This is the affluent entrepreneur show for entrepreneurs that want to operate at a high level and achieve financial liberation. I'm your host, Mel Abraham, and I'll be sharing with you what it takes to create success beyond wealth
so you can have a richer, more fulfilling lifestyle. In this show, you'll learn how business and money intersect so you can scale your business, scale your money and scale your life while creating a deeper impact and living with complete freedom, because that's what it really means to be an affluent entrepreneur. All right, so the whole concept of a money machine, meaning that we have the opportunity to completely separate our ability to earn from
the efforts to earn it. Where did it come from? What happened, and how did I kind of come up with it? And what made me obsess about doing it? And how has it changed my life? We're going to talk about all of that in this episode, but I want to take you back a bit because this whole journey really was started when I was five, six years old. It was the first time that I had a chance to, unfortunately, see my father cry. Now, I am a son of an immigrant family. My dad came here at 17 years old
to go to school, to get an education. He became an engineer, an aerospace engineer, did things all on his own. He started with nothing and built something. Now, we never really came for money. We didn't have a ton of money, but we had enough. We had a good life. We had a good family. We lived in the same house that they bought in 1958. Okay? And we did all right. But there was this day I remember vividly as a five and a half, six year old boy where my mother and my father
were having a conversation. Let's call it a heated debate. And I didn't know what that specific topic was, but I knew that it had to do with money. And I just remember for the first time, this was I saw my father cry and him saying, with tears in his eyes, I feel like I'm letting the people I love the most down now. This was my hero. This was a tower of power. This was a guy who, at 17 years old, powered through and fought back and survived and got
here to make a life for us and all that stuff. And here he is in tears now. We all have to struggle with money and money stories and the things like that. And we take in, I say often that our money lessons are caught, not taught. And sometimes we don't even know what we take away. And in that moment, what I realized later on is what I took away was that if you do not make enough money. If you do not
make enough money, you'll disappoint the people you love. There started my focus on how to make money, how to make money, how to make money. Get a good job, build a good business, create a good career, get a good skill set, set yourself apart, do all the things to make sure that you make the money, because if you make the money, then the people you love won't be disappointed, and you have the ability to take care of the things that you take care of. And that's what I did. And fast forward.
When my son is now six years old, I am on the treadmill. I am building my business. We are living. We just bought a new house, and it's just him and I, because I'm a single full time dad raising my son at that time, it's just him and I. And business is growing, it's going, it's starting to move and do well. And then Jeremy comes into me and he says, daddy, daddy, I drew a picture of you. School.
Now I kneel down. I'm thinking that I'm going to see this picture of me and him playing ball or at Disneyland or having fun. But unfortunately, what I see is a picture of me standing in front of two computer screens and a phone in each ear and the one on the desk ringing. See, in a moment, a six year old boy shined a mirror into my soul, and he looked at me and basically said, dad, you're messing up. Here's the thing. I thought that if I didn't make enough money, I would disappoint the people
I love. But here I was making enough money and still disappointing the people love. So I had nothing to do with the money. It had everything to do with. With what I was doing with my time. It was this idea that I could have looked at Jeremy in that moment and just said, hey, kid, we need the money to put the roof over our heads, to do the things that we do. I need the profits to make that
happen. And if a six year old ever understood what profits were, my bet is that he would look up at me, because this is what his picture did. And said, dad, I don't need your profits. I need your presence. I don't know what's going on in your life, I don't know what your circumstances. And sure, we have to pay the bills. We have to pay the bills. I get it. We have to work. We got to do those things. But that doesn't mean that we have to stay there.
That doesn't mean that. That has to be our journey for the rest of our lives. That moment with Jeremy, that realization became the catalyst for my obsession to sit back and say, there has to be a way for the ability to impact people's lives, the ability to have a good career, the ability to make money, to coexist with the dream, and the responsibility of taking care of some of the greatest gifts in my life at the time, which was my son being a dad.
And for you, it might be being a parent, it might be being spouse, it might be being a grandparent. Whatever it is, there are greater gifts than just the money in the bank account. In fact, the money in the bank account has nothing to it unless it's giving you the life that you want. And so it was then when I started to explore the idea of how do you. How do you separate your ability to earn from the efforts to earn it. Look, I was a CPA. I still am a cpa, but I was a cPA.
We had the whole. The most horrible model in business. Time for money. Timesheets. We're selling hours, we're selling minutes, we're selling. Selling that. It's the worst thing, because the only way I could make more money was to run on the treadmill faster, harder, longer. But the only thing guaranteed by that was burnout, breakdown, and disaster. And so I had to figure this out. And that's what gave birth to this idea of the money machine. Now, why is a money machine? What is a money machine?
Well, the first thing is that it is your ability to leverage your time. It is your ability to get your time back. I see things that we start to come into a situation where. Where, in most cases, we start to build, we start to do some things, and here's how this goes. We start to trade time for money, and everyone does this at the very beginning, we trade time for money. It could be in a job where we're working a nine to five. It could be in business where we're putting our time in, and. But we
all start here, and that's okay. The question is, do we stay here? And so the. The challenge is that at some point, we start to look at this and say, wait a second. I got no more time left because I'm trading all my time for money. So now we start to use the money to buy back some more of our time, which is fine, because so now, all of a sudden, I'm using the money I make to get more time back, which is great,
and that's a better place to be. But the really powerful place to be is when you have the opportunity to look at this and say, wait a second, I'm going to use my money to make more money. And when you do that, this is what your money machine does. Now, granted, in order to get there, you have to use your time to make some money. But then you have to use your money to get this back. And get this back. Because the ultimate purchase you're ever going to make in your life is your
freedom. And having financial freedom is huge, because when you do, you have an opportunity to live a life that is a life based on choice instead of demands. You have a life that is a life that you get to live. Instead of have to live. You have a life that allows you to be on a financial journey that's aligned and congruent with your goals, your desires. And it's not through deprivation. It's not through sitting back and saying, oh, I can't do this. I'm going to deprive myself all my life
so I can maybe have something later. But it is based on intentionality. Being intentional with your time, being intentional with your money, to be very directed with what you do. Here's what I think happens. Financial freedom. And why should this be a paramount focus? Not focus, but a paramount objective in your life. In other words, I want you to be financially free. Why? One, because I believe you deserve it. I believe you deserve it. Okay. Because in that financial
freedom, some things happen. Financial freedom itself unlocks your potential to life. And what I mean by this is, again, think about this. Imagine waking up each day with a sense of calm, knowing that your financial needs are met, not just today, but for the future. That the stress and the anxiety that usually come with economic downturns or money and all that stuff simply dissipates. A recent study, the American Psychological association, said 72% of people feel stressed about money.
22% say it's extreme stress. What if that were gone? How much better would you feel? How much more involved would you be in your relationships? How much more productive and focused would you be in your life if it simply vanished? See, financial freedom unlocks the potential of your life because it gives you the power to say yes. It gives you the power to say the yes to the things that actually bring you joy and that have meaning in your life rather than things that
don't. It allows you to be able to say no to more things. That's what financial freedom does. That's what the money machine does. Financial freedom isn't just about money, though, you know, so yeah, it unlocks the potential life, but it's not just about money, because accumulating stuff, big bank accounts, extravagant lifestyles, fast cars, expensive homes, all that stuff, it's meaningless, just stuff.
But when you have that financial freedom, when you build that money machine, it allows you to get control of your financial destiny, to break free from the chains of debt, break free from the treadmill of living paycheck to paycheck, which 60 plus percent of the people say they still do.
It's about creating a financial foundation that empowers you to live a life that's on your terms, that's by your design, that you get to choose the path and to thrive in what you were specifically, uniquely put here to do, to live fully expressed in that life. And when you look at financial freedom and the pursuit of it, it becomes actually the catalyst for your own personal growth and transformation.
It's one of those things that in order to do it, in order to have it, in order to build the money machine, in order to be truly financially free, you've got to look at it and say, who do I need to become to attract that and to be that, to live that? And you get a chance to learn how to manage
your finances, you get to take control. You get a chance to live knowing that you're intentional, knowing that you're living life on purpose, knowing that it is very directed, that you develop a deeper understanding of your values, you get a deeper understanding of your priorities, and you know that you're deliberately moving towards a vision for your life. But there's something beyond that. I think that's, that's, that's more important.
It's because you become a catalyst, you become a role model, you become an example for those that are following you, for your children, for your grandchildren, for this, the community around you, for your siblings, of what is possible. It fosters a sense of empowerment, of self reliance that is far beyond your bank account, far beyond
it, far beyond the possessions that you have. You get a chance to discover the courage it takes to face fears, to push you outside the comfort zone, to take the risks that you need to take, but aren't inordinate risks, that you do it with a disciplined plan, that you embrace the extraordinary, ordinary potential of your life in a way, in a way that you know that you're living your journey, not something that was put on you by expectations, not something that maybe your parents told you to
do, not something that your degree or your career said, this is the path, follow it blindly. And I truly believe that financial security, financial freedom is not just a lofty or a. A desire or an
aspiration, it's a moral imperative. I truly believe that that's why the money machine is so important, because it gives you the ability to pursue financial freedom, not just as an aspiration, but to eliminate the struggle with financial security, to eliminate the stress that people feel, to turn around and say, we're going to dissipate it, and I can pass this on to my children, I can give them the tools, I can give them the skills,
I can empower them, I can equip them, I can educate them. And the ripple effect of the benefits of that, that will last for generations. Because you're transferring skill sets, you're up leveling the skill sets before ever transferring assets. By investing in your own financial well being, you're going to create a more stable and more secure future for yourselves, but also for the generations to come. It's not just about money. It's not just about
personal enrichment. It's not just about creating something for you. It's about creating a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. And when you do that, this way you get a chance to design your own future, to live a life that you were meant to live, to appreciate the true value of your time, to know that your relationships are fully flushed out, that your relationships are fully lived, that you get a chance to experience rather than measure your worth by the size of a bank account or
something else. But your experiences create the richness in your life. This isn't about wealth. Wealth is a statistic in a bank account. And we can create a money machine. We can create money, and we can create that achievement, and we can create that wealth. But we can also do that in a way that ends up with a bankrupt life, a life that is empty, a life that is stressed, a life that feels embattled, and that you become imprisoned by the
money. Or we can create it in a way that allows. Allows you the freedom, the freedom of choice, the freedom of options, the freedom of alternatives, the peace of mind, the ability to give, the ability to get behind causes, the ability to not stress, the ability to take care of the people you love. See, I didn't know how
important this was until 2019. See, Jeremy, when he drew that picture, got me thinking about this money machine, got me to change my focus on how to do money and how to do business and how to do life to be intentional and to make choices. And to do that. Choices were hard. I didn't know how important it was. But in June of 2019. Many of you know, they found what they thought was a five centimeter tumor in my bladder, and it turned out to be seven and a half centimeters.
Literally. They looked at me and they said, we might have to remove your prostate because of where it's located. We might have to put a bag and a tube in for the kidney. And if it's bad, you might lose the bladder. So in a moment, my life was turned upside down. And then he looks at me and says, and it is cancer, you know, so lifes on the line. So believe me, when your mortality smacks you in the forehead, life gets into focus. Heres what I knew I had to fight the
cancer because I wasnt ready to go. I had too much life in me. I had too much to love in me. I had too much to give in me, and I wasnt ready to go. That pained me a lot. So I knew I had to fight the cancer medically. I knew I had to fight it physically. I knew I had to fight it psychologically, energetically, spiritually. I had to fight it on all fronts. But because of the money machine, I didn't have to fight it financially. I had choice.
I had the blessing and the privilege to be able to say, shut the business down, turn the machine on. Let us keep living. Let me start the fight. Let me beat this thing. And instead of me having to work during my days to make a living and fight for my life during the night, I stayed in the game. To just beat this thing and to have that choice was a
gift. To be able to sit back and say, you know what? I have a 90 plus year old mom that is in care who's been on dialysis for almost six years now, that it costs $16,000 a month for her to be in that care facility, to have the peace of mind, to know I can take care of the people I love, or I can put people through college, or I can get behind causes, or you can get behind movements. That's what your money machine means. It
isn't about the money. It's about the purpose. It's about the things you get to do for your family, for your loved ones, for the causes, for the missions. To be able to live a life that is less stressed, that has the ability to have choice, to be able to know that you can take care of things. That's the power of a money machine. And I think that too often, we think that building that money machine is complicated. But I'm here to tell you, it's not. Now, I am a CPA.
But I will tell you that all of my education as a CPA didn't prepare me for this. The road I traveled, the miles I ran, the mistakes I made, the lessons I learned are the things that allowed me to learn this. And that's why I wrote the book. That's why I believe wholeheartedly that each and every one of us need to create our own money machine to take responsibility back for our own financial destiny. Because no one is going to love our financial future more than we
do. And until. Until we take control, we are going to be subservient. We're going to be dependent on other folks, other people, other things, whether it's government handouts, corporate handouts, a job or something. But you'll never have a life full of choice. And as much as we might sit back and say it's complicated, let me tell you, it truly just takes some simple principles, some simple steps,
but it doesn't mean that it's easy. Because some of us might be in a situation where at the age or stage of our life, or the circumstances they find yourself in, you might find yourself in debt, you might be in a place where that the hill you have to go up is a lot steeper than someone else, or the boulder you're pushing is a lot bigger than someone else. But just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible. Just because it's difficult
doesn't mean we shouldn't start. Because the sooner we get in the game and do the simple things consistently over time, we can make it there. There was a study of 10,000 millionaires. 10,000 millionaires, 79% of them were first generation. That meant it wasn't gifted, that meant it wasn't, it wasn't inherited. It wasn't something they won. It was something they created in their
lifetime. Lord knows that eight out of ten, that means that the odds are pretty good, y'all, in your lifetime that you can do it. But we have to get in the game to do it. Because the only way you'll win the wealth game is to be on the field. Not the sidelines, not the stands. We have to get on the field. The challenge is, do you have a game plan? Do you have the recipe? Do you have the prescription? You do now, because
that's what this book is. Okay? Building your money machine, how to get your money to work harder for you than you did for it, is meant to give you that prescription, is meant to give you that recipe so you have something simple to follow that isn't theory, but a road traveled. A road traveled by me, a road traveled by my family, a road traveled by my clients. A road traveled that is proven over and over again. Don't get caught up in complexity. Get caught up in a financial future
that matters. A financial future that you get to control. A financial future that is built on choice. To live a life that is a get to life instead of a have to life. To live a life that you are put here to live. To be able to live with the options. So you can sit back and say, I'm going to live fully
expressed. I truly believe that on those last days of our life that when we get there, we should be exhausted, we should be tired, we should be sweaty, we should be dirty, and we should look back at everyone we shared life with and love with and say, I did it right. I did it my way and I did it fully. And the way you do that is to take control of your financial future by building a money machine that gives you the opportunity to choose.
And if you want to understand that recipe, then do me a favor. Make sure that you grab my new book, building your money machine. Because it is the recipe. I break it down for you step by step to help you take control, finally for your financial destiny, but not just for you, for the generations to come to pass it on. Because I truly believe that financial freedom is your birthright. Let's just go claim it. And in the process, always, always strive. Live a life at altitude.
Thank you for listening to the affluent entrepreneurship. With me, your host, Mel Abraham. If you want to achieve financial liberation to create an affluent lifestyle, join me in the affluent entrepreneur Facebook group now by going to melabraham.com group and I'll see you there.