Rich People Build Teams. Broke People Go Alone. | The Sean Trace Show

One of the biggest myths in personal finance is that successful people do everything themselves.

They don't.

Athletes have coaches. Businesses have teams. Wealthy people have advisors, mentors, accountants, attorneys, and communities that help them make better decisions.

In this episode, I explore why trying to do everything alone keeps people stuck, how to build your own financial team, and why your network may be one of the most valuable assets you'll ever have.

Because wealth isn't a solo mission.

The people around you can change everything.

#GrowingMoney #RichPeopleBuildTeams #PersonalFinance #MoneyMindset #WealthBuilding #FinancialFreedom #Mentorship #Leadership #Networking #SeanTrace

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

There's something that I realized today, and it's something that I think we need to talk about: that rich people build teams while broke people go alone. And I know this might seem controversial, and people are like, well, rich people can afford the team, but I want to dive into this a little deeper. One of the problems, and then I had a guest come on who talked to me about this the other day, and he said that, you know, a lot of people think that they can outwork a problem. And most people think that wealth comes from working harder or being smarter. But when you look at successful people, you start to notice something. And they almost never do it alone. They like always have some type of coach. You know, an athlete has a coach, businesses have teams, the military has units, um, the wealthy have advisors, they have mentors, they have accountants, they have attorneys, they have partners, they have communities. Yet most people try to manage their entire financial life by themselves. And maybe that's the real problem. Because there's some problems that I think we should look at. The first being trying to know everything, and it's impossible. You know, many people believe they need to become experts on investing and taxes and retirement, as well as insurance and business. And the result is absolute confusion. They get overwhelmed and they start to move into that analysis paralysis because it is impossible to know everything. And when you start thinking to, like, I'm gonna mess this up, I'm gonna do the wrong thing, it starts shutting you down. The solution is that you need to ask for help. That's simple. And here are some of the tips that I would recommend. The first thing to do when you ask for help is this find someone who is ahead of you financially. Someone who is beyond the challenges that you're at or where you're at. They're maybe five steps ahead or two steps ahead or even one step ahead, but they're definitely ahead of you. And if you can find that person, they can help you see what might be possible. The next step that I think is really important is to ask questions before making major decisions. You need to figure out whether something's a good investment. Ask for help. We had someone come to my wife with this contract that was on paper, something that I thought looked horrible, dangerous, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. But I'm not a lawyer. And I recognize that I don't have that background in law. And what I told my wife is we need an expert. And she agreed. And we went and spoke to a lawyer, and they said, yes, this is a bad contract. But they told us why it was a bad contract. They told us what parts were dangerous, and they told us how we could fix it if we wanted to work with that company. But if we didn't have their help, we wouldn't know that. So again, you need to get that help and you need to have a team. And this is the thing, too. Like, there are people go, you know what, I'll just learn that new skill. No. Third step: stop trying to learn everything by yourself. You cannot be an expert at everything. It's like, like, you know what, my car is having a problem. I'm gonna learn how to fix it. No, get a mechanic. Well, my health is having a problem. I'm gonna learn about that. No, find a great doctor. You can find these people. And if you're sitting there going, well, you know what, only the wealthy can do that. No, there are people out there who will work with you wherever you are at financially. I know it. On this podcast, I talk to them all the time. People that say, you know what, these are my fees, this is what I do. And if you don't have the money, I will work with you. There are so many of them. Look it up online. There are resources to be had. Do not think just because you don't have as much money, you can't get a team. That's not true. Find out, seek them out. They are out there. Now there's another problem, and this is that a lot of people are living in their own head. They are stuck in their own head. And I will tell you that some of the things that you're thinking in your head are scary and they keep you stuck. When you only listen to yourself, you get only one perspective, and that is dangerous. You repeat the same mistakes, you miss opportunities, and you stay stuck, which again is a very bad thing. So we have to find a solution for getting out of our heads, and that is to get outside perspectives. If you have other perspectives, you can talk about those perspectives and get a new look at your problems, a new look at solutions and a new look at how to get a better life than you are living right now. So, what are some steps that you can take? Number one, talk money with smart people. One of the problems out there is we will often talk more about sex than we will talk about money. And that is a very, very bad thing because money affects every single aspect of our lives. Sex affects a few of them. Not all, but money affects everything. And we're not talking about it. So find people who are smarter than you who work with money. And you can't find them, find a book, listen to a podcast. Doesn't mean that you have to talk to them directly, but if you can, even better. Step two, join a community focused on growth. There are communities all over the world where you can find someone who can work with you, who can give you information, who can guide you to a better place. Step three, ask yourself, what am I missing? I guarantee you that you are missing something in your life. But you're not gonna figure that out unless you have outside perspectives who can help you see that. If you can't look at yourself, you're not gonna realize that there's something wrong with your situation. There's another problem though, and this one is a very big problem because when we're not talking, when we don't have a team, we tend to start hiding our financial problems. Now, most people hide money problems, whether they be debt, financial stress, bad decisions. Now, the longer the problem stays hidden, the longer, the longer problems stay hidden, the bigger they become. So, what are some solutions for this? The biggest one is to bring problems into the open. It's like if you if you have a cut and you're hiding that cut, is that cut gonna get better? No. But by bringing it out into the open, by treating it, by cleaning it and putting a bandage on it, you're gonna be able to address it and get it better. Now, how can we bring our financial problems out into the open? Well, the first step is to be honest about where you are financially. But I tell you guys right now, I was doing good. I have tapped into my emergency fund, and I am back at square one. I need to replenish my emergency fund. That's where I'm at. I've made progress, I paid down debt, but I have to make some changes again. And I need to build a solid emergency fund. Half a year, full year if I can. That's my starting point. And that's the most important thing I need to be doing. Now, the second step is to ask for help early. If you're feeling like there's a problem, figure out a way to get help. That is an important thing to do. And finally, the third step is remember that someone has solved this problem before. We think that our problems are very unique. But the reality is, is there's probably been another person who's dealt with that same challenge, who's been in that same situation and who made it out the other side. If you can talk to them, if you can get their help, if you can hear how did they do it, how did they do it, how did they get through this, you're going to be able to learn from that and hopefully make it through as well. There's another problem, problem number four. And this is that often we are making big decisions alone. A single decision can impact years of your life. Changing careers, starting a business, buying a house, making an investment or a bad investment. Yet many people make these decisions completely alone. And that is not good. So, what's the solution here? You need to pressure test important decisions. If you have a big deal, a big thing going on, you need to try that on a friend. Say, hey, I'm looking at this job, I'm looking about changing companies, I'm looking at doing this or that, and I don't know if it's a good decision or if it's a good idea. What do you think? Step one, get feedback from trusted people. If there's a person that you know knows about that topic, you know, a friend who knows about the job field that you're in, and you say, I'm looking about changing away from my company to another company and hear their perspective. And here's the secret: you need to listen. Doesn't mean you'll like what they say, doesn't mean that you do what they say, doesn't mean that you go down that path, but you need to get good feedback from people who know. Maybe they know more than you. And I think the next step that I really enjoy is to ask someone to challenge your thinking. We get into this loop where we reinforce our own beliefs, where we do what we think is the right thing and it might not be. But when you can have someone who can challenge your thinking, that being challenged is also one of the great things about having a community, is that they don't go along with everything that you think. They are gonna push back and they are gonna tell you, hey, Tom, I think you're wrong. I don't think you should change jobs right now. I think this job market is kind of bad. And I think that you should stay a little bit longer where you're at. Now, that doesn't mean that you have to do what they say, but it's worth getting that opinion so that you can prepare, which leads to the next step. Getting this information will help you slow down decisions involving significant money. Now, if someone says, Hey, buddy, you need to put all of your money into this asset, boom, you know, maybe that's not a great advice. And so you go to your friend who you know has a great portfolio, and you go, Hey, I got this advice today. What do you think? I'm thinking about doing it. And they're like, You need to not do that. And here's why. And then you then can move on to that third step of slowing down and say, Hey, you know what? I respect this person. I don't really know this person. When my wife had that contract that was brought to her, that person we didn't really know. And I looked at my wife and I said, Do you trust this person you don't know with your whole career? Do you trust them to protect our daughter? Because that contract is so tight, they could shut you down for years. They could have huge penalties against you. Do you trust that person? And she said, No, I don't. And she trusts me and she trusts the lawyer that we found together. And she was able to slow down before she made a bad decision. Now there's a fifth problem. And this problem is trying to do everything yourself. You can't do it yourself. You can't fix your car, you can't do all your finances, you can't be your own physician. Now, many people try to become their own accountant, advisor, planner, researcher, problem solver, and eventually they become overwhelmed. I know financial planners that are the best financial planners I know. And you know what? They have other people that help them manage their money. It's wild like that because they're like, I need a good financial planner, I need a good CPA, because those people help question them. The people help keep them honest about is this the right decision? Is it a good decision? And simply they understand the fundamental thing that rich people have teams. So, what's the solution of trying to think that you can do everything yourself? Well, you need to build support. Step one, identify where you need help. Maybe there's an area that you're weak. Maybe you're really good at the psychology of money, but maybe you're weak on understanding taxation or estate plans or something else. And you go, I really need help with this. Well, identifying where you need help is the first step in getting help in that area. The second thing I would say is to start delegating when possible. If you're looking at something and you go, you know what, I need help with this. I think I can handle this, but I really don't want to do this. For me, I make my business based off of people who want to delegate out their marketing, who want to delegate out the content creation, who want to delegate out getting help with stuff that they're not good at. And my team helps them with that. And I've built my business upon that. And you should look at what you want to delegate out and then focus on the stuff that you are good at. And finally, that's the third secret is to focus on your strengths. If you're good at the accounting side, get help with the planning side, get help with the emotional side. Figure out what you're good at and then supplement the areas that you are weaker. And that is a powerful, powerful move. And this is in other areas of life, your fitness training. What if you're good with diet, but you're horrible with the personal training? Well, find the person who can help you with that. Same thing for your cars. Maybe you're good at driving, but you don't know how to um help with other get help in other areas. Find help in those areas that you need to get help. Problem number six, probably one of the biggest ones and the most important. Thinking wealth is a solo mission. Now, nobody builds anything great alone. Not a championship team, not a successful business, not lasting love. The bigger the goal, the more important the team becomes. So, what's our solution here? Build a money team. Step one, find mentors who are ahead of you. Find those people who can guide you, find those people who can help you. Now, a mentor is a person who can help you also see the potential in yourself that you can't yet see. That mentor can help you pull out this better version of yourself. Find those mentors who can help get you to that next level. Step two, build relationships before you need them. I have been building so many relationships on my podcast. And I water them by pouring podcast gold upon them. Yeah, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I water them by nurturing them, by bringing people back in, by once I have that relationship to reach back out, to develop it, to keep it going. And that's the beauty of the relationships. You build them before you need them. And then step three, invest in your network like you invest in your money. You are wealthy in assets, but one of the biggest assets you will ever have is your network. It is the people that surround you, the people that care about you, the people who will show up for you when you need them. Closing thought, right? Navy SEALs don't operate alone. Okay. Professional athletes don't compete alone, unless it's a solo sport. You know what I mean, though. But even them, they have the teams that support them. If you're in a solo sport, I guarantee there is 25, 50 people behind each of these athletes, right? Successful businesses do not grow alone. I know there are solo preneurs, but I promise you they have a group of people that still support them, whether it be freelancers or whether it be some other type of tool that these people are using, but they are not doing everything alone. And wealthy people don't build wealth alone. The biggest financial advantage isn't a stock tip. It isn't a side hustle, it isn't a budget. It's having the right people around you. Because rich people build teams and broke people go alone. That is the truth. I hope you guys have a beautiful day, and I will see you next time. Get out there and grow your money.