[00:00:00] Exactly. One year ago I walked away from a nine to five, no backup plan, just belief, a mission and a vision, and now we are here one year later, just before the 4th of July, talking about what really matters. Opportunity. Opportunity isn't always loud. Sometime it's just a VA claim form that you didn't fill out or a home you could have bought but didn't, or a business idea that you keep putting off day by day by day.
This episode is about calling that out. If you are a veteran, the system owes you to choose to be successful, but it's up to you in order to utilize them. We're talking VA benefits, real estate and entrepreneurship, not in just theory. But in practical strategy to help you and your family because opportunity is not something that's waiting for you.
[00:01:00] It's something that you compete for. Prepare to Compete podcast. Let's get into it.
Hello and welcome to the Prepare to Compete podcast, where we talk all things VA benefits, real estate, entrepreneurship and more. And I'm your host, Kayvon Jones, civilian Patriot business strategist, and advocate for veterans everywhere. And I'm Kenneth Davis, CEO of Veterans for Veterans, uh, Navy veteran, uh, and also Veteran Advocate, and serving Kenneth Davis.
How you feeling today, my brother? Oh, feeling great. Feeling great. Uh, really excited for this Independence Day that's gonna be upcoming. Uh, hope everyone gets the time to enjoy with the families and, uh, being able to really take the time out to, uh, celebrate our, our, our United States Independence here.[00:02:00]
Absolutely. Congratulations. We love to celebrate independence, and if you see the hat, I'm celebrating my independence today as well. And we're celebrating take advantage of opportunities, right. So, you know, we're here, you know, on the brink of 4th of July. You know, looking back. On, you know, all trials and tribulations and, you know, going on with journeys.
And we're gonna discuss that today in regards to VA benefits, the real estate, and also our entrepreneurship journey. So definitely stay tuned for all of that. So, you know, Kenneth, as we kind of get into it and we wanna. Have the first segment here talking about the most important topic of VA benefits.
You know, a lot of times veterans waste time when it comes to applying for their VA benefits. You know, you may have got outta service in 2010. Here we are 2025 and you've missed out on 15 years [00:03:00] of benefits. So we really wanna stress the importance and give you some practical steps on how to take advantage of the opportunity of maximizing your VA benefits.
Yeah, true indeed. You know, take the leap, take the step, take the first initial, uh, step in this process because if you don't, who's gonna do it? Right. Uh, veterans, a lot of times we procrastinate, uh, and, and say we're gonna get to it. Um, you know, you may feel ill deserving. You may feel as though that you are taking from another veteran.
You may feel as though that you don't warrant it. Well, let me tell you, you do, you do. You did the service and now it's time to reap your exclusive benefits and we're gonna talk about it here today. So they're excited about it. No, absolutely. So when we kind of unpack that, and we're gonna be unpacking that today, so Kenneth, I want you to tell 'em what is the importance of submitting your claim, either when you're [00:04:00] still in service and soon a discharge or shortly thereafter?
Well, uh, the importance is this, you know, uh, on average, right? A veteran typically doesn't even think about their VA claim until the fifth to seventh year once they're discharged, right? Uh, that's when life starts to settle in, gets a little bit more, uh, in tune and difficult, right? And then that's when we start to talk about the VA bene, VA benefits.
Well, I'll tell you this, the sooner, the better you guys, uh, because imagine getting paid from the day after you discharge versus. 30 years down the line, 20 years down the line. Obviously, uh, there were some barriers before, uh, but for today's veterans, there aren't too many barriers. That's, uh, that's in your way.
So don't, don't, don't stifle your growth or your, uh, benefits at the, you could be garnering right now. No, absolutely. Because, you know, that's very important. And so now when we kind of put some practical things behind it, and I think you mentioned it [00:05:00] there. So if you, let's say, are dealing with injuries, uh, from your service time and you wait 15 years to apply for it, can you actually recoup the 15 years of missed benefits?
Well, unfortunately no. Right? That's the answer. No, we can't. But I can tell you this is that you may not be able to recoup the benefits. And it just may be a little bit more difficult, uh, due to, uh, the elongation time outta your service, right? The elongated time outta service. Well, I'm gonna tell you this as well.
However, the sooner you get a determination, the better pathway that you can be able to take. You have no strategy. You have no, you, you don't know what you don't know. But now that you know, it's time to get to your benefits as quick as possible, because again, you're missing out on that opportunity. All right.
Um, but, uh, to answer the question, uh, there is no recoupment in payment. Okay? Um, you have [00:06:00] your year's timeframe, uh, from your intent to file submitted, uh, from a year, from that date, okay? Once your intent to file is, is submitted and accepted, which again, verification is always needed, and, uh, where do you verify?
You verify on, again, your va.gov account, or you can verify with your regional office. Your local regional office could be able to provide that verification as well. But again, on average, there's a years timeframe. Uh, there are other circumstantial matters that do. Play a part, but uh, we're again, we have an effective date video for you and that's not here.
So, absolutely. And you know, if you are still in service or you recently di discharged, you wanna understand that your discharge date is your intent to foul date for that first year of filing your claim. Yes sir. Yes, sir. Uh, most definitely. Uh, that first year transitioning, you have a year's timeframe, uh, of your discharge, that your discharge dates your automatic attempt to file automatically.[00:07:00]
But let me tell you something, don't rely on it. Right. Uh, we understand, uh, the VA regulatory changes happen all the time week by week. But let me tell you, if you submit your intent to file, that can historically grandfather you in at that historic regulation at that time. So do not. Just trust it, you know, trust but verify at all times.
Absolutely. So you're saying, uh, they're getting outta service. They set up their va.gov account, or they submit the paper 5 2 60 z form. You wanna make sure that they do that regardless of their discharge date to make sure that they lock in that regulation. Now, um, obviously you submitted intend to file online.
It's probably gonna say a different date than your discharge date, but they will go with that earlier date if that's still the current regulation, if is the current regulation. And also, uh, hopefully you have an adjudicator that is identifying, uh, correct effect of [00:08:00] Facebook. Yes. That's a majority of the time.
Yes. Absolutely. That's why it's important, you know, to have adjudicators and to get help. So we do have the info on the screen here, vets for Vets info back slash help, where we can definitely assist you with your VA claim process and be able to educate and keep you abreast of everything going on with those regulation changes, uh, within our community there as well.
So, you know, that's some great information and we also wanna give them some examples, right? Kenneth, of, you know, what type of benefits can be lost by waiting, you know, obviously you have the monthly compensation, you have the healthcare, you have education benefits, and you have a, a lot of auxiliary benefits there that's available for you.
But, you know, we really wanna get into the practical sense of what that means, you know, as a transitional, uh, veteran. You're dealing with a lot of [00:09:00] things. You may be dealing with unemployment, you may be dealing with, uh, different obstacles of underemployment. And so that income, that healthcare, that can literally be life changing.
You know, that's the difference between you getting a colonoscopy, you know, now versus five years and, you know, figuring out you have an ailment. So we really wanna kind of tie in why it's more important other than just having those things for the financial gain of the VA benefits, but also what that means for veterans in their families.
Yes. Yes. I think you hit the nail on the head, right? It affects everything. Everything. And I, I really want veterans to hear that you could be utilizing healthcare benefits for your child, your spouse. Your mother that you may be taking care of. 'cause they're a parent dependent. So understanding it, it actually [00:10:00] affects everything.
And, uh, taking heed to that, uh, you want to be one of the first ones to make sure that you're getting the proper help that you deserve. So the sooner, the better. However, we aren't just submitting case files just to go in and submit them, right? Um, you don't wanna just, you know, uh, just throw, throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks.
You want to know, you want to have a very sound, comfortable, confident claim. And how do you do? So there's other steps that you would need to take to be able to get that, that, um, that reassurance there. No, absolutely. And you know, we mentioned a couple different types of benefits here, but you know, if you can kind of break down some of the lesser known benefits, uh, so that our veterans can be well aware of those as well.
For sure. Well, you could be missing out on property taxes, right? Uh, you could be paying additional property taxes that you shouldn't have been paying because [00:11:00] you waited, right? Uh, you could be missing out on, uh, education for your child, right? Uh, you could be missing on chapter 35, education for your child, uh, or spouse or, or whomever, uh, to be able to get those additional benefits.
You can also be missing out on a a, a a, again, a a, an accepted handy clamp placard because you are a veteran that has mobility issues, back issues, knee issues, ankle issues, foot issues. There's so many different components. So the longer we wait, the longer that it may take to be able to access the benefits that's afforded to you.
So as we take a look at this, we have just named five benefits right there, and we can go on and on and on, uh, because there's more to be able to, you know, uh, to be accepted. And, and again, there's a lot of. Uh, unpack unknown benefits that's afforded to you that again, you [00:12:00] join a community, it's gonna be there for you.
And, and when we're talking about benefits, we're talking about federal and state benefits. So, uh, that may apply to one veteran, but it may not apply to another. However, what we can say is that you missing out on benefits is a blanket statement and a search for all. Absolutely. So you definitely do not wanna mix out on those benefits.
Uh, they're there for you. However, if you have missed out on some benefits, there's a little known thing called continuous prosecution, and I know at Veterans for Veterans that may come up time to time and we want to educate our veterans on what that really means. So if you could kind of explain to us more about continuous prosecution.
Uh, yes, of course, of course. Uh, well, again, when we're talking about continuous prosecution, continuous prosecution, uh, is a really, really, really big thing for veterans, right? Uh, most veterans, again, uh, want to file their [00:13:00] claim and hopefully get approved. That's, that's ideal, right? Uh, but it doesn't always happen like that.
Okay? We're still dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs. We love you, but we're still dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs, okay? Um, and, and, and with that, we have to understand that, uh, that you may be denied and taken a pathway of being denied and denied again, and denied again, but you have continuously prosecuted your claim all the way through and through, okay?
You submitted a supplemental appeal, you submitted a higher level review. You've even submitted, you are at the point of submitting a, a, an appeal for the Board of Veterans of Appeals, okay? BVA well. If you have tooken the proper steps to be able to submit your claim from the, uh, before your date of on your notification letter, within one year of that, and you continuously to prosecute your claim, you have the ability to have an earlier effective [00:14:00] date all the way back to the original date of starting, okay for your intent to file.
So if, if sometimes, if it takes one year, two year, three years, seven years, you still have the opportunity to have what was should have been granted to you initially. So as long as you continuously prosecute your claim, make sure that you focus on getting it approved and overturning what is denied. You definitely want to make sure that you are applying for your benefits and you're not accepting no, as the.
First answer. You know, a lot of times you may not have the correct documentation, uh, and you may just be told no for reasons outside of your control. VA may just have given you a bad decision. So you wanna make sure that you stay on top of things. You have one year to refile that claim. And now we know this [00:15:00] is, uh, a lot of information for you to remember, right?
So we did position this into a ebook called Maximizing VA Benefits, okay? So that it is available to you. You can see the information here on the screen, or if you're listening, it's gonna be in a description as well. Definitely vet for vets info.com has all the information and resources regarding, uh, different, uh, eBooks that we offer a different veteran community that we offer.
And also, uh. Full comprehensive guide, uh, talking about all of our benefits that, that we have afforded to you here. Right? So you definitely wanna take advantage of that knowledge, uh, and you definitely want to, uh, utilize your resources there and also with all of that, that you're gaining, and also understand there's a, there's a space for support there as well.
All right, uh, veterans, again, we must support one another, [00:16:00] and that's, again, a community where you can be supported and be heard, and not only be heard, but also provide an information that can support you and your family for a lifetime. Absolutely, because securing your claim is only the beginning. Let's talk about what opportunity you can unlock for your future, like owning a piece of it.
Let's get into the real estate segment. Stay tuned
from renter to homeowner. You know, a lot of individuals, including active duty service members and veterans, miss out on home ownership sometimes because they do not understand the value of opportunity costs. And when I'm talking about opportunity costs, I'm talking about delaying home buying. So Kenneth, what we want to talk to him in this segment about is why purchasing a home as soon as possible can be very, very important [00:17:00] for anyone and everyone there.
Yeah. Uh, listen, veterans, when you talk about the VA home loan that's offered to you, you know, we talk, uh, we spoke about unpacking some of the benefits before in the last segment, right? Uh, why wait? Right? Uh, the opportunity is now. This is a time when you're talking about your VA home loan that you want to unlock.
There's a, a ton of opportunity and, uh, there's a ton of benefits in home buying. In home purchase. You purchase the right home and it could change your entire life. I if, again, you actually treat that home right? There's so many different reasons on why purchasing is a good idea, but there's also, uh, again, components on, on the contrary where people would think that it's not, and we're here to talk about that in here today.
Definitely here to talk about it and here to educate you regarding the VA loan benefits that you have. Uh, so now when we get into that, VA loan is a [00:18:00] phenomenal resource, Kenneth, right? So you're able to purchase a home, no money down, no mortgage insurance, uh, all of these different things below market interest rates.
You can literally go, when you're done with this video, you gotta watch the whole video and research everything there is to know regarding the VA loan. And I urge you to do so because once you understand everything there is to know regarding the VA loan, you could see those barriers for the opportunity of home ownership is not really as present as you think because not only can you buy a home with the VA loan, uh, sellers can sell their home with.
Their VA loan and they can sell that loan to you, meaning, Hey, you worried about the interest rates? Well, you don't have to get a new market interest rate. You could assume that seller's VA loan interest rate. So there is so many different phenomenal tools. And then let's say you can't do that because [00:19:00] there's, you know, certain different red tape regarding that based on time of purchase and things of that nature.
Okay, well buy a house with the higher interest rate and then go ahead and refinance that home. The VA loan has a streamlined refinance program, so literally almost any excuse in the book that you can give me that if you could afford a home, you can purchase that home. There's no reason not to. Yeah. And, uh, listen, uh, when we're talking about the military, uh, a lot of times we talk about the veterans because the VA home, uh, home loan is offered to veterans.
Uh, but, uh, also unlocking the understanding that the, the loan is offered to active duty members as well. Right? Um, you know, again, knowing what I know now, uh, again, being a gun sailor, I would've took the, I would've took the immediate opportunity, uh, to purchase while in while serving, right? Purchasing, while [00:20:00] serving, uh, many people purchase while serving because they have families and they wanna be able to house their families.
But at the end of the day, when we're talking about, uh, the military, they also provide you something called BAH, okay? Uh, basic allowance for housing, in my terms, buy a house, okay? So with that, you have the government actually paying for your expenses for your home while you're in service, and the VA and home loan is offered to you.
So why not? Why not? Where's opportunity, man? The opportunity is right in front of you. Right? Sounds like now, it sounds like now, and when we kind of look at the examples there and we look at appreciation right now, imagine, you know, what year did you, uh, get in service in 2005? Oh my gosh, 2005, 20 years ago.
Which is a whole nother topic that we'll get into here, right? We have episode on that one, right? But so when we're thinking about that, imagine [00:21:00] what the real estate market was like in 2005, and we say, well, yeah, the real estate market was booming and this and that and that. And so again, sometimes you think because you're buying in a high market, well, it was high in 2005, I guarantee you, in most markets.
Right now where we are in 2025, it's a lot higher than it would've been in uh oh five there. So over that 20 year time period, he would've accumulated a lot of equity, even if he bought the most expensive house that he could have purchased at that time. It's like literally real estate is one of those things.
It's very difficult over a long period of time to make a bad decision. Yeah, most definitely. And I wanna make sure that we unpack that. Could you explain exactly what equity is, because there's a lot of young military personnel and also older, uh, that may not understand the meaning of equity, understand how appreciation works with it and the just the economic factors.
Great question. [00:22:00] So equity, when we're talking about equity, equity is your money in your home, right? It's money in the bricks. Okay. So now when you think about the. Purchase price of your home. So let's say you purchase your home for $200,000 in 2005. Well, 20 years later, that home is worth $500,000. So equity is gonna be the difference between what your home is worth now and what you owe on it, because also it's gonna be more than 300,000 because you've paid down the loan over that 20 year period.
So you may have $350,000 or more in equity, uh, based on that scenario there. Mm. Fantastic. Fantastic. So, uh, and, and, and, and, and unpacking that, what is, what is the realism of that? Well, that equity, you can be able to, you can be able to cash out, right? The VA cash out, uh, refinance [00:23:00] program. They'll give you up to a hundred percent of your loan amount, absolutely a hundred percent the loan to value.
What does that mean? Whatever your house is worth when you bought it versus the difference of what it's worth, now you're able to, you are able to take the cash out of a hundred percent of your loan. Okay? So again, uh, I mean of the value of that home. So that's a lot of opportunity there. Absolutely.
There's a lot of opportunity and I'll even, uh, put a different approach behind it. Right? So between 2005 and 2025, how many individuals. Lost their jobs, had, um, a injury, you know, had a major expense that they couldn't cover. Well, that equity in your home, you could utilize that by taking a home equity line of credit, or you can do, uh, a home equity loan to be able to pay for those expenses.
You know, talk about [00:24:00] losing your job and being worried about how you're gonna pay your bills and getting your home foreclosed, and all of these different factors. Well, if you know that's coming and you can be able to take a home equity loan for 50,000, a hundred thousand, 150,000 to be able to see you through those hard times, how invaluable is that?
It's cost, ability, use opportunity to be stable for you and your family. And stability is something that I don't think a lot of veterans are used to. Right. Uh, being deployed, going to, uh, going on deployments and back to back to back. Or, you know, transferring to this duty station. To that duty station.
Well, veterans, let me tell you something. Now that you've transitioned out, now it's time to. Garner some stability in your home, in your life, and in your family. And this is a perfect way to do so. Perfect way to [00:25:00] do it. Right. And even, you know, a different example I think of, 'cause it's like, well, I don't have that much equity.
I just purchased my home. Or you're telling me to purchase a home now. Well, when he talks about stability there, you know what happens? There are so many people I know now that, uh, during COVID a few years ago, they had a decent job, you know, here in Las Vegas, working in the casino, doing certain things, working at the dispensaries, you know, a lot of different things.
They've subsequently lost that job. Instability. They decided not to purchase a home and now they're worried about having a roof over their head. Well, if they would've purchased a home at that time, not only would they would've locked in the actual, the highest expense that you have, which is your cost of living, of your housing, they would've also had a lot more flexibility.
If you go on hard times, and especially as a active duty service member, a veteran utilizing the VA loan, they're not gonna be quick to foreclose [00:26:00] on you. Right? And now think about that landlord. When you're renting a property, they're gonna be quick to get you outta there. You g you get one month, two months, three months behind.
It is taken maybe a year or two for someone to get foreclosed on. And then even before that, there's different, um, refinance options. There's different, a lot of different programs for you to be able to protect you and stay in your home. So that's gonna be one of the biggest practical differences between.
Renting and buying. So, you know, a lot of people, when they're thinking about it, they're just talking about today, you need to be thinking about the next 30 years and the future of yourself and your family. Oh yeah. It, it, it, it, it's, it's unprecedented of the, and I hate to use the word ignorance of, of home buying.
Right. Um, and, and I, and sometimes I think it's, uh, something that's possibly [00:27:00] necessarily po possibly done, not purposely, but it is, it's information, information that you may have not have known, and you have the access of information. So now take advantage of it because now you could be a working professional here, and now you have everything covered.
You have a government job, you have, uh, multiple degrees in your belt, um, but you're a renter. Now that's the next step. Taking that next step of home ownership is going to secure all the hard work that you have done in school, at work, and with your family. So now secure yourself by owning a home. So now let's bring it back full circle.
Bring it, bring it full circle, and have everything there for you. [00:28:00] Absolutely. And then you have to understand, right, that you do not necessarily have to purchase a home and live in that one home forever if that's not your goals or that's not your life situation. Uh, you actually don't even have to buy a traditional single family home.
You know, you could buy a one or two bedroom condo, or you could buy up to a four unit, uh, duplex, triplex, or fourplex property with the VA loan. So there's a lot of different things, and even when you're thinking about that, if you're buying a multifamily home up to that four unit, where you're coming into home ownership as an investor, because you're gonna be living in that one unit, renting out the subsequent units and be able to create income for yourself, uh, potentially, uh, eventually move out of that unit that you're.
Uh, living in and then go ahead and buy another home and keep doing that. You know, a lot of active duty members and, uh, some that we talk to talk about doing [00:29:00] that. And, and some have done that where they literally purchased one or two homes for every duty station they were in. Yeah. I mean, listen, it's exciting, right?
When we're talking about we're on deployment, you're going all to these con different types of countries, uh, having a great time, uh, but, and also, you know, churning through the ranks, right? And doing, and, and, and you are one of the star players in your company, in your division, in your brigade. Listen at that timeframe, all the money that you are saving from being away, how, what is the best utilization?
Sometimes it may not be home. Yeah, but I will tell you, nine times outta 10, you won't be wrong if you did buy a home, I can tell you that. So now taking that, those monies, because again, the VA home loan does not have a down payment, but there are closing costs you need to be able to pay for [00:30:00] and you also want a cushion, right?
Uh, we can talk about, again, financial, uh, financial components, but we won't necessarily get into it. But you want a cushion to be able to support yourself again, just like if hard times come along, right? So now you have everything you need to take the next step. So to now it's just time to take it.
Alright? You just got back from deployment. It won't hurt you or your family to be able to purchase, get, take the next step to get in the home because you are active duty. Uh, you, your job security is pretty good for you. So take the time. Take take, take the step, take the opportunity. Absolutely. So mainly anybody that we talk to regarding home ownership, they always say, I wish I would've did it sooner.
Right? Yeah. I wish I would've did it sooner. And you know, I've made a whole video about it that, uh, it'll be posted by the time you see this, right? Where we, you know, discuss that. Because we do understand that it is [00:31:00] difficult right now with the uncertainty, you know, we're not trying to negate all your objections and things that way, but.
Most things worth having is worth fighting for, and it's worth educating yourself and figuring out a way towards execution. And home ownership is going to be that for you, okay? Because it can be a very, very important investment tool and retirement tool for you as an individual and for your family, for those that have families.
So it is very, very important to consider it. And so that's why we stress it. And in that video I'm referring to, we'll go ahead and put the link on the screen now. Uh, you will be able to understand the different nuances of purchasing a home based upon your situation, right? Because it's gonna be different based on a single individual right now, based on whether you have a family based on this and that.
So, uh, in [00:32:00] that video I'm talking about the different stages of life and what you should be considering, uh, based upon that, but. Wherever you at, there is a way to make home ownership possible. True indeed. And not only that, you also, you guys can also, uh, again, be able to pick up our eBooks to be able to kind of understand, uh, the VA home loan process and home ownership, uh, practical steps.
Right? Uh, because when we're talking about home ownership, there is a process and you must understand it. Right? Um, and, and why I say you must understand it. You must understand it. So you have the best circumstantial process to get you in a home because, uh, let's be serious here, right? Uh, every home isn't a great buy, but if you are in a home, it is great for you.
Okay? And that's a big difference. That's, it's a very big difference, right? Um, again, you talk, you spoke about the. Uh, touched on the economic cycle, right? Uh, what goes up [00:33:00] must come down, but must go, what's down must come up in regards to the economy. Alright? It's an economic cycle that is gonna pass. 2008 was one of the worst crisis ever, right?
But it, at some point in time it passed, it's going to pass. And a lot of, from a lot of VA buyers currently at the moment, uh, what's being spoken for most is, Hey, the interest rates are too high. How many times are we gonna hear that? How many years are we gonna hear that? Right? In all actuality, in a historical view, when you talk about mortgage interest rates, the interest rates are currently where they are normally set, uh, on average.
Okay? When, when, when veterans were purchasing homes for 2%, 3%, uh, even 4% that is below market interest on a historical. Value listing. Okay? So when we talk about that, be very [00:34:00] conscientious of your circumstance because, uh, again, your circumstance may not be the next veteran's circumstance because I'm sure your buddy has said, Hey, don't take that interest rate.
I got mine for 2.5. I know somebody. And, uh, you, you, you show me that loan officer who's able to get that 2.5 right now. Oh, absolutely. Because you know, when we're talking about purchasing a home and then when we're talking about it as an investment vehicle of purchasing, you know, a smaller property or a condo, and then you know, restructuring and going to purchase your forever home a little later, we're talking about doing that, and we're talking about securing the future of your family and your kids, right?
Because when we think about it over the long term, you have young children or you have children at whatever age. Well, when they go out to purchase a home, a home is gonna be a lot more expensive. Well, what if you've already purchased 2, 3, 4, 5 homes and they [00:35:00] could just move into one of your properties?
How powerful is that? You know, how powerful is it for a family member that you want to care for and you have a rental property? Instead of them needing to go out and beg for someone else to rent a property to them, what if you could secure them in one of your properties? There are so many different options and activations on why this is important.
You're literally creating that generational wealth. So when we're talking about the kids there, hey, they're living in that condo while they're in college, or you know, whatever, and then. They could stand that as long as you want 'em to, and you could really plan and, and build out. And, you know, I know Kenneth, um, we, we have those different type of options and we just wanted to kind of see how you feel, you know, regarding that in just the importance of [00:36:00] being able to pass those homes down to your children.
Yeah. I, I listen you guys, uh, for every child you should have a home. Let that so in a bit for every child you have, you should have a home. We understand life insurance is great. We understand 4 0 1 Ks are great. Uh, we understand that any other investment tool is great because you are investing. But let me tell you, investment in a home for your child is gonna be one of the best tools that you will ever need or desire in your, you and your family's life.
And we can go down the laundry list of why, but I'm only tell you one, the child is outside of your home, okay? And they're safe and secure, and you know what they are. You have access at any time. Okay? So that is a big, big component that we want to focus on you guys, because the investment tools are investment tools.
The [00:37:00] market is gonna fluctuate on a continuous basis. But I'll tell you one thing that's always gonna go up is babies being had in the, in the global world, okay? Uh, and also real estate prices. Uh, there's not enough land for the amount of people that we have. It's just a, again, supply and demand. Very simple.
Very simple there. Very, very simple. So thank you for that, Kenneth. And you know, something that we kind of encounter and kind of hear about, you know, you know, within our community especially, right? Is that, hey, you're 18, it's something to get out the house. Right? You know, that is, you know, an anecdote that we definitely hear, you know, quite often.
But I even wanna encourage and even at least have a conversation here, that if you were unable to have your children, you know. Purchase a home or be able to purchase a home for them, and you own the home that you live in now, you should keep them within that home until they're able to afford to [00:38:00] buy a home of their own.
Why are we kicking their our children out? Why are we kicking our children out before they can reach home ownership? Let 'em stay in to 25 years old or 30 years old when they're able to purchase a home. You know, especially our daughters. I mean, we got a daughter here, so she definitely gonna need to stay home and, you know, to until that, but, you know, we are creating, you know, different, uh, things for 'em as far as owning other properties.
But you either going to live here. Living one of these properties, uh, you're not about to go out paying rent in the open market. That's just not what we're doing. So you should look into that personal antidote there and really adopt some of those principles for yourself. And you could think about it twofold, because there are families right now that don't own a home, cannot afford a home, but they have adult children that's somewhere paying rent and they paying rent too.
It's like, well, how does this make sense? [00:39:00] Right? You wanna still be able to care for your children, they still want to be able to care for you. You're in the same city. Why are we paying rent in two different places where we could use cooperative economics live together and be able to purchase a home together, and then help the child purchase their own home and move that way?
Uh, the reason why we consider. Home ownership to be too expensive is because we're going at it as individuals. We're not going at it collectively. And if you think about a collective approach of having your family members, whether it be children or retired parents, and pooling that income together, if that's what you need to do, then you need to do that to achieve that home ownership of that first property.
And then the next person can purchase a home once they can afford to on their own. And you continue to build from that strategy. Mm. [00:40:00] That's, that's, that's powerful there. Um, it's powerful. And, uh, one thing I kind of took out of that is, um, having to understand the financial literacy. Financial literacy is a component that I think most people do not understand or do not want to understand.
Um, those understandings would create. The plan that you made, right? Uh, but also beyond financial literacy. Um, kicking a child out at, at the age of 18 who has minimal education, uh, minimal job experience, and also just minimal experience in life. Well, it also lacks love, you know, and, and I'm not, and I'm not, again, pointing or judging at any parent, but that's just in the a, a thought process that you want to focus on as well, [00:41:00] because I don't think love would put a child in that circumstance.
Right. Uh, as parents, you want to help your child grow, develop, and also be a productive member of society and be the best that they can be. But they can't do that under turmoil and distress. I. And we can't get to the point of home ownership if we don't have the financial liter, liter literacy part, and also the component of the support through love.
So it's just very, I think that's, uh, that's where everyone could also use a little bit of patience and understanding with that. But, uh, but that's just, again, that's just my, that's just my 2 cents of it because again, at the end of the day, um, you're either gonna buy or not. Okay? Uh, you are either gonna take the opportunity to, uh, get a home and stop waiting, um, and waiting and waiting and waiting until the market is right.
Um, when it can pass you and the prices are gonna be sky high. Okay? [00:42:00] Uh, one thing that we know that isn't gonna, uh, fall, that we, again, what we, what we would suspect isn't gonna fall, uh, just based upon historical, uh, again, uh, historical values that. Is the, the housing market. So the time is now. Take the time to be able to get into a home and take the steps to be able to get into a home and secure your child and not kick them out.
Kick them out at age of 18 because, uh, but I, I'm not, and I'm not, again, like I said before, uh, that's, no, that's no slight to anyone. But you wanna make sure that your child is secure and a way you can do so is purchasing a home for them. So they have somewhere to go because you, they need some freedom, they need some independence, and that's how they'll be able to do so well, my daughter will get her freedom and independence when, uh, she's married off at 45.
Next, next thing.
No, but Ken gave his personal, um, anecdotes and things there. He said it was only 2 cents, [00:43:00] man. I think it was worth millions, right? Yeah. Then when you, on the ground that you stand on, you're building a foundation. When you build a foundation, you can build a business. So stay tuned for our next segment.
We're talking all things entrepreneurship. Stay tuned.
All right, Kenneth. It is been a long, long time since we broached this subject of veteran entrepreneurship. Uh, entrepreneurship and really kind of touch these subjects and, you know, I've been reposting some of the reels and highlights 'cause we've been getting a lot of good traction and conversation from those.
So thank everyone for watching those and commenting and, and giving their different perspectives on that. So, you know when to leave your nine to five, right? It is so, so very important. You know, I was talking mess, what about a year and a half, two years [00:44:00] ago when I was in that process of figuring out how to leave and when to leave my nine to five.
And you literally, through the podcast, you guys are seeing us learning and growing right? In all aspects and growing through our lives and different things. So, you know, I got my hat on. Wife got me this last year, you know, I, I dec decided to lead at nine to five. Uh, and it was a little bit of a difficult decision, you know, but not really, right?
Because ultimately. You know, one of the things that drove me, and one of the things I said, and you know, I've heard it in a song, you know, the wise man once said, you know, taking your daughter to school, that's real goals, right? So I wanted to be able to, hey, when my daughter started school, I wanted to be able to take her, you know, I wanted to be able to own my day, control my day, and also not limit myself into my earning potential.
And there was a lot of different things I saw, you know, I had a very decent [00:45:00] career, you know, economic wise and you know, some people would just be happy with achieving that. But I know my full potential and I knew I was not. Being the most successful and the best person I could be by stand with that employer.
And they threw it in my face even more because they will hire, uh, consultants and contractors. And I'm like, and you know, military individuals could attest to this, right? They make it way more money than me, and I'm five times as talented in, in different things of that. So just knowing and understanding those different frustrations and it's like, Hey, let me take the leap to go ahead and establish a business and go on that journey because, you know, like I said before, I'm either gonna get rich or die trying, you know?
So that's what we own right now, man. That's what we talking about, uh, within this and talking a little bit about my journey and [00:46:00] really just kind of reflecting on the, those things in, uh, this segment here, Greg, I think hey. First and foremost, um, I wanna honor you for your courageous, uh, leap there because I'll tell you right now, it's not easy, right?
It's not easy. There's, it takes a lot of different, uh, strength and also courage to be able to take that first step. So congratulations on the first year, uh, being able to go ahead and make sure again that leap has been taken. So, uh, because at the end of the day, you know, when we security is taken up under you sometimes.
So many different emotions comes about. Right. Uh, but you know, you've been walking through this with a, with, again, very solid, strong and with a great foundation upon you. So, uh, definitely tip my hats off to you. Yeah, absolutely. Definitely. I mean, and on the surface, right, because, you know, a, a lot of stuff happened, you know, behind the scenes.
Right. [00:47:00] And, you know, I kind of talked to you about kind of when I knew it was time to leave, you know, and I kind of go to that story regarding, uh, seeing, you know, less talented people, you know, receive opportunities and, you know, just also knowing where I wanted to be and needed to be in life. And frankly, just looking at it and looking at the way to.
Economy is going to outpace my income if I stay here, right? So if I could even continue to get raises, 'cause 2025 would've been a real good year for me, you know, if I would've stayed there, right? And still being a part-time entrepreneur and, you know, still doing real estate and putting all three of those incomes together, it's gonna be a pretty good year.
You know, I passed up on a pretty good year to have a possibility of a really phenomenal lifetime in future. And that's the, the reason why you make those leaps and you, uh, take those chances. No, most definitely you take the chances with the eye on the goal and keeping it [00:48:00] positive and stra and, and strain to the goal, you know?
Uh, but like you said, during, during the times of getting to the goal, it's, it's, it's very difficult. It's a d very difficult path, you know, when we talk about entrepreneurship versus, versus working a job. Um, to be very honest with you, uh, entrepreneurship isn't what it is cracked up to be. What everyone thinks it thinks it is, you know, uh, there are long days, there are long nights.
There are also, uh, different roadblocks that you run into. But at the end of the day, it shows you who you are. It it is gonna, it's gonna unpack and really show you who you are. And you're gonna have to actually look in the mirror and have to deal with that, you know, uh, whether if it's a positive or whether if it's a negative, because you go through every emotion.
You go through every emotion. Uh, sometimes you may not feel good enough. Sometimes you may not feel that you, you know, are worthy enough to even, uh, be in the position that you are to be able to take the journey to, uh, of entrepreneurship. [00:49:00] But at the end of the day, when I tell you this, it's a opportunity that you could be losing out on.
So which one would you rather sit with is regret or having that year of the two, 2025? I think it's a lot more. It's the regret. The Well, living with regret is a lot more valuable. Not living with regret is a lot more valuable than. Having that year of 2025, right? No, no, absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, as we talked about in the last few segments, right, we're talking about opportunity and, and the concept of that and the importance of, for veterans applying for your benefits, uh, purchasing a home and being able to utilize those different equity tools and, uh, VA benefits and things to be able to secure your future and have more income and have more security, uh, for yourself in different factors of, of that matter, right?
So, 'cause you think about it as a veteran, hey, you got your benefits, uh, then you at least, you're not [00:50:00] necessarily starting off from ground zero in terms of leaving your job. And I wouldn't even recommend you to leave your job if you're starting off from ground zero. So actually, let me roll that back there, right?
So if you're not making, and we said this on a, a previous video, if you're not making at least three times, you are. Uh, salary in your business is not time to leave yet. So, but consistently, let's make sure we, and we're not talking about, oh, we did a good three months, no, probably three years. Let's, let's, let's absolutely.
Let's make it Absolutely. Let's make it secure. Yeah. Make sure that it's secure. And, you know, with that advice, Kenneth, you know, I know you, um, founded Veterans for Veterans, uh, you know, quite some time ago, and, you know, you've been, uh, utilizing and, you know, I believe last couple years you, uh, left your full-time employment, uh, with the VA to em embark on this journey here and, you know, how has those last few years, uh, been for you in terms of, uh, [00:51:00] making that decision and, uh, where you are now and being able to reflect back on that?
That's a great question. Right. When we talk about entrepreneurship, it's not a, uh, a very. Inbox question. There's so many different components of it. Uh, but, you know, reflection, uh, going back to things, it was a very, it's a very bumpy road, right? Uh, it, it, and what I mean by bumpy, I don't mean in the sense of, um, and the person myself, it's just, it's just a, it's just a bumpy road regardless of any type of entrepreneur endeavor.
Um, it, it, it takes, it takes a lot, you know, it takes a lot. Um, there are sleepless nights, there are, you know, different birthdays you may not make. There may be friends, you may not, uh, you may lose. There may be, uh, different opportunities that you can't take. There's so many different components. But, uh, one huge thing is, is that understanding, you know, [00:52:00] that you need to steer the ship, you know, uh, every one, whether if it's employees, partnerships or anything, uh.
Everyone is not gonna treat your entrepreneurial journey or your business the way you would, and you want to surround yourself with people who are living in excellence on a continuous basis. And why I say that is because if they're living in excellence with what they have, no matter what, they are gonna remain at a level of standard that you wanna maintain on a continuous basis.
And if you're done, and if you have someone who is living at a level of excellence, it's easier to bring that person to the next level of where your journey is going. And it's a, and [00:53:00] again, it, it, it's, it's not an easy journey. It's not an easy journey, but it's, uh, it's just you wanna surround yourself with great people.
Absolutely surrounding yourself with great people. Uh, but again, you have to take that first step, right? And the first step is maximizing opportunity. And so since we are in the entrepreneurship, uh, entrepreneurship, 'cause that's a whole nother thing. 'cause that, that's kind of how I cheated the system, right?
I cheated the system as an entrepreneur. We got a whole video on that. I won't get into, you know that right now 'cause we got a whole lot of things to cover. But what I do wanna cover is a concept, uh, that I learned in business school. Shout out richer Moore, you know, back in the day, undergrad, right? Uh, opportunity cost and defining and understanding that, right?
So, you know, now you could ask Chad GBT what that means in a breakdown. Back then, you didn't have that, right? You had to crack open the books. You had to crack open the books. Now, now we old enough to talk about back in the day, [00:54:00] man, that's crazy. It's crazy how time flies, right? But opportunity cost is the cost of making one decision.
Over another. Right? So when we talk about that in the concept of going to, uh, school, post-secondary education, it's the opportunity of say, Hey, do I sacrifice the next four to five years of, uh, income I could have, uh, gotten by. Going and doing a labor intensive job. You know, whether it be, uh, in the casinos here in Las Vegas, or whether you're somewhere else working in construction or, or doing different things of that nature.
Or do I go or even go joining the military to do that four to six year enlistment, right? And then going to college after that. It's the opportunity cost of making one decision, uh, versus another. So obviously, you know, if you go to college right now, right away, you're full-time living on campus. You may have a part-time job, but your income is gonna be significantly less [00:55:00] than if you would've taken a job right out of high school, you know, making maybe 35, 40,000 a year, which would've been considered a very good amount coming from high school, not having any kids, not having, uh, many liabilities and things that way.
However, the other side of that is that. You may stay at a certain point, right? Because you're only going to promote so far without having education or technical training. So, you know, definitely you have to kind of skirt that line of doing that. And even, you know, when joining the military, I'm sure there was a lot of, um, thought about that for yourself, right?
Where I wanna go to college right now, I wanna do this. Well, if you sacrificed that four to six years of being enlisted first and then went to college, hey, now I don't have to worry about student loans. I don't have to worry about this because I have all of that [00:56:00] covered and while I was in the military, I could even take some classes to lessen that burden when I get out.
Right? So win all of those different factors, whether it be monetary or otherwise, that's all part of evaluating your opportunity cost, most definitely. So let me ask you. Uh, you know, just in the journey. Right? Uh, but thinking about their 18-year-old self, when we talk about the opportunity costs, uh, do you think even in today's economy, do you think for yourself that you should have taken a job at the time of the age of 18 and being able to work your way through the ranks and gain the experience, skills and, uh, transferable skills that can go throughout different industries?
Or do you think, uh, your education, uh, taking the time to go to college to get your education, uh, served you in a better direction? Hmm. No, that's a great question. [00:57:00] And I think that question is, uh, and the answer to that, the answer is nuance, right? Because it's really going to depend on the individual. Now myself, I wouldn't have known what job to take that would've been able to further me into a sustainable career that I would've been, uh, happy with, uh, to, uh, at that particular time.
So there were literally not enough opportunities that I was aware of at that particular point without going to college to be able to, uh, take care of myself long term. So I think for myself during that time, I think college was. The best thing because it also teaches you a lot of transferable skills.
And when we're talking about the job market today, a lot of why some young people struggle is because they don't have the transferable skills and critical thinking skills to be able to work and do things in certain, uh, jobs and corporations so they can't, uh, seize those [00:58:00] opportunities. Yeah, most definitely.
I think there's a lot of, uh, correlation between the, the current college state and, uh, the skill level of the, the, uh, the, of the job market now, or the, I'm sorry, the candidates of the job market now. Uh, but let me ask you now, obviously. You know, it, it's nuance, right? Uh, but at the end of the day when we talk about in a, in a more economical fashion, and we talk about strict compensation, right?
You talk about student loans in college versus, uh, versus, you know, working a job and on a day-to-day basis that can potentially get you a raise or potentially garner those transferable skills where you can go get another skilled job and work your way up there. Um, what is your advice to the younger generation now who is going through that, going through that same decision?
Ask Chad GBT, but no man. [00:59:00] Um. Really, I, I, they really just kind of consider, you know, what they want to do, right? And a lot of times you don't really understand, uh, what you want to do long term. So I think even then, and even now, some type of post-secondary training, uh, and skillset building is mandatory, right?
It is gonna be mandatory whether you decide to go to the military, whether you decide to go to traditional college or university, or whether you decide to learn a trade, uh, I would say you would want to do one of those three things you would not want go into a job that's hiring you without any of those things.
So if a job doesn't require one of those three things, I would say stay away from that, because that's ultimately gonna be a dead end job in most cases. Hmm, Hmm. Yeah, most definitely. It definitely would be a dead end job. But, uh, I just, even still with those transferable skills, we wanna make sure that we're talking about transferable skills that sits in, in the, in the, [01:00:00] in an industry that you're looking towards, right?
Uh, because again, we could talk about the opportunity cost, right? You can be at that dead end job. You think a transferrable skill is gonna be related to engineering and you're actually, uh, in, in, in the restaurant business at, at entry level position. Well, that entry level position is, has no skills that is gonna get you into that, uh, position of engineering.
So just making sure that you are taking the right steps. Um, there's so many different ways to figure out if you're taking the right steps. Information is gonna be one of the keys here today, right? Uh, in today's world because you can get that information at, at a drop of a dime in today's world. But I will also say that sometimes.
Uh, a lot of the, a lot of the job market today, or just the world today is trying to leverage entrepreneurship and make it a thing or [01:01:00] create a business or, uh, create some type of sustainable income outside of the job market. Uh, which ha which has created this world of, uh, of independent contractors.
Right. Uh, now I just think, you know, with the world of independent contractors that are being had, it's hard to say, you know, when to leave your job. 'cause I know we talked about, we kind of spoke about the, you know, make your income three times over, uh, three times, uh, three times more than your income on a regular basis.
But when we talk about that, uh, that income level there, um, it's just, I want to ask you with the 10 99 contractors and also being working a job. Yeah. Where do you see that going? You know, just in your experience because, you know, you know, when you, a year ago isn't where the world is today. Absolutely.
Yeah. I mean, I, I really [01:02:00] saw it going towards a more of a 10 99 situation anyway, because what I alluded to of kind of my reasoning and kind of eye-opening moment, part of that was seeing the company come in and hire contractors to do large scale projects. So basically saying, Hey. I don't EI know the skillset that it takes to actually, uh, do this role.
We don't even wanna hire and manage that. We'll rather hire somebody outside so that we don't have to deal with all the components of managing, uh, that there. So, you know, that's why I saw that as an opportunity. And obviously we are into business consulting and, and helping individuals that way of, that's really a wave of the future and where things are going, where as you continue to put regulations on employers, they're just gonna stop employing people.
Hmm. Like, 'cause they don't necessarily have to, I mean, like, you know, you go to the gym and you, you, you're there or you [01:03:00] go to, uh, the airport and you see. What, what is this company? Cleaning and doing the trash? No, they don't work for the airport. Oh, they don't work for the gym. They're independent contractors.
Right. Why did they contract out? You know, why are so many co uh, companies hiring consultants to do this, to do that and working on special projects when they frankly have employees who are overworked and underpaid already that would love to take on that project and be even more overworked if it's going to get them some additional pay, but they don't allow for those opportunities for, you know, whatever reasons, which is beyond our conversation today and may be beyond, um, you know, my pay grade here, you know, uh, to be able to speak on that.
But yeah, I, I think that's the wave of the future, right? Because not only. Contracting out humans, but now we're gonna be contracting out robots for these companies and we're replacing humans and [01:04:00] we're already seeing that in terms of you're going to the grocery store, how many cashiers do you see? You know, you're going in and, uh, even people needing to stock and do a lot of different roles.
A lot of these things are becoming as automated as possible. They just haven't brought in the actual physical robots yet. But, you know, we said Tesla got a robot. They said, what, 25? 35,000. And that's just one time fee. So. How much do you wanna make a year, right? You wanna make more than 35,000 a year, but, and you only could work eight hours a day and you want vacation and you want to call out when your daughter or you get sick and all these different things that robot ain't calling out and you working around the clock.
So when we are talking about improving efficiencies and things, that is the wave of the future. Most definitely. Most definitely. That's awesome. Uh, and just to add upon that, you know, [01:05:00] uh, though is the wave of future, you know, people matter, you know, and then a lot of these companies need to also understand that because at the end of the day, uh, the people are purchasing the product or utilizing the service that you are, uh, providing.
So there must be an area for people too. Yeah, definitely must be an area for people. But unfortunately we are in a capitalistic society, so. There's gonna be a area for elite people, right? Mm-hmm. And so when we go back to talking about that decision, whether you should just join a workforce, or whether you should go to college, or whether you should go to the military, or whether you should learn a trade, and why I say you need to do one of those three things is because that's where you are going to be able to build your social network for real.
Not on Facebook, not on Instagram, not on TikTok. You're gonna be able to build that within. Those communities, right? Because as you know, military community is a family. You [01:06:00] know, you've met individuals there that you've created lifetime relationships with college and university is similar, uh, to that same thing with going and learning a trade.
Those tradesmen, that's their own thing, right? And they, they have their own ecosystem where they share resources and uh, everything of that nature. So, uh, as a young person, you wanna try to get into those ecosystems and if you young enough, you may be able to take advantage of all three, right? Because you can go into the military, uh, do your four to six years of service, or even do more than that, and then, then go to college or university and then go learn a trade using a voc rehab program.
Mm-hmm. So you, you literally, you know, utilize. All three of those, uh, different things. But, and when we're talking about entrepreneurship and the push to entrepreneurship, what's really going to set you apart? Uh, if you are a part of any of those elite groups there, you're able to [01:07:00] actually build a social capital to learn and um, have that, build that network of individuals where you could have employees to work in your business.
You know, your buddies in the military, your buddies in college, your buddies are within that trade, starting a business with them. Now you're building an ecosystem of like-minded individuals, uh, to be able to do that with. And from a standpoint of looking at people that want to help you, nobody is gonna want to help you until you help yourself.
Mm-hmm. Right. And as a young person, you put yourself in the best situation when you are a college student and say, Hey, I want to go. Learn from Mark Cuban or you know, whoever. Right? And if you not in college or you're not doing something, mark Cuban gonna look at you and be like, what? You know, get off.
You just sitting on the couch and you want me to help you. Right? But now, oh yeah, I'm a sophomore at Michigan State and, or, you know, hopefully make up a [01:08:00] school in Dallas. They, oh yeah, I know that. Or know wherever he went to school at or something. And he gonna be like, okay, okay. For sure you, what's your GPA?
What you doing? Okay, better. You know what? Talk to my assistant and then, and we gonna plug you in something. Right? You are gonna be more likely to get help as a young person, but you're gonna be even more likely to get that, uh, support and mentorship if you are a young person that's already a part of an ecosystem in doing something for yourself.
So that's gonna be very, very valuable for individuals to instill that in their children or, and if you're a young person listening, instilled this into yourself. Yeah, true indeed. True indeed. And I think, uh. Uh, just with that as well, you know, asking for those opportunities or those opportunities don't just come along.
Uh, you have to be gracious enough to want to serve those opportunities as well, right? Uh, it, it, it's still the grind, right? Uh, definitely even an entrepreneurship that's [01:09:00] still the grind, that ecosystem that you speak of, uh, those are the people you're gonna reach out to first, right? It is gonna be friends and family, then it's gonna be beyond that.
It's gonna be a social sphere. And then from your social sphere, that's when, again, you're gonna be impacted by, uh, strangers if you're doing good out here in the world, right? So having your, having that ecosystem that you build, make sure you take care of that ecosystem, uh, because sometimes that ecosystem may not take care of you, uh, during your journey, but that doesn't mean you lower your standard for the ecosystem.
I mean, lower your standard for that person within the ecosystem. So make sure that you're really. Going through, going to bat for people and make sure, obviously, be humble enough to work the job that isn't paying you, but you know, it's garnering you, the experience to get you to where you're gonna go.
Right. Or be able to take an internship. You know how, how I I, I, I do not see a [01:10:00] lot of people willing to take an internship, you know, and that's a big thing, big in internships. They, they talk about that social ecosystem that you say. That's where you can enlarge it and continue to grow, continue to grow, be involved in college, be involved in your job so you can be able to grow that, uh, grow that community of yours.
Absolutely. Yeah. And that's for young people and uh, for a lot of our, you know, adults 35 and up too, right? Because, you know, I know people that are literally, you know, laid off right now who still wouldn't wanna take an internship. You know, they're not doing nothing right now, but if you offered them a internship that was low paying or no paying, doing exactly what they love to do, they'd be like, oh no, I'm not getting off the couch for that.
And it's just like, well, you mean to tell me I'm gonna pay you something? To be able to learn everything that you need to know to be able to further your goals [01:11:00] and, and your vision. And you don't want to do that. You are that arrogant to think, uh, you could only be paid to do certain positions. It is a different perspective.
It's a different perspective for sure. For sure, for sure. And now, and we think about scaling a business, right? And, you know, we're thinking about this journey I've embarked on more recently, you know, Kenneth embarked on a few years ago. The main thing that I want to, uh, kind of close out and let everyone know is that the world isn't gonna stop while you're scaling a business.
Understand and know that, right? The world is not going to stop while you're scaling a business. Everything is not gonna go your way. It's just not, people will die. You know, family members are gonna have funerals. You know, your kid is gonna get sick. You, you're gonna have financial issues because your business is not generating enough [01:12:00] money at a particular time.
You may have, you know, issues, whether it be with a spouse or whether it be with other loved ones, a trials and tribulations that way, right? So, et cetera, et cetera. Like life is gonna go on. And as a business owner versus being an employee employee, you could just go and call FMLA and be like, Hey, you know what?
I don't wanna come to work for the next four to six weeks, I'm dealing with mental health. Right. And, you know, mental health is nothing to joke about. Right? But unfortunately, and more importantly and why I'm echoing this sentiment and this point is that you have to understand that when you're a business owner, that hey, you may be dealing with mental health, uh, ailments and different things.
And you can't just walk away from that business and be like, Hey, I, I just need to take some time. For me, it could even be a day, it might be a particular day that you're just not feeling it and say, Hey, I just need this one day. It's like, Nope, everything gonna go wrong that day and you can't [01:13:00] even take that time out.
So these are the things that you have to consider when you are embarking on that journey. Yeah. That journey. It's a journey, right? Um, and regardless on how you take the journey, uh, my advice to you, uh, personally, uh, would remain focused. Remain focused. Um, you know, a lot of things are gonna happen and you at the time, you think it's gonna be the end of the world, uh, but it's not right.
Take the time out to take a step back to stay grounded. And how you stay grounded is being the person who you are and, um, being the person who you are and always will be, right? Because again, a a lot of times you try to adopt other components because it may see, you may see it working for this, or you may see it working for that.
Uh, but the only thing that's gonna be able to push you through, uh, those tough times [01:14:00] is, is a remaining focus and remaining dedicated because you understood what you took this journey for and who you took it for, and that's why you tap into the why. Uh, your why is gonna continuously unpack, uh, the reasons for, uh, getting that inner strength.
Focus, soundness and also getting you over the hump because at the end of the day there's, there's different levels and different breakpoints that you're always gonna be able to take on and, and, and, and also deal with. You know, um, you may not have in the entrepreneurship journey, you may not have that original desire, right all the time.
But if you have that foundation and focus, and also understanding who you are and what you are doing it for, because that why matters. Nothing else matters. Everything else is temporary and [01:15:00] what's gonna happen is gonna happen. But you being the person in charge, make sure you stay focused. Make sure you stay grounded and make sure you stay educated.
Continue to educate yourself. Uh, most entrepreneurs, what they do, they limit their self to a piece of education that they thought could take them to the next level, and it will not. It will not. You are a forever learner, and you need to be that to be able to grow your business, but most will stay stagnant, right?
But we're in a forever changing world. This world is moving so fast, uh, in our historic, uh, our, our history. We've never seen change like this as fast as it's ever been. So you have to keep up, keep up, and, and, and this is gonna test you. It's gonna test you every, it's gonna test you every day, but as long as you navigate it, stay focused.
You'll be fine. Absolutely. And, you [01:16:00] know, and thinking about that test, right? And you know, something that, that we kind of debate about all the time off camera is, um, you know, things being hard, right? And, you know, a quote that I have here, whether I made it up or chat, GBT made it up is here, right? So, you know, one of the things I wanna say is, is not any one thing that's hard, but it's the weight of everything at once, right?
Mm-hmm. And you know, that's something that you really have to kind of look at, right? So, 'cause we, most of us, we're not trying to join Special Forces, or we are not trying to climb Mount Everest, or we're not trying to join the NBA or do certain things like that. And so you think about it. Most things that we wanna accomplish, there's actionable steps to reach those goals.
Uh, but we have to be willing to build the habits to be able to be successful within that component. You know, even if we think about it, um, socially, and [01:17:00] we think about it within a marriage, for example, it's like, oh man, marriage and kids and all of that stuff is hard. It's like, uh, I mean, is it hard or is it hard because you have 50 other things going on as well, right?
Uh, but when you really. Look at and kind of see, well, what's going on is really the effort that you wanna put into your marriage and you not wanting to put into that effort. You not wanting to put in that effort into your marriage is the hard concept. Right? You not wanting to build those habits and stack those habits for that marriage or for that relationship to be successful.
That's what's hard. The actual relationship in dealing with the person isn't hard. You know, this person, you know, their likes, dislikes, this and that, but it's like, I don't feel like doing what I know this person would like me to do. Right. And that's, you know, one example there. But then when we think about it in, in terms of what needs to be successful in [01:18:00] business or what needs to be successful in fitness and all of these different things, it's like, well, you know, um.
If you go to the gym, burn a thousand calories and you know you eat less than 2000 calories and count your macros, you could probably reach that fitness goal, right? Mm-hmm. Or you could probably do this, right? But it's hard with everything combined to be able to stack those habits, to be able to consistently do those things.
Because it's like, oh, well yeah, I want to do that, but I'm sitting at a desk all day and now I gotta wake up early and to do this or do this after work. But then I got the family and kids, but then I have this going on and I starting a business, so, and managing and scaling a business, and now I gotta put 12 to 14 hours on that.
So something is gonna fall by the wayside, right? So you have to kind of understand those different nuances and being able to. Dedicate the time to what you feel like is gonna be the most productive and make the most [01:19:00] impact on your life, right? So there's gonna be stages in your life where committing that four, that 12 to 14 hours a day in your business is gonna be the most important thing for you.
There's gonna be times in your life where you're not gonna work a minute past 5:00 PM because you value that personal connection and that time with your family. There's gonna be other times in your life where you, on the MyFitnessPal app, you know, doing all of that and on your health kick 'cause you got a vacation coming up or something, right?
But there's always gonna be stages and understanding that and giving yourself grace that when you are laser focused in on one area, something is going to go by the wayside. But don't allow that to go by the wayside for too long because then you destroy the progress and where you are within that particular, uh, stage in, uh, lane of your life.
A hundred percent. A hundred percent right. Um, and for me, um, I receive [01:20:00] balance, right? That's what I receive from the conversation balance. Uh, it's unheard of. If you are striving for excellence in everything that you're doing, you're never gonna have balance. So again, going into MyFitnessPal, right? Uh, that again, striving for excellence.
What, what are, what are the top tier people doing in that application? Strive for excellence. What are the top people doing in having the excellent marriage strive for excellence? What are the top people doing in business striving for excellence? Well, if you strive for excellence, it's gonna be hard for you to miss in certain areas.
Even if, maybe if some people may not think like, Hey, uh, what are you doing here? Because again, it's gonna be so many, it's gonna be so much noise, but you have to focus to be able to really level the playing field and where you want to be. But at the end of the day, you have to strive for excellence continuously as a business owner and as a entrepreneur on this journey.
You have to [01:21:00] Absolutely, man. So great, great segment, great podcast. Continue to like, comments, subscribe, all that stuff, man. If you made it this far, then you almost like family, man. So go ahead and you know what up cousin, you know, so what's up man? I, I definitely appreciate you, uh, for watching and any questions that you have regarding this segment or anything, definitely reach down in the comments.
We have a veteran community. Uh, let's continue to learn, grow, and prepare to compete. We out peace.
