Takeaways
- Mel says that from an early age he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. He truly believes entrepreneurs help change the world and wanted to live his life helping people bring their dreams to life.
- Mel says that his life was going great–business was good, he was doing masterminds, traveling the world speaking at events, when he got the news he had a 7.5cm cancerous tumor on his bladder. His whole life got turned upside down. All the things that he thought were important went out the window. There’s just one priority: life. After multiple surgeries and now 46 treatments, he is cancer free.
- One main thing Mel realized post cancer, that it didn’t effect him financially. That financial freedom is so key. So many people struggled through the pandemic, and he says that if these people had done things differently, they wouldn’t have to struggle.
- If you’re really going to live a life that’s peaceful and free, you need a funding mechanism and it’s money.
- Mel’s goal is to give people peace on the financial side.
- Mel says to ask yourself: do you have a definition of what the finish line looks like? What does that lifestyle look like? What do you want to experience? That’s what you move towards and overlay the price tag to match.
- You don’t want to be on a journey that isn’t meant for you.
- Being intentional: Mel says that you have to be intentional with your life and your money. Be fully aware, conscious, and intentional of the decision you’re going to make.
- “We allow what we want now to get in the way of what we want most.”
- Mel shares that most entrepreneurs, including himself, want control, freedom, to make an impact, and wealth. The reality is that your business was never meant to give you freedom. It was meant to bring a solution to a marketplace and create a cash flow stream. The problem is most entrepreneurs need to create the second machine, a money machine. When you do this right, your freedom is sitting in that money machine!
- Don’t take a passive approach to your money relationship, because it is a relationship. Take a leverage approach! When you start to build your money machine, when you need it, you flip the switch and it’s like an ATM.
- Mel says that “Complacency is the first step to crisis.” It’s not about not finding contentment, it’s about being vigilant to make sure you don’t backslide. Don’t think things are “good enough.” Play the game to win. Bring the same energy and focus to what you’re doing even when you think you’ve made it.
- A minimum 15% margin for error is what Mel recommends to build into your business.
- What Mel recommends investing in:
- Yourself. Skill up, learn more, grow more.
- Get rid of credit card debt.
- Focus on liquidity.
- Mel says that you have to approach life by asking how you can bring more value. How can you add more value to your relationships? To your marriage? To your customers? When you do this, your whole life shifts.
- 95% of the time over a 10 year period, your ETF will go up!
- “Building wealth has got less to do with money and more to do with behaviors.”
- Debt management vs wealth creation. If you are only focused on debt management, but never exercise the muscle around wealth creation, you’re not developing the skills you need to actually create wealth. Mel says you need to exercise both.
- The Entrepreneur Solution is Mel’s book that was the manual he wrote for his son.
Highlights
- (1:50) A little more about Mel.
- (3:52) Mel’s journey kicking cancer’s butt.
- (7:44) Living life peacefully and financially free.
- (9:45) Mel’s advice for someone in their 30s.
- (12:01) What does the finish line look like?
- (13:03) Figuring out how much your “dream life” costs.
- (15:45) Planning for medical expenses.
- (17:20) Being intentional with your life and decisions.
- (19:32) Perspective of buying expensive things.
- (20:57) How to build wealth in your business without having to work it for the rest of your life?
- (22:34) Building your money machine.
- (24:30) Having choices in your business is freedom.
- (25:27) How to not fall into the complacency trap.
- (28:49) Building in a margin for error in your business.
- (33:50) Building a nest egg.
- (35:38) What Mel suggests investing in right now.
- (36:50) Approaching life by asking how you can bring more value.
- (39:30) “Building wealth has got less to do with money and more to do with behaviors.”
- (40:09) The power of diversification.
- (45:33) 2.5 %
- (46:09) Debt management vs wealth creation.
- (50:52) Should you or should you not pay off your mortgage?
- (51:30) Mel’s book, The Entrepreneur Solution.
- (52:54) Mel’s book recommendations.
- (57:03) Where to connect with Mel.
Quotes
“How do we help other people bring their dreams to life?”
“Entrepreneurs and businesses help the world.”
“There’s just one priority: life.”
“It’s not about the money that matters, it’s about the enrichment of life that money will give you that matters.”
“The reason we make a decision isn’t to set the direction, the reason we make the decision is to get more information to make a better decision, to set a better direction.”
“We allow what we want now to get in the way of what we want most.”
“Your relationship with money is a relationship.”
“Complacency is the first step to crisis.”
“The more value you bring to someone else, the more you get paid.”
“Just because there was time served, doesn’t mean you’re entitled to a raise.”
“Building wealth has got less to do with money and more to do with behaviors.”
“Time is our greatest lever in wealth creations.”
“Always look to the bias of the author, the teacher, the person.”
“We all have money stories in our heads.”
Resources
Connect with Mel:
Website: melabraham.com
Youtube Channel:
The Affluent Entrepreneur Show
Instagram: @melabraham9
Book Recommendations:
The Entrepreneur’s Solution (Mel’s Book)
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