EP 182: Six Words That Changed My Life

In this episode, I share the 6 words that transformed my life and the powerful story behind them. Join me as I dive deep into life's tough questions and discover the true impact of pushing through adversity. This isn't just about financial success—it's about inspiring others and leaving a lasting legacy.

My book "Five Year Millionaire": https://fiveyearmillionaire.com/

Transcript

Jason Brown [00:00:00]:
Man, this episode right here gets me emotional because I'm gonna share with you 6 words that literally changed my life. It was spoken into me from a family member and you never know when those words can hit you. Could be a family member. Could be a friend. What's important is that you're open and ready to receive those words. And I'm a share with you the ones that changed my life in this episode. Let's get into it. Do you feel like you were meant to live a life of financial abundance? Like, you know your money is supposed to work harder for you than you work for it.

Jason Brown [00:00:38]:
Maybe you heard about the stock market and the new millionaires being created and wonder why not me. Maybe you wanna invest in the stock market, but you don't know where to start. Maybe you have a 401 k or an IRA, but you wanna enjoy your money now, not just in retirement. Maybe you've already had some success in the stock market, but you wanna take it to the next level. Working for somebody else and watching free YouTube videos will only get you so far. To truly be financially free, it takes a strategic game plan, an investor's mindset, and a willingness to take calculated risks. When you're ready to get out of the rat race and onto the fast track, join us here where we break down how to manage money, how to navigate the stock and options market, and how to approach investing with the right mindset. I'm Jason Brown, stock market coach and options trader, and this is the 5 Year Millionaire podcast.

Jason Brown [00:01:33]:
This podcast, this episode is, a little deep for me because I wanna share with you 6 words that literally changed my life. And I get a little emotional thinking about this story. I don't think I've ever told it anywhere else but here, right now. It's always just been a personal story to me and my family. But let me take you back, I was a college student, I had dropped out of school and then I eventually ended up going back to school using tuition reimbursement from my job to go back to school and take up a degree, a field of study in finance. Finally knew what I wanted to be after dropping out. Initially going to school to be an engineer. Dropped out, didn't wanna be an engineer.

Jason Brown [00:02:21]:
Got into the stock market, made a lot of money, then lost a lot of money, was flat broke, kinda got knocked on the ground. And when I had to get a job, I remember the only jobs that I could qualify for were ones that didn't have to have a degree. And so I was like man, all the jobs that were like $100,000 and stuff I couldn't qualify for said must have a degree. So that's what made me say you know one day I'm gonna go back to school because I never wanted to be in the position where I didn't qualify. That's something that always bothered me. I hate being in a position where I don't qualify and as black people, I know it's all types of things against us. You know, we don't qualify sometimes because of our skin color, because of the way we talk, because of the way we look. And to me that degree that piece of paper was just one more symbol, one more thing that just said these jobs not for you because you don't have that piece of paper.

Jason Brown [00:03:17]:
So I always had a chip on my shoulder about not qualifying. So I went back to school, it's like I'm gonna get my degree. I'm gonna finish this thing out. I'm gonna get my degree in finance. I remember pulling up to my mom's house. I'm super tired one day and it was a long day at work, I think I went to school that night or had school later that night and I just, you ever been so tired, felt so beat down, felt like life just had you by the throat and you just, for me that that was that day and I couldn't even get out the car. So you know you just I just pulled up, turned the engine off of the car and I just sat there in the car. I just sat there.

Jason Brown [00:03:58]:
Couldn't get out. Just just sat in the car and my cell phone rings and it's my cousin, it's my cousin Mavis and picks up like, Hey, what's going on? She like, Hey, what's up, what you doing? And I'm like, I'm just, I think I just said, I'm just tired. I'm just sitting here. And I don't know what made her ask me, she said, what's going on? Is it school? Is it this? And I just went on the biggest rant of my life. I went on the big, you know how when you want something so bad but you don't wanna tell the truth that you want it and you really have a lot of things in the background that you fear but you don't wanna say that. And so what came out was, I don't even know why I'm going to school. I don't need a degree. What I wanna do in life, I'll never use this piece of paper.

Jason Brown [00:04:51]:
I just went on the biggest negative rant that you've ever heard. I'm like, I'm tired. It's not gonna help me make no real money. You name it. I said, do people even use degrees anymore? I mean, I just, I went on the biggest rant with all the most random negative stuff, which was really just fear, which was really just pain masked as excuses, if anybody can feel me on this, if you're being honest with yourself. It was really just fear and pain masked with excuses. And my cousin said the most realest thing ever that changed my life, these six words. And she said, after I finished ranting, complaining, she listened and she just said, boy, it ain't even about you.

Jason Brown [00:05:43]:
I was just, I was like, wait, woah, what? I was looking for some sympathy. I was looking for some, yeah. I feel you. I was looking for some, yeah. It's tough. You really don't need your degree. She said, boy. It ain't even about you.

Jason Brown [00:05:59]:
And, it just, I don't know what it was but it just, it just snapped me out of a trance because I guess number 1, I wasn't expecting that. I was just like, wait, what? And, she just went on her rent and she said, boy, it ain't even about you. You better finish that degree. She say, you don't know what young black man from your neighborhood in this world that is this close to finishing and they need to see you cross the finish line. They need to see somebody that looked just like them. They need to see somebody who was tired and pushed through. They needed to see somebody who made the decision to keep going. And I mean, she just laid into me and it was one of the most realest things that I ever heard in my life.

Jason Brown [00:06:54]:
And for the first time, I realized, I said, man. I said, she right. It ain't even about you, Jason Brown. It ain't about you. You better finish this thing out. So I wanna have a discussion with you about 3 different questions that I think you should ask yourself in life when times get tough, when you get beat down, when life just got you by the throat, when you have your in the car moment where you can't just, you can't even get out the car, you just turn the engine off and you sit in the driveway, and you think about your life, your finances, your relationships, whatever it is that's weighing you down. And there's 3 questions that came to me, not in that moment, but really kinda came to me after I processed what my cousin said to me because I don't even know if she knows it. But that was the moment that I decide I'm a wrap this thing up.

Jason Brown [00:07:52]:
I'm a get this degree, I'm a push through this. That was the fuel, that was like the red bull, that was like the spinach that Popeye needed to just be like, ah, let's go. And I don't even know if my cousin knows that. That she was that field to help me push and get through. Just the power of words, the power of somebody speaking life into you, the power of somebody speaking, you can do this, you got this, dig deep, dig, Reach for something deeper than you, than your ego, than your tiredness. That's really what she's spoken to me. So three questions I want you to think about. Number 1 is what is this really about? What is this really about? When you're going through your go through, when you're going through your tough time, when you're questioning yourself in the stock market, investing, you just lost a bunch of money.

Jason Brown [00:08:45]:
When you're questioning your relationships, when you're upset at your boss, your job, what what when you're going through it, just stop and ask yourself what is this really about? Or ask yourself what is the universe trying to tell me? What am I supposed to learn from this? Because when I looked at myself, I can't speak for you, but when I looked at myself, I realized, when I said, what is this really about? It was like, Jason Brown, I'll tell you what this is about. This is what you do every time things get tough. You get ready to retreat. You get ready to run. You get ready to make excuses on why you can't finish. And then I had to get real of myself. I was like, is that true? I'm like, you know how the, you have the little TV show where 1 guy on one shoulder and the guy on the other shoulder. That was me, I was in the middle and one Jason Brown was on my shoulder.

Jason Brown [00:09:41]:
Like, yeah, that's what you do when times get tough. You always retreat, you always run, you always make excuses. And I looked at the other guy, I'm like, Is that true? Is that what I do? And he like, Yeah, that's kinda true. That's what you do. And I thought, Wow, okay, okay. Is is, and now that's, is that who I wanna be? The person that retreats, the person that never finishes, the person that makes excuses. The reality is, they never wrote a book about the guy who quit. They never wrote a book about the guy who made excuses.

Jason Brown [00:10:16]:
You only admire the people who push through, who pull through, who figured out a way out of no way. And I just said, who do you wanna be, Jason Brown? The guy who couldn't finish his degree, got every excuse in the book. What do you do when times get tough? That's what I had to ask myself. What is this really about? And it was like, it's about what do you do when times get tough? The other thing that came to my mind when I said, what is this really about? I said, to be, if I'm real honest with myself, and this one, this one tough to even say. I know I'm not the only one, but I gotta speak it. I gotta speak the truth for some people who ain't brave and who don't have a podcast or a YouTube channel. So I'm just gonna put myself out there. I literally said to myself, if I'm really honest and this comes up even now in life, I said, I'm afraid if I give it my awe and it's still not good enough.

Jason Brown [00:11:12]:
I'm like, what if I give my awe to this class? What if I give my awe to accountant 30 20? Which was one of the classes count 30 10 I passed. Account 30 20 was kicking my butt. What if I give my all to finance 10 20? I was like, and I don't pass this class. What if I give him my all and I still don't pass? And I was really afraid to find out, saying I don't need this degree, I don't need to finish, I don't need to go through this, was gonna give me excuse not to see, not to give it my all because I was afraid to find out what if I gave it my all and it wasn't enough. And I know some people think like that. What if I give him my all trying to learn the stock market and it's still not enough? And man, that's that's I don't know. That was tough, man. I remember thinking about that because I was like, damn, does that mean I'm not good enough? What does that say about me if I give him my all and I still can't pass? I now know that you just take the class again and you get better and you keep hammering at that wall till you knock it down.

Jason Brown [00:12:13]:
But back then, I till my cousin spoke them words and to me, I was like, wow, I'm afraid if I give it my all and it's still not enough and I don't pass this class. That's what it was really about. It wasn't about the degree and not gonna use it and I don't need it where I'm going. And it was about I'm afraid to not give it my all or give it my all and it not be enough. The other thing that when I asked what is this really about, I realized that as long as I'm working towards my degree, I could always say, well I'm working on it. I'm a get it soon. I'm working on it. But then I realized once I had it in my hand, and I closed that chapter out, it was gonna force me to ask myself, what do I wanna do with my life? What do I wanna use this degree towards now that I have it? Okay, now that you got the degree, you said you don't need it to make money, how come you ain't making the money that you said you was gonna make? Like I realized I was gonna have to face my own ego.

Jason Brown [00:13:16]:
You said you don't need this degree to make money. So what was gonna happen once I get the degree? You see, long as I was studying towards the degree, I could use that as an excuse why I wasn't making money in my business, in my investments. Well, I'm studying. If I wasn't studying, if I wasn't doing this, I could work more, put this more in the stock market. As long as I had that, I could hold it as my excuse. But I realized it was about, if I close this out, what's the next chapter? I wouldn't have that excuse anymore. Oh, I would've did this but I'm studying. Oh, I would've did this but I'm in school.

Jason Brown [00:13:54]:
And I was afraid of that. I was afraid of that. And that's what it was really about. And so I encourage you to ask yourself, what is this really about? And think about that when people be like, I would do the stock market, but I don't have time. I just wanna say, what is this really about? What are you really afraid of? Because we all got 24 hours in the day. And I don't know what you busy doing but most people I talk to ain't busy making the money of their dreams, living the life of their dreams. So if you ain't got time for this, what exactly do you have time for? I really just wanna ask people, what is this about? I'm like, I wanna take that course, but I don't got time. I wanna enroll in your program as soon as I get a little more money.

Jason Brown [00:14:36]:
I'm like, what is this really about? The moment a usher concert or something come to town, you got money for that. So like, what is this really about? What is it really about? And you ain't gotta tell me, this is what I wanna ask you, but you can ask yourself this in the privacy of your home. What is this really about? The second thing the second question that I want you to ask yourself or that that came to me was who or what does this negatively impact that I might not even be thinking about if I quit? If I quit, who does this impact? Because I was just worried about myself. When my cousin said, boy this ain't even about you, this might be some black man from Osborne High School in Detroit, Michigan. It might be somebody from your name. I said, I wasn't even thinking about the kids in my neighborhood. I wasn't even thinking about other people I graduated high school with. I wasn't even thinking about my unborn kids who I might be like you need to go get an education.

Jason Brown [00:15:41]:
They said well, when you had an opportunity to get one, what'd you do with it? I wasn't even thinking about that stuff. So you gotta ask yourself that question. Who or what does this negatively impact that you might not even be thinking about? If you quit, if you don't finish, think beyond yourself. Who else? As I look back, I think about all the good things that came about from being a graduate. I would never have become an alumni of Wayne State University. The Mike Ilitch School of Business here in Detroit. I'm an alumni, I'm part of the family for life. I got the degree on my wall.

Jason Brown [00:16:19]:
They can never take that away from me. I would have, I've never become an alumni which means I don't get invited to the alumni events. I don't get to be associated with all the people that I've met through being an alumni. I never get to serve on the board. I served on the board while I was the board. Then I transferred to a council for the Mike Ilitch School of Business. Served on the board in the alumni council for 8 years. Volunteered my time, gave my energy.

Jason Brown [00:16:48]:
Couldn't do that if I wasn't an alumni. Would have never had the degree, the physical piece of paper. Remember, once you one thing I love about a degree, same thing I love about the book that I just wrote that will be coming out, depending on when you're listening to this, is that once you become Once you have the degree, they can't take it back. You earned it. It is yours forever. Same thing with the book. Once I publish it, I can't become unpublished author. I will forever be an author.

Jason Brown [00:17:21]:
I will forever be an author. I will forever have a degree. Can never take it away from you. You. Can never take away from me knowing what it took to push through those dark times and still get the degree. Can't take it away from me. So who or what does this negatively impact if you quit? I think about, gosh, so many people that, you know, so many people that got a chance to see me graduate. They got to celebrate with me, Which takes me to question number 3.

Jason Brown [00:17:59]:
And question number 3 is, who or what does this positively impact if you keep going? Right? Number 2, it's like, who does this negatively impact? I never get the degree. I never get to serve on the board. Kids in my school, kids in my community, they all get to quit because I quit. You gave up. So it negatively impacts them and sends the wrong message. But who does this positively impact if you keep going as well? You see, once I graduated, one of the cool things that we were able to do as an alumni when the Mike Ilitch School of Business was being built, there was an opportunity to name a space in the building. And so my company, The Brown Report, I donated to name a space in the building. 2nd floor to Mike Ilitch School of Business.

Jason Brown [00:18:46]:
You go up there, you'll see a plaque on the wall says this is for the generosity of the Brown report. And underneath is the quote that says you never go broke taking a profit. As long as I don't do nothing to deface the the school or deface my reputation, that plaque should be up there for a long time. And to think my kids can go down there. Kids that walk past there will see wow the Brown report donated to help this building get built. Whatever they use the money for I played a small part in the experience that college students get the experience every time they go down to that school because I kept going because I became an alumni, because I handled my business then donated to that space. Positively impacting the community, positively impacting the kids that go to that school, positively impacting by being able to get invited back to speak to kids. Being an entrepreneur who went to that school.

Jason Brown [00:19:44]:
Think about my mother. My mother loves education. In fact, my mother never really cared about how much money I made. She just only cared like, are you going back to school? Are you gonna get your degree? She valued education and she got to see her son graduate. She got to brag to all her friends, all her co workers, she got to throw the best college graduation party ever. And she was just so proud. Not because I made a ton of money in my life, not because all of that, she wanted to see her boy get that education, that's what she valued. She was from the South, back when they couldn't get an education.

Jason Brown [00:20:25]:
They was burning down schools in Mississippi. They wouldn't let black folks go to the same schools and when they did it was separate water fountains and lynchings and all kind of stuff. She came up in that era. And, she moved to the North to give her boy a chance, a shot, a opportunity. So, she got to see that. She got to see her son graduate. When I talk to other people who like, I'm working and going to school and trying to invest, I'm able to say, I did it too. No excuses.

Jason Brown [00:20:57]:
No excuses. I did it too. I get it. It's tough. Yes. I get it. But I can positively impact them and speak into them and say, keep going. Keep going, you got this.

Jason Brown [00:21:09]:
It gets better. One of the people on my team, Amanda. At least at this time of recording this, she works here. She's a graduate from Wayne State University. So cool to hire someone from my alma mater. So cool to know we got that connection, that we both graduated from Wayne State. I graduated, became an entrepreneur. She graduated, was able to get a job working here.

Jason Brown [00:21:33]:
Like wow, what a blessing. What a blessing. So as I wrap up this episode, I want you to think when you're going through your tough time, when you're going through your go through, what is this really about? What is this really about? Number 2, I want you to ask yourself who or what does this negatively impact if you quit? Who does this negatively impact that you might not even be thinking about? It's people that's watching you that you might not even know watching you. Your kids, your little cousin, your your co worker, somebody watching you and they like, man, if you can do it, I might believe that I got a shot. But if you quit, then I know it ain't no chance for me. And when you quit, they like, you stronger than me. So if you quit, I know I ain't got no chance. You just never know who this might, who or what this might negatively impact if you don't go for it.

Jason Brown [00:22:30]:
If you don't go for learning the stock market. You never purchased a course. You purchased a course but you never go through the course. You never practice trading. You lose some money but you never get back up after falling off that horse, off that first loss. Who or what will this negatively impact that you might not even be thinking about? 3rd thing I want you to think about is who or what does this positively impact if you keep going, if you get better, if you graduate? And I ain't just talking about graduating school, I'm talking about graduating with your knowledge, graduating with learning about the stock market, graduating your bank account from having a $1,000 trading account to 4,000 to 10,000 to 100,000. Who does this positively impact if you keep going? And you can apply this to every area of your life. Who does it positively impact if you get in shape? Who does it positively impact if you quit smoking, quit drinking? For some of y'all who does it positively impact if you just quit having, you know, sexual relations? I don't know, I don't know what it is.

Jason Brown [00:23:33]:
The Lord just put that on my heart to say that somebody probably needed to hear that, I don't know. But who does it negatively impact and who does it positively impact? If you cut some of this junk out of your life and if you keep going towards the goals that will make you a better person. It can be as simple as who does it positively impact if you read that book and you get a little bit smarter. Next time you're talking to some young people you got some positive words and information to pour into them because you've been reading books. I don't know what it is. But who does it positively impact if you keep going? If you pick up a new habit? If you start investing? Now you ain't talking about just investing in the stock market. Yes. That's my thing.

Jason Brown [00:24:15]:
But investing in your health, in your mental health, in your physical health, in your financial health. Who does it positively impact if you keep going? And I'm a end with the quote that my cousin hit me with and that is, boy, it ain't even about you girl it ain't even about you it's about something much more deeper than all of us so yeah go be great I'll see you on the next episode