Anthony O'Neal
Appearances
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Just eating out.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
my two grand i'm like bro it's just you what are you eating for two thousand dollars wow and twin i'm like i know it's expensive out here in the streets but it's not that expensive so i'm like two grand in one month okay we need to cut that off by like three fours you need to be down to five hundred dollars including groceries and eating out boom when it's just you so like i'm highlighting everything and i'm assessing making sure that i know exactly where my money is going because here's the truth
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
You cannot manage your money if you're not measuring it. You can't really understand what you're doing and where you're going if you're not tracking what it's doing. And for the majority of the people who are watching this show, I won't say the majority. With the school of greatness, we're going to say a majority of y'all should be winning.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
For those of us who are watching this show, a lot of us are probably saying, dang, I just got paid last week, but I don't know where the money went. And it's because you're not managing it well because you're not measuring where your money is. So that's number three. I'm going to list out everything. And watch this. Before I put it on the budget, I'm going to write it out.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Yo, I owe this bank this. I owe that bank this. I'm going to list out all the debt. Out of all the debt, I'm going to list out all of my monthly expenses. Then I'm going to take that information and I'm going to put it on this budget. And here's the truth. We're going to be honest. it is going to frustrate you. It is going to make you feel depressed a little bit.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
You're going to feel discouraged a little bit because what's going to happen is you're going to see you have more debt than you have income. That's going to be my number four. Once I see that I have all this debt, I'm going to measure, okay, what is the income strategy that I need to come up with that is going to create margin to help me pay off my debt.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I tell everyone that's going to be a job. And instead of getting a second job, Listen, man, the content creation space, I just think right now is a healthy place to get into. Because I think a lot of us have a lot up here that people were paid to have. And so like for example, I had a school teacher come to me and she was like, man, Anthony, I'm in $238,000 in debt.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
140 of them is her student loans because she has her doctorate student loans. uh, then two of them are cars, her and her husband, then the others just credit cards and stuff from here. I said, okay, all right, let's write it down. And so, um, as I was talking with her, I said, listen, she said, I'm going to get another job working at Walmart part time.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I said, I think that's a, that's not a good, good use of your time. I say, Why not? You're a school teacher. Why not go home? You're making good money over here. Why not go home and create maybe a course or an academy that helps get kids ready for the SAT? And she was like, what do you mean?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I said, why not use the skills that you're giving to the job to the school system and build a side business that now parents can buy to help them get ready for the SAT? She was like, Anthony never thought about that. So she went home and she started dreaming with her husband. Well, she came back to me.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Not only did she come up with the business that is going to help kids with the SAT, but she also came up with the business that helps school students in school to be a teacher to help them graduate in college. A year later. Her side business is paying her more than what the school teacher is doing because she took her wisdom and her knowledge and turned it into a side business.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So not only is she creating more income, now she's able to use the tax benefits that the wealthy are using. And I said, OK, are you going to quit your job? She was like, no, because my side business is funding this thing. I honestly love teaching students. So what happened? Husband quit his job. He runs the business. Wow. He does all of the marketing. He does all of the stuff.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And this is what I love. It puts them back at the head of their table. Yes. Because now it's like, wait, we're now controlling our life. Now she went from having to be a school teacher to wanting to be a school teacher. She went from having to work to, you know what? I love what I do. Yes.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And that's the freedom that you have when you're at the seat at the head of your table is that you get to decide what you want to do in a direction or wherever you want to go.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
You know, there is a there's a lot, you know, it's not just what I'm like, but it's so many Lewis and I could say. But I think the number one financial advice that I would say. and I talk about this inside of the book that I would ignore, is that everyone has to be an entrepreneur. Ignore that. Ignore that. Yeah. Because that's not the case.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I think everyone should have an entrepreneurial mindset, but not everyone should be entrepreneur in the world. Because if you want to be, when they say be an entrepreneurship, what they're talking about is they're selling you, hey man, I could work on the beach. Hey, man, I'm flying in the private jets.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Hey, man, you know, I'm able to go buy this G wagon and ride off 100% of it because it's over 6,000 pounds. They're lying to you. I've been doing this for four years. I mean, you know, I had several conversations offline. This entrepreneurial world is not for everybody. And it's frustrating. And I have not, to this day, worked on a beach.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Because you worked in a career before, and now you're an entrepreneur now. Yes. And if I'm being honest, in the corporate America space, in the corporate space, Man, I'm working harder today than I was then, right? So I'm not flying on private jets and just not working for a month or two. That's not happening. And so I think some of the worst advice is looking at these enforcers
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And they're selling you on, hey, I can coach you to be your own boss and you'll be working at the beach. And I said it can't happen because have I gone on vacation and work? Absolutely. But what I am saying is out of 365 days a year, these people say you only got to work 20 of them. That's a lie.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And so I think for me, it's it's really we got to start teaching how to how to have the entrepreneurial mindset. But not everyone is called to be an entrepreneur because I think I need a real good assistant if I'm gonna be effective. And I think people are made, as a Christian, I do believe people are made to be the number two, the number three, the number four, to be the team player.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Because an effective business cannot run without effective team members. And you can be just as wealthy, you can be just as successful if you are living the authentic life of yourself. I think one of the greatest mistakes that I see in people, especially this younger generation, they want to rush to be their own boss, but they haven't really done anything to learn how to be an effective boss.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I'm so grateful that God put me through the seasons of serving in the church world, serving in a corporate America space, because I would not be successful today if I didn't learn up on any different people. And I think for me, I think that is one of the dumbest mistakes that I've seen people make. And I think another mistake I saw online and it was so frustrating to me.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
It's take your student loans and go buy real estate with it. I was like, go borrow money. Take out a parent plus loan. Oh man. Have them sign on it. Have them sign on it to go buy real estate. And the real estate was just a down payment on all. It's not the whole house. I got to pay double interest now? High interest on the student loan, high interest on this? I'm like, wait a minute.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Wait a minute. So there's so many different things, man, that I can really adjust to. But I think one of the things I learned for you, man, I gotta give you credit for it. I think it was like a year and a half ago, Louis, because I'm always watching your shows and always growing from you, your advice and the people you had on. And man, because of you, I have an interchangeable seat at my table.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I have an interchangeable seat between my therapist and my emotional coach. And you talked about that like a year and a half, I wanna say. And what I learned was that my emotions, I was making financial decisions based upon my emotions. When my emotions shouldn't be making decisions, I should be managing my emotions. But my emotions should not be managing me.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I've made bad financial decisions because of how I felt off of my emotions. And if I'm being honest and vulnerable, I've lost out on great relationships and friendships because I didn't manage my emotions. And I'm like, whoa, so when I heard you say that, like, bro, I got convicted. I was like, look at Lewis over here preaching.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So I really stepped back and started looking for emotional coaches because I realized, man, if I'm being honest, Lewis, to this day, I still meet with him. And to this day, it is still a struggle for me to control and manage my emotions. Because when you have that feeling, you got to be like, no, this is my emotions. I cannot make a decision in this state. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I've made decisions in that state that has cost me a lot of money. That has... I probably lost out on an amazing woman because of that. I probably lost business relationships and even friendships because of that. But I think... I hear this often within the world. And man, if you're feeling bad, man, just go to the mall and just do some window shopping. That's your emotions talking.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
You know what, man? We tend to go by things when we're feeling a certain kind of way. That's your emotions talking. And so I would encourage people, man, to get that interchangeable seat between the therapist and emotional coach and they work together. My therapist helps me understand the practical reason of why I made the decision.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
My emotional coach is helping me understand why I'm feeling the way that I'm feeling and how to control that.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Good to see you, brother. Good to be back, man. Listen, good to be back on the Lewis Howell Show, but I mean, we're at the table, so I'm really excited about this.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
This is a school of greatness.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I don't have to jump on the scale to know that I'm in a bad situation. I need to change my life. The scale is just going to confirm what I already know. Yes. And I think when I hear people say that, oh, man, I got to do all this. I said, okay, cool. Don't do that. Live this for the rest of your life then. lived a life scared to look at your checking account.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Lived a life, the rest of your life, scared to go to the mailbox. Louis, I was there, bro. I was there to where I would drive by the mailbox knowing that the mail is probably packed because I knew there was bills in there that I didn't want to see. But I still knew the bills were there. But the thing was, going to the mailbox was just confirmation of what I already knew.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And man, I'm telling you, I felt the heaviness of, I know my money is not good. I felt the heaviness of I know I'm not free. I can't live this free life because I know it. And I was just scared to face reality of I have to change.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And so here's here's what I teach, you know, within within my world, you know, at the table with Anthony O'Neill and even with this book is that if you can give me 18 or 24 months. We can change your life. I can't change it. I'm not the hero. You are the hero. I'm going to guide you through the process.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But if you do not change anything, you're going to sacrifice the rest of your life living in misery, living with with no freedom, with no ownership, because you're fearful to be uncomfortable for 12 to 24 months.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And so if I'm uncomfortable a little bit for 12 to 24 months to get the rest of my life, to live a life of abundance, wellness, and freedom, I'm taking 12 to 24 months because what I'm doing is I've got adjusted. Oh, that's so good right there. I've got adjusted to being uncomfortable. Like I feel I've made this messy life of mine's comfortable. And I'm like, man, I deserve a home.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But because my lifestyle right now, I've only warrant an apartment. But I can get a house. But I cannot. Ah, no, no, no. You know what, Anthony? I'm going to change 2025. I'm going to get on a plane. I'm being realistic with it. You know what? It's going to probably take me the end of 2026 to get out of debt. But here's the thing. 2026 comes. Two years flies by quick. It flies by crazy quick.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Just the first month of this year just flew by, man. I've been out on my own for four years. You cannot ask me. Like, it doesn't feel like four years. Now, because we wake up every single day and we started over, it's okay, but wait, but before you know it, two years have gone by. And I ask people to imagine themselves, yes, I'm gonna be honest with you.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I'm not gonna sit here and sell you a bunch of, you know, no, no, listen, you're right. You're in $150,000 in debt. I know you feel that stress. How do we, what is the system and what is the process to get out of that? I have this method that I teach is called earn. And I teach people how to earn their freedom, how to earn a different level of finances.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And the E stands for, listen, you got to evaluate where you currently are in life and with your finances. As we talked about earlier, like, hey, pull your credit report, pull how much debt that you have. And watch this. Debt is not just on paper, but do you owe family and friends money? Right?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
If you told them, hey, I'm going to pay you back, get all of that on a sheet of paper and evaluate where you are. The A stands for now you've got to arrange the vision. We talked about the vision. Okay, now... Now that we know how much we are, what is the vision, where are we going, right? And the R stands for render the strategy. This is where people fail at.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I think people are in debt because of the lack of knowledge. People perish for the lack of knowledge and wisdom, right? And so I think We have programmed in our minds that the way to be successful in life is to have this amazing credit score, is to have all this amazing debt. Right. Because we're using other people's money. But then when we wake up, we have this 800 credit score.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
We do not get a proven strategy on how to make money easy. We don't get a proven strategy on how to get out of debt. We don't get a strategy on how do we change our life within the 12 to 24 months. What we'll do is, okay, I know I got some debt. I know I want to be debt free. Let me go on TikTok. That's not a strategy to go on TikTok.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
That's not a strategy to go on YouTube and just follow your favorite YouTuber. But you gotta get with someone who has done it, who has the fruit of their labor, who has put together a proven strategy that you can follow and you may have to adjust for yourself. But here's the key where I think a lot of people fail at, and that is the end. They don't act. So the end is now act.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So you can get the vision, you know where you are with all your money, you know that you need to change, you got a proven system and a proven strategy, a proven book, that will work, but now you don't want to do nothing because it's been easy to sit there and just swipe the credit card.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
It's been easy to sit there and just go spend all this money and you've gotten so used to this, I call it a horrible life because a horrible life has just become so normal to you to where you can't even imagine what it feels like to be debt free. And you've got the money, man. We both are living this life, man. It feels so good to wake up, Louis. And you know what? I think I'm going to go there.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
man, you don't get dressed. You don't go to Mexico. You know what I'm saying? It just feels good to know that I can do that. It feels good to know that, I mean, I got the call, when you texted me, hey, let's do the show. I was like, all right, bet. I fly out there, couple weeks, boom. I didn't have to worry about, okay, wait, I'm gonna do this money.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
It's like, it feels good to know that on the first of the month, I pay my mortgage payments and I pay my utility bills. That's it. And all the rest of the money comes in and it feels good that I can give to my local church. I can give to this area. And it feels good that when I do meet my wife, I can look at her and say, you know what, babe? You know, I feel like going to Ghana today.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
let's go to government next week what are kids doing they out of school take them with us it feels good to do that but if I don't evaluate where I'm in I am in life and with my finances if I don't arrange the vision of where I see myself and my family going and if I don't render a strategy and I think that's key you gotta find a strategy that works because if you don't find the strategy you're going to be stressed continue stress about the situation that you're in
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And you gotta act, because if you don't act, now it's just a dream. Yeah, I love that earn principle.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
That's a good question. He's asking the money guy. Within the last year, money mistake. Oh, yeah. That's a good one. How do I say this the right way, Lewis? I wanted a I've been saving up to if you know anything about me, man, I'm very big on landscaping. Yeah, I see you put up the pool and the whole thing. Yeah. Social media. Yeah. So I'm very big on landscaping.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So I saved for a couple of years to do the pool and to do a golf. I think the biggest mistake that I made is I had the opportunity to do a golf thing. I interviewed a particular person who quoted me, I would say about 15,000 to do the pool. And to be honest, he was a white guy. Black guy comes in and quotes me 7,500. Says that he's never done it before, but he says he can do it.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Louis, I chose him. because I wanted to support a minority owned company. And it was half the price. But he's never done it before.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
We have this debt, but then we don't have any freedom. And we don't have freedom because we don't have ownership. So when I step back and I look at my life, if I'm going to take a seat at the head of my table, I have to have a level of ownership. And ownership means that particular banks, because we're on the school of greatness, I won't name any banks.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So I'm like in my head, oh, it's a black guy. I'm going to support a black-owned company. And to the day I die, I'm always going to figure out how can I support and support my community right where I can. You're thinking also, I'm going to be swimming in six days.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I'm not going to be waiting a month. Exactly. So I'm like, okay, cool. I do it. Man, I could send you pictures. And I was so hurt because the money mistake, it wasn't selecting an African-American company. It was selecting a company that doesn't know what to do. And because I went with that route, I had to call the guy back. The other guy called the other guy back. He wouldn't touch it. Really?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
No, because he said, man, you are has someone else in costume, even warmer. So I had to find another company that could come in and do it right. And thankfully, because they were fans and they knew of me, they came in. And so to do my whole situation cost me about $22,000. When it could have been only about 14. And it took more time, more energy, more stress. Man, listen.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And it was just, it was a, I felt real bad at myself because facts on table was you've never done it before. You told me that. He was a contractor, he did landscaping, but he's never done that particular thing before. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna give you a shot.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And the biggest money lesson that I've learned is yes, support minority-owned companies, but make sure that they are qualified to do the job. And that was a huge money mistake because I ended up wasting another seven, $8,000. And that just wasn't good stewardship of my end.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Oh, man, so good. My definition of abundance, and I'll break it down a little bit shorter, but I give a real, real, real good definition inside of the book. Abundance for me is just that, man, I have so much that it's an overflow that it's not just for me. Abundance is that there's an overflow of life, of love, of resources, of money.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
That is, I can't, if this was the water, it has to be some other things out here to catch it. So when I feel as that, from my spiritual perspective, when God is pouring into me, it's overflowing into my kids. It's overflowing into my community. It's overflowing into my wife. It's overflowing into my family, into my friends. And to me, that's abundance.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
When I have so much that I can't keep it all that I got to give it to everybody. And so I think what's blocking people from that is that we're not positioning ourselves to receive abundance. How do we position ourselves to receive abundance? That's easy. That's an easy question that I think that's not an easy question, but that's an easy conversation.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But if I'm if I'm with this bank, this bank gives me a personal loan. I have a credit card with this particular bank. I have a car loan with this particular bank. I have student loans over here. Now all of these institutions now sit at the head of my table and are telling me what to do. And I'm thinking, well, I was using other people's money so I can build wealth.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I think a lot of people will want a deep answer for it. Just wake up and say, I'm ready. Just wake up and say, you know what? I'm changing my life today. And I'm going to position myself to where I can do it. But if you're drowning in debt, if you don't have an emotional coach, a therapist that can get your mind fixed, you're never going to receive abundant. I was sitting down with a couple.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And this particular couple, Louis, made me cry emotionally on the inside. Because the guy said, yeah, man, no. He said, when I get my paycheck, I got to go buy a suit. I got to go buy something. He's in his 60s. And he's like, man, yeah, growing up, he's like, man, it was just so tight that, you know, I couldn't enjoy my money.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So now when I get my money, as long as I got a roof over my head, clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, food at my table, I'm going to enjoy having my money. I don't need this. I don't need it. We don't need all that. I'm like, yeah, you don't have an abundance mindset. He just had a very shallow mindset that, man, every check, you got to spend it on material things.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I understand that because of the season that he grew up in was that, man, we couldn't really enjoy our money. He had to give his money to his parents growing up to help them live, to help the family survive. Now that he has his money, he's like, yo, I have to buy something for me. And I'm like, yeah, man, I can teach you how to invest. Let your investments buy real nice things for you.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But for his mindset was, I don't need all of that. And I don't need to. He literally said this, my kids ain't getting none of my money because I work for it. And I'm like, yeah, that's not an abundance mindset. My kids will reap the fruit of my hard work. My community will reap the fruit of my family. My nephews, my niece will reap the fruit of me sitting at the head of my table.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I got in the abundance position. not just abundance, but keep in mind, authentic is super important because when you are authentic to who you are, it opens up way more doors. And I think a lot of people are fearful to be authentically them. And for a while, I was fearful to be the authentic Anthony O'Neal because I allowed, and shut me up Lou, this is your show, but I allowed social media
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
to tell me how to think and how to talk. I allowed friends and peers to tell me what I should wear, what I should do. I allowed previous bosses in companies to tell me what I should read and how I should talk and how I should present. It wasn't until I said, okay, I'm going to be the authentic version of me. And if you can't handle me, then you're just not welcome at my table.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Doesn't mean you're a bad person. Doesn't mean you're a bad company. Doesn't mean you're a bad organization. Doesn't mean you're a bad girlfriend or a bad boyfriend. It just simply means that, no, in order for me to fulfill and really feel that level of freedom, I got to be the authentic Anthony O'Neal. And so for me, the authentic Anthony Neal talks like this, thinks like this, acts like this.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Well, no, you were using other people's money. And because you're using other people's money, now you're in bondage. So now when you wake up. To those debtors. To those debtors, to those creditors. So think about it. I can't go to my son's basketball game because when I get off of work, I have to go get another job because I have to pay them back. Interest. Interest.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Man, you listen to me in my show and y'all probably heard my grammar is not the perfect thing. But man, I used to be like, OK, well, let me talk like this. But I've learned. No, not everyone's going to like me. So everyone's not going to like me. Why am I trying to please everyone?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
There's so much freedom and so many, you can do so much more with your resources, get the job that you really desire, get the career that you really want to get and even build the business that you really want to build when you are your authentic self. And the truth of the fact is, Louis, I've made more money.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
being the authentic me, then when I wasn't the authentic me, I made good money, but I didn't make this much money.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Money answers all things. Right. And so for me, when I think of the spiritual connection of stewardship, stewardship has been on my heart a lot lately.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I'm really excited about this word stewardship, because I'll tell you the truth now that I really want to get back into serving in a local church and becoming a stewardship pastor, because I think within the body of Christ, we've kind of taken the word of stewardship that it only means money. But that's not the case. Stewardship means I steward, I manage what God has given.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So stewardship is not just money. Stewardship, if you're going to be successful with money, you got to be a good steward in other areas as well. Stewardship means I manage what's not mine. So the time that I have on this earth as a Christian, it's not my time. It's God's time. Are these clothes that I have on? These are not my clothes. They're God's clothes. I'm stewarding that. Watch this.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
The wife that I have that I will get, that's not my, that's my wife, but it's his daughter. I'm called to steward her and protect her. The kids that I have, it's not mine. It's from a biblical perspective. I'm just stewarding them for 21 years. It is my responsibility to raise them and train them in a way that they should go to fulfill the assignment on their life.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So I think if we're going to be good stewards with money so we can receive abundance, we have to understand that everything that we have in life is not ours. Wow. And it's just called for us to steward. So the time that I have with you, I didn't do a whole bunch of podcasts on this book because I was like. I think that's bad stewardship for me to go over there.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But it's good stewardship for me to come to Lewis Howes because that's my brother. I know we're going to have an intellectual conversation. That's good. Leave here, go over here and do that. But it's like now in this season of my life, I'm stewarding every hour of my day.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Because I want to make sure that I'm not wasting that time on something that doesn't get me closer to the assignment that I need to fulfill. And so if we're going to be good with money, if we're going to receive all the abundance, we cannot solely focus on the money. We got to focus on everything that God is giving us in our life and be good stewards over every single thing.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
One of the prayers I'm really praying for right now is like, God, and I'm practicing it. God, when I'm blessed to have a family, God, let me steward that family well. Well, Anthony, how are you going to do that? And I told you this before the show. I was like, man, I lost out on a good woman because I didn't make her a priority. I wasn't being intentional.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I'm over oversaturated with how much money I got to get back. And so I think with people, the reason why we're so stressed is because we really have to step back and ask ourselves, like, wait a minute, do I have ownership to this day? I still believe in 100 percent being consumer debt free. Right.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I didn't steward that season well with her. So now what I'm doing is, man, I don't work on Fridays. I'm positioning myself to when that comes, I can steward that relationship well. And I believe that if we can steward that well, right, and get the right partner, I mean, your wife is amazing, and I've seen her work.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I mean, y'all just going to make more money together because of the true partnership, right? So the Lewis house we see today, this time next year, it's going to be a different Lewis house because now you're married, you have a true partnership, y'all are stewarding that well, and I just believe God is just going to bless it, man. That's beautiful. That's my thought.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Listen, number one, thank you so much, Lewis, for always opening the door for me to come on, man. It's always an honor. And y'all, I got to say this. I know we're promoting my book, but I will be remiss to not encourage you all to preorder my brother's book, Make Money Easy. Come over my show. We'll dive deep into it at the table because I can't wait to have this conversation.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But I would definitely like to end with this, that if you're going to take a seat at the head of your table in 2025, There's a key thing that you got to do that I believe that a lot of people skip over. We tell everyone to mind your business. Get out of my business, just mind your business.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But I think the key thing for 2025 is you have to mind your business because our mind is your number one business. And so I want to encourage people that if you don't take a seat at the head of your table, the only way you can honestly build a successful future is to grow your number one asset, which is your mind. Read the right books. Get my book. Take a seat at the table. Get Lewis' new book.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Make money easy. Get other books. Listen to podcasts. It's going to grow your mind. Because what we put in here goes into our heart. What comes into our heart is going to naturally flow out of our pores. And when that naturally flows out, it's going to be good stuff flowing out that is going to produce abundance, wellness, and freedom.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Consumer debt free means that, you know, anything outside of my real estate, anything outside of an asset, I'm going to pay cash for it. Because I want to have ownership to where when I'm blessed to have a family, when I'm blessed to have kids, then I can wake up and decide what I want to do with my life, not what do I have to do because I owe every woman. That's just the bottom line.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But if we're always filling ourselves up with what Shade Room says, what this says, what gossip, bloggers, then we're going to pour that out and we're not going to see our life progressing forward. And so if you want to take a seat at the head of your table, mind your business and come check me out. My man. Thank you, brother. Love you, brother.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I think it's because they don't want to sit back and be honest and be different. You know, it's easy to blend in with the world because everyone is doing this. Everyone is talking about an 800 credit score. Everyone is saying, you know, even like with me, you know, you're engaged to an amazing woman, getting married soon. I'm still single, right?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
One of the top questions I get when I'm dating is, what's your credit score? Really? Yes. Come on. Hey, man.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
yes and i'm like but the credit score doesn't mean that i'm successful with money it simply means i'm good at paying back the people who i borrowed from right because i can have an 800 credit score and not have 800 inside my savings account wow but when i answer that question i remember the first time a young lady asked me that question louis and i told her the truth that's like a 530. because i had just finished paying off all of my debt
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So you know when you pay off all your debt, they penalize you for that. Really? Yes, your credit score drops. They don't reward you because you're debt free. They penalize you. So I'm like, well, I got a $530. She was turned completely off.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Never asked a question. Interesting. Right? So the whole night, I saw how the mood shifted.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
because of my credit score she started looking for an out texting her friends hey come man listen and what the truth of the fact is this was years ago i mean i was in my 20s then i remember her telling her friend that that she was like yeah yeah girl he gotta follow his own credit score he can't he bad with his money and i never responded because i wasn't financially mature then to respond in the correct way uh but as i evolved i said man wow
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Like a credit score does not mean that I'm good with my money. I think a lot of people are stuck because they're trying to to have this perfect three digit score. But you can't pass down the three digit score. You can't give your son or your daughter and build a legacy with that score. So I'm focused on, OK, how do I take the seat at the head of my table?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
How do I position my family who's at the side of my table, who's at the opposite side of my table, my wife? What is the best thing I need to do with my finances to make sure that when I am transitioning to heaven, that I can leave them with something and I can't do that with the score? Really? Can't do that with a score. So for me, it's all about what am I investing? How much debt do I have?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
How do I eliminate that? What's my insurance policies? And also, too, what wealth am I leaving behind? And when I say wealth, it's not just about the finances. It's about what wisdom and knowledge am I leaving behind? And this is something that we do not talk on social media. Influencers don't talk about this. Louis, to this day, I started this about four years ago.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Man, every mistake that I make... and that I have made, I write it down. And it's in a journal. So when my kids get of age, when they're like, I wanna say, if I'm blessed to have some right around freshman, sophomore year, I'm giving them my journal. Your mistake journal. My mistake journal. hey, these are the mistakes that I made while dating.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
These are the mistakes I've made within my Christianity walk. These are the mistakes I've made with my money. These are the mistakes that I've made in life in general.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So they're going to see a letter of what, here it is, a letter to them, a mistake that I made, the consequence of that mistake, what I learned from that mistake, and then number four is what did I do to make sure I didn't do this again?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Well, with me being a man, I can't specifically say what every woman will learn and know because I think that's a great question for a woman. So ladies, please answer that question inside the comments. But here's what I perceive, Louis, is that within, you made a good call out that your fiance, soon to be wife, is Mexican. Well, within my particular community, let's go back a little bit.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
We're taught within our culture that when you graduate high school, go to school, right? Keep your credit score good. Work 40 years. While you're working 40 years, get a good job. I'm not getting a good job. Get a good home. And so that way, that's the life. You got a good credit score. You got a real good job with benefits. You have a, you're a homeowner.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
That's the American dream within the black community. I was taught to at a younger age. So I think what ladies are looking for, okay, wait, if he has a good credit score, this means that he's, he's doing good with his finances, right? within our particular community, I won't say within our particular community, I think within the world in general, we're not really taught money lessons.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
We're not really taught, hey, do you budget? We're not really taught, do you invest? We're not really taught, are you an entrepreneur? We're taught, hey, as long as you have a good 800 credit score, you can always get financed. And so I think when ladies hear a man has a good credit score, it's like, okay, so we can get a home. We can get a car. We can get this.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But for me, I'm like, yeah, but you're not really understanding what you're simply saying is we can get a lot of debt. And that's not good.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, if we're talking about, hey, yes, you need an 800 credit score so we can get into the real estate game, I'm all for that. But if we're talking about we need an 800 credit score so we can buy the latest Mazda Ryder, the latest Bentley, okay, wait a minute, we have a problem.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I need to have this so I can go get me a credit card so I can get all these reward miles. But the truth of the fact is when I look at all of my millionaire friends, They're not bragging about their reward miles. They're bragging about the investments that they're buying and that's making them money and that's paying for their liabilities. That's paying for their toys.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
But when I hear them having this conversation, And this is what I really get excited about. It's like, wait, man, I just bought a duplex. I just bought a situation with $24. I'm like, $24? Wait, what? Like, yeah, I financed it, did this and did that. I'm like, okay, cool, great.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And that's one of my philosophies that has changed over the years is that, wait a minute, if I can use other people's money to get into the real estate game the correct way, and I'm getting 24 doors and I'm getting inside of the real estate game, I'm buying an asset that will then fund my toys, my wants, and my desires.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And so when I hear ladies say that, I'll be honest with you, man, it is somewhat of a turnoff for me, but I also understand the lack of education behind that question. And so what I tend to do now is say, you know what? My credit score is good because I have real estate and that's the only thing that's on there and it's being paid for. So I am in an 800 bracket.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I said, but Arlen, girl, let me tell you something though. I mean, I make money and I invest a lot. And my real estate, my credit score comes from real estate, which is assets. And I really start having that conversation. I love how, you know, I know we were talking about my book, but your book, you know, make money easy. I think we really do have to make money such an easy conversation. Yes.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
and just have it really, really, if it's an easy conversation, then I think we can make it easy. I haven't read your book completely yet, but by the time you come to my show, I will have it read. But it's like, I love the title of your book because I think we make it so difficult. That's why I made the title.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
Oh, I get excited about this. All right, very first things, I'm stepping back. And before I even look at my debt, I'm talking, okay, where do I want to be within the next 12 months? After 12 months, next three years, five years. So you're thinking game plan first. I'm getting the vision for the next five years of my life, right?
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So if I say, hey, listen, I want to be in California living in my dream home.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
debt free like whatever that vision is i'm casting that vision below that vision i'm writing down the why you know one of my good friends uh pastor darius daniels mentioned something he said man if your why doesn't make you cry then the price of commitment for the next five years is going to make you cry let's go and it's going to make you quit and so for me once i write down the vision i'm going to write down a why why do i want to accomplish this vision so if i'm drowning in debt
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
And I know I want to be out of debt. I want to be in my home. Why do I want the home? I don't want the home just because it's nice sitting on the beach. I want the home probably because, you know what, man, growing up, me and my siblings had to share a room, right? You know what? We never were a homeowner. Maybe I'm the first homeowner in my family.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
So I'm getting a deep enough why that when it gets hard, when I feel like giving up, it's going to make me cry and make me push through so that I'm doing that. So that's number two. Then number three, I'm looking at I'm pulling credit card. I'm pulling the last three months of my bank statements and I'm getting on a very detailed budget.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I'm writing out everything and I call this a zero based budget. But for me, I know a lot of people get turned off by the word of budgeting. So I call it what's the vision now I have for my life? What's the vision for my money? So if I'm saying, okay, cool, I want to be debt free, well, I got to go look at my credit report. I got to pull Equifax, TransUnit, Experian.
The School of Greatness
The Money Expert: “If I Was Broke Today, This Is EXACTLY What I’d Do To Become Debt-Free” | Anthony O’Neal
I got to pull the last three months of my bank statements. And this is something I do on a regular. Louis, I'll get five highlighters, different colors. And I'll go do a highlight, okay, food is one color. And I want to see how much money over the last three to six months have I spent on food. And if I'm saying, okay, dang, I was talking about Barber. He spent two grand on food in one month. Wow.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
How does that work?
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
Oh, I get excited about this. All right. Very first things I'm stepping back. And before I even look at my debt, I'm talking, OK, where I want to be within the next 12 months after 12 months, next three years, five years. So you think a game plan first? I'm getting the vision for the next five years of my life. Right. So if I say, hey, listen, I want to be in California living in my dream home.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
debt free like whatever that vision is I'm casting that vision below that vision I'm writing down the why you know one of my good friends Pastor Darius Daniels mentioned something he said man if your why doesn't make you cry then the price of commitment for the next five years is going to make you cry let's go and it's going to make you quit and so for me once I write down the vision I'm going to write down a why why do I want to accomplish this vision so if I'm drowning in debt
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
And I know I want to be out of debt. I want to be in my home. Why do I want the home? I don't want the home just because it's nice sitting on the beach. I want the home probably because, you know what, man, growing up, me and my kid, me and my siblings had to share a room. Right. You know what? We never were a homeowner. Maybe I'm the first homeowner in my family.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
So I'm getting a deep enough why that when it gets hard, when I feel like giving up, it's going to make me cry and make me push through. So I'm doing that. So that's number two. Day number three, I'm looking at I'm pulling credit card. I'm pulling the last three months of my bank statements and I'm getting on a very detailed budget. I'm writing out everything and I call this a zero base budget.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
But for me, I know a lot of people get turned off by the word of budgeting. So I call it what's the vision now I have for my life? What's the vision for my money? So if I'm saying, okay, cool, I want to be debt free, but I got to go look at my credit report. I got to pull Equifax, TransUnit, Experian. I got to pull the last three months of my bank statements.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
And this is something I do on a regular. Louis, I'll get five highlighters, different colors, and I'll go do a highlight. Okay, food is one color. And I want to see how much money over the last three to six months have I spent on food. And if I'm saying, okay, dang, I was talking about Barber. He spent two grand on food in one month. Just eating out. I'm like, two grand?
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
I'm like, bro, it's just you. What are you eating for $2,000? I'm like, I know it's expensive out here in the streets, but it's not that expensive. So I'm like, two grand in one month? Okay, we need to cut that off by like three-fourths. You need to be down to $500 including groceries and eating out, boom, when it's just you.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
So I'm highlighting everything and I'm assessing, making sure that I know exactly where my money is going. Because here's the truth. You cannot manage your money if you're not measuring it. You can't really understand what you're doing and where you're going if you're not tracking what it's doing. And for the majority of the people who are watching this show, I won't say the majority.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
With the school of greatness, we're going to say a majority of y'all should be winning. For those of you who are watching this show, a lot of us are probably saying, dang, I just got paid last week, but I don't know where the money went. And it's because you're not managing it well because you're not measuring where your money is going. So that's number three.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
I'm going to list out everything and watch this before I put it on the budget. I'm going to write it out. Yo, I owe this bank this. I owe that bank this. I'm going to list out all the debt. Out of all the debt, I'm going to list out all of my monthly expenses. Then I'm going to take that information and I'm going to put it on this budget. And here's the truth. We're going to be honest.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
it is going to frustrate you yeah it is going to make you feel depressed a little bit you're going to feel discouraged a little bit because what's going to happen is you're going to see you have more debt than you have income that's going to be my number four once i see that i have all this debt i'm going to measure okay what is the income strategy that i need to come up with that's going to create margin to help me pay off my debt and i tell everyone that's going to be a job and except for getting a second job
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
Listen, man, the content creation space, I just think right now is a healthy place to get into. Because I think a lot of us have a lot up here that people were paid to have. And so like, for example, I had a school teacher come to me and she was like, man, Anthony, I'm in $238,000 in debt. 140 of them is her student loans because she has her doctorate student loans.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
Then two of them are cars, her and her husband. Then the others are just credit cards and stuff from here. I said, okay, all right, let's write it down. And so as I was talking with her, I said, listen, she said, I'm going to get another job working at Walmart part-time. I said, I think that's not a good use of your time. I said, hey, Why not? You're a school teacher. Why not go home?
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
You're making good money over here. Why not go home and create maybe a course or an academy that helps get kids ready for the SAT? And she was like, what do you mean? I said, why not use the skills that you're giving to the job, to the school system and build a side business that now parents can buy to help them get ready for the SAT? She was like, Anthony never thought about that.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
So she went home and she started dreaming with her husband. Well, she came back to me. Not only did she come up with a business that is going to help kids with the SAT, but she also came up with a business that helps school students in school to be a teacher to help them graduate in college. A year later.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
Her side business is paying her more than what the school teacher is doing because she took her wisdom and her knowledge and turned it into a side business. So not only is she creating more income, now she's able to use the tax benefits that the wealthy are using. And I said, OK, are you going to quit your job? She was like, no, because my side business is funding this thing.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
I honestly love teaching students. So what happened? Husband quit his job. He runs the business. Wow. He does all of the marketing. He does all of the stuff. And this is what I love. It puts them back at the head of their table. Yes. Because now it's like, wait, we're now controlling our life. Now she went from having to be a school teacher to wanting to be a school teacher.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
She went from having to work to, you know what? I love what I do. Yes. And that's the freedom that you have when you're at the seat at the head of your table is that you get to decide what you want to do in a direction wherever you want to go.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
You know, there is a there's a lot. You know, it's not just what I'm like, man, it's so many Louis and I could say. But I think the number one financial advice that I would say and I talk about this inside of the boat that I would ignore is that everyone has to be an entrepreneur. Ignore that. Ignore that. Yeah, because that's not the case.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
I think everyone should have an entrepreneurial mindset, but not everyone should be entrepreneurial. Because if you want to be, when they say be an entrepreneurship, what they're talking about is they're selling you, hey man, I could work on the beach. Hey, man, I'm flying in the private jets.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
Hey, man, you know, I'm able to go buy this G-Wagon and ride off 100% of it because it's over 6,000 pounds. They're lying to you. I've been doing this for four years. And me and you have had several conversations offline. This entrepreneurial world is not for everybody. And it's frustrating. And I have not to this day worked on the beach. Right, right, right.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
Because you worked at a career before, and now you're an entrepreneur now. Yes, and if I'm being honest, in the corporate America space, in the corporate space, Man, I'm working harder today than I was then. Of course. Right? So I'm not flying on private jets and just not working for a month or two. That's not happening.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
And so I think some of the worst advice is looking at these enforcers and they're selling you on, hey, I can coach you to be your own boss and you'll be working at the beach. And that's something that can't happen. Because have I gone on vacation and worked? Absolutely. But what I am saying is, Out of 365 days a year, these people say you only got to work 20 of them. That's a lie.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
And so I think for me, it's really, we got to start teaching how to have the entrepreneurial mindset But not everyone is called to be an entrepreneur because I think I need a real good assistant if I'm gonna be effective. And I think people are made, as a Christian, I do believe people are made to be the number two, the number three, the number four, to be the team player.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
Because an effective business cannot run without effective team members. And you can be just as wealthy, you can be just as successful if you are living the authentic life of yourself. I think one of the greatest mistakes of that I see in people, especially this younger generation, they want to rush to be their own boss, but they haven't really done anything to learn how to be an effective boss.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
And I'm so grateful that God put me through the seasons of serving in the church world, serving in a corporate America space, because I would not be successful today if I didn't learn up on any different people. And I think for me, I think that is one of the dumbest mistakes that I've seen people make. And I think another mistake I saw online and it was so frustrating to me.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
It's take your student loans and go buy real estate with it. I was like, go borrow money. Take out a parent plus loan. Oh man. Have them sign on it. Have them sign on it to go buy real estate. And the real estate was just a down payment on all. It's not the whole house. I gotta pay double interest now? High interest on the student loan, high interest on this? I'm like, wait a... Wait a minute.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
So there's so many different things, man, that I didn't really adjust to. But I think one of the things I learned for you, man, I got to give you credit for it. I think it was like a year and a half ago, Louis, because I'm always watching your shows and always growing from you, your advice and the people you had on it. And man, because of you, I have an interchangeable seat at my table.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
I have an interchangeable seat between my therapist and my emotional coach. And you talked about that like a year and a half, I want to say. And what I learned was that my emotions, I was making financial decisions based upon my emotions. When my emotions shouldn't be making decisions, I should be managing my emotions. Yes. But my emotions should not be managing me.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
And I've made bad financial decisions because of how I felt off of my emotions. And if I'm being honest and vulnerable, I've lost out on great relationships and friendships because I didn't manage my emotions. Yes. And I'm like, whoa, so when I heard you say that, like, bro, I got convicted. I was like, look at Louis over here preaching. I was like, Louis, does he know he a prophet?
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
So I literally stepped back and started looking for emotional coaches because I realized, like, man, If I'm being honest, to this day, I still meet with him. And to this day, it is still a struggle for me to control and manage my emotions. Because when you have that feeling, you got to be like, no, this is my emotions. I cannot make a decision in this state.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
And I've made decisions in that state that has cost me a lot of money, that has... I probably lost out on an amazing woman because of that. I probably lost business relationships and even friendships because of that. But I think I hear this often within the world. And man, if you're feeling bad, man, just go to the mall and just do some window shopping. That's your emotions talking.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
You know what, man? We tend to go by things when we're feeling a certain kind of way. That's your emotions talking. And so I would encourage people, man, to get that interchangeable seat between the therapist and emotional coach and they work together. My therapist helps me understand the practical reason of why I made the decision.
The School of Greatness
How To Break Free From Financial Anxiety & Create Wealth
My emotional coach is helping me understand why I'm feeling the way that I'm feeling and how to control that.