 And I was making zero dollars on the podcast, zero dollars. And now they're like, oh, you were right. Today, we're going to talk about money, we're going to talk about dreams, we're going to talk about passion, we're going to talk about your purpose on this earth. I know it's quite an undertaking, but that's what we're going to talk about in today. And the reason why I want to talk about this is really because one of the questions that I get asked more than anything else on social media is how do I find my passion? How do I find my purpose? How do I find the way that I can come alive and what it is I need to do? And I think it's an important question. I think it's something that people need to think about every freaking day, if I'm being honest with you, because you only get one life that we're aware of. Maybe we do get more, maybe we don't. But nobody has any actual physical proof that there's anything after this. So then I'm going to try to make this the best life that I possibly can. And I'm going to give you some stories about my life and how all of this relates to me and why hearing the question, what if money was no objects, completely changed the way that I saw my life? So before we start, I want to tell you this. When I was 27 years old, the first 27 years of my life, by the time I had 27, was all focused on how I can accumulate and make as much money as I possibly can. My life, besides hanging out with people and doing other things, like my life, the core of it was how can I make more money? How can I make money? How can it be successful? And I know I'm not alone in this. I know this is most people's number one goal. There was a study I said this a couple of episodes ago that 80% of millennials' number one goal was to become rich. So I'm not the only person who really just was their goal was to make money. Many people live the exact same way that I live. And what happened with me when I was 27 years old was super important for the story that I'm going to tell you. At 27, I was working a high-paying sales job. I was making about $200,000 a year. So for a 27-year-old, pretty damn good money. And the company that I was with decided to just get rid of their sales department. So their sales department, for the company that I was with, they're just like, hey, we're just going to go ahead and get rid of everybody. So there's only five of us at the time. They got rid of everybody. And what happened with me was they gave me the opportunity to stay at the company, but take a massive pay cut and switch to a different position. And so I had to sit down with the head person of my department and I had to sit down with the CEO. And the CEO gave me some really good advice. And he basically said, it seems like you're more passionate about this other thing that you're doing. I had a podcast that I just started and I'll dive into that. It seems like you're really passionate about that. Why don't you pursue that? And I already knew in my heart that that's what I wanted to pursue. But I didn't really have the confidence to go ahead and pursue it. And I was making $200,000 a year. I had to make a big decision. I could go find another job. In sales, they always say, if you're in sales, you always have a job. I could have easily found another job and made pretty good money. But there was something inside of me that told me that I should do something else. And this was six years ago, just so you know. And podcasts were not what they are now. They weren't even close to what they are now. Nobody really knew what podcasts were. When I used to tell people that I was a podcaster, I would get three responses. Number one, what is a podcast? That was the number one response. Number two, I've heard of podcasts, but I don't know how to listen to them. That was the number two response. And number three was, oh, I love podcasts. And that was very rare, right? So six years ago, podcasts are not what they were back then, what they are now. In my podcast, the exact same podcast, it's now called The Mindset Mentor, obviously, back then was called MWF Motivation. Came out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, like it still does. And I was making $0 on the podcast. Let me say that again, $0. I decided to not go and get another high paying job. And I decided to pursue my passion, even though at that point in time I was making $0. I had no advertisers on the podcast. Nobody was paying me any money. I wasn't getting enough downloads for that. Number two, I had no products in my own business that I could sell people. I had no coaching services. I had nothing, literally $0 was how much money I made off my podcast in all of my services because the services actually didn't even really exist. But I didn't know how to make any money online. I didn't know, I knew that people did. And to be honest with you, I didn't know if I could make money off my podcast. I didn't know if I could make money off of coaching services. I didn't know if it was possible, but I had this feeling deep down inside of me that this is what I should do. And I had at least a little bit of money in the bank account. I was like, you know what? I've got a little bit of money. I can try this out for six months to a year. If it doesn't work, I can always go back to making money again and being a salesperson. But there's something in my heart that tells me like, this is what I'm supposed to be doing and I'm going to figure it out. And I felt like this was my calling. I felt like this is my passion. And it logically didn't make any sense. Because logically you look at and you say making $0 versus making a couple of $100,000. The average person is going to go just go make the money, right? That's what the logical side of it. But when you think about it from like what my heart was telling me, what my passion was telling me, it was, hey, you should go and pursue this thing because it seems like it's the right thing. Like this feels right. It feels like something that you'd actually love to do. So logically it made no sense, but it just felt right. It felt something felt right. I don't know what it was, but it was something that lit up inside of me that had never lit up inside of me before. And it was this feeling of like, yep, this is in full alignment with who I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to do, right? And I'm bringing this up and I'm telling you this story because now obviously people come up to me like, hey, I want a successful podcast like you. And I'm like, well, you got to do 900 episodes. That's what I've done. You've got to go for six years. That's what I've done. You look at it and it's like we have 10 employees now and between everybody who works for the company, about 15 people across the board. And we've got a multimillion dollar coaching business, but it came from literally zero. No followers. People see and they're like, oh, I want 2.5 or 3 million followers, whatever we have at this point. I want a big podcast. All of these things. People want it. I understand it, but most people are not willing to step out into the unknown, into what seems illogical to follow their heart. And so I want to ask you that question. Is there something inside of you that logically does not make sense as far as on spreadsheets, how much money you're going to make, all of that stuff, but it just feels right? Is there? Think about that for a second. Let it set in. Is there something inside of you that says I should go follow this passion? Right? Because that's what we're going to dive into. I wanted to give you my story to make you realize it can go from zero to millions of followers and millions of dollars quite quickly if you're following the thing that is actually your passion, right? So when I'm talking about this, I want you to think to yourself, what is it that I want to do, right? And sometimes following your dream doesn't logically make sense. That doesn't. Being a painter might not, quote unquote, logically make sense. Being a musician might not. Being a creator might not make sense. Whatever it is, it might not make sense to the average person. But for some reason, there's something inside of you that goes, yeah, this makes sense, right? When I told everybody I was going to not go back and not take a pay cut and not do any of the things and not go back to the company or try to find another job because I was going to find my passion, people are like, you're crazy. And I was like, I know, but watch. And now they're like, oh, you were right. So is there something inside of you that feels right? Right? Let's dive into that. What would you do if money were no object? If money did not exist, there was no money. What would you do with your free time? And I asked myself this question. This is a question posed by Alan Watts, one of my top two favorite philosophers in the entire world, him and Ramdas, right? And he says, what would you do if money were no object? I remember seeing that video and thinking, what would I do if money were no object? And what I do now, I am obsessed with. Before I started the podcast, I was already obsessed with neurology, psychology, early childhood development. What makes people tick? Watching people in conversation and watching people and trying to figure out why they are the way that they are based off of their childhood, based off of their parents. I was already obsessed with all of that stuff. And I'm still obsessed with it. But what's cool is I'm obsessed with it and now I can teach it to people and make money in different ways as a teacher, as a coach, as a facilitator, as a speaker, all of these things. So what would you do if money were no object? If money was not something, if you didn't have to worry about paying the bills and all of your bills are just paid for, you could eat, your family is taking care of, you are taking care of all of that stuff. What would you do with your free time? If you had to do something besides just sitting on the couch, hanging out with your kids, on Instagram, whatever it is, what would you do if money were no object, right? Think about it. What is that thing? What makes you come alive? What makes you tick? What makes you feel like this is the reason why I'm here? What gives you energy just thinking about, right? What gives you energy by going and doing? You feel better. You feel more alive. You feel like that's something that just feels good. We live in a society where we think too much. We think about things. And that's why I say logically it made sense for me to go back and just get into the sales position. Logically it makes sense. That's a thinking thing. But it didn't feel like that was the right thing for me. So what is it that feels right for you inside of your body, right? And I understand that some of you out there that are listening, you have children. You have families. You have mortgages. You have to pay. I understand. You can't just go, you know what? I'm going to quit my job today and I'm going to go and become a painter or whatever the hell that makes you come alive. Maybe you can't do that, but can you start to think of some sort of a transition plan? Right? If you have bills to pay, I get it. But can you go, okay, over the next two years, you know, I'm going to go two years from today, I'm going to leave my job. What do I need to do to make that happen? All right, I should probably start saving money. Probably start saving money. Okay, I should probably start building an online following. I should probably start painting more. I should probably start making more music. Whatever it is that you are, that is that lights you up, right? I should probably start connecting with other people who are in the same industry, right? Try to figure out what would make it easier for you to transition out of what you do now into what it is that you truly want to do. One of the problems is that people want a media gratification and they think, you know what? If I want to do this thing that is my passion, I have to leave my job today and I have to start making money at the thing that is my passion tomorrow. No, you need to be smart and say, if I had to leave two years from today, what would my transition plan look like? And start to plan it out. I can't tell you how many people I've told this to and they've quit their jobs and they've built their own businesses. They've followed their passions because it takes so much pressure off when you say, okay, I've got a year. I've got two years. I've got three years to figure this out. I've got to connect with the right people. I've got to get better at my skills. I've got to better my knowledge. I've got to start learning how to make money online. Whatever it is that you want to do. And when you have that transition time, it allows you to pay your bills, live your life, feed your family, keep the mortgage, all of that stuff. But at the same time, it allows you to start to learn and grow and the light at the end of the tunnel starts to become a little bit brighter and a little bit brighter and a little bit brighter. And by the end of the two years, people are like, I've got this. I've got it under control. I'm already making a little bit of cash on this thing that I'm doing on the side. It's provided me the life that I want to, whatever it is. Come up with a transition plan. If you have a job and you've got a family and you've got a mortgage and you've got bills, can you come up with some form of a transition plan? What would you do if money were no object? Okay. Some people say, oh, I can't do it because I have children, right? The thing I want to tell you about your children is this. If you haven't realized already what you probably have, your children are going to fall in your footsteps. They're not going to do what you say that they should do. They're going to do what they see you do. So you might say, hey, honey, follow your passion and follow your dreams and become a creator and be a painter or a musician, whatever it is that you want to do, you can do anything that you want to. But if they see you going to a job that you hate just to pay the bills, they're going to think to themselves subconsciously, oh, even though I can be a creator and make amazing things, I'm supposed to hate my job. I'm supposed to just pay the bills. So your children will follow in your footsteps. If they see you work a job that they hate, there's a pretty good chance. Guess what they're going to do? Work a job that they hate just to pay the bills. So what do you want them to see you do? Because whatever you do, they're most likely going to do as well. They learn by what they see, not by what they hear. So wouldn't you rather your children do something that they love? Like if I were to ask you, would you rather your child be successful or happy? What's the answer to that? Would you rather be successful or happy? Right? There's a pretty good chance that if they don't have to choose either one. A lot of times when they start on a path of going to do something that they're happy with, they also become successful as well. So it's not either or, but I guarantee you probably want your children to be happy, right? And if you're working a job that you don't love or it doesn't light you up, what if they were to go do the same thing? What if you were to fast forward 20 years and see your children stuck in the exact same position that you're stuck in? What would that feel like? Think about that. You can't tell them to build their dreams when you're staying in your professional prison because they're going to see the exact same thing, right? So next thing, you spend most of your waking hours working. So this should be something that is extremely important to you. You spend most of your waking hours doing some form of work, right? So is it a passion? Is it a purpose for you? Or is it a waste? Think about that. The thing that you should do is listening to this podcast is take a good, long look at yourself in the mirror. And I always say this, if you've listened to my podcast long, if you've heard me say this, it's okay not to know what your purpose is right now on this planet. It's okay. You don't have to know at this very moment. But if you don't know what it is, it's not okay to not be in constant search for what your purpose is. Let me say that again. It's okay not to know what your purpose in this world is. It's not okay to not be in constant search for what that purpose of yours is. So if you're sitting there and listening to this, you might know what your purpose is. You might have a feeling, right? Once again, go with the feeling. Go with the gut. Your gut always knows. Your gut is your emotional compass. Your brain tries to talk you out of everything that is outside of your comfort zone. Your gut feeling is your emotional compass that always knows what you should do. The problem is your gut only speaks to you in feelings. It doesn't speak to you in words. So you've got to feel your way into this. What do I feel is the right step for me. What is it that lights me up? What would make me so excited to do this thing? That's what you've got to ask yourself. Same way, I understand. It's scary as hell. It's so freaking scary to leave what it is that you're doing that's paying your bills, that is safety in order to basically jump off a cliff and think that as you're jumping, eventually a parachute will build itself. I remember, and I told this story a few weeks ago, I remember when I was terrified when I first left the job. The month I left the job, I was like, I got to go back to getting another job. I was so used to getting the golden rat pellets, as we call them. The golden rat pellets is the paycheck every two weeks. This golden rat pellet. So basically, it's this thing that you're so used to getting and when you stop getting it, it kind of scares the shit out of you, right? And I remember being terrified, and I said this a few episodes ago, like I said, but I went home and my sister gave me a box that was my dad's stuff, and one of them was a letter that was in there that he wrote to my sister about a year before he passed away. And at the end of it, it said, I hope you live your life with courage, love, and laughter. And I was so terrified that I needed, that this whole thing wouldn't work. I was in so much fear. And the opposite of fear is courage. And in this letter said courage, love, and laughter. And so I literally got it tattooed on my arm. It says, live your life with courage, love, and laughter. It's my dad's handwriting. It's tattooed on my arm because I needed a constant reminder when I was scared every single day that what I was doing was the thing that I was supposed to be doing is the thing that the reason why I was put on this planet, right? And I needed the courage every time I felt the fear. And so every time I'd be like, should I go back to working a job? Should I go back to working a job? Should I go back to those rat pellets? I look in my arm and be like, nope, look at that. I'm not going to do it. I'll figure it out. If I go broke, if I live on the streets, whatever it is, I'll figure it out, right? The beautiful thing about it though, it'll work out for you. If you get the feeling, the gut feeling that it is what you're supposed to do, it will eventually work out. So I'm going to pose the same question to you that I posed to you at the beginning. What would you do if money were no object? Figure out what it is. Follow it. Follow your heart. Do what it is you think that you should do. If you don't know what it is right now, it's okay, but it's not okay to not be in constant pursuit for what that thing is.