Empowering Self-Belief for Success: Your Path to Triumph

Empowering Self-Belief for Success: Your Path to Triumph Transcription:

Steven Pesavento [00:00:00]:

We didn't talk a lot about money because at the end of the day, once you've kind of made it to having that financial security, Once you've made it, what I've noticed is the most successful people are focused on impact. And it's very clear that that's your focus and you're in that position. So welcome back to the investor mindset show. I'm excited today. I've got Evan Carmichael in the studio. How are you doing today, Evan? I'm great, Steven. Thanks for having me, man. Excited to be here. Yeah. Evan, you're you're an incredible man who is a lover of learning and wisdom. and and making a a big impact in the world. I love that we share a love for learning from other people and salsa dancing and many other things, so I'm excited into it with you today.

Evan Carmichael [00:00:46]:

Yeah. Great. I it's always great meeting fellow salsa dancers too. You never know where they're gonna pop up.

Steven Pesavento [00:00:52]:

So for those of people who don't know, Evan, millions and millions of followers on YouTube, you've pulled together the wisdom of many of the great thinkers and shared your wisdom along the way as well. We're gonna get into some of what you've built and and how you've gone about building it. But before we do, love to start out on a personal note by looking back at earlier in your life. What events or influences from your childhood shaped who you are today And how has that impacted your money or investing journey?

Evan Carmichael [00:01:23]:

Wow. Childhood. Okay. We're going way back. I was thinking, like, start of my YouTube career, but we're going we're going childhood. Okay. Let me let me let me pull up my seat on the couch here. You know, one of the one of the things that kinda set me down an entrepreneurial business investing money path was in 1988, I was eight years old. Ben Johnson was a famous Canadian sprinter, and he won Gold Medal at the Summer Olympics. I don't know if, like, if you that name means anything to you or whatever. But I was eight years old. I was I was So excited. Canada Canada won the gold medal in a hundred meter sprint. And then it found out that he he took steroids. And it all got ripped away, and and he lost his gold medal, and I was devastated as an eight year old. I don't think you've even told this story anywhere. So this is this is the scoop for Steven. It's great. I was devastated. And my mom couldn't stand to kinda see me so sad, so she bought me some baseball cards. And that started my entrepreneurial business investing path where the next year, the Blue Jays came to Toronto. That's our local baseball team. And I spent the next 5 or 6 years becoming obsessed with baseball cards. collecting trading every weekend, going 3 hours out of town to different baseball card shows, getting autographs, all of that stuff and cutting my teeth in negotiations where if somebody why to buy one of my cards for a dollar. Our dollars in Canada are are coins, so we don't have the bills. Mhmm. And I remember this guy gave me this dollar, but had all this, like, mud or something on the back of it. He's like, I'll take that I'll take that dollar, you know, that mud. And learning to negotiate with people who are three, four times my age over a dollar 50¢

Steven Pesavento [00:03:22]:

$2,

Evan Carmichael [00:03:23]:

and up to 100 of dollars know, eventually and then thousands for cards. But that got me down my path of business and negotiating and investing all because Ben Johnson lost the 1980 Olympics for doing steroids.

Steven Pesavento [00:03:38]:

I mean, it's it's funny how that kinda comes together where you have this guy that you look up to He's a digital mentor to you. You watch him. You see him. You're inspired by him, and then you're let down. And that opens up a whole another world to you where you start diving into other sports players, memorabilia, and start understanding the game. I mean, How do you think that played a role in what came later when you started businesses and became a venture capitalist and exited and now, of course, what you're doing on YouTube today. It got me interested in business for sure.

Evan Carmichael [00:04:12]:

I remember then thinking that I I wanna be in business. I wanna be a banker. You know? When I was I'm, wow, I'm 43 now. So when I was growing up back into kid days. Entrepreneur wasn't a thing. I didn't know any entrepreneurs. Nobody in my school was an entrepreneur. Like, it wasn't pop culture to be an entrepreneur. I thought it would be banker. I was very interested in the stock market. I wanted to invest. I wanted to, like, learn how to make money. I love being the banker in monopoly. Mhmm. And I remember asking my family, like, oh, what what stock should I got $2000 saved up? Like, what stock should I buy as a thirteen year old? And they told me just buy the banks, because Canadian banks are pretty safe. We don't really have bank failures and issues like you guys use sometimes in the US, but just buy the banks. And that was okay advice, but it didn't feel like it was good enough. And so that set me down the path of I need to learn investing. And I became a assessed all through high school with investing and studying people like Warren Buffett, learning about what companies I should buy, trying to understand, but a balance sheet, financial statements, all that kind of stuff. Because that one little taste of business early on sent me down my path, In my high school yearbook, it says, you know, where do you wanna be in 10 years? Or where do you sell see yourself in 10 years? Mine was VP at a bank. That's really what I thought I was gonna do. Banking, Investing, finance, that's what I wanted to do. Until in university, I connected with 2 entrepreneurs who would the company. And that then took me on a different path where I I turned down the 6 figure jobs out of school to make 300 bucks a month and take 30% of this startup company, which looking back was a super smart decision. But at the time, I thought I made the stupidest decision in my life.

Steven Pesavento [00:06:00]:

What's when everyone around you is telling you that you're making a dumb decision. What advice do you have to people who are kinda going down that path their friends, their family, they want the best for them, yet they're not living the life that person wants to live, and they're stepping out of that that norm. They're stepping out of that tradition. What advice do you have to those people to stay on the path and and and stay strong knowing that they're doing the right thing? Well, one 2 things. The first is, has the person who you're talking to done the thing that you wanna do?

Evan Carmichael [00:06:35]:

And quite often, it's no. You know? Like, the person who you're asking for and you may not even be asking for advice. You may just be receiving unsolicited advice. You know? the thing that you wanna do. You go and tell your your family. I'm gonna get into multifamily investing. They say, you are crazy. Right? And and all of a sudden, their opinion for some reason, means something to us. Like, have they done it? Have your parents done this? Have your family done this? Have your friends done this? And because they haven't, they're naturally gonna say that's a crazy idea. Who do you think you are? You're gonna go invest in multifamily. You know? It's like that that's stupid. People like us don't do those things. And it's and they bring you back down. And so the starting point is, has the person who's given you advice done the thing that you want to do or not. And if not, then you probably wanna do the opposite of the advice that you're giving you. Yeah. You know? because they don't have the life that you want. And then the second thing is for every for every person that you're kinda pulling out, you know, it's okay. We're gonna stop listening to that person because they don't know anything about the thing that I wanna get into. you start to inject in somebody who actually knows what they're talking about. So, yeah, I wish your show existed when I was trying to figure out the investing game. You know? I would've subscribed and listened to everything you made. I had to read newspapers to learn this stuff, you know, and books to learn this stuff. Where now there's so many amazing YouTube channels out there where you can go off and learn. And so for everybody watching this, if you love Steven's content and the way that he thinks and the guest that he brings on and the messages that he shares, How many episodes have you done, Steven?

Steven Pesavento [00:08:09]:

Almost 4 100.

Evan Carmichael [00:08:12]:

This 400 episode for you to go back and watch and learn from. Right? I mean, I think the best teachers now are on YouTube, and they're sharing their wisdom place. And so you may never get the opportunity to meet Steven in person, but you can learn a heck of a lot from him through these 400 episodes plus more that is releasing ongoing. And so to start to create a more positive environment for yourself by some of the people who are bringing you down and and supplementing in some of the people who lift you up even if they're just remote.

Steven Pesavento [00:08:46]:

through digital mentors like Steven who can teach you? It can be such a great tool, and I think you said something. People like us. Right? That's a term that we have to be able to let go of if we wanna change, you know, changing that identity, changing that belief that there were we actually are those people. We can be those people in surrounding yourself with others and listening to shows like this, listening to all the great wisdom that you've put together out on YouTube, I think is a great way to do that. And with that, you've built a massive following on YouTube. You're assembled, the wisdom of others. You've been sharing your own wisdom. If someone was on a mission like you, like me, on a mission to make impact in the world, to help people really change their beliefs about money, to step into that investor mindset, what advice would you give them to focusing on really making a huge impact on the world on their mission.

Evan Carmichael [00:09:45]:

The first is understanding what is the mission that you're on, and do you have clarity that. So I'm I'm a big believer that your purpose comes from your pain. Whatever you struggle the most with is what you wanna help other people through. And so getting pretty clear on what was the biggest struggle of your life that now you wanna make easier for other people so that they don't have to suffer and struggle as much as you. Mine was believing in myself as a young entrepreneur, nineteen years old, wanting to quit on my company, I'm still making content for a nineteen year old Evan, because there's Millions of nineteen year old Evans out there who need the help and support and guidance and motivation. And so getting clear on that, I think often we're just looking to chase in opportunities, like, oh, everybody cares about passive income. So let's make a passive income show. Like, if that's why you're doing it, you're gonna lose. You have to, like -- Yeah. For sure. -- care about this. And so that comes from usually a a painful place where, like, growing up, maybe you didn't have a lot of money or maybe, you know, your parents didn't have a lot or whatever it is. Like, tapping back into that. And so for everybody listening, watching, figuring out what is that painful moment in your past that you can get up on your couch and and lie down and talk to Steven, you know, virtually and just kinda go through that same size of what's the most painful thing that you went through that now you wanna make sure that people don't have to suffer through. That that's your And that will never get old. Like, that I'll love believing in people until the day I die. I'm I'm 43. I started doing content when I was 22. So it's been over 2 decades of doing this, and I feel like I'm just getting started. When people ask me, like, how do you not burnout? How do you deal with burnout? It's like burnout. This I don't this is fun. This doesn't feel like work. This is fun for me. So that's step 1. Step step 2, I would then say, okay. Well, now that you identified what you what you wanna create, it's to start to surround yourself. So back to the last question, like, surround yourself with the people who are doing it, who inspire you, who feel like you feel like it's possible whether it's on YouTube or books or podcasts. Like, you need to surround yourself with it because no matter how much of a great day you had today, tomorrow you're starting over again. And that motivation is not always there. And so you need to create the environments, the habits, the rituals, the routines by following the people who make you feel better about yourself and give you hope and inspiration. and tactics of what to do. If you're around those people every day, you will start to move forward on building your mission too.

Steven Pesavento [00:12:20]:

Yeah. I think it's so so powerful because, you know, when you have that pain and you really connect to it, you know that there's other people who are experiencing missing it, it can often be kind of a a fear moment for people to share that story, to share who they really are, where that comes from. And when you don't, when you aren't sharing that story, there's there's a missing piece that doesn't connect those 2 together. I mean, for me, I grew up in a in a challenging childhood, a lot of trauma, a lot of fear, a lot of pain, for for me, personally, a a lot of it came back to money. Came back to a belief about money. It came back to me believing that all my problems actually connected to money. I later learned as an adult that, you know, many of those things would have still been present. Even without it, but it gave me a drive to go figure this out to go figure out, hey. How do I get out of that place where I don't have to worry in more where I don't have to, you know, lack the resources to actually solve these problems. And some of those problems are, you know, psychology. It's like the challenges that we all face, and some of them is skills and and strategies. And so for me, I think it's really important and I know your channel has been really powerful for so many, for millions of people, it's been powerful for me in diving to that format of learning from other people who you essentially share the wisdom of of really really great successful smart folks, on your mission that you're on, what challenges with that format that you've built, have you faced for what's next and what's been the advantage of that format for what you've been able to build and the impact that you're making in the world?

Evan Carmichael [00:14:07]:

my biggest limitation is still lack of belief. Mhmm. So people say, well, you're the believe guy. He's like, Yeah. But I believe in myself to do the things that I've done now. But to do the next the next big thing, I don't believe myself do the next big so I still need the channel for myself because I want to wake up and have Oprah Winfrey or Steve Jobs or Elon Musk or whoever it is. We're spraying mess is in my ear to get me going to do the next thing. 1 of my my you talked about the format of of giving tribute to other people at the beginning, it was just, hey. I've learned this from these people, and I think you might be able to learn too. I was just hoping to shortcut the path. because my my worst day in my first business was when I said I quit on my business partner. And I woke up the next day and said, I can't quit yet. because I'm gonna regret this if I don't figure this out. At least at least if it doesn't work out fine, but at least know that I gave it everything because I don't wanna look back and say, I wish I just tried a little bit harder. But I couldn't keep going the way that I was going. So I had to find another path. And the thing that came to me was I can't be the first person to try to solve this problem. Like, somebody's figured this out. Why don't I just model success? Like, wasn't model success wasn't words that I would use, you know, probably a lot more clumsy. But I can't be the first person to figure this out. Somebody's done it. And that's where I studied Bill Gates. It's like Bill Gates had a like, who's got a software company? I had a software company. Who's got a successful software company? Bill Gates came to mind. Like, I this was not very advanced planning. It's just top of dome. It's okay. How did Microsoft get started? And how did he build? Like, not so much. How did how does Bill Gates makes an extra $1,000,000 now? Who cares? But, like, 0 to 1. How do you do that? Mhmm. And it was through partnerships. And in learning how he applied that in Microsoft, I brought that to my business and quickly after, had my first check for 13 and a half $1000. And that may not seem like a lot. But when you're making 300 bucks a month, like, 13 and a half k, it's like, holy cow. This is a grand slam here. And more importantly, I could do that again. That was one deal. I could close more deals. So the idea the strategy there was model success, find people who have done this, and put that to use in your business or your life. And so I I then went on this mission to continue learning how I can model other people's success, and then I that eventually became a YouTube channel where I shared a lot of messages. A surprising benefit of that has been I've gotten to meet some of these people. You know? Like, I was just profiling some of them And then now I get to do interviews with them or go hang out with them or go to their houses, and some of them become friends, which was never part of the idea of what I could do. It's just, hey, I love your message. I'm trying to get it out to the world because if I learn from it, maybe people like me can learn from it, and it's been amazing to be able to foster all those connections too.

Steven Pesavento [00:17:07]:

Yeah. And I think it's it's such a good example because you essentially found something that you needed, and you recognize that a lot of other people likely need it as well. And that really led you down this path where you're able to, you know, go out and continue to share those lessons, and, obviously, it continues to grow exponentially. When you look at that impact you're looking to make moving forward, how has that changed versus maybe midway through the journey when you realize, like, oh, this is really about helping people to believe. And where do you think and where are you focused on going with that message and the impact that you're looking to make in the world?

Evan Carmichael [00:17:51]:

So I'm trying to solve the world's biggest problem, which I think is people don't believe in themselves enough. I think everybody was has what I call Michael Jordan level genius at something. Like, you're the greatest in the world at something, and it's probably not what you went to school for, and it's probably not what your parents did for in is something completely different, but you could be the greatest in the world at something. And so it's figuring out what the heck that thing is and then believing in yourself enough to go face down that dream. And that is a problem that I'm never gonna solve, and I wake up every day trying to solve. I think if you look at the history of me doing this, whether it's the 14 years on YouTube or the the 6 or so years before that, making website content and a hundred thousand pages of website content. I've gotten a lot more articulate and clear on what I wanna do as as well as seeing a bigger vision for it. Steve, when I've made my first video, I didn't think it was gonna do anything. I thought, I'm gonna make this. I'm a visual learner. I'd rather see something than listen to it or read it. I I'd like to see something. And so I thought, there's gotta be some people who are like me, and I'm gonna make it and, hopefully, it inspires a couple people. And if fifty people saw my video, I'd be freaking out, like, Fifty people saw this video holy cow. This is amazing. Right? Now this was 2009. Right? So YouTube was a different world. No had a million subscribers. The influencer wasn't a word. So there were no models to follow. I was just this crazy person making content. Long form educational videos, like, did not exist. So I was just doing it because I thought it might help. a few people. As as it started to grow and as YouTube had started to grow and as more people started creating content, it's become way more apparent that, oh, this, like, this could be so much bigger than just fifty people, you know, watching a video. I I should take it more seriously. And fast forward to today. We have forty two people on the team. You know, I could do a lot more with content and reach and impact than if it was just me trying to do everything by myself like I was at the beginning. But the intention was always there. The intention was always to serve. The was always to help people believe in themselves, especially entrepreneurs, a little bit more. I was just doing on a really super small scale in my production as well as my thinking for how far this would go. And with time and effort and energy and, you know, mentors and more belief, it's become something much bigger. And now I just wanna continue building it bigger and bigger and bigger to impact more people.

Steven Pesavento [00:20:29]:

And where do you see the next opportunity or the next focus point for you in in making that impact, you know, outside of the strategies that you're using today. Do you think oh, there's so much left here. There's no reason to focus on anything else, or do you think that for people who are looking at making an impact, whether that be online or through content or speaking or any of those different avenues,

Evan Carmichael [00:20:54]:

where do you see that kind of the next horizon kind of like you entered YouTube very early on? What do you think is next? So I think it depends on what your mission is. Right? So for me, I've got a a giant mission. Right? I wanna impact the whole world. And so how do you do that? Well, My hypothesis is that it's content at scale. And if you're gonna do tenants scale, you've got 2 options, long form or short form. Like, the platforms are basically divided. TikTok and app and Facebook and Instagram are all short form content. And then YouTube is long form, and YouTube has shorts, I guess, is a combination. But There's YouTube on one side with the long form and all the other content, which is short form. And if if you wanna have an impact and really wanna make a difference, I I think it's hard to do it in 32nd little clips. So that's a lot more inspiring, but it's not really making a huge impact. If you're trying to explain multifamily investing in a 42 second video, like, good luck. Right? So so but it's fine. Like, the shorts have their own path. It's to inspire, but it's not really to to do deep education. And you're not really doing any of the deep work just from the So, hopefully, the clips inspire somebody to start down the path to learn more about this thing. So long form, think is is the ultimate answer. And right now, YouTube is still the only place for long form video first content. Instagram was supposed to have it with IGTV that never ended up, you know, becoming the YouTube killer, and there's been a whole bunch of different YouTube killers that have been proposed over the years, nothing has come to fruition. Now weather becomes ultimately VR, you know, and where We're in each other's living rooms doing the next interview in 10 years or whatever it is. I'm sure something else will come along. I don't see anything that's on the horizon that's gonna challenge YouTube for long form video content anytime soon. And so in in the scope of my mission I wanna try to accomplish, it's still the best place to be. I don't care about YouTube. I care about having an impact. YouTube just happens to be the best way in 2023. And for the next few years, I see going forward, how do you make that impact?

Steven Pesavento [00:23:19]:

Yeah. Well, we didn't talk a lot about money Because at the end of the day, once you've kind of made it to having that financial security, once you've made it, what I've noticed is the most successful people focused on impact. And it's very clear that that's your focus and you're in that position. As we wrap up, Evan, what advice would you give to folks, who are listening to this, who know that they're destined for more, and what message would you like to leave them with today?

Evan Carmichael [00:23:50]:

Just to know that it's possible? That whatever that dream in your head is, that it's actually probably even small to what you're capable of, and that it's possible. And that people with less intelligence and less resource versus than you, your heroes. A lot of them started with less than what you have right now. You have Steven to pay attention to. You know, a lot of your heroes didn't have anybody. and they figured it out. And so they can you can too. And it requires a different way of thinking. It requires a different way of acting. It requires you maybe saying no to some people and then saying yes to new people and new opportunities in life, but your dream is possible. And you just have to wake up every day and take one more step towards making momentum happen towards it. because I think for a lot of people, the biggest thing they're missing is just momentum.

Steven Pesavento [00:24:43]:

Such a beautiful message today, Evan. For those of you who haven't grabbed a copy of Evans new book, Momentum, highly recommend you go grab a copy from your favorite bookstore. Evan, anything you'd like to share with people about how they can follow you or get in touch?

Evan Carmichael [00:25:01]:

I'm Evan Carmichael, wherever you're at, I'm probably there. The book is on Amazon, Easiest lot. You go to YouTube. I'm I'm there. You'll find me. And it's been awesome. Thank you for having me on, Steven.

Steven Pesavento [00:25:13]:

Thanks so much, Evan. Appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We'll see you all in the episode. Thank you for listening to the investor mindset podcast. If you like what you heard, make sure to rate, review, subscribe, and share with a friend. Head over to the investor mindset dotcom to join the insider club, where we share tools and strategies from the top investors and entrepreneurs and how to take it to the next level.