Don't be a Victim of Your Environment or Circumstances; Be the Results of Your Actions and Attitude with Chris D. Roberts: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot. Podcast Network, the ideal destination for business professionals with great shows like Success Story Podcast. Today, we're pulling a classic episode from the archives, and we'll be breaking down how you should not be a victim of your environment or circumstances. Instead, be the result of your actions and attitude. To drop these value bombs, I have brought Chris D. Roberts into EO Fire Studios. Chris is an entrepreneur, author, and real estate investor, and owns and operates multiple businesses, and is an enterprise partner with Feeding America.

0:36And today, Fire Nation, We'll talk about sitting down and building a plan, getting out of your own way and focus on what you're really good at. We'll talk about a meaningful mantra and what the ultimate goal should be and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Chris and our sponsors. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lanz, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Matt and Nathan are leading AI creators in your guiding light in the AI and technology frontier. AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented.

1:13The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. Chris, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. JLD, thank you so much. And I would like to share that failure is your fault, but you can fix it. And if you do so, you will succeed. And what I mean by that is failure is a bad paradigm that you need to change in order to be successful. Fire Nation, I hope we take a second to think about that because what do we need to do in this life to take 100 % responsibility?

1:59I mean, literally, there's nothing else in my mind but to take 100 % responsibility for everything that happens in your life because you are making millions of decisions and they're all leading to the present moment you're living in this day. So just own it, live it, and say, there's always the next moment that's right around the corner. And we have a fantastic conversation today with Chris about not being a victim of your environment or your circumstances, but be the result of your actions and your attitude, Fire Nation. So I want to start off, Chris, by asking you, how can we, Fire Nation, develop a meaningful mantra?

2:36Well, thank you, JLD. That's a great question. And by developing a mantra, it kind of gave me a blueprint or, I suppose, a beacon to follow through all the struggles and challenges I had as it related to building a success model. And success is viewed in different ways by different people. But my mantra was or is, and I still fall back on it when I get down, is I am not a victim of my environment or my circumstances, but I am the results of my actions and my attitude. And I don't have the time for fear in my life because I'm out achieving my dreams. And that mantra was developed out of sort of a, I guess, sort of desperation, a, I guess, if you will, cry for help to try to figure out how to get out of struggles and challenges growing up.

3:21And, uh, and as I, as I grew and built businesses, I would fall back on that every time I faced a challenge or a circumstance that I didn't think I could get through and go back to the fact that it's about my mindset and it's about me dictating my future and the goals I want to achieve and not letting anyone else or any other thing dictate my success or failure. And that's where that comes from. So give me the example of what a meaningful mantra is, like maybe share yours or somebody you helped develop their mantra. Like, what does that sound like? What does that look like? Yeah, absolutely. So my mantra, which is the I'm not a victim of my environment, my circumstances, was developed out of deep passion for the circumstances I was in.

4:04And I'll give you one example. I was jumped by gangs growing up as a kid, just trying to make it to school, was born to single parents, was out on my own at the age of 15, and really just had to go out and figure life out and had to come up with something that would drive me through those challenges. So a meaningful mantra is very personal and it's about using it as a way to almost be a voice in your head that can drive you through whatever circumstances are facing you that you can't get through. And it sounds silly. And I've talked to people about their visions, their goals, their mission, big on that corporate America and all that stuff.

4:38There's a reason for that. And the reason is that we all fall off track. We all lose sight. We all get down. No one is immune to that. I don't care if you're Tony Robbins, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey. Everyone goes through that on a regular basis. And so you need something that you can use as a rock to guide you. And so that mantra is very personal. And you just have to sit down and really think about what you're thankful for, what you're grateful for, what drives you, what your fears are that can drive you, not scare you, but actually drive you. And I would build a mantra off of that. You believe that people should identify their value proposition.

5:12They should know it to the core of their soul. Expound upon that. Absolutely. It's my belief, and this is just based on my experiences. I'm an avid reader. I love reading and learning from those that have been there, done that. But one thing I found that's very common in folks, regardless of their successes or failures in life or their status, is that they haven't identified truly what they're good at. and then built upon that or gone out and tried to find puzzle pieces to build around that strength. I call it the value proposition, kind of a common phrase out there. And then go out and build your business around that.

5:48In other words, and I've heard this many, many times and I've seen it in business, you're trying to build spreadsheets, you're not good at them, but you're trying to do it because you think you need spreadsheets to build a business plan. Well, you can outsource building a business plan. You just need to have a little passion, enthusiasm, and energy and go out and figure out the basic building blocks of what you want to do. And then you can outsource those things. Me personally, I identified my value proposition as prioritizing 75 % of my time for my clients and always being there for them and outworking the competition.

6:19It was very simple for me to do that. It was a matter of not playing video games when I was younger and not going out and partying and buying boats and things like that. It was, I'm going to be there for my clients on the weekends. And then I went out and started organizing a lot of their chaos and problem solving for them. And I found that that was a value proposition. A lot of people didn't have the patience to do that. So I built upon that and then started building a team around that to help me build my businesses. In Fire Nation, my value proposition is honing my skills as a podcast host to bring you, Fire Nation, you, the best interview experience that I'm capable of delivering.

6:54And so I want you to be thinking right now, what is your value proposition? Do you even know it? It's your North Star. You should be driving towards that every single day. So how, Chris, how can we identify our vision and our purpose and use both of those to develop a meaningful business model? Yeah, absolutely. The thing is about a vision and a purpose or a mission statement, all of those things, even building out your mantra, is it's very personal. And you have to think about where you want to be and the type of company you want to be. And it doesn't matter if you're a carpet cleaner, a software engineer, an aspiring coffee shop owner or whatever.

7:34Again, you need that beacon of light. You need that foundation. And so my vision at the time was to be the best sales rep. And I figured, well, if I could be the best sales rep, I could make money and eventually I could retire and all those kind of things. Didn't know what it meant, but started following some of the best of the best and taking their best practices and then eliminating the things that they didn't do very well. And then I built out my own process. you know it's a matter of figuring out your purpose you know where do you want to be and do you want to give back do you want to leave a legacy whatever that may be and you want to write it out and as you write those things out and you follow them you'll find that it makes it a little bit easier to stay on the path to success.

8:11Fire Nation I really hope that you're taking all of this in and that you're going to use the examples that both Chris is giving and the ones that I gave as well to make sure that you are implementing this in your life and in your business. And one thing that I love that we're going to be talking about after the break is building teams. We're also going to be talking about saving, not spending the money that you make, and then investing it for a meaningful and helpful and flourishing future. And then we also want to diversify our income streams, of course, because you just don't know what's happening in the future.

8:44And it's good to be protected in multiple areas. All of this and more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. We all know that starting a business is hard, but there are tools out there that help make it easier. HubSpot is one of those tools. And just one way HubSpot makes starting a business easier with their all new entrepreneurship kits. This all-inclusive kit gives you step-by-step guidance and frameworks to help you crush every stage of starting a business. I'm talking project management, professional email, and skill development templates. in addition to an entire solopreneur guide and freelance pricing worksheets.

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10:33Visit fundera.com to see your loan options today. That's fundera.com. F-U-N-D-E-R-A dot com. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Running a business takes a lot of time and effort. And when you're focused on business growth, it's easy to let self-care slip. But something I prioritize every single day, no matter what, is my health, both physical and mental. In addition to the daily supplements and workouts are spaces of time I give myself to just relax. No devices, no music, just peace and quiet. But I know how difficult it can be to make this happen in between the chaos of daily life. So if you need a little help creating space like this, then therapy can help.

11:17And there's no better way to get started than with BetterHelp. BetterHelp is online therapy that's flexible to fit in your schedule. All you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist. It's really that simple. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com today to get 10 % off your first month. that's better help h e l p dot com slash fire so chris you know how to build teams so share with us your best practices for building a team and then afterwards the outsourcing the delegating and the automating that we should implement once that team is in place absolutely i think part of the challenge for people building teams is most entrepreneurs are a one-man band or one woman band, let's say.

12:05They want to go out and they want to do everything. And that's a good way to learn and start. But in order to scale, you need team, you need players. And the way you can draw a good team to you is to lead by example. So if you're out there and you're building a brand, you're building a thought leadership platform, that could be as simple as a YouTube channel. It could be blogs, you write a book. I mean, there's so many ways that you can create status out there for yourself. You will have good team members want to gravitate towards you because they recognize that they have weaknesses and they want to find those missing pieces as well.

12:36And so for me, when I built my real estate business, that's exactly what I did. I knew what I was good at. I knew I could do those things, but I went to masterminds. I went to meetups. I traveled all over the country and I started looking for those missing pieces. And as a result, we found an incredible team. It took a little time, but now we have the recipe for success and everybody plays their part. So talk to us a little bit about the outsourcing, the delegating, and the automating that you do currently with your team. There's so many things that need to be done in a business. I'll give you an example on the real estate syndication side of things.

13:11We have to go out and do these due diligence. We have to underwrite hundreds of deals, sometimes 100 in a month, and try to dig into the data. There's hours and dozens of hours of analyzing on just even one deal sometimes. and any deal from start to finish could be three or four hundred hours. So you have to recognize, okay, what are the first things first for me that I need to be doing to utilize my skills? Might be the 30 ,000 foot view dealing with banks and lending and debt and things like that. Over here, I might outsource somebody to just extrapolate all the important data. In other words, pull out all the things that are relevant of all this information that's coming in.

13:47And you could outsource that stuff on Fiverr, Upwork. You could use VAs overseas. There's all kinds of places you could go to get that work done. And then you want to use software and automations. There's tons of things you could use out there, active campaign and Monday morning and all kinds of stuff. But I recommend that you start digging into all the things that you can outsource so that your skills are utilizing and getting the best return you can possibly get on your time. Fire Nation, that is what it's all about, getting the best return on your time in multiple areas, when you're working and then when you're not working so you can be enjoying life, so that you can be living that lifestyle freedom that so many people are striving towards.

14:25And speaking of lifestyle freedom, I mean, most people in this world, Chris, they spend all the money that they make, and oftentimes then some, which is why so many people are in debt. I mean, there's a stat that just freaks me out. And this is 40 % of Americans. So not like people in the world. These are 40 % of Americans cannot write an unexpected$400 check. And that's insane because we never know what's upcoming. We never know what's around the corner. So what does that tell me? That tells me that most people, not everybody, of course, because some people are just doing everything they can to survive.

15:03But I mean, that means a lot of people are just spending all the money that they make. So why do you think that we need to live well below our means so that we can save and invest? This is a big number, Fire Nation. 40 % of our income. None of that pansy 10 % of our income stuff. This is real deal, Holyfield stuff. And to give you even a quick, quick side, and I remember in 2008 when I signed up, when I took a job with John Hancock and went to sign up for my 401k, I literally went to HR and I said, yeah, what's the max you can put into your 401k for my paycheck? And they were like, oh, 10%. I'm like, no, no, no, what's the max?

15:42I know that's what most people do. They're like, well, you can invest up to 50%. and I'm just like, that's what I want to do. And they're like, well, I don't get, like nobody's ever done this before. And I'm like, yeah, I know, but I have my savings that if I need to dip into them, they're there. But like, I want to just absolutely max this out every single month. And like, they had a really hard time because nobody was doing it, but I did it. And I'm so glad that I did for multiple reasons we won't get into, but Chris, take that away. The whole spending the money that people make and then some, and then how we can actually live below our means and invest 40 % of our income.

16:15So, man, JLD, this is my favorite part. And I got to tell you, Fire Nation, this is critical. And I tell you, I have had so many conversations, dozens and dozens and dozens of people, if not hundreds, about their finances. And oftentimes, it starts with us and a mindset and measuring. And I'll give you an example. How did I get to 40 %? Well, so when I was young, I stood in food lines as a kid. So there was a drive in me that a lot of people obviously didn't have because they were fortunate enough to not have to do that. And I knew that money would create some degree of freedom. So the fancy, shiny things that I bought, as Covey says, a satisfied need no longer motivates, which is one of my favorite quotes.

16:55It's don't buy fancy things because they're tired very quickly thereafter and they mean nothing to you. So when you start making money, it's really important to save as much as you possibly can. It might start at 10%, but strive to get to 40, 50, 60. And then as you make more money, keep putting that money away. Pay down those bills if you have them. Try to pay cash for everything. And then create more streams of income so that income can be invested. And I'm going to give you one quick note. I drove the same car for 12 years, 450 ,000 miles. And when I was done driving that car for 12 years, I took the money I saved because I continued making the car payments.

17:33And it was about$50 ,000. I invested that in my first piece of foreclosed property. And that led me to just seven years later, having almost 500 doors that I not only own, but I'm also passively invested in 2 ,400 apartments across the country. And that all started with saving car payments and living below my means. Critically important, however you do it. Fire Nation, I really hope you realize the truth and just the opportunity that Chris is talking about here. And this is one reason why I absolutely live the quote, which is, it takes money to make money. It is so true. Like, if you actually want your money to start working for you, you need to actually have money.

18:19And yes, there is that quote of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, because the rich have money they can use to make more money. They can make investments. They can have time to see that compounding action happen. And compounding, Fire Nation, is the eighth wonder of the world. It's amazing when you see it in fruition. That is why Warren Buffett is so gosh darn rich because he's been doing it for so gosh darn long. And man, I mean, I'll tell you, like, I love the opportunity that I now have to invest my money and to watch it grow in compounds. And guess what? Not every time you make an investment, it's going to be a win.

18:54Sometimes it'll be a win. Sometimes it'll be a loss. But at least you have an opportunity instead of just having the money going towards, you know, things that we really don't need. you just want. And then you can, you know, I love that quote, which applies to this kind of conversation as well, which is as an entrepreneur, you need to work like people are unwilling to work so that in a few years you can live like people are unable to live. And I'll also remember when I was in law school, there was a quote going around that was live like a lawyer. When you're in law school, you'll live like a law student when you're a lawyer because you'll just attain so much debt and it's just going to be a bear to get out of.

19:34So you need to think about this stuff. And let's move on to our last topic of the day, which is diversification. I mean, it's so key because we don't know what's around the corner. So how, Chris, can we build multiple businesses and multiple streams of revenue to protect us? Wonderful. Go back to the 40%. Today, that's about 70 % to 75%. And I use that money to build multiple businesses and create multiple streams of income, touching on exactly what you said, JLD, which is, okay, as you make money, try to figure out how that money can work for you and create more money while you sleep, right? And that's why we love the real estate business.

20:10It's that passive cash flow. So I went out and I took this money that I was making and I invested some of it in a software company that a gentleman I met on a charity board. And now that is developing extra streams of income for us. I went out and bought more properties and each one of those creates a multiple stream of income. I then started investing in larger assets with a group of people, which is what we do today. That creates more streams of income. You could easily open up a coffee shop or a food stand or whatever it may be. But the ultimate goal should be for you to replace your existing income.

20:42And if you do it right, it will be passively or at least require minimal work on your side of things. So the idea behind building multiple businesses is it will take time. But if you do it right and live below your means, these things are building blocks. They'll put you in a position to then go out and build smaller businesses. And a business could be an LLC with a single family rental. But all of those things can create cash flow and give you incredible tax advantages, especially in the real estate space. So many opportunities out there, Fire Nation. But again, only if you're living below your means, only if you are saving, hopefully sooner than later, up to 40 % of your overall income.

21:19So Chris, you shared so many value bombs here today. Give us the single key biggest takeaway that you want to make sure we walk away with from our conversation today. Then give us any call to action you have for us about how we can connect with you, any gift you may have for our listeners, and then we'll say goodbye. Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity. You know, my call to action would be, and I found this for myself, is, you know, just identify your value proposition and just get out of your own way. You know, we fill our minds with just wasted time. We fill our minds with no offense, Game of Thrones reruns and all these different things that just suck up our time.

21:55And then we talk about how we have no time. So just sit down, build a plan. Mantra may help you. And just get out of your own way and just focus on what you're really good at and put people around you that can help you to achieve those goals. And as far as a call to action for you guys, I wanted to forward something. And what we're going to do for you listeners today is we want to give you our early retirement calculator and our multifamily apartment syndication guide. It's passive investing. And we're also going to give you a copy of my book. And if you go to sterlingrhinocapital.com forward slash fire, you can download my e-book, which is You've Earned It, How I Refused Anything Less Than Success, and You Can Too.

22:38and we so far have actually fed over 300 ,000 people through our partnership with Feeding America through those book sales with a goal of feeding a million. So we're really proud of that. But I want to give you all a copy of that for free today. So thank you so much for the opportunity. Fire Nation, you're the average. Of the five people you spend the most time with, you've been hanging out with CR and JLD today. So please keep up that heat and head over to eofire.com. Type Chris in the search bar and his show notes page will pop up with everything we've talked about here today. And Chris, one more time, give us that URL and what people will get when they head over there.

23:12Yeah, our company is Sterling Rhino Capital, and the URL is sterlingrinocapital.com forward slash fire. Chris, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you, brother, and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation. Today's value bomb content was brought to you by Chris and Fire Nation. Over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 3 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and created a revolutionary 70-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment, I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk.

23:51The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit uncommonsuccessbook.com to learn more and order your copy today, and I'll catch you there, or I'll catch you on the flip side. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lanz, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Matt and Nathan are leading AI creators in your guiding light in the AI and technology frontier. AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented.

24:27The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.