The REAL Reason You’re Struggling with Money with Lewis Howes

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Lewis
Something broke inside of me. I know what it felt like. Fake money. I used to steal almost every day for about a year and a half. I think I invested something like grand in some crypto thing and lost it all. The more I give, the more I earned. Whether this year or the next year, it always comes back.
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Lewis
You know, money is an energy and I want to feel good with my money.
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Marie
Most people struggle with money. All of us do. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, education level, none of that matters. We all do. The fact that three and four Americans say they live paycheck to paycheck, and that also is not dependent on your income, because whether people are over six figures or very, very little still, same cycle.
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Marie
So many people don't have any savings and they feel so stuck. You say it doesn't have to be this hard. What do you think is the biggest financial mistake that's keeping people stuck?
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Lewis
Matter biggest? It kind of depends on where each person's at, I think financially, but I would say understanding their money, personality, style. People are not clear on what their unique style is. They have a style. They act in accordance based on their beliefs. Their behaviors match those beliefs, but they're not sure why they think and feel that way around money.
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Lewis
And when you can start to analyze and remember and recall your money story, all the different things that happened growing up, the things that we saw our parents do around money, did they fight? Did they love each other? Was it did it flow? Did it feel scarce? Did it feel abundant? When we start to reflect on our money story and analyze our money wounds, that's when I think we can just have a better sense of why we show up the way we do.
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Lewis
And when we have that wisdom and that knowledge, then we have better information on how to change our money style so that it works in our favor and not against us.
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Marie
Oh, I love this. So which leads right into my next topic, which is the fact that money is such an emotional topic for all of us. Between shame and anxiety and fear, it's never neutral. You start it off with very little. What was your personal turning point like? What started to shift everything for you? If there was one, there may have been many.
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Marie
Yeah, but what was one of the primary turning points for you when you started to investigate money?
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Lewis
Well, first, I didn't know how I could make any of it. I didn't understand it, so I was afraid of it. I was afraid of it. I avoided it and I didn't understand it. So it's scary to me always.
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Marie
Like even because I remember reading your book, which is fabulous, by the way. I want everyone to read it. And you were talking about how his kid used to steal something hundred percent. Yeah, and I did too, as a teenager and I wolf. Anyway, so did you always were you always like, I don't know what this thing is ever since you.
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Lewis
Were little, I didn't know what it was. I know I needed it, and I know I wanted it, but I didn't know how to get it, and I didn't think I was smart enough to get it. I didn't think I had the skills, the tools, the education where anyone would pay me money. So I was like, I don't understand this world.
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Lewis
It scares me and I don't believe I'm capable of earning money. So that was kind of my story and my belief.
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Marie
Do you feel like that started in childhood?
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Lewis
Yeah. I mean, it started around like just my parents fighting a lot and feeling like anxious around money. And so that energy and emotion transferred to me. I felt anxious around there, anxiety around money.
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Marie
Yeah.
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Lewis
So I just didn't understand it. And I was afraid of it. I was afraid of it. And my thing was like, I'm just going to pursue my dreams, which is to be an athlete and try to be a professional athlete and when I did that, I loved my life and I was only making $a week because I was doing something that I loved, it didn't matter that I wasn't making that much money, but I was like, I'm playing professionally.
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Lewis
It was arena football, and it's like a dream. And it was like, how do I get to the next level now? How do I make more money doing what I love? When I got injured, I wasn't able to play football anymore and I wasn't able to. I didn't know how to make money then. So my identity and my path crashed.
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Lewis
And I'm thinking to myself, what do I do now? And I didn't have good money mentors at the time. My dad had gotten into an accident just before then, so he was not able to work anymore. And he was. He was physically alive, but emotionally not there. So I didn't have him as a mentor to really guide me in my early s.
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Lewis
And it just I again, I didn't graduate college. This was around This is like a year and a half before I met you, probably maybe a year before I met you and the crisis happens, the housing crash. I don't have a college degree yet, and I'm trying to figure out how can I how can I believe that I'm valuable enough to make money?
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Lewis
Because a lot of it was like I didn't believe I was valuable enough, and so my beliefs had to shift. And then my behaviors had to match those beliefs. So it was a lot of just like turning the page and trying to figure it all out. And it started by finding mentors, learning about it, studying, researching, and figuring out what's my path, what's my channel so that I can generate an income.
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Lewis
But it was a very confusing time.
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Marie
Yeah. And did you feel like, Because I know, you know, when you and I first became friends, you know, it's also like the early days of online everything, which now it's so ubiquitous and, you know, social media wasn't even really up. It was it was tiny, tiny, tiny. And so was some of what changed for you. Like, I remember in my own journey when I discovered, like, the world of coaching, you know, and it was like which is crazy pants.
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Marie
That's like years ago. And there were so many light bulbs that went off that it was like, wait a minute, I could earn a living.
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Lewis
Coaching someone, helping.
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Marie
People, like in a really positive way. And even though I was and I didn't know what the hell's, I was so insecure, you know what I mean? All those things. But there was something. There was that kernel of possibility. And so it opened my eyes to, oh my God, you can earn a living doing something like this.
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Marie
I'm curious if one of the things that you saw when the online world, you were like, wait a minute, people earn money in this internet, you know, for lack of a better word. I mean.
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Lewis
Tim Ferriss really kind of unlocked it for me when I read his book.
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Marie
Four Hour Workweek. Yeah.
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Lewis
For Christmas, I got one gift Christmas in and there was a book, his book, and it was came at the right time. He was the right messenger. Right message. Right time. Where I needed something in my life to change. And I was living on my sister's couch, making no money, and he just showed me different possibilities that put me down a rabbit hole of the online marketing world where I started researching, reading books, reading blogs, and then just trying stuff.
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Marie
Yes.
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Lewis
And early on I was hosting events around the country, LinkedIn networking events, because I was on LinkedIn. And then I was just thinking, how do I take this to the next level? First it was networking events, then it was people asking me to coach and consult around LinkedIn. Then it was, I.
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Marie
Remember those days, right? Yeah. And I was like, still.
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Lewis
Hustling around the freaking country. Yes, events. Then I was like, why don't I make a book that I can sell at these events around LinkedIn? Then it was like, why don't I take this online and do a course? And then how do I scale everything? So it just became like, what's the next level of this? And webinars was kind of like the first thing that showed me an unlock of financial, I guess, abundance in some ways, or just another level of financial success, because it was a way that I could reach the masses in one channel and sell quickly and effortlessly.
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Lewis
It felt like, yeah. So when I made $on my first webinar, it like something broke inside of me. I got what it felt like fake money.
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Marie
Yeah, it felt fake.
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Lewis
And I was just like, oh, this is a pathway. This is a channel. Let me explore this channel now. I still had fears and wounds around money that I wasn't even aware of, but at least I knew the direction I wanted to go, which allowed me to start saving money, making money and feeling more free around my money.
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Lewis
Yes, so that was kind of the first pathway for me. But again, that was years ago.
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Marie
Yeah, years ago or something. And I want to talk about this too, because I think, at least in my own experience, this is true. Like the fears and the unconscious beliefs around money, like I'm still uncovering mine, you know, like it's just like it's this lifelong journey. And, you know, you've gone from not making anything, being on your sister's couch to making millions.
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Marie
So, here's the question. Yes. What is the single most embarrassing money mistake that you've made? Lifetime. And then in the past three years, I guess the most, like, you know what I mean? One, if you're like, oh, God, you know, those things that you do and you're just tell you that's bad. Yes. And then but hold on.
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Marie
The follow up will be and what did they teach you? Because again, all of us, all of us, myself included, I do things and then I look and I was like, I thought I was a pretty smart. I thought I was a kind of smart person. I've got a whole lot more to learn. Yeah.
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Lewis
I now I would say lifetime. The first thing that came to me, maybe if I thought about it longer, it might have a different answer. But this is the first thing I can read.
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Marie
Yeah.
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Lewis
Which, I it's crazy to think that a lifetime ago, I used to steal almost every day for about a year and a half. Like, it's crazy to me to think that I was that person. And that was my my identity, my actions. And I wasn't stealing, like, cars or banks. I was like, stealing candy bars, right? But for me, as an year old, yeah, there was a rush around going into a store.
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Lewis
This was pre cameras really. There was some cameras in stores, but it was like I just felt very insecure about my life. I didn't really have any friends then. So it was trying to get validation, trying to get attention, trying to feel powerful, all these things. And for about a year and a half, I was just like stealing candy bars or whatever I could at stores and felt very powerful.
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Lewis
And I never got caught. But I got the one time I got caught was stealing money, stealing $actually, at one of my dad's clients house, he brought me along for, like, a client meeting. And my dad was, you know, he had a good reputation in a small town in Ohio.
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Marie
And what was he doing for a living?
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Lewis
Selling life insurance. And for years, Boston is bought, like not making any money in the first years. It wasn't until I was like that he started to make money and he, you know, he I was the youngest of four. So my older brother was years older than me. He started at years old and he busted his butt for years and really had to work hard to make his money.
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Lewis
So it wasn't until my early teen years where he started to, like, have some extra cash, and he brought me along to one of his client meetings. And just being a dumb idiot that I was, I was like, snooping around the house, and I found a wallet in the basement and just took bucks. And that night or early the next morning, it was like or a.m. my dad is like hovering over me in my bed, and he's.
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Lewis
I was so-and-so, you know, said he's he's missing this money. Did you take it now? It's like a.m. and I'm like, waking up. I'm like, am I dreaming? What's going on? But I just lied and said, no, I didn't take it. Now I had a friend with me and he. And he was my accomplice in this, you know, thieving strategy where there was a $bill and a $bill, and he actually took the and I took the five.
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Lewis
But I was like, I'm not going to say anything. And hopefully he doesn't say anything. But he called my friend's mom like early that morning. And she he told on me essentially he said, yeah, I did it. And the I still feel ashamed the day, just like my dad. The disappointment, the shame of him looking me in the eye and just being so disappointed in me.
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Lewis
And it was the longest hour car ride of my life. He took me there later that afternoon, and I had to go take this money back and say, I'm sorry, and look, this guy, he was a farmer, this guy farmer that was using the money to like, buy feed for his cattle or something. The next day. And the disappointment on his face.
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Lewis
I still see it. And since that day, I've never stolen a thing. And it's like, if I even think I've taken extra, I'm like, take you back, you know? It's like I'm just like, man, I never want to feel that way again. So for me, the lesson from that was, it doesn't feel good to be out of integrity and out of alignment and specifically around money.
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Marie
Yeah.
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Lewis
And there was also a wound that I had for many years with that where if I felt like someone was taking advantage of me or stealing from me, it triggered me as well. So for many years I was affected by that wound. Not only that, I didn't do that. I try not to do the wrong thing, but I was also.
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Lewis
It triggered me when other I felt like others were taking advantage of me, and I had to learn how to have peace around that, especially in the last couple of years, as I was diving deeper in my own journey of healing my money wounds because I haven't mastered the season. That's why I did the.
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Marie
Book, right? Yeah, yeah.
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Lewis
So that was one that was a big lesson for me, and one that really woke me up and helped me become a better human in my teens. Right. So it was like a painful thing, but it helped me get back on track. And in the last three years, I would say I think I invested something like grand in some crypto thing and lost at all.
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Lewis
And I got I got excited and like the the rush of, like the NFT crypto world or whatever, and someone said, hey, get into this. And I think it was just, again, I wasn't being smart. Yeah. And I was just like jumping to something that I thought could be a quick thing as opposed to a wise thing.
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Marie
Yes.
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Lewis
And that was just another painful lesson, right? It's like, okay, you lost all this money jumping into something without really educating yourself on it and without really knowing about it. And I think that was a great lesson for me. It's like there is no quick money. Yeah. There's no quick. Like maybe you've worked hard and you put it on the right things and like takes off, but you got to do everything in integrity I think in order to get the rewards financially, but also internal peace in the journey of your money.
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Marie
I also think that for people, perhaps this is a theory that for those of us like who didn't grow up around a lot of money or who don't like I was the first in my family to go to college. And you were talking about that fear or concern like, oh, I don't think I'm smart enough to have money or be able to handle this or deal with this.
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Marie
I have so much of that, but still, it's definitely lessened. But it's something I have to watch out for is something I have to like, bring awareness around because what I realized was like, oh, it makes me an easy target. In that I if I'm not careful, I can assume that other people know so much more than me because they have these higher degrees or these are the circles that they run in, and these are people with tons more money than me.
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Marie
So they must of course know better. They know.
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Lewis
Something I.
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Marie
Don't know. Yeah. So I think I just wanted to call this out loud just in case anyone's watching or listening. And they may have backgrounds like you or I do. Do you know what I mean? And and you start to do well, whatever that means to you, subjectively. And then what I always have to watch out for is any notion of thinking, oh, they must know better because they quote unquote, have more or, you know, not the same thing.
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Marie
But like, you know, with the crypto thing, it's like, oh, you know, I'm going to be smart and I'm exactly I'm going to get an early, I'm going to ride this thing. Or even I love that you mentioned, you know, angel investing, you know, it's like it's I.
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Lewis
Lost all my.
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Marie
Money on that like, sexy title. Like I'm an angel investor. And I loved it when my. So I have an awesome banker who I love. Like she's just a baller. Like she's so cool. She's so smart. And I'm always very transparent. I'm like, look, even though I worked on Wall Street and that's where I came from, I, I'm like a four year old, like talk to me in like super basic language and I'm going to interrupt you if I don't understand this lingo in that lingo, because I can't hold everything in my head.
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Marie
Do you know what I mean? I can't, it's just not the way my brain works and I'm focused on this business, or I'm focused on whatever it's like. I ain't focused on that. So break it down for me. And I remember when she said to me, with Angel investing, she's like, you're basically just kissing that money goodbye. You know that, right?
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Marie
No. Like it's like on the real, like % chance you might get and maybe, maybe. But it's a bye bye.
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Lewis
I haven't made any money on my angel investments like ten years ago.
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Marie
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, yeah. So on. Anyway, I just, I want to say these things out loud because I think sometimes in the world of money and it's not really a topic that is quote unquote polite, you know, to talk about often or you feel like it has to be in whispers. It's kind of fun to hear people, especially if anyone assigns, you know, Louis, you're what you've created for yourself, what you continue to create.
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Marie
It's so impactful and so amazing. Thank you. And people might be like, well, Louis knows what he's doing. Or maybe, like, Marie must know something. It's like, dude, we can make just as silly mistakes and we're all on this journey together, which is why this conversation is like this are so important.
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Lewis
And that's why I think it's it's important to understand your money story and your money style, because.
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Marie
Break that down a little bit. Can you talk a little bit more about money style?
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Lewis
Yeah. I mean there's three keys to improve your relationship with money. And the first one is to know your money story. And what that means is reflecting on your past and all the things that you can think of, like, what's the first memory when you think about money? Like, what is that? What are the things that you heard growing up about money?
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Lewis
Are there any painful moments that you had around money? What are the wounds that you had? You know, for me, stealing money. Someone stole money from me as well. My parents fighting, the conversation, the language that was used, like understanding that will just give you a better frame of how you think. And what you believe, and your beliefs will help dictate your behaviors.
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Lewis
So if those things are all happening, it's just going to give you awareness. So the first thing is to know your money story. The second thing is to really reset your money mindset because you have a mindset that's just based on programing on your experiences. You haven't decided it, you just been kind of given it and you've allowed it to be that.
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Lewis
But it doesn't mean it's always working for you. It doesn't mean it's serving you at the highest level. And if if money were a person, Marie and Money walked into the room right now, how would you greet it and what would you think about it?
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Marie
Well, you know, I'm crazy past I love money. I've been talking about this for a really long time. Like I'd run up to money and like, French kiss it. And, you know, I mean, tackle it on the floor and wrestle in a good way. In a good way?
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Lewis
Yeah, in a healthy.
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Marie
Way, you know, healthy way.
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Lewis
And it it's interesting. I asked someone close to me this. I said, what if money walked in the room and you were at a party, what would you do? And they said I would run over to the bar. I would hide and avoid it. I wouldn't look it in the eyes. I would be afraid of it, but I would use an abuse it when I needed it, and I would ghost it and I wouldn't reply back to it.
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Marie
That's always a recipe for a great relationship right now.
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Lewis
It's like interesting. No, no wonder you're like having some challenges with money. It's like, if you can humanize money and you can create a relationship with it, it's more of like analyzing what is my relationship, what is my mindset with my relationship to money, and does that work for me? Yeah, it doesn't make it right or wrong, good or bad.
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Lewis
But does that work for me? The third key to kind of improving the relationship with money is to allow yourself, once you know those two things, is to prepare for more money. And it's hard to earn more money if you have a toxic relationship with it. We're probably going to sabotage it. We're probably going to feel more anxiety when we have more.
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Lewis
We're not going to be ready for it. And I think that's really the key. You don't want to earn more money if you feel anxious or avoidant or insecure about money, you want to have a healthy French kissing relationship with money.
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Marie
You know what I mean.
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Lewis
You know, you want to jump on a hug and celebrate it.
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Marie
Totally. Yeah. I I've there's been times like over the years, I was telling you right before we, recorded. I've said this few times, so I love money is like my life mantra in this world, and I want to create a whole thing around it.
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Lewis
It's like your mantra affirmation. You say it like.
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Marie
Oh, it's the thing that healed everything for me. And so I've said this like when I was on book tour with Everything Is Figure out. But I remember someone stood up an event and, you know, asked a question. I was like, hey, you know, I have this question about money. And I was like, okay. I was like, let me tell you.
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Marie
And there's like, I don't know, a couple hundred to people in the audience. And I said, I love money. And Louis, it was like a record scratch. Like you could just see, like I heard crickets and people's eyes almost popped out of their head, like, is God going to strike her down? Do you write me? Because I said it with such confidence and love?
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Marie
And then I was like, don't you all up and it. Yes. And it was like an eruption because people are so afraid to say it. But it's a similar philosophy, like we're so aligned on that it's like, if I love money and not love it above people, but literally pour the energy of love into my financial life. It heals everything.
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Marie
So my philosophy is love is the answer to every problem, including money. Money, right. So it's the same. So the whole notion of like French kissing, it is just I'm playing. I love that though. But yeah, but it's similar to the I love that you asked someone and they were like, oh my goodness. I would, you know, hide from it and then I use it and abuse it.
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Lewis
Well then it's just to let you know there's a wound and if there's a wound, it's hard to create from a space of love because we have something that's hurting us.
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Marie
Yes.
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Lewis
And until we heal that wound emotionally, psychologically, the relationship, whatever it may be, it's hard to create abundance.
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Marie
Yeah.
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Lewis
We're living in some type of fear, some type of scarcity, some type of abandonment, guilt, shame, some type of lower energy frequency. And it's really hard to create something magical.
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Marie
Yeah.
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Lewis
To feel abundant with money if you have that energy holding you down.
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Marie
Yeah.
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Lewis
And energy, you know, the emotions that we feel around money create our energy, and our energy dictates everything how we feel about life. And so we've got to really evaluate the past around money, the stories that have supported us and the stories that haven't forgive ourselves, forgive others, mend those kind of wounds so we can have a better feeling and energy around it and just move forward from that.
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Marie
Place, I love that, yeah. One of the things you talk about in the book is, this is lovely, aligning our money with a meaningful mission. Yes. And we know again, a lot of folks watching right now, they're just trying to pay the bills and survive. So how do we start to uncover something deeper? How do we get clarity on what that mission might be and use our money for as a tool for something better?
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Lewis
I think this is really important. They ask this because a lot of people might be just thinking, I don't have enough money, like three months out.
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Marie
You know, I'm like, we're even a month out.
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Lewis
Yeah, I'm a few months right now or I'm just struggling right now with money and I can't even think creatively about, like down the line because I'm so stressed about it. Yes. And I think you have to ask yourself what season of life you're in with your money. And it might just be, what's my three month mission like?
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Lewis
What can I do right now for the next three months, to either get out of some of this debt or just create a game plan? Some people don't have a goal of what they want with their money. They're just like, I want more. Yeah, but how much do you want? Why do you want that money? What are you going to use it for?
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Lewis
How are you going to feel when you have that money? Where is it going to go? And some people just want more than they spend it on more stuff to feel good, and then they're still in debt. Yeah. So it's creating a meaningful mission that's not just I want money because it's going to make me feel good and really getting clear on what your your energy towards money and your work and your life will be so that you have more clarity in that creation process.
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Lewis
And it's just really important to get clear on your mission for everything. Yeah, for your relationships, for your life, for your health. But I think money is one of the most confusing things for people and scary things.
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Marie
So what's your I want to go back to you for a moment, because I think all this stuff is so illustrative when it's put into context. Yes. What is your not only money mission, but I actually want to go broader because I think it's really fun. Yeah. Tell me about your mission for your brand and your business.
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Marie
And I don't think it was always there. No, no. Tell me how that's evolved over time.
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Lewis
So I'll give you an example of, like, context for me. When I was on my sister's couch, my money mission was like, I just want to get off the couch. I want to make enough money to get my own apartment. I couldn't think like my ten year plan or like.
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Marie
I want like, how I want to change the world. I was like, it's not.
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Lewis
How do I overcome myself and figure out how to make $a month to be able to get out? And that was the first year and a half. It was like, that was my.
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Marie
Life.
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Lewis
Yeah, but I had a goal and I had a game plan and I got mentors and all these things, and I took a lot of action. So I don't just think it and help. It happened. I really had to overcome myself. So that was context for that season. But early in my podcast, you know, I was making a lot of money before I launched the podcast and I started to evaluate, like, why am I doing this?
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Lewis
And it was coming from a place of, I don't want to be broke anymore. I don't want to live, go back to where I was. So I just need to make as much money as I can. But it wasn't like a clear vision. And so I was just kind of exhausting myself, burning myself out, overworking to make more because I was afraid of being broke.
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Lewis
And when I took a step back, this is the kind of like around the time where we were hanging out more. When I was in New York City, I got to evaluate, why am I doing this? What's the mission of this? Do I really want to be doing this? Is this the type of projects I want to be working on to make money?
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Lewis
Once I able to have more, I could start to evaluate that. You may not have that luxury when you're starting out. You might just need to work to work and make money.
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Marie
And that's okay and that's okay. It's a whole season for that. Yes.
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Lewis
And once I launched the show, within the first couple years, I was like the first year was I want to do this as an experiment. My mission is to experiment this and to have fun. After a year in, I was like, man, I love this. Okay? I want to keep going now what's the mission? I was like, okay, let me reflect on this and it was to serve million lives weekly to help them improve the quality of their life.
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Lewis
And it's still that today I haven't accomplished that mission, but it's what helps me overcome any challenge or stress or adversity coming my way. It's my why on why I keep showing up in adversity and it supports me just the direction I'm going in. And if I never achieve that goal, I'm okay because it excites me still. Yeah.
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Lewis
And I feel like there's a bigger thing behind what I'm doing beyond just making money.
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Marie
Yes.
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Lewis
So there's some context for a few different scenarios.
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Marie
I love that. And also to just to make it okay sometimes I always hear this from people in B-School, and it actually made me adjust the content in there because I talk about, you know, building your business and having something that is just beyond you. And for people like me, you know, I'm like, hey, it doesn't have to be to change the world, you know what I mean?
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Marie
It can. And you don't even need to investigate this right now if that's too much. And it just feels too overwhelming and it feels like pie in the sky and you want to slap me? Cool. Let's put it aside for a little bit, you know? So thank you for sharing that. If it's just like it's getting off the couch, it's getting, you know what I mean?
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Marie
The money mission or the meaningful mission for right now is like, hey, I don't want to live paycheck to paycheck, and I want to actually have I remember one of my first money goals, like the business had started, definitely wasn't like was not thriving, you know what I mean? I was still is like a mess and bartending and waiting tables and just like sober while I'm trying to figure things out.
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Marie
But I remember reading like a Suzy Almond book. And it was talking about having like a rainy day fund. Yes. And I think I probably still have a journal somewhere. And Josh and I we talk about that so often and he's like, Marie, do you remember when you or I remember I said to him, I was like, could you imagine having like $as a savings?
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Marie
Like, I literally like that.
-
Lewis
I'm just whispering it.
-
Marie
I was well, that's.
-
Lewis
It's like.
-
Marie
That's how I was. And it was just but it was, you know, and then I remember he's like, well, what else do you want? You know, and I remember saying like, well, you know, and I was, I was like embarrassed as like, I really I want to see this business. Like, I don't even know, could I earn like $million a year?
-
Marie
Like, I couldn't even, like I was. So I was like, there's no way I could do that. He's like, I know you could do it. Like he saw stuff in me. But the reason I'm just bringing that up is like, if no matter where you are right now, when you're hearing this conversation, any mission that you can get behind is good enough.
-
Lewis
Yes, hundred percent. And it doesn't have to be changing the world, but be changing your world.
-
Marie
Yes.
-
Lewis
And that's huge.
-
Marie
That's like.
-
Lewis
Me getting off my sister's couch changed my.
-
Marie
World. Yes.
-
Lewis
And it was life changing.
-
Marie
And it gave you you were like, oh, I well, I could do something. Yeah, great. Give me some more confidence.
-
Lewis
It gave me more skills I had to overcome fears. I had to overcome myself so much.
-
Marie
Yes.
-
Lewis
And just getting out of there was such a massive accomplishment. I was like, I paid $a month in a one bedroom apartment in Columbus, Ohio, and I didn't have a car because the car that I had was $and it broke down. So I walked everywhere. But I felt so free because I wasn't sleeping on my sister's couch.
-
Lewis
I wasn't eating off of her. Yes, I couldn't provide for myself before then, and I felt free, even though I had only. I was like, okay, maybe three months, I can do this. I had to figure out, how do I do this.
-
Marie
For a year? Yes.
-
Lewis
But it gave me a sense of power, gave me a sense of kind of this money momentum that allowed me to keep going. Okay, how do I go to the next level and the next level? And that's a powerful thing.
-
Marie
You've talked with some of the greatest minds business, money, everything in between on your show. What's the best money habit. That you've adopted that you think most people don't practice.
-
Lewis
There's two that I would say the first one that we talk about which is in preparing for more money, there's seven kind of money habits that we talked about. And the first one is the mindset habit. And this might sound a little like cheesy or something, but all the wealthiest people that I've interviewed and I, you've interviewed a lot and I've interviewed a lot.
-
Lewis
I ask them this question. I go, what do you think is the secret to your success and earning more and more money every year and feeling good about it?
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
Because there's one thing to have a lot of money or to be a billionaire, but if you're miserable, I don't want that life. I want to feel financially free and emotionally free with my money. I want to feel joyful and peace and harmony. I don't want to feel trapped as a prisoner with my money. And most of the wealthiest people that I know have done the work on themselves.
-
Lewis
Talk about generosity, generosity, and gratitude. And I believe gratitude is the gateway to abundance. And I think generosity is equally as important and when I first started out early on, before I met you, when I was just trying to figure it out, I was like, how do I get into this industry, this kind of online world, this marketing world?
-
Lewis
The author space. I was like, I don't know anyone. I don't have any skills. I don't have a college degree, do I, I don't I can't provide anyone anything. I don't have any money. So I didn't know what I could offer, but what I could offer was my energy and my curiosity. And it's what got me in the door almost everywhere.
-
Lewis
I would go to these online marketing events and conferences, and I was taking Greyhound busses around the country early on because I couldn't afford flights, and I would show up and I was just like, how do I meet people? Just excitement.
-
Marie
Passion. Yeah.
-
Lewis
And I would meet people and I would just ask them questions about themselves that I was fascinated about, just these kind of like curious, dumb, childlike questions. And at the end of the night, people were like, you're like the most interesting person here. And I didn't even say anything. I just asked a question and I was present. And I think that presence was was power.
-
Lewis
And those individuals wanted more of that passion, that energy. And they gave me opportunities because I could bring something that they valued. So I had to learn what my value was, what these kind of inner hidden skills were that I didn't even know were skills. And I was very generous with my energy. I was generous with my questions, and I tried to find connections with other people however I could to help them.
-
Lewis
So this generosity mindset and this gratitude mindset, I think, is something when I ask people specifically the very wealthy people, a lot of them say how much I give every single year to church charity foundations directly correlates to me earning more that year as well. Almost all the time. It's like probably % of the people I've said yes, the more I give, the more I earn.
-
Lewis
Whether this year or the next year, it always comes back and I always think, how do I give more? And I just think that mindset, when you're poor or you have a scarcity mindset, you don't think about giving, you think about, I need to make and save as much as I can. You don't want to give it away.
-
Lewis
So it's flipping the mindset when you're in scarcity, when you're month to month, when you're struggling financially, it's not about giving your money away, but what can you give generously from your heart, from your talents that will just help other people? And I think that is the first mindset that people need to the first habit that people need to think about is that mindset of generosity and gratitude.
-
Lewis
You don't. It doesn't mean you have to like and fake your situation. Like, I love being broken poor.
-
Marie
Yeah, it's.
-
Lewis
Not like false liking something that you really don't like, but thinking to yourself, how can I be generous? How can I make giving? And that energy becomes magnetic and creates opportunities? So that'd be the first one. I would say. The other one is one that I think the greatest leaders you're one of these has this ability that most people don't have to generate incredible wealth.
-
Lewis
And it's the the mindset of enrollment.
-
Marie
-
Lewis
The ability to enroll others in your vision, in your dream and really in you. And you've been someone who's been able to build a massive business every single year, just huge launch after huge launch by your excitement and your ability to communicate your vision visually and audio, text, your newsletter and it gets people moved to your vision to want to buy, whether it's buying or watching or subscribing, the ability to enroll someone in your vision is so powerful, and it's something you do so well.
-
Lewis
And that's one of the habits, that people can, can tap into. But that takes that takes time. And developing your skills.
-
Marie
Well, thank you for that. I also love the focus on, no matter what the circumstances are right now, or the balance in the bank account, the notion that you, each of us has resources within us, us energy of attention, of curiosity, of compassion, of empathy, all those things don't cost anything. And I also know how hard it is.
-
Marie
Like I remember the moment there's this one moment when, the business had started and again, it wasn't doing well yet, and it was just like me opening my checkbook, and it was like a single digit. And just like the panic and the shame, like all those things that most of us, again, if you weren't born with a lot of money, which is most people that watch a show, you've experienced that.
-
Marie
And I know it's really hard when you are in fear and scarcity and it's a survival mode. It it's really difficult to think like you have anything to give before the possibly it does feel impossible. So we just want to say that out loud. Yeah. And it is possible like if you can just get like a tiny little toehold into, into just some little.
-
Lewis
Wins here.
-
Marie
And there. Tiny. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah a little win.
-
Lewis
But that have, it's called the the magnetic habit. And you don't have to be an extrovert or outgoing to be enrolling. Yeah, but you have to figure out what your skill is in order to communicate your vision in some way.
-
Marie
Yeah. And that could be.
-
Lewis
to interactions. One to many. It could be, text interactions, audio interactions. But you have to learn how to communicate somehow to someone to get something that you want.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
And the better you get at that magnetic habit, the more your wealth will come.
-
Marie
Okay, let's get real, real real real real. If we were to go through either your personal finances or your business finances right now, what's something we might find that would surprise people?
-
Lewis
Something you might find that surprises people is I've. I've invested in life whole life insurance for like years for my future kids that I didn't have, my future wife, my future kids back in my s, my late s, I spent a lot of time getting low premiums and the best rates for my future self.
-
Marie
Oh my goodness, that's from dad.
-
Lewis
-
Marie
Percent.
-
Lewis
Yes, yes, he would always talk about the value and the opportunities from that when I was in my teen years. So he's like, make sure you know when you start making money putting in the life insurance. So when I was like or whatever it is, when I started making money, I was like, all right, I need a policy for my future self and whoever's going to be in my family.
-
Lewis
You know, I just got married a week ago.
-
Marie
Wait, it was just last week. A week ago. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you. I need to hug your wife. I haven't seen her in so long. Okay. Yes.
-
Lewis
I just got married a week ago. And one of the. You know, when I first started dating her with Martha, I was like, open to her about, like, my money and my finances and really open early on. And she's very successful and she's done like movies and she's made a lot of wealth herself. So we were open about things early on.
-
Lewis
And one of the things that I told her is like, listen, if we end up doing this, if we're, you know, the dating phase, I was like, if something ever happens to me, this is how much money you're at a half. And if we have kids, you're automatically going to have that money from just life insurance. And I was like, I've been thinking about you and our future kids for years before I met you.
-
Lewis
And I think that's, you know, some people, they believe or don't believe in life insurance or whatever, and it's fine. But for me, I wanted to think of and it's like you're doing something that you don't get, like, I'm almost I was almost being generous to my future wife and children that I get nothing in return. If I die, there's no benefit to me for having life insurance, right?
-
Lewis
It's only for someone else. So it's the ultimate mindset of generosity. Yes, there's zero benefit to you now. You could use it of like leveraging at or taking out loans or something, but it's not something I think about. So that'd be one thing. The other thing would be years ago I created like, a foundation for my like, a, a fund that's a special fund just for nonprofits.
-
Lewis
And again, I really believe we, you know, we've supported a lot of different the same charities together.
-
Marie
That pencils promise promise and.
-
Lewis
Different water organizations, all these different things. And we were doing this, you know, years ago together. Right. And it's something that I'm sure you keep doing and it's something I keep doing. And I just, you know, I created a fund, a foundation within my name that I put money in every year that I have to give away.
-
Lewis
And some years I do better than others. And I still put money in there. Yeah. And I just think it's creating that generosity. Muscle is a good thing. Whether you're making more money or less money or you have good years or bad years.
-
Marie
Which everyone has both. Yeah.
-
Lewis
And just thinking, how can I be generous. Yeah. And how can I set up things automatically to serve other people? And again, if you're living in scarcity or month a month, you may not be able to think that way.
-
Marie
At this moment.
-
Lewis
At this moment. But you can think, how can I give two hours a month to someone, a friend, you know, or something, or my church or charity or whatever of my time, and you could use your time as money as well, because your time is money. So for me, those are a couple things that I, that I do that I think are valuable to me because at the end of the day, I know you talk all about all this stuff.
-
Lewis
You know, money is an energy and I want to feel good with my money. I want to love my money and I want to love myself fully. Yes. I don't want to love the money that comes in. And I want to love the money that goes out, whether it be bills or taxes or charity, all of it. I want to appreciate it.
-
Lewis
And I used to not appreciate the money that went out when I was like, why am I spending this much on taxes? I would complain about money, why am I spending this on this bill? Why am I spending on this bill? And I realized it just wasn't a good energy. And if I want to have more harmony in my life, I have to have better energy on things that come in and come out.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
And and be more relaxed about the things that were coming out. So these were the things I had to learn for many years that I struggled with because I didn't have the wisdom and I didn't heal.
-
Marie
Yeah. So the online world, as we know, yeah, is very full of people selling dreams and, you know, I definitely I'll be the first one to say I sell to sell dreams. And y'all know I back my shit up like you have been around for a long time. It works. If you work it, what do you feel is the biggest lie about money that people need to stop believing right now?
-
Marie
-
Lewis
I guess the lie. You know, my the whole premise of my book is make money easy because most people make it hard. And I think it doesn't have to feel hard. It doesn't mean you're not going to do hard work.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
And take consistent actions and show up for yourself and overcome challenges. But it doesn't have to be hard. And I think another thing is people want to make easy money. And I think it's a lie that you can make easy money. I think you can make money easy, but not easy money.
-
Marie
Yes. The distinction being like.
-
Lewis
That's the grand in crypto.
-
Marie
You're not going to get it back.
-
Lewis
That's that's going after easy money.
-
Marie
Yes.
-
Lewis
As opposed to making your money feel easy.
-
Marie
Yes.
-
Lewis
And having a beautiful relationship with it. That's what I mean. Yes. So one that money has to be hard. I think that's a lie. And two, that you can make easy money.
-
Marie
Yes, yes. That's kind of like the to remember I feel like especially when you and I link in those some of those early days and we would mess around. I think there were so many of us like tropes and memes, for lack of better word of like, you know, doing online business and money's just going to shoot out your laptop and you're going to be like sipping a pina colada on the beach.
-
Marie
And we're like, no, shit ain't real. Yeah, like when people still show up like me. Can you help me figure out passive income? I'm like, first thing I'm gonna help you figure out is not passive. Like, I ain't nothing. Ain't really nothing.
-
Lewis
And there's nothing that it's actually four hours a week.
-
Marie
You know, and and, you know, I love when Tim actually says that, too. He's like, read the manual. It's not the point. Yeah. Okay. Another question. What do you think is the worst advice you see being repeated in the business world or the personal development world? Is there anything that like, you know what I mean when you hear it, you're just like, really?
-
Lewis
Gosh, the advice.
-
Marie
Or maybe it's advice that you've gotten.
-
Lewis
I think the first thing that came to me that I was just feeling is that can you can just kind of spiritually bypass your problems, like, like, here's the I don't know, for me, this right? I don't know why it bugs me.
-
Marie
But it gets it gets in your bikini. This one bugs.
-
Lewis
Me. Maybe because I don't understand it enough and I haven't tried it, so I don't want to judge too much. Although I am judgy a little bit.
-
Marie
Who's not where.
-
Lewis
When I haven't done something.
-
Marie
We're human.
-
Lewis
When? When you think you can take a drug to heal all of your problems psychologically or emotionally, they're like, oh, I did this drug and now I'm good. Like, I had this vision and now, like, I don't have to worry about my problems ever again.
-
Marie
Right? Like you went to do like the the frog venom or you do any type of crazy.
-
Lewis
Drug ceremony, any type of thing that is a chemical compound that you take from the external world, and you try to put it into your world and think.
-
Marie
It's going to handle it all.
-
Lewis
It's having a role and I'm healed. I just think that's really scary advice to think that is the only solution. Or it's like the quick fix. Again, it's the quick healing fix. It's like make healing easy.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
As opposed to make, you know, and make easy healing as opposed to make healing easy.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
And my journey towards healing has been a decade plus, and it's unlocked new levels of peace. But it doesn't mean it's like it happened overnight and it was just, like, effortless. It was a consistent journey and it still is.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
And I think realizing that, healing doesn't happen overnight. It's a journey. And there's no way you can spiritually bypass something from a chemical compound of like years of trauma or wounds.
-
Marie
Yeah. I love it. It's like Louis getting fired up. I don't know why. Listen. No, no. It's okay. Well, we'll we'll come back and like. No, you're like, oh my God, I figured that one out. Yeah. So success in any field comes with hidden costs. It always does as you reflect back on your journey because it's been a while now.
-
Marie
Is there any price that you've paid for financial freedom, something that maybe no one talks about? You're like, God, I wish people would know this.
-
Lewis
Like, yeah, the responsibility and the weight.
-
Marie
Tell me the weight of.
-
Lewis
You know, I'm the youngest of four. My family and I'm financially the most successful, right? So I have the most money and my family and the weight of hiring team and being responsible for people that you hire now. Family challenges, friends, people asking you for money and learning how to navigate the emotions of money in relationships.
-
Marie
-
Lewis
From, co-founders to team members to family to friends, to people asking for money on the street, whatever it might be.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
And learning how to navigate the emotional weight of you, setting yourself up financially and other people wanting something from you and just really how to create boundaries out there, how to have conscious conversations there that are very challenging sometimes with people and learning how to navigate all that stuff. I think everyone thinks money will solve all your problems, and it will only amplify the problems you have yet to deal with.
-
Lewis
And if you haven't had the courageous conversation of relationships, money is going to amplify that pain or that insecurity or that fear, and it's going to trigger you even more. So it's really allowed me to it. It was hard for many years. And then the last or years, it's really allowed me to step up and be more courageous in relationships with everyone.
-
Lewis
So I don't hold on to resentments anymore. And it doesn't mean everyone's going to like what you say. Or if you want to create new agreements with someone. People may not like that because they're used to the way you've shown up.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
So it's learning how to navigate the emotional weight of success. And there's three big fears that most people have that causes them to doubt themselves in life. The first one is the fear of failure. The second one is the fear of success, and the third is the fear of judgment. Other people's opinions. And when I ask people, what are you afraid of now?
-
Lewis
Have you ever been afraid of the fear of failure? Most people in a room will raise their hand. But I say, how many of you are afraid of the, the fear of success? And a lot of people raise their hand as well. Almost equal amount of people say, I'm afraid of success. And it never made sense to me because it's what I always wanted.
-
Lewis
Growing up. I was like, I want to be successful. That was just like the dream. But it started to make sense. There's an amazing documentary called The Weight of Gold, which is about Olympians who go their whole lives chasing success, and then they get the gold medal and they go through extreme depression or sadness. They don't know how to handle success, and a lot of people suffer immensely with it.
-
Lewis
If you haven't been trained on how to navigate it, this emotional weight. So for me, I think a lot of people don't understand the weight of success that you have to learn how to manage it. And I know you've had to learn how to do this too.
-
Marie
Like I'm still learning. Exactly.
-
Lewis
But it's like people want everything from you. They expect something from you. They get judgy of you. If you don't give them something like they'll get mad at you. It's just navigating the emotional weight of success.
-
Marie
Yeah, I think it becomes, a discerning tool of like, well, who can you trust and who actually likes you as a human for you? Yeah, yeah. Who doesn't want anything from you, you know, and I, I always think like that's the value. Like, that's why I love that we've known each other for so long because it's, you know, when, you know, folks before.
-
Marie
Before. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean. You're just like, oh, I like them as a human. Yeah. Because they're like a great human, not because of what they can do for me or, you know, whatever.
-
Lewis
You don't need something.
-
Marie
Correct. You just hang out. Yes, yes. And be realsies. Okay, so two part question here. As we know, for all of us, there's a big gap between knowing what to do with our money and then actually doing it. So what do you think stops people from taking action? And what would be the first immediate action step, like if someone's watching is we like they're fired up, you know what I mean?
-
Marie
Like they're like, I know I can handle this, but Louis, tell me what to do. Like, what do I do first? So what stops people? And then, what action steps could they take? Especially if they're somebody that's living paycheck to paycheck? You know what I mean? That makes it in a cycle.
-
Lewis
I think, well, the first thing would be to understand kind of the money traps that are blocking your abundance. And one of them is money wounds. So reflecting and journaling on your money, one's actually, if you're watching or listening to this, I would want you to. The first step is to send this link to one of your best friends or someone in your life that you care about and say, hey, I would love to have a a discussion about our money wounds together because most people don't talk about their wounds.
-
Lewis
We feel afraid to talk about our insecurities around money. So the first thing is to understand your money wounds and just say, hey, what are some things that you thought of growing up about money? What were the beliefs? What were the things that you went through and just have a discussion or at least journal about it yourself? That'd be the first thing.
-
Lewis
Number two is kind of understanding your money beliefs. What are the words you're using around money, and is it supporting you and serving you and getting past the current situation you are? Your beliefs dictate your behavior, so you have to really analyze where did you get that belief from, and are you able to start shifting that belief little by little?
-
Lewis
So understanding your money beliefs and kind of writing those things down as well. The third thing we kind of mentioned this already is creating a money mission. What is the mission you have for this season of life? I try to simplify things into a few months. If you feel really stuck, like what can I do this week as my money mission?
-
Lewis
What can I do in the next three months? Okay, I have a game plan every day for a few months. Or what can I do if through the end of the year for my money mission start there to get you on a journey and it might be as simple as I'm going to dive deeper into learning more about money.
-
Lewis
I'm going to get a money mentor, all these different things. The fourth one is having money mentors because most of us have our parents and our peers that tell us what to do with money, but they don't know what they're doing. You know, they really don't. Even people on Wall Street may not know what they're doing.
-
Marie
Yeah, they.
-
Lewis
Know an element of money, but they don't know what's best for you. It start finding money, mentors, reading books, listening to the podcast, or finding the YouTube channels that can support you with your next step. Because me giving you advice on what to do doesn't make sense, unless you can figure out what your next step is for your current situation.
-
Lewis
So I found mentors early on when I was done playing football and injured. I had no clue what I was going to do with my life, and I started to just analyze what how can I make my life like a sport? I understand sports if I'm going to be the athlete. What does an athlete need? An athlete needs a coach.
-
Lewis
And in every sport when you're playing, there's a season, and every season you create a goal. So I need to find a coach. And those were money mentors early on, people that just knew a little bit more than me at least. And if you can start seeking out those money mentors, whether it be in your local community, start asking people, you know, who's the wealthiest person, you know, can I meet with them?
-
Lewis
Just starting to ask them questions that you probably never had the courage to ask. And then the fifth thing is you mentioned it. It's kind of stacking up these wins. People lack money, momentum. They just feel stuck. They feel trapped. They feel clueless. Where do I start? Starting to stack a little wins. Whether it's I'm going to automate saving $a month in an account, like starting that small win to support you up for success.
-
Lewis
Those are the, the main traps that hold us back from our abundance.
-
Marie
I love that, you know, we're out there. Yeah, we were with them. I've talked about this a lot in the show, like my parents have been going through. It's just been hell in my family life for a while, and I'm dealing with it, but, you know, it's it's a lot. And I homes.
-
Lewis
And all of.
-
Marie
Assisted living, like mom and dad both took a bad, you know, just declined immediately together. And I.
-
Lewis
Read about in the.
-
Marie
Business. Yeah yeah yeah it's a lot. Anyhow I was like back home in Jersey, I was just like two weeks ago. So. And I have so small action, big reward. So sitting there and my parents God bless them like. But it's in chaos, right. It's just it's chaos. And like my mom's you know, she's shuffling around. She's like read do this do that by dads.
-
Marie
You know, putting stuff in front of my face and my brothers over there. I'm like everybody. I'm like, y'all got to sit down. I was like, I know what I'm doing. Sit down. But I said, Ronnie, who's my my brother? I was like, I want you to call basically like the cable company. And as I know they're being overcharged, like, and I just and then like minutes he negotiated back down, you know, just an overcharge an internet dish or whatever.
-
Marie
And it sounds silly, but it's like such a little empowering when though it is. And when you take like a bill that is a month or whatever it is, especially for older folks who are on a fixed income and got their challenges, and you get that back down like but like I'm doing cartwheels. You know what I mean?
-
Marie
It's a huge win. So these don't have to be big wins, like these tiny little steps where you start to feel empowered and you start to have the courage to ask questions, to negotiate, to get that your amazing book, to listen to some podcasts, like just to get that education and get yourself on that money journey.
-
Lewis
I remember early on I started making money first. It was like, how do I make money? But then I still didn't understand money. When I had it, I was like, now what do I do with it? Right? And I remember I still had like, I don't know, was or in student debt. And I remember I don't understand money.
-
Lewis
Still, I'm getting the courage on how to make it and I'm getting some momentum there. But now what do I do? And I literally this is around the time when I, I saw, read, say, these books, I teach you to be rich.
-
Marie
Over.
-
Lewis
Me. And I've told her this many times, I'm like, dude, you got me out of college debt. You help me pay off all my debts. There was like a simple six step plan on how to, like, pay off your debt. That I just literally followed it % within like or months. I was debt free from college loans.
-
Marie
Yes.
-
Lewis
And it felt so empowering. But I didn't know the steps from my current situation.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
So I think it's understanding your current situation tactically. What steps you need to take there. That's another great book. His podcast is free. It's another great thing as well. I'm more about figuring out the emotional steps that we need to take.
-
Marie
Yeah, because you.
-
Lewis
Can make more money but still feel like a prisoner to.
-
Marie
It. Totally.
-
Lewis
If you if you feel scarce.
-
Marie
Yep.
-
Lewis
And that's not joy. That's not fulfillment. That's not a rich life.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
You want to feel wealthy internally and you want to feel free. And you can have all the money in the world and still not feel free.
-
Marie
Correct. Amanda. So, what do you think the number one thing we need to know about changing our relationship with money for the better is should we just, like, I think people should take my advice and French kiss it.
-
Lewis
That's why I like them.
-
Marie
Or even just at least hug it. You know what I mean? Just the number one. Yeah.
-
Lewis
I think the number one advice, that people should be taking on, on money is you need to be thinking, how do I get to in a secure relationship with money as fast as possible? In the book, I have an assessment to see kind of your money, personality, style, and it's like there's no right or wrong, good or bad style.
-
Lewis
It's just an assessment to see where you're at and ask yourself, is this helping me at the highest level? Feel peace internally with money? And if I have an insecure relationship with money, a fearful relationship with money, I need to figure out whatever it is within me that's going to support me in my healing journey. So I feel emotionally free with my relationship with money that when it comes to me, I'm grateful when it leaves me.
-
Lewis
I'm okay. That when I have it, I'm not hoarding it. I'm holding on to it when I don't have it. I'm not a needy, you know, boyfriend or girlfriend.
-
Marie
Yeah, yeah. Attention constantly.
-
Lewis
Yeah, but I have a secure relationship with it that I have my arms open, my hands open with money, that it can come to me and it can flow to me. And it's starting to shift your your inner dialog around money. I interviewed Ken Honda a couple times. I don't know if you're aware of him. He's got a great book called Happy Money.
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Marie
Yeah, yeah.
-
Lewis
It's about, you know, the Japanese art of like, having peace with your money. Sold million copies. And Ken told me that every time he gets money, he says thank you. Yes, internally. Or he might say thank you to the money as well, but he says, thank you. Whether it's, payments coming in, his bank account opening up, and I'll see the payment says, thank you.
-
Lewis
If someone's handing him money, he thinks, thank you. He's grateful when money comes in and he's grateful when money comes, are leaves as well. So thank you for being here. Where do you want to go? Do you want to go in my bank account? Do. I'm going to give you away. You're going to donate? Are you.
-
Marie
Going to.
-
Lewis
Spend it on something? For my pleasure. Do you want to invest? You? Where do you want to go? Yeah. So he he directs it somewhere when it comes in. Doesn't just keep it and hoard it. And he's not afraid of it. And I think it's changing our inner dialog with money first will set you up for so much success and freedom.
-
Lewis
And the goal is to create freedom with money. With the money. You don't have the money, you have the money you're going to make. It's to have a beautiful, flourishing relationship. Like you said, if money came in, you'd give it a French.
-
Marie
Kiss and hug it with you.
-
Lewis
And if it left you to say, have a great day.
-
Marie
Totally.
-
Lewis
You're not. No, don't.
-
Marie
Don't leave me. Right, right.
-
Lewis
You're like, hey, have a great day. I'll see you.
-
Marie
Tomorrow. Yeah.
-
Lewis
And if we could have that at every level and stage of our money journey, it will be a more rich life. And that's what I want people to.
-
Marie
Know I love it. I was, I have this crazy little habit that I do a couple things. One is every time, like, you don't sign as many checks anymore, but this was before everything got electronic. I would always say there's always more where that came from. When it goes out the door. Beautiful. You know, like, there's always more where that came from.
-
Marie
And I still do this to this day, and people think I'm nuts, but I'm walk around New York State.
-
Lewis
Follow me everywhere.
-
Marie
I find money.
-
Lewis
Everywhere.
-
Marie
And I pick it up. Me too. I like I, I never say this is the mantra. I never say no to honest money. Yeah. I was like, oh, you want to be with me? I don't care if it's Penny. I don't care if it's whatever. If I'm on the beat, you know? I was like, whoa, if there's nobody around.
-
Marie
And it's clearly, you know what I mean? It's not like, didn't check. Oh, they.
-
Lewis
Just dropped it, you.
-
Marie
Know, I give it back, but if it's just hanging out, it's like, must be with mama. I'm like, I'm taking it absolute. I'm gonna take care of you, baby, and.
-
Lewis
Say thank you for coming to me freely and abundantly. You know, it's like, what's your money mantra? What did you say was before?
-
Marie
Oh, there's always more where that came from. That's beautiful. I love money, you know, and again, just money and and I think money loves me. Yeah. Yes it does. Yes it does.
-
Lewis
But imagine saying to yourself your internal dialog is, I don't like money. I don't like people with money. I'm resentful of that person. How does she get that money? How did they get this thing? Like, if you have that inner dialog.
-
Marie
Yeah.
-
Lewis
Why would money come to you? Why would money love you?
-
Marie
Well, I also think too, I mean, my I remember I had to navigate speaking of my parents again, God bless him. I love him to pieces and they drive me frickin bonkers like most people's family do. We got it all in one one nice big bowl of mish mash. And I remember like my mom, my mom can be she's still alive.
-
Marie
God bless her. I hope she stays alive for a while. We're trying to keep that going, but there's been a couple times where she rough like she can, you know, she can say some things. And there's been like a couple of daggers in the rich zone. Do you know what I mean? When we've had some and it's like, really of.
-
Lewis
Her towards you.
-
Marie
Oh yeah. But then when it's, you know what I mean? And it's like, oh, okay, that's what you think. I'm, But I know how she grew up. Yeah, she grew up in poverty. You know, her money absolutely.
-
Lewis
Doesn't make it right. What?
-
Marie
She says you got to create boundaries sometimes. Yeah. That's right. I just, I'm like matrix, you know? Yeah, I'm pro level.
-
Lewis
Like, it doesn't hit you.
-
Marie
No, no, no, not anymore. It used to, but but my point is that I think for so many of us, some of those messages and again, we're I'm not judging my parents. I make them wrong. It's like because they were taught that, you know, and they were taught that's their money story. Absolutely.
-
Lewis
That's their money style.
-
Marie
Yeah. And it was handed down and handed down. So no one's at fault. But to your point, it's like, okay, you know, the the negative toxic relationship needs to stop somewhere. I need to stop with you. So it's like, yeah.
-
Lewis
And I and I think you're, you know, I don't know your exact mission if there's one statement, but I know your essence of your mission is to help people.
-
Marie
Yes.
-
Lewis
And to be of service and to help people be free in their business and also free in their.
-
Marie
Life.
-
Lewis
And feel better in their relationship to themselves and to others. And that's the whole thing that I want people to know is like, money doesn't have to be hard. Yeah, money can be easy and it starts with your relationship with it. Yeah. And that's the key.
-
Marie
This is such a fun, fun, fun amazing book. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations on the wedding. And I can't wait to see those pictures. Yeah, it's gorgeous I see I have so many questions. We're gonna talk about that offline. Everybody, you need to get Louis his new book. He gave me a little gift money, which I always say yes to.
-
Marie
It's fantastic. Make money easy. Louis. This is wonderful. Thank you for making the time to.
-
Lewis
Appreciate.
-
Marie
You. Yeah.

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