STOP BEING BROKE: A CEO’s Top 5 Wealth-Building Tips #141 - Unemployable with Jeff Dudan

Summary

Podcast Summary: STOP BEING BROKE: A CEO’s Top 5 Wealth-Building Tips #141

Episode Release Date: January 14, 2025

Podcast Information:

Title: On The Homefront with Jeff Dudan
Host: Jeff Dudan, Homefront Brands, The Radcast Network
Description: On The Homefront aims to inspire and empower individuals to transform their lives, make a positive impact in their communities, and enhance the well-being of their loved ones. Hosted by Jeff Dudan, this podcast provides valuable insights for anyone looking to build their dynasty and take steps towards owning their own business and regaining their freedom.

Introduction

In episode #141 titled "STOP BEING BROKE: A CEO’s Top 5 Wealth-Building Tips," Jeff Dudan delves into the crucial distinctions between being "poor" and being "broke." He emphasizes that while poverty is often perceived as a permanent state rooted in mindset, being broke is a temporary condition that can be overcome with the right strategies and habits. Throughout the episode, Jeff outlines five common mistakes that keep individuals financially stagnant and provides actionable tips to break free from financial constraints.

Defining 'Poor' vs. 'Broke'

Jeff begins by clarifying the difference between being poor and being broke. He asserts that "Being poor is a mindset. It's an acceptance of a condition that you believe. Number one, it's not your fault. And number two, it's permanent. And that's nonsense on both counts." ([02:30])

Poor: A fixed mindset that believes financial hardship is unchangeable and inherent.
Broke: A temporary state that can result from various circumstances but is not permanent.

Jeff underscores that financial vulnerability often occurs early in life or career due to limited resources, but it's one's habits and beliefs that determine the duration of being broke versus becoming poor.

Tip 1: Change Your People and Your Places

One of the primary mistakes Jeff identifies is "not changing your people and your places." ([05:15])

Key Insight: Surrounding yourself with like-minded, financially successful individuals can significantly influence your own financial trajectory.
Notable Quote: "You are who you hang around with. Broke people refuse to change their people in places." ([05:20])
Actionable Advice: Actively seek out environments and communities that foster growth, positivity, and financial literacy. Emulate the behaviors of successful individuals and distance yourself from negative influences that reinforce a broke mindset.

Tip 2: Utilize Free Resources

Jeff emphasizes the importance of leveraging free resources to improve financial standing. He highlights that many resources are available at no cost and can provide valuable information and support.

Key Resources Mentioned:
- Dave Ramsey’s Online Platform: Offers free consulting and financial advice.
- Score Network: Provides free business advice from retired executives.
- Wealthy Kingdom by Ryan Pineda: A faith-based group focused on financial improvement.
Notable Quote: "Doctors, high earners, they are notorious for living right at the edge of their means. And then you're setting yourself up there for disaster." ([10:45])
Actionable Advice: Take advantage of free educational materials, counseling services, and community support groups to gain the knowledge and tools necessary for financial growth.

Tip 3: Stop Wasting Time

Time is identified as a critical resource that directly impacts financial success. Jeff encourages listeners to "stop wasting time" by focusing on activities that create value.

Key Insight: Time spent on creating knowledge, healthy habits, and building relationships correlates with improved financial and personal well-being.
Notable Quote: "Your financial condition is tied directly to your mental, physical and social conditions. All of these need your time." ([15:30])
Recommended Readings:
- Dan Martell's "Buy Back Your Time": Teaches effective time management for scaling success.
- David Goggins' "Can't Hurt Me": Focuses on building resilience and discipline.
Actionable Advice: Evaluate daily activities, eliminate distractions, and invest time in pursuits that add value to your life and future.

Tip 4: Control Your Lifestyle

Lifestyle inflation is a common pitfall that can derail financial progress. Jeff advises maintaining a modest lifestyle to ensure financial stability.

Key Insight: Increasing your spending in tandem with income can prevent substantial savings and investment growth.
Notable Quote: "Avoid lifestyle inflation. Invest instead. Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world." ([20:10])
Actionable Advice: Prioritize investing over unnecessary expenditures. Practice delayed gratification to maximize long-term financial benefits through compound interest.

Tip 5: Start a Business When Broke

Jeff discusses the "power of broke" as a catalyst for entrepreneurial success. He shares his personal experience of starting a business from a broke state, which ultimately led to generational wealth.

Key Insight: Financial constraints can drive creativity, discipline, and resourcefulness, essential traits for building a successful business.
Notable Quote: "When you're broke, you become real scrappy. You can't afford to be lazy or stupid with money because you don't have any." ([25:45])
Personal Story: Jeff recounts living on minimal expenses while building his business, highlighting the importance of commitment and resource management.
Actionable Advice: If you're in a temporary broke situation, use it as an opportunity to hustle, start a business, and invest time and energy into creating something sustainable and profitable.

Conclusion and Final Insights

Jeff wraps up the episode with a compelling message: "Nobody has to stay broke. But if you keep making these mistakes… you're gonna stay stuck." ([30:00])

Final Takeaways:
- Ownership of your mindset and actions is crucial to overcoming financial hardships.
- Embracing change, utilizing available resources, valuing time, controlling lifestyle, and entrepreneurial initiative are key to building wealth.
- Transformation requires discomfort and a willingness to leave behind old habits and influences.
Encouragement: Jeff motivates listeners to take decisive action today to create a better financial future. He emphasizes that significant change starts with individual commitment and the courage to make necessary decisions.
Recommended Next Steps:
- Read Jeff’s Book: "Discernment: The Business Athlete's Regimen for a Great Life Through Better Decisions," to further enhance decision-making skills.
- Explore Additional Resources: Check the podcast description for links to top business books and business ideas for 2025 to continue the journey towards financial independence.

Final Quote: "Remember, your future is built by whatever decision it is you make today, and a different decision today can change your future tomorrow." ([31:30])

Jeff concludes by reaffirming the listener’s potential to achieve greatness and financial freedom through deliberate and informed actions.

Note: This summary focuses solely on the core content of the podcast episode, excluding advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections, as per the request. All quotes are attributed to Jeff Dudan with corresponding timestamps for reference.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Look, if you don't have everything that you want in your life right now and you're not making ends meet, I have a question for you. Are you poor or are you broke? And there is a difference. Poor is a mindset. And for many people, if you can't change that mindset, it's permanent. You might not be able to change your circumstances overnight, and I get that. But you sure as heck can change them over time. A decision you make today can change your life forever. In home service sales success isn't random. It's built on a solid foundation. If you're scaling a home services company or managing sales teams, you need Rilla Voice. It's your virtual ride along. Rilla Records Sales Conversations provides real time insights that empower you to replicate what works. Don't just scale, do it with confidence. Ready to transform your business? Visit rila.com that's r I l l a.com or click the link below to get your special Homefront Brands offer Today. Being poor is a mindset. It's an acceptance of a condition that you believe. Number one, it's not your fault. And number two, it's permanent. And that's nonsense on both counts. People become broke from time to time. It happens to the best of us. Maybe we tried to build a new business and it didn't work out. Maybe we invested in something and it didn't work out. Maybe we had a catastrophic injury or health condition and it drained us with medical bills. Financial vulnerability happens especially early in your life and early in your career where you don't have a lot of resources. But it's your habits and beliefs that will determine how long you stay poor or how long you stay temporarily broke. And here are five mistakes that I see broke people making. And if you hang around to the end of the episode, I will share with you a couple of tips and resources that will help you overcome it. Number one, change out your people and your places. You are who you hang around with. Broke people refuse to change their people in places. And if you're broke and you have been broke, I guarantee you're surrounded by broke people. You go broke places. You do things that do not get you on unbroke. Those are your habits. You will become whatever you act as. And when I say act as, I mean putting in the work to be the person you want to be and living the life that you've chosen of your own design. If you're acting broke, emulating the behaviors of broke people, going to broke places and doing broke things, you will Stay broke. And ultimately that probably makes you poor. Over time, broke for long enough will make you poor. While some people face circumstances beyond their control, given enough time, any set of circumstances can be overcome. And when it comes to improving your financial stability and condition, there are too many ways to make money, too many places to get the information you need, and too many people willing to show you the way. But it won't change until you own it. And by owning it, I mean that you might need to change everything. What you do, who you talk to and where you go. And until you do, you will never change your beliefs and you'll never change your habits, and you will never change your fate. Maybe you need a reset. I had to do it. After I failed out of my first college, I had to isolate, I had to commit, I had to get to work because I believed it was my last chance. Broke people do not take advantage of resources that are free to me. To change our circumstances, we need belief, we need action, and we need above all information. We can't make up something that we don't know. We can't do something that we've never seen. Trial and error is expensive. Your will is inexhaustible resources. You don't want to be broke and tired too. And you will burn out if you're taking the wrong actions based on bad information from stupid broke people. If you look to your left and you look to your right and you see stupid broke people, guess what? You're probably one of them now. What resources are available? Listen to Dave Ramsey online. He has one of the largest radio shows in the country and he talks to people just like you who need help. He gives free consulting all day, every day. And it's the same stuff that everybody needs to improve their financial picture. There's an endless supply of podcasts and shows to guide you. If you want to start a business to become unbroken, check out Score. It's a network of retired executives offering free advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. If you can't get the job that will make you unbroke, create it. Reinvent yourself before you reinvent your circumstances. Ryan Pineda's Wealthy Kingdom, a faith based group, helps people improve their finances. Free information is everywhere, offered by churches, governmental agencies and more. Credit, counseling, relief assistance and answers to almost every any financial problem are available. If you would just look. Number three. Stop wasting time. Time is all we have next to love. It's the greatest asset that impacts your life. How much of your time are you using to create value? By value I mean creating knowledge, creating Healthy habits, Creating services or products that can help others? Are you creating awareness, building relationships, or joining new groups that that align with the life that you want? Your financial condition is tied directly to your mental, physical and social conditions. All of these need your time. The two greatest resources on this topic, in my opinion are number one, Dan Martell's Buy Back youk Time and David Goggins Can't Hurt Me. Martel's book is for those ready to scale their success by leveraging their time effectively. But Goggins, he focuses on building resilience and discipline for radical change in your life. And if you've been broke and you're still broke, you might need to take a hard look at your habits and find a way to change them. Today. Goggins will inspire you to get there and show you what's really important with respect to your time. You have to guard it fiercely. Evaluate how you use it every single day and eliminate distractions and invest in activities that create value. This will be uncomfortable at first because comfort feeds our addictions. But your addictions steal your future. You are exactly where you have decided you should be based on the decisions that you have made up to the point in this life and your actions or inactions. It's up to you. Number four, your lifestyle. Inflating your lifestyle will kill your finances. A banker told me once and I will never forget it. It was early and I said, why do you need all this personal information on my finances? And they said that people will sacrifice everything else before they have to change their lifestyle. They will sacrifice their business goals, their future profits, equity in their companies just so that they can maintain the country club membership, live in big houses and drive nice cars even when they're living on the edge financially. Doctors, high earners, they are notorious for living right at the edge of their means. And then you're setting yourself up there for disaster. Avoid lifestyle inflation. Invest instead. Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. If you find a way this year to invest $1,000, within 20 to 25 years it will grow to 60 to $80,000 every month. You skip investing and putting into that fund is a missed opportunity to build wealth for your future self. The longer you defer gratification, the more freedom you'll have to secure your financial future. Discipline will ensure that you never ever be broke again. And the last thing is, let's say you are broke, but you consider yourself high potential. You have confidence in yourself. You believe in yourself. You're in a temporary situation. Maybe you just got out of school, and you don't have a job. Okay, start a business. Start it while you can. I started a business that became a national franchise and sold it 25 years later. But when I started it, I was dead broke, But I had no family. I had no obligations. My only asset was a truck, and I used it to secure a $5,000 loan to start the business with my partners. Daymond Johns calls it the power of broke. When you're broke, you become real scrappy. You can't afford to be lazy or stupid with money because you don't have any. You maximize every penny. And great businesses can be built in these conditions from the ground up. A lot of scratch. And when I started my business, man, I ate one meal a day. It was two offers. No cheese, no fries, no drink for $2.10. And every day at the same time, I would show up and they. I'd say, I'd like two offers, no cheese. And they're like, yeah, yeah, no cheese, no fries, no drink. That'll be 210. And I had $2 bills, and I had a dime. And I lived that way for six months. And by the way, I lived on a. A rental house that was near a lake. And one day I was fishing, and we caught a turtle. And you know what? Times were tough. We ate that sucker. And it's hard getting a turtle stripped down to his underwear. And by the way, they don't taste good. So, you know, that was a. That was. That was two or three hours of labor to get that turtle soup that was nearly unedible. Now, it wasn't pleasant, but look, I was committed. I invested every ounce of energy and everything that I could do to make sure that I could feed that business. And I put time into building something that would create generational wealth for me and my family some 25 years later. So if you're broke today, but you don't have obligations, seize the opportunity to hustle. Seize it to build. Don't waste this freedom on bad habits, bad people, or bad places. Invest it into something great. You can change your life and the lives of those that. That you care about. Now, here's the bottom line. Nobody has to stay broke. But if you keep making these mistakes, sticking with the wrong crowd, ignoring free resources, wasting your time, living beyond your means, and not starting when you have the chance, you're gonna stay stuck, and you are creating a future for yourself that will take many times the energy to undo down the road. You have the power to change your situation today. We all do. But it starts with you. No. Nobody's going to save you and it's going to be uncomfortable. So stop making excuses. Start making moves. Your future is waiting. If this video helped you see where you can make changes, hit the like button. Give us a subscribe and it will help more people find this message. Subscribe to the channel for more actionable advice and resources to level up your life and share this video with someone who needs to hear it. Lastly, check out the links in the description for my top five business books for success and my top five businesses to start in 2025. These could be the next steps to change your life. Remember, your future is built by whatever decision it is you make today, and a different decision today can change your future tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, you should pick up a copy of my book Discernment the Business Athlete's Regimen for a Great Life Through Better Decisions. It couldn't hurt. And this is exactly why I wrote it. Whatever you choose to do, make it count. You are destined to do great things. Thanks for listening. Thanks again to today's sponsor, Rilla Voice. Are you in the home services industry or leading a sales team? Rilla Voice is your virtual ride along, capturing every conversation and turning insights into actions. Visit rila.com that's r I l l a.com or click the link below to get your special Homefront brands offer today.