7 Signs You're About to Get Rich | Lewis Howes

27:20Lewis Howes:That's not the sign. The sign is somebody paid you for something that didn't require your hands. They paid you for the meeting. They paid you for the idea. They paid you because of something you said. And if you're honest, it felt a little wrong, like you hadn't earned it properly. It felt like the first time, you know, I can remember the first time that somebody paid me for what I knew about LinkedIn back in the day or about social media instead of for me doing something. And it was kind of weird. It felt like I was getting away with something. I was like, someone just paid me a few hundred dollars for just speaking, just giving them some ideas.

28:02Lewis Howes:I was like, huh, it was just, it was a little weird, But that was a sign. And if you've ever experienced that, then there's a sign for you in your life right now that you just moved up a level. You moved up a level for something. And that is key. And I remember getting paid to speak on stage. I was speaking for free for a year while I was practicing public speaking. And I remember someone paid me$500 to speak at like a workshop, like a local business workshop, teaching LinkedIn. And I thought to myself, wow, I just made 500 bucks where normally I would have to work a certain amount of hours to make this money.

28:40Lewis Howes:And I got up here and I got to speak and present and I made$500. And I remember the time I made five grand and then 10 grand and then 25 grand for a speech and then 50 and then 100 and then 200. And it was just like, huh, this is fascinating. It is fascinating. and it is a very powerful sign that you are just leveling up. And so I want you to be thinking about that in your life, thinking about what level you're at right now in those four levels. And sign three is actually going to help you figure out how to level up to that next level. Sign three is you can walk away from money. Now, this is strange for me as a kid, growing up was like, I was trying to find money anywhere I could get it.

29:34Lewis Howes:And I was like, I'll do any job. I'll do anything. I was truck driving. I was a bouncer at a nightclub. I mowed lawns. I worked at a golf course at 5 a.m. cutting greens and raking leaves when I was a teenager. I did so many different odd jobs. And I was like, wherever there's money, I'll go and just do that thing. But why do some people seem to close everything easily while other people fight for every single dollar that's provided for them? The answer to this is because one of them needs this money and the other one doesn't need this money. And everybody in the room can feel which is which. So let me give an example.

30:15Lewis Howes:When I had Myron on it, he put this in a way that is super powerful. He says that you have to work with human nature instead of against it. So what does this mean? Human nature is simple. If you chase, people run. If you're chasing after someone, they're going to be like, what is going on? They're going to run away from you. If you lean in too hard or you're screaming at someone, people are like, let me lean away from this. Like, it's a little too much. Like, give me some space here. Like, no one wants to be chased on. No one wants to be like, you know, broken into their boundaries of their space.

30:54Lewis Howes:So the awareness you have to start from is this. I have to make a sale. I don't have to make this sale. And this is a different distinction here. Yes, you have to earn money, but you have to make it from this moment, from this person or this potential client or this way of making money. These are two entirely different energies. And they produce two entirely different lives. And there's a difference between when you need this money, when you need this client, when you need this customer. Because when you need something, you're over-explaining and you're chasing them. You discount before they actually ask.

31:32Lewis Howes:You take the client you already knew was going to be a nightmare and going to consume your life. You say yes to a number that you resent, and then you spend six months paying for that yes. You're overworking, you're discounting yourself, all these things. So the sign to look out for is that the first time you said no to real money, not money you didn't need, money you could have used, and you said no to it. And you let it go because the price wasn't only the price. and man, this is crazy because I remember the reason I got burned out probably back in like 2017, 2018 is because I said yes to everything.

32:18Lewis Howes:Everything was growing. Everything was doing great and there was opportunities coming in left and right. I'd already hit my first book with the New York Times bestseller. I was getting on talk shows. My podcast was exploding. Opportunities flooding in. The more you grow, the more people are going to bring you opportunities. And I was just like, we have to say yes to this money. How can I turn down money? It makes no sense. When you're broke and you're living in scarcity your whole life, it doesn't make sense that you're going to say no to thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of$1 ,000,$1 ,000,$1 ,000 ,000 opportunity.

32:58Lewis Howes:I can't say no to this. It's$1 ,000 ,000. It is the craziest thing when you say no to$1 ,000 ,000. It is crazy town, I'm telling you. And yet, it is necessary in order for you to get to the next level because you're not saying no to$1 ,000, you're saying no to$1 ,000 or$500 or$20 ,000. You're saying no to something that doesn't line up with your values. You're saying no to something that doesn't line up with your timeline. You're saying no to something that is going to distract you from something greater that you're meant to be doing. And you're saying no to something that is going to pull you away from earning a lot more money that actually feels like more peaceful and freedom.

33:45And I don't know how many times I've said

33:48Lewis Howes:no to money. I've said no to money a lot of times, not because I don't want money, but because it wasn't the right money. And it's still kind of confusing today for me. But when I made clear boundaries, you know, years ago, especially when I started taking on sponsors for the podcast, I had to make a list of yes and no, because we were getting little sponsors, you know, in the beginning, in the first like four or five years, we weren't making any money with the podcast. But then we started bringing in sponsorships and it was small at the beginning. I didn't want to have a lot. I just wanted to have a few.

34:19Lewis Howes:And then it was like, oh, would you do these types of companies? And they want to give you a lot of money. Like, oh man, that's a lot of money. Huh? But something feels off that company and it doesn't really align with me. Gosh, but am I really going to say no to$20 ,000 for an ad read? And I had to really make a decision in that moment. I was like, not all money is good money. And there's a slippery slope here. And if I start saying yes to this, then I'm going to say yes to other things. And then what am I really promoting? It's going against the values of the show. Now, I don't care if people want to make decisions on certain products or companies in their own life, but it's not what I believe is encouraging at the highest levels, right?

35:05Lewis Howes:And so I started saying no. And then I started saying no to people coaching. At one point, I was charging$10 ,000 for a coaching call for one hour back in 2017, 2018. And I remember saying, this doesn't work for me anymore. Like for whatever reason, it's not scalable. It doesn't work for me anymore. And if you would have told me my 22-year-old self that someone is going to pay me a$10 ,000 for one hour call, I would have said, I will do this 10 hours a day. Like, of course, let's do it. But there's an energy exchange. There's time. There's something that's not scalable to that as well. And I remember I stopped after I did my last$10 ,000 hour phone call.

35:48Lewis Howes:Must have been nine years ago, eight, nine, ten years ago. And I was like, is something wrong with me? But it actually feels like a sense of freedom when you can say no to money that you know isn't where you're heading. Maybe it was great for you to take that money and to do that action and use that time for a period of time. But it's not like I didn't need it anymore. I had saved a lot. I had invested a lot at that point. I wasn't spending my money on stupid things. I was really thinking about my future. And so I was like, huh, I don't, I'm not living in scarcity. I don't, I'm not living paycheck to paycheck.

36:26Lewis Howes:I don't need to do this. So if it's not supporting a vision, that's something scalable that I can impact more people, then right now the one-to-one doesn't make sense to me anymore. And that's just a decision I made at that time. It doesn't feel powerful in the beginning when you do this. It feels terrifying because you're like, how am I going to say no to money coming in? What am I thinking? Am I crazy? Have I lost my mind? In some ways you have lost your mind because most people don't think this way. You second guess it all week or all day. You're like, oh, I should really take this client or do this job.

36:59Lewis Howes:You do the math on what you just gave up on. You can't believe it. And then you notice that you're not available to every bad deal that also comes along anymore. You start saying no. You start having boundaries. You start valuing yourself in a different way. Whereas before, maybe you took jobs just because you needed the money. And now you're investing in things because it aligns with who you are and your vision and your value for the world. The first time you turn down money, your time gets a price. And it's a powerful thing. And I have said no to a lot. Sponsorships that are worth millions of dollars.

37:43Lewis Howes:I've said no to speaking gigs that are hundreds of thousands of dollars. I've said no to business deals, equity for businesses that just weren't the right fit or they weren't at the right timing or they weren't at the right alignment. And maybe some things I missed out on and maybe some things I could have said yes to, but I really wanted to put more value on my energy and my time rather than being on a plane more or having to promote more things or having to do more that I felt like was just going to exhaust me. And so it's learning how to make money that also doesn't mean you're not going to work hard, but making sure you keep your peace.

38:26Lewis Howes:And that's an important thing. Has this resonated with you in any way? If you have ever said no to money, please leave a comment below if you said no to money before. Tell me why you said no to it and how it made you feel when you said no to it. I'd love to hear your thoughts or see your thoughts in the comments below.

39:06Lewis Howes:episode drops because the next one might be exactly what you need. Now, let's get back to the conversation. You know that old saying, it isn't what you say, it's how you say it. I've always believed that. Anyone can talk about ambition or determination, but the real question is how you show up. Your presence, your energy, the way you move through the world, that's what makes the difference. Lending power, poise, and performance just like you. The Range Rover Sport was designed to make an impact. With a distinctly British design, the Range Rover Sport is built to take on roads anywhere. Free from unnecessary details, its raw power and agility really shine.

39:39Lewis Howes:It combines a dynamic sporting personality with elegance and agility to deliver an instinctive drive. And its assertive stance hints at an equally refined driving performance. Defining modern luxury, the Range Rover Sport features the latest innovations in comfort and convenience. The cabin air purification system, alongside active noise cancellation, creates a new level of quality, comfort, and control. Terrain Response 2 offers seven terrain modes to choose from, fine-tuning the vehicle for challenging roads ahead. And it's available with a choice of powerful engines, including a plug-in hybrid with an estimated range of 48 miles.

40:11Lewis Howes:The Range Rover event is on now. Explore enhanced offers at RangeRover.com. If you're a small business, you know one great hire can change everything. Maybe it's someone to keep the day running smoothly, find the right producer, or take work off your plate so you can focus on what you do best. Finding that person matters. Indeed sponsored jobs get you quality candidates when you need them most. Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits their needs. Listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at indeed.com slash podcast.

40:56Lewis Howes:That's indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Sign number four, your raise stopped being an event. So what does that mean? Well, how is it possible for someone to make a quarter of a million dollars a year and still be one missed paycheck from panic? Well, there's an answer to this because more income has never once solved this on its own. My guy, Anthony O 'Neill, who's a best-selling author and has an amazing show all around money. He came on this show recently and shared a number with me that I haven't been able to think about or I haven't been able to stop thinking about since.

41:46Lewis Howes:The number he said, was 48 % of people earning over$250 ,000 a year are still living paycheck to paycheck. People who are earning a quarter of a million dollars a year, almost 50%, 48 % of people who are making a quarter million dollars a year are living paycheck to paycheck. That is crazy to me. A quarter of a million dollars than a paycheck to paycheck. So let's kill the fantasy right now about money. The raise isn't gonna save you. The raise isn't gonna help you solve all your problems. It solves some problems. It solves some money problems. But if nothing else changes in your life, a bigger number just gives your bad habits more room to operate.

42:38Lewis Howes:So what does that mean? Well, if you are a gambler and you only have so much money or you love going out every single night and drinking and eating dinners and paying for everyone and you have more money, you're just going to keep spending more money on that habit that is causing you to spend more money. Or if you, every time you get a paycheck, you're like, all right, I need to go buy a new bag or a new shoes or whatever it is. the more the paycheck is, you're going to say, I have more money to go spend this now. And so you've got to recognize this within your life. Why are half of people who are making quarter million dollars a year living paycheck to paycheck still?

43:24Why?

43:25Lewis Howes:You have to navigate your own money habits. So why is this a sign? Here's what it used to look like. More money showed up and it became a weekend for people. Again, it became a dinner, a party, a celebration, an upgrade, let's spend more for an apartment, a bigger car payment, something that wasn't there before, wasn't there the year before, months before. You made more money, you spend more. Then the income went up and the lifestyle went up with it. And you ended up the end of the year, the same place with just nicer things, but the same internal feeling. This sign, the sign is when that stops.

44:06Lewis Howes:So when this feeling stops, those actions stops, this is the sign. When the extra money starts to come to you and you already decided where it was going before it came, that's when things start to really shift. What you earn and what you keep are two different numbers. And only one of them has ever built anything. Anthony made one more point on the show that I love. He says, your credit score can be lying to you about your actual wealth. Because a great score means you're good at borrowing money. You can have an 800 credit score and own almost nothing. So this is an important thing. And I want you to be thinking about it.

44:53And this is why I love, like, I struggle with this early on.

44:57Lewis Howes:I didn't know what to do. I wasn't the guy that would spend more. I was the guy that would hoard more because I was so afraid to go back to broke. I wouldn't spend my money. I had money and I was taking Greyhound buses. I was like the cheapest commercial flights anywhere with multi connections to save an extra 50 to a hundred dollars. I wouldn't sleep in hotels. I would, I would ask friends whenever I travel, if I could sleep on their couch. Um, I didn't have a car for a few years, even though I could afford one, I was like, I just don't want to spend the money. I was kind of like the opposite there.

45:30Lewis Howes:I was afraid because a scarcity of going back to broke. So I wouldn't spend it. So I would just hoard it. So my money never actually did anything for me. It didn't help me grow. And it was always like a scarcity. So you have to think about, are you a spender or are you a hoarder when you're making money? Both of those, you know, aren't good energetically. It's better to have money that you keep, I guess, that's sitting there in the bank, but that's not adding value long-term for you. So sign number five is money stopped giving you a feeling. And for me, I was pulled emotionally by money in every which way for so many years.

46:10Lewis Howes:But sign number five is when you really started to create wealth for yourself and abundance, is money stopped giving you a feeling. So what if the thing you're calling burnout in your life is actually the healthiest your relationship with money has ever been. So what does this mean for you? For most people, money isn't just a number. Money is a mood. A deposit lands in your bank account, and there's a lift. A bill lands, and then there's a drop. Your mood goes up, your mood goes down based on money coming in, money coming out. And you check the balance, and your whole day reorganizes around what you saw, right?

46:52Lewis Howes:It's like, and some of you never look at your bank account because you're afraid to see what's in there or afraid to see how much is gone. How many of you, again, leave a comment if you check your bank account every day and you're always like checking, checking, checking and you're kind of, it causes stress. If you check it every day and there's a neutral feeling, that's different. You're just making sure that everything is according to plan. But if you're checking and you're anxious, that's not probably the best solution. And some people never check. I've gone both sides. I went and checked multiple times a day for, you know, a year.

47:30Lewis Howes:And then I've gone and I've probably gone a year without checking because I was like, I don't want to know what's in there. I'm so broke. I don't want to look at it because it just makes me feel bad knowing that I have no money and I'm a piece of crap for not being able to make money or not being able to save it. It's like the emotions, the mood of what I saw in my bank account dictated my life in a lot of ways. So leave a comment letting me know if you check it every day, if you never check it, or how it makes you feel when you check it. And it's tough to make a good decision in the middle of this when you're feeling this stress and anxiety around what's in your bank account.

48:05Lewis Howes:So why this one is a sign? Well, the sign here is Boeing. And this is what starts to shift. When money comes in, it's almost like nothing happens to your chest. Nothing happens to your immune system, to your nervous system, to your body, to your brain, to your mind. You're just kind of like, you notice it. You just notice it. You acknowledge it. You say, thank you. I'm grateful. And you appreciate it. But you're not like, yeah, money, let's go spend it. Ah, I'm going to buy everything. and when you spend money or there's a bill that comes in you're not like this big drop right so you open the app without bracing yourself you're not like squinting looking oh what is that number you open the app without bracing a bill comes in and it's just information okay there's the bill uh it's a it's a hot summer right now in los angeles and our electric bill is like doubled it's like thousands of dollars and i was like at first i was like man is this something off here is this like what happened and then everyone in our neighborhood was saying oh our electricity bill just went up because it's so hot this summer so i'm like okay well it's just the heat it just costs more to cool the cool the house i guess but initially it could be a shock right you're like oh i'm not used to spending this much money on a bill like what is this but when you get used to it you know a bill comes in and it's just information okay this is information how can i respond to this information in a more neutral way not in the way that i'm freaking out and angry or upset or so high that it shifts everything that i am my energy is based on a number that comes in and goes out you don't feel rich you don't feel behind you feel more like oh i'm just i'm following my game plan and people panic when this happens.

50:00Lewis Howes:They think they've gone numb, right? They think they've lost the hunger that got them there, but you didn't lose anything. The money just stopped running your mood and this is such an important thing. It doesn't mean you don't think about it. It doesn't mean you don't focus on it. It doesn't mean you don't have a game plan for it, but it shouldn't dictate your emotional mood on a day-to-day basis. And that might take you years to figure out and years to process. So here's how you'll know. You had a good month and you didn't have to tell anyone about it. You had a bad month, you didn't have to tell anyone about it.

50:41Lewis Howes:Not because you were hiding it. It just never occurred to you that it was actually news to be talking about. And you're sticking to a game plan. You're sticking to a game plan where your money is working for you, not against you. This was probably one of the hardest things for me. Money was very emotional. Again, I wrote this book, Make Money Easy, Create Financial Freedom, and Live a Richer Life for myself. I wrote this for myself and really wrote it for my younger self that struggled because I was interviewing people for years to learn how to navigate these emotional feelings myself. I didn't want money to manage me.

51:24Lewis Howes:I didn't want money to dictate my feelings about myself or about life. And I wanted to have a different money mindset than the one that I had that I kind of grew up with and I had in my teens and my 20s, which was much more about scarcity. I didn't learn, I didn't know how to make money in my early 20s and my mid 20s. And then I finally learned how to make it through great mentorships and coaches that guided me. But I had to have the courage to take action to go earn it. But once I earned it, I didn't know how to manage it. And I didn't know how to navigate the emotional feelings that I had around money.

52:01Lewis Howes:And I was afraid of it still. So first I was broke and afraid of it. Then I made money, but I was still afraid of it. So I was like, making money did not bring me peace or freedom. So I need to learn what's underneath that, the other tools around money, the secrets around money that I wish they would have taught me in school. And so I wrote that for my younger self and for my current self to just continue to be a reminder that money is a tool and I shouldn't have this tool be working against me.

52:36Lewis Howes:You know that old saying, it isn't what you say, it's how you say it. I've always believed that. Anyone can talk about ambition or determination, but the real question is how you show up. Your presence, your energy, the way you move through the world. That's what makes the difference. Lending power, poise, and performance just like you. The Range Rover Sport was designed to make an impact. With a distinctly British design, the Range Rover Sport is built to take on roads anywhere. Free from unnecessary details, its raw power and agility really shine. It combines a dynamic sporting personality with elegance and agility to deliver an instinctive drive.

53:07Lewis Howes:And its assertive stance hints at an equally refined driving performance. Defining modern luxury, the Range Rover Sport features the latest innovations in comfort and convenience. The cabin air purification system, alongside active noise cancellation, creates a new level of quality, comfort, and control. Terrain Response 2 offers seven terrain modes to choose from, fine-tuning the vehicle for challenging roads ahead. And it's available with a choice of powerful engines, including a plug-in hybrid with an estimated range of 48 miles. The Range Rover event is on now. Explore enhanced offers at RangeRover.com.

53:40Lewis Howes:If you're a small business, you know one great hire can change everything. Maybe it's someone to keep the day running smoothly, find the right producer, or take work off your plate so you can focus on what you do best. Finding that person matters. Indeed Sponsored Jobs get you quality candidates when you need them most. Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits their needs. Listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast.

54:22Lewis Howes:Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Sign number six, you've started making decisions for people who don't exist yet. This is a powerful one. Why can you hand two people the exact same million dollars and one of them is broken side of the year while the other one builds something that outlives themself? The answer is because they're playing two different games and on two different timelines. One of them is thinking in months and one of them is thinking about themself. The other is thinking in years and decades and thinking about others. And money behaves completely differently depending on how far out you're looking when you decide.

55:14Lewis Howes:Anthony told me about writing his will in his 30s and I thought that was fascinating. and the part that struck me wasn't the will. It was that when he brought it up, his family assumed something was wrong with him. So when he said, you know, he's probably like, oh, you're going to die something like this? But he brought it up to his family and they thought, is something wrong with you? And that's how far outside the norm it is to plan past your own lifetime. So this one is quiet and nobody counts this. You filled out a beneficiary line instead of skipping it. You open something small for a kid who's four or even kids who are not even born yet.

56:00Lewis Howes:You caught yourself asking what this looks like in 10 years, 20 years, instead of what do they do for me this week, this month, next month. And you started thinking about what you're actually handing somebody. Because it's not just money, it's habits, it's a language, it's a belief system, it's a mindset. And it's what feels normal in your house. That's what's going to get passed down whether you plan it or not. And here's why it's such a reliable signal. You don't plan for a future you don't believe you're going to have. People in survival mode don't think in decades. It's very hard to think past today when you're in survival mode.

56:43Lewis Howes:That's all you're thinking about. I understand the feeling of that. It doesn't feel good. So the day you start, part of you has already decided this is going to work. And I remember in my early 20s, right when I started making money, I guess my mid-20s, maybe I was 26, 27, right when I started making money, I bought my future wife and future kids a life insurance policy. And this may seem strange for a 20-something-year-old to buy a life insurance policy. And I told this to my wife, Martha, when we met. I said, just so you know, like if we get married and if we have kids, I already was thinking about you 15 years ago when I made this decision to buy a life insurance policy for my future wife and kids.

57:33Lewis Howes:and I've been depositing a check every single month for almost 15 years at that point for my future wife and kids. People that I didn't even know existed yet. People I didn't know who they were going to be. I didn't know I was going to be marrying Martha. I didn't know who she was at that time. I had no idea that would be my life. I didn't know I'd have twin girls. You know, I had a vision. I had dreamed that I would be married and have kids one day, but I didn't know who, what, when, how many, I didn't know. And it was a decision that I made, even though at the time I was like, ah, you know, do I really need this?

58:11Lewis Howes:I'm so young. I'm so healthy. What's the point of this? You know, are these people going to value this? You know, I'm spending money on something that I will never benefit from. It's interesting. When you buy life insurance, you don't benefit from the money you're spending. Your kids and your wife or your beneficiaries do. So you're thinking outside of you for something greater than yourself, family, your legacy. And that one shift was a sign for me like, okay, this is starting to shift inside of me. I was stretching past myself and my own lifetime. I'm not saying you need to go out and buy life insurance tomorrow or today to do this, but it's thinking in ways that what will work for you, that you'll know you're thinking beyond yourself when you're spending this money.

59:02Lewis Howes:And the final sign, sign number seven, you change the unit you measure in. What does this mean? Well, what if you've been measuring the wrong thing this entire time? Everyone measures in dollars or almost everyone. What do I make? What does he or she make? What would I need to make to finally feel okay or to buy this thing? And that last number moves every time you get close to it. So I would just need$100 ,000, then I'm going to feel okay. Well, I would just need half a million, then a million, then 10 million, then 100 million will do it because then I can have everything I really want. Well, then it's a billion.

59:40Lewis Howes:I need a billion, then I'll feel okay. And the thing is, the closer you get to your original number, you're like, well, I can actually use a little more. A little more is going to make me feel a little bit better. There's a moment in my conversation with Anthony O 'Neill where he lays out the difference between being rich and being free. And it changes how you think about your next raise because rich is a number. Free is a length of time. And why this one is a sign. So here's the question that replaces the old one. Not how much do I make? How many months could I go without working? How many years could I go without working?

1:00:24Lewis Howes:That's the real scoreboard. And nobody knows their number. Not many people. The answer is zero. How many months could you go without working? Then you just haven't been building for it yet. It doesn't mean you're bad or wrong or you're behind. It just means you haven't been building anything yet for answering that question. You're renting your life one month at a time. You're working really hard, which is a great thing to work hard. You're making money and then you're paying for your lifestyle. This is something I did for a season of my life. If the answer is one month, like if I could only go one month, you're one bad month away from starting over.

1:01:02Lewis Howes:If the answer is six months, your whole life just changed and you might not have noticed it. Because that number isn't about safety, it's about options. So I want you to be thinking about what is that number? How many months can I go where I don't have to work because I have enough money to pay for my lifestyle for those many months. Six months means that you could potentially leave the job and not have to rush so quickly into the next thing that maybe isn't the best thing for you. You could turn down the client. You could start something. You could try to launch your own thing, whatever it might be.

1:01:37Lewis Howes:You have options. You've got flexibility. People with no margin, no months off, can't take the risks that build wealth. or it's really challenging because you've got to spend nights and weekends going all in on earning money on the side. And you could do that for a season of your life, but it's hard to do that forever. You need rest. You need recovery. You need time to be still and not work, work, work all day, all night long. The challenge is if you haven't given yourself that space, you can't afford not to. So the sign is catching yourself and asking for how long instead of how much. And if you can start doing that and get to your number, how long and how can I extend that number, you start to create more peace and more freedom in your life.

1:02:26Lewis Howes:And it was, you know, a few years, I was month to month, I was really like day by day. When you're sleeping on your sister's couch, you're sleeping in your parents' basement or wherever you're sleeping and it's not your place. I remember thinking to myself, like, where's the money for food tomorrow? like and and you start to ration i would go to these networking events these free networking events to try to meet people and i would literally i was the guy i remember my mentor called me out on this um i had a full-arm cast on for six months during this season also because i broke my wrist and it was in a full-arm cast so i had this big bulky cast on i went to this kind of like networking event thing.

1:03:08Lewis Howes:And they had cheese and crackers in the back of the room and bread. I went right to the back of the room first. I stuffed as much food as I could in my mouth. And then I stuffed bread, cheese, and crackers in napkins in my pockets with this cast on. And I'm holding food in my crumpled hand of my cast as well. I'm sitting in the event for an hour. then as I leave I take more put it in my pockets and I meet a guy named Frank Agin for the first time at this event and he meets with me outside and he goes he literally takes me to lunch right after this he goes you look hungry do you want some food and so he walked me right down the block we had lunch and I'll never forget this because he was generous enough to buy me a meal when I was literally just shoving food in my pockets because I didn't know where the next meal was going to come from this season of life.

1:04:06Lewis Howes:Now, it wasn't like I was on the streets, homeless, you know, living under a tent or something like that, under a bridge. I had my sister's house and I was eating her leftovers, but I didn't have money to buy things for myself. So after six months or a year of eating off of her plate, literally, and not providing, I was just like, I need to find ways to make money and what's the food for tomorrow? If she's not in town, what am I going to buy? It was that type of feeling. It just doesn't feel good. You're living day by day, paycheck to paycheck, month by month. That doesn't feel good. Whether you have thousands of expenses and you're paying it or you're sleeping in your parents' basement, it doesn't feel good if you know you don't have some type of margin, some type of months where if you have no money coming in, you have some months to survive and you'll be okay.

1:04:59Lewis Howes:So it gives you some more freedom, more flexibility when you can figure that out. So some of that sounded like your life. Like maybe you might be in that season right now. So where do you actually start? I don't want you to start with a budget, not with some new plan, not with one number. I want you to go find out how many months you could go without working right now and be okay and pay for your expenses. I want you to think about what you have and divided by what you spend in a month. That's the whole assignment. It takes a few minutes. How much you have divided by how much you have in a month.

1:05:36Lewis Howes:And most people never have run it once in their entire lives. They've never thought about doing this process. Whatever comes back to you, don't make it mean anything about you that you're not good enough or that you haven't done enough at this season of your life. It's just where you're starting today and that's okay. We want this to be a place where you can have information and move forward. You can't move a number that you've never looked at or you don't know. And here's what happens when you do. The anxiety doesn't go up. It starts to neutralize. It starts to go down. Maybe at first you're like, oh, I only have three months.

1:06:11Lewis Howes:If, you know, I don't make any more money. I only have three more months. And that might feel a little more stressful in the moment, but it gives you a sense of clarity. because a vague fear about money is always bigger than the actual number sitting underneath it. Then the goal is to just figure out how to go up one month at a time, how to extend this one more month at a time. That's it. One month at a time because every month you add is another decision you're allowed to make. And it brings me so much peace now knowing that my money is automated. When money comes in, it's going into my investment accounts and I know it's building for my future.

1:06:54Lewis Howes:And that's something I think about and it brings me peace and it allows me not to have to stress every single day saying, what do I do with this money? Why is this here? I don't have to worry about that. It took me time to get there and it's okay if you're not there yet, but I want you to get there soon. I want to leave you with this. Nobody is going to tell you that you're close. There's no announcement. Nobody's going to call you. No one's going to send you an email. The season right before everything changes looks exactly like the season before that one. That's why so many people quit with their evidence in their hands.

1:07:29Lewis Howes:The people I've met with real wealth aren't more talented than you. They aren't smarter than you. Most of them aren't working harder than you. They aren't. They just knew how to read what was happening while everyone around them was reading the bank balance and stressing about it. They kept going through the boring part, the boring season. They kept going when it was quiet, when it wasn't sexy. They kept going when the only proof they had was that they'd become somebody different. And then the money showed up late like it always does. And if you wanna go deeper on everything we've covered, Again, I wrote a book called Make Money Easy.

1:08:10Lewis Howes:The link is also in the description. And go get it. Go read it. I have so many exercises in this book that's going to help you create financial freedom inside of you, emotional and financial peace inside of you. This is the key. It's going to unlock it. It's what I wish I had many years ago. And go get your number this week. You can do it right now. What is it? Maybe you can open up your account right now and see how much money you have and say, how many months do I have? How many months could you go without working? Then tell me in the comments which one of these seven signs hit home for you.

1:08:43Lewis Howes:I love reading the comments here. So please comment on what spoke to you the most. Because if even two of these sound like you, then it means that something is already working. And I want you to keep working on these signs. You are worthy of feeling peaceful inside of you. and you're also worthy of having a game plan where your money goes to bring you peace in the future. My name is Lewis Howes. Thank you so much for being here. I'm grateful for you and I'll see you in the next episode. My friend, I hope you're enjoying this episode right now because we are on a mission to impact 100 million lives every single week.

1:09:24Lewis Howes:And every follow here on this podcast helps us reach more people. Make sure to hit the follow at the top of this show's page right now. It's the single biggest thing that you can do to support the show and the impact of us reaching you every single time we have new episodes. I appreciate you and I can't wait to see you in the next episode. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

1:10:08Lewis Howes:Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately, that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.

1:10:41Lewis Howes:With the U.S. Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card, you earn an unlimited 2 % cash back on every purchase. no quarterly activations, no categories to track, just unlimited 2 % cash back on every purchase. Think about those bigger everyday purchases, travel, groceries, things for the house, where afterward you realize, I could have earned cash back on that. That's the kind of opportunity that adds up over time. Visit usbank.com slash smartlycard to learn more. The creditor and issuer of this card is U.S. Bank National Association, pursuant to a license from Visa USA, Inc. Some restrictions may apply.

1:11:21Introducing Fidelity Trader Plus, the next generation of advanced trading from Fidelity. Customize your tools and charts and access them seamlessly across desktop, web, and mobile. For faster trades anywhere you go, try the all-new Fidelity Trader Plus. Learn more about our most powerful trading platform yet at fidelity.com slash trader plus. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC. Member NYSE SIPC.