Kind: captions
Language: en
in prison uh I had a fight with two of
my homies in prison we fight for like
four hours Chase back to back I'm just
fighting one after another one like we
just fighting
um and I go to
solitary confinement and at this time
all these prisoners considered like one
of the worst Parish prisons in the
United States of America right
and I go to the sale and I meet this
white guy
that was the turning point of my life
I get myself with him and I'm frustrated
like I'm kind of bust up
um and he sees me and I guess he's in
awe of the idea
of so many black people
are in this position he says something
to me he says
man y'all playing the wrong game
and so in my mind like I'm fresh I'm
like man what the [ __ ] are you talking
about like we're like don't make me whip
your ass in here right now like he's
like no no he's like listen bro I don't
mean no harm no disrespect
but y'all like why
so I guess he's like perplexed by this
whole dynamic of all of these black men
in here and I'm like man what are you
talking about man like this this ain't
no game like this it's real and so he
says something he said that's the
problem
like y'all don't even know it's a game
[ __ ] and so when he told me that I'm
like like it's something about when you
mad and you in the moment but like
something when it makes sense it hits
you like a ton of bricks
so I'm like
what
he was like man listen man
there's a game that's being played
and you're playing a game that you can't
win
for a minute I just start thinking about
the people who I knew that was in the
streets everybody lost everybody
suffered the same fate
there was nobody in the street that I
knew had 16 at one everybody I knew had
either been to prison been shot got
killed their father like everybody
suffered the same fate so my rebuttal to
him is this well if it's such a game you
know the rules while you're here with me
it's a good question right he says
I'm in here 2.8 million dollars
embezzlement I paid 800 000 restitution
I kept two million have you ever seen 2
million
I'm like man get the [ __ ] out of here
you [ __ ] lying
so one thing about prison and in jail
you can show your paperwork like you can
lie all you want but your paperwork
tells me um
so I said let me see your paperwork day
so in in New Orleans I had a red band so
a red band means attempt murder on
robbery kidnapping call Jack and violent
offense
he has on a red and white band at the
time the Red and White Band means you're
in federal custody and it's crazy
because in prisoner in jail like if you
get a federal brand that's like a
hierarchy like you know something that
we don't know you next level right so
um he showed me his paperwork and it's
right damn black and white and
immediately he got my attention
because the red and white man makes me
respect you a different level at 16 but
then when I see it in your paperwork I
had never seen 2.8 million dollars
written down nowhere right
so that changes my idea like damn
so tell me how do I do what you do
so how do I do that he was like nice
sniping about that
so he tells me these the first three
things was he said listen man wealthy
people do three things man
they stop trading time for money
they make their money work for them and
they give as much value to people as
they can I want to stop you there for a
second yeah I know where you're going
with this we're going to go there but
one thing I love about your [ __ ]
story dude you don't say one thing that
white people do is no one thing that
wealthy people getting people to see
that to me that's the game is
recognizing that this isn't it doesn't
break along uh racial lines the way
people think it does and my time working
in the inner city showed me this is not
about that but this is about
class for sure and getting people to
understand that they can move between
classes Ah that's the [ __ ] game sorry
I just had to say that's so important
there is a shift but and there's the
exposure part so like just coming up in
the streets you only see the game from
the lowest level
and you look at everybody else in part
admiration and part like jealousy
because you see it and you're like damn
I'll never get there
right and so the only way that I think I
can get that is through Sports
a hustling
that's it that's the only a rap and
those are the only three options that
you have and so you you make a decision
on which way you want to go
right and so you look at it from like
damn and so me I'm at the time like when
I came rap damn [ __ ] when I can't play
sports so hustling is what I got you
limit yourself and nobody comes along
and teaches you anything different
so giving us three things again the
wealthy people so you say wealthy people
stop trading time for money they start
making their money work for them and
they give value to as much value to
people as they can the caveat I mean you
know we got a little deeper into that he
said
the reason why you give people so much
value is because if you give them so
much value they'll never leave you
they'll always be there for you and you
will never need for anything as long as
you give welcome value to people
and so I learned that as I got older
that part really didn't make sense to me
at the time but the money working for
you part and I was like what the how do
you make your money work for you again
all I know is how to go get money
that's all I know
so later on in that he says wealthy
people do three things so this may be in
a Cell for about 45 days so all of his
conversations now that you said it's
never was black or white every
conversation with him about money and
transition it was always wealthy people
do
it was always it wasn't white people do
it wasn't black people it was always
wealthy people who do this right wealthy
people do this and I was like damn and
now that you said that this now makes
sense to me again so he says wealthy
people
first they get into stocks then they
start a business and then they get real
estate so if when people ask me how do I
get into stocks is because I follow that
rule or like first let me if you say
real estate business I would have did
I'd have been the real estate
but he said stocks first and I was like
damn and so I just my my rest of my time
in prison
I wanted to be that
I wanted to be a part of that wealthy
conversation so in prison it's easy to
get you know I took my time I researched
the Warren Buffett's and the Peter
Lynch's and I'm not gonna lie in the
beginning that [ __ ] was like Chinese to
me right right this is a foreign
language and so what happened to me was
it started reminding me of being in the
streets
everything about it and I heard this
term one time that said the real
gangsters are on Wall Street the real
gangsters are in the government and I
was like damn
and so once I started getting into the
stock market I want to [ __ ] with that
idea for a second I'm thinking through
this in in real time so forgive me if
I'm seriously but this is one of the
things about you that I think is so
interesting when I hear so I'm good at
making money I'm not good at investing
money so
when I hear you talk about stocks you
make it sound [ __ ] edgy and cool and
makes me want to like learn about it and
get into it and there is this idea of
um
making something cool that I think
people try to uh wash it away but when
you think about the phrase the real
gangsters are in Wall Street it
hopefully it helps people break through
some idea of like oh well they were born
into that and that's why they have it
that isn't true they were taught
something which they happen to be taught
because they were born into it but once
you latch onto they were born into it
you think then it's not for me once you
realize no no it doesn't matter how or
why they got taught they got taught and
that's what allows them to move like a
gangster to give that word a you know
there is definitely some negativity in
their people in the the financial system
that really are like [ __ ] gangsters
in their [ __ ] Sinister but if people
can let go of that idea
not everybody with money in Sinister and
getting money doesn't make you Sinister
and that's why one thing that I think is
important and I know we talked about
before we started rolling you're a
little bit conflicted how much do I show
my growing wealth and I think that I
normally hate when people flex and I I I
won't say that I never flex but I never
go out of my way to flex
but it's important for people to see
that you by living the way that you live
you don't just get a talk cool you
actually live in a different way which
is really [ __ ] interesting anyway so
the real gangsters are on Wall Street
yes I love that and so and what happens
is and just let me say this right quick
the reason why people think wealthy
people are people with money or Sinister
is because that's what you kind of
taught in the hood like you kind of
taught like
the people who really have money like
they did some Wicked [ __ ] to get it they
did some backstabbing and cut those [ __ ]
to get it and you'll never get that
right and so that same mentality now
happens on a lower level right the
hustle and the dope dealing so now you
think like yo I gotta just do send a
[ __ ] to get money and then the people
who are successful in the drug game
they're looking at the people at the top
like damn I want to be that but the
people at the bottom will never get a
taste of that and so now we just kind of
living off ambition and so now the
people who are in the middle who work
and they're like all them people with
money they all Crooks they all because
being at the bottom teaches you to envy
people at the top right it just happens
it's a it's something that grooves down
there right it's kind of like you cook I
don't know if you had gumbo before right
but it's kind of when you cook food
right the base goes to the bottom and so
most people live in that bottom never
knowing how they'll get up there right I
remember so when I was working in the
inner cities I remember having this
moment where I was like wait a second
this is not an intelligence problem
intelligence is evenly distributed like
in I remember saying to my wife the next
[ __ ] Elon Musk is going to be found
somewhere in Compton the problem is he
doesn't believe in himself and so he's
not going to do anything and so I became
obsessed with this idea that
generational poverty is not about money
it's about mindset now it will manifest
as money but it is that so I remember I
had one kid come to me and and I was the
first person that told him you can be
successful like what the [ __ ] why do you
not think you can be successful it
didn't make sense to me and he was like
well my mom always told me that the
world didn't want to see people that
look like me succeed I was like I'm
sorry what I'm like even if your mom had
good intentions that is the worst
[ __ ] advice ever because if you think
you can't be successful that will govern
the way that you move right so Kobe
Bryant people that have listened to me
for a while have heard this quote a
thousand times but booze don't block
dunks the world the world can hate you
all they want but if you're good enough
think about this
the best basketball players in the world
were paid millions of dollars to stop
Kobe Bryant from scoring and the
[ __ ] scored 81 points in a
single game 81 points when you've got
five people paid millions of dollars
actively trying to stop you and they
can't because you've gotten that good
that to me is the game of money people
can not want you to succeed all they
want but if you out invest them they
can't stop you they can't stop you
they can't stop you and so getting
people to break through that so that was
the first time I realized whoa wait a
second we've got people thinking in a
way that governs their behavior such
that and now I'm going to quote you
which I had never heard this before but
this scares the [ __ ] out of me if you
want to hide something from a black
person put it in a book [ __ ]
so
that's heinous in ways I can't even
explain and I'll say that it really
again doesn't break along racial lines
it breaks along economic lines so if
people are not
encouraging you to read you're not going
to read it's [ __ ] hard in the
beginning it feels like you're learning
Chinese
how do you how did you break through
that so there's a few things where we
can get into that so there's this
economic thread that weaves itself
through
the hood
and one of the things we do got to
understand is that
there has been intentionality
when it comes to preventing
Black Culture from thriving economically
so we look at like Black Wall Street we
look at Durham North Carolina we look at
Rosewood every time affluent black
neighborhood gets in that level where
like yo we about to do it and they set
the tone for the rest of them
that get bombed it get pillaged it gets
that happens and so now that becomes
discouraging
right it's like yo like every time we
try yo like [ __ ] man right and so now
what happens with that is that mindsets
get that mindset gets impregnated in the
Next Generation for fear of survival
right like yo don't try to become this
as a collective because they're gonna
bomb this and I don't want to see you
dead so we'll low-level things like that
is intentional
what happens is now
no one now believes that it's possible
once you keep passing that down you
start accepting the lower level and then
there's a few of us or a few people who
say no I'm an outlet you're like I'm
about to go for it and then whatever
happens I'm with that [ __ ] you feel me
so for me again one of the greatest
things that happened to me was my mother
telling me like the world is raw and you
got to get this share how you live but I
also saw my grandmother be a legal
entrepreneur so I saw it from Both
Worlds the greatest thing that ever
happened to me was going to prison
because I was able to sit down
and mature in that environment whereas
had I been in the world I'm not saying I
wouldn't still be this but the path
would have been completely different did
you do all 10 years I did eight years
and nine months God damn 85 of it and so
had I still been on the street I would
have now been struggling with survival
one of the things that happens often in
the culture of black people is survival
mode you never get a chance to play
offense you're always on defense
one because of mindset because you don't
see it again the dog dealer and the
rapper everybody who's working is
struggling and so you never want to be
that
you never want to be that you're like
damn like why is everybody struggling I
need to do something different
so while I'm in prison
I I pick up a habit of reading
that was the game changer for me
on the streets I never had the
opportunity to just sit down and read
because I'm always trying to survive
imprisoned there was no longer a
survivor mode there
when we look at it from when we break
everything down we break everything down
and we look at it from a skeleton I have
a roof over my head I have a bed it's
not the most comfortable bed I have a
bed I get three meals a day whether I
like it or not I have the the essentials
right
um
I started hustling in prison so I was
working in the laundry
and so uh your clothes don't really get
clean so I found a hustle like yo I wash
your clothes when we do it but it's five
dollars or twenty five dollars a month
so that gave me a whole another set of
money and then I started being like a
numbers dude how Vegas have the numbers
the betting I became a numbers guy so I
had actually you know that's it
self-taught I used to get the USA Today
I said look at this guy Danny Sheridan
he used to put out the line and then I
would take his numbers and put those
numbers on my ticket and my ticket was
called Braveheart so now I did college
football NFL football and laundry I had
a whole thing going I checked this out
there's five units in prison I had
people in each unit
selling tickets for me as in
Distributors so the streets was the same
in there right and so in each unit there
are six eight domes so one person was
spraying he had Runners and everybody
worked for me
and so that's how I survived but I had
time now to just sit down and read
and I would rewind my first book ever
reading was Sister Soldier Coldest
Winter Ever
changed I was like damn this is dope so
I went through the reading the hood
Classics and then I jumped into like let
me understand assistant Soldier like the
hip-hop artist yeah she had a book the
coldest one to ever sure
phenomenal book
I read it and I was like damn like this
[ __ ] is dope so I went through a phase
where I was reading like the Hood books
and then I was like man I lived this
[ __ ] already no matter how many times
you tell a Hood story it's still the
same I've lived this [ __ ] for real I
don't keep me to read this and so
I used to get up in the mornings and
watch CNBC
so Mario people in prison they love to
watch The Young and the Restless
and so I would have to get up before
them to watch like Squawk Box Jim Cramer
I'd be like damn these [ __ ]
making all this money and they not
risking their life
some gotta change for me
like something got to change and so I
just started listening to him every day
and I started comparing it to the
streets a good business is just like a
good Hustler a good business has great
product
they have great clientele a great
Hustler has a great product he has
consistent clientele a good business on
the stock market has what's called a
moat a Competitive Edge that keeps his
competitors away a good Hustler on the
street is going to have that Competitive
Edge where they'd be like nah yo I ain't
rocking on you I'ma just wait to trap
come back right so there's the
Competitive Edge a good business has a
good branding my name is good right so a
good Hustler on the street yo trap got
that blue magic I'm good on you like if
I can't get trapped I'ma just go try but
trap got that blue magic that's what I'm
rocking with Brandon move right that's
it a great business on the stock market
has more assets more liquidity than debt
a good Hustler on the street is if you
don't learn how to fund your business if
you're operating well all you have is
re-up money you're not going to last
long
so those components reminded me the same
in this on the stock market or in the
world if a company's paying terrorists
that's the equivalent to a business a
dude on the street going paid draft to
go hustling somebody Hood like you can't
hustle over here unless you pay me draft
it's the same as a terror
it's the same thing yeah so once I under
once I broke the game down to a way that
I can understand it it wasn't about me
just being brilliant it was like yo how
do I make the game winnable for me
people build a business yep the business
needs something though that thing is
capital yeah it's money
so the people building the businesses in
the beginning they often don't have the
capital and so they need a way to go out
and get the capital or
it's going to get a little bit
complicated faster but I'm gonna go
through come on let's see if people can
hang something all right you're building
a business one of two things is true you
either don't have money and so you need
somebody that can help you get the
things moving that you need to then
generate the capital okay I'm sure
people have heard the phrase it takes
money to make money she's entirely true
but certainly as you scale that is very
true you have to pay employees and all
that okay so it takes money to make
money so you're building a business you
need the capital you can get somebody to
give you money early on you can make a
little bit of money and reinvest it
yourself
but what most people do is either they
need that money or they've managed to
get the company going this is what
happened to me at Quest so you get the
company going you don't have to take
money from other people in the beginning
but all of your money is in the company
so I was worth hundreds of millions of
dollars right and I couldn't access it
I'm driving a beat-up car and so it's
like I'm rich on paper but in actuality
not so much okay so one of those two
things is true either need money to get
this thing going or all the value that
I've been able to build is trapped in
equity in the company so to unleash some
of that value they create shares you're
now a public company and this is what
you're talking about so hey you've got
this JPMorgan realizes I'm not an
entrepreneur I'm not going to be able to
build something but these entrepreneurs
are in a tricky situation they're maybe
brilliant with business
but they have another need yeah and so
as they go public which is just turning
creating shares out of your company
that's a very technical bringing it down
to Pieces exactly break it into pieces
now you're going to sell those pieces to
the public
they can then buy a piece of that
entrepreneur's endeavor right a piece of
that company and so now the entrepreneur
or the business depending on if they're
selling their personal shares or if the
company's selling treasury shares either
the company has just gained a ton of
money or that individual has taken money
off the table and now they've actually
got real wealth which always makes me
laugh when people think that Jeff Bezos
has 190 billion dollars his company is
worth that he doesn't have that unless
he sells the shares right so anyway so
now it's like whoa whoa so as an average
person I can go buy a piece of these
storied companies but what I really want
people to understand
you just went and learned that yeah like
you I can't tell you how late I came to
this game you figured this out before I
did I was building businesses already
this is why I'm so [ __ ] enough when I
think about how far down the road I went
I learned the game of building
businesses you learned the game of
buying businesses
okay maybe people don't want to do the
thing that I did some days I wonder and
you went down another road which is
available to everybody okay so now the
people have their little primer and how
all of this game works right one how why
don't people do it in fact let's start
there we'll we'll definitely talk about
how to do it well but why don't people
do it I think because America has
painted this picture that is dangerous
so think about TV I'm going to lose my
money I'm going to lose my money uh
stock market crashes right and then
every show that you've seen about Wall
Street is about people that are crooked
that take advantage of people's money
and then get rich you know and so people
don't associate with that right people
feel like you know what I don't want to
be a part of that I don't know enough
about that right when investing in the
stock market isn't an IQ game it's not
about it's not about being the most
brilliant person in the world right it's
about understanding basic economics and
basic economics is what we know every
day you understand this supply and
demand right supply and demand says that
if Michael Jordan drops a shoe then the
line is going to be wrapped around the
corner right but if you find a way to
get that shoe hold on to that shoe and
then later on you can now sell that shoe
at a top tier Price Right supply and
demand right if we can understand that
you understand certain parts of business
economics right you understand that if
Michael Jordan were to release
a hundred million yep shoes
won't be worth much it won't be worth
but if he releases a thousand exactly
now price gonna go crazy and then over
time it becomes worth even more because
most people will wear the shoes lower
the value but for anybody that holds on
to them so now you've got decreasing
Supply which creates a even if the the
demand stayed steady if the supply
decreases now you've got
um a positive Dynamic 100 and so that's
and that's that's the that's the most
amazing part about investing is
everybody won't be able to build a
billion dollar business
right but everybody can invest in one
and that's why I love it right so the
three the three things in my wealth
pyramid is stocks business real estate I
believe you should have all three right
but you can get away with two how are
you differentiating between stocks and
business so when I say stocks and means
like me buying shares of a business yeah
business second is me creating a
business and then real estate third so
you think everybody should create a
business no no no that's why I say you
can get away with two out of the three
you know what I'm saying so everybody
doesn't have to create a business
because it's just not for everybody but
you can see what we do know is as
America evolves through this business
as business evolves there are some
brilliant people that says for that
business there's a problem
for that problem I have the solution
that's a business you like to invest in
right and so if we can invest in the
solutions I always say that if we invest
in the solutions we cannot help but win
invested in a solution okay making
Amazon was a solution to so many things
getting us information faster getting us
books faster getting us it changed the
game it revolutionized how we how we got
uh packages if ever it made somebody say
you know what I could go to the store
today but I'm willing to wait one day to
get this package the truth is hitting
your career goals is not easy you have
to be willing to go the extra mile to
stand out and do hard things better than
anybody else but there are 10 steps I
want to take you through that will 100x
your efficiency so you can crush your
goals and get back more time into your
day you'll not only get control of your
time you'll learn how to use that
momentum to take on your next big goal
to help you do this I've created a list
of the 10 most impactful things that any
High achiever needs to dominate and you
can download it for free by clicking the
link in today's description all right my
friend back to today's episode can I
just say for for the young people in the
crowd who grew up with Amazon yeah there
was a time you'd have to wait four times
six weeks to get something in the mail
exactly
exactly that's insane if you can order
something in the morning and get it in
the afternoon and some places you get it
the same day and so when we think about
revolutionizing the game evolving that's
what I love about investing right I'm
thinking think about Tesla and I'm not
advocating for anyone to invest in these
businesses but I'm just showing how how
the world has evolved and you can build
your wealth for me 100 if you're bold
enough to bet on the future
if you're bold enough to bet on the
future and be patient enough to let it
take place you will win and you will win
big
that is that's without a doubt so we we
see the evolution of Tesla and we see
what's going on with this business even
if you don't agree with everything that
Elon does you say okay well
Rolls-Royce just dropped its first EV
car for four hundred thousand dollars
right they're saying they're going to be
all electric by 2030. General Motors and
they're going to be all the electric by
2032 Ford is drop electric cars now what
is that telling us right now the
landscape of vehicles is changing right
so what do I say okay I want to be a
part of this Evolution I want to be a
part of not only the electric car
Revolution but the charging stations the
batteries right these are the components
the supply chain that makes this whole
um
sector possible and so for me that's
betting on the future and if we can't
understand if we can truly grasp that
that your money is not doing you know
Justice in a bank
it's not especially now right it's not
doing you know Justice in the bank why
not well because the more they print
money the more your money loses value
right the more inflation goes up the
more your money loses value so a hundred
dollars spent in 2019 that same hundred
dollars now takes a hundred and nine
dollars
right so your money is lost you need to
buy the same so buy the same thing right
so if you bought this mug for a hundred
dollars in 2019 I mean it's not in the
mouth if that's what you did but yeah it
now costs you 109 right you need that
much more money so we understand that
One Lie we've been told is sitting our
money in the bank
so that's probably should add that to
the equation earlier right putting our
money in the bank thinking that the bank
is the safest place to have our money
right that's probably the most dangerous
place because I always say a dollar
that's not moving is a dollar that's
losing right so sitting on money in the
bank is not the place to be right so
what would be how do you make your money
move how do you make your money move by
making great Investments or just
investing so I'll give you an example
for me personally I literally don't have
but like twelve thousand dollars sit in
the bank
all of my money is in the market 90 of
it is in the market so I use What's
called the vo which is the Vanguard
index fund for the spot um S P 500 I use
that as my savings account
so every month or every week I'm putting
money in a well trap what happens when
the market is going down well my money
wasn't making no money in the savings
account anyway so I'm putting it in
there right and then what happens when
the market rebounds we won't be here
forever
we won't be here forever what happens
when the market rebounds well talk to
people about realized losses versus
unrealized losses okay because I think
this really messes good that's good
that's good so unrealized loss is when
let's say I have a hundred dollars on
something and that goes down to 89 right
if I sold it today I wouldn't be able to
sell it for what I paid for but
so you you buy something at a hundred
dollars it goes down to eighty dollars
if you don't sell it you have an
unrealized loss of twenty dollars I mean
you didn't sell it your Equity just
decreased
if you sell it you realize that game you
have now made that game realistic I mean
at loss you've realized that loss you've
made that loss realistic so you've now
essentially lost that twenty dollars
right that's a uh that's a realized loss
not realize gains is the complete is the
exact opposite right so if you go up to
uh I buy something for 100 it goes up to
150 unrealized I have a hundred I have
fifty dollars in unrealized gain so it's
there but I didn't sell it it's there
realizing it is saying I've cashed out
I've cast out on it think about like you
talked about Jeff Bezos right his net
worth is what
180 something billion dollars something
like that
last time I checked 60 of his money was
an Amazon stock 60 of it so this is why
you wake up one day and you say damn
Jeff lost 18 billion dollars well that's
unrealized
because he didn't cash out
so he didn't lose it it's still there
wants to stop getting backs up he
recoups all of that and so that's the
adult part about the mark yes it
fluctuates yes it goes ups and down but
that's also the most scariest part about
the market because people who come from
a lower income working class
environments the worst thing that can
come to their mind is losing money that
I bust my butt for that's what makes the
market so scary for them and that
confusion keeps them out of the market
yeah so this is where now people have to
get into the intricacies of money
so it's probably worth
belaboring the point a little bit about
the people don't even get to the
starting line
so I forget the percentage of households
of people that live paycheck to paycheck
but it's ungodly it's astronomical it's
more than 50 72 that's so ridiculous so
this is for people even making six
figures like most people live paycheck
to paycheck 100 if you're living
paycheck to paycheck one you're not
going to survive any difficulty
financially so if you get sick and now
your hospital bills the number of people
that go broke because they're already
they have no savings and now they get
sick your car breaks down I remember
that when I was broke and your car
breaks down it's like well then I don't
have a car it's not like I can even
choose to go get it fixed so
of course people in that situation are
not thinking oh I need to
go put money into the stock market I'm
not saving money anyway so that's number
one to your point about people spend
money that they don't have so whatever a
dollar four out of every dollar that
they make
the only way I found where I could do it
where I could save I had to gamify it I
had to make it fun I had to get myself
obsessed over watching the number go up
so that I would get more of a dopamine
rush out of looking at my I used to use
mint I don't know if they're still
around into it a stock they dig at home
yeah yeah exactly well said well said so
I would because it connected to my bank
account every time I made a deposit into
my bank account my dashboard
automatically update and I'm like oh
damn like I've now got five hundred
dollars 527 and it was like cool is it
going up is it going up is it going up
and so people need to find that hook
whatever that is to get excited about
beginning to save money but that's
interesting I like that you use the
Vanguard as the savings account so do
you is your money automatically
allocated no so I do it one because I
have I found on that Financial
discipline and myself so this now is a
this is my routine how did you how did
you develop that so growing up you
realize that there's a thread that runs
through
just through
especially poverty-strick in America
right and it is that we have no
Financial structure right if everyone is
living paycheck to paycheck right so
let me go back a second for a second
Reaganomics
cause so much Havoc
to that low-income black community right
why why so let's think about this
in 1982 yeah I was born they were
written Ronald Reagan took one million
people off of welfare
he took another half a million people
kids out of a free lunch right
the economy went through a real
recession in 82. but then in 85
but I was getting into all of it
around
65 tons of cocaine pillaged
lower income Black America
in a form of crack cocaine
85 tons that came from Nicaragua which
then was a result of Ronald Reagan being
told he could not
put illegal guns in Iran
so he supported the South American
contract go look that up this amazing
story right
that wreaked havoc so a lot of times in
my culture we look at slavery and we
look at that and that's cool but this
generation can't identify with that
right they they it's too far
but what we can identify with is that
everyone from 82 to now has been touched
by the crack era
cocaine crack abuse it's separated
families and so now think about the
mindset that came with money during that
era right everything was lack right you
have people trying to work you have
functioning
families now broken up by drug abuse
followers locked up mothers now with the
term crack babies now another way to
separate black women from kids so it
pill is cracked pillaged the black
community especially in major cities La
Miami New York pillage them so now the
idea of money is separate I want you to
think about the mindset that you have to
have as a man as a as a friend I grew up
with this brother I grew up with his
mother and now his mother is buying
cracks for me
right for me to sell my friend's mother
crack
what type of mindset monstrous mindset
that has to have and then that becomes
the norm right and send them from that
error we go to Bush where now the War on
Drugs is important but how can we have a
law on drugs if we are now pushing the
drugs in this community
right and then
we get two non-mandatory minimums and
then we get to Clinton where we get
three strikes you out so now before we
can even deal with the money mindset we
got to deal with the pillage and the
breakup of the family that happens and
so now when a family is in survival mode
we can't think about money because now
we're trying to how is this next meal
possible
right
Financial trauma
Financial trauma now is anchored to who
we are so for me when I was in prison
when I got exposed to
damn I'm playing the wrong game I had to
look at the pieces on the board
like in my a night in my bishop and my
Rook I damn sure ain't the king
so I mean I'm a pawn
s always get sacrificed
so I'm always being sacrificed how the
hell can I win this game
something got to change
and so one of the things I knew that I
had to change was my relationship with
money because that's how you change what
piece you are on the board that's how
you change the piece you are
and then what happens with the poem on a
chessboard is if the pawn can find a way
to get to the other side of the
chessboard he then could become whatever
he wants
and for me it's the two things the
information and learning how to use
money I can become any piece on the
chessboard and so now for me once I
learned about money once I started
healing my own Financial trauma it was
easy for me to now start talking to
people about it but also improving my
life because now money is not the thing
that dictates me it's the vision it's
the how do I become successful for the
next Generations how do I help the
people that I know heal their financial
trial we can't even talk about money we
can't talk about wealth we can't talk
about winning in this world if we don't
disattach ourselves from the things
that's keeping us from being successful
and that is for me Financial trauma that
is a harsh pill to swallow and just a
form of that is just think about it like
this why is that a hard pill to swallow
well because if you think about it most
people like to reflect I mean deflect
right it's not my fault um
um you know
think about the years of slavery think
about this people like to deflect they
never want to take full accountability
for it right but healing that Financial
trauma saying yo check this out we
talked about it earlier if you have more
money under your bed in your closet than
you have in your investment account or
your savings account and that's
Financial trauma if you are saying
things if you're doing things like you
know you're badly making you know you
live in check the check but for
Christmas you go spend money you don't
have to say well my kids can have a
great Christmas that's Financial trauma
because what you've now taught your kid
is it's okay to spend money you don't
have to have a good time and then come
back later on and have to pay that or
digging yourself in a deep hole so
somebody has to break that Financial
trauma if not the family the generations
that follow will all follow the same
suit you need one outlier you need one
person that's disrupt disruption you
need one person to do that and if nobody
ever does that you can look at a whole
lineage of the people of a family and
realize why nobody has never changed it
and so for me to change was if I can
become Financial literary if I can
become financially conscious if I can
increase my financial fortitude then I
can not only change myself and my life I
can lead by example and change my family
and then that can have another effect
that people around my friends you know
so on and so forth but it was me being
able to heal that Financial trauma in
the beginning man that was important the
only one I hear talking about something
that I think is actually really
connected which is values and
knowledge
to get the outcome that you want
when did you start like hearing you talk
about the disruption of the family
um the more I look so
I think you know my background yeah but
so my story I saw Big Brother room for a
kid in South Central
and I'm I was just too young to
understand what was happening and so I
have no idea why he's acting out why
everything is just a mess
and start getting older
Star Quest thousand employees that
remind me of the kid that I and I Big
Brother for him for eight and a half
years so it's a long time yeah from the
time he was eight till he was 16. yeah
crazy yeah uh and
seeing then later when I was finally old
enough to understand what was going on a
bunch of people that were growing up in
the inner cities
it is
this is this is the fiery debate right
now
is it culture or is it that the deck is
stacked against me and I felt like a man
screaming into the void
trying you've you've given such a cool
analogy if people play chess so you've
got the pawns the pawns are always
sacrificed but if you get to the other
side of the board you can replace them
with something else
That's The Human Condition uh-huh
traversing the board is knowledge
but if you learn and no one can stop you
this is the age of free information if
you can learn then you really can become
whatever you want booze don't block
Donuts no one can stop you from doing
the thing that you want to do and so I
was just like screaming and screaming
and screaming like no no the only thing
that separates you and I are ideas
I found a better set of ideas and those
ideas govern my life it's what I call
frame of reference so if your frame of
reference is poverty and I remember
saying this before the internet was like
really popping off and so there was
nobody there to freak out and yell uh
but I was like the day I realized oh
poverty isn't about money it's about
mindset
I was just like whoa and then you
encounter the first person that's like
offended by that idea and I was like
whoa what do you mean I don't I
literally didn't understand why that was
offensive I'm like this means that you
can set yourself free you could do
whatever the [ __ ]
so
getting people to understand okay
there's taking it back to the family
for whatever reason
the predictive nature of a two-parent
household is crazy if you have one the
odds of you doing well are really high
and if you don't have one they begin to
decline
[Music]
why well so there is a disparity in
what poverty is
lack of information lack of resources
money is infinite they never stop
they've never stopped printing money the
problem is
getting the belief to understand that
getting a getting a belief that you're
capable
of being something nothing against
rapping and entertaining but for a lot
of people that come from my culture
that's the only way out
Stone the way out
that's it if you can't rap you can't
play sports then you're probably gonna
sell drugs or do something illegal
because 87 percent of crimes are behind
money origins of a mediocre just leave
and so nobody wants that right and so
now we we understand that there are
better opportunities in better segments
just in White America just 100 but what
happens is that can't be the defining
part
like I know what I said all right cool
but what stops me well what stops me is
me
what stops me is me playing the blame
game all my life what stops me is me
keeps saying well I'm black they White
well that's you're not going to go far
doing that what stops me as saying I
didn't have the opportunities they have
that's going to keep it from going there
if you can get past the [ __ ] inside
these are real issues but the biggest
issue is the belief of myself the
biggest issue is I need to spend more
time reading and researching than
partying I need to spend more time
reading researchers and chasing women I
need to spend more time reading and
researching then you know trying to go
hang out playing that being on Netflix
all day playing a game all day I need to
speed more time developing a skill set
okay boom as I evolve as I learn how the
game is being played as I get exposure
to their game my confidence builds up so
the reason why it is more the success
barrier is high in a two-parent home
a healthy two parent home
that's important I think though the
stats are
and I'm sure just because the sort of
average to healthy ish uh homes it just
overwhelms it is the the number but the
the statistics and I don't remember the
exact number but your odds of
living above the poverty line it's over
70 over 80 something like that if you in
a two-parent home structure
so in a two-parent home there's a form
of structure there's a hierarchy and
then there's you know there's a man
there's a woman and then there's kids so
now you have an infrastructure to when
you don't have when you don't have this
is good but you don't have a two-parent
home not saying you can be successful
but now there are so many other
different influences in your life and
I'll give myself for example right like
again I'm homeless at 16.
right but was your dad around when you
were growing I never even met my dad
never ever in my life right so now the
influences became like anybody who I saw
had so when I'm looking at the hustlers
I'm like all right yo like he got the
girls
he got the respect he got the money
that's what I want to be like
and so I'm getting that from him I'm
learning I'm getting it from the
hustlers and then boom dead jail but
because that's the only
image I have this is what I'm holding on
to right and then when I go to prison
you know you get with the OG's and they
start telling you yo don't do this don't
do that okay cool now I've pivoted right
I've pivoted from this to this because
this information is going to get me
through prison this is the information
is going to keep me alive this is the
information that's how I carry myself
this is how I talk that's how I maneuver
that's how you you know okay cool I got
it but then
you come home and I come home and I'm a
26 year old man but guess what I still
never had a father so I'm still missing
something in my life
still missing something and honestly
that void didn't feel so I had my
daughter
right but then I'm missing that voice so
now I'm still influenced by anything
that I feel has structure right so that
two-parent home even the father may not
be the best or whatever but it's
structure you understand his position in
life you understand his position in that
family structure you understand that
Mother's position structure is so
important it limits the mistakes
the less mistakes you can make on a
journey the easier it is to become
successful yeah this to me so this is a
really important idea this is what I
talk about with business and mindset I
always tell people you have to
understand how the game works and and
what I mean by that is there's a physics
to everything so there's a physics of
business so thinking from first
principles how how these things are
actually structured and I think the big
breakthrough and I've heard you say this
I think this is really smart there's a
difference between the basics and the
fundamentals yes the basics is just
one-on-one yeah so here are the sort of
words and phrases you're going to need
the fundamentals are the physics this
this is how it works and once you know
how something works then you can get
good at it but if you and and I really
think the vast majority of humanity and
I don't care what class you're in the
vast majority of humanity does not
understand how the world Works therefore
they are at the mercy of the world and
the people that figure out how it works
can change things you know I mean we'd
use a negative word say manipulate but
it really isn't that like this is power
close your eyes imagine a world better
than this one open your eyes get the
skills to make that world come true and
go actually make it come true that's
[ __ ] power and that imagine being
able to close your eyes imagine
something open your eyes and actually be
able to create it that's [ __ ] power
so to whether that's to change you know
people growing up in the inner cities
whether that's to create generational
wealth in your own family whether that's
to learn architecture and build a bridge
or a house whatever like that is the
point but to be able to do that you have
to understand
how things work and like yeah that's
that is to me what is so powerful about
you
you understand a game that a lot of
people that are disenfranchised
understand the streets and you're saying
[ __ ] this is just physics let
me show you the correlate over here it's
all the same [ __ ] it's the same that's
it and so that's that's important for me
the understanding the basics and the
fundamentals like once you start
understanding the fundamentals you give
yourself power because you now
understand like you said you see how the
machine works right and so most people
look at the machine in Marvel and say
Eva I'm like most people look at the
stock market most 98 of the people who I
know look at the stock market say yo
that's not a game I can play
I'm staying away from it and so the ways
the way it's set up is the world is set
up well listen cool I don't even want
you to play just give me your money I'll
play it for you so we look at like Banks
like we understand that Banks don't
necessarily work in our favor
right so Banks only give us 0.05
interest on the money we have there but
we can get eight percent just by putting
our money in the index fund so why would
I just set my money in a bank and let
the bank make all the money because all
they're going to do is invest the money
for you so they're not operating as the
plug
they operate now as the man who I'm
gonna front you this I'm gonna make my
money I'm gonna take the cut I'm gonna
give you just enough to keep coming back
I'm gonna go to the plug who is the plug
the stock market man right and so once I
understood the fundamentals of like the
most important thing too is we don't
understand how money works
that's a whole different language in its
own the relationship with money in my
community is you make money
just enough to pay bills and so once you
get tired of paying bills you say you
know what I need to treat myself to
something right no matter if I got to go
in debt no matter the fact I need to
treat myself to something to take this
misery away
so you treat yourself to something that
you can't afford at the time right but
it makes you feel good in the moment
and so because it makes you feel good
you say you know what I'm living this is
a reprieve from everyday struggle
let me get back on the hamster web
and so the sacrifice now becomes hard
because now you're saying I gotta work
work work and never get that reprieve
I'm not willing to do that
right and s