Going Long Podcast_SOLO Episode 438_Billy Keels

Wed, Jul 17, 2024 12:26AM • 14:30

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

optional, job, investing, realized, employee, family, corporate, started, billy, portfolio, life, spending, amazing, needed, knew, decided, helped, exhausted, millions, guess

SPEAKERS

Billy Keels

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Billy Keels  00:00

Today's conversation is sponsored by the Billy keels advisory program. If you want to learn more about how to make your nine to five optional, just go to Billy keels.com, forward slash advising once again, that's Billy keels.com, forward slash advising. You imagine a life where you're literally going into your job every day, because you want to, not because you have to not because their bills to pay not because their mouths to feed not because you have to make more payments, you have to get ready and prepare for the next thing. But you're literally going to your job, because you want to. Yeah, well, you know, it seems sometimes really far fetched, until you get really crystal clear on what is it that you want to be doing with your life? How can you best leverage the assets that are around you? And what is it that can give you fulfillment on an on a daily basis, right. So if I think about what happened in my life, and I go back to, you know, early father, 44 years old, I just closed this amazing $25 million equivalent deal, did it in a different language and a different culture. And it was also at the same time that things were going really, really well at the job, things were stressful at the house, I still had a lot of the desire to be the reliable one, the one who was providing for the family. And at the same time, I knew that there was something inside that wanted more, that the job was great. But there's also this path that I knew that I would be able to take and provide more for myself for my family. This was also a time when you start to realize that your thinking can even start to change, right? Because my my thinking started changing. I always thought because I was always taught that in order to leave corporate in order to retire, you needed millions of dollars in the bank, you needed 4 million, 5 million you can live off of that X percent of interest for the rest of your life. Well, at this point in my life, like I said in my early 40s started realizing that I didn't actually need to make millions and millions of dollars. It's not about you making millions and millions of dollars, it's about you getting to a point where you can say, what is it that I spend on a monthly basis? And what is it that I can do to actually cover those expenses. And that was the Pullman moment in time when my mindset started to change. It wasn't about how much money can I store in the bank? It was, what are my expenses? Or what could I do to cover those monthly expenses. Now, don't get me wrong, there's always this part where you want to continue to rise up the corporate ladder. And I was definitely there, I chose to continue to rise up the corporate ladder until about this point in my life. And then it was more about how can I provide the level of security for my family, I was thinking about the things that were most important to me at that point in life were now starting to change and be more related to the overall security of my family started having some early on successes. And when I think about this massive deal, right, because it was, you know, $25 million dollars that I closed lead this team of people that were amazing experts. And this was in literally September, in September that year. So it was a q3. And so what I realized, and what I remembered was Amen, this is absolutely amazing, we're going to do well over 200 and almost probably 300% of my target. In at the same time, that was this massive success that you feel. And in the back of my mind, I also thought wow, in three months, this starts all over again. So you go from doing three digits over like, you know, doing more than almost 300% of your quota, meaning the annual amount of money that I had to bring into the company, but I knew in three months it would I would have I was going to go from Hero back to zero, because everyone starts over at the beginning of the year. And it's one of those things that is the most deflating feelings that you can ever have. But it's just part of living in a sales and sales leadership world. So I knew that the January 1, the of the next year, everything's going to reset and we're going to start all over. And so I realized like this is the moment like not right now is absolutely when I have to take advantage of this situation because I knew that there was going to be a lot of money coming in into my bank account because of the the sales quarter. But what I realized was also too, that this was the moment in time like this was I started having some early success in my side hustle, I knew that things were going to be working in the right direction, but I made two very strategic decisions that were going to accelerate me being able to make my nine to five optional write it because that's what we're going to talk about today is the truth about what make your nine to five optional really means and so the Tuesday She did things that I did were number one, I decided that I was having early success, things were working properly. In my side hustle, you know, I started investing in real estate and some other things that were tangible assets that were kicking off cash every month. And there was so much cash that I didn't actually know how to manage it. Like it was a, it was a really first world problem, because there was so much money coming in. But I didn't have the right structure in place. And so I was exhausted, because I was spending more time mentally and physically on my side hustle, which was like the thing that was supposed to be like a nice to have, then I was actually in the job where I was making this massive sales in leading teams of people. And so I realized that it was about how do I invest in myself to figure out and get the tools in the, in the, in the insights from someone who's already been there before me, so that I could stop being exhausted all the time. So that's exactly what I did. That was number one, I decided that I was going to make a strategic bet on myself. I invested almost six figures for a one year coaching program. And it was it was so much that it scared me. It scared me to actually make that investment. But I knew that the best return on investment was going to be myself. So I came outside of my comfort zone. I was scared. But I guess what every single coaching call, I was ready. I was absolutely ready. But that was that was the first strategic thing. The second strategic thing was, I realized that I was something known as an accredited investor. And that I didn't have to continue to put every single moment into a return like a return on my time was a return on currency or money that I was that I placed in an investment, I realized that I could actually place my capital with other people. So as an accredited investor, I decided that I wanted to also start to include more assets into my personal portfolio. And so I wanted to include more assets into my portfolio. And I wanted to do that as someone who was investing passively. So not being taken an active management. So those were the two things that I decided I wanted to do. Now. Also with those with those two things, there was number one, there was a massive outflows of currency that left my bank account. So that was not a good feeling. Because it wasn't like this, that immediate gratification where I was gonna get a return on that it would happen over time, number one, and then number two, I didn't have as much control anymore. And so these made me really feel uneasy, this massive influx of cash that went in because I was investing in myself. And secondly, that I was investing with other people. And I didn't have the control that I was actually looking for. But what that did was it including the so when we start talking about the truth about what is when I talk about what is make your nine to five optional, the thing that happened was yeah, it was the great part is was able to get to the number of of doors that I thought that I needed to set myself free. But it was the change of the mentality, which was okay, I didn't need the millions and millions of dollars in the bank. It was how do I cover the amount of money that my family and I are spending every month and replace that through the through the investments through my at my portfolio and doing that consistently because of the cashflow that was coming in. So I was able to get to the goal, right was to get to the number of doors that I wanted to do. But more importantly, and this is the power of the truth of like when I talk about make your nine to five optional, what does it really mean? Because a lot of times, you may listen, and you may think well that means quit your day job, it means leave your corporate job. And it does not mean that it absolutely does not mean that make your nine to five optional means that you understand that your job and your big corporate cushy role gives you lots of amazing benefits. And if it makes sense for you and your family to continue to go to the job like I did for four years when I didn't have to, then you can keep doing that. Because the return for for yourself for your family and for the company that you're working for. It makes sense. So keep doing it. That's what makes your nine to five optional means it doesn't mean quit your job, it means you have the option to continue to go into your job, because you want to when I did that, right? Like a couple of things that happened. Number one, I was going to work it my job for my own free will. So guess what I went to work happy. I was like the happy corporate employee, I used to put that on my LinkedIn on my LinkedIn moniker. And by the way, if we're not connected on LinkedIn, go check out on LinkedIn. And let's connect and make sure you say Hey, Billy will listen to the podcast and all that kind of stuff. But number one, I went to work my own free will I was really happy to do it. I wasn't thinking about how to pay all these extra bills. I went happy in it. I know that I appreciated that and I'm sure that my co workers did. I was an excellent employee, I was able to support other managers because I came from a management and leadership roles. And so I understood the leadership that was what they needed. And so as a direct line employee and individual contributor as you'd like to call it in the corporate world. I was contributing all the time. And I was helping I was bringing the insights from a leadership role from management role. And also to and I think about this all the time, like the annual review process, which is usually something that I used to early on in my career. I used to get so frustrated because I was like they're never gonna pay me with what I'm worth. And I think I've talked about this in a previous episode. But guess what, you're never gonna get paid what you think you're worth in a corporate role, because the role is only worth so much. But that's a whole different thing. And I have amazing mentor and friend, who helped me to understand that a long time ago. But like, being able to move towards those goals, being able to have someone that helped me take Guided Action that was there for me, that also helped give me much more confidence so that I could continue to be reliable person for my family. That's what it was all about. And so it wasn't just about being able to get the doors and do that in the time, it was the fact that I bet on myself, I made some strategic bets. And I say strategic bets. Because I invested in myself, no one invested in more assets to bring into the portfolio. But it gave me a job satisfaction, I was a great employee, with my, with my colleagues a better a better employee. I mean, I was even in the in the catalyst program, or the top talent program, when I didn't even need to go into my job. So when I say and we talk about make your nine to five optional, what it really means is for you to have the freedom to choose to choose the option to continue to stay in your nine to five, because it makes sense for you for your family, and your employer, or the day that you decided doesn't make sense for you anymore. Guess what? Your exit stage left. And it's as simple as that your employer is happy, because you've been a great employee for the time that you've been there. And then when you think it makes sense, you have the freedom and the option to choose to exit stage left. But you can't just do that. If you don't have a plan B, if you don't have another plan, if you're not working on a side hustle, if you're not working on something else, it makes it really difficult, because then you're going to consistently be have this relationship where you have to have your job. And I spent a really long time in my corporate career when I was in it. And I was not even aware of that that was the dynamic that was happening. And so because I was able to also experience what it's like to go into a job. Because you want to not because you have to, I want to help you experience that exact same thing. Right? So when we talk about what is making your nine to five optional, what does it really mean? It means you have the freedom to choose, you have the option to to go into your job, or to not okay, and so that's what it all means. And that's why I wanted to just have this episode, I wanted you to to understand that it's not about quitting your job. It's about making your nine to five optional. And so if this sounds like a path that you have, that you want to take, or if you've been through any, like struggles or frustrations because you just like you're exhausted, can you see that it's there, but you either don't know where to start, where you're having, you know, you're getting crushed because of the success you're having. You know where to find me. It's not difficult. I think it was a I think it's Deion Sanders, he said ain't hard to find. So I'd like to believe that ain't hard to find. You can find me here. Also, if you know of somebody who needs to hear today's episode, share it with them. It's really simple. Share it, more importantly, talk to them about what you've heard here. Is it about you taking the action and needing to invest in yourself? Make the bet on yourself? Is it about you being able to bring more assets in your portfolio? Is that about surrounding yourself with the right people? You don't know how to get started? You need some help? Well, you know what, take this episode, listen, there's things that I've done that I've shared with you that you can very easily put into practice, create a plan for yourself, make the plan that is maybe moving away from thinking that you need millions in the bank to focusing on. Okay, how much money am I spending every month? How much do you spend every month? Can you make enough investments or create something for someone else that they're willing to pay you to cover the expenses that you and your family have? Well, if that happens, then guess what? Your nine to five is just become optional. And that is the truth about what it means to make your nine to five optional, it doesn't mean quit your job. It doesn't mean that you've got to do something else, it just means you have the option to choose. So while you're thinking about this while you're taking action, most importantly, I'll be here preparing for the next episode. So until then you gotta make it a great day. Thank you very much. Today's conversation was sponsored by the Billy keels advisory program. If you're looking to make your nine to five optional and need some help, just go to Billy keels.com forward slash advising once again, that's Billy keels.com forward slash advising

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