Today, he is a multi-millionaire!
But where did he start?
I’m talking about Todd Tresidder, founder of Financial Mentor. He went from less than zero at age 23 to self-made multi-millionaire in 12 years.
I was honored to interview Todd, back in 2007, about his story of success and transformation. In this article, I would like to share with you a few insights from my interview with Todd.
When he was in college, he was surprised to see that most people spend their ENTIRE lives trying to earn money to make a living.
It didn’t make sense to him to have a day job where you have to go to work everyday to make money that pays your bills and supports your lifestyle.
So, he decided to lead a different life that was wealth-centered to become financially free at some point and never have to work again.
That realization and commitment carried him through to becoming a multimillionaire.
The number one value he was addressing is FREEDOM. He didn’t want to be caged up in a corporate job. Inside he looked and said, “If I have to lead a life then I must lead one that is designed to create financial freedom.”
That important commitment led him to reorient all his activities around that key value.
As a result, he realized that it was impossible to become financially free while working at a corporate job where there is no leverage. You can never exceed your paycheck limit. So, the other more appealing options for him were to have his own business or become an investor.
Todd believes that financial freedom starts with a strong commitment and belief that building wealth is important. And then you must orient your life towards making that wealth.
Before we move on it is important to understand that wealth is just a mean to an end. Your primary objective is FREEDOM. Accordingly, the amount of money that can make you free can be different for someone else.
The Three Main Blocks That Stand Between You And Financial Freedom
1. The System
It is only you who should define what freedom means to you and how it looks like. Then, you can decide on the level of wealth that will get you there. I know this is challenging, because we live in a world that’s oriented towards excessive consumerism.
The system we live in relates goodies to happiness and fulfillment. It’s main message is, “You should own more to enjoy more.”
And that is a myth. What happens is that when people live that myth, they pursue consumption over savings and wealth.
Another thing that the system promotes is the importance of getting a corporate job to earn the paycheck that will allow you to buy all the goodies that will make you happy. And it elevates the risk and fear of having your own business, doing something you’re passionate about and making a contribution to society.
Truth is: In the past, the corporate job was the safest route to make a living. Today, it is the least safe route to make a living … AND it is the least fulfilling.
The system only supports you to reach financial mediocrity. That’s why you must commit to taking a stand and being in charge of your financial life.
2. Ignorance
Most probably you will make bad financial decisions due to lack of knowledge. So, you have two choices:
1. Be open to failure, learn from your mistakes and move on.
2. Borrow the experience of a financial mentor to guide your decisions and help you avoid expensive mistakes.
I believe working with a mentor is very important and will save you a fortune, until you fully develop your financial intelligence.
3. Personal Operating System
Your beliefs about money, life and business can hold you back from achieving your goals.
For example, sometimes you get paralyzed and never take action towards your goals, because you want everything to be perfect from the very beginning. Truth is that this is never possible. You must start, learn and improve along the way. This is how things work in life.
You need to be fully aware of similar beliefs or defects in your personal operating system that might be limiting your potential and success.
Here are three IMPORTANT lessons to help you become financially free:
1. Daily Habits
Your health, wealth and happiness are all product of your daily habits. That’s why once you commit to a certain goal, you must orient all your activities towards achieving that goal.
If wealth is a priority, then your daily habits must support your commitment to building wealth and freedom. Otherwise, something else will always get in the way.
If you don’t develop the habits that support your goals, you’ll always get off track.
If you’ve a dream and wonder how long it will take you to get there, look at how much time, energy and money are spent in pursuit of that dream. This is definitely a function of your daily habits.
2. Subtleties
There are at least two layers of knowledge in every field. Layer one represents conventional wisdom that is widely acceptable and digested by the masses. Layer two represents little known secrets that are usually contrary to conventional wisdom. And this is where true remarkable success could be reached.
In order to become successful in any given field, you need to get beyond the superficially obvious and get down and deep to the subtleties.
For example, the most obvious advice for losing weight and living healthy is to follow a proven diet plan. However, there is another layer to that advice which is much more important. Healthy living is more about the quality of what gets into your body than the quantity. It doesn’t matter how much less you eat. What matters most is how much GOOD you eat.
If you want to become financially free, don’t settle for the conventional wisdom and the simple answers that are communicated to the masses. Go deeper and search for the subtleties and unravel how things really work.
Subtleties are the kind of transformational knowledge that you need to become remarkably successful.
3. Risk Management
If you want to be successful, you have to become an expert risk manager. Have you heard the stories of those who built fabulous fortunes, then lost everything and get back to zero?
These stories are perfect illustrations of the important of risk management.
The journey to success is never a straight line. There will be good times and there will be bad times. When the bad times hit, that’s when you need to be a great risk manager and protect yourself from hitting too hard.
Always be prepared for the worst case scenario.
Finally, Todd believes that you should never listen to the simple answers that all marketers are trying to sell you. Why? Because there is no one answer!
You must be willing to spend years learning from everyone out there, digest mountains of material and search for the subtleties, and through that you will figure out your unique path to success.
This could never happen without PASSION. If you’re passionate enough, you will do everything it takes to live your passion and make your life a story that’s worth telling.
Find your passion, orient your life towards it and leverage it to build your wealth and financial freedom.
What are the insights that resonated most with you? Please share in the comments below.
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Mohamed Tohami is a bestselling author and the creator of “The P.A.S. Technique: The World’s Easiest Way To Find Your Passion and Purpose In Life”.