Wealthy AF Podcast
Welcome to Wealthy AF, the ultimate podcast for ambitious individuals ready to transform their lives. Hosted by Martin Perdomo, The Elite Strategist, this show dives deep into the powerful pillars of personal growth, entrepreneurship, and building wealth.
Each week, we bring you actionable insights, inspiring interviews with industry leaders, and proven strategies to help you break free from the 9-to-5 grind, unleash your entrepreneurial potential, and create lasting financial freedom. Whether you’re scaling your business, investing for wealth, or leveling up your mindset, this podcast equips you with the tools to design the life you deserve.
Because let’s face it—being broke was never the plan. Ready to join a community of go-getters? Subscribe now and start your journey to becoming Wealthy AF today!
Wealthy AF Podcast
Thriving Through Adversity: Daily Habits, Mental Fortitude, and Legacy (w/ Jeremy Fouts)
Struggling to overcome life's hurdles? Join Wealthy AF as we sit down with the resilient entrepreneur, Jeremy Fouts. Discover how he turned adversity into opportunity through daily mental battles, achievable goals, and a structured routine. Learn from his inspiring journey and the lessons he's passed on to his sons.
From the power of cold plunges to the importance of continuous learning, we provide actionable strategies to help you build a mindset for success. Uncover the secrets of long-term achievement, legacy building, and the discipline of delayed gratification.
Key takeaways:
- Conquer the mind daily: Overcoming mental challenges is crucial for success.
- Set small, achievable goals: Gradual progress leads to long-term achievements.
- Build a structured routine: Consistency is key to success.
- Prioritize fitness and mental sharpness: A healthy mind and body are essential.
- Cultivate a legacy of honesty and service: Give back to others and build a positive reputation.
Tune in now to discover how you can thrive in the face of adversity and unlock your full potential.
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Building wealth isn't just about personal gain. It's about empowering yourself and your community. This is Wealthy AF your ultimate guide to understanding what it truly means to be Wealthy AF. Today's guest is Jeremy Fouts, and our topic today is going to be the resilient leader overcoming entrepreneurial challenges. Jeremy is a true expert in the realm of personal development, with a proven track record of helping people reach their peak performance. Jeremy's work with elite professionals and athletes is legendary. With a bachelor's degree in science and a 17-year career dedicated to inspiring and mentoring others, he brings a unique perspective to the table, jeremy. Welcome to the podcast, sir.
Speaker 2:Man. Martin, I'm excited to be on your podcast. Been following you for a while and love what you put out to the audiences and I recommend everybody listening to your podcast on a daily basis. So thank you for having me on today.
Speaker 1:Thank you, brother. It's my pleasure and honor to have you, man. This is a real interesting topic that we're going to talk about today. As an entrepreneur myself, overcoming challenges is always at the top of the helm, right? You're always turning off, we're always dealing with something, and we got to get resourceful to figure things out. I'm going to go with. The first question I got for you is what does being resilient mean to you as an entrepreneur, brother?
Speaker 2:Well, martin, I tell everyone that I coach uh, you know on my daily meetings with different people and own a nutrition company as well. Any leaders that I work with, I'll tell them adversity is either with you right now, or it's, uh, just now left, or it's on its way. You know so many, so many different times. You know, people look at successful people and they think, well, man, they had an easier road than I had, you know they, they had an easier path. They maybe was, uh, given a better home, life or whatever the situation. And what I've found in my years of being an entrepreneurial is is success usually comes from going down the hard path, and the only people that don't succeed is the ones that quit. The ones that quit, they're just missing out on the opportunity that's right around the corner succeed at their helm, that are at the top of their game.
Speaker 1:Do you find that those guys are the guys that have learned to overcome the big challenges? And how do you develop the mindset and the mental toughness to overcome the big challenges when the chips are down and the world's against you and you've got to figure this thing out? How do you build that mindset?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, the one thing I tell everyone, martin, is you don't overcome the big challenges unless you're prepared to overcome them. You know, I tell everyone that it's all about daily growth. You know, a lot of people think you know it's all about preparing yourself to overcome the big things that come in your life. And I tell them, if you can't tackle day by day, you're not going to be able to overcome the big challenges. So what are you doing on a daily basis to grow the mind, to prepare the mind, to get the body physically in order to be able to handle these challenges? You know, I mean, I look at every different ones I'm working with, whether it be an athlete, whether it be a businessman, and I'm like, if you can win every day, that's where it starts.
Speaker 2:You know, I mean I see so many different people. They say, well, you know, I'm working with a young athlete right now that wants to gain weight. He's going to be a big D1, maybe a recruit right out of high school to play pro baseball. And he said well, man, I'm not hungry, but I need to gain 20 pounds. I'm like you can't tell me that you need to gain 20 pounds, but you're not hungry. Can you win today, getting the macros in and doing everything you need to do on a daily basis?
Speaker 2:I'm working with a businessman that wants to increase his business career, but he has a habit of drinking a little bit too much alcohol and I'm like, can we say no today, don't worry about tomorrow, don't worry about tomorrow, don't worry about the next day? But can we conquer every day? Because if you conquer the mind, martin, you're going to conquer the world. And if you can win day to day, when those big things come to you, you don't look at them as as a as a big time obstacle. You look at them as a challenge because you prepared the mind and the body to go win that challenge, which usually turns into an opportunity, which gives you the reward.
Speaker 1:Give us a story, or give us an example of someone you've helped and coached through that, or maybe your own story on how you give us an example of how you win today like a strategy you know. Share a story with us.
Speaker 2:Okay, know, I mean I, I could share a lot of different stories, but you know probably the one that's dear to my heart, especially to this day I have. I have two athletes that, uh, I'm happen to be the father to. Uh, one of them is is going to be a junior in high school and one of them is going to be a freshman, and my freshman has always been just the most elite athlete, just physically. Everything he's done, he's won at a high level. My older one has always not had the natural ability, but he but he's continued to put in the work and we're actually flying down today to get us first D one offer in baseball. Congratulations, congratulations, brother. And so what it's really done for him is it helped him click a couple of years ago that if it's not put on a piece of paper of what I want to accomplish the next day, then I'm probably going to float through the day. We talk big time into floating through the day, and so if every day he has on his list of paper, his workouts, his macros, you know everything he wants to do from a conditioning standpoint, but not only that, from a mindset standpoint. You know, that's one thing that's really missed in in business, um, in sports, everything is.
Speaker 2:You know, we understand that if we go to McDonald's 30, 60 days straight, we can pretty much guess what we're going to look like. Okay, but your mind is so powerful, you know. I mean, we talked to a lot of baseball athletes. You know we have a supplement that that is provided to a lot of the MLB teams. And you know, if, if I understand that hitting a baseball is 90% mental, but we're doing 90% of our work just physical, but doing nothing on the middle side, we're not going to be prepared. And that's the same way with the business world, you know so. So, yes, we're going to have a list of everything we're going to take in from our macros, our workouts, but also, what are we doing to prepare the mind? If we're just flipping through TikTok, we're just flipping through Instagram on a daily basis, we're not listening to podcasts like yourself. We're not listening to and reading good information. That's going to prepare the mind for those situations. You're not going to succeed. Talk to us brother, coach us.
Speaker 1:through this man, we got a listener right now. That's like, yeah, I love it. Show me how. Where do I start coach? Where do I begin? How do I start making my mind better? How do I start? I want to start a business. I'm stuck in this job. I'm stuck in this situation. I'm really I don't know what to do. I have this big decision. The world's against me. How do I start building that?
Speaker 2:Talk to me. Where do I begin? You know, I know everybody's heard of David Goggins. Um, you know he talks about doing the hard things and, and I would tell you, put yourself in a position early in the morning to do hard things. You know, for me, I do a ice cold plunge bath at five o'clock in the morning and I tell you, martin, that's the one thing I do not want to do early in the morning.
Speaker 2:You know the next thing I do I come straight to the office and I study and I journal. You know I put all of my attention into what can I do to become the best I can do today, and then I go straight to the gym. I already have my workout put on my app. I know exactly what it is I'm going to accomplish. I come straight back. I know how much protein that I need. I know, two hours later, you know what how much of a protein snack that I need. I know two hours later, you know what how much of a protein snack that I need. I know exactly what I'm doing in my business with owning my nutrition company. I have my meetings structured out and then, when I'm done with the day, I also do the sauna, I do a cold plunge again, I come straight back to the office before dinner, I do some more studying, I spend my family time and then I come back to the office and I plan my next day. You know so. So, so many times I read this in a book when I was in my twenties I've been in nutrition industry for about 25 years now and it said your, your, your growth as far as your sales, what you're producing, will never outgrow your leadership. You know so.
Speaker 2:I see so many people stuck in life. You know they're wanting to start a new business, you know, and they're sitting there and they're reading and they're they're getting in this information and that's good, but they're not putting any action into it. You got to start putting the action into it. But also you got to say you know what? What am I doing to grow on a daily basis?
Speaker 2:If I'm not growing on a daily basis, I'm not going to grow a successful business. If I'm not growing, you know, then all of a sudden I'm going to start doubting myself. A lot of people look at you know, and talk about motivation and I tell them look, you're not going to be motivated until you start seeing action and you start seeing results, and then that's when the real motivation kicks in. I see so many people that they have a business idea. Maybe they started the business. It's not going the way that it needs to go, or what they think that needs to go. And I tell them look, you're just starting on this journey. It's what are we doing on a daily basis is what's going to get us to that next level.
Speaker 1:So the habits. So you're basically saying the habits that you create. You have a good structure. Habits, so you're basically saying the habits that you create. You have a good structure. Talk to me about the night before, right? So I read this book, the Gap in the Game. I don't know if you've read that one, the Gap in the Game. I recently read that.
Speaker 1:I read that I don't know three, four months ago, and one of the things that the author of this book great book I've read a couple of his books he talks about every night and I started doing it since I have a system. I have my own system that I was doing before and I still have that system, which is my gratitude journal and my stuff in the morning. But I started implementing this thing at night, where now I have a separate journal what were my wins for the day and how did I improve? Today, it primes my mind for the next day, for wins and improvement the next day, and then start writing from there. What kind of system are you recommending for someone to start Like? Talk to me about that end of the day, preparing for the next day. What should that look like for someone?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I do a lot of the same things that you do. But the biggest thing is I take my list of exactly what I want to accomplish the next day. Obviously, my workouts are already planned out, okay, and then also I look at my business what I need to do on the next day of my business. But I also answer one question what is my biggest regret for the day? You know, and that's one of the things I always ask myself, you know, and so you know, like, for example, you know, I got, I got caught.
Speaker 2:I got caught on a phone call yesterday for 45 minutes that I shouldn't have been on. It was just a guy rambling. That was 45 minutes that I'll never get back, you know so. So I've got a little system that I do not answer a phone call unless I know who it is. And I made a mistake and answered the phone call and I got caught on 45 minute phone call because I didn't want to be rude and that was my biggest regret.
Speaker 2:You know, I was working with another guy yesterday and his biggest regret that he had was he drank a margarita when he knew he shouldn't drink a margarita because it led into three margaritas. You know, and and so, basically, did that alcohol give him a gain in the day? No, it didn't. Did that 45 minute phone call? Did it give me fuel or did it suck from me? You know. So it's monitoring those little bitty things because I can promise you today I'm not going to get caught on a 45 minute phone call with somebody telling me about their soapbox and having a victim mindset.
Speaker 2:That does nothing but suck for me. It does not give me fuel, you know. So that's something that I really am conscious about is am I doing the things on a daily basis? That is going to give me fuel. That's going to prepare me for the next day. Another thing I don't touch my phone. My phone stays in my office at nighttime and all I do for the last hour is spend time with my family and then also read. I always put a book right beside my bed and I try to give my mind everything it needs before I go to bed the side of my bed and I try to give my mind everything it needs before I go to bed.
Speaker 1:So, very strategic, and what you're feeding your mind and your habits, man, I really like that question. That's a good question. What's my biggest regret for the day? Because it makes you that question, as I'm saying it out loud to me, what it does for me, man, that's powerful. It just it makes me more efficient. I feel efficiency. Right, I feel efficiency because making me think like, hey, where did I lose time?
Speaker 2:it's efficiency and it's also accountability, martin. You know I mean we want, as society today, if our day does not go as planned, we want to make excuses, we want to say well, but I did this, but I did that, instead of saying no, I'm in control of my day. You know, I mean when, when I work with you know a pro athlete I mean they know exactly. I mean baseball is specifically. They play 162 games in a year. They know on their off days what they're doing from a training, what they're working on on, they know exactly their meal plan, everything and it's all about what. Are you going to do and are you going to make a regret and own it and be accountable and not make that same mistake, man?
Speaker 1:that's really really good, really good stuff. What keeps you? What keeps you going when it's hard to see the finish?
Speaker 2:Martin, the biggest thing that keeps me going is is my, my love for, for what I'm trying to accomplish, which is making an impact on other people's lives, is making an impact on other people's lives. You know, if we look at our own lives and I know you said you had a couple of boys and for me I tell my boys, the greatest thing that I can give them at my funeral is people, not an inheritance of just finances, but people walking up to them and saying your dad made an impact in my life. You know, I'll never forget the first time I ran a half marathon. This is probably about 15 years ago. You know it's 13.1 miles and a mile nine and mile 10, you think, oh, man, I can't do anymore. And then after you complete that, you're like man, that that wasn't that big of a deal.
Speaker 2:And then I ran three more half marathons in the next two or three months and it's so crazy how our mind will literally almost defeat us when we think that we can't finish a project or we can't finish you know the making it to the finish line. But then, when you make it to the finish line, it's all about saying you know what, that wasn't that bad. I've got a promise to myself. I've got a promise to my family and all the people I'm responsible for, that Jeremy Fouts is going to make some mistakes, but I'm going to give it my best, not just for me, but for the example I can provide to others.
Speaker 1:That's a great man. It's about. It's about the legacy. The legacy is the impact we leave behind. It's not just the money.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent. A hundred percent. I tell everyone I've always been a money motivated guy, martin. I love, I love making good income, but but that's, that's just a measuring stick of what I'm doing and providing value to the marketplace. People all the time they they want to make money. But I ask them the question are you providing value to the marketplace? Because if you're providing service and value to the marketplace, the money is going to come. But here's the greatest thing and I know you know this is an entrepreneur it's what the money makes of you. It's who you become in the journey.
Speaker 2:You know, if you, if you listen to any person that's made millions and millions of dollars, they'll they'll make this statement and if you have never made millions, you don't understand it. But they'll say, if I lose it all today, I would not be worried if I can do it again. That's right, yeah, and then that's the mindset of reason. The reason that's the case is because they know what they had to put theirself through to be able to accomplish that and they're not afraid of doing that again. They know the person they became in that process and that's what's prepared them for being comfortable with the fact that they can do it again. Just like I told you, I ran that first 13.1 miles and I thought I was going to die at mile nine. I was an athlete but I never ran long distance. And then, after I completed them, like man, there's nothing to 13.1 miles. I'll do it three or four more times.
Speaker 1:What's interesting is when I did it I did one around the same time you did about 10 years ago and for me it was the first five miles that were rough. Right, it was the first five miles. By the time I got to mile nine, I was just kind of cruising down. I by the time I got to mile nine, I was just kind of cruising down, I was just cruising. It was the first five that were really, really challenging for me. I do want to share a quick story with you, jeremy.
Speaker 1:This weekend I went to I'm in Tampa and this weekend we just moved to Tampa, my family and I, my wife and I and we went to, my wife and I went to this. We went to this museum. It's called the Harry B Plant Museum and it's a hotel that was built by this man, harry B Plant, in Tampa in 1898. When he was, there was only 750 people in the city of Tampa. The city of Tampa asked him to build this hotel and he was a very rich man and he said no, I'm not going to build it there, I'm going to build it over there, but you have to build me a bridge, right? This is his negotiation with the city. The city said, no problem, we'll build you the bridge. And now today that museum is rented, is owned by the city and is rented to Tampa University. Right, it's in downtown, beautiful, beautiful structure.
Speaker 1:So my wife and I are walking in this building, we walk into this building and we have the headsets on and we're learning about the artifacts and all this stuff. And the guy spent $3 million in 1898, brother, in 1898, the guy spent $3 million to build this thing, right, and I'm like holy smokes, 1898. $3 million is a this thing, right, and I'm like holy smokes, 1898. $3 million is a lot of money today. Absolutely, $3 million in 1898 was a heck of a lot of money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'm looking at, and so the lady, the one lady, comes up to us. What do they call them? The curators, or something? She's teaching us about the artifacts and the stuff in there to me and my wife and I said you know, this guy was a really wealthy man, right, she goes oh, yeah, he was a very wealthy man. But, more importantly, what he was, he was a good man, he really cared about this city, he invested all this money in the city and she had nothing but good things to say about this man and I got to thinking. I was like man. Man, aside from leaving the building, the man's reputation, his legacy that he left behind and giving back to the city was far more important. Giving back to the community of the people was far more important than his money. Although we're enjoying this and this is beautiful, but look at how that woman is talking about this man 140 years later.
Speaker 1:Man to your point about you know, when, when you when later. Man to your point about you know, when you told your sons about when they go to your funeral, you want people to say to tell them your dad changed my life. And that's what I thought about, that I was like man, my legacy, you know, I do that through this podcast, someone listening to you today, jeremy, you could literally be changing that person's life right, like something they heard. You say something. They hear us. And that's what I do. This stuff too right To help people. I want to empower people. I want to stop people suffering, if I can, because I know through certain habits and a certain mindset, people can change and become better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, martin, I tell you on that subject, not to cut you off, but I tell, I tell. I tell anybody I work with on a daily basis the truth is good enough and I tell them, if you can tell the truth a hundred percent of the time, that's what 90% of the people can't do. And and and. The one thing that I've learned is people are attracted to good people, you know, and when I'll leave a conversation with someone, I ask myself internally. I'm like, did I leave that conversation, that person feeling good about themselves? Now, if I need to tell them some truth, I'm going to tell them the truth, but I'm also going to help build them up and let them know that I'm here to serve them.
Speaker 2:Service to many is the true way to greatness, and a lot of people are having those conversations in business thinking, well, what can I do to get in this conversation to get a sell for me? If you will transfer that and say, how can I bring value to this other person, you're going to get the sell. It might not be today, but if you treat yourself right. I tell my boys it takes a lot of time to build a reputation and two minutes to destroy it. Just feel strong on that reputation and believe so much in your core values and do the right thing over and over, and it'll pay big dividends back to you, compounding on and on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, you nailed it, brother, you, you, you just hit. You hit some really things on the head. I think actually, as a man and I have three boys myself, right, and as a man, I always tell my boys your money, um, what's more important than money and anything for men is his reputation, his word. Yep, when a man says he's gonna to do something, be very careful what you say yes to, because, as a man, when you say yes, you better mean it. And when you say yes and then things are not comfortable, you better honor your word or you go own up to that person. You said yes to it and own it like a man. I screwed up, I dropped the ball, my bad. I said yes and I should have said no and I couldn't, and that should be harder than doing the thing, having to go on that thing. So make sure you're very careful on what you say yes to.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That's one of the things that helped me make millions and millions of dollars in my 30s is I learned also to say no when I needed to say no. And what I learned, martin, is I'm a giver and I would stretch myself, and anybody in business need to learn this as quick as they can. If you ask me to come to coffee tomorrow morning and I knew it didn't fit in my schedule I learned to say Martin at this time. That's not going to work for me and my schedule, but if something changes, I'll get back to you, because I learned that I was stretching myself so much and committing to some things that I really couldn't commit to, and it kept me from accomplishing what I needed to accomplish in my daily task, which was limiting the amount of success that I would have, and so learning also to say no, but a hundred percent, I tell my boys and anybody I'm working with respect and manners and honoring your word will pay you back big time.
Speaker 2:But, but yes is a yes and I'm going to be there promptly on time. I'm going to have my cell phone turned off, I'm going to look you in the eye, I'm going to shake your hand, I'm going to treat you with respect and dignity and I'm going to make you feel good about yourself. And? But I'm going to treat you with respect and dignity and I'm going to make you feel good about yourself, but if I give you a yes, then you can count on it. I'm going to be there. But you're right, sometimes you make mistakes sometimes, but that's okay, we're humans. We're humans.
Speaker 1:But own it. If you said yes and you should have said no because you made a mistake as a man, oh shit, man, that's hard. Now I got to go back and own that and say, man, I own that. My bad, I said yes, I should have said no, I couldn't honor my word. And that, man, when you start doing that over time, you start to train yourself to be impeccable.
Speaker 1:There's a book, the Four Agreements. I don't know if you've read that one, no, but I'll write it down and read it. It's a good one. And one of the four agreements to yourself is be impeccable with your word. That's right, it's a great book. Be impeccable with your word, and I think that's one of the core essence of a man is to be impeccable with his word. When you say something, mean it.
Speaker 1:And to your point from earlier, jeremy, you said you bring value to the marketplace. I'm a big believer in the marketplace. Reward you according to the value you bring to it. Oh yeah, bring value, the money will come. You bring focus on bringing value as an entrepreneur, you know, and the money will come. People, people honor that. People respect that and honor your word. I'm a big, that's a big one. For me, integrity is. One of my biggest values is integrating and honoring my word and I think that's why a lot of my investors I know that's why a lot of my investors are attracted to me, because when I tell them, hey, we're going to do this deal, let's invest in this deal, I keep my word and they know that if I say it's blue, it's blue. There's no fluffing of the numbers and I give it to them straight, with the good, the bad and the ugly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, the truth is good enough. You might have some investment deals that you tell them look, you don't all look pretty, but there's going to be a great reward. But there's some risk here. You know, are you in or you're not? And and I mean most businessmen are going to take that, you know and they're going to. They're making a good decision. Um, but yes, the truth is good enough. Man, how do you deal?
Speaker 1:with? What do you tell an entrepreneur? Um, that's dealing with criticism. That's dealing with the naysayers. Right, you got all the voices. You have this vision in your head, right? You had a vision in your head when you started your, your nutrition company. You had a vision in your head when you started with your you know, your family. I had a vision in my head for the life I live today, years ago and but you got naysayers. So how do you deal with people who criticize your ideas and what's the strategy?
Speaker 2:for that. I tell entrepreneurs if you are not getting criticism, you're not doing something right. Okay, now, this really bothered me in my thirties. I'm 48 now, martin, so I mean, when you get older man, there's not a lot that bothers you and I tell I tell anyone I'm working with, I'm like hey, here's the way life works. You're going to be judged. Okay, if you are a fat man, they're going to say you're lazy. If you're a built and Jack man, they're going to say you're on steroids If you're. If you're skinny, they're going to tell you you're using diet pills. If you make a lot of money, they're going to tell you all you care about is money. If money, they're going to tell you all you care about is money. If you're broke, they're going to tell you you're lazy and unmotivated. So you are going to get attacked in anything that you do and the good way of knowing that you are headed in the right direction is when people attack you, when people criticize you.
Speaker 2:You know, I mean, I'm actually a fitness guru, I love nutrition. I've been in a lot of social settings when someone offers me a drink and I say you know what I'm not drinking? Right now I'm focusing on this. They call me a weirdo If I tell them that I'm not eating the pizza tonight. I'm working on my macros, I'm only doing protein. They call me a weirdo If I tell them I'm going to be at the gym Saturday morning, so I'm not going to go out on Friday night. They call me a weirdo. You know what? I tell all of my people that I work with. I say hey, you want to be a weirdo. That's what a weirdo is. That's right, man, because what I call a weirdo is the one that just follows the crowd and if you can set yourself apart from the rest of the people in the marketplace and you can say I want to go in the direction that's going to get me the best results. The best results is me being the most physical, fit, mental, sharp, feeding the mind on a daily basis and doing the best I can do to win as many days as I can win. That is what you want to do. Are you going to be criticized if you can't go play golf with your buddies on Saturday and are they going to give you a hard time because you said that's a family day or that's a business day? Absolutely. Are you going to get criticized when your business starts growing at 30, 40, 50 percent and they're going to tell you you need to chill out a little bit. All you're doing is focusing on your business. That's OK, it's going to happen. But naysayers, criticism, it's going to come. And when it does come, you just smile and say you know what, I'm doing, something right.
Speaker 2:I learned this a lot from my brother. I got a brother that pastors a church that has 15, 20,000 members and I called him about 10, 15 years ago as he was building this church. And Martin, he said I'm in meetings here and the meetings here and meetings there, and he said I'm working through these issues and I got this problem and this issue I'm working with and and I said well, rodney, it seems like you got a lot of issues he goes I love it, man. He said, because issues means growth and when you don't have issues that you're working through, when you don't have problems on your desk in the morning and you're a business owner, when you don't have criticism, you're not growing.
Speaker 2:When you have issues that you're I mean, I've got notepads all over my desk that I'm working through today before I go jump on a plane with my son. But you know what? I'll look at this and say I'm going to attack this one. I've got 10 on the ground here and I've got three more that I've got to accomplish and I love approaching these. I look at this as this is growth happening on my screen. This is growth happening and I'm going to tackle these and challenge. Look at these challenges and I'm going to I'm going to overcome these.
Speaker 1:You know, what's interesting is, as you say, that, right, you said, hey, when people are, those people, the naysayers are going to say you're weirdo, because you're, you're, you're, you're saying no to pizza, you're saying no to alcohol. What's interesting is the right people. You know, as you said that, as you were saying that, you know what I was thinking. Respect, yeah, like, like someone says that to me, like, hey, martin, I'm not going to the beach today, um, because I am focused on this shit. Respect, man, respect to you, that you that's like. Because you, it takes one to know one, right, it takes one to know one like yo. I respect you, man, let's get you out of this environment so we can foster your goal, right, you?
Speaker 2:you honoring your goal, you're respecting yourself, so I respect that and that's what helps me at 48 versus when I was 30. Right is is at 30. I didn't understand that. Martin, you said it exactly right. Everyone knows what they need to do. They just don't want to do it. And so if you tell me, hey, jeremy, I'm not going out on social night Friday night because I'm going to be in the gym at 7 o'clock on Saturday morning, then I look at you and might give you a hard time and call you weirdo.
Speaker 2:You know what's really going on in my mind. Man, I wish I could have that discipline, because people discipline is what gives you freedom. Right, that's right. And people don't get that.
Speaker 2:If you don't have the discipline to eat correctly and to go do the exercise and do the things, you're going to probably be faced with disease and all these different problems and not having a good quality of life. If you don't have the discipline to manage your time, you're not going to have free time. If you don't have the discipline to handle your finances and to invest and to live on a budget, you're not going to have freedom of finances. So these naysayers, what I get now in my fort, being 48, is you're exactly right, they really respect you. But instead of saying, martin, I respect you for what you're standing for, what you're building in your company, you're doing in your podcast, you're, you're, you're feeding into those three boys, I respect you and I want to be more like you, only thing they do is flip that mindset and say, man, that's a little weird that you're going to not go play golf with me on Saturday morning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, because, uh, like you said, um, in their mind they're, they're thinking, hey, I could be I. You know, I, I should be doing that and I'm not Right. So, uh, yeah, man, nothing, nothing, but I get it. Man, it takes. It takes one to be one. You know, I'll share this with you real quick.
Speaker 1:On July 5th I was in my Pennsylvania house. I have another house in Pennsylvania and I was in Pennsylvania. I have this project I was working on and my project manager quit. We were doing a big redevelopment so he quit. So again, I'm committed to my family, my goals, my business.
Speaker 1:I had to fly in, get away from my family for six weeks, fly in to execute because I gave my word to my investors and my partners and my lenders. I had to fly in and make sure. So, while I'm there it was July 4th weekend I spent it with my brother, my little brother. July 5th, my mother and my sister come to my house over there in the mountains and they're like, oh, we're going to go to the beach tomorrow, right, why don't you come with us? I said, ma, girls, I can't. I was like I got to make sure that tomorrow, sunday that was a Sunday, july 6th.
Speaker 1:Tomorrow Sunday, I got to go pick up the material for the guys at Home Depot and make sure it's there so that on Monday there's no excuses that my guys are executing on this project. That needs to happen. So I'm going to have to pass on the on the beach. You, girls, go and enjoy the beach yourself, but I I'm on a mission and this is what I came here to do, and I got to do what I came here to do. So I passed on on the beach day because I'm committed to something that I have to finish. I gave my word. I gave my word to finish this project. I'm away from my family for six weeks to finish this. I'm not wasting time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's what I call focusing on delayed gratification versus the instant gratification. So the instant gratification is I'm going to the beach and as a society we like, we try to justify that. You know what I? I I've earned the right. I'm away from my family, I'm taking on this project, honor my word. So I earned the right to be able to go to the beach for a few, four or five hours, whatever the situation may be. That's the instant gratification side. The delayed gratification side is you know what? I'm going to not go to the beach and I'm going to focus on the project on hand. I'm going to honor my commitment here and, even though it stinks not to go, do this thing. That's going to give me that instant gratification.
Speaker 1:The delayed gratification is where the real reward is going to come yeah, man, and that I think that's missing in our society right now. Um, this is why there's a lot of financial problems in the world, in our country, right now, because it's that these phones, these things with with instant gratification, that dopamine hit and that's a muscle that it's just an art that's lost. Right, it's an art that's lost, and I think it's men like you and I that have to teach our children and do the best we can to teach it. You coach, I also coach and mentor a bunch of people, and this one of the things I'm constantly hammering right In real estate, especially where we're developers.
Speaker 1:We're developers, we're often buying real estate and it's six months, seven months, and it's an ugly property and it's. You go through that super ugly phase. It gets uglier before it gets starts to get pretty. You buy an ugly property and then you got to gut it and you're like, holy smokes, look at this place. It looks like crap before it starts to get better, right, and you're just dumping money into it, dumping money into it, dumping money into it. But when it comes together, you're like, okay, now I have something that's worth significantly more and it cash flows.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yep, it's it, and that's what I talked to big with my athletes and and different ones that I worked with in business is you got to have the vision inside man. You have to be good at visualization. I mean you, you've got to see that project completed before it's completed. I mean you, you've got, you've got. If you're working on your physical fitness, you've got to see in your mind what you're trying to accomplish while you're grinding it out in the gym. If you're trying to build a successful business, you got to see and visualize what it's going to be like and that's what's going to get you through the hard times 100%, brother.
Speaker 1:Final question man, what do you think entrepreneurs can do? What advice would you give to a new entrepreneur when you have a failure rate of, I think, like 70%, or it's really high 70 or 80% failure rate in new businesses within five years? What are a few things that an entrepreneur can do to hedge their bet and decrease that that failure rate? I've had. I've had my my share of failed business. I'm 46 years old. I've been an entrepreneur since I was nine years old. I've been an entrepreneur since I was nine years old. I was selling my toys used toys in New York City in the street. I've been a professional entrepreneur since I was 19, and I've had my share of failed businesses. I'd love to hear your take and your advice to new entrepreneurs coming on the scene, a young man coming on the scene, a young woman coming on the scene. What are some of the things they could do to increase the odds?
Speaker 2:You know the most of them we've already talked about, martin, which is just really treating the body and the mind as one of the most important things that's going to prepare you for success. You have got to get your mind as sharp as you can. Study, put into action, study, put into action and put output. Baby yeah, and how are you feeling when you walk in a room? I mean, that's why I'm so big on personal fitness. You know, I've worked with so many different businessmen that probably knew more about their business structure than anybody, but they were not having the level of success. But I turned their fitness around and it elevated their confidence. It elevated who they are as a man and just launched them into a new path. So I'm big on physical fitness, I'm big on nutrition, I'm big on mindset, you know. So I'm big on physical fitness, I'm big on nutrition, I'm big on mindset.
Speaker 2:The other most important thing, martin, is to get out of your old life to make room for the new life. You know so, anything you cannot, you cannot. So you and I own the company and it's a million dollar company and it's just making a little bit of money, but we believe it has a vision to do 10 million. We have got to create a new life, not for the business, but for ourself. We have to become, but what we have to do is we have to cut out the old life, the four friends that want us to always go to happy hour. We got to cut that out. You know. The three friends that are always living victim mindset, that are getting those on those 45 minute phone calls we got to cut that out, you know. And you got to surround yourself with people that have built it, that have been successful.
Speaker 2:You know, I was talking to a guy the other day and he said man, you're always talking about finding mentors, and I understand that's important, but who can I get as a mentor? And here's what I told him. I said most of my mentors was people I listened to, like on your podcast. I was reading the books. I didn't know them personally, martin, but what that did is that got me into this new arena of of a friendship, of a marketplace that these guys was feeding me and giving me fuel to help me go to that next level.
Speaker 2:You know, we can't hang around the same people and expect our life to go to the new levels. It's just not going to happen. So I would say, yes, physical fitness, yes, mindset, but break out of where you are and start developing new relationships. Out of where you are and start developing new relationships, not not expecting anything in return, but new relationships. That's going to help you be more successful. That is probably because if you know, we've all heard it If, if, if, there's five people smoking and you're the sixth person, you're going to be a smoker.
Speaker 2:You know it's the same way it happens. On the positive, if I'm hanging around five millionaires and I'm the sixth person, over time I'm going to be the sixth millionaire. And that's probably the biggest thing is, if you're in the restaurant business, you know what. Reach out to someone that has a successful restaurant maybe not in your area but somewhere close and say, man, I would love to you know to schedule a time to visit with you. Say, man, I would love to you know to to schedule a time to visit with you. You know, learn, learn to to find those marketplaces where those successful restaurant owners are at. That you can mingle with, that you can build relationships with. That you can prove yourself of, of being able to say I'm in this for the longterm, but but getting yourself in relationships on a daily basis. That's going to appeal you and get rid of all the stuff in your old life to make room for the new life that you're going to create.
Speaker 1:So I love that you this is really good stuff we're talking about here, brother In 2008,. In the great recession of 2008, I was in the mortgage business, right. So I had started my real estate investing career back in 07. 2009, I made a ton of money, right. I made a ton of money in 2005, 06, 07. Those years were easy money in the streets. Then, 2009, I found myself literally, jeremy, putting my broker's license in the garbage in my garage. It was literally I was standing over it one day saying, man, I made so much money a couple of years with this thing and now it's in the garbage. But during that time I remember this Now we didn't have that technology that we have today.
Speaker 1:But one thing I struggled with, and that was at a turning point where I was like, okay, everything you just said, I was already in personal development. I had read a bunch of books Think, go Rich and the Magic of Thinking Big and it was a tough time. I think we're headed towards difficult times again. I think the economy is headed for some challenging times here in the near future. What would you say to those people? I remember that time, thinking I need to change my circle. We know this intuitive, Like we all know this, like we know the energy drainers, we know this.
Speaker 1:I remember watching the news and that's when I stopped watching. The news was in 2008, when I was in the mortgage business and all they were telling me was we were the bad guys at mortgage brokers and the world was coming to an end and things were scary and everything was horrible and I said, oh, this is horrible shit. This is making me feel bad. I'm not watching this anymore. I'm done with it.
Speaker 1:But one question I struggled with was for years after that was I want to be around people doing things. I hear about these guys thriving, even in this economy. I'm struggling. Where do I find them? How do I hang out with this, so that people might be listening to us right now and they're saying this is great, but okay, how do I get around Jeremy? How do I get around a Martin? How do I find these guys to where I can learn from them, where you know? How do I? How do I get that mentor? How do I find that? Where are these people? Because when you're in the negative hypnotic rhythm if you've read Outwitting the Devil, the hypnotic rhythm of that negative energy and that negative field. It's hard to see how you get out of that rhythm and come into a different rhythm. What advice are you giving to that crowd that's thinking like this is great, but how do I find those achievers, how do I become the fifth millionaire? How do I, you know? How do I get in that circle? What advice are you telling them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I tell them books podcast, and I'm big on Instagram as well, you know. But I'm not scrolling through Instagram looking for entertainment. I'm on Instagram looking for education, you know. So I'm finding some podcasts like yourself like I have a podcast called Hard Truth Podcast some podcasts like yourself like I have a podcast called hard truth podcast Um. And then I'm looking at books that you mentioned a bunch of good books, um, that that I love. Um. Another one Great, I call. I'll tell everyone that travelers gift by Andy Andrews. It helps you own the decisions that you've made in life, um.
Speaker 2:But the next is is looking through the Instagram and finding the good coaches, the good mentors, and then shooting them a message. You know, I mean, there's very few of us in this coaching space that will not help someone if they need help, but don't go to them and say, hey, martin, you know I'm Jeremy Fouts and I've got all these problems in life, or whatever. Your Instagram message is hey, martin, this know I'm, I'm Jeremy Fouts and I've got all these problems in life, or whatever. Your, your, your. Your Instagram message is hey, martin, this is Jeremy Fouts. I've been following you for some time. I love your positivity. I love the content you're creating. If you ever do any men's classes or any workshops, I'd love to be a part of it. Keep me in mind.
Speaker 2:And pretty much every one of these guys does something. You know some of them are free on on on podcast, uh, or, excuse me, on zoom. Some of them charge a thousand dollars and then those people say, well, I can't afford a thousand dollars. You can sell something in your garage, um and and go get a thousand dollars to go to a men's conference that can surround yourself around good quality people. But you're on a search to find the ones that are making moves in the marketplace and those are the people that you want to be around. You know, I've got a lot of men that I follow, you know, and anytime they have a conference, if I can, I will go, and it's not just learning from teachings from them Excuse me, mark but it's being around those other 20, 30, 40 men in the room that's looking for that same thing. You know, a couple of my business, big business accounts have come from me coming to these conferences and not going to try to mingle to get big accounts, but it's like, hey, you know, I've, I've got, I've got someone that would love to have some products in the military. You know, tell me about your hydration supplement. You know, I've got. I've got someone that would love to have some products in the military. You know, tell me about your hydration supplement. You know, and that's one of the things that I tell everyone start by podcasts, books and then also Instagram.
Speaker 2:I'm big on finding the reels, that that that that are motivating. Look up that individual, see what other content do you resonate with him or her and say you know what? I'm going to follow that person. I'm going to message that person, let them know if they're doing any workshops, I love to be a part of it and then just watching that community grow. One of the things, too, is you have to become that person. We talked about that a few minutes ago that these people were attracted to. You know you might not be on their level, martin, but if you're speaking with respect, you're speaking with sharpness, you're speaking from a heart that's hungry, then you know what? Then? That that is probably going to be someone that is going to be brought into people's marketplace and they're going to share with you wisdom and they're going to give you knowledge and they're going to help you along that journey.
Speaker 1:I love that you said that man respect. If you, you go to those circles and you you talk with respect, you, you, you talk with integrity, you're, you're authentic and people like that, people gravitate towards that yeah, yeah, I'm big on hiring coaches too, like yourself, you know.
Speaker 2:So we can just say hey, hey, martin, what would? What would you charge me a month to? To coach me on my mindset, you know? Uh, what would you charge me, you know, to be able to teach me about the real estate business. And a lot of people again they're thinking, oh man, I don't know if I can spend $500 and Martin's going to charge me that. But then they go to a conspire and spend $500. You told me you want to be successful and you've got somebody like you that's going to coach me. You know what I'm going to find that 500 bucks. And you're probably not going to do it for free, because there's no value in that, you know. But but not being afraid to spend money in order to make you better, to make more money.
Speaker 1:I got. I'll share a quick story before I wrap it up with you Interesting. You say that I have a student. She just closed her first real estate deal and she spent, you know, she spent 15, $15,900 to be in my coaching program and the first four months she was stressing, oh my gosh, she was scared. Right, it's money for some people. She was scared and I said I won't mention her name, but you know if she's listening, she knows, she knows who she is. I said are you doing the basics? Are you doing the stuff I've told? Are you doing you keep doing them. I guarantee you is going to have.
Speaker 1:She just closed her first deal last week. Um, and we had our mastermind. I had her, my mastermind, with my mentees last week and she said to them I was, I closed my first deal. She bought it for $150,000. That's a triplex. The property appraised, the after repair value is $325,000. She's only got to put $50,000 into the property. She just became $150,000 wealthier. One move, one deal. Her net worth went up by $150,000. And she said to the whole group she said the best $15,000 I've ever spent in my whole life was this $15,000 I spent with this coaching program and in this group in this community the best $15,000.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'll give you $15,000 for $150,000, all day long, all day day all day.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh yeah. Her net worth went up by 150 000. Boom, at the stroke of a pen, just like. Yeah, friday, one week ago from today, was her first, her first year. She was like I was stressing, and martin kept telling me stick to the basics. If you do what I'm telling you, you're gonna find it. You keep doing, keep doing kids, keep doing. It's the habits. We talked about that a little while ago. It's's the habits, it's the mindset and you shifting what you're doing. So $150,000 in net worth To your point.
Speaker 1:Sometimes people think and there's a big audience out there that says, well, that's too much, and this is it. Well, that's one way you can look at it. You can say, hey, if I do one deal or one thing I can learn, or one idea, I go to four events a year. Jeremy, like you, I focus, I put on my goals. Every year I'm going to go one event, a quarter of events. Men like yourself that I respect want to learn from and I follow right, want to go learn from you. And who else is there that I can network with? Right, the people that I've I've made business partners, that I got some business partners at these events, right, and I go to one a year. My goal is I'm going to go to one a year and then I'm going to host for a year myself.
Speaker 1:So I hold a real estate investors meetup and I take it, and then I give it back, I take it and I give it back, I take it and I give it back and I invest in myself. I have coaches too. I have a business coach. I have coaches too, right. But you know, the best investment I found that I've made in my business is the one I've made in myself 100% To grow, 100%, yeah.
Speaker 1:So there's that audience out there that's like no, I'm not going to. And you're a coach too. There's too much money, there's too many. Well, what's the cost of, what's the cost of not doing it? What's the cost of not investing in yourself? Right, yeah, how much does it cost you not to invest yourself? You're going to stay where you are and you're going to learn nothing new because you're not investing in your skills, you're not investing in your mindset, you're not investing in getting better. So I just I wanted to share that with you, because I think we have a lot of similar values. My brother, I'm going to check out this book, by the way, the Traveler's Gift man, I haven't. I haven't read that one. It's first time I hear about this book.
Speaker 2:Yeah, powerful book man. I mean, I'm big Martin into. I get so frustrated with the society today being soft and they want, want to blame everyone. I call it the victim. I said I'm sure you've heard of me too. Me too, I call it. That's what I call it, that book. I won't give it all the way, but it pretty much starts off with the guy that just got through getting divorced. He lost his job, his daughter's in the hospital sick, and an angel comes to him and he was feeling sorry for himself. He goes whoa, he said you chose the college that you went to, you chose your degree, you chose the job. You chose to get married, you chose to have a daughter, you know, and and that's, that's where we have got to be in order to go to that next level, for success is we got to own where we are and we cannot blame others. And that that is the most powerful book I've ever read on helping someone take ownership of their life. Because if you don't own where you are, you're not going to that next level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really powerful brother. Well, thank you so much, man. Jeremy, it was a freaking honor to have you here today. My friend, if people wanted to connect with you, how do they find you on IG? Talk to us about your podcast when can they go? Check you out, check your podcast out? How do they? How do they connect with you? Maybe?
Speaker 2:they want to bring you on as a coach.
Speaker 1:How do they, how do they connect?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the best way, Martin, is at Jeremy Fouts leadership at Jeremy Fouts leadership on Instagram is the best way. Um, the name of my podcast is a hard truth podcast by Jeremy Fouts. You can find it on Spotify, Apple, you know wherever you want to find it. And, uh, I'm going to have you on as a as a guest as well on my podcast. Martin, I tell you are a standup man that's doing things right and, uh, you know, I just keep helping others, making an impact in others, and that that's one thing I love about you as a person is you're putting others first and that's why you're having so much success today.
Speaker 1:Thank you, brother, really appreciate that. It means a whole lot to me, man, thank you. Thank you for acknowledging that it takes one to know one. I know you're doing the same thing, man. That's what I say. You know, when I became a certified coach, I'm an NLP coach. An NLP certified coach it says perception is projection. And then you can only we learned this is, you can only see in others what you have in yourself. Exactly you cannot see. So when you say, hey, my wife is whatever, hey, you have that in yourself. That's why you identify it. So you know, like when you said, when you were sharing the story of, when I asked you about the naysayers and you said, do you know, the naysayers will say, hey, you're weird my initial instinct was respect. Yeah, respect, bro, I respect you. Say no to this because you're committed to this respect, because I know, I see it, we know each other right. Yeah, that's that's my thinking. Is, man, dude, you're good for you. Man, Respect, keep at it.
Speaker 2:Well, how can I support you? My initial gut is like hey, dude, how can I support you? Yeah, how can I do to support you? My age that has that experience is because you're not going to know what to do unless you have that experience. And so, man, I tell you, what you're doing is phenomenal.
Speaker 1:Thank you, brother, thank you. That's what I tell young men. You know a lot of young men in their early twenties and they're like hey, I interviewed some young men here, right, yeah, naturally. And what I find is when I talk to young men in real estate and they haven't been through a downturn, right, I told you I made a million dollars. Then the next year my thing was in the garbage, my mortgage was in the garbage, and you don't experience that.
Speaker 1:When I interview guys like you, our age, there's an underlying tone of paranoia in the economy because you remember what that was like. But when I'm interviewing a young guy and he has an experience, that there's. And you remember these days I'm sure you remember the the gun hole guy. I'm the smartest guy. I got this. This is never gonna stop. I can do this. But us, right that have the experience and seen some shit we're like and have some scars. We're like well, I'm not that smart. I know I'm doing the right thing. I got to be disciplined. More than anything, it's my discipline that's going to take me through this. It's not my how great I am or how smart I am, because the market can shift on us and there's that, absolutely. There's that experience right that we get with age. That levels us as young guys.
Speaker 1:I remember being 24 to 26 and being successful and making a hundred grand a year and thinking I'm the smartest guy and I'm so gifted and I'm so great. And look at me, I'm the best. And then, boom, no reference, no experience, right, no reference point. Reference boy, yeah, that's what I tell my wife. I think it's like, hey, babe, I'm like the best thing about being in my 40s now and close to my 50s is that my experience. I'm just, I'm just, I'm a little bit smarter, I can. I can see things before things happen. I can see things five, six, six, seven, eight, eight steps before shit happens. I'm like, wait, nope, that's not the route we're going, because this leads to this Absolutely Experience king, martin, experience king. Yeah. So, brother, thank you so much, man. It was a pleasure, honor to have you here. My friend Guys, reach out to him, jeremy Fouts Leadership on IG and check out his podcast. It'll be all in the show notes. My friend Appreciate you. All right. Thank you, martin, the little brother, you too.
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