Money & Wealth Replay: Self Esteem vs. Confidence

Summary

Money & Wealth Replay: Self Esteem vs. Confidence Hosted by John Hope Bryant Released: December 24, 2024

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant, Bryant delves deep into the intricate relationship between self-esteem and confidence, particularly within the African American community. He intertwines personal anecdotes, economic insights, and historical contexts to provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of how mindset influences wealth-building. This summary captures the essence of Bryant's discussions, highlighting key points, notable quotes, and actionable advice aimed at fostering financial empowerment.

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The Importance of Paying Taxes [02:33]

Bryant begins by addressing the often misunderstood perception surrounding taxes. He emphasizes that paying taxes is a sign of financial success and wealth generation. Reflecting on his personal experiences, he states:

"I'm popping my collar because I paid my taxes and I'm happy about it, right?" (02:33)

He clarifies that a substantial tax bill is indicative of substantial earnings, highlighting that "most taxes actually in this country, most income for America is paid by the wealthy people." Bryant debunks the myth that wealthy individuals evade taxes by explaining the prevalence of capital gains taxes and other forms of taxation that high earners are subject to.

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Home Ownership vs. Renting [05:15]

Bryant underscores the financial benefits of home ownership over renting. He explains how the American tax system is structured to incentivize owning property:

"If you own a home, you are going to get a lot of that money you paid against the mortgage back through a tax refund at the end of the year." (08:45)

He contrasts this with renting, where monthly payments do not contribute to building personal wealth. Bryant advises listeners to consult with tax professionals to maximize their tax benefits without risking audits:

"You need to talk to your tax person. You can't just take my word for it." (11:20)

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Debunking Myths About Wealthy Paying Taxes [10:30]

Addressing common misconceptions, Bryant clarifies that wealthy individuals do pay significant taxes but often through different avenues such as capital gains rather than traditional income taxes. He elaborates:

"Most income for America is paid by those at the highest income bracket." (12:05)

Bryant explains that while wealthy individuals might not pay high income taxes, they contribute through other forms like capital gains taxes upon selling stocks or real estate:

"When somebody sells real estate, like me, they get hit with a capital gains tax, which is typically about 20%, 21% of whatever the thing you sold is valued at." (14:50)

He reinforces the importance of paying taxes as a civic duty that supports essential government functions and infrastructure.

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Civic Engagement and Property Ownership [13:21]

Bryant links financial prosperity to civic participation, particularly highlighting the role of property ownership in fostering community investment and political engagement. He asserts:

"When you own a home, you become a stakeholder and now you typically want to vote to protect your stake in what you have and have a say in how governments do their business." (16:10)

This connection underscores the broader societal impact of financial stability, encouraging listeners to view wealth not just as personal gain but as a means to influence and improve their communities.

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Self-Esteem vs. Confidence in Wealth Building [18:25]

Transitioning to the core theme, Bryant differentiates between self-esteem and confidence, elucidating their distinct roles in financial success:

"Self esteem is how I esteem myself. Confidence comes from your competence, you're competent about something, so you express that through confidence." (20:45)

He discusses how historical oppression has undermined the self-esteem of African Americans, creating a "surviving mindset" that is at odds with a "thriving mindset." This dichotomy affects economic behaviors, with over 90% of African American consumer output directed towards consumption rather than wealth creation.

Bryant cites a Federal Reserve survey revealing stark disparities in net worth:

"Caribbean blacks had, I think it was a twelve hundred dollar net worth. And African Americans had a net worth of seven bucks." (23:30)

He emphasizes the need to rebuild self-esteem to shift from mere survival to wealth generation.

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Five Pillars of Success [25:00]

Drawing from his book "Up from Nothing", Bryant outlines five foundational pillars essential for financial and personal success:

1. Education: Comprehensive financial literacy starts from a young age.
2. Family Structure and Resiliency: Strong, supportive family units foster stability.
3. Self-Esteem and Confidence: Cultivating internal worth and external competence.
4. Role Models and Environment: Positive influences and stimulating surroundings.
5. Community Support and Engagement: Building networks that encourage growth.

Bryant notes that many marginalized groups, including African Americans, have historically been denied access to these pillars, hindering their economic progress.

"If you have three or four of those things, of those five things, you're going to be very successful." (27:15)

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Building a Wealth Mindset [30:00]

Central to Bryant's message is the concept of a wealth mindset. He differentiates between transactional money-making and wealth creation:

"Building wealth, you build wealth in your sleep. You got to think, you got to do it from the neck up, not the shoulders down." (32:40)

Bryant encourages listeners to shift their focus from immediate financial gains to long-term wealth accumulation through strategic planning and mindset alteration. He advocates for embracing personal growth, healing from historical trauma, and fostering environments that support sustained economic prosperity.

"We need to start doing some transfers to get people out of poverty, rebuild the ladder and get them back up to wealth." (35:50)

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Conclusion [43:21]

Bryant wraps up by reinforcing the intertwined nature of self-esteem and financial success. He calls for a collective effort to heal psychological wounds, empower individuals with knowledge, and create supportive communities that nurture both personal and economic growth. His final message is one of hope and actionable steps towards financial empowerment:

"Take your life back. It starts with making that decision. I believe in you." (42:00)

Bryant encourages listeners to engage with resources like his book "Financial Literacy for All" and to participate in initiatives such as the One Million Black Business Initiative, which aims to foster black entrepreneurship and economic independence.

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Notable Quotes:

• "If I don't like me, I'm not gonna like you." (18:30)
• "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." (40:10)
• "You're listening to this, you already have a life. Love you, John Hope Bryant." (43:00)

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Actionable Takeaways:

1. Embrace Tax Responsibilities: View taxes as a sign of financial health and utilize tax benefits associated with home ownership.
2. Invest in Self-Esteem: Cultivate internal self-worth to foster external confidence and economic success.
3. Leverage Education: Prioritize financial literacy and continuous learning as foundational pillars for wealth creation.
4. Build and Engage with Supportive Networks: Seek role models, mentors, and community support to navigate the path to financial independence.
5. Adopt a Wealth Mindset: Shift focus from short-term gains to long-term wealth accumulation through strategic financial planning and mindset transformation.

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Final Thoughts

In this episode, John Hope Bryant masterfully intertwines personal experiences with broader economic and social insights to provide a roadmap for financial empowerment within the African American community. By addressing the critical balance between self-esteem and confidence, Bryant offers listeners both the motivation and the tools necessary to transform their financial trajectories and build lasting wealth for themselves and future generations.

Transcript

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Welcome to Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant, a production of the Black Effect podcast network and iHeartRadio. Hey, hey, it's John Hope Bryant and this is Money and Wealth. And I'm popping my collar because I paid my taxes and I'm happy about it, right? Actually, I got a pretty good deal this year. Last year was an okay deal and the year before that it was a painful deal because I paid the most taxes I'd ever paid in my life. It was seven figures in taxes alone. In fact, my state tax bill was larger than any tax I'd ever paid, period, in my life. Just my state tax bill. My federal tax bill was seven figures by itself. But I was happy to do it. Listen to me now. I was happy to do it because that meant I made money. I even generated some generational wealth. I forget what year it was, but it was a, you know, two, three, four years ago where I paid this enormous tax bill. But don't get upset with Uncle Sam because you're paying a tax bill. It means that you're actually making some money. You might want to be upset when you're not paying a tax bill because it may mean you're broke and don't be a smarty pants and decide you're going to skip out on your tax bill. I'd rather, I'd rather steal from my mother, God rest her soul, than steal from the ir, from the federal government, the irs. They didn't get Al Capone for murdering man. They got Al Capone on tax evasion and put that man under the jail. He died in prison. Cool, smooth all that. He avoided all those things he actually did, which was literally murders and stick ups and all kind of stuff, but they couldn't catch him. But they said basically, look, we can't prove you broke these laws and committed these crimes, but you seem to have a lifestyle that doesn't make any sense. And we can't, you can't justify where you made this money. So you have evaded taxation because you didn't report the income. So it's really deep. American, American capitalism is. American government is deep. It's like we, we maybe convict you that it's illegal, but you dang sure gonna pay your taxes on your comp, on your, on the income that you made or we'll get you that way. And so they got them that way and they're not gonna get me that way. I'M gonna pay my taxes now. We just had tax season and you shouldn't be paying more taxes than you have to. And this tax system is designed for you to maximize your tax benefit. The whole thing about owning a home, the tax structure, the tax system, I don't want to use that word again. The taxing infrastructure in America is designed to benefit homeownership. That's what I was trying to say. So you write off the most of a 30 year mortgage, 20 on average. 20 of the 30 year mortgage. You write it off through mortgage interest payments. And you will be able to get a lot of that back in a tax refund at the end of the year. So if you're renting from me, a home or an apartment, or from some other investor, you are opening a window and throwing your money out the window. There are times for you to be a renter. Okay, I'm not hating on that. I've been a renter. There's been times to be a renter, but you get no benefit from that. But if you own a home, and you're basically paying the same for rental, for mortgage ownership, home ownership, as you would for rental, if you own a home, then you're going to get a lot of that money you paid against the mortgage back through a tax refund at the end of the year. You get the benefit of appreciation, the benefit of depreciation, a tax benefit. And you get to write off a lot of the mortgage payments because a lot of his mortgage interest in those first, those first years. Now, writing things off, you know, I'm gonna be a little tongue in cheek here. Now. You can't write off the strip club guys. You can't write off, you know, your girlfriend. You might not even write off your wardrobe. I'm actually serious about this now. If you, if you're in a profession where like the entertainment business and you think, well, this is directly tied to, I mean, I'm a businessman, I'd like to be think that my wardrobe is complements my business and is directly tied to it. It is not a foregone conclusion. And you can write off your wardrobe. You need to talk to your tax person. You can't write off. If you work from your house, you can't write off the whole house. Please. I don't want you to be audited. I don't want you to get in trouble. Please listen to me. You can write off the portion of the house that you're using for business purposes. There's an office in your house, right? You can that's tack that should be tax deductible. Check with your tax professional. Don't just take my word for it, but that part of the house you're using for tax for business purposes should qualify as a tax write off. All of your car may not be tax deductible, but the part that you're using for business purposes, even if you want to be very specific, you can do mileage calculations and do it that way. But you need to be very thoughtful about what's a business expense and what you can write off and what you can't. Certain things you absolutely will not be able to write off because it's, well, nuts. I've mentioned a couple examples there, but you can write off things that have a direct business correlation or things that are covered by the tax code, like many kinds of real estate and mortgage payments and interest expense on businesses. And again, anything if you have a side business or a primary business, then those direct business expenses you'll be able to write off. I also want to very briefly touch on this really falsehood that politicians play games with. They say that rich people don't pay money. The reality is that most taxes actually in this country, most income for America is paid by the wealthy people. I guess, like me, 70 or 80% of all the taxes in the country are paid for by those at the highest income bracket. So what's all this about? But the wealthy don't pay taxes. Well, they don't pay a lot of percentage wise of income taxes. So then if they're not paying income taxes, then what are they paying? They're paying in many cases capital gain taxes. So income taxes might be 30%, 35%, 40%, 45% if you have state and federal taxes. Might even be some places like California might be approaching 50%. If you're making a bunch of your money, you know, from performing as an actor or an entertainer or a sports figure or whatever, you're making a lot of income. W2 income, they I guess they call it, you're on a sitcom, a situation comedy, you're on a TV show or something, and you're getting a W2 paycheck, then they may withhold, you know, 35, 40% of your taxes. You may be in that tax bracket. That's why they say that Warren Buffett pays less taxes than his secretary. What do I mean by that? Well, she's getting an income. Well, Warren Buffett's not getting a paycheck. He may. I don't want an income. Don't pay me A paycheck. Because what he does is he, when he sells stock, he gets hit with a capital gains tax. When somebody sells, like, real estate, like me, they that you get hit with a capital gains tax, which is typically about 20%, 21% of whatever the thing you sold is valued at. So if it's worth a million dollars, you may get hit with a $200,000 tax bill all at once and, you know, happy to pay it. We're not happy to pay it, but you pay it, and that's a lot of money. And so a lot of this country's income comes from the wealthy paying a combination of income tax and capital gains tax or other kinds of taxes. But I'm trying to make this simple. But don't listen to people who tell you that just because a wealthy person is not paying income tax or their tax bracket, well, they're paying less in income tax than the secretary because the secretary's got a salary and is earning a paycheck every two weeks and has withholdings. And the boss may not be on any salary at all, which means you can't tax something. It doesn't exist. Very, very, very wealthy people don't want an income. Okay, there's a funny one for you. All right, John O'Brien. This is Money and wealth, and this is the tax season. So I want you to be tax smart, pay your fair share, because, well, that means you're doing really well and you live in the most secure economy in the world with the best laws and the best infrastructure, the best protections of the law that costs something. And the government is there. If you get in a lawsuit, the government, the laws, you know, you can rely on the laws to be sturdy and resilient. You have intellectual property rights that are preserved. You have real property rights that are, you know, will be preserved and protected. That's the government at work. I'm not advocating for the government. I'm just saying that those things cost something. You look, roads, gutters, street lights, subways. Somebody said, I pay for that. The government pays for that. You're on a highway and you're making money because you want to sell something to somebody. When you're driving on the highway, that's the public. And you as a taxpayer, you pay for that. Schools are not free. Schools are paid for by you and me. So that's why you should also want to vote, because you're a shareholder. You have assets. And your assets are not just on your ass. You own things. That's why when you see a house that's got lawn up to your neck. It's because that's probably a renter because nobody washes rental cars. But once you own a home, there's a quote for you. Nobody washes rental cars. Once you own a home or you own some property, all of a sudden you become real concerned about it. And now you're a stakeholder and now you typically want to vote to protect your stake in what you have and have a say in how governments do their business. And so there you go. All right. So there's a civic, civics lessons and a tax lesson and a. And the first positive thing somebody ever said to you about the government and the irs, I bet. All right. And I haven't been audited yet. I'm sure it's coming at some point, but I've been audited. At least I don't think I've been audited. But there was a time where I didn't pay taxes for years and I got hit with very serious penalties back in the day when I was in my teens from the franchise tax board and from the state of California. It hit me hard and I had to catch up. So it's not. Life's not always been a bed of roses, but I think I've been relatively smart about, you know, paying my fair share taxes, both income tax and capital gains taxes, but also taking my reasonable write offs of things that are legitimate business expenses. And a lot of my life is business because I'm always doing it. So there you go. Hope this has been helpful. Make sure you have a tax pro. Make sure that your tax pro gives back to the community. Choose one that does give back to the community. By the way, they can donate their few hours of their time as a tax pro to help businesses come up like the one million black business Initiative, like my firm Aprio does here in Atlanta. So get a tax pro, get a lawyer, and of course, get a life. You're listening to this, you already have a life. All right. Love you, John. Hope Brian.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[DJ Dramos]

Hey, this is John Hope Brian on money and wealth. And I'm going to tackle a topic today that is a little controversial, which is self esteem versus confidence, particularly with regard to my African American brothers and sisters. So why is this important and why does it have to do with money and wealth? Because if your assets are all on your ass is a reason for it. If you spend, if you produce $1.6 trillion in consumer economic output as a race, but 91% of that is consumption, there's a reason for it. If the number one way to build wealth is homeownership and we don't really own homes, there's a reason for it. And there's a reason why America has African American ghettos and not really any kind of other kind of ghettos. And it has to do with slavery. It has to do with destroying and destroyed self esteem. We are brave people, African Americans. We've been doing so much with so little for so long, we can almost do anything with nothing. We have, you know, succeeded against the odds. We were brought here as brilliant agricultural geniuses of the land and had the self esteem beaten out of us for literally 300 years. So I had to do the math. 1619 to really the mid-1960s, even before America was America, you know, and I'm not. This is not even a podcast over race or slavery or what. This, it has nothing to do with it. I'm just giving you the backstory to understand you can make a mistake and not be one. We're actually the opposite. We're geniuses, we're amazing. But there was an intentional attempt, which I'll do in another podcast, to break down the why as to why African Americans, with all our genius, with all of our outside success all around the world, I think the majority of us are clinically undiagnosed depressed. And that depression creates a surviving mindset. And a surviving mindset is directly in conflict with a thriving mindset and a winning mindset. Winners are builders. If you're a surviving mindset, you are always looking for risks and issues and the glass is half empty, not half full. You tend to be more cynical than skeptical. Now, you generalize, you discriminate. So yes, these are generalizations, but they tend to stick. And I'm going to frame this in a way that makes it perfectly clear. I'm going to give you the economic framework first because this arrays to white people too. So if the issue was only race, right, that defines success. Or failure, self esteem, incompetence and all that kind of stuff, then you would not have rich whites and poor whites, you just have rich whites. If the issue was just race, you would just have rich whites. But the large population of poverty in this country is actually white poverty. I'll go one step further. The number one group dying in this country are high school educated white men. Lack of hope. Opioid addiction is the trigger, but it's really lack of hope. Let's now go to African Americans for a minute. If the, if black was the same, just like I just said, the white was the same and it wasn't a cultural issue because somebody's gonna say, John, why are you picking on your own people? I'm not picking on anybody. I'm breaking some stuff down so that we can understand it, so we can fix it. Just the opposite actually. I said we've been picked on and we picked ourselves up. Like as I said, we've been doing so much with so little for so long, we can almost do anything with nothing. But I don't want you an expert in surviving, I want you an expert in thriving and winning. Can I get an amen? So I talked about whites. Now poor whites and poor blacks, these are obvious, but no one ever says it. So the issue was only race. Then all blacks should be the same too. But the Federal Reserve in Boston did a survey about five to seven years ago on the net worth of everybody in Boston. They found that whites had a six figure net worth. They found that Caribbean blacks had, I think it was a twelve hundred dollar net worth. And they found that African Americans had a net worth of seven bucks. That's right, seven dollars. And when they put this on the front page of the Boston Globe and you can pull it up on the Internet, by the way, it said blacks net worth $7. And it had to say this is not a typo in the headline because it was so dramatic. And if it was just race, why wouldn't all blacks have the same net worth? Why wouldn't all whites have the same net worth? Because culture and environment matter and so we can be proud that we have survived and all this torture. But if there's some PTSD there, there's some damage to our psyche and our spirit and our self esteem. And as I've often said, if I don't like me, I'm not gonna like you. If I don't feel good about me, I'm not gonna feel good about you. If I don't respect me, don't expect me to respect you. If I don't love me, I don't have a clue how to love you. And if I don't have a purpose in my life, I'm going to make your life a living hell. Because whatever goes around hello comes around. So now broken down and hopefully in a way that's sufficient, the economic differences even within the same group of black people. And I'm going to say something I can't absolutely say is the fact, but I believe it based on me traveling the countless cities across this country. They're not Ghanaian ghettos in America, they're Ghanaian communities. They're not Jamaican ghettos in America, They're Jamaican communities where Jamaicans live together. Working class, middle class neighborhoods. I can think of some in the five boroughs right now as example, there are Ethiopian communities, lots of them. There are South African communities and so on and so forth, right? But they're only black ghettos, African American. So African American communities where you see check cashes, payday loan, now you see these in other communities, right? But it's intensely focused in African American communities because, well, we were broken and people are now preying on that brokenness where. So now I'm going to get to self esteem and confidence. So you can't fix this stuff unless you recognize it. If you look at the majority of ghettos and inner cities in America where people proliferate, they tend to be mostly African American versus communities where different people live. And there's oppressive environments in those neighborhoods and communities because those oppressive environments are profitable to some people and negative to the people that they're subject to it. But maybe you don't even notice it because we're just so used to surviving and so used to brokenness that we think it's okay. We think it's okay for a check casher to be next to a payday loan lender, to a rental store title lender, liquor store, pawnshop, by the way, that actually does exist in low wealth communities of all kinds. I'm not just preying on that, but I'm just giving that as an example. Right? And I'm now going to pivot to something that I think does differentiate healthy from those trying to heal or those who need to heal. So self esteem versus confidence, those things are different. Self esteem is internal and confidence is really external. And so confidence comes from your competence, you're competent about something, so you express that through a confidence. I'll come back to that in a moment. Self esteem is how I esteem myself. So if you look at Caribbean Blacks and, and you look at African blacks as an example. You see people and I'm generalizing. Whenever you generalize, you discriminate. That is true, but follow me for a moment. I'm making a point. If you go. If you look at those who come from the the Caribbean and come from Africa, you generally speaking see fine people who have high self esteem but low levels of initially of confidence when they come to America. Why? Because they the self esteem comes from nuclear families, mom and dad, husbands and wives. It comes from seeing the doctor, dentist that looks like you, the mayor that looks like you, the governor looks like you, the CEO that looks at you, the saint looks like you, the pastor looks like you, and the crooks look like you too. Everybody looks like you. So there's a self esteem that comes from having a healthy spiritual, emotional, psychological environment. Are you with me so far? But they have a low level of confidence because they come from a small and developing economy that's not cutting edge economically. It's not where you take your skills and put it to work against other people who are at the top of their game. And so as a result of that you don't really know whether you've been taught is truly top of the mark. So you may not have the confidence that comes from competition at the highest level and winning. So you may have low confidence but high self esteem, the opposite is true for African Americans. In American you have people who have high confidence, extremely high confidence, but typically low self esteem. Now low self esteem for the reasons I just mentioned. People have beaten the love out of us, beating the confidence and self esteem out of us, beating the joy out of us because they needed us to not create a problem back in the day. Keep you in that box, just become human machinery for hundreds of years. But it damaged our spirit and it ruined our families. I think the five pillars of success. As much education as you can shove down your throat. This is from my book up from Nothing. I have six books now, three or four bestsellers. The last one being out being financial literacy for all just out that's entered the fray at Amazon. Number one in economics, et cetera, et cetera. Pick it up if you don't have it. But up from nothing. My last book, as much education you shove down your throat. Understanding the math, financial literacy, wealth creation, etc. Family structure and resiliency. Number three, self esteem and confidence. Number four, role models and environment. Number five. Now I've done a podcast episode just on this so you can go back and listen to that. And I break These things down in some detail. And if you have three or four of those things, of those five things, you're going to be very successful. But three groups were denied those three things and not in, you know, any order here. Native American, Indians, poor whites and African Americans. And, and out of, you know, couple hundred ethnic groups in this country, and there's actually more than that if you want to get into cultures. Everybody seems to come here and be able to succeed within a short period of time because they have self esteem intact and their confidence comes ultimately from competing on the playing field called life. But our experience was just the opposite. We were denied, actually it was legally barred to educate us. They destroyed our family, separated our children, sold wives off from husbands, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So we did not have the five pillars of success. But if you have three, four of those things, of those five things, I guarantee you, no matter what's in front of you over, round and through it, you're going to get to it. I know that because that's my story and I'm African American. My mother told me she loved me every day of my life. I had a sense of yes I can from my dad and yes I am from my mother. I was taught about financial literacy when I was nine years old. I have self love, self esteem, which I'll get to in a moment in great detail. I had good role models in an enabling environment. Thus I succeeded at scale. Went from the bottom quartile of poverty and struggle, not the very bottom, but the bottom quartile, to the top 1%. And you can do it too. You can rehabilitate yourself, but you got to understand what the what ghost is chasing you and what healing you're pursuing. So there's self esteem and confidence. So here's self esteem again. I'm going to repeat myself a little bit. I apologize. But it's really important to get this. If I don't like me, I'm not going to like you. If I don't feel good about me, I'm not going to feel good about you. If I don't respect me, don't expect me to respect you. If I don't love me, I don't have a clue how to love you. And here's the big one. If I don't have a purpose in my life, I'm gonna make your life a living hell. Whatever goes around comes around. And hurt people, hurt people. The opposite is also true. Hurt people, hurt people. It's an old saying. No matter how much I love you my son or my daughter? If I don't have wisdom, I can only give you my own ignorance. So out of love, we pass down bad habits from generation to generation. I know this is going to be a deep, deep, deep controversial podcast, but this is also wealth, because wealth is mindset. Anybody can make money. A drug dealer can make money. Pimp can make money. Wall street, banker can make money. Engineer can make money. Anybody legit, illegit can make money. But building wealth, you build wealth in your sleep. You got to think, you got to do it from the neck up, not the shoulders down. It's a mindset that builds wealth. And I want you to have that mindset, not only in financial wealth, but mental, spiritual, emotional wealth. I want you to heal. So confidence comes from competence. So why are African Americans confident in America? Because we competed in the biggest economy in the world, the most competitive place in the world, and we killed it. When the rules are published and the playing field is level, we succeed. What's examples of that? Professional sports, the arts, government, service and elected office. The faith community. The rules are published. The Plainfields level, we kill it. But capitalism and free enterprise, nobody gave us that memo. That's my. Is that my third or my fourth book? It's my third book. No one gave us that memo. I think it's my third book of how things work. Freedmen's Bank, 1865. Abraham Lincoln, a bank chartered to teach free slaves about money. He was killed. The next year, Frederick Douglass tried to run the bank. So we're not dumb and we're not stupid. It's what we don't know that we don't know that's killing us. But we think we know. But, you know, in spite of that, we've done actually, okay, pretty okay. But we are so focused on getting that bag, getting that money, getting that hustle, getting that dollar, getting that money that we don't realize that that's short term, that's just transactional. You can get rich, but you don't build wealth. You build wealth and you sleep. It's mindset. So, but, but the reason we're so successful is that we actually are the most competitive group of people of color, I believe in the world, and we should be proud of it. We've got our share of billionaires, we have our share of, of, you know, multi, multi millionaires, of which I would qualify. We have tons of, you know, hundred thousandaires. You know, we have a solid middle class. Thank you. Andrew Young, Dr. King, Dr. Dorothy Height, Curtis Scott King, Etcetera he rose and she rose. We have from ct Vivian John Lewis, who created the civil rights movement. Right. But we got to go from, from cashing checks to writing them mindset, becoming wealth creators and not just consumers mindset to loving ourselves. We can love each other so we don't have crab in the barrel mindset. Why is somebody watching me, listening to me and going, he ain't nothing. That has nothing to do with me. If I'm succeeding and you're listening and you're in, I mean you should be like bravo. I mean maybe he's not doing what I'm doing, maybe I don't want to be in those. But God, that's fantastic. He's succeeding. That gives me some sense for what I can do. Was there anything negative in it? But you'll find people who are hurt trying to hurt people. Dr. King once said that evil and hurt. I'm adding hurt. I'm pretty sure it was just evil. He said corrodes the container it sits within. Hello. Your body's 70% water. So when you get all worked up and hot, you're just killing yourself. You're cooking your own organs. Whatever goes around comes around. So self esteem, not only it helps you live in the world, it helps you to live. That's why in these low wealth communities, the credit score. Launching my last book, Financial literacy for All, I was in CNBC Last call and I broke down how credit scores are Hope Financial Wellness Index, how credit scores are lower in low wealth communities and the. And you also live 20 years, a shorter life than you live in a 700 credit community. Credit score community. I said it. You lived at 61 years old in a 500 credit score neighborhood. You lived at 81 years old in a 700 credit score neighborhood. 20 year Delta. And I think that that is state of mind, it's mindset. It's what I'm talking about. So we've got to heal. And, and I mentioned check cashes, payday loan lenders, rental owned stores, title lenders, liquor stores, pawn shops and a church down the street trying to make you feel a little bit better once a week. That's your neighborhood psychologist, that's your neighborhood shrink trying to keep you going crazy, going completely crazy and going postal on somebody once a week just calm you down. Why we black folks, we're emotional. We're going, ah, we're going hooping. Holla. We're getting out of our system to replace that anger and that frustration with joy. That's a depressed person who needs a Screen to get it out of them. You're just, you just, you're on. You wake up on nine on a scale of one to 10. You need to release some tension. By the way, not just black people. You go to a poor white neighborhood, you see the same thing. Check, cash or payday loan, lender, rental store, title lender, liquor store, pawn shop, church. They just do things, they move in different way. We riot when we angry on the streets. When they're angry, they riot. It appears at the ballot box. Poor whites, you figure that out for yourself. What am I saying? And what does it relate to? Hello. So we've got to heal. 3 Ways to Live suicide. You can die alive. We're not human beings having a spiritual experience. We're spiritual beings having a human experience. And energy matters. I just refuse to have toxicity around me. It's like, you ain't have, you don't have to go. You got to get the heck out of here. I just try to be clean. I try to have a toxic free zone. People I go to dinner. Like what, you know anything you're allergic to? Yeah, bad food and toxic people. I'm just like, I'm, I'm done. Like, you hang around nine broke people, you'll be the 10th. Like you just keep that mess over there. I don't want to jumping on me. Life's about energy. What are you? Who are you? What are you attracting? Hello, can I get an amen? We have some church today. All these things are related and they're interrelated and they're interconnected and wealth tends to hang around wealth and poverty tends to weigh around poverty. And we need to start doing some transfers to get people out of poverty, rebuild the ladder and get them back up to wealth. And by the way, when you are depressed, distressed, when you're angry at the world, you actually don't believe in the dream anymore. And that's by the way, suits wealth just fine. Stay over there and and be angry. Be an expert in what you're against, not what you're for. Fine with them, then leaves more for them. What did Malcolm X say? You've been bamboozled. You've been tricked. You've been fooled is what we don't know. That we don't know this. Killing is what we think we know. We have to heal. We have to deal with our stuff. Suicide, coping, healing. Three ways to live suicide. You can die alive. The most dangerous person in the world. Well, the second most dangerous, a person with no hope. First most dangerous, someone with power, money, wealth, different things. Power, money, wealth, position, low self esteem, fear. Now you think about who I'm talking about. That person is very dangerous because they can actually use, they can weaponize their unhealed nature to hurt somebody that threatens them or has angered them. I mean, a narcissist literally believes everything somebody else's fault, like it's never themselves. And a malignant narcissist, well, that's a whole nother situation. I don't want you trading in any of that stuff. So there's suicide, right? Then there's coping and there's healing. Coping. An addiction is literally a response to an emotion you can't handle. So you have all kind of ings you don't need. Shopping, drugging, drinking, sexting, texting, all day, all night, oversleeping. These are negative ings you need to replace them with some positive ings, like healing. Because you cannot have a rainbow without a storm first. It's a scientific fact. You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first. And then of course, the third way to live is to heal. And that's really what I'm talking about. Before you heal, you got to deal. And when you're not dealing, somebody's taking advantage of you. Either you're not using your money, your money's using you. Andrew Young quote. To live in a system of free enterprise and not to understand the rules of free enterprise must be the very definition of slavery. People who are surviving, mindset, glass half full, not half empty. Remember, whether you believe you can or whether you believe you can't, you're right. They don't like success. They're like, oh, I hate rich people. No you don't. You hate rich people till you become rich. What you hate is a game system, but the ladder is broken and you don't believe the system works for you. You think it's corrupted and so you throw your hands up and decide to live. Short termism, coping. You start to see how all this works together. And then if you're taking your advice from somebody who's just coping, dealing, not healing, that goes that quote. In a blind town, a one eyed man's king. If you don't know better, you dang sure can't do better. No matter how much I love you, my son, or my daughter, if I don't have wisdom, I can only give you my own ignorance. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different outcome. Let's assume you disagree with half of what I've said on this podcast. Why don't you try it. It can't possibly. Somebody says, well, why should I try God? He cannot possibly mismanage your life worse than you have you and me. By the way, I'm in that same bucket. I decided to try. It worked beautifully. He's never let me down. But maybe you should try a different business plan. The one that has not worked but a lot of wealth or the lack thereof is mindset. Poverty. Outside of roof over your head, food on the table, health care, sustenance, poverty. That's sustenance poverty. Every other form of poverty is mindset. It's how you're thinking and whether you believe you can or you believe you can't. You're absolutely right. I want you to have high self esteem. Not one ounce of my self esteem and self respect depends on your acceptance of me. That's a Quincy Jones quote. It's okay if you don't like me. I like me. That's a John O'Brien quote. Life is 10% what life does to you, but 90% how you choose to respond to it. How you gonna. What's your response going to be? Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. That requires requires self esteem and confidence. Never give up. I take no for vitamins. That requires self esteem and confidence. I don't want you to just have confidence because you'll be cocky, you'll be arrogant and you will overcompensate by trying to put your assets on your ass. You're going to try to wear yourself. Seem to prove to everybody else you have loud music and a loud life because you're trying to communicate to everybody else externally your value versus realizing internally you're already valuable because you're God's child. When you got the power, you don't need to use it. Okay, this was deep. Let me know what you think. Spread the word. Let's have a conversation. Go to Operation Hope. Get your financial literacy counseling from my team at Hope Inside Locations in 300 locations across the country. Pick up my book Financial Literacy for all, which is now out and debuted at number one on economics and a couple other categories. Thank you all who supported it. It is your weekly workshop toolbox as you sit down and have a discussion every week about money with your family at the kitchen table. And there's a bunch of tools coming out tied to that. But it starts with the book. Yeah. Take your life back. It starts with making that decision. I believe in you. Do you?

[Ryan Seacrest]

The holidays are about spending time with your loved ones and creating magical memories that will last a lifetime. So whether it's family and friends you haven't seen in a while or those who you see all the time, share holiday magic this season with an ice cold Coca Cola. Copyright 2024 the Coca Cola Company hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. This holiday season, make sure you set aside time for Self care now through December 31st. Shop in store and online for participating self care products and get four times points to use for discounts on future grocery and gas purchases. Stock up on Self care favorites like Pantene Shampoo, Gillette Fusion and Proglide Raz, Tampax Tampons, Aussie Base, Hairspray and Pampers Swaddlers diapers offer ends December 31st. Restrictions apply. Promotions may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details. You guys know I'm always up for a good MVP story, and one of the best is the story of Wasabi Technologies. Wasabi is purpose built to free businesses from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company, becoming the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. From Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals, data deletion and ransomware, Wasabi's taken the lead in driving innovation in data storage, eliminating overhead where it matters to deliver you results you can count on and won't break the bank. In fact, Wasabi is up to 80% less than those other guys and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi Another championship story. Check them out for [e-mail] this is.

[John Hope Bryant]

Rachel Zo from Climbing in Heels with Rachel Zo. As a Delta Sky Miles member, you already know how to travel the world in style. Now, with SkyMiles experiences, you can take your journey to new heights through exclusive access to a curated selection of one of a kind events. Whether it's backstage passes to your favorite concert, courtside seats at a major sporting event, or access to luxurious wellness retreats, you can use your miles to go to these unforgettable experiences. Your membership is more than miles and your journey is more than a flight. Sky Miles Experiences offers collection spanning music, film, fashion, sports, wellness, adventure and the culinary world. Whatever your passion, you'll find an adventure that is as unique as you are. SkyMiles Experiences is just one more way Delta connects you to your world and the things that matter most. It's time to make your dream experiences reality. Visit delta.com skymilesexperiences and use your miles to unlock your next unforgettable adventure. Today not a SkyMiles member. It's free and easy to sign up and start earning miles today. Terms apply.

[Ryan Seacrest]

M and A can get chaotic between due diligence, integration, and everything in between. It's easy to feel like you're drowning in the details. I'm Kisan Patel, host of M and A Science, the weekly podcast that cuts through the confusion. Every week I sit down with M and A pros who faced it all the challenges, curveballs and lessons learned the hard way. No buzzwords, no theories, just real, actionable advice from people in the trenches. From keeping deals on track to managing integrations without losing your sanity. Each episode is straight up practical insight. What works, what doesn't, and how to simplify your own M and A process. Wherever you are in the deal cycle, want to close the next deal with confidence? Tune in to M and A Science. No fluff, just real talk about what it takes to close deals. Listen on your favorite podcast, Apple. Here's to the deal.

[DJ Dramos]

Yo, yo. This is John Hope Bryant, and this is Money and Wealth on the Black Effect Network. And we have a great fan question today. Billionaire Underscore Freddy from Instagram. What a great, inspiring Instagram handle. Billionaire Underscore Freddy at Instagram says, what's one surefire way to generate cash flow with one mbb? Well, that answer is fairly actually obvious and interesting to you because it's part of 1MBB. 1MBB is one million black business initiative, which Operation Hope launched after George Floyd's murder. And it is committed to creating a million Black businesses by 2030. And we already have inspired, created, nurtured and supported over 400,000 black businesses, which would be about 12% of all black businesses in America. Yay for Operation Hope. And the way you would do it is to get to it. You would, if you have a barbershop or any physical business, as I said, you make money during the day, you build wealth when now in your sleep. So you would say you have a barbershop business. And right now somebody has to call you while you're doing the cut. Now you can apply this to any kind of business, restaurant, whatever it is you like. Okay? You, you're doing the cut. And they say, can I get an appointment? Let me get to my My appointment book. I can't really talk right now. I'm doing the cut. Can I call you back? What's your number? Can you call me back? They never call you back because they're going to the airport to catch a flight. What you want is for that person to be on the flight. It's midnight, and they should be able to search your business online from the plane. Wireless Internet is on most planes. Now, I know this is an example because I use this process myself going into the city or barbershops for black barbershops in New York City as an example, or in Harlem or wherever. The name of your shop would come up because it'll be registered through Shopify, our partner, for one mbb, which we give you the account for free for four months. And we give you a website domain name, payment systems, delivery system support, business plan support. All that through One Me and Black Business Initiative, counseling and coaching on the back end on E Commerce as well. Anyway, in this example, they, you know, they can now go online, go to the scheduling app, schedule an appointment. Now you're asleep, it's midnight, or you're chilling at home. Schedule an appointment for their haircut, put their credit card up. So now you're the business. Whether they cancel or not. There's a 20% or 50% cancellation fee. So they would lose that amount of money if they don't show up. And that goes into your cash register while you're sleeping. Cash flow while they're on your site. You're now saying now that you. Thank you for booking your appointment. Do you need a wave cap? Do you need a brush? Do you need conditioner? And they ordered items from you and what might have been a simple haircut for 75 bucks, 50 bucks, whatever it is, you know, might end up being 150, 200, $300 order, maybe even have a subscription service tied to the business where you're teaching hair conditioning or hair growth or hair stabilization techniques, in this case to black men. Somebody can subscribe to that, you know, become a subscript subscriber for, you know, five bucks a month, whatever it is. So now you've got cash flow, profit, and little wealth creation because you've built money. You've made money in your sleep. Billionaire Freddy from Instagram. I hope this has been Steady Freddie. I hope this has been good advice for you all. You don't know what MBB is. Go and sign up. It will change your life. It's a commitment from $130 million from Shopify's founder to me in Operation Hope to create black businesses in this country. And it's working and it's completely no cost to you. You invest your time and energy and we do the rest. We get your credit score up, your debt down, your savings up, help you with a business plan, et cetera. You go to download the Hope in Hand app on your Android or Apple platform, you can call our toll free line for Operation Hope and you can go online to operationhope.org I also encourage you to buy this book, Financial Literacy for All, which is now a bestseller. It's on all platforms, including black bookstores, by the way. But you can get this book now on Amazon, number one in several categories in the world on economics and business, finance, et cetera. And that is your toolbox at the kitchen table. As you transform your life, your families, and in this example, your business. You don't want to confuse business with busyness or profit with cash flow, as my dad unfortunately did. I tell that story in the book. All right, peace and light, love. Let's go. This is John O'Brien on money and Wealth. I'm out. Money and wealth with John O'Brien is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast network, visit the iHeartrade Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[DJ Dramos]

70,000 people are here and Bob Dylan.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Is the reason for it. A Complete Unknown is now a Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominee for Best Picture. If anyone is going to hold your attention on stage, you have to kind of be a freak.

[DJ Dramos]

Are you a freak?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hope so. Timothee Chalamet astonishes as Bob Dylan and critics rave. Edward Norton is absolutely fantastic.

[DJ Dramos]

Turn it down.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Pay loud. Don't miss the movie. Critics are hailing pure cinematic magic.

[DJ Dramos]

Make some noise.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[John Hope Bryant]

This is Teddy Mellencamp and Tamara Judge from Two T's and a Pod. As a Delta SkyMiles member, you already know how to experience the world like no one else. Now, with SkyMiles experiences, you have special access to a collection of unforgettable events, from concert backstage passes and courtside seats for your favorite team to one of a kind dining, wellness retreats and more. All available by using your miles. Now is your moment to unlock more once in a lifetimes and find an experience for you on delta.com SkyMilesExperiences Not a SkyMiles member? It's free and easy to sign up and start earning miles today. Terms apply.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Stay Farming DJ Dramos from Life as a Gringo no Making smarter financial moves today secures your financial freedom for a successful tomorrow. In my family, one of the biggest points of contention was finances. And I know as I gotten older I made it a promise to myself to say, I don't want to relive that. You know, hiring somebody to do credit repair for me. That was a gift that I gave myself that allowed me to then get my first apartment, then eventually buy my own home. Like these are all things that are possible. Like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. State Farm Proud sponsor of my Cultura Podcast Network.