Edition #006: 💸 A Simple(ish) Money Model, Einstein’s Grit, and Better Human Foundations
Hey Risers,
Welcome to EDITION 006 of the TRY HARDER Newsletter.
⛔️ WARNING ⛔️: I’m going to warn you upfront… Between the money model and the better human foundations, I packed about 20 years of my brain into a few hundred words today.
I never want to hold back on bringing value, but it’s a lot to drink in if this is your first edition of the newsletter (🙋🏻♂️ hi, newbies).
Save it for later. Read it now. But don’t ignore this one!!
And if you like it, share it with a friend 🙏🏻.
Enjoy!
In this Edition:
Building the Business
A Simple(ish) Money Model
Building the Human
The Foundation of a Better Human
Try Harder
Einstein’s Grit
Building the Business:
A Simple(ish) Money Model 💸
Today, I’ll break down a financial framework that will demystify the complexity of finance.
Yeah, I said it… Look, my kids will have this graphic memorized forwards and backwards before they move out. To me, this is important!!
This isn’t the first time I’ve shared this framework and it won’t be the last. I will be referring mainly to the graphic below. But, in the end, you’ll ask yourself, “Is it that simple?”
And the answer is: YES.
So let’s talk about money 💵. Because you can be an entrepreneur, make a ton of money, and still suck with your money. Most do.
Before that, the legal stuff.
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. Do not take anything in this newsletter as financial advice, ever. Do your research. Consult a professional investment advisor before making any investment decisions!
Now, on with it!
Let’s Start with CASH FLOW.
Cash flow is simply the money you have coming into your possession. For example, you can have cash flow from your work (I Work for $$$), or you can have cash flow from an investment ($$$ Works for Me).
Next, PROTECT.
You have to protect your cash flow. You protect your cash flow through insurance. You need adequate insurance in the following categories: disability, health, life, home/property, and auto. Not much can screw up your financial life more than being underinsured when an unfortunate event occurs outside of your control.
Now, WHAT TO DO with your Cash Flow.
With your Cash Flow, you can only do four things:
SPEND: We all know how to spend money. Buy what you need before you buy what you want, and keep the most important rule: Only spend what you have.
HOLD: You can hold your money, a.k.a. save it. The general rule here: save enough for 3-6 months of living expenses.
DONATE: You can and should donate your money. How much and to what cause is a personal preference.
INVEST: Everyone’s favorite… Investing your money. I will not tell you where to invest your money, but I will give you a framework for investing it.
When you Invest, you are either LENDING your money to someone, and they are paying you for lending it to them. Or you are putting money into something to OWN, which will generate cash flow.
Once you realize that’s all you can do with your money in investing, it gets uncomplicated fast.
Stay with me here… 🚑
Within this LEND/OWN framework, there is a PASSIVE or ACTIVE option. Each option generates a different rate of return.
Anything PASSIVE will generate a lower rate of return. If you don’t want to work, the return will be lower. Generally, the risk is also lower.
Examples:
LEND (passive): Certificates of deposit (CDs). You LEND money to a bank for a set time; they give you a small return for lending them the money.
OWN (passive): Real estate. If you OWN your home, it is appreciating while you do nothing. You could also OWN a house and let someone else rent it out, and you get cash flow. Being a landlord is not entirely passive, but it’s a lot less active.
NEXT, ACTIVE Investments.
Anything ACTIVE will generate a higher rate of return. If you put in the work, the return will be higher. But, generally, the risk is also higher.
Examples:
LEND (active): Trading. You can trade stocks or crypto; it’s all the same. I’m not talking about putting all your money in an index fund and waiting 30 years. Instead, I mean active day trading, a high-yield activity (when you’re good or lucky). You LEND your money to an entity that uses your capital to attempt to improve its value.
OWN (active): Business. Owning and being active in a business has the highest rate of return you can see. Nothing can beat it.
My take:
If you are NOT an entrepreneur, by all means, dive deep into CDs, bonds, real estate, stocks, and crypto.
I mean, how else are you going to make more money?
If you ARE an entrepreneur, go all in on your business!!
Forget about all that other stuff until you have so much money you are forced to start figuring out where to put (invest) it.
Takeaways:
Don’t overcomplicate finance
Focus on growth before saving pennies
Look to this chart when you get lost
Building the Human:
The Foundation 🏢
Let me introduce you to what we call the EO3 Elements 🧬.
Something we teach every coach and athlete we work with is the importance of simple foundations.
The EO3 Elements are the foundation of making any training program or nutritional protocol work and, honestly, they are quite simply the key to living a good life 🌞.
Dialing in your lifestyle parameters is the BIGGEST first step you can take in improving mental acuity, balancing energy levels, and increasing performance 📈.
Committing to the EO3 Elements is something that should be done daily over decades 📆.
To start, we recommend treating it as a game where you get ONE point per completed item. Rather than aim for perfection, aim for as many points you can get each day. Over time, it will go from game to habit.
Once these habits become a part of who you are, your life will dramatically change.
You will forever be primed for high-performance in all areas of your life.
This is the foundation we build better humans on.
Make the commitment today, play the game, and build the habits!
Takeaways:
If you have zero of these habits, start small
Make it a daily game
Turn it into a habit!
Try Harder:
Einstein’s Grit 🧠
Do you think Albert Einstein just waltzed up to a chalkboard one day and starting spitting our the theory of relativity?? 👨🏻🏫
Think again. This guy’s story is all about grinding it out when the odds were stacked against him.
Einstein wasn’t the darling of academia 🎓. Early on, he was more of an oddball — a thinker who didn’t fit the mold. After college, he couldn’t land a teaching gig, ending up at a patent office 🕵🏻♂️. Yes, the father of modern physics was pushing paper 📑 while doodling the secrets of the universe in his spare time. Talk about a side hustle!
His groundbreaking paper on relativity? That wasn’t an overnight success. It came after years of being sidelined, years of stubbornly pursuing his own line of inquiry despite the eye-rolls of the establishment 🙄. Einstein’s journey was less about sudden brilliance and more about persistence, resilience, and a truckload 🚛 of trial and error.
Here’s the real kicker: Einstein’s theories challenged the very foundations of physics. He wasn’t just climbing the academic ladder; he was building a whole new one 🪜. Every rejection, every failed experiment, was a stepping stone, not a stop sign 🛑.
So, what’s your “patent office”?
Where are you putting in the work, quietly revolutionizing your corner of the world 🌎 while everyone else doubts? Let Einstein be your reminder: true genius isn’t just about having breakthrough ideas; it’s about the relentless drive to bring them to light, no matter how many times you’re told “no.”
Buckle down. Keep grinding. Who knows? You might just be on the brink of your own theory of relativity. Remember, it’s not just the brain; it’s the effort that counts.
