 Hey everybody, David Chang here with the art of thickie smarts where we're learning to live think Smarter so we can continue to look towards the future and live a prosperous life and today My guest is John Contini. I'm very excited to have him. Not only is he a Financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. He also has his JD. He's an educator And I just found out before the show that he's also stand-up comedian So who knows maybe we'll get some laughter out of this show From opposed to the other ones that I've had but John, thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it It's my pleasure being here. It's such a broad You know ray of things that you do keeps talk a little bit about it. It's a little background Sure, but before I mean you mentioned some of the different things. I do there's a there's a commonality with all those things and that is to share my Wisdom and spread kind of love and joy through whatever it is that I do so whether I'm a financial advisor or An educator or even doing comedy, right? The idea is to share that joy Okay, got it is the delivery happiness that type of thing where you want to spread that that joy to others Exactly people say well, there's there's such different things and and and the reality is they're not okay The reality is it's there is that commonality guy, and you've been in New York LA now in Hawaii So also live all across the country too, right? Would I like to say the three main spots in the country? But it is it is because because I love those two places and I go to LA all the time I'm up for the argument got it got it so today we were going to talk about four steps to living a more fulfilled life and And we when we were talking about how it's not just about money or just about certain aspects of your life It really is a conglomeration of it And so I wanted to at least maybe touch upon The first step of what you think of Is important as the future things are going faster in today's economy with social media The stock market goes up and down So let's talk about that a little bit What would you say what is the first step that you believe is important to a fulfilled life? It's it's pretty simple David, all right, and that is to Be love and share that love with all always, okay regardless what you're doing, right? So It it's with all beings And that's not just human beings, right with all beings all living beings To be loved with them to be kind to be compassionate Whether it's with you I love you Or my children or or the stranger on the street or a client if you're conveying that love Then you're Elevating all got it and so on top of that I always ask my guests this What is the definition of success to you and what is your definition of being smart those two things? So what are your definitions? okay, so I would define success as being successfully able to do the four things That we're talking about if you want me to speak about all four I can but as long as I'm doing that right I'm now successful got it Okay, so we're excited about this show is gonna be those four things in the first one You said it's love correct is about loving yourself loving others and Nothing all loving all always got it and and being smart and the reason our show art of thinking smart is You know what when I see in my background making smart decisions is very very important And and every time you can't just say well, I've seen this problem in the past So I'm just going to approach it the same way it with today's world things change so quickly What is your definition of it means to be smart? Well, you say making a smart decision So what make what would make anything a smart decision, right? And that's if you're making that decision going back to that first pillar based on love Okay, not based on fear, okay, okay as often people do the opposite of love is in hate It's fear. Okay. Oh interesting So opposite of love to you is is fear and doing things out of fear versus doing things out of love And that's where you like Machiavelli, right? Would you rather be loved or feared? I guess so you're saying hey, it's important to be to show that love Okay, I like that so then now what's the second step towards living that fulfilling life? Well, you just said it. Okay, the second step is is living okay living to your fullest, right? So Doing all the things that Brings you and others joy, okay, whatever that may be because it's different for for all people for For some people here in Hawaii may be surfing, right? I see okay for for some people in in New York City and it may be Dancing in a nightclub all right all right To others it's laughing in the comedy club. We're taking a hike or nature just or spending that meaningful moment with your child or Whatever it is that you love to do right and how do finding that balance How do people find that and so example you have your JD or you could be a turn if you wanted to you're in finance Comedy club you're an educator and you mentioned that when you live in New York your day job was teaching Educating in then 3 4 p.m. You would head on the subway to your finance job on Wall Street If somebody's saying well, I don't know what I want to do or I don't know how to live How how would you tell them? What was advice you would give so as an educator? I had that conversation with my students many times, right? I also had that have that conversation with my friends and and the first question I always ask is so when are you most happy and And I I dig deep right For the person and it always comes down to whenever whatever it is that that person tells me It always comes down to that. They're most happy when they're doing something for others Interesting it all boils down to that right there, okay, and there are many different ways in which you can do for others, right? so then it boils down to doing something for others and then figuring out well What's your talent? What's your joy? How are you going to do for others? Got it So when you're sitting down with clients for example, you know, I'm in the financial world as well And I agree with you that Most people think it's about making money, but it's about more or less what that money represents And what they can do with that money that I have found it drives them more often So even with your clients is that that's what you said try to find out What their goals are with that? When I mean when I first meet someone that wants to work with me as a financial advisor We don't talk finance and investments. Okay, we talk goals and dreams We talk What do you want? What do you want got it doing your life? What are your goals? What are your dreams your personal not financial? I see and then once you understand that, right? Then you can look at the financial picture and then align the two because otherwise you work in a vacuum, okay? Okay, otherwise, there's no connection. So that's important is connecting It doesn't matter what investment you're in or anything as long if it's not connected to the personal Financial the personal component of love and living though, you know your dream and everything like that, right? So passion I think is a part of all of this So you that means if in when you're in New York you were working. What is it 15 16 18-hour days? I was right and I want to talk a little bit about it because I think that's Fascinating because most people think that you just have one job, but you had two in New York You had twin daughters, right? Which was part of the motivation okay when you're when you're a divorced single dad I see I'm supporting twin daughters right in Manhattan And and you choose to be an educator an educator of inner city at homeless kids Which doesn't make much money So when I started as an educator in 1985 in a Harlem junior high school in New York My annual salary was 14 five Wow on Wall Street I made that in a month hold a cow right in a good month So I gave up you know a bulk of that income because my passion was to work with it to work with the kids So you were able to find the way to combine The living standard and still doing what you love that right So if I if I made that choice to be a teacher of the kids, right? I I still need I still needed to feed my kids, right and and some Fortunately because of my education right I had that opportunity to be able to do both not everyone does you're right okay? Yeah, and and because we're talking about living which is your second step. How did you get into stand-up comedy? I'm always fascinated. I love I you know on Netflix. I watch comedians What am I UCLA NBA classmates also is a former stand-up comedian? He did NBC and he and he says it's a tough market to crack But you did you do it in New York as well or was it just when you got to LA or here now? I start I started in New York. I actually I actually was actively involved in the political scene in New York City I was the vice president of the second largest Democratic Club okay, okay, New York the Village Reform Democratic Club got it and I was on that path and I felt that that's how I was going to make a difference to my community I I want to be mayor of New York City. Oh, okay. The reason why I went to law school. Okay, um Politics is another dream of yours then too then it was Okay, I decided to give up politics I had an epiphany, okay All right, and and and didn't want to put myself in that world anymore. It's a smart move I'm involved in politics and trust me Different than community activism by the way politics and community act them two different things I've always stayed involved with You know activities in the community that's gonna better the community But but instead of politics. I thought I would start doing political and social satire. Okay highlight The issues that I felt needed to be brought to the fore very much like the Daily Show and the Colbert Okay, okay, so so Stephen Colbert that John Oliver that that type of humor is Okay, so we're a little bit off track, but I love talking about this excited. We got to do another show with you So I perform the name John Jess. So you can John Jess. Okay. Have John Jess back Well two candidates Hillary Clinton Trump all right through it right now So what what is your political satire among those two Ken is being equal? So you're not taking on one side, but maybe picking on both of them. So you sure you really want me to go Don't worry about okay, okay, I wasn't even prepared to go there, but you know I I often say to my audience I say well, you know, how many are you supporting Trump and how many supporting Clinton? And I get almost no You know and I said also most of you are like me and hoping that climate change destroys the plan Well, we're gonna be right back after a break you we got a lot more exciting things come in we got the next two steps So she see you very shortly Aloha everyone, I hope you've been watching and think that how I but I'm here to invite you to watch me on Viva Hawaii every Monday at 3 p.m. I'm waiting for you mahalo Aloha, this is reg baker with business in Hawaii. We're a show that broadcasts every Thursday at 2 o'clock We would love to hear from you and you can reach us in several different ways We have a hotline that you can call in at 415 871-2474 or you can email us at think tech Hawaii comm or you can tweet us at think tech Hi Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you on our next show Aloha Aloha, my name is Danelia D. A. N. E. L. I. A. And I'm the other half of the duo John Newman welcome we are co-hosts of a Show called keys to success which is live on the think tech live network series weekly on Thursdays at 11 a.m. We're looking forward to seeing you then Aloha Thank you for watching think tech Hawaii Asia in reveal. My name is Johnson Troy My next show next month is on October 13th 11 a.m. See you then. Bye. Bye Welcome back and again. We're very excited. We're talking about the four steps of living fulfilling life And we have John here who is also a stand-up comedian and we had a couple fun jokes His stage name is John just so we're gonna bring him back later on the show Gotta have another one with just John just cuz It's pretty funny and just to hear the little bit of things there, but moving on. So we've talked about how love Living first two steps. What's the third one to living a fulfilling life to always be learning to always it? Always expanding that knowledge and wisdom. Okay, and why is that so important? It's important because the more knowledge and wisdom you acquire the more possibilities and Potential that you have so, you know, I spoke earlier how how fortunate I was to be able to teach and work with inner-city kids even though it paid me very little I Because I have a degree in education and a degree in economics I was then able to go to my Wall Street job and make the money I needed to make to support myself and my twin daughters, right? If I didn't have that other knowledge, sure, I wouldn't have been able to do that. Got it. So today's world And you hear this a lot We used to have a manufacturing society even here in Hawaii pineapples sugar But now we're having to move to a service base or Expertise knowledge computer science STEM STEM research so for you for somebody I guess at any age How would you tell and get started learning? What if somebody says I'm in my 40s or 50s? I'm too old What do you say to that? I say first of all, there is no age. Okay. We're all eternal. All right And there's only the now. Okay, right the past moments gone the future moment. We don't know what it is It's only here and now right so here and now just pursue what you love going back to that that that first component right and And learn whatever brings you joy whatever it is that you want to learn Yeah, so I mean because they're going to classes is a reading How would you recommend somebody that I actually because I'm in traffic a lot I read one or two books a week on audible, you know, I did a double speed and everything That's one way I learned how about for you. How do you if you're an audio person find if you if you're a visual person I mean you can go on YouTube and there's so many different the TED talks and And and there are free courses from MIT in Harvard now, right? I mean when I was a kid I had to go to a library Catalog and get a book off a shelf and do research even when I went to law school. It was about research today We take out, you know, the this computer Yeah used to be a big IBM computer the same power in this thing right go on Google and anything and everything is that outfit It's amazing that our phones now have more capacity than The first the spaceship that went to the moon and that's how exactly yeah, right so learning and and So you're a standard comedian too, right? Where do you get your materials? I love laughing I'm you know and and and that the standard humor thing is important because you know Laughter is a cure to a lot of ailments that you know studies have shown when you're able to laugh and release You know, it helps with depression. It helps with so many things. So that's why I want to I think that's part of being smart It is learning to laugh right which is why I've chose to do stand-up comedy Because if I want to bring love to all enjoy to all that's one way in which to do it and as you said It's it's great for the health the material writes itself in today's society Okay, it always has I mean you talked about You know Hilary and and and and Trump But and we're on a tech show so there are a lot of techies out there So for all the techies out there, especially your Pokemon go people out there I'm gonna warn you against Donald Trump because he just announced that if he gets elected president He's going to ban all Pokemon from entering the country So if you want to continue to play Pokemon you need to not vote for Trump He said he's gonna build a wall around each of your houses So you have to stay indoors and watch reruns of celebrity apprentice Make sure you don't vote for Trump if you want to continue to play So that's good, so you do this on a regular basis and did you you know Some people actually have go to comedy school like the Saturday night live second win in Chicago or what have you? Did you do any training like that then my comedy school was in New York City? Washington Square Park, which is a which is the center of Greenwich Village Okay, and there's a there's a big fountain in the center and some of the top Comics would go into that center and perform their Comedy Rick Avila's Dave Chappelle Just a name to the two Charlie Albert and And and and and another comic named Albert They were amazing and I watched them and I kind of Learned from them. I learned from them part of the learning process is also learning from others getting a mentor or a Team together to learn from each other. So that's part of that learning process then correct. Got it. They were my school They were your school streets it when you live in New York Definitely teach you I love New York City and so here for those that live in Hawaii How often do you perform? And and I remember going on a couple comedy calls when I was in graduate school, but I haven't gone since Do we have a lot of comedy clubs here? We don't have any comedy clubs But we have long-standing comedy nights at a couple of different venues So there's comedy you Wednesday nights at an or O'Brien's okay There's Jose dynamite of friends at o tools on Friday evenings, okay, and then there's a Comedy show that often brings in mainland comics To feature to headline with the local comics, you know featuring before them in Hawaii and Brian's on Saturday So I'll ask you to send me this information and put it on my blog art of thinking smart So they can come see you If they're saying hey, I want to learn something new about You may be the person that you can learn about it Wednesday the 28th, okay, and Anna's a comedy you okay great next show Okay, that's next show then all right So we have love and we're loving living learning. Is it a fourth one started with an L2? I'm hoping no Oh, it's not okay. All right. Okay. I tried to think of another word But the reality is it's giving giving. Okay. It's always you're you're you're a loving living learning and you're and then You're always giving and whatever it is that you're doing you're giving you're giving to others. You're giving to all Again going back to when I would counsel my my students what brought them the most joy was doing for others, right? If you ask anyone, they'll tell you whenever they do something for someone they either love or even a stranger They're joyful. Got it. And so for you You're currently still in education here in Hawaii. Could you talk about that a little bit? Well, I'm not directly sure Although I what I have been directly here in Hawaii not currently Currently I'm on the financial committee of an amazing public charter school called seats Okay, it's the school for examining essential questions of sustainability Okay, the mission of the school is to teach its students all about the environment and how to best serve that Best serve that environment And it's one of the best schools here on the island and in the country They're doing amazing things. So I'm supporting their mission any and every way that I way that I can't I also get invited to to be a guest in classrooms, okay, and Currently at Punahou, okay, right to help the students With money management. Okay, so money management. We'll talk a couple minutes about that That's actually your day job. Would you say and it's your nine-to-five or do you still just like you were in New York? Do a variety of different I've never had a night Everything I do I don't consider a job Okay I consider it all my passion, right and I blend it all and I blend it all together Sure, so it's twenty four seven got it twenty four seven I'm loving living learning and giving whether it's as a financial advisor as an educator as a comic as a as a father As a friend Ryan got it So what so he talking about that and just maybe a couple minutes or almost done with the show I wish I could have more time with John Jess here if somebody wants to think smarter on their finances and and make smarter decisions and Be successful in their own right. So it's not about accumulating, you know, the famous wall sheet line How much what is your number just more right for so it's probably not low in that go in that direction What do you tell people to? What do they do with their money? Is it just investing for a rainy day saving? How do you say this is one way you can live out the three L's energy, right? But you still need money to live off of because if you can't make money doing your passion It's gonna be difficult. So you got to do two jobs to do that kind of when it comes to the finances. What is your? Your view on things. Oh, well it goes back to what I said earlier. So what I advise my clients is First make sure your goal is clear right and your dream is clear, right? So just simply let's say let's say the goal is they want to buy a new home Okay, right. That's their dream. They want they want to own their own home, right? So then so we'll take so then we'll take a look at that when you want to achieve that goal by you want to achieve About five years of ten years fifteen years one year, right? Okay, okay, and then so Then we look at the financial picture, right and say, okay, so Your dream home in the in the area that you want to live what what is the value of that it's 500,000 here in Hawaii sure let's say and I'm just making up numbers right as we go along so it's 500,000 and maybe you're gonna need a hundred a hundred fifty thousand as a deposit right and You currently have a bucket of seventy five thousand. Okay, let's say so we need to possibly double that Okay, so what reasonably would be the time horizon to double that and on what type of investment and what type of risk? Would it take in order to do that, right? And then we look at We look at that whole picture and what are you going to be contributing in that time period towards that to speed up that process right, so but again That seventy five thousand right would have no meaning to invest if it wasn't tied to The goal and the time so and I just made that goal right right another goal may be to travel, right? Or start a business or something like that to start a business right or financial independence That's usually one of the big ones now, so it's it's part of being smart is tying the financial aspect to a dreamer goal That you have so that you can love live learn and give and Not focus on because I see so many people just focus on the money But you know you can have all the money in the world, but if you don't have those four things They're doing it backwards, right they're doing it backwards So you I right now I'm reading biography while Disney and it's very interesting to know that all of his closest friends said that He didn't care about money He cared about doing what he loved to do and money just came and and he was deeply in debt He went bankrupt. He owned once almost twice Disneyland people thought was gonna be a flop even snow white They thought would be a flop, but he just said no we're gonna do this. This is my passion and he talked about He wanted it to be the happiest place on earth because when people come at Disneyland He wanted them to go back out to their own homes and spread that happiness So I think you walk in sharing love and joy sharing love and joy. That's great Well, thank you so much. I you know what we got to have you back on the show as John Just and just do a stand-up. I think that's hilarious there Well, you know what I want to just thank you again You can go to art of thankyousmart.com for more information on what we talked about today And also if you want to see John just in his comedic routine and the different shows that he's on as well as some other links For some of the information that we have so we can continue to learn and live a smarter life. Thank you so much I'm David Chang and I'll see you again next time