges inside where you walk across to go to other tables and stuff.

[C]

Interesting.

[B]

Amazing. So before we walk out the door to leave, I said, can we just walk up there and go across this bridge? I just. I've never done that. I might not be back. So we go up the steps. We're going. Getting ready to walk across this bridge, and I hear somebody say, James and I look, and it's a former coaching client of mine in the real estate world.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And so we just start chitchatting. About 15 minutes in, he said, so, what's going on with your business now? What are you doing? And, Sean, I don't know why I said this. I said, you know, what's really going on is I'm trying to get to this guy Gary Breca, like, because I have this health challenge. And he goes, hang on a second. Listen, I'm good friends with his wife, Sage. Here, let me just put you guys on a text thread.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And that's how I started working with him.

[C]

Nuts.

[B]

Now, here's what's nuts. I wasn't supposed to be at that restaurant. I wasn't supposed to walk up those steps. They weren't supposed to be at that restaurant either. They lived about an hour and a half north. They were there for business.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

They were going to another restaurant. They switched. Also, what's the odds of all those tables? When I get to the top of the steps, he's sitting right there. I don't even see him. He calls my name out. What are the odds of me saying, I'm trying to get to this guy Gary Brecker, because I need help with this blood pressure?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And what's the odds of him being friends with his wife?

[C]

Nuts.

[B]

Started work with him. It's been amazing. The guy is a genius, and I'm a genius.

[C]

The universe works in wonderful ways, man.

[B]

Thirteen, fourteen days later, my blood pressure was normal.

[C]

That quick?

[B]

Yeah. Well, it's amazing when somebody knows what they're doing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know? So anyway, I know there's a long story, but maybe. Maybe that helps somebody out here that I just think. I think Gary is amazing.

[C]

No, that's big time. So what was the actual issue, though, really?

[B]

I had some gene situations. Methylation problem.

[C]

Oh, did you have the mthfr?

[B]

The mt, Yeah, I got that one. Yeah. You have the two?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Did you do the test?

[C]

Yeah. So I had to cut out gluten and pretty much bread and stuff.

[B]

Yeah. And I'm on all the supplements. And I cold plunge when I'm in Florida. A sauna every morning for 30 minutes, and I cold plunge three to six minutes.

[C]

Nice.

[B]

Changed my life.

[C]

So crazy.

[B]

I just do all of it, and, man, I've never felt better in my entire life. It's so, more importantly, my blood pressure has leveled off now. Fifteen days. I shot. I was so blown away. I shot him a video. I was in the gym at 5:30 in the morning, working out. Because then I was wide awake. I had more energy, and I didn't know what to do is I got to shoot him a video. And so I shot him this video telling him how amazing it was. And plus, I was 40 pounds stronger on the bench, which I never done. I was stronger than I was when I was a college athlete.

[C]

Two weeks. Crazy.

[B]

Well, blows your mind one. But think about it. When I teach this in business, it's not about working harder. It's not about working smart. It's about working right. He knows the right way of what should be working and what shouldn't be working. So I just. I'm doing the right things now.

[C]

So efficient.

[B]

Yeah. I'm forever grateful to Gary Breca, Sage, his wife, and my friend DJ Thielen, who I happened to bump into at that restaurant.

[C]

Yeah, they changed my life, too, to be honest.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I didn't know I had that gene break. I used to eat pasta and bread daily.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

I love Italian food.

[B]

Yeah, I used to.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah, I used to. Well, we could actually go to Italy and eat it, but something they do here is just weird.

[B]

I had some friends that just came back from Italy, and they're like, oh, it's completely different. Doesn't even taste like, like, processed food like ours. Ours here does.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, the pro. You know what's cool? I did a cooking class where we made chicken parmesan. I'm so glad I did that, because I was like, I never want this stuff ever again. Once I saw what went in it, I was like, oh, my gosh. I might as well just open up a bag of flour and. And. And grease and butter and just dump it down my throat.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And so. Yeah. No, man, I'm glad you're. You're doing good.

[C]

I can't even eat out anymore. I get sick every time because I. I'm so healthy now.

[B]

Good for you. How long you been doing it?

[C]

They took my blood and jeans a year and a half ago, so Sage was my second guest on the show ever.

[B]

Oh, Sage.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's awesome.

[C]

And just changed my life. I used to get sick every month.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm forever grateful to Sage and Gary and also, of course, DJ Thielen, who, man, if that's powerful one sitting there. And. Yeah, I just. I'm so thankful and grateful because I feel great now. But more than that, like, the mental part, like, what the heck is going on? Like, how can everything come out positive? Like, negative? Like, everything's positive in My life. Right. No kidney problems, which I'm glad that happened because I would never had all those tests run.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Because they don't allow you to pay through insurance, through preventative, which is crazy. But how could all that be okay? And yet the blood pressure be up. I was literally going nuts. I was like, I, I was lost. I said, I'm gonna figure it out. And I don't care what I got to do. I'm getting to Gary. And fortunately, Gary, God works in wonderful ways. And DJ sitting there, I love it.

[C]

And it's also a testament to your network though, too.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Because you were one connection away from him.

[B]

That's true. Yeah. Yeah. It's the six degrees of separation. Well, I was one in the dj.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and I always teach, you know, that's important to relationships. Right. I always tell people, stop networking. Networking equals pest working. Right. You've had people come up to you and want to network you and they tell you how great they are. They slam you with a business card or they try to get your numbers, your personal stuff. They don't care a lick about you.

[C]

Right, Right.

[B]

That's what networking is. When you network, you become an unwelcome pest. When you relationship work, you become an invited guest. Because we should be about building relationships. And that's something I've been following my entire life. I'm here to build quality relationships where everyone's better from it. If I could serve and help anybody in any way, I'm willing to do it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So I always say, stop networking. Start relationship working.

[C]

I love that. I think similarly. So when I meet a new person, I ask myself, am I feeling like they're draining my energy or do I feel more energy?

[B]

That's so good.

[C]

And some people, man, they could drain you quick.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, there are people who brighten up a room when they walk in it, and there are those who brighten up a room when they walk out of it.

[C]

Yeah. All from a one minute combo.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's nuts.

[B]

You can just tell, man, you get the, the vibe, the energy of like, man, I don't want to be around this cat.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like. Yeah. Watch how they are. They're kind of a leech.

[C]

And your intuition's really good.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, especially when you do a lot of business.

[B]

Over the years, every time I've gone away from trusting my gut, it's got me in problems.

[C]

Same.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Every time.

[B]

Yeah. You know, I teach that for businesses as well as we run a really nice seven figure business. And I have One staff person, wow. People are like, how do you do that? I said, well, I run everything by a question. I had a guy one time ask, hey, man, I heard you run your entire business by a question. I said, damn straight. And I think you should, too, and everybody should. So I believe that we as entrepreneurs are in business for freedom to do what you want, when you want, where you want, how much you want, how little you want, with whom you want, with whom you don't want. And I never violate that right. And so I'm in business for freedom to live my life the way I want. We all should be that. I truly believe that. So if you buy into that and you believe that, then you should run your whole business in life by question. So the answer is a C or C answer. And here's the question. Is what I'm thinking of doing or who I'm thinking of working with in this JV deal or this sponsorship deal or this hiring this person, whatever it is, will they be contributing to my freedom or will they be contaminating my freedom? And the minute. Shawn, man, I get the indication someone's going to contaminate my freedom is the minute I say, no. Wow, it doesn't go any further.

[C]

Even if the money's good, care less about the money.

[B]

Can't put a price on personal freedom. I mean, there are a lot of people who got into deals because the money's good, and then they have no freedom, and they're working for somebody else. They're at the mercy of someone else. So I got to be careful when you take investors on.

[C]

Right.

[B]

I mean, essentially, you're a partner, but you have obligations to, you know, other folks, and sometimes you got to listen to everything they say, and they dictate what happens. I'm not saying you shouldn't do investing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

With others, but. Or having others invest in you, but you got to be. You just got to be cognizant. I just never violate that. You know, are they contaminating my freedom or contributing to my freedom?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And the minute they. I feel they're going to contaminate with their spirit, with the way they do business, with the. The way they are to other people. You know, I watch people. I love to go to dinner with folks. You know. Why? I want to see how they interact with the servers. That tells me a lot of whether I want to get in business with them. I want to see how they interact with people who can't do anything for them. The valet person. I want to watch them, you know, when they walk to the bathroom. Are they saying hi to people? Are they smiling?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I want to see their energy, you know, because they're. They're. You know, a lot of people can put a front on, right?

[C]

Yep.

[B]

But when. When they're not thinking you're watching, that's when you can tell a lot about somebody's energy.

[C]

I love that. I'm the same way with the podcast. I see how they greet my assistant, the producer.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, Justin Waller. He shook everyone's hand as soon as he walked in before even greeting me.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, I love that.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Not many people do that.

[B]

Yeah. It's just not that hard. You know, there are a lot of. I mean, I'm blessed. I wrote some books. There are a lot of people that wrote books. Right. But put the Bible aside. The one book, there's only one book we need. It's a book I read years ago. I read it every December.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

It's called Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

[C]

I never heard of that one by Robert Fulgent. Check it out. Yeah.

[B]

It's just basic stuff. Please, thank God, be courteous, treat people as you'd like to be treated. Right. Basic things that we all should be doing, and this world would be better if we did it that way, you know? But, yeah, it's very simple. It doesn't have to be difficult.

[C]

Did you find yourself struggling with ego when you started getting success?

[B]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I think we all do in a way, because it's, you know, we start drinking the juice and the Kool Aid.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, like. Like you number one in an iTunes, right? Oh, man, I'm. I'm cool. Right. I remember when I started speaking on, like, big stages, and I was. Oh, man, I'm a somebody, Right. You know, I'm a rock star. I'm flying to go speak and, you know, be on this stage and. But at the end of the day, it's about leaving positive footprints in people's lives. Right. Making sure that you're doing a great contribution. You're leaving a legacy. You're living a life of significance, and you're. I say this everywhere. The greatest gift you could ever receive is knowing you've made a positive difference in the lives of others. You know, Very simple. So just wake up every day and figure, how could I. How could I serve people, help people, make people's lives better? And you'll have people magnetically attract you like a magnet.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

They'll want to be around you. They'll talk Great about you. When you're not around, you know, they'll want to do deals with you. You know, they'll. And we should be about that. It should be all about relationships and friendships. It should be win, win for everybody. It shouldn't be screwing people over.

[C]

Yeah, I agree. I love that way of thinking. Most people just want to be able to see results so they don't think like that.

[B]

You know, when we come into this world, you know, you and I are big on mindset, right? If you study anything about our minds, we have two parts of our mind. We have a conscious mind. That's what we're thinking with right now. When we go to sleep, it goes to sleep. Your subconscious never sleeps. It accepts without a doubt anything to get programs into it. It doesn't reject, it doesn't analyze. It's like a hard drive just stores. Well, you put enough junk on the hard drive, it gets a virus and it crashes. Our subconscious is no different. Right? If you think about an iceberg, right, you see the iceberg above the water, but that's only 10% of the iceberg. 90% of the iceberg is below the water. So think of your mind the same way. 10% is the conscious mind, right? Where logical decisions happen. The 90% below the water. The subconscious is the emotions, the values, the feelings. So when we are born and we come into this world, we all get a bib placed under our chin, right? Because we're being taken care of as infants. But you understand, that gets programmed. And what we don't know is we go through life with that embedded on our computer. We go through life with being that way unknowingly, because that's the program running that people should be giving to us. In essence, we're taking from people. And what I always teach, I've been teaching this for 20 years. You got to take that bib consciously off from around your chin and neck, drape it over your forearm like you're a server in the finest dining establishment, and just approach everybody with, what could I do for you? How can I help you? How could I serve you? How can I make this person's life just a little bit better from us meeting? And if we just approach people like that, how can we have a great win, win, win in the business deal? If you approach that and you'll have a great life?

[C]

Absolutely.

[B]

You know, so I always. I'm writing a book right now called the Power of the Napkin. It's all about don't wear the bib. And it's all about why serving others is the, the not one of the greatest secret to all success and significance in life and business.

[C]

Yeah, that's powerful. You got to reprogram your subconscious though, to get there. Cuz I feel like we're innately selfish because of survival, you know, just to survive. But times have changed. We don't need that survival instinct as much as we used to.

[B]

And the first part of all transformation is awareness. See, a lot of times we go through life, we don't know why we're doing this. You know, why, why are we thinking for ourselves? Why are we taking from others? Why are we only looking for our side of the deal? Well, it's because it got embedded right from that simple infant stage and we got programmed that that's how we go. But first part of all transformation is awareness. Once you're aware, you can change that fast.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

If you're not aware, you just keep doing the same old, same old.

[C]

Absolutely. That's why I'm aware of my ego. And I go through phases of. Oh, I need to tone it back a little bit. Yeah, but that's the first stage.

[B]

Yeah, me too. I mean, when I was blessed to be invited on ABC, Secret Millionaire TV show, I was like, holy cow, this is 8:00 Sunday night, prime time. Wow. I arrived.

[C]

Yeah. That was one of the hottest shows back in the day, right?

[B]

Oh my gosh. Yeah, it was fantastic. It was truly one of the greatest blessings of my life. I met some amazing servers, unsung heroes that were just out there making a difference for no other reason than to make their communities better. And you know, you sign a contract with abc, I mean, it's not cable.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I'm nothing against that. I'm just saying this is, this is abc. That's owned by Disney.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, this is kind of major Monday Night Football. Abc at the time, this is the Desperate Housewives. Abc.

[C]

Yeah. No, they were a big deal. I watched ABC growing up.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, and then you're going to like all these ABC parties and you're hanging out with Shaquille O'Neal and you're hanging out with the, the people on all the ABC shows. You're like, wow, right? And you're, you start to like, let the ego, it's easy to creep in.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I heard somebody say that ego, ego is just edging God out. You're focusing on the fame and all that. And I had a, a friend tell me this, he said, you know, all that stuff is going to be gone. You know, you heard the 15 minutes of fame thing.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

And I was like, wow. You know? I know. And I took that to heart, and that's when I was like, you know what? This isn't about, oh, look how great I am. This is about, you know, staying true and humble to who you are and always, you know, focusing on serving and giving and trying to help people. And so, you know, for a little while there, a few months, you know, I started to float up in the air like, wow, this is great. And you know what, ma'am? Stay humble, stay true. You know, be kind to people, treat people in the right way, build relationships, you know? So I started to wear the bib a little bit.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Instead of the napkin over the floor, trying to help others.

[C]

It's easy to get wrapped up in that space when you're in the acting space.

[B]

Yeah. So I admire you, man. You're number one. And in itunes for podcasts, you got all these. I see your Instagram little clips I watch all the time. You got hundreds of thousands of people that view those.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And you're just a cool dude. And you're a good guy, man. You're just out there. Yeah. Interviewing people, trying to help people make their lives better.

[C]

Yeah. I think I get it from Rogan, because I used to watch him every day, and he's just doing what he loves, man. Yeah. He's number one.

[B]

Yeah, he is. Well, you'll be there, man. You're young. You got. You got some time.

[C]

Yeah, I got. Yeah. He had 10 years on me. So you're only.

[B]

You've only been doing this 18 months.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's amazing, man.

[C]

Yeah, man. I appreciate it.

[B]

Absolutely. You're. You're an inspiration. Just keep doing what you're doing, man. You're. I loved yourself. That's why when you hit me up with the dm, I was like, oh, my gosh, man. I love this dude. I've been watching his clips, like, I don't know, for six, seven months before it was crazy. Like, just. Oh, I'm sorry.

[C]

No, you're good.

[B]

Out of the blue, man. You just hit me up for that.

[C]

No, I saw you comment on one of them, so I hit you up.

[B]

I was watching this guy, like, and now he wants me on his amazing pod. Yeah, absolutely.

[C]

Yeah. That's the power. You never know what a comment will lead to, man.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I've gotten some guests just from commenting on photos, too.

[B]

That's awesome.

[C]

Yeah. James, it's been fun. Anything you want to close off with?

[B]

And I just want to say thank you for having me. I don't take this time lightly. Hopefully we shared something that might be helping somebody out there. I lost my sister Vicki to a brain tumor several years ago and it taught me a very valuable lesson in my young life at that time that you can make more money, you can lose all your money, come back and be better, you can build another business, you can lose everything, come back, be better, you can lose all your customers, your clients, come back, have more. But the one thing we can't get back is time. Think about this every minute, every second you waste, you don't get back the rest of your life. It's not like you get a do over, you know. So I understand the value of time because I understand my sister Vicki has no more on this earth. And so I just want to say thank you. I understand how valuable this time on your podcast is and for those who are watching. And I want to say thanks for giving me some time and hopefully we made somebody's life a little bit better today.

[C]

Likewise. Thanks for your time, man. Thanks for coming on inspired anytime. Thanks for watching guys. As always. Hopefully you enjoyed it. See you tomorrow.

[A]

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