The World Pays You What You Think You're Worth

[00:00:00]The world will treat you how you treat yourself. So, two people apply for a job. The interviewer says, "And what are you looking for for a salary?" One lady says, "$70,000 a year." One lady says, "$120,000 a year." I think nine out of 10 times the lady who says $120,000 is the one who gets hired.

[00:00:19]>> I think there's a little bit more in your past that you want to share.

[00:00:23]>> I would have probably been in the 2% or 1% of the most unhealthy people. Right?

[00:00:30]I smoked two packs a day for 15 years. I fought drug and alcohol addiction. You know, I left home when I was 15 years old. I could say, "Hey, I'm in the Speaker Hall of Fame. I've been a New York Times bestseller. I've got 15 bestsellers." It's totally happened. I I'm laser-focused on my mission of making the world more prosperous, and the world is throwing money at me saying, "Yeah, please take this money.

[00:00:57]We love what you're doing. Can you help us do this better?"

[00:01:01]>> Thank you, Randy. I appreciate you being here with me today.

[00:01:05]>> Hey, Virginia. It's It's great to be on with you. So, thanks for bringing me in.

[00:01:09]>> Absolutely.

[00:01:11]I want to start the episode with a few of your biggest, greatest accomplishments cuz I want people to kind of get that wow factor like I did when I read your profile.

[00:01:22]And then let's backtrack a little and go into how this all started.

[00:01:28]>> Okay. So, greatest accomplishment?

[00:01:31]>> Yes.

[00:01:32]>> I'm going to give an answer that you probably never got from anyone before.

[00:01:38]My greatest accomplishments are I'm healthy, happy, and prosperous.

[00:01:44]>> Nice.

[00:01:44]>> And uh for instance, yesterday I got back the results of my uh Grail blood test, my head-to-toe body MRI, my DNA genome sequencing, and um which is something every person 50 and above should do.

[00:02:09]>> Okay.

[00:02:10]>> Right? It's blood work that is and imaging work and everything, but using AI. So, it's not just preventative medicine, it's predictive medicine. So, like this Grail blood test I'm talking about, the the Galleri screening, they found that cells which become cancerous shed that before they're cancerous. If you analyze the skin that they shed, it tells you that maybe they're pre-cancerous. And maybe you have this type of cancer developing or that type of cancer developing. And they do a brain MRI, the whole up and you know, whole body, everything. And I got my results yesterday, which were and I'm 66, so I'm well beyond the point I should have done this test before.

[00:03:01]And I'm just in perfect health.

[00:03:04]>> Amazing.

[00:03:05]>> And what I think would be relative to everybody listening or watching is if I would have done this test, I So, at this test, I'm probably in the 1% of the 1% healthiest people in the world. I'm also HIV positive since 2006.

[00:03:24]So, I should not be getting this kind of result.

[00:03:28]>> Yeah.

[00:03:28]>> I have a quote compromised immune system, but I So, I actually monitor my blood work every four or five months, right? And I measure 40 different things: liver, lipids, CD4, white blood count, cholesterol, blood pressure, blah blah blah blah blah.

[00:03:46]And the last four tests in a row, the doctor said, "Your results are perfect."

[00:03:52]>> Wow.

[00:03:53]>> And I'm like, "Yeah, I know, for an old guy." He said, "No, no, not for an old guy. You're You're They're perfect." I said, "Well, you mean for an HIV-positive?" He said, "No, no, no.

[00:04:01]You're in the ideal range of everything we measure."

[00:04:06]And then it was fascinating getting this whole It's just like a $15,000 checkup, basically, that no insurance or, you know, government would cover, but everyone over 50 should do.

[00:04:19]And you know, speaking with the doctor yesterday to get the results, she was like, "God, we we just we try to get people's liver fat to 4%, you know? If we can do that, we win, you know? And ideally, if you know, optimal, if we could get them to 2%, it's amazing.

[00:04:39]Randy, yours is 1.7%.

[00:04:43]It's, you know." And we went through item after item like that. So, um it's, you know, people might, you know, I could say, "Hey, I'm in the Speaker Hall of Fame. I'm in the Direct Selling Hall of Fame. I've spoken to more than 2 million people. I've been a New York Times bestseller. I've got 15 bestsellers."

[00:05:05]Um but, yeah, if I really said what's my greatest accomplishment, it's what I said. I'm healthy, happy, and prosperous.

[00:05:13]>> Yeah.

[00:05:14]Wow. And with all the context that you provided, actually, while you were sharing about being HIV-positive, and you know, kind of like you shouldn't have these great results, I actually got chills while you were talking. So, I hope that translated um for the folks listening, cuz that is amazing.

[00:05:32]Congratulations.

[00:05:34]>> Yeah, I mean I Oh, and the other part that I started to say, and then I got sidetracked, is if we would have taken this test when I was 36, I would have probably been in the 2% or 1% of the most unhealthy people, right?

[00:05:50]I smoked two packs a day for 15 years.

[00:05:55]I fought drug and alcohol addiction. I might You know, I left home when I was 15 years old. So, if you're 15 and you get to pick the menu every day, what are you eating? What are you drinking, right? So, it was cake and cookies and chips and candy and eight cans of sodas a day and 10 cups of coffee a day and two packs of cigarettes a day and uh you know, so the moral of the story is we can reverse aging. We can reverse bad health. We can reverse poor choices and um you know, your people, they're doing that with their clients with finances.

[00:06:41]So, that's a wonderful thing, right?

[00:06:42]They're showing people, "Hey, you really can prepare for the future. You really can provide for your loved ones. You can be smart about money. You can learn how to win the money game." And uh so, that's part of my work even though I'm, you know, as you described it, I don't have any initials after my name. I'm a high school dropout, right? Um but I can but I've won the money game, right? I got the money thing out of the way. And I but I've also got the the relationships and the health and the mental harmony stuff and that's the other part of the equation that, you know, we all need to to think about.

[00:07:23]>> Absolutely. Well, and I think so often we're all focused on, you know, how do I get on that next stage? How do I publish a book or the next book? How do I launch a podcast? How do I get on more podcasts? Like it's always this churn of more and better and next and whatever is in the future for us.

[00:07:47]And a lot of times, I do think the secret silent sacrifice is potentially our health, our sleep, our stress level, maybe sometimes relationships or time with family. Um there's a lot that can go unsaid while you look successful to everyone else on the outside. So, um that just immediately is kind of what I'm hearing in between the lines in your story.

[00:08:16]But, take us back. I know you mentioned some bad health habits when you were young, but I think there's a little bit more in your past that you want to share.

[00:08:28]>> [laughter] >> Well, for people who don't know my story, at 15 years old, I was a teenage alcoholic drug addict and was in jail for burglary and armed robbery.

[00:08:40]>> Mhm.

[00:08:41]>> And so, of course, uh when you're 15 and you're sitting in the jail cell for months waiting for a trial date, uh it's a pretty good opportunity to re-evaluate your life, maybe re-evaluate some of the choices you made and um fortunately and I and I know this uh touches you because your husband works with at-risk kids.

[00:09:11]Um he should know my story just to know that what he does really matters.

[00:09:21]Right? I had a public defender who believed in me.

[00:09:24]>> Mhm.

[00:09:25]>> And I had a judge who said, "Hey, maybe this kid deserves one more shot.

[00:09:31]Let's give him a chance and give him probation."

[00:09:34]And in Wisconsin, the way the law which is where I grew up, we the laws there are even a felony if you're charged as a minor and you get probation and you don't uh re-engage before you're 18 and a legal adult, then you have a clean record and you have a fresh start on life.

[00:09:53]>> Nice.

[00:09:54]>> And um so I got a chance that not all kids get, right? We have kids that they go to prison for stealing a pair of sneakers and their life destroyed because of the judicial system and the way it's slanted against certain people.

[00:10:10]>> Yeah.

[00:10:10]>> I was lucky. I was a white kid in the Midwest and they thought give this kid another chance.

[00:10:17]>> Yeah.

[00:10:18]>> And I took it, but that's only because I had people who believed in me, reached out to me, and gave me that opportunity to reinvent myself.

[00:10:30]>> Mhm.

[00:10:30]Yeah, absolutely.

[00:10:33]And it doesn't sound like you turned around things right away. I mean, you got out, your record's clean, but it still sounds like you had some turmoil in your life, which is to be expected, right? Like change like that does not happen in a year, right? It's It's going to take nearly a lifetime.

[00:10:53]So, as things progressed, how did you get to the point where then you're speaking on stage, then you're writing all these books, then you're you know, you have this very visual confirmation of success. Like I mean, there's a lot that happened in between there.

[00:11:13]>> Yeah, it's a journey and it's not almost your whole life, I think. It's your whole life. You if you really want to become the highest possible version of yourself, you make a commitment to transformation.

[00:11:28]Because you can strap new habits onto your old self and they're not going to produce the results you're looking for.

[00:11:37]They're just not.

[00:11:38]So, you say, "Okay, I listened to the Joe Rogan podcast, so that means I should do a cold plunge every morning. I listened to the Tim Ferriss podcast and that means I should take this supplement or that vitamin every day and this 20-30 grams of protein."

[00:11:57]Okay, great. That's all good stuff.

[00:12:00]But if you don't change your self-identity, if you're overweight and you see yourself as overweight, that won't change any of the advice. If you're an addict and you see yourself as an addict, none of that advice is going to change. You have to be willing to reinvent yourself.

[00:12:20]And that was the case for me. I mean, I struggled still. So, what I got out of that first chance, that's that's that first second chance is probably the way to say it. If we're being really correct, the first 1,000th chance um is, "Okay, um armed robbery worked great until it didn't."

[00:12:44]>> Right.

[00:12:44]>> That's probably not the best way to earn a living cuz it's got a terrible >> do that again.

[00:12:50]>> [laughter] >> It's got a terrible retirement plan. So, I need a better strategy. So, my strategy then is, "Okay, play by the rules, work hard, do the right thing."

[00:13:00]And that was a big moment, a big change for me.

[00:13:06]But what I had to discover was I still had core foundational beliefs that were sabotaging my success.

[00:13:16]So, no matter what I did, it ended up as a toxic dysfunctional relationship. No matter what I did, it ended up as a health challenge. No matter what I did, it ended up as a business failure.

[00:13:29]And that kind of culminated when I was 30 years old. Uh I was uh had started a pizza place with a partner. And we had bootstrapped it. We didn't really have the kind of money we needed to and to start a restaurant like that. And so we were just trying to bootstrap it along the way and didn't pay the taxes. And then um it ended up having the place seized by the IRS and they auctioned it off for the taxes. And it left me 55 grand in debt, which in those days, I mean, it'd be like 55 million in debt for me today in terms of where I was at consciousness-wise, where I was at financially, my income potential in those days.

[00:14:14]>> Well, even even inflation, you know, 36 years ago, like it's just it's different.

[00:14:20]>> [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah, big difference, right? So, but I realized I had to go internal. It wasn't the external thing, it was the internal thing. And I had to come to to grips with this programming I had that money was bad, rich people were evil, it was noble to be poor, to be successful in a business, you had to be a terrible parent. If you run a successful company, you have to exploit your companies and pillage the environment. There's so many mind viruses that we get infected with. And so really, my work for 30-some, almost 40 years now, is about the principles of prosperity. And today, my work is dedicated to making the world more prosperous. I made that the central tenant of my work and figure if I dedicate myself to making the world more prosperous, with the belief that we don't do that through charity, we don't do that through entitlement. I'm a big proponent of charity, but charity is the bandage that helps us heal the wound, but we got to fix the wound. And the wound is the poverty consciousness of the people in the world. So, if we want to make the world more prosperous, we have to make people more prosperous. So, that's the mission I share with all of the people who listen to your show cuz that's what they're about. They're teaching their clients, their customers, you know, their colleagues how to be more prosperous in the money sense at least.

[00:15:57]And I just felt like if I do that, the money thing will take care of itself for me. And that's what's happened. Right?

[00:16:05]It's totally happened. I I'm laser-focused on my mission of making the world more prosperous, and the world is throwing money at me saying, "Yeah, please take this money. We love what you're doing. Can you help us do this better?"

[00:16:18]>> Yeah.

[00:16:19]And that is testament to, you know, kind of when you find something that you're passionate about and um kind of can't stop thinking about and you're pursuing this like greater good, that it pays you back. And we've all heard that advice, but then we're just like, "Mhm, I mean, there has to be like an actual like monetary value assigned to my speaking engagements. Like there has to be some math in there somewhere." But um I think your story is really you know, honoring that advice.

[00:16:52]So, >> Yeah, and but with the practical application stuff, like you say, how to get the book contract, how much do I get for my speech?

[00:17:01]Here is what you will discover if you haven't already. And I'm going to use a bunch of examples, and your people, they will know this to be true because they work in this area, or they have clients in this area. They've got some domain expertise. But here's what I would say.

[00:17:20]Here's my posit that I'll put out to your community, which is it's easier to sell an $8 million house than it is to sell a $200,000 house. It is easier to sell a $3.5 million Bugatti than it is to sell a $40,000 Toyota. It's easier to sell a $35,000 speech than it is to sell a $5,000 speech. It's easier to sell a $5,000 an hour consulting call than it is a $500 an hour consulting call.

[00:17:59]And that's something I call magnitude of scale.

[00:18:03]And it's totally comes from having prosperity consciousness.

[00:18:08]Knowing the value that you're providing.

[00:18:11]>> [clears throat] >> And the world will treat you how you treat yourself. And the world will value you how you value yourself.

[00:18:21]So if you say, um yes, I I I do coaching one-on-one and it's $25 an hour for a call, you will send a certain message to the world. And if you say, yes, I offer a phone coaching and it's $5,000 an hour, you will send quite a different message to the world.

[00:18:39]>> Absolutely.

[00:18:40]>> And same if you're just out there applying for a job, right? So two people apply for a job and the interviewer says, and what are you looking for for a salary? One lady says $70,000 a year. One lady says $120,000 a year. I think nine out of 10 times the lady who says $120,000 is the one who gets hired.

[00:19:02]>> Just the confidence to be able to say that larger number. And then that makes you think, okay, well, then she probably brought more to the interview. You know, there's various pieces that would be like evidence of why she would ask for that, right? And the same with like your talks or your packages or whatever that you're selling.

[00:19:22]Uh there's more evidence to make that valuable, typically.

[00:19:29]>> Yeah, and if you're the interviewer, you're saying, "Okay, this person thinks they're worth 70K. This person thinks they're worth 20 120K. They must They have very different opinions of the value they're going to bring to my company."

[00:19:43]>> Yeah.

[00:19:44]>> And what do we want to do as interviewer? We We want to find the person who's going to provide the most value to our our firm.

[00:19:51]>> Mhm.

[00:19:52]So, what does it mean when you say, in general, most of us are programmed to fail?

[00:20:00]>> We're programmed with negative mind viruses, like those ones I said, "Money is bad, rich people are evil, you got to be a bad parent." So, if you don't know that that that programming Those are mind viruses.

[00:20:14]They're literally like a virus that you would get in a computer, only it's a mind virus.

[00:20:20]And they're called memes, right? People hear meme today and they think it's a slide of a cute penguin. That's not really a meme. The meme is the thought concept >> Mhm.

[00:20:31]>> that parasitizes the host and causes the host to replicate the virus.

[00:20:38]>> Okay.

[00:20:38]>> So, "Just do it" is a meme, right? Uh "Where's the beef?" is a meme. Uh catchy Taylor Swift song is a meme.

[00:20:47]You're in the elevator, you're humming it. Next person hears it, it's the earworm in them, they're humming it, right? You know, this this is how viruses propagate. And these viruses of money is bad, rich people are evil, blah blah blah.

[00:21:01]They're the some of the most prevalent programming in the world.

[00:21:05]And we get them from the datasphere, books, movies, radio, internet, podcasts, blogs, right? We get them from the education system.

[00:21:16]Oh, Mary, maybe being a doctor isn't really realistic. Have you thought about being a nurse?

[00:21:25]Right? That's a negative mind virus that you get programmed with.

[00:21:30]We get it from the education system, we get it from government and sad to say, don't anybody throw tomatoes at the screen, but one of the guiltiest parties for this kind of programming is organized religion.

[00:21:45]Lots of really negative programming from organized and by the way, I'm not trying to convert anybody to atheism or challenge your cuz I actually took a sabbatical where I spent just two years traveling the world working on me, self-development and during that time I studied all of the major organized religions of the world.

[00:22:10]And I believe the core message of most of those is love and I think they're all have to share that.

[00:22:17]But I feel like in many cases the core message got hijacked by the fundamentalists, so they put so much dogma and doctrines and that's the programming. So, if you're Buddhist and you believe that you need to live 112 lifetimes before you reach enlightenment and you think you're only on lifetime number 79, you're probably going to not let yourself be prosperous.

[00:22:48]If you believe in reincarnation and you believe you were reincarnated this lifetime to pay penance because you were a camel thief in the last lifetime, what's the chance, right? If you were raised in a Catholic school and the nuns were wrapping your knuckles with a ruler and telling you you were born a sorry sinner and you should spend your whole life prostrating yourself before the deity and rubbing enough rosary beads and saying enough Hail Mary's and begging for forgiveness that hopefully if you are apologetic enough in this lifetime then you can get happiness in the afterlife.

[00:23:33]>> Right.

[00:23:34]>> What's the odds you're going to, you know, and these are all core beliefs we learn before we're 8 years old.

[00:23:40]>> Yeah.

[00:23:40]>> So you see come on Gage, are you telling me I blew up my marriage at 35 years old because of some belief I adopted when I was 7?

[00:23:50]Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[00:23:52]>> Mhm.

[00:23:52]>> Or they ask, do you really think I'm self-sabotaging my career at 40 years old because of money and success programming I got as a child? And the answer is 100% yes, that's what I believe.

[00:24:07]>> Mhm.

[00:24:08]Yeah, and I think it's pretty common in the money space to know that the research is out there that we all form our inherent beliefs about money and the way that it works before 7 years old. So that lines up with what you're saying.

[00:24:26]Um but I do think there is this maybe un- unknown messaging in the back of financial professionals minds even where you're so dedicated to this money space and you believe so wholeheartedly that your clients can have a better life and you're showing them the way, right?

[00:24:50]And you believe a thousand percent in those methods, whatever you're teaching and showing them.

[00:24:56]But it it's not just a matter of like do as I say, not as I do, but it's you don't believe that same stuff for yourself.

[00:25:08]It It's almost like, "Oh, but you can be successful, but I can't."

[00:25:11]can't.

[00:25:13]And And I think that exists for some people. And so, that's kind of what I'm almost like reading into through the various stories and mindsets and program to fail and how that works and So, if someone heard one of your examples or uh heard one of the money beliefs that you said, and there's a million of them out there, right? And they're like, "Ooh, that kind of twinge a little bit in the back of my mind, but but I can't, right? Like, I help people with money all the time. That can't be."

[00:25:51]What would you say to them and how would you encourage them to work through that?

[00:25:57]>> All right, buckle up everybody.

[00:25:59]>> Here we go.

[00:26:00]>> If you're watching or you're listening, buckle up. I'm about to get up in your grill.

[00:26:06]>> Okay, let's go.

[00:26:08]>> So, if you're a financial planner, you're a financial advisor, you're a CPA, you're a whatever, and you coach people on financial security, um here's what I would tell you as a high school dropout who's become very very wealthy.

[00:26:27]I would say to a lot of you listening, "You're not qualified to give me financial advice cuz you make less money than I do. And just like I don't ask for financial advice from broke people, I look for financial advice from professional people.

[00:26:46]But in my case, I want to look for financial advice for someone who is manifesting those results for themselves. So, if you're not making at least a million dollars a year, I think you're probably um not serving your clients very well.

[00:27:05]And because you're not serving yourself very well.

[00:27:08]Because you haven't added enough value to yourself. And the first thing you need to do the second this program is over is go to randygage.com and click on the breakthrough you link and look at my coaching program and maybe get in the the middle level, the the alchemy level, so you could break that million-dollar barrier. Um for you guys who have broken that and you you know, you're multi-millionaire, you're doing okay, you got but if you haven't scaled it, then you might look at the higher level of my coaching program. Cuz again, I'm going to get in your grill. And you can write nasty things about me in the comments and you can find me on social media and tell me what a jerk I am and I'll I'll accept all of that. I will own that I'm going to I'm being uh obnoxious and upfront and in your grill. But I want you to know I'm telling you that because I actually care about you and your results. And I believe that we all need people who will get in our grill a little and challenge us, right?

[00:28:19]Um I talk to financial planners and they say, "Okay, Randy, here's what we're going to do. We're going to figure out what's the age you want to retire. We're going to say, how much money do you need to retire? And then how many years are you going to be before you drop dead after you retire? And then we just divide the number by the number of years and we know how much money you need a year to survive."

[00:28:39]Great. That's a great little template to follow.

[00:28:44]But it's irrelevant to an entrepreneur like me because I would never retire.

[00:28:50]My work is uh you know, uh I'm an artist and artists never retire. This is something I learned from Nicholas Hayek, who is the founder of Swatch watch and 17 other watch brands, right? Who is a multi-billionaire that we worked together in Central Europe doing a uh you know, marketing congress for businesses over there.

[00:29:15]Uh and I learned from Nicholas, he's like, "Yeah, I'm an entre- because I had tried to retire when I was 40."

[00:29:21]>> Oh.

[00:29:21]>> I said, "This is it. I sold my company.

[00:29:23]I said I'm going to race cars and play softball and drink out of a coconut."

[00:29:28]And I did that for 9 months and I was going crazy, right?

[00:29:33]>> Yeah.

[00:29:33]>> So, I would also say um a lot of financial advisors who are employees really can't provide solid advice to people who are entrepreneurs.

[00:29:48]>> True.

[00:29:48]>> If you're an entrepreneur, you look for a financial planner who's an entrepreneur theirself. I want a financial planner who owns their own company. They're entrepreneurial.

[00:29:58]They're scaling. They're because then when I say, "Hey, I have an opportunity to buy this company, but I'm going to have to borrow $2 million to do it."

[00:30:08]They're going to think like an entrepreneur, not like an accountant.

[00:30:13]Right? They're going to think like an entrepreneur, not like an employee.

[00:30:18]So, for all you financial people listening, I love you. I love what you do and I'm so glad you do what you do.

[00:30:27]I'm just going to challenge you to say are you uh on the path of transformation to become in the highest possible version you can be?

[00:30:39]And then, you know, are you getting the other parts of prosperity? Because money material things I think there's four quadrants to prosperity and resources, which would include money and material things, would be just one of the quadrants, right? So, like in my high level of my coaching program, I have people come you know, they make $40 million a year. They've got the private jets, they've got the beach home, they've got the ski lodge, they've got all the bling bling, they've got all the cars in the garage. But, their kids couldn't pick them out of a police lineup.

[00:31:14]So, what the hell good is that money?

[00:31:17]What's good having a private, you know, a Citation, you know, Gulfstream if you got no one to fly in it with you?

[00:31:26]You know, or I have people that they they got the relationships, they're pretty happy, they've got the money thing out of the way, but they're no, they're one cheeseburger away from a stroke or diabetic coma. And that's not going to help you either. If you one of those other quadrants is health, wellness, right? So, that's the holistic picture we've got to do is is for for you guys listening, right?

[00:31:56]What you've got to do for your clients is help them get the money thing out of the way and help them do that in the most bold, daring, imaginative way to create truly a prosperous life, right?

[00:32:13]And really win the money game and not think small and not say, "Okay, well, if And again, to put yourself in their picture, if, you know, is uh $2 million at the time they retire a good thing or could they do $20 million?

[00:32:30]And if they're an entrepreneur, how should they do things differently than if they were going to stop working at and know, they don't want to retire at 65 or 66 or whatever.

[00:32:41]Um and then for yourselves, make sure you're getting the whole picture of prosperity.

[00:32:50]The health, the happiness, the spiritual harmony, the relationships, and the money thing.

[00:32:59]>> Yeah.

[00:33:00]Absolutely.

[00:33:02]If you could help us think through for someone who's kind of in that spot and who was like wowed by, you know, hey, if I don't make a million dollars, I'm not serving my people right.

[00:33:16]And if that stung, help us you know, walk forward through that. If uh you know, how how do I just get more clients? Or how do I cuz there's that mindset, too, is like, oh, well, you know, I would be making enough if I had enough clients or if I had enough of this or um well, yeah, if I got paid 35,000 for a speaking opportunity, I'd be doing great, you know, and you they've got these little small thoughts, is really what it is.

[00:33:48]How do we get past that?

[00:33:50]>> it's limiting but it's limiting beliefs, right? The you know, what's the difference between a $35,000 speech and a $5,000 speech? The difference is $30,000.

[00:34:02]>> [laughter] >> The speech is the same. It's 45 minutes.

[00:34:05]It's got this catchy theme. It's for the audience, right? But the what's the difference? The person who charges $35,000 honed their craft, for sure. They think of the audience first. They deliver tangible outcomes, right? They tell the story. They tell the speech that only they could do, right? What does the $5,000 speech speaker tell? He say, "Well, let me tell you the story about I was walking on the beach and I saw some man in front of me and he was tossing something into the ocean. And I didn't see what it was and then when I got there I realized he was tossing starfish back into the thing."

[00:34:53]It's So, if you're in the audience, if it's the first time you heard that, "Oh." But if you're like 90% of the audience, you're like, "Is he really going to tell the freaking starfish story?

[00:35:07]Is he really going to tell the Covey lighthouse battleship story? Is he really going to tell the cut the both ends off the ham before you put it in the oven story? Is he going to really tell the story of the Make-A-Wish and when the fireman came in the hospital room with the ladder to the little boy?"

[00:35:27]Because every hack in the world could tell that speech and they do.

[00:35:34]The $35,000 speech is a speaker who tells a story that no one else in the world could tell.

[00:35:43]It's their story. It's their lived experience.

[00:35:48]But that isn't enough. Great, you took your company public and became a millionaire. Great, you won five medals at the Olympics. Great, you scaled Mount Everest. What's the lesson to the audience?

[00:36:03]How do we turn that story around into a lesson that the audience can apply?

[00:36:09]Like even just on this podcast, right? I didn't come here to beat my chest and say I've wrote 15 bucks and I made a lot of money and you should really think I'm a cool guy. I'm saying, "Hey, here is how it works for financial advisors like you. Here is the practical application, right? I've thought it through and said, 'Hey, what is the message that I can share with this audience that will make a difference for them?" Right? They may love me, they may hate me. I'm not in charge of that. I'm not responsible for the audience. I'm responsible to the audience, right? Something I learned from Bill Gove, my early mentor.

[00:36:46]So, I'm going to come to the audience with uh value. And I'm looking for how I can give them information. Just like you guys are doing as financial planners.

[00:36:57]Your job isn't to show them all the degrees on the wall and the certificate you have and the the initials after your name. Your job is to find out what do they want to accomplish? And how can you help them create a plan to get there?

[00:37:14]So, it's the same. So, if you're the $5,000 speaker and you want to be the $35,000 speaker, you have to develop IP.

[00:37:23]Intellectual property. I mean, something of value. You can't just say, "Well, you know, there's four kinds of animals.

[00:37:31]There's the cougar and the donkey and the giraffe and if you're a giraffe, you do you know, the four personality types." There's like 8 million versions of that. Okay, if you're going to teach that, well, there's 50,000 other speakers, presenters, trainers who are teaching that. There's no IP there.

[00:37:51]If you're a you know, people There's a lot of people that call themselves thought leaders, but they're really thought repeaters.

[00:37:58]Right? They read the book and now you know, and you know, Jim Collins teaches us in Good to Great that if we want the Jim Collins book, we'll read the book. And we don't need you to tell us what's in the Jim Collins book.

[00:38:14]We can ask chat GPT in a 3.4 seconds.

[00:38:17]It's going to give us a complete summary of every book and everything. What I'm telling speakers today who are my clients is in 2 years from now, nobody's going to be paying you for what you know. So, your business model is broken.

[00:38:32]Financial planners, I'm going to tell you the same thing. 2 years from now, none of your clients, none of the smart ones, are going to be willing to pay you for what you know. Because Chat GPT, Claude, Grok can tell them everything you know, everything every other financial planner knows, and deliver the results in 4 seconds or less.

[00:38:55]2 years from now, if you want to be making money, providing value, being iconic, people are going to pay you for what you think.

[00:39:06]So, how do you go from the $5,000 speaker to the $35,000 speaker? How do you go from the financial planner who makes 200,000 a year to the financial planner who makes $25 million a year? Is people pay you for what you think.

[00:39:23]They ask you to look around the corner and tell them what you think is going to happen next, and why they should be doing this particular strategy or that particular strategy.

[00:39:38]Right? Um The That's the That's how you get there, and that means building a personal brand, means creating IP, it means becoming iconic in your space, building a personal brand, uh building a personal brand that speaks to the benefits that you give to your clients.

[00:40:02]And like, so my Breakthrough U program, I mean, that's what I'm screaming at them all day, every day is we got to build your brand. We got to make you a thought leader. We've got, you know, I'm working with them and hey, what is the seminal book that you can write in your space that's going to show your IP, that's going to make you unique, that's going to make you iconic, and mas importante, is going to make you findable by AI.

[00:40:34]>> Yeah.

[00:40:36]>> What's the rich snippets that you're going to produce that the AI searches, because SEO is already dead. Anyone who tells you it's dying, they're behind the times. Died died 6 months or a year ago.

[00:40:53]It's AI search now, and you've got to be producing content that's going to make you findable by AI.

[00:41:03]>> Yeah.

[00:41:04]And you went into detail about the you know, growth of the your price on a speech, but that could go into even mentioned books, that could go into your podcast, like whatever it is.

[00:41:20]Um creating the thing where you stand out.

[00:41:25]So, cool. Get great colors on your website, have a wonderful designer, all that. But even your website has to have >> that None of that [ __ ] matters.

[00:41:36]>> Yeah, but your >> It isn't the design on your website. It isn't the pretty colors on your website.

[00:41:41]>> It just It has to communicate that IP that you're talking about. So, that's kind of the big thing that I don't think anybody else talks about is cuz everybody talks about, you know, okay, personal brand, um you know, >> they think personal brand is I always wear yellow baseball caps.

[00:42:05]Or my personal brand is my colors are burgundy and gold. So, everything. My personal brand is I always wear pink tennis shoes.

[00:42:15]>> No, that's just dribble. That's about you. Your branding has to be about what do you do for your target audience.

[00:42:26]That's what the brand has to be built on.

[00:42:29]You know, the Iran, you probably might think Iran is not a big market for American speakers right now.

[00:42:39]But you know what? It's a huge market for me.

[00:42:44]Why is Iran a huge market for me? Cuz I my book was translated into Farsi, became a huge hit. My next book was translated, so I've got like five books that have sold millions of copies in Iran. I was one of the best-selling authors in Iran.

[00:43:01]So for instance, in December of last year, early, you know, late November, early December, I get a call from my agent in Dubai who books me a lot of stuff in the Middle East. And he says, "I have an insurance company that wants to book you in December, on December 25th. Are you available?"

[00:43:21]>> Christmas.

[00:43:23]>> Um so I say, "December 25th, that sounds familiar. Oh yeah, that's what we call Christmas here on this side of the planet. Uh no, I'm not available because here's the bonus million-dollar bonus lesson, because they're going to do a conference on December 25th because they're Islamic. They don't celebrate Christmas.

[00:43:45]They would never even occur to them that that's a holiday.

[00:43:49]I could work Christmas, and by the way, I would never go to Iran with the current government that's there at the time we're recording this, right? And I'm one of those people they like to throw off of rooftops. So that's not a place that I've got on my to go list. So but I'm going to earn $40,000 for doing a live stream from home wearing my Chewbacca, you know, slippers.

[00:44:16]So, 40k on Christmas Day, which I could do from anywhere with a laptop.

[00:44:24]But I told them, "No, I'm not available because my mother is 86. One of the things I've decided is I'm going to go home. Instead of once a year, I'm going to go home and visit her three or four times a year cuz I don't know how much longer I will have with her. So, I will be at her house at Christmas and I'm not taking any gigs. So, sorry." Like, "Randy, it's 40k. You could do it from your mother's spare bedroom." And I "No, that's sorry. That's Christmas. It's So, that's the million-dollar lesson is you create your fulfilling life, right?

[00:44:58]And you create boundaries of, you know, So, this insurance company never 2,000 people come into this conference. They had a convention hall booked and they moved it to December 18th so they could schedule the whole conference around me as the opening keynote speaker.

[00:45:19]>> Well, if that doesn't make you feel empowered.

[00:45:21]>> when >> [laughter] >> when you have a conference hall that's booked. Like, I have I have annual events where Again, this is what building a brand does for you, right?

[00:45:30]There's annual events that I speak at every year.

[00:45:34]>> Mhm.

[00:45:35]>> And they call me in advance and they say, "Randy, we're picking the dates for 2027.

[00:45:41]We're going to go to New Orleans. We're looking at these dates, but we want to make sure you're available before we sign the contract."

[00:45:48]That's the difference if you've become iconic, right?

[00:45:52]So, I expect that. That happens all the time. But I've never had them call after they already have a contract with a convention center.

[00:46:02]So, I don't know what they did, but he calls me back like 2 days later. He's like, "Randy, you're not going to believe this.

[00:46:09]They're moving the whole event to the week before cuz you said you could do it the 18th, they said they'll move their event to the 18th."

[00:46:17]>> Wow.

[00:46:18]>> So, if you you know, when you build that brand and you provide that value, that's the difference.

[00:46:26]You know, same thing to speakers, right?

[00:46:29]I always I tell speakers, "If you're not making a million dollars a year, you're not really making a difference." Cuz if you're doing speeches for $1,500 or $3,000, you're doing a breakout session for a tenth of the people in a side room.

[00:46:45]You're in the off time slots. If you're getting 20 grand a speech, 30 grand a speech, whatever a speech, now you're on the main stage. You're the opening keynote. You're the closing keynote.

[00:46:57]If you're the $3,000 speaker and the budget gets tight and they say, "Well, we could bring in that $3,000 and do her [clears throat] you know, breakout session or we could give tote bags to the attendees."

[00:47:18]Let me tell you which one is going to win.

[00:47:20]>> [laughter] >> The the freaking tote bags. You are not going to beat the tote And if it's a sponsored bar, you definitely aren't going to be If it's the whatever on the pillow, you're not going to Right? But when you built your brand, they don't There is no price sensitivity. They start the budget with you and then they cut everything else they got to cut to make sure because you're the person that's going to put butts in the seats.

[00:47:50]So, they want to bring you in. They they need to bring you in cuz they know that's why people are are to take out their credit cards and register for the conference and buy a plane ticket and a hotel room and you know, to go to a conference today, it's $3 to $5,000 for just the bare minimum, right? The average I mean, I look at like the conferences I go to as an attendee.

[00:48:14]You know, I look again, that's five grand or that's eight grand. I look at my room, my hotel, the cost, you know, the conferences are $2,000, $3,000 now.

[00:48:24]You know, it's not like they used to be, right? They were $195 for a two-day conference and that you don't see that anymore.

[00:48:33]>> Yeah, yeah. And just the same as we're weighing that kind of cost and okay, like what kind of value am I getting out of this conference if I'm minimum all said and done is three to five grand.

[00:48:45]Uh you know, the organizers are kind of doing that same evaluation like you're saying.

[00:48:52]>> 100% 100%.

[00:48:54]>> Yeah, about the speakers. Um So, you mentioned it a couple times, Breakthrough You. I would love to hear more about that program because I think, you know, there's various points throughout this episode where people could have been like, "Whoa, I can't believe Randy said that. Like I'm a little bit offended." But but that is that sign, right? That that Sure, you're helping people, you're doing great work, but I love how you use the word iconic over and over. I I just haven't heard that lately.

[00:49:29]Um but it struck me. And so, if someone is thinking like, "Gosh, I I really need to develop this um ability to develop my own IP, become iconic, really hone in that skill of if AI is going this way, then you know, I need people to pay me for what I think in a couple years.

[00:49:51]Uh maybe Breakthrough You is the spot to go.

[00:49:56]>> No maybe about >> [laughter] >> That's why I did my eyebrows at you.

[00:50:01]>> Uh, this is a program I've done different iterations of off and on since 2005.

[00:50:07]>> Mhm.

[00:50:08]>> And the the proof is the results.

[00:50:13]So, if anyone just looks on that, if they go to my website and they click Breakthrough You and you say, "Ah, this guy is pretty full of himself. He's pretty cocky." I don't know. Just scroll down to the bottom and read the comments from the people who actually paid the money to be in the program.

[00:50:33]And look at them.

[00:50:35]They the results and I mean, there's a testimonial there. This is my favorite testimonial I ever got in my whole life.

[00:50:44]He says, "I never had a consultant tell me that I needed to go home, fire all my employees, and divorce my wife.

[00:50:57]>> Woo.

[00:50:58]>> But Randy did."

[00:50:59]>> Mhm.

[00:51:02]>> And now that I did that and I found a true relationship, my soulmate, and made another $5 million, I can tell you he was right.

[00:51:14]>> Wow.

[00:51:15]>> Right? That's the kind of, you know, cuz I mean which he was in the high level of coaching. We were at a mastermind retreat that I conduct for those people.

[00:51:26]And he brought his wife along and she was a >> Just a downer.

[00:51:31]>> They because people are going to read his name or whatever, but it was very apparent that this was a really toxic, dysfunctional relationship. It didn't serve either of them. They both were miserable. And when I told him, I I I you need to get a divorce.

[00:51:47]The you know, the everybody in the round table was like jaws were on the floor.

[00:51:53]He says, "Do you know that you see here when I was on the way to the airport, there was a bus bench ad for a divorce attorney.

[00:52:03]>> Oh my.

[00:52:03]>> And I wrote down his phone number and I thought I need to call him when I get home from this."

[00:52:11]Cuz he knew intuitively.

[00:52:13]But he never had anyone just look him in the eye and say, "Listen, this is not serving you, right?" So that, but other people I'm just helping them scale and they built up multi-million dollar things and you know, all kind of benefits to that. But yeah, the program is every everything in the program is about transformation.

[00:52:33]Cuz anything that's not transformation is [ __ ] Right? Like I said, you can watch the podcast and say, "Okay, I'm going to do a cold plunge every morning." But if you're the same self identity, you're not going to change.

[00:52:46]You have to transform.

[00:52:48]You have to grow as a person.

[00:52:51]So my program is all about transformation, personal growth, self-development, becoming the highest possible version of yourself and living.

[00:53:00]Here's another Here's a free thing for anybody listening. Right on the homepage, randygage.com. Maybe you can put a a link in the show notes.

[00:53:09]Um it's a PDF, the seven elements of an abundant life.

[00:53:15]And just download it. It's free and it talks about the holistic version of prosperity, what I believe you you want to manifest. So anyway, I built the program, three levels. First, somebody says, "Hey, I'm got $45,000 worth of credit card debt, my relationships are horrible, my life is miserable." Start at the apprentice level.

[00:53:38]And just you're going to get a an email message from me every Monday to kind of refrain your thinking for the week. And then once a month I do a master class on prosperity. So it's video, you can be live and watch replays. And then I have a middle level and those are for the people a lot of people in this listening right now, you might be there where you're out there. You're getting after it. You're ambitious. You've You've done some things. You've got some success, but you just can't break that million-dollar barrier, then that's the alchemy level. The first one is apprentice, the second level is alchemy level. Um and that'll help get you to break that that imaginary ceiling of earning a million a year or more. And then the top level is the anarchist level and these are the misfits, the rebels, the renegades. These are the players, you know, who are doing it at world-class levels. And I mean I have I've I'm so proud of the cohort that I've put together. I I think they're some of the most brilliant people in the world.

[00:54:47]And I built that program cuz that's the cohort I want to hang with. Those are the people I want to work with, right?

[00:54:56]Um and so for you guys who really have built huge practices, but you want to scale them more or you've you've really got the money thing out of the way, but the relationships and the health and some of the other uh other parts of the equation aren't working, then or you know, I I have I have high-level people you know, I've worked with billionaires and the reason they work with me is cuz I'm the only one who would tell them when their stupid idea is stupid.

[00:55:26]>> Mhm.

[00:55:27]>> Right? Cuz they've surrounded themselves with people who tell them how great they are every day. And they know they're just they're in stagnant water and they're never going to grow and you know, I hope your listeners and viewers and appreciate I am I know I'm getting in their face and I part of my inimitable charm.

[00:55:50]>> [laughter] >> I like to think somebody's listening probably saying he's just an arrogant jerk and I hate him.

[00:55:57]You may have that I I do have that effect on some people I know. I'm sorry if that's the case with you, but I hope the rest of you really see that No, [clears throat] I'm telling you that cuz I care about you. I really do believe we all need people who challenge us and so that's why I run the Breakthrough U program. I challenge people. If you want a program where somebody will just tell you how cute and clever and smart and sexy you are all day, just open a chat GP >> I was going to say.

[00:56:29]>> It'll tell you how great you are all day every day. It's just will fawn over you, pander to you, patronize you.

[00:56:37]Or if you need somebody who will coach you to the next breakthrough for you, then Breakthrough U is the home for you.

[00:56:46]>> Mhm.

[00:56:47]Well, I was going to say, you know, even in talking with you on video, granted we're not in person, but you could still very much get a vibe from someone. You strike me as honest and it may feel abrupt, but it's not malicious.

[00:57:06]It's this true, you know, I'm a third party. I see what's happening here and I'm going to tell you what it is honestly.

[00:57:15]And sometimes we end up hiring coaches that aren't in that mindset or position.

[00:57:23]It's like you said, it's going to be the chat GPT that's like, "Oh, this is a great idea." It just talks you up the whole time. It makes me so mad. I'm like, "No.

[00:57:31]Tell me what's wrong with this idea."

[00:57:34]Um and and you are that person. It doesn't come off as uh grating as far as you know, someone who is pompous. I don't think I'm getting that vibe at all.

[00:57:49]And we didn't even get to talk about it, but you do have the Power Prosperity podcast. So, if folks want to get to know you even more, um aside from the website and the program, they could totally go binge your podcast and hear you more often and get a better feel um for maybe your approach on things. Is there anything that you want to share about that Power Prosperity podcast?

[00:58:15]>> Yeah, I have got like more than 500 episodes, I think. Uh just exploring different areas of prosperity and personal growth.

[00:58:24]And um some is about money, some are about relationships, some are about health, some are about personal routines, daily routines, how you elevate your prosperity consciousness.

[00:58:35]So, yeah, that's and it's free, you know, just get a subscription on whatever your podcasts are. It's Power Prosperity podcast.

[00:58:45]>> Yeah, I love that. And I think um you know, I mentioned I I'm taking away this word iconic, but I'm also just really keyed in on this prosperity word that you use. I everyone knows I've long been a fan of the word abundance, um but I think you've really positioned you know, maybe even not intentionally, but just the way that you speak about some things, it's brought up things for me as you've shared it. So, I just really appreciate that.

[00:59:16]And uh you mentioned your site. Anywhere else you want us to find and follow you?

[00:59:23]>> Well, so RandyGage.com is kind of the Starfleet Command and my podcast is there, my blog is there, the Breakthrough U program is there.

[00:59:32]Um but especially for this audience, I have a book which I just sent uh my 16th book I just sent to my editor.

[00:59:46]It's not out at the moment we're recording this, but it is out at the moment you are watching or listening to this show.

[00:59:56]The book is called Wealth Without Apology. And many of you listening to this podcast will know Bill Bachrach.

[01:00:08]Bill is a uber successful financial planner who also does like a leadership and coaching program for other financial planners. So Bill's been a friend of mine for years and he was one of the people I said, "Hey, would you read a galley proof of this book and you know, give me any feedback or critique to make it better?"

[01:00:33]And he he got into the the first chapter, he wrote me and said, "Oh my god, we have to get this book in the hands of I don't think 8-year-old is too early. I don't think 10-year-old is too early.

[01:00:52]Every kid who graduates from high school has to get this book. Every kid who graduates from college has to get this book." By the third chapter, he was like, "Oh my god, this is So he Anyway, he gave me a credible testimonial for the book. But he told me, "Randy, when the second book comes out, I'm going to bring you into my program with my financial planners and I'm telling them they need to require every client of theirs to read this book.

[01:01:26]So, uh you guys and gals watching, get the book for yourself. Please check it out. I think you'll find it incredibly value for everybody. It's just how to create wealth and not feel guilty about it.

[01:01:43]How to create wealth and not apologize for it. How to actually win the money game and how systemic the money game is against you from the financial networks, the credit card companies, the banks, even financial planning companies, right? Many of them. There's There's And you guys who are listening know, some of you are working for firms that you're a good person and you want to help your clients and your firm has some policies that are pre- preventing you from helping them in the best way possible, right? So, I expose all that kind of stuff in the book and show people how they can take personal responsibility for their true prosperity. So, if if my work resonates with you, if the book resonates with you, I'm going to ask you to do the same thing Bill is and give it to every client and say, "Hey, if you want me to be your financial planner, I need you to read this book first so we we get your mindset right on how to become wealthy and not feel guilty about it."

[01:02:52]>> Yeah.

[01:02:53]Thank you so much. I cannot wait to get my hands on this book as well. Thank you so much, Randy.

[01:03:01]>> Well, I'm just delighted you brought me on. I love You know, it's just my crusade to make the world more prosperous and to do that, I'm going to have to deputize a lot of financial advisors, financial planners, CPAs, bookkeepers, people like that to help spread this message.

[01:03:22]>> Absolutely. And I bet after they get a hold of it, first chapter in, they're going to be jumping on there and ordering, you know, 20 or 200 more.

[01:03:33]>> [laughter] >> Thank you.