Choosing The Right Vehicle...(Pt. 2)
What if I told you that being rich and creating financial freedom are two completely different things?
Would you believe me?
Most people think that if you have buttloads of cash you can do what you want, whenever you want...
Logistically, that is true…
You could buy a fancy new car, an expensive house, or a diamond watch and then fly yourself to ends of the earth just because you can.
So, how is this different than creating financial freedom?
Well, you achieve financial freedom when your passive income exceeds your living expenses.
If you’re confused, don’t worry, because today I am going to teach you how choosing the right business model is ESSENTIAL to reaching financial freedom and creating a life on your terms.
But before I do that, I want to point out why this strategy is so important to your financial security and prosperity by comparing it to what most of the American middle class does.
If you look at most of middle class America, their retirement strategy looks a little something like this:
- Get a job.
- Put in 40-50 hours per week for 40 years.
- Put money into a savings account, mutual fund, IRA, or 401(k)
- Save enough money to sustain you for the rest of your life once you retire, around the age of 65.
Basically, you have about 40 years to build up a nice pile of cash that you can live off of until the day you die.
But this strategy has a few gaping holes in it that prevent you from ever reaching “financial freedom” …
The first is that you are working your butt off every day for 40 years, pinching pennies, in hopes that one day you can retire and finally have enough time and money to travel and pursue your hobbies…
You could die tomorrow and never see a penny of that retirement you saved, never see the countries you said you were going to visit or do the things you said you wanted to do with all your free time.
So far, our freedom level is at about a zero.
The next problem is that once you retire, you are now living on a fixed income.
Sure, you might have a nice lump sum saved up, but when that day comes, you have what you have, and that’s it.
So, you are just going to have to guess how much longer you’re going to live and how you’re going to make that money last for that long, all while considering the cost of insurance, food, bills, etc.
Freedom level… still at a zero.
The other major problem is that to sustain yourself and pay for these monthly expenses, you must consume the money that you saved.
In other words, every single month you are going to become poorer than the month before.
So, as you can see, the traditional method of working and going about retirement doesn’t quite scream “financial freedom” …
It screams of a terrible infomercial for a product that doesn’t work…
“The American Dream! (Retirement Plan Included!) Brought to you by… WALL STREET, your friendly, neighborhood scam artist!”
Our goal is to create financial freedom, remember?
Not to become slaves to our retirement plan sold to us by Wall Steet…
Last week we discussed how your Street Value (mindset) is equivalent to the engine of a car, and just like the type of engine you use to go 0-60 mph in less than 3 seconds is important, the type of vehicle you use is just as important.
Let’s say that you have increased your Street Value by mastering a new skill set and you’re ready to leverage your new skills out in the business world…
You need to put that shiny new engine in the right vehicle…
In other words, you need to make sure that you’re choosing a business model that is going to help you achieve financial freedom.
Making the decision to work for yourself or start a business can go one of two ways…
The first way, you will end up in a brick and mortar (ie: flower shop, bakery, auto-body shop) or be in a business where you exchange your time for money (ie: consulting, hair stylist, personal trainer).
Although both have provided the freedom to make your own prices/paycheck, they have essentially become a ball and chain where you are only making money when you work.
The moment you stop working or take a day off, you stop getting paid. In a sense, you haven’t created a business, you have created a job… but you just happen to be the one in charge.
The other way allows you to leverage your skill set so you can create an infinite amount of profit. Which basically means that instead of limiting how many people you can serve in a time-for-money exchange, you focus more on the value provided to a larger audience.
Here is an example:
One of my mentors, Mike Dillard, has created multiple 7-figure businesses around a skill set that he has mastered.
You see, Mike used to work in multi-level marketing. Essentially, his job was to sell a product and grow his downline.
And for those of you who aren’t familiar with MLM, a downline refers to the people you have recruited after you joined a program and whose sales or own referrals generate income for you.
Think Avon, Herbalife, Tupperware, etc…
His job was sales.
Eventually he mastered the skill of copywriting, which is basically salesmanship in print, and created a unique way to grow his downline without making any sales calls at all.
By mastering this skill set he was able to create an online course that helped other people grow their email list (and downlines) and turn their subscribers into customers.
So, how did he make 7-figures as a copywriter?
The answer is simple…
Mike had a product that he needed to sell… but instead of pitching his product or business to one person at a time over the phone… he wrote a sales letter and posted it online, so it would be seen by thousands of people per day…
FB Ad for His Recent List Grow Course…
In other words, it gave him an infinite amount of leverage. The amount of people it could reach had NO LIMIT.
So, by mastering a skill that 99.99% of people in the world never will master, it became his smoking gun…
Sales during a 90-day quarter from this past year…
As a result, his value to the world significantly increased because he was able to not only sell his own products online, but other people’s products effectively online, and at scale.
Eventually, Mike used this same business model to start multiple online businesses that all became hugely successful and profitable.
Not just because he mastered a skill set, but because he chose a vehicle that had no income ceiling and would allow his skill set (increased Street Value) to generate income even when he’s sleeping.
It does not require more effort to work at a job for $50,000/yr compared to creating a business that earns $50,000+/mo...
It's just a matter of what type of vehicle (business) you are in...
And yes working at a job is a vehicle...just one that doesn't pay very well.
So there you have it.
Stay tuned… Later this week I’m going to teach you how investing in cash flowing assets that YOU control gives you the freedom and time you’re looking for…
(And no, we are not going to talk about plopping your money in a 401(k) “hoping” the value goes up; that is called gambling not investing) …
To learn more...